For more information visit the conference website.

When job descriptions are written they usually list requirements for years of experience, education, industry of experience, functional skills and personality traits in addition to outlining the duties to be performed, in essence – creating a template for ‘experience based’ hiring.

Consider the concept of ‘performance based’ hiring in crafting your next job description – define first what you and your company consider to be superior performance for the position.

An experience based job description emphasizes the ‘having’ rather than the ‘doing’. A performance based job description will take into account behaviours and core competencies in the right proportions to ensure that key deliverables are met. It focuses in on whether a candidate can really do the work at high levels, if he/she has enough energy, team skills, technical ability, and related competencies.

For Example:

Having: 5 years industry experience
Doing: Key Deliverables: Major Objective: Establish Far East office to generate $5mm/month within 15 months

Having: 5-10 yrs sales mgmt exp
Doing: Key Deliverables: Sub-Objective: Hire 3 key sales mgrs within 120 days

Having: US market experience
Doing: Key Deliverables: Rebuild and train US direct sales group within 6 months

Think of it this way: What does the person have to do to be successful? This process will clarify expectations, refine the candidate pool and improve the recruiting/closing process. In addition, it will provide very measurable and specific results on the success of the candidate.

Define the work that really needs to get done – then look for people who have done it!

One of our clients is fighting to change a culture of creating vague expectations, not measuring performance and not holding people accountable. Trying to make this shift feels like trying to move a glacier with a toothpick! Their biggest challenge is that the business owner is taking over from his father and has inherited a culture of acceptance “as long as you are not costing the business money you’re ok”.

All of a sudden their industry is changing, a new level of competitiveness is emerging and the status quo will not do any longer.

They want to change and respond to the new market challenges but it feels like the company culture is just too entrenched and hard to change. As consultants our first task was to clarify their long term goals…we had them take time away from their business to redefine their strategy. Once they were able to step back and understand where they were going and what specific changes were required to get there, then they were able to begin to execute on that change.

With a crystallized view of where they were going, their managers were then able to create accountability structures (especially for their sales teams) which started the process to define, track and measure their results. The end result was a new found ‘transparency’ which enabled managers to have real conversations about actual, versus desired performance. Clear and measureable expectations along with this new style of communication has raised the ‘performance bar’ significantly. As a result, some people have been asked to leave, and others have left on their own. While this does not sound like the ideal outcome, over the long term the cost to the business of not making these changes far outweighs the immediate discomfort felt by those responsible for making the change.

Our client is seeing positive change within their business …and by their own admission, while it has been along hard journey the results have definitely been worth it.

We are always interested in hearing from you about similar experiences you’ve had!

In a skill shortage market, your target hire may be considering multiple offers, each with its own appeal, and may also be subject to a counter offer from his/her existing employer.

It’s not just a matter of bigger paycheques, although money still counts. To craft a ‘compelling offer’ you need to understand what aspects of an employment relationship are most highly valued by employees – what will motivate them to accept an offer – what do they really care about.

At a recent BCHRMA Round Table which I chaired in Surrey, we discussed using the concept of the ‘trial offer’; a way to seek out earlier on in the interview process, any concerns or misgivings the candidate may have, or any points you may have to address in preparation for making an offer. Asking questions such as, “If at the end of this process we decided to make you an offer and you turned us down, why would you do that?” or “Tell me honestly – what are the risks you perceive if you were to accept this position?”. Whether the candidate is worrying about the state of your industry, the future of your company or the potential length of his/her commute, you should know it sooner rather than later.

It’s no longer true that people ‘feel lucky to have a job’ and you probably never considered that you’d have to be ‘selling’ yourselves and your company in order to get someone to work for you. Ultimately, the company that can articulate its purpose, values and operating style, that understands and promotes this as a ‘brand’, that knows how to outline the opportunities to be found within their organization and their vision for the future – not just the work itself or the money attached to it – will have a greater probability of landing the candidate that they’ve found.

If you have any tips or experiences you’d like to share we’d be happy to hear from you.

Sound familiar? If it does you are not alone! Businesses of all sizes both in the public and private sectors are facing very difficult decisions. Recently I was talking to one client in the technology sector; the company is growing quickly and needs to hire a Sales Manager. The President is facing the age old problem … “should I do the logical thing and promote my best sales person into the Sales Manager’s role”. This is a common problem growing companies face, but the solution is not always to promote an existing sales “superstar”. More companies promote people into positions that they are not equipped to handle based on their performance in an existing role. Once someone has been promoted it is virtually impossible to “demote” them and the results are often devastating to the individual’s career and to the company.

Before this particular client made his decision, we talked to him about what core behaviours were required for this position. We talked about looking at his need to hire (or promote) someone to take on the newly created Sales Manager’s role. We suggested he look at the situation very objectively, taking the person he is thinking about promoting out of the picture and creating a Job Profile which maps out 7 key traits and creates a graphical summary of the position. He could then ask his current sales person to complete an assessment that would align with the Job Profile he completed for the role. The Job Profile provides a written summary of those specific traits along with the ability to compare candidates against the job.

This story actually had a happy ending… instead of promoting his best sales guy into a role where he would be less effective, we helped him hire a proper Sales Manager and let his best sales guy continue to be his best sales guy.

If you have a similar story you would like to share or any thoughts on this blog, please let us know.

For a company seeking new talent, a good recruiting firm is worth its weight in gold. Professional recruiters perform a highly valuable service to clients by identifying top talent, applying professional talents to determine the ideal candidate and finalizing the hiring arrangement. So when the time comes to seek professional help, how do you choose the firm to which you’ll entrust your search mandate?

Here are questions you should consider or directly ask when making your selection:

• What is their reputation?
• Do they create a positive first impression?
• Are they articulate and in command of the language of your field?
• What is the history and background of the firm and its people?
• What specific searches have they done that are the same as or similar to your need?
• Can they provide references from satisfied clients?
• Can they effectively represent your organization and you to prospective candidates?
• Will the person to whom you are speaking actually do the work?
• Are you personally comfortable with the consultant?

Your initial contact may be over the phone but you may also consider inviting the search consultant to your office, or visiting them in theirs. Check out their website and any materials they can send explaining their services, expertise and search methodology.

We would love to hear from you with any thoughts you might have on this subject.

We talked at length about how many organizations are ill-prepared for the major void that will be left when their key senior people start to retire. The following is an excerpt from a Wikipedia article I read recently about succession planning and I thought you might find it interesting.

“Fundamental to the succession-management process is an underlying philosophy that argues that top talent in the corporation must be managed for the greater good of the enterprise. Merck and other companies argue that a “talent mindset” must be part of the leadership culture for these practices to be effective.

Research indicates many succession-planning initiatives fall short of their intent (Corporate Leadership Council, 1998). “Bench strength,” as it is commonly called, remains a stubborn problem in many if not most companies. Studies indicate that companies that report the greatest gains from succession planning feature high ownership by the CEO and high degrees of engagement among the larger leadership team (Kesler 2002).

Companies that are well known for their succession planning and executive talent development practices include: GE, Honeywell, IBM, Marriott, Microsoft, Pepsi and Proctor and Gamble.

Research indicates that clear objectives are critical to establishing effective succession planning (Kesler 2002). These objectives tend to be core to many or most companies that have well-established practices:

• Identify those with the potential to assume greater responsibility in the organization
• Provide critical development experiences to those that can move into key roles
• Engage the leadership in supporting the development of high-potential leaders
• Build a data base that can be used to make better staffing decisions for key jobs

In other companies these additional objectives may be embedded in the succession process:

• Improve employee commitment and retention
• Meet the career development expectations of existing employees
• Counter the increasing difficulty and costs of recruiting employees externally”

We would love to hear from you with any thoughts or questions you may have around succession planning.