Welcome to the January 17, 2007 issue of The Total View

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

Visit our Human Resources Blog and Perfect Labor Storm Blog where we can post daily (and more often) human resource updates, news, and Perfect Labor Storm facts. 

What's Inside:

1.   Getting to the Truth About Candidates

Another highly acclaimed CEO bit the dust when Bob Nardelli resigned his position at Home Depot. It was big news and dominated the financial news for days. I can only wonder how many other lower-profile managers "resigned" that same day for lack of performance that we didn't read or hear about (with significantly less generous severance packages).

Unemployment is at its lowest level since 2001 and companies are ramping up their hiring plans to the highest numbers in two years.   The labor crunch will especially be felt by small businesses in 26
states with below average jobless rates.

To make matters worse, according to a recently released survey by Compensation Resources, Inc., manager turnover jumped 50% since 2004. Among salespeople, it doubled from 8 percent to 16 percent. And skilled manufacturing workers went from 7.5 percent to 17.5 percent.

What this means is that more interviews will be scheduled this year than ever before when top performers jump ship and non-performers are thrown over. This doesn't bode well for hiring managers and human resource departments if you listen to Ram Charan, one of today's most regarded business advisors. Charan's comment on employer competence:  "it's striking how little companies know about the employees they hire and promote."

Charan is his new book, "Know-How: The Eight Skills That Separate People Who Perform From Those Who Don't" outlines several concepts that help managers "get to the truth of a person."

Reputations are indicators, not facts.

Too many recruiters, executives, and hiring managers are blinded by the resume and impressed by the gift of gab. But after the interview glow fades, the new employee's skill sets are exposed and seem much less than presented during the selection process.  Interviewers need to press candidates to understand what skills and know-how he or she mastered. What is it that he really did at his previous company?

Know what you're looking for.
Job descriptions and lengthy wish-lists don't pinpoint the non-negotiable criteria required for success in the job. The list should be pared down to three to five absolutely essential skills at the most. The interview and selection process should focus on uncovering the strengths and potential "derailers."

Develop a good hire into a great one.
What happens when a leader has only three of four attributes you need?   You need to be specific about expectations and lay out a development plan with goals, milestones feedback, and metrics for improvement.

Don't let things slide.
When a hiring mistake is suspected, act on it. Be fair but realistic. When an employee is a poor fit with the job or culture or the job has evolved and the employee hasn't, don't avoid the subject.  Delaying the inevitable is painful for everyone involved including co-workers and customers.

Getting to the "truth" about candidates and employees is easy.
Online personality tests provide accurate and predictive insights that can be used to probe skills sets before you hire and assist in developing professional development plans for incumbent employees.
Pruning the nice-to-have laundry list of desirable attributes to a non-negotiable list of essential skills is a valuable exercise too with high ROI.

Our Strategic Success Model streamlines the process and takes the guesswork out of hiring.

Call us at 800.803.4303 to discuss online personality tests and how to identify "non-negotiable" essential skills.

2.  Perfect Labor Storm Alerts # 611 to $612

Fact #611: The number of U.S. Catholic sister (nuns) has decreased from 180,000 in 1965 to 68,600 in 2005. The worse is yet to come - the majority is older than 70 and the younger generation shows little interest. The priest population is almost unchanged from what it was in 1950 - roughly 44,000.  But the Catholic population has climbed from 28.6 million to 66.4 million over the same period. (Source: Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate, Georgetown University)

Fact #612: Under current census projections, the number of working-age Americans (ages 18 to 64) to each resident 65 years and up will fall from 4.8 in the year 2000 to 2.7 in 2050. Maintaining even a modestly positive actuarial ratio of 4 to 1 would require dramatically increasing U.S. population growth to 607 million by 2050, compared to the 392 million now projected. With the fertility of most native-born
Americans well under replacement level, achieving such rapid growth in so short a time would require massive increases in already high levels of direct immigration boosted by the higher birth rate of the foreign born. (Source: Social Security: A Tale of Two Problems, Washington Policy Center)

Don't miss day-to-day updates on Perfect Labor Storm.
Save the Perfect Labor Storm blog to your favorites.

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 - Only $7.95.

3.  Downloadable Skillbuilder Series: Prepare for the Interview

Most of us go through some kind of interview process an average of ten times more frequently than did our parents or our grandparents. This estimate refers to work- or job-related interviewing. The same rate of change applies to many more situations, as well.

The word interview is interesting in itself.

"An interview is an open exchange of views between two or more parties in order to form an opinion."
This definition suggests that an interview is a two-way process (rather than the one-way assessment it is often presumed to be by the applicant).

A successful selection interview is not a matter of luck or even effective conversation skills. Neither is it an opportunity to look for personal empathy with the candidate or to guess whether their qualifications or experience mean that they will be able to do a certain job. A typical interview is short, but we will look at a
rigorous and structured process, in six phases:

Prepare
Evaluate
Question
Listen
Observe
Decide

In this issue of the TotalView, you can download the section on "Prepare" for the interview.
In following issues, I will include one phase each week.

Like what you see? Order Skillbuilders Interview/Selection in print or downloadable pdf format for all your managers. Call for pricing and information about our our unlimited use license at 800.803.4303.

4. Reprint The Best Training Materials for As Little As $2 per employee

New for 2007! Our Self-Development Solutions License is the most cost-effective, TOTAL training solution in the industry. Self Development Solution Licenses are available to small businesses (10 to
100 employees) from as little as $36 per employee to less less than $2 per employee per year for larger workforces. All licenses include an unlimited supply of the world's best training materials.

Over 110 Products available for download, handout or customizable training workbooks.

Learn more about our Self-Development Solutions.

5.  Spotting Leadership Potential for $47 or less

A leadership drought is looming. That means succession planning is transitioning from important to urgent.

Spotting leadership potential just got a lot easier.  Compare aspiring leaders to others who would have been successful in leadership roles with our new Leadership Clues and Self-Identifier report.

The reports are divided into various behavioral areas. Within each report you will find tips to help employees develop weak skills.

A sampling of characteristics evaluated are:
Solving Problems
Motivating Others
Handling Change
Team Approach
...and more.

View a sample Leadership Identifier Report here or call 800.803.4303 for as little as $47 (or less with volume discounts).

We are now accepting applications for "Leading Leaders, Leading Others" workshop scheduled for May-June 2007. Or call 800.803.4303 to set up an appointment to discuss on-site training.

6.   Quotes from Hire Authorities

" Just making good grades on a test doesn't necessarily make a good employee. It's the work ethic that makes the difference,"
Cheryl Fortner, Human Resources Director, Pan Pacific Products

Ira S. Wolfe Copyright 2007 - All Rights Reserved. Reprints and other distribution by permission