Bill Carroll on The Art & Science of Hiring, with Matt Solomon for CPA Trendlines

With Matt Solomon for CPA Trendlines
Bill Carroll, CEO of Hoops HR, reveals the three keys to smart hiring for accounting firms, in this conversation with Matt Solomon.
"We look at retention in really three key areas," Carroll says. "It's security for that person. A lot of that has to do with income, but a lot of that has to do with how they're treated internally as a person. How does the organization engage in conflict? How do they solve a conflict? Is there ultimately a resolution? There's a security aspect to that, and pay is just a portion of that."
"Care is another," Carroll adds. "Security plus care. We look at care as benefits packages or access to benefit packages. Then there's retirement and perks, which should really be aligned with your core values."
The third element is appreciation. "Appreciation will ultimately lead to retention. We all know that experiences drive beliefs, beliefs drive behaviors, and behaviors drive results."
 
 
 
 
Matt Solomon: Hello, everybody. Matt Solomon here, CEO of the Center for Enlightened Business. It is my honor, my deep pleasure and privilege to introduce everybody to Bill Carroll, the founder and CEO of Hoops HR. Bill and his team are on a mission to revolutionize the way that companies hire, and I can attest to the fact that they are absolutely doing that. Bill, welcome, man. Great to have you here and thanks for spending time with us today.
 
Bill Carroll: Hey, thanks for having, Matt. Excited to be here and spend a few minutes with you.
 
Matt: Me too, it's a privilege. I know you have a lot of knowledge and information, especially as it comes to hiring. Here's the deal. I want to start off with the question, for most people hiring, it's an art and a science that they just can't seem to manage, that they can't seem to get right. What do you see as the common pitfalls, the common mistakes or challenges that people are doing in the hiring process? What are they missing, Bill?
 
Bill: I think what we see the most, and it makes sense, we work with a lot of organizations that are sub 200 employees, typically entrepreneur-led, and hiring is a second thought as opposed to a more proactive. I would say one of the biggest pitfalls we see is moving too fast through the process and not taking their time to really understand the kind of candidate they're looking for, how does that candidate align with their culture? Not only just the job responsibilities, but all of the other intangibles that that candidate needs to bring and then really be thoughtful through that process to determine the right fit.
 
Matt: I love that. We've made some mishires in our past and it's amazing. Sometimes, there's top performers that are just totally the wrong cultural fit. It's so hard to make a move like that, but the cultural side of it is so important. The other side of it is we've had people who were great cultural fits that just couldn't do the job and finding the balance of those two things is always a challenge. Certainly, the business can't move forward when those things are not perfectly in alignment, so I love that. Could you tell me, Bill, what are the great misconceptions around hiring? What do you see people are coming to the table with that maybe information that's not accurate or practices that are not accurate for hiring top-down?
 
Bill: The one that we see the most is that the person with the skill is the person I should hire when really, we need to look at it in a more holistic view. Skill is absolutely important. Even intelligence, IQ is the other piece of it, but then there's this whole other side of the equation that encompasses leadership and just interaction with people and cultural fit and all of those intangibles. We put those into what we call the EQ bucket, the emotional, intelligence bucket. Having a well-rounded ideal candidate profile really helps organizations understand and get the right person the first(continued)