IMPACT Hiring Solutions

28/02/2019

According to LinkedIn: 94% of employees would stay at a company for this one reason

Over 3.5 million Americans quit their jobs every month. This might make them stay.

28/02/2019

CEO Confidence Index shows 28% of CEOs worried about finding enough talent. From my seat it looks like 100%.

Is finding and attracting enough talent a concern for you? I've got clients in every part of the country in every imaginable business - and it's the same story whether you're in towing, movie theaters, construction, restaurants - you name the industry - and I can guarantee everyone is scratching their head how to find more qualified applicants.

CEO confidence has bounced back stemming from robust economic conditions, solid consumer demand, strong earnings, and easy access to capital.

13/02/2019

The interview, when conducted with focused structured questions that correlate to job expectations, can be a very reliable predictor of future success. Unfortunately, most hiring managers don't define the expectations so the interview questions are in doubt. Secondly, the biggest mistake is that most hiring managers have never been trained how to conduct an accurate interview - so they are just winging it based on their life experiences. No wonder, the studies show that interview accuracy is basically as effective as rolling dice.

There is a huge amount of content out there that focuses on mistakes that job candidates make when they interview. but hiring managers do too

12/02/2019

Very good research article in the MIT review.

My experience over 30 years of hiring and performance management consulting, and over 1000 executive search projects is that there is NO test that is predicative of future performance.
The intellectual tests do not predict future performance. They simply give you a perspective on raw intelligence – the ability to logically and rationally process information.

The personality assessments do not predict performance – they simply give you insight into a person’s preferred behavior/communication style in a work setting. Most of the tests are easily manipulated by the candidate into answering questions or checking words that the hiring manager wants to hear – not the real candidate.

Both of these are still useful tools and insights even with their flaws.

However, the ONLY way to predict future performance is to conduct a performance or success based structured interview that correlates with the outcomes desired in the role. Adding role plays, homework, and working/practical sessions/real case studies – along with deep and intrusive reference checking can boost interview accuracy from what most of the studies show is basically a 50/50 success rate into the 80-90 percent range.

People are complex. We need a more nuanced approach to predicting job performance.

21/11/2018

This quote by Richard Branson is one of my favorite quotes. I am amazed at how many CEOs will not invest in training and development because they feel it's only giving employees the capability to seek work elsewhere. Is that not the ultimate in dysfunctional behavior?

How many studies do we need to look at that training and development is a powerful attraction, retention, engagement, and motivational tool?

Why do so few entrepreneurial companies see little value in training and development?

Amazon trains it's employees for jobs that have no relevance to Amazon as a company - in health, transportation, among others. Amazon does it because it knows that the opportunity to grow is of paramount importance to it's employees.

20/11/2018

My take on this article was that the CEO and other executives drive the culture of their company through their actions - not so much in the things they publish or announcements they make.

My favorite line is along the dimensions of you get what you tolerate.

It's never too late to become the leader who takes your company to the top.

08/11/2018

Could your managers answer these questions? What are the questions candidates ask in your interviews to get a glimpse of your culture?

Could all your managers articulate in a few sentences the culture of your company - would your rank and file agree with that perception?

These questions seem straightforward on the surface, but they can reveal a lot of intel on the company.

31/10/2018

Every organization should by surveying their employees for cultural and fit alignment. This article has a great set of questions related to how employees view their managers - which is the second most common reason people quit their jobs.

I would highly recommend using the Gallup Employee Survey of 12 dimensions to understand what percentage of your work force is engaged - and what you need to do to raise that number.

High turnover is a costly management problem which includes expensive training and lost productivity.

30/10/2018

Do you measure intellectual humility in your interviews. I would expand upon this idea of not just looking at where you went wrong and then adapting - but looking into the process by which candidates come to conclusions or recommendations.

One technique is to use case studies, role plays, and homework assignments to get at how someone critically examines a problem or issue.

Through this technique and Jeff Bezos' ideas we're starting to get at how someone thinks, raw intellect, problem solving, analytical skills, and inquisitiveness.

This is what the Amazon founder looks for when he wants to know if someone is really smart.

23/10/2018

Good article on the impact of culture in your company. I zeroed in on this quote:

"According to Gallup, disengaged employees are almost twice as likely as engaged employees to seek new jobs. And it’s not just the disengaged ones that you should worry about - 51% of U.S. employees say they are on the lookout for new jobs."

Is that not frightening? The entire job market is about to degenerate into pure poaching. We could be looking at another 10-12 years of an increasingly difficult job market for employers. How do you protect your existing employees from considering that the "grass might be greener elsewhere?"

How can you convince your leadership that investing in people, your company culture, and employee engagement should be a priority? Check out these surprising [and convincing] stats, and download our free Culture Worksheet to get the conversation going in the right direction.

18/10/2018

I recently posted an article on LinkedIn in my Retention Hot Tip Series about giving praise. This article complements my blog post with other tactics of saying thank you. My perspective is that most employees feel underappreciated, don't understand how they matter, and don't feel expending extra effort is worth since their manager doesn't seem to care.

Saying thank you is one of the easiest and best forms of employee recognition in the workplace. Here are forty ways to say thank you at work.

16/10/2018

Good reminder on the key elements of what Gallup identified - autonomy, training/development, personal growth, being challenged - all of it tying back to Maslow. Yet, we keep forgetting these underlying elements of what drives people to perform at the peak of their ability.

For the individual: You know it when you feel it. You love what you do. You're energized. You contribute and make a difference. Your work is a part of you, and you are a part of your work.

16/10/2018

So few companies are focused around employee engagement. As the author indicates, the cost is astronomical. Culture, morale, productivity, and customer satisfaction are just a few of the areas affected by employee engagement.

If these points are well-researched and accepted - why then do most companies and executives choose to ignore the fundamental issues around improving employee engagement?

Disengaged employees cost businesses an estimated $550 billion dollars last year in the United States alone. Employee Recognition can fix that.

30/08/2018

Is there any doubt that there is a strong correlation between employee engagement and customer engagement/quality of experience?

Great infographic demonstrating simply the correlation.

My question is if it's that rock solid of a correlation, why are more companies not investing in employee engagement, and why are more companies not tracking the metrics around employee engagement and customer experience?

Learn about the importance of employee engagement, and how investing in it can improve customer experience.

29/08/2018

I'm curious if your company has an employee or personal development plan for all employees? If not, this could be an enormous area for increasing retention. Helping people grow, learn, develop, and get better at their jobs is one of the most important part of an effective retention program.

In just a few years - the issue will be finding talent, it will be hanging onto the talent you've got before they get poached by a competitor.

A breakdown of the main components of building a successful employee development plan, and the importance of feedback and follow-through as a manager.

28/08/2018

Are your younger workers demanding more flexible work hours and the chance to work from home. Have you tried to experiment with virtual work arrangements. It's one of the strongest desires from the younger generations. Are you adapting or resisting? Is the lack of a structured approach to managing virtual employees limiting your ability to hire younger talent?

What can be seen, heard and experienced by employees and customers, is unique to every business, and is more successful in some than others? Culture isn’t tangible, but it is unavoidable and manageable; it’s the sum total of a business’s values, ethics and beliefs, perpetuated by its people th...

28/08/2018

My favorite quote in this article was Takeaway #1 – Take care to only hire “A” players So many problems get solved by hiring A players: engagement, retention, lack of law suits, higher productivity, more people on the pareto contribution list, more discretionary effort according to Gallup, and more time for you as a leader in not spending the bulk of your time on problem children - on the deadbeats - on playing adult day care way too often.

However, most companies are unwilling to invest in the time it takes to hire A players through spending more time defining success before hiring, scrubbing the bushes and just accepting anyone who shows up on your doorstep as the candidate pool, and having a rigorous process to vet, validate, and verify the truth with candidates.

Why do we accept hiring average, mediocre, minimally qualified candidates - and then get mad when it happens? Wouldn't it work better if we just FIXED the process?

How to Retain Employees: 15 Practical Takeaways from 6 Case Studies It’s something that keeps good leaders up at night: Are my employees happy? Will my top performers stay? What more could I be doing to keep them?

27/08/2018

I am across this article the other day by Melonie Dodaro. She nailed it - she described in precise detail exactly what I've been doing for 30 plus years - now made possible in 30 minute a day in LinkedIn.

Here's my question - why do so few subject matter experts - consultants and advisers sitting on a goldmine of content - refuse to invest this small amount of time daily to differentiate themselves and generate above average profitability as "the" expert in their field?

The tactics are extremely simple as Melonie describes - why don't more people do it. I find in my peers as personal service providers and consultants marketing to CEOs that less than 2 percent actively employ these tactics.

Time is limited for all of us, so I’m going to share how you can produce a positive ROI with social selling in 30 minutes a day.

14/08/2018

I am in the middle of updating my retention workshop called "You're the Person We Want To Keep".

One of the slides is about on-boarding since I get this question every time. In my research for this one element of the retention program, I came across this interesting article I wanted to share on the subject of on-boarding.

There are some real benefits from changing our approach - so many new employees either get off on the right foot - or their invisible forehead sign starts flashing "this place sucks" by about the 3rd day.

What's the biggest thing you've done to change your on-boarding program in the last year?

A good onboarding experience can set a new employee up for success. Check out this step-by-step guide to onboarding new employees.

13/11/2017

Core management practices - the article will surprise you that the best companies effectively execute on core, fundamental, basic, and block-and-tackle tactics and processes. It's not so much about creativity, innovation, and strategy.

Employees learn how to run meetings, have conversations, and set goals.

13/11/2017

A lack of a good rigorous hiring process results in outcomes that are comparable to rolling dice in Las Vegas - crapshoot hiring. Are you willing to bet your company on average and mediocre processes around talent?

10/11/2017

73 percent of managers had some form of coaching training, but only 23 percent of people being coached (fewer than one in four!) thought that the coaching had a positive effect on their job. That statistic stinks! Employees want to be coached like a championship team - if you can't provide it - they'll go somewhere else to get it.

If you’re committed to helping your managers coach but the actual practice of coaching hasn’t stuck, try these surprising tips.

09/11/2017

I loved this article headline. Do you have managers in your organization who were great "doers" - thus you promoted them to oversee other "doers"? The problem is that they are "accidental managers" and are draining your productivity, not to mention a number of other terrible ills they inflict upon your organization. What are you doing about fixing the problem of accidental managers - folks you are supervising the bulk of your employees and have no right to be in a managerial role?

A recent article from The Times shined a spotlight on the seemingly perennial problem of low productivity facing UK Plc, and how proper management training can help

08/11/2017

One of the greatest frustrations in hiring is having candidates lie convincingly, or exaggerating-embellishing what they've done. Most CEOs and Executives believe that at least 100 percent of candidates fake it in the interview. How do you overcome this tendency to misrepresent and get to the TRUTH?

08/11/2017

The number one frustration I hear as a do 60-70 talks a year to CEO groups is "we can't find enough good people. There's a reason for this - you're going about it all wrong. Your old, tired, traditional, and tribal techniques are now bringing the bottom 1/3 of the candidate pool to your doorstep.

Most of the methods companies use to attract candidates bring those who are floating near the surface aggressively looking for a new job. Traditional

07/11/2017

Interesting article on HBR regarding the balance of holding people accountable to results, outcomes, deliverables, KPIs, and metrics - yet also providing enough autonomy in jobs so that employees are compelled and excited about their roles.

The whole company is organized around it.

27/10/2017

How to chase the elusive productivity holy grail. Perhaps, we should take a page from Google and Apple how they drive an extraordinary level of personal productivity.

It’s a mix of organization, priorities, trust, and leadership.