Last reviewed: 22 June 2022
By Diane Lightfoot, CEO, Business Disability Forum
When recruiting, we are wisely advised to focus on finding the best person for the job. But what do we mean by best?
There is a temptation to equate “best” with “most qualified”, “most experienced”, “fastest”. But is best always fastest? And what do we risk losing when we take a one-dimensional approach to performance?
Case studies
I was shown a case study recently – a fictitious one but one which could well be real. It was about Alice, who has a learning disability. Alice works in catering and is great with the customers but slower than some others in her team in terms of her output. Her manager is considering performance management. It is undeniable that Alice is not the fastest member of the team. But does that mean she cannot be the best? What about where best is kindest, most attentive, chattiest, friendliest? Where best remembers customers and makes them feel special or who looks out for others? I was thinking about my local supermarket and one of the checkout assistants whom I always choose if he is there – a young man with (I suspect) mild learning disabilities. He is always kind, polite and just the right amount of chatty (for me anyway). Most importantly, he is very kind and checks my goods out thoughtfully and exactly at my pace as I pack which I really appreciate (and thank him for). I get really stressed by the assistant who hurl the items down the conveyer belt seemingly as a competition to see how fast they can go (which it may well be, to keep them amused if they are bored). Their delivery may be faster than he is – but for me at least, it is certainly not better.
In December 2020, I appeared on Woman’s Hour alongside the brilliant CEO of Project Search. The subject was women with learning disabilities and she shared a story of one of their interns, a woman with a learning disability who – at the height of COVID lockdown – was in charge of dispensing the hand sanitizer to people entering a hospital. Was she the fastest? Possibly not. Was she going to make absolutely sure that EVERYONE had their hands sanitized? Yes she was. Because she took her job and responsibility very seriously and took great pride in it.
Future trends
The ultimate expression of “fast = best” is on the increase in automation where the fastest is likely to be a machine or computer. Robots will pick out orders from warehouses and pack them and drones will deliver them. No humans will be needed at checkouts as an app will automatically debit your account with items you walk out of the store with. Ever more sophisticated AI will answer queries online.
In the world where speed is king, the attributes that robots, AI and computers cannot perform (yet or ever) are the ones that businesses will value – or will need to learn to value. They include creativity, compassion, caring and connection. The person who might not be needed to checkout your groceries at all (that will be done digitally) will be there to greet you, ask how you are and be the human face of a brand or service that might otherwise be a soulless entity. They might also be the only connection you have with another human being that day. In this world, taking time – not acting at speed – could be a rare and treasured skill. In a race to fastest outputs, it could also become an important brand differentiator and USP – how you make the customer feel noticed, appreciated and valued.
Outcomes, not outputs
That world is (thankfully for this writer at least) a way off. But even now, when recruiting for a role, consider the holistic experience – the outcomes, not just the outputs. How will your customers or other employees feel as a result of your new recruit’s approach? What will their experience be like? How in turn will that affect how they think of your business?
Of course, the pressure on pace and speed of delivery is often not within the gift of any one business to change. It needs a re-education of customers, clients and inhouse teams to reset expectations and challenge what we mean by soon enough or in time delivery.
And that’s why at Business Disability Forum we have a campaign to #SlowDown and to question – why the pace? It’s a big ask – but meantime, we can all do our bit by really thinking – what do we mean by best?
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