The Case For Hiring People Who Never Seem Like They're Having A Bad Day...
May 23, 2011
You know the type I'm talking about. The person on your team (or around your team) who never seems like they're having a bad day. They're the perfect mix of not being negative or overly cynical, but not so sugar-filled that the enthusiam seems fake.
Theyr'e the real deal. They may have bad days, but they don't let it affect their service-orientation to the world around them - whether it's their customers, team members, bosses or family.
Consistent. Positive but not fake. Helpful. Authentic.
Last month we lost a cat named Sal. He was my boy. He had what I'm describing. Life goes on, and as unbelievable luck would have it for the Dunn family, it looks like we've found the same thing with a totally different type of hire - a Golden Retriever adoption named "Chief".
Below is a picture of Chief blocking my entry to the house after taking the boys to the bus stop for school. Note ball in mouth. He's been with us for a couple of months now, and even though he had to go through a restricted duty heartworm treatment when we got him, I'm not sure he's had a bad day. Consistent. Positive but not fake. Helpful. Authentic.
You know the type I'm talking about. The one who you want to hire.
Sal Dunn taught us how to hire right around our house.
An HR guy hiring a dog named Chief. What are the odds he ends up with a title?
Congrats on the addition, KD.
Posted by: Tom Logue | May 23, 2011 at 07:40 AM
I love the guy on my team you are talking about- you are so right- fetch is also great game- with a retriever- they were born to play it- congrats!
Posted by: Debbie Brown | May 23, 2011 at 07:51 AM
Congratulations - Chief deserved a forever home!
Posted by: Kathrobertson | May 23, 2011 at 06:52 PM
thanks for sharing with us hope you share more,hope you happy everyday! maybe we can become friend maybe you can visit my site http://www.soccerjerseysmall.com
Posted by: soccer jerseys | May 24, 2011 at 03:54 AM
I just lost an employee with these qualities to relocation - I miss her presence on our team every day.
Posted by: A Sad Manager | May 24, 2011 at 11:23 AM
One of my fellow Operating Cttee teammates and I follow the Dog Person rule - if you're a Dog Person, you probably will make a good colleague.
As John said: "You have 5 dogs? No wonder I like you even though you're an HR Guy...."
:) Vaya con Dios, Sal. Wilkommen, Chief. Blue, Buddy, Eddie, Lexie and Dofie say "Hi!"
Posted by: Joel Kimball | May 24, 2011 at 11:46 AM
I completely agree with this statement! The employee that can leave the bad attitudes at the door and bring a fresh, helpful, motivated, and dedicated perspective and feeling at work is professional and is a amazing presence to the work environment. It also relays a ripple effect of good attitudes!
Posted by: Leilani Ho | May 26, 2011 at 12:24 PM
Ok, so where is the rest of this article? Exactly HOW do we hire people who never look like they have a bad day? We all know that we want to hire people like this, but how do we identify them? Everyone is generally friendly in an interview, and what reference will tell you that the person is really awful when they have a bad day? So how do we know when we've found someone like this?
Posted by: Amy | May 31, 2011 at 09:26 AM
I have to agree with Amy. This is incomplete. Comparing people to pets. Most times the pets come out on top.
Posted by: Lynn G | May 31, 2011 at 10:35 AM
Chief can join my team any time!
Posted by: Karen | May 31, 2011 at 11:07 AM
As the employer, you can provide training to your little heart's content. But you'll get a big boost for those efforts if you can figure out how to screen-in people whose stable personality traits align with the job content and the interactive style that your business wants and needs.
Ritz-Carlton seems to do a fairly consistent job finding service-oriented people to bring into their organization. They're in the hospitality industry, upscale, and their facilities can definitely attract fussy customers. We live a few steps from one of their hotels, and I've known many of their employees. They take their service attitude and behavior seriously in the vast majority of cases. I was head of HR for 20 years in an S&P 500 company, so I know enough of the challenges of recruiting and screening to believe this is a significant accomplishment for the Ritz.
One of their managers mentioned some screening methods they have, which might be a topic for a follow-up piece. Even if they won't share proprietary interview questionnaires or the like, they might be willing to talk to Workforce about their overall approach.
Posted by: Geronimo | May 31, 2011 at 11:25 AM
Look for a healthy active person who loves life...........you will see it in their eyes.
Try a simple test around the office, when you are ask each morning.."How are you?"........Simply reply enthusiastically "FANTASTIC" and see the response you get.
Posted by: Graeme | May 31, 2011 at 05:24 PM
Sounds like you are talking about dispositional optimists, they are the people who are 'born happy'. Research has found 50% of our happiness is genetic, 10% is due to our circumstances but that 40% is under our control. In other words what we think, how we feel and what we do determines our happiness and success. Research has also found that optimists outperform pessimists on a variety of measures.
Some of the most successful organisations select employees based on various measures of wellbeing, such as gratitude, optimism, engagement and character strengths.
To read the business case for wellbeing visit our website(workandlifewellbeing.com).
Posted by: Vashti Wallace | June 01, 2011 at 08:32 AM
I do think employing the mentioned employes is definitely a wonderful impact to the company because it can influence other colleagues to be more positive , no matter where there is question, it can be positively regard to continuing professional development
Posted by: Joe | February 08, 2013 at 07:01 PM