Match

A Systematic, Sane Process for Hiring the Right Person Every Time

Dan Erling

• Publisher: Wiley
• Year: 2010
• Print ISBN:
  9780470878989
• Edition: 1
• eBook ISBN:
  9780470939710
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Business General
• Index: Business

Hire the right person-every time!

Why is it that so many companies accept mediocre hiring results as the norm? The answer is simple. It doesn't occur to them that, in fact, there is a process that virtually guarantees hiring the right person every time. To repeat: there is a process that virtually guarantees hiring the right person every time. That's what MATCH is about.

Based on author Dan Erling's experience with best practices from over a thousand companies, MATCH gives you a rock solid, practical process for hiring.

• MATCH takes you step-by-step through the lifecycle of hiring, from developing a job description through interviewing and making the decision, to negotiating salary and onboarding the new hire
• Applicable tools, stories, and foolproof techniques are woven throughout to insure your mission critical objective is accomplished
• The author is well-known in the hiring and recruiting industry

With MATCH, your hiring team will develop a systematic process that fits with the company's overall mission, giving your company the people it needs to succeed every time!

MATCH

The Process: Phase I

Preparing the Recruiting Plan

Phase I: Preparing the Recruiting Plan begins with the construction of a simple yet surprisingly powerful deliverable—creating the organizational chart. You’ll then move into generating the core tasks of developing the job overview and completing the competency profile—both of which are anchored in your mission. You’ll finalize this phase by structuring the recruiting plan itself.

CHAPTER 5

Create the Organizational Chart

Step 1

Take my assets, but leave my organization and in five years I’ll have it all back.

—Alfred P. Sloan, Jr.

An organizational chart (or org chart) is the first step in a strong hiring process. Some clients are surprised when I tell them that companies that enjoy success in the art of hiring begin with the organizational chart. Why an org chart, they wonder? For three simple reasons:

1. Creating an org chart forces you to decide exactly where the person will fit and what their title will be. The org chart provides you with clarity and the grounding you’ll need once the interview process starts.

2. The org chart is the “window display” for your position, in the sense that it’s meant to give a glimpse of what a store offers—enough to lure the shopper to go inside. In this case, the window shopper is your candidate. Your org chart shows the candidate the level of the position, how many reports the position manages, and to whom he or she reports—all in a single glance. If they like what they see in the org chart, then they’ll dive into the job description.

3. The third reason is a bit less concrete but critical, nonetheless. The recruiting documents that you produce form job seekers’ first impression of your company. Always assume you’re competing with other companies for the interest of your candidate. Not only do you want the potential employee to understand his or her role, but you want them to perceive your company as a structured, highly professional environment. I see the results when I review job descriptions with potential employees. Well written, up-to-date, precisely formatted documents really do help shape the candidate’s opinion of a company.

Sticky Notes:

• Creating an org chart increases your odds of hiring success.
• Ensure org chart consensus among the hiring team.
• Consider the org chart from the candidate’s point of view.

There are three basic types of organizational charts: hierarchical, matrix, and flat. I’ve found that although the type really doesn’t matter, what does matter is the symbolic representation of the organization’s structure. While it’s easy to get caught up in the dialogue around the org chart itself, this is a mistake. It’s best to just reflect the structure as it is at the moment, and avoid getting bogged down in details and questions. Remember, all you are doing is trying to develop a sense of your company and an explanation of the current opening.

Here are three organizational charts, followed by a few reflections:

This first org chart is for a small start-up. The CEO had been doing all the accounting in Peachtree software with the help of his administrative assistant. Since sales were going well, he decided to bite the bullet and hire someone to take care of all the accounting/finance, as well as managing the information technology (IT) support role and the administrative assistant.

With a quick glance, you can tell that the right fit would have to be an entrepreneurial individual, capable of relating directly to the CEO. Although this accountant will have a snazzy title, all the daily, mundane tasks are going to fall on his or her desk, so no big egos. You can even correctly surmise that within the company, growth will be dependent on the business plan of the CEO.

This second org chart reflects the accounting and finance department for a fairly small public company. The open position is for a “Director of Financial Operations” who reports to the VP of Accounting, who in turn reports to the chief financial officer (CFO). You can see that this position has some potential for growth, and also that the person in it will have a great deal of supervisional responsibility of both managerial and clerical staff. Further, you can glean that a good peer relationship with the controller will be critical to the success of this role.

This third org chart reflects a division of a multibillion-dollar public company. While the company is much larger than the one reflected in the previous org chart, you can immediately see from the diagram that this role has a lesser scope of responsibility. The opportunity to interact and learn from one’s peers will clearly not be as available in this case. By simply reviewing this chart a savvy candidate will gain insight into the company and make the first steps in determining their level of interest.

The Deeper Function of an Org Chart

“I don’t find org charts very useful,” one client confessed to me. “They get in the way of getting work done.”

People like my client argue that org charts capture the past instead of focusing on the future, acting to stymie creativity. They rebel against the boxes and lines. Some feel that org charts encourage a narrow view of one’s job and, in effect, imply what the employee will not do.

Indeed, an org chart should never be a hindrance to action and creative solutions. However, aside from being a powerful sales tool for a potential candidate, the org chart is a good thing for your company. Successful companies recognize that an org chart already exists in every organization in some fashion—even if it’s just in your employees’ heads. The very act of putting one on paper is a good test of the company’s soundness. All business relationships should be able to be charted. Org charts bring a sense of transparency to the organization and provide a clear picture of responsibilities and reporting relationships—not only up and down, but also across the organization.

An org chart is more than just a page of boxes and lines showing direct and indirect reporting relationships. A business unit—and the business as a whole—has a purpose. An org chart should graphically represent that purpose at a high level. When you look at an org chart of a finance department, for instance, you should be able to trace the path of how the department achieves its goals.

The emphasis on the position’s function is very important, especially as smaller businesses begin to grow. Founders of smaller companies can generally manage by their personal styles. But there comes a point where employees have to do the jobs necessary for the business to meet its organizational goals, and not just fit one person’s personality and unique skills. This transition can hinder growth and burn out top emp...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Contents
• Title
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Preface: The Awakening
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• Match: The Foundation
• Match: The Process: Phase I
• Match: The Process: Phase II
• Match: The Process: Phase III
• Match: The Process: Phase IV
• Conclusion
• Appendix I: A Word about Contractors
• Appendix II: Sample Documents for Hiring a Controller
• Appendix III: The Cost of a Mishire
• Appendix IV: Onboarding Checklist
• About the Author
• Index