Evaluating Potential Hires for Your Business

Do you ever feel slightly lost when you need to hire someone for your company? After a while, resumes and those interviewed can start to blend together, and finding one person that stands out from the crowd is like finding a needle in a haystack. 

Don't get lost in a sea of candidates - use these three factors to aid in your evaluation of applicants. They detail the three types of intelligence, and they can be a great focus point as you assess your personnel options.

IQ - Intelligence Quotient

No doubt you are familiar with this factor. IQ is one of the most used methods in evaluating a candidate. While you're probably not going to have them take an official IQ test, you need to make sure that their aptitudes line up with your position's requirements.

This can be done in a variety of different ways, including evaluating previous positions, speaking with previous managers, or even by setting potential hires a task that will assess their skills. No matter which assessment you select, the candidate you choose should display the ability to carry out the tasks you require for the position.

EQ - Emotional Quotient

Emotional quotient (also known as emotional intelligence) is another factor that you should aim to evaluate in candidates you consider. While it has not been touted as heavily as IQ, EQ is designed to assess a person's ability to recognize, evaluate, and control the emotions of themselves, as well as the emotions of others. 

By testing a person's self-awareness, as well as their empathy and sensitivity, you can more effectively determine how they will fit into your office's environment. This becomes an especially important factor if the open position requires working with other employees, or with clients. Furthermore, if you make a point to fill your business with high-EQ employees, you will be much more likely to have a productive, happy workplace! Make sure that you are also doing everything you can to protect your employees with a group benefits plan - it will help keep your workers happy and healthy!

CQ - Creativity Quotient

Until recently, IQ and EQ were the only quotients companies would consider when hiring. Now, there is a third type of intelligence that you should be looking for - CQ, or creative intelligence. 

Naturally, there are a few things that you can do to promote creativity in your workplace, such as:

• Hire a diverse group of employees.
• Provide a fun and positive environment.
• Be open-minded and receptive to creative ideas.
• Reward out-of-the-box thinking.

While all these factors can certainly make your office more imaginative, you need to ensure that your employees are able to think creatively. This is where CQ comes into play! When you are evaluating an employee, ask to hear examples of times that they have come up with innovative ideas.

By hiring workers that have a high creative intelligence, you can trust that your employees will be able to solve problems, that they will be able to contribute to brainstorming sessions and other group activities.

If you can find a candidate with IQ, EQ, and CQ, your business will gain a worker that has the know-how to perform their job, as well as the ability to work with others and the capacity to be resourceful and creative. 

Keep using these criteria when hiring, and your office will be full of exemplary employees! Talk with your independent agent about the proper coverages to insure your business and employees.