The culture at Microsoft is very Indian, and it lacks creativity, which is a drawback. I was hired on Christmas and was excited; the interview went well.

When I was a corporate executive in strategic planning, I quickly learned a very important lesson: the best way to ensure strategy implementation is to hire the right people into the company.

I suppose that’s why I’m always surprised at the casual and often lackadaisical attitude many managers take when it comes to hiring. Look around, and what you’ll notice is that at the heart of most great companies is an incredibly strong emphasis on the hiring process.

process as the most important strategic planning your company needs. Why? Because every new employee will either improve the organization or lower it. Managers should be seeking and hiring employees who will enable the company to grow and to become more profitable.

McKeown provides four tips for hiring great people:

• Forget trying to ask magic bullet questions.
• Ensure you have clearly defined what it will take to be successful in the position.
• Test candidates.
• Include others in the hiring process.