April 30, 2003
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-- Nobody told me the job would be like this.
-- What really matters.
-- Thou shall not deviate
-- Thinking things through
-- When employees drive each other crazy
-- Free Janus Teleconference on May 7 at 11 AM
-- Ask the Experts - Interviewing, Employee Testing and more
-- More results from the Workforce Climate Survey
-- CriteriaOne Certification Training - June 5-6-7, 2003
-- Pocket Guides for Managers As Low as $9.95

The results of the SPS Workforce Climate Survey are in and there is some refreshingly good news.

Over eighty-three percent of the respondents in the survey (n=79) felt that their front-line managers' attitudes were good or very positive toward their work.

Seventy-six percent also felt that these managers were usually or very respectful of others.

They were less optimistic about their employees' attitudes toward work. Only fifty-six percent of the respondents rated their attitude as good or very positive.

Despite a good attitude, their confidence in the effectiveness of these front-line managers' was less than encouraging.

For more results, continue reading this week's issue of The Total View.

Nobody told me the job would be like this.
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It's Wednesday. You've just left your team meeting - an hour late. As always the meeting that was scheduled for "sixty minutes at the most" lasted nearly two hours.

You stop off on the way back to your office for a cup of coffee. "Hey Bill", another manager calls out. "You missed your 9 o'clock and she's ticked. I told her you'd call her first thing. She's waiting."

You turn the corner and in front of your office, you see a line of people hovering at the door. You fight your way through the crowd only to be met by your assistant who hands you a dozen urgent messages. You pull up your desk chair and click your mouse. You've got mail.

While you wait for your messages to download, you glance over at the phone. The message light is on.

Nobody told you the job would be like this. Why would they? You were enticed by the "opportunity to earn a considerable salary and excellent benefits with long- term growth potential in a best place to work environment." You impressed the heck out of your interviewers. College graduate with honors, MBA, outstanding references. " Your references described you as a good team player, easy to get along with, and hard working.

What really matters.
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When it comes down to getting the job done, what is it that really separates those who perform well under this pace and pressure and those who flounder? Many entry-level positions in manufacturing, trade and technology jobs require mostly technical skills. These are easy to assess and easy to train.

The real challenge comes when you want to assess management and sales skills required for top performance. These skills are less tangible and much more difficult to accurately predict. These top performance skills are commonly called competencies or soft skills.

The problem with interviewing, the most popular of all selection assessments, is that only the most highly trained and skilled interviewers are prepared to probe and "read" a candidate's responses with any degree of accuracy. Unfortunately few interviewers are that skilled. (In the survey conducted by Success Performance Solutions in March, less than 31 percent of the respondents felt confident that their front-line supervisors had the skills to interview and identify top talent.)

Thou shall not deviate
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What's the solution? In addition to a structured interview, personality and ability assessments like TotalView® can accurately assist hiring managers predict how effective a candidate will manage a team, solve problems, manage time, prioritize, socialize, and even cope with stress and criticism. For example, one trait measured by TotalView is conscientiousness. A individual who is a "10" on conscientiousness has a routine and he doesn't deviate from it. He has high standards and looks for rules to follow - even if he set the rules. His desk is neatly organized. Everything has its place. "Thou shall not deviate" from the routine is his motto.

Click here to learn more about TotalView

Thinking things through
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In the manager's situation described above, the conscientious manager will likely will ask the employees to wait just a minute while he gathers his thoughts. He will place his notes from the earlier meeting in their proper folder and file them in his cabinet. He will then glance through the phone messages, make a few brief notes on each one, and re-order them. He will scan his email and then wave each employee one-by- one into the room. He'll assess the urgency and complexity of each situation, and then make a decision to act, react or postpone.

It is difficult to get a high conscientious individual to be rushed into making a decision just for the sake of making a decision. While at times "thinking things through" is a virtue, there are situations that require an individual to take a risk and just "wing it". The conscientious manager rarely wings it.

The innovative and reactive individual has no problem winging it. He responds to the emails, messages and the line outside their door by inviting everyone into his office as he enters. While speaking to all of them at once, he drops his file in a convenient location, most likely on top of another pile. "Go on, I'm listening" he says while reading the messages, scanning emails, typing replies and listening to his voice mail.

When employees drive each other crazy
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What work style is better? Neither - and both. The conventional and organized will be practical and call a spade a spade. At times this is the most appropriate style. They may however appear to lack a sense of urgency and fail to respond in the face of crisis because they are considering the options before they act. Solutions and decisions will be based on the way it been done up until now, not the way it might need to be handled today.

The innovative and reactive on the other hand are highly responsive to events of the moment. They quickly survey the landscape and clear out the backlog. You get answers quickly. Because they are energized by the new and immediate, planning is not necessarily their strength. Follow through may be lacking and solutions may not always be according to policy.

The real drama arises when you pair the conventional with the innovative. They drive each other crazy. To the conventional, rules are rules. To the innovative, rules are guidelines and adherence is situational at best. Conventionals drive innovators batty. They firehouse every new idea as impractical. Innovatives see new solutions that are not always obvious but implementation usually means "let's just give it a try and see how it works." Conventionals get stuck with "how will we measure if this is any better than the way we've been doing it". Conventionals want probabilities. Innovatives see possibilities.

Conscientiousness is just one personality trait assessed by TotalView. Others include extraversion - the preference to work alone or with people, stability - how people cope with stress and criticism, and independence - does the individual enjoy just playing the game or playing to win.

To learn more about train-the-trainer for TotalView and other selection tools, click here

Free Janus Teleconference on May 7 at 11 AM
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Leadership ability.

Delegation skills.

Analytical thinking.

Change handling skills.

Motivation skills.

These are just a few of the required crucial skills needed by managers and leaders today.

Janus Performance Management Systems is an easy to use and cost effective approach for improving performance, assessing jobs, aligning an organization, and meeting other HR goals.

The Online Janus System makes it easy to identify from 3 to 10 core competencies per position, build competency-based job descriptions, develop job- specific interview questions and adminster performance evaluations - a seamless, continuous, cost-effective solution to selecting and managing top performers.

Sign up for our next Janus. Please type Janus - May 7 in the comment box.

Ask the Experts - Interviewing, Employee Testing and more
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Join our Whole Person Approach Bulletin Board. Ask certified employee selection and performance management professionals about the best tools and technigues to match, manage and motivate employees.

To join the Whole Person Approach community, click here.

More results from the Workforce Climate Survey
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Only thirty-four percent of the respondents were confident or very confident that their supervisors have the skill to manage today's workforce. Over ten percent had little confidence.

When it came to interviewing and identifying top talent, thirty-one percent were confident or very confident in these supervisor's skills. Over thirty percent felt they had little or no confidence.

The results were even less enthusiastic when it came to motivating today's workforce. Only twenty- five percent felt confidence in their supervisors' ability and nearly thirty-five percent felt little or no confidence.

What makes this particularly troubling is that it is quite apparent that today's workforce needs to be motivated. Over forty percent of the respondents' workforces claimed that fifty percent or less of their workforce were highly motivated and thirty-one percent felt that less half of their workforce were satisfied with their jobs.

And what lies ahead? Nearly one-third of the respondents felt that half or more of their workforce would be looking for new jobs if the economy was better.

Complete results from the Workforce Climate Survey are available here.

CriteriaOne Certification Training - June 5-6-7, 2003
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"Light years ahead of the competition" says one CriteriaOne participant.

If job analysis, job matching 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 today for our next CriteriaOne Train-the-trainer workshop to be held on June 5-6-7, 2003 in Lancaster PA. Read what one participant in our last workshop had to say about his experience:

"Your CriteriaOne seminar this weekend was incredible. For years I did both contingency and retained search work for clients nationwide thinking the screening tools I used were serving us well. The information and skills you shared during our training are light years ahead of the rest of the screening and assesment systems out there."

B.M., Sr. Sales Consultant

Become certified in CriteriaOne: The Whole Person Approach. Cllick here. Please indicate the best time and day to contact you.

Pocket Guides for Managers As Low as $9.95
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New! Visit our new pocket guide section in our bookstore. Find titles such as:

Manager's Pocket Guide to Emotional Intelligence

Manager's Pocket Guide to Effective Meetings

Managing the Generation Mix

Managing Generation Y

and more.

Visit the Pocket Guides for Managers.