I just read an ad for a mid-level sales position.  Interesting part was the location listed in the ad:

Milwaukie, WI

The hiring company is based in Fresno, CA which is, I suppose, in relative proximity to Milwaukie, OR.  However, the Wisconsin town of the same name is spelled “Milwaukee.”

In hiring, details matter.

(And wouldn’t you think Monster would have a checker of some form for these errors?)

Posted By Derrick Moe | Anecdotes, Employment Ads, Hiring Salespeople | | Comments(0)

Well, there isn’t any precedence yet, according to this StarTribune article.  Clearly the proper use of social networking sites during background checks for candidates is going to be a tremendously important legal topic soon.  This topic has been percolating for some time.  The article references an obvious starting point:

“We can suggest to employers that they include in their application process some statement that says ‘we do reference checking including use of information in the public domain’ and to make it broad enough that if they discover something online it’s fair game,” Ridley said.

I have always been one to note that the Internet IS a public domain so anything a candidate chooses to post online should be usable.  That only seems logical to me, but I know there are others who see it differently.  From the article:

Professional recruiter Gillian Gabriel said she doesn’t use Facebook in her screening process. Instead, Gabriel said, she uses sites like the professionally oriented LinkedIn where people often are looking for job and career connections. Gabriel also looks at blog connections posted on a candidate’s LinkedIn page.

“Whatever they put out there is fair game,” Gabriel said.

“Fair game” seems to be the preferred phrase for this topic.  Anyway, LinkedIn and blogs seem like a good starting point.  I would still choose to look at Facebook also.  I like to know as much as possible about a candidate and if it is online, I’m going to read it.  Just being real.

One last note that caught my eye from the article:

Schmedemann said employers are turning to social media because they “are under pressure to hire carefully” in an economy where there are plenty of job seekers and few jobs. “People fake their résumés much more than they used to,” she said.

Great point.  The difficult job market does lead to desperate acts.

Posted By Derrick Moe | Hiring, Hiring Salespeople, Networking, Sourcing | | Comments(0)

I have recently come across the Social motivation when assessing some sales candidates for a couple different customers and now I just heard a sales rep on the radio revealing his motivation.  Here is what the salesperson said on the radio:

I just met with a company yesterday who was paying almost twice as much to our competitor for the same service.  They were getting ripped off and it isn’t right.

I don’t deny the nobility of his position, but the reality is that very few services are exactly the same (despite prospect’s claims).  A strong salesperson will define their value to the prospect who will make a decision about that value.  It may be that the prospect simply sees something in that company’s product/service that they require/need/value.

My concern for the salesperson on the radio is that he is unconsciously removing any differentiating value from his service.  He is turning the decision into one based solely on price.  That is a prospect move!

Here is where the Social motivation undermines salespeople.  Their natural desire to help others without expecting anything in return undermines their selling ability.  Again, it is a noble motivation and I personally wouldn’t want to live in a world without many Social motivations.  However, sales is not for the feint of heart.  Strong salespeople are consistently assessing the return on their investment of time, resources, money, effort, etc.  Salespeople need to determine if they have a strong prospect…and the faster they can make that determination, the more they can sell.

To be fair, there are a few sales positions where a Social motivation can thrive.  We once assessed a flourishing sales team at a company that provided a product for young mothers.  The team was successful and almost every salesperson was a Social.

But if you are hiring for sales, your best avenue is to hire strong Utilitarians.  If you are uncertain of your candidates’ motivations, we can help.

Posted By Derrick Moe | Assessing, Sales Techniques | | Comments(0)

Breaking news from the big job board world (via press release):

Today, we are excited to announce that Monster has entered into an agreement to acquire HotJobs that will provide you with unprecedented access to job seekers and make Monster the leading site for job seekers in the U.S.
Upon the close of the acquisition, Monster will also enter into a multi-year strategic agreement with Yahoo!, becoming the jobs and recruitment engine on Yahoo!’s homepage for both the U.S. and Canada.

I’m not overly surprised by this news as I believe HotJobs has been fading fast over the past year or two.  I still believe the consolidation of major job boards is less significant than the migration to highly-targeted job boards.  Specialization is the future of job boards as they compete with networking sites for the primary channel to source candidates…in my opinion.

Posted By Derrick Moe | Hiring, Sourcing | | Comments(0)

From abcnews.com regarding the “jobs proposal” working its way through Washington:

Obama’s proposal has an additional provision that would award $5,000 tax credits to companies that add workers in 2010.

Honestly, has anyone in this administration ever run a private company?  I’m no economist, but my experience is this – companies hire more workers when revenue increases (i.e. growth).  One-time minimal tax credits do not spawn hiring booms.

This fact puts the pressure solely on the sales department to find new prospects and close more deals in this depressed economy.  No small feat.

Posted By Derrick Moe | Economy, Hiring | | Comments(1)

From a sales employment ad I read this morning:

Proven, world-class technology with plenty of sizzle

I can’t decide if I like that last turn of phrase in an ad or not.  For software sales, it sounds positive.  For slick-talking salespeople, it sounds like a negative stereotype.  I would recommend leaving the “sizzle” for steak.

Posted By Derrick Moe | Employment Ads, Hiring | | Comments(0)

From Shine on Yahoo comes one of those surveys that makes me think we are over-surveying (emphasis mine):

…96% of Americans report experiencing rudeness at work, and 48% say they are treated uncivilly at least once a week.

This kind of manners meltdown can have a direct effect on the bottom line. According to surveys conducted by Pearson and her colleagues, 48% of poorly treated employees have intentionally decreased their productivity and 12% say the boorish behavior compelled them to quit. Workplace rudeness costs employers an average of $50,000 per worker. “There are very high costs associated with even seemingly inconsequential inconsiderate words and actions,” adds Pearson.

Insert yawn here (maybe that was “boorish behavior” on my part).  $50K per worker due to rudeness?  Where does that number come from?  I have a hard time believing that one.

Posted By Derrick Moe | Anecdotes, Communication | | Comments(0)

I received a PR email notifying me of a 3-part series starting tonight on Nightly Business Report. Here are the details:

“Social Networking”

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Thursday, January 28, 2010

Similar to the introduction of TV in the 1950’s, social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter are rapidly becoming a core component of many Americans’ daily lives.  But where businesses could easily impact the American consumer through TV advertisements, the road map for marketing through social networking is a bit more complex. The rules are certainly different, but as NBR’s Scott Gurvey finds out: the rewards may be even greater.

Tuesday 1/26: Pt. 1 – In part 1, NBR reveals some of the basic ground rules for companies participating in the world of social networking.

Wednesday 1/27: Pt. 2 – Businesses large and small use social networking in different ways.  In part 2, NBR digs deeper into the unwritten rules of social networking by examining recent campaigns from Pepsi and Fetch Pet Care.

Thursday 1/28: Pt. 3 – In part 3, NBR examines the multiplier effect of social networking along with some helpful advice on dealing with consumer complaints.

I have the DVR set and may I suggest you do the same?  Perhaps this short series will change my perspective on Twitter.

Posted By Derrick Moe | Communication, Trends | | Comments(0)

I received a press release from IBISWorld with some interesting data about where the employment growth will occur over the next 4-5 years.  Of course, I would be a bit skeptical about number 2 considering the recent announcements from the White House concerning the banking industry.  Nonetheless, still an interesting picture:

Posted By Derrick Moe | Economy, Hiring, Trends | | Comments(1)

Remember back a few years ago when Radio Shack fired employees via email?  Well, here comes another tone-deaf approach by retail management.  I think the title of the Inc.com article explains it well – PetSmart Fires Employee Who Brought Dog to Work.

Here it is:

Eric Favetta, a 31-year-old PetSmart employee, was fired for "theft of services" after bringing his dog to work during an overnight shift he’d picked up as a favor to his manager, according to the Newark Star-Ledger.

…

Favetta – a former military dog handler who’d worked at PetSmart for 18 months – didn’t want his 3-year-old Belgian Malinois, Gizmo, to be home alone all day and night. So he put Gizmo in the Secaucus, New Jersey store’s doggie day care facility. The store was empty, and Favetta checked in on his pet every 15 minutes.

Two weeks later, store and district managers requested a written report of his overnight shift. He complied – and promptly was fired for "theft of service."

“I was shocked,” Favetta told the Star Ledger. “It makes me sick that because I brought my dog to work with me when the store was closed to do the company a favor, I was called a thief and terminated.” "Theft of service" was just a convenient excuse to axe him because he didn’t get along with his manager, he argues, noting that he opened the store and handled money without incident.

Astounding.  In all fairness to PetSmart, they did change course and offer Mr. Favetta his job back and a transfer to another store.  I am still amazed that the corporate people did not see the irony and idiocy of this situation.

Posted By Derrick Moe | Anecdotes, Leadership, Team Management | | Comments(1)