The Four Types of People You Hire – And How to Get More of Those You Want

Those You Should Never Hire to The Top Third Performers. Types of Hires

Lou Adler said, when it comes to hiring there are only four types of people in the world.

• Type 1: Those You Should Never Hire.
  If you’ve ever hired someone who is a true misfit it’s apparent to everyone else that you made an awful mistake. The likely causes are: you didn’t look at the resume, you trusted your gut, you didn’t know the job, you hired largely on presentation and personality, you were desperate, or you didn’t conduct a thorough background reference check.
• Type 2: The Bottom-Third of Those Who are Hired.
  Typically these people have the basic experience, technical skills and academic background. However they were hired primarily for their personality, that first impression, affability and presentation skills. But their performance in the workplace doesn’t deliver on the promise, and they need more coaching and supervision to do average work. Worse still, under-performers can demotivate everyone else on the team.
• Type 3: The Middle-Third of Those Who are Hired.
  These people also have the basic skills and experiences, but in this case the interview and hiring process was more thorough. It may have involved behavioral-style interviews questions, a larger interview panel, a more in-depth technical assessment, some questionnaires or other requirements of the candidates, and a thorough background reference check.This is the interview process most companies use and it’s one designed largely to prevent mistakes. One unintended consequence is a lack of diversity – people just like those already on the team are hired because it’s a safer decision. The reason these people aren’t in the top-third might involve a lack of motivation to do the work well or move outside their comfort zone, an organisational cultural fit problem, a style-clash with their manager, or lack of necessary drive, leadership or team skills.
• Type 4: The Top-Third of Those Who are Hired.
  These are your star performers – the strong performers and leaders who get results regardless of the challenges. They’re highly motivated to do the actual work required, they take on projects no one else wants, they motivate others and they fit seamlessly with the people, culture and manager.

We Want More Type 4 Star Performers

The truth is, we want to reduce the number of hires of Types 1 and 2, and increase the number of hires who turn out to be Type 4. But we don’t have a  HR crystal ball – or do we?

Find your Type 4 Star Performers – Hire Right with Harrison Assessments

The dilemma is, of course, accurately identifying those Type 4 performers. Organisations that are in serious pursuit of Type 4’s add profiling assessments to their hiring process for a much deeper insight into their potential hires.

We are accredited Expert Solution Partners with Harrison Assessments. Harrison Assessments are designed to help you identify Star Performers and attract them to your company, and also to help you retain your current Star Performers. It is time to revise your Talent Strategy and Workforce Plan, and design your hiring and retention processes around hiring, developing and retaining a Type 4 Star Performing team.

Together with Harrison Assessments, we can help you with a great interview and selection process, organisational, team and personal development, Talent Analytics, career planning and succession planning. We love the accuracy and functionality of Harrison Assessment systems. Stop using processes designed to hire Types 1-3. Understand what Type 4 Star Performance means to you and embed that in a Job Success Formula. Develop an understanding of what attracts and motivates Type 4’s. Assess your candidates against the Job Success Formula. Be confident that you have hired a Type 4 Star Performer.