In their book, “Who – the ‘A’ Method for Hiring”, Smart and Street identify critical competencies for identifying superstars or ”A” players. They recommend considering these competencies as you build the scorecard describing the position that you are recruiting for.
However, they also highlight that this is just a starting point. Every job has different requirements and every scorecard different outcomes, therefore the set of competencies needs to be tailored to the position in question and the culture of your school.
- Efficiency – able to produce significant output with minimal wasted effort
- Honesty/integrity – earns trust and maintains confidences
- Organisation and planning
- Aggressiveness – moves quickly and takes a forceful stand without being overly abrasive
- Follow-through on commitments – lives up to verbal and written agreements
- Intelligence – learns quickly
- Analytical skills – able to structure and process qualitative and quantitative data and draw insightful conclusions from it
- Attention to detail
- Persistence
- Proactivity – acts without being told what to do, bring with new ideas to the school
- Ability to hire “A” players (for leadership roles)
- Ability to develop people (for leadership roles)
- Flexibility/adaptability
- Calm under pressure
- Strategic thinking/visioning
- Creativity/innovation
- Enthusiasm
- Work ethic
- High standards
- Listening skills
- Openness to criticism and ideas
- Communication
- Teamwork
- Persuasion
What are your top 5 competencies for recruiting superstar teachers or members of your leadership team?
Jeff Smart and Randy Street in “Who – the ‘A’ Method for Hiring”