But can they handle adversity?

One of the attributes that is rarely mentioned in the context of hiring, is the individual's ability to roll with the punches.

I'm not speaking here just of the day-in, day-out aspects of their job - such as inevitably occur for someone in, say, sales - but the overall environment on the job and the often rude intrusion of reality.

If you own a smaller, more entrepreneurial firm, this is an important consideration.

Many folks will present at interview with a slightly rose-colored view of their future work environment. They possibly think that working at a smaller - and often fast-growing - firm, is all fun and games. Or, they assume the upward growth of the company will be relentless and dazzling.

Neither of these is a realistic view of working life at a smaller firm. But I have found that many people hold these or similar views, and it can complicate the management of your firm.

Such employees are very enthusiastic while the good times are rolling but, as soon as the company hits a rough spot, they lose interest.

And, as seasoned business owners know, it only takes a few setbacks with the economy or client companies closing down, and your own firm is back to square one in terms of business development. No-one has done anything wrong but the firm soon faces an uphill climb to re-build.

Meanwhile, the people who are less capable about dealing with adversity will be looking for the exit - just when you need to rely on their expertise the most.

One way to avoid this scenario is to screen carefully for prospective employees who have already handled adversity.

During the interview process, be sure to ask some questions, getting them to describe

1) Scenarios from prior employment where they had to work within reduced budgets or through other forms of cutbacks in resources;

2) How they handle their work in a shoestring environment. Those who are creative will come up with answers, whereas those who haven't the inner, personal resources to deal with adversity will more likely give you a blank stare.

During the interview, you not only want to find out what prospective hires have done, but also want to communicate what your firm is like and what is expected in different situations. Getting across the message that times may be bad as well as good, never hurts.

For tips on these and other hiring issues, read my book:

Other People's Problems: Why You Need To Go On Interviewing Your Employees - After You Hire Them!

What are they really thinking...and doing?

While as a supervisor or employer, you can't really know the totality of what goes on in the minds of your staff, there are times when you need to know - because it may have an impact on the job!

Many years ago, I had someone working for me whom we'll call Don. Long before the rest of the world cottoned on to the idea of the stay-at-home Dad, Don had decided to quit his career-path job to be with his kids more.  However, he still needed to work and so we hired him part-time.

Think this will be a story about life-work balance and juggling child care with office duties? Wrong! Along with his new role, Don found he had lots of time to read. And he picked up a title called "The Path Of Least Resistance" by Robert Fritz. (Not sure if it's still in print.)

This book is mainly about creativity and changing the underlying structure of your life but... that's not what Don got out of it. As he read further into the book, his philosophy became one of: 'It's OK if you don't feel like doing something', in fact, taking the path of least resistance on any onerous task is OK.

For Don, in the workplace, this translated to: If we don't feel like making sales calls, we don't have to. If we don't feel like stressing to deal with a difficult assignment, we needn't. Etc., etc.

Trouble is, his work for the company wasn't getting done! Eventually, we had to let him go.

You can't stop your employees from reading whatever they want but it is a good idea to keep tabs on any "new thinking" a person might be gaining from what they read IF it will become detrimental to the function of the workplace. (Not sure where the revenue was going to come from if we stopped making sales calls...)

Fads, fetishes and more, plus their impact in the workplace is one of the topics I tackle in my book Other People's Problems. Why You Need To Go On Interviewing Your Employees - After You Hire Them!"

You can learn more by following this link:

http://www.deborahcsawyer.com/shopsite_sc/page2.html 

Copyright Deborah C. Sawyer

Is 'Team Player' a dangerous term?

The term 'team player' is probably one of the most overused and dangerous terms in the hiring situation.

It's become so de rigueur that no job applicant would dare say they are not a team player.  However, do you always need a team player for every job?  And what is the downside of being a 'team player'?

If you're in an environment where you want people to take ownership of a project, to run with the ball to get it completed, someone who's a team player may not be a good candidate.

The term 'team player' might all too easily be hiding someone who cannot make decisions on their own, doesn't think independently, and likes to take a passive approach to their work.

We are all capable of sitting in a meeting room with our co-workers, agreeing with everybody else's opinions, and making ourselves sound like a great team player, but does that mean a person who exhibits those behaviors - which are very easy to produce - is actually good at supporting the team?

In situations where, for example, you have a backlog of work, a team player may be the last person you need.  Someone who likes to go off by themselves, tackle the job and get it done, may be a more ideal candidate.  But how will you find this person when every candidate who comes in for the interview feels obliged to say what a great team player they are?

And what is really the definition of a 'team player'?  If you look closely at what is really needed - as opposed to a phrase that is too easy to parrot - you need someone who can get along with other people when necessary, but can go it alone if needed.

Look at the world of sports and you will see how this works in winning teams. Good team players know when to support other people on the team and when they must literally carry or run with the ball to score a goal. In other words, they can do both.

For real success in hiring, it might be better to focus on the skills the person has and determine how they work on their own, leaving identifying their ability to work with the team for your reference checks.

For more insight into some of the pitfalls of hiring and how to avoid them, read my book Other People's Problems: Why You Need To Go On Interviewing Your Employees - After You Hire Them!

http://www.deborahcsawyer.com/shopsite_sc/page2.html



Copyright Deborah C. Sawyer/Information Plus

Are they freeing up your time to build the business?

Most people, when asked, would give a range of reasons for hiring staff at their small businesses but the real, underlying reason, for all hires in a start-up or newer enterprise is to: Free up the owner's time to build the business!

After all, why else would you take anyone on - to share the wealth? C'mon, this is capitalism we're talking about! No owner willingly shares the returns on their sweat equity.

Yet it is amazing how few business owners - never mind employees - realize this fundamental truth.

In order to assess if employees and other staff are really pulling their weight, you need to run their performance through this "freeing up your time" prism constantly.

Obviously, you have to allow for time to train new hires and you have to allow for time to discuss job requirements, new projects that come in, new products or services you plan to offer, new customers etc, as these things arise.

But if you find you are constantly sitting down with any single worker to go over things they are not doing or not doing right, well, that person is definitely NOT freeing up your time to build the business. They are TAKING your time from building the business.

It's unlikely any small business owner has the luxury of that much time - or the funds in the bank to support this diversion of his or her concentration away from building the business.

Be aware of some of the traps that come up with employees who are not supporting your business building goals. My book Other People's Problems goes over all the issues which can siphon off your time - and shows you how to forestall these problems.

For details or to purchase, go to:http://www.deborahcsawyer.com/shopsite_sc/page2.html

Copyright Deborah C. Sawyer

We Don't All Read The Same Business Books...

From time to time, I answer questions on LinkedIn, which is  forum of exchange used by many in business.

The questions I answer tend to be about hiring... firing... policy and procedures... and related topics. Often, the questions - mainly posted by those in management or supervisory roles - concern how to motivate people, how to find out what potential hires are capable of, what to do about under-performing workers, and the like. 

The questions are usually asked by people who are doing their best to keep up with current thinking, often inspired by the latest business books.  What my over 30 years of business and management experience tells me, though, is THAT is half the problem: One set of people at the office reads all the latest books, the other half never does!

Coming in to work brimming with great theories and concepts is all very well but, to be an effective manager, you need to step back and realize: many of those who report to you do not give a damn about the issues you hold most dear. Thinking: "Of course we all want to maximize returns" or "Driving down costs is our collective goal" or any number of other objectives you might care to mention, will leave you disappointed and likely very frustrated. Many rank and file workers do not give a damn about market penetration, don't know what emotional intelligence is and don't care, or go to sleep every time they hear the phrase "mission-critical".

Keeping a more realistic perspective on the workplace may help you to become a more pragmatic - and, in the long run, successful - manager. By all means go on reading the latest gospel to come in the form of a business book but don't subscribe to the ideas so heavily that you end up disillusioned when the great ideas don't pan out in practice as promised.

To look at how ideas are valuable as indicators but not as imperatives, consider how many companies got burned a few years ago by implementing supply-chain management systems. Or the sometimes mixed results from Sigma Six. Or any of a number of other conceptually driven programs.

A great many people out there are good workers but what they want is to have a defined set of tasks, show up, be allowed to perform them, then get paid and go home. They have lives and interests outside the office and, funnily enough, the people who take this approach probably have more work-life balance than those who are busy reading about how to re-invent the wheel that is business.

Some of  the above may seem strange coming from someone who has written business books herself but, the difference in my books - I hope! - is that I try to be pragmatic and offer practical advice, not fancy theories. When you read my latest book, Other People's Problems, you'll be able to decide if I've managed to pull it off!

For details, go to the link below.

http://www.lulu.com/content/paperback-book/other_peoples_problems/9268001


Copyright Deborah C. Sawyer

The Great Divide - Managing for Others Versus Managing for Yourself

I am always open to others' feedback about the books I write. Recently, someone I had asked to review my current title  Other People's Problems advised that she found the book likely to be of limited use to those who already have experience managing people in other businesses.
I thought seriously about this, but then realized that many people who have managed in established organizations are not aware of the differences that a new business owner faces when they set up their own firm.  Even those who have oodles of human resources management experience are likely to face a few challenges.

One of the reasons is that, as a manager in a large enterprise, you have what I call the "weight of the organization" behind you.  The size of the organization... its prominence... its prestige... its length of time in business - all these things can exert checks and balances on employees and how they behave.Whatever your views of your own firm are, people who walk in the door to work for you do not necessarily share your views as to how important your company - or its reputation - is.

Another thing to remember is that, on your own, you no longer have the benefit of OPM - Other People's Money.  Everything employees do, both the good and the bad, has to be covered out of your own pocket.  Realizing that you are the one funding everything may give pause for thought as to how you need to modify your management style and the rules within your organization.

My reviewer also said she found the suspicious tone of the book something of a barrier.  That also gave me pause for thought.  Should I have made this book more upbeat?  Should I have encouraged
new business owners, in particular, to be wildly optimistic?

I think one of the problems with a lot of business writing is that it always looks solely on the positive side.  Unfortunately, the positives in running a business aren't what do you damage.

It's the negatives, including employee sabotage, that do you in.  In my experience, the really damaging and sabotaging employees were those who had been newly hired. They really did not have any track record with my firm that would have led them to bear a grudge. It was probably more that they had a number of chips on their shoulders from life in general that they gave vent to in my company, issues that were not known to anyone giving them a reference.

What I have tried to do in Other People's Problems is tell the truth.  That there is bad along with the good and, to be an effective manager in a small firm and run a successful firm, you need to be aware of the things that could go wrong and have already figured out a way to deal with them.

If I was going to single out my chief flaw as a human resources manager, it would be that I trusted far too many people, far too much.  While some of my employees were eminently worthy of that trust, it only took one who wasn't to ignite the powder keg.

Sections of my book are now available on Google and you can order a copy by going directly to the following link:

http//www.lulu.com/content/paperback-book/Other_Peoples_Problems/9268001

Copyright Deborah C. Sawyer

Divorce in the workplace: A difference of opinion

Since Other People's Problems was published several months ago, we've probably sent out upwards of 2500 press releases to potential purchasers.  Until now, no-one has objected or given us any feedback.  That all changed a few days ago. 

The press release in question is headlined: "What do you do when 50% of your workforce is going through a nasty divorce?"  Someone we'll call Jerry took exception to this.  Here is the e-mail he sent us:

"Take me off your list!  Employees who are going through divorce, in my experience, often immerse themselves in work.  I have never had a problem with one.  Indeed, many work harder to avoid the impact of divorce and make sure that they are as financially secure as they can be."  Jerry then goes on to suggest he has sometimes found that it is the people who are secure in their lives who tend to slack off more. 

I was rather concerned about Jerry's feedback until I went and re-read the press release.  In addition to the headline, the text goes as follows "Small companies can ill afford such disruptions.  If you have two employees and one is going through an acrimonious divorce, that's 50% of your workforce."  What Jerry has unfortunately missed here is the difference between the amicable, 'it's-sad,-but-let's-be-mature-about-this' divorces and the ones that are anything but. 

For a smaller company, one employee going through a nasty divorce can just about destroy the company as productivity plummets and client work suffers.  Such an employee does not have their mind on the job.  If the spouse is not returning children from visitations on time or is refusing to allow the children to attend visitations, or the spouse has gone and unlawfully changed locks on the former matrimonial home, or is denying access to possessions, etc. etc., then the employee will unlikely be working harder because their time will be taken up on the phone or out of the office, dealing with the problems.  Ditto if they're having problems with their divorce lawyer; a huge amount of time can be taken up for these things.

While we value Jerry's feedback, it's unfortunate he didn't notice the distinction we were making and that there are different types of divorces.  He is probably right, based on his own experience and if he hasn't been the victim, as an employer, of an acrimonious divorce, then he has been very fortunate.  Some small-business owners are not so lucky...

To purchase a copy of Other People's Problems, go to the following link.
http://www.lulu.com/content/paperback-book/other_peoples_problems/9268001