5 reasons to conduct your job interviews on a Concept2 rowing machine

Have historical hiring strategies failed you in your ability to identify the right talent?

Have you ever thought you just made the hire of the century only to find out that your hiring process really didn't identify the right characteristics for the position?

In my twenty year career as a Lumberjack (seventeen of which I was a hiring manager) interviewing for specifically skilled tasks that the consistently proper execution of literally kept the applicant alive. These are the top five charactersitics that with acumulated experience and wisdom I settled on in the order of their importance

• Grit
• Character
• Preparation
• Coachable
• Initiative 

Your top five may be different and surely contextually relevant to your business and/or industry, and certainly my chosen list is prioritized by being applied into one of the most dangerous industries in the world? 

Whatever your chosen field, heres a novel idea that I have come to realise as a fitness instructor, could be the key to unlocking the characteristics you're looking for in an employee.

Try this strategy the next time you put out a position vacancy.

"Candidate needs to demonstrate an ability to row 1000 meters on a Concept2 rowing machine"

Radical?

While running is the doyen of exercise options for its convenience, the Bicycle (it could be argued) is the greatest fitness invention ever! The concept2 rowing machine is the rubics cube of fitness equipment. It can literally fit into the back of your car. "Tiny space, big workout". This machine could literally become the foundation peice for your corporate wellness program.

Lets explore each of the charactersitics I ended up trying to find in members of our team...

• Grit

The first thing you know for sure is that the applicant really wants this job.

In her book Grit, Angela Duckworth concisely and accurately describes Grit as "the power of passion and perseverance". Does the person have the ability to endure over the long haul? 

As a Lumberjack you had to work out in all weathers under intense production pressure and commit to handing off the product to the next phase of the production line in a way that constructively contributed added value to not only the quality of the product itslef, but also the superior performance efficiency of the team.

Can the person deal with adversity? How does the candidate behave under pressure? 

For some positions relative to the rowing example I might want to see an applicant go full blast, for others a more sedate pace would suffice as their choice might lead me into recognising traits of point two

• Character

The biggest question you should be seeking an answer to is, can the person fit in with the culture of your team?

If you already have people on your staff that passed the 1000 meter challenge, then the answer is probably a yes. Why?

A team generated common cause, a set of short, medium and long term goals, strategies and innovations that are being striven towards, written down and committed to is a unifying challenge that contributes positively to the process of winning. If this person is prepared to put themselves up for this type of scrutiny to go after an opportunity to work in your company, they are by definition expressing character and independent willpower. 

Undoubtedly the applicant is demonstrating an ability to cope with challenging and unusual circumstances. Lets face it, this is a unique approach! Yet by taking it on, I believe they all show something entirely separate from Grit...

An openness to giving novel approaches and solutions a go. This can often propel your business, product and/or service forward in a way never seen or even thought of before. Nevermind their ability to problem solve. Knowing they had this in front of them going in ticks that box and brings us to point three

• Preparation

Prior to turning up for the interview, did the applicant e-mail or call to ask such questions as, do you have a shower at your office? Will I be expected to complete the distance under a certain time?

Did they bring a towel with them? Did they come in the stipulated dress code if requested, with a kit bag for exercise clothing?

Your answers to these questions among many others that may emerge prior to, during and after the row will tell you a lot about where on a continueum of 1-10 the candidate sits relative to demonstrating an ability to first of all plan for this in a disciplined, logical, professional manner, but also how much ownership they show, or conversely how much leadership and training they may require for the proposed role. Which is the ideal lead in to point 4

• Coachable

Ideally you'd hire on the spot if the candidate answered all other questions perfectly, had done his research on the company and it's key employees, was dressed appropriately, polite and easily engaged around the watercooler, turned up early and blasted out a 3.20.

Healthy body, healthy mind. An applicant that has a fitness training ethic usually has a strong work ethic. This candidate however may have zero experience on a rowing machine.

As a professional person conducting hiring interviews your credibility and leadership are on display and are being scrutinized too. You have to be able to share credible research knowledge for the process and/or be able to demonstrate the technical and performance capability to complete the task yourself. Or of course be able to rattle off a killer time.

In the context of this premise you may even want to outsource this component of the hiring process.

If you go down this road you want to be a able to know in the case of a first time rower, did the candidate do any research at all about rowing a Concept2 prior to the interview?

Is that a deal breaker? Perhaps not.

Maybe they blast it? Maybe they struggle valiantly and excitedly? Maybe they were confident enough to ask the right questions and accurately execute the answers?  

Bottom line is. Are they coachable?

• Initiative

Once you've established answers to all of the above, at this stage of the interview process you'll have critical insights into the necessary elements of courage and tenacity and by default the candidate should have demonstrated a level of initiative. How?

They applied for a challenge and thats uncomfortable, yet rose above the eccentricity of the process to take it on in the hopes of landing the job. 

It could be argued that if they neither researched rowing nor asked questions about expectations for this part of the process prior to the interview, brought a set of clothes, a towel, were resistant to technical coaching, nervous and unsure, then initiative has not been demonstrated.

The big question you need answered here is ultimately that with leadership through the induction and training phases do you see the candidate being able to work at a high performance level unsupervised and that if/ when they require assistance are they accurate, decisive and concise in their search for a solution, did they exhaust other avenues before consuming other resources and can they take direct communication? 

My premise challenges the paradigm of interviewing process and posits a new approach that can arguably propel leadership management and hiring process in business franchises into the elusive high performance bracket.