Infact, the Holy Quran Teaches Us to Hire Top Talent. According to Mohammed A. Faris : There is a well-known passage in the Quran, that describes the story of Prophet Musa (Moses) – Peace be upon him (PBUH) – and his interactions with two young women and their father.
As I was reflecting on this passage, I realized that this passage contains some powerful lessons on how to effectively hire top talent that CEOs & HR managers can all learn from.
If you’re not a Muslim – don’t worry, I’ll explain the passage below. If you’re a Muslim – turn to Chapter 28, verses 23-28 for the passages I’m quoting below.
The Story The story begins with Musa (PBUH), after escaping Egypt, entering the town of Madyan and seeing two women struggling to water their sheep. Here’s how the Quran describes the scene:
And when he came to the well of Madyan, he found there a crowd of people watering [their flocks], and he found aside from them two women driving back [their flocks]. He said, “What is your circumstance?” They said, “We do not water until the shepherds dispatch [their flocks]; and our father is an old man.” So he watered [their flocks] for them; then he went back to the shade and said, “My Lord, indeed I am, for whatever good You would send down to me, in need.” So Musa (PBUH) offers them help, and then goes to sit under a tree making a supplication to God for some desperate help (you can imagine him hungry, tired, and has no where to go after a long travel).
A little short while after he helped the two women, one of them approaches him and invites him over to her father’s place who wants to reward him for helping his daughters. Here’s how the Quran describes the incident:
Then one of the two women came to him walking with shyness. She said, “Indeed, my father invites you that he may reward you for having watered for us.” So when he came to him and related to him the story, he said, “Fear not. You have escaped from the wrongdoing people.”
7 Practical Lessons of Hiring from Two Verses in this Story
Here’s where it gets interesting and connects to the topic of hiring top talent: One of the women said, “O my father, hire him. Indeed, the best one you can hire is the strong and the trustworthy.”
There are 4 observations here:
Look for people with a proven CV.
The woman noticed Musa’s skills and character and Musa demonstrated both of these when he helped them out earlier in the day. When looking for top talent for our companies, we shouldn’t just hire people based on what they tell you they’ve done. Let them show you clear examples of what they’ve achieved. Even better, always be on the lookout for top talent outside your official hiring lines (e.g. at trade conferences, airport business lounges, even non-profit board). When you want to hire somebody, start with a referral. The daughter offered a strong reference to her father to hire Musa. We all know that references are powerful ways to vet your talent and make sure that your talent truly matches their CV, but how many of us start the hiring process from referrals? Won’t it be cheaper and more effective to start the hiring process by asking for references to top talent from our immediate circles? (Yes, I’m aware this might not work for some large companies or highly competitive industries – but for small/medium businesses, this can be effective) Skill + Character are key: Notice the two qualities that the woman mentioned to her father “strong and trustworthy”. When looking for talent, we should not always look for the most skillful, we should also look for character and trustworthiness. Skill alone doesn’t make talent. Skill + Character is the more powerful criteria. Think of developing 2 sets of questions for the interviews: one that judges skill, and the other that judges character. Start with Skill: Having said that, notice how strength/skill was mentioned first and then trustworthiness. And this is another important lesson.
