VALUES-BASED HIRING IN 2013

1. VALUES-BASED HIRING IN 2013 We have learned a lot in the last few years…

2. Layoffs and economic hard times. We are doing more with less, and cannot keep bad employees or bad colleagues. • Increased accountability in a field that has not had accountability. • School shootings have changed everyone’s awareness of safety. • Parents have become litigious. • Technology has changed everything we do—our work, our play, our tools, our accountability, our student behaviors and discipline… What was different about the last few years?

3. All departments/buildings have hired people that turned out to be duds, or even worse, big problems. • Many of us have been fooled by a glorious skill set or “the right training” to hire a person of low character. • We need to define up front and hire for what we need—what expertise, experience, character, and values. Hiring Lesson #1: We have been known to hire the wrong person.

4. Many of us have spent hours and hours of time cleaning up messes made by unqualified or low-performing employees. • Interviews should not happen until the background requirements are clear and candidates are screened for them. • We should not interview people who do not have the background we need. • If we want someone to climb trees, do we hire a squirrel, or train a horse? Lesson #2: We have been known to hire a person who does not have the background or expertise we need.

5. Many of us have been fooled by a charismatic candidate. • All departments/buildings have spent hours and hours of time cleaning up messes made by unethical employees. • We have to learn to screen for values and character in every step of the process. Lesson #3: We have been known to hire a person who does not have the values and character we live by.

6. We have used interview teams composed of—for all the best reasons--parents with no knowledge of education, students who select based on likeability, and colleagues with hidden agendas. • We have sometimes allowed people to hire their own boss. • There is a reason the boss is paid more! Let’s use our authority to hire well. Lesson #4: Our interview teams have been composed of people who know nothing about the big picture of the needs of the position.

7. Every year we hire 2 or 4 or 6 teachers in August or September, and regret the poor quality the rest of the year. Lesson #5: We have been known to interview a sadly weak pool in August or September because we did not forecast our needs.

8. We have to learn to become ruthless, discrepancy-spotting detectives. Lesson #6: We have been known to do blindly optimistic reference checks, asking only what we want to hear and avoiding the tough questions.

9. When layoffs or transfers happen, the transitions are not easy. • Principals are reluctant to accept their colleagues’ hires. • Principals are reluctant to accept HR’s forecasted hires. • Employees believe they can survive only in certain buildings and not others. Lesson #7: We have hired building by building instead of for the district.

10. It starts with the work—we, the employers, have to define what work we need done and what kind of person should do that work. The job description records that. • We have to create a strong rubric for each screening and each interview with the depth of expertise and character desired. • We have to articulate what attributes cannot be taught, and to interview for the vital attributes we CAN’T teach. • We have to articulate what skills/abilities an employee can learn after being hired, and commit to teach them. • We have to have supervisors interviewing as a group for employees they will all be happy with. • These things will be required. So how do we fix all this?

11. The Superintendent hire has done the work for us—our survey and our focus groups helped us articulate what Leadership Team knew all along……values matter! • We have to align all our hiring and reference checking and interviewing and monitoring and evaluating and disciplining along these values. How do we know what values we stand for and what character traits we need?

12. We cannot allow people into the interview pool who are not qualified per our pre-established definition. • We have to have a clear picture of the kind of path a person should have walked to get to the position. We have to screen for background before interviewing.

13. We have been practicing with various questions and look-fors since last year, and are zeroing in on the right way to do it. It will be mandatory to use the approved interview questions. We have to have an interview process that finds out character and values, not skills that can be taught. If we have already screened well for skills and background, then that work is done.

14. We have to stop calling references to say, “We think this person is so awesome!!! Don’t you agree?” • Instead we need to ask questions that ferret out any potential clashes with our values and any possible lack of skills. We have to be ruthless detectives when we do reference checking.

15. We need bosses to hire their subordinates. • We need administrators to jointly own employees. We have to have interview teams composed of several administrators.

16. Administrator’s Checklist: SSD Hiring Process • 2013-14 Interview Questions • You must use these! You have some new tools in Docushare:

17. We have had better and better progress each year as we have incorporated pieces of values-based hiring. Woo hoo! We have been changing not by 2% but by 70% per year! • When we get all these steps in place, we will ensure the best quality staff in every position. • Hooray!