Let’s face it, I have said it once and I will say it again. We are in the people business. We talk a lot about our customers. We speak to understanding their needs, what motivates them and how we can best help them.  The other side of the coin sees us all operating businesses and having to hire people to help the plan in place succeed. Over the years, I have known many entrepreneurs, VP of Human Resources and countless corporate hiring managers investing thousands of dollars into tools to help make this process more efficient and successful. These tools, in the own way, are effective but I will never discount instinct as a very powerful tool in this process.

Hiring for skill and experience is the norm and let’s face it, finding a new employee with great skill is a good advantage.  Finding a new employee with awesome attitude is more than good — it is great.  Most companies have to re-train and re-orient new hires to the new culture they are joining. Although skill does play a factor in this transition, a good attitude makes the transition much more successful. I am not down playing the need for solid hiring processes, tools and people, I am saying in today’s new environment attitude is a quality trait, which can’t be overlooked.