Do employers really know the person that they are hiring? Have they done multiple interviews, and thorough reference checks; have they searched Facebook and other sources to find out information regarding potential hires -- in other words have they done their "due diligence" regarding their new hire? For most employers I believe the answer is no. Yet that is one of the most important questions that employers need to answer -- who am I hiring.
When hiring an employee, managers and hopefully a well trained human resources staff person will be fully vetting a potential hire. They will be establishing that the person has the abilities, traits, values, interests and motivations to do the job. In addition, they will also be assessing if the person has the knowledge, skills and experience to do the work that is required.
It is easier to develop skill sets in employees than it is to change their behavior. By the time a person arrives at a prospective employer's door step, they have an established personality and behavior pattern. Even though the candidate may have the requisite skill sets, if they have behavior problems, the manager and the organization will be in for a very bumpy ride. That is why doing a through review of an prospective employee is so essential.
Multiple interviews are strongly advised. All well run companies, like Google, mandate at least three or four hiring interviews. The employer needs to get a good "read" on the person to try and determine something about the person -- are they telling the truth; are they honest; basically trying to determine the character of the candidate. According to Michael Gladwell in his book "Blink", it is possible to determine a lot about a person in only 30 seconds -- in the blink of the eye -- if one understands what they are seeing and can spot inconsistencies. FBI profilers and psychologists believe that individuals can be trained to read others and they also believe that a certain percentage of individuals have the innate ability to read others.
Studies show that only 8 percent of verbal communication is the actual words that are spoken. The other 92 percent is the body language-- including eye contract, diverted eyes, blinking eyes, and differences in tone and intonation. That is why it is so important to have the "elevator talk" with the candidate about nothing special first, which then leads up to more specific questions. If interviewers are comfortable then subsequent interviews are scheduled hopefully with a variety of others. That way it can be determined that the behavior, including words and actions are consistent throughout all interviews.
If HR and managers are satisfied, then references need to be checked (perhaps to include a background check). If former employers pause while answering a reference question regarding a former employee, it is important for the person asking the questions to acknowledge the pause and ask what is causing them to pause. It is not enough to just ask rote questions and assign a score of between 1-10. Probative questions and descriptive words are necessary.
While this process is not accomplished in the blink of an eye, it usually leads to employers making good hiring decisions -- they feel fairly certain that they know who they are bringing in to their workplace. They are Hiring Hard, and Managing Easy.
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
#32 How to Build an Organization
When a new organization is being conceptualized, either an individual or individuals have to decide how it is going to be structured. They must consider all of the functions that are necessary to make the organization viable. Then they have to decide how to structure each of of those functions (departments).
Decision makers would need to decide what kind of organization they want -- one that operates as a hierarchical top down, command and control organization or a more egalitarian organization -- where all employees can tribute. They then need to determine a proposed budget for the organization including overhead and the cost of personnel. In most governmental institutions the personnel cost, along with benefits and other worker's compensation costs, is usually the largest percentage of their budget.
With that in mind, leaders need to decide what kind of expertise is needed to perform various functions within the defined departments. They also need to know about the labor market in their geographical area in order to determine what a fair salary would be for an employee with the requisite knowledge, skills and abilities.
Oftentimes if the "word on the street" is that the organization has a open, entrepreneurial approach to managing employees the "best and the brightest" will want to join the team. That is a big help in recruiting, but in any case a plan for recruiting needs to be formulated in order to attract the best talent for the money. Hiring the right employees can be one of the biggest problems that organizations face. They can make very hasty decisions, based on some very wrong assumptions. Time after time, I have seen that happen. When it does they instantly call human resources and want human resources to fix their problem. Sometimes that is not a simple as it may seem.
Once upon a time in State Government there was a yearly conference just for human resources and labor relations personnel. It covered the full gamet of issues regarding employees. Over the 16-17 years of this very valuable conference, only once did they present a session called Hiring Hard, Managing Easy.
I was very fortunate because where I worked I had already been following this basic principal for a long time. And in my mind, it is the only way -- hiring a new employee is not a decision to be made quickly or lightly. Once you hire them they are yours, unless you spend the time and energy to take some action to reject them.
If you don't hire honest, talented employees, at all levels, your organization will always have problems and not function as efficiently as it could. How do you go about Hiring Hard and Managing Easy?
That will be the topic for next time -- stay tuned.
Decision makers would need to decide what kind of organization they want -- one that operates as a hierarchical top down, command and control organization or a more egalitarian organization -- where all employees can tribute. They then need to determine a proposed budget for the organization including overhead and the cost of personnel. In most governmental institutions the personnel cost, along with benefits and other worker's compensation costs, is usually the largest percentage of their budget.
With that in mind, leaders need to decide what kind of expertise is needed to perform various functions within the defined departments. They also need to know about the labor market in their geographical area in order to determine what a fair salary would be for an employee with the requisite knowledge, skills and abilities.
Oftentimes if the "word on the street" is that the organization has a open, entrepreneurial approach to managing employees the "best and the brightest" will want to join the team. That is a big help in recruiting, but in any case a plan for recruiting needs to be formulated in order to attract the best talent for the money. Hiring the right employees can be one of the biggest problems that organizations face. They can make very hasty decisions, based on some very wrong assumptions. Time after time, I have seen that happen. When it does they instantly call human resources and want human resources to fix their problem. Sometimes that is not a simple as it may seem.
Once upon a time in State Government there was a yearly conference just for human resources and labor relations personnel. It covered the full gamet of issues regarding employees. Over the 16-17 years of this very valuable conference, only once did they present a session called Hiring Hard, Managing Easy.
If you don't hire honest, talented employees, at all levels, your organization will always have problems and not function as efficiently as it could. How do you go about Hiring Hard and Managing Easy?
That will be the topic for next time -- stay tuned.
Monday, October 10, 2011
#31 What We Can Learn from Steve Jobs
As we all know, Steve Jobs changed our lives forever with his Mac, I-phone and other I-devices. But what many may not know is his philosophy on how to run a business. When the company Apple was created, it was set up in a non-corporate style without a top down management style.
In a 1996 interview with NPR's Terry Gross, he stated that Apple "hired truly great people and gave them the room to do great work." Because employees were not told what to do (as is more typical in the corporate world), Apple created a corporate culture that was "much more collegial than hierarchical." This culture brought a "liberal arts perspective" to the organization. That was because he wanted to bring "a liberal arts audience to...geeky technology." He wanted everyone at Apple, regardless of level, to participate. Steve Jobs felt that computing should be designed for everyone and everyone could and should be able master the computer, not just "5 percent of the population." It was this philosophy that allowed for bringing "beautiful photographs, or pictures or artwork, to people to help them communicate." And so he did.
He also shared more of his philosophy at a commencement speech at Stanford University in 2006. Jobs readily admitted that he had never graduated from college, but he had a passion for learning and creating. He further explained that he had dropped out of college but took a calligraphy class instead. That class proved to be serendipitous, as what he had learned 10 years earlier led to the "beautiful topography" that was built into the Mac. His advice was to trust yourself -- your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. Even if you do not know exactly where you are going in life, trusting in yourself will eventually get you there.
Jobs further counseled everyone to find what they love. He stated, "Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to go great work is to love what you do." Additionally he talked of death so he counseled students not to "waste time living someone else's life." He cautioned, to not be "trapped by dogma-- which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important have the courage to follow your heart and intuition."
He concluded his speech with the words printed on the last issue of The Whole Earth Catalog (a sort of hippie bible of the 1960's). On the last page of the Catalog was a picture of a back country road -- peaceful yet implying perhaps a great adventure ahead -- under the picture were the words -- Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.
Too bad our governmental institutions don't take those words to heart -- encouraging employees to always be alive to the possibilities and the creativity of the collective minds that they have assembled. Even though it is not encouraged at work, I encourage you in all walks of your life to Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. It's a pretty darn good philosophy -- and it makes you feel pretty darn good too.
In a 1996 interview with NPR's Terry Gross, he stated that Apple "hired truly great people and gave them the room to do great work." Because employees were not told what to do (as is more typical in the corporate world), Apple created a corporate culture that was "much more collegial than hierarchical." This culture brought a "liberal arts perspective" to the organization. That was because he wanted to bring "a liberal arts audience to...geeky technology." He wanted everyone at Apple, regardless of level, to participate. Steve Jobs felt that computing should be designed for everyone and everyone could and should be able master the computer, not just "5 percent of the population." It was this philosophy that allowed for bringing "beautiful photographs, or pictures or artwork, to people to help them communicate." And so he did.
He also shared more of his philosophy at a commencement speech at Stanford University in 2006. Jobs readily admitted that he had never graduated from college, but he had a passion for learning and creating. He further explained that he had dropped out of college but took a calligraphy class instead. That class proved to be serendipitous, as what he had learned 10 years earlier led to the "beautiful topography" that was built into the Mac. His advice was to trust yourself -- your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. Even if you do not know exactly where you are going in life, trusting in yourself will eventually get you there.
Jobs further counseled everyone to find what they love. He stated, "Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to go great work is to love what you do." Additionally he talked of death so he counseled students not to "waste time living someone else's life." He cautioned, to not be "trapped by dogma-- which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important have the courage to follow your heart and intuition."
He concluded his speech with the words printed on the last issue of The Whole Earth Catalog (a sort of hippie bible of the 1960's). On the last page of the Catalog was a picture of a back country road -- peaceful yet implying perhaps a great adventure ahead -- under the picture were the words -- Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.
Too bad our governmental institutions don't take those words to heart -- encouraging employees to always be alive to the possibilities and the creativity of the collective minds that they have assembled. Even though it is not encouraged at work, I encourage you in all walks of your life to Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. It's a pretty darn good philosophy -- and it makes you feel pretty darn good too.
Monday, October 3, 2011
#30 What is an Organization?
An organization is defined as a social unit of people, structured and managed to meet a need or pursue collective goals. The word organization itself comes from the Greek word "organ" -- which means a compartment for a particular job. Thus an organization is made up of people, divided into divisions (compartments) to do a particular job which contributes to the collective goals of that entity.
Each organization takes on an energy of its own. That energy comes from the leadership and the vitality of the individuals that make up each one of those divisions. If employees are engaged in their work, and if they are allowed to speak up and contribute, they show up awake and alive each day. They are vested in new ideas and outcomes -- this energy makes an organization a living, breathing entity -- it becomes alive. It has a "soul" and it takes on a a creed -- words and actions that all those working for the organization recognize and live by. But for this to happen, each department must be fully functional and pulling its share of the load. If there is a weak link in the system, the entity suffers.
Wow, doesn't this sound similar to our human body? We have many vital organs that are all working to support our entire body. Each organ has a distinct function and role, but all are interdependent upon one another. Organs all must be working in perfect harmony, and receive good nutrition, exercise and positive thoughts in order to remain healthy. If this does not happen, one organ may begin to fail and thus the whole body becomes unhealthy.
The same applies to an organization. If leaders tell lies and only provide support and nourishment (recognition or compensation) to a particular division or person(s), the rest of the organization starts to become dysfunctional -- divisions are no longer working in sync. When that happens, employees become disheartened, the energy and enthusiasm is lost -- its "soul" and creed begin to crumble. The organization is in trouble and begins to fail.
Our governmental organizations are failing -- they are not working in harmony toward collective goals. All of us are paying their salaries and must insist through our words, actions and votes that honest leaders and talented employees are hired to revitalize our important governmental functions. This issue is too important to ignore!
Each organization takes on an energy of its own. That energy comes from the leadership and the vitality of the individuals that make up each one of those divisions. If employees are engaged in their work, and if they are allowed to speak up and contribute, they show up awake and alive each day. They are vested in new ideas and outcomes -- this energy makes an organization a living, breathing entity -- it becomes alive. It has a "soul" and it takes on a a creed -- words and actions that all those working for the organization recognize and live by. But for this to happen, each department must be fully functional and pulling its share of the load. If there is a weak link in the system, the entity suffers.
Wow, doesn't this sound similar to our human body? We have many vital organs that are all working to support our entire body. Each organ has a distinct function and role, but all are interdependent upon one another. Organs all must be working in perfect harmony, and receive good nutrition, exercise and positive thoughts in order to remain healthy. If this does not happen, one organ may begin to fail and thus the whole body becomes unhealthy.
The same applies to an organization. If leaders tell lies and only provide support and nourishment (recognition or compensation) to a particular division or person(s), the rest of the organization starts to become dysfunctional -- divisions are no longer working in sync. When that happens, employees become disheartened, the energy and enthusiasm is lost -- its "soul" and creed begin to crumble. The organization is in trouble and begins to fail.
Our governmental organizations are failing -- they are not working in harmony toward collective goals. All of us are paying their salaries and must insist through our words, actions and votes that honest leaders and talented employees are hired to revitalize our important governmental functions. This issue is too important to ignore!
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