FurstPerson Blog

How To Improve Recruitment Efficiency in 2019

Taline Schmidt — Mon, 12 Aug 2019 13:04:13 GMT

GUEST AUTHOR: Taline Schmidt is a contributing writer for Markitors, a Digital Marketing Company. In her free time she likes to paint and listen to TEDtalks.

To Stress or Not to Stress: Are Your Employees (Really) Managing Change

Gail H. — Tue, 30 Jul 2019 12:51:20 GMT

Organizational development involves numerous change initiatives, but change is difficult for many people. A person may or may not be as adaptable as needed, leading to workplace stress. Some people stress out loud by constantly complaining and falling behind in their work. They are easy to spot. But how do you identify the employees who seemed like a good fit at the time of hire, after a pre-hire assessment was conducted, but experience a consistently high level of stress, even while getting the work done? Any employer who cares about the health and well-being of employees asks this question.

Taking Care of Business: Hiring People Who Self-Manage

Gail H. — Tue, 28 May 2019 12:22:40 GMT

Have you ever stopped to really consider what you mean when you say, "I want to hire great employees"? Does "great" mean hardworking, collaborative, goal oriented or career-aspiring? The answer could be all of the above, but an important missing trait on the list is the "ability to self-manage."

Contact Center Employees are Brand Ambassadors Building Customer Loyalty

Gail H. — Thu, 23 May 2019 12:24:28 GMT

It used to be that the quality of product and services was the primary customer focus, but today you can add another factor of equal importance – a great customer experience. Just as the word "experience" implies, people want to feel good about their interactions with the business from beginning to end. They want quality, consistency, attention to details, and a company that has an honest and reliable brand reputation. Bottom line: They want to connect with employees who are brand ambassadors and take their job seriously.

Pre-Hire Simulation Assessments: Good for the Employer AND the Job Candidate

Gail H. — Tue, 21 May 2019 12:20:14 GMT

Employers who use pre-hire simulation assessments are sold on the advantages they deliver during the hiring process, but do you realize they are just as important to the job candidate? Multimedia simulations, coupled with other skills and personality assessments and interviews, offer your hiring managers and job candidates the critical information needed to make good decisions during the hiring process.

Simulation assessment analytics help you determine if you want to hire a particular person. However, the simulation experience also helps the interviewee decide whether the job fits preconceived ideas about the company brand and job requirements that drove the person to interview in the first place.

Hiring for Emotional Intelligence AND Social Competence

Gail H. — Thu, 16 May 2019 12:24:19 GMT

What do Emotional Intelligence (EI) and social competence have in common? This is not a riddle because there is no tricky meaning or answer. Emotional Intelligence is the capacity to be aware of, control and express personal emotions and to manage interpersonal relationships with empathy.

Personal awareness, ability to empathize, communication skills, and persuasion and leadership skills (in any position) are all factors contributing to the ability to develop positive relationships. Social competence or Social Intelligence (SI) is half the equation, so to speak, of Emotional Intelligence because it concerns social interaction or the way you and your employees and associates understand and interact with other people.

What Does "Quality of Hire" Really Mean?

Gail H. — Tue, 14 May 2019 13:25:22 GMT

The official definition of Quality of Hire (QoH) is a new hire who adds value to a company and contributes to the organization's long-term success, but what does it really mean? It is tempting to measure quality primarily in terms of education level and specific skills, but stopping there can lead to poor hiring decisions. Quality of Hire means more than just hiring someone who has the education and skills. It is hiring someone who meshes with the organization's culture, wants a career with the company, strives to collaborate with others and is always looking for ways to improve.

The Value Proposition of Objectivity in Pre-Hire Assessments

Gail H. — Thu, 09 May 2019 13:47:49 GMT

It is a field of landmines for hiring managers. They are repeatedly warned to avoid bias, find top talent before the competition, hire in a way that reduces turnover and hire people who are a good culture fit. Quality of hire matters, but the hiring process has gotten more complex and more competitive, making objectivity a critical quality. It is difficult for humans to be objective, and that applies to Human Resources personnel and hiring supervisors and managers. Everyone has biases, and no one can personally evaluate another person on all the characteristics the ideal employee should possess.

Not Party Time! Employee Socialization is the Workplace is Serious Business

Gail H. — Tue, 07 May 2019 12:28:14 GMT

The word "socialization" always seems to evoke images of having drinks at the local pub or enjoying a BBQ on the patio with friends. However, a socialization process takes place in the workplace too. It has an element of meeting people and internalizing a feeling of belonging in a group, but the workplace socialization process encompasses much more, like acclimation to organizational culture and learning acceptable job behaviors.

Socialization is called a process because it takes time for a person to feel comfortable and to learn the ropes, so to speak. This process was originally thought to begin when the person is a new hire, but now it is understood that a new hire socialization process actually begins during the recruitment and interviewing process, and once a person is on the job, continues through onboarding and immersion. Pre-hire assessments can make significant contributions to successful socialization.

Great Technical Skills but the Wrong Personality for the Job

Gail H. — Thu, 02 May 2019 12:23:58 GMT

New York Times bestselling author Gretchen Rubin wrote the book, The Four Tendencies, and in it she presents a unique personality framework to guide people in determining the right job fit. She asks one question: How do you respond to expectations? The answer determines which of the four personality categories the person falls within:

Upholders – people who readily meet inner and outer expectations, like work deadlines and personal goals
Questioners – people who do not like arbitrariness or inefficiency, so question all expectations
Obligers – people who are good at meeting outer expectations but have trouble meeting inner expectations, creating personal conflict
Rebels – people who resist all outer and inner expectations, doing only what they want to do, and even then, doing it on their own time and in their own way