Assessments

Consider this scenario: Sara left to start her own company after working for you as a customer service rep two years ago. John was a good sales person before jumping to your competitor for a larger commission. Why would you consider rehiring them … ?

… Because circumstances change. Great talent is in high demand and difficult to find. Former employees who want to work for you again show that your company can be a great place to work. Former employees bring a broader work experience that can be invaluable to attracting and keeping customers, building new systems, and updating policies. But even though rehiring employees may sound like an automatic win-win-win situation, clarity is crucial. Remember, they had a reason for leaving.  It’s important for you to follow the same selection procedures for new hires to uncover those reasons, or the same or similar upsets could arise again.

Clarity Is Crucial

Memories are Not Reliable. The biggest challenge is learning about who your former employees are today — their interests, goals and mindsets may have changed. Part of the interview process should include discussing why they left in the first place and any cultural, procedural and customer changes that have occurred since then. What are the biggest challenges your company is facing today? How would they be an asset?  Drill down for clarity to ensure both of you understand what it will take to execute the solutions required.

Truthfulness is Key. Use qualified assessments to clarify core values, like honesty and loyalty, and job fit. Include skill testing to determine the quality of the candidate’s technical abilities. Remember, they left for a reason – often they were not a good fit with all of the job requirements.  Review changes in work processes and job expectations to ensure they understand how important these are.

Onboarding is Important. Companies change. Although former employees may be able to hit the ground running with less training – it’s important to have them slow down to develop new relationships with other employees and customers. Remind them they need to prove themselves again and not rely on “the way things used to be.” Have them participate in an onboarding program as if they are a brand-new employee and suggest that they listen and behave as if they are hearing things for the first time.

Recruit Proactively. Initially, reach out to former employees by buying them a cup of coffee or a quick lunch. It’s a great way to gauge their career aspirations, now and in the near future. Share with them the mission of the company and your goals. Ask about their recent work experiences, and what their goals are. Give a brief overview of requirements (work schedule, job responsibilities, etc.) to test their interest.  If there is mutual interest, tell them how the selection process works. If they do not follow through, let them go. Clearly, there was a lack of willingness on their part, regardless of what they told you.

Hiring costs time and money. In the end, it may be easier to train a new person than to rehire an employee who cannot adapt to change. However, hiring former employees can be a win-win-win solution if there is clarity and willingness.

©Jeannette Seibly, 2016

Jeannette Seibly has been a business advisor and facilitator for over 23 years; she guides the creation of new solutions for business challenges and is the author of Hire Amazing Employees http://BizSavvyHire.com. Check out her website, http://SeibCo.com, or contact Jeannette for a free, confidential conversation at http://SeibCo.com/contact .

People are unpredictable and so are the employees we hire! Most business owners and executives would readily agree! It can be hard to accurately predict what people will or won’t do. The biggest challenge is, hiring the right employees when they look the part, say the right things and tell you they have beaucoup experience. Yet, within a very short period of time on the job, the person who is showing up on the job isn’t the person who you interviewed. The problem isn’t that the person has changed, the problem is your hiring process didn’t work. Why?

Infuse Predictability into Your Hiring System

Use qualified assessments for hiring and promotion. Too often, we rely on non-qualified assessments or no assessments at all. These non-qualified assessments, commonly referred to as social indicators, offer face validity — this means they show the results of how job candidates want to be seen and how the interviewer wants to see them. This is rarely a reflection of how the candidate will actually think and behave, or their true work interest on the job. Most of these same tools don’t provide predictive validity or reliability, which are both required by the Department of Labor (DOL) guidelines for pre-employment assessments. For better results, you need better, objective information by using predictable assessment tools! They help you reduce costs, save time, improve retention and sleep better at night!

Stop Relying Solely on Your Intuition

Whenever you are hiring or promoting, you typically rely on your interviewing skills or having worked with the person. This is where the unpredictability of people can cost you a lot of money, time and stress.

While the costs of hiring mistakes are well documented, often overlooked is the biggest unrealized expense: taking a good employee and promoting or moving them into a job function that doesn’t fit. They take the position for many reasons … many take the opportunity for a pay increase, more flexibility (if working remotely), increased credibility with co-workers, or for a variety of other personal and professional motives. The challenge is, when they don’t work out, they usually leave, often taking your good customers with them. What could you have done differently?

Set Up Predictable Systems

There are over 3,000 assessment tools on the market today. Very few are in compliance with the DOL for hiring and promoting purposes. It’s why we lack predictability when hiring, training and coaching employees to be great in their current and future roles within the company. It pays to take the time to select the right assessment so you hire and promote the right employees. Doing so helps you retain and attract great customers, while increasing profitability and performance!

Here is a partial list of guidelines taken from Hire Amazing Employees (www.BizSavvyHire.com) to help you select the right assessment tool for hiring and promoting purposes:

• Technical Manual: get the manual — do not rely solely on a letter from a law firm.
• Reliability and Validity: does it meet the minimum requirements with the Department of Labor guidelines for employment selection purposes?
• Predictive Validity: what is the window for predicting future behaviors: hours, weeks, or years?
• Measures Thinking Style, Core Behaviors and Occupational Interests: interestingly, thinking style is found to be a very important measure.
• Types of Reports Available and Cost for Each One: selection, coaching, leadership, sales, supervisory, team, career fit, succession planning, and workforce planning.
• Distortion Factor: is the person being forthright in answering the questions?

While it can be hard to accurately predict what people will or won’t do, it’s important to infuse your hiring and selection practices with predictability. The best way to do this is to use qualified assessment tools as part of your selection process.

©Jeannette Seibly, 2016

For a complete list of how to improve your hiring practices, contact me or get a copy of Hire Amazing Employees @ www.BizSavvyHire.com

Jeannette Seibly has been a business advisor and facilitator for over 23 years; she is laser sharp at identifying the leverage points that will take a business and its team to the next level of performance and success. Check out her website: www.SeibCo.com or contact Jeannette for a free, confidential conversation at www.SeibCo.com/contact.

A business owner wanted to grow his business. He loved inventing grandiose ideas, but failed to create sustainable infrastructures to support them. For example, he wanted to hire great customer service people and staff up his technical support team. The problem was, he was unable to setup and unwilling to follow a sustainable (and legal) selection system to find people and vet them. Instead, he would entice people from larger employers to come and work for his much smaller company, falsely believing if the person worked for that big company they would naturally succeed in his growing business. Even though he was cautioned about job fit and culture fit when hiring those people, he wouldn’t listen. He even used non-qualified assessments because they were free and supported his decisions! Six months later the people left and started their own company, taking several important clients with them.

4 Ways to Acquire Better Information to Make Better Decisions

Whether you are hiring or making other business decisions, it’s important you take the time to use the right tools, listen to others and build decisions that will positively impact your business today, and tomorrow! The easy fixes do not usually produce the best sustainable results.

Stop Overthinking. There is an old adage, talking to yourself is talking to a fool. While no one wants to think of him- or herself as a fool, the challenge is, relying on your own thoughts does not provide new and valid information. And, latching onto a new idea, without talking through the pros and cons of how it would or could work in your organization, will not produce the best results either.

Take time to learn the art of brainstorming … it will save time, money and sleepless nights! Instead of pondering an issue or problem to death in your head, brainstorm possible solutions with your team, and, at this point, don’t get stopped by any of the details. Later in the decision-making process, include those off-the-wall ideas that may have more merit when looked at closer.

Slow Down the Decision Process. We live in a world where people love to make decisions in a nano-second. Unfortunately, relying on the tiniest fragments of information is not a valid or sustainable process when making decisions. Many times people that make decisions too quickly, also change their minds just as quickly, creating chaos within their business.

Take time to talk through the pros and cons of your brainstorming session(s). Pick at least five reasons something will work before disregarding it. Investigate the legalities, financial, people, current policies and procedures, and operational impacts before making any final decisions. Yes, it will take more time upfront, but usually saves beaucoup bucks. You will have more time for fun and enjoy restful nights!

Listen to Others with Differing Opinions Before Making Final Decisions. Listening to information you may not wish to hear, or feeling it requires too much effort to learn the truth, only limits your results. Whenever poor decisions are made, the underlying issue(s) never go away!

Putting frosting on mud pie and calling it a cake doesn’t change it from a mud pie!

For example, people love using non-qualified assessment tools to hire people. These tools have great face validity but do not comply with the Department of Labor regs for pre-employment use. This means they show the results of how job candidates want to be seen and how the interviewer wants to see them. This is rarely a reflection of how the candidate will really behave, think or do their work, causing a lot of mischief once they are on the payroll.

Listen as if your business’s success depends upon your doing so … because it does!

Communicate the Outcome so that Everyone Wins. Once you’ve made the final decision, it’s important to communicate the outcome, but beware of spinning it. This will only cause the underlying issue(s) to perpetuate within your company culture — slowly but surely. Next time the same or similar issue will cost more time, more money and maybe your job or company!

You want your employees, customers, vendors and business associates to authentically feel the decisions you make are fair and you’ve followed your own company values, policies and procedures, and other important data. Doing so will build good, sustainable results so that everyone wins.

©Jeannette Seibly, 2016

Jeannette Seibly has been a business advisor and facilitator for over 23 years; she is laser sharp at identifying the leverage points that will take a business and its team to the next level of performance and success. Check out her website: http://SeibCo.com or contact Jeannette for a free, confidential conversation at http://SeibCo.com/contact.

Many companies today are expanding their applicant pool by hiring candidates to work remotely. It’s a great way to hire hard-to-find employees with specific technical skills that do not wish to move. It’s also a great way to keep current employees that are moving. The challenge is, many times work-from-home employees need better interaction skills and work discipline to ensure a high level of work product and seamless interactions. Bosses tend to be skeptical about trusting the independent employee to get the work done and stay in communication with team members in the office.

Here are 6 keys to Lessen the Skepticism

Conduct Normal Due Diligence. When hiring a new remote person, conduct full due diligence (e.g., background checks, references and employment verification). For both the new hire and the moving employee, don’t forget to talk with current and previous bosses, co-workers, customers and vendors to ensure satisfactory interactions and work quality. For new hires, use a qualified core value assessment to ascertain someone’s level of integrity and reliability to ensure things will get done in a timely manner.

Use a Job Fit Assessment. Use a qualified assessment to clarify if the person fits the primary job duties and is capable of working alone remotely. The biggest expense that is often unrealized when taking a high-producing employee and moving them, is that the structure that supported their success will dramatically change! For example, does the person have the tech skills required to be productive?  Can the sales person close a sale by themselves? Are they willing and capable to build a new network in their new community? These are only some of the critical issues to address upfront!

Ability to Work Independently. Company expectations that the employee show up and get the work done is easier to manage in an office setting. The built-in support system to readily handle customer inquiries and concerns is easier when the person is in the cubicle next door. Often overlooked, family expectations for pet, child and elder care often falls on the stay-at-home person. Talk to them upfront about the work expectations: specific work hours, interactions with others without distractions, and the ability to accomplish the work in a timely manner.

Designated Space and Confidentiality. Have them setup a separate workspace from the main living areas of their home. The computer and equipment should be for work use only and is supplied by the company! And more importantly, remember to talk about confidentiality. Confidentiality can be easily compromised when items are left out in the open, computers are not Wi-Fi protected, and computer screens can be easily seen by others.

Keep Them in the Loop. The reality is, coworkers may resent someone working from home and forget to keep them up-to-speed. Because they are not where the action is occurring, politically they will miss out on the subtle changes and expectations. As their boss, stay in direct communication and require attendance at team meetings (via video call or their physical presence). Also, weekly one-on-one conference calls can help ensure work flow, sharing of important communication and awareness of additional training that may be required.

On-site meetings. Require attendance at on-site quarterly or bi-annual meetings. This will encourage coworkers to meet one another and develop better working relationships. It’s a great opportunity for additional team training that can be harder to achieve relying solely on e-learning.

Managing people remotely as a boss requires sharpening your listening skills and developing an ability to manage results differently. Attracting and keeping top level talent makes it well worth your time!

©Jeannette Seibly, 2016

Jeannette Seibly has been a business advisor and executive coach for over 23 years; and along the way, guided the creation of three millionaires. She is laser sharp at identifying the leverage points that will take a business and its team to the next level of performance and success. Check out her website: http://SeibCo.com or contact Jeannette for a free, confidential conversation at http://SeibCo.com/contact.

Many times bosses, leaders, or upwardly mobile professionals do not realize they have bad management styles and attitudes. They are unaware that these attributes get in the way of their business results. While most of their employees and co-workers hope their bad bosses will leave or be fired, there is an alternative – they can transform into a good one!

Good bosses are not born that way! They take the time and energy, and learn from the hard lessons along the way, to develop very good skills in managing people, projects, and financial responsibilities. Good bosses know that most employees quit due to bad bosses, not money. As a result, they do their best to be laser-like coaches, fearless project managers, and keep their employees happy.

Discover Your Bad Boss Traits

The following quiz will help you become aware of the “bad boss traits” you may have. Becoming conscious to how you are perceived is critical to your current and upward success.  Remember, no one expects you to be perfect. However, if you have more than a few low scores, you should consider alternative career paths.

Honestly answer the following questions using a Scale of 1 to 4:

1 = All the time

2 = More often than not

3 = Every so often

4 = Rarely

Do you:

1. Want to be liked and are less concerned about being respected?
2. Hold grudges?
3. Discredit people based on their gender, race, religion, age, or weight?
4. Ignore certain people’s on-point solutions while valuing less-appropriate solutions                                   voiced by those you like?
5. Force your own ideas as solutions to problems?
6. Blame others for poor results?
7. Take credit for good results, even though you had little to do with them?
8. Only do what you want to do and not what needs to be done?
9. Have anger issues that you have not managed or resolved?
10. Fail to follow-through and follow-up with employees, clients, vendors, and others?
11. Put off what needs to be done until it’s an emergency?
12. View golf games (and other outside activities) as more important than your business responsibilities?
13. Value outside perceptions of your professionalism as more important than your employees’ perceptions?
14. Justify spending money on your self-interests while overlooking the needs of the office or business?
15. Micromanage self-reliant people?
16. Fail to provide enough direction for those employees needing structure and guidance?
17. Fail to roll up your sleeves and get involved in a project or crisis?
18. Nitpick projects with untargeted or poor business questions?
19. Lack commitment to the business or job, wishing you were doing something else?
20. Only pursue ideas that hold interest to you at the expense of the company?
21. Become righteous about your selection and promotion practices, discriminating based on appearance, education, current work or financial status, or gossip from others?
22. Discriminate against employees who have real or perceived health issues, including their family members who do?
23. Mismanage fiscal, human, and system resources?
24. Complain about others taking earned vacations while you take at least twice as much time off?
25. Find it more important to be part of the group instead of being their leader?

Add up your scores:

Score of Less than 35:  You may wish to consider a different occupation with no management responsibilities. The sooner, the better.

Score of 35 to 54: You may wish to consider a different occupation with no people management responsibilities or find a management position as an independent contributor. Don’t wait until you are fired or sidelined.

Score of 55 to 79:  With ongoing executive coaching, you may be able to improve your effectiveness. It depends upon your true interest and willingness to do so. Take a qualified job-fit assessment and a qualified 360-degree feedback assessment.  These will be beneficial to managing your career direction and fine-tuning your management skills.

Score of 80 to 100: Congrats! You’re a great boss. The bigger question: Would your employees truly agree? Take a qualified job-fit assessment and a qualified 360-degree feedback assessment. These will be beneficial and help you continue to be a great boss.

Contact http://SeibCo.com/contact  to get started.

©Jeannette Seibly, 2016 All Rights Reserved

Jeannette Seibly has been working with leaders as an international business advisor, executive coach and management consultant for over 23 years. Along the way, she guided the creation of three millionaires. Her trademark is her uncanny ability to help business professionals identify roadblocks and help them blast through those barriers to produce unprecedented results. Contact her for a free, confidential conversation on how to get the results you want: www.SeibCo.com/contact.