by Beth | May 30, 2025 | Uncategorized
I met with a man a few weeks back who had seen me speak at a meeting. His name is Gary Bren, and he is the Managing Partner of Turner Technologies, out of Omaha, Nebraska. He wanted me to teach his directors how to run a hiring process, and he was very proud of his non-existent turnover rate. “In our industry, the turnover rate is 25%. The turnover rate at our company is 4%,” Gary said.
In full transparency, I was very skeptical and rolled my eyes inwardly, but I maintained my composure and asked, “What do you attribute to your low turnover rate?”
“It’s the way we value our people. “
Right. Again, with my inward eyeroll, I asked “Can you give me an example?”
“Oh, I can give you many! One time, a man who was 23, with a wife going into labor and a toddler at home, applied for a job with us. We made him an offer, and he accepted. He was going into the hospital with his wife for their child’s birth. He was taking the weekend to get the family settled, then he planned to go back to work Monday to finish out his 2 weeks. When he gave notice, they fired him on the spot.”
This employee called Turner and asked if he could start two weeks early. The IT Director went to Gary and told him the story. Gary said, “Tell the new employee that we will pay for his 2 weeks, but if he comes to the office before the 2 weeks is up, I will fire him. Tell him to take the time with his family, then he can start on his original start date with a full paycheck.”
I started crying, grateful to have been called out on my negative attitude.
Since then, Gary has told me numerous other stories about supporting employees through life transitions. Like Rich, who was given a paid leave of absence so that he could be with his dying mother in her last days. Or Mike, who was given a paid leave of absence to go to China to adopt a baby. Mike is now a part-owner of Turner. (Names have been changed to protect those amazing, lovely employees).
In a business world focused on squeezing out every dollar that they can and wondering why “employees just aren’t loyal anymore,” I say, “look at Gary. Adopt the Turner Way. See how much money you make when employees feel valued, supported and trusted.”
And to Gary: Thanks. I needed that. (Sniff!)
POWER THOUGHT: Want to see a turn around in retention? Turn to The Turner Way.
by Beth | May 22, 2025 | Uncategorized
At A-list Interviews, we love our clients. We value them, trust them and consider ourselves true partners in helping them hire the right people to run their organizations. More importantly, we believe that working in a job you love truly changes your life, and therefore the world.
Because of these valuable and valued relationships, we are asking you to refer your like-minded colleagues, friends and family if they are looking to grow and expand their team in 2025 with the help of our tried and true process. We are incredibly honored to help you, and we would extend this same excellent service and dedication to your valued network. Our goal is to continue building thriving and happy organizations with our hiring process.
Simply send a referral our way, and if this referral becomes a client, we will gladly reward you with a $250.00 gift card. Thank you again for being a partner of A-list Interviews, and we look forward to a successful remainder of the year.
by Beth | May 9, 2025 | Uncategorized
My daughter, Katy, graduated from college with a Nursing Degree in 2023. She applied for over 100 jobs that spring/summer in order to land her dream job at a hospital in the Dallas area. She loves her job as an award-winning post-partum nurse, and in July of this year, she will have been at her beloved hospital for 2 years.
Imagine her surprise when she received a rejection notice from a job she applied to in May of 2023.
As someone who rejects thousands of candidates per year, I have developed an art of how to professionally reject someone. Here are some tips:
1) Obviously, timeliness matters. Sending a rejection notice 2 years later is a bit tone-deaf. Don’t you agree? We send out rejection notices to candidates that we have interviewed within a week of their interview. They deserve answers. Waiting too long just tortures people needlessly.
2) Be kind. Rejection hurts.
3) Keep it short with very little detail. This is NOT the time to send correction advice on how they could have done better.
4) Use the same language for every candidate. Here is what we say: “Thank you so much for applying for the (blank) position at (Company name). We had many applicants with a great deal of depth of experience, and we are moving on with other candidates. We wish you the very best of luck in your future. Sincerely Yours…”
5) Remember that your duty is to hire the very best candidate possible for your role, so rejecting someone is not only the right thing to do for the organization, it is the right thing to do for the candidate.
I am happy to say that Katy is in the absolute right place and right role for her. Being rejected by this company benefitted everyone. I just wish they had been more timely.
POWER THOUGHT: Rejection is a necessary and important part of hiring. Do it professionally, thoughtfully, kindly and in a timely manner.
by Beth | Apr 25, 2025 | Uncategorized
A few weeks back on a Monday morning, my alarm screamed at me. Too early, truth be told. The weather was cold, the sky dark, and all I wanted to do was turn over and go back to sleep. I had a long day ahead of me, so I sighed loudly and rolled out of bed. I dragged myself to the gym, hauled my bag into the locker room, threw my head back and groaned. I did NOT want to be there!
I walked out to the bikes, frowning and eye rolling. There wasn’t even anyone to talk to! UGH! I climbed on the bike to the tune of ACDC. Then Eminem, followed by Tom Petty, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, and Cardi B, but no one could sing loudly enough to get me out of my funk. I kept pedaling, but I was winning no races, that’s fer sure.
Then, Spotify, in its infinite wisdom, shuffled my playlist, and next thing I know, I am bouncing off my seat to “Hey Macarena! Ai!”, a line dance that most of you don’t remember because it was in the 90’s. (YOU CAN LISTEN TO IT HERE) Most of the words are in Spanish, so everyone just hummed along until that legendary one liner. I had some of my best memories dancing to that song! Next thing you know, I am flying down imaginary canyons on my stationary bike, with fake wind in my hair, and dreaming of the sun in my face! I listened to only The Macarena on repeat for the next 4 straight workouts, and my motivation was through the roof!
When you are hit with the drudgery of interviewing, and you just can’t take it anymore, all of the sudden, in comes a one-hit wonder! The candidate that walks to the beat of a different drummer and sings their own tune, and they are perfect for the unicorn role that you need to fill. The two of you are a team. Your brains click. You finish each other’s sentences. You can’t be happier!
In all areas of life, we hit a wall of drudgery. We get stuck. We are uninspired. And all of the sudden, along comes a song, a poem, a person, and the next thing you know you are line-dancing again to a song in a language you can’t understand.
Life is just full of miracles, ain’t it?
POWER THOUGHT: Show up. Hold out. Focus. Then workout to the Macarena.
by Beth | Apr 14, 2025 | Uncategorized
I had a wonderful conversation with a former client yesterday, who is looking for a very specific person to fill a very specific position, and he asked me what I thought about the labor market. Here are my thoughts:
Everywhere you look there is a report of more layoffs. We are seeing this trend in almost every industry. This is a huge shift for people in the hiring world, because the labor market has been really tight for the past several years. As this shift occurs, so should your recruiting and interviewing strategies. Here are some tips to help you along the way:
1) You will be getting more resumes. We are seeing an influx of candidates in our searches, which is good overall. The bad news is that now we are having to combat fake resumes. Be diligent, but don’t rely on what you see. Schedule a quick 15-minute interview to better vet the candidate.
2) Is this an opportunity to get better employees onboard? For sure. Your job is to treat your candidates with the utmost respect right now. They are hurting and scared. Don’t forget that.
3) Your search will not be easier, just because there are more candidates. In fact, it will be harder in some ways. You have to vet more candidates, and you have to respond to more people. It will be more labor intensive. Plan for that.
4) Finally, while this is a huge opportunity to grow your staff in a more organic way, please remember that you are dealing with peoples’ lives. Hire the right fit. Hold out for the right fit. And be honorable to those you don’t hire. Being kind will set you apart from your competition in the best way possible. And remember, we are here to help you if you get stuck.
Happy Hiring to us all!
POWER THOUGHT: Yes, this is an opportunity to hire better employees, especially if you are kind and thoughtful in your approach.
by Beth | Mar 27, 2025 | Uncategorized
Last week, I was scheduled to present to a group of business owners in Omaha, Nebraska. I got on the plane on Tuesday on time, and we took off. On the 1 hour flight to Omaha, we got ½ way there and turned around, because a woman on the plane had a medical emergency. We landed at DIA, Denver Fire/EMT’s pulled her off on a stretcher (she is doing fine now) we re-fueled and headed back out. We landed 3 hours after our original landing time.
I retrieved my rental car and drove to the hotel. It was 62 degrees with bluebird skies. So beautiful! I arrived at the hotel, got organized and went to bed. At 1:47 am, I woke up panicked, because I thought someone was pounding on my door. It was the sleet banging against the window. The snow was blowing sideways. I finally dragged myself out of bed at 6 am when I got a text message cancelling my flight that night at 5:30 pm. I called my client, and he said “Don’t worry! I have an F-150! I’ll pick you up!”
My presentation went really well, though I spoke to 4 people in person. (There were a few more on zoom.) We had a ball. It was casual, looser than normal, and we laughed a lot. Plus, they had a floor-to-ceiling white board! BLISS! (See photo!) My client, Greg and I, found a hole-in-the-wall Chinese restaurant, (The only thing open for MILES) and I got enough food to cover my dinner that night. It was fabulous.
The next day, my re-scheduled flight was at 5:30 pm. I had nothing to do, so I went to the airport early. I struck up a conversation with a guy behind me in line, and turns out, he is a COO who turns companies around and sells them. He lives in Erie, Colorado, 20 minutes from me. He was VERY interested in my work, and we have scheduled a meeting for next week. He told me that “God wanted us to meet.” I was able to fly stand-by on an earlier flight and pulled into my driveway at 4 pm instead of 9. I nearly cried with relief at being home.
This is PRECISELY what your hiring process will look like, if you do it right. You want it to be straightforward and short. It never is. You want the right person to walk through the door minute one. Doesn’t happen. Sometimes you have to fly to Omaha, get picked up in an F-150, eat Chinese food twice in one day, all to bump into a potential client/employee/friend/connection in the TSA line, while complaining about taking off your shoes.
I will never forget this trip, and I would do it all over again to experience the things/people/food that I did. I experienced delays, wrong turns, disappointment, and waylaid plans. Did it turn out how I expected? No. Would I change a thing? Also no.
POWER THOUGHT: Quit micro-managing your hiring process. Open the door, and let the life-changing people/experiences/detours/ come in when they are ready.
