When hiring a new person we (the employer/manager) have certain expectations they are to meet, at least in our minds. But does the new hire know these expectations? Have they been listed out and explained in detail? Most of the time the answer is no, and I as a manager have been guilty of this in the past. This is why I know how important and fair it is to have clear expectations of a job position spelled out and a training program that will cover each of them.
The goals of the business when hiring should be to make the new hire a success in their position. To do this we must have the expectations of the position as stated above, but equally important we must be willing to nurture the new hire as they onboard with the company learning their position expectations.
But before the actual hiring happens finding the right candidate is number one and believe it or not “happiness” plays a big part in this search. When you are in the interviewing process it is important that you seek candidates that are already pretty “happy.” Below are a couple of questions that can give you good insight into your candidate.
What makes you feel the happiest?
What do you feel most grateful for?
What are the five top things you cherish in life?
If joy became the national currency what kind of work would make you wealthy? (I really like this one)
When you ask these types of questions you will be able to detect, most times, where the person is on the “happiness” scale. Recently, I did this with a candidate and when I asked what were the top five things she was grateful for she started talking about her family, her dog and her horses and her eyes beamed and she became excited. She then continued to talk about the things she loves to do and I could immediately tell she had a lot she was grateful for and I end up hiring her and have been very happy and so has she.
You may wonder why is the “happy” factor so important? It is easier to nurture and train happy people in their job tasks. It is a known fact that happy people work harder and are happier in their role if it is a fit for them. But mostly, happier people make the workplace happier and we all want that.
So the next time you are in the market to hire, remember the happiness factor makes a big difference for having a successful employee/employer relationship.
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