Personality Hires

There is a social discussion on Personality Hires. It started on TikTok and expanded to Instagram and LinkedIn. Personality vs skill-based hiring. Is this poor framing? Or is it part of a larger cultural issue? The discussion seems to be a false argument because great teams aren’t built on skill or personality alone. Yet an article on Forbes promotes the personality hire.

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UPDATE: 6/20/24 The Wall Street Journal published an article “Do You Have What it Takes to Be a ‘Personality Hire’?“

This episode is my response.

Transcript

The workplace is changing. For a long time, there’s been an overzealous, greedy, unethical, move fast break things, win at any cost, sleep when I die culture. The cost of this is the relationships and well-being of many for the profit of a few. We’re now seeing social corrections due to poor leadership.

My concern is the over-correction prompted by those with bad intentions. Those who seek to profit off of the demoralization and demise of the American work ethic. And individuals who out of ignorance and envy will go along and self-sabotage versus restoring integrity and respect by building healthy cultures.

Recently there was a Forbes article on Personality Hires. The social discussion started on TikTok and expanded to Instagram and LinkedIn. The discussion seems to be a false argument because great teams aren’t built on skill or personality alone.

I’ve never been an advocate for keeping a high performer with toxic behavior. I will also not advocate for a poor performer with a great personality. They both take away from a thriving culture.

This episode is my response to excerpts from the Forbes article on personality hires.

A personality hire’s function in a corporate setting is to provide all the jokes, banter and playfulness needed to “set the vibes,” which sometimes compensates for their perceived lack of skills or lackadaisical approach toward office attendance or punctuality.

Personality Hires

• Having a personality hire “set the vibes” for the team is absolving leadership of their responsibility in cultivating the culture.
• Why do people need to be entertained at work? We’re adults, not children. We’ve lost the personal satisfaction that comes with doing a job well. Is this due to a lack of purpose and vision?
• What undue stress is placed on the personality hire who is now carrying the weight of being the emotional support for the entire team?
• What impact does this have on team members who excel at their work, show up, and are on time? Does it show a lack of respect for their efforts and demoralize them? Do they have to pick up extra work to compensate for the personality hire?
• It’s not up to one person to “set the vibes” or define the tone of the culture. It’s a collaborative evolving effort. Leadership defines and cultivates the values. These are then exemplified and reinforced by everyone (team + leaders).

Skills can be taught, but likability and personality fit may be more challenging to instill later.

Personality Hires

• When likability becomes the focus then people will struggle with personal boundaries and being truthful. It creates codependency and resentment. We already see this in the workplace and its toxic effect on culture. People can tell when they’re being lied to and their respect for you diminishes. In the long-term, this harms the individual, the team, and the business.
• Hiring is more than skills. It’s also assessing for culture fit, work ethic, and values. You can do this with multiple interview conversations, including different team members in the interview process, and asking situational questions vs arbitrary questions “what’s your favorite” with no correlation to their success. It’s hard to fake what you don’t practice and believe.
• AI will be used more in the hiring process to find qualified candidates. How will AI assess personality? Will it use sentiment similar to how brands are assessed? Will this encourage people to be caricatures of themselves? Thus increasing the cognitive dissonance between how they are and how they portray themselves.

Unique personalities that click with staff and reflect corporate branding have a substantial business impact, especially when competent.

Personality Hires

• What does “reflect corporate branding” mean? Is this acknowledgment of hiring someone for their appearance? Or is this someone who would be ideal as a brand ambassador?
• In the viral TikTok video it shows the personality hire as a young woman. I understand there is a bit of comedy involved, but if Forbes is writing about it there is a fair amount of people taking it seriously. Women have worked hard for a place in the workforce and to now subject themselves to being a personality hire is a leap backward. And what does compensation look like for a “personality hire” especially when people are fighting for equal pay? Are all personalities equal? I’m being slightly facetious, but this opens up a lot of questions.
• Everyone has different personalities. This adds to the richness of the team culture. Excluding someone because they don’t fit a personality profile in the hiring process is short-sighted. It’s only through time and shared experiences that a personality is fully revealed.

There’s an interest in a person who can easily make small talk, schmooze with people and possess a sense of humor. If the employers involved in the hiring process can’t connect with the interviewee on a personal level, they may hold off on extending an offer.

Personality Hires

• I agree people who can easily make small talk, schmooze, and have a sense of humor are great assets. This is especially helpful in client-facing roles whether sales or service.
• However, if you’re hiring based on personality, you’ll get impersonators. Most everyone’s met someone charismatic and charming whose actions don’t match their words.
• Why isn’t there an emphasis on more candidates developing the soft skills necessary for interviews and most importantly relationships? Why are there social practices (screens) that encourage or reinforce isolation?
• Strong and healthy relationships play a central role in the success of many people and teams. How can you make this a priority for you and your team?

Personality hires are strong communicators essential to collaboration, planning and executing innovative projects and conveying messages to clients or stakeholders.

Personality Hires

• Strong communication skills are developed through practice. Everyone is capable of developing these skills. It requires engaging in conversation even when it’s uncomfortable, listening to understand versus respond, remaining curious and asking questions. Contrary to social media where many of us get caught documenting our first reaction and sometimes to our detriment.
• The reliance on emojis (I’m guilty here) and memes to communicate while fun is the equivalent of communication candy. The overreliance on ChatGPT and AI to write will only further the gap between those who communicate well and those who don’t. Writing is necessary for good communication because it allows you to sort, organize, and refine your thoughts.

They are typically the employees who remember and plan in-office birthday celebrations. They can recount personal details about you, like your kids’ names and ages or your favorite sports team. They’re not shy in doling out compliments and words of affirmation to their peers and are the ones who will rally everyone in times of adversity.

Personality Hires

• The details described in this quote are part of any healthy caring relationship. Encourage everyone to develop emotional intelligence and relationship skills. As a leader, you can do this through 1:1 or team coaching.
• Assigning emotional support to one person makes them the crutch and doesn’t allow others to develop the skills necessary for career growth and personal development.

People prefer to do business with professionals they trust and like. The personality will bring referrals to the organization.

Personality Hires

• Why is this assigned to a personality versus it being a skill developed across the business? If you want it assigned to a personality, then hire brand ambassadors. But if you want a competitive edge, then your entire team will develop these skills.

Leaders, I encourage you to be proactive in cultivating a healthy and thriving team culture. It requires effort like anything else worthwhile, but when you take an active role it’s so much better than having to be reactive. Especially in today’s climate where things change so quickly.