Whether you’re Jim Masters in Omaha or Greg De Simone in Boston, every FocalPoint Coaching professional is called in at

 A strong team is the key to success. Indianapolis 500 doesn’t list drivers as individuals on their website, they list drivers as members of a team. Because without a team a driver is useless. Without a good team a driver might as well not race.

Part of the executive coaching business is to help your clients get the right team in place. Do that by helping them develop a solid and consistent hiring system. 

I have touched on sales team upgrades and on helping your client profile who they want on their team. Now I want to hit on the hiring process.

Define. The very first thing the boss needs to do is decide who he is hiring. Clarity, clarity, clarity – we do tend to go on about that at FocalPoint, don’t we?

If you are creating a system, job descriptions can be put in place way before a job is in need of filling: get every employee to write their own description. They have a better idea of what they do than anyone. Once your client has a job description you can work with them to tweak it into a profile that is up-to-date and relevant.

Recruit. Recruiting can be overwhelming because of the sheer volume of the internet. Recommend your client use a recruiting company from your own resources; or work with the management to define a clear application process that will filter out all but the best. There is some terrific HR software out there that can help with pre-screening applicants. 

If at all possible, the person in charge of hiring should only have to look at the top ten applicants.

Interview. Brian Tracy recommends the “Law of Three,” when coaching a client through the interview process:

1. Interview at least three candidates.
2. Interview the leading candidates at least three times in three different places (a coffee shop meeting, an office meeting, a boardroom meeting – these will  give a much clearer picture of who is being hired).
3. Have three other people interview the candidate.

Check references. Anyone can lie. Often reference checking can be overlooked when an applicant seems so very right for the job.  Make sure your client puts the reference check—and that includes evidence of certificates and qualifications—as an absolute requirement before a job offer is discussed.

Speaking of references, FocalPoint Professional Business Coaching Certification comes with backing from Brian Tracy, myself and Steve. If you have what it takes to be on our team, and on our website, that’s a pretty good reference!