I've nearly finished The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People audio book thanks to my 1/2 hour daily commute to work. As I've worked my way through it, it's occurred to me that the people we are trying to hire, the people that fit into our culture best, should embody at least the first 3 habits, if not more. We're looking for another employee now, so I figure it's time to translate those 7 habits into something tangible to hold candidates up against.
Habit 1: Be Proactive
According to Stephen Covey, the definition of proactivity is "more than merely taking initiative. It means...we are responsible for our own lives...We have the initiative and the responsibility to make things happen."
To our company culture, it compares to being a self-starter. We're looking for someone who looks at their job critically and asks "How can I improve this?" "What can I do to be more efficient?" "What can I do to serve the residents, the owners, my coworkers better?"
It also means looking at their job critically as it relates to the needs of the company. As a small company, we basically reorganize every time we hire a new person. (We're small. We're agile. We hire when the workload is too great, which means that someone passes off part of their work and takes on newer, more complicated responsibility. There's no 'this is my job and that's all I do' around these parts.) It means looking at all the tasks that need to be done and offering to do those tasks that best fit or complement the job already being done by that person as well as the skills that that employee brings to the table.
Being proactive also means not being reactive, not letting conditions affect you. Just because the weather is bad, or the person on the other end of the phone is having a bad day does not mean that you let it affect your mood or performance. As Covey says, "[Proactive people] are value driven; and if their value is to produce good quality work, it isn't a function of whether the weather is conducive to it or not." The other part of not being reactive is taking responsibility for your actions. I've seen too many employees whose attitude is "poor me, I can't help it. 'x' is the problem, not me." This victim mentality irritates me more than anything else. You may not be able to help the problem, but you have total control over your reaction - and that really is 98% of the issue.
Being proactive means having the ability to make and keep commitments as well as being conscious of areas of weakness and the need for growth (and the ability and willingness to act on that realization). Commitment keeping can sometimes be an issue, especially if the commitment is for something that takes a lot of time and energy over a long period of time. Generally, the issue has been the requirement of having a real estate license. If you break it down into smaller tasks to be accomplished, it's not that hard. If you look at the process over all, it can be overwhelming. Along with this, it's important that the employee be able to take a objective look at their performance and identify what areas need improvement. Oh, we'll do it for them, but it's much better when it's already been identified and brought to our attention during a weekly one-on-one or a casual conversation asking for help. At that point, the discussion then is about the solution - not the problem.
How do you find these characteristics when you are interviewing? Behavioral questions come to mind. Unfortunately, sometimes candidates can talk a good game and you can miss it. It definitely becomes apparent after they have been working for a little while, but that is an investment of time and money that I hope not to make when it's not going to work out. Sometimes it's a gut feeling and hard to explain.
Some questions I have or may look at adding to my interview set: (if they're already included, I definitely am looking for a different answer now!)
- Tell me about a time when you've noticed a shortcoming in your job performance. How have you handled it?
- You are responsible for x part of the leasing process. You notice that the rent ready process sometimes gets bogged down for x reasons. How would you handle it?
