What do you do? You have narrowed 50 resumes down to those who hit the mark. You then took the top 10 and invited them in for an in-depth interview. The selection team was able to narrow the field down to two people.
Now for the big decision… Who do you hire?
I actually had that situation several times in my tenure as a manager of an IT Service Desk. Here is a tidbit that I gleaned from struggling from this situation more than once.
It usually came down to a person who was very strong in technical skills and slightly less strong in people skills versus the opposite.
Honestly, my initial belief and practice was to go with the person with the strong technical skills since they would be able to provide better service in the way of a solution to the customer. But as I began to live with those choices, I was determined there must be a better way.
Several questions caused me to ponder:
“What are the elements of my staff that ensured success for the Service Desk.” Importantly, “What is at the heart or central driver to ensure that my vision for the Service Desk was met.”
With advice from my mentors, careful thought, lots of research, and a sincere desire to turn my poor customer satisfaction results around, I discovered the BVAKS model.
Below is a pictorial representation of the BVAKS model. I believe that it just might shed some light on helping you with your hiring quandaries.
As you view the model you see that the initials B.V.A.K.S. are the first letters of each level. First, “Beliefs” are at its heart. Meaning, at the end of the day,
everyone on the team must share, live and breathe the same beliefs. Without 100% buy-in then all other efforts are useless.
The model then progresses to Values, Attitudes, Knowledge and Skills. All of us would agree that they are all important. But this model places emphasis on their order.
This prioritization is the key to its validity. In short, Belief is #1 in importance, and Skills are least important. I didn’t say that they are not necessary. But if you are to drive your vision, then “Beliefs are at its center”.
What’s interesting is that we usually tend to evaluate people and assess lack of performance on their weak skills, poor knowledge, bad attitude or all of them combined? It’s true poor performance that manifest itself through these symptoms.
But at the heart of it, the employee has chosen to not align fully in the values of the organization and the belief of the vision. Hiring a person for their
values and beliefs takes you a lot further in the desired direction.
When I figured this out and embraced the BVAKS model, I was able to know with 100% assurance which person to hire. I went with the person who complimented my vision.
My customer satisfaction ratings rose and subsequently so did all other measured results. I finally had everyone on the same page. WOW! It’s amazing what happens when you get a method to your madness!
What’s your method to the madness?
Please share this post on our blog with others by clicking on one or more of the Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Email, or Google+ icons below. We appreciate you spreading the word friends. Thanks!
