Test recruits’ interpersonal skills. Rather than running them through a typical day of interviews where they go from person to person and talk individually to each interviewer, we have the students do some activities, and we’re able to observe how they interact with each other. We also see how well they listen, because at the end of the day, we give them a test on things we presented to them at the beginning of the day. It really helps to bring out those characteristics that we’re looking for in people.
In a group, it is amazing that you’re able to see how people interact with each other. You’re able to see if they can lead without being domineering or insisting on their way or the highway. You’re able to see more of their personality if you have them in a group as opposed to just one on one. They come in prepared to ask questions and to just have a typical interview, and you go through this different group process.
And it’s not as competitive as you might think with recruits vying for the same positions. There is a teamwork aspect to this, as well. For example, one of our activities is we have them go off in groups of three, with one of our people (observing) each group. We give them some newspaper and some tape, and they have to build a bridge. It has to be a certain height, so that we can fly a binder underneath it, and it has to be sturdy enough to hold a water bottle. They have a few minutes to plan, and then they can’t talk when they’re actually constructing it.
From that type of exercise, you see which people take leadership, which ones will work well together, and which ones will just give up and just let the others kind of take over the project. It gives you a good feel for how they’ll react in various work situations.
Don’t stop conveying the culture. You have to keep the culture in front of everyone once you’ve hired them. We have some social things we do over the course of the year, such as a bowling team. The more you get to know the people you get to work with, the more you’re willing to work with them, understand their viewpoint, you start to have a dialogue with them as opposed to telling them the way it’s going to be. It’s a lot more fun to go to work every day if you feel like you have a common bond with the people you’re working with, if you feel like you can have a good time with them.
To continue that communi-cation on a more formal basis, I use e-mail a lot, as many people in leadership positions will do. But anything that is going to really impact people, you should speak to them face to face. You really can’t gauge people’s reactions without speaking with them in person, if you’re not in the room with them. Anytime we have an announcement or decision to make that affects people, we’ll get together face to face with them so that we can have that type of personal communication.
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