Hire People Smarter Than You
Employees will always be a business’s greatest asset; they are literally the difference between success and failure. Exceptional leaders know that if the hiring process isn’t given the attention it deserves, your business can wear the impact of a poor hire. This is even more accentuated when you are in hyper-growth mode like Circles.Life.
Typically, a leader will hire by measuring up a candidate’s qualifications and accolades against the job description. Very rarely will they reflect on what the candidate can teach them. Managers don’t want to be outshone, and that’s completely natural. What does it say about your value if you are surpassed by the people you hire?
It’s a logical question to ask, but the wrong one. Speaking from experience, the more intelligent a hire, the better off you and your business are.
Here’s why:
The Benefits of Hiring Smart People
Leaders often limit their true potential out of fear that hiring someone smarter than them will negatively affect their career path and ultimately lead to them being replaced, demoted, or fired.
They may doubt and question their ability to lead and manage an individual that is above them intellectually, more qualified or experienced than themselves. In doing so, they starve themselves of the opportunity to take advantage of the individual’s strengths.
The key benefits of hiring the smartest people include:
It improves your team’s perception of you as a hiring manager. Liz Ryan of Forbes said it best, “Brilliant employees make you look like the confident, talent-aware manager you are.” Not letting your insecurities impact your leadership ability creates a great work culture that embraces learning.
It broadcasts to the company that shared success is greater than individual success.
It will change your perspective on traditional working methods. Hiring someone smarter than you will force you out of your comfort zone and shift you into the mindset of continuous learning. What is intimidating at first quickly become a constant learning experience
It will grow your company capabilities. When you hire an employee smarter than you, your company is not just limited to your own level of ability- it can build on the talents of a great team.
We are living in a competitive world
If you reject a hire because they are overly qualified or smarter than you, chances are they will interview at a direct competitor company. They could go on to make industry-disrupting changes, that could have been for your company, but your ego got in the way.
Shift your hiring mindset
In my years in this field, I have learned that as a leader, your job is to find individuals that know what to do, and then create a setting where they can perform at their best. When you begin the hiring process, you should look for individuals that have the potential to break the existing mold that hasn’t changed in years surrounding a particular role.
An intuitive leader will look at his staff members as partners who all help in driving the business forward, which a lot of the time is down a path that you did not even consider.
I found myself adopting this mindset early in my talent managing career. It has stood me in good stead – enabling me to make smart hiring decisions, approach the process by looking at the opportunities and not the threats, and hopefully to become a more intelligent version of myself as a result!
We and not I
There was absolutely no chance of building an effective and innovative People & Culture team, which would be able to support Circles.Life growth ambitions, without working with and attracting at team of individuals who are outstanding in their fields. I’m happy to work with the talents of Celine Nguyen (HR, Culture & OD), Renee Yap (People Services & Operations), Alex Png (Employer Branding and Engagement), David Boublil (Talent Acquisition), Clara Chua (L&D) and Brian de Souza (Total Rewards).
Our ambition and growth plans for 2020 & beyond might be daunting for some, but with the team we have been able to put together I have no doubt that we will achieve exceptional things!
As Steve Jobs said, “Here’s to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes… The ones who see things differently”. Next time you are hiring, leave your ego at the door and open your mind. The results will astonish you.
