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06 (127-158B) chapter 6 1/29/02 4:51 PM Page 135

ManagingYour Team 135

IMPLEMENTATION GUIDANCE
In thinking through your own organization, you must answer two
key questions: Whom should we hire? And how should we hire
them?
To answer the first question, start with your business needs.
This goes beyond the basic job description. What is the most
important task that this person will be responsible for? Although
all positions involve numerous activities, assess the job using the
elevator test (described in Chapter 5), and boil the job description
down to a few sentences. For example, back at Acme Widgets,
you’ve been put in charge of the search for a new purchasing man-
ager for the Grommets Division. This person will be responsible
for ensuring, at the lowest cost possible, the delivery of the bulk
resins, intermediary plastics, and specialty polymers used in grom-
met production.
Devise a list of key attributes that relate to successful comple-
tion of the key tasks described in the first step. In the search for a
purchasing manager, you are looking for telephone skills, negotia-
tion ability, and a math or accounting background. Note that
familiarity with grommets is not on the list, as you believe that
Acme can adequately train the successful candidate in this techni-
cal aspect. You would have a harder time developing the listed
skills if they were absent.
Now you know what kind of person you would like to hire.
The next question is, how do you find the right person? You need
a plan that identifies potential sources and details the tasks and
resources required. For the Grommets Division, you decide that a
two-person team, Joe and Robin, will handle the recruiting effort.
They are to focus on recent math and accounting graduates from
the local community college, preferably but not necessarily with
some experience in manufacturing. They will also have a contin-
gent budget for expanding the search to neighboring counties if