Avoiding the 5 Common Pitfalls of Managing Others - Part 3

Avoiding the 5 Common Pitfalls of Managing Others

The Managing for Impact Blog Series – Part 3 of 5

A Managing for Impact Participant Experience.

This blog series illustrates several best practices of being an effective people manager, as covered in our award-winning 5-part Managing for Impact development program.

Pitfall 3: Hiring the Wrong Candidate

I recall the excitement I felt at the prospect of interviewing and selecting the newest member of my team. There were five strong candidates who made it through to the final round of interviews. I liked all of them, but one candidate in particular stood out for me. For the purposes of this story, I’ll call her Clara. Clara and I attended the same university and during the first interview we reminisced about campus life and the little shops and cafés that lined the main street of our college town. And I discovered that Clara and I grew up just one town apart. We had so much in common and I just felt an instant comfort level with her. I was delighted to offer her the job – and she accepted!

At the time, I felt I made the right decision. Clara and I got along splendidly and she became my “go-to” person when I needed someone I could trust to jump in and get the job done. However, about six months into her tenure I began to receive complaints about Clara from her colleagues and from my own peers in other departments. People described Clara’s behavior as dismissive and, at times, condescending. I offered feedback to Clara about how she was being perceived and it appeared she took the feedback seriously. But, the complaints continued. What was most concerning to me was the gap between our defined culture and Clara’s behavior. We were proud to have a culture of respect and trust. Our firm’s leaders spent years embedding those values into the firm’s DNA. Clara’s behavior was in direct contrast to those values. In many ways, she was counter to our cultural norms.

In Managing for Impact, I was presented with opportunities to engage with other participants in the critique of my hiring practices. I discovered two important practices that I had not considered previously. The first was to allow Diversity & Inclusion to inform the hiring process. True Diversity & Inclusion starts far before the interview. Where we look for candidates plays a critical role in our diversity strategy. And once the candidate begins the interview process, I need to be clear about how to evaluate the candidate’s culture fit. The second practice was to move away from a unilateral decision-making process. Instead, I should invite a diverse group of my colleagues into the screening process and then work together to select a candidate. This collaborative approach to selecting candidates not only gives others an opportunity to play a role in an important part of talent management, but it reduces the likelihood of selecting candidates based solely on similarities with the hiring manager – another obstacle to diversity.

Coincidentally, Clara decided to pursue an opportunity at a different firm and I leveraged her departure as a chance to put some of my newly acquired learning into practice. I assembled a team of six of my colleagues, from various levels within the firm, to serve as the screening committee. I, of course, had my favorite candidate, but ultimately the team selected someone who was closer in line with our culture. His onboarding was far more effective than we were accustomed to, and I believe it’s because he had already established a connection with the members of the screening committee.

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