Welcome to the March 23, 2005 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. Three Hiring Mistakes Managers Make

There are plenty of good people looking for work. What turns these good workers into great employees? Motivation. All a manager needs to do then is uncover what motivates their employees.

For the sake of simplicity, let's say motivation is a collection of learned attitudes and beliefs that energizes your behaviors, defines your values, and shapes your personality.

Mismatching employees to the wrong jobs places managers and employees at opposite ends of a motivational tug of war. These mismatches just sap the life out of the workforce and the soul out of the culture.

What are the most common motivational mismatches and hiring mistakes that managers make?

Mismatch of behavioral style. Behavioral styles predict no more and no less than how an individual will perform in the workplace. It doesn't predict success or competence but the way people will respond to (or ignore) problems, people, pace of the environment and procedures. Mismatches between job and personal styles and inter-personal styles don't necessarily guarantee failure but do ensure that stress and conflict will eventually show its ugly and costly face. How an individual learns to adapt and a manager learns to respond ultimately determines if harnessing the energy of behavioral style will boom or doom performance.

Solution #1 - CriteriaOne DISC accurately identifies the behavioral styles that energize (and de-energize) employees.

Mismatch of values. While people can learn to adapt behavioral styles, adjusting personal values, or motivators, is not so easy. In fact, people generally don't change what's most important in their lives without some life-altering event like death of a loved one, a personal tragedy, starting a family, divorce and so on. When values collide, some people will adjust their behaviors to reduce conflict between other people or the job. But with time, the tension between different values wins out. Workers then decide to leave the job or fight for their cause. In either case, the cost to the employer (and many times the health of the employee) is enormous. Selecting individuals who are motivated by the job and/or company culture is just one way to make sure employees expend their energy on productivity not conflict.

Solution #2 - Business Values and Motivators identifies the six key values that motivate employees.

Mismatch of personality. At the core of every human being are key personality traits that determine how people respond to competition, initiative, conflict, flexibility, traditions and organizational policy, large groups of people, mental toughness, curiosity and more. Research shows that these traits predispose many workers toward a "natural" competence in areas such as drive for results, follow-through, detail-orientation, planning and organizing, interpersonal skills and stress management. Mismatches between a proven "best" profile for the job and the individual in the job leads to significantly higher incidences of turnover, poor performance and stress.

Solution #3 - TotalView Assessment System predictably and reliably assesses the key personality traits that drive competence and deliver individual performance.

New e-book: Seven Surefire Steps To Hiring High Potential Employees.  FREE for a limited time - a $19 Value.

More about online personality tests

2. Perfect Labor Storm Alerts #376 to #380
http://www.perfectlaborstorm.com/facts.html

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

Fact #376:   The demand for coal is increasing. A real labor crunch will occur in five to seven years just at a time that coal is in demand because of higher oil and gas prices. The number of coal miners nationwide dropped from 159,777 in 1990 to 99,358 at the end of 2003. More than half of all coal miners are older than 50 are nearing retirement. (Source: Mine Safety and Health Administration)

Fact #377:  About 35 percent of new managers and executives failed in their jobs within the first 18 months during 2004. (Source: Right Management Consultants)

Fact #378:  The top reasons new manager and executives fail is their inability to build strong relationships and teams with subordinates and peers. (Source: Right Management Consultants)

Fact #379:  The second biggest reasons new managers and executives fail is their inability to accomplish goals, followed by their lack of internal political savvy. (Source: Right Management Consultants)

Fact #380:   Fifty-two percent of over 1,000 executives surveyed by TheLadders.com say they search job listings on the Web from the office.(2005)

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.  NEW! Customer Service Skills Profile

This easy-to-use assessment solves one of your biggest headaches in customer service - ensuring consistency in your staff's performance.

How? By giving employee a clear picture of their unique strengths and areas they need to work on - and the motivation to acquire all the skills of an all-around good customer service giver.

Employees can rate themselves in seven competency areas widely considered to be critical to the ability to provide exemplary service:

Temperament / disposition
Communicating clearly
Engaging in joint problem solving
Building warmth and empathy
Attentive listening
Resolving conflict
Carefully negotiating

More about Customer Service Skills Excellence.

4. Manager's Guide to Interviewing and Hiring Top Performers

Today's tight labor market is forcing organizations to maximize the time they spend attracting and keeping top performers. Organizations that can attract, inspire, and retain top performers are in the position to beat out their competition. This is true both in market share and being able to draw outstanding employees.

This book is for individuals with training responsibilities who are looking for tools to help their managers, supervisors, and/or team leaders interview, hire, and retain top performers. If you or someone in your hiring system has limited experience in interviewing and hiring, this book will help you and your organization to be more proficient in hiring practices.

Includes over a dozen job aid templates for recruiting, hiring, and retaining top performers.

Go to Manager's Guide to Interviewing and Hiring Top Performers

Free Shipping on Orders of 10 or more. Contact us.

5.  DISC Sales Style Indicator

The DISC Sales Style Indicator reports on eight (8) key results areas relating to the business of selling. It describes how an individual attempts to achieve sales success.

These 8 key results areas are:

1. Control of the Sales Process

2. Competition

3. New Ideas and Change

4. Selling Style

5. Presentation

6. Close

7. Service

8. Response to Management

The report generated by this analysis is designed to help individuals and management achieve a better understanding of this person's behavioral style. It will provide helpful insight into the individual's behavioral strengths in sales and areas in need of possible improvement. The DISC report can also be used to develop strategies and methods to help individual's increase their personal flexibility in working with clients, managers, peers, and staff.

Order your DISC Sales Style Indicator Today and Save $30. (Regular Fee - $69; With This Coupon only $39) - Discount Taken at Checkout.

7. We've Moved!
Success Performance Solutions has a new home as of March 1. Our new address is 2137 Embassy Drive, Suite 218, Lancaster, PA. Our phone number is 717.291.4640 and new fax is 717.427.2020. Of course, our online home remains the same at www.super-solutions.com.

Syndication available - call us.