Q. How do you know if
someone will fit in your
organization?
You have a number of
different perspectives who are
interviewing the individual, but
there will be a certain percentage that might get through.
There are some people who
interview very well but are not
good at their jobs.
Even when you find that right
person, you need to have a
grace period where both the
organization and the individual,
over that first six months to a
year, are still getting to know
each other and make sure it’s a
great fit and trying to identify
any issues early and resolve
them and move on quickly.
Q. What helps you have a
better chance of bringing in
the right person?
When you’re looking for personality fits, one of the practices
is to engage the whole person.
We like to take our time. We like
to meet the person’s family and
see them in a social setting with
their family.
While someone may be able to
put a good face on in the interview process with the board of
directors, there are very few
people who can maintain the
same composure when they’re
put in front of their spouse and
children. We like to, whether it’s
a BBQ or dinner, get to know
the person and the environment
they live in, and it’s usually very
telling on the corporate mask
they may put on in the interview
process or even in their daily
work. We get to meet the person behind the mask when we
see them in a more casual environment that brings with them
the environment they live in on
a daily basis.
Q. Why is that personality
match so important to growth?
Key-man businesses often
reflect the strengths and weaknesses of the key man. Early-stage businesses frequently pay
competitively but are not at the
top of the pay scale by industry,
so the people are there because
they believe in the company.
They believe in the key man,
so there has to be a personality
fit with who that key man is and
with the overall management
team that the key man has
developed around him.
As it starts to grow, there has
to be a recognition of where the
company is today and growing
from that base forward, as
opposed to, ‘Let’s crumple it up
and throw it away.’ If you have a
management personality conflict and you’re getting the skills
that you need but they’re counter to, personalitywise, the existing management team, you run
too much of a risk of running a
counter impact to what you’re
otherwise trying to achieve,
which is that next stage growth.
HOW TO REACH: NewMarket Technology Inc., (214) 722-3065, (972) 386-3372
or www.newmarkettechnology.com