Recognising the potential in a prospective employee

Recognising the potential in a prospective employee could be the key to your business succeeding. It has been proven that investing time and money into building a successful team is extremely profitable in the long-term.

Many companies continuously say that their employees are responsible for the biggest part of their success. But how to recognise the potential in someone?

Steve Jobs, Elon Musk, and many other great CEOs have confirmed that an enormous part of their companies (Apple, Space X, PayPal, Tesla, etc.) success, is owed to their employees. Moreover, many authors have dedicated themselves to researching the topic of team-building. They analyse and refer examples of the most successful companies in the world and concluded that if you want to grow your business and be more successful and sustainable, you have to build your workforce. Also, they all conclude that it is necessary to recruit the right people, with potential.

It may not be about formal advantages

The logical question is how to identify the right people that fit your business? The right person you are searching for may not always be those who have formal advantages, but those who have opinions and values that correspond to the principles of your company. Some successful businesses in the world foremostly practice to recruit talented people. Secondly, they then look to find an appropriate role in the team.

Three core traits

Three core traits have been identified that key performers possess: aspiration, ability, and engagement. If the person aspires, they will have the desire to take on responsible tasks, all kinds of challenges and make important decisions. Ability means that the individual has a combination of natural traits and skills. And finally, engagement is the person’s full emotional and rational commitment and devotion, the discretionary effort and intent to get or complete the job. One does not go without the other, so when you’re interviewing the potential employees, you should pay attention whether they want to do more and achieve more, whether they see a future for themselves in your company, whether they’re always ready to go the extra mile!

Passion is crucial

People with passion can change the world. It’s so much easier to stay focussed on what you are doing, if you have a passion for doing the job. But how do you recognise passion from the get-go in an employee interview? First, try to make a distinction between fake from real passion. Have you ever been harassed by an over passionate salesperson. You feel that something is not quite right, false even? Remember you are trying to identify the right people who can use all of their passion for your company’s goals. Additionally, see how they speak about their work, your business and about their plans.

Communication is essential

Now the thing that links all of the key things above is your potential new-hires ability to communicate. Let’s face it, the success of your company depends on it. That is why it is crucial you recognise the communication skills when undertaking the interviews. An employee with good potential listens to others and responds effectively. If you want your company to reach higher goals, you need goal-oriented people that can communicate clearly. See our article for the importance of communication and how it relates to customer satisfaction.

Dynamic or inflexible

Today’s work circumstances, roles and responsibility are dynamically changing. Your role could be this today and something else tomorrow. This is why you have to recognise the person’s ability to adapt to new situations. Also, growing along with your business is equally important. Consequently, if you identify inflexible individuals, who interfere, challenge everything, duck and weave tasks that are slightly out of their normal duties, watch out!

If you recognise the good traits above in any of your employees or potential employees, you will certainly be on your way to building a strong team and a strong company. Remember that employment sometimes has to deviate from the formal principles and you should trust your instincts. If you recognise a potentially good employee’s worth to your company, hire or promote them. But value passion the most, because it comes naturally and you can’t be taught this.

Author: Industry Professional



Share this:

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *