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Are Your Team Members Quietly Quitting?

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“When team members don’t feel heard or valued, they quietly quit. It’s up to you as the leader to notice and reengage them!” Jeannette Seibly

Contrary to popular awareness, quiet quitting is not new. It used to be called employee disengagement. Before that, many called quiet quitters difficult people to work with! And still do.  Jeannette Seibly

Quietly quitting can be viewed from several different points of view: bosses and leaders vs. entrepreneurs and gig workers vs. employees and team members.

As a boss/leader, when you are unaware, in denial, or unwilling to transform a ‘quiet quitter’ into a productive team member, they multiply. As a result, your company suffers, and your customers leave. This article focuses on reengaging quiet quitters and transforming how you manage for intended results.

Team members that are ‘quietly quitting’ are not outright quitting their jobs. They’ll still perform basic job duties but are unwilling to go above and beyond. They refuse to glorify workaholic behavior like Boomers and Gen Xers used to succeed in their careers. These team members get enough done to avoid being fired, refuse overtime, and stop responding to emails and texts outside work hours.

This attitude of quietly quitting comes across in team members’ words and actions, causing customers to leave and leaders perplexed about what to do to change it.

Why Does This Covert Method of Quietly Quitting Fail to Work?

Failing to have straight and respectful conversations always fails to produce the intended results and create the innovative changes needed to grow your team, company, and customers!

The bottom line is that change requires two-way communication:

  • Allowing team members to speak up respectfully so they feel heard and,
  • You listening and transforming traditional work style behaviors and expectations.

Other perspectives to consider:

Employees/team members: Quietly quitting is not the answer when you are dissatisfied, stressed, or unclear about managing new work and family life challenges. It’s time to step up and speak up in a respectful manner that gets results. A covert power struggle will have customers leave, and your employer closes its doors.

Entrepreneurs/gig workers: Being a business owner requires a business mindset. What are you unwilling to ask for if you don’t feel fairly compensated? Talk with a coach for clarity. Expecting companies to pay more than your contract specifies isn’t realistic. And, quietly quitting is a very poor business tactic.

As the Boss and Leader, It’s Up to You!

Learn to Truly Listen. Team members check out when you fail to be present in meetings or conversations! Apologize and stop letting your mind wander! You’ll be amazed by how the simple act of genuinely listening can make a huge difference in someone feeling valued. When team members feel valued and respected, they’ll reengage.

Talk with Team Members 1:1 and as a Group. Learn about the person and what they need.

Questions to ask:

  • “Tell me about your work.”
  • “What do you like?”
  • “What don’t you like about it?” Or, “What is your #1 challenge?”
  • “What can we do to solve it?”

Have straight conversations and “come down to reality” conversations about changes you can make and those you cannot. (Remember, changing job duties to accommodate someone’s unhappiness won’t make them happier if they are in the wrong job!)

Transform Your Mindset. It’s a New Normal. COVID, economic, and societal disruptions have changed everyone’s mindset about work. Be open to making needed changes to ensure team members work in jobs they enjoy, are fairly compensated, and have time to pursue family/personal life goals. Remember, it’s important to meet customer needs and team members’ needs too.

Set Realistic and Attainable Goals. With only 10% of teams achieving their intended results, as a leader, you need to step up your game and learn how to set goals and manage the process. The place to start is to hold team members accountable and provide them with the tools and resources required to achieve the intended results. Team members are reengaged when winning individually and as a team.

Job fit is the #1 reason people succeed at work! Harvard Business Review

Use a Qualified Job Fit Assessment for Hiring and Job Restructuring. Many team members and their bosses/leaders are in jobs that don’t fit them. As a result, they are bored or overwhelmed and lack the skills and willingness to develop skills they’re not interested in learning. Use a qualified job fit assessment that provides valid and reliable data to guide restructuring job duties and creating clear career paths for transfers, promotions, and pay increases. Be sure to get their feedback before making any changes! Or, they will either quietly quit (again) or leave the company. (Hint: Adding more tasks to the current job responsibilities is not restructuring a job!) (Hint #2: Don’t make (or imply) promises for pay increases and promotions you cannot fulfill.)

Don’t forget to grab, Hire Amazing Employees and create a strategic selection system for job fit when hiring, rehiring, transferring, or promoting employees. It will reduce the number of quiet quitters and reengage team members in their jobs.

©Jeannette Seibly 2022 All Rights Reserved

Jeannette Seibly is The Leadership Results Coach. She has been an award-winning international executive and family business management consultant, keynote speaker, and author for over 29 years. Her focus is to guide leaders to make a positive difference. Feel stuck moving your team forward? Want straightforward counsel on how to do it? Let’s chat! Contact Jeannette for a confidential conversation.

A note from Jeannette about “quiet quitters”: When you are unaware, in denial, or unwilling to transform a ‘quiet quitter’ into a productive team member, they multiply. Your company suffers, and your customers leave. Have questions about how to identify this issue and turn it around? Most do! Let’s chat now!

Why are employees “quietly quitting?” One of the critical issues is poor job fit for employees! And poor job fit for their bosses who got promoted without the skills to be leaders. It’s time to develop a strategic selection system to improve your hiring results! Get your copy of the newly released, Hire Amazing Employees: How to Increase Retention, Revenues and Results!

 

What Do You Need to Do to Improve the Most Overlooked Part of Hiring?

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“A hearty welcome to new hires impacts their longevity with your company.” Jeannette Seibly

According to several studies, well-designed employee orientation and onboarding can improve employee retention by more than 80%. 

“Sally started her new job on a Monday, excited to be working for a company that had a great selection process. But she learned an hour after arriving that her boss was too busy to talk with her until later in the week.

Todd was assigned to get her started and to show her where everything was located (e.g., office, laptop, passwords, restrooms, lunch room). But he didn’t know much about her job duties. He could only help get the items she needed for her desk.

So, Sally started talking with her new team and coworkers in different departments. Everyone had a different point of view as to what her priorities should be. Then, her vice president and the CEO each had conversations with her, but offered different opinions about where her focus should be.

On Friday afternoon she resigned, clearly frustrated by the lack of a cohesive onboarding process.” (Hire Amazing Employees: How to Increase Retention, Revenues and Results!)

New hires decide how long they will stay during the first few hours and days, often subconsciously! As a result, companies that fail to provide employee orientation and onboarding programs experience higher turnover! Remember, when these new hires leave, they take along other top talent, and customers too!

What To Do!

Create employee orientation and onboarding as part of your strategic selection system.

Start employee orientation the minute they apply. Use your Applicant Tracking System (ATS) to send job applicants short videos about the company, interview guidelines, and brief written material about the company’s products, goals, and employee benefits.

Have all “paperwork” completed online! Do this before the new hire’s first day. Have a designated person available to answer all questions and handle benefit enrollment.

Schedule the all-important 1:1 meeting with the boss on day one! Review expectations to ensure both of you are on the same page. People will forget … so this is critical! Share (again) the 180-Success Plan*, goals, and expectations. Then, have them put together the Action Plan required to fulfill it.   *Chapter 6, Hire Amazing Employees

Help the new hire meet and greet coworkers. Designate someone to make introductions to key people and coworkers in the company. Organize lunches and get-togethers during the first month to meet others. The purpose is for the new hire to learn about the company and its customers, internally and externally. Remember to include remote employees too!

Ensure the new employee meets 1:1 with team members. Encourage meetings virtually and onsite. Provide a short list of suggested questions so that s/he can learn more about the company.

  • Tell me about you!
  • How long have you worked here?
  • What do you like most about the company? Your job?
  • What do you like least?

Very Important Note: Remind each new employee to listen more than talk. Many employees, managers, and executives in new positions attend meetings not to listen and learn, but to state what they will be doing and changes they will make in the future. This often shortens the new person’s longevity with the company and is avoidable!

Schedule meetings with key employees in other locations. This is often overlooked or put off until a future date. The problem is that the new manager or executive dismisses the importance of meeting people in their business locations. This is often interpreted as a lack of respect. And creates future problems when addressing issues and implementing policy changes.

Provide an inside mentor and outside executive coach. New hires must have someone to ask for help so s/he can learn more about the company and industry issues (mentor). Also, provide someone to talk them through the inevitable challenges s/he will face with people and in sticky situations (coach). Discuss these expectations before hiring the person … not everyone sees the value of having a mentor or coach. And it’s important to learn during the interview if the person will ask for help and is coachable.

Don’t provide company information all at once! Take days and weeks to discuss the company’s policies, procedures, and employee handbook. Also, review company etiquette, history, mission, values, and communications in 1:1 meetings and group training. Finally, provide an organization chart and brief written material about each department and location. Remember, keep it simple and easy to read since the average reading level is 6th grade!

Remember, as the boss, work the plan with the new hire for success!

(Content for article taken from Hire Amazing Employees: How to Increase Retention, Revenues and Results!)

©Jeannette Seibly, 2022 All Rights Reserved

Jeannette Seibly is The Leadership Results Coach. She has been an award-winning international executive and family business management consultant, keynote speaker, and author for over 29 years. Her focus is to guide leaders to make a positive difference. Feel stuck moving your team forward? Want straightforward counsel on how to do it? Let’s chat! Contact Jeannette for a confidential conversation.

A note from Jeannette about improving employee onboarding: Did you know only 12% of companies onboard effectively? It’s why many new hires leave! What do you need to do to improve (or create) your employee orientation and onboarding processes for new hire success? This information comes from the newly released, Hire Amazing Employees: How to Increase Retention, Revenues and Results! Have questions? Most do! Let’s chat now!

Why do new hires leave so soon? There can be many reasons. But it’s often due to NO (or the poorly designed) new employee orientation and onboarding program! Be part of the 12% that onboards effectively! Want ideas to help you get started? Get your copy of the newly released, Hire Amazing Employees: How to Increase Retention, Revenues and Results!

 

Many Hiring Failures Are Due to Being Uncoachable

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Why are so many new hires failing in their jobs? The #1 reason? They are not coachable!” Jeannette Seibly

Poor interpersonal skills are why there are so many hiring failures today!

The #1 reason? They are uncoachable.

Here are shocking stats:

  • Almost 90% of the time, it’s due to the new hires’ attitudes and poor interpersonal skills.
  • Only 11% of failures are due to technical skills.
  • Almost half of new employees today will fail within 18 months of hire. (Leadership IQ)

Why is being coachable important? It reflects the ability to accept and put in place feedback from bosses, team members, customers, and others! (Leadership IQ) Being coachable is why leaders and teams succeed in business!

Many hiring managers admit overlooking or explaining away flaws they saw during interviews. But they were unsure what to do with these insights or biases. Moreover, they lacked objective data from qualified job fit assessments that would provide the boss critical on how to coach these new hires for success.  (See Chapter 9, Using Qualified Assessments and Skill Testing in the newly released: Hire Amazing Employees: How to Increase Retention, Revenues and Results!)

So, they default to selecting job candidates based on technical and other hard skills. But, then, these new hires are fired due to poor interpersonal skills! So, it’s time to improve your selection system and use your interview time effectively.

How to Hire Coachable Employees

  1. Job Fit Is #1. According to a Harvard Business Review study, job fit is why people succeed! Use a qualified job fit assessment to ensure you’re seeing the whole person objectively. When using real and consistent data, you can delve deeper and learn more about the person before hiring them! This avoids surprises!
  2. Ask These Two Very Important Interview Questions. A coachable person is looking to improve and is willing to ask for help.

Ask: “When was the last time you made a mistake?” and “How did you handle it?”

Then, listen for:

  • “What did s/he learn?”
  • “Who did s/he talk with?”
  • “Why did the mistake happen?”
  • “What were the results?”

This is perhaps the most critical and revealing part of the interview.

  1. Gain Additional Insight During Reference Checks with Previous Co-Workers. Ask this question: “Would you work for this person? Why?” Listen. I’ve found this question to be a good indicator of a person’s on-the-job interpersonal skills.
  2. Focus on Results Required for the Position. Put together a 180-Day Success Plan. Share it during the final interviews with the job candidate and listen. The person’s reactions may change over time, so it’s essential to address any change of attitude asap. Remember, you’re not hiring lone rangers that want to do it their way! You need team players with the attitude of, “I’m open to learning from my mistakes and contributing to the success of everyone.”

©Jeannette Seibly 2021-2022 All Rights Reserved

Jeannette Seibly is The Leadership Results Coach. She has been an award-winning international executive and family business management consultant, keynote speaker, and author for over 29 years. Her focus is to guide leaders to make a positive difference. Feel stuck moving your team forward? Want straightforward counsel on how to do it? Let’s chat! Contact Jeannette for a confidential conversation.

A note from Jeannette about how to hire coachable employees: One of the top reasons new hires fail is being uncoachable! During the hiring process, ask the job candidates about mistakes they’ve made and how they were handled. Want to improve your hiring success rate? Grab your copy of the newly published book, Hire Amazing Employees: How to Increase Retention, Revenues and Results! Have questions? Most do! Let’s chat now!

Did you know your interview questions are costing you top candidates? How do you ask job-related questions? What are useless interview questions? Why should you only use the interview as 1/3 of the hiring decision? Get your answers, suggested interview questions, and so much more! Grab your copy of the newly released Hire Amazing Employees: How to Increase Retention, Revenues and Results!

How to Reduce Interviewer Bias

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“A well-designed interview keeps everyone focused on selecting new hires that are productive and keep customers happy.” Jeannette Seibly

“The candidate interview, the most common component of the hiring process, continues to be a source of inconsistency, inefficiency, and unreliable data.” ERE – Recruiting Intelligence

Did you know that 90% of the time, hiring managers rely on interviews as the major determinant of who to hire?

Why is this important to know?

Most hiring managers do a poor job of interviewing. They don’t prepare, ask useless questions, and rely solely on their intuition. As a result, decisions are made within the first 4 to 15 minutes of the interview. Inherently, this creates unconscious bias, poor retention, low productivity, and costly loss of talent and customers!

“The interview should ONLY be 1/3 of the hiring decision. The other two-1/3s should be using qualified assessments and completing a thorough due diligence.” Jeannette Seibly

Critical factors in reducing interviewer bias:

  • Use a structured interview approach. Good interview questions protect you legally and help you objectively compare candidates.
  • Ask the same basic questions of each candidate. This removes unfavorable reactions from job candidates.
  • When the interviewer is prepared, and questions are written down, s/he feels comfortable and comes across as professional.
  • Be sure to ask all the questions in the order you’ve written them for all the candidates you interview.
  • Focus on asking questions essential for getting the job done, keeping customers happy, and making the company profitable.
  • Ask job-related questions. This allows the conversation to focus on the quality of job skills and the results achieved (e.g., “Tell me about your experience using Excel.” “How did you use it?” “Did you have any difficulties setting it up?”).
  • Stay away from useless questions. Questions about color preferences (e.g., green, gold) or recent or favorite books read (e.g., mystery, business) are not job-related. Any inferences from the job candidates’ replies can reflect the unconscious bias of the interviewer and be construed as illegal.
  • Use your qualified job fit assessment selection report with each candidate. Ask all the questions provided. They are designed to help you get underneath what is written in the resume and the applicant’s well-rehearsed ability to answer common interview questions.
  • Remember, the interview is only 1/3 of the hiring decision. So give equal weight to the assessments and due diligence results too! (Yes, this was important to repeat! Without all of these three important components, your bias will take over.)

©Jeannette Seibly 2022  All Rights Reserved

Jeannette Seibly is The Leadership Results Coach. She has been an award-winning international executive and family business management consultant, keynote speaker, and author for over 29 years. Her focus is to guide leaders to make a positive difference. Feel stuck moving your team forward? Want straightforward counsel on how to do it? Let’s chat! Contact Jeannette for a confidential conversation.

A note from Jeannette about how to reduce interviewer bias: The truth is that most hiring managers do a poor job of interviewing. They don’t prepare, ask useless questions, and rely solely on their intuition or gut. So how can you overcome these inherent challenges during your selection process? This information is from the newly published book, Hire Amazing Employees: How to Increase Retention, Revenues and Results! Have questions? Most do! Let’s chat now!

Have you considered that when job candidates ghost you, it’s because of your interview process? How do you improve it? Why is it essential to use the interview as only 1/3 of the hiring decision? Get your answers, suggested interview questions, plus so much more! Grab your copy of the newly released Hire Amazing Employees: How to Increase Retention, Revenues and Results!

Hiring Practices Are Why Employees Are Leaving!

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“Instinctual or intuitive hiring is a major factor in the mass exodus of employees leaving to find better bosses and work they enjoy!” Jeannette Seibly

People keep quitting at record levels, yet companies are still trying to attract and retain them the same old ways. (McKinsey Quarterly)

It isn’t easy today to compete and keep talent. As a result, many potential job seekers are moving between jobs and industries, retiring early, or becoming entrepreneurs. Some leave without a plan because their co-workers left. And, competitors and other employers are openly poaching your best people.

Why is this happening?

One of the biggest challenges for most hiring bosses is their use of instinctual or intuitive hiring practices. This old practice puts new hires or promoted employees into positions that don’t fit their interests or core behaviors. So, while they may readily accept the job offer, they may not have the true interests or willingness to do the job. Or take the position for more money and the job title to help them get the next one. And, today, more than ever, some employees work a few weeks or months to get the money needed to pay for necessities, then leave. Many times, without even saying “Goodbye.”

What Can You Do?

First, accept that the job climate has changed and is continuing to change. Employees want to enjoy their work, and money won’t buy loyalty.

Second, do a much better job hiring, training, and coaching your employees.

Third, realize that your unconscious biases often get in the way of hiring the right people (e.g., ageism, fear of diversity, and other leadership blind spots).

8 Keys to Hire and Retain Top Talent

  1. Use the strategic selection system outlined in Hire Amazing Employees: How to Increase Retention, Revenues and Results! The system will reduce the “intuitive” selections that often fail. Also, as a boss, ensure the success of new hires, rehires, transitioning contract or gig workers to full- or part-time hires, and job transfers and promotions.
  2. Use a qualified job fit assessment. Job fit is #1. It helps employees, bosses, and employers keep and attract top talent and customers! Stop using assessments that “feel good” but don’t meet the Department of Labor guidelines for pre-employment hiring and selection. (See Chapter 9, “Use the Right Assessments and Skill Tests” in Hire Amazing Employees.)
  3. Develop a strong employee orientation and onboarding program. Employees want to know they matter. In addition, use a 180-Day Success Plan to guide new hires or employees in new positions through the first six months. (See Chapter 6, in Hire Amazing Employees.)
  4. Promote people that can and will manage with care. Many studies have shown that bad bosses are one of the top reasons employees leave. Too often, we promote the top salesperson or best-liked person and forget to conduct “reference checks” of internal employees and their experiences with the people we promote. Not everyone can be a good manager, nor has the skills and interest to develop them. Create separate job paths so all employees can excel.
  5. Provide training opportunities for all employees to support their individual career paths. Include soft skills, financial and technical skills, diversity management, etc. Examples include: Money management for those wanting to buy a home or start a business. Supervisory skills for those with an interest in managing others. Project management for those wishing to become team leaders.
  6. Offer remote and hybrid work opportunities. To help employees balance work and life, provide options that fit their needs. Remember, not everyone will do well working remotely. So, be sure that you (and they) are clear of the requirements to be successful by using the strategic selection system to ensure it. (See examples shared in Chapter 18, Hire Amazing Employees.)
  7. Consider a broader array of benefit options. Providing a smorgasbord of benefit options keeps top talent. Examples: GenZ employees might select education benefits v. increased life insurance options. Parents might opt for housecleaning services v. degreed education benefits. Older employees might enjoy job sharing or part-time work v. full-time employment.
  8. Encourage self-care. More and more employees today no longer value work over health. Provide classes, executive coaching, telemedicine for kids or pets, and perks (gift cards for massages) that are meaningful to the employee.

©Jeannette Seibly 2022 All Rights Reserved

Jeannette Seibly is The Leadership Results Coach. She has been an award-winning international executive and family business management consultant, keynote speaker, and author for over 29 years. Her focus is to guide leaders to make a positive difference. Feel stuck moving your team forward? Want straightforward counsel on how to do it? Let’s chat! Contact Jeannette for a confidential conversation.

A note from Jeannette about why your hiring practices encourage employees to leave: Even though The Great Attrition and Great Resignation occurred in 2021 for millions of employees … many employees are still leaving in 2022! Often, it’s due to employers’ intuitive or instinctual hiring practices! Using a well-designed strategic selection system will improve your retention, revenues, and results! Do you need guidance updating your strategic selection system? Let’s chat now!

JUST RELEASED!

Are you making the most out of your hiring budget? Creating a sustainable system will improve your results and your bottom line. Grab your copy of Hire Amazing Employees (Revised Edition): How to Increase Retention, Revenues and Results!

 

Hiring the Right Salespeople Improves Retention, Revenues, and Results!

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“When you hire the wrong salespeople, they will impact your customer’s experience, fulfillment, and bottom line … but not in the way you want.” Jeannette Seibly

Hiring the right salespeople can be a challenge. You’ve probably interviewed job seekers that are great at selling themselves. But when hired, they cannot sell your products or services. Every time you miss hiring the right salespeople, you’re losing retention of top talent and customers, along with revenues and results!

Remember, it’s much faster, easier, and less expensive to determine their selling ability before you hire them. Attempting to fix and motivate your new salespeople won’t them because sales managers don’t have magic wands!

Six Tips to Improve Your Selection Process

  1. Prepare for the Interview by Using the Selection Triad as Outlined in Hire Amazing Employees: How to Increase Retention, Revenues and Results! The Selection Triad replaces winging it or relying on intuitive hiring, which always hurts results.

As part of the assessment process:

  1. Do They Fit the Job? Job fit is the #1 reason salespeople succeed! To determine critical traits, use a qualified sales job-fit assessment to determine their ability to prospect, present, and close. (See Chapter 9 in Hire Amazing Employees.) Can they, and more importantly, will they use their sales skills to sell your company and product?
  2. Do They Tell the Truth? To answer this question objectively, use an honesty/integrity assessment to uncover omissions that are not part of a public record. First, it saves time and money by not talking with candidates that stretch the truth (think, customer expectations and fulfillment). Second, conduct thorough due diligence before making the job offer (background, education, reference, employment verification).

As part of the interview process, listen for:

  1. Are They Listening? Can they hear you? How do they respond to your questions? Ask the candidate to summarize various parts of the interview by asking, “Tell me what you heard?”
  2. Do They Ask Questions? Do they have questions about your company, product, management style, etc.? Curiosity is a good skill that results-producing salespeople have. Candidates that don’t ask questions lack the curiosity and abilities to inquire further.
  3. Are They Calm and Patient? Does the candidate:
  • Squirm in their seat?
  • Rush the conversation or attempt to finish your sentences?
  • Look at you when speaking or listening?

Closing sales require the ability to have the prospect feel comfortable while gradually increasing their readiness to buy.

©Jeannette Seibly 2021-2022 All Rights Reserved

Jeannette Seibly is The Leadership Results Coach. She has been an award-winning international executive and family business management consultant, keynote speaker, and author for over 29 years. Her focus is to guide leaders to make a positive difference. Feel stuck moving your team forward? Want straightforward counsel on how to do it? Let’s chat! Contact Jeannette for a confidential conversation.

A note from Jeannette about hiring the right salespeople: Hiring the right salespeople can be a challenge. You’ve probably interviewed job seekers that are great at selling themselves. But when hired, they cannot sell your products or services. When you use a strategic selection system, you’ll improve your retention, revenues, and results! Do you need guidance updating your strategic selection system? Let’s chat now!

JUST RELEASED! It’s become the wild-wild-west of hiring … we over-rely on instinct, intuition, gut, and other nefarious practices to select our most valuable resource … our employees! (According to several studies, over 60% of hiring bosses use poor hiring methods.) The key is to collect valid, objective, and reliable data. So how do you do that? Grab your copy of Hire Amazing Employees (Revised Edition): How to Increase Retention, Revenues and Results!

How to Prevent the Need to Rescind Job Offers

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“Smart leaders wait, investigate, and plan for contingencies instead of relying on knee-jerk reactions.” Jeannette Seibly

Rescinding job offers are on the rise, according to CNBC. Currently, the labor market remains strong with a low unemployment rate. So, why are leaders revoking or rescinding job offers, which was unheard of six months ago?

Answer: The economy is changing rapidly, some companies are growing too quickly, investors are becoming more cautious, and customers need to change how they conduct business. So unfortunately, in many cases, leaders freeze hiring and rescind job offers.

However, many rescind job offers due to finding false or embellished information the job candidate has provided.

But what is often overlooked are hiring managers rescinding job offers due to:

  • intuitive or instinctive selection practices
  • failure to conduct full due diligence
  • not collecting enough good, reliable, and objective information

Preventive Measures to Avoid Rescinding Job Offers

It starts with improving the hiring and selection practices for new hires, rehires, job transfers, or promotions.

  1. Take the time to plan. Instead of hiring based on knee-jerk reactions whenever a client needs something new or tasks are not done, slow down. Review current employee skill-sets (See #2 below) and plan for known business changes. Then, reassign job duties to meet changing business needs based on job fit and skill-set.
  2. Use assessments and skills testing. Selecting someone for the job based on intuition overlooks good, reliable, and objective information required for making good selection decisions. Use objective job fit assessments and job match patterns to determine fit with the job responsibilities. Use skill testing to determine level and ability to use the skills. This goes beyond “certifications” and “education degrees.” This reduces unnecessary job offers, while promoting job satisfaction.
  3. Use qualified core value assessments. Honesty/integrity assessments for new hires and rehires provide direct admission data. While background checks may help you learn what a candidate has done in the past, core value assessments can predict what they might do in the future. Another great way to avoid rescinding job offers based on faulty information.
  4. Conduct critical due diligence. Thorough due diligence includes background, credit, education, social security, and professional licensing checks (where appropriate). This needs to be done before (or as soon as legally possible) the interview process is started. If the applicant doesn’t meet specific criteria, don’t interview them! This reduces time, money, and the need to rescind job offers.
  5. Conduct reference checks and employment verifications. Over 85% of resumes today embellish the truth or contain lies. It’s pay now or pay later. Contact past employers to verify employment, job title, and actual dates worked. Also, talk with professional references to ensure the person interviewed is the same person they worked with. Conduct these before making the job offer!
  6. Have at least three final job candidates. Many hiring managers hang on too long when a job candidate isn’t working out for fear of wasting time, money, and energy. When a candidate waits too long to accept the job offer, has unreasonable requirements, or hasn’t been truthful, let them go! With three final candidates, there are others ready. It reduces “buyer’s remorse” for the hiring manager.
  7. Be cautious. Reconsider rescinding a job offer if it can be attributed to discrimination based on disability, race, age, gender, religion, or national origin. Facing a lawsuit can be expensive (losing customers, social media bashing, etc.).
  8. Seek other opportunities for the displaced person. If the job offer is rescinded, consider what can be done if the newly hired person has been relocated or recruited from a previous job. Review the workload, client demands, and upcoming employee changes (medical leaves). What other work can the person do while s/he seeks other employment? Contractual or short-term? Positive employee relations go a long way!
  9. Share only one factual reason why. If the job offer is rescinded and the candidate wants to know why, simply answer the question. Example, “When we conducted an employment verification, the company did not have you listed. Do you have a copy of two or more paychecks and other documentation?” This is not the time to coach the person.
  10. Handle unprofessional behavior immediately. Consider rescinding the job offer to avoid hiring a problematic person and causing team and customer dissatisfaction:
  • negative comments posted about the company, employees, or products
  • still looking for a better job after the job offer has been made
  • wanting to negotiate better pay or benefits after the job offer has been accepted

Three Key Overlooked Factors

  1. Keep fingers on the company’s finances. Know employment costs and the cost of hiring mistakes. On average, it costs companies 35% of salaries (or hourly wages) for benefits and perks (Salary x .35 = Costs). When calculating costs, don’t forget to include tangible costs (training, administrative) and intangible costs (company reputation, loss of customers). This knowledge encourages hiring bosses to make better business and selection decisions.
  2. Factor in executive changes. When new executives are brought in, wait before hiring new people. Too often, there are people the executive wants to hire, which may cause the company to rescind job offers. And, with a new executive, there may be changes in company direction and the skills required. This waiting period will avoid the need to rescind job offers.
  3. Changes in contract or project plans. Stay in communication with clients to prevent surprises. This prevents the need to rescind job offers or make team cut-backs.

©Jeannette Seibly 2022 All Rights Reserved

Jeannette Seibly is The Leadership Results Coach. She has been an award-winning international executive and family business management consultant, keynote speaker, and author for over 29 years. Her focus is to guide leaders to make a positive difference. Feel stuck moving your team forward? Want straightforward counsel on how to do it? Let’s chat! Contact Jeannette for a confidential conversation.

A note from Jeannette about preventing the need to rescind job offers: while business is rapidly changing, so is the need to update hiring and selection practices. Unfortunately, one not-so-good growing practice is rescinding job offers. This leaves job candidates perplexed and often unemployed if the person left a job to accept the job offer. What should leaders do to avoid the need to rescind job offers? What can an up-to-date strategic selection system provide in reducing costs and improving job fit? Need to talk about how to improve your hiring and selection systems? Let’s chat now!

Coming soon! Hire Amazing Employees (Revised Edition): How to Increase Retention, Revenues and Results!

Practices to Prevent Employees from Robbing You!

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“Taking good care of your business includes ensuring employees are not stealing from you!” Jeannette Seibly

Throughout my career, I’ve listened to many stories and guided the clean-up of employee theft. Many times, it could have been prevented by following best practices and immediately addressing theft as it occurs. Unfortunately, while many companies focus on theft by hourly employees, the truth is that white-collar crime is on the rise!

Leaders, did you know?

  • The median amount lost in an employee theft claim is $150,000
  • 5% of an organization’s revenue is lost to fraud every year
  • 23% of employee theft cases cost $1 million or more
  • The average office fraud goes on for 18 months before being detected
  • The most frequent thefts involve billing and check tampering schemes

(Source: AICPA.com)

Employee theft includes:

  • Employer’s property for personal use, without authorization
  • Data, money, physical inventory, proprietary information, publications, workers’ comp, unemployment claims
  • Time theft for hours paid, but not worked
  • Payroll information (e.g., social security and banking information)
  • Service theft (e.g., allowing friends and family employee discounts)

1.Prevention Starts with Hiring and Selection (includes new hires, contract to full- or part-time, and rehires)

Companies today fail to conduct background, education, and other checks. These often occur when the boss knows the person, the person is a family member, or they believe they are too busy to conduct their due diligence. (Note: Always check with your legal counsel, human resource professional, or business manager for when and how this information can be obtained and used.)

Obtain Background Checks. These are public records. But remember, many companies do not prosecute employee theft. Therefore, it’s essential to use a qualified core value assessment too. These tools provide direct admission about what they’ve done, and pre-hires are likelier to tell the computer the truth than a human.

Conduct Appropriate Employment Checks and Verifications. They can wave red flags! These are important since over 85% of resumes contain inaccuracies and lies.

Remember to Hire for Job Fit. Why? Believe it or not, employee theft and misuse of company data can be due to boredom, hating the job responsibilities, or being promoted too soon because there was no job fit.

Source: Hire Amazing Employees (Revised): How to Increase Retention, Revenues, and Results! available in July 2022; SeibCo.com/books/

2.Handle Theft Issues Immediately (this will deter others)

Keep Your Eyes Open for “Dummy” Billings, Contracts, and Surprise Billables

A daughter stole over $1MM from her mother’s company using dummy billings over 2 years. Why did it go on for so long and for so much money? Her mother was in denial even after being told it was happening.  

  • Conduct unannounced internal audits
  • Use an outside financial auditor
  • Review your financials frequently for discrepancies
  • Stay in contact with your customers and listen for: surprise contracts, duplicate billings, unusual costs, or delivery of extra inventory

Don’t Retaliate Against the Thief

While you may wish to bash the person’s reputation or withhold their paycheck, don’t! Otherwise, you may end up in a libel suit. Or have a valid employment claim against you for unpaid wages.

  • Contact the police, and your attorney and insurance company
  • Follow the disciplinary process for letting the person go
  • Change passwords, and alert bank and credit card companies
  • If the employee was terminated, immediately change the locks and other security systems
  • If an unemployment or workers’ comp claim is filed, provide only factual information

Use Best Practices to Take Care of Your Business’s Future

An executive director stole several thousand dollars from a not-for-profit. She set up a personal account and deposited several of the organization’s checks into it. When confronted, she threatened to sue them, using her gender and race as excuses. The board backed off from firing and prosecuting her out of fear of “looking bad.”

How you handle this type of occurrence will determine your organization’s future. When someone steals money or data, it’s important to:

  • Tell customers IF there was a data breach by following best practices for your industry
  • Work with your attorney, human resource professional, and/or business manager to recover the money or value of items taken
  • Determine the return on investment before filing any lawsuit
  • Review practices and policies for weaknesses that allowed the theft or issues to occur
  • Don’t let threats of lawsuits keep you from doing what is right

3.Here Are Some Warning Signs You Should NOT Ignore

When an employee:

  • Complains about work, has poor job performance, or is in frequent disagreements with co-workers
  • Feels mistreated, not heard, or humiliated by their boss
  • Has others input overtime and/or expenses for them
  • Is dealing with debt, drug use, or a gambling problem
  • Is unwilling to train others to do their job
  • Works unusual hours (e.g., comes in too early or stays too late)
  • Accepts goods and monies for personal use from suppliers or others

©Jeannette Seibly 2022 All Rights Reserved

Jeannette Seibly is The Leadership Results Coach. She has been an award-winning international executive and family business management consultant, keynote speaker, and author for over 29 years. Her focus is to guide leaders to make a positive difference. Feel stuck moving your team forward? Want straightforward counsel on how to do it? Let’s chat! Contact Jeannette for a confidential conversation.

A note from Jeannette about preventing employee theft of time, money, and data: Many times, employee theft could have been prevented by following best practices and immediately addressing theft as it occurs. What do you need to do and become aware of to prevent employee theft? Does your strategic selection system need to be updated to avoid hiring mistakes? Let’s chat now before it’s too late!

Self-confidence allows you to address issues now. Self-confident leaders (current and future) address issues that cannot be ignored (e.g., employee theft, misuse of company data, etc.). Build the self-confidence you need to do the right thing now. Grab your FREE copy of 9 tips needed to develop self-confidence.

You Have Achieved Many Successes … So Why Do You Continue to Feel Like an Imposter?

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You have what it takes to succeed. So, why do you feel like an imposter?” Jeannette Seibly

Imposter Syndrome: The persistent inability to believe that one’s success is deserved or has been legitimately achieved as a result of one’s own efforts or skills. Oxford Dictionary

Many high-achieving business professionals feel anxious. They’ve worked hard. They’ve learned invaluable lessons by working through challenging experiences. But … yet … they doubt their intelligence and talents and disregard acknowledgment of their accomplishments. They feel like a fraud … like they are an imposter.

This self-doubt occurs even though they pride themselves on doing excellent work. The high-achievers (aka top talent) are good team members despite enduring jealousy and microaggressions from less-qualified co-workers or when they make mistakes.

Can you identify with these feelings of being an imposter? Here are some tips to help you own your accomplishments. Now is an excellent time to shake loose from disempowering yourself!

How to Acknowledge, Appreciate, and Increase Your Successes   

  1. Hire a Coach and Be Coachable. This is the #1 key! Many successful people don’t believe they need a coach. Yet, anxiety or frustrations can increase the number of mistakes made and cause team conflict. Talking through the pros and cons expands your perspective. When you feel empowered, you will take focused actions and have straight talk Invest in yourself if your company is unwilling to do so. It is money well spent.
  2. Find a Company and/or Industry Mentor. Follow-through. These insiders can navigate you through sticky situations and relationships. But remember, they are not coaches! While they can provide insights and help you understand “why” someone is blocking your team’s (and your) results, they may not adhere to confidentiality.
  3. Complete Qualified Job Fit and 360-Degree Assessments. These tools can guide you to understand yourself and help you lessen your “imposter feelings.” They also expand your perspectives about “why” people do what they do! Some assessments also provide leadership insights for improving your leadership results. Remember, being successful in your current position is an opportunity to build your career.
  4. Attend and Participate in Leadership, Communication, and Other Workshops. Don’t be a bystander because observation alone will not develop your skills. Instead, get involved in company offered workshops and online presentations.
  5. Get Back to Basics. And learn the legalities and best practices through hands-on experiences. For example, don’t just learn how to crunch numbers, learn how to use them to make sound business decisions! Then, do the same with other business operations.
  6. Develop Your Emotional Intelligence. Handling nay-sayers, team conflict, and other interpersonal challenges are critical. Also, use this process to reduce anxiety.
  7. Overcome the Fear of Failure. While it’s important to succeed, learning from your mistakes is also essential. Don’t dismiss them as unimportant or overthink them. Instead, complete this exercise to build objectivity and provide feedback for future endeavors. What Worked? / What Didn’t Work?
  8. Learn How to Brag Humbly. Doing so in a business-savvy manner will allow you to share your achievements and ideas so others can hear you. Complete the exercises in the book “It’s Time to Brag! Business Edition.” It’s also a great confidence booster and will help reduce imposter syndrome.
  9. Own Your Successes! Using the eight points above, own your achievements, failures, and leadership style. Remember, knowledge of the job comes with experience. The key is to learn the basics as a foundation and then build on them. It will help you overcome feeling like an imposter.

©Jeannette Seibly 2022 All Rights Reserved

Jeannette Seibly is The Leadership Results Coach. She has been an award-winning international executive and family business management consultant, keynote speaker, and author for over 29 years. Her focus is to guide leaders to make a positive difference. Feel stuck moving your team forward? Want straightforward counsel on how to do it? Let’s chat! Contact Jeannette for a confidential conversation.

A note from Jeannette about overcoming the feelings of being an imposter: Many high-achievers (aka top talent) experience feeling like imposters, more so than others. How do you stop doubting yourself and own your successes? Read this week’s article and use the tips now. Need someone to listen and confidentially talk through concerns? Let’s Chat!

Self-confidence can develop when working through mistakes. It’s the realization that how you handle mistakes either builds your confidence or diminishes it! Grab your copy of the 9 tips needed to develop the self-confidence you’ve always wanted (FREE).

How to Use Adversity to Make You and Your Team Stronger

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“Want to take advantage of new opportunities? Then, don’t let adversity stop you.” Jeannette Seibly

Like it or not, every team will hit a “wall” when adversity knocks. But remaining stuck or feeling sorry for yourself is not an option. These misfortunes or difficulties can originate from bosses, co-workers, and customers because no one likes change. Some feel threatened by it and will sabotage or block your efforts. Or, it can be due to a company “elephant in the room” no one wants to deal with.

Hoping that the adversity will disappear is a lose-lose-lose strategy! Instead, use your commitment and the team’s resilience to transform a situation, project, and/or relationship. Doing so will make everyone stronger. Here’s how-to-do-it:

5 Tips to Blast through Adversity

Get Real About What Happened. It’s essential to tell the truth. Putting frosting on mud pie and calling it a cake doesn’t change it from a mud pie! When difficulties occur, there is no shame in it. Everyone has experienced failure and unexpected adversity. Adversity can be due to a lack of critical thinking, ignoring ideas, or company politics. Take responsibility and talk with your executive coach and mentor when adversity occurs. Then, take immediate action to get it resolved.

TIP: Complete this exercise with your team: What Worked? / What Didn’t Work? This exercise will have you and your team focused on the facts of what worked and the lessons learned. It will also infuse objectivity into the conversations you need to have with others. This process is a precursor to moving through adversity powerfully.

Develop Emotional Intelligence (EI). It can be challenging to see a situation from another’s point of view when you are emotionally attached to being right. Ask questions. Listen and learn. Now build a bridge between where you are now and the goal you and your team intend to achieve.

TIP: To develop EI, talk with your executive coach or therapist and do the inner work to acquire the critical skills needed.

Utilize All Team Members Based on Their Strengths. There are times adversity occurs due to mistakes made by team members assigned the wrong jobs. Instead of relying on your favorite team member(s) to tell you what you want to hear, give assignments to the best-qualified person.

TIP: Use a qualified job fit assessment to clarify each team member’s thinking style, core behaviors, and primary interests. This information opens new opportunities to develop each and every team member, utilize their strengths, and reduce mistakes.

Be Responsible for What You Are Saying and Sharing. Today’s focus on transparency can backfire when you share too much and publicly blame others. Your relationships can be damage and other will stop trusting you. Straight talk is key. Include diplomacy and kindness to ensure everyone is willing to listen and get on the same page with you.

TIP: Keep a private journal and write down your thoughts and feelings. Not everything needs to be shared with others!

Practice Thanks! Everyone loves being appreciated. Saying “please,” “thank you,” and “great work” is critical. When done authentically, your teams’ confidence grows, and your customers feel valued. Appreciation is especially essential during and after working through adversity of a difficult situation. Be generous with your appreciation!

TIP: For one week count, how many times you appreciate someone. The following week double it. You’ll be surprised by the elevated confidence of your team. And, this is really easy to do!

©Jeannette Seibly, 2021-2022

Jeannette Seibly is The Leadership Results Coach. She has been an award-winning international executive and family business management consultant, keynote speaker, and author for over 29 years. Her focus is to guide leaders to make a positive difference. Feel stuck moving your team forward? Want straightforward counsel on how to do it? Let’s chat! Contact Jeannette for a confidential conversation.

A note from Jeannette about using adversity to make you stronger: Big goals will cause adversity since most people don’t like change! Ask yourself, “Am I willing to do the work required?” Then, have the right conversations with the right people to move the project forward. What adversity are you dealing with? Are you willing to get unstuck? Need someone to listen? Let’s Chat!

Self-confidence can be developed even when dealing with adversity. However, it takes a commitment to yourself to address “lessons being learned” and not shy away from them. Grab your copy of the 9 tips needed to develop the self-confidence you’ve always wanted (FREE).