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.