The Masters
When I was a relatively young man I did not value and respect the physical attributes, skills and demeanor it takes to be a good golfer especially if you want to reach levels of even the worse golfers participating in the venerable Masters Tournament in Augusta, Georgia this week. In fact, my wife never fails to remind me how I used to make fun of the many golfers who in their beer packed buggies foolishly tooled around courses all over my native Florida in 90F plus degree weather. (Real “Caddy Shack” the movie material!) Consequently, I have become one of them and golfed in over 100F weather in Georgia. So, the joke is on me! Since, I took up golf relatively late in my life (about two years ago) I now look back and wonder how much I missed in what is truly a challenging sport and how much I could have learned had I been trained and enlightened in my 20’s rather than my 50’s. Nevertheless, the enjoyment is not less because of my belated entry into the sport as I “bloomed” so late in life. The enjoyment is in fact wonderfully rewarding every time this body manages to move just right and hit a perfectly placed drive.
I started thinking about the foregoing in conjunction with the need to hire for an open procurement position in my organization. I weighed the benefits of hiring a person who I can train in the way “we do business” versus one who is already trained. I am lucky in that I can consider mentoring someone or just having someone step right into the position. Like in golf, if you start young you may develop bad habits on your own that no matter how hard you try to correct just feel too natural to fix. You may have had success with your bad habits intact. However, how much better would you be if you could adopt new and more effective habits? A very experienced person with private or public sector experience may bring bad (and good) habits and practices to the job. An inexperienced person may never reach the caliber of procurement person you expect. Quite a dilemma! So, how to manage this dilemma? I find that beyond the actual person’s work experience and education, knowing that they have been exposed and have accomplished a professional certification gives me a tremendous positive feeling that they will be able to succeed and be effective in the job. When the candidate speaks as we speak, thinks as we think, analyzes as we analyze and presents ideas accordingly and consistently, this provides us with the initial level of assurances that the candidate will be a virtual success in the work. Hopefully your agency has bought into the whole idea of professional certifications. Hopefully, you are in an environment that encourages professionalism and maintaining such with ongoing training and education. If you are concurring with these statements your success rate in hiring staff should be great. Even though hiring someone who you can mold and mentor into the professional ranks is a rewarding and worthwhile way to approach the hiring, you must get assurances from the candidate that they will pursue in a defined timeframe the certifications that will give you those warm and fuzzy feelings alluded to above. Failure to do so means moving on to another candidate even though it means time and money spent. Rather to “cut your losses” than be saddled with an uncommitted or inept employee.
Leaving cynicism at the door, it is my hope that whoever is considered for hiring minimally has the strength of certifications behind them. But more so, it is hoped that the person has internalized what it means to be a certified professional and the tremendous responsibilities that go along with such a designation. Alternatively and minimally, when hiring an uncertified individual, the establishment of specific milestones relative to achieving certification is imperative.
Happy Hiring!
Rey Palma
Georgia Building Authority
Atlanta, GA - 4/11/14