When it comes to hiring new team members, there are a lot of things that you can do to help find the best candidate for the position. 

Having a solidly written job description, looking in the right places or enlisting the help of a recruiter and having well-thought-out interview questions that help capture the skills and weaknesses of the candidates will all make a huge difference in who you ultimately end up hiring for the position. 

But there is one often overlooked, but powerful secret weapon that can really make the difference when finding the right candidate for an open position in your company. And it all comes down to personality.

Personality Matters

I want to be clear here that when we talk about personality I don't mean a "personality hire." Not everyone on your team needs to be a people person, who can have everyone laughing over the water cooler. In fact, that is likely a horrible idea for productivity.  

If you are hiring for a computer programer or a bookkeeper, for instance, they don't need to have a bubbling, outgoing personality because they will likely never talk to any of your clients or customers. Everyone on your team doesn't need to be charismatic. 

What I mean here is that the personality of the new hire needs to mesh well with your team as a whole. Because finding the right fit for your group can make a big difference in the productivity and overall satisfaction of your team in the long run. 

But how do you go about knowing if they are a good fit? My secret weapon is to have someone sit in on the interview that knows the team dynamics well.

For my company, that's our COO. She has been with the company for over fifteen years and has seen the good and the bad when it comes to our team. 

She knows what type of personality fits in well and who would struggle to find their way. So, I have her sit in on interviews to get a feel for each candidate. She can usually tell within minutes if they would be a good personality fit or not. 

And by using this method, we usually do a really good job of hiring people that mesh well with the rest of the team. So, I want you to think about your own staff and look for someone that would be a good fit for this task.

If you are a small business, this could even be your spouse if you work together or someone else on your leadership team. 

The main thing is that the person needs to have a good handle on how you work. If you have teams, then you may need someone that fits this role in each team, so think about what this strategy would look like for your business. 

Hiring someone that possesses the hard and soft skills you need, along with a personality that meshes well with your team is a recipe for success. So don't overlook this critical element in the hiring process. 

Inc