Charles Scharf is not moving to San Francisco from New York for his new job as CEO of Wells Fargo. It’s one of the red flags that should make anyone question a new employee’s commment. Expect new employees to say they are committed. Be grateful when they demonstrate that commitment. Believe it when it is a part of who they really are. And mitigate those risks appropriately.
Commitment Levels
BRADT
Say – Interviews, negotiations, onboarding
Expect candidates for jobs to say they are committed during interviews. If you ask them and they blink or can’t back it up during your follow up questions, make them go away. And do make your first interview question, “Why would you want this job?” You’ll learn a lot.
What they say while negotiating a job offer will tell you more about their commitment. The point here is not whether or not they negotiate, but what they negotiate and how. What they say then will give you hints about their professional, financial and personal commitment per below.
Then, what they say before and during their start will tell you even more about their real motivation and commitment.
Do – Professional, financial and personal actions
The match or mis-match between new employees’ words and actions generally will reveal the truth about their professional, financial and personal commitment.
Professional Commitment
To understand their professional commitment, look at how they spend their time. This will range from those investing the bare minimum of time acceptable, waiting until day one to start anything and taking all the time off to which they are entitled to those doing the opposite: jumping in even before day one and then working longer and harder than others.
A second window into professional commitment is the optionality new employees keep. There’s a huge difference between the employee that burns all their other bridges before starting, and those that keep one or more board seats or consulting assignments they already had, to the person that shows up at an onboarding prep session 10-days before they start their new job and says,
“If I’d read more ahead of time, I never would have taken this job. It’s OK though, I just bought a franchise so I have my exit plan.”
Financial Commitment
What new leaders negotiate for and then actually focus on highlights their financial commitment. Those focused more on short-term salary are different from those focused on mid-term performance bonuses and from those focused on long-term incentives or equity. Many Private Equity firms expect CEOs of their portfolio companies to invest material amounts of their own personal net worth into the portfolio company. Like the bacon and eggs fable, they value committed pigs over involved chickens.
Personal Commitment
This is Wells Fargo’s red flag. People staying in hotels or temporary quarters are demonstrating different levels of commitment from those renting their own places, and different levels from those buying their own places, selling their other residences and bringing their spouses, children and potbellied pigs with them.
Be – Underlying happiness drivers
Happiness is good. Actually, it’s three goods: doing good for others, things they’re good at, and good for themselves.
The test is whether the fundamental drivers of the role match the leader’s underlying happiness drivers.
Those who care most about doing good for me should be in roles where they can maximize their own recognition and reward.
Those who care most about doing things they are good at, whether it’s artistic, scientific, or interpersonal should be in roles that optimize that.
Those who care most about doing good for others should be in roles that allow them to do good for the others they most care about.
The closer the actual matches, the higher the commitment will be.
Click here for a list of my Forbes articles and a summary of my book on executive onboarding: The New Leader’s 100-Day Action Plan.
