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Archive for July, 2006

TopGrading

by Mitch Byers :: July 30th, 2006 :: Posted in Selection & Hiring |

A new acquaintance of mine, Tony Cinello, President of Anthony Andrew, LLC. suggested the book “Topgrading” by Bradford D. Smart. Smart defines Topgrading as filling every position in the organization with an A-player, at the appropriate compensation level.

An “A Players’ is defined as one who qualifies among the top 10 percent of those available for a position. An A Player is best of class. Tony leads a retained search firm in Dallas and is definitely an A Player.

I am up to page 70, so can not yet provide a full opinion of the book. However, I was intrigued to learn that A Players make up only 25% of most company’s workforce. The balance of the workforce are divided into 3 categories:

  • 25% chronic B Players
  • 25 % chronic C Players
  • 25% B/Cs who are able to become A players, after develop or redeployment into a more suitable position.
Being a recruiter for 10 years, I had to ask myself, “What sort of recruiter is an A Player?” I found an interesting answer in a post by Simon Meth, entitled Top 10 Reason Why We Do This For a Living.

Number 1 and number 10 are my favorite. I would add two more: Passion and Commitment. Some days you just don’t feel like picking up the phone to make another call. Passion and Commitment keeps you in the groove.

Here is Simon’s list:

  1. Needle in a haystack—it’s great fun to find a wonderful candidate who makes a real difference when hired.
  2. Need to pay the rent—most of us need income. Along the way we’ve found that we’re good at this gig. It pays the bills
  3. Order out of chaos—20 to 30 plus requisitions, countless resumes to review, tons of voice mail, endless emails, visits from desperate hiring managers, the list goes on and on. Most of us thrive in an environment where there is just way more to do than could be done every day.
  4. Trust the process—unless you’re from the throw as much *!&# against the wall and see what sticks crowd, most highly successful recruiters know what works and make sure they’re doing enough of the right kinds of activities to keep the machine running.
  5. Gotta Play on a team—some folks are happy working from home but most of us get our jollies working closely with others. There’s a lot to be gained by being part of an organization. You have to love walking through the office and seeing all those smiling faces of people you placed and their totally satisfied managers who see you as a valuable business partner.
  6. Art and science—finding wonderful candidates by using innovative sourcing techniques is invigorating. This is the same thrill as gold prospectors must feel when they hit the mother load.
  7. Technology junkie—lots of us just love technology. Why do the same mundane task day in and day out if you can automate it? How many ways can you be connected?
  8. Love to network—it may be working a room at a trade event, making phone calls, IMing, emailing, Googleing, or blogging but we just love to network with people
  9. Share the wealth—working with new people, showing them the ropes and cultivating talent is truly rewarding.
  10. Doing the impossible—we’ve all had that impossible to fill position. Who doesn’t want to be Superman or Superwoman? Defying the odds and making it happen is the best rush there is.

I don’t know Simon, but based on his list, I’d say he is an A Player.

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Speed Interviewing

by Mitch Byers :: July 26th, 2006 :: Posted in Selection & Hiring |

Anthony J raises an interesting trend in interviewing, called Speed Interviewing that was noted in Canadian Business.

Speed interviewing involves running through numerous applicants in 10- to 15-minute interview blocks; it’s based on the fact that we all make up our minds about someone in seconds anyway. Large companies such as RONA and Vidéotron have used it recently to add dozens to the payroll at once. “It’s being used more and at many different levels,” says Tim Cork, president of NEXCareer, a career transition consultancy in Toronto. “You can move people through efficiently and do comparison shopping.

A couple of thoughts:

Research (a 1992 article by N.R. Anderson) indicates interviewers reach a final decision about applicants after only four minutes of a thirty-minute interview. The balance of the interview is spent in “hypothesis confirmation strategies” designed to confirm their initial impression. This corroborates with information from Neil Anderson in a 2000 article which states “interviewers are far more influenced by information emerging early in the interview than emerging later.”


What we have here is people hiring with their hearts and not their heads. Admittedly, there is a general bias of this style of hiring in the workplace. Speed Interviewing takes it one step further. But why bother with the interview? Just hire off of the resume and save everyone time.

Will the companies incorporating Speed Interviewing track statistics on these new hires? I suspect metrics will be non-existent. However, in a year, the results would tell them if they have made the right decision or if their turnover was well above the industry norm.

My preference is to follow Lou Adler’s advice and the principles in “Hire With Your Head,” the title of his 1998 book. Adler notes, “First impressions based on emotions, biases, chemistry, personality, and stereotyping cause more hiring mistakes than any other single factor.”

A thorough talent acquisition strategy would include performance-based job descriptions, development of a competency model for the position and associated behavioral interview questions, and a behavioral-based reference checks. For good measure, you could add a skills assessment or an emotional intelligence assessment which is benchmarked for the position.Which method (hiring with the heart or hiring with the head) has greater return on time invested? I’ll bet the farm on the later.

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Original thought from Gerry Crispin

by Mitch Byers :: July 26th, 2006 :: Posted in Selection & Hiring |

The previous post was loosely organized around original thought, training, and effective communications. Gerry Grispin has a bag full of original thoughts. In his Of Job Jars and Hi-Pot, he shares his experience of engaging a group of recruiters into a discussion of metrics, dashboards, and retention. They came up with several thoughts on retaining hi-performance employees including sponsoring joint projects (synergy between departments) and engaging hi-performance employees in short-term projects outside their particular expertise. The latter plan does double duty: it improves the agility of the firm (cross-training) and provides personal employee development.

Sure, lots of firms have hashed over similar ideas for retention, but I don’t think anyone has ever been able to pull together a room full of staffing strategist from competing firm and come up with a focused plan of action. That is an original thought. Thanks Gerry.

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Are there any original thoughts our there?

by Mitch Byers :: July 25th, 2006 :: Posted in Selection & Hiring |

Scott Axel asks an honest question, Are there any original thoughts out there? Scott laments that his goal is to “take at least one new idea way with me from every training session/book chapter/outline course that I do.” With so much of our professional time fractured, productivity is less than optimimum. When we go above the call of duty and attend a seminar or class even mandatory company training, or even read an industry newsletter, often we “get vomited all over” – to use Scott’s comments. Productivity and morale, instead of going up, begin to slip and slide. The material’s goals become counterproductive.

Sure training is about knowledge transfer, but the challenge is to have the audience “own” the concepts – that means engaging them in one or more exercises (individual or group) so their mind and emotions are involved. Knowledge has to soak into the soul before we believe it and use it.

“Original Thoughts” are rare. Original training may be even more scarce.

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About Mitch Byers

by Mitch Byers :: July 24th, 2006 :: Posted in About |

For over a decade, I have recruited professionals in banking and finance, information technology and the medical professions through more than 3,000 face-to-face interviews. This experience has provided the proper framework in which to share information with you and other job seekers wishing to increase their interview success and enhance their credibility in the marketplace.

Getting the job is a major hurdle. But a successful job search also includes compensation to match your market value. I have pulled together practical resources to help you more easily talk about your value in the marketplace.

Along the way, I have coached hiring managers on architecting and implementing a comprehensive candidate selection process. The building blocks of a successful campaign include performance/behavior-based job descriptions, position-specific competency models, behavioral interview scripts and a matching scoring guide. When used in conjunction with a formal on-boarding program, companies have been able to hire top-notch employees in a more focused and engaging manner.

Since 2002, I have been asked to speak to job transition groups, professional groups and Fortune 500 companies. Topics have covered diverse subjects including: Interviewing Strategies, Behavioral Interviewing, Core Competencies, Competency Models, Performance-Based Job Descriptions, Salary Negotiations, and Emotional Intelligence.

Another avenue of sharing job transition advice has been through three-minute commentaries aired on public radio KERA 90.1 in Dallas.

My professional experience is complemented with an undergraduate degree from The University of Texas (Dallas) and an MBA from Texas A&M (Commerce). Formal training was followed with a certification in the popular Bar-on EQ-i® (Emotional Intelligence) assessment.

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Competency Model for Business Analysts

by Mitch Byers :: July 8th, 2006 :: Posted in Enhancing Your Career, Selection & Hiring |

Recently, I was honored to speak to the International Institute of Business Analyst (IIBA) in Plano, Texas. The IIBA is a professional association for Business Analysis professionals. The organization develops and maintains standards for the practice of business analysis and for the certification of practitioners.

One of the exercises the group participated in was the development of a competency model for Business Analysts. The exercise consisted of each participant (approximately 30) choosing their own top six competency from a master list of 24 competencies. The list of 24 competencies cover up to 98% of captured job behaviors.

Richard Boyatzis, a professor for organizational behavior, defines job competency as, “An underlying characteristic of an employee which results in effective and/or superior performance.” Competencies are sometimes referred to as differentiating factors. Any given position will have 6-10 associated competencies. This selected group of competencies make up the Competency Model.

Below is the Competency Model the group identified for superior performance for a Business Analyst. The numbers reflect how many people identified this particular competency as one of their top six.

MAIN COMPETENCIES:

Analytical Thinking – 27 Sees implications or consequences; Analyzes situations systematically; Anticipates obstacles and ways to get around them, thinks ahead; Analyzes what is needed to accomplish goal

Customer Service Orientation – 19 Discovers and meets underlying needs of internal and external customers; Follows through on requests and complaints; Becomes a trusted advisor to the customer

Integrity – 16 Is honest and forthright, trustworthy; Takes responsibility for own mistakes, does not blame others; High standard of ethical conduct

Flexibility – 16 Understands validity of opposing view points; Willingness to modify preferred routine; Modifies behavior in response to new information, changing conditions, or unexpected obstacles; Adapts behavior to best suit the situation; Adapts to change without anxiety

Information Seeking – 15 Gathers information systematically; Seeks information from many sources; Gets out to see or touch the situation; Asks questions, looks deeper, presses for resolution

Initiative – 14 Seizes opportunities as they arise; Handles crisis effectively; Tenacity in reaching goals; Willingness to work long hours, as needed; Persistent, does not give up when faced with difficult obstacles or rejection

SECONDARY COMPETENCIES

Conceptual Thinking – 11 Sees patterns not obvious to others; Notices inconsistencies; Reviews complex data and identifies relationships from disparate sources; Able to convey ideas through original analogies and metaphors

Teamwork and Cooperation – 11 Solicits input from others and involves others in issues that will impact them; Provides credit and recognition to others; Encourages and empowers the group; Works to develop teamwork and cooperation; Improves morale, resolves conflicts; Strives for win/win solutions

Achievement Orientation – 9 Measures results, makes cost-benefit analysis; Finds better, more efficient ways of doing things; Sets specific, challenging goals; Makes good person/organization match to improve performance

Having a competency list for superior performers is a key step in recruiting and screening individuals for the role. The next step would be to develop specific job related questions related to each of the six main and three secondary competencies. These will be behavioral-based and include follow-up probing questions. As an example, for initiative:

Provide an example of a time you felt like you worked hard, maybe beyond your normal capacity, to complete an assignment, or reach a goal.

Follow-up: What motivated to you? What were the results?

Setting up a competency model, complimented with probing behavioral-based interview questions is as an excellent way to find the superior employee.

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The Case for Behavioral Interviews

by Mitch Byers :: July 3rd, 2006 :: Posted in Enhancing Your Career, Interviewing to Win, Selection & Hiring |

HOW COMPANIES UNCOVER CORE COMPETENCIES THROUGH BEHAVIORAL INTERVIEWS

Part II: THE CASE FOR BEHAVIORAL INTERVIEWS

Introduction A special category of structured interviews is the behavioral interview. While “traditional” interviews focus on knowledge, skills, and abilities (commonly referred to as KSA), the goal of the behavioral interview is to uncover your motivation and past work experiences. Companies choose to utilize a structured interview format in an effort to uncover your job-related behaviors – such as situational judgments, integrity under pressure, or your adaptability. The hiring manager wants to understand how you behave in a work environment. They want to be able to see who you are, day-to-day.

Current Trends Over the last 10 to 15 years, more companies are have moved toward structured interviews. A study of 202 Canadian organizations found 83% of the firms use structured interviews and 46% specifically incorporate behavioral interviews in their selection process. Back in the 1990s, only five percent of Fortune 500 companies used some type of assessment tool, such as behavioral interviewing or pre-employment assessment tests. Today, approximately 65% of the Fortune 500 companies are using behavioral assessments.

The increased usage of behavioral interviews is supported by a wealth of books espousing the virtues of the formal interview process. Additionally, training offered by pre-employment assessment companies and workshops offered through industry conferences are permeating the Human Resource profession. Behavioral interviewing is, more and more, becoming the norm.

Follow-up Probes If you participate in a behavioral interview, you can expect the interviewer to ask follow-up “probes” to gain additional insight into your experience. Probing follow-up questions will help the company understand the “why” behind your answers. From the interviewer’s perspective, understanding the “why” is often just as important, if not more so, than understanding the action itself. Probing questions should be expected, especially in higher-level positions requiring critical decisions or positions with significant client interface. Explaining the “why” requires critical thinking, analysis of various factors, and the ability to successfully articulate the thought process – all vital to positions of significant responsibility.

Core CompetenciesIn a formal behavioral interview, questions are tied directly to job competencies. There are 24 individual job competencies which cover a majority of professional positions. Each competency has unique characteristics and is complimentary to one or more of the other competencies.

Part III will continue the discussion of Behavioral Interviews and common Core Competencies.

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