I once met with a company who openly admitted and bragged about their hiring criteria. They were certain they had figured it out—perfectly. This I had to hear! The company prided itself on being a ‘green company.’ Being green, they felt was a core aspect of the business. Decisions were made and green policies were enforced around this concept. Being green was a key aspect in all of their marketing and they even educated customers and prospects about it.

I commend this company for taking such an active role in the green movement, but when it comes to hiring they showed how little they know about ‘being green’ and making decisions. Once this company made the decision to bring someone in for an in-person interview they ultimately made their decision based on the car the prospect drove to the interview!

They felt that anyone hired had to be personally active in the green movement and was expected to drive a Prius (the only mainstream electrical car at the time). If a prospect showed up in a truck or Hummer they were automatically disqualified even though it has been reported for years now that the Prius is no more environmentally friendly than any other car mainly because of the nickel battery—in fact it took almost 50% more energy to drive and build a Prius than a Hummer.

Ok let’s set aside the technical environmental aspect of the situation and look at how this company makes decisions. This company felt being green outweighed the prospective employee’s skills, traits, or interaction with the rest team. Is this right? Is judging a prospective employee by the type of car they drive really going to tell you if they would be an asset to your team?

I wonder if they have the same expectation for their current employees. Are all current employees expected to just go buy a new car, or house, or boat because it is marketed as green? How many highly qualified and skilled people have they turned away because of this narrow-mindedness? I also wonder how this hyper-obsession has caused them to make poor decisions in other areas of their business.

Oh and it doesn't look like hybrids are making much improvement, check this out.

As the economy turns around, construction companies are preparing to hire again! In some cases, they will simply hire back the employees they had to let go, in other cases they will have to start over.

Deciding between hiring a candidate that is a strong fit with your company culture or a candidate with an impressive skill set can feel like a no-win situation. So, don’t put yourself in a situation where you need to choose! Instead, change how you think about announcing your intention to hire and the hiring process.

When a company hires for culture they do so based on chemistry, personality aspects, drive, and other key elements that make working at the company desirable. The lingering question throughout the interview process ends up being “Will they fit in?” People can learn the skills necessary to do the job, but if the person’s personality is not a fit, they will not remain with the company.

When a company hires for skill, they are trying to ensure that the new employee is ready and able to do the job from day one. Here, the lingering question is “Do they have the past experience to help us achieve our goals?” Skills alone are not sufficient and are all that can be determine from a resume or application. A potential’s techniques and standards still need to be considered to see if they are at the same level as your company’s and how they will work with other employees.

Balancing the two approaches is not easy and normally results in one of them out weighing the other—usually with skill out weighing culture. The reason is because skill is easier to prove while most techniques to assess personality and thinking patterns are illegal and unreliable at best, to use during the interview process. This is normally the case until a system or technique custom to a company’s culture is identified and implemented.