The enthusiasm test

Would you enthusiastically hire someone again for a role?

I was listening to a recent podcast with Rachel Lockett and she asked the question above.

It is a great question to ponder.

I have worked in a lot of teams over the years and I have often asked myself who I would consider working with again. Even though I have worked with a large number of people, there is a small percentage I would consider hiring or recommending.

Sometimes it depends on the skill set of the individual, maybe it is too niche to consider again in future. Sometimes it is the way they communicate. There are a number of factors.

Then there is the word “enthusiastically” in the question. There is a difference between hiring someone again and enthusiastically hiring them again.

There are people in my last team who were great engineers and I would consider rehiring them in future but would I be excited to work with them again?

There are some where the answer is a definite yes and there are a few others where it now becomes a maybe.

Rachel goes a step further and says that when looking at your current team, if the answer is no for any of them, are they still the right person for the role?

That may sound harsh but it might be the way to build an exceptional team, either by replacing them or highlighting those that needs some support to develop.