Well, that is my paraphrasing of this author’s post. The Myers-Briggs test is common throughout many business-world assessments and it serves a purpose. The difficulty I have always had with it is the binary aspect of the assessment. You are either Extroverted or Introverted…there is no grey area. I think the author explains it well: More problematic, though, is that it classifies personalities by a binary preference for a particular trait. In reality, however, most people exist on a spectrum between the two and can vary between them from week to week… Agreed. People are the ultimate variable and far from binary. I think the best use of the Myers-Briggs… Read More
Continue ReadingHiring What You Need To Know
Experience is a tricky component to successful sales hiring in that it is often overvalued. Don’t get me wrong, it is important, but you never want to overvalue it. The reason is that you can teach new salespeople about your product or service a lot easier than you can teach them how to sell. A sports analogy (I know, often overused) – it is far easier to teach a football wide receiver what routes to run in your offense than it is to teach them how to run a 4.3 40 yard dash. Some will simply never run a 4.3. This is why talent is far more valuable to successful… Read More
Continue ReadingManaging Paradoxes
From the Herman Trend Alert email newsletter (sorry, no link): Agile Thinking Skills. In this period of sustained economic and political uncertainty, and, agile thinking and the ability to prepare for multiple scenarios is vital. In industries that face significant regulatory and environmental challenges, including life sciences, and energy and mining, the ability to prepare for multiple scenarios is especially important—72 percent and 71 percent respectively, compared with 55 percent for the overall population of respondents. To succeed in the changing marketplace of the future, HR executives also placed a high premium on innovative thinking (46.0 percent), dealing with complexity and managing paradoxes (42.9 percent). I couldn’t agree more with… Read More
Continue ReadingHiring Better
Well, I am back from an extended summer vacation. Ok, it wasn’t a vacation, we have been swamped which is a good thing. Our activities have all been tied around hiring which seems to be bubbling up slightly in highly-selected areas. One thing I have noticed percolating this summer is the use of assessments. This has been our business since 2004, but it is truly taking off now which seems counterintuitive to me. However, I heard an interesting Wall Street Journal interview this morning where the reporter stated that companies hiring today have to make the right hire. Each position is crucial as most companies are running with lower numbers… Read More
Continue ReadingConventional Wisdom About Sales Managers
Here is an article from Eye on Sales that addresses a common sales management topic – should you promote your top salesperson into the sales manager role? I would argue that the conventional wisdom is to avoid making this mistake. From the article: Sales management mistake #1: Promoting top performers to sales managers Top-performing salespeople are not necessarily top managers. Leaders often fail to evaluate their best sales professionals for their ability and aptitude to manage before placing them in a leadership position. It seems like an easy decision to promote the best, but in reality you might be taking one of your most potent weapons out of the game… Read More
Continue ReadingGotcha Questions
Do you know what I mean by “gotcha questions?” These are the questions designed to trap, trick or zap a candidate. These types of questions are often used by interviewers who believe they need to “win” the interview. I know it sounds odd and uncommon (I certainly hope it is), but I have sat through interviews where the gotcha questions have been asked. Interview questions are a tricky sort. Almost everyone enjoys reading interview questions in hope of discovering an effective one. However, we incorporate assessments into our process which provides an x-ray of the candidate’s abilities, motivations, aptitudes, style, etc. The power in this approach is that it identifies… Read More
Continue ReadingUncommon Sense
I’ve been swamped of late with sales candidate assessments for different customers and have encountered an important trait – common sense. This is a broad topic, but we use it in a fairly defined manner – using common sense. We actually measure this aptitude in one of our assessments which often leads to rather pointed discussions…especially when a candidate has a low score in this area. But what of it? Our definition utilizes speaks to common sense being more of a natural reflex as opposed to a logical thinking process. I’m not talking about intuition but rather the practical thinking in regards to seeing the world. Does that make sense? … Read More
Continue ReadingOf Objectivity
I preach this point from the mountaintop as often as possible so I’ll continue here – sales is the single most difficult position to hire in any company. The reason is simple, accurately predicting sales success by discerning candidate capabilities is…well, often a crapshoot. This fact is why it is imperative to use assessments to gain an understanding of what the candidate has “under their hood.” A prime example is emotional control. Successful salespeople have this trait. It is a broad term so let me put a finer point on it: This is the ability of a salesperson to maintain rational and objective actions when experiencing strong internal emotions. This… Read More
Continue ReadingWhat Color Is The Sky In Your World?
Remember that great line from Frasier Crane on Cheers? It is getting close to a holiday weekend so my mind is starting to drift a bit – my apologies. I did come across this rather entertaining test from the msn.com/CareerBuilder website – Let Your Favorite Color Guide Your Career. Take the test by selecting your favorite color from the top row and your favorite from the bottom row. Scroll down and you will get your results. I was blue-purple (can you tell from the website colors?). All these years of selling assessments…maybe we overlooked something simple here. Ok, maybe not. Still, you have to admit it was interesting.
Continue ReadingFundamental Attribution Error
Warning – psychology babble coming your way from Fast Company. I encounter this effect often with clients: That judgment is what’s called, in psychology, the Fundamental Attribution Error. Meaning that we tend to attribute people’s behavior to their core character rather than to their situation. So when somebody cuts you off in traffic, you think, “What a jerk!” You don’t think, “I wonder situation he’s in that’s causing him to drive so crazy.” Even though in those times when YOU have driven crazily, it was almost certainly because of the situation you were in—you were late for a job interview or a date. May I make a suggestion? The use… Read More
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