Autumn has most definitely set its foot into our doors, as we nestle in to our comfy homes with the roaring fires, it is not time to get comfortable but to stay sharp and on point, especially in the recruitment market place. Job vacancies are at an all time high, and as most businesses scale up at similar times and have immediate recruitment needs, now is the time to roll up our sleeves and understand what the market really wants and needs.

SEPTEMBER JOB VACANCY INSIGHTS

• In the week of 13-19 September, there were 1.90 million active job adverts in the UK, a new record high
• There were around 223,000 new job adverts posted in the same week – the second highest weekly figure since data collection began
• Every upper tier local authority in the UK recorded at least a marginal increase in active job postings last week
• Four out of the UK’s top ten hiring hotspots were in Scotland last week (REC Sept 2021)

ARE YOU AN IDEAL TEAM PLAYER?

As job adverts and the number of vacancies rise, and businesses look at scaling up, no-one has time or is willing to take a chance on anyone and waste time or money, decisions are being made slowly but surely. Candidates are looking for a company they can progress and feel valued in and clients are looking for their ideal team players to help grow their businesses. Whether you are the interviewer or the interviewee, you have to ask yourself would you hire you? Would you work with you? Being in the recruitment industry I have read millions books about hiring and what it takes to build a soul mate team, the best by far is the book by Patrick Lencioni – The Ideal Team Player.

The book identifies three virtues of an ideal team player: humility, hunger and smarts. These are not inherent traits, people are not born this way, but come to embrace these qualities through life experiences, work history or personal development. As Shanley and Massic learn in the book, it’s much more difficult to build an effective team when a team member lacks just one of these essential virtues.

Humility. Humility is the most important virtue of the three. Great team players, Lencioni writes, don’t have big egos or concerns about status. They are quick to point out the contributions of others and generally don’t seek attention for their own. They define success collectively and not individually. People who are not humble are unable to be vulnerable or build trust and are incapable of engaging in honest conflict.

Hunger. Hungry people are always looking for more. More to do. More to learn. More responsibility. They rarely have to be pushed to work harder because they’re self-motivated and diligent. They’re always thinking about the next step and the next opportunity. People who lack the virtue of hunger won’t achieve results.

Smarts. In the context of teamwork, being smart is not about one’s intellectual capacity. Instead, smart team players have good common sense about people. They tend to know what is happening in the group and how to deal effectively with others. They ask good questions, listen to what others are saying and stay engaged in conversations. People who aren’t smart in this regard will create unnecessary problems, especially when involved in productive conflict and holding people accountable for their actions.

All three of these attributes are necessary for the ideal team player. If even one is missing in a co-worker, teamwork becomes much more difficult and sometimes even impossible. By conducting thorough interviews and selective background checks, Lencioni says, managers can have a high degree of confidence that the people they hire are team players. For best results, stick to a few interviewing concepts, which may seem obvious but are too often overlooked.

Here are a few:

1. Don’t be generic. Be specific in your questions about targeted behaviours and attributes.
2. Debrief each interview as a team – after each interview, talk to other interviewers about their observations.
3. Consider interactive group interviews, where you can get a real idea of a candidates behaviours in a real life environment.
4. Ask candidates to do some real work. See how people perform in real-world situations.
5. Don’t ignore hunches. Pay attention to nagging doubts about a person’s humility, hunger or people smarts, and probe further to understand them better. (Patrick Lencioni)

WHAT’S AN EMPLOYEE-PRENEUR?

It is evident that those who will succeed during these time are the ones who can pivot. They are agile, versatile and adaptable! Whether you’re working for a company or you are the senior within the business or in fact the owner, there is one type of person everyone wants to work with, and that’s the employee-preneur. What exactly is an Employee-preneur?

• An employee-preneur is someone who strives to be much more than what their job description requires.
• An employee-preneur not only knows the mission of the company, but lives it and promotes that mission in everything they do – both on and off the clock.
• An employee-preneur goes above and beyond what is asked. And is happy to do so.
• An employeepreneur understands the importance of not only advocating for but also protecting their company’s leader(s).
• An employee-preneur thinks of the company’s goals as their own and takes personal accountability for how the company performs.
• An employee-preneur doesn’t ask “what do I need to do to succeed?”. Rather, they want to know how they can help others succeed. (Dani Johnson)

To be an employee-preneur doesnt take any particular training, it is a mindset of “this is my company” together with a great positive and tenacious mindset.

It is time to take stock…what do you want from your team and how does that align with your personal and or business objectives? As we settle into Autumn, it really is time to go inwards and reflect; are you an ideal team player, would you hire you? And how is this coming across in an interview? Would you want to work with you, or for you? Trust me, if you are honest, the answers will surprise you as they did me. Wishing you a productive and reflective October, as we as use these few months to set the tone for next year and beyond.

Best Wishes,