Ok, that might be a bit of an ambitious title. People spend months, even years, looking for the ‘best’ people to fill certain jobs and still don’t get it right. They waste tons of time and money and end up disappointed (both the hirer and the candidate). “Oh if I could just go back to the interview and ask different questions or look for different things” they say.

Well, you may not always be able to find the ‘right’ people in 10 minutes, but there are definitely some creative ideas that might quickly reveal whether you have a good fit or not. I picked up my dog-eared copy of The Ideal Team Player and grabbed a few that might be helpful to you.

Let your best people hire your next people

As for the hiring itself, they were still not where they wanted to in terms of numbers. However, that concern was offset by the quality of a few of the more senior people they had hired – people who would have key roles at the hotel and the hospital. With them on board, Clare felt that hiring would get easier because she would have more people out there looking for the kind of employees who fit the company’s culture.

Page 145, Patrick Lencioni

Wondering who might fit in your organization? Let your best look for their twins and clones. Hold up candidates side-by-side with your best people and simply do some basic comparisons, and if the candidates are in your people’s current network, even better. That means that they are likely proven and not just looking good on paper.

Ask outside-the-box questions and do outside-the-box things

Wondering if someone is humble. Don’t ask them, “how humble are you?” Ask them questions that allow them to demonstrate humility. And, we are not talking about self-deprecating humility. Humility is the lack of pride and the lack of fear. So, if they are truly humble they will not mind speaking with pride about things they have accomplished as well. Here’s some creative questions to get to the heart of people.

• “Tell me about the most important accomplishments of your career.”
• “What was the most embarrassing moment in your career? Or the biggest failure? How did you handle that embarrassment or failure?”
• “How do you handle apologies, either giving or accepting them?”
• “Tell me about someone who is better than you in an area that really matters to you.”

You can also do outside-the-box things to get a more honest look at someone. Here are some examples of what you can do…

• Switch location of interview on the fly and take them on an errand (in or out of office).
• Ask them to join you in a meeting or on a phone call to listen in.
• Ask them to help you on some project or live issue at work to see how they respond.

Don’t just listen to what’s said, listen to everything else

They say communication is largely non-verbal, so listen and be aware of everything else happening. For example,

• How many questions do they ask you?
• What is their overall body language?
• After the interview is almost done, ask them to comment on…
  • Your overall core values (assuming they have not already seen them).
  • Things they learned from people who interviewed them.
  • What kind of candidates would be the best fit for the job?

Well, we can get creative all day, but the point is not to play tricks with people or make the experience difficult. The point is to help everyone find the best fit, the employer and employee. If we get it right the first time, we can save everyone a lot of heartache, and we can create a fulfilling future for many people inside and outside the organization.

What are your creative ideas on finding the right people?