by Beth | Sep 5, 2012 | Employee Hiring, Interview Process, Selecting Good Candidates
When a client calls me to help them screen and interview candidates, they are usually in a hurry. They need me to get started today, and frankly, they really needed me to start 3 weeks ago. The “hurry up” syndrome is a common issue at A-list Interviews.
However, hurrying through the interview process never works. Making a bad hiring decision just to put a “butt in the seat” is always more costly than having a little patience and truly screen and interview until you find your ideal new employee. Robert Plotkin, who wrote “Preventing Internal Theft” says “It is better to operate short-handed for a period of time and rely on your existing staff to cover… than hiring someone unqualified or inappropriate for the establishment.” I could not agree more.
As painful as it may seem to wait for the right person to come along in your interview process, it is always way more painful to bring a person onboard who is the wrong fit for your company. Consider the other factors that are included in hiring a misfit for your organization: reduce efficiency and down time for training, morale within the organization, the customer experience of a person who is not in alignment with the company just to name just a few. And in the end when you bring in a new employee just to fill a position, the likelihood that you will end up back in the interview process within the six months is incredibly high.
Stick to our A-list motto of “find the right employee the first time” and you will save yourself more time, money and headaches than you can imagine. The right employee is always worth the wait.
by Beth | Aug 20, 2012 | Employee Hiring, Selecting Good Candidates
Most people who viewed the Olympics experienced some surprises regarding performances from our athletes. If you actually listened to the athletes talk about their goals, you may have had much fewer surprises.
Danell Leyva: “I want to win a medal.” So, he did. Bronze
John Orazco: “I just want to go to the Olympics.” So he did. He was a Top 10 finisher.
Gabby Douglas: “I want to make history.” So she did. She is the first African American Woman to win a gold medal in Gymnastics. She won 2.
In interviewing candidates, you can predict the success of your new hire by listening to their language around their goals in an interview. Writing down exactly what your candidate has to say can prevent performance surprises later down the road and lead your team to gold rated success!
by Beth | Jul 25, 2012 | Employee Hiring, Interview Process, Selecting Good Candidates
While rocking my infant daughter years ago, I began instinctively doing what adults have done for centuries. I began singing lullabies to her.
“Rock a- bye baby, in the tree top, 
When the wind blows the cradle will rock,
When the bough breaks, the cradle will fall
And down will come baby…”
And then I stopped.
I suddenly really listened to the words that I was about to sing! I thought to myself, “What kind of fool puts an infant in a cradle at the top of a tree and watches them fall?!” Horrified, I changed the words…
“…Right into Mama’s arms.'”
Ah…much better. My daughter was raised singing Rock-A-Bye Baby with a much better alternate ending. To this day, I am not sure that she even knows the original words to that song, which suits me just fine.
In the interview process, I teach people that the best skill to have is listening for word choice. I train them to stop, really listen to the words used by the candidate, and digest their meanings as they relate to the position for which we are hiring.
When you listen to the word choices of your candidate, they will tell you what you need to hear in order to make a great hiring decision. Word choices will expose blamers, know-it-alls, pass the buckers, and more.
When the interview is through, if you feel the candidate did not give you enough information, review your notes. The words you really need to listen for are in there. As an interviewer, your primary job is to pay attention to the word choices used by your potential employees. And be careful to not just hear what you want to hear. It truly means the difference between a decent employee and an A-list player. If any “boughs break” in your business, which would you rather have waiting at the bottom of the tree?
by Beth | May 9, 2012 | Employee Hiring, Interview Process, Selecting Good Candidates
Last weekend, my 11 year old daughter Katy flew on an airplane BY HERSELF for the very first time. I was a nervous wreck! I had a hard time focusing on work…. I kept checking my phone to see if I had messages from her saying that she had landed safely. Katy, of course, was fine. In fact, she had a great time during her first solo flight and learned a valuable lesson in independence. I realized the more she can do for herself, the better equipped she will be in the future when dealing with unexpected situations.
Now you may ask what any of this has to do with interviewing. As I impatiently waited for the phone to ring, I had a realization that I need to provide my clients with the same level of independence. While I certainly adore helping each of my clients interview for their next great employee, I also realize that I need to get them better prepared to do interviewing all by themselves. Again, the more prepared they are in their businesses, the easier it is to handle unexpected personnel issues.
In the past, my typical process was to create and submit job ads, help develop job descriptions, vet interview candidates, schedule interview times, and then perform the actual interviews in front of my client. We would then do a “dash board” review in between interviews to uncover what we learned from each candidate, based on speech patterns, phrasing, and responses to my A-list candidate questions. Rarely, did I actually hand the interview process over to my client. They have certainly learned from the experience as 91% of the time, they retained the ideal employee they were seeking. But I realize that my mission with A-list Interviews is to transform the world through the interview process to create happy, healthy work environments for all. This cannot be achieved until I give my clients the gift of independence by empowering them to run effective interviews long after I am gone.
From now on, I will be including a hand over process where I will be teaching my clients how to interview by themselves through the program I have developed called “7 Steps to Amazing Employees”. I have seen this program work successfully in all walks of business so I am excited to help my clients develop their own comfort levels around the actual interview process. Now when they fly solo, I will still be a nervous wreck because I really want my clients to succeed, but I will know that I set them up for success and the world will be transformed through the interview process by hundreds of interviewers, not just me. And there is no better feeling than that!
by Beth | Feb 28, 2012 | Interview Process
I was meeting with a new client to discuss the possibility of hiring their “right hand” person. As I do with every client, I asked her to dream big. “If you could have any person that you wanted for this job, who would they be and what would they know?” Do you know what she said? “I want them to be punctual.”
When you make a bad hire, you say to yourself, “Well, I can work with this employee if only they do xyz.” Then, xyz doesn’t happen. Then, you say to yourself, “If only they will do abc, then I can work with that.” Of course, abc isn’t going to happen either. The next thing you know, you are just wishing for someone to be punctual.
So, what if you changed the word punctual to “Committed”? If someone is committed to the job and committed to the company, then they will be punctual.
I dare you to dream big around your next hiring decision. Think roses and rainbows, to infinity and beyond. Conduct effective interviews and you will find your dream employee!
When a client calls me to help them screen and interview candidates, they are usually in a hurry. They need me to get started today, and frankly, they really needed me to start 3 weeks ago. The “hurry up” syndrome is a common issue at A-list Interviews.
