I was at my gym the other day and ran into the owner, a friend of mine. He normally didn’t do a lot of work there, choosing wisely to delegate the coaching and training and teaching to talented fitness trainers. His bigger challenge was being short-staffed in the other areas such as sales and running the register. Which was why he had to come in on a Friday morning. And he wasn’t happy.
“I have a hard time finding qualified people to come in here and work,” he replied. “And when I do find someone, they don’t show up on time or seem to have any initiative.”
When I pressed him on how he finds talent, he told me posted his job openings on Facebook.
“It just amazes me that some of these people have videos of themselves working out hard but when they work here, I can’t get them to do anything,” he lamented.
Which brings us to one of the most common mistakes managers make in hiring or promoting…The dreaded Halo Effect.
The Halo Effect happens when one aspect of a person’s performance is so amazing that we neglect to evaluate other parts of it. It happens not only in hiring, but evaluating current employees. Here are some examples:
- We laud the employee who shows up early and stays late but fail to recognize they do so because they goof off all day.
- We praise the employee who is technically competent but can’t seem to communicate with members of their team.
- We allow the brilliant brain surgeon to keep operating at our hospital in spite of the fact that his operating room demeanor is inappropriate and is driving off our best talent.
So how do we avoid this?
- Look at the whole person. The first step is to NOT check a candidate’s social media. It gives you a flawed picture since nobody posts info about themselves that reveals weaknesses. If you’re not careful, what you find could raise some subtle red flags which may or may not be true but could land you in hot water if you don’t hire the candidate and they feel they’ve been discriminated against.
- Take a look at yourself. What are your biases? Do you value employees who show up early and stay late? Do you value high competence and have lesser value on interpersonal relationships? Anything that’s unknown to you could be impacting your decision-making.
- Take your time. Don’t be in a rush to hire or promote. Take time to vet candidates carefully and use a team of people, plus of course your HR business partner.
The Halo Effect can affect all of us. Now that you know about it, be on the lookout for it as you evaluate talent!