Physicians and practice managers always want to hire the best. However, the most experienced and skilled applicant is not necessarily the most qualified. As professionals, we bring character and experience to the workplace and character is more important than experience. Skills can be taught; character cannot be altered. New staff members who have experience but aren’t dependable, unfriendly or don’t get along well with others are useless. Therefore, hire for character and train for skills.
Coaching Tip:
When hiring for character think of specific actions you require from your staff member for a particular position and then think of the root character trait / quality of the action.
Design a prototype of what your perfect staff member would look like: how they would behave, what qualities, attributes, characteristics and talents they would possess, what you would enjoy about this person, what would your patients enjoy most about this person.
Develop create questions or scenarios to discern if the job applicant regularly practices the trait and the action required for this position.
By asking for the impossible we obtain the best possible.
“Leadership qualities are a perfect combination of strategic skills and character. Should you have to do without one, choose the first.”
Norman Schwarzkopf