GenZ boss

From Guesswork to Clarity: Hiring with Job-Fit Assessments Improves Revenues and Results

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“Job fit assessments take the guesswork out of your hiring process to improve revenues, retention, and results.”

In today’s hiring climate, speed often masquerades as strategy. Managers are urged to act fast—yet when the “right” candidate doesn’t surface, your hiring strategy often goes out the window.

Beneath the urgency and hesitancy lies a deeper tension:

  • Will this hire stick?
  • Will they elevate the team—or disrupt it?
  • Are we measuring what matters?

When clarity falters, misalignment follows. Promising candidates walk. Loyal customers drift. And retention, revenue, and results quietly erode.

When hiring decisions rely on urgency or intuition alone, managers often struggle to identify candidates who:

  • Have vague or inflated skills – that don’t translate to performance
  • Avoid accountability – by justifying shortcuts or disregarding rules
  • Resist feedback – rationalizing poor choices and showing little willingness to learn
  • Lack the long-term attitude or behavior needed – to support team growth and client retention
  • Require hands-on training – but resist being shown or told how to improve

These blind spots lead to failure and building a resilient, high-performing team. Without objective data from validated job fit assessments, better hiring outcomes remain out of reach.

Tired of interviewing a person and having them change their personality within two to 90 days? Keep reading.

What is a Job Fit Assessment?

It’s a screening tool that helps managers hire with purpose—defining roles, aligning expectations, and selecting candidates who truly fit.

Using “whole person” data—thinking style, core behavior, and occupational interests—reveals who a candidate is beneath the polish, not just how they want to be seen.

A job fit assessment shifts hiring from reactive to intentional, offering reliable, replicable insights that meet Department of Labor guidelines for both hiring and promotion.

Please note: Assessments are just one-third of the decision. Interviews (1/3) and due diligence (1/3) complete the trio.

Why are “qualified” job fit tools often overlooked? Most importantly, not all assessments are equal. A “qualified” job fit tool used for hiring and promotion must meet distinct scientific and legal standards. Most assessments don’t.

To be “qualified” and effective, these tools must:

  • Be scientifically validated and reliable, with proven predictive validity
  • Minimize bias and promote fairness
  • Deliver objective data for consistent, defensible decisions
  • Be easy to interpret and apply across roles and teams
  • Align with actual job performance

Why Are Job Fit Assessments Critical to Your Company’s Success?

Clarify Role Expectations. Most job descriptions list tasks, but few articulate a role’s impact on finances, systems, and people. A qualified job-fit assessment helps managers move beyond vague responsibilities to define true accountability about what success looks like (e.g., hiring salespeople who close deals, not just educate prospects; hiring financial planners who enjoy working with numbers).

Define Success Metrics. Hiring isn’t just about filling a seat—it’s about fueling performance. Job-fit assessments help managers identify what matters and avoid repeating costly mistakes:

  • What are the candidate’s natural strengths?
  • What skills need development?
  • How can we best support their success?
  • Are they coachable and open to feedback?

The insights provided by a qualified job fit assessment shape interviews, onboarding, and coaching—and reduce bias by anchoring decisions in data, not assumptions (e.g., eliminating bias tied to gender, age, education, or experience).

Align with Team Culture. Skills get candidates hired. Culture keeps them. The right assessment reveals how a candidate’s values, work style, and decision-making align with the team, company, and role—revealing synergy or friction before the hire.

Paired with honesty-integrity direct admission tools, managers gain deeper insight into values (e.g., drugs, theft, attendance), supporting trust-building from day one.

When managers hire with clarity, everything shifts:

  • Interviews become focused and strategic
  • Onboarding becomes purposeful and personalized
  • Teams align around purpose—not just performance
  • Objective data drives measurable outcomes (e.g., retention, revenue, results)
  • Employees engage more deeply when their roles fit
  • Customer satisfaction and team cohesion grow stronger

In short, qualified job-fit assessments aren’t just tools—they’re catalysts for sustainable retention, revenue, and results.

©Jeannette Seibly 2025 All Rights Reserved

Jeannette Seibly, an award-winning Talent Advisor, Leadership Results Coach, and Business Author, has guided thousands of executives and business leaders to achieve remarkable success over the past 33 years. Her specialty is delivering innovative solutions for hiring, coaching, and leadership challenges—with excellence and accountability at the core.

How can I help you select the right job fit assessment to improve retention, revenues, and results?

How to Work with an Incompetent Boss

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“When working with an incompetent boss, you must set aside your judgment to protect your job.” Jeannette Seibly

Working with an incompetent boss is challenging. They can sabotage your efforts while wasting time and money—for you, your team, and the company. This can happen whether you’re working with your direct boss, your boss’s boss, or a boss you don’t report to directly.

Many times, the boss’s incompetence stems from a lack of self-awareness and a failure to understand their impact on others. They often insist everything is done their way—even when their way doesn’t work. The primary reason they are incompetent is they never learned how to work with a team. And they are often resentful when you know a better way to get results and voice them.

The challenge intensifies when the boss is well-liked or has a strong reputation. So—it’s up to you to learn how to work with them because they don’t have to learn to work well with you!

Even though it might be easier for you to take over the boss’s role to get the job done … be careful … their popularity and ego can hurt you and your future career opportunities if not handled with diplomacy.

5 Tips to Work Well with an Incompetent Boss and Keep Your Job

Diplomacy. This is the #1 skill to develop and use rigorously. Being right, egotistical, or gossiping about the boss’s incompetence will not get the job done. And, if you complain, it will come back to bite you.

Instead:

  • Be an ally. (Even if that seems impossible.)
  • Take the boss to lunch to build rapport outside the pressure of the project.
  • Ask non-threatening questions about their background and experience.
  • Ask how the project is coming along.
  • Offer to do one task the boss is complaining about “to help the person out.” Get it done ASAP.
  • Then ask, “How else can I help you?”

Do It Their Way. The biggest fear most incompetent bosses have is that others won’t do it their way. It’s true—you and others won’t. But to gain their trust:

  • Do it their way the first time.
  • Then offer only one suggestion on how it could be done faster or better in the future (e.g., use a dashboard to track progress).
  • Again, only offer one suggestion at a time—then allow it to be their idea!

Bring in a Respected 3rd Party. You may not have the luxury of waiting for the incompetent boss to “get it.” Talk with your company mentor, boss, or external company coach (if available) about how to best handle the issue. However, the right person (not you) should work with the “incompetent boss” and use a qualified job fit assessment focused on leadership attributes that can make a positive difference.

  • Stick with the facts when talking with 3rd
  • Understand others may be unwilling to “rock the boat” since it could negatively impact them.

An aspiring young leader, Stephanie, volunteered to work with Tyler, an executive known for being difficult and blaming others. Stephanie asked her coach for guidance. Armed with insights, she asked Tyler if she could shadow him for a day and learn about his background and job. He was flattered. Over time, they built a good working relationship. When Tyler poorly managed a customer project, Stephanie was able to step up. She relied on their rapport to have a frank but diplomatic conversation. Tyler allowed Stephanie to help him and turn around the results.

This type of diplomacy and curiosity can build trust—even with difficult leaders.

Document. Be proactive:

  • Ask at least twice: “How can I help?” or “What would you like me to do?”
  • Document if you did not get an answer or received push-back.
  • Keep it fact-based—stay away from blame.
  • Share your brags with your boss to keep them apprised, especially since it can show up on your performance appraisal.

When All Else Fails, Let It Go. If you’re deeply committed to doing good work, this will be difficult. You probably have a strong emotional attachment to fulfilling the needs of the project. But when an incompetent boss refuses to budge, you must step back—especially if no one is willing to help facilitate the outcome. If you don’t, you risk developing a bad reputation for “not working well with others.” Ironic, isn’t it?

Working with an incompetent boss is common but does not need to negatively impact your job or career. Many times, the experience elevates your skills and it is positively noticed!

© Jeannette Seibly 2021–2025 All Rights Reserved

Jeannette Seibly, an award-winning Talent Advisor, Leadership Results Coach, and Business Author, has guided thousands of executives and business leaders to achieve remarkable success over the past 33 years. Her specialty is delivering innovative solutions for hiring, coaching, and leadership challenges—with excellence and accountability at the core. How can I help you navigate the ups and downs of working with a difficult boss?

Want to Hire Job Loyalists? First, Evaluate the Costs and Benefits

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“To grow, a company’s leadership must embrace change and hiring job loyalists can create positive legacies.” Jeannette Seibly

Many GenXers and Millennials who have been job hoppers are now looking for an employer for “life.” As an employer and as a ‘job loyalist,’ it’s important to become aware of the costs and benefits of job longevity.

Many GenX and Millennial leaders who have spent their careers job hopping every 3 to 5 years are now seeking to find a home or in other words become a ‘job loyalist.’ A job loyalist is intending to stay, contribute, and construct a legacy with a purposeful role. This shift resembles a trend of job hugging; however, job huggers typically plan to pursue new opportunities once economic or external conditions improve.

Job loyalists aim to find one final employer where they can stay and retire—ideally for 10 to 20 years – from job hopping to job holding. Often, this decision is influenced by family needs, health considerations, or personal life pursuits.

Yet both employers and job loyalists frequently overlook a critical reality: those who crave new and exciting work often possess traits such as independence, unconventional thinking, and a need for new challenges – otherwise they become bored. Also, these same traits can mask leadership blind spots that undermine long-term success and the ability to stay with one employer for a long period of time without developing deeper leadership skills.

In today’s fast-paced environment, companies and leaders must balance experience with fresh perspectives, strategic risk-taking, and cultural adaptability to remain competitive. While job loyalist with deep industry knowledge can provide these insights, companies must ask: Can this job loyalist continue to grow without compromising innovation, agility, or strategic clarity?

Costs of Job Loyalists

Being aware of the following pitfalls can help avoid hiring a job loyalist looking for an interim safe place to land.

  1. Risk Aversion and Complacency. Long tenure can foster comfort over courage. Leaders who once embraced bold change may now avoid disruptive innovation to protect their position.
  2. Stagnation in Decision-Making. Without fresh perspectives, strategic choices may default to legacy thinking rather than future readiness. Leaders may prioritize being liked over being effective.
  3. Reduced Agility. Lifelong roles can slow organizational pivoting. Reassigning or reimagining roles becomes difficult when longevity is the job loyalist’s goal. Top talent, your future leaders, will exit if this occurs.
  4. Saboteur of Evolution. Job loyalists may resist cultural evolution, especially in areas like DEI, tech adoption, or emerging leadership styles. “We’ve always done it this way” becomes a silent saboteur.
  5. Complacency on the Job. Remaining in the same company and similar roles may feel comforting to the job loyalist, but it can quietly erode the agility, innovation, digital literacy, and growth every company needs to thrive.
  6. Former job hoppers—now aspiring job loyalists—once thrived on frequent raises, new titles, and fresh challenges. When promises made by new employers are forgotten, ego and lack of trust may prompt them to start job hopping again.

The Benefits of Keeping Job Loyalists and Future Leaders Engaged

Remember, use a strategic job fit selection system including qualified job fit tools to ensure the quality of hiring (including Boomerangs (rehires)), coaching, and managing.

Create Career Pathways and Career Ladders. Talent bottlenecks can be caused by job loyalists. Provide new career pathways and ladders to prevent career blocks for emerging talent and keep current leaders agile. For example: Rather than relying solely on the traditional career ladder, transition executives into board roles or company-affiliated foundations. This opens up new responsibilities and creates opportunities for rising leaders.

Update Current Workplace Culture. Ensure your workforce prioritizes purpose, flexibility, resilience, idea generation, and growth over permanence. Without this shift, attracting top talent becomes increasingly difficult.

Keep Skills Current. Long-tenured employees may avoid reskilling or adapting to changes in technology, human development, finance, and operations. Job loyalists often prioritize personal comfort over company-wide changes, leading to mismatches between role demands and stakeholder expectations. Make skill adaptation and accountability non-negotiable across the company.

Keep Succession Planning Current. Sudden exits can create leadership vacuums and operational disruption. Never assume someone will always remain in a role—or that the #2 person is ready.

One individual served as the #2 for over a decade. When promoted to #1 after his boss retired, he lacked decision-making and critical thinking experience at the enterprise level. He was fired six months later by the board of directors. As an independent consultant, his lack of tech and leadership skills led to closing his consulting business within a year.

Reframe From Keeping a Lifelong Job to Being a Lifelong Contributor. Instead of anchoring leaders to longevity, companies can:

  • Promote lifelong learning and legacy-building by requiring ongoing management development through symposiums or conferences (e.g., encourage leaders to share ideas and facilitate breakout workshops that activate strategic thinking and peer engagement).
  • Encourage role evolution through horizontal or vertical job expansion to meet new business demands (e.g., lead AI initiatives, spearhead wellness programs, drive goal completion, and transform employee development).
  • Design contribution pathways that honor experience without stifling innovation (e.g., mentoring, college and trade school presentations, onboarding support). Ensure the job loyalists have developed engaging and talent-attracting presentations by requiring public speaking training (this applies to all presenters).

©Jeannette Seibly 2025 All Rights Reserved

Jeannette Seibly, an award-winning Talent Advisor, Leadership Results Coach, and Business Author, has guided thousands of executives and business leaders to achieve remarkable success over the past 33 years. Her specialty is delivering innovative solutions for hiring, coaching, and leadership challenges—with excellence and accountability at the core.

Remember, use a strategic job fit selection system including qualified job fit tools to ensure the quality of hiring (including Boomerangs (rehires)), coaching, and managing.

Why Expedient Hiring Can Backfire and How to Resolve It

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“When you hire too fast, you will miss important character factors that impact your company’s future.” Jeannette Seibly

A tech company’s president left after two years of poor results—the third person to exit in five years. The CEO stepped in temporarily, but soon demanded of his management team, “Get that new person hired immediately and have them start tomorrow.”

Instead of using a strategic job fit process, the CEO let a committee of the president’s former reports choose the candidate—without using validated assessments, multiple interviews, or stakeholder alignment. Several weeks later, they picked someone they liked. The CEO rubberstamped the hire to relieve his stress.

In their haste, they rehired a well-liked former president with the same leadership gaps: weak strategy, poor accountability, and a focus on being liked. The CEO’s stress would soon return—and ripple through employees and customers.

Sadly, when companies need to hire now, many find themselves relying on excuses for why their selection failed instead of implementing a valid hiring process. They ignore the fact that taking the time to hire the right person the first-time costs far less—in time, money, and morale—than repeating the cycle of hire, train, and replace.

By implementing and following a strategic job fit system, the hiring process becomes not only easier but far more effective.

Why Expedient Hiring Usually Backfires

  • Missing Soft Skills: Quick hires often focus on technical qualifications, overlooking traits like empathy, adaptability, and communication—qualities that shape team dynamics and customer interactions. Many job candidates are well versed in talking around a subject and don’t know how to talk straight.
  • Cultural Misalignment: Without thorough vetting, you risk onboarding someone who clashes with your company’s values or work style, which can erode morale and productivity.
  • Customer Experience: Employees who lack emotional intelligence or problem-solving skills may struggle to deliver the kind of service that builds loyalty.
  • Financial Impact: A bad hire can lead to turnover, retraining costs, and lost productivity—ultimately hurting your bottom line. Worse yet, customers often leave.

What Strategic Job Fit Hiring Looks Like

  • Structured Interviews: Go beyond resumes—use structured behavioral questions to uncover how candidates handle real-world challenges. Don’t be afraid to deep dive into their responses – asking three questions that ultimately reveal the truth (SEE “Hire Amazing Employees,” Chapter 12) (e.g., Tell me more about ….).
  • Job Fit Assessments: Most assessments do not meet legal and scientific requirements for selection use (e.g., hiring and promotions). Use those that assess fit with the job responsibilities and reflect the true whole person: core behavior, thinking style, and occupational interests.
  • Team Involvement: Let multiple team members weigh in to assess fit from different angles.

Don’t overlook issues noted by objective data:

  • Job fit concerns
  • Interest in key job responsibilities (e.g., low interest in financials when hiring for CFO, controller, financial planner, or accountant positions)
  • Issues when conducting due diligence
  • Unable (or unwilling) to answer, “Tell me about your most recent mistake and what you did to correct it?”
  • Patience Pays Off: Waiting for the right candidate feels like it will take too long, but it’s often more sustainable than fixing the fallout from a rushed decision. When you follow a well-designed strategic job fit system, you will find qualified candidates that don’t always make it through an “expedited process.”

Note that using a strategic job fit selection system does NOT lengthen the process. It uncovers those areas of concern before you hire them, which saves you a lot of money, time, and customers! The added bonus … you will keep your top talent too.

©Jeannette Seibly 2025 All Rights Reserved

Jeannette Seibly, an award-winning Talent Advisor, Leadership Results Coach, and Business Author, has guided thousands of executives and business leaders to achieve remarkable success over the past 33 years. Her specialty is delivering innovative solutions for hiring, coaching, and leadership challenges—with excellence and accountability at the core.

How to Leverage Job Hugging for Everyone’s Success

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“When people see a future they believe in, they stay.” Jeannette Seibly

Turn “Job Hugging” into a Win-Win-Win for Employers, Employees, and Customers

The era of “job hopping” is giving way to a new trend: “job hugging.” In today’s uncertain job market, many employees are choosing stability over change—even if they’re unhappy in their current roles. This shift presents a unique opportunity for companies to boost performance and profitability by creating environments where employees want to stay for the right reasons. This will keep employees engaged, which leads to better service and customer retention.

Why Employees Are Job Hugging

Historically, job hopping was driven by promises of higher pay, better benefits, or more fulfilling roles with their new employers. But now, economic uncertainty, shrinking hybrid options, and shifting workplace norms (e.g., AI-driven changes) have made job hopping feel risky. So many employees are staying and job hugging — even though they are remaining in roles they dislike, feeling stuck, disengaged, or unsupported (CNBC).

How do employees and employers take advantage of the job hugging trend?

By embracing the “job hugging” trend with intention and strategy, companies can transform retention into a competitive advantage.

Build a Win-Win-Win Culture

✅ Job Fit

Getting the right person in the right role is non-negotiable. A mismatch—whether it’s the wrong person in the right job or vice versa—leads to miscommunication, poor performance, and organizational silos. Use objective data from validated job fit assessments that meet Department of Labor guidelines to ensure alignment between role requirements and employee strengths.

✅ Career Pathing

Create semi-formal career paths tailored to each employee. Use valid assessments to identify behavioral traits, thinking styles, and occupational interests. Clarify goals and avoid one-size-fits-all career tracks. For example, sales reps and customer service reps require fundamentally different skill sets—don’t treat them interchangeably.

Sarah, a customer service rep, once dreamed of climbing the corporate ladder but found herself trapped in the same role for years. When layoffs rattled the company, Sarah stayed—not because she loved her job, but because the uncertainty outside was scarier. Feeling invisible and undervalued, her engagement plummeted. Then, her manager introduced a tailored career path and a clear roadmap for growth aligned with Sarah’s strengths and passions. Within months, Sarah rekindled her enthusiasm, took on new challenges confidently, and became a mentor for others. This can be everyone’s story when job hugging is used to establish meaningful connections and growth in job skills.

✅ Career Ladders

Build structured career ladders that offer recognition, growth, and readiness. Avoid “quiet promotions” where responsibilities increase without title or pay. This usually leads to burnout and legal risk. Make promotions official, transparent, and well-documented.

Review your internal promotion practices today. Are you recognizing readiness and documenting growth clearly, or are silent shifts in job performance increasing burnout risk?

✅ Compensation

Job hoppers often see wage bumps of 10–20%, while internal promotions average just 3–4%. To retain top talent, rethink compensation strategies for loyal employees. Offer meaningful incentives that balance financial reward with long-term security—without compromising profitability and customer retention.

✅ Job Descriptions

Words matter—to employees and to regulatory agencies. Ensure job descriptions are inclusive, accurate, and aligned with current standards (EEO, ADA, DOL, etc.). Avoid vague or diminishing titles like “Junior Accountant” or gimmicky ones like “Dream Catcher.” Titles should reflect responsibility and respect.

✅ Training & Development

Investing in employee growth isn’t a luxury—it’s a necessity. (Repeat – it’s a necessity.) When employees feel valued and challenged, they develop new skills, stay longer, and perform better. Prioritize training in interpersonal communication, decision-making, and critical thinking—areas often overlooked but vital to long-term success.

✅ Leadership Development

It’s easy to blame bosses and leaders—and often, it’s justified. However, bosses and leaders must be held accountable (not blamed) for their emotional intelligence, decisions, and ability to develop others. A great boss won’t make an unhappy employee happy, but a poor boss can ruin a good employee. Equip managers with the tools to lead with clarity, empathy, and accountability.

Take the first step toward a win-win-win culture by scheduling a leadership development session focused on emotional intelligence and accountability within the next 60 days. Contact Jeannette @ https://SeibCo.com/contact/

By embracing the “job hugging” trend with intention and strategy, companies can transform retention into a competitive advantage. When employees feel aligned, supported, and valued, everyone wins—including the customer and your bottom line.

© Jeannette Seibly 2025 All Rights Reserved

Jeannette Seibly, an award-winning Talent Advisor, Leadership Results Coach, and Business Author, boasts over 33 years of hands-on experience. Her expertise helps leaders and bosses refine their hiring, coaching, and management practices to achieve their intended results. Along the journey, she has guided the creation of three millionaires and numerous six-figure earners, all while guiding those ready to elevate their game to new heights.

Bridging Communication Gaps to Unlock Better Results

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“Bridging communication gaps aligns your team to unlock better results.” Jeannette Seibly

For many bosses and leaders, bridging communication gaps or resolving communication issues feels like an overwhelming challenge they’d rather avoid.

Instead, they wait, try to control or manipulate their team members, or shift responsibility—and blame—to someone else.

Why? Because they either don’t know how to fix it, fear making things worse, or hesitate to ask for help and follow through.

But when you bridge communication gaps, you foster stronger working relationships, reduce project errors, and boost retention and revenues. In other words, your results become truly remarkable.

5 Key Strategies to Align Your Team and Achieve Intended Results

Each letter in ALIGN stands for a strategic step that turns communication breakdowns into collaborative breakthroughs and drives your team toward intended, impactful results:

Action and Description to Align Team:

Appreciate Differences. Utilize objective job fit assessments to identify hidden strengths and mitigate conflict. The right tool brings clarity and answers the “why” behind people’s behaviors and motivations.

Listen to Learn. If you already have an answer when someone is speaking – you’re not listening! Take time to share goals, budgets, and timelines openly, and invest in training teams to communicate and strategize effectively. This is critical to fostering stronger buy-in and commitment to excel.

Include All Ideas. Acknowledge all contributions to build trust, even though not every idea can be implemented. To quell naysayers, create five ways an idea could work—and truly listen. “Ah-Ha” moments often come through attentive listening and off-the-wall ideas that spark new threads of thought.

Generate Solutions. Facilitate brainstorming by starting conversations with open-ended questions to stimulate thought and dialogue. Allow space for unconventional ideas and set aside judgment to discover fresh possibilities. Remember, the thoughts and attitudes that created the problem will not solve it!

Name the Wins. Celebrate successes and reflect on what worked and what didn’t. This exercise helps teams get unstuck, recognize contributions, and fully appreciate efforts—individually and collectively—at project milestones, during weekly reviews, or at quarterly checkpoints.

Bridging communication gaps isn’t just about addressing what was said and done—it’s about building a culture where every voice is heard, every strength is valued, and every challenge becomes an opportunity for growth. When you align your team, you empower them to move beyond conflict and confusion toward collaboration and meaningful results.

©Jeannette Seibly 2023-2025 All Rights Reserved

Jeannette Seibly, an award-winning Talent Advisor, Leadership Results Coach, and Business Author, boasts over 32 years of hands-on experience. Her expertise helps leaders and bosses refine their hiring, coaching, and management practices to achieve their intended results. Along the journey, she has guided the creation of three millionaires and numerous six-figure earners, all while guiding those ready to elevate their game to new heights.

Ready to bridge your team’s communication gaps and unlock their full potential? Begin with a job fit assessment or schedule a clarity session to set your path. Reach out anytime at SeibCo.com/contact/ I’m here to help you create lasting impact.

Avoid Scapegoating to Improve Results

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“When you inspire others to achieve intended results, you do not need to create scapegoats.” Jeannette Seibly

Remember a time when you were blamed for a poor result, interaction, or situation? It happens to all of us.

  • How did you feel?
  • How did your attitude and behavior change?
  • What did you do next?

Unfortunately, some bosses and leaders resort to scapegoating. It hurts results and relationships. Team members lose trust in leadership.

Being scapegoated humiliates and diminishes a person’s feeling of value to the team and company. (Note: Humiliating anyone is rarely forgotten nor forgiven!) The team or team members withdraw, stop being innovative, and avoid accountability! They adopt a mindset of “going along to get along” until they find a better boss and employer.

When a leader or boss feels the need to blame others and designate scapegoats, it creates a toxic workplace culture of mistrust and distrust – sabotaging results now and in the future.

What is Scapegoating? In a business context, a scapegoat is an individual or group unfairly blamed for problems, failures, or negative outcomes within a company.

Scapegoating is one of the most destructive actions bosses and leaders can take. It can be individually targeted or systemic, where entire departments or roles are unfairly targeted.

When leaders fall into the malicious trap of scapegoating, it’s to avoid feeling like a failure. They attempt to deflect accountability from themselves and deflect focus from the true issue(s). This is especially prevalent during crises, the loss of major clients, or team failures to achieve intended results.

And, beyond team morale, scapegoating can lead to costly turnover, reputational damage, and even legal exposure.

By understanding when and how scapegoating occurs, leaders can foster a more transparent, accountable, and supportive work environment.

How to Stop Scapegoating

  • Hold Yourself Accountable: As a boss/leader, you need to hold yourself accountable for your team’s results. Conduct a deep dive into “What Worked?” and “What Didn’t Work?” to create an objective overview. Ask open-ended questions of the team, co-workers, and executive management to explore what changes could have been made or what issues were ignored.
  • Be an Effective Communicator: When you own your mistakes, it sets the tone for the team and company. Honest communication and straight talk encourage innovation, agility, and profitability, where everyone is engaged and not fearful of becoming a scapegoat.
  • Focus on Resolving Conflict: Resolving conflicts requires your involvement to ensure people are asking open-ended questions and actively listening. When scapegoating occurs, it’s time to stop so you don’t overlook the core cause of the issue or conflict. Ensure team training is provided (e.g., project management, critical thinking, emotional intelligence, etc.) for ALL team members (including you).
  • Build Ongoing Trust: Mistrust and distrust are rampant in a toxic environment where everyone blames everyone else. To build trust, talk straight. Acknowledge every team member’s contribution to the results. Leaders need to make this a daily practice to build and maintain trust with their teams.

What will you do today to foster accountability and eliminate scapegoating in your workplace?

©Jeannette Seibly 2025 All Rights Reserved

Jeannette Seibly, an award-winning Talent Advisor, Leadership Results Coach, and Business Author, has guided thousands of executives and business leaders to achieve remarkable success over the past 32 years. Her specialty is delivering innovative solutions for hiring, coaching, and leadership challenges—with excellence and accountability at the core.

Being the Driver Is Required to Achieve Results

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“Navigating results from the driver’s seat is more effective than passively riding along.” Jeannette Seibly

We’re upset that change is happening too soon, too often, or not fast enough. The problem? External changes happen due to many factors beyond our control. However, team changes are determined by your ability to move from the passenger seat into the driver’s seat.

I’ve led many new projects or projects requiring new results (e.g., increasing attendance, financial revenues, etc.). Every time, there were many bumps along the way in the form of naysayers, economic challenges, and team conflict. But I learned how to stay in the driver’s seat, even though there were times I wanted to bail! Instead, I worked through my discomfort, relied on team counsel, and kept everyone on the same page. The accomplishment? We did it! We won! We celebrated!

A question I received from a reader was, “How do I put myself in the driver’s seat?” This is a great question that needs to be asked more often!

The answer: Being the driver requires a conscious decision and commitment regardless of the external changes and internal company changes – it sets you and your team up to win!

How Do You Avoid Being Pushed into the Passenger Seat?

Be Uncomfortable. The good news? You’re moving forward. The not-so-good news. You want to stop and feel comfortable again. Allow the doubt, fear, and upset to hang around. Don’t use it as an excuse to get off the road required to achieve your goal. When you give up the driver’s seat, you miss the opportunity to learn the skills necessary to win, succeed, and be a great leader! When you can work through the discomforts, you become resilient, proficient, and achieve unprecedented results.

How can you use these “uncomfortable” times to build a strong team and outcome?

Be Willing to Participate. Being an observer and swooping in when the team seems stuck is not participating. You need to get involved in the creation process, manage differing opinions, and guide your team through the ups and downs. Remember, once you’ve given up the driver’s seat, it’s difficult to get it back and steer towards the intended results!

Find Counsel. Ask for help. Don’t seek advice on social media. While AI may offer an interesting perspective, your answers will come from talking with one or two confidants. Hire an experienced executive coach – think of the person as AAA or GPS — who provides counsel by listening and guiding. Just because you’re in the driver’s seat doesn’t mean you won’t have vehicle or road issues to navigate.

Think as the Driver. How do you keep your passengers (team members) engaged and allow them to periodically drive?

  • Share your experiences of having worked through past challenges.
  • Speak with the result in mind and keep it brief and on point.
  • Be open to brainstorming new ideas when the current ones are not working, but beware of unnecessary detours.
  • Acknowledge initiatives and steps taken by team members, individually and as a group.
  • Be authentic, and know you don’t have all the answers!

Celebrate! Too many drivers fail to honor their team members individually and as a group. It’s called the “rules of the road.” Many are unwritten. Being aware is how you win! Remember that lessons can be learned when experiencing failures. Resilience is reinforced by telling the truth and making appropriate corrections on the map. Conduct a group debrief of what worked and what didn’t work? Celebrate achievements and lessons learned. Create brags! The process honors you as the driver and your team members, too!

©Jeannette Seibly 2024-2025 All Rights Reserved

Jeannette Seibly, an award-winning Talent Advisor, Leadership Results Coach, and Business Author, has guided thousands of executives and business leaders to achieve remarkable success over the past 32 years. Her specialty is delivering innovative solutions for hiring, coaching, and leadership challenges—with excellence and accountability at the core.

How to Hire for Job Fit, Not Just Fill the Job

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“Research proves good job fit boosts retention, productivity, and morale—yet we still fail to hire the right people.” Jeannette Seibly

Has your company ever had this experience: In the past five years, one position cycled through three different hires? Each departure brought disruption, lost momentum, and a fresh scramble to refill the role. Yet, despite the clear pattern, the company continued to recruit, onboard, and manage the position exactly as it always had—expecting different results from the same approach. This is a true story for many companies and organizations.

We hire for perceived job skills, but fire for poor job fit. Jeannette Seibly

This isn’t just a case of bad luck. It’s a symptom of deeper issues: misaligned expectations, outdated hiring criteria, unrealistic job descriptions, poor role clarity, and a reluctance to make “real” changes. (We rely on the band-aid approach!)

42% of employee turnover is preventable but often ignored. (Gallup 2025 Workplace Report)

When turnover becomes the norm, it’s no longer about hiring and recruiting—it’s about fixing the same failure over and over again. In other words, it’s a strategic failure.

The cost of replacing a salaried employee can range from 50% to 250% of their annual salary. (SHRM)

What would it take to break this vicious cycle?

Same Job, Same Mistakes: Why the Turnover Keeps Happening

  • We hire candidates we like, but who lack appropriate people skills.
  • We hire applicants with perceived technical skills, but do not make good team players.
  • We hire without objective data, relying on false intuition/gut reactions.
  • We allow an emotional attachment to what we’ve always done, or fear that any change doesn’t guarantee improved results, so we fail to ask for help from an expert.
  • We are blind to the loss of money, talent, reputation, and clients.
  • We use the excuse “our turnover is lower than industry stats,” and fail to understand the financial, operational, and system costs!

I recall a company experiencing over 40% turnover of its management team years ago. Every year! Yet, each year, they told themselves they had it handled!!

Something is off! But are you willing to hear the truth?

Hiring the same way and hoping for better results isn’t a strategy—it’s wishful thinking. It’s time to look deeper, get honest, and make changes that stick.

When Maya started her new job, she was excited. The role sounded like a great fit, and the team seemed welcoming. She didn’t realize her performance plan required handling 60+ accounts solo, after only a one-hour Zoom onboarding meeting. Six months later, she was burned out, confused, and ready to leave. She wasn’t the first. Two others had held the same position in the past three years—and they had left for similar reasons.

Still, the company kept hiring the same way. Using the same job description and interview questions. Employing the same onboarding plan. And each time, they were surprised when top talent left!

Newsflash! If a position keeps turning over, it means that something deeper needs attention. It’s important to understand that addressing the “real reasons” you experience turnover can save time, money, and customers!

It’s to be brave!

Here’s what to do:

Balance the Selection Triad. In the practical guide Hire Amazing Employees, the Selection Triad offers a more balanced approach to hiring decisions—equal weight is given to interviews, assessments, and due diligence, with each contributing one-third to the final decision. Unfortunately, we often base 90% of our hiring choices on the interview alone.

Qualified job fit tools. Not all assessments meet scientific and legal requirements for pre-employment use. In fact, of the 3,000+ assessments on the market, very few actually comply with DOL, EEO, ADA, and other federal, state, and local hiring laws. Ask for a Technical Manual and stop relying on a letter from a law firm.

Use structured interview questions. This makes it easier to compare answers and makes the hiring manager and company seem like a credible employer. Many interviewees today are well-trained and will tell you what you want to hear! Get real. Don’t be afraid to delve deeper into someone’s answers by using the Rule of 3 to deep dive into their responses.

Rule of 3 Example: Instead of asking, “Are you a team player?”

 Ask:

  1. “Tell me about a time you resolved a conflict with a teammate.”
  2. “What was the outcome?”
  3. “What would you do differently?”

Get real about your biases. Yes, you have them – regardless of what you tell yourself. Ageism (older and younger), gender, racism, lifestyles, college degree or not (to name a few) have nothing to do with the candidates’ ability to do the job well and fit the job responsibilities. Your biases are causing you to overlook qualified people!

Example, dismissing candidates without a four-year degree—even when they’ve led successful teams—can eliminate top performers.

Follow a strategic selection job fit system. Yes, you need one! Follow it! Too many companies love to make exceptions, or excuses, only to find out that the person they believed was the ideal candidate wasn’t so great!

When you use a structured interview approach with qualified assessment tools and conduct your due diligence, you need to listen to the results, and stop mentally dismissing the objective data that you like or disagree with. When someone doesn’t fit the job, you cannot fix or change them into who you believe they should be! Stop with the excuses! They are negatively impacting your company’s results!

Hiring managers and leaders—are you ready to challenge your hiring norms? When all else fails, contact a talent advisor with experience. But why wait?

©Jeannette Seibly 2025 All Rights Reserved

Jeannette Seibly, an award-winning Talent Advisor, Leadership Results Coach, and Business Author, has guided thousands of executives and business leaders to achieve remarkable success over the past 32 years. Her specialty is delivering innovative solutions for hiring, coaching, and leadership challenges—with excellence and accountability at the core.

For those navigating the 55+ transition, goals aren’t just about productivity—they’re about rediscovery. Whether you’re refining your career path, relocating, or reimagining what fulfillment looks like, the right goal can act as a compass—guiding you toward clarity, confidence, and meaningful impact. Contact Jeannette now.

Are Your Employees Aligned for Business Today?

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“Aligning employees with today’s business needs is an ongoing effort for every leader.” Jeannette Seibly

A long-time employee asked his boss, “Do you even know what we’re doing anymore?”

This question revealed more than frustration—it exposed a leadership gap. When change happens but communication stays static, people lose their sense of purpose. External demands, shifting priorities, and unclear messaging breed confusion, erode engagement, and drain morale—even your best employees feel it.

What’s missing? Clarity. Connection. Strategic alignment. Being on the same page.

Why is alignment missing in business today?

  • Unclear priorities – too many external challenges
  • Siloed and factional communication – we impact others when making ad hoc changes
  • Change fatigue and disengagement – leads to mediocre quality of products and service

What You Can Do—Starting Now

Clarify Purpose and Performance. When teams are aligned, there are measurable improvements in productivity, retention, and customer satisfaction scores. These aren’t just numbers—they’re proof that clarity and consistency matter.

  • Remind people why their work matters and the difference the company makes for its customers.
  • Hold people accountable for following policies and procedures – this creates a foundation that employees can trust.
  • Communicate stats about the number of customers, increase in sales, safety, and other metrics that are meaningful to employees and the well-being of the company. 

Communicate with Impact. Lead with empathy by acknowledging that change is hard.

  • Ask employees how they’re doing—not just what they’re doing. This builds trust and keeps morale strong.
  • Talk straight by sharing goals, changes, and expectations clearly. Keep your comments short and on point!
  • Don’t make promises that you cannot keep.
  • Acknowledge team members individually and as a group. Do this frequently.

Delegate Work and Train Appropriately. This allows you to concentrate on resolving challenges and pursuing possibilities.

  • Encourage cross-team collaboration and don’t allow silos or factions to consume everyone’s time and energy.
  • Invite employees to lead mini-projects or suggest improvements – that way, alignment becomes a shared responsibility.
  • Offer training that aligns with new business needs. Make these online and onsite workshops available to anyone wishing to improve their job skills: communication, decision-making, AI experience, personal financial goals, etc.

Strategic Selection Based on Job Fit. Make hiring, promotions, and job transitions based on objective data, and stop relying on subjective rational. Too many times, employees say “yes” not fully comprehending the changes required (e.g., relocation, longer hours, or full-time in the office).

For example, if someone has a high interest and skill in working with financials, train them to take over budgeting or cost analysis duties.

How to Keep Moving Forward Together

As a leader:

  • Conduct regular check-ins with each and every employee
  • Provide feedback – 1:1 and in groups
  • Listen and get the facts — don’t make decisions based on assumptions or emotional reactions
  • Ask open-ended questions, and look for patterns in feedback that reveal deeper concerns or missed opportunities.
  • Remember, silence does not mean alignment!

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Final Thought

Aligning employees with today’s business needs is an ongoing effort. The question to ask is, “What am I doing today to make sure my team is truly aligned?”

©Jeannette Seibly 2025 All Rights Reserved

Jeannette Seibly, an award-winning Talent Advisor, Leadership Results Coach, and Business Author, has guided thousands of executives and business leaders to achieve remarkable success over the past 32 years. Her specialty is delivering innovative solutions for hiring, coaching, and leadership challenges—with excellence and accountability at the core.

Empower with Confidence: Host the workshop: “Get Your Brag On!” to help your team articulate their value, align personal strengths with business goals, and boost morale. Several of my clients have hosted these brag sessions quarterly — these offered clarity, acknowledged contribution, and built confidence in times of change. When employees know how to articulate their value, they’re more likely to stay engaged during the process of change. Contact Jeannette for further information.