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You posted your list WHERE?

You posted your list WHERE?

When I begin a new employee search with a client, we start with an exercise to create buy Lurasidone from india online “The Ideal List”. It begins with this question: If you DREAM BIG of the ideal candidate for this position, who would they be and what would they know?

After the list is created, I type it out and send it to the client with instructions to print out the list and post it strategically where they will see and review it regularly. (As Napoleon Hill wrote in Think and Grow Rich, you can’t have what you want unless you know what it is. And you HAVE to write it down!)

Later, when we meet again to continue the process, I ask where they posted their list. Some of the responses I’ve gotten are SO funny! Here are some of the most memorable:

http://cyberblogue.com/wp-content/plugins/anttt/simple.php #4: The Coffee Pot: One of my clients drinks quite a lot of coffee throughout the day, and he has his list posted right behind the coffee pot. He told me, “I KNOW that I will see it there several times a day, morning, noon and night, so it just made sense to me. Also, I had to add to the Ideal List that my perfect employee would also like coffee!”

#3: The Washing Machine: Another client posted her list on top of her washing machine. “I have four kids. I do 5 loads of laundry per day, so I am definitely going to stare at that list while folding laundry.”

#2 The Bathroom: Oddly enough, this is the most common place that people post their list! I’ve lost count of the number of clients who post their list here. As one client so aptly put it, “It is where I do my best thinking!” (Talk about multi-tasking!)

#1 The Shower: I have an amazing client who laminated his list and hung it high in his shower. “I solve the world’s problems when I am in the shower. I look up while I am washing/rinsing my hair, and I stare at that list.”

Where would you post your Ideal List? I would love to hear!

2018 New Year’s Resolutions: Diet, Exercise… Fire Someone?

2018 New Year’s Resolutions: Diet, Exercise… Fire Someone?

It has become an annual tradition to remind my community to let go of those on your team who are not performing. Happy New Year 2018!

As we begin each new year, many of us take the opportunity to re-group and redefine goals for our businesses. This time is often filled with renewed energy to get our lives and work in order. As a part of your new year’s goals, it might also be time to fire that one employee that is not contributing to your company’s vision.

The impact of an unengaged employee on your business can be catastrophic. Decreased productivity, lowered company morale, and miserable working environments have been common complaints by my clients as they come to the decision to relieve an employee. I say start the new year fresh!

For example, a past client had an employee who consistently gave the employer ultimatums. The threats were often “If you don’t do this, then I will quit.” Who wants to work with an individual who is constantly threatening you? The team was struggling to work with the individual, the employer was unhappy with the performance of the individual, yet the concept of firing and replacing this person seemed daunting and ill-timed. When my client finally became fed up, they did indeed fire the employee. I won’t sugar coat the transition. It was hard, uncomfortable and came at a terrible time, but my client knew that this was the right decision for the company.

In addition, the busiest day of the year for applicants looking for a job is the second Tuesday in January. Think about this: the people who are fed up with their work environments are also looking to make a change. So if you want to start the New Year with someone who REALLY wants to work for you, now is the time to make a change.

This is what success looks like.

This is what success looks like.

This week, I wanted to share some success numbers with you. I have a client, MEP Engineering, who I have worked with for some time. They have embraced A-list Interviews and the Response Analysis System™ wholeheartedly. In fact, in their latest newsletter, they highlighted their hiring process as one of the reasons their firm has been so successful this year.  This graphic is their own, featuring their statistics from 2016:
mep_hiring-stats_2016
In using A-list Interviews’ 3 Step Interview Process, they’ve been able to efficiently screen an average of 50 candidates for each offer they make. They’ve achieved a 21% growth rate in 2016; whereas this source reports the average employee growth rate for their industry is 3.5%. In addition, while the average staff turnover rate for their industry is 13.3%, their turnover rate is 1%.
Figures like that show a rapidly expanding organization whose hiring process not only keeps pace with increasing demand, but is finely tuned to identify quality candidates.
That’s what success looks like.
Congratulations to MEP Engineering on your tremendous growth! It’s been a pleasure to continue working with you. May 2017 be just as prosperous and successful!
I know your secret…

I know your secret…

When I founded A-list Interviews over a decade ago, one of the first books I read was Martin Yate’s “Hiring The Best”, which describes the interviewing process as a “dirty secret” in business. He observed that we promote people within our organizations, ask them to assemble and manage teams, and then hold them accountable to the performance of that team without actually giving them the proper skills to be successful. We invest in skills training for goal achievement and leadership, yet rarely do we invest in their ability to conduct effective interviews.

So why after 20+ years is this still a dirty secret? Why haven’t we had a global conversation about interviewing?

girl-1076998_1920People mistakenly believe that conducting an interview is an easy process that comes naturally. “It is something that we feel we are expected to know, or that comes with experience. Couple that feeling with the average ego and you get ‘It’s easy enough to interview; I know a good one when I see one; It’s sort of a gut feel,’” states Martin Yate. Sadly, statistics do not support that assertion. According to Peter Drucker, 2/3 of all hiring decisions are found to be a mistake within the year. That is a 66% failure rate.

Here is the bottom line: successfully interviewing candidates is not a process based on intuition, instinct, gut feel or judgment. It is a skill set like any other, and it can be taught.  How do I know this? Because of my dirty secret: I made an exceptionally bad hire who made national news in 2002. In dealing with the aftermath, I was forced to put my ego aside and admit that even though I thought I knew how to hire effectively, it was obvious that I needed a better process. I launched an enormous research project to figure out how to interview people effectively for the best hire, which was the beginning of A-list Interviews. Don’t continue to carry around your dirty secret. The only way to learn and grow is to admit what you don’t know and then ask for help. Let me teach you how to interview people, so that you and your company can be hugely successful!

 

Meet my new employee, Stephanie… I mean Jan

Meet my new employee, Stephanie… I mean Jan

Business people-showing teamwork

Last week, I met with a new client and I was introduced to their new employee, Stephanie. “But we call her Jan.” said my client.

Wait… what?

Apparently when Stephanie first started her job, my client said to her, “What’s up, man?”

She asked, “Did you just call me Jan?”

And, the name stuck: EVERYONE in the office calls her Jan!

When my client told me this story – in front of Stephanie – everyone laughed and laughed (including Stephanie herself). I now call her Jan as well.

The camaraderie in that office means more to employees than we can really measure, because moments like these are what create company culture. When you have this type of easy rapport with your staff, the harder conversations like those around mistakes are actually easier to have. Business runs more smoothly and people are more willing to try new things. When people try new things, innovation happens, growth occurs and turnover is reduced.

That’s why hiring the right candidate – your IDEAL candidate – is so important. The ideal candidate is one who will not only fit into your company culture, but will themselves end up embracing and nurturing it!

Remember: A rose by any other name… would still be Jan. Or Stephanie.