Why You Should Hire Employees You Can Learn From

Intellectual capital is a growing business’s greatest asset. Like all assets, however, it can be expended or lost. Companies lose intellectual capital through employee turnover, stagnation, and even promotions through the company ranks. The good news is that intellectual capital doesn’t have to depreciate like buildings or equipment; it can increase by hiring employees you can learn from.

If intellectual capital isn’t used and challenged regularly, it weakens, and if you don’t incorporate variety in your routine, it will cease to grow stronger. By hiring employees you can learn from, you are constantly learning new ways to execute or lead. This intellectual exercise will provide a new perspective on your strategic decisions and business processes.

Why New Blood Is Necessary

Hiring new employees you can learn from is critical to businesses for four main reasons:

• When employees are promoted, they become more involved in managing employees and contribute less intellectual capital. In addition, when employees are lost, their intellectual capital goes with them. Therefore, it’s necessary to replenish the intellectual coffers following turnover or promotions.


• Managers need to be challenged in order to experience growth and job fulfillment. New blood can keep leaders sharp by challenging the status quo.


• Your current business processes may not be as efficient as they could be even if “they’ve always been done that way.” New employees find holes in your business processes and provide solutions that increase efficiency.


• Hiring employees from outside your company’s industry can provide a new set of best practices for your business to consider and potentially implement.

How Better Employees Make Better Leaders

Additionally, hiring these kinds of employees can bring out three important qualities in a business leader:

• Patience: Even employees who have something to teach you will need to go through a period of adjustment. It will take some time for them to open up before you can expect them to provide any knowledge. This can be frustrating for leaders who are ready to move fast, but it’s necessary to slow down, be patient, and teach.


• Humility: When learning something new, your current intellectual framework will be challenged, perhaps even to the point where you feel lost. For example, a new employee could recommend a CRM software to replace your current platform. There will be a learning curve with the new system that will make you feel like a new employee yourself.


• Hunger: New employees bring great new ideas, but they also bring a fresh energy to the office that can rekindle the staff’s drive to be successful. Seeing that you have more to learn can reignite your intellectual curiosity and give you a broader perspective to produce more informed decisions.

How to Use the Interview

The interview process is critical in finding employees who have something to teach you. Even if the interviewee doesn’t turn out to be a good fit for the company, asking certain questions can turn an interview into a personal learning moment. To find employees with something to teach you, try asking these three interview questions:

1. How did you accomplish that project? Too often, we’re worried about the accomplishments listed on an applicant’s résumé. Taking the time to ask her how she accomplished specific projects not only helps you gauge competency, but it can also shine a light on knowledge areas where your company is deficient.


2. Our current process for (x) is (y). How would you do it differently? Informing the candidate of one of your processes and then asking her how she would do it gives her a chance to highlight her knowledge base and creative thinking skills — and it also provides you with an alternative strategy to apply to your processes.


3. Can you tell me about your favorite leadership book or a new skill you’ve learned recently? Asking this question and making sure the candidate explains the concept will allow you to pick up a new morsel of information to incorporate into your leadership style or business process. It will also help you determine how invested she is in ongoing education and personal improvement.

Some business leaders might be hesitant to shift into a learning position because they perceive it as a sign of weakness or they’re afraid employees will circumvent their authority. However, the benefits far outweigh the possible drawbacks. You will improve a skill by learning something new, your employees will feel empowered through improving their quality of work and leadership abilities, and the overall strength of your company will increase exponentially.

via Business 2 Community http://www.business2community.com/human-resources/hire-employees-can-learn-0627733?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=hire-employees-can-learn