Published by Success Performance Solutions, Written by Ira S. Wolfe
Online Self and 360 Competency Assessments
Just Say Know! How to Hire Competence with Confidence
Don't miss How to Hire Competence with
Confidence led by nationally recognized talent authority and author
Ira S. Wolfe at the 2004 Entrepreneur and Growth Company Day on
June 3, 2004.
For more information:
http://www.super-solutions.com/remote.asp?ltk=900941_21662513
Consultant's
certification plan pays off
In the Sunday Patriot
News (May 24, 2004), columnist Azriela Jaffe wrote: "When I lived
in Lancaster, I met a business consultant, Ira Wolfe, who ran a
consulting firm, Success Performance Solutions. I was curious how
he was faring these days." Read the full column - http://www.super-solutions.com/remote.asp?ltk=900942_21662513
DISC: Just the
tip of the iceberg
When screening candidates
for selection and evaluating employees for succession and coaching,
it is well accepted that breakthroughs in technology have made testing
a powerful and statistically accurate aid in making better choices
and decisions. But confusion exists whether managers should be testing
for behaviors or personality - or both.
Tests like DISC and other
four-style tests measure behaviors. But behaviors are really only
the gift wrapping, while personality tests like TotalView tell
us what is inside the box. Sometimes the gift wrap give us a few
hints qbout what is inside. At other times, the gift wrapping disquises
what is inside and the recipient is surprised when they open the
box. It's now more or less a mystery box.
Another analogy I like
to use is that behaviors are just the tip of the iceberg. What you
see is only a fraction of the whole person. The bulk of the iceberg,
nearly ninety percent of its mass, lies beneath the surface, representing
an individual's true personality. Included beneath the surface are
the individual's values (See Understanding Business Values and Motivators
at (http://www.understandingbvm.com),
motivational skills, and beliefs. An individual's personality is
the sum total of all that lies below the behaviors. That is why
behavioral assessments and behavioral interviews just scratch the
surface when it comes to predicting the right employee fit.
Typically managers will
make hiring decisions based on "gut" instinct or possibly by using
a behavioral assessment such as DISC or Myers-Brigg. What candidates
show us during interviews are behaviors and many times adaptive
ones at that.
In one recent situation,
our client "swore" by the DISC instrument for hiring salespeople.
He was convinced that only DI (Direct and Influencing) "personalities"
could sell for him. Unfortunately, several of his DI types weren't
making it. What worked fairly well for him in the past, was nothing
short of abyssmal over the last year or two.
So we opted to run parallel
tests on the two most recent hires. One was meeting expectations,
the other was missing all his targets. To "dive" beneath the surface,
I recommend two additional instruments - Business Values and Motivators
(BVM) and TotalView Assessment System.
BVM identifies what an
individual values, or what motivates them. Two primary motivators
of many top performing salespeople are Economic (driven by money)
and Power and Authority (driven by achievement). A third motivator,
seen very often in successful consultative salespeople, is the Conceptual
value -(driven by learning and problem solving).
Our client was quite
surprised to find that the salesperson who was succeeding had a
much lower "D" than expected. What really was driving his success
was a strong Economic and Power and Authority value, ranked one
and two respectively as his personal motivators. The under-performing
salesperson, despite a high DI style that mirrored many of the most
successful salespeople in the past, was not motivated by money at
all; in fact, Economics was nearly his lowest motivator. His primary
values were Social (driven to help others) and Conceptual. Combined,
Conceptual and Social individuals value knowledge and they like
to share it - therefore, they are "teachers". He sold by teaching
and sharing information, hoping that education would win the individual
over.
The challenge for individuals
with strong Social motivators is that this need to help can get
in the way of cold-calling and closing, both responsibilities of
the salespeople. Preferring to lend a helping hand and avoid a conflict,
this employee struggles with the cold call and the close, activities
viewed as confrontational and pushy. When the Social value kicks
in, the salesperson back offs or avoids asking for the appointment
or sale.
More performance flags
revealed by "testing the waters" below the surface came from TotalView.
What is important to take away from the examples above is that behaviors
alone do not make the man. Managers tend to look for the magic motivational
bullet to boost the productivity of under-performers. This is too
shallow for too complex a problem. What our clients discover is
that missed expectations can result from many factors: less drive
competitiveness and assertiveness) than required for the job, personal
motivators that clash with those required by the job or the rewards
and recognition offered by the company, a lack of strong coping
skills which puts the employee (and all around him) on an emotional
roller-coaster, and cognitive skills that are not aligned with the
requirements with the job and team.
Totalview(tm)Assessment
System includes twenty different scales including cognitive abilities,
motivations and personality. One of the personality scales assesses
the level of competitiveness; another scale describes the level
of assertiveness.
In the situation described
above, despite both individuals having "high D" styles, the more
successful salesperson "scored" in the upper ranges of competitivenss
and assertiveness while the under-performing scored in the mid-competitive
range but more submissive than assertive.Although their observable
behaviors were similar, their motivations and drive were worlds
apart.
As human beings, we're
complicated creatures. Trying to predict performance by assuming
what you see is what you get often times misdirects a manager from
making the right hiring and promotional decisions. Predicting job
performance requires a manager to take a dive and see what lies
beneath the surface.
For more information
about DISC, Business Values and Motivators, and TotalView, http://www.super-solutions.com/remote.asp?ltk=900943_21662513.
Summer 2004 Workshop
and Speaking Schedule
June 3, 2004
How to Hire Competence with Confidence, 2004 Entrepreneur and Growth
Company Day, Radisson Penn Harris, Camp Hill
For more information:
http://www.super-solutions.com/remote.asp?ltk=900941_21662513
June 14, 2004
Understanding Business Values and Motivators, National Rural Electric
Cooperative Association, San Diego, CA
June 22, 2004
How to Hire Competence with Confidence, sponsored by Success Performance
Solutions, Hampton Inm Lancaster. Limited seating. 8:30 to 11:30
AM. Only $49. Call 717.656.4632 to reserve your seat today.
July 26, 2004.
Recruiting, Training, and Retaining a Diverse Nursing Workforce,
Sponsored by Healthcare IQ, Radisson Hotel, Chicago, IL http://www.super-solutions.com/remote.asp?ltk=900944_21662513
August 18-20,
2004 - CriteriaOne Train-the-Trainer: How to Identify Competencies
and Use Assessments for Hiring, Promoting, and Managing Performance.
Hampton Inn, Lancaster, PA. Call 717.656.4632 for more information
and to reserve your seat. Limit - 10.
Too Many Jobs,
Not Enough Skilled People to Go Around
Earlier this week the
state of PA announced that more than 1,400 state employees have
announced their retirements this year -- and another 4,000 are expected
to do so by the end of June -- to avoid paying more for health insurance.
Employees who retire after July 1 will see a reduced benefits package,
according to provisions in the 2003 state employees' contract. That
deadline has prompted one state worker in 14 to call it quits this
year, and one in nine over the past 18 months. The lawmakers were
surprised by this response.(Source: Associated Press) They obviously
haven't been paying attention to The Perfect Labor Storm forecast.
In 2002, the Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute
of Government published a study on aging government workers. They
found that:
- 46.3 percent of government workers are 45 years of age or older.
This age group makes up only 31.2 percent of private sector workers.
- Replacing the large number of workers retiring in the next
decade will be a great challenge for federal, state and local
governments.
- Local governments, particularly in the New England and the
Mid-Atlantic states, will face a retirement bubble in the next
decade.
- Nationally, 50 percent of government jobs are in occupations
requiring specialized training, education or job skills compared
to just 29 percent in the private sector.
An aging workforce, shortage
of skilled workers and increaing health care costs will put many
state and local governments on the brink of The Perfect Labor Storm.
By retaining older, skilled workers longer, labor costs will rise
dramatically. By encouraging early retirement, governments may be
caught under-staffed and under-skilled.
This should also serve
as another warning to private sector employers as well. Workers will
job hop for better benefits. While management is scrambling for ways
to control health care costs, organizations will aggressively dangle
attractive salary and benefits plans to recruit few top talents available.
In the general population,
the number of workers age 55 and over are expected to increase by
47 percent over the next seven years and yet thirty-two percent of
respondents said their organizations were doing nothing to prepare
for the worker shortage. (Source: Older Workers Survey conducted by
the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), with the National
Older Worker Career Center (NOWCC) and the Committee for Economic
Development)
Although hundreds of thousands
of employees are still unemployed, thousands of skilled and semi-skilled
positions go unfilled....and hiring is just picking up. The shortage
of people and skills has only just begun. Learn what's ahead in The
Perfect Labor Storm Fact Book. See below for details.
"The Perfect Labor Storm
Fact Book: Why Worker Shortages Won't Go Away" is HERE! Order your
copy today - $7.95 includes no shipping costs for limited time only.
http://www.super-solutions.com/remote.asp?ltk=900945_21662513
An Employer's Guide to Good Practices: Testing and Assessment
This Guide is designed
to help managers and human resource (HR) professionals use assessment
practices to reach their organizations' HR goals. It conveys the essential
concepts of employment testing in easy-to-understand terms and was
developed by the US. Department of Labor.
http://www.super-solutions.com/remote.asp?ltk=900946_21662513
Perfect Labor
Storm Alerts #166 to #170
Fact #166
For dual career couples with kids under 18, the combined work hours
grew from 81 a week in 1977 to 91 in 2002. Source: Families and Work
Institute
Fact #167
72% of mothers with children under 18 are in the workforce, up from
47% in 1975. Source: Families and Work Institute
Fact #168
Husbands are unemployed in 6.4% of all married couples. Source: Time,
March 22, 2004
Fact #169
1 in 3 women with M.B.A.s are not working full-time; it's 1 in 20
for males with M.B.A.s Source: Catalyst
Fact #170
Women in high positions: In 1971 only 9% of women earned medical
degrees, 7% law degrees, and 4% M.B.A.s. In 2001, 30% or women earned
medical degrees, 47% law degrees, and 41% M.B.A.s.
FirstView Job
Fit Indicator: Quick, Easy and Cost Effective
FirstView Job Fit Indicator
is the newest generation of pre-employment personality tests which
includes an optional cognitive section. FirstView requires only 15
minutes to complete and reports are available immediately. FirstView
is the perfect solution to screen large candidate groups for 15 entry
level positions in retail sales, hospitality, persuasive sales, administrative
positions, drivers, IT positions, telemarketing, customer service,
drivers, health care and more. Each report includes job specific interview
questions. FirstView evaluates a candidate's preferences in the following
areas:
Rules - consistency, ability
to deal with change, need for structure, ability to follow rules and
policies
Extroversion - need to
work with others, communication of enthusiasm, ability to talk or
listen
Assertiveness - decision
making, selling and closing abilities, ability to handle confrontation,
willingness to take direction from other
Teaming - teamwork, collaboration
with others, competitiveness
Sensitivity - emotional
stability, handling of criticism and feedback, dealing with stress
Organization - planning,
spontaneity, time management attitudes, ability to handle details
Social Desirability - an
internal validity scale to determine if the candidate is being frank
with their answers
Cognitive Ability - an
overall aggregate measure of cognitive skills
Learn more about FirstView
at http://www.super-solutions.com/remote.asp?ltk=900947_21662513.
Receive a complimentary
FirstView here - http://www.super-solutions.com/remote.asp?ltk=900948_21662513
NEW! Management
Effectiveness Profile
It stands to reason that
a good manager-an effective manager, that is, must be skilled in a
number of broad areas or competencies considered critical if the manager
is to help the organization achieve its goals. The Management Effectiveness
Profile helps managers to identify personal strengths and weaknesses
within 12 specific competency areas so that they can begin to strengthen
and master them.
In this profile, a manager's
effectiveness as coach and leader is tied to the following competencies:
MANAGING YOUR JOB
- Managing and Prioritizing Time
- Setting Goals and Standards
- Planning and Scheduling Work
RELATING TO OTHERS
- Listening and Organizing
- Giving Clear Information
- Getting Unbiased Information
BUILDING THE TEAM
- Training, Coaching and Delegating
- Appraising People and Performance
- Disciplining and Counseling
THINKING CLEARLY
- Identifying and Solving Problems
- Making Decisions and Weighing Risk
- Thinking Clearly and Analytically
This questionnaire has
been designed as a self-scoring management effectiveness instrument
to help individuals understand more about their relative abilities.
The twelve key managerial competency areas listed above under four
clusters (representing a complete model of managerial effectiveness)
are treated separately and then combined to create the individual's
overall profile.
The Management Effectiveness
Profile is available on paper or online and in a self, 180-degree
and 360-degree format.
To view a sample report,
http://www.super-solutions.com/remote.asp?ltk=900949_21662513
NEW! What Interview Questions Can You Ask?
What Questions Are Not Legal to Ask?
Download Our SPS Interview
Guide here.
http://www.super-solutions.com/remote.asp?ltk=900950_21662513
***NEW Article Published: Online Recruiting Cuts Time to Hire
http://www.super-solutions.com/remote.asp?ltk=900951_21662513
Build A Top Performer Profile At No Cost
Hiring the right employee
for the job begins with developing a top performer profile with the
TotalView Assessment System. Try it with no risk - just follow the
link below.
Complete your Job Description
Worksheet here.
http://www.super-solutions.com/remote.asp?ltk=900952_21662513
Stop the Resu-mess! Have Candidate Apply Online Anytime and Cut
Your Resume Screening and Interviewing Time in Half.
Critical Rapid Screening
Data (RSD) includes capturing resumes and job specific personality
testing. Managers are enabled to compare candidates and make accurate
decisions quickly.
Test batteries include:
