How to Identify Your Next Front-Line Employee

Sometimes it helps to take a minute and actually list the employee qualities you are looking for when hiring at your organization. Do you know what your organization is looking for? Do you need leaders, followers, outdoor workers, independent thinkers, problem solvers, strategic thinkers? Years ago, an employee, Louis R., helped show me what we needed at my organization. Louis was a self-taught irrigation specialist. He had “old school” values. He believed in working smarter, not harder and needed very little direction from me. I would introduce him to others by saying I wished I had 3 more just like him.

If you have never had a Louis on your team and you have a minute, here are a few quick ideas I now use:

–Capacity + Character: I made a list of what it was about Louis that made him so valuable. Honest, dependable, self-starter, problem solver, no drama, follow up skills, mentor, created and followed operational procedures, and he saw his work as more than just a paycheck and pension.  No one will get perfect alignment with all the good qualities that make a good employee, but knowing what skills they need, their willingness and capacity to learn, along with the quality of their character is a good place to start for hiring.

–Work History: I like to see an applicant’s work history. Over the years, I discovered that applicants that had worked while in school had a better understanding of what a workplace was like. I was recently in a session where the instructor taught that a person who moves often and frequently may be having accountability issues. Move cautiously, dig deeper with this applicant.

–Ownership: Most people in the landscape location I work in need to work independently in the field. Even though they are on a team, they separate in the field and work individually from others. I have found that people who have owned their own business, no matter how small, generally have the ownership drive. They take ownership of their work on the job and caring about the work never goes away.

Remember to know what your organization is looking for. Over the years I have hired for many organizations and each one had a different list of qualities they wanted in an employee. The key is to have a good idea about what you need and work to get those qualities when hiring.

“Nothing we do is more important than hiring and developing people. At the end of the day, you bet on people, not strategies.”

~Lawrence Bossidy, Former CEO, AlliedSignal

Keep Growing your Leaders!

Jeff