Get New Staff to 'Self-Select'

If you want a strong and distinctive company culture, you need to get the right people on the job.

If you want innovation, hire creative people. If you want aggressive sales results, hire those with an energized ‘can-do’ attitude. If you want to give great customer service, only hire people who will go the extra mile.

But how can you find such people in a market filled with so many resumes, retrenchments and retirees? How can you avoid wasting time and money hiring new staff, only discovering later they weren’t the right people for the job?

Well-designed job interviews can be useful; candid referrals may help. Personality profiles may also reveal who a person really is, and isn’t.

But here’s another approach that will save you time and money, though it is very rarely used: raise the bar during the recruitment process so job seekers ‘self-select’.

You want innovation? Run your recruitment advertisement upside down in the newspaper. (It will be the only one, and will definitely stand out!) Ask interested applicants to provide specific examples of how they do things ‘differently’ (and better) in their lives and in their work.

You want ambitious, aggressive sales staff? Arrange job interviews at one location, then leave a note taped on the door explaining that the location has been changed at the last minute to somewhere else. Include a short apology and a map, and request those still interested to come to a different building several blocks away. At the new location, leave another note, this time moving the meeting down the hall or up a few flights of stairs.

Now interview and select only those applicants who arrive energized by this process. Those who complain, are upset or exhausted won’t have the stamina to chase down sales leads and succeed.

You want to hire people who truly believe in great customer service? Conduct job interviews at 8:00 pm on a Friday night. When applicants arrive, ask them to help you pack a last-minute customer order before the interview begins. Then have someone call in (pre-arranged) pretending to be your customer. Help them patiently over the phone, delaying your interview by a few more minutes. Watch your applicant’s mood throughout this process. Hire only those who smile and nod with understanding as they see you giving extra-mile service.

The MGM Hotel in Las Vegas applied this approach in a fast and effective manner. They needed to hire hundreds of new staff in a short period of time, but thousands of job seekers applied. One-by-one the applicants were guided down a long hallway. As they approached a junction at the end of the hall, an MGM recruiter looked up from his desk and said in a plain tone of voice, ‘Hello.’

Applicants who responded with clear eye-contact, a warm smile and a positive tone were guided to the right side for immediate interviews and job offers. Those who responded with a blank stare or a flat tone of voice were gently guided to the left side – and out the door.

Next Article in Customer Service Culture >>
No More 'Employee of the 'Month'

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Education is the Star at Starbucks

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Ron Kaufman is an internationally acclaimed customer service training educator for quality service. He is author of the bestselling series "UP Your Service!" and founder of "UP Your Service College". To enjoy more customer service training articles, visit www.RonKaufman.com and www.UpYourService.com

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