Welcome to the February 13, 2008 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 this issue of The TotalView:

1.  Stop Hiring Stinkers     

     by Marilyn Walker

A client recently commented that prior to using assessments they had hired "some real stinkers."  While as much as I'd like to have our assessments take the credit for helping them avoid hiring the wrong candidates,  keep in mind that pre-employment tests provide only part of the information you need to find the best fit for the job.

It is true that using valid and reliable hiring assessments decreases the chances of making poor hiring decisions.  The corollary of course means that hiring success dramatically increases as you include personality and ability assessments into your selection and performance processes.

Compared to the reliability of the traditional interview, which at 52% is about as dependable as flipping a coin, it's reassuring to know that hiring reliability can increase to more that 87 percent when you use a process that we "coined" as CriteriaOne®.  CriteriaOne® uses a "whole person approach" to hiring and managing employees. The Whole Person Approach follows the guidelines of what the US Department of Labor calls "Job Matching," the art and science of matching an individual's personality, behavior style, values, interests and abilities - in other words their competence, capability and potential - with the company, the team, and the job.  Job matching offers an employer an almost 80 percent greater chance of success than using the interview alone.

What then makes the inclusion of a pre-employment test a sure-fire approach to not hiring any more "stinkers?"  I offer the following recommendations:  

• Describe the position. This is the "if the job could talk, what would it say?" stage. Before the first assessment is given or the first applicant is interviewed it's imperative to define the position.  This information is not generally included in the job description.  Unfortunately it usually resides in the "heads" of the hiring managers and executive team.  When a manager sends us a job description, I tend to ask, "What is this really telling me?"  In turn, I ask the managers, "Tell me what you expect this person to accomplish twelve months from now." It's amazing how many times I read job responsibilities that no-way, no-how will help an employee meet expectations.

• What's in a top performer's tool-box?  What competencies does a candidate need to have to accomplish the goals expected of her (or him)?  What are her current capabilities and does she have the potential to grow and advance? How quickly do you need this person up to speed and does this candidate have the ability and motivation to "get it" as quickly as you expect?  Without defining the position first, finding the best fit is like buying a refrigerator that seems to fit your décor when what you really needed was a stove.  Just because you have an open space in the kitchen, doesn't mean that any appliance can do the job.  If you don't accurately describe the job it's unlikely you will ever find the right person. 

• Finding Keepers. Once you know what you are looking for the next step is attracting top candidates.  In its just released new book Finding Keepers, Monster suggests that the best way to attract top candidates is to build a great place to work.  Having a top place to work will attract top people that want to work in a quality environment.  Those people can be leveraged to attract other top performers as well as to strengthen the culture and hold onto your top people.  Monster goes on to say that about 70 percent of today's workforce - including those top performers that currently work for you - are either actively looking for or can be enticed to consider a new position. In other words, when putting recruitment strategies in place, don't forget about retaining the employees you want to keep!   Candidates are not the only people evaluating your company for future employment! 

• Right Assessment, Right Choice. To select the best fit it's important to choose the right assessment for the position.  You need to understand the limitations and benefits of the assessments you choose. Remember too that the resume, interview, and reference checks are also considered assessments by the U.S. Department of Labor and EEOC.

If you're hiring an admin assistant and want to avoid hiring a stinker, a computer skills test and personality screening, such as JobClues, may be adequate.  But if you are hiring a vice-president of Operations or an account manager, then you want something more robust.   For key positions (which can range from your front desk receptionist to the CEO depending on his or her responsibilities) I recommend assessments such as ASSESS and Prevue.  These personality assessments evaluate an individual's thinking, working and relationship management traits as well as cognitive skills.  In many cases, these traits link directly to natural competencies or high-potential in candidates to do or learn the job.  In addition, we recommend CriteriaOne DISC and Business Values & Motivators to round out the assessment package.  By including a personality, values and behavioral assessment, you will learn how well a candidate can do the job, work on the team, fit in your culture.

Which tests and how many should I use?  Here's a general rule of thumb:  The higher the cost to replace a "stinker" employee, the more you want to invest up front to avoid hiring one in the first place.  (Contact us with questions about the right assessment at 800.803.4303.)

Using the right assessment is not the end of the process.  Information obtained from the pre-employment assessments should provide a great foundation for behavioral interview questions.  If you believe that past behavior predicts future performance, using the information from the assessments to ask questions will help you evaluate how the candidate has applied his personality to make decisions, solve problems, motivate others, or complete projects.  If the assessment results seem out of sync with his performance, this is the time and place to find out why.  And if past experience is a bit on the light side but the candidate has the potential, you can use the assessment reports to explore this as well.  In other words, use what you read in the report to question the candidates and interview his references.  You don't want to share the assessment report with the candidate (unless you hire him or her) and references but you can use the information in the report to develop and ask questions.

Will this process ensure you'll make the right hiring decision 100% of the time?  We only wish that were the case.  As we like to say, people are people.  Things happen.  Jobs change.  People get married.  Departments are re-organized.  Managers come and go.  Any or all of these things can alter the fit after the fact.  But using pre-employment tests as part of a structured hiring process  offers the best chance of finding the right fit for the organization, the position and the team.  Knowing what you're looking for, how to look for it, and whether you've found it will prevent you from adding "stinkers" to your payroll.

To learn more about using the Whole Person Approach to Stop Hiring Stinkers, call us at 800.803.4303 or 717.291.4640. 

2. Perfect Labor Storm Warnings   

Every day I receive dozens of stories highlighting

another shortage of workers. Each week I'll post

one or two of the more interesting ones.  This week's

post is:

Employers tend to think that only about 20 percent of employees at other companies are "available" to recruit. But Monster says the truth is nearly the opposite. Finding Keepers breaks out three types of candidates:  

Settled loyalists

Poised Loyalists (about 11% of workers) are happy but could be enticed to move.

Poised Opportunists (about 59% of workers) are actively looking. They've posted their resumes, will apply for your job, and are amenable to job offers.

Source: Finding Keepers (new book released by Monster in Jan 2008)

Read more about skilled worker shortages in the NEW Perfect Labor Storm 2.0 (soft and hard cover versions)

Now on Sale!  Perfect Labor Storm 2.0 (soft and hard cover versions)  

Order today and save 25%.

NEW Chapters!  Generational Conflicts in the Workplace, Managing the Future Workforce, Attracting Young Employees in a Seller's Job Market plus hundreds of new facts, trends and stats.

View Table of Contents  

Save 25% off retail by ordering now.

Hard Cover: $29.99         Soft Cover: $19.99  

Your Price: $22.49           Your Price: $14.99

To order Perfect Labor Storm 2.0, call 800.803.4303.  Discounts for orders of 10 or more.  Specify hard or soft cover.

3. Download Impact of Aging Baby Boomers Testimony 

Ira S Wolfe testified last week in front of the PA House of Representatives Aging & Older Adult Services Committee.  Ira joined former U.S. Senator Harris Wofford, spokesperson for ExperienceWave.org, and Secretary of Aging Nora Dowd Eisenhower along with representatives from AARP and United Way. Both Ira and Sen. Wofford along with four other panelists provided testimony on the impact of the aging workforce and pending retirements on PA business.  

To download Ira's prepared testimony, click on the following:

Impact of Aging Baby Boomers in the state of PA  

PA House Aging Addendum

4.  E-Net Hire: Test Employee Attitudes Within Minutes Using The Telephone

• Lowest Cost Assessment
• Easy set-up, easier administration
• No special equipment necessary

E-Net Hire enables any hiring authority, from any location, to administer an overt integrity assessment that has been custom-tailored for that particular position, and to receive the results instantly over any phone line. Through the use of these assessments in position profiling, the likelihood of matching candidates to the position and creating an effective development strategy is enhanced.  

Learn more about E-Net Hire.

5. Speaking Schedule: Ira S Wolfe

2008:

March 4 - Hiring Right is Not Kid's Play: Fitting the Right Pegs in the Right Holes Business Solutions "On the Road"  Harrisburg Regional Chamber.  Location TBA

March 6 - National Human Resource Association, Pasadena, CA.  Breakfast Keynote: Perfect Labor Storm 2.0

May 16 - Sovereign Benefits Solutions HR Conference, Hershey PA

October 2008 (tentative) - American Staffing Association Annual Meeting - Workforce Trends That Change The Way You Will Do Business  

Call 717.291.4640 to schedule Ira for your next meeting or conference.

6. New Book: Coming Job Boom

Ira recently collaborated with Bonnie Kerrigan Snyder on a new book, The Coming Job Boom.  Bonnie is the author of The Public School Parent's Guide to Success. The Coming Job Boom is the "ying" for the "yang" of The Perfect Labor Storm.  While the Perfect Labor Storm is beginning to make managers feel like storm chasers looking for qualified workers, high school and college students must be smiling at this Upcoming Job Boom. For those young workers with the right skills and motivation, the job market will make these kids feel like  - well, like kid's in a candy store! The book release is scheduled for April 2008. Watch for more info in future newsletters.

7. Quotes from Hire Authorities

"We do not see things as they are; we see them as we are."

Permission is granted to consultants, managers, business owners and HR professionals to reproduce content from this newsletter for your internal publications, or to distribute copies to your workforce, on the condition that you reproduce the credits and contact information as follows: "Reprinted with permission from Ira S Wolfe and Success Performance Solutions. Copyright 2008 Ira S Wolfe."  We also hope you will forward the newsletter in its entirety and recommend to others that they subscribe.

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