When Hiring, What Would Warren Do?
Buffett, that is …
Friends, the Dallas/Fort Worth economy continues to be strong. In January, the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas reported that DFW employment grew 2.7% in 2016—more than a percentage point faster than the state at 1.6% and the nation at 1.5%. DFW unemployment is a low 4.4%, which is below the national average.
Great, right? Well, hold on.
If you are an employer in need of strong employees, it’s not so great. Competition is tight, and that makes hiring key positions and growing your business much harder. In fact, in an article entitled “Attracting Top Talent A Top Threat to DFW Growth,” the Dallas Business Journal made a sobering point – the tight employment market makes for a small talent pool, and the tenuous viability of our future workforce is one of the top threats to North Texas’ continued prosperity.
So, for employers looking to fill open positions, what is the answer? Well, in this case, we need to channel Warren Buffett. Yes, thatWarren Buffett – legendary investor, businessman and manager.
In his famous 10% speech which he frequently delivers at college commencement addresses, Buffett lays out the three things he looks for when hiring people: integrity, intelligence and energy. His thoughts:
- Intelligence is obviously the easiest of the three to identify. College performance, grades, test scores – these are all easy indicators of one’s ability. At some point, everyone you are considering hiring is intelligent enough to do the job. Intelligence is not enough in and of itself.
- Energy as defined by Buffett is “being someone who takes initiative.” A person who makes things happen. A person who is entrepreneurial. A person who is willing to work.
- But the most important of these in Buffett world is integrity. He stresses that an employee who does more than is asked, is honest and is generous, is worth their weight in gold.
So, if we are to subscribe to this theory, what does that mean for our hiring processes? In short, it means we have to think outside the box a bit more. If a candidate is smart, hard-working, and has integrity, it is worth taking a chance on them even if their skills aren’t exactly aligned with your job description.
Consider this: in the article entitled “Seek These 7 Character Traits to Avoid the Risk of Bad Hires,” the discovery of “hidden gems” by virtue of non-traditional hiring criteria is stressed. The story of John David King, COO of Fishbowl, was cited – prior to being hired, he had no prior experience leading a sales organization when he was hired 10 years ago. He did, however, have “heart, spirit and character.”
Something to think about, isn’t it?
So … don’t let the tight labor market get you down. Instead, ask yourself, “What would Warren do?”
We’ve been spotlighting and sharing helpful recruiting and placement resources for both our client companies and our employment candidates for years. Please use our search tool to find a topic relevant to your employment needs, or choose from our list of topics below.
Recent Posts
Categories
- Applying for a Job
- Career Change
- Community
- Creative
- Dallas Employment Trends
- Dallas Job Candidates
- Employers
- Financial Tips
- Finding Opportunities
- Fun For Working Moms
- General
- Hot Jobs
- Hot Jobs & Companies
- Hybrid Work
- Insights
- Interviewing
- Progressive Thinking About Non-traditional Hiring
- Re-entering the Workforce
- Recruiter Relationships
- Remote Work
- Reputation Management
- Resume Rules
- Staying Sharp Till You are Ready
- Time Management
- Tools to Know
- Uncategorized
- What We Love About Dallas
- Work-Life Balance
- Work-Life Balance Tools
- World
Tags
Archives
- September 2023
- August 2023
- July 2023
- June 2023
- May 2023
- April 2023
- March 2023
- February 2023
- January 2023
- October 2022
- August 2022
- July 2022
- April 2022
- March 2022
- January 2022
- October 2021
- August 2021
- July 2021
- June 2021
- May 2021
- March 2021
- February 2021
- January 2021
- December 2020
- October 2020
- September 2020
- August 2020
- July 2020
- June 2020
- May 2020
- April 2020
- March 2020
- February 2020
- November 2019
- October 2019
- September 2019
- August 2019
- July 2019
- June 2019
- May 2019
- March 2019
- January 2019
- December 2018
- November 2018
- October 2018
- September 2018
- August 2018
- July 2018
- June 2018
- May 2018
- April 2018
- February 2018
- January 2018
- November 2017
- September 2017
- August 2017
- July 2017
- June 2017
- May 2017
- April 2017
- March 2017
- February 2017
- December 2016
- November 2016
- October 2016
- September 2016
- August 2016
- July 2016
- May 2016
- June 2015
- May 2015
- April 2015
- March 2015
- December 2014
- November 2014
- October 2014
- September 2014
- August 2014
- July 2014
- June 2014
- May 2014
- April 2014
- March 2014
- February 2014
- January 2014
- December 2013
- November 2013
- October 2013
- September 2013
- August 2013
- July 2013
- June 2013
- May 2013
- April 2013
- March 2013
- February 2013
- January 2013
- December 2012
- November 2012
- October 2012
- September 2012
- August 2012
- July 2012
- June 2012
- May 2012
- April 2012
- March 2012
- February 2012
- January 2012
- December 2011
- November 2011
- October 2011
- September 2011
- August 2011
- July 2011
- June 2011
- May 2011
Categories
- Applying for a Job
- Career Change
- Community
- Creative
- Dallas Employment Trends
- Dallas Job Candidates
- Employers
- Financial Tips
- Finding Opportunities
- Fun For Working Moms
- General
- Hot Jobs
- Hot Jobs & Companies
- Hybrid Work
- Insights
- Interviewing
- Progressive Thinking About Non-traditional Hiring
- Re-entering the Workforce
- Recruiter Relationships
- Remote Work
- Reputation Management
- Resume Rules
- Staying Sharp Till You are Ready
- Time Management
- Tools to Know
- Uncategorized
- What We Love About Dallas
- Work-Life Balance
- Work-Life Balance Tools
- World
Recent Comments