“Chief – can we talk? I have a job offer, one like this, where it’s impossible to say ´nein´, you know…” After such a conversation a good cooperation ends soon. What begins is the search for a new team member and with the selection of personnel a new step in team development. A lot depends on the result: not only the performance in the position that has just become available, but also the mood and interaction and ultimately the team performance.
Especially demanding tasks are no longer carried out behind closed doors in individual work. Professional competences and ideas of different colleagues have to come together to create good solutions. So if it doesn’t really fit personally, the performance gets worse.
Unfortunately, however, many managers are falling into one of the two traps of applicant selection:
The first can be described as”dominance of specialist know-how”. Applicants report on their professional experience, list the qualifications they have attended and answer the technical questions so aptly that you would like to engage them right away. Then it was easy to lose sight of other prerequisites for success: How does someone behave towards younger or less qualified colleagues? What happens if someone has a different opinion or if the representative wants to go on holiday at the same time?
The second trap is the”just like me” effect. Someone comes in the door and seems really likeable from the very first moment. In the lively conversation many good impulses arise, one finds a lot of similarities and the vibrations shimmer through the room only in such a way. In short: The applicant brings exactly what you like about yourself. Whether this then also includes the required technical, methodological and social competence may no longer be questioned so consistently.
Of course, professional methods of personnel selection help to find the suitable candidates for a position – this aspect should not be deepened here.
However, deeper questions are important for personnel selection and team development:
- What’s important in the team?
- What quality is already present in the team?
- But where is a gap now or where has something been missing before?
Concepts can also be used for these assessments: for example the Big Five, a very recognized approach that distinguishes five main dimensions of personality. This concept can also be applied to teams: How is the team structured with regard to”openness for new experiences”? often one portion more is very helpful for the team performance.
The situation is different with regard to”compatibility”: Too much of it easily leads to an exaggerated striving for harmony. And without Advocatus Diaboli, the development impulses for a team and its members are missing.
Now it’s up to you: What does your team particularly need – innovative power, agility, complexity management…? Define the requirements in detail and assess the potential in your team. Then it will be easier for you to decide who among the applicants weakens your team performance and who strengthens it.
