We are gathering the next group for our online program Hiring Talent, which kicks off September 19, 2011. As the economy (slowly) recovers, your next hires are critical. This is not a time to be casual about the hiring process. Mistakes are too expensive and margins are too thin.

Purpose of this program – to train managers and HR specialists in the discipline of conducting more effective interviews in the context of a managed recruiting process.

How long is the program? This program will take eight weeks.

How do people participate in the program? This is an online program conducted by Tom Foster. Participants will be responsible for online assignments and participate in online facilitated discussion groups with other participants. This online platform is highly interactive. Participants will interact with Tom Foster and other participants as they work through this program.

Next program starts September 19, 2011. Pre-register Now.

Who should participate? This program is designed for Stratum III and Stratum IV managers and HR managers who play active roles in the recruiting process for their organizations.

What is the cost? The program investment is $699 per participant.

When is the program scheduled? Pre-registration is now open. The program is scheduled to kick-off September 19, 2011.

How much time is required to participate in this program? Participants should reserve approximately 2 hours per week. This program is designed so participants can complete their assignments on their own schedule anytime during each week’s assignment period.

Pre-register Now.

September 19, 2011

• Orientation

Week One – Role Descriptions – It’s All About the Work

• What we are up against
• Specific challenges in the process
• Problems in the process
• Defining the overall process
• Introduction to the Role Description
• Organizing the Role Description
• Defining Tasks
• Defining Goals
• Identifying Time Span

Week Two

• Publish and critique role descriptions

Week Three – Interviewing for Future Behavior

• Creating effective interview questions
• General characteristics of effective questions
• How to develop effective questions
• How to interview for attitudes and non-behavioral elements
• How to interview for Time Span
• Assignment – Create a battery of interview questions for the specific role description

Week Four

• Publish and critique battery of interview questions

Week Five – Conducting the Interview

• Organizing the interview process
• Taking Notes during the process
• Telephone Screening
• Conducting the telephone interview
• Conducting the face-to-face interview
• Working with an interview team
• Compiling the interview data into a Decision Matrix
• Background Checks, Reference Checks
• Behavioral Assessments
• Drug Testing
• Assignment – Conduct a face-to-face interview

Week Six

• Publish and critique results of interview process

Week Seven – Using Profile Assessments

• Using Profile Assessments

Week Eight

• Publish and critique results from Profile Assessments

Registration
Pre-registration is now open for this program. No payment is due at this time.

Note –
This program concludes prior to the Thanksgiving holiday (USA) and will be the last Hiring Talent Program offered in 2011.

“So, I have been ignoring the most important skills during the interview?”

“Perhaps.” I said.

“But it almost seems silly. Am I supposed to ask if they can count?”

“Russell, you said that a critical break-down is in material counts for each day’s production. It is more than just counting. Try these questions.

“Tell me how you handled the materials staging for each day’s production. How many finished units did you produce in a typical day? What were the raw materials that went into each of the finished units? Where did you warehouse the materials? How did you move materials from the warehouse to the staging area? How long did that take in advance of production? When did you check on material availability for each day’s production? How did you handle a stock out?

“Russell, in response to these questions, what are you listening for?”

He smiled, “I’m listening for organizing behavior, working into the future, anticipating problems. It is more than just counting.”

“What do you mean, evidence?” Stella asked. “It’s an interview. If someone says they are up to the task, that they are interested in the challenge, that they really want the responsibility, what more can you get? I mean, I asked those hard questions.”

“Exactly what were the questions you asked,” I wanted to know. “Let’s list out those hard questions.”

“Okay,” Stella started. “I asked if he really thought he was up to the task? I explained just how difficult the job would be and asked him if he would really be interested in the challenge? I asked him why he wanted that level of responsibility?”

“So, you asked him the perfect questions, so he could lie to you?”

The biggest mistake that companies (managers) make, is underestimating what is really required for success in the role.

We think we are saving budget, when we are squandering opportunity. We think we can get by, temporarily, short-cutting, settling for resources that cannot make the grade.

“We knew he wasn’t the right person,” Marcia explained. “We had another candidate, perfect for the position, but the timing didn’t work out, another company countered and won.”

“So, you settled?” I asked.

“He was okay in the beginning. He worked a bulletproof system without a lot of decisions to be made.”

“All he had to do was drive the system?”

“That’s the problem, our customers began to want new things and holes appeared in our system,” Marcia was shaking her head. “By the time we noticed the flags, we lost two of our best customers.”

“What’s your plan?”

“Right now, triage, just to patch things up, but in the long run, we need someone who can look at both our internal systems and our external customers. We need someone who can, not only follow the system, but monitor how well it works and change it to match our customers. Our customers change, want new stuff, over time, the whole market will change.”
___
Our next online program – Hiring Talent is scheduled to kick off August 1, 2011. If you would like to find out more about the program or register, follow this link.

It’s not too late to join the group in our next Hiring Talent online program. The Orientation begins next Monday, August 1, 2011, so sign up now.

How long is the program? This program will take eight weeks beginning August 1, 2011.

How do people participate in the program? This is an online program conducted by Tom Foster. Participants will be responsible for online assignments and participating in online facilitated discussion groups with other participants. This online platform is highly interactive. Participants will be interacting with Tom Foster and other participants as they work through this program.

Who should participate? This program is designed for Stratum III and Stratum IV managers and HR managers who play active roles in the recruiting process for their organizations.

What is the cost? The program investment is $699 per participant.

When is the program scheduled? Registration is now open. The program will start, following the registration period, with the Orientation kicking off Monday, August 1, 2011.

How much time is required to participate in this program? Participants should reserve approximately 2 hours per week. This program is designed so participants can complete the Field Work and posting assignments on their own schedule anytime during each week’s assignment period.

Mon, Aug 1, 2011 – Week One

Orientation

Mon, Aug 8, 2011 – Week Two – Role Descriptions – It’s All About the Work

What we are up against
Specific challenges in the process
Problems in the process
Defining the overall process
Introduction to the Role Description
Organizing the Role Description
Defining Tasks
Defining Goals
Identifying Time Span

Mon, Aug 15, 2011 – Week Three

Publish and critique role descriptions

Mon, Aug 22, 2011 – Week Four – Interviewing for Future Behavior

Creating effective interview questions
General characteristics of effective questions
How to develop effective questions
How to interview for attitudes and non-behavioral elements
How to interview for Time Span
Assignment – Create a battery of interview questions for the specific role description

Mon, Aug 29, 2011 – Week Five

Publish and critique battery of interview questions

Mon, Sep 5, 2011 – Week Six – Conducting the Interview (Yes, we know it’s a holiday)

Organizing the interview process
Taking Notes during the process
Telephone Screening
Conducting the telephone interview
Conducting the face-to-face interview
Working with an interview team
Compiling the interview data into a Decision Matrix
Background Checks, Reference Checks
Behavioral Assessments
Drug Testing
Assignment – Conduct a face-to-face interview

Mon, Sep 12, 2011 – Week Seven

Publish and critique results of interview process

Mon, Sep 19, 2011 – Week Eight

Using Profile Assessments

If you have any questions, just ask. Sign up here.

Joyce had her thinking cap on. Her dissatisfaction with Phillip was not from a lack of performance, but from a lack of capability.

“I want you to begin to think about capability in terms of Time Span,” I prompted.

“You’re right,” she replied. “Phillip seems to stay away from, or procrastinate on all the projects that take time to plan out and work on. And then, it’s like he jams on the accelerator. He even told me that he works better under pressure, that last minute deadlines focus him better. I am beginning to think that he waits until the last minutes because that is the only time frame he thinks about.”

“Give me an example,” I asked.

“Remember, I found him hidden away in the warehouse, rearranging all the shelves himself. It’s really a bigger project than that. We are trying to move the high turning items to bins up front and slower moving items to bins in the back. But it’s going to take some time to review, which items need to be moved, how to retag them, how to planagram the whole thing. We started talking about this two months ago with a deadline coming due next week. So, only now, Phillip gets stuck in the warehouse doing things himself. And the result is likely to be more of a mess than a help.”

“Is it a matter of skill, planning skills?” I ventured.

“No, I don’t think so. It is a matter of capability,” Joyce said with some certainty.

“Then how are we going to measure that capability?”
___
Our next online program – Hiring Talent is scheduled to kick off August 1, 2011. If you would like to find out more about the program or pre-register, follow this link.

We are gathering the next group for our online program Hiring Talent, kicks off August 1, 2011. As the economy (slowly) recovers, your next hires are critical. This is not a time to be casual about the hiring process. Mistakes are too expensive and our margins are too thin.

Purpose of this program – to train managers and HR specialists in the discipline of conducting more effective interviews in the context of a managed recruiting process.

How long is the program? This program will take eight weeks.

How do people participate in the program? This is an online program conducted by Tom Foster. Participants will be responsible for online assignments and participate in online facilitated discussion groups with other participants. This online platform is highly interactive. Participants will interact with Tom Foster and other participants as they work through this program.

Next program starts August 1, 2011. Pre-register Now.

Who should participate? This program is designed for Stratum III and Stratum IV managers and HR managers who play active roles in the recruiting process for their organizations.

What is the cost? The program investment is $699 per participant.

When is the program scheduled? Pre-registration is now open. The program is scheduled to kick-off August 1, 2011.
How much time is required to participate in this program? Participants should reserve approximately 2 hours per week. This program is designed so participants can complete their assignments on their own schedule anytime during each week’s assignment period.

Pre-register Now.

Week One

• Orientation

Week Two – Role Descriptions – It’s All About the Work

• What we are up against
• Specific challenges in the process
• Problems in the process
• Defining the overall process
• Introduction to the Role Description
• Organizing the Role Description
• Defining Tasks
• Defining Goals
• Identifying Time Span

Week Three

• Publish and critique role descriptions

Week Four – Interviewing for Future Behavior

• Creating effective interview questions
• General characteristics of effective questions
• How to develop effective questions
• How to interview for attitudes and non-behavioral elements
• How to interview for Time Span
• Assignment – Create a battery of interview questions for the specific role description

Week Five

• Publish and critique battery of interview questions

Week Six

• Organizing the interview process
• Taking Notes during the process
• Telephone Screening
• Conducting the telephone interview
• Conducting the face-to-face interview
• Working with an interview team
• Compiling the interview data into a Decision Matrix
• Background Checks, Reference Checks
• Behavioral Assessments
• Drug Testing
• Assignment – Conduct a face-to-face interview

Week Seven

• Publish and critique results of interview process

Week Eight

• Using Profile Assessments

Registration
Pre-registration is now open for this program. No payment is due at this time.

From the Ask Tom mailbag:

Question:
Yesterday, (Fictitious Snapshot), you objected to asking the interview question, “Where do you see yourself in five years?” I think it is a perfectly valid question. It gives me an idea how far the person can think out into the future (Time Span) and what kind of a planner they are. Both of these things are important qualities of a manager.

Response:
Important qualities, I agree. It is still a terrible question.

Any future-based question opens the interview to speculation. Given the question, “Where do you see yourself in five years?” the candidate begins to guess what the interviewer wants to hear. It might indicate the candidate’s ability to mind-read. ANY response to this question is something the candidate makes up, either contrived or on the spot. It has NO basis in fact and cannot be fact-checked. Because it is a hypothetical question, it requires the interviewer to make some interpretation on what the response means. Any response from a candidate that requires interpretation is an indicator of a poor interview question.

But how far a person thinks into the future and their ability to plan are still valid qualities for managers. What are some better questions?

• Tell me about a time when you had to put a plan together?
• What was the project?
• What was the length of the project (Time Span)?
• How did you create the plan, in a meeting, by yourself?
• Step me through the plan, what were the steps in the plan?
• Give me another example?
• Tell me about a project, the longest (Time Span) project you have worked on?

All of these questions are simply looking for facts (which can be fact-checked). These facts are evidence (I like hard evidence as opposed to speculation) of those behaviors I look for in a manager. If I get enough examples, I can see a pattern that will allow me to pinpoint the candidate’s planning ability (capability).
___
Our next online program – Hiring Talent is scheduled to kick off August 1, 2011. If you would like to find out more about the program or pre-register, follow this link.

“You don’t like the interview question?” Christopher asked, shifting in his chair. He had a list of questions to ask for an interview later that day. At the top of the list, “Where do you see yourself in five years?”

“Chris, every question, you ask, has to have a purpose in the interview,” I replied. “What specific piece of data are you trying to collect with that question?”

“I think it is important to find out where they are headed in life.”

“Chris, tell me again, what’s the role?”

“Project Manager.”

“How long are your typical projects?”

“Four to six weeks.”

“Chris, tell me how a fictitious, five-year-future snapshot will predict success as a Project Manager, working on projects that last four to six weeks?” The silence hung heavy. “Let’s change two things about your approach to questions. Instead of the future, ask about the past. Instead of a hypothetical, ask about a fact.” The quality of the responses to those questions will increase dramatically.
___
Our next online program – Hiring Talent is scheduled to kick off August 1, 2011. If you would like to find out more about the program or pre-register, follow this link.

The personnel file was on the desk. Sandra looked despondent. “She has worked for us for two years. We thought she was ready, so we promoted her into the position. It is obvious now that it’s not going to work out. I don’t want to fire her, but if we demote her, she is going to quit. Either way I lose.”

“What’s the lesson learned,” I asked.

“To know whether a person is ready for a position before you promote them, but how do you know?” asked Sandra.

“Exactly,” I responded. “How do you know? How can you find out?”

Sandra thought, but the answer came quickly. “I know what all the responsibilities are. I could have given her bits and pieces over time to see how she did. If I had done that, I would have known that she had difficulty with three of the core elements of the position.”

“And so you could have continued to work with her, now it looks like she is on her way out. How much did this lesson cost you?”