Skills vs. Personality

You can picture the scene, human resources is interviewing for a machinist. A guy with a great resume comes in - heís got experience and skills that should fit right in at your organization.

You hire the guy but soon you realize that he doesnít have the patience or tenacity to be a set-up guy. He gets bored running production. Heís not much of a problem-solver and he takes too many cigarette breaks.

What happened to that bright star? How much time, money and emotional energy is spent in searching for ideal employees? How can we avoid hiring the wrong person?

I recently ran across a study highlighted at Forbes.com that discussed reasons why new-hires fail. Being in CNC training, I immediately thought of all the manufacturers and machine shops that live the scenario described above.

The study by Leadership IQ suggested that new hires do not fail because of a lack of technical skills but because of personality issues. Interviewers admittedly do not take into account personality traits that might make a new hire easier to work with and easier to mold into the role required by the company.

I would take this one step further; in most situations when hiring machinists letís ignore technical skills all together.

Skilled and experienced people are hard to find anyway and when you do find one, personality traits may make it impossible for them to fit in.

Thatís why I believe it is better in the long run to hire on personality. Skills can be taught and knowledge can be instilled in someone who has the right attitude and aptitude to fit into your organization.

OK - so youíre going to take personality into account when hiring - what traits will make a good machinist?

Iíve been working with a large manufacturing company, providing CNC training for their machining staff. Management is developing a template for hiring based on personality. This company already believes in training and building skills from within, now they want to develop a system to help them hire the right person the first time.

Theyíve started by looking at the existing personality tests (like the Myer Briggs model) and formulating a list of character traits that are shared by those who are successful in machining. Of course each shop and each person is different, but successful machinists generally share similar qualities.

The Myers Briggs model asks a series of questions and divides people into 16 personality types. This is fascinating reading but we need people specific to manufacturing.

I believe it would be interesting to develop a system to identify those who would make good machinists. This would be a two-step process. First, identify traits that make a good machinist and second, test for those traits during the interview process.

Based on my experiences Iíve started a short list of qualities that most machinists seem to possess.

A good machininist:
• does not want to be stuck behind a desk
• is not afraid of getting dirty
• enjoys mechanical challenges
• can manage emotions with the ups and downs of shop life
• and of course- works well with others

Unfortunately for every "bad" new hire youíve invested time and money that youíll not get back. When a new hire leaves in a huff or is released from the company, emotional costs add up as well.

The key to hiring is to hire the right personality and then train them; as we say, you can train skill but you canít change personality.

Iíd be interested in your opinion. If you have additional machinist personality traits Iíd be pleased to hear them. Please contact us at info@cnc-training.com, please put "machinist personality traits" in the subject line.