Subject: June Hire Score Newsletter from Barry Shamis

Welcome to the June edition of the Hire Score Newsletter. I got up this morning and was reading the morning paper with breakfast, and when I got to the Business section, the headline was, "Unemployment Rate Drops." As you probably know, I live in Seattle, better known as ground zero for the dot bomb explosion. All you hear about is all the companies laying people off and going out of business.

But, as I have told you for the past few months, the sky is not falling. Just as people over-reacted to the bullish exuberance, they are over-reacting to the bearish gloom. I recognize that these are difficult times, but there are opportunities for those of you brave enough to act strategically.

Last month, I was pretty critical of a local software company for their layoff. Well, I received an email from one of their executives taking me to task for my criticism. He felt it was unfair of me to blame them for having a bad quarter as many companies have had bad quarters. My bad. If he missed the point, so may have many of you. The point was that matching your staffing to your business planning absolutely does reduce the severity of the swings.

Here are a few specifics to help:

1. Pay attention to your leading indicators as well as your trailing indicators. Everyone knows what sales were last month (the key trailing indicator), but just as important is the quality of your pipeline. What new strategic deals are coming down the pipe? This will affect your recruiting strategy. What is the biggest challenge to your product and market position? The answer to this gives you insight into your staff plans.

2. Assessing your current staff capabilities and matching that against your business plans helps you understand where you are and where you need to get to.

3. Do not allow headcount (a simple number) to drive your planning and implementation. Instead, use your organization's capabilities to drive planning and implementation. Adding people in the wrong functional areas doesn't make you a stronger company. But, if your new hires match your future business plans, than the probability of success goes up dramatically.

This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to strategic staffing. The effort you invest on the front end pays a huge dividend in flexibility and productivity.

On to another subject. "Attitude." I have discussed this in the past but it keeps coming up. A business owner challenged me recently about hiring for attitude. His contention was that you should hire for attitude and train for skills. My response went something like this, "OK, let's assume you are right. When you have a candidate sitting across the desk from you, what is the first thing you look for?" "I look for a team player," he said.
"What's that?" I said.
"You know, someone that gets along with their co-workers."
"Does it matter to you if they get the job done or only if they get along?"
"Of course!"
"Alright then, what do you ask to find out if they get along with people?"
His response, "I ask them if they get along with their co-workers."

I am not making this up.

The problem with introducing labels into the hiring process is that you allow ambiguity to creep in. When I say "attitude," what pops into your head? Everyone's response is different. The key to eliminating ambiguity is to focus on behavior. Instead of "attitude", define the specific behavior necessary. For example, "Quickly establishes rapport with customers." Or, "does whatever is necessary to solve the customer's problem." Or, "helps coworkers complete assignments."

Specific behaviors remove ambiguity and allow you to focus on the important data.

Question of the Month

"How do I interview for potential?" M Whiting, Seattle

Very good question. One of the problems we face today is that our businesses are changing so fast that the skills we need from our employees are changing just as fast. Hiring for potential boils down to predictability. How will the person handle certain changes that may occur? There are 3 key predictors you can look for in the interview. First is the ability to learn. Second is ability to handle change and the third is a history of managing stretch assignments. If the person learns quickly, there is a higher probability they will adapt to new circumstances. If they show a history of doing whatever was necessary to handle previous changes, they will probably handle yours as well. Finally, a stretch assignment is where the person is in a little over their head. Most promotions and new jobs are stretch assignments. A person probably has potential if they have consistently succeeded in stretch assignments.

A Quick Rant

A few months ago, I shared with you how I discovered a competitor using my material. My comment at the time was I guess imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. I lied. It came to my attention yesterday that one of the charlatans out there polluting peoples' minds with misinformation about hiring is using my performance-based profile model. He didn't even have the originality to slightly change the terminology. (Come on Lou, I thought you were smart!).

You should all know that every idea you hear from me is mine. It is well thought out and tested for validity. I work very hard researching the information and techniques I share with you. If it doesn't work, I shoulder 100% of the blame.

On a lighter note, thank you all for your submissions last month. We got some great ideas for the barryshamis.com website. Your free books are on the way. This month I want to make things very simple. I am heading off to Hawaii at the end of the month and want to get rid of some inventory. So here's the deal. Go to www.selectingwinners.com and click on the Hiring Tools and Resources button. Until June 29, 2001 only, you can take 25% off any order. Purchase as much as you want and we will deduct 25% off your entire order. But, here's the catch, do NOT use the order form on the website. Instead, send an email using the following link, www.selectingwinners.com/mailform.html . We will personally contact you to process your order.

Have a great summer everyone and I will be back with you next month.

Barry Shamis