Okay, bear with me as this story takes some imagination and introspection.
Over the course of the last days watching the snow come down, working from my home office because it was too difficult to drive to the office, I was struck with the thought of how satisfied one can be when their job fits what is important to them.
What really is job fit? Some of us are fortunate enough to have experienced it. Some say it is when your job truly aligns with your core values. While that is true it may be hard for us to grasp that concept. More specifically I think it is when the requirements of the job and the core values of the company align with your skills and values. This seems to make sense and most of us agree with this statement.
However, during the interviewing and hiring process it seems to be that neither the company or the candidate spend enough energy on making sure it is there. For the most part companies get very tied up in skills and work experience and than wonder why the employee fails. At the same time the candidate is trying to land the job and does not do their homework either.
When job fit exists, employers end up with engaged employees who are loyal, like what they do and enjoy their chosen occupation; it not just a job. Everyone can tell the difference especially the customers.
In my next blog I will discuss how this can be accomplished by using applicant tracking software and employee assessments to gain more knowledge much sooner in the process.
"The single most important thing to remember about any enterprise is that
there are no results inside its walls. The result of a business is a satisfied customer."
Peter Drucker
Exact Hire's philosophy about customer service :
C are
U nderstand
S erving the customer need
T ell employees what you expect
O wnership; expect your employees to act like owners
M entor employees
E mployees well trained deliver great service
R espect all
S o they come back, do it well!
E ager and enthusiastic assistance
R esults reaped will relate to service given
V iew the situation from customer's point of view
I ncorporate best practices
C onfidence in all you do
E ffectiveness results in Elated Customers!
What could core values have to do with anchoring a company during tough times? A lot!!
These values are the principles, the beliefs that help guide decisions, actions and behaviors for all your employees. Your core values define and distinguish you and your company....your inner foundation. When you take actions, they align with your core values. Sound important now?!!
We recently pulled together all the team members of our company to extract and identify our "core values". The exercise called for introspection, clarity, honesty and vision. This process MUST be free of coercion by management. The facilitating and brainstorming brought forth a list to fill an entire wall! From those, the group chiseled down and identified seven values we held highest both personally and professionally.
EXACT HIRE CORE VALUES:
Integrity
Fun
Create Value for Customers
Respect Others
Never Give Up
Give Back, and
Financial Success
This introspective blueprint is pulled out either in mind or in words each time management and employees make a decision. It drives the soul of a company. It differentiates you from the herd. It is a beacon for each employee's decisions both internally and externally. Your core values will bring clarity and abundance to your employees and in turn, to the company.
Stay positive, stay focused....DEVELOP YOUR CORE VALUES NOW!!
Definition of Core Values: Operating philosophies or
principles that guide an organization's internal
conduct as well as its
relationship with the external world.
You think you are too young or too small to need and establish core values? Think again! Bring your core values to life. This is a valuable process needed for your company's strong cultural foundation. Strong culture leads to superior performance, higher employee retention and a better aligned organization.
A strong organization driven by core values sets a benchmark to lead people, gives a foundation to make tough decisions, and will bring simplicity and clarity to the "people" side of the company.
There is nothing magical about these concepts. You know that your company's core values are taking hold when you hear your employees restating and using them in their daily interactions.
It is the discipline of execution that distinguishes great companies. This is about building an organization that has purpose, focus and alignment, that lives its values every day and that creates an environment that allows employees to grow and to produce superior results.
This core ideology - our vision, purpose and values - is the heart and soul of ExactHire. We believe that adhering to this core ideology will help us become a strong, sustainable organization - a leader in an evolving business world.
Your core values will be used in talent acquisition, performance management, employee assessments, interviewing, orientations and human resource planning.
Keep in mind: The key is not what core values an organization has, but that is has core values at all!
"There is something rare, something finer far, something much more scarce than ability. It's the ability to recognize ability."
Writer Elbert Hubbard penned those words to live by many years ago, but they still have legs today. Consider organizations facing tough business decisions. They need the most competent people they can find to help them survive. It is all about "the ability to recognize ability," and what to do about it once you discern it.
It is important to ask every worker to give his or her all on the job. That means all of their creativity, innovation, inspiration and energy. Of course asking them to give 150 percent every day comes after finding, developing and retaining the people who can roll with the bumps. One crucial piece of advice is to count your blessings if you are not operating under a hiring freeze. But don't stop with hiring well!
In our next blog will supply suggestions on applicant tracking, employee assessments, how to survive tough times with lean HR, Pre Employment testing and applying best practices in talent acquisition.
In today’s economy, surviving the storm has become an organization’s main priority. The uncertainty that makes quick changes necessary means organizations must rely on their well-trained employees to carry them through. Strong workers who come to work each day with enthusiasm, focus and creativity make for trusty copilots during times of economic turbulence. They can help navigate above, below or around obstacles while offering solutions that no one else has thought of to help calm everyone aboard.
Remember, nothing is more crucial than hiring competent people and helping them develop the skills necessary to help pilot the plane. Making sure your employees have the talent, skill and knowledge to make it through the storm is more important than ever.
As I listen to the automated voice outlining my customer service options (I think she was on number 8, so I had plenty of time to contemplate), I ponder business articles I’ve studied with advice on customer service being the key to distinguish your business as one of the best. Success = Profit. Okay, then why do we so often find ourselves trapped on the phone with a telephone tree more often than not?
If you would ask these companies why they do customer service this way, they would probably tell you the reason is cost savings. But, how do they assess the losses from customers leaving their company and going to a competitor because of the personal one-on-one service they get from the competitor?
Consider this—if your customer is welcomed and supported by an engaged, committed customer service representative who makes that customer feel a part of the “family,” it just makes sense that a new customer becomes a loyal customer.
Now, you know a great customer service representative when they serve you. BUT, how do we define those successful traits and bring them through the hiring process for a perfect job fit? Good news! Through preemployment testing, applicant management, human resource planning, successful talent acquisition can be achieved through thought-provoking pre-interview questions created through Pre Employment testing. Thus, change the nature of your hiring process! How do you do this? ExactHire can teach you how to do this. Now that’s cost savings!
My final employee engagement recommendations revolve around creating employee satisfaction, by creating a future and perfect job fit. Human resource planning should include the following steps.
FIFTH: Make your on-boarding process of new employees unique. Your goal should be to have the employee go home at the end of the first day and tell those closest to them that their first day with your company was the best first day they ever had. There are many ways to make your employee engagement special.
SIXTH: Develop a mentoring process in your company to make sure your new employee is immersed into your company as efficiently as possible. This is especially important when you consider the generational diversity we are all facing in the workplace and the timeline that younger employees use to judge whether they have made the right decision.
SEVENTH: Communicate the career path options that employees have and be clear as to the expectations you have for them to be considered for these other assignments.
EIGHTH: Talent management also involves employees in decision making and open communication with them. The more knowledge they have, the more they can offer your company. The more they feel part of the company and the process the better the results they’ll produce.
LAST: Warehouse the candidate data and new employee information you have obtained in a secure website. This allows you to develop analytics, feedback loops and meaningful metrics. Then evaluate your processes for higher performance payback. This will help as you search for new candidates as well as manage those you have hired. This information can also be used to show candidates that you understand how to manage the human capital component of your business.
I do not have to tell you that the competition for top talent is getting more intense. Furthermore, we all are noticing that the younger generations entering the workforce are not as patient as the baby boomers that are retiring. As business owners, we do not have as long to "get it right". The generation X and Y employees are quicker to judge and to correct a decision they feel is not a good fit for them.
By implementing these processes, you can leapfrog your company right over best practices to NEXT PRACTICES. You will improve how your organization manages talent acquisition and develops human capital; the capital that delivers the world class customer service that truly differentiates your company from the rest.
Because as I always say "it's all about people"!!
As business owners and managers, why do we allow the job candidates to decide the resume format and the actual information shared? This is inefficient for our companies and results in unqualified people walking in your office door! No where else in our company do we allow an outside source to have this much impact on such an important area of our company, human capital.
The reason we must focus more time on the hiring cycle and talent management is it is nearly impossible to force or train someone to fit your culture or have job fit AFTER you hire them. They either are a good match/fit or not. Simply stated, if they are not a good match, no amount of training or intervention will make it work.
This is a very fundamental skill, yet most companies are inadequate when it comes to the amount of time they spend in the interviewing and selection process. Many companies still do not use employee assessments to help in this area. The basic screening, selection, and applicant management parts of the hiring process has been unchanged for decades!! While all of us have heard this complaint, what have YOU done in your own organizations to change it?
Let’s look at the hiring process from a fresh perspective! The process is, at best, complicated. In fact, the most expensive time we spend with candidates is in the job interview; which is usually of short duration. In fact, I liken the interview to dating. In an hour or so of interviewing (dating in my terms) you are going to determine if you want to hire the person (get married in my terms). Does this make any sense? I contend it does not. In fact, I think we should change the process to get much more information earlier in the process. This allows employers to really understand who we are talking to and highlight areas of focus. How is this done? I will start to discuss and explain in my next blog!
As business owners, we ALL worry about having enough capital to run our businesses. Most of us immediately think of financial capital. Without cash, we are out of business. However, I suggest that the most important capital we contend with is the human capital of business!
Why “Human Capital”?
It is clearly the most complicated component is talent acquisition and talent management. In fact, once our companies grow and we solve the cash situation, the people factor remains. Furthermore, it’s the human capital part of our businesses which interacts with our customers on a daily basis. What is more important than that?!
.
Jim Collins in his book “Good To Great” stated companies having the best culture and most engaged employees have the highest market value. These two factors almost always result in higher profits and fewer headaches in running our businesses.
I have always believed the following when it comes to running companies:
If I want HIGHER SALES and PROFITS, what will differentiate my company from my competitors will be:
• UNFORGETTABLE CUSTOMER SERVICE: the type that customers talk about and benchmark their other vendors against!
o This type of service is delivered by…ENGAGED EMPLOYEES who deliver SUPERIOR JOB PERFORMANCE.
o Remember that how you treat employees is how they will treat your customers. It is a simple rule that works.
o Therefore, you need to make sure employees FIT THE JOB and the CULTURE of your company. Most of us do not spend enough time in this area. This should happen during the hiring cycle.
Next week, I’m going to talk to you about the hiring cycle and what is involved in human resource planning so………..stay tuned!
.JPG "Harlan Schafir")
Harlan is sharply driven by his philosophy that the PEOPLE part of our business is the critical factor in separating our organizations from the competition. Whether you are talking about customer service, innovation, company growth or profitability...it is PEOPLE that drive it! To be successful, it takes the best PEOPLE and those individuals are attracted to and stay with companies with the best jobfit and culture. Harlan has proven through the years that he understands how to create organizations with "World Class Culture".
Prior to founding ExactHire, Harlan founded Professional Staff Management, a PEO and HR solutions company that he sold in 2003. Harlan is a long time, respected expert in the field of HR.
Harlan's expertise in HR Services, Personnel&Talent Management and Employee Assessments can help lead your organization to the "next" practices needed to out perform the competition.
Powered by Compendium