Now That You Have Your Passive Candidate, Listen to Joe Kennedy, VP of State Street Bank

I asked Joe Kennedy, VP of Technology, at State Street Bank about interviewing top passive candidates. This is what he had to say.

Flexibility and a positive attitude are the most important qualities to look for. Jobs change, environments change and having people who can change with the times is critical. A positive attitude makes for a positive working environment. People who are "happy" work longer, harder and produce better results than those with a negative attitude.

Even more importantly one negative person can bring down the morale of an entire department.

I have made a hiring mistake in my life - possibly 2. The tales are too long to go into... To correct the problem... Take every responsibility you have under you - write them on a white board. Bring the person into your office and state simply. Look things are not working out with you in this current role. Here is the extent of my responsibilities - please identify the items on the board that you both have an aptitude for and that you enjoy. This is my own method and although I don't have a masters in organizational development, it has worked for me every time. What I have experienced doing this is nothing less than amazing. Short story: I had a developer that wasn't working out - I did this simple exercise and she picked all the documentation/project management tasks which all my developers hated anyway - She was happy that she was contributing and had some say in her Job ( and that I didn't fire her ). My developers were happy because they didn't have to do the Project Management tasks or documentation any more and all in all my entire team became happier and more productive.

Lastly about attitude... The resource below is a power of positive thinking resource: if you have a person with a negative outlook on your team... recommend it to them... Even if they don't use it - you will get the point across...
Links:
http://www.uboodle.com/