Articles

 

Hire like a Head Coach

Don’t want to be the skunk at the picnic, but…..Because of the changing workforce demographics, within five years your current employee turnover will likely double.

“Not our company.” We’ve been proactive and updated our job descriptions, installed a new employee tracking system and revised our onboarding procedures. That’s all necessary, but it’s not enough. You’ve worked on the procedures side of hiring. What are you doing for the human side of the equation?

Two of the top reasons an employee leaves a company are their immediate boss and their co-workers. Companies are revising their hiring process. The new model is Job Fit + Team Fit + Manager Fit = Culture Fit. Winning head coaches have been using this model for years. What can we learn from them?

4 Lessons from Successful Head Coaches: 

1. Recruiting is a TOP priority

Hiring is the front door to the team’s continued success. Successful head coaches are passionate and dedicated to recruiting top talent. Their assistant coaches are top performers themselves and they are responsible and accountable for their talent management decision 

In the workplace:

Too often companies are like large semi-trucks running down the highway at 70 mph with the trailer’s back doors open. Poor hiring decisions are often the reason those doors are open. By closing them companies can improve their employee engagement, customer service, sales, profits, etc. Do your hiring managers make hiring a top priority or are they leaving the doors open

2. Detailed needs assessment by position

To gain competitive advantage successful coaches have a written strategic plan for every position that includes: skill level required, physical attributes, cognitive ability, personality, motivation, etc. They are always asking themselves – will this recruit increase the talent for that position? Will this person work well within our team culture? Can I successfully motivate and coach this recruit?  How can I maximize this candidate’s success? The signed player evaluation form includes their answer to these questions.

In the workplace:

Does your hiring process include the hiring manager’s written answers to those questions? If not, maybe it’s time to have a strategic review of the human part in your hiring process – your hiring managers. Turn it upside down, shake it, analyze it and then make the necessary changes. What you find may scare you, but the process will also give you a competitive advantage.

3. Always recreating

Top coaches do not leave recruiting solely to the scouting department. Certainly, that is the scout’s job, but winning coaches know that finding top talent is the responsibility of the entire organization. It is a 24/7 process to find more “A” players.

In the workplace:

Recruiting is too important be left solely to HR. Too often managers only think about hiring when there is an immediate opening.

Ask your HR Director if they have heard a hiring manager say: “I’m really busy now.  Just use the job description we used last time, set up some interviews and I’ll know the right person when I see him.” Then, if the hiring manager makes a poor decision they say: “I would have hired better if HR had gotten better candidates.” To be successful in the future, that attitude must change. 

4. Take ownership of your talent decision

Successful coaches develop a start-to-finish paper trail for each new team member. They use it to constantly improve their talent evaluation and selection skills. Their paper trail includes the position’s top performer benchmark, a signed form for the coach strategic thoughts about the position needs, team needs, expectation goals, biggest challenges, and how they will help the new team member succeed, etc. With their signatures successful coaches take ownership of their talent decisions.

In the workplace:

Good managers will welcome the oversight of a paper trail. Poor managers do not want it. In most cases, those are the managers who make their hiring decisions based on a first impression or who consistently hire below their own self-image.  Maybe, that’s why you need a paper trail

Good news:  Rapid change is everywhere – even in hiring. We can’t stop the employee demographic changes that are taking place, but we can change how we respond to them. While your competitors are bemoaning their major employee turnover problems, you can use these “Head Coach” principles to reduce turnover and increase your team’s talent. That will give you a significant competitive advantage.  

Question to Ponder:  Is your company ready for unrelenting employee turnover throughout the organization?

 

• jbishop@HireToCompete.com
• Website: www.HireToCompete.com
• 314-664-6110

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Why Good Employees Leave (And How You Can Keep Them)

By Sharon Florentine, CIO.com

It’s tough when good employees leave: Productivity sinks, morale suffers and colleagues struggle with an increased workload until you find a replacement. On top of that, recruitment and search costs, training and on-boarding new hires can make for a difficult and expensive transition.

How I Hire: Focus On Personality

by Sir Richard Branson – Founder of the Virgin Group

There is nothing more important for a business than hiring the right team. If you get the perfect mix of people working for your company, you have a far greater chance of success. However, the best person for the job doesn’t always walk right through your door.

The first thing to look for when searching for a great employee is somebody with a personality that fits with your company culture. Most skills can be learned, but it is difficult to train people on their personality. If you can find people who are fun, friendly, caring and love helping others, you are on to a winner.

Link to the rest of the article:  http://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20130923230007-204068115-how-i-hire-focus-on-personality?trk=mp-reader-card

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Predicting Adverse Risk Behaviors

By Keith Rosenblum, Lockton Insurance

“…..recent Cornell University study involving a large hotel chain’s 29,000 job applicants test over 12 months, the scree (using an integrity test) group experienced about one-half the claims frequency and 39% less severity than the controlled group of unscreened applicants.”

Note:   the article also shows the importance of integrity testing for other industries

Link to the rest of the article: http://www.lockton.com/Resource_/PageResource/MKT/Rosenblum_Integrity%20Testing_May13.pdf

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FREE Online college courses from Yale, Stanford, Columbia, Duke, etc.

Coursera is an education company that partners with the top universities and organizations in the world to offer courses online for anyone to take, for free. Our technology enables our partners to teach millions of students rather than hundreds.

Link to other partners and their site:

https://www.coursera.org/partnershttp://www.lockton.com/Resource_/PageResource/MKT/Rosenblum_Integrity%20Testing_May13.pdf