by Beth | Oct 14, 2014 | Adventures in Interviewing, Employee Hiring, Interview Process
As animal fosters, our job is to bring dogs into our home and get them ready for their new forever home by loving them, feeding them, and playing with them. It is such a fulfilling and satisfying way that our family gives back. Other people view fostering differently. There was one woman who wanted to volunteer. She stated up front that she would “only foster dogs with a certain snout”, and currently she has never fostered a dog.
I have some people that want to discuss their hiring with me, who present similar requests. They will only work with people who attended a certain university. They will only hire people with a certain GPA. They will only have staff members who are members of certain organizations. And to what avail?
The organization that we foster through has a policy that they do not discriminate against people who want a dog. You don’t have to have a white picket fence and a doggy door to adopt a dog; you just have to provide a loving home. At A-list, we also do not discriminate against candidates – you just have to want to hire the best fit possible or you have to BE the best fit for the job.
The ultimate irony is that I have hired people from 16-85 years of age, each different types of people from varying backgrounds, because we focus on 3 things: working well with others, ability to do the job and passion for the job. Nothing else matters.
And the volunteer who wants only dogs with certain snouts? She probably won’t foster. The employers who wanted certain GPA’s? Statistically, they won’t be happy with their hire. And, I don’t work with people who want certain noses. I work with clients who want to have the best person on their staff and are willing to look past noses in order to find them, because it works.
by Beth | Sep 30, 2014 | Employee Hiring, Hiring Managers, Leadership, Uncategorized
When I owned my restaurant, we would have really busy times, and in those busy times, I would jump behind the counter and help my staff serve our customers. I was notorious for making margaritas by the bucket. I would go into the basement, get out the tequila, lime juice, triple sec, and apple juice (our secret ingredient) and literally create buckets of margaritas to serve with our amazing enchiladas and nachos.
While my staff was thrilled to have me help them get our customers served as quickly as possible, it was a short term fix to a much larger issue. When we would get hit with a rush of people, as the owner of the company, my time was NOT best served by helping out my staff in the moment… my time was best served by getting more staff on the floor in order to help the customers get their orders. In other words, I needed to focus on the bigger picture… why we were short staffed at all in that moment.
Three years into owning the restaurant, I quit making margaritas. I refused to step back behind the bar to help, but instead I would begin calling to get more people on the floor. When I hired a general manager, it became his job to make those calls, and my job was to make sure that we had enough staff trained and ready to go for the busy times.
I see this all the time with my clients. They spend their time doing the extra work when they should be spending time looking at the business as a whole. In other words, make your margaritas on Saturday, and focus on your whole business during the week.
¡Olé!
by Beth | Sep 12, 2014 | Employee Hiring, Interview Process, Selecting Good Candidates
When my poor clients have to hire someone, they have what I call the “Eds”:
“The interview I dread
My feet feel like lead
I want to go to bed and
Pull the covers over my head.”
Well, when you bring that type of energy to the interview process, guess what type of person you are going to hire? An “ed”.
My job is to get my clients to the “Ongs”:
“I feel powerful and strong
Even when the process is long
That I will find the one
That truly belongs.”
Are you ready for an “ong”? Then, you are singing my song!
by Beth | Aug 29, 2014 | Adventures in Interviewing, Employee Hiring, Interview Process, Selecting Good Candidates
My daughter once made a Christmas present for me that she didn’t want me to see. She had me bend down and she covered my eyes with her little hands. We stumbled along until we got to her room, and she pulled her hands away. My surprise was a diorama of Christmas at the Smith house, complete with the tree, presents, the stockings by the fireplace and my kid walking in on Santa going up the chimney. It is the cutest thing, and the detail was something that I never would have expected. It sits out on our bookshelf all year round, and I still remember covering my eyes and going blind in that great surprise.
When I begin working with a new client, I ask them to do something that they have never done before: I ask them to go into an interview with a candidate blind. Don’t read the resume. My client will know the candidate’s first name and that is it. Why? Because reading the resume before you meet the candidate gives you the ability to pre-judge. It feeds into our prejudices, and when you read a resume, you miss the surprise.
At A-list, we have a person in charge of screening resumes, and he is amazing at it! He developed a process for screening quickly and effectively, all the while, allowing my clients to be surprised by what the candidate brings to the table and checking their prejudices at the door. This process allows for more diversity, more ideas and more creativity in a company.
Next time you hire someone, have someone else screen for you. Don’t look at the resumes: be surprised by going blind into your next interview.
by Beth | Aug 14, 2014 | Employee Hiring, Leadership, Selecting Good Candidates
As most of you know, we foster dogs through a wonderful organization called PawsCo. Our job as fosters is to transition the dog from a shelter environment, an unfit home or an otherwise bad situation. Our last dog was an adorable little dachshund mix with a blond scruffy coat. She is a lap dog in the house, sweet and gentle, but outside? She turns into Devil Dog. She growls at cyclists, cars wheelchairs and strollers. She is aggressive and threatening when she is surprised by an oncoming object.
At PawsCo, we have access to a wonderful trainer named Megan Hill, who helped us train Chloe by what she calls a “waterfall of treats”. Being outside is very anxious for Chloe, because she was found on a highway wondering around. In order to survive, she had to be aggressive. Our job is to teach her that being outside is fun and safe. So, we go outside and start giving her treats for no reason…just for being outside. Then, we start tapering off, and give her treats any time that we see a car or anything else that makes her growl. All the while, we taper off the treats until she can walk outside without growling and feeling anxious.
The same process occurs when you bring a new employee into your organization. You don’t use treats, you use accessibility. Most of my clients think their job is over when we hire someone, but really, their job is just beginning. You have to teach your employee the job. NO ONE walks into a position and knows how to do it to your satisfaction without your guidance and input. Be available, be accessible, and check on your new employee often. As they become more confident in their role, then you can back off. Simply stick your head in their office and ask how they are. Ask how you can help. Ask what questions they have for you. Your commitment to their training will benefit you in ways that you can’t know right now, but in the future? You have just hired AND TRAINED your a-list candidate: the one that has your back and performs amazing things for you and your company.
As for Chloe, she got adopted last weekend by a wonderful couple in Evergreen. They go on walks with a lot of treats, while she is adapting well to her new environment and loving every minute of it.
And the Smiths are getting the house ready for our next beloved dog. Happy training!
by Beth | Jul 15, 2014 | Employee Hiring, Interview Process, Selecting Good Candidates
James “Doc” Counsilman, swim coach to the great Mark Spitz, was the oldest person to swim across the English Channel at the age of 58. What makes this story so remarkable? He had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease 4 years before that swim. In order to prepare for that amazing swim, he sat in ice cube baths to prepare for the cold water. When reporters asked about his pain level upon his completion, he said “it only hurt once… from beginning to end.”
Last week, I finished a job and hired a fabulous candidate for my client. We interviewed 38 people, had over 100 applicants, then we ran into wall after wall. We had multiple no-shows, offered the job to someone who couldn’t take it, and had someone walk out without shaking our out stretched hands. Upon our glorious candidate accepting the job, my client turned to me and said “Is there ANY way you can make this process less painful?”
The simple answer is no. I wish I could. Frankly, this process is not the most enjoyable business activity. Hence the reason businesses often put it off until the need for someone is so great that they have to begin the interview process. There will be days when you truly despise the process and even me as your interviewing coach. What you will get when you work with me is that I make your life so much easier after you go through this process and after we find the A-list new hire you are seeking. You WILL be able to take days off, you WILL be able to rest, you WILL be able to trust that things get done, and you WILL hurt a lot less once you swim that channel. And just like Doc said, “It will only hurt once…from beginning to end.”
