This past weekend was homecoming for my daughter Katy, a Junior in High School. She is also a cheerleader, and somehow she is now responsible for doing everyone’s hair on the squad before the game.
Katy’s role as squad hairdresser started last year, when she created a beautiful complicated braid for her own hair. Then, all of the other girls wanted that hair style as well. Katy googled hairstyles, watched Youtube videos, and practiced on her hair (and everyone else’s) in order to be promoted to Head Hair Stylist for the Cardinal Cheer Squad.
I asked her “What are they going to do when you graduate?!”
She shot right back “Oh, I am training Jordan to do this job when I graduate.” Of course she is.
This process of having people hire and train their own replacement when they advance is exactly how successful companies grow, develop their staff and how innovation occurs. Those people who are on the front lines do research, they learn, they improve the company’s processes and they teach the next generation to do the same. I would imagine that the Cardinal Cheer Squad will have the best hair styles for years to come, thanks to Katy!
So, when you have an employee who wants to learn something new and take on a new task, let them. After all…
Last week, I interviewed a woman who had previously been an Office Manager for a thriving company. She understood that her job was one with wide-ranging responsibilities that required many and various tasks. When I asked what prompted her to resign, she replied, “When I had to sell the owners’ roosters on Craigslist.”
Had this woman’s job had been at a farm working with animals, this request might not have seemed so egregious. Once again, she was working in an office setting with many other employees, so a request like this was quite a bit outside the normal boundaries of the job and she felt taken advantage of.
This is just one example of the importance of having an accurate job description for every position. The job description helps the employee know what is expected of them, and gives them guidelines on how to be successful in the role. When an employee is asked to do something far outside the boundaries of the job, they can feel uncomfortable, uneasy, and unsure on how to proceed. This is not the way to build a productive and satisfying relationship with your employee.
I know, I know… writing a job description is boring, boring, boring! My clients tell me this regularly, and it is usually coupled with an eye roll. However, having a document that accurately describes the job can benefit both the employer and the prospective employee by laying out the tasks, responsibilities and expectations beforehand, in black and white. So if you don’t own a farm and aren’t in the animal husbandry industry, don’t ask your employee to sell your roosters (unless you write it in the job description!)
Then when the rooster crows, everyone knows what to expect.
My daughter, Katy, will be 17 this fall. Recently, she was sitting around with her two BFF’s when one girl asked, “Katy, how many boyfriends do you have?” The other girl jumped in with a reply: “I know! She has 3 full-time and 2 part-time boyfriends!”
When the first girl looked puzzled, Katy replied, “Well, I get different things from each of them!” She explained that boyfriend #1 provides freedom and challenges her intellectually, boyfriend #2 brings flowers and is fiercely loyal, and boyfriend #3 is the perfect group date as his best friends are dating Katy’s best friends. As for the other two, part-time boyfriend #1 provides companionship and reliability, while part-time boyfriend #2: is convenient as she sees him every day.
My husband Randy (Katy’s father) said to her, “Katy, do not settle for someone who doesn’t meet ALL of your criteria. You shouldn’t settle, because you deserve the best of the best.”
In hiring, we often see similar situations with candidates. One will possess the experience the employer feels is vital, another will be a proven team player, yet another exudes enthusiasm. Just this past week, one of my clients exclaimed, “Beth, if we could just combine these two candidates, we’d have the perfect employee!”
Since combining two people into one is only possible in science fiction (and those stories almost always end up badly anyway), many people in this position will try to convince themselves to hire Candidate A because he or she is a BETTER fit than any of the other candidates. This path almost always ends up badly as well, except the result isn’t fiction – it’s your business reality.
If you find yourself in this situation, the better plan of action is to re-read your vision for the ideal candidate, redouble your efforts and hold out for the right fit! Remember what Randy said to Katy: “You shouldn’t settle, because you deserve the best of the best.”
Did you know that Colorado currently has the lowest unemployment rate in over 40 years? This is very good news! Having lots of people with jobs is something to celebrate. However, it can make for a very long recruiting process. If you are hiring, this is the time that you can make fear-based mistakes, so here are 3 tips to keep you calm and focused while you are searching for your amazing hire.
cheap Aurogra without a prescription Create your Ideal List and stick to it. Regardless of the unemployment rate, employers needing to fill a position feel the pressure of urgency – hurry up already and just find someone! But rushing a hiring decision rarely, if ever, results in a good hire. Envision the employee you really want and stick to your vision, even when you feel that pressure. Read over your Ideal List. Get excited over how much better things will be when you find your great hire, and then read your Ideal list again!
buy antabuse Get creative and thorough with your outreach. You never know where your great hire will be found, so make sure you’re looking everywhere you can. Utilize the network of people you know – talk to your neighbors, your friends, your children’s friends’ parents… everyone. Also, make sure that your message appears everywhere online, not only in the networks you yourself frequent. For instance, people who regularly use Facebook might post their message there, but they’ll never reach the ideal candidate who doesn’t log on to Facebook but who regularly uses Craigslist. Your outreach should be as large as possible, and may include some unconventional methods: I talked to one employer who leaves her business card with people that she thinks will be good hires.
Check your brand online. Jobseekers will research you and your company, and if they see negative information they will be less likely to apply. When is the last time you’ve done a Google search on your company, or checked what Glassdoor and Amazon say about your company? Make sure you know what potential candidates are seeing about you.
Yes, in a market with low unemployment, finding your ideal candidate may take longer than it might under different circumstances. However, keep in mind that even under the best of circumstances, finding your ideal candidate will seem to you like it takes forever! Regardless, it’s a stressful situation, but be comforted in knowing that every other company is in the same boat; let them be the ones who buckle under the fear and stress and make impulsive and costly hiring mistakes. Stay calm, stay focused and hang in there!
This past weekend was homecoming for my daughter Katy, a Junior in High School. She is also a cheerleader, and somehow she is now responsible for doing everyone’s hair on the squad before the game.
