3 lessons that HR professionals can learn from the EM

1. The approach to recruitment is of crucial importance

Much like in soccer, it is important to create a strong team of teammates who bring their own strengths to offset the weaknesses of others to create a strong team. Coaches take the time to seek out the best candidates for their team, and HR staff and managers should do the same. There are several ways HR professionals can improve their hiring process to ensure they are attracting and selecting the right candidates for their open positions.

"It starts with the job posting itself. Be sure to write a description that clearly describes the role and what is expected of it, and that outlines your unique company culture. Once you're at the interview stage, it's important to stay structured, focus on the most important aspects of the job and provide a consistent experience for all candidates," explains Dr. Ryne Sherman, Chief Science Officer at Hogan Assessments and co-host of the Science of Personality Podcast. These measures help HR leaders create a better list of potential employees and a clearer picture of them, so managers can be confident that their new team members are up to the task.

2. Team performance is crucial for success

Team performance is not only important for success in sport, but also for business success. It is often assumed that the strongest successful teams are the most cooperative, but effective teams also have disagreements. Take the case of Greece. Prior to Euro 2004, the Greek national team had never won a single game in an international tournament, yet they came out on top and successfully defeated nations with a strong track record in the tournament, such as Portugal (twice), France, Spain and the Czech Republic. "The true strength of a team is not how well it works together, but how it overcomes challenges and achieves success despite its struggles," said Dr. Sherman.

Several key factors lead to strong team performance, such as trust, mission alignment, results orientation and adaptability. Individual team players are essential to success, but members can only be successful if all parts of the team, from managers to team players, are aligned and pulling in the same direction. High-performing teams usually have clear goals, complementary skills, effective communication and a strong sense of responsibility. Managers and HR leaders can ensure strong team performance by hiring team players, providing appropriate training and development opportunities, facilitating communication and collaboration, assisting with conflict resolution, and rewarding and recognizing departmental successes and hard work.

3. Strong team building is crucial

A good coach knows how to assign roles that play to the strengths of individual players while encouraging them to work together. Luis Aragonés, the former coach of the Spanish national team, was a ruthless but very effective team builder. Aragonés laid the foundations for the Spanish championship in 2014, but after a long series of losses, he had to reshape his team and give new responsibilities to players who had previously only held backup roles. Similar principles can be applied to HR professionals and team leaders. "Motivational feedback is one of the best ways to get the most out of your team. Developing strategies that best suit the strengths of individual employees not only increases productivity, but also improves the morale of the team as a whole," says Dr. Sherman.

Team building can also help teams achieve their goals more efficiently, and an effective approach to team building has to do with personality analysis. Understanding the personalities of team members can help to ease tensions in the work environment and build closer working relationships. When team members build positive relationships, they may feel more comfortable sharing their ideas and solving problems creatively. This is an important step in building a stronger team and ensuring success across projects and the entire organization.

Source: www.hoganassessments.com