My latest in Quartz…
As a manager who has usually taken over teams that have been struggling in some way, there is something that I’ve consistently had to do: fix the hiring process. Hiring well is a huge lever for team transformation. Getting it right doesn’t just mean hiring good people (although that part is crucial), but doing so in a way that is time effective for you, your team, and the candidates.
For a small-scale hiring process, you can often take on the process yourself and spend some time fixing it. However, as a leader (especially a new one), you want to be careful of the optics, and creating a perception that you’re bringing in “your people” as replacements. It can help to bring the current team along and make them part of this from the beginning. For a scaled process, you’ll have no choice because you can’t do it alone, so it’s important to determine what your levers are—and how to use them effectively.