5 Ways To (Ethically) Clone Your Go-To Employees

You probably have at least one employee like this: your go-to, “set it and forget it” person, the one you’d trust with just about anything. If they were a house, they’d be called “turnkey.” If they were an electronic device, they’d be “plug and play.” When talking about these people, our Omnia clients say, “I wish I could clone her!” or “I’d be all set if I had four more just like him.”

Unfortunately (or fortunately if you really think about it and start digging into the ethical ramifications), cloning hasn’t come that far yet. But, with some planning and preparation, you may be able to do the next best thing: Use your go-to people as benchmarks to help you hire and train new employees just like them.

As my colleague Wendy Sheaffer mentioned, “Benchmarking is finding out what works and using it as the model for making future things work.” This applies to figuring out how to hire for a new or empty position, as she mentioned, and it’s also an effective strategy for finding someone just like your one or two stellar employees.

First: Figure out what works.

What is it about these star performers that makes them so amazing? And how do you find someone else just as amazing? I don’t know your go-to employees personally, but I can make a pretty good guess at what makes them awesome.

• They excel at their jobs. They meet KPIs and they elevate their team, either by acting as a role model or by pitching in (or both).
• They pick up new skills easily. It seems like you can plug your star performer in anywhere and they can make a positive difference, even if they are just filling a temporary gap.
• They show excellent judgment. You can depend on them to make well-reasoned decisions and avoid taking action that would reflect badly on the company.
• They have that extra something special that makes them easy to work with, for everyone. There’s never any drama around them. They elicit loyalty.

Did I miss anything? Ask around and find out what makes your go-to employees so wonderful to their colleagues. The more information you have, the better you can clone benchmark them.

Next: Use this as a model for what to look for in your new employees.

You’ll definitely need to dig a little deeper than your standard resume gathering and interview process for this. You may luck out using the traditional methods, like winning the lotto, but do you really want to risk it?  Here are some simple ways of improving your odds.

1. Have your star performers take a behavioral assessment. Once they have, use them as a template for the position. If you can identify the traits that work great for a specific role, you can limit your search to people who share those characteristics. Omnia’s Customer Success Team can help you create a job setup that matches your go-to person’s traits.
2. Now that you know the behavioral traits you want to replicate, have your candidates take an assessment as well, and compare them to the setup you’ve created. In addition to helping match a candidate’s overall characteristics to an open position, the Omnia behavioral assessment provides insight into any stress or conflict the person may be experiencing. These measurements indicate the likelihood of the candidate showing good judgment on the job.
3. Have your candidates take a cognitive assessment. A candidate who scores well on a cognitive ability test is more likely to learn quickly, assimilate new information and adapt to a changing work environment – all abilities you’ve seen in your go-to employee.
4. Contact references. That “special something” your top employees have? That usually refers to “soft skills.” When you talk to the candidate’s references, confirm the candidate has shown some of the most sought-after soft skills: flexibility, work ethic, dependability, ability to get along with others, and technical savvy.
5. Read/listen closely during the interview and the lead up to it. Of course, you will be listening for the most appropriate answer to your questions, but you also want to pay attention to how well your candidate communicates. Being able to communicate well both in writing and in person are often hallmarks of a future stellar employee.

Bonus: Ask your star employees if they can recommend someone. We’ve already established this person has great judgment, so they’re not likely to recommend a dud. Hey, maybe they have an identical twin? You can’t get much closer to a clone than that! Even better, ask them if they see promise in anyone already working in the company. They tend to build relationships around the organization and may be able to identify someone promising before you do.

Once you have your promising new star, consider having them spend some time shadowing your top performer. Let them learn from the best.

While you’re on this quest to replicate your top employees, don’t forget to show appreciation for the ones you already have! Trust me, people are out there looking for them, and you want to make sure they are happy and fulfilled right where they are – with you!