by Beth | Dec 4, 2025 | Uncategorized
I recently conducted a training on how to improve the hiring process, and one participant blurted out “What do you do about a brown-noser? We have this guy who doesn’t perform until the manager walks through the door. Then, this guy sucks up to the manager and the manager doesn’t even see it! It is SO frustrating!”
“What do you do about it now?” I asked him.
He said “We call him Rudolph behind his back. Rudolph the brown-nosed reindeer, and we laugh about it. We have to let off steam somehow!”
There are several things about this reindeer farm that are alarming: First, the company has a bunch of reindeer that are getting paid to talk about someone behind their back.
This is NOT good for reindeer culture. When your reindeer are focused on the behavior of another, it disrupts the flow of business, and it inhibits teams from performing well-meaning work: i.e. getting the gifts to people on time and under budget.
Second, this makes the manager, Santa Claus, look inept. All of the other reindeer, who laugh and call him names, are secretly wondering why Rudolph hasn’t been fired. They think Santa is too busy eating cookies to get work done. And finally, there will be reindeer who quit working, because Rudolph doesn’t do his job. Why should I do mine?
A brown-noser is ultimately bad for business, and the last thing we want in our reindeer culture is a reindeer who doesn’t do their job and hides that fact. We have gifts to get out, people! Fire the brown-noser and get back to business.
POWER THOUGHT: When employees laugh about anyone behind their back, you have a culture ruin-er. Brown-nosed reindeers must go.
by Beth | Nov 27, 2025 | Uncategorized
My daughter, Katy, and I would like to wish everyone a wonderful and safe Thanksgiving holiday.
I am so grateful for all of my clients, friends and family for supporting A-list Interviews, as we continue to grow and thrive. A giant thank-you to my team, especially Randy, for a great year as well.
I hope your holiday is full of peace, love, joy and pie!
From our family to yours,
Beth Smith
by Beth | Nov 13, 2025 | Uncategorized
A few weeks ago, I received a call from a beloved client of mine. She said, “Beth! I have to tell you about the Drunk Guy we almost interviewed!”
Oh, boy.
+++No, this newsletter isn’t a nostalgic story about that frat party you once attended. (Which was really fun, by the way!)
According to my client, they had a candidate that the 4-person interview team was really excited about! This guy had all the bells and whistles: solid work history, a network in their industry, well- seasoned, knew someone who knew someone… you know how it goes.
They scheduled an in-person interview after a vetting process, and the guy called 15 minutes before his interview, slurring his words. The team cancelled the interview. Drunk Guy was very upset. Showed up to the interview anyway. It was a scene.
One of the interview team members turned to another one and said, “We have to call Beth.”
They asked me if this had ever happened to me. “Too many times to count,” I said solemnly.
We scheduled a Drunk Guy Recap, and we walked through how this guy got through the vetting process. One team member said “We got excited about his experience. That was a mistake, because we ignored all these other red flags. This was a much-needed re-set.”
Exactly right. Experience is important. But being a person of character, acting with integrity, and being able to resolve conflict is arguably MORE important. More obviously, so is showing up to an interview sober.
POWER THOUGHT: Hiring the wrong person is a sobering experience. Focus on attributes, and less on experience.
by Beth | Nov 5, 2025 | Uncategorized
The celebration of Halloween has been very hit-and-miss in the workplace, in my experience. Some companies really promote it by buying pounds and pounds of candy and giving out prizes for the best costumes. Some companies don’t celebrate it at all with the mindset of “Please don’t bring candy here! I am trying so hard to stick to my diet!”
But this year, there is something in the air. The fall is so beautiful, the air is calm, and winter is late to the party. Most of my clients are in the mood to do something different, like celebrate.
Here are some of the comments that I have heard from my clients:
“I started buying chocolate mid- September. I NEVER do that!”
“This year, by God, I am dressing up for Halloween. I haven’t done that in a decade.”
We have all been walking around in a Zombie fog the last couple years. In many countries, Halloween is the beginning of the New Year, and it definitely feels that way now. We are all tired of walking around half-dead in a zombie state and looking ghostly.
So, this year, I encourage you to step out of the norm. Make the effort to celebrate in a way that you haven’t done in a long time. Buy the candy and the costume and engage with your employees like you haven’t been able to in a while. After all, the zombie in all of us needs to wake up.
Boo!
Power Thought: Don’t ghost Halloween this year!
by Beth | Oct 23, 2025 | Uncategorized
Imagine walking into an office to help them with their hiring process. You encounter a woman, who obviously runs the show, and her name is Joyce. She has a beehive hair-do that is hiding no less than three pencils, and it is held high by 3 layers of AquaNet. She peers at you over her cat eye glasses that are attached to a gold chain around her neck, and she asks “Can I help you?”
You explain to her that you are here to hire some support for her, and she hands you a manual form to fill out in triplicate: the pink slip goes to HR, the yellow goes to Finance, and the original goes to the hiring manager. You then find out that Joyce is the head of HR, the Director of Finance and the hiring manager.
I can’t tell you how many offices I have walked into in my career that are literally just like this one.
Here is the thing: this business has been in business for generations. They have been through numerous downturns and several booms. They have remained steady and sure through all kinds of economic uncertainty, so the last thing I want to do is mess that up.
And.
The owner (probably second or third generation) can’t sleep at night, because what if something happens to Joyce? Plus, Joyce ran off the last person we hired to help her. What do we do?
First: Acknowledge Joyce for the great work that she has done keeping it all together.
Second: Have Joyce write down 2 lists: a) all the parts of her job that she loves and b) on a separate sheet, write down all the parts that she hates.
Third: Create a job for all of the job duties that Joyce hates and then hire the person to do the job that Joyce hates. You will get less pushback from Joyce.
Finally, there have been a few times (not many) where the Joyce person needed to retire. By going through this process, that person was able to retire and know the company would be fine in her absence.
Joyce was flexible and nimble in her job. She took on all the things that no one else would do, and we need to celebrate her. Simultaneously, the company must move forward.
POWER THOUGHT: Rejoice the Joyce. Also, rejoice the transformed Joyce.
*** Thanks to Jason Phillips from Impact by Insight for the idea!
