Hiring Solutions

Many of us think we can easily spot someone who is not telling us the whole truth or is fabricating the facts. We believe in the myth that we can look into people’s eyes or watch their body language to know whether or not they are telling the truth. Unfortunately, we only have a 17 percent chance of getting it right. As business people, we need to get real about spotting liars. It’s important to be on the lookout to ensure that as we grow our companies with new hires and strategic business relationships that we’re not relying on half-truths or fabrications. Doing so will negatively impact our bottom line and sabotage win-win-win outcomes.

3 Ways to Get Real – and be responsible for getting to the truth

Look at the Facts. Too often we base our decisions on how we feel during an interaction. Or, we fall victim to the story they are telling us. Reality is, many liars are really good at assessing others and telling them what they want to hear.  To combat this, ask for fact-based information and verify this information before believing it and relying on it.

One entrepreneur hired a sales coach simply based on the person’s promise to help her launch her new product. She believed in what he promised to do. Here’s what happened: the launch never occurred and the coach disappeared.  Instead of checking the person’s credentials upfront, after the fact, she found out he was an accountant. She is now working a full-time job to payback the bills incurred during the failed launch.

Get Agreements in Writing. Gone are the days of making an agreement based on a hand-shake. Too often, when having conversations, we’re not on the same page.  As a result, misunderstandings occur and things are not as they seem. Negotiate before signing any documents. Take the time to read the entire document before signing it (even the fine-print.) It’s pay now or potentially pay later.

Use Honesty-Integrity Assessments. About 79 percent of job candidates stretch the truth or embellish jobs, education, and salaries on their resumes. Relying upon background checks to tell you the whole truth does not work. Many employers don’t prosecute for theft or verify work history or education. (Note: White collar theft of money, proprietary information and data is the fastest growing group.) Use a direct-admission tool* and ask the candidate the questions contained in the report to determine truthfulness (yes, still conduct background checks, work and education verification and drug screens).

The key is to get real with yourself and your ability (and inability) to spot people that are lying. Learn how to use probing questions to get to the truth when hiring employees (use qualified assessment tools*), and when selecting vendors and developing new business relationships (use good business practices).

©Jeannette Seibly, 2016

*When hiring, use the Step One Survey II® a honesty-integrity core value assessment that measures attitudes toward Integrity, Reliability, Work Ethics and Substance Abuse. This tool provides direct-admission information about a candidate’s past employment, employment-related issues, illegal substance use, theft of time/money/property, and computer/internet/email abuse. The online report delivers a forecast of how well the candidate will blend in with your culture and workplace climate. There is also a Distortion notification if candidates are not being forthright in their responses. For further information, contact Jeannette @ http://SeibCo.com/contact

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.

Top sales performers sell up to six times more than their average team members. They fit their jobs and are business savvy when building relationships, facilitating the buyer’s decision-making process, and delivering as promised. Also, they have taken the time and have the interest to learn how to use the company’s products and services correctly. Hiring and developing top sales performers create winning sales teams — they make the difference between an adequate bottom line and a great financial outcome.

4 Actions to Create Great Sales Results

Disregard Old Myths. Too often we hire for perceived job skills and fire for poor job fit (aka low performance).  Many sales managers still rely upon their gut to determine a candidate’s ability to sell their product or service. When hiring, many sales managers are seduced by a candidate’s verbal ability to talk the talk or believe younger candidates have higher energy levels than older people. As a result, sales managers fail to hire the right people for job fit. They also lose top performers who want to work on winning teams.

Take the time to discover the true costs of your hiring mistakes and conduct a performance analysis on your current team. This information will provide clarity on where you need to focus your attention in order to create a winning sales team and a great bottom line. (Contact SeibCo for the complimentary tools http://SeibCo.com/contact)

Job Fit is Key. Use scientifically qualified assessment tools to accurately assess job fit. Can the sales person sell? How will they sell? What will they sell? These tools will make all the difference in hiring the right person and providing coaching information you can readily use. If they don’t fit the job, you cannot change and fix them. Knowing this information up-front saves you countless hours and training dollars.

Studies have found that assessing for thinking style will correlate to more than 50 percent of a person’s success. The other success factors depend upon a combination of core behaviors (Can they prospect, engage and close?) and occupational interests (Are they willing to stay informed? Are they willing to do the right activities?). All three are essential and will provide a clear snapshot of the whole person and his/her ability to sell your products and services, profitably.

Utilize On-line Due Diligence. Use an on-line application process, knock-out questions and core value assessments to attract more of the best candidates. Before conducting face-to-face interviews (which take a lot of time), conduct initial phone screens and use job fit assessments to determine their sales strengths. These initial simple steps will save you a great deal of time, money and energy in the long run. And, these steps will save you from hiring the wrong person who looks the part, but has no interest in doing the work (e.g., prospecting, presenting, clsoing).

Focus on the Whole Picture. Metrics are important and can help you gauge the effectiveness of your sales team. However, this will not tell you the whole story about your team’s results. Investigate: Are your sales people following your system or do they need retraining? Does the system need to be tweaked? Are they generating enough of the right leads? Are they getting in front of the decision makers? By utilizing the coaching information from the qualified assessment tool, you can provide the laser-like clarity required to develop and train with precision.

Smart companies understand that job fit is the number one reason they are able to create winning sales teams and great bottom line results. The million dollar question is, are you ready to enjoy exponential sales growth, while having fun? (http://SeibCo.com/contact)

©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 at http://SeibCo.com/contact.

Sales managers are the facilitators for their companies’ successes. They were hired or promoted to elicit the best from their sales teams and achieve the ultimate goal of win-win-win (customer-company-salesperson). These money-makers impact the bottom line on a daily basis.

Unfortunately, all too often, sales managers don’t realize the impact of their management styles. Instead of focusing on everyone winning, they unconsciously zap their teams’ morale by: 

• restructuring commissions to meet required sales margins,
• failing to handle conflict appropriately,
• being unwilling or unable to sell,
• not motivating their sales teams’ during the natural ups and downs.

Sales managers … it’s 2016 — time to change the game and play to win!

It starts with these 3 strategies to stop zapping and create win-win-win outcomes

Focus on Winning. Many times entrepreneurial type business owners and sales managers are too busy thinking about the next product or service they believe will be the winning game. Unfortunately, they fail to focus on what needs to be done today, the play, to create long-term and sustainable winning outcomes that impact the bottom line. These environments make it difficult for their salespeople to succeed. The key is to design real goals and take the right actions to achieve the intended results. It also requires everyone in the company managing the details required for great customer experiences to keep the promises made.

Hire the Right People the First Time.  A good sales team is comprised of good sales people. Sounds simple doesn’t it? But, it’s not. Hiring someone to sell long-term care to a grieving person caring for his or her aging parent takes a completely different skill-set than someone selling drill bits to a manufacturing purchasing agent. Also, hiring someone from a competitor does not mean they will succeed in your culture.

Hiring mistakes are usually made when the company doesn’t have, or the hiring manager fails to follow, a strategic hiring system and use a qualified assessment product. When hiring, too often they rely on “feel good” assessments that have face validity but lack required predictive validity. Why is this important? Qualified tools reveal whether or not the person can sell, and how and when they will do so – allowing the sales manager to see the whole person. (Not just the person that interviewed well by saying the right things and looking the part.)

The reality is, what is not seen is far more significant than what is seen when hiring and managing team members to win!

Balance Coaching Style.  When sales managers are single-minded and only focused on the numbers as the number one sales tool to motivate others, it’s no surprise that sales fall. Winning NFL teams focus on making the plays that cause the score to move upward to win the game. They don’t manage or coach from the score alone. When your team feels misunderstood and unappreciated, they are unwilling to take responsibility for their sales results. It’s important to treat them as people and not just numbers. Focus on coaching them to develop their skills in lead generation, lead conversion, delivery and customer-care quality to ensure win-win-win outcomes.

Great sales managers are continually creating win-win-win environments. They are aware of the natural ups and downs sales teams and individuals experience and do their best to not zap them. They hire the right people, clarify processes, train their teams as winners and are fearless in supporting overall success.

Remember, great sales people are NOT motivated by negative management styles. If your management style needs to be UPGRADED, now is the time to hire a coach! Get clear about “why you get the results you get” and then, take the time to modify your attitudes and behaviors. Coaching a sale team that feels appreciated, understands what is expected and is adequately rewarded, is more productive and supports overall success. Contact Jeannette today @ http://SeibCo.com/contact to determine your “why” and answers questions on how to motivate your team.

©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) and It’s Time to Brag! (http://Time2Brag.com). Check out her website: http://SeibCo.com or contact Jeannette at http://SeibCo.com/contact.

Many start-ups and young businesses today use inconsistent or arbitrary compensation practices. They do this because it’s hard to know when realistic financial incentives get the job done or attract the right team members. Even well-established companies have bosses that give out financial (and non-financial) incentives without understanding the impact these gestures have on the organization as a whole.

As the boss, your inconsistency in compensating people appropriately will develop mistrust in your management style, diminish loyalty and weaken the desire to work hard for you. It can become a no-win situation that needs to be addressed quickly. A Gallup study (2015) found 50% of employees leave due to bad bosses. The bottom line is, when employees don’t trust their bosses’ to do the right things the right way, they quit their jobs.

Money is not a prime motivator!

Many employees have the false perception that money will indeed motivate them! The truth is, money doesn’t motivate people to do more or improve their job performance. Great bosses, job fit and appreciation are key motivators when done right!

Develop good employees into great performers and keep them

Hire for job fit. Poor job fit is the number one reason employees don’t produce great results, even though they may appear to have the technical or interpersonal skills. These employees rationalize their mediocre performance on extrinsic factors, including the amount in their paychecks. Additionally, your top talent is more likely to leave when there has been a lot of turnover, or they continually have to work around those coworkers that aren’t doing their jobs well. It’s important to use qualified assessments and due diligence tools to ascertain a person’s ability to fit the work requirements and company expectations before you hire them.

Set clear expectations. Start on Day One by providing each new hire with an up-to-date job description, 180 Day Success Plan*, and an internal mentor. (For those companies with critical goals, hire an external business advisor for key employees.) Keep all employees focused on the right things by involving them in strategy creation, goal setting and focused action planning. Quarterly, use a qualified 360-degree feedback assessment to help identify areas for improvement, keep employees focused on the right things and provide spot-on training insights. Keep these processes separate from your annual compensation adjustments.

Keep your promises. When you offer financial incentives, be prepared to honor them. Performance will diminish individually and collectively when you are unable or unwilling to fulfill upon these promises. Consider offering non-financial incentives that are meaningful for the whole group (e.g., pizza Friday, company-wide recognition, movie passes, etc.).

Focus on performance results. When managing your employees and team for results, it’s wise to include individual stretch goals to help each person excel beyond their perceived performance capabilities and internal beliefs in themselves. Use non-monetary and monetary incentives for each person, and the team as a whole, based upon the completed metrics for each milestone.

Your key to developing good employees into great results-producers requires you to consistently and frequently share the goals, appreciate employees individually, acknowledge the team as a group, and objectively measure progress. Then, compensate them well with monetary and non-monetary rewards.

*180 Day Success Plan – How do you create them? Get your copy of “Hire Amazing Employees” available at BizSavvyHire.com

For information on using qualified assessments, contact http://SeibCo.com/contact  

©Jeannette Seibly, 2015

Jeannette Seibly is laser sharp at identifying the leverage points that will take a business and its team to the next level of performance and success. Her unique combination of strategic and tactical people and business experiences includes being execution-oriented, customer-focused and business results-focused. She has guided the creation of three millionaires and countless million-dollar results for companies and not-for-profits. She is an innovator who loves producing amazing results with and through others, on time and within budget, as a team.

Leaders today are busy addressing new challenges in this growing economy, many times without considering their own behaviors and attitudes and how others perceive them. This can be detrimental. Leaders need followers: loyal employees, suppliers, vendors and customers. It may be time to slow down, assess and repair any damage before it’s too late.

You cannot transform anything without getting to the source of the issue. And the issue may be your leadership style.

Ask yourself if you are derailing your leadership with these 7 behaviors:

Speaking up without thought. Don’t confuse fearlessness with confidence. Be responsible for what and how you say anything, both spoken and in writing. Otherwise, people will tune you out. Those taken aback by your message will scrutinize your actions. Truly listen. Hear things you don’t want to hear. Respond diplomatically. Become genuinely effective.

Accusing others of sending spam or junk. Too often social media connections are viewed as a way of accumulating numbers. Accusing others of sending spam or junk when they reach out to you can hurt your ability to attract new clients. You never know who they know! Relationships are important … develop them now. Conversely, learn to reach out to others to make a difference – not just make a sale— and respond appropriately. If you don’t wish to receive their information, simply unsubscribe.

Not following up. Many people today don’t follow up if they don’t readily see a purpose in doing so (Think, Hot prospect ready to buy now). Unfortunately, people can be very shrewd about what they share with you. Too often you find out later they purchased from your competitor who did follow up. Learn to listen and hear more than just the words. Probe and be open to learning more about the customer’s company, products and needs first.

Telling employees, “Do it my way.” Leaders in their quest to keep their bottom lines positive forget that their employees usually know their jobs better than their bosses do. Stop pretending to listen to their ideas! Ask employees for their input and incorporate their ideas appropriately. Ensure they feel valued. Make ongoing training and development a priority.

Making decisions based on fragments of information. We make decisions and declarations based upon the tiniest pieces of information. Many times there is no factual basis for the decision. This behavior will make others see you as a poor decision-maker. Respect differences in opinion and balance them with facts. Disparaging or bullying others to your way to thinking will not elicit the best response from others or improve your decisions.

Delaying important decisions. Uncertainty about which path to choose is understandable. Continually using it as an excuse is not. Your co-workers and employees are tired of hearing about it! Ask the right people for input – not just what you want to hear. Hire a business advisor for guidance. Make certain you understand the pros and cons of an issue. Don’t dismiss legal and financial implications as unimportant or as something that won’t happen to you. Develop sustainable practices to ensure replicable results. Don’t put off today what needs to be done today … or you’ll lose credibility and top employees.

Having no strategic direction. It’s time to dust off your goals for 2015. Review, recharge and get back in action to wrap up Q3 and generate a positive Q4. Work with your business coach to determine which goals that seemed promising last January will provide the best ROI now. Reliance on your own mental monologue will not provide the clarity required to move forward. Establish focused action steps and stay away from busywork. Learn how to manage for results while building your team for success.

©Jeannette Seibly, 2015

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 over 300 articles and 4 books designed to help business leaders lead successfully. Check out her website: http://SeibCo.com or contact Jeannette at http://SeibCo.com/contact.

Employees who have left your organization may be the best candidates to provide the help and insight needed to take your company to the next level. Regardless of their contributions in the past, keep in mind they will usually bring new experiences to give you a fresh competitive edge. Their fit with your current corporate culture depends on their attitude and willingness to leave the past behind and their ability to adapt to the current way the company operates.

3 Keys to Onboard Former Employees for Success

Conduct complete due diligence – as you would unknown candidates. Be clear as to why you want them to return. Take the time to talk through changes in systems, procedures, culture and clients. Some former top performers may no longer fit the company, and may be unable to effectively work within the new structures that evolved during their absences.

Take the blinders off. Even though you think you know them well, use qualified validated assessment tools to help determine current job fit. Conduct the same strategic interview process as you would for lesser-known candidates. Remember the challenge isn’t what you can see and remember — it’s what you don’t see or have forgotten about the former employees. Just because they were top performers in the past does not necessarily mean they will be able to perform at that same level now. Listen to their cheerleaders and naysayers, but be shy about relying 100% on their input. (Too often the cheerleaders simply want someone who is known, while the naysayers are afraid of changing the current status quo.) Addressing everyone’s perspectives upfront and realistically will support the returning employees’ abilities to get their jobs done and help you move the company forward.

Prepare them for success. Many returning employees fail to understand change is inevitable. They may understand it conceptually, but, may have a difficult time acclimating if they have not acquired the right additional skills during the time they were gone. Review the organization’s changes – both good and bad – to the mission, values, systems, procedures, culture, company direction, employees, products, services, vendors, and clients. Inevitably, standard operating procedures will have changed, written or not. This can impede people from quickly getting on track if they are relying upon their memories of how it used to be. Or, they will run into unresolved brick walls when they attempt to make changes too fast. While they may be more aware of the company and its history, it’s critical they participate in an employee onboarding program as if they are new. Team them up with internal mentors who can help them navigate changes that may not be readily apparent.

When you re-hire the right employees the right way, often times, they can be great resources and assets.

©Jeannette Seibly, 2015

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 at http://SeibCo.com/contact.

As a business leader, it’s important now, more than ever, to have a well-defined selection process, regardless of your company’s size and revenues. Attracting the right people in a job market where job seekers have become more selective can make it more of a challenge to hire the best candidates. Remember, the right employees will help you build a sustainable and profitable company. The wrong ones will have you close the doors, lose a lot of money or have you wanting to leave your own company!

The challenge today is many job seekers have become critical of how a company recruits and selects the best ones. They are focused on your ability to communicate the company’s vision well, have written expectations and have transparency about who you are and what you do. They will also have their own questions that need to be asked and answered before joining your team.

7 Keys to Attract and Hire the Best

To shorten your time-to-hire, be on the lookout for great talent, anywhere and anytime. Invite them to apply at the time you talk with them.

1.Use an on-line applicant tracking system (ATS) that is easily accessed via mobile platforms. This will help you track those interested in working with you now and in the future. Stay in communication by inviting them to connect via social media. Review your application to ensure it is in compliance with local, state and federal statutes. For example, asking “Date of Birth” is not legal. Asking are you older than 18 is.

“70% of job seekers say the application process experience impacts their decision to accept a company’s position or not.” 2015 Hiring Trends, Jobvite, August 2015

2.Use a qualified direct-admissions core value assessment. Spending time interviewing someone with what appears to be great resume (most have over 71% inaccuracies), is a colossal time waster if they don’t possess the integrity and honesty (core values) you require. You will also overlook great candidates, with less impressive resumes, when not using this high-value, inexpensive tool.

3.Follow-Up and Follow-Through. First impressions impact a candidate’s interest in continuing in the company’s selection process. Immediately respond to their application and provide promised information. Stay in contact and provide candidates updates on the interview process via your ATS. Beware, these traits also impact their decision to buy your products and services!

4.Keep your social media fed proactively. Currently LinkedIn and Facebook are the leading venues used when searching for applicants! Use these media outlets to keep applicants interested by sharing PR posts; favorable employee comments; and other socially relevant interests to tell the story about your company.

“People are like icebergs: they only let you see what they want you to see – what you don’t see is more significant than what you do see!” John W. Howard, PhD

5.Job-fit is important. Use qualified assessments to ensure who you are talking with in the interview is the same person that shows up on the job! Hiring the best person the first time helps companies achieve their intended results faster and keeps other top performers.

6.Ask the right questions. (And, legal ones.) Ask questions focused on the job, work requirements, and other important considerations. Today’s applicants, specifically millennials, are savvier and pickier about who they will work for. Asking meaningless questions or those with an underlying intention of “analyzing” them usually will back fire. Use qualified core value and job fit assessments and ask the interview questions contained in those reports. Be prepared — gone are the days of “winging-it” and having one-sided interviews.

7.Job offers. Compensation is the top reason candidates will select your job offer over others. Younger employees only plan to stay for 1 to 3 years before finding their next job. To keep them, ensure they have a great boss, and interesting and challenging work. Keep your compensation, benefits and other perks up-to-date and meaningful to your employees.

By using the best selection process, you will attract the best.

©Jeannette Seibly, 2015

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 at http://SeibCo.com/contact

Top sales performers sell up to six times more than their average team members. They fit their jobs and are business savvy when building relationships, facilitating the buyer’s decision-making process, and delivering as promised. Also, they have taken the time and have the interest to learn how to use the company’s products and services correctly. Hiring and developing top sales performers create sales smart teams — they make the difference between an adequate bottom line and a great financial outcome.

4 Actions to Create a Sales Smart Team

1. Disregard old myths. Too often we hire for perceived job skills and fire for poor job fit. Many sales managers still rely upon their gut to determine a candidate’s ability to sell their product or service. When hiring, many sales managers are seduced by a candidate’s verbal ability to talk the talk or believe younger candidates have higher energy levels than older people. As a result, sales managers fail to hire the right people. They also lose top performers, who want to work with winning teams.

Take the time to discover the true costs of your hiring mistakes and conduct a utility analysis on your current team. This information will provide clarity on where you need to focus your attention in order to create a sales smart team. (Contact SeibCo for the complimentary tools http://SeibCo.com/contact)

2. Job fit is key. Use scientifically qualified assessment products to accurately assess job fit. Can the sales person sell? How will they sell? What will they sell? These tools will make all the difference in hiring the right person and providing coaching information you can readily use. If they don’t fit the job, you cannot change and fix them. Studies have found that assessing for thinking style will account for 50 percent of a person’s success. The other 50 percent is a combination of core behaviors (can they prospect, engage and close?) and occupational interests (do they possess up-to-date info?). All three are essential and will provide a clear snapshot of the whole person and his/her ability to sell your products and services.

3. Utilize on-line due diligence. Use an on-line application process, knock-out questions and core value assessments to attract more of the right candidates. Before conducting face-to-face interviews, conduct initial phone screens and use job fit assessments to determine their sales strengths. These simple steps will save you a great deal of time, money and energy in the long run.

4. Focus on the whole picture for sales smart results. Metrics are important and can help you gauge the effectiveness of your sales team. However, this will not tell you the whole story about your team’s results. Investigate: Are your sales people following your system? Are they generating enough leads? Are they getting in front of the right people? By utilizing the coaching information from the qualified assessment, you can provide the clarity required to develop and train with laser-like precision.

Sales smart companies understand that job fit is the number one reason they are able to create sales smart teams. Are you ready to enjoy exponential sales growth, while having fun?

©Jeannette Seibly, 2010-2015

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 at http://SeibCo.com/contact.