Don’t Hire Them

Hey everybody, Drew McLellan here from Agency Management Institute, this week, coming to you from Boston, Massachusetts. I just got off the phone with an agency owner and he was calling me because he has a key position that he has been looking forever to find the right candidate. And he interviewed someone today who, on paper, was spectacular; during the interview, answered all the questions just right. And so, by default, by everything that I just told you, he should be offering this person a job. But he called me and said, "You know what, Drew? I just have this weird feeling. There were a couple of things that were odd: where this person chose to be in the interview, what the Zoom background was, how this person was dressed, a couple of ways of how they sort of presented themselves that just felt off. And I feel terrible making subjective decisions around this when I need this key person and they look great, but I just have this nagging feeling that maybe I shouldn't offer this person a job." And here's what I said to him: "You absolutely should not offer this person a job. There is something about the person that your instincts, that how you read nonverbal cues, how you get a sense of someone is saying to you that this is not a right fit." And all too often, that intuition, we ignore that based on the facts in front of us. And I'm not saying the facts aren't important because of course they are, but they are not everything. You've been around the block more than once. You know your team, you know the kind of person that'll integrate with your team, you know your clients. There is nothing wrong when you get that weird spidey sense tingling that says, "Despite everything that I'm seeing, this doesn't feel right." 9 times out of 10, when you ignore that, when you are in a jam for a body and you hire somebody, even when they look great on paper, but you have that weird sense about it, 9 times out of 10, after you fire them or after they quit, you say to yourself, "I should have listened." So, what I said to him was, "Don't get on the other side of this and call me back and say, 'You know what? I should've listened.'" Listen now. I know how hard it is to hire right now. I know. And I know, when you find a candidate that seems like a great fit, that you are driven to want to hire that person. I totally get it. And you're right, the pickings are slim out there right now. But it is critical, especially for most of us who are small to mid-sized agency owners. The people that we introduce into our culture, the people that we infuse into our team, the people we introduce our clients to, they have to be more than technically good. They have to be the right fit and you have to feel good about it. You're not going to feel better about them after an interview. He said this person was great in the interview. They're engaging and answered all the questions exactly the right way, but there was just something off. You know what? That's good enough for me. Go ahead and do a second interview. See if it's still off. But don't pull the trigger and offer them a job, all right? Do not do that without double checking to make sure that your instincts, that Jiminy Cricket on your shoulder, doesn't show up again to say, "Uh-uh, not this person." Trust your gut. I've said it in a million videos about a million different decisions, but there's probably no decision where I am going to shout this at you more than when it comes to hiring. Trust your gut. I don't care how great they look on paper. If you have a sense that they're not a right fit, then interview carefully the next time around to double check that instinct. And if the instinct is still there, take a pass. All right? Hopefully, that's helpful. I'll see you next week.