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Ask
Terri
Reader Question: I
remember hearing you speak at the Center for Retailing
Studies Summit last October. You spoke about the
importance of a truthful and honest interview -
especially today when hiring the right person is more
important than ever. Would you be able to give me
those key points again?
Terri's
Response: Thank
you for
asking. Here are the key points from my
speech:
How do you
truthfully and clearly create the best and most honest
delivery of what the applicant can expect in a
position? The best answer in two words -
Brutal Honesty. To do that, we at The
Kabachnick Group use the Insight Interview Process which
involves these steps: Determine, Verify, Ensure,
Understand and Confirm. (Explanations
follow).
- Benchmark
the position before you try to fill it.
Determine what the values,
motivators, behaviors,
attributes and emotions
are which are necessary for success in the position.
- Assess the
applicant prior to the interview.
Verify how closely the applicant
matches the benchmark.
- Set
standards for the interviewing process.
Ensure that the interview questions
are based on the job benchmark and that time frames
are allocated for questioning, listening, telling and
discussing. Rigid? Yes.
Necessary? Absolutely!
- Follow the
process. Be mindful that you bring your biases
into every interview.
Understand that there is always a
psychological response we have to others and the
effect they have on us. Countless errors in
judgment are made solely because of this factor.
- Towards the
end of the interview, ask the applicant to tell you
the five things he/she most remembers about what is
expected in the job. Based on those five
responses, ask which is the one he/she loves the
most. Confirm by watching and
observing for emotion to these responses.
Engagement, commitment and passion can rarely be
hidden.
When you take
the time to thoroughly engage yourself and your
prospective employee in this process, you will greatly
enhance your chances of making the right hiring
decision.
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"Who dares to teach must never cease to
learn."
---
John Cotton Dana
Librarian and Museum
Director |
Are You Keeping Your
Best? By Terri
Kabachnick During
this recession, don't be fooled into thinking your best
employees won't leave you; they will. And they
are!
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 4.8
million workers were laid off this February.
That's the part of the story we hear about because the
media makes sure these dire numbers are broadcast.
Here's what we don't hear about. That 4.4 million
people were newly hired. So, why is that
important? Well, the good news is there are jobs
available - the bad news is your employees could be the
ones looking to fill those jobs.
With 4.4 million people hired, who hired
them?
What's important to recognize is that labor shifts
are quietly occurring and the talent landscape is
changing. Smart and aware companies are planning
for the inevitable turn around in business and are
getting "talent ready." Even our clients in the
hard hit retail sector are hiring - but, they are doing
it with a well thought out strategy of future talent
needs - a strategy which in many cases did not exist
three years ago. Today they have learned how
important it is to have a well defined job
benchmark. And, it's not just retail. We're
seeing clients in fields that need all type of engineers
"stocking up" on talent - knowing that when
the business grows it will be too late to get the
best of the best.
I have said for years that your best employees are
often the first to leave. They will not put up
with employers who choose to ignore their needs - citing
the poor economic state as the reason for every decision
made. They simply don't agree that focus on talent
retention and development must be set aside in favor of
short term priorities.
A good example is one of our clients who was
shocked when he saw the results of an employee survey we
completed for his company. The results showed that
employees felt "abandoned" and said the culture had
changed from "our employees come first" to "you're lucky
you have a job." This shift in attitude may work
for those workers who truly are "lucky" - but talented
and productive workers view this quite
differently. They know their worth. They
choose to work for employers who make them feel valued,
needed and appreciated. By no means does this
suggest taking it easy on workers or cutting them
slack. It's exactly the opposite. Your best
workers want to be challenged with tough tasks that
showcase their ability to perform under tough
circumstances. They will actually do more because
they will learn more and in the long run, their
contribution will be worth more - to you and to
them. That's what keeps people engaged and
motivated.
To keep your best, ask yourself these
questions:
- Do you know who your best employees are?
- Have you identified your high potentials?
- Do you have specific strategies and a formal
assessment process to select and hire the very best?
- Are you matching people to jobs using job
benchmarks?
- Have you identified the skills that today's
leaders need vs. what was needed a decade ago?
- Are you challenging your best employees with
tough assignments and expanded
responsibilities?
The final, and perhaps the most important
question: Could your CEO and your senior executive
team answer the above questions with a definite
YES?
If you have not answered "Yes" to all of the
above questions, we need to talk. You may find you
can well benefit from the experience we've had helping
other clients hire and keep their best. We're
happy to provide a free consultation to determine the
best way for you to keep your talent and implement a
successful hiring process. Why wait until the
recession is over? Pay us a visit now at www.kabachnick.com. |
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Solution Center
The GPS Model for
Meetings
Recently while I was
driving to a meeting in Connecticut, I programmed my GPS
to help me reach my destination. Well, technology
being what it is, my GPS didn't seem to be directing me
to the right place. So, problem solver that I am,
I decided to take matters into my own hands, feeling at
this point, I think I know more than the
GPS.
Ignoring my avoidance of directions from
the friendly little instrument, the pleasant GPS voice
began telling me it was "recalculating." I knew
approximately where I was going and made a few turns
with which the GPS obviously disagreed. But,
rather than telling me that I was wrong, or had goofed,
or had taken a stupid turn, it simply kept informing me
that it was "recalculating." Eventually, between
my intuition and actually listening to some help from my
GPS, I arrived at my destination in time for the
meeting.
The meeting I was there to facilitate was
a management brainstorming session focused on developing
new marketing and customer service strategies. I
knew from previous experiences that this team was - to
put it mildly - not of the same mind. As happens
in many situations where ideas, concepts and then
strategies begin to take form, there is a tendency for
participants to all too quickly negate, dismiss or
outright disagree with suggestions before asking
questions and truly listening to understand. I
find this is especially true when different behavior
styles and communication preferences meet up. It
was during just such a time in this meeting when I
started thinking - maybe the GPS may have more sense
than some people. So, as the discussion began to
get a little tense, I decided to implement the "GPS
model" for meetings. I decided we'd "recalculate;"
I'd take them back to the beginning, to hear things more
clearly and understand more thoroughly.
Interestingly, it had a favorable
impact.
If you're in a planning discussion or a
similar meeting and you feel others are going in the
wrong direction or you find yourself disagreeing with
their route of thinking - "recalculate." It's a
great way to take the time to really listen to
understand and observe and in the process, perhaps you,
like I, will discover a new route to where everyone
mutually wants to
go. |
The
Kabachnick Group, Inc.
 10810 72nd Street Suite 207
Largo, FL 33777
800.275.8374
727.545.4185
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