by Beth | Mar 11, 2020 | Employee Hiring, Interview Process, Interview Techniques
There is so much pressure in a job interview: the employer wants to fill a position, and the potential
employee wants a job! Because of this high intensity, people are prone to saying the oddest things. If
you are the person doing the hiring, how do you objectively evaluate the potential candidate to
determine if nerves are at play, or if there is truly an issue worth examining?
Take this example from an actual interview: “I am an alcoholic. I mean, workaholic.”
Many people doing the hiring would assume the candidate was joking and ignore a comment like this;
perhaps even chalk it up to interview nerves. Some people would laugh it off and maybe follow up with
something like, “Ha! Ha! I am TOO! Workaholic, I mean!” (wink, wink, nudge nudge).
In this particular interview, however, the Freudian slip coupled with additional red flags in this interview
gave my client pause. The candidate’s speech was slurred, they complained about their past boss having
an alcohol problem, and they also pointed out that their counterpart was fired for drinking on the job.
So how do you evaluate a candidate like this one?
If all evidence is telling you it wasn’t a Freudian slip, think about the potential risk this person brings to
you and your company. There is a theme in this interview that has nothing to do with the job at hand, so
it likely isn’t just a slip, or nerves talking. At the end of the day, your gut knows best, and moving along
to the next candidate is probably the wisest course of action.
by Beth | Feb 26, 2020 | Employee Hiring, Interview Process, Recruiting
My daughter Katy is in her second semester of her freshmen year at the University of Miami, and recently she decided to go through rush for a sorority. Each sorority had a sales pitch, goodie bags and t-shirts to offer, in addition to scholarship and job opportunities during and after college. After a full week of parties, get-togethers, meetings at all hours of the day and night, and inspiring speeches, she called me on the verge of tears. “Mom, I just wish I had some answers!”
It got me thinking – the same goes for candidates. You can offer people big salaries, benefits galore, pool tables and dry-cleaning services, but all of that is meaningless if they don’t get a solid, meaningful job offer. What candidates really want are answers. Timely, relevant, definitive answers. After all, they are making a decision that will affect their life significantly.
Case in point: Last week a candidate called me to say thank you. He said the A-list Interviews process was the most transparent and informative job-seeking process he had ever been through. “Just knowing when I would have an answer really reduced my stress, and I just wanted to say thank you for communicating with me clearly through a very difficult time.”
This voicemail came AFTER we chose a different candidate for the position he was seeking.
If you want to attract and retain great employees, start treating them well from the very instant they send you a resume. Communicate when they will have answers and meet those deadlines. Treating people like people goes a long way; it gives them positive feeling, and a sense they will be treated well as an employee too.
As for my kid? She pledged AD Phi and couldn’t be happier.
by Beth | Feb 12, 2020 | Company Culture, Employee Retention
If you are frustrated with employees who are disengaged and not producing at a high level, you are not alone. There have been several studies recently about the number of disengaged employees at work and how much distraction it causes, like this one: https://www.achievers.com/press/achievers-survey-finds-that-despite-disengagement-65-of-employees-plan-to-stay-in-their-jobs/
What can employers and managers do to change the level of engagement at work?
First things first: watch your language. Stop referring to your employees as “head count”. “Butts in seats”. “Bodies”. “Staff”. “Talent”. “Humans”. All these words are de-humanizing, and not designed to create solid working relationships, or make employees feel valued in their positions.
Instead, say this: My team. My village. My tribe. My community. My connections. My people. My colleagues.
Do you hear the difference?
When you engage with your people and make them feel as important as they truly are to your organization, they will engage with you, their Leader. It’s astonishing what a small shift in language, and perhaps even mindset, can do for a company.
Happy hiring, my people!
by Beth | Jan 29, 2020 | Employee Hiring, Recruiting, Selecting Good Candidates
A few weeks ago, I attended the Indeed.com Academy to become a better recruiter, and boy, did I learn a ton!
First the basics – there are two different types of recruiting; inbound and outbound. Inbound is when an employer places an ad on Indeed.com and the applications start coming in. Outbound is when an internal recruiter sifts through resumes, picks up the phone and calls the candidate to invite them to interview for a position.
While this concept isn’t new, the research behind it is. If a recruiter calls a candidate who didn’t submit a resume for the job, it costs the employer significantly more money, more time and results in less success. A person who submits a resume of their own volition is infinitely better every time.
The question is why?
Here is the bottom line: there is a mental process that a candidate must go through in order to begin looking for a job. They must come to the realization that their current job isn’t going to work out, they must realize that things aren’t going to get any better, and, most importantly, that they must make a change to a different company. If your candidate hasn’t made that mental shift, your recruiting efforts cost more time, effort, and money.
Instead of focusing on outbound recruiting, focus your efforts on your inbound recruiting. Spend time to key word your ad properly, create your Ideal list and don’t forget to listen, listen, listen. In the long run, you’ll be glad that you did.
by Beth | Jan 15, 2020 | Company Culture, Employee Hiring, Firing Employees
Firing someone, even if it is the best thing for all parties is awful. It feels terrible. Even if you knew it was coming, and even if it wasn’t a surprise to your employee, it still feels totally horrendous. You have a pit in your stomach, and your overall feeling is enough to make you want to hire someone as fast as you possibly can to fill that hole.
Don’t.
Why not, you ask? “I need to fill this seat Beth!”, said a panicky client. Because that is when you make hiring mistakes, when you hire from a panic place rather than a place of reason and overall calm.
According to Robert Plotkin, who wrote How to Prevent Internal Bar Theft, “Hiring the wrong bartender can be staggering. It’s better to operate short-handed for a period of time and rely on your existing staff to cover the bar than hiring someone unqualified or inappropriate for the establishment. It will be more advantageous in the long-run to delay hiring another bartender until the right candidate can be found.”
In addition to Robert’s thoughts on the topic, Warren Buffet says “Money flows from the impatient to the patient.” I believe this to be true in any area of life. In any situation where big decisions must be made, we all operate and make decisions better from a place of measured calm than from panicked overthinking.
So, when you have the unfortunate experience of firing someone, I want you to pause. Take a big deep breath. Let the emotions settle down. Call a team meeting and rally the troops. Let everyone know that it will be okay, and that you are committed to hiring the very best candidate you possibly can. And, then wait at least two weeks before you do anything.
Our instinct as humans is to replace a person in our lives as fast as we possibly can. In the end, learning why that person no longer serves you and your organization is the better path, and proceeding from a place of calm will serve you best in the end.
