Hiring and Firing

by Brian Tracy

Ninety-five percent of the success of any enterprise is determined by the people chosen to work in the enterprise.

When thinking through the job, ask yourself, “Exactly what specific, measurable outputs do I want from this new person, and what skills will this person need in order to accomplish these required outputs?”

Make sure that the job you are hiring for can be done by a single person. Be prepared to change the description of the job on a regular basis as you get more experience and more information about the job and what actually needs to be done.

Clarity is your best friend. The more clarity you have with regard to exactly the person you want to hire, the easier it will be for you to make an excellent decision later.

Companies that hire from the inside have the lowest turnover rates and the highest levels of productivity.

One of the best indicators of success in life is creativity. And one of the best indicators of creativity is curiosity. A good job candidate wants to interview you and learn more about you and the company.

A sense of urgency is a key quality of the best people, both employees and managers. John Swan, a personnel recruiter and headhunter, developed what he called the SWAN formula. In this case, the word SWAN stands for “Smart, Works hard, Ambitious, and Nice.”

PAST PERFORMANCE in previous jobs is the best indicator of what the candidate is likely to do in the future. Performance is everything. As Henry Ford said, “You can’t build a reputation on what you are going to do.”

Sigmund Freud, then one of the most respected intellectuals in Europe, was once in a situation where he had to make an important decision. He pulled a one shilling coin out of his pocket and flicked it into the air, catching it on the back of his hand. The person he was talking to immediately asked, “Are you going to make a decision as important as this by flipping a coin?” Freud replied, “When I flip a coin to decide yes or no, it is when the coin is in the air that I know the answer. When the coin is in the air, I know how I want it to land.”

“Opportunities and people for jobs are like buses. There will always be another one that comes along. You don’t have to run after them and you don’t have to worry. Always go slowly when you make long-term decisions.”

Don’t be reluctant to pay well for talented people. Excellent, highly productive people will contribute far more value to your company than you can pay them in salary and benefits.

The rule is that “everybody knows everything.” Everyone knows who is competent and who is not competent. When you keep an incompetent person in place, you are in effect rewarding incompetence. By extension, you are punishing the competent people who are working hard to do their jobs by paying incompetent people on either side of them.