by Beth | Feb 14, 2024 | Interview Process
My interview team and I had an amazing first interview a few months back. We were all talking about how great it went, when my client, the CEO, says, “Let’s blow the doors off and just hire this person!” The whole team looked stunned, until I said…
“Cool your jets, dude. We have the second interview, the third interview and reference checks before we make an offer.”
The CEO was mollified.
The second interview was even better. The Candidate REALLY knew their stuff, and the whole team was impressed. Again, the CEO says to me, “I am telling you, just hire them! Make a job offer!”
“Dude! Cool your jets! We have a third interview and reference checks!”
He said, “I really don’t think all of that is necessary.”
I said, “I know you don’t. I also know that you need this position filled. However, taking your time does benefit you in the long run. You will see.”
The third interview with this candidate was a disaster. They were late, not engaged, and “annoyed by having to come back a third time”. Boy, did their annoyance show.
The CEO was dead silent. The whole team was quiet. I said nothing. The CEO said to me “Did you know this was going to happen?” “No, I didn’t”, I said. “I can’t predict behavior, but when I am worried about nothing going into a third interview, I might as well tell them to not come. They will blow it every time.”
“Well thank God for the third interview. We really dodged a bullet.”
We didn’t hire that candidate, and the amazing candidate that we were looking for was right around the corner. We DID hire that one, and wow is she awesome! When you are too fast in an interview process you can make mistakes.
POWER THOUGHT: Slow your roll and cool your jets. You will be so glad that you did!
by Beth | Jan 31, 2024 | Employee Hiring
I had a client call me the other day and ask me this: “Beth, what do you do when you have a candidate that shows up late?”
“Tell me more about that,” I said.
“Well, we had a candidate show up late for their third interview. They just walked in 7 minutes late, sat down and didn’t say anything about being late. They have all of the skills that we want, they were great in their interview, and they are very friendly. We really like them!”
I responded with this: “How important is it that they are on time? How important is it that they meet deadlines? And, how important is it that they own up when they are late or going to miss a deadline? Do you want to take that risk?”
There was a long, long heavy sigh… Then, my client said, “Well shit.”
Here is the short answer to any interviewing dilemma: Let them.
Let them be late. Don’t save them. Don’t ask them to explain it, just let them be late. And for goodness sake, don’t hire them!
Let your candidates not do their homework. Let them not turn in homework early. Let candidates not answer your question fully and completely.
Trying to change a candidate in the interview process is going to be disastrous. And frankly, it just won’t lead you to the results that you are looking for.
POWER THOUGHT: Struggling with a candidate? Let them be who they are going to be.
***Conceptual credit to Mel Robbins
by Beth | Jan 17, 2024 | Employee Hiring
I don’t poach. I fish. I LOVE fishing! But in my world, poaching is a no-no. Let me explain.
Several years ago, I had a client who was looking for an architect to hire in his firm. Architects were VERY hard to find during that time, and he couldn’t afford to lose any current staff. One day, his top performer approached my client and told him that a recruiter was calling him everyday asking him if he “was ready to make a change”. The employee was offered really obscene amounts of money and other perks. My client started checking in with other employees and found that several of his staff were being targeted by this recruiting firm.
My client called the recruiting firm and politely asked them to quit calling his people and was told in no uncertain terms that this was a free country, and they could call anyone that they wanted. He then asked them who the client was that they were working for and he was completely shocked when he discovered that his competition was behind the search. The worst part? He thought that the owner of his competition was a friend.
My client called the competition and said basically, “What the hell. Dude?” The competitive firm quit targeting my client’s firm and employees, but the damage was done. This is called poaching.
While poaching employees isn’t against the law, and yes, the sleazy recruiting firm has the right to call whoever they want, it is at the very least unethical and in my opinion, immoral.
I am all about getting the right people on your staff, so that you are kicking ass and taking names. And, I don’t poach. I fish. I put bait out in the water, by placing an ad on an online job board, and reaching out to people who have posted their resumes online. But I draw the line at reaching out to employees unsolicited. Frankly, it reeks of old fish.
Fishing? Absolutely.
Poaching? Absolutely not.
POWER THOUGHT: Poaching is just fishy.
by Beth | Jan 3, 2024 | Firing Employees
In my last blog “The Bar Napkin Summit” I gave you three examples of how great business ideas came about, and they didn’t come from being behind a desk! Coming up with THE great idea is just the first step: Then, you have to execute. And what better time to execute than the New Year?
Now that we are entering 2024, it is time to look around and figure out what needs to be done. Do you need to improve your diet? Your exercise plan? Or maybe it is time to fire someone?
A past client of mine had an employee who consistently gave her 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, my client 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 and help with your Bar Napkin Summit, get going! Now is the time.
POWER THOUGHT: New Year, new you, new goals (thanks to the Bar Napkin Summit), new awesome employee and new culture!
by Beth | Jan 1, 2024 | Uncategorized
Approaching the new year, here I am stuffed full of cheese and chocolate, and I had a former client call me out of the blue. He said: “Beth, I have this employee who started off great, but this person is making my life hell!”
He went on to describe the ultimatums and threats this employee kept saying. Things like: “if you don’t do this, I will quit.” My client was so frustrated! “I gave this person a great bonus, I have allowed them to work from home, though I suspect a lot isn’t getting done, and I just lost a big client because of shoddy client service from this person.”
“But do you want to know the straw that broke the camel’s back? I just realized that I don’t want to go back to work- AT MY OWN COMPANY- because I HATE working with this person!”
It is a new Year and a new you. If you have eaten cheese for 2 weeks, and you don’t feel excited to go back to work with that soul-sucking employee, then it is time to fire that person. Just like you start a new diet or a new exercise program, the new year is the time to do some intense evaluation of what is working and what is not in your business. Start the new year fresh!
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, get going! Now is the time.
POWER THOUGHT: New Year, new goals, new awesome employee and new culture!
