Three Types of People You Should Never Employ
Choosing a new employee is never easy.
The most important asset at any company is the people that work there. Hire the right people, and your company will prosper. Pick the wrong people, and the workplace will become a place full of tension and negativity.
How can you tell which people will be a good match for your company, and which to avoid? Well, the following personality types are bad for any company. Next time you’re interviewing a prospective employee, watch out for these signs:
The Victim
Victims see every business crisis as a reason to complain about how hard things are for them. They don’t look for chances to innovate, or challenges to overcome. They think that everyone is out to get them, and they relish every opportunity to complain.
Victims also like to play the unfair dismissal card, so if you want to avoid problems, watch out for signs of victim personality issues in the interview period, so you don’t hire them in the first place.
The Nay Sayers
Nay sayers are another group that hates to innovate. They think that everything is pointless. They don’t believe that the product they’re working on will be a success. They think that they could prevent a crisis by giving up now and just following what the rest of the market is doing. Once in a while, they’re right – and they use those occasions as ammunition for every other thing that they don’t believe in.
If you want to achieve something great, avoid the non-believers. A passionate, driven team is far more valuable than a team full of drones.
The Know It Alls
This breed of employee has a good education, knows one subject, and takes far too narrow a view. They say “that will never work”, but unlike the nay sayer, they say it with authority. The problem is that the Know It All is not willing to learn anything new. Their failing is not one of apathy, it is that they view anything new as a threat. They’re worried that if they go out of their comfort zone, they will make mistakes that will ruin their reputation. So, to prevent a crisis, they stay where they are – while the rest of the world forges ahead without them.
A good company can survive the occasional business crisis. A good boss understands that when people try something new they will make mistakes. Failure proves that one idea won’t work. It doesn’t prove that all ideas won’t work.
To succeed in modern business, you need to find confident, skilled workers that are able and willing to try out new things. Encourage them to experiment, and support them when they try new ideas. If they fail, make sure that they know that the only failure that will be punished is a failure to try in the first place. Help them to pick themselves up and try again. If they succeed, share that success with the rest of the team, and use that as ammunition to encourage everyone to keep looking for even bigger, better things.
