Non-Profits – Hiring passionate candidates is most critical to your mission, right? Not so fast…

We all know hiring candidates who are passionate about your mission is important.  But from what I’ve observed, non-profit managers get so focused on that aspect of hiring, other critical items fall to the wayside.  This can include skills required for the position, lack of any experience and/or lack goal orientation. 

I’ve seen the gung-ho volunteer hired into a position with no previous experience, and now they hate their job and have turned into a disgruntled employee.  Too often, I’ve watched non-profits just “settle” for a candidate because they believe in the cause and think that will cure all.

From my perspective, there is a continuum with idealism at one end and accountability at the other. 

 

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Idealism                                                                                   Accountability

Obviously, hiring people who are passionate about our mission is important for many reasons.  But to truly be successful in meeting our mission, being passionate and idealistic is not enough.  We must have high expectations for performance and goal achievement.  Hiring people who are intrinsically motivated and highly accountable is critical to success in our VUCA world. 

For Cenikor, the changes in healthcare are realigning our industry and our vision for the future.  For almost all non-profits, philanthropic giving has been on the decline for several years due to the US economy.  There are many items that influence how non-profits are always striving to do more with less.

So for Cenikor and our highly goal-driven culture, when we interview for any position, the questions to determine idealism or mission of service are certainly high on the list.  But we are truly just right of center on the continuum.  We spend more time during interviews digging into accountability and how the candidate took ownership in their previous positions.  Were they upwardly mobile in previous positions, striving to achieve?  What were the goals for their previous positions and how did they hit or miss?  Do they take ownership for both hits and misses?

Ask the right questions during the interview to make sure the candidate is bought into the mission; this is a foundation.  But if you want someone who is going to get into their position and make it happen, look for ownership, accountability and goal achievement.  In addition to the skills and experience for the position, those are key traits you will need to achieve your mission!

Feel free to drop me a line if you want more info about our interview process or questions.

I hope you have an opportunity to serve and make a difference today!

Kellee Webb, SPHR

PurposefulHR@gmail.com