Overview
Game Changer Hiring recognises that technical brilliance alone does not guarantee success. Employees often fail due to poor communication, weak interpersonal skills, or limited adaptability. By shifting selection criteria toward traits like emotional intelligence, collaboration, and learning agility, organisations can secure true game-changing talent that drives innovation, growth, and long-term advantage.
Introduction
More than a decade ago, I led the human resources department of an engineering software company. The company was number one in its industry. All the engineers, including management, were brilliant and technically talented. Anyone in this field aspires to work for this company. We found and employed the brightest technical minds. They were truly game-changing employees.
After several years of pursuing and selecting exceptional technical employees, we encountered undesirable and disruptive workplace behaviours. Behaviours such as poor communication and interpersonal traits were common. These behaviours created situations that alienated coworkers or customers. Other counterproductive behaviours were also evident. Examples of these included an unwillingness to learn or work on a team. We also observed egotistical personalities that were not open to constructive feedback or change.
In a moment of overdue enlightenment, our management team realised that technical prowess did not equate to great employees. We agreed that deep technical expertise was necessary, but it wasn’t enough on its own. Our selection criteria and process had to be changed. This is when Game Changer Hiring was created.
Managers Search for the Best
Every manager has the same goal when they bring on a new employee. The goal is to select the best. The “best” are employees who thrive in their roles. Employees who add real value and rise to contribution levels that delight and amaze everyone. Undoubtedly, we can recite horror stories of new employees who turned out to be less than expected or complete disasters at work. What if all managers had a custom interview and selection approach that identified employees who are the next game changers?
Game Changer Hiring is a practical model that enables managers to assess candidates and their suitability for both the present and the future. Game Changer Hiring increases a manager’s ability to identify and choose the next game-changing employees for your organisation.
Gain Competitive Advantage through Talent
How would your organisation’s competitive advantage change if your managers were better equipped at identifying and selecting the best employees? Employees who bring increased productivity and profits, foster innovation and teamwork, and positively impact morale. What if your managers had a tailored selection approach that identifies employees who are the next game changers?
Employees for Now and the Future
Game Changer Hiring is grounded in candidate traits and dimensions that truly determine success for present-day and future needs. The Game Changer Hiring model enables competent managers to select candidates who not only possess the requisite technical skills but also have the specific success factors that work for the role and the company. These factors include:
- The ability to effectively communicate ideas and concepts both internally and externally.
- Communication skills and a desire to impart their knowledge or expertise;
- The right interpersonal skills to work well with coworkers and in team-based environments;
- Interpersonal competencies to build relationships and trust even in diverse workgroups;
- Constructive attitudinal capabilities such as perseverance, conscientiousness, openness, and agility to tackle complex challenges;
- An attitude that brings positive energy and emotional intelligence to their work.
- The aptitude to always be learning and effect change for the better.
- An aptitude to learn from mistakes, self-correct, and continuously improve.
Why Employees Fail
Human resources professionals and astute managers recognise that employees must possess the necessary technical expertise. Yet, employees rarely fail in their roles due to a lack of technical knowledge. Game-changing employees who join with the requisite technical foundation can acquire additional technical skills to augment their existing knowledge.
The reality is that most employees don’t fail in their jobs because of their technical ability. They fail due to deficiencies in other capabilities, such as communication and interpersonal skills, as well as the deep-seated factors of attitude and aptitude to learn, grow, and adapt.
Shifting Our Selection Focus
Our selection processes do not achieve the desired results. Managers repeatedly make the same mistakes. The decision on candidate selection can range from the manager making a unilateral decision to a full post-interview debrief and evaluation. Even full debriefs can vary from a comprehensive post-interview discussion to a “thumbs up or thumbs down” exercise.
Our interview preparation and selection criteria are often flawed or weighted incorrectly, leading to the selection of the wrong candidate. Selecting the best candidates is achieved by shifting the focus to customised and correctly weighted selection criteria tailored to the company, department, and job-specific requirements. This shift in focus is key to employing the best employees – both now and in the future.
It’s Time for Game Changers
Companies fight to find and keep their competitive advantage. Competitive advantage is never guaranteed to last forever. Your differentiation is employing the next game-changing employees who will keep their companies ahead in the market. Game changers are competent, agile employees who excel in their current roles and in future roles that do not yet exist.
GameChanger Hiring selects the “best” by showing you the steps to identify company, department, and job-specific success factors, create distinguishing interview questions that elicit revealing answers, and finally, define the proper weighting of these success criteria.
