Honesty and Integrity assessments

Job Fit: How To Strategically Hire for Tomorrow’s Results

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“Successful hiring requires aligning skills, values, and potential to ensure resilience and results.” Jeannette Seibly

In a previous article, I focused on what job fit is and what it is not.

To continue, it’s critical to remember, hiring today isn’t just about filling empty seats—it’s about building resilient, adaptable teams that align with your company’s vision and values — and producing intended results. In other words, it’s about selecting employees who will fit the job requirements.

Yet here lies the challenge: too many leaders fail to refine their hiring strategies. Instead, they rely on gut instincts, skip deliberate planning, and ignore the importance of clarifying roles or expectations.

Some might even view a low turnover rate as evidence of a flawless strategic hiring process. But dig deeper, and you will find disengaged employees—doing just enough to avoid attention while costing the business in lost clients, missed opportunities, and sagging morale.

To ensure your team thrives today and tomorrow, it’s essential to rethink how you hire, coach, and manage. Job fit success hinges on prioritizing agility, shared values, and innovation, while using appropriate tools that align seamlessly with your goals.

Do you want to make job fit happen?

1. Hire for Agility and Mental Flexibility

Adaptability is non-negotiable in today’s fast-paced world. Resilient teams navigate change, tackle complexity, and creatively solve problems. Seek candidates who excel in uncertain situations and can pivot when circumstances demand it.

Job fit assessments are invaluable for uncovering potential beyond the resume and interview. These tools evaluate how candidates think, process information, and approach challenges—providing clear insights into how they will drive innovation and thrive in dynamic environments.

2. Prioritize Purpose, Passion, and Shared Values

The strongest teams connect deeply to your company’s mission and values. Candidates that fit the job have purpose and passion and will contribute more than just skills; they bring energy, commitment, and alignment with your culture. However, uncovering these traits requires going beyond superficial interviews.

Use layered questioning techniques, like the Rule of 3, to explore motivations and ensure alignment. Additionally, integrity and honesty assessments add confidence that you’re hiring individuals who genuinely fit your workplace values.

3. Leverage Technology and Predictive Insights

With advancements in AI and analytics, hiring decisions can extend beyond resumes. Modern tools analyze behavioral patterns, validate job fit, and predict compatibility—helping you make smarter, future-focused decisions.

Still, balance is key. Use technology strategically, allowing it to handle tasks like pre-screening or scheduling, but maintain genuine human connection throughout your recruitment process.

Note: Throughout the pre-employment phase, ensure that all assessments and other tools used comply with Department of Labor standards to safeguard fairness and accuracy, as well as other legal requirements (e.g., EEO, ADA).

4. Expand and Diversify Talent Pipelines

To build tomorrow’s results-focused team, broaden your horizons. Go beyond traditional recruitment channels—explore overlooked talent pools, mentorship programs, and upskilling initiatives. Diversity and critical thinking will fuel innovation and strengthen problem-solving within your teams.

Remember, recruitment is just the beginning to discover whether or not the person will fit the job. To keep good employees, robust onboarding processes, clear career paths, and continuous coaching will ensure new hires who fit their jobs stay engaged and committed to your company’s long-term vision.

5. Redefine Success with Growth-Focused Paths

Candidates today seek more than just a paycheck—they’re looking for development opportunities and a meaningful future where they can make a difference. Attract top talent by emphasizing pathways for continuous learning, leadership advancement, and impactful growth.

Expand your definition of success to include sustainability, innovation, and community contributions. Equip employees with the tools to take ownership of their development, fostering engagement and inspiring long-term loyalty.

Hiring for job fit isn’t just about recruitment. It requires refining and leveraging your selection and onboarding systems, prioritizing job fit. This is how you’ll build teams that embody your company’s vision, agility, and shared values.

©Jeannette Seibly 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. Working with small and family businesses, her expertise helps leaders and bosses refine their hiring, coaching, and management practices and achieve their intended results. Along the journey, she has guided the creation of three millionaires and numerous six-figure earners, all while championing those ready to elevate their game to new heights.

Key Factors to Hire for Job Fit and Avoid Costly Loss of People

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“Job fit is crucial when hiring and promoting people to achieve intended business results.” Jeannette Seibly

Did you know: “Employee engagement in the U.S. fell to its lowest level in a decade in 2024, with only 31% of employees engaged?” (Gallup)

I would assert that many employers are unclear about what job fit is and what it is not. Employees who excel in jobs that fit their thinking style, core behaviors, and occupational interests stay longer and are more engaged.

If you are frustrated and annoyed with hiring great people into the wrong job, this article is for you.

Today, many qualified people are looking for work because they are retiring, being fired, being laid off, or looking for something better. Although there are a lot of great job candidates available – buyer beware – it doesn’t mean they will fit well into the job responsibilities of your company. Outdated hiring practices that rely on intuitive hiring, biases, and inappropriate pre-employment assessments will cause you to lose key customers and top talent while hurting profitability.

“Too often, we hire based on subjective reasons but fire for poor job fit.” Jeannette Seibly

What Are a Few Signs of Poor Job Fit?

• Work assignments are late, with a lot of excuses
• Promises are made without achieving the intended results
• Frequent mistakes occur, and the employee misreads what needs to be done
• Conflicts with team members, customers, and bosses
• Failure to listen, incorporate others’ ideas, and develop win-win-win outcomes
• Lack of business growth (sales) or overrun of expenses
• Constant change in direction – they are easily distracted by “shiny objects” or “crystal ball” syndromes

Why Does Poor Job Fit Happen?

• No real objective data collected (e.g., resumes are more than 80 percent inaccurate).
• Rely on intuitive hiring practices that reflect biases (e.g., the job interviews account for 90 percent of the hiring decision).
• Unwilling to improve the selection process, citing costs for improvement and ignoring costs for hiring mistakes.
• Failure to conduct thorough due diligence (e.g., relying on false data, such as name of employer, education).
• Use inappropriate assessments to determine job fit (e.g., overlook validity, reliability, predictive validity, and distortion factors)
• Believe any known limitations can be overcome with training and development. (Forgetting that no one works that hard to be someone they are not. This is a trap that almost every hiring boss/leader falls into!)

What Is Job Fit?

Job fit refers to the alignment between an individual’s skills, experience, values, and personality with the requirements, culture, and expectations of a specific job and organization. It encompasses several key aspects:

1. Skills and Experience Fit: How well an individual’s abilities and past work experience match the tasks and responsibilities of the role. While these required skills and experience may sound good on paper, the job candidate may not be able to use the skills effectively. It’s why valid job-fit assessments are required. When using highly validated and reliable assessments, you gain insight into the real person and their core behavior, occupational interests, and thinking styles.

2. Cultural Fit: The degree to which an individual’s values, behaviors, and working style align with the company’s culture and work environment. A startup or new business venture is very different from working in a well-established company. In a company that requires thinking outside the box, some job candidates may believe they can … but are unable to design and develop sustainable systems or results.

3. Motivation and Interest: The extent to which an individual’s career goals and personal interests are aligned with the job’s duties and opportunities for growth. With changes in people’s work ethic, their career or life aspirations may misalign with the company’s needs and goals. It’s critical to have very clear expectations: PTO, work-life balance, accountability for following up and following through, etc.

4. Team Fit: How well an individual works with existing team members and contributes to team dynamics and cohesion. Are they someone who can work well with others, be coachable, and keep their ego out of the way?

When job fit is strong, employees are satisfied, business excels, and customers keep coming back.

Strategies to Improve Job Fit

• Create a sustainable strategic job fit selection process.
• Get real about what you need and the type of person who can fulfill the desired results.
• Work with a talent advisor/hiring consultant to train managers on interviewing, due diligence, and using the proper job fit assessment. (Each should account for 1/3 of the selection decision.)
• Remember, many savvy job candidates will tell you what you want to hear, and hiring bosses have a low probability of discerning the truth. It’s why objective data is required.

To recap: Using a qualified job fit assessment that meets the validity and reliability requirements outlined by the Department of Labor, conducting proper due diligence, and structuring interview processes to affirm your intuition/gut will provide clarity and are crucial to improving employee engagement, customer retention, and improving the bottom line.

©Jeannette Seibly 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. Working with small and family businesses, her expertise guides leaders and bosses to refine their hiring, coaching, and management practices and achieve their intended results. Along the journey, she has guided the creation of three millionaires and numerous six-figure earners, all while championing those ready to elevate their game to new heights.

Grab her book, “Hire Amazing Employees” — it provides overlooked issues when designing and using a strategic job fit selection system.

Spotting Hidden Talent Easily

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“Selecting people based on job fit increases employee and customer retention and profitability.” Jeannette Seibly

Did you know hidden talent can be easily spotted using a well-designed job-fit selection system?

While everyone is complaining about the difficulty in finding “hidden talent,” the reality is that the person could be right in front of you! However, your biases often get in the way of seeing their hidden talents. Other blocks that can get in the way include lack of objective data, unrealistic expectations … the list goes on and on.

Bottom line: We miss spotting hidden talent due to a lack of good, reliable, and objective data when making our hiring, promoting, and job transferring decisions.

Here Are Ways to Avoid These Common Pitfalls

Prepare Job Applicants. Send them a helpful video about your interview process and what to expect. Remember, for many, this is their first time talking with your company. Provide several interview questions (and be sure to ask at least one or two of these questions) so they feel comfortable with your selection process. I would also recommend sending them a link to the brag book: “The Secret to Winning the Job:  Start Bragging!” Many applicants have hidden talents that they need to learn how to share effectively!

Use Valid a Honesty/Integrity Assessment. These direct admission tools can only be used for pre-employment purposes (not current employees) can help weed out those job candidates that are good at selling themselves, but have things to hide. They also help provide safer workplace environments. Be sure to check with local and state statutes to avoid asking inappropriate questions (e.g., age, marital status, children, etc.).

Conduct Phone Screen Interviews to Gather Objective Data. Ask questions designed to reveal the facts of their past employment and education. Remember, verifying and documenting is essential. Too often, job candidates fail to get honest about job fit… they want the job. (For help in creating questions, READ Chapter 10, Hire Amazing Employees)

How many times have you hired someone and 2 hours or 2 weeks or 2 months later realized who you interviewed was not the person who has showed up for the job!

Use a Qualified Job-Fit Assessment. It’s crucial to see the “whole person” (e.g., thinking style, core behaviors, and occupational interests). Using the wrong assessment allows applicants to show themselves as they want to be seen, not as who they are. With over 3,000 published assessments available, selecting ones not designed or complying with the Department of Labor for pre-employment and selection use is easy. How do you know the difference? Ask for a technical manual and check for distortion, predictive validity, reliability, and validity coefficients. (See Chapter 9, Use the Right Assessments and Skill Tests, Hire Amazing Employees). Using the correct assessment, the right way makes all the difference in the selection process!

Interview for Job Fit. Too often our beliefs in the skills required are sabotaged by our subjective biases (e.g., since they are good in math, they will be good accountants or financial consultants; since they were friendly during the interview, they’ll be great bosses; etc.). Ask job-related questions and listen! Deep dive into their responses using the “Rule of 3” to determine the depth of their skills. (For additional insights about “Rule of 3” and creating job-related questions, READ Chapter 10, Hire Amazing Employees)

Conduct Due Diligence. It’s not uncommon for applicants to provide education, job titles, and companies that don’t exist! Make sure to conduct background, licensing, education, and other checks. Many times, using a third-party provider ensures a thorough and consistent process. (SEE Chapter 17, Types of Checks, Hire Amazing Employees)

Require Onboarding for Best Results. Start when the job offer is accepted and will continue over a period of months. Otherwise, your newest talent will “leave” while remaining on the payroll. (READ: Chapter 20, The Success of a New Hire Is Up to You! Hire Amazing Employees)

©Jeannette Seibly 2024 All Rights Reserved

Jeannette Seibly is a Talent Advisor/Leadership Results Coach with over 32 years of experience guiding leaders and bosses to improve their hiring, coaching, and managing practices and produce amazing results! And yes, it always starts with having the right people in the right jobs! She has been an Authorized PXT Select Partner for over 33 years. Contact Jeannette to learn more about this state-of-the-art job-fit assessment tool or how to coach and manage your people to achieve amazing results.

A note from Jeannette about discovering hidden talent: Often, we miss spotting hidden talent due to the lack of good, reliable, and objective data when making our hiring, promoting, and job-transferring decisions. With a well-designed job-fit selection system, let’s make let’s make this year a great one. Need help? Have questions? Contact me now!

It’s time to get honest and real! Are there days you dread managing people, projects, and your team’s financial performance? You’re not alone! Everyone has their blind spots! NOW is the time to get the guidance you need to make the right changes for 2024. I have extensive experience and wisdom guiding bosses and leaders to hire, coach, and manage their teams successfully. The bonus … they achieve unprecedented results. Contact me to learn more about my in-depth, one-on-one, customized coaching programs.

I Thought We Resolved the Issue

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“Resolving issues and focusing on the long-term impact greatly improve your results.” Jeannette Seibly

How often have you thought an issue was resolved only to have it come back and knock on your door again? It’s frustrating! If you let it, it can sabotage your resilience, resourcefulness, and results.

Issues reoccur when you put a band-aid on them. You were in a hurry to make the problems disappear and take the easy way out. The truth is (if you’re honest about it) you allowed your personal feelings to get in the way, didn’t talk it out with others, or listened to sage advice. But ignoring the real issue(s) never resolves the true problem.

It can be difficult to confront challenging issues. You may feel powerless or lack the confidence or insight to resolve the core issue. Too many times, you and others talk about it over and over, taking weeks and months in hopes of resolving the issue. But instead, you and the team gloss over the actual issue. In the meantime, the window of opportunity has closed, and the damage has been done irrevocably.

Decisions will be well-thought-out when a company addresses the fundamental issue head-on and facilitates the process. It gets resolved quickly, and the issue disappears. I’ve been part of situations where the problems disappeared, and to this day, the issue hasn’t resurfaced because it was effectively resolved. It required integrity to do the right thing (not take the easy way out), critical thinking (not circular thinking), making decisions, and taking action immediately.

Build Solutions That Disappear Issues

Align on Core Values. Be clear in your communications and management practices that all solutions must align with the company’s core values. For example, when addressing employee retention, the issue is rarely about money (even though many focus on it). It’s about factionalism, quiet retaliation, or other less talked about (and real) issues. One solution may be enforcing workplace policies and procedures (e.g., no-tolerance policies).

Make Good Decisions. The process of making good decisions doesn’t need to be complicated. Integrity, honesty, and critical thinking will always create better outcomes when having tough conversations and addressing tough issues as soon as possible. When making informed decisions, remember to analyze the risks, costs, and impact on others.

Communicate the Results Appropriately So No One Involved is Left Out. When writing an email or talking, be present with what you say! Or, you may make the situation worse! Also, when coming to an agreement on the goal and focused action steps to take, go around the table or virtual camera to get everyone’s input until nothing new is added. Yes, it’ll take more time. But in the long run will save countless hours and money and stop the issue(s) from resurfacing.

Think Win-Win-Win. While you do not have a crystal ball, doing the right things right will be reflected in your decisions. If you are upset or angry about the issue or have a vendetta against someone, recuse yourself immediately. Otherwise, the core issue will hang around for a long time and hurt your business growth and career.

Follow-Up and Follow-Through. This is the step that is usually skipped! Ask the team: “What are the true results? Are the solutions implemented and working? If not, what do we need to do to move forward?” It’s helpful to come back in a day, week, and month to ask yourself and your team, “Did we address the true issue? Did we resolve the problem? Are you hearing any feedback or gossip that we need to investigate?” Note: The old issue may be resolved, but a new one may have popped up. Remember, you’re never done handling issues as a leader and boss. Don’t wait! Address issues now.

©Jeannette Seibly 2023 All Rights Reserved

Jeannette Seibly is a champion for success. As a leader, do you have bosses that are difficult for teams to work with? Jeannette’s depth of experience and wisdom can transform those bosses from hated to respected! Contact Jeannette for a confidential discussion.

A note from Jeannette about resolving issues: How often have you used the band-aid approach when resolving an issue, and have it returned to haunt you? When these issues resurface or hang around too long, they hurt your retention, revenues, and results. Get these issues resolved now. Do you need a facilitator to guide you through the conversations? Contact me!

Are you ready to build your confidence and success as a boss? The coach is in! Every boss and leader has their blind spots! They get in the way of being a results-producer! When tough times occur, and they will, asking for the right help is essential! I have extensive experience and wisdom guiding bosses to hire, coach, and manage their teams. Along the way, they achieve unprecedented results. Contact me to learn more about my in-depth, one-on-one, customized coaching programs.

How to Test Your Hiring Process to Eliminate Costly Problems

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“To hire the best, you must consistently use best hiring practices!” Jeannette Seibly

Many job seekers love to share their stories about their horrible experiences when applying for jobs. Or, thankfully, share about losing out on a job due to the hiring boss’s poor interviewing behavior.

Stories hiring bosses love to share include nixing a person because they didn’t carry a pen to not hiring candidates that failed to answer non-job-related questions with responses they wanted to hear (e.g., most recent books read or movies seen).

As a hiring boss, you may not be aware of your biases. But they exist, many times unconsciously. And cost you time, money, and sleepless nights. (Example: Making your decision in 4 to 15 minutes of meeting people whether or not to hire them.)

Here’s a great way to determine if your company’s hiring and selection process needs help: use secret job seekers. (Similar to retailers using secret shoppers.)

How to do it: Secretly, without letting hiring bosses know, have friends, trusted employees, and business associates apply for open positions. Have them change their names on their resumes; use fictitious company names, job titles, and educational degrees; and provide pay-as-you-talk cell phones.

Most likely flaws you’ll uncover:

  • Difficulties using your ATS (applicant tracking system)
  • Inconsistencies of questions asked during interviews
  • Not using qualified job fit assessments (Note: Not all assessments are created equal and most do not comply with Department of Labor guidelines for pre-employment use).

The surprises (or maybe not … but now you have factual data required to make needed changes): you will discover the costly mischief about your company’s hiring practices and what is causing the company’s bad reputation.

Common issues will include:

  • Promises made during interviews and not kept when making job offers
  • Having too many interviewers or having team interviews with people not on the same page
  • Job descriptions are too long and uninspiring
  • Job postings are boring
  • Links and QR Codes don’t work
  • Inconsistencies when hiring managers conduct interviews (e.g., asking inappropriate questions or not asking the same structured questions of candidates for the same job)
  • Poor due diligence practices due to not thoroughly checking the backgrounds of all candidates

The key to fixing these issues is to design a strategic job fit selection process and use the best tools (e.g., ATS, structured interview formats, qualified job fit and core value assessments, and consistent due diligence practices). Note: Guidance on how to select the best tools can be found in Hire Amazing Employees: How to Increase Retention, Revenues, and Results.

This is critical and often overlooked! Conduct training programs for all hiring bosses, and provide intra-company access to all required tools and procedures to ensure consistent hiring practices. Also, have a key executive hold all hiring bosses accountable for following all the policies and procedures in the spirit of hiring the right person for the right job the first time!

Training will reduce costly hiring problems and ensure the best hiring practices.

The results? When you implement this secret job seeker program, you will attract and hire better candidates that stop ghosting you! As a result, your company will thrive by increasing retention, revenues, and results. And you may become the best employer in 2023.

©Jeannette Seibly 2023 All Rights Reserved

Jeannette Seibly is The Leadership Results Coach. She has over 30 years of award-winning international experience as an executive consultant, speaker, and business author. Her clients surpass the norm by working through sticky situations and challenging relationships to become positive influencers. Contact Jeannette for a confidential discussion.

A note from Jeannette about testing your hiring practices to eliminate costly (and avoidable) issues: It makes good business sense to ensure your company uses consistent, reliable, and valid hiring practices. Contact me to talk through hiring challenges and how to overcome them. It’ll save you time, money, and your customers!

This week’s PODCAST: Listen to Grow your side hustle into a full-time job with my guest, Bobby Crew on The Entrepreneurial Leader.

NOTE: Do you want to win? All leaders who are winners have coaches! I love coaching leaders and have for over 30 years! Contact me if you want an in-depth, one-on-one hour over 13 weeks. When you have a coach, it’ll speeds up your ability to influence others, hire the right people, and coach your team for unprecedented results.

When You Apologize, It Influences Results

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“A good leader is unafraid to apologize because it positively influences relationships, revenues, and results.” Jeannette Seibly

A note from Jeannette about apologizing: Remember, no relationship is perfect, and all will have upsets. As a leader, learn how to apologize genuinely… it’s an essential part of communicating effectively. Contact me if you’re unclear about how to apologize or if your recent apology only created more upset.

An employee met with her boss to resolve a critical distribution issue. Unfortunately, he didn’t come prepared and didn’t have the answers. She kept pressing him for the answers she needed. Instead of apologizing for not coming prepared, he left the meeting upset with her. Thirty days later, she left the company.

In my last article, Are Your Relationships Working?, I was surprised by the number of leaders (and others) that said they never apologize. To them, it’s a sign of weakness! They are wrong. Actually, apologizing shows strength and confidence in yourself as a leader. It positively influences your results, retention (aka relationships), and revenues! If you don’t know if you apologize when needed, ask your coach and mentor.

It’s not hard to apologize for your mistakes, misunderstandings, or the words you chose (e.g., profanity, mispronouncing someone’s name, misusing jargon, etc.).

But when leaders refuse to apologize, they don’t realize the mischief and hurt feelings they’ve created:

  • Resentment
  • Gossip
  • Avoidance behavior
  • Snarky remarks
  • Turnover
  • Profitability
  • Loss of customers, jobs, promotions, or pay increases
  • The list is endless!

Let me state this again … as a leader, you don’t have the luxury of not apologizing. It’s your responsibility to keep relationships positive with employees, co-workers, vendors, customers, and even your boss.

How to Make a Genuine Apology

Always start with honesty, courage, and respect, and extend the “olive branch.”

  1. Be present with what you said or the mistake you made. Please keep an open door so that team members can express their concerns. Set aside your ego and openly listen! Then, communicate immediately with your executive coach if you’re uncomfortable offering a genuine apology. Remember, the longer you wait, the more likely a mushroom-size issue becomes the size of a mountain with everyone taking sides!
  2. Offer “I’m sorry” or “I apologize.” Make it 1:1 or with the team (if appropriate). Otherwise, the elephant in the room will stop team members from listening and participating, negatively impacting your results.
  3. Listen to their response. If they are angry because you waited too long or you’ve humiliated them, listen and learn without rebuttal. Apologize once more after they’ve said what they needed to say. But don’t keep on apologizing if it’s not making a difference. Wait for cooler heads to prevail.
  4. Stop defending yourself. The situation happened. Being right or making them wrong won’t get the issue resolved and everyone back in focused action. Start with an apology. Share the goal or intended outcome. Ask if anyone has anything else to say. If they do, don’t defend or use excuses (e.g., “Yeah, but”). If they don’t, move on.
  5. Ask what you can do to resolve it. What needs to happen to move forward? Ask for their opinion and input. Then, wherever possible, use their idea(s) and follow through immediately. If you don’t, the resentment will continue to build.
  6. Forgiveness works magic. Genuine apologies allow you and them to let go of resentments. Then, true forgiveness is possible.

PS: Remember to forgive others who have offended you or made inappropriate comments.

Remember, all relationships have their upsets. As a leader, learn how to apologize genuinely… it’s an essential part of communicating effectively.

©Jeannette Seibly 2019-2023 All Rights Reserved

Jeannette Seibly is The Leadership Results Coach. She’s celebrating 30 years as an award-winning international executive consultant, speaker, and coach. Her clients value the listening and positive difference she brings to any conversation. Feel stuck in a sticky situation or a challenging relationship? Want straightforward counsel to blast through it? Contact Jeannette for a confidential discussion. PS: She’s also a three-time Amazon Best-Selling Author!

This week’s PODCAST:

Listen to Do Whatever You Can to Serve Others with my guest, Deb Krier, on The Entrepreneurial Leader.

Learn How to Spot Toxic Future Employees During Job Interviews

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“Toxic employees diminish trust while sabotaging the company, customers, and team.” Jeannette Seibly

A leader recently asked me, “How do you spot a narcissist during a job interview?” He’d just fired one. I shared that they and other types of toxic employees can be challenging to spot. “It’s why using a structured interview approach, and a qualified assessment tool are important to help you spot them.” My recommendations are shared in this article.

Learning how to spot toxic future employees before hiring them can be tricky. However, it becomes easier when you use a well-defined strategic selection system and interview process. The challenge is, listening and not explaining away apparent signs.

“Toxic employees create discord, crush morale and reduce coworkers’ productivity.” (Insperity)

Many toxic workers have the skills to do the job. But due to “you owe me” attitudes, poor emotional intelligence, and not being coachable, they create unhealthy work environments. As a result, they diminish trust while sabotaging others’ work and the company’s growth.

Tips to Conduct Interviews to Uncover the Truth  

Listen and Be Present! You are more likely to spot toxic behaviors and attitudes if you do.

  • They change their story or lie about the facts
  • They answer your questions with questions
  • They are evasive in their answers
  • They tell you what you want to hear and blame others
  • They are always right
  • They make snarky or inappropriate comments

These job seekers may have the job skills but rarely fit into a healthy workplace.

Use a Structured Interview Focused on Job Skills. Their responses reveal their actual ability and interest in doing the work. Use the Rule of 3 to deep dive to understand their responses. Avoid asking about favorite colors, books read, or music they enjoy! Their responses can be misleading and cover up their genuine willingness to do the job.

Ask Interview Questions That Invite Negativity. Allow candidates to share experiences they’ve been coached not to talk about. But don’t ask more than two of these types of questions to prevent true top talent from ghosting you!

Two great questions:

  • “Tell me about a conflict you had with your boss or coworker.”
  • “What did you do when you received feedback you didn’t like from your boss or team?”

Listen for: blaming others, being unable to admit mistakes, or how people “should be.” Or conversely, “I always get along with everyone.” These are red flags!

Use a Qualified Job Fit Assessment. These tools have behaviorally based interview questions to help you uncover a person’s fit with the job. While they are not designed to state if a person is “toxic or not,” the questions help you learn more about the essential qualities the person will bring to the job.

I recently talked with a job candidate for a manager position. The person had an answer for everything and frequently spoke about enjoying conflict and debates with others. While these traits can be great in negotiations, most employees will revolt working for this type of boss.

Don’t Rely on Only One Interview. Many toxic people love to gossip or have other problematic attitudes they can turn on and off. Conduct several well-structured interviews instead of relying on your intuition or gut. During the process, you’ll learn more about the person’s true beliefs, work ethic, and ability to work with and through others to achieve intended results. Use a well-designed strategic selection system and follow it; most toxic future employees are less likely to stick around.

Don’t Dismiss Warning Signs. People’s choice of words conveys their thoughts, feelings, and opinions. Many poor job performers use negative words when talking about coworkers and bosses. They speak as the victim, are judgmental, and cannot empathize. They talk in absolutes: always and never. Don’t overlook their choice of words or explain them away.

Remember, toxic employees cost you time, money, and sleepless nights. A well-designed strategic selection system is a powerful tool to help you avoid hiring them.

Source for this article: Hire Amazing Employees: How to Increase Retention, Revenues and Results!

©Jeannette Seibly 2022 All Rights Reserved

Jeannette Seibly is The Leadership Results Coach. She’s celebrating 30 years as an award-winning international executive consultant, speaker, and coach. Her clients value the listening and positive difference she brings to any conversation. Feel stuck in a sticky situation or in challenging relationships? Want straightforward counsel to blast through it? Contact Jeannette for a confidential discussion. PS: She’s also a two-time Amazon International Best-Selling Author!

A note from Jeannette about how to spot toxic future employees during job interviews: The challenge is that they often have the skills to do the job. But due to poor attitudes, being self-centered, and not being coachable, they can create unhealthy work environments. Need help upgrading your hiring practices? Not sure where to begin? Contact me for a confidential conversation.

Leaders need to influence others to be successful. But many times, their blind spots speak too loudly and get in the way. For actual professional growth, use objective data to discover your blind spots now, before it’s too late:  https://bit.ly/BeEffectiveLeader

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

What To Do!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

©Jeannette Seibly, 2022 All Rights Reserved

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

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

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

 

Many Hiring Failures Are Due to Being Uncoachable

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

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

The #1 reason? They are uncoachable.

Here are shocking stats:

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

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

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

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

How to Hire Coachable Employees

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

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

Then, listen for:

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

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

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

©Jeannette Seibly 2021-2022 All Rights Reserved

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

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

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

Not All PreEmployment Assessments Are Created Equal

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

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

Why is this important to know?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The benefits of qualified assessments:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

©Jeannette Seibly 2022 All Rights Reserved

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

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

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