I enjoy Tory Johnson’s articles from the abcnews.com website. Her latest offering, Bad Bosses Can Infect an Entire Business, is a quick read with a strong point. Employees need positive reinforcement. Some styles (High I) require more while other styles (High C) do not. Some employees are rewarded by praise while others are rewarded by money. Part of our business at Select Metrix is to identify these items in employees so that their managers can be more effective in leading them. The takeaway quote from this article (emphasis mine): Study after study confirms that workers are more committed to their jobs and are more productive when they know that management… Read More
Continue ReadingLost Sales Analysis
We posted on this topic in our old blog (predates The Hire Sense) and it is worth bumping up to this version. Paul DiModica writes in BDM News about one of the best sales tools around, the Lost Sales Analysis. I will warn you that this article is quite theoretical but I found it captivating. The lost sales analysis is more effective than percent of quota attainment as a measurement tool, because it measures not just the sales success of an account manager against some predetermined sales quota, but it also measures their success against competitors based on lost sales. The example he provides is excellent – even a numbers-challenged… Read More
Continue ReadingName vs. No-name
In one of my previous sales lives, I worked for 2 different companies in a highly specialized, technical field. The companies were competitors – I worked for the larger company first that had a highly recognized name in the market. The company was approximately 200 employees strong with worldwide sales. I worked for the smaller company about 2 years after resigning from the first company. The smaller company was family owned and had . . . how do I say it? . . . no name recognition. The company had 7 employees and 3 of them were related. I describe these 2 settings for you to make a point about… Read More
Continue ReadingOn Your Best Behavior
I had lunch yesterday with an old friend of mine whom I used to work with at a previous job in the technology market. He now owns his own handyman business and we were discussing past employment mistakes on our parts. I mentioned how we observe candidate behaviors during the hiring process with the understanding that this is the best they have to offer. What I mean is that they are displaying their best behavior, compliance, formality, etc. If a candidate appears to be somewhat inappropriate at this stage, they will not magically become better once they are on your payroll. My friend’s point was that candidates are observing employers… Read More
Continue ReadingAnecdote – You still like me, don’t you?
It’s Friday so let’s lighten up with another anecdote. Here is an incident that I ran into during a panel interview. I would like to add this was the first time we met the candidate. The candidate repeatedly asked for permission to start up his computer and run us through a PowerPoint presentation. We denied his requests, but he kept asking. Finally, we relented and allowed him to do it. The problem he had, unbeknownst to him, was that this interview occurred in the middle of winter and his laptop was extremely cold from being in his car. After several embarrassing attempts to start his computer, he finally gave up.… Read More
Continue ReadingQuick Ad Tip – Part 2
Monster’s June Newsletter provides the latest trends for candidate traffic to their site. Monday and Tuesday’s are their busiest days. The traffic now starts to pick up on Sunday and starts to taper off on Wednesday with the lowest amount of traffic hitting the site on Saturdays. We have had much success with Tuesday postings and but I think we will test some Sunday and Monday postings to see what happens. I would continue to post your ads the beginning of the week to take advantage of this specific monster.com traffic pattern and we’ll post later on our results.
Continue ReadingMore on Leaders
I was worried that title was going to be “Moron Leaders.” Deeper article here from Selling Power that provides The Nine “P”s of Great Leadership. This comprehensive article is a quick read with much usable data. I particularly like their take on character as opposed to the article in the previous post. From the Nine “P”s: Principles. Do the right thing all the time, not just when it€™s convenient and not just when you know somebody is watching. Strive to lead with credibility, integrity, vulnerability, accountability, and steadfastness. A descriptive explanation as opposed to a cluttered topic intermixing character, personality and style. One more excellent excerpt from the article: People.… Read More
Continue ReadingTraits of Great Leaders
CareerBuilder has an article out regarding the 5 Key Traits of Great Leaders. As you know, we enjoy lists at The Hire Sense. The author provides a fair explanation of each trait and I doubt anyone would argue with any of the traits. Here they are: You must have a vision. You must have passion. You must learn to be a great decision maker. You must be a team builder. You must have character. Again, who would argue with these 5? Well, I will…with the last one. First, an excerpt from the author’s explanation of that point (emphasis mine): Without character, all the other “keys” are for naught. That’s because… Read More
Continue ReadingThe Tightening Market-Part 2
In a recent article on the Tightening Labor Market from the SHRM website (membership required) 2 recent surveys go beyond the unemployment rates and the number of new jobs created to show the demand for talented workers is increasing. Both of the surveys were conducted by global outplacement consultancy Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc. The first one surveyed 3,000 job seekers and found that among those landing jobs in the first quarter, the median job search lasted just 2.7 months, more than a month shorter than the peak of 4.0 months reached in the third quarter of 2004. It was the lowest job-search time recorded since the second quarter of… Read More
Continue ReadingOutside of Their Comfort Zones
I came across an article on Comfort Zones from a couple of years ago that discusses motivating salespeople and well worth the read. The author has this to say why sales managers don€™t push their salespeople out of their comfort zone. Many managers who are in their own “comfort zone” will not challenge this situation even though they know that the person concerned could achieve a lot more. The manager’s “comfort zone” tells them that it is perhaps too time consuming or counter productive to upset the “apple cart” and that letting the status quo remain is the best option. He goes on to say that this happens for 2… Read More
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