Your Employees are NOT Tools

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Your Employees are NOT Tools

You know this already.

And I know you know this because every time I ask an employer to name the most important element of their business, they always say their employees.

The people.

But then I ask a few more questions and it seems like the answer doesn’t match the actions.

Don’t worry, I’m not looking to shame anyone or get all self-righteous.

But if you truly value your employees, I’m sure you’re keen to find ways to care for them that little bit better.

Personnel or Resources

Do you remember when your HR department used to be called the Personnel department?

I liked that.

It had the word “person” right there in the name. And it was only ever a couple of letter changes from describing something “personal”.

But HR is something else.

I have a theory that we abbreviated it because we’re a little bit embarrassed describing thinking, feeling, flesh and blood people as resources.

When I think of resources, I think of tables, chairs, computers… money.

I’m sort of digressing, but the point I’m trying to make is that if we describe people as resources, we’re only half a step away from treating them as such.

And when it comes to recruitment, many employees aren’t half a step away…

They’re already all the way there.

Calling a Spade, a Spade

If we wanted to buy a spade for our business, we’d likely consider three elements:

Cost (how much will we have to pay)
Functionality (what is the capability of the spade)
Construction (who made it and what level of experience do they have)

And if we wanted to hire a new Business Development Manager, we’d consider these three elements:

Cost (how much is their salary)
Ability (What is the capability of the employee)
Experience (who taught the employee and where have they worked previously)

Uh-oh. Look closely and it appears that we’re using virtually the same criteria for our human resources as we our for our digging resources.

Forgive me for calling a spade, a spade, but if our employees are more important than the tools we use, why are we using virtually the same approach for sourcing them?

Assessing What Is Truly Valuable

Buy a thousand spades from one supplier and they’ll all be virtually identical.

Hire a thousand people and no two will be alike.

And the differences CANNOT be assessed by looking merely at cost, ability and experience.

To truly assess candidates, and thus the people that you hire, you need to be able to measure what makes them unique and valuable…

Their personality.

Are they introverted or extroverted? Do they work better in a group or on their own? Do they work well in a structured environment or do they need creative space? Are they a leader or a follower? Do they learn better by doing or watching?

These are all critical elements of a person’s ability to do their work and thrive in your business.

But if you don’t measure these things BEFORE you hire them, you’re downplaying the importance of what makes them the most important element of your business.

And, crucially, you’re making your hiring decisions harder and more susceptible to errors.

Make no mistake, when you make a bad hire that leaves (or is let go) within six months, it’s rarely because their skills or experience aren’t up to scratch.

Rather it’s because their BEHAVIOUR wasn’t a good fit for your business.

Behavioural Assessments are Key

I’ve been using behavioural assessments as part of candidate evaluation for a while, and it’s a significant factor in helping my clients IMPROVE their overall employee retention rate.

If you TRULY believe your employees are the most important element of your business, you owe it to them to also use behavioural surveys as part of your hiring process.

For a free demonstration of how behavioural surveys work and how to integrate them into your hiring strategy, book a free, no-obligation, consultation here Book a call with me