The Subtle Art of Spotting Talent
4 MIN
How our principles help hiring supervisors see potential — and how it's good for Koch and our employees.
When Chief Information Officer Jarrod Benson first applied for roles at Koch 20 years ago, he struggled to gain traction. Recruiters dismissed his resume the moment they saw he did not have a four-year degree. The technical skills, business knowledge, and demonstrated results he had acquired over the years were difficult to see through traditional hiring filters.
He eventually landed an interview within the IT group, but the conversation was not what he was expecting. Rather than spending the interview discussing what was or wasn’t on his resume, the hiring supervisor spent his time asking questions about real situations Jarrod had faced.
“He kept asking me to walk through specific examples,” Jarrod recalls. “What problem was I trying to solve? Why did I make that decision? What were the results? Looking back, I realized he was trying to understand my capabilities and how I thought, not whether I had a particular credential.”
Through those conversations, the hiring supervisor recognized Jarrod was aligned with Our Values and could contribute to the success of the team.
“He took the time to understand my capabilities and gave me an opportunity to contribute. That’s the power of the Virtue and Talents dimension: it helps us discover contributors who have the right combination of perspectives, knowledge and skills that can help us advance our Vision and drive profitable transformation.
“And when we do that, both the individual and the company benefit.”
Want to hear more about Jarrod’s story? Look in Chapter 9 of
“Becoming a Principle-Driven Leader”...
Advice From an HR Leader
Chance Haddon joined Koch in 2011, but did not enter the human resources field until 2022.
“Putting the right person in the right role is not easy — I should know. Early in my career, a leader took a bet on me and moved me into a role that wasn’t a good fit. I wasn’t ready for it and ended up hating it. My negative feelings at work even followed me home. Thankfully, that leader helped me move into a different role where I could better apply my individual skills to create value for Koch. Sometimes when you take a chance, it doesn’t work out. That’s okay; the key is what you do next to adjust and improve.”
He offers the following advice to those evaluating job candidates:
Sometimes, a hiring manager or supervisor needs to be willing to take a chance on someone for a new role or responsibilities.
It’s important that when we put someone in a stretch role, we also provide them with the necessary support. If it doesn’t work out, learn from it and find the right role where that person can use their talents to create value.
If we punish leaders who take hiring risks when they don’t work out, no one is going to be willing to make those kinds of bets.
Explore Experimental Discovery
For supervisors, it can be easy to want to keep talent on your team. This can lead to unintentionally creating barriers for people who are trying to self-actualize by finding the role where they can create the most value. While losing an employee to a different role or company can be hard, a long-term perspective with a focus on creating the most value for Koch should guide our decision-making process.
One way to overcome being overly focused on the technical aspects of the job, is to increase the diversity of the interview panel. Bring people from different teams to help evaluate. They might look at the candidate from a different perspective than if only one type of role is being evaluated.
Explore Openness
Give It a Try
The power of these principles happens through application. There’s no substitute for learning as you apply.
- Before requiring a credential, title or years of experience, pause and ask: What talents and motivations are truly needed to create value in this role?
- Invite a different perspective before making a talent decision. Ask someone from another team or capability what they see in the person or candidate that you might be missing.
- Look for one opportunity to take a thoughtful bet on someone’s potential — then make sure they have the support, feedback and coaching needed to succeed.
- With your supervisor, discuss whether you are in a role where you can make your greatest contribution. Bring ideas related to where your skills could create more value.
- For Supervisors: Reflect on where you might be unintentionally holding someone back because they are valuable to your current team. Then have a discussion with them: where could this person create the most value for Koch long term?