Hey folks, Scott Reyes, here. My cofounder, Dean Phillips, and I have a rule: Always trust what Justin Marino says about people. He has a gift, a unique ability to connect with people, understand who they are and what motivates them, and decide if they can be trusted. And he's rarely wrong. Justin is one of the best people managers I have ever met, and you should trust what he has to say.
A lot of our people at FM Dashboard have been here for a long time. When I think about why, I come back to something that happens before their first day: we take the time to make sure the person is the right fit.
That means multiple interviews and involving people whose perspective matters, even when I have already had my conversation with the applicant.
Most of what I am looking for does not show up on a résumé. I can write a standard operating procedure, and I can use AI tools to help teach and train someone. I cannot teach someone to care about their job. Seeing that takes more than one conversation, even if it is over video, and it takes really listening to what the person is saying.
As COO, I could look at those interviews as time we need to get off the calendar so we can fill the position, but I see them as part of the work of building a team that lasts.
The result I care about is not how quickly we can get someone through an interview process. It is whether we are choosing someone who can belong here, contribute here and stay.
The extra conversation has a purpose
In one hiring interview, I explained that the applicant would have another conversation with the people they would work with most closely. I had asked my questions, but I wanted their perspective too.
Those people would be part of the applicant’s working life after the interview, so it made sense to include them before making the decision.
My conversation can tell me a lot. It cannot tell me everything the daily team needs to know. The people closest to the work have a different view of the responsibilities and the relationships involved.
That is why another interview can be worth the time. It gives us another opportunity to understand the fit while giving the applicant a better opportunity to understand us.
I also explained who would be involved and what would happen next. If I am asking someone to invest more time in our process, I owe them a reason for it.
We build that into the process. From the first time we reach out to someone, we are setting expectations: here is what to expect and here is what you will need. Before a second interview, the applicant gets a checklist that says what the conversation is for, who they will be speaking with, and simple things like having their video background set and being in a quiet space. Nobody should have to guess what happens next.
Look at the people who stay
The impact is not an abstract idea to me. We have people who have been here for a long time, and I see the care we put into hiring as part of why.
We spend more time getting to know someone before inviting them to join the team. We do the extra interviews because we want to get the fit right.
That does not mean an interview process is the only reason someone stays. How we treat people after they join matters too. But the relationship starts before the offer, and I do not want to rush past that part.
When I talk about making the workplace feel like a home, hiring is part of that conversation. You cannot think only about filling the opening and then expect the working relationship to take care of itself.
The decision affects the person joining and the people already there. Both deserve our attention.
One of our mantras is FOE, family over everything. We mean the family we have built at work and the families our people go home to. I have seen what that can grow into. Our team is remote, and in my one-on-ones I found out a group of them were planning to meet outside of work. They were planning to drive a couple of hours to have dinner together.
More interviews are not automatically better
I am not arguing that every hiring process needs another round. An interview should help us understand something that matters to the decision.
Repeating the same questions without learning anything new is not the care I am talking about. Neither is keeping an applicant waiting while nobody can explain the next step.
The useful question is what the next conversation adds. Are the right people involved? Does the applicant get a clearer picture of the work? Are we learning enough to make a thoughtful decision?
Some of my most useful interview questions have nothing to do with fixing anything. One I like to ask is: your job starts at 8 a.m., so how do you prepare for the day? If the answer is "I'm sitting in front of my computer at 7:50," that tells me one thing. If it is "I get my kids ready, then I go for a walk," that tells me something else. I am learning how this person gets themselves in a good mood for the workday.
Fit should be about working together, not finding another person with the same personality. A team can make room for different backgrounds and perspectives while still being serious about what the role requires.
For a facilities leader, that matters because a hire becomes part of other people’s day. The work involves coordination, communication and people depending on one another. The person who fills the position changes that working relationship.
Give the hiring decision enough time
I do not want us to confuse a finished hiring process with a good hiring decision.
The extra time has a purpose: give ourselves and the applicant a better chance to understand whether this is the right place for them.
That works both ways. I would rather have a candidate tell me during the process that this seems like too much than find out after they have started. If our expectations are not a fit for someone, I want to learn that upfront. That is better for them and for the team.
Looking at the people who have stayed with us reinforces why I believe that time matters. I would rather make room for a useful conversation before someone joins than treat hiring as a task to close.
We are not just filling an opening. We are choosing someone to build with. That deserves our time.
