Employees Adapting

When interviewing for a vacancy, you try to pick someone who fits the profile of the job and of the company culture. However, you have to put in mind that even if the person you are interviewing does not have all the personality traits needed, he or she may still change and adapt after joining the company. This change can be affected through an induction program made for new recruits.

We once recruited a guy who had terrible communication skills and was a hard liner, yet we still recruited him because we were in need of the technical skills he had and we were unable to find such skills easily elsewhere. So we recruited him knowing his communication and other related problems. A few months later, this employee did not of course turn into a first grade communicator, but at least he changed a lot. He started to adapt slightly after a few weeks of working at the company. Gradually with time, his communication skills started to improve as well as his attitude. Again I say he has not turned into a skilled communicator, but at least his communication skills have advanced noticeably. Although we did not provide him with communication skills training, yet a weekly seminar program in which each employee has a turn to deliver a seminar helped enhance everyone's communication skills. A note is due here, this employee was aware of the communication skills issue he had after we informed him of it and accepted it. Not only that, but he did a continuous effort to improve himself in this regard.

Sure I am not asking you to recruit people with poor communication skills, yet my point is that people can change with time specially if you guide them and put them in the right environment to help them change. When conducting an interview, you should look not only for current skills and traits, but the candidate's potential to grow and change.