Now that I have your attention, let me break it to you gently… There is no such freaking thing as a perfect employee! Got it? Stop looking for them! It just not going to happen, ever!
Now take some time and think about what you are really working to accomplish. First, you don’t want to hire some psycho that is going to destroy your org’s dynamics! And let’s face it, if you have hired more than a handful of people, you have probably hired at least one psycho.
Second, you want someone that doesn’t depend on their mom or their spouse to show up on time and that you don’t have to watch the clock with them. Got it – those are very basic requirements. And if you do so happen to accidentally hire one of these people, listen to your gut and let them go quickly.
Now that we have the basics down, you are really looking for a good fit. How do you know if you have a good fit or not, well that depends on if you have defined your org’s belief system (principles, values, aspirations or whatever you call them). I’m not going to go into how to do that here, but you should have them defined and you should construct cool questions that help you determine if the candidate is going to be a good fit for your beliefs. (if you are saying to yourself – “I can’t believe he just used the word beliefs, that is so no PC” – well maybe you should just go hire yourself a perfect candidate then and read someone else’s article.)
Lastly (I’m obvisously over simplifying this but my last point in this post), look for hunger! Look for someone that wants to do cool shit (because you are doing cool shit and that is why you want an awesome, not perfect, employee). Look for someone that wants to learn, that wants to grow and that is willing to do what it takes to be successful.
So it really comes down to four things: eliminate the psychos, eliminate the apron string suckers, look for fit for your beliefs and look for hunger! Then it’s time to invest in that employee and grow them into awesomeness.
