Welcome to the October 13, 2004 issue of The Total View

Published by Success Performance Solutions, Written by Ira S. Wolfe

How to hire and manage High Motivation Employees!  Don't miss out.  Register today for CriteriaOne®, a comprehensive competency-based selection and performance management system.  CriteriaOne is the solution being used by small businesses with as few as 2 employees and Fortune 1000s with over 100,000.  Success Performance Solutions offers a three-day CriteriaOne train-the-trainer program for human resource professionals, hiring managers, business owners, and consultants. The next training is scheduled for November 3 - 5, 2004 in Lancaster PA. Register early and save $500 and bring a 2nd person at no additional cost.   Register online or call 717.656.4632. For more information, visit CriteriaOne Train-the-Trainer.

What's Inside

1. What evil lurks in the minds of men?

2. Perfect Labor Storm Alerts #266 to #270

3. Tips You Can Use - Introducting CoachView Assessment

4. LIVE!  Can't Get No Job Satisfaction?  An interview with Ira Wolfe

5. For the 1st time! The Complete Manager's Pocket Guide Library

6 . Take the Age Test

7.  Over 250 Supervisors Have Attended Managing to Excel Workshops

8 . Fall Workshop and Speaking Schedule

9 . You don't need a huge budget and staff to hire the best employees

10 . Thousands of Small Business Owner Now Build High Motivation Teams Who Never Thought They Could

1.  Check Backgrounds: What evil lurks in the minds of men?

      “Smiling faces sometimes pretend to be your friend
 

       Smiling faces show no traces of the evil that lurks within.”

       Smiling Faces Sometimes by Undisputed Truth

It was summertime in 1971 when the pop single, Smiling Faces Sometimes, hit the airwaves. Coming into popularity after the 60s, a decade of social turmoil and distrust, the lyrics resonated to listeners.

These same lyrics resonate today, but for a distinctly different audience. It’s you — hiring managers, small business owners, human resources directors and generalists reading this newsletter — who understand what can be hidden behind a smile, a warm handshake and a friendly demeanor.

Consider the interview candidate who dresses well, gives all the right answers, and practically oozes personality. Everyone is bowled over and reference checks confirm gut instinct. You hire the person, and suddenly events start to spiral out of control.

A business that hires employees without screening them faces problems ranging from lawsuits to bankruptcy. The Association of Certified Fraud and Examiner’s 2004 Report to the Nation on Occupational Fraud and Abuse, reported that the typical U.S. organization loses 6 percent of its annual revenue to fraud. This translates to approximately $660 billion in total losses. That’s billion, with a “B.” If you believe that kind of scandal is limited to the big corporations that make the news, think again.

Sure, Enron, TYCO and even venerable not-for-profit organizations such as the United Way and American Red Cross have come under fire. Sadly, that may be the tip of the iceberg. This is the view below the water line: Approximately 46 percent of the fraud affected small businesses, which the study defined as organizations with less than 100 employees. The median loss to these small business owners was $98,000. Industry giants may be able to take the hit of large loses and plummeting stocks. For most small business owners, that sort of body blow does irrevocable damage. Consider the sobering thought that one incidence of employee-committed fraud can literally put a company out of business.

The potential for fraud lurks everywhere, although position tends to affect the size of the loss. More fraud occurred among hourly employees at 68 percent; however, a dishonest manager costs the company 6 times more than the loses incurred by dishonest rank-and-file employees. When a business owner or high-level executive commits fraud, the amount of loss is 14 times higher.

It’s clear why employers want proof about who lies and who doesn't. Finding the proof isn't so easy. Back to the prophetic lyrics … “Smiling faces, smiling faces, Tell lies and I got proof, Beware, beware of the handshake, That hides the snake, I'm telling you beware, Beware of the pat on the back , It just might hold you back.”

Fear of libel or slander suits reduces most reference checks into little more than confirmation of the dates an employee worked for his employers and the last position held. What do you do when you can’t rely on just gut instinct and reference checks?

First, rethink stereotypes. It’s not always the young workers with different values about honesty and a strong sense of entitlement who deceive employers. Forty-nine percent of the perpetrators were aged 40 or more; one in six fraud perpetrators were under the age of 30. The amount of money lost is directly related to age, as well, with employees aged 60 or more causing losses up to 29 times higher than the losses incurred by younger employees

Nor is previous behavior a reliable determinant of potential for fraud. A mere twelve percent of the fraudsters reported by the AFCE study had a previous conviction for a fraud-related offense. Fraud-related behaviors transcend education. More than 50 percent of the men and women who commit fraud had a bachelor's or postgraduate degree. The impact of fraudulent actions was 6.5 times larger for highly educated offender than the impact of fraud committed by employees whose education stopped at high school.

Hiring managers resort to several screening and selection tools to recruit energetic, hard-working, and highly skilled employees. With lying and deception rampant among job applicants how can employers gauge integrity, as well as competence?

The combination of behavioral interviewing and validated personality tests so often favored by employers are impractical to screen the volume of candidates who submit electronic applications through job boards and email. A more pragmatic approach is the lower cost and equally effective applicant processing system, background checks, and pre-employment testing to weed out high-risk candidates. Then HR staff has time to focus on qualified and desirable candidates.

At SPS, we recommend a three-step process to weed out applicants who may be dishonest or unethical. First, have applicants use an online application processing system such as Total APS. This system can accept resumes and record the results of an employer-generated online "pre-interview" with customized questions on topics ranging from years of experience to how well the applicant resolves mistakes. The applicant completes the questionnaire when he or she submits a resumes. Each question is weighted and rated. Very quickly, the applicant is either qualified or disqualified for the job. An HR manager can log into the company account and scan the list of qualified and disqualified candidates without making a phone call or sending an email.

Next, qualified candidates are complete a pre-employment test. SPS clients report great success with one or more of these three assessments: the CandidClues, SELECT Associate System, and JobClues. 

CandidClues is an excellent tool for assessing honesty and integrity. SELECT Associate System gauges a candidate's attitude toward dependability, honesty, aggressive behavior including sexual harassment, and workplace drug use. It adds another dimension by quantifying the candidate’s work attitude for and energy to do the job. JobClues, our newest solution, is a cognitive and personality screening tool. All three assessments can be completed on paper questionnaires or online.

Third, employers must conduct background checks to verify applicant identity, confirm education and employment history, and determine whether there is a history of criminal conviction. Background checks are almost mandatory just to verify the person you are about to hire is really and truly that person. (Watch for our announcement within the next few days about our new partnership with a leading online background checking service).

There are more benefits to using this three-step system. In addition to weeding out high-risk candidates, which saves two valuable commodities — time and resources, these pre-employment products have high reliability. Each test has a validity check, a scale that determines when an applicant tries to fake out the assessment. These critical measures, also called good impression and social desirability scales, weed out applicants who may have tried to manipulate the test. Finally, the prescreening package includes recommended interview questions, providing consistency and legality to the interview process.

For more information about any of these products or services, click on any of the links above or email me directly.

2.  Perfect Labor Storm Alerts #266 to #270

Suffering from excessive workloads and stress on the job, health services workers ready to jump ship.

Fact #266:  Sixty-one percent of the human resource (HR) professionals surveyed said they find inaccuracies in résumés after carrying out background checks. (Source: SHRM Background Checks/ Résumé Inaccuracies online survey, 2004)

Fact #267:   80 percent of HR professionals reported that their companies did at least some criminal background checks on prospective employees in 2003, up from 51 percent in 1996.
(Source: Society of Human Resource Management, 2004)

Fact #268:   And 35 percent looked at candidates' credit records, compared with 19 percent seven years earlier. (Source: Society of Human Resource Management, 2004)

Fact #269:  The rate of unscheduled absenteeism has climbed to a five-year high of 2.4 percent, according to the findings of the 14th annual CCH Unscheduled Absence Survey, conducted by CCH INCORPORATED.. 

Fact #270:  Last-minute no-shows are costing organizations an average of $610 per employee, adding up to more than a million dollars annually for large companies. (Source: CCH)

Do you sit on a program committee for your local civic, business or professional association?   "The Perfect Labor Storm" is the perfect topic for meetings, conferences and keynotes.  Schedule Ira Wolfe today.  Find out what's ahead in employment trends and how it will affect career opportunitues, education, quality of life issues and more.  Call 717.656.4632 for more information.

Listen to The Perfect Labor Storm - live at the 2003 PA Chamber HR Conference

Don't be caught in storm without all the facts. "The Perfect Labor Storm Fact Book: Why Worker Shortages Won't Go Away" is a must-read leading edge forecast that predicts workforce trends for decades to come. Order your copy today - $7.95 includes no shipping costs for limited time only.

Bonus! Employees are ready to walk!  Look what 564 jobseekers told us at the 2004 Lancaster Chamber of Commerce Job Fair.

More than 65 percent of the employed job seekers report dissatisfaction with their current jobs. When asked about the likelihood of working for the same company two years from now, one of out five in the 27 to 34 age group agreed. Twenty-seven percent of the 35 to 44 age group and 36 percent of the 45 to 54 age group believe they will accept a new position in the next two years.

To receive a FREE copy of the results, click on the 2004 SPS "I Want a New Job" Survey. Then check your email for the link.

3.  Tips You Can Use

Introducing CoachView Assessment

The CoachView Assessment provides managers and coaches with an accurate, valid and reliable assessment tool that is superior to current assessment products in the marketplace.

The CoachView program is simple to use.  It is web-based and provides a personalized report for the individual and the manager/coach, including coaching tips.  The ICES Plus Assessment is the cornerstone of a number of established and respected employment and vocational assessments including the TotalView Assessment System. Those products have been used to assess more than one million people in North America alone.

To view a sample CoachView Manager/Coach and Client report, click here.

Whether you are a bored, burned out baby boomer, a recent grad in search of your first job, or a manager looking for reliable tools to identify your next superstar..........CriteriaOne DISC, Business Values and Motivators, TotalView Assessments, and CoachView are perfect solutions. Learn more at Career Assessment Tests.

4.  Can't Get No Job Satisfaction?

Live! on the web. Listen to Ira Wolfe's interview with Margot King, the host of the nationally syndicated radio talk show Job Talk.  During this interview, Margot questions Ira about his new books "Understanding Business Values and Motivators" and "The Perfect Labor Storm"....plus his thoughts and advice on employee motivation, job stress, career changes and personality testing. 

Listen to the Job Talk interview here or order your FREE CD-ROM of the "Can't Get No Job Satisfaction" interview.

5.  The Complete Manager's Pocket Guide Library

Today's busy leaders and knowledge workers are looking for informative, to the point self-study resources that will answer questions, stimulate new thinking and help solve problems.

These management development pocket guides are ideal for self-directed learning, training and coaching workers, corporate universities, or to use in seminars and workships.

Each guide covers an important topic such as managing generations, mentoring, creativity, project management, knowledge management or strategies for handling people issues such as conflict management, sexual harassment and performance.

Order the complete library of these 32 best selling Manager's Pocket Guides for only $279 - that's like getting 5 books free, a savings of $39. 

Order the Manager's Pocket Guide Library for Management Development today.

Plus this bonus!  We'll include a copy of "Understanding Business Values and Motivators"

at nor additional charge, a $12.95 value.

6.  Take the Age Test

1. Name the four Beatles.

2. Finish the line: "Lions and Tigers and Bears, ____ ____!"

3. Hey Kids, what time is it?

4. What do M & M's do?

5. What helps build strong bodies 12 ways?

6. Long before he was Mohammed Ali, we knew him as ________ _____.

7. You'll wonder where the yellow went, ______ ____ _______ ______ ______ ____ ____________.

8. Before his role as Skipper's little buddy, we knew Bob Denver as Dobie's best friend __________ __ _______.

9. Brylcream, _____ _____ _____ ___ ___.

10. Bob Dylan advised us to never trust anyone over __.

Click here for Answers to the Age Test.

No doubt about it.  The newest diversity issue in the workplace is age diversity. Many organizations have finally figured out how to recruit young talent only to watch them drive down a collision course with seasoned employees over issues like work ethic, respect for authority, dress code and every work arrangement imaginable. To learn what you can do about dealing with Generational Conflicts, see "Managing the Generation Mix" above.

7. Over 250 Supervisors Have Attended Managing to Excel Workshops

Ever since Success Performance Solutions introduced Managing to Excel in 2002, Central PA supervisors and managers have been learning and developing proficiency in the twelve competencies that highly effective managers and supervisors have that average performers don't. 

To read more about Managing to Excel, visit Managing to Excel - Management Competency Workshops.

Managing to Excel is also available for purchase by in-house trainers and human resource professionals.  The per participant cost per program is as low as $20!

8.  Fall 2004 Workshop and Speaking Schedule
Just announced! Ira will be a presenter at the 2005 International Builders Show in Orlando, FL at the end of January. Watch for more details.

November 3 - 5, 2004 - The Most Reliable Hiring and Performance Management System Ever Used - CriteriaOne Train-the-Trainer. Competency ID, 3 Personality Assessments, Behavioral Interviewing and more.

9. You don't need a huge budget and staff to hire the best employees

Eliminate The Hassles and Headaches Associated With Screening Candidate with Total APS.

The Total Applicant Processing System enables the small and medium sized employer to do online recruiting and screen applicants with customizable and scorable filtering questions with a click of the mouse.

Use Total APS to recruit and screen applicants for your next job opening.

10. Wondering if you have the right people on your team?

Everyone wants to build the High Motivation Employee Team. Do it with team building activities packaged exclusively for small businesses and home businesses.

Contact Information:
Success Performance Solutions 2481 New Holland Pike, Suite 2, Lancaster, PA 17601

email: tv@super-solutions.com
voice: 717.656.4632
web: http://www.super-solutions.com

To learn more about Success Performance Solutions or read back issues of The Total View, stop by our website at www.super-solutions.com.

Order your personal copy of Understanding Business Values and Motivators.


Order your personal copy of The Perfect Labor Storm


Ira S. Wolfe. 2004 - All Rights Reserved. Reprints and other distribution by permission only.

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