Human Resources 101
Most thoughtful businesses have a selection or hiring tool. The employment process somehow looks at the requirements of the job to be filled and try to match individuals who have the skills, interest and attributes necessary to perform the job in a very outstanding manner. This is probably the way all jobs should be filled, but I wonder if this is the way things are done in some very high profile hires we have been reading about.
To further prove the point that selecting the right people is vital to the success of any organization, just look at the firing of Mike Shanahan, the highly respected Broncos coach and General Manager. It’s apparent to most of us who follow the team that Mike’s dismissal was more because he had not made the right personnel decisions than the right coaching decisions. Somehow the defensive players he selected were unsuccessful and ranked near the bottom of the league in performance. It seems likely that our owner will select two individuals to replace coach Shanahan. One will select players and the other will coach them.
Another highly visible selection process involves our new US President. Of course, time will allow experts to judge the success of his picks. What seems clear so far is that he has tried to apply the business model selecting individuals who have demonstrated skills and achievements over pure political selections. He appears to be valuing pragmatism over ideological concerns.
Selection of the right team is perhaps the most important task any leader has. Many political observers feel that John McCain’s selection of Sarah Palin as his running mate was not the very best choice. Many viewed her selection as politically motivated rather than selection of the very best individual to replace the President should that become necessary. How one feels about this probably revolves around what they view the key Vice President accountabilities to be.
Other politicians have had varied approaches to selecting Senatorial vacancies in their states. In Illinois, it appears that there has been little concern about anything except “What’s in it for me?” Few would embrace this thought process. In New York it seems that the selection will turn out to be a popularity contest, again hardly the right model. Here in Colorado, I think the governor got the selection process right. He surprised everyone by selecting someone not even on the political radar. The governor told us that he believed that his selection was a person who had the correct attributes, personality and track record to play a part in helping solve the important problems facing our nation. Wow…what a concept!
