| Volume
6, Issue 6 - June, 2007
At the recent Hand Tools Institute meeting one of the speakers focused on Human Resource Issues. One area of particular interest to everyone there had to do with Hiring. Virtually everyone in attendance had made a bad hiring decision at one time or another and fully knew the high cost of a bad hire. The speaker advised that it had been his experience that most executives spend too little time preparing for interviews with perspective employees. He went on to say that most executives utilize the same questions for every interview, regardless of the position. He believes that the above practices in part explain the poor hiring results.
In the past, I would have agreed with the speaker, but over the years, I have learned a couple of techniques that have helped me improve my results. Hopefully, you will find these to be as helpful to you as they have been to me.
Hint #1. Prior to contacting the first candidate, perform a 360? interview with everyone who will interact with this position. Ask everyone to provide as many responses as possible to the open ended statement, “Our organization needs a person who…” Once you have collected this information place them all on a list and ask each person to pick those 12 responses that are most important for the person who will hold this position. Once you have narrowed the choices to the top 12, you then have a road map for what it will take to be successful in this position.
Hint #2. Take the list from above and preface it with the statement, “I am a person who…” and ask each candidate look at the original list and pick those 12 responses where they feel they are strongest. Even better is to ask the candidate to have several associates check 12 items that best describe them and mail that information directly to you. The closer you can match the candidate to your needs, the greater the likelihood of success.
Hint #3. All too often candidates may know how something should be done, but don’t always utilize what they know. Rather than asking hypothetical questions, ask questions where you expect the candidate to give you examples from their experience. The following are some examples for your consideration.
- Tell us about a time when you were successful as a leader and what that was like.
- Now tell us about a time when you weren’t successful and what you learned from the experience.
- Give us examples of how you challenge and inspire people to take up a cause. It might be staff, outside services or even at home.
- Give us examples of how your listening skills and delegation have come into play in your style of leadership.
- When did you go into a situation with a preconceived notion and came out the other end with a different answer.
- Cite examples of your leadership role in a crisis.
- Describe a couple of significant times when you were effective in dealing with conflict.
- Intersperse questions asking the candidate to give you examples of how they demonstrated their strength in each of the 12 areas of greatest importance as determined by your 360? exercise.
Hiring the right candidate for the position is just like any other decision. The better you can define the desired outcome, the easier it will be for you and your team to find the best candidate to help you achieve the desired outcome.
The Hardware Show made a one year visit to Orlando this year. The facilities in Orlando are incredible. The facility is huge and the grounds are gorgeous. The show however was disappointing. While many of the manufacturers I talked to reported seeing many of their customers, the traffic at the show was light. The jam up in the halls prior to opening was non-existent. Aisles were for the most part open and easily accessible. There were a number of empty booth spaces throughout the hall. It appeared that Retailer badges and Wholesaler badges were few and far between. It may be time to consider placing them on the Endangered Species list.
This book describes in detail how leaders from nine successful healthcare organizations engage their staff to achieve extraordinary results. The book is full of stories a la “Chicken Soup” that make for an enjoyable read. I am proud to have been a contributor to this book. The retail price of the book is $59.95. Shipping and handling is 5.95 making the total price of $65.90. If you would like a copy, drop me an email at aim@cannonadvantage.com.
For a limited time, Bob will be offering his “Why Based Leadership” program to organizations for the bargain price of only $2500. This program, for groups of up to 20, is designed to teach supervisors and managers how to lead and motivate employees of all ages. To learn more about how this one day program can enhance the performance of your organization, contact Bob Cannon toll free at (866) 598-8450.
If you have a subject that you would like to see covered in future
issues of “Taking Aim,” please send me an email at aim@CannonAdvantage.com.
Return to: Top
Newsletters
Home Page
|
|
Robert E. Cannon
Management Consultant
13985 Aquilla Road
Burton, OH 44021 USA
866.598.8450 phone/v-mail
440.834.1052 facsimile
aim@cannonadvantage.com
Cannon Advantage
Consultant Services
Strategy
"Best Practice"
Business Assessment
Industry Trend Analysis
New Product Introduction
Product/Market Management
Sales Force Development
& Motivation
Change Management
& Appreciative Inquiry
Customer Service Assessment for ISO Requirements
E-Commerce Support
"Calling an illegal alien an 'undocumented worker' is like calling a drug dealer an 'unlicensed pharmacist.'"
Unknown
"The fool who has not sense to discriminate between what is good and what is bad is well nigh as dangerous as the man who does discriminate and yet chooses the bad."
Theodore Roosevelt
"The best minds are not in government. If any were, business would steal them away."
Ronald Reagan
"We contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle."
Winston Churchill
Print Newsletter as PDF
Taking Aim © 2007 Bob Cannon, The Cannon Advantage
Newsletter. All Rights Reserved.
The Cannon Advantage visual branding by Zarney Creative. For contact information, click “Resources.”
Recommend this site to a friend
|
