Selecting good employees has never been harder. You post your ads or hire headhunters or hit the networking sites, but you always end up in one of two situations: too much or too little. Either you can't find anyone you like who has the exact technical specs to manage production for your exotic patented widget or you have 742 resumes and cover letters, some of them in fancy printed pocket folders with photos and a CD, each demanding to be read and chosen for the next step. And for most people, that's just the beginning. Multiple interviews, behavioral questioning, homework assignments - all time consuming and none of them at the level of a Monk investigation follow the hours of marathon resume reading. It can turn into what seems like a full time job, with overtime yet, before you even narrow down to your final selection. Even then, can you really be sure you've seen enough of your final choices to know that not only will they work out but they'll actually stay with you long enough for you to recoup your time, effort and money?
Monk's growing popularity is due to viewers' fascination with his character's amazing ability to look at the little details most of us miss and then use them to profile, predict and, by the end of the episode, get the right person at least arrested, if not in prison. The fact that he's such an emotional mess that he needs a full-time nurse just adds to the character's appeal, reinforcing our belief that it takes someone with an almost super-human ability to read the hidden clues presented by the characteristics of his suspects.
Monk would agree: with having the right person in the right job using the right process, no one ends up feeling like either a prisoner or guard. Everyone gets the incentive they need and not necessarily what their teammates need, everyone feels valued and everyone wants to stay and be productive. So what would Monk do for your company if you could hire him as your staffing consultant?
You read the business journals so you're aware that every study done on "truth in resumes has concluded that you just can't rely on them. You read the advice about "behavioral interviewing and then you find out that all the career counselors drill their clients on how to beat one, or at least how their clients can cover up their more objectionable characteristics for the duration. And then you find out that you're supposed to do all these processes fair, equal and with documentation. Outsourcing to a country without a Department of Labor starts looking good to you.
Here are some of Monk's secrets that you can use when looking for the people you need to make your organization successful.
Learning from Monk
1. First, look at your organization in the context of its purpose, its reason for being. Monk looks at a crime scene that way, trying to analyze what happened. To really understand your organization, start by asking yourself what you are trying to accomplish. That is far more important than researching what kind of person most companies hire, what they pay them, how they write job descriptions, etc. While research and theory comes in handy, making assumptions before you select the right person for your job will give you a generic answer. In hiring, you may find an excellent person, but not necessarily one who will fit with your organization as it really is.
2. Second, consider whom the person you're trying to hire will be expected to work with on the job. Do you have everyone reporting to you? If you have more than a few employees, that's not the most effective way to operate. Monk functions as part of a team and there is one person who is essential to his success. That "partner is Sharona Fleming, his nurse, played by Bitty Schram. His style is to enthusiastically go overboard in just about everything; hers is to contain and shape what he brings out.
Together, they accomplish much more that either could working with anyone else. That is what makes their relationship come alive in the series and a great example of what can be accomplished with the right partners in real life. In one episode, Sharona takes a vacation and gets a friend to cover for her. It's the classic example of the less-than-perfect match. The substitute and Monk spend so much energy opposing each other that any synergy is lost in the struggle. Don't you want more than just a couple of people working together side by side? Wouldn't it make more sense to hire people who can pair up their talents to bring real value to the organization?
3. Third, consider what tools the new hire will need to be successful. The old stereotyped Sherlock Holmes was often shown looking through a large magnifying glass. While that was an appropriate tool for the detective of old, the modern detective such as Monk requires the latest in technology to really do the job. But even a brand new computer may not be enough for your new hire to succeed. Consider the episode where Monk, trying to get a speck of dirt off a keyboard, accidentally erased years of forensic records. What he really needed was automatic backup software. Understanding the strengths and weaknesses your new hire comes with will give you the clues to the particular toolbox that will get this new hire off to the right start.
4. Fourth, consider how you will motivate your new hire. This is not as simple as it sounds. Entrepreneurial people tend to believe either that creative work is its own reward or that more money will work for everyone. Monk is one of those "work is its own reward people, but for Sharona, it's getting the respect for her time and effort that's important. That's one of the tricky things about people who work well together. The same things rarely motivate them.
5. Finally, consider what is impossible to do, because that's really what you want to accomplish. Monk's stock in trade is figuring out how the seemingly impossible crime was executed. In one puzzling case, he is confronted with a man who cannot leave his bed but is suspected of a murder committed far away. Although there were two bystanders who swore they saw the man out of his bed and in the vicinity of the crime, eyewitnesses are often as reliable as, say, a well-constructed resume. Once Monk had all the evidence, with Sharona's help of course, he was able to understand how the seemingly impossible was carried out. Rather than insist on perfection and then be disappointed, take a deep look at the people you already have. Chances are, you already have a miracle maker or two, but they can't work their magic in the positions they're in. Are you willing to consider the impossible? Assessing your team for their preferred Roles is the first step.
Case closed.
Dr. Janice Presser is President of The Gabriel Institute, a professional services company and innovator in workforce management and assessment, strategic planning and training. TGI is the originator of Role-based assessment, a tool used for pre-employment screening, enhancing performance and preventing workplace conflict. TGI can be found on the web at www.thegabrielinstitute.com.
Dr. Presser has a broad range of expertise including individual improvement, behavioral assessment, adult learning models, interpersonal competencies, leadership development, HR management, strategic planning and conflict resolution. Trained in systems-oriented psychotherapy as well as research and development, she is the author of five books and is a frequent speaker on leadership assessment and development, customer service, motivation, HR and organizational development.
This piece originally appeared in Native American Casino magazine, January, 2005.
