The Art of Delegating the Hiring Process

In this episode of The Smooth Operators Podcast, Jordan Paris takes you on a journey to effectively replace yourself in the hiring process, an important yet time-consuming facet of business operations. Using his expertise as the founder of Zeus, a company that helps businesses build systems to scale and sell, Jordan breaks down the significance of "always hiring," and presents a step-by-step guide to delegate this critical role without losing the quality of your team. An essential listen for anyone seeking to build a robust and resilient company that can grow without their constant involvement.

1. Identify the Right Candidate: Choose someone within your organization who understands human nature, has high emotional intelligence (EQ), and can read between the lines. This individual should be capable of grasping social cues and must have an in-depth understanding of people.

2. Observer Phase: Allow this candidate to sit in on all your interviews for a few weeks. They'll learn from your process and understand how you evaluate candidates.

3. Note-Taking Phase: After observing for a week or a couple of interviews, ask them to start taking notes during the interviews. Show them how you usually note things down based on your hiring process.

4. Debrief Sessions: After each interview, have a debriefing session with your chosen candidate. Ask for their thoughts on the interviewed candidates before sharing yours. Discuss the positives and negatives about each potential hire.

5. Gradual Handover: After a few weeks of debriefs and note-taking, allow them to start conducting interviews. Initially, they'll start with screening interviews, then gradually proceed to top-grading interviews. You will still be present during this stage to provide guidance and backup.

6. Feedback and Corrections: Conduct debrief sessions post-interviews where they were in charge. Discuss what they did well and where they can improve. Guide them on how to read the candidates, what questions to ask, and how to decide on the next steps.

7. Independence: Once you feel confident about their progress and they've started conducting interviews as effectively as you, allow them to conduct a few interviews independently. Watch the recorded sessions to make sure they are managing the process well.

8. Evaluation: Review the conducted interviews and assess their performance. If they've handled the process correctly and effectively, they're ready to fully take over the hiring process.

Remember, the process requires significant handholding in the beginning, but the end result is worth it as you'll save a significant amount of time in the long run. Also, the hiring process document at https://ZeusOS.co/hiring can be a useful guide throughout this transition.

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