At some point in your career, you’ve probably been interviewed by someone or have conducted an interview and immediately hit it off with that person. There were those things you had in common, you made light banter, probably had a few laughs,  and really, it didn’t feel like an interview but more like a conversation with a friend.

Done! Hired! Let’s celebrate over a beer, right? Maybe, but before you hire that person, consider what the outcome might be by hiring like-minded individuals.

It’s natural to want to be around people who you bond with and share similar interests and values, including in the workplace. However, in doing so, you may end up with a staff of mini-yous that have the same reasoning process, similar ideas and won’t challenge the norm. You could lose out on differing perspectives and creative problem-solving.

Besides what may be seen as potential discriminatory hiring practices and lack of diversity, hiring in your own image also means replicating your strengths and compounding your weaknesses. With a diverse team, you will likely have more creativity and innovation.  

That’s not to say that you should hire people that you don’t hit it off with just because they have a different background or experience. Fit is essential in every company and even more so in a small close-knit environment, which many breweries are.

Some companies purposefully hire their team by using various personality testing such as Myers & Briggs, to identify how each team member thinks and problem solves. While this can be helpful to know how the team works and that person A is analytical and process-driven while person B will jump right in to solve the problem, it’s not always practical. You may have better success by asking some situational questions during the interview to determine how they’ve handled difficult clients or situations in past employment.

So what’s the right balance then? Good question and really, the only one that can answer it is you as you know what’s best for your team. Being in HR for over 20 years now, I quickly learned early in my career to trust my instincts and if there was a nagging feeling about someone – even if I couldn’t pinpoint exactly why – they probably wouldn’t be a good fit for the team. When I ignored that spidey-sense and hired the person, I ended up regretting it for one reason or another. Hiring is a tough, tough job and creating a team with a good balance is the key.

Hiring your clone may or may not be great for your company but if you enter the interview process with the intention to bring in people who might have different perspectives, you’re ahead of the pack.

Post by: Lynn McIlwee