Friday, May 11, 2012

Guide to Properly Assigning Newly Hired Local Government Employees

Correctly assigning new employees to positions they can excel in is critical for most organizations.  Legend has it, years ago local governments had a unique system they relied on to assign newly hired personnel. 

Though not used as much today as in the past, the system had some value that your HR departments or personnel selection committees might find interesting.  The system is simple to apply and relatively cost-effective to implement.  Best of all, it  generates outcomes that are easily understood. 

To understand the system, just follow the five steps below:

1.  Place  400 "new" bricks in the center of a large room.

2.  Invite potential new hires into the room.

3.  Once all the potential new hires are in the room, excuse
     yourself, tell them you will return, then walk out.

4.  Leave all the employment candidates alone in the room
     for at least four hours.

5.  When you return, analyze the situation:

*********    If any of the individuals:

     a.  Took the initiative to count the bricks, offer them
          an accounting or bookkeeper type position.

     b.  Counted, then recounted, the bricks, offer them a job
          in auditing.

     c.  Scattered several of the bricks around the room
         making it extremely difficult, if not impossible, to walk
         around the room, consider them for a position in
         your highway department or public works department.

    d.   Arranged a large sampling of bricks in some strange
         order that no one can understand, consider them for a
         position in your planning department.

    e.   Got frustrated while waiting for your return and threw
          bricks and shouted obscenities, they could be ideal
          candidates for openings in your operations or
          administration centers.

    f.   Are sleeping in a chair in the corner when you return,  
         they might work out extremely well in a law
         enforcement position.

    g.   Have broken a few bricks into smaller pieces and are
         now attempting to put them back together, consider 
         them for positions in either information technology,
         system information, or the budget office.

    h.  Are sitting idle and are not engaged in any visible
         activity you can see, offer them a position in human
         resources or facility maintenance.

    i.  Have taken the initiative to stack several bricks neatly
        into different combinations and are now deep in thought
       contemplating even more ways to stack the bricks
       differently, put them in community development.

    j.  Have left the room and cannot be found anywhere in the
        building, make sure they are placed in either parks and
        rec, land and water conservation, environmental
        services, or forestry.

   k.  Are sitting quietly and staring intently out the windows
       tapping a pen or pencil on their desk, consider them for a
       position in strategic planning.

   l.  Have not touched a single brick but are desperately 
      circulating around the room engaging others in pleasant
      conversations, definitely place them in economic 
      development.

  m. Have surrounded themselves with bricks in such a way
       as to create a wall barricade which makes it difficult for
       others to see or hear them, you may have found ideal
       candidates to fill top level management positions or
       senior level administration.