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Hire on a WHIM

Four Qualities That Make for Great Employees

Garrett Miller
Dog Ear, 2010
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Editorial Rating

8

getAbstract Rating

  • Innovative
  • Applicable

Recommendation

Productivity trainer Garrett Miller shows you how to hire great employees by finding candidates with four must-have qualities that have little to do with skill and lots to do with their upbringing, background and attitude. The book’s writing style uses almost entirely imagined conversations between a hiring manager and his guru, but Miller’s practical advice about interviewing questions and techniques provides excellent guidance. getAbstract recommends Miller’s notions mainly to managers hiring young workers, but job-hunters can also learn important lessons.

Summary

Being a Better Hiring Officer

How much does it cost to lose an employee? You can measure the toll in time, money and distraction. Some estimates put the cost of training and preparing a new staff member at $200,000. To avoid unnecessary expense and turmoil, begin by doing a better job of hiring. First, examine your tactics when you hire. Consider the emotions you bring to the process. Do you embrace hiring as a vital role, or do you regard it as a distraction from more important duties?

How many of your staffers resigned this year? Why? Consider their reasons, and think about whether you have preconceptions that limit your outreach. If you know people who hire well, sit in on their interviews and take notes. To improve your team, make sure that each new person you add is stronger than the last and brings unique skills that the team needs. Maintain a list of possible candidates, and put hiring great people at the top of your list of managerial duties.

Don’t Give Up on a Generation

If a resigning employee was a recent hire from among today’s college graduates, you might be tempted to give up on this generation altogether. Generalizing about recent graduates...

About the Author

Pharmaceutical industry veteran Garrett Miller owns and runs CoTria, a “productivity training” company.

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