What comes to mind when you hear the word genius? Wild white hair? A slight German accent?
Well, your bank or credit union doesn’t need to hire an army of Albert Einsteins to have geniuses work for you. Hiring geniuses means putting the right people in the right seats on the bus…and it means those seats give team members energy and fulfillment at work.
Here’s how to hire people who can be “geniuses” at their positions:
- Understand the Working Genius Model – Before you start hiring geniuses, you need to understand how they work. The Working Genius model, based on Patrick Lencioni’s book, describes the workflow like an airplane’s descent. At 30,000 feet, you discover problems or opportunities. At 10 feet, you’re pushing a project over the finish line. Different “geniuses” (strengths) correspond to different “altitudes” in the model. For an in-depth review of the model, it’s best to enlist a certified Working Genius facilitator.
- Chart Your Workflows – Once you understand the workflow model, it’s time to chart your own workflows! Make one for each department, noting what position matches what geniuses. For example, a marketing coordinator position may correlate to the geniuses of invention (creating new ideas) and tenacity (completing projects). Charting workflows helps you structure work within your bank or credit union while also showing what strengths are missing.
- Use the Working Genius Assessment – Have a job candidate take a Working Genius Assessment. The assessment will reveal what parts of the workflow increase (or drain) the potential employee’s energy. Their results will give you another tool to use when deciding if one position or another would be the right fit for them.
- Match Person to Seat – Do your best to match your new employee to a role accentuating their strengths. Keep in mind…there’s no role someone will love 100% of the time. But if you can put them in a place where they use their geniuses most of the time, they’ll remain happy.
- Measure Production and Fulfillment – The beauty of placing people in their genius roles is that it benefits the employee and the institution. Assuming you have the right person, the employee’s productivity increases when they do something life-giving. Besides checking productivity metrics, hold one-on-ones to see if they still love the work. Handling employee roles like this has the potential to kill two birds with one stone: productivity issues and burnout.
One more note: I said “assuming you have the right person” in the last point. Putting someone in the right seat doesn’t mean you escape the occasional toxic employee. This isn’t an issue with the workflow model; it’s an issue with the individual. You should continue improving your workflow, regardless of any bad apples that come along.
If you’re ready to get started, book a free consultation to discuss On The Mark Strategies’ Working Genius Productivity Assessments today!
