Great People Decisions

How many of us are really good at hiring great people? OK, I can see many hands up in the air. Chances are that you are wrong – unless you suffer from depression. Twenty odd years back two grad students from Univ of Pennsylvania found out that depressed people are better judges of how much skill they have. Others carry a widely inflated opinion about their skills. 90% of managers rate themselves to be among the top 10% performers. How do I know this? Claudio’s book says so. Why do you think people get hysterical during appraisal discussions unless they have allowed to wear their personal halo and wings.

Recently I was invited by Sonny Iqbal who is a partner at Egon Zehnder’s India ops to meet Claudio Fernandez-Araoz (email: Claudio.Fernandez.Araoz@ezi.net) who is listed by Businessweek magazine as one of the most influential headhunters. Claudio is from Argentina and has a wacky sense of humor – something I love in a speaker. He starts off by narrating how he had asked the legendary Egon Zehnder himself, “… what makes a person successful?” Egon’s answer, “Luck!! Lucky to be born at a certain time, in a certain country, in a certain socio-economic group, lucky to get a certain education etc. Maybe I should have asked him what the SECOND most important reason for success was.”, Claudio adds wistfully. He joined Egon Zehnder in 1986 after a short stint at McKinsey and currently manages their Talent Management practice. Basically what that means is that when he talks about managing talent, you just listen and take notes. Just what I did.

I also asked him questions. How many people should interview a candidate? Claudio recommends no more than three people meet a potential candidate and spend two hours each. Beyond that you hit a Type II error ie you are likely to reject a good candidate if more than three people evaluate a candidate.

Why is finding talent so very difficult, someone asks him. Anyone can fill a position – but finding the right candidate is a tough ask, says the man who does this for a living. His book makes for some compelling reading. I have just finished reading Great People Decisions: Why they matter so much; Why they are so hard and How you can master them. And it sure was worth my time. I am a great believer in the strategic importance of the Staffing process in the firm’s attractiveness as an Employer of Choice. Yet, it is not easy. Here are three reasons why you need to read this book. 

1. PROBABILITY OF FINDING THE RIGHT CANDIDATE POOL: If you trying to hire someone who is a high potential person, that means the candidate pool is already restricted to the top percentile of the employable population. Add to it that some of these people are looked after so well by their present employers, that they do not want to change. So that further narrows down the pool in which you will fish. What is the probability that you will end up meeting that high potential leader and that you as the hiring manager has had the requisite training that helps you to identify the candidate who will succeed in the role. Got you thinking. Statistically speaking the odds are stacked against you.

2. HOW TO CHOOSE: What questions do you ask that helps you match the competencies that are needed to succeed in that role? Claudio smirks knowingly at me while referring to the puzzle interview method used to interview top creative high IQ candidates. “Why are manhole covers round?” or “How would you move Mount Everest?” Besides, the differentiating competencies for leaders is usually around “soft” areas. Most people cannot evaluate soft competencies or evaluate aspects that impact emotional intelligence correctly.  Add to it, there are elements of a company’s culture which if not matched, will lead to failure of even the best.

3. DO REFERENCE CHECKS: All ref checks are not the same. For instance if you want to check a candidates’s ability to grow people, can best be certified by junior members who have worked with the candidate. They will be able to give you the best assessment of this person’s coaching skills. Similarly, if you want to know about the person’s ability to collaborate and work in teams, asking a cross section of peers leads to great insights. A boss or manager may provide you good insights on the person’s strategic thinking skills. Above all, make sure you check for all credentials. I heard this startling story from a journalist frind of mine. This newspaper’s Management section had been regularly carrying pearls of wisdom from a company’s CEO – also alum of a reputed Ivy League Business School in US. A chance enquiry led to the discovery that this person who was writing the columns was never a student of any program whatsoever at the B-School. Further investigation showed that even the company whose CEO he had claimed to be did not exist !!

Click here to watch an interview with Claudio Fernandez Araoz done for Businessweek magazine where he talks about the book Great People Decisions

You can also read Claudio’s article called Developing Talent on a Global Basis

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