We’ve just released a new article regarding a popular topic in this present market – How to Lose Strong Sales Candidates. The job market has definitely shifted to the candidate’s favor since there are more sales positions available than strong salespeople. Companies that want to make the best hires need to avoid 3 important missteps in their sales hiring process.

Please read the article to learn what the 3 missteps are and how to avoid them.

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Welcome back from the long weekend.  Let’s start this day with a strange closing from a cover email:

I possess SELF-ASSURANCE that naturally helps me to form conclusions, make decisions and act

Excellence, not average, is my measure. As a MAXIMIZER I enjoy transforming something strong into something superb.

As an ACTIVATOR I cannot wait to start a task. I am eager for action.

If you€™re interested in talking please email…

If there was any momentum in the cover email, it was stripped away with that last line.  It is a subtle, but salient point – asking for an email to talk is a bit passive for an “ACTIVATOR.”

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I just caught up to this story from the Tennessean.com – Photo of boy’s grief, courage touches nation. This is a moving story with a tremendous picture of courage from a young boy at his father’s funeral.

Please don’t miss this article or fail to remember our troops this Memorial Day.

“All gave some and some gave all.”

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We’re set to enjoy the unofficial start of summer here at The Hire Sense by doing what most Americans do this day – fire up the barby. Being the slaves to pop culture that we are, I have to share this article from foxnews.com with you – Coming Soon to a Barbecue Near You: Infrared Burners. I wasn’t aware of this technology but now my interest (and hopefully yours, too) is piqued.

For a quarter century, chefs at pricey steakhouses have been searing meat on burners that cook with infrared energy. Now the high-temperature technology may be coming to a backyard barbecue near you.

With the expiration of a key patent, major gas grill manufacturers, including market leader Char-Broil, have scrambled to bring infrared cooking to the masses with models in the $500 to $1,000 range. Previously, such grills cost as much as $5,000.

…

“Infrared has done to the grill business what the microwave did to the indoor kitchen,” he said. “It’s presenting consumers with a whole new way of cooking.”

Enjoy this day and may your grill hot!

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Much of the emotional writing around Bob Nardelli (former CEO of Home Depot) involves his pay package and the implication that he was incompetent.  But what is the actual transgression he committed?  You’ll notice that many of the articles attack his severance package without listing the reason why he was ousted by the board.

Home Depot’s profits doubled in his 6 years as CEO.  The new housing market was quite strong during this period, but he still deserves credit as being the leader during this time.  Today I found a Pioneer Planet article titled Home Depot looks to move past missteps under ex-CEO that finally discusses Nardelli’s “missteps.”

The new chief executive, Frank Blake, took the stage and apologized for last year’s infamous annual meeting, when Nardelli refused to take questions from investors, and members of the company’s board stayed home, at their leader’s urging.

…

Blake tried hard to distance the proceedings from last year’s session, which was viewed as a botched effort to muzzle angry shareholders. Last year, for example, Nardelli employed large digital timers that cut off speakers after one minute.

The theme of this year’s shareholder day was openness. Blake used the word several times and tried to show that he meant it, fielding long-winded, critical questions and discussing Home Depot’s business problems.

Since Nardelli did none of those things last year – he concluded the gathering after 37 minutes – investors said the bar for transparency had been set rather low.

That’s right, Nardelli’s style of management was the major issue in his leadership.  This is conjecture, but I would bet my bottom dollar that Mr. Nardelli is a High D (Dominance) style.  This style is typically aggressive, blunt, forceful – the type that often looks for a fight.

The High D style is a dangerous one in a leadership position.  They often act on impulse, set an arbitrary course and discount people in favor of tasks.  You can see where this general style can get in real trouble in today’s world.

We’ve seen some tremendous flame-outs from High D leaders amongst our clients.  The energy of their leadership is initially infectious to owners and boards, but their style, over time, grates on others unless it is kept in check.

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The unofficial start of summer is this weekend. With such an an important day to remember the valiant people who have died in the service of our nation, I thought it would be appropriate to give a little history to the Memorial Day holiday. For more information please visit this website devoted to Memorial Day.

May 5th, 1868 – General John Logan, national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, in his General Order No. 11, Memorial Day was officially proclaimed, when flowers were placed on the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery.

1873 – New York is the first state to recognize Memorial Day

May, 1966 – President Lyndon Johnson declares Waterloo, N.Y. the birthplace of Memorial Day, even though it is difficult to prove conclusively the origins of the day.

1971 – Congress passes the National Holiday Act moving the celebration of Memorial day from the 30th of May to the last Monday in May. The move ensures a three day weekend for federal holidays.

It was interesting to read that since the late 1950’s on the Thursday before Memorial Day, the 1,200 soldiers of the 3rd US Infantry place small American flags at each of the more than 260,000 gravestones at Arlington National Cemetery. They don’t stop there – they patrol the cemetary 24 hours a day during the weekend to ensure that each flag remains standing.

What a tribute to those who have fallen in service. I ask that you please take some time this Memorial Day to reflect on the sacrifice these men and women made for our country. I would even ask that you say a prayer not only for the soliders but for their families as well.

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Some of these articles get frustrating in that many of these errors can be avoided with a proper hiring process.  From Inc.com’s Employers Often Misread Job Applicants:

Similarly, out of 400 human resource managers polled, 59 percent said they have misjudged an applicant as being a good fit for the company, while 85 percent said they had lost an employee that simply wasn’t suited to the firm’s work environment, the survey found.

According to Diane Domeyer, executive director of OfficeTeam, the interview is a prime opportunity for job seekers to assess the organization. “The interview is a two-way street,” Domeyer said in a statement. “Employers are looking for clues to an applicant’s work ethic and personality, and job seekers want to learn more about the company culture.”

“Looking for clues” about personality are hiring approaches that lead to 59% misjudgments of applicants.  At a minimum, objectively assessing candidates removes the need to spend interviewing time to formulate guesses regarding a candidate’s personality.

Candidates are on their best behavior during an interview.  Most of them are adapting their behavior to appear more compliant than they truly are.  That is one reason why trying to discern their personality during the interview is high risk and often inaccurate.

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Complex selling requires salespeople to have a long-term perspective that they incorporate into their short-term tactics.  This trait can be measured in candidates and existing employees.

Conceptual Thinking
The ability to identify and evaluate resources while planning for their utilization throughout the execution of comprehensive, long-range plans. This trait is much more abstract than concrete organization; it deals with the ability to allocate resources in a mental scenario and accurately visualize outcomes.

A salesperson with strength in this trait can mentally role-play the execution of the long-range projection and make accurate predictions concerning the possible outcomes.

A salesperson with weakness in this trait may have difficulty clearly seeing such a mental scenario, thus tending to have a shorter focus-level and require greater input for predictive decision-making.

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CNNMoney.com’s 10 great job markets for techies uses job listings from Dice.com to determine where the overall highest number of tech jobs (programmers, network administrators, etc.) are located.  Their findings:

1. New York/New Jersey – 11,044 postings

2. Washington, D.C. – 7,971 postings

3. Silicon Valley – 6,755 postings

4. Los Angeles – 4,546 postings

5. Chicago – 4,241 postings

6. Boston – 4,167 postings

7. Philadelphia – 3,156 postings

8. Dallas – 3,084 postings

9. Atlanta – 2,987 postings

10. Seattle – 2,309 postings

I wouldn’t call it scientific, but it is certainly indicative of the tech boom that is underway.  We have done some work recently finding salespeople for a handful of “tech” companies and can attest to the demand for technical salespeople right now too.

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The Baby Boomers are huge in numbers and quickly heading towards retirement.  Generation X is a small generation in terms of numbers.  This disparity is the basis for the impending worker shortage.  Ah, but the market often has methods for correcting and adapting itself.

The Herman Group’s latest newsletter (sorry, no link) offers a look at one adjustment that is underway:

The good news is most Baby Boomers simply don€™t want to retire, at least not in the traditional sense. They are much more interested in re-careering. Here€™s why:

• *22 percent are bored with the mere thought of retirement. They don€™t want to sit on front porch in the rocking chair and wait for the grim reaper.
• *21 percent have a need to be productive. Their parents taught them, “You must be a contributing member of society.”
• *20 percent reported needing to have an intellectual challenge.
• *13 percent have insufficient savings. We actually expected this figure to be much higher, many are reluctant to admit their poor financial judgment or perhaps it is because this study focuses on executives who planned their financial futures more carefully.
• *13 percent find they need the personal interaction.

Re-careering executives are choosing entrepreneurship, consulting, volunteering, or some combination of pursuits. “While this (shift) won’t cure the impending talent crunch, it will provide more opportunity for younger executives to learn from Baby Boomers before they retire completely“.

An excellent concept that will certainly offset some of the difficulties we will face over the next 10-20 years.

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