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The kind of people and/or partners
required heavily depends upon the business venture that you
decide to start, and the location where you start the
business.
Joining Owens Corning accelerated my
ability to evaluate, select, develop and deploy talent. The
day the security guard stopped me and questioned why I was
entering the building changed my life tremendously. That
interaction and my response led to a conversation with the
VP of Industrial Security and an introduction to the leader
of OC’s corporate diversity team.
After that conversation, I was asked
to become joined the corporate diversity council (CDC). As a
member of OC’s CDC I was exposed to a variety organizational
development and design strategies. Moreover, I worked
closely with the Director of Staffing that was charged with
expanding OC’s recruiting efforts to attract additional
diverse talent.
Additionally, I was fortunate enough
to lead the team that developed the framework for a new
corporate mentoring program.
Finally, the CDC afforded me an
opportunity to engage with and learn from experienced human
resource executives. I eventually attended an executive MBA
program at the University of Toledo where again, additional
learning was obtained from interaction with talented,
professional classmates and organizational leadership and
development thought leaders such as Dr. Simonetti and Dr.
Longenecker.
OC provided me an opportunity to lead
a variety of engineering projects that required selecting OC
personnel and partner engineering firms to work with me on
several projects. Again, veteran senior engineers took me
under their wings, mentored me and improved my technical
evaluation and partner selection skills. Today, I continue
to use many of the methods that I learned from them.
So what do I look for in potential
employees? I like to hire talented people who have drive and
display the initiative to win. I prefer to hire employees
who have open minds and know how to work with diverse teams.
I look for employees who have good computer skills that know
how to use Excel, Word, PowerPoint and other applicable
business software.
Moreover, I prefer to hire people who
like to improve their skills regularly by attending
development courses and obtaining additional degrees. Also,
I like to hire employees who like to solve simple and
complex problems. Finally, I have a soft spot for people who
are hungry and folks who have a variety of great skills but
have not been provided an opportunity to show them. Those
people typically appreciate the opportunity and ride and die
with you to the end.
I will conclude the series next month
with a detailed overview of the process that I use to select
strategic partners. Have you ever used a QFD?
To be continued in Part XI - Entrepreneurship – Who should
you partner with or hire?
Entrepreneurship – Who Should You Partner With or Hire? -
Part IX
Entrepreneurship – Who Should You Partner With or Hire? -
Part VIII
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