Devoted to Managers and those that seek to improve their management skills

Bill Swanson

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Having a management team that flows and blends together, is one of the most crucial elements to business success. How can there be a close guarantee that they will fit in to the current team? How can we discover if they will be committed to build the type of culture that we strive to create and maintain? Here are a couple of thoughts to aid you in the process.

You've probably heard the recent comments concerning the "waiter test" that was commented on by USA Today concerning a book Raytheon (RTN) CEO Bill Swanson wrote called 'Swanson's Unwritten Rules of Management' (click on the Raytheon link to get the book free).

One of the techniques that can be used which is far better than any that I've heard of is what is called the "waiter test." It's just what it says: Take a prospective hiree out to dinner and see how they treat the waiter or waitress. That more than anything will determine the type of person that you are hiring.

What it measures is how they will treat someone when the boss isn't around. Everyone, for the most part, puts on the good front for the top executives and managers of a company. How do they treat others is what will determine the success of hiring a member of a management team.

Swanson says that he's never seen the "waiter test" fail: "A person who is nice to you but rude to the waiter, or to others, is not a nice person."

Jeff Cornwall says "You just need to create situations where people show their true character."

Whatever you want to hire for, think of the characteristics that are desirable in the hiree and then think of situatios where you can see that being lived out. Those situations, far beyond the interview itself, will reveal if this is the right person for the team.