28. December 2009 by Susan Kempton-Smith.

How do you know for sure that you’ve made the right hiring decision? You don’t, or at least you can’t be absolutely sure until the new hire has passed the test of time. What you can do is take some practical steps to reduce your risk of hiring the wrong person.

Step 1 - Without a road map you’ll be flying blind, so make sure that before you begin your search for the perfect employee, you develop a job description that truly encompasses necessary hard and soft skills.

Step 2 - Eliminate the candidates whose resumes suggest a less than perfect fit.

• Does the candidate’s job history indicate stability, or someone who changes positions frequently?
• If a college degree is required, does the candidate possess a degree that’s job related?
• If relocation expenses are not reimbursed, then it’s best to focus on local candidates.
• If the candidate’s residence is far away, will the long commute be an issue?
• If the candidate lists himself as the CEO, owner, or president of a company, this could indicate that he has a small business on the side, which could present a conflict of interest for someone who may not be able to commit himself to the job.

Step 3 - Screen the candidates for hard skills. You can determine the qualification potential of applicants by devising questions that can be administered over the phone, saving both of you time and money. For example, if a job requires specific computer skills, you can ask software-specific questions to help determine their skill level.

Step 4 – Have the applicant fill out an application and have them email or fax it to you prior to the face-to-face interview. This process helps to answer several questions. When driving is a job requirement, then a space for driving history should be included on the application. This can reveal DUIs or excessive speeding tickets, which would be probable reasons for elimination.

• If more than a few days lapse before the application is returned, then I would question how serious the candidate is about the job.
• Did the candidate pay attention to detail?
• Was the application complete?
• A section for the salary required by the candidate can help to eliminate candidates with an asking price that is out of range.
• Does the job history match the resume?

Step 5 – The face-to-face interview. This is the time to get to know the applicant.

• Were they punctual?
• Were they dressed appropriately?
• Were they confident without appearing cocky?
• Listen to your gut and don’t ignore the signs.
• Why are they interested in the position?
• Why do they want to work for your company? Did they do their homework and at least look up your company’s website?
• Get them to relax by initiating casual conversation. You’ll be surprised as to the insight you can gain into a potential hire by talking about recent events, vacations, favorite restaurants, books, and movies.

Step 6 – Picture them in your environment.

• Are they a team player, or do they need to work independently?
• Are they a self starter, and if not, how much training will be available?
• Keep the following in mind during the hiring process.
• Don’t be too hasty to hire. Your need to fill a position should not outweigh your need to hire the right person. It’s much easier to hire right the first time than to manage or possibly fire the wrong individual.
• A positive employee is a great marketing tool; however, a negative employee can have an equally or worse impact on your business and your bottom line.
• Can you see the potential hire becoming friends with other employees? Having a buddy at work can make all the difference when it comes to motivation.
• Will they mesh with their immediate supervisor? If you pair someone who seeks constant recognition with a manager who doesn’t adhere to that philosophy, don’t expect to get the very best from that new hire for long.
• If they’ll be working on a team, are they extroverts?
• Don’t sugarcoat the position or your expectations. It is better that they know exactly what they’re getting into than feel as if they were lied to during the interview process.

Finally, remember that skills can be taught. Personalities can’t. You can only expand what’s already there. It’s impossible to build on something that doesn’t exist.

Posted in Hiring Process | Print | 83 Comments »

19. August 2009 by Bob Griffin.

The time when most people find out whether they are going to be good in business is when they are in school.  No, not college or even high school, but in elementary school.  That is when all the bad habits form and when the true nature of the entrepreneur rises.  In school you were taught to wait and follow the rules.  Line up, sit down, eat now, do this, go here or there.  All independent thought is squeezed out of you. 

The worst thing you could do in school was to look at the teacher because you may be called on to answer a question and being laughed at by your peers if you answer incorrectly - what a horrible thought.  So, you were taught to keep your head down, follow along, and do not speak up or question things.  Keep your head down and just follow the rules was your new mantra.

The true entrepreneur is that kid who asks too many questions. He finds ways to make things go more quickly and more efficiently, and is always, always in trouble for thinking for himself.  School, from elementary school to college, is NOT the place to ask questions or offer new opinions.  It is a place where real ideas go to die.

Can you tell I resent the waste of time I spent in those halls of supposed learning?

I tell my son, and I mean it with all my heart and soul, “Smart is what you do!”  Intelligence isn’t in a book even though you do need to know things from books to do a job well.  It also isn’t with a teacher who just rambles on about a subject, although there is something of value in those lectures (if you listen).  Intelligence is when you take something you learned and do something new with it to make your world better.  Entrepreneurs understand that from the day they are born. If more schools got kids out of their chairs and asked them to prove theories and create things the world would change overnight.

I have been supportive of my son who is a real entrepreneur.  I encourage his new ideas, his inventions (no matter how outlandish they are), and his experimentation (although I draw the line at what he wants to do to my car).  He is great with numbers, an outgoing person, and can see things that I do not.  I listen and let him tell me a story about what he wants to see happen.  At the age of three he came up with his own franchise. We are still working a few details out, but it will be great because in his mind he can see every detail. Can you imagine if you were given that kind of encouragement at a young age?

He gets in trouble at school for talking out of turn, for trying to do things he knows are right, and for doing things too quickly because he sees them as a time waster.  I know this is something he is not going to out grow, but rather something he is going to learn to deal with until his time is done there.  Smart kids figure out a way, don’t they?

Entrepreneurs drive people crazy (sorry teachers).  They can’t help it.  They think differently, act differently, and are not a ”follow the directions” kind of person.  We all know someone like this…some people just need to look in the mirror.  Entrepreneurs are the people who see past what is there to what we can do better.  Thank goodness for them.  I wouldn’t have the Business Bulldog brand if I had not seen how business could be run better.

I guess you would have to create a new sub-category for me and people like me, though.  I see how things are and spend my days working to help others create their own path to success.  Working with entrepreneurs is like herding cats sometimes and other times it is like running with the bulls.  Sometimes you are lucky to get one person on the right path and sometimes you are lucky to get out of the way while they are running down a path.

I am sure you have some people around you that drive you crazy with questions or ideas that may seem plucked from some science fiction book.  Do yourself a favor - shut up and listen.  Hire at least one person like this.  Encourage them to develop their ideas.  Encourage them to ask more questions.  Finally, encourage them to do something - Smart is what you do, right?!?

I want to encourage all of you to post a question on this site or even ask me a question directly.  I am at bgriffin@businessbulldog.com. 

Posted in Hiring Process, Creating the Culture, Training | Print | 45 Comments »

21. March 2009 by Bob Griffin.

There is one thing that I hear more often than I care to from owners because the problem and the answer are right in front of them. They say, “I can’t find good people to hire.” This is frustrating because they have the right tools, but because they hired poorly from the start no one who could help them would want to help them.

Bulldog Rule # 14 - The right people never want to work with the wrong people

You may think your business is a great place to work, but if you are having a tough time finding quality workers, you may want to take a good look at the group dynamics of your store.

I am not saying that you can ignore the obvious areas of salary, compensation, or required perks of the job. If you are not up to industry standards then forget finding the person you need. Even if you do luck out and find someone who meets your needs, they will be gone like the wind when they find a better fit for their career.

Look at the group you have representing your company and find your weak link or links. I was managing a store years ago and was given the ability to hire anyone I needed. I had an eclectic group of people, but they got along and helped build a strong base of customers. It is not always about having a person with a strong resume on staff, but also about how well they interact with the rest of the staff and the customers.

I had to add a person that my boss hired to my payroll. He had great skills and a great big ego to match. My boss let me know that this guy was a great salesman and would have my profits jumping higher and higher. What actually happened was he ran away my good employees and when I had to hire people to fill roles instead of having the right people on staff, I lost sales. This guy left when he had enough bruises to his ego. Then I rebuilt my team.

It may be tough to see the people on staff who are keeping great people from joining the team. I had the opportunity to work with a team one time that functioned well and got along, but the ones who had the answers would not help anyone else. They were afraid that by letting anyone know how to do a job they were going to be replaced. When these people had to be out of the office for a few days was when the walls came tumbling down. Too bad since it also drove the company down.

I had always asked, “Why should I hire you?” when I was interviewing someone. Turning that statement around the interviewee can ask, “Why should I work here?” If you can’t talk about the culture of your organization in the first few sentences then you don’t have a good atmosphere to work in.

You should have a good mix of people on staff and yes, they will not always get along. The red flag you need to look for is when you have people who are driving the rest of the team crazy.

Do not confuse a problem with a person. If you have a product or service that does not work and a good person in charge of that product, do not cut that person from payroll.

The best advice I can offer is to let the team help you hire. That way you get the best feedback on the person and you have the team to help welcome the person into the business. If the person is wrong for the job, you can go back to the team and look for feedback on where things went wrong.

In the end, do not look for a team that looks the same, acts the same, or has all the same goals. The best teams (and the places that everyone want to work) have a good mix of backgrounds, skills, and talents and are focused on new and better ways of building a better company.

Posted in Hiring Process, Creating the Culture, Being the Boss, Training | Print | 65 Comments »