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 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 ReadingBig Personalities In Selling
We’re an assessment company so you can imagine how adamant I am about assessing candidates (not just for sales positions either). However, in sales it is crucial to use assessments to cut through the sales candidates’ well-developed social skills. Unfortunately, many assessment tools focus on personality only which is not a reliable or repeatable predictor of sales success. My experience has been that most people focus on big personalities when it comes to selling. If the person is a good talker, tells funny stories, lights up the room, etc., then they must be a good salesperson. The bigger the personality, the more they will sell. Ok, I grant you that… Read More
Continue ReadingThe True-Life Assessment
I was out all yesterday helping the medical clinic where my wife works move into a new facility. I am a wannebe geek so I moved their small computer network for them and installed a new computer for the owner. The interesting item I observed was the work ethic of the people involved. I like to say that some times you just don’t need an assessment. I think moving may be one of those times. To be blunt, moving blows no matter how you look at it. It is disruptive, tiring, laborious and messy. However, one thing you can clearly observe is the work ethic of a person. At one… Read More
Continue ReadingLack Of Attention To Detail
Derrick wrote a series on sales traits last year which transcends sales and applies to everyone. I was catching up on my RSS reader from the Labor Day weekend and came across this perfect example to illustrate the lack of Attention to Detail. According to this post from US News & World Report, employees of media agency Carat learned about a planned layoff by management through an email. Because someone did not have an abundance of the attention to detail trait, an email meant strictly for management accidentally went out to everyone in the company. This is why we stress the use of assessments to “x-ray” a person’s hidden abilities and talents, or lack thereof. Unfortunately… Read More
Continue ReadingQuality Of Hire Requires Objectivity
Ere.net offers up an excellent Kevin Wheeler article that explains how gut-level hiring occurs. Here is the crux of the problem: Interviews are examples of how easy it is to abandon the tools of objectivity, the scientific method, logic, and the rules of evidence, for our “gut” or for “chemistry.” While there is considerable evidence showing that testing candidates is far more likely to predict successful performance, we still rely almost exclusively on interviews. Though numerous researchers have pointed out the need to gather a variety of data about a candidate, we generally settle for an application form and an interview. Why are we so resistant to testing and other… Read More
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