by Beth | Oct 19, 2011 | Selecting Good Candidates
Christopher Robin: “There now. Did I get your tail back on properly, Eeyore? “
Eeyore: “No matter. I’ll most likely lose it again anyway.”
Last month, I interviewed a candidate who was world weary, tired and unhappy. This person had been out of work for a long time in an industry that is rapidly changing. The overall impact was the “Eeyore Effect.”
Christopher Robin and his gang are forever reaching out to help their friend re-attach his tail, but Eeyore shows no appreciation for their efforts. Not only does he not thank Christopher Robin for helping him, he criticizes Christopher’s work. He also puts forth no effort to permanently find a solution to his tail falling off. Has he thought about super glue? Stitches? Duck Tape?
In other words, Eeyore is an energy drainer. He is hard to be around. He has very little enthusiasm for his life, his work, his tail or even his friends. Can you imagine as if you had an employee like this?
Watch for the “Eeyore Effect” while you are interviewing, even if when faced with the world weary, tired and unhappy.
(Thanks to Michelle Barnes for “The Eeyore Effect”)
by Beth | Sep 30, 2011 | Interview Process
As we move forward on the tail end of the worst recession in our lifetime, it is time to learn from our mistakes. One of the biggest mistakes that we make in our businesses is our blatant disregard for a professionally run interview process. We spend so much time, energy and money trying to replace the actual interviews. We use recruiters, phone interviews, and employee testing just so we don’t have to interview candidates. But, guess what? You can NEVER avoid the actual interview. Even if you decide to hire someone without having met them, you still have to speak to the candidate and perform that initial interview. You can’t avoid it. So, how do we fix this? Simply by talking about the big white elephant in the room, and acknowledging what Martin Yates calls a “dirty secret.”
We as companies promote people to management, tell them to hire a team of people, hold them accountable for that team, and never teach them how to conduct an effective interview. When someone makes a big hiring mistake, they assume that they “are just not good at interviewing.” That is not true. People can be taught to conduct fast, effective interviews. However, until we begin the conversation about it, the interview process will remain in the dark. And, our company culture will continue to deteriorate.
by Beth | Sep 20, 2011 | Employee Hiring
My passion for interviewing for A-list candidates was born from a horrible hiring mistake that I made. My first business required that I hire a manager to help run the day to day activities. I chose the wrong person and the mistake almost cost me my business. I began to search for people who could really teach me how to interview for the best people. I was shocked to learn that interviewing techniques are really not taught in our business schools. Not one of the top ten MBA programs in the country has a dedicated class on how to effectively select top talent.
I then began to think that the question should be, “HOW do we teach interviewing?” Here’s why: The most effective way to teach interviewing is in the room with the hiring manager and the candidate. I can speak to the intricacies and subtleties of interviewing, but it really doesn’t sink in until you see it, practice it and then integrate it into your own style.
The industry likes to discuss traditional versus behavioral interviewing techniques to screen for the best candidates. My argument with these techniques is that, at best, these styles are only 55% accurate in measuring for the best candidate. And rarely do you find a provider who really teaches the technique. Sure you can find the information in a book, but the nuances that people bring to the table when interviewing are so vast that reading the material in a book will only get you half way to your goal. There are also a few classes in the market place that can give you some of the basics around effective interviewing, but nothing replaces hands-on learning.
When someone tells you that they teach interviewing skills, the first question should be “How?” The next question should be “Are you in the room with me when I am interviewing?” Invest in your business by truly learning how to find the A-list candidates that fit into your culture and has the level of integrity needed to truly shine for your company.
