Quiet and introspective are not words any of us tend to use in our job postings. Instead, we focus on “high-energy” and “dynamic” team players.
Doing so, however, can leave out a significant pool of qualified applicants. In this employee-friendly market, limiting our pool of potential candidates helps no one. Instead, consider these simple steps to understand and actively recruit introverts.
Quiet revolution
Being an introvert is more about how you respond to your environment than it is about being shy. This concept is articulated and expanded upon in Susan Cain’s now famous TED talk on “The power of introverts.”
For business people, the easiest way to make the distinction is to consider networking events. Extraverts are those of us who walk into the room ready to meet everyone and leave with dozens more LinkedIn connections.
The introverts among us either politely decline attending or find someone to talk to (who we likely researched before arriving) and spend the evening listening and learning about that one person.
Similarly, in the office, the extraverts are those who thrive in open workspaces with a team focus whereas introverts do their best work in a less stimulating environment and likely by themselves. Because of this, as leaders we tend to associate introverts with accountants and IT people and extraverts with marketing and sales roles.
However, by better understanding the distinction between a response to stimulation and a personality trait, we can create environments that support the creativity and productivity of all types of employees.
Cut along the bias
We want the best employee for the role and the most out of our employees in the role. Yet, according to Cain, the structure of most of our organizations is centered around creating success for extraverts. To counter this systemic issue, we can take our awareness to the next level by reviewing our internal practices for extravert bias.
In other words, do our performance reviews reward employees who are outspoken, team-oriented or excellent communicators? If so, are we fairly judging what it means to have those traits?
Paula Kerger, CEO of PBS, talks in this POLITICO podcast about how she has succeeded as a leader who is also an introvert. Part of the key tenets of her success are recognizing the environments that make her successful and then creating opportunities to do work within those environments.
Her ability to adapt to extravert-friendly situations and an understanding of how her approach and presence positively impact the path for the different approaches of those below her, allows her to continue to thrive while creating opportunity for her intro- and extroverted colleagues.
Whether we are intro- or extraverted leaders, we can take the same approach to create environments more supportive to all of our employees’ productivity. Doing so will help us recruit and support introverts.
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The next step is to take the time to evaluate our formal systems for attracting candidates. Job postings and job descriptions should reflect the type of work environment we have created as well as a sensitivity toward the different approaches potential candidates may take. Doing so gives us the opportunity to reach other voices and project new voices.
The bottom line is that diversity means bringing together different voices and perspectives.
By their nature, introverts may not be sharing as much as they could. Because of that, our teams are losing out. Create a work environment that attracts, supports and retains the best in each employee, and everyone wins.
