The JobSync Blog
Hiring the Brilliant but Disorganized Candidate
January 6, 2012
Confronting today’s complex job market is no easy task for recruiters and hiring managers. Many times, it seems that no perfect candidate ever applies for a specific job at a company, leaving the company in the position of having to decide which candidate they can live with if they are to make a job offer.
Which brings us to hiring the brilliant but disorganized candidate. Is such a person worth the risk, or will their lack of order result in so much chaos and disruptiveness that they will never thrive and drag their colleagues down at the same time? Recently, Forbes.com made the argument that hiring such an individual is worth it, provided companies manage their expectations and followed these four productivity strategies:
1. Hire the person an assistant: But not just any assistant – only one who understands and appreciates the working style of the person and is given the latitude to keep the individual on task.
2. Create firm boundaries for the assistant: Make sure the assistant is provided firm boundaries so that they are not pulled into the employee’s chaos and subsequently lose their role in keeping their boss focused.
3. Manage expectations: A brilliant, creative employee will invent and innovate for you, but don’t set yourself up for disappointment by expecting him to break his mold. Just accept, for instance, that they will probably not be detail-oriented and may therefore require more time to provide more facts and figures.
4. Foster a climate for creativity: When dealing with a creative personality, shoehorning such an employee into a specific role will often diminish the person’s creativity. Instead, provide an environment in which the individual will flourish and help facilitate his contributions with his colleagues.
Brilliant, no? So give it a try, and don’t mess it up!
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