June 1, 2011

Edited and Written by Ira S. Wolfe

Published by Success Performance Solutions.

What's Inside this issue of The Total View:

1. Managers Don't Trust Pre-Employment Tests: Why?

2. Workforce Trends

3. Applicant Processing

4. What Motivates Employees

5. Annual Performance Reviews Simplified!

6. Improving Customer Service Skills

7. CandidClues

8. Excuses, Excuses, Excuses

Managers Don't Trust Pre Employment Tests:  Why?

Would you hire a candidate if he agreed with the following statements during the interview?

• I am usually satisfied with work that is "good enough."
• It is not necessary to do more than enough work to get by.
• My anger frightens other people.
• Sometime you have to lie a little to protect yourself.

Would it surprise you to find out that many managers do say yes. If so, you wouldn't be alone.  Thousands of managers make that decision every day; ignoring the results of pre-employment tests and allowing their egos and gut instinct to rationalize very clear signs of employee behavior danger.

Pre employment tests enjoy a love-hate relationship with managers.  Some managers live and die by the results of a pre employment assessment test in screening out candidates.  Others despise the notion that a simple questionnaire might second guess a hiring manager's gut feeling about how well a candidate might fit into a job.  The fact is that both approaches are flawed.

First of all, both parties must consider moderation when using pre-employment tests.  The die-hard advocates must put the results of these tests in context.  No test should be used as the sole determinant in screening out or selecting a candidate.   The best formula for hiring is one-third interview and experience, one -third reference and background checks, and one-third pre employment assessment tests.

Alternatively, ignoring employment tests as part of the employee selection process ignores a powerful ally in the search for the right fit candidate.  A validated assessment offers an objective third party view of a candidate, often exposing character flaws as well as unidentified potential.

Then we have situations where the assessment results paint a clear picture of a risky hire and the manager's opinion is called into question.

For instance, I received a phone call just the other day from a manager questioning the results of candidate's honesty and integrity report. A candidate revealed during the interview that he had been picked up twice during the last year for driving without a valid license.  The candidate explained this away by saying he had a mortgage to pay and a family to support. "I couldn't afford to lose my job," he said.

The employer interpreted that commitment to his family as a positive value. He questioned why the pre employment test would raise red flags about this individual's character when he was such a good father and husband. He rationalized away that driving despite a suspended license was still illegal no matter what the reason.  He ignored how this candidate might respond again if he lacked the money to pay his mortgage, to put food on his family's table, or to purchase medications for his children.  Would he resort to "borrowing" money from his employer without the employer knowing it?  That's exactly what many employees caught embezzling fund say when caught - "I wasn't stealing because I meant to pay it back." What lies would he be willing to tell to protect his family?   

If you think I'm exaggerating, consider what lengths one employee working for a Wisconsin business went to "keep her husband happy."  (Hint: she had systematically stolen more than $600,000 from the business over five years.)

While not absolute, the pre-employment test prompts red flags in areas of conscientiousness, hostility, and honesty.  The responses on a validated assessment clearly indicate how a potential candidate like the one described above might react if given a choice between family and the law.  And yet employers choose to doubt what they read in the candidate's report despite numerous confirming statements about questionable integrity.

Pre-employment tests can offer valuable insight into a candidate's integrity, work attitude, and job fit. They are effective and reliable indicators of job fit and future performance.  Ignorance is not bliss when hiring employees and pre employment assessment tests can help managers hire smarter.

Workforce Trends

Over 90% of employers report candidate-specific factors - lack of technical and soft skills, experience, and qualifications -  behind the challenge of filling mission-critical roles.

Source: Manpower Group Talent Shortage Survey

For more  workforce and hiring trends, visit Perfect Labor Storm website and Perfect Labor Storm blog.

Applicant Processing Made Easy

Wouldn't it be nice if selecting the right candidate was this easy?

What Motivates Employees

Business values and motivators determine the "why" of human behavior.  
 

For managers, Business Values and Motivators answers the nagging question - How can I motivate my employees?  
 

For employees and individuals looking to re-energize their careers, the Business Values and Motivators report helps them understand what they value most.  As people, we tend to value certain viewpoints positively and judge others negatively.   How we value or judge determines our motivations and provide us with our sources of energy or conflicts and stress in our personal and professional lives.
 

What are Business Motivators? Read more.

Annual Performance Reviews Simplified!

Save time, increase productivity, and eliminate hassles when administering employee performance reviews with HReviewer.

Ask any manager what he or she hates most about the job and you'll often hear "performance reviews."   That's why we've created HReviewer.

We recognized a huge gap in the performance evaluation market between paper forms and online performance management. 

HReviewer is a user-friendly, centralized online solution to streamline and improve the annual, semi-annual or periodic review for small to medium sized organizations. It's convenient and very affordable too.  Our goal was simple: to help take the hassle out of getting managers to complete performance appraisal forms and giving employees more frequent feedback. 

The system comes with a library of competencies, an easy to use form creator, at-a-glance dashboards and reports, and a built-in reminder system to help HR track down managers when reviews are due....or past due!

More about HReviewer or Email us to schedule a FREE demo. 

Improving Customer Service Skills

Customer service excellence starts with a focus on people. Differentiate yourself from the competition. Don't just give lip service to customer excellence. Do something about it with Success Performance Solutions customer service assessments and training aids. Set the bar high for customer service employees; hire and train candidates who fit the culture and don't make excuses for delivering anything less than exceptional customer service. 
 
"Don't ever doubt in the customer service business the importance of people and their attitudes."
(Former Southwest Airlines CEO Herb Kelleher)

Read more about Good Customer Service Skills.

CandidClues™:  The Pre Employment Test System Designed to Curb Absenteeism and Employee Theft

Most organizations have serious problems of pilferage, absenteeism, tardiness, employee disagreements that lead to violence, drug and alcohol abuse, and computer misuse. The annual loss from these counterproductive behaviors is estimated in the billions of dollars. There was a clear need for a brief assessment that could be used as part of the pre-employment screening process. CandidClues was developed to meet that need.

Excuses, Excuses, Excuses

We've all heard the excuses:

"My computer is down."

"We're short-handed"

"I'm all by myself."

"The salesperson didn't give me the right information"

"I've been off work. Please bear with me."

"I'm just filling in."

Customers are tired of the excuses employees give instead of delivering excellent customer service. "Excuses, Excuses, Excuses....For Not Delivering Excellent Customer Service - and What Should Happen!" is an excellent pocket guide for every employee. This book highlights 117 excruciatingly-painful-but-all-too-common Customer Service Excuses followed by common sense recommendations and insights to delivering exceptional customer service.

This book is for any company, business, or organization that deals with customers and has a passionate desire to survive. We've all been customers ourselves, and we're tired-tired of inadequate service, a lack of concern, and a take-it-or-leave-it attitude. We're tired of being told everything under the sun except that which we long to hear, "How may I help you?" followed by the appropriate action. This book is about excuses we both hear and use for not giving excellent customer service and how to shoot those excuses down.

Order your copy of Excuses, Excuses, Excuses today.