Stop making problems biggger than they have to be. As we work our way out of this economic wiredness, we are watching the complexity of the economy and organizations play out. Who knew it was all connected? Yikes.
Keep it simple as we fix it. As I work with applicant tracking and assessments, I find that the processes that fail are the ones that are too complex and/or don't have a dose of common sense. It is human nature to try to fix a problem by making lots of little changes and building in checks and balances that get very complex over time. As the layers pile up, there is a tendency for the system to fail in new and more clever ways. I am reminded of this by NASA. It is very difficult to get a rocket into space, and the simpler ones have a better history than the fancy, gizmo-laden space shuttle.
Here is proof...
www.youtube.com/watch
True story - when NASA first started sending up astronauts, they quickly discovered that ballpoint pens would not work in zero gravity. To combat the problem, NASA scientists spent a decade to develop a pen that writes in zero gravity, upside down, underwater, on almost any surface.
The Russians used a pencil. The human resources software that I install is often not as complex (or costly) as the huge enterprise sytems that are out there. But, as we know, simple is good...
Change is the mother of invention. In my work on changing how HR Services are delivered and how assessments are used, I have found some secret methods for making change happen.
There are a lot of self-help books out there with all sorts of advice, and more motivational speakers with messages of treating each other nice and getting things done. I have a better idea.
Move your office. All of it. Get some boxes, and take all of the stuff that is in your desk and on your desk and so on and get busy. Mark the "keep" and "pitch" boxes and start sorting. If you don't have a different space to move to, just haul everything out into the hall and only move back in that which is useful.
Do the same with your processes. Find ways to simplify, find ways to use technology better, and even find ways to stop doing things altogether if they are not aligned with your strategic goals. This, in a real sense, is how you apply Lean Theory to HR, and make Lean HR. Eliminate Waste, and rethink the processes at the core of your work.
By taking all of the flotsam and jetsam of your office and sifting through it, boxes and boxes of waste will be generated. This is good - you will be amazed at how liberating it feels to have a new, clean focus. Now, do the same with your Human Capital Management processes. All of the talent management ideas, all of the job fit efforts, everything.
If you need some help after you get everything out in the hall - give me a call. I'm happy to be that ruthless, objective friend that can help clean out the closets...and, also, I have just moved my office, so I'm an expert.
My question is this: if you could change one part of the hiring process, what would it be?
I knew she was going to make the top 5. I just knew it. The selection of a Hoosier as Miss America came a surprise to many, but I was an early predictor. With all of the work I do in assessments and applicant tracking, I have a more than passing acquaintance with how to pick a winner.
The importance is gaining family bragging rights. I have a daughter and sister-in-law that are big into watching the pageants and guessing the outcomes, and I have gained quite a bit of street credibility in the family by doing very well at their game. The rules are simple - at the start of the telecast, all contestants make a brief statement and wave. At the end of this, each family member text messages the others their top choices, and these are compared to the top 5 and, of course, the winner. No formal scoring is done, but bragging rights are big around here.
So I take this seriously, and use my Human Resources and Selection skills for an important purpose. Since I can't use recruiting software and get each applicant to fill out assessments, I work with what I have. I pay attention to the last few winners, and project from that what the "job fit" issues are. What is important? Athleticism? Volunteerism? Diversity? I listen to the interviews and promotions leading up to the event, and try to figure out the "job fit" model that the judges will be working toward.
The big clue was a news story on how the contestants were a more toned and athletic group than previous years. I saw this as a message that the swimsuit portion of the contest would have more importance than the evening gown or the talent portions. I then noted in a press release that the winner of the preliminary swimsuit competition, announced a week early, was Miss Indiana. Hmmm.
So we popped a bowl of popcorn, and I entered my choices early - Indiana, Hawaii and Tennessee. While I was lukewarm about her chances after the evening gown moment (Looked like a tablecloth to me) and the talent portion (OK but classical music is often lost on younger judges) I was proud of the selection. Happy that Indiana finally got out of the "never won" column, and even happier that my ability to predict job fit has a payoff in bragging rights within my family.
The pageant has updated the selection process to include 10 choices from viewers, with an on line survey. I propose that next year they have all contestants fill out a thorough application form using applicant tracking software, and have the results on-line for all to see. Then I can really make some predictions based on solid data. In HR, that's what we need these days...
In two days, we swear in a new president. The top job of our complex economy. The selection process, while flawed, has taken two hundred years (and more) of democratic rule and has emerged relatively unchanged. While we are lucky to have a culture that allows a governmental change that is smooth, we could be doing a better job. May I make a few suggestions?
Why not use pre-employment testing on the candidates? Give each one a simulation of a day in the oval office, and treat it like a reality show. The apprentice, without The Donald. Use some career personality tests and share the results with the voting public. THAT would be a good use of technology.
In short, if talent management and job fit and assessment are good enough to run organizations, why not use it for our government?
I wish you could have been with me at the store last night. I was picking up some essentials for dinner and making a dash in a hurry. With the grey skies and grey parking lots and foggy complexions of my fellow shoppers, I was a grouchy as I shopped. That ended when I hit checkout.
"How are you?" A simple question - but with the power and inflection behind it, I stopped and told the clerk the truth.
I'm cranky.
She made strong eye contact and said "You are choosing your mood. Everyone here is choosing to be cheerful, and you should join us."
Really. I looked around and she was right - there was perkiness and a happy vibe everywhere. It was in the air. I was irritated because I don't get grouchy often and I kind of enjoy it when I do. My irritation at the world was falling away. Grr. Hm. Hah.
Then I went into HR mode, trying to figure out how they did it. Did they use career personality tests? Did they interview for job fit? Did they train their managers in Employee Engagement techniques?
I sought out the manager and asked how he staffed. "I make sure my best people bring their friends in for an interview. That, and we subscribe to fish philosophy, where we encourage fun and "being in the moment". If we do that, the success of the store will follow."
Well said. If the store's customer service levels are important, then a happy shopping experience will surely follow...
I watched the opening show of the current Bachelor season last night. I enjoy the show - it is all about assessments. The cast of characters is following predictable patterns, and I can look at the statistics of past seasons to predict the outcome.
Season 1: Alex Michel selected Amanda Marsh. They
broke up after several months. Season 2: Aaron Buerge selected Helene Eksterowicz . They broke up after several months. Season 3:
Andrew Firestone selected Jen Schefft They
broke up in December 2003. Season 4: Bob Guiney Selected Estella Gardinier.
They broke up after the show aired. Season 5:Jesse Palmer selected Jessica Bowlin. They broke up
after several months. Season 6: Byron Velvick selected Mary Delgado. She was recently arrested for assaulting him. They claim the wedding is still on. I'll bet they don't...Season 7? Yep, they broke up. And so on.
They should apply what I am very passionate about - good talent management processes and pre-hire assessments - to the craft of making good decisions. Might not make good television, but would make better matches. Job fit has a lot in common with dating, don't you think?
I will be watching the current season, with some amusement...
Your organization's survival hinges on keeping your top performers.
Whether you are selecting the team that will remain or hiring for growth or attrition, if you have a group of top performers and you add anything but a top performer to join their group, bad things happen. Within days, if not hours, everyone understands their level of performance. The top producers then compare their compensation package and output with the new arrival, and are upset. Ask top producers how they feel in a situation like this, they will say “insulted, angry, and that they are hoping for management to step in and correct the error.” If nothing is done, the top producers know that, even in tough economic times they can be quickly reemployed, and they leave.
Simply put, to not focus on top producers results in a retention problem of the worst kind - the average producers stay. The poor producers stay. The superior producers find places where they are welcome. This kind of retention problem may not show up on normal retention statistics, because many organizations do not have a performance management system that allows tracking of the retention of superior producers. As top producers are less than 20 percent of the overall organization, high turnover in their segment may not show up as an alarm in the overall retention numbers.
What can be done? Manage the talent pipeline as if your organization's life depended on it. Use assessments, applicant tracking, and talent management to keep your organization's efficiency high, and getting higher.
Well, the whole issue of the different generations has just shifted. As I have presented over the last 5 years, I have predicted that all of the boomers would retire within months of each other when the stock market climbed above some arbitrary point - my guess was 13,500 on the Dow.
Well, with the economic meltdown, all bets are off. Talking with several senior HR people today (all of whom were boomers) they both report that retirements are certainly off for their "on the cusp" employees, who have watched their 401k plans divide by half. That means that all of the generational issues we have been watching are suddenly becoming bigger, with cranky boomers who wanted to retire rubbing up against Gen X'ers who are hoping that the boomer's retirement would create some promotion and growth opportunities. Space to grow? Not so much.
In all of this, HR is an important tool. If you can, build HR Services that use assessments and career personality tests to predict job fit and succession planning. Recognize that the generations see the economic meltdown differently, as seen in
this news story.
We've all got to get along, and good talent management will go a long way...
So there I was, driving to work in the early dawn and thinking about applicant tracking or assessments or something. As the sun rose, the sky lit the clouds from below and filled my windshield with a carpet of orange and salmon clouds, a backdrop for the street signs and landing airplanes and all the normal interstate claptrap.
Moving with the morning rush hour, I fished the camera out of the back seat, rolled down the window and used one hand to wave my camera in the (cold) wind and fired off a dozen shots. I always have my camera with me, and so I thought nothing of it.
An hour ago, I was on the phone with a client. We had just set up a new assessment system that will help them screen for job fit, and I was checking in. After we had done our business, he asked if I had seen the sunrise this morning.
"Why, yes."
He said he was very frustrated. He felt it was one of the more beautiful ones he had seen, and that he had pulled off the interstate, gotten out of his car, and thought he had taken a photo of it to remember it by. He had just tried to show the photo to his staff, and the cell phone had not worked. Grr.
I smiled. "Would you like me to email some of mine?"
I could tell it made his day.
As HR professionals, we are always expected to anticipate needs and have everything that our staffs and employees and bosses want. It always feels good to have exactly what a client wants, when they want it - be they internal clients or external. Even if it's just a photo of a sunrise.
In these stressful economic times, good customer service and high performance is everything. Enjoy the pictures. Maybe it's what you need right now...
We have some fresh data about the ethics of the youngest workers just entering our organizations - and the data isn't good. Josephson Institute's 2008 Report Card on the Ethics
of American Youth is based on a survey of 29,760 students in high
schools across the U.S. The results paint a troubling picture of our
future employees and reinforce the need for better employment screening.
In bad news for business, more than one in three boys (35 percent) and
one-fourth of the girls (26 percent) — a total of 30 percent overall —
admitted
stealing from a store within the past year. this is up significantly from only 2 years ago - in 2006 the overall theft rate was 28 percent (32 percent males, 23 percent females).
Read the entire report
here.
The survey results were just released yesterday, and the question remains if the drop in personal ethics comes from increased pressures on people, or from apathy about ethical standards. Whatever the cause, it waves the warning flag for employers that better screening methods are a must, especially for any position that handles cash or merchandise that is easily taken.
Additionally, the inreasing economic pressure from the downturn will be applying more pressure, not less. I recommend a mix of pre-hire assessments, applicant tracking, and a strong fucus on job fit - all a part of a good talent acquisition system.
Heads up!
The distractions of the stock market are keeping the headlines off of the real news - the unemployment rates. As the ranks of job seekers swell, the arms race of polishing resumes and practicing interview questions is on. Think you have a good screening method? think you can compare resumes and get an "apples to apples" comparison? Think you have "radar" that is good at picking up false answers? Think again.
There are some great resources on the applicant's side. On-line research about your industry in general and you, the employer, in specific. Software to craft a very impressive resume. Videos and podcasts to guide the "soft skills" part of the interview. All of this produces a predictable result - erratic job fit and poor job performance.
Want to see what the applicants are using? Try
this link for some interview advice. Try
this link to review a blog that is intended to help applicants get by your pre-employment testing. Or even read
this website that is intended to help applicants fool drug testing.
My point is simple. As the employment pressure climbs, raise your standards and get pre-employment assessments into the mix. As applicants are preparing their answers, you should be preparing your questions...and building them into your talent management system.
Culture is more than the behavior of the
individual. It depends on the interaction of people - in pairs, small groups and
through the entire organization.
Talent management is a two-way street. A savvy organization wants to identify and keep
the people who will be high performers and make a difference.
High performing employees work for the
challenge, the personal development, and the “stretch assignment”.
Both parties can win at this game...
...or lose. What would it be like if employees told the truth? Click here for a very cynical (if funny) scene from Office Space.
Employees who are more engaged are less likely to leave when
things get tough. Their persistence translates into positive effects on the
bottom line. Today’s workforce, particularly high performers, want their work
to resonate with their core self, their reason for being. Imagine the increased contribution from
a passionate staff whose roles are aligned to their core interests and
capabilities, engaged to contribute their full measure. It forms the infrastructure of the
organization’s culture. Its strength is the organization’s strength.
This - the impact of passionate people doing good work - is the reason I'm so passionate about increasing the standards in hiring, in using applicant tracking and assessment software, and in implementing good talent management tactics. Care to join?
Every now and then, it's fun to look at a policy that really "puts it out there." This one amuses me...
Click here for a video from the Harvard Business re: paying people to leave.
My only issue - why not have Zappos raise their hiring standards and spend the money on assessments or applicant tracking software that includes screening questions aimed at job fit, instead of this policy?
Is it just me, or is this ironic? A cell phone photo from a client office....
Have you ever seen a room of high quality, desperate people, all trying to fool applicant tracking systems and pre employment assessment? I did - I was recently asked to present to a local job search group, so I was the expert from HR.
It is always interesting to get a view from the other side of the desk...especially if you interview applicants in these modern times. I was impressed with how much they knew of two things - the power of the internet to find out A LOT about the organizations that they were interviewing with, and that current trends in interviewing questions were favoring a lot of behavioral questions. Therefore, they were well-rehearsed in their answers to any interview questions that began with "Give me an example of a time when..."
They are using new tools to outflank you - try this link -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYqI0mAp2AY
Straightforward advice, right? Generic, right?
Well, they have done specific training videos for most positions. Here is one for pharmaceutical sales representative -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qR-IhZJOq3U
When I say that the "arms race" is on for the upper hand in hiring, these are the tools that I see applicants using. Savvy organizations are moving to screening methods that are not as easily fooled - Applicant tracking software aimed at producing job fit, employee assessments used as a part of hiring, and good human capital management policies are the best weapons...
Just presented to a conference of CPAs, and they had already noticed that the volume of applicants is up with the downturn in the economy, and that the number of exaggerations and falsehoods on their resumes is up. Way up.
Just a quick reminder on two things -
1. People who want a job very badly are willing to shift their personal ethics to get past the gatekeepers, and
2. You have to do a more complete screening job on the people that are coming in to your organization. Resumes and a half-hearted background check are not working very well any more. Move to a more aggressive application form, valid pre-hire assessments and a focus on job fit.
This is where the whole talent acquisition process becomes your friend...
Is anyone else noticing the increase in taking liberties with the truth?
A thought for our election...
My remarks a week or so ago about the election just being a hiring process with some strange public interviews proved to be true. In the last few days, both national and local candidates were using the same logic - "Hire me, and I'll work for you..."
I have lived in other countries and cultures, and find that our electoral process, while somewhat flawed and quirky, works better than most of the other models out there. Of couse, I would add some good applicant management software and some assessments, but the basics appear to be sound. No matter your thoughts on the outcome, we should all applaud that the system works.
I was feeling very patriotic as I walked to the polls, and was pleased to take this photo of a flag hung near the Noblesville courthouse: Enjoy.
I wish you could have been there yesterday - I was finishing a meeting with the CFO of an organization that is struggling in the current economic downturn. As we parted, he shook my hand and made strong eye contact and said "I'm concerned about the economy, but not overly worried about us. We're going to make it because of our people."
Hm. This, from a CFO. I had come to make a sales call offering assessments and applicant tracking and hiring process improvements, and had thought that it would take some persuading for him to "get it." It didn't take any. He already understood. "Our strength is our people. We have to be very careful with who we hire or our team will not be as strong."
A quick summary - his organization is doing four basic things right:
* Automated online application with values-based screening questions. They get good information early in the process.
* Assessments that predict whether candidates are "hard wired" in a way that fits the job and culture.
* Job interviews in which candidates are asked to describe specific examples of their skills
* Simulations that gauge specific job-related abilities
The current news of layoffs may be creating the illusion that it will be easier to hire good people, but that's a mistake. It may be easier to get a mound of resumes, but it will just make it more difficult to find the right people for the right job. That's where good talent management comes in...
Want more solid HR insights from CFOs? I have found a wonderful (free) resource that is worth sharing. CFO Magazine has an excellent web site
(click here - CFO.com) with a summary of their HR articles
(click here). Enjoy!
So there I was, watching the presidential debate and munching popcorn and it struck me - this election is nothing but a very public (and drawn out) old-fashioned hiring process. We're forcing candidates through a stressful obstacle course, examining their values, asking behavioral questions, and making a group decision on the management team for the next four years.
Clearly, the process could use some help. How about applying some "next step" Human Resource Planning and Talent Acquisition and Lean HR ideas....
We could get better results if..
- We could use valid pre-hire assessment tools to match the candidates to a benchmark of the ideal president. Build the benchmark by going through past living Presidents and testing them (only the high performers, of course) and adding benchmark data from business and military leaders that would make a powerful standard for employment. Colin Powell. Herb Kelleher of Southwest. Gordon Bethune of Continental. Use the Profile XT - it has a distortion score so we can tell if they're being candid. Perhaps that would eliminate most of the candidates right there...
- Develop a standard application form that asks the questions that make a real difference up front, and have the candidates fill it out when they file their candidacy. Make them available online or email a copy to every citizen, and we could do an apples-to-apples comparison. Make the questions required.
My proposed questions -
What is the best job you ever had? Why?
What makes a great leader? What prevents you from achieving that standard?
How do you handle stress?
And, of course,
If elected, what can we do to help the Chicago Cubs win a World Series?
Okay, maybe a more reasonable question would be about peace in our time.
Your thoughts? What would your questions be on a Presidential application form?
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