The Importance of Hiring the Right People

This week’s blog comes from our CEO, Claire Revell, as she talks about our new recruitment process, the importance of getting the right people on the bus and shares some exciting news!

The thought of recruiting can be thrilling, but for me it can also be somewhat daunting and cause hesitation. On one hand you need to expand the team, as the business grows, and that’s something worth celebrating. On the other hand, it can be a huge time investment, and if you have a small team it’s key to add the right people.

In the classic book Good to Great, Jim Collins says, “…to build a successful organization and team you must get the right people on the bus.”  If you’ve got the best people in the right positions, they will share their knowledge and experience and tell you what is needed. If you don’t have the right team, there’s a risk you’ll go nowhere.

It’s also critical that the new team members are the right fit for the existing team, for our Clients, and not forgetting that Team TutorPro is a right fit for them!

How Do You Get the Right People Though?

2019 saw a few team members come and go, for various reasons, but in Quarter Four I knew we were finishing up the year with the right people. I also knew that as we were welcoming so many new businesses to the Client Family, it really was time to recruit.

In Quarter Four 2019 I advertised for four new roles: Software Developer, Instructional Designer, Technical Sales Representative, and a Technical Support Specialist.

I decided to change the recruitment process quite dramatically, adding in several stages the candidates had to get through. This is quite common for executive roles, but I wanted it implemented for every role, at all levels. When recruiting in the US, the number of candidates applying can be extensive. It was no surprise to me when 84 candidates applied for the Tech Support position! 

• Stage One – When applying, the process includes a selection of questions. If the candidate provides an answer that is not what we’re looking for, that candidate is filtered out. Automated disqualification is a time saver!

The applications are reviewed and at this point some candidates may be disqualified. The remaining successful applicants are invited to continue through to the remaining stages. The key element here is that they have the option to disqualify themselves once they have been informed of what’s to follow in the next stages, and that’s OK. If they are not willing to invest their time at this critical juncture in their own future and in TutorPro, then I’ve saved my time and the team’s.

• Stage Two – Those who continue are asked to complete a set of simple tasks in one of our products, this is a 10 to 20-minute activity. It may be a Treasure Hunt in the LMS, it could be reviewing content and identifying errors that have been inserted, or perhaps a task-based assessment using Live Content Studio. This stage is to assess their attention to detail, technical capability, and competence in following specific instructions.

• Stage Three (Atlanta specific) – The successful candidates from Stage Two are then invited to a 2-hour group interview along with other candidates who have reached the same stage in the application process.  I join the group via a conference call to provide an overview of the Company and our product set, and they then have a series of questions to answer with my Business Development Manager, Nikki, and Technical Support Specialist, Xavier. Throughout the morning, the candidates have the option to leave at any time, disqualifying themselves. If they feel the role is not a good fit for them, again that’s OK and I’d rather know now! Stage Three concludes with an office tour and they are also expected to complete a personality test. 

• Final Stage – Following successful completion of Stage Three, they will be invited to a 1:1 interview with myself.  

With over 50 people applying for each position, we have now hired four new team members who will be joining us in the upcoming weeks, and we can’t wait to introduce them to you!

While some people I spoke to outside of the business thought I was a little “over the top” with the recruitment process, particularly for the positions that were not at executive level, I stand by my decision. I truly believe that the new recruits will be an asset to Team TutorPro. They each understand the company’s vision and I have no doubt they will fit in perfectly when it comes to team dynamics.

My recommendation to anyone managing a team: “Hire slow and fire fast!”

If you’d like more information regarding using Live Content Studio for pre-hire assessments, please get in touch!