Wednesday, March 27, 2024

Be interested and interesting...


Nearly everyone I interviewed told me they liked working with people. Roughly 40% of them were stretching the truth.

 

·      Saying you like working with people, and doing that, are different.

·      Most people do - but those who don’t, can gum up the works.

·      Make sure you separate them accordingly.

 

During my tenure, we received nearly 4 million applications – it was our practice to meet and screen all who’d come in for an appointment; that resulted in approximately 3 million first interviews. It was time consuming, but we had a simple test to see if they were the kinds of people who didn’t mind being interrupted (since that's what happens all the time in any service business) – approximately 27% failed our little test over a 25-year period (they didn’t go any further in the interview process). The remaining 73% were the kinds of people who generally liked working with others (and the only ones hiring managers were allowed to interview) – they were open, curious, interested, flexible, and generally optimistic. That was our way of hiring for attitude. We ultimately hired 125,000 employees from that group during that period, all of whom thought that the nicest think about teamwork, and work in general, was that you always have others on your team. At your side. Creating a great community and culture. Create a workplace culture of open communication, appreciation, trust, respect, and a willingness to coach your employees. One that makes sure your employees understand the importance of collaboration, cooperation, and teamwork today.

 

Margaret Carty (1939 – 2021): American Naval officer who later served as the Executive Director of the Maryland Library Association

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