For those of you follow my blog, you may recall that the original, working title for this book was Mission Critical Hiring, or "MCH." Early on, I liked the title because, as I've shown, working from a mission is, well, critical to hiring. Plus, I thought the play on words was rather clever.
As the book took its final form, however, it was clear that the original title did not encompass the whole of the process. I needed something "broader," and of course my publisher wanted a title with some zing. Still, I couldn't quite let go of Mission Critical Hiring. After all, it had been the working title for more than two years. We went back and forth with several names. We settled on MATCH, which I am very pleased with on a number of levels, not the least of which was because it retained my M, C, and H—and in the same order!
MATCH forces us to focus on that which is crucial. In creating a thriving organization, we can take shortcuts in some areas, but not in the area of hiring people. Peter Drucker told us to "focus on first things first, and second things not at all." The MATCH process forces us to focus on the most critical aspect of hiring, aligning the right person with the right job.
This book originated in the act of compiling hiring best practices for my recruiting firm. With year after year of stellar results, our clients began to ask how we were doing this. I started to share our techniques, encouraging companies to create a systematic approach to hiring around their missions. Over time, my collection of best practices began to resemble a book. Many sleep-deprived nights later, I was able to produce the book you have in hand.
Doubtless, as I continue to talk about hiring, I will refine concepts (in fact, I encourage you to dialogue with me and others on my blog at www.danerling.com). However, the fundamentals of the hiring process will never change. In my research and hands-on-experience, I have found that the process outlined in this book works today, it would have worked 100 years ago, and it will work 100 years from now. The fundamental principles are timeless.
I hope the ideas, techniques, and materials in this book bring you value. It would please me greatly to hear that your company was more profitable by implementing the MATCH process. But an even greater sense of accomplishment would be to know that not only was the company able to achieve better financial results, but that bottom-line improvement coincided with a clearer sense of purpose and a stronger set of values.
Idealism doesn't belong in business. Brutal realities must be the main concern of those running a profitable company—no rose colored glasses allowed. But that does not mean that you can't have a mission. In fact, a sense of mission becomes more and more tantamount in attracting those people who can help to carry the company toward profitability. The workforce of today and of the future wants to clearly understand and derive meaning from their careers. They care about values—it is not just about the bottom line any more.
By utilizing MATCH, companies will develop a culture around their mission. From the decision to make a hire to the decision on who to hire, mission plays a vital role. And not only will the new hire understand the mission of the organization, but all those on the hiring team will be reminded of the purpose and values for which the company exists.
As the president of a recruiting firm, occasionally I find myself conflicted when a customer has no interest in a process-oriented approach to hiring. For instance, our firm recently got a call from a business owner who "wanted a senior accountant—yesterday." This business owner didn't have time to give us a good job description, nor did he have time to meet us, and when we asked for 30 minutes to discuss competencies, he became perturbed.
What this business owner doesn't understand is that by treating a recruiting firm like a commodity, he puts himself at a disadvantage. Internally, we put a job like this in the "C-level" file. We may send a few résumés, but there's not much value we can offer. It isn't that we want to behave in this way, but there are other clients who have committed to us, and those clients get our attention first. And by the way, we certainly do try to inform the client of the position he is putting himself in—if he will listen.
Further, what this business owner doesn't understand is that trying to rush a senior accountant hire (or any hire for that matter) is almost always a mistake. How frustrating that we have a systematic proven process that nearly ensures that the business owner will hire the right candidate, but the hiring manager will not take the two hours of time on the front end of the search, taking care to align with a good recruiting firm, and compiling a careful profile and job description. So the result is that to avoid two hours of work, countless time, energy, and money are risked in a careless hiring process.
By the way, there are occasions where a company must get help quickly. In cases where an employee gets ill or other unexpected circumstances arise, then there is not always time to do a thorough search. When this happens I advocate using contractors as a band-aid.
Rushing a hire is but one of the mistakes we see hiring managers make. Other mistakes include pushing the entire hiring process to an individual other than the manager, allowing psychological profiling to completely eclipse the judgment of the hiring team, and allowing the outgoing incumbent (the employee in the job currently) to manage the entire process.
There are many times when I want to force the MATCH hiring process on a hiring manager. After all, with talent as the number one determinant of a company's success, and a proven method for finding and aligning talent with business objectives, I ask, how can it not make sense to implement MATCH? But as my mom always told me, "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink."
A few years ago I got a call from a business owner. He was a former GE exec who got the entrepreneurial bug and decided to buy an established business. Six months after buying the company, he decided it was time to hire a controller.
He ran an ad in the paper. I saw the ad and called him, asking if he needed my assistance in the hire. He was cordial but clear that he didn't want to pay the fee. I told him that I certainly understood—I wouldn't want to pay a recruiting fee either. After all, we are expensive.
I wished him well and followed up by sending my card and a note. Several years later, I heard back from him. He had been through three controllers and was tired of it. He was ready to give me a try.
So I went down to his facility. I spent hours talking to him about his company as well as the role the controller would play. We walked the grounds. I met all his right-hand employees. I saw the place where the controller would be sitting. We went to lunch and completed the competency profile.
We thoroughly discussed the mission of his organization. We discussed his personal mission as well. When I left, I had a very clear idea of the controller that he wanted and needed.
I came back to the office and compiled the job description. After a few tweaks to the description, we entered into the recruiting phase. After two weeks we arranged for three interviews to be held at our offices. Two of the candidates were asked to come back to interview at the actual work site.
We had thoroughly checked references. Both of the candidates who were being considered had weaknesses, but each candidate also brought many strengths to the table. We were able to compare each candidate, and, through this process, the business owner asked one of the candidates to dinner. The next day, an offer was made and accepted.
Two years later, this controller has become this business's top employee. He is an extension of the mission of the company. Further, I often get referrals from the business owner, who was originally apprehensive about the value a recruiting firm can offer.
Everyone has the same number of hours in a day to either achieve greatness or screw things up. Your focus, decision making, and actions will determine your level of success. What MATCH says, in effect, is that you should focus on your mission and on the importance of hiring the best people into your company. The MATCH process is worth your time. Invest your time, your energy, and your passion to bring in the best people. Used effectively, this is one investment that pays huge dividends every time in increased productivity and profitability.