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Business ManageMent Profiling isn't just for the FBI In today's competitive labor market, employers need to take advantage of every possible tool they can find to give them a "leg up" in the hiring pro- cess. Here's one that my clients find useful. The Federal Bureau of Investigation has been using a forensic technique called "profiling" since the 1970s. It "is a system…used to detect and classify the major personality and behavioral char- acteristics of an individual based upon analysis of the crime or crimes the person committed." Essentially, the crime scene investigator analyzes the scene of the crime(s), gathers pertinent data, and works backwards to the perpetrator of the crime. Turning this process around, if you want to hire an irrigation service technician, you would first identify the personality and behavioral traits that are desired in such a person. You would want them to be organized, a problem solver, methodical, thor- ough, etc. Interestingly, irrigation service technicians fit a profile fairly well. Let me give you a specific example. The process Several years ago, Mike Warden, president and CEO of Garden- shop Nursery and Landscape, Inc. in Sparks, Nev., had more commercial installation business than he could handle. He told me that he could double his production volume overnight if he had five more crew leaders. He was thinking of utilizing some of his irrigation service technicians as crew leaders. As I reflected on conversations with many other CEOs and their experiences in similar situations, I realized that placing a good irrigation ser- vice technician into a crew leader position would probably not work long term. That's what I told Mike. He'd be putting a square peg in a round hole. For a short period, it might work. However, long term, no one would be happy, and his converted technicians would probably eventually quit and move on. The profile of a good irrigation service technician is very dif- ferent from that of a crew leader. The service technician needs to be meticulous. He/she also needs to enjoy figuring out a techni- cal problem and implementing a solution. Needless to say, this person must be thorough and very analysis driven. The challenge of racing against the clock or a deadline does not turn his or her crank, so to speak. On the other hand, good commercial installation crew lead- ers are thorough but deadline driven. They're like a quarterback running the two-minute drill in a tied ball game. Production is their main emphasis as they race against the clock. The service technician is more like a place kicker, lining up the ball, checking the wind, etc. He has all the time he needs to make one kick but he has to get it right — the first time. Think of it this way. Would you want your bookkeeper to be your primary sales person or marketing manager? Probably not. Nor would you normally want someone who is good at sales and/ or marketing to do your bookkeeping. If your company is doing more than $3.5M in sales, you prob- ably need a controller. Because I've worked with more than 100 such companies, I already know what the successful person in that position looks like. This person is very neat, organized and thor- ough. The controller loves working with numbers, is financially responsible, punctual, has excellent written and verbal commu- nication skills, maintains a schedule, is very good managing four to five people, probably has an accounting degree, presents him- self/herself well, is loyal, is more a manager than an entrepreneur, drives a car that is very tidy and clean, and roughly 80 percent of the time is a woman. Would you find your successful brain surgeon doing late- night stand-up comedy routines? In most cases, while possible, ■ by JaMes Huston 24 April 2015 Landscape and Irrigation www.landscapeirrigation.com Image ©Istockphoto.com/IsmagIlov.