HOW TO HIRE PEOPLE FOR THE FUTURE OF WORK

You may have heard in the media a discussion around getting ready for the ‘future of work’.  You may also be aware that AI (artificial intelligence) is all around us, from Siri in the background of your iPhone, to Google Home developing ever more sophisticated ways of analysing data and coming up with solutions that will soon make many people redundant from their jobs.  

Other trends include offshoring, which is already impacting on large volume-low value transactions such as basic accounting, and
basic PA tasks.  

All of us are well aware that entire industries that required sophisticated skills and competencies (we’re thinking developing negatives to photos as one example) no longer exist.  In short, when we look around, we can see how quickly automation and AI can replace so much of what people currently do.

So what does it mean for you in your business? It means that focusing your hiring on specific skills and competencies of a particular job that meets how it’s done now, might mean you’ll end up with people who aren’t ready to face the future.  

Let us give you an example – think printing.  

Fifteen years ago, businesses printed everything. Remember letterheads? Remember sending your clients personalised Christmas cards by snail mail? (and the term “snail mail” didn’t exist back then). Most organisations used to have a large amount of printed collateral, including bog-standard business cards. These were the days before people became environmentally-conscious and the rise of the ‘paperless’ office.  

Of course, many small businesses didn’t have access to professional-looking laser printers and needed to use print companies for quite a lot of their day-to-day printing needs –
for reports and other client collateral.

What happened to them all? Well, most of these printing businesses disappeared over time. But some are still around; they are, however, fundamentally different in how they do things.  

They may have established a niche market for bespoke business cards or provide cost-effective highly specified ways of printing short runs.  

They adapted, and they had the right people who were able
to adapt.  

The one constant

Change is a scary thing, few people like constant change.
But one thing about the future of business that will be constant, is change.  

When you hire people for your organisation, you want to make sure that the people you hire have a flexible mindset, and a willingness to adapt to change. 

This isn’t new of course, but not commonly practised. After all, it is much easier to reference check or test if the person has the right skill-set, than the right mindset.  

Skills after all, can be objectively assessed, whereas assessing a mindset is a more subjective process.

Those of you who have read some of our past columns know we like metaphors. Metaphors shape how we think about things. And in this case, how we think about recruiting.  

The industrial revolution gave us the metaphor of the production line. This meant people who knew how to do a small part of the job well, were relatively happy doing it and didn’t have to think too hard. Yes, initially many businesses did, in fact, have a production line and these skills and attributes worked for their employees, but this has changed dramatically over the past 20 years. However, many hiring managers and businesses still perhaps subconsciously hire people for a ‘production-line’ environment which will soon disappear if it exists anyway. 

What to look for in a new hire

So what should you look for and how can you make sure you’ve found it?  We believe there are three key things you should look for in a new hire – irrespective of your business (and we’ve worked with many business owners from very different industries).   

These are:

• A growth mindset. Someone who believes they can grow, change and adapt to different environments and different work demands.
• The willingness and capacity to learn. Someone who is curious, wants to learn new things about your business, about other businesses, and (this is important) has the capacity to do so.
• With few exceptions, gone are the days when it was a mark of stability and dependability if you stayed in one job forever. These days, you want to hire people who have done different things successfully.  
• A track record of successful pivoting. With few exceptions, gone are the days when it was a mark of stability and dependability if you stayed in one job forever. These days, you want to hire people who have done different things successfully.  

Yes, it is important that they are not flighty – one month here and one month there.  But, two to three years in one role with excellent references is an excellent indicator that they have the capacity to change and have a growth mindset. Ask for examples of where they’ve had to adapt on the job or taken on a role completely new to them. What happened? How did they go about learning the new skills required? What was the outcome? You can then reference check all this with previous employers. 

Next time you recruit for a role, any role, ask the person questions about their ability to learn new things and change what they do regularly. If you are hiring for senior positions, explore their ability to see trends; can they identify the most exciting developments that may be applicable to your industry, and when have they recognised patterns? What was the situation and how did it pan out?

You want your business leaders to be able to scan the horizon for the changes that are coming, and identify threats to your company. You want them to be able to lead for change.