Assessments and Hiring

I’m back from vacation.  We had a great time, but anytime you’re 24×7 with a couple of 8 year olds (our kids), it’s anything but relaxing.  We did see a lot of great scenery (Rocky Mountain National Park) and I got at least a few good pictures and the kids had fun, so all in all it was a success.

So…on to some thoughts about the difficulties of hiring.  This came to mind because I pulled together some specific ideas on how using Extended DISC assessments (Extended DISC) could be extremely beneficial to making good hiring decisions for a contact of mine that’s looking to solve a hiring problem.

This particular challenge is to build up a business almost from scratch…they currently have 6 employees, but they’re going to be ramping to 3 or 4 times that number in a fairly short period of time.  They will likely have some unique issues, but the essence of it is the importance of hiring good people.  (good for you, good for them, win-win all the way around).

The hiring concept that I’ve used successfully and seen preached by experts (the most common example is Southwest Airlines) is “Hire for Attitude, Train for Skill”.  There’s an old (but still relevant Article from Fast Company that highlights this idea:  “What people know is less important than who they are.”

That’s where Extended DISC comes in, it’s a fantastic assessment tool that clearly and concisely outlines the behaviors of prospective candidates.  The process is quick (online), inexpensive and has been proven to a high degree of accuracy across a very wide user base.

So how could you use this tool to solve a hiring dilemma? 

One idea would be to use an assessment with a model employee and use those results as a template for prospective hires.  

Another approach would be to build a customized Job Analysis using the Extended DISC tools and process which would give you a customized assessment that prioritizes the results based on your particular job needs.  This takes a little more up front work, but it’s a thought process you probably needed to go through anyway if you’re creating a new position.

Obviously these are some simplistic examples, but the beauty of the tool is all of the different things you can do with it, quickly, easily and cheaply.

How do you approach hiring?  Do you agree or disagree with hiring for attitude versus experience?  Share your thoughts and let me know what you’re thinking.

Shawn Kinkade – Aspire Business Development

1 thought on “Assessments and Hiring”

Comments are closed.