Getting Control of the Hiring Process

Start with Referrals
Kent Skornia
Krilogy Financial

Krilogy, a wealth management firm that has grown to 25 employees over four years, is a small organization with a focus on two things when hiring: Can the candidate do the job, and can he or she fit into the company culture? “For the second piece, we look at how each candidate will impact our culture every day,” says Kent Skornia, the firm’s founder. “We have a theory that you get to pick your friends. With that in mind, most of our hiring starts with referrals. We believe it’s the best way to find new staff members. We currently have amazing employees. Because they choose their friends, when they have a referral, we believe they will most likely be amazing too.”

With the value placed on employee opinion, potential new hires will meet with eight to 10 employees during the interview process. “Then we ask each employee what their gut feeling was and listen to that,” says Skornia.

In addition, at Krilogy, A-players must possess the capability to accomplish. “We look for that whether it’s athletic, personal, academic or professional accomplishments,” says Skornia. “We want people who can tell us what they have already accomplished, not just what they would like to because we hire to what we offer clients – getting things done.”

Overall, Skornia believes hiring mistakes happen when the company strays from its hiring theory.

“Our employees must fit both criteria of getting the job done and fitting the culture,” he says. “For example, someone might be amazing for our culture, but if they can’t do the job, we can’t hire them. We have to stick to that mantra and we will be in good shape.”

Story originally appeared in St. Louis Small Business Monthly
November 2013