| Welcome
to the September 29, 2004 issue of The Total View
Published by Success
Performance Solutions, Written by Ira S. Wolfe
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About Workplace Stress
What's Inside
1. Career Assessment Tests
Keep Start-ups and Small Businesses On-Track
2. Perfect Labor Storm Alerts #256 to #260
3. Tips You Can Use
- Introducting CoachView Assessment
4. Recommended Reading
5. Recommended Websites
6 . Take the Age Test
7. Over 250 Supervisors Have Attended Managing to Excel
Workshops
8 . Fall Workshop and Speaking Schedule
9 . You don't need a huge budget and staff to hire the best employees
10 . Thousands of Small Business Owner Now Build High Motivation
Teams Who Never Thought They Could
1. Career Assessment Tests Keep Start-ups and Small Businesses On-Track
Larger businesses have long recognized the value of testing
for compatible – and not very compatible - personalities before
hiring the "right" people and when building high performance
teams. After all, the right chemistry can bring energy and creativity
to a company. The wrong people can divert attention from running
the business and irritate employees, customers, vendors.
Likewise, start-ups and small businesses can ill afford to burn
through costly hiring mistakes and waste time resolving divisive
interpersonal conflicts although they have been reluctant to adopt
this best practice strategy of matching the right people to the
right jobs through career assessment tests, or personality tests.
About half of all small businesses fail within the first four years.
Many of these failures resemble one another in one crucial way –
hiring people with the right technical skills but ignoring or at
least overlooking the "soft" stuff - attitudes, mindsets
and motivators. Burt and Rick were no exception.
After two years working for a local bank, Burt and Rick began to
ask themselves if starting their own business wouldn't be the smart
thing to do. They both joined the bank's IT department about the
same time and immediately became best of friends. Each of them dreamed
about starting his own business but neither had the capital or know-how
to do it.
Then one day, they received an offer they just couldn't refuse.
A regional distribution company called Rick and told him they were
looking to outsource their web development and networking solutions.
"Do you know any local companies who might be interested?"
the company president asked. Rick immediately calls Burt about the
opportunity and together they decide this is the break they are
looking for. What a better way to start a business two best friends,
complementary skills, and a guaranteed contract for at least a year.
Sound familiar? It should. That is exactly how many businesses start.
Unfortunately it is also the formula for disaster.
Many small business owners learn too late that a "good"
personality match means much more than the touch-and-feely stuff
….and that personality tests constructed with the entrepreneur
in mind reveal a lot more than psycho-babble. It wasn't long before
Burt and Rick could have used a few online personality tests to
avoid or minimize their impending crisis.
What they first wrote off as just a bunch of silly little personality
quirks began to drive a wedge in their business partnership and
friendship.
For example, personality determines how people face the pace of
work…and deal with the stress of a faster or slower pace.
Rick thought Burt needed to get a life. Burt was always connected
to work. He tried to call Rick several times after midnight but
when Rick left work, he needed downtime and just checked out. Burt
lived on a few hours sleep each night and just like the Energizer
Bunny, just kept going and going and going. He thrived on deadlines
and juggling multiple projects. Rick laid awake nights worrying
about all the work he didn't get done yesterday and everything he
needed to do tomorrow. Burt thrived on this type of frenetic schedule.
It totally drained Rick.
Personality traits also affect how people evaluate risk, prioritize,
and make decisions. While both agreed they needed to hire their
first employee, the proverbial crap also hit the fan after the interviews.
Burt was a risk taker. Rick was not. The candidate favored by Burt
was "the best network guy around". He also demanded top
dollar. Burt viewed his candidate as an investment in the company's
future.
Rick agreed the candidate was superbly qualified but didn't understand
why they needed to guarantee an employee more money than Burt and
Rick were making themselves. Burt admired the candidate's drive
and determination. Rick thought he was arrogant and pushy.
Soon the grand plan began to unravel.
Burt and Rick could have avoided the hassle and stress of breaking
up a business (and saving a friendship, too) if they had only taken
a page from a few of the Best Places to Work: building a business
starts with finding a market, acquiring the cash, and building the
right team – the three legs of the start-up stool. Two out
of three don't work.
Just a few years ago, personality testing for small business owners
and entrepreneurs was not practical even if necessary. It was expensive
and time-consuming and frankly the organizational psychologists
didn't understand the entrepreneurial mindset. With the introduction
of the newest generation of personality tests and their availability
online, all the entrepreneur needs to do is click the mouse. Results
are easy, convenient, and real-time. Whether you are the solo entrepreneur
hiring your first employee or just two colleagues forming a partnership,
online personality tests are necessary tools in every start-up toolbox.
Learn more about Career
Assessment Tests here.
Our clients use CriteriaOne®, a comprehensive competency-based
selection and performance management system, to implement this plan.
Success Performance Solutions offers a three-day CriteriaOne train-the-trainer
program for human resource professionals, hiring managers, business
owners, and consultants. The next training is scheduled for November
3 - 5, 2004 in Lancaster PA. For more information, visit CriteriaOne
Train-the-Trainer.
2. Perfect
Labor Storm Alerts #256 to #260
Eventually there will be fewer unmarried or single heads of households
workers in the workforce than single workers. Is your company prepared
to offer benefits that fits these life styles?
Fact #256: Nearly 26 percent of Americans now live
alone.
(Source: U.S. Census Bureau)
Fact #257: Unmarried adults now head half of all
households.
(Source: U.S. Census Bureau)
Fact #258: Almost half of the nation's employees
are unmarried.
(Source: U.S. Census Bureau)
Fact #259: In 2000, 3.8 million couples were living
together.
(Source: U.S. Census Bureau)
Fact #260: 22 percent of children in the U.S. were
living with their mother only.
(Source: U.S. Census Bureau)
Do you sit on a program
committee for your local civic, business or professional association?
"The Perfect Labor Storm" is the perfect topic for meetings,
conferences and keynotes. Schedule Ira Wolfe today.
Find out what's ahead in employment trends and how it will affect
career opportunitues, education, quality of life issues and more.
Call 717.656.4632 for more information.
Listen
to The Perfect Labor Storm - live at the 2003 PA Chamber HR
Conference
Don't be caught in storm
without all the facts. "The
Perfect Labor Storm Fact Book: Why Worker Shortages Won't Go Away"
is a must-read leading edge forecast that predicts workforce trends
for decades to come. Order your copy today - $7.95 includes no shipping
costs for limited time only.
3.
Tips You Can Use
CriteriaOne®
Train-the-Trainer: Competency
Identification and Performance Management
Special Fee for The Total View readers - register before October
1, 2004 and save an additional $200 off the early registration fee
of $1095. After October 1, registration fee is $1595.
Become a certified CriteriaOne consultant. Learn to identify competencies,
complete a job analysis and interpret behavioral, values and personality
assessments. The next Train-the-Trainer will be held from November
3 -5, 2004 in Lancaster PA. Register early and save $500 and
bring a 2nd person at no additional cost. Register
online or call 717.656.4632.
Introducing
CoachView Assessment
The CoachView Assessment provides managers and coaches
with an accurate, valid and reliable assessment tool that is superior
to current assessment products in the marketplace.
The CoachView program
is simple to use. It is web-based and provides a personalized
report for the individual and the manager/coach, including coaching
tips. The ICES Plus Assessment is the cornerstone of a number
of established and respected employment and vocational assessments
including the TotalView Assessment System. Those products have been
used to assess more than one million people in North America alone.
To view a sample CoachView Manager/Coach
and Client report,
click here.
4. "Required"
Readings
"Understanding Business Values and Motivators" takes
the bucket analogy one step better. Employees have a choice
of buckets, six of them as a matter of fact. Over a life time,
people value two of them more than the others. To recognize
and praise employees in areas they value, managers must know which
buckets the employee is carrying. In this book, Ira Wolfe
describes the six personal motivators with easy to read stories
and analogies that any manager or business owner can understand
and apply immediately.
Managing
the Generation Mix: From Collision to Collaboration.
No doubt about it: The newest diversity issue in the workplace is
age diversity. Many organizations have finally figured out how to
recruit young talent only to watch them drive down a collision course
with seasoned employees over issues like work ethic, respect for
authority, dress code and every work arrangement imaginable. And
they're not sure what to do about it.
Managing Generation Y: Global Citizens Born in the Late Seventies
and Early Eighties. Here they come: the fourteenth
generation of Americans. Self-confident and optimistic. Independent
and goal-oriented. Masters of the Internet and PC. They're
blunt. They're savvy. They're contradictory. They're the children
of Baby Boomers and the upbeat younger siblings of Gen X.
5. Recommended
Websites
Whether you are a bored, burned out baby boomer, a recent
grad in search of your first job, or a manager looking for reliable
tools to identify your next superstar..........CriteriaOne DISC,
Business Values and Motivators, TotalView Assessments, and CoachView
are perfect solutions. Learn more at Career
Assessment Tests.
A solution offered by many economists, futurists and consultants
to reduce shortages of skilled workers is to retain older workers
longer. The participation of a large proportion of people over 65
in the workforce assumes that most will be healthy enough to coninue
working. But the United States has the lowest healthy life expectancy
among industrialized nations. To read more, go to Stress
Out At Work.
6. Take
the Age Test
1. Name the four Beatles.
2. Finish the line: "Lions
and Tigers and Bears, ____ ____!"
3. Hey Kids, what time is it? 4. What do M & M's do?
5. What helps build strong
bodies 12 ways?
6. Long before he was Mohammed Ali, we
knew him as ________ _____. 7. You'll wonder where the
yellow went, ______ ____ _______ ______ ______ ____ ____________.
8. Before his role as Skipper's
little buddy, we knew Bob Denver as Dobie's best friend __________
__ _______.
9. Brylcream, _____ _____ _____ ___ ___.
10. Bob Dylan advised us
to never trust anyone over __.
Click
here for Answers to the Age Test.
No doubt about it.
The newest diversity issue in the workplace is age diversity. Many
organizations have finally figured out how to recruit young talent
only to watch them drive down a collision course with seasoned employees
over issues like work ethic, respect for authority, dress code and
every work arrangement imaginable. To learn what you can do about
dealing with Generational Conflicts, see "Managing
the Generation Mix" above.
7. Over 250
Supervisors Have Attended Managing to Excel Workshops
Ever since Success Performance
Solutions introduced Managing to Excel in 2002, Central PA supervisors
and managers have been learning and developing proficiency in the
twelve competencies that highly effective managers and supervisors
have that average performers don't.
To read more about Managing
to Excel, visit Managing to Excel - Management
Competency Workshops.
Managing to Excel is also
available for purchase by in-house trainers and human resource professionals.
The per participant cost per program is as low as $20!
8.
Fall 2004 Workshop and Speaking Schedule
Just announced! Ira will be a presenter at the 2005 International
Builders Show in Orlando, FL at the end of January. Watch for more
details.
October 4, 2004 - Columbia/Donegal/Elizabethtown
Consortium - The Perfect Labor Storm
October 5, 2004 - How
To Hire The Right People – Even On A Limited Budget:
Hiring Solutions
For Non-Profits and Service Agencies; The Hampton Inn - Greenfield
Corporate Center, 8 AM to Noon, Only $97.
November 3 - 5, 2004 -
The Most Reliable Hiring and Performance Management System Ever
Used - CriteriaOne Train-the-Trainer.
Competency ID, 3 Personality Assessments, Behavioral Interviewing
and more.
9. You don't
need a huge budget and staff to hire the best employees
Eliminate The Hassles and Headaches Associated With Screening Candidate
with Total APS.
The Total Applicant Processing System enables the small and medium
sized employer to do online recruiting and screen applicants with
customizable and scorable filtering questions with a click of the
mouse.
Use Total APS to recruit
and screen applicants for your next job opening.
10. Wondering
if you have the right people on your team?
Everyone wants to build the High
Motivation Employee Team. Do it with team building activities
packaged exclusively for small businesses and home businesses.
Contact Information:
Success Performance Solutions 2481 New Holland Pike, Suite 2, Lancaster,
PA 17601
email: tv@super-solutions.com
voice: 717.656.4632
web: http://www.super-solutions.com
To learn more about Success Performance Solutions or read back issues
of The Total View, stop by our website at www.super-solutions.com.
Order your personal copy of Understanding
Business Values and Motivators.
Order your personal copy of The
Perfect Labor Storm
Ira S. Wolfe. 2004 - All Rights Reserved. Reprints and other distribution
by permission only.
Syndication available
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