Incentive - January 2008 - (Page 44)

The Right Fit O nce the right candidate is identified and hired, what happens in those first critical months can lead to long-term employment or short-term tenure. The Watson Wyatt study reported that those with highly engaged workers spend more time in preparing them for their new jobs—they take an average of 35 weeks to bring a new hire up to speed versus 15 weeks for those with low engagement. According to Ilene Gochman, an organizational effectiveness expert at Watson Wyatt, this preparation includes such things as graduated workload, new hire surveys, peer mentoring and acclimating the employee to the company culture. At Harvard University, surveys showed that new hires were feeling stressed by the size (15,000 employees) and decentralization (20 colleges in all) of the organization. The simple solution? Handle the problem right up front in the orientation program. To counter this sense of being overwhelmed, a huge, colorful, map of the sprawling university is put up during orientation. Each new employee then places a pin in the place where he will be working, giving him an idea of how it fits into the whole. This, combined with a short, nine-minute video that takes the new hires through a cartoon-like speeded-up tour of the university, went a long way toward ameliorating the sense of dislocation among new hires, while simultaneously building a sense of team and belonging. person may or may not be a good fit for the job.” Instead, he suggests targeting talent by taking an inventory of which employees within the company are already doing the same (or similar) job, most successfully. “For example, if you are looking to fulfill a sales position,” says McDonald, “dig deeper and evaluate what skills, abilities, attitudes and talents your best salespeople possess.” David Weekley Homes, number 12 on Fortune magazine’s 100 Best Companies to Work For in America 2007 list, has gone clue as to the candidate’s true abilities, drives, talents and interests.” Greenberg, who has researched and written about the attributes of successful people for the past 46 years, says that the highest performers love what they do and feel that their vocations fit who they are. He also stresses the importance of testing existing staff so the company knows where they might be successfully reassigned, if needed. “In some cases, a mediocre typist might be your best salesperson, or an unhappy salesperson, a star in the customer “The vast majority of managers have not been trained how to interview.” –Bob McDonald, author of Don’t Waste Your Talent one step further and systematized this idea service department,” says Greenberg. He by creating a company-wide talent invencites one insurance company with which he tory. The company has also put most of its consulted where, after the staff testing was employees through an assessment process, complete, 30 percent of the employees allowing it to create a detailed talent target were shifted into other positions within the for each position for which it hires. company that better fit their talent and McDonald says that once managers interest profiles. have used standard employee assessment But as important as these tests may be, tool to develop a list of target talents, they Greenberg cautions that they don’t stand are better able to evaluate the degree to alone, and face-to-face interviewing and which a candidate fits the job requiredebriefing are still critical. ments and company culture. David Goodwin was working as a vice Herb Greenberg, CEO of Caliper Corpresident of operations for a Northern poration and coauthor of How to Hire and California consumer products company Develop Your Next Top when he got a call asking Performer (McGraw-Hill), him to come interview for agrees that assessment a similar position with a tools play an important different company in role in hiring for retention. Phoenix. In one study conducted by As part of his interviewCaliper, exit interviews ing process Goodwin was with employees from a asked to complete an wide range of companies online personality profile (midsize players to Fortune to insure that he would 500 giants) showed that match with the rest of the the majority of workers company. A day after who leave a company do Goodwin took the test, Author Bob McDonald advises managers to so because they are not he, along with his potenprepare to hire before they have job openings happy with what they’re tial employer, got a copy doing and feel that they are essentially in of the results. The report Goodwin the wrong job. received contained 23 pages of detailed “The easiest way to retool the hiring information ranging from a checklist of process,” says Greenberg, “is to use testing ways his potential employers could best in the interview phase that gives you a communicate with him to his ideal work 44 | Incentive | January 2008 | incentivemag.com http://incentivemag.com

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Incentive - January 2008 Contents Editor’s Note: Out of SITE In The News Cover Story: Include a Meeting, Improve Morale Case Study: DHL Delivers Recognition Incentive Primer: How To Use Promo Products How Bob Nardelli Rallied Chrysler’s Dealers Incentive Interview: Ken Blanchard Says Be Nice TV’s Extreme Makeover Motivates Giving Pre-Employment Motivation The Daycare Dilemma Happy Employees Shouldn’t Mix with Sick Employees Incentive Research: Consumer Promotions Report In Her Shoes: Winning Approval Of Flextime Travel News Field Report: Barcelona Field Report: Bermuda Golf: Follow The Pros potentials Here and Now Watches As Jewelry Awards: Online Gift Cards Tech Gadgets for 2008 Last Word: Stanley Bing Bashes Bully Bosses

Incentive - January 2008

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