"Real" personalities often times come out in sports, at
home and in the workplace when the going gets tough
or right after the honeymoon. Learning to interpret
personality assessments may best be left up to the
professionals but understanding human behavior - well,
it doesn't get any easier than this if you know what to
look for!
But we also know we are all surveyed to death. So
we're going to keep it short - only 5 questions.
Won't you take just a few seconds to complete the
survey and then PLEASE forward it to a friend or
colleague.
We'll publish the results in next week's edition of The
Total View - July 16, 2003.
Watch for Tips 2, 3, 4 and 5 in coming issues and
don't miss last week's TotalView on "Debunking 7
Common Myths about Personality Tests" by clicking
below.
While there is nothing to prevent workers from
filing discrimination claims, there are mechanisms in the
law for weeding out claims that have no chance of
succeeding - Summary judgment is the primary
weeding-out mechanism employers can use to bring an
end to such claims early in litigation.
Employers usually win summary judgment when
plaintiffs cannot prove they were qualified for a position
or that they even applied for a job. However, there are
exceptions - Recently in Lockridge v. Board of Trustees
of the University of Arkansas, (2002), the Eight Circuit
expanded direct evidence to include situations where
an employer fails to establish "clear" (i.e. "fixed or
reasonably objective") standards and procedures for
promoting or hiring - The court found that the
employer's most significant problems were its failure to
show what its hiring and promotion procedures actually
were or that they were applied consistently - The court
held that the "random and subjective" promotion
process used by the university constituted direct
evidence of a discriminatory practice.
(In this case, Lockridge didn't even have to prove
he even applied for the job to file a suit!)
Based on Lockridge and similar cases, it is clear
that employers that have formalized and structured
employee selection systems will have an easier time of
disposing of suits by non-applicants. Stated
differently, employers that fail to structure their
employment selection systems may unnecessarily open
themselves to costly litigation not only from employees
and applicants, but also from individuals who never
even applied for a job.
Using a golf analogy, be on the look-out for these
actions and words from a "10" competitor (based on
the Competitive Scale from TotalView Assessment
System).
If you win, you find excuses why you are not
the better player, why you just had a lucky day, and
assure your golf mate that everyone has a bad day
now and then - and then duck!
Independence is one of the five distinct
personality factors that can be measured and
understood and holds strong validity and reliability in
the workplace. One of the two Independent subscales
is Competitive (The other is Assertive.)
Independence assesses how strong your preference
is to
win - or to allow others to do the winning. A strong
competitor (8 to 10 on a scale of 10) may try too hard
to win, even long after the game is over. A strong
cooperative (1 to 3) may shy away from any form of
competition and "lets everyone else duke it out".
Personalities are not just results of tests.
Personalities are every day real-life behaviors.
Assessments like
TotalView(tm) only provide a mechanism to learn about
people faster but they then do allow managers,
coaches or
individuals to spend more quality time on interviewing,
developing, coaching and improving performance rather
getting lost in self-discovery phase.
Whether or not the competitiveness of a golfer
determines the fit on your team, what is important for
team building is that you identify the level of
independence and competitiveness that will be
supported by your organization and still be productive
and
profitable.
In other words, the right mix of
Competitive/Cooperative as well as the
other Five Factors depends upon the requirements of
the job, the dynamics of the team and the values of
the organization. There are no right or wrong
personalities - just good fits and then all the rest of the
population.
To learn more about building high performing teams, contact us today - just write "Team Building Assessment" in the comment box.
You can take the price out of service but you can't take the service out of the price.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I know many of you have been here before. But the
quality of customer service is slipping into the dumper.
I'd like to share a recent experience with my
mobile phone company whose name sounds much
like "circular". Maybe this is no coincidence
but "circular" describes their customer service policy -
to run you in circles until you give up.
How did all this get started? I've turned into the
ultimate tele-commuter. As a result, my primary office
has become anyplace that
I can access the Internet and where my mobile phone
rings. (Yes we still have a physical office but much
smaller and more efficient than even six months ago.)
But it also means I have become dependent on
reliable service.
I actually have three mobile phones, one of which I
purchased over a year ago. This particular mobile
phone placed me on Roam - even while in my
office. Yes, that's right - my local coverage was
roaming, neatly
disguised as "extended coverage." That wasn't initially
a problem since I had contracted for a national plan.
so I wasn't charged additional for roaming. The plan
might have been worth it if only I
would be able to have a conversation of more than a
few minutes
without being dropped.
Well, after fifteen months of dropped calls every
time I
turned out of office and headed east, west, north or
south, I acquired a new carrier and decided to
drop "circular". Last week I terminated my service.
Of course I'm under contract and have to pay a
fee.
This was a no-brainer because the cost of termination
is half of the cost of keeping the service and a lot less
hassle. To no surprise, the service representatives
were sweeter than punch and more helpful than a Boy
Scout, when it came to trying to keep me as a
customer. But when push came to shove, this turned
out to be all words, no action.
Just a few days later I was pleasantly surprised to
find out
my "circular" phone worked well while vacationing in
Ocean City, MD. So I called my soon to be ex-carrier
and asked to have the service re-located. I didn't
know anything about this re-location option but this
was one of those "we want to do anything we can to
keep you as a customer" suggestions just five days
before.
While in Ocean City, I called the programmed 611
number from my mobile. After the phone dial pad maze
that every customer service center puts you through, I
heard "we apologize for the wait but we are
experiencing extra heavy volume. Your call will be
answered in approximately two minutes." Not bad I
thought except I've never called "circular" in the past
fifteen months that they weren't experiencing extra
heavy volume. I also don't know what time system
they are using but I have never spoken to an agent in
less than fifteen minutes. And two weeks ago after
waiting over thirty minutes, when my call was finally
answered, I listened to a message telling me the
service center had closed.
Fortunately that was not the case this time. After
only
twelve minutes, Joe picked up. "It's my honor to serve
you." Who is this guy kidding - "my honor"? I don't
know Joe and Joe doesn't know me. Joe is either a
customer service saint or he needs to change his
choice of words. After describing my situation and
request, Joe informs me that my call was directed to
the wrong call center. How can that be? I just dialed
their programmed number? But regardless he "would be
honored" to
transfer my call to the correct center which would then
transfer me to re-location.
At this point, I'm asking - "is this worth it?".
Looking
down at my strong call signal and understanding that
I'm still under contract, I think "yes". Joe does his
thing and concludes again with "it's been an honor to
serve you." I respond, "thank you, Joe." Joe comes
back again, "it's been my honor." I shut up. I had
enough honoring for one day.
My call goes into another queue. I won't bother
you
with the boring details and messages but let's say five
minutes turned into another fifteen. In between I was
perfecting the art of multi-tasking. I made two other
phone calls on my land line, checked my email, all while
toasting and eating a bagel. I still had time to spare.
Finally, Mrs. Smith checks in. (Can that actually be
her
real name?) Mrs. Smith was very personable as she
told me that she "would be happy to transfer my call to
the re-location department but I should jot this number
down in case I'm disconnected." Two points here.
First, Mrs. Smith was only happy to help, not honored.
Should I have been offended or grateful? Second, I
understand how aggravating it would be if I had been
disconnected and didn't have the direct number but if
my carrier isn't confident that my call won't be
disconnected, how can I trust the rest of their service?
Good news. I wasn't disconnected and in less than
five
minutes, I was speaking to another live person - who of
course had no record of my phone number or reason for
the call. After giving her the same information I had
given to four other people, she was "sorry but we don't
have service in the area you requested. The closest is
Georgetown, DE."
"That will work", I say. "But I can't relocate you to
that
store. You don't have a physical address in Delaware."
Not believing what I'm hearing, I ask her to
explain. "I'm only ten miles from Georgetown, less
distance from my residence than the stores I purchased
my other phones in Pennsylvania. Why can't I transfer
to my Maryland address if I could purchase a new
phone and new service there." I got no where.
So I diverted my attention to Plan B. Since I was
really
pleased with the phone reception so far, I asked her
about a national plan. That means more money and a
retained customer for "circular".
What I got was more let's-make-this-as-hard-as-
possible-to-keep-you-happy-while-we-thank-you-for-
being-customer. This is a verbatim quote: "If you
don't have a physical address in Delaware (only 10
miles away) and don't make more than fifty percent of
your calls from the local area, we will automatically
cancel your nationwide plan and charge you long
distance and roaming."
After sixty-five minutes of trying to remain a
customer,
I gave up. My termination still holds and I'm no longer
going in customer service circles. Phew!
And here's the icing on the cake. The
representative
offered to waive my cancellation fee if I referred a new
customer and they take over my contract. Hmmmm -
let me check my friends that I'd like to scam.
Looking for an effective, entertaining and efficient
way
to teach employees and leaders the critical elements
for building an outstanding service reputation? Look no
further.
Now you can create an organization of "Service
Pros"-
and build a competitive advantage-quickly and cost-
effectively.
The comprehensive Service Pro program is
everything
you ever wanted in a service training program-and
much more. It provides meaningful content . . .
compelling interactivity . . . award-winning video
segments . . . and a concentrated learning format. All
at a price that makes it the best value in the market
today.
Finally - service training that makes a difference.
If you don't already have an organization of Service
Pros, get and implement this cutting-edge training
program-before your competition does. Why? Because
Service Pros truly care that the customer has a great
experience. They're passionate about being the best
they can be with customers. They'll earn repeat
business - drive in valuable referrals - enhance your
industry reputation.
Check this out! Build competitive advantage with a culture of Service Pros.
Just announced! CriteriaOne training - September 11-13, 2003
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Light years ahead of the competition" says one
CriteriaOne participant.
"A must for anyone interested in lowering turnover
and improving productivity."
If job analysis, job matching or career pathing, or
employee testing is on your strategic calendar this
year, you don't want to miss CriteriaOne. ( CritieriaOne
received trademark status in March 2003.)
Register by before August 10 and save $500 off our
registration fee for our next CriteriaOne Train-the-
trainer workshop to be held on September 11-12-13
2003 in Lancaster PA. Read what one participant in our
last workshop had to say about his experience:
I thoroughly enjoyed the time spent at your seminar
along with meeting other end users of your products.
As a part time user of the TotalView product the
reinforcement training I receive is always useful. Here
at UGI Utilities, Electric Division we are a believer in the
product as one of the tools useful in finding the right fit
when selecting an employee. The TotalView product
provides much more information about a potential
candidate than you can ever obtain from reviewing a
resume or conducting lengthy interviews.
D.L. UGI Utilities, Electric Division
Become certified in CriteriaOne: The Whole Person Approach. Cllick here. Please indicate the best time and day to contact you.
New Articles! Don't undervalue (or overvalue) cognitive skills or personality.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
June 2003 - "See
Jack Run"
Costly Turnover verses expensive mistakes are the
dilemma of an HR executive who undervalues general
skills.
May 2003 - "C-ing
is believing!"
Style shock shouldn't cause business culture shock.
What matters is whether a job is done effectively, not
how.
Click here to read more Business2Business articles.
New on the Web! "Career Placement and Assessment"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Listen to "Job Talk" - April 12, 2003 - WGST (Atlanta)
An Interview with Host Margot King and Guest Ira S.
Wolfe on "Career Placement and Assessment"
For more live interviews and presentation audio, visit
Audio Interviews on the SPS website .
Click here to listen.
To read 25 Trends that will change your business, click here. Don't miss Trend #16.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>From e-mail to health care, and from artificial
intelligence to the end of HR as we know it, here are
forecasts of how different the world of workforce
management will be 10 years from now.
25 Trends That Will Change The Way You Do Business
"I'm not so concerned with what I say to my players as much as I am concerned with what they heard me say." -
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
- Red Auerbach, former GM and coach of the Boston
Celtics.
Identify your Communication Style with Communication Response Style for only $7 including S/H.
Stop Guessing, Start Knowing - August 20, 2003 at The Lancaster Chamber
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is what participants had to say after our April
workshops in Atlanta and Lancaster:
"The best seminar I've attended in years"
"Ira really knows his stuff. With his help we will stop
guessing about hiring and promoting."
"The only improvement I'd make to this presentation
would be to make it longer."
We listened and we've extended the program for
one-day only on August 20 for The Lancaster Chamber.
Tuition is FREE for Chambers members and $20 for
non-members.
Registration is limited to the first 20.
Don't wait one minute longer to register for
Stop
Guessing, Start Knowing - How to Accurately Assess
Personality and Competencies. Stop Guessing,
Start
Knowing was sold out in Atlanta and Lancaster.
Register today for Stop Guessing, Start Knowing. Type Code "SGSK-August 20" in the comment box.
Manager's Guide to Emotional Intelligence - Only $9.95
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The perfect training tools for supervisors and
managers. Practical, easy to read and budget-friendly.
This Week's Featured Book: Emotional
Intelligence
One of the keys to becoming a true leader is
emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence quotient
(or EQ) encompasses qualities that go beyond general
intellectual intelligence and technical competency. EQ
includes self-awareness, self-control, self-confidence,
motivation, empathy, and competencies in the social
environment. These hallmarks of a true leader can be
learned. The activities in this guide will help strengthen
the reader's EQ skills, resulting in a more successful
career and a more satisfying life.
Visit our bookstore to order these other pocket books,
too:
