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

“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

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!

Not All PreEmployment Assessments Are Created Equal

“Did you know using qualified job-fit assessments can greatly enhance any company’s selection process? The right ones can provide objective data to ensure employees are productive and are in jobs they enjoy.” Jeannette Seibly

There are over 3,000 assessment tools on the market today. The challenge? Most do not meet the minimum standards set by the Department of Labor for preemployment and selection use.

Why is this important to know?

Many applicants have been well trained on how to be interviewed and how to answer frequently asked questions. They know how to say the right things, make promises you want to hear, and provide great work samples. However, these conversations do not accurately predict what the person can and may do on the job in your company.

Qualified assessments provide objective data and information that most job candidates won’t tell you and may not even realize.

As a potential employer, you only see 10% of the person based on the quality of the resume, interviews, and reference checks. But, if you are like most interviewers, you make many assumptions about the job candidates’ suitability for the job.

What’s missing? Objective data! The 90% that is hidden will provide you predictive information on whether they can and will do the job and do it successfully in your company. Objective data includes qualified job fit assessments, in addition to a well-structured interview and thorough due diligence.

The purpose of using qualified job fit assessments is to get real about the applicant’s fit with the job responsibilities. Jeannette Seibly

What types of qualified assessments predict a candidate’s success on the job?

  • Thinking Style (Can they do the job?)
  • Interests/Motivations (Will they do the job?)
  • Behavioral Traits (Can they do the job here?)
  • Job Matching (Will they fit successfully in the position?)

The benefits of qualified assessments:

  • Provide the highest level of valid and reliable information due to thorough research.
  • Predict success in a specific job.
  • Provide a technical manual* for your review.
  • Verify or contradict your “gut/intuition.”
  • Prevent “biases” from getting in the way.
  • Are tested to be nondiscriminatory.
  • Help you meet all federal, state, and local statutes. (For international candidates, check with that country’s requirements.)
  • Validate the quality of information the candidate is providing: Is it accurate, or what they think  you want, or what they wish they were … or a mix of all three?
  • Used as directed, they work!

*The first step when selecting a qualified job fit assessment is to review the Technical Manual.

To ensure each assessment tool is valid and reliable for preemployment and selection purposes, request a technical manual from the publisher or vendor for the assessment product.

A technical manual documents the research and development required to meet the Department of Labor (DOL) Guidelines (Testing and Assessment: An Employer’s Guide to Good Practices), Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO), Americans with Disability Act (ADA), and other requirements for the assessment to be used for preemployment and selection purposes. It helps you determine if the assessment meets minimum validity and reliability requirements for use in your specific employment location(s).

Beware: some vendors may provide a letter from their attorney stating the assessment meets all applicable laws for hiring and selection purposes. That letter protects them, not you. Do your homework!

So, what questions help determine validity and reliability of a qualified assessment?

The following questions are not inclusive when deciding which assessment to use. These are suggestions to get you started.

  • Does it assess job-related skills?
  • Does it meet all legal requirements for your work locations?
  • Does it have recent validity and reliability tests?
  • Does it provide predictive validity, high enough to meet DOL standards?
  • What are the sample sizes and makeup for those tests (e.g., Is it validated with a large sample of working people, or a small sample of college sophomores)?
  • Is it appropriate for preemployment selection and hiring purposes?
  • Are you planning to use it for its intended purpose?

Note: Just because an assessment is being used for training or coaching purposes and shows differences in people, does not mean that it can be used for preemploy­ment and selection purposes. Not only is using the correct assessment of legal importance, but it also ensures that you are using tools with the validity and reliability required to accurately and objectively measure the person for the job.

Content for this article is 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 why preemployment assessments are a must: There are over 3,000 assessments on the market today. Most do NOT meet the Department of Labor’s minimum standards when using them for preemployment and selection purposes. So, what do you need to know, and how do you select the right ones? The information in this article is taken from the newly published book, Hire Amazing Employees: How to Increase Retention, Revenues and Results! Have questions? Most do! Let’s chat now!

Are your job candidates saying, “I didn’t get the job! But I dodged a toxic boss!”? If yes, your hiring process needs help immediately! Grab your copy of newly released Hire Amazing Employees: How to Increase Retention, Revenues and Results!

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

“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

“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!

Do You Need to Hire Salespeople … What Are 5 Key Tips?

“Hiring the right salespeople impacts your customer’s experience and fulfillment … and your bottom line.” Jeannette Seibly

Hiring salespeople can be a challenge. Many will look and/or talk the part. But when hired, fail to produce the required results.

Remember, it’s always faster and easier (and so much less expensive) to determine their ability to sell before you hire them. If you don’t, you’ll spend too much money and energy, and face sleepless nights attempting to fix them (and this never works out well for anyone).

5 Tips to Improve Your Selection Process

1. Are They Listening? Can they hear you? Do they respond appropriately? Ask the candidate to summarize the interview or various parts of the conversation by asking, “Tell me what you heard?”

2. Do They Ask Questions? Do they have questions about your company, product, management style, etc.? If not, move on. Candidates that don’t ask questions lack the curiosity and skills to inquire further.

3. Are They Calm and Patient? Does the person squirm in his/her seat? Does the candidate rush the conversation or attempt to finish your sentences? Does the candidate look at you when speaking or listening? While closing is a required skill and requires the ability to not be too patient, failure to have the prospect feel comfortable is critical.

4. Do They Fit the Job? To determine key traits, most salespeople need prospecting, presenting, and closing. Use a qualified job-fit assessment. Can they do these things? Will they do these things? And, can they do these things for your company and product?

5. Do They Tell the Truth? To objectively answer this question, first, use an honesty/integrity assessment to uncover omissions that are not part of a public record. It saves time and money by not talking with candidates that stretch the truth (think, customer expectations and fulfillment). Second, with final candidates, check background, education, and other accomplishments.

Jeannette Seibly is The Leadership Results Coach. During the past 29 years, she has guided the creation of three millionaires and countless 6-figure income professionals. Her brags include being an award-winning executive coach, management consultant, and keynote speaker. If you continue to struggle to hire salespeople who can actually sell, now is a great time to contact Jeannette for a confidential conversation.

A note from Jeannette about hiring salespeople that can actually sell. Many candidates for sales positions look and/or talk the part. The problem is, they fail to produce the required results. It’s up to you to improve your selection process to uncover salespeople that can actually sell your product and service. Need help? Contact me to improve your hiring and selection processes.

Do You Know How to Listen to Succeed?

“Misunderstandings, bad decisions, and team conflict create poor results. Avoid them by simply listening!” Jeannette Seibly

Most people would say, “Sure, I listen if …”

  • It’s something that interests me.
  • The speaker is engaging.
  • The boss is saying something that I need to hear.

But listening selectively doesn’t work.

Poor listening skills are the #1 reason for poor communication today! It impacts everything, everywhere in our lives, careers, and businesses…and leads to poor results.

There is a difference between listening and waiting for your turn to speak. Simon Sinek

You’re not listening when you are …

  • Engaging with the internal chatter in your head
  • Multi-tasking
  • Thinking about other things to do
  • Replaying old upsets (Hint: listening can resolve them)
  • Creating a new job and not engaged in the one you have

The costs of not listening are many. A select few include:

  • Teamwork and comradery are lost
  • New ideas and opportunities are missed
  • Logical discernment and cost-saving processes are overlooked
  • Trust — people feeling valued and respected disappears

8 Tips to Improve Your Listening and Your Results

1. Set Aside Your Ego. It’s the #1 reason you don’t listen. You believe you know-it-all or have already heard it! The truth is, you haven’t. Stop finishing people’s sentences or ideas. Not only is this rude, but you’re also usually incorrect. When your team does not speak up to correct you…you lose time and cost-saving ideas.

Max was a CFO for a large company. He had an uncanny ability to listen and sought out others’ ideas and opinions before making decisions. He didn’t just rely on executives’ opinions, he talked with others that would be impacted too. As a result, his decisions were better accepted and easier to implement. He’d learned the value of listening early in his career and believed it built trust. He was right!

2. Deep Dive. Hearing a tidbit of info and expanding and expounding on it isn’t listening. It’s your ego at work … and often it can be wrong. Listening and asking questions are part of developing critical thinking skills.

3. Stop the Internal Chatter. You have an internal chatterbox. (We all do!) It operates full-time every day, and many times keeps you awake at night too. Learn to meditate and disengage from mental chatter. Now, use these skills for listening.

4. Be Present. Focus and concentrate in the moment when interacting with others. This simple, but rarely used, listening practice makes all experiences more authentic and meaningful. Bonus … others will feel and see the difference too!

5. Set Aside Your Point of View. Set aside mental ‘likes’ and ‘dislikes’ about the person, task, or situation. This gets in the way of listening and hearing more than the words said. The creation of new ideas begins by listening and engaging in “Tell me more.”

Sabrina, a project manager had tons of experience and so she didn’t listen to anyone that didn’t agree with her. She said, “no” more than, “Tell me more.” As a result, she lost the trust of her team. They felt disrespected. In turn, they only did the work necessary making it difficult for Sabrina to execute customer projects. They also blamed her for not listening to them whenever something went wrong.

6. Don’t Shoot the Messenger. This metaphoric phrase is used to blame the bearer of bad news. (Wikipedia) Be willing to hear what you don’t want to hear. This. Is. Critical. (Yes, it’s hard, but worth the effort.) It will improve your results, save time and money, and have others feel respected. Also, it will save your job and career.

7. Show Me. Many people are not confident when sharing their concerns. They’ve learned that others don’t want to listen. So, if you’re not clear, don’t dismiss their concerns as unimportant. Instead, say, “Show me the concern.” Have the person physically show you from start to finish to ensure clarity.

8. Stop Multi-tasking. Everyone believes they are the exception to the rule and think they know how to multitask and listen at the same time. They don’t! This egocentric habit (lots of us have it) gets in the way of listening and paying attention to the details. When people need to repeat what they have already said, they don’t feel valued or respected. When you truly listen, it saves time and builds trust in you since you actually heard them!

Becky had a habit of sitting through “boring” meetings thumbing through her social media posts and texts. As a result, she missed her boss’s announcement about meeting with executive management. She didn’t show up prepared with the required 3-minute PPT and she attempted to wing-it. When asked by her boss why she didn’t come prepared, she said, “I’m too busy putting out fires.” His response was, “If you learned to listen, you wouldn’t have so many fires to extinguish.”

©Jeannette Seibly, 2021 All Rights Reserved

Jeannette Seibly is The Leadership Results Coach. During the past 29 years, she has guided the creation of three millionaires and countless 6-figure income professionals. Her brags also include being an award-winning executive coach, management consultant, and keynote speaker. If you’re struggling to get unstuck, now is a great time to contact Jeannette for a confidential conversation.

A note from Jeannette about listening to succeed. The #1 communication skill overlooked today is listening! We are too focused on standing up and speaking up and forget to listen first! Contact me about providing the workshop, Everyone Is Talking, But No One Is Listening! for you and your leaders.

How to Improve Hiring Results Using Job Fit Assessments

“Using the right job fit assessment can improve your hiring, coaching, training, and managing results…and your own career opportunities!” Jeannette Seibly

It’s been a difficult year for most hiring managers. Ghosting has become the norm and qualified job candidates overlook employers due to a myriad of reasons. One of the critical reasons is how employers select and use ‘job fit’ assessments during the hiring process. Right now, with so much competition, it’s more important than ever to improve your hiring results.

Q4 is fast approaching. Let’s get real and learn how to use “job fit” assessments to improve your hiring results.

First … What is Job Fit?

The most effective job fit assessment measures learning style, core behavioral traits, and occupational interests. The right assessment goes beyond the resume, application, interview, reference checks, education, work experience, and background checks.

It can also create a diverse workforce that has the key skills required to improve your hiring and business results.

It answers three important questions:

  • Can the person do the job?
  • Will the person do the job?
  • Can the person do the job successfully here?

7 Tips to Use Job Fit Assessments to Improve Results

Think Outside the Box. It’s critical to know what you’re looking for. The problem is too many are dusting off job postings and reposting! Not updating your job posting it’s crazy with all the changes that have occurred due to the pandemic. Get real: Take the time to brainstorm the results you’d like to achieve with the position. Then, add a job title and positive opportunities to entice them! Now, you’re ready to use a job fit assessment!

Select the Right Qualified Job Fit Assessment. Every assessment sales rep will tell you their assessment is the right one!* Of the 3,000+ publishers in the market today, most do not meet pre-employment requirements. Get real: Review their technical manual and compare it with the Department of Labor guidelines for pre-employment tests. Pay close attention to the number of people in the study, and the predictive validity and reliability of the results. The higher the numbers the better the hiring results.

*NOTE: While many test vendors market their tests as validated, just because the vendor says the test was validated, [this] does not mean that the test’s validation will in fact comply with the Uniform Guidelines.” (Source) Alissa Horvitz, Attorney, Roffman mentioned in June, 2016 SHRM article)

Create a Job Fit Pattern. Every qualified job fit assessment has a job fit pattern to help you determine the best fit for the job. Get real. To set up a job fit pattern, conduct a study of current talent that you’d like to hire more of OR create a new job fit pattern using a job analysis survey. This process saves time, money, and a lot of energy pre- and post-hire. If you’ve ever hired a sales rep that said all the right things, but couldn’t sell your products and services, you know the value of a good job fit pattern.

Couple Job Fit Assessment with an Honesty/Integrity Assessment. Using an honesty/integrity assessment along with a job fit assessment makes good business sense. Get real: Job fit tools have a “distortion indicator,” but do not assess for good work ethic and integrity. Qualified honesty/integrity assessments go beyond public records when conducting background checks and can reduce WC, UEC, and turnover costs.

Assess for Skills. The purpose of a skill assessment is to avoid surprises when the applicant states they have the skills required. Use these tools after assessing for job fit. Get real: Use skill assessments to determine the skill level the applicant currently has. When the person is hired, plan to provide online workshops, mentors, and coaches to improve these skill levels where needed.

Don’t Shortcut the Procedure! This happens way too often when someone says all the right things and your ‘spidey-sense’ says, “This is the one.” Then, the candidate is rushed through bypassing your company’s procedures. The problem? The candidate is rarely the right one! Get real. Train all hiring managers to follow the system and read the job fit assessment reports. Ask ALL the interview questions in the selection report for the job fit assessment. It will improve the interview and hiring results.

Don’t Overlook Challenge Areas! Many hiring managers have been embarrassed after hiring the candidate only to find the job fit assessment report indicated challenge areas. Examples include prospecting, closing, working well with a team, etc. Get real. Read the full report. Yes, read the full report! If you don’t, you will miss critical information. Remember, you cannot fix and change a person, no matter what they tell you in the interview!

Qualified job fit assessments provide in-depth insight into the whole person and their fit with the job. Choosing the most effective job fit assessment will make your job as the hiring manager much easier to attract qualified diverse talent and improve hiring results.

©Jeannette Seibly, 2021 All Rights Reserved

Jeannette Seibly is The Leadership Results Coach. She has been an award-winning executive coach, management consultant, and keynote speaker for over 28 years. Her focus is getting leaders and their teams unstuck and able to achieve dynamic results. Contact Jeannette for a confidential conversation. 

A note from Jeannette about improving hiring success using job fit assessments. Why should you care about job fit? Qualified job fit assessments provide in-depth insight into the whole person and their fit with the job. Choosing the most effective job fit assessment will make your job as the hiring manager much easier to attract qualified diverse talent and improve hiring results.  Contact me for a confidential conversation on how to streamline the process for success.

 

How to Improve Leadership Results Before You Need to Fire Them

Due to the talent tsunami, experts warn 20-50 percent of employees are looking for new jobs or are planning to quit once the pandemic is behind us. To attract top talent, you must have leaders that are considered good leaders. Now is the time to make a positive difference.

A bad leader is someone who fails to work with and through others to keep customers happy and satisfied while building successful teams.

Examples:

When the oldest sibling was promoted to President of the family business, everyone expressed concern. She was insecure and relied only on her favorite people when making decisions. As a result, after losing several key customers, the family fired her.

In another company, a leader wasn’t a strong boss, but did make good decisions and cared about the customers. But a disgruntled employee scrutinized and gossiped about him to the point where he was considered a bad leader and felt forced to leave.

7 Signs of Poor Leadership

This list is endless…what are your key indicators of a bad leader?

  1. Loses focus on the goal by getting lost in the “weeds”
  2. Lacks empathy
  3. Stifles creativity and new ideas
  4. Is unable to motivate the team to achieve intended results
  5. Is indecisive
  6. Is unable to talk straight
  7. Plays favorites when assigning work

Too often, we wait until we’ve lost good customers or top talent before getting the leader the help and guidance needed for success.

7 Tips to Improve Leadership Results Now Before It’s Too Late

  1. Provide Executive Coaching. Many bad leaders are overwhelmed by the challenges they face. The right executive coach guides these leaders to improve communication, navigate politics, and manage sticky situations. Hire an executive coach from outside the company to ensure confidentiality. If the person isn’t coachable, it’s time to create an exit plan or job reassignment.
  2. Use qualified assessments. Use a qualified 360-degree feedback assessment and a job fit assessment. These provide objective insights and guidance based on consistent real data.
  3. Design a performance plan. It’s important to require bad leaders to participate in workshops. This helps them to acknowledge what they don’t know that they don’t know. Focus on one specific area at a time and team them with an internal company mentor (in addition to the outside executive coach). Courses must include addressing leadership blind spots (e.g., emotional intelligence, working with and through others, diversity, ethics, critical thinking, to name a few).
  4. Analyze the cost. Too often, we overlook bad leadership because we don’t see or understand the impact. When conducting a cost analysis, review turnover of top talent and customers, quality issues, and complaints. NOTE: If there are little or no problems, look deeper. The leader may be the scapegoat to distract from the real issue.
  5. Talk with disgruntled team members. Don’t be surprised if the bad leader’s problem is due to the inability to handle group think, cliques, and subjective expectations. Have the executive coach work with the team and the leader to get everyone on the same page. Remember, change is a process, not an event. And, no leader is perfect.
  6. Some bad leaders are good individual contributors as long as they don’t have people management responsibilities. Also, look for a special project or new opportunity that can use the leader’s good skills. NOTE: When making a transfer, the new position may have a new job title. But it’s best to avoid adjusting the paycheck or it could trigger a dissatisfied leader with an axe to grind.
  7. When All Else Fails Let the Bad Leader Go. Be sure you work with HR and/or an attorney to dot the I’s and cross the T’s. If you don’t, this can be very costly, especially if you’ve allowed it to go on for too long.

©Jeannette Seibly, 2021 All Rights Reserved

Jeannette Seibly is The Leadership Results Coach. She has been an award-winning executive coach, management consultant, and keynote speaker for over 28 years. Her focus is getting leaders and their teams unstuck and able to achieve dynamic results. Contact Jeannette for a confidential conversation.  

A note from Jeannette about turning around bad leaders. Turning bad leaders around is one of my primary strengths. As an executive coach, I’ve worked with many poor leaders to transform them, or help them move on. When a bad leader needs help, the best solution is to do the right things now. If a team views their leader as needing help, don’t wait! Otherwise, s/he may need to leave the company! Remember, a bad leader cannot transform into a good one on his/her own! Contact me for a confidential conversation. 

Do You Bring Your A-Game to Work Each Day?

“It’s fun to experience your A-Game at work…but it’s up to you to bring it with you each day!” Jeannette Seibly

Your A-Game occurs when you are playing like a top-performing leader. This means you are working well with people, focused on the right business challenges, and bringing resources to your team. And, getting the results you want. It’s a great feeling. At the end of the day, you want to do it again!

But top performance doesn’t happen by accident. It takes doing the right things the right way…and starts by being present and aware.

How to Experience A-Game Days

  1. Self-Care Is Critical. Taking care of yourself is important. It’s difficult to operate at top performance while denying your health and well-being. Hire a coach if your normal days seem like B-type days.
  2. Resolve Conflict Instead of Hoping It’ll Go Away. Team conflict doesn’t mean you’re off-track. It means you need to address the core issue(s) you’ve been ignoring. This will make the difference between achieving dynamic results or experiencing costly hit-or-miss results.
  3. Delegate to Your Team and BELIEVE They Will Come Up with the Answers. Your belief and trust in others will make projects easier to accomplish. (Or, more difficult if you’re micromanaging.) Remember, your team can take the initiative, be resourceful, and wants to be trained. A-Game leaders value the learning process and lead by example.
  4. Brainstorm Solutions and Then Get Out of the Way. Lack of true brainstorming is a key reason teams fail! Trust the process of brainstorming and don’t latch on to the first and easiest answer. Now, get out of the way and allow your team to explore these new options.
  5. Keep Your Eye on the End Results While Managing the Process. There will be times you will go off-track and into the weeds! It’s important to objectively ask and answer whether or not the current actions will lead you to the desired results. Watch out for busywork that occurs when a team member doesn’t have the skills or interest in using these skills to get the job done. Now, manage the process to stay on track. Remember, don’t manage your team members’ personalities, manage their actions.
  6. Dial-Down Your Ego. Being humble every day is important when bragging about your successes! It also builds trust from your team.

©Jeannette Seibly, 2021 All Rights Reserved

Jeannette Seibly, The Leadership Results CoachJeannette Seibly is The Leadership Results Coach. She has been an award-winning executive coach, management consultant, and keynote speaker for over 28 years. She is an expert in guiding leaders and their teams to get unstuck and achieve dynamic results. Contact Jeannette for a confidential conversation.

A note from Jeannette about bringing your A-Game to work each day. Your A-Game occurs when you are operating at top performance levels. But those levels don’t happen by accident. They require you to consistently do the right things the right way…and that starts with you being present and aware. If you find that many of your days are B-, contact me to understand how to reach A-Game levels consistently!

Are you frustrated that your team loves conflict and chaos more than achieving intended results? Discover how to step up and work through these saboteurs now, before it’s too late!