Harvard Business Review HIRING Hire for Attitude, Train for Skill by Bill Taylor FEBRUARY 01, 2011 Ina recent issue of The New Yorker, Atul Gawande, the gifted writer and accomplished doctor, published yet another of his must-read accounts ofthe health-care crisis and the innovators trying to ‘change things for the better. One ofthe organizations he highlighted was a physician practice in Atlantic City, NJ., that has “reinvented the idea ofa primary-care clinic in almost every way.” ‘The Special Care Center does al kinds of things differently from other medical practices, including, ‘hiring full-time *health coaches" who work with the doctors but spend almost al oftheir time with the practice’s low-income patients, helping them manage chronic illnesses and improve theit Mfestyles. * How does the practice's leader, Dr. Rushika Fernandopulle, find the right people for these unusual (but critical jobs? “We recruit for attitude and train for skill," Dr. Fernandopulle told Dr. Gawande. *Weidottrecrut from health care. This kind of care requires avery different mind-set from usual care. For example, what isthe answer for a patient who walks up to the front desk with a question? ‘The answer is Yes."'Can | seea doctor?" ‘Yes.’ ‘Can I get help making my ultrasound appointment?” *Yes.’ Health care trains people to say no to patients.” that's an effective prescription for innovation! Over the years, as I've studied high-impact that are changing the game in their fields, they've adopted a range of strategies and “Sy business models. But hey ll agree on one core “people” proposition: They hire for ainude and wain for skill. They believe that one ofthe biggest challenges they face isto fill their ranks with executives _and front-line employees whose personal values are in sync with the values that make the ‘organization tick. Asa result, they believe that character counts for more than credentials, 2 Sr OH ARR ENT HOO RIO COMPO A CTS ~ =| ‘Th Scat sant etry SABRI LAD, ea Ue ay 2. Copy fosg an beret oy "pemaarsG@rtas harvard od 061771‘Arkadi Kuhlmann, founder and CEO of ING Direct USA, lias in ‘banking. Over the past decade, as he has recruited thousands of thas made ita point not to look to his competitors as a source of ‘energize an industry," he told me, “don’t hire people from that and then retrain them. I'd rather hire a jazz musician, a dancer, ora can Jearn about banking, It's much harder for bankers to unlearn their ‘The game-changers at Southwest Airlines, who have prospered for nearly 40 years by challenging business, have embraced the “hire for attitude” philosophy more intensely than any big organization I've encountered, Sherry Phelps, who spent 33 years at ‘Southwest, and, a8 a top executive in the People Department, helped design many of ts hiring, practices, explained the philosophy to me, conventional wisdom in the at ~The first thing we look for isthe ‘wartior sprit’" Phelps says. "So much of our history was born out ‘of battles — fighting forthe right tobe an airline, fighting off the big guys who wanted to squash us, ‘now fighting off the low-cost airlines trying to emulate us. We are battle-born,battle-tred people. ‘Anyone we add has to have some ofthat warrior spirit.” ‘That's one reason Southwest, much like ING Direct, is reluctant to filts ranks with industry veterans — people with the right skills but the wrong atitude to contribute tothe cause. When it comes to fight attendants or baggage handlers, Phelps and her colleagues prefer to recruit, say, teachers or ‘waiters or police offices (and often do) than grizzled airline veterans. “We would rather take an ce2ger, hungry, customer oriented mind and mold it to what works well at Southwest, than try to change the habits of someone who's come up through an organization that views life differenty,” shh says. That's not to say Southwest never hires refugees from the legacy airlines. But, notes Phelps, “tt doesn't happen as often as you might think: {nother words, the company evaluates talent based on the proposition that who you are as a person ‘counts fr as much as what you know at any point in time — and subjects prospective employees toa barrage of characte tests before they join the organization. Over the years, Southwest has elevated to something of a science the practice of identifying its star performers, understanding what makes ‘them tick, and devising interviews, group exercises, and other techniques to probe for those same ‘attributes in new employees. “We're looking for what makes you who you are,” Phelps says {Ws hard to imagine three more different fields than health care in Atlantic City, retail banking on the Internet, and airline service across the country. But Specialty Care Center, ING Ditect, and Southwest, ‘Aislines all understand that you can’t create something special, distinctive, and compeling in the ‘marketplace unless you build something special, distinctive, compelling in the workplace. And the ‘best way to build something special in the workplace is to hire for attitude andl train fox skill ‘What are the attitudes that define your best performers? And what ate the techniques you've devised 10 search for those attitudes in new performers? ‘edocs auc recat we Ue ety by SABINA TKADNAR, Poa ‘romania at May 2023 Copying post an wigan apy Tse es