To that end, we will examine different aspects of the hiring process over the course of the coming months. Today’s element is determining job-related characteristics.
Characteristics: The Core of Mission-Based Hiring
We know that the key to a legally compliant hiring process is determining the skills, experience, and characteristics required for success in the position—and basing the entire hiring process around this information. Determining required skills and experience is usually pretty straightforward. Identifying which characteristics (or “traits”)—such as the ability to inspire/motivate, the ability to relate well to students and parents, the ability to build community—are most central to the job can be a more difficult matter, though. In essence, these characteristics articulate what the school’s mission, culture, and values look like in their finest form. They are legally compliant because they job-related— i.e., what is required for the success in this position at our school—and, as such, they are non-discriminatory.
How to Develop “Characteristics of Excellence” for Your School
A school has several options for how to develop characteristics of excellence for hiring purposes:
1. Top-down approach—The Head develops the list of characteristics and communicates it to the Administrative Team (and faculty)
2. Modified Top-down Approach—The Head meets with the Administrative Team, and the team develops the list of characteristics.
3. Committee or Faculty-Wide Approach—The Head and Administrative Team appoint a faculty committee and charge them with developing the list of characteristics; alternatively, this can be done on a faculty-wide basis (such as in a series of faculty meetings and/or in-service sessions.
Whichever method is chosen, the key idea is to identify the characteristics that are most pertinent to success at your school—and to communicate these characteristics not only to those involved in interviewing candidates, but all faculty members (as a way of reinforcing the importance of demonstrating these characteristics in the daily work of the school).
Once the characteristics are selected, they can be used as the basis for the remaining steps of the hiring process. We will discuss additional steps in the hiring process in future e-letters leading up to hiring season.
Please e-mail us if you are interested in receiving a sample Hiring Specifications Form, which helps schools organize their hiring process, as well as providing a list of generic characteristics of excellence, which can serve as a starting point for discussion.
