There are lots of resources out there for hiring. Software, research, webinars, metrics—you name it, people offer it. But, what about good old fashioned intuition? Today we’ll hear from Lynn Robinson on the topic.
by Lynn A. Robinson
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Finding the right person to fill a position often turns out to be the most difficult part of a manager’s job. Whether you’re an HR staffer, a headhunter, a department manager, or a CEO, you’re going to run head-on into the same problems that all seekers of the ideal candidate encounter.
Credentials: Gotta check ’em out. References: Should you track ’em down and grill ’em? Accomplishments: How do you find out if they really were responsible for a new product’s success?
And after you’ve slogged your way through the “easy” stuff, you’ve still got to conduct … The interview. Will the “real” person sit down across from you? Will the perfect candidate be “off” that day?
Or worse, will the wrong one be really on?
Fortunately, there’s a way to lighten the load, ease the stress and, ultimately, make a choice that works for everyone involved … Including you. How? Hire your intuition. A white paper by Greg Moran, CEO of chequed.com, points out that hiring on gut feel is just as critical a part of the screening process as any objective tool.
Whether you call it a “gut feeling,” an “inner voice,” or a “sixth sense,” intuition can play a real part in people’s decision making. Intuition is “quick and ready insight” and “knowing without knowing how you know.” As such, it’s not easy to study nor has it been easy to take seriously—until now.
No less an organization than the United States Marine Corps has concluded that intuition trumps data analysis in a battlefield situation. In fact, it was so convinced by what it discovered from an in-depth study, it made intuition a significant part of its official doctrine.
But, how does it work in situations that are less chaotic—and less dangerous—than a battlefield? It turns out that that a surprising number of top decision makers routinely use their intuition. You don’t need an especially active imagination to appreciate the immense value that accurate perceptions could bring to the hiring process. Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, states, “I’ve discovered it’s in facing life’s most important decisions that intuition seems the most indispensable to getting it right.”
First, though, you need to learn how your intuition communicates with you. Take a moment right now, and recall a time when you made a decision that went against what the data said, and it turned out to be positive.
Now, think back to a time when you made a decision that went against what your feelings said, and it turned out to be negative.
Try to remember the hints you got that led you to your decisions.
- Did it simply feel right? Or wrong?
- Did you get a “gut feeling” about your decision?
- Did your body suddenly feel heavy? Or light?
Tomorrow we’ll finish exploring this topic and learn how you can make sense of your past experiences combined with intuition to make good choices going forward.