I do not believe in Most Valuable Anything awards. Why? Everyone in my life is valuable. If they are not, they should be gone. Why does one have to be recognized as being more valuable than the others? There is always a compelling argument for the other guy. Someone deserving is always left out. I have several colleagues in my department who are worthy of the MV-Anything “award” on a daily basis. If I pick only one, other deserving employees will be left out. Instead of creating an environment of rewards, MV-Anything awards tend to create an environment of “Why Not Me.” People then tend to focus on the award instead of the quality work and effort that would make them qualify for the award. Someone wins, but others continue to lose. It creates an environment of bad intentions and bad attitudes that is a breeding ground for “loser” attitudes. All our employees are valuable, even the ones that are filling in for our permanent employees.
Example
In education, you must have a teacher in the classroom that is certified to teach the material. There is very little wiggle room. Over the past 2 and a half years, we have had over eleven extended leaves that needed long-term substitute teachers in my department of 31 staff members. Most were due to joyous additions to a colleague’s family. Others were due to unforeseen circumstances that had to be addressed. The certifications needed to teach in the science department are very hard to fill. I was lucky enough to find a candidate who was transitioning back to the workforce that had experience as a college professor and as an online educator. The former appealed to me because of the depth of her content knowledge. The latter appealed to me because we were moving to a new online structure in our school district and her expertise would be valuable. In the last 2 and a half years, this candidate has filled six long-term substitute positions. Two of them were even outside of her expertise. However, according to the NJDOE, the positions were short-term enough that she could fill the position. She was truly a part of the department and a part of the district. She was our outstanding long-term substitute teacher.
In all six cases, the candidate knocked it out of the park. So much so, that I recommended her to various other schools who were looking for a full-time teacher. She was always a finalist, but she never got a job offer. One day, a position suddenly became available in our department. Right away, we thought of our outstanding long-term substitute teacher. However, this was going to be a difficult position to fill because it would not turn into a full-time tenure-track for some time due to contractual obligations and state regulations. On the same day that we told her about this position, that it might turn into a full-time tenure-track placement, she got an offer from another school for a full-time tenure-track position.
We wanted her for our district, but we could not offer her the job, a letter of intent, etc. for over two months. There was nothing that we could do to guarantee her the position. She had an offer and a contract on the table from another district and only our word that we were interested in offering her the position, but at a much later date.
She chose us. Why? First off, the other school took over a month to make their decision when they told her that they would have a decision within a week. Never over promise and under deliver. If you are stuck in this situation, communicate the issues so that all parties know what is happening. Second, she loved our staff and students. Everyone treated her as a professional, included her in their activities, both in and out of school. She had made many relationships with people within the district. Third, we made her no promises that we could not keep. If we gave her a letter of intent to hire, it would be meaningless as it was not recognized by our Board. Either the Board hires you or they don’t, there is no middle ground. I told her that I wanted to hire her after her first long-term substitute job, but that we did not have any openings for her certification. I do not encourage an environment of firing one person for another. It does not bode well for the culture of the workplace.
Every day is an interview, this is why the candidate works for us and why the candidate chose us. I am glad that we both passed the interview.
Everyday is an Interview 