Skills Testing & FAQs

New Normal Hiring Has Changed How You Select Top Talent! Are You Ready?

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“Increase your hiring accuracy today by fine-tuning your strategic hiring system and quality of tools. Otherwise, you’ll experience loss of top talent, customers, and business growth.” Jeannette Seibly

Recently, I heard from a job candidate that during her third group interview the hiring boss threw up his hands and left the room. Later she learned, the hiring boss had been talking with customers about their business changes and was left wondering what type of job candidate he really needed. The good news was, he prevented hiring and letting go of a new employee when the new job requirements became clear.  

We have forgotten that “new normal” includes new hiring and selection processes, and cannot be treated as business as usual.

Unfortunately, in our haste to get jobs filled today, we dust off old job descriptions and job postings. Then, tweak here and there before posting…believing we’re saving time! The problem is we’ve forgotten that NEW job skills are needed to support our customers and businesses. Plus, many job candidates’ skills have been dormant for the past year and could be rusty.

This “new normal” is the time for you to create a strategic hiring process and update selection tools focused on the future growth of your company. Otherwise, you risk customers and top talent leaving, frustrated with your company.

5 Key Places to Improve Your Selection Process

1. Envision the New Job. Take time to envision the new job with the key players. Focus on what you and your company need to accomplish. THEN, write up the new job description.

Here are the top 5 key changes (Insperity, April 2021):

  • Remote work
  • Flexibility and work-life balance
  • Technology use
  • Compliance with laws and regulations
  • Cybersecurity

2. Create a 180-Day Success Plan. Note specific goals (no more than 3 per month) the successful person needs to complete in the first 30-60-90-180 days! Be realistic and share with job candidates during the interview process. Pay close attention to their reactions.

3. Infuse Energy in Job Postings. Job postings may be the first time applicants hear about your company. Infuse them with positivity and opportunities for job candidates. Your goal is to attract top talent with new skills or people that are flexible and willing to learn quickly. Post on ATS site that is super easy for job applicants to use.

4. Use Job Fit Assessments that Provide Objective and Consistent Data. Job fit is the #1 reason people succeed (Harvard Business Review). Many people interview well and can tell you what you want to hear. It is why successful companies use scientifically developed job fit assessments. These state-of-the-art tools provide real data and insights about the candidates. It’s important to know before you hire the true strengths and weaknesses of your candidates. Make sure you can objectivity and consistently answer with real data: “Can they do the job?” “Will they do the job?” and “How will they do the job?” These answers will impact the quality of work done and relationships with customers and team members!

5. Bring Back Due Diligence. Many companies have stopped obtaining verifiable due diligence data. Remember, over 40% of people lie on resumes. The most common areas are education, previous dates of employment, and previous salary. (Indeed, February 2021) Yes, these are some of the key areas we use to determine the job candidates we will interview!

©Jeannette Seibly, 2021 All Rights Reserved

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

It can be embarrassing to you when your team produces results that do not meet customer or company needs. Discover how to work through team conflicts before they sabotages your career.

A Note from Jeannette About: New Normal Hiring Has Changed How You Do It! Are You Ready?      How you hire today has changed from how you hired in 2019 and 2020. If you haven’t updated and upgraded your selection systems and quality of tools, it will show in your results. High turnover of top talent and customers will hurt your business growth, now and in the future. And, your reputation will take a hit too (think, social media reviews). Are you stuck working with hiring managers resistant to making these critical changes? Contact me for ideas to overcome their resistance and start achieving dynamic results.

It’s a New Normal. Are You Ready to Get Employees Skill-Ready?

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“You will lose key employees and customers if your people are not talent-ready.” Jeannette Seibly

In October 2020, the World Economic Forum released its report of the top 15 skills for 2025. While 2025 may seem a long way off, it’s not.

As you read the list note software development, cybersecurity and technology are not at the top of the list. Instead, it’s about creativity, problem solving, analytical thinking, and innovation.

It is critical companies develop these necessary skills today. Waiting until 2025 won’t work since your company will be left behind its competition. Start training at the top and cascade down now. This reinforces the skills training since your executives and managers will set a positive example.

3 Key Issues Often Overlooked

  • Discrimination practices will get in the way when designing individual training goals. Insert into your leaders’ job descriptions, “training and coaching the next leaders include each and every person!”
  • Failure to budget and use that money for training tells customers your business is not ready to be their vendor or contractor.
  • Hiring, coaching, and managing are much easier and less expensive if you hire and promote based on job fit. This requires using objective data on a consistent basis. Not everyone has an interest in learning and using the new skills appropriately.

Here is the “List of the Top 15 Skills” (click here for the full report):

(Note: most of these are considered “soft skills,” which are often ignored.)

  • Analytical thinking and innovation
  • Active learning and learning strategies
  • Complex problem-solving
  • Critical thinking and analysis
  • Creativity, originality, and initiative
  • Leadership and social influence
  • Technology use, monitoring, and control
  • Technology design and programming
  • Resilience, stress tolerance, and flexibility
  • Reasoning, problem solving, and ideation
  • Emotional intelligence
  • Troubleshooting and user experience
  • Service orientation
  • Systems analysis and evaluation
  • Persuasion and negotiation
Are you ready? Happy employees are well trained in all aspects of their work.

5 Key Factors to Prepare Your Company for Success

  • Create a strategic plan for ongoing training and skill development. Make sure your budget includes consistent communication reminders on how to use these new skills!
  • Develop skill levels (basic, medium, and advanced) required for different job responsibilities. For example, non-tech salespeople need systems awareness but don’t need advanced systems analysis and evaluation.
  • Select trainers who are shining examples of using these skills (internal and external). They must be able to engage participants and answer questions. Otherwise, your leaders and employees will lose interest.
  • Provide easy-to-access workshops, videos, coaching, and 1:1 training to reinforce skills. Ensure manager/executives receive the training first. This will set an example for all team members.
  • Encourage team members to work in cross-functional groups and rotate who leads the team. This will expand everyone’s knowledge on how to apply these new skills in different situations.

©Jeannette Seibly, 2021

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

A Note about Getting Your Employees Talent-Ready from Jeannette. 2021 is not business as usual and employees are frustrated with the lack of new opportunities for skill development. (Yes, even your newly hired team members.) Now is the time to develop everyone, from the top-down, to expand their skills and knowledge. It gets team members excited to come to work each day!  Need help? Yes, we all need help from time-to-time. Contact me!

How to Prevent Overconfidence from Hurting Team Results

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“Remember, 90% of the world’s information is in people’s heads, not the internet!” Jeannette Seibly

Overconfidence is a tendency to hold a false and misleading assessment of our skills, intellect, or talent. (Corporate Finance Institute)

Now, more than ever, confidence is important. It encourages your team, customers, and communities to follow your lead. But problems arise when you are overconfident. This occurs when you fail to understand that business is not the same as usual and fail to adjust for the “new normal.”

A leader worked in an IT company that had great financial success during 2020. But when he oversold a new project, the team balked when he shared the requirements! His overconfidence failed to consider the team was unwilling to come into the office and go into the customer’s office to work on it. The added challenge was, he lacked the skills to manage the new project virtually. He listened to his mentor and reached out to his coach. He got the help he needed. He learned a lot and learned how to brag about his skills in a business-savvy manner rather than be overconfident.

Remember, we’re in a new normal…what you did before may not work today. So, stop, listen, and welcome new ideas. Then, transform how you manage your team, projects, and results asap.

6 Tips to Develop Healthy Confidence

Be aware of your communication style is important. Learn to be aware of words or actions that signal you’re being overconfident (e.g., “I’ve got this handled!” “I never fail!” “This always works.”). Work with your coach to see what you may be stepping over or failing to address when this happens.

Be honest about your skills. Take the time to conduct an accurate assessment of yourself and learn about your blind spots. Work with your coach and use objective data from scientifically validated job-fit assessments. These tools guide you to go beyond how you want to be seen. Instead, they help you discover what it’s like to work with you from the team’s perspective!

Stop comparing yourself with others. Too often, we blame others for mistakes they make, but excuse our own! Develop your emotional intelligence (EI). Learn how to use compassion and empathy to work through mistakes and learn from them. This strengthens your ability to achieve intended results.

Test your assumptions before declaring your decisions. When we make decisions based on fragments of information, we’re often wrong. Develop your critical thinking by deep diving into the factual pros and cons. Use your network to test your assumptions. Remember, 90% of the world’s information is in people’s heads, not the internet!

Listen to others’ feedback and concerns. Leaders welcome brainstorming and hearing others’ ideas. Learn how to manage healthy disagreements and ensure all team members can express their concerns and ideas. Remember, a healthy skepticism will save your career and the financial impact of a bad decision. Most importantly, learn to listen to what you don’t want to hear to improve your results.

Recognize when it’s the right time. While many ideas may work with modifications, it may not be the right time or place to put them into action.  Avoid using circular logic to push through ideas your business and customers are not ready to handle.

“Overconfidence can derail results when your ego gets in the way.” Jeannette Seibly

How to Work with Overconfident Leaders

Stay aware and mindful in conversations. Listen up when your leader is sharing a decision s/he is making or about to make. It will impact you, your project, team, and budget, either directly or indirectly. Ask open-ended questions for clarification rather than debating the leader’s decision.

Stand up and speak up. When leaders are overconfident, we tend to question our own point of view. (Harvard Business Review) Stop! Be assertive and have a conversation armed with the facts. Remember, diplomacy is critical. While you may be right, overconfident leaders will ignore you when their ego feels threatened. The outcome of these types of conversations can impact your future projects and results as well.

If the leader’s idea or assertion does not impact you, avoid confrontation. Choose which issues to pursue. If you confront every issue, the leader and team will stop listening to you. Instead, address major issues that will impact you from a win-win-win perspective.

©Jeannette Seibly, 2019-2021

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

A Note About Being an Overconfident Leader from Jeannette. It’s not business as usual. During this new normal, take the time to develop your emotional intelligence (EI). Skills include listening, critical thinking, and managing virtually. Developing these skills now will impact the quality of your results, today and tomorrow.

Small Employer Hiring

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Small businesses are the backbone of the economy, and on average employ 1 to 10 employees. Many of these business owners have previously worked in corporations, and falsely believe they don’t need a systematic way of hiring due to their smaller size. While they may be right about not needing a formal hiring policy like a larger company, cutting corners and using subjective tools and practices will not protect them from litigation. The sad fact is that a small employer is more likely to make a hiring mistake for multiple reasons, mostly due to lack of experience in hiring. They are under the mistaken belief they can coach and motivate anyone for success. Their lack of awareness simply creates sleepless nights and unnecessary expense of hundreds (if not thousands) of dollars!

The biggest challenge? One bad hire can literally force a small enterprise to close its doors due to theft of money, data and proprietary information. Or, they incorrectly reason it won’t cost them anything to hire a straight commission salesperson, if that person is unable to sell. They don’t calculate the cost to their reputation nor the excessive marketing costs with no positive ROI. One small business owner suffered through theft of proprietary information. It cost him dearly. Instead of seeking better ways to hire people, he simply recreated the mistake by solely relying upon his gut.

Gather objective information. The more objective information you can gather up-front, the less likely you are to interview and select the wrong person. Most interviewers make their decision within the first five minutes of an interview, but spend the next thirty or sixty minutes asking questions that make no difference in changing their minds. Instead, use a structured interview format focused on experience, education and job skills. Have candidates take a skills test to determine true proficiency. Often overlooked is asking about any special requirements. Never assume they read the job posting simply because they applied for the job (e.g., if travel is involved, ask if they are available to travel and how often).

Qualified assessments. Many small employers need to broaden their perspective of what is a qualified assessment. If you’re relying upon non-qualified assessment results, its pay now or pay later in loss of clients or the employee’s unwillingness to do the required activities. Insist upon reviewing the Technical Manual for any assessment you wish to use; do not rely upon a letter from the vendor telling you it meets all federal, state and local laws. Select qualified tools in accordance with the Department of Labor Testing and Assessment 2007 guidelines (for a copy contact: JLSeibly@SeibCo.com. If you have developed one on your own, spend the millions of dollars required to ensure the validity and reliability coefficients comply with EEO (Equal Employment Opportunity), DOL (Department of Labor) and various other requirements.

Training. Since most small business owners don’t hire often, they may overlook current employment laws. Set up a written strategic hiring process and have it reviewed by legal counsel. Review it each time you hire. Take time to learn best interview practices, how to correctly use assessments and skill testing and when to conduct background checks and drug screens (states laws vary). The basic rule of thumb is stay focused on the job responsibilities along with the applicant’s ability to successfully achieve intended results.

All jobs are important! One business owner didn’t feel the receptionist position was an important job in his company. He didn’t understand it’s the client’s first impression, and often a long-lasting one! He spent 5 minutes talking with each candidate and then selected the first one he liked. He went through three employees within a month. He not only lost several clients, one top employee left in protest of his hiring practices.

Hiring Amazing Employees, 2nd Edition, is coming soon! I’ll share more information during this upcoming month.

(c)Jeannette L. Seibly, 2012  All Rights Reserved

Sharpen Your Focus — Strategic Hiring Done Right

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We as business owners and executives often find hiring a painful process. Finally, the new hire starts – only to leave a few (costly) months later. We shake our heads … the person looked the part. Spoke correctly. Used the right jargon. There were even times when we realized (almost immediately) it was a bad fit and hoped s/he would leave sooner.

Some workplaces are already starting to experience difficulty finding qualified candidates. Many times this is due to companies not using up-to-date hiring practices.

The purpose of a good selection process is information gathering. When we solicit good-quality data, we are more apt to make good-quality decisions. When we start with a solid strategy and plan accordingly, we attract the right candidates. Unfortunately, we normally short-change the process, citing time and money, not realizing it actually costs us thousands to millions of dollars more!

This three-part webinar is designed for business owners and executives to help them better understand that a dependable hiring process is entirely do-able. You can do it! All it takes is solid strategy, proper tools and the right attitude.

Part 1: Let’s get down to business results!  “Today’s webinar was invaluable! Learning to focus on the right stuff will help me hire the right person. It’s just what I needed.” KM, Business Owner (after attending Part 1)

Part 2: Qualified Assessments: Detect the 90% hidden during the interview. https://www4.gotomeeting.com/register/665209751

Part 3: Due Diligency — The Secrets to Hiring Success https://www4.gotomeeting.com/register/947604399

Top 3 Hiring Myths for 2012

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Companies are hiring again! The challenge? Despite all the tools available to help companies hire right the first time, hiring managers continue to rely upon traditional hiring practices or “flavor of the month” hiring gimmicks. Unfortunately, it costs employers thousands of dollars when hiring the wrong person for just a couple of hours! And, can cost millions of dollars when someone is unwilling or incapable of doing the job and the company loses a valuable client or top employee.

These are not new myths.  No formal scientific study was conducted. They are simply ones that have withstood the test of time during the past several decades.

Myth #1: It’s cheaper to re-invent the wheel. Many companies falsely believe they can invent their own tools to attract employees due to numerous social media sites. Yet, sole reliance on your own efforts will reduce your ability to attract qualified applicants. Designing your own applicant tracking system can cost 10x to 1000x more money than selecting a top-rated one with the features you need, like SEO (search engine optimization).  Keep in mind: Applicants will review the top three listings on page 1, skim pages 2 and 3, and not look at any other pages.  While some may argue they don’t want a lot of candidates, picking candidates from a small pool normally means settling for less than the job requires. A well-designed system will provide better applicants for less cost, and allow you to focus your efforts on the best, most likely to succeed candidates.

Myth #2: The perfect candidate exists. Perfection is an illusion. Looking for five “must have” qualities without good decision making tools is a waste of time. Currently, many of us spend less than 6 seconds skimming a resume (or searching for confidential key words); decide “yes or no” within the first 4.3 minutes of an interview; and overlook reference and background checks. How good can our decision-making process be? Top talent will bypass potential employers, if those businesses are unable to understand and follow their own selection system, or use inappropriate tools. Remember, these candidates may be your future clients, vendors and/or suppliers!

Myth #3: I’ll know the person when I meet him/her. Really? Too often we hear, “I can tell the character of a person by looking into the whites of their eyes!” Seriously? If the person does not speak the “hot buttons,” they will not be considered. Many candidates today are well-trained to tell you what you want to hear! It will not make them the right person to achieve the results required to grow your company or keep current clients. Use of qualified assessments (per Department of Labor guidelines) will reduce hiring candidates that simply don’t fit the job, or simply cannot or will not do the job! Review the Technical Manual to ensure proper use.

For additional information on how to hire right the first time: BizSavvyHire.com

For a copy of Testing and Assessment: An Employer’s Guide to Good Practices, U.S. Department of Labor contact JLSeibly@SeibCo.com

Jeannette Seibly is an international business advisor and executive consultant for privately-held companies with revenues of $1MM up to $30MM. She has created million-dollar results for 25 companies, and 3 millionaires!

©Jeannette L. Seibly 2012

Focused on the Wrong Things to Hire the Right Person?

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Every boss, C-Suite and executive wants to hire the best person to achieve the best results. When the right candidate is selected, companies grow profitably. The major concern for employers during the selection process is fear – fear of hiring the wrong person. This is the hard reality: No one wants to hire someone who is a thief or can’t or simply won’t do the job. But instead of creating a process to collect the right data and make an informed decision, employers too often rely upon tiny fragments of information that are not factual or misconstrue observed behavior. When interviewers fail to follow a strategic selection processes, they are unable to sufficiently compare applicants to make the best decision (think, apples with apples).

Structured Interview: Many employers create questions that have nothing to do with the person’s actual ability to do the job. They focus on whether candidates like money, are loyal employees, want to work, are task or idea focused, etc. Savvy interviewees will tell you what you want to hear! Ask interview questions that are legal and focus on results the person has achieved. Determine the level of skill they actually possess currently, by drilling down into their responses (e.g., Tell me more. Which means?)

Assess Whole Person: Interviewers rely upon their perceptions to infer a person’s entire character. They dismiss a candidate because s/he didn’t bring a pen to the interview, or read a book or listens to music they don’t like. Traditionally we have relied upon 1/8th of the information readily available to evaluate a person’s job suitability: key words on resumes, interview savvy and reference checks. It’s time to access job fit – the 7/8th’s that is often overlooked. You can train the right person to develop needed skills.

Use qualified assessments to determine job fit. Review the Department of Labor guidelines and Technical Manual (each publisher should provide these) to determine appropriate use of any assessment. When choosing an assessment tool, do not solely rely upon a sales person’s knowledge or their attorney’s letter to determine if the tool can be used for pre-employment purposes.

Due Diligence: Use core value and job-fit assessments; background, credit and criminal checks; employment and school verifications; structured interview questions (including all the ones contained in assessment reports); and reference checks with previous employers. Follow your own system in its entirety. If your selection system and interview questions are constructed to obtain the right information and are used correctly, you will make an informed hiring decision.

©Jeannette Seibly, 2011

We Hire for Job Skills and Fire for Poor Job Fit

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Many employers have taken note of Starbuck CEO Howard Schultz’s recent call for companies to create jobs and improve their own businesses. The problem is that hiring to create jobs does not necessarily improve businesses if antiquated hiring practices do not ensure good job fit!

There is a plethora of information on how to recruit, interview and hire the right person, from good strategic and sustainable business practices, to woo-woo. Many employers have relied upon traditional practices for too long. They still fail to understand the whole person they are hiring, not just the person’s alleged skill-set. If you continue to do what you’ve always done, you’ll be perpetually in the hiring-then-firing-trying-to-get-it-right loop.

Get started, now. It’s important to know your numbers. The costs of turnover, honeymoon period, and poor promotion or transfer choices can quickly off-set any tax credits. Numbers give credibility for the need to create a truly sustainable strategic hiring system. It’s important that everyone is committed to real results; it is too easy to be lured back into old habits.

Recruiting. An on-line application process will snag top talent faster than expecting them to snail-mail you a resume with cover letter. Cast a broad net to ensure you’re attracting the right candidates. Include a ten-question format to clarify their job skills, experience, education and career intentions. It will help you find those hidden gems. Do not get caught in the trap of relying solely upon key word searches or skimming applications and/or resumes. 

Interview. Train your hiring managers how to conduct legal and effective interviews. Design structured interview questions to determine a candidate’s actual skill set and experience. Do not rely upon the interview alone to make a good hiring decision. Beware. There are many well-trained interviewees who know how to tell you exactly what you want to hear.

Assessments. Use valid assessments that meet the Department of Labor requirements. They provide good, objective information that is not obtainable in interviews, or by reading a resume or application form. They provide insights into the candidate as a whole person. Use job match pattern technology to determine job fit. 

Background and Credit Checks. White collar crime is on the rise, especially since many companies do not prosecute for theft or other illegal activities. In addition to using background and credit checks, include a core value assessment as part of the on-line application process. This can help to eliminate potential hiring problems.

Employment Verification and References. Both are important to ensure all the information you’ve collected is indeed verified. Ask for professional references and call them to affirm the information submitted by the candidates. If you’ve done a careful job of collecting authentic information, there should be no surprises. 

While this may sound time consuming, documenting evidence to fire someone actually takes more time, money and energy than hiring the right person! Furthermore, the in/uh-oh/out scenario associated with this sort of turnover can sully your reputation. The right person in the right job actually helps you keep customers and grow your business, (think, make money). Having the right people also ensures you attract and keep other great employees too. Then you can truly be free to focus on improving and building your business.

©Jeannette Seibly, 2011

Employer Beware!

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The economy is slowing improving. Companies are hiring again. The current challenge is finding qualified workers to hire. If we recruit those we perceive to be top performers from our vendors, suppliers or competitors, we must beware of believing they will be natural fits for our organization. Too often, it does not work out that way! 

The biggest reason? A top performer in one company does not naturally become a top performer elsewhere. When we focus on attracting them to work for us, often we will fail to follow our own strategic hiring system. And when we recruit them to resolve an issue within our company today, we are disregarding the future impact on continued relationships with our suppliers/vendors (e.g., trust between the two businesses, willingness to provide preferred price concessions, etc.). Making these exceptions to our hiring practices, just because we know/respect them or their previous employer only adds error on top of error.

Hiring from your vendors and suppliers. You may not contractually be able to hire these subcontractors or employees, depending upon the Non-Compete laws in your state. Or, if they have handled the transition with their current employer poorly, there may be cause for litigation. Having a conversation with your vendor/supplier is advisable to reduce disruption to your business and theirs. Conduct due diligence, just as you would with any other potential hire (e.g. reference checks, employment verifications, background checks, etc.). Remember, if you fail to follow your own hiring policy, or worse, do not use one, you may be hiring someone else’s problem.

Change in Working Dynamics. Just because the person worked well as a consultant, temp, or account executive doesn’t mean s/he will complete the job with the same commitment now that s/he is your employee. Unfortunately, the dynamic of the relationship has changed. Before you were the client; now you are the boss. As a boss, you may treat outside people differently than you treat your own employees. Also, the newly hired person may have a negative attitude towards authority that was controlled since you were not his/her boss. A similar dynamic may become evident with co-workers. The newly hired person may have disliked or not respected those who have now become his/her new co-workers. These concerns can no longer be ignored for the sake of completing a project since this person is now part of your workforce.

Hiring from your competitors. They may look good on paper. However, do they possess the thinking style, core behaviors and occupational interests that fit into your culture? The grass is greener syndrome can negatively impact those employees jumping ship simply looking for more money, different job duties, etc. Again! Follow a strategic and sustainable hiring system regardless of who the job candidate is or how well you may know her/him. Job fit is essential! You will always do better with more objective data than without it (e.g., use of core value assessments, job fit technology and skills testing).

©Jeannette Seibly, 2011

How do the top performers help profits grow exponentially? Hire the Best: Grow the Best Business  Join us 6/29/2011 https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/878372153

NOW is the time – keep key employees!

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The economy is getting better. Do you realize your top talent most likely has “feelers” out to see what other opportunities may be available? As a smaller employer this can have a detrimental effect on your bottom line. As we go from an employer market (more available people than jobs) to an employee market (more jobs than qualified employees), NOW is the time to review and update your strategies for hiring and/or retaining that top talent!

Identify top talent. Use scientifically validated assessments to hire, coach and motivate them. If you use “performance matching” you will also be able to find others who are top performers who might be hiding out internally or externally. This process prevents you from falling for verbally astute people who can talk themselves into the job, but have no real interest or talent to perform well. It saves you from hiring someone who may have an amazing portfolio or strong experience, but would never truly fit within your company culture.

Involve top personnel. Engage top performers with memberships and participation in community and trade association meetings or activities. Encourage them to serve on community and trade association boards. This is a great opportunity for these strong employees to learn additional leadership skills and become known. It also promotes your company in a positive light.

Establish compelling goals. One goal may be to obtain a degree or MBA. Another goal may be to place strongest employees on projects that will build their skills and awareness of leading edge issues. Make them team leaders responsible for resolving ongoing internal issues. The key is to have them learn how to work with and through others to achieve results! Or assign them projects to manage and deliver results on-time and within budget. Let them know you expect unprecedented results.

Give useful feedback. Using a validated 360-degree tool can help personnel understand their strengths and weaknesses from others’ perspectives. The key is to keep the questions focused on the talents each person possesses. A good tool will also provide additional training and coaching information for employees to use in leadership skills development. Remember to follow-up in six months to determine areas for continued improvement and to acknowledge successes.

©Jeannette Seibly, 2011

Want to hire top talent? They are more astute than ever before, and are screening potential employers even as you are screening them! Get on the winning track. Hiring Amazing Employees, an eBook, is now available!   http://smarthiringmadeeasy.wordpress.com/book-hiring-amazing-employees/

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