Hire for attitude, train for skills

What is the most important in a candidate when you recruit ; Attitude or Skills ?

Too often I see companies (small and large) looking for the perfect match. But does that perfect competence match exists ? 

Because of the high expectations many vacancies remain available for a long time. Ok, I agree, there should be some match between the candidate and the job vacancy, but I don't believe the match should be 100%. Most skills can be developed if the person really wants to. The right training, coaching and some investment can do a miracle. 

Attitude on the other hand is much harder to develop. An introvert will not easily turn into an extravert. A solo player will hardly become a true team player. A psychopath will most presumable not become little red riding hood. 

But still, many organizations hire people, based on competences instead of attitude. They believe they can change attitude by installing strict and clear guidelines. I don't believe this. 

Competence development costs time and money, but it is a truly good investment which results in motivation, long term relationships and personal & professional growth.

That's why I say : Hire for attitude, train for skills !

VOV Conference - Spotlight on Learning

Last Friday, I attended the VOV (www.vov.be) conference about Learning & Development trends. There were some really strong speakers like Herman Vandenbroeck (Vlerick Management School) and Jan Bommerez. I would like to share some of the ideas mentioned during the conference.

The beyonders :
What is a beyonder ? A beyonder is somebody who can make the difference. He has some strong characteristics like

• a strong vision and remaining authentic
• positive bias : dare to make mistakes, and learn from it
• stimulates different thinking and being : external auditors might make us follow rules and makes us think like everybody else in our organization. This kills creativity. I do believe his statement and luckily I've met some good auditors in the past who liked us questioning the rules to further improve processes. 
• has the courage to be a minority of one: create your opinion, think, advance, make the next step, be the sheep that steps out of the flock and try to convince other sheeps to follow you.
• has flow because he's working in his passion : remain authentic at any times.

Some nice quotes :

• when we are in a meeting, we should ask ourselves 'we are all expensive workers, but are we using our brain to the limit or are we waisting time ? If so, stop the meeting, get out and do something useful !
• Don't create an illusion of learning. We need more than talent. We also need discipline to make the next step and step forward.

About the meetings, there is a really nice youtube movie by DHL. Spread this movie in your company and you'll save tremendous amounts of money.

How can you make a caterpillar fly ? - Jan Bommerez

Jan gave us some really strong thoughts that made us think about how we could advance. What are our responsibilities. I would like to share some :

• The future will be soo different, that the most important competence will NOT be learning, but it will be how to forget what we don't need. 

I believe this. We are overloaded with information through all kind of channels. It will be a huge challenge to skip what we don't need and to discover the treasures in this huge mountain of information. 

• Being smart has nothing to do with positive thinking, but it has to do with HOW we look at things. Don't think in problems, but in opportunities. (Jay Abrahams)
• Be a prepared mind : always be prepared to see the unexpected. 

I like this quote. To me it means that out senses should always be as sharp as a knife. Don't expect the events to remain the same forever. Things could change. A low performer might improve one day and become a great performer. Believe in this potential.

• Organisations are killed because of the conversations that don't occur. 

This quote is all about assumptions. We think out colleague thinks something, but we've never asked him... Stop doing this. Be clear and communicate. 

To conclude

I liked the conference a lot. besides the two key note speakers, there were a lot of great people to meet and to share ideas with. Loved it, and I'll be there next time. 

Thanks VOV !

Are you a dopamine dealer ? - The power of compliments

How often do you receive a compliment on your work ? How often do you give a compliment ?

When I give workshops with groups to create a better and more positive work climate, I notice people don't give compliments to each other, although the have good impressions about each other. When I ask  them to give one of their colleagues a compliment, you see the person who receives the compliment start smiling like he has never smiled before.

What happens in our brain ?
When we receive a compliment, our brain gets exited and creates dopamine. This dopamine gives us a good feeling and improves our memory.

What can we learn from this ? `
Next time you see somebody doing something good, give him/her a compliment. Be sincere about it and observe what happens. You'll be surprised about the impact you can have on that person.

To conclude 
A while ago, a good friend of mine - Cris Van Cleemput - showed me this movie on youtube. Look at it and see what a compliment can do