A Talent Fit For Your Organization

Most companies do not know how to do find a “talent fit.”  And, here are reasons why:

1. They do not know the top six traits in order of priority necessary for a good “fit.”
2. They do not look for the important character AND personality traits of a top performer.
3. They have not been trained to use a best practice recruiting system: funnel process, skills, and tools.
4. They do not think about how fast people need to ramp up – and the aptitude necessary for success.

How do we find the traits we require for a high-activity salesperson (as opposed to a major accounts sales team)?
1st … Identify the top character traits: – Honesty – Personal Responsibility – Hard Work Ethic Next, know the top personality traits that align with prospecting, closing, presentation, and high activity.  They are: Goal-Orientation, Social Confidence, Social Drive

[For free, here’s a brainstorming process for determining the character and personality traits required for your sales position 1. Ask current managers, “What are the major changes in the last 1-2 years affecting sales (flip chart)?”  2.  “What are the challenges of the job position as a result of these changes (flip chart)?”  3.  “What actions need to be done to meet the challenges (flip chart)?”  4. “What will be the traits of high performance salespeople who can meet today’s challenges? in this position?] ”

2nd … Sourcing Methods … Find best sources for candidates most likely to fit the character and personality traits targeted.
3rd … Recruiting Funnel Process Stage One: Screening (resumes, by phone: 5-12 minutes, by email, references) Stage Two: Personality Profiling (with EEO validated CraftProfile see http://www.craftprofiles.com) Also, Oxford Learning Inventory for learning style (also see http://www.craftprofiles.com) Stage Three: Structured Interviewing (a interviewer-scored 100 point questionnaire structured to look for the character and personality traits)
4th … Recruiting Process Tools and Skills (all of which should work toward identifying the necessary character and recruiting skills)
– Phone screening scripts
– Resume screening skills
– Profile analysis
– Interviewing skills
– Matching sheets showing +‘s and -‘s with regards to character and personality traits desired

… Recently, we installed this type of recruiting system in a company whose industry is showing a 22% drop year-to-date in sales.  This company is presently 18% up year-to-date in sales, primarily due to recruiting more effectively right “talent fits” for their company. So, work at using the ideas you find helpful in the post.  And … Do GREAT.  Lance.