Five obsessions of a passionate employee
by Mike Nacke

A recent report titled, "How Google Grows ... and Grows ... and Grows," stated that the 650 people who work at Google are the most passionate bunch of geeks in the high tech industry. Google also was recently called the fastest-growing company in history.

To mimic its growth and success, passion must be injected into every level of your organization. The quickest and easiest way to do this is to hire passionate people.

Passion is an easy thing to spot once you know where to look. By understanding the following characteristics, you can develop an eye for passion and begin surrounding yourself with it.
Voluntary overtime

Passionate employees see the end of the workday as an interruption rather than a relief. They often stay hours after work to complete their projects and take work home on the weekends while co-workers nag them about working too hard.

To determine whether a job candidate has this kind of passion during an interview, ask him or her the following question: "Tell me about a time when you had an urgent project that couldn't be completed by the end of your normal workday. What was the situation and what did you do?"

Sounds too simple, right? You'd be surprised at the responses you will get. A passionate employee will be able to recall numerous projects that tended to run after hours.
Reading books and listening to tapes

Passionate employees are consumed with making themselves better at what they do. They always are trying to improve themselves and their companies. During the interview, ask the following question: "What were the last three books that you read, and why did read them?"

Passionate employees should be able to list several titles that relate to their businesses or positions. If they're passionate about what they do, they'll try to learn about how to do it better.

Many times this question will reveal that an employee is passionate about something entirely different than his or her career. While this shouldn't be a deal-breaker, be aware that the employee will be consumed with something other than growing your business.
Spending free time on business growth

This is very similar to reading books but can be seen in different outlets other than reading. For example, spending a weekend at an industry conference or joining a professional networking and development organization would constitute free time spent on business-related growth.

Here are a couple of questions you can ask to reveal this characteristic: "What organizations are you a member of that aid in your professional development?" or "What activities, not mandated by your employer, have you participated in this past year to develop yourself professionally?"

Make sure you distinguish the resume builders from the truly passionate people. Deeply probing around the previous questions will reveal the former from the latter.
Taking every opportunity to advance the business

An example of this is the salesman who introduces himself to strangers in line at the grocery store on the off chance they might become a prospect.

When you find an employee who lives and breathes his profession, you've found a keeper. It's someone who isn't an employee from 9 to 5 then a completely different person in the evening. It's someone who genuinely loves what he does, and it is reflected in every aspect of his life. You are looking for someone obsessed with perfecting his trade.

One of the easiest ways to determine this in an interview is to ask, "Share four to six ideas that you have used to grow your business."

Anyone obsessed with business growth will be able to rattle off dozens of ideas and probably try to sell you on why they will work.

One of the most common answers that dispassionate employees give is: "My responsibilities aren't in business growth."

If you're a business owner or executive, you know that simply isn't true. Great ideas should come from all levels, and your front-line employees should be suggesting them regularly.

Doesn't it make sense that the people doing the job should be the ones making recommendations on how to improve it?
Writing to advance the industry

If you have writer on your hands, you have a truly passionate employee.

Writing can be one of the hardest things for employees to do since most people aren't born with Shakespearean writing skills. But the quality of the writing isn't what's important, it's the employees' outward expression of their thoughts and theories about their industry that reveals their passion for it.

This one sounds easy, but here's the question you can ask to reveal this trait: "What have you written to advance your business or your industry?"

A single passionate employee with the right skills can take a company from good to great. Assemble an entire team of passionate people, and you've got the makings of a world-class work force.

Start building habits today to hire passionate employees, and soon, people might start calling your company the next Google.