If the goal for your business model is a well-oiled machine that brings order out of chaos, pay attention to admin. Excellent administration is a strategic, brilliantly executed master plan that is built on the efficient structure of a myriad of daily practical decisions. The right administrator will deliberately set out to make a multi-faceted, difficult job with a thousand moving parts so streamlined and efficient that it rarely draws attention. If you never have to think about operations, that’s a good thing; it means everything is quietly humming along as it should, with all parts moving in perfect synchronization. Your business office can consistently operate at peak efficiency and be the benchmark of the service standard and cost savings you are dreaming of today.

If you’re looking for the head of the Admin department, consider looking for the combination of thinker and doer, someone who can take the impossible ideas from the Creative Genius and turn those ideas into practical, workable solutions. If you’re looking for a competent administrative assistant, you’ll find the Gold personality works well, along with an administrative skillset, of course.

Though very rare, in my opinion, an excellent true color personality type for an Admin Department Head is one who has a combination of Gold and Green personality traits.

The Gold personality is highly organized, efficient, timely, and always makes sure the job gets done professionally … usually before the deadline. They are planners and they like the predictability of dependable patterns. They expect to be held accountable and to take responsibility, and cheerfully shoulder the load that they know needs to be done. They want to see things get done … and that they get done right. Golds follow instructions well, complete their checklists, and praise all of these qualities in others. Of the four main personality color types, most people (50% of the population) are predominantly Gold.

The Green personality’s skill is in analysis, logic, strategy and implementation. Greens need to be high achievers and they love to master anything that comes their way. They need to feel competent, and are never satisfied with the status quo, always pursuing the need for improvement. Green personalities are conceptual thinkers. They continually ask “Why?” and expect sound, reasoned answers. They make decisions only after they have all the facts, and are prepared to justify their positions with logic. Only 10% of the population are strong Green types, so the combination of Gold/Green is actually very rare. Males are three times more likely to be Greens than females. Either way, if you can find it, hire it.

Sprinkle these questions into the interview:

  • What are you good at?
  • What is your favorite achievement?
  • What is your least favorite task?
  • Why are you looking for a new position – or what are you looking for in this position?
  • What are your goals?
  • Is there anything about yourself that you’d like for me to know today?

Ask them to write a brief list of expectations (not goals) in the interview and analyze their writing. Is it neat and concise? How does it fill the page?

You’re looking to hire Gold’s dependable, organized efficiency and Green’s ingenuity and problem-solving abilities. You should see organized thought processes. Points may be numbered or paragraphed.

Golds will use concrete words, rather than abstract ones. They tend to find satisfaction in doing work that involves details and improvements.

Greens are thinkers looking for wisdom, so they may use abstract words for the big picture that allows for planning first and details later.

Qualifications

In a practical sense, you’re looking for someone who is qualified, proficient, and comfortable with the use of the latest Office software and techniques, with an aptitude to learn as necessary. They will need to learn Smartsheet and be willing to sign a Non Disclosure Agreement.

Though these skills may sometimes be at odds with each other, there should be a comfortable mix of being able to multitask, focus and prioritize, and knowing when to do which. A warm personality, flexibility, and a love for people will matter in this position.

You’ll need dependability, loyalty, organization, efficiency, productivity … and a good writer, someone who’s comfortable with asking questions and putting the answers to those questions into user-friendly well-written processes.

If you happen to have an employee with some of these qualities in another department, do them and the company a favor: promote them to admin, train them in the software, empower them to write and improve standard operating procedures for absolutely any process that needs improvement, and sit back and watch how things become less clunky and time-consuming, and more harmonious.

It’s magical when it works, and runs beautifully when it’s done well.