The data is clear when it comes to training; you can't train a poor performer and make him or her exceptional. Instead of throwing your organization's dollars at people thinking the training is what will make them successful, you have to start with the right person.
"You can't take an average employee and make him exceptional with training," says Select Advantage President Geoff Rodgers. "They have to bring something to the equation."
What Rodgers recommends is looking at the behavioral mindset. "If you look at your top-performers, they're going to come in a variety of personalities, but the common denominator is going to be in the choices they make; how they see look out for the public, how they look out for others, and how they represent and support the organization's goals and mission."
"They will be accountable for their actions and decisions. They'll go the extra mile without being asked to. It's just, in a sense, how they are wired," he says.
After meeting with peer-nominated top performers, Rodgers says he and his team were able to pick the brains of these top performers to "build," as perfect as they could, an exceptional employee on paper.
"Rather than throwing training at people and seeing what sticks, there is a different method that we use," he explains. "What we've done, we help screen the right people into the process by helping identify, before they get into the training process, who is the best fit for the job from a behavioral standpoint." He continues, "There are some people that love working with the public and serving them and there are others that could care less. You don't want to hire the bus operator who thinks that a happy bus is an empty bus!"
He quickly adds, "It doesn't mean they're a bad person, it just means it isn't the best fit for them, and ultimately you are doing your organization and the applicant a service by helping match what is required for success in the job with what they are bringing to the job."
In the transit industry, there is a lot of variation between bus operator, paratransit operator and transit supervisor. Rodgers mentions that many agencies cross train operators for regular fixed-route service and paratransit operations. "I promise you, that agency would rather have that individual on one side or the other because it is a better fit."
When developing the paratransit operator assessment, he says he thought there would be about a 60 to 70 percent overlap due to the similarity in the jobs. However, there is only a 30 to 40 percent overlap. "Your clientele is different, there's a different level of customer service and there's a different level of responsibility and ownership for the ridership," he states. "We thought it would be closer than it was. They proved us wrong."
Implementing a behavioral-based hiring system can make a big impact. "These people absorb training better, they are willing to change, they are teachable." And the people that are going to see the impacts more than anybody else at your organization are the trainers.
"If you don't tell them what you're doing and you implement a tool like this, they are the ones that are going to come to you saying, 'That is the best group of people I ever had.'" He stresses, "They notice it right away."