The long term troubles that an office can potentially incur due to a trivial thing such as negligence (in determining the true history of an employee) is truly alarming. To begin with, the current function being carried out could be a major issue but more importantly, the firm’s reputation could be so damaged that it would take years to repair it, this in turn could have the impact of severely affecting the revenue generation capabilities of the organization.

All of the problems incurred could have been prevented only if a simple background check had been carried out before staff with questionable histories were hired in the first place.

There are various processes that can be included in the various background checks which are carried out but in summary : During a background check, employment and character references are checked. Other forms of background checking processes go into education verification and related areas.

There are other types of checking which are used by some firms and that leads them on to being very thorough in the level of detail that they go into. Everything really all depends on the sensitivity of the job and how much responsibility will be on the shoulders of the new employee. When all the checks come back positively, then the candidate is truly considered, otherwise they are not considered for further interviews and others are sought after.

You might think that the process of having to check people to learn about their history is not so critical a matter for the company. But you’d be surprised what good it could do you. Sure, there are those who are very sensitive about their privacy, but that is only unfortunate. The law calls for it, common sense calls for it; you need to investigate the people you employ. It’s all about playing safe and being on the right side of the law.

Banks and big businesses aren’t the only ones who need to do background checks. Even small businesses, two-man partnerships and sole proprietorship in particular have to make sure that they are not bringing in someone who will bring down the whole enterprise. A little research on each applicant for a job position can settle all that.

Online background checking is one form of investigation that is fast becoming popular. It is as good as the traditional means of investigation. In fact, it is better because one can access information without much waste of time.

It is ideal and sometimes makes sense to run background checks on oneself occasionally. This is to avoid taking chances as our personal details may have changed without our knowing. Presently, employers use it as a measure to employing applicants. The sectors that are most concerned are banking, health, children, education and security.

The process where mothers carry out investigation on an intended nanny they intend hiring uses a similar process to the one used by the larger companies. The basic thing mothers seek to know about nannies is their criminal history. This is to save their children from any form of assault.

Free websites most times do not offer in-depth information when conducting background check. The premium services are better. This is because they are more detailed and accurate.

For more information, visit http://www.backgroundchecks101.info/

Gas prices, inflation, war, and foreclosures are all factors that can be considered either the causes or the signs of a slowing U.S. Economy. But, what about the fact that in the next seven years 43 percent of the engineers in our workforce will be eligible for retirement? These are the professionals who, in large part, are responsible for our technologically driven culture and even the vaunted U.S. armed forces. This could spell Trouble (with a capital T).

These jobs are skill-specific and the skills necessary were learned and established through trial and error. The worst part is that these experienced baby boomers are leaving the field without establishing much guidance, if any, to their successors.

Currently, many of the most affected companies are scrambling to get quality engineers trained to fill the shoes of the exiting baby boomers. A talent war is brewing and the firms most impacted will need to be creative and determined to survive the competition.

According to the Advanced Technology Source’s (ATS) “Workforce Trends” study, a survey commissioned between ATS and AC Neilson, showed that the skilled labor shortage would cost more than two-thirds of manufacturers that responded over $50 million each over the next five years!

A third of those responses whose revenues are over $1 billion said it would cost them at least $100 million each.

For companies dependent upon an engineer intensive workforce numerous questions arise: Will the economy survive this baby boomer exodus? Will my company survive? Can I even replace these people? Do I have anyone to talk to about how to replace almost half of my most valuable workforce?

The truth is there are options.

To maintain the corporate engineering memory and skill sets developed over the years, many manufacturing and engineering companies are relying on specially designed databases. These databases allow engineers to document their answers to issues, leaving this information to guide their successors.

In another vein, higher education is doing its part. For instance, in Ohio, schools like The University of Akron (UA) are offering STEM scholarships for students who are interested in pursuing a degree in Science, Technology, Engineering, or Mathematics (STEM).

Dr. Dean Quinn, the interim Assistant Dean of the College of Engineering and an Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering at The University of Akron is very confident in the potential impact of STEM and of the students studying engineering at UA.

Quinn said, “We are not in a panic mode yet, where we just absolutely don’t have enough engineers to fill critical positions.”

When it comes to filling the lower level engineering positions with great potential for upward growth, fresh college graduates seem to be the best option. But, this still leaves the higher and mid-level positions that the baby boomers are leaving vacant.

This is where recruiting firms enter the picture.

Quinn said, “A company can hire a recruiting firm for a specific position with specific needs and specific requirements, and that recruiting firm can go out and find an employee who perfectly matches that job.”
A credible placement firm that specializes in placing engineers and has well established national networking capabilities is the next stop on this journey to find the talent your company needs to grow.

For those with concerns about placing all or portions of your recruiting process in the hands of a recruiting firm, consider this; if you have heart problems you look for a good physician specializing in cardiovascular medicine. If you have legal problems dealing with real estate issues you look for a good Title Dispute Attorney. If you need assistance to quickly recruit the best engineers available you look up a good engineering recruiting firm. The right firm can save you huge blocks of time. While professional recruiters do the recruiting, you are free to do your job. Most importantly, if they’re good, they’ll find just the right candidate with the talent, personality and energy you need.

Finally, in order to compete in a recruiting market short on talent, companies will need to adapt. A combination of improved employee retention programs and documentation processes coupled with improved relationships with the right universities and reliable recruiting firms are great first steps to survive the talent war!

Ron Young is the President/Founder of Technical Employment Services Inc.(TES), 1981. Ron also served in the Ohio Legislature from 1997-2004. Today TES operates throughout the US.

http://www.TESCareers.com

http://RYoung@TESCareers.com

440-266-0022
Recruiters of Key Professionals

My wife Sharon and I dated for exactly two years before I proposed to her. Over our two year courtship, I got to know her likes and dislikes. I understood her goals in life and her aspirations. She knew the same about me. On July 24, 1996, in the White House Rose Garden (true story), I asked Sharon to marry me. She excitedly agreed. What might have been her response if she didn’t feel like she knew me well enough to make that kind of commitment? Would she still have accepted?

What if during the entire time we were courting, I kept my hand close to the vest? In essence, what if I shared little about myself and what I wanted from life, but asked lots of questions of Sharon to understand her? Would she have enough information to make an informed, educated decision on whether she should take her relationship with me to the next level? Probably not. Perhaps, she would have declined the offer outright if she saw that my goals were completely different than hers.

That scenario may seem silly to you. You probably think that it would be a rarity that someone would propose without letting their significant other get to know them to a level where they could both make an educated decision on the future of the relationship. If you think that, you are probably right. However, my question is why do companies create a one-dimensional process when they screen sales candidates?

I’ve always been a firm believer that when the time came for me to make an offer to a candidate, taking the ring out of my pocket, both the candidate and I had enough information to make an educated decision. My expectation is that when I make an offer, the candidate will accept/decline on the spot. More often than not, I received an acceptance of the offer.

What is the secret to doing that well? The key is to create your sales talent screening program such that it is two-dimensional. You want to gather data about the candidate so that you can make a solid decision. Most companies get that. However, the goal is to also create an environment where the candidate has the same evaluation opportunity. That is the second dimension.

What does a candidate need to know to make an informed decision on a sales position?

One important consideration for candidates is culture. Some companies, to save money, conduct their interviews entirely by phone and only bring finalists to Corporate. After a day of interviewing with some executives, the team makes an offer/no offer decision. However, the entire process has been a one-dimensional exercise where the company has gathered key information, but the candidate has not.

The decision to join your company is not taken lightly by sales candidates. They need to be able to evaluate the culture to see if there is a good fit. While they come to the table with the skills, they have to determine if they can apply those skills successfully in your world. Thus, the candidates need to be immersed into your environment so they can analyze your culture to a level that allows them to make an informed decision on the relationship.

One of the best ways to share the sales culture with candidates is through reverse interviewing. The way this is done is that you select a seasoned member of the sales team to conduct a reverse interview with the sales candidate. However, the interviewer doesn’t ask any questions, thus the expression reverse interview. This is an opportunity for the candidate to ask questions of a potential peer. The candidate should be encouraged to ask questions that will best help them best understand the sales culture.

There is also a tremendous benefit to employers in immersing the sales candidates in the culture. Every company has a story about someone they hired and six months into the relationship, they recognize that the person doesn’t fit with the culture. The sales person recognizes it too. Then, the relationship is terminated. A six-month investment has gone down the tubes with nothing to show for it. Had the company allowed the candidate to experience the culture during the screening process, perhaps he would have removed himself from consideration so that both the candidate and employer could have been spared the pain of this experience.

Years ago, I was interviewing with a company in Bethesda, Maryland. The entire process had gone well. The recruiter called me and said that the C.E.O. would like to take my wife and me to dinner as a final step of the process. What he shared at dinner was that he felt that it was important for my wife to understand the company and the opportunity. He wanted her to have an opportunity to ask questions and understand the plans for the company. This made an incredible impression on both my wife and me. Needless to say, when the offer came the next morning, I accepted and enjoyed a great experience with the company. A great sales marriage!

Another important element in this decision-making process for sales people is the direction of the company. Sales people look to join organizations that have a solid game plan. They have to be passionate about their company and product to be successful. Yet, I hear from many candidates that the company with whom they interviewed did not share it with them. I recognize that there is sensitivity toward letting out trade secrets, however, that lack of sharing can cause the sales candidate to be unimpressed with your company. The secretive nature of your company could also send up a red flag of paranoia. If you are really concerned about trade secrets, have the candidate sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA). If you are still uncomfortable, design a message to share with the candidates that is compelling, but does not create risk for your organization.

The final element for review by the candidates is the compensation package. They need to understand the mechanics of the compensation plan. Many companies tell candidates the potential earnings based on achieving the goal of the plan (quota). Few take the candidate through the plan as part of the sales talent screening program. “The plan is designed to target your earnings at $150,000, but we’ll get into how the program works when you are onboard.”

Yeah, that doesn’t work for sales people. They need to know in-depth how they make money. The same holds true for benefits. Share the benefits program with candidates during the sales talent screening program. Show them the costs of the program. Provide them with a Human Resources contact so that they can ask questions about the benefits.

The offer stage of the process should be a formality, just like a marriage proposal. Ladies don’t expect their significant other to pull a rabbit out of their pocket. They expect a ring. Your sales candidates shouldn’t be surprised either. The offer should be consistent with what they have learned about during your screening process. No surprises!

Lee B. Salz is President of Sales Dodo and the author of “Soar Despite Your Dodo Sales Manager.” Lee is available for keynote speaking, business consulting, and sales training. He can be reached via email at lsalz@salesdodo.com, his website at http://www.salesdodo.com or by phone at 763.416.4321.

The on-going expansion of national economies across Asia is giving birth to new companies and ratcheting up demand for Asia experienced executives. It is also producing the kind of headlines that indicate to the region’s executive recruiters that their best days are still very much ahead of them.

If anyone requires further convincing that the Asia-Pacific region indeed represents the new combat zone in the global war for management talent, just consider these facts: Hong Kong recently made public the largest Internet IPO since Google (GOOG), the Bombay Stock Market recently reached 20,000, equal to 40% annual growth, the Chinese economy is set to progress by a staggering 11% this year.

Asia is accumulating the kind of financial resources which can restructure the world economy in a way very different from what we have known since the years following World War II. In the present scenario it is easy to see how these companies and national economies will only become more reliant on world-class management talent to keep away the competition and continue this impressive growth story.

That is especially clear when one takes into account the population demographics of the Asia-Pacific region. The expatriate population of Singapore, for example, constitutes nearly one-quarter of its total population. And by 2016, the number of people age 60 to 64 in Australia will double, resulting in what will surely become a vacuum for experienced management talent.

Then take into account that most of the 10 largest companies by market capitalization worldwide are Chinese, and that a large portion of the world’s largest companies are already doing business on the Chinese mainland. Many of the world’s corporate executive staffing leaders are spending much of their time these days in Hong Kong and deep in the rich headhunting grounds of other flourishing Asian economies.

Leading management experts say that corporate talent management leaders throughout the Asia-Pacific region would be wise to stay away from their day-to-day priorities to evaluate how they are feeding their companies’ rising demand for talent.

Rather than concentrating in a process that merely fills management-level jobs, these experts contend that corporate staffing executives from Hong Kong to Shanghai should follow a more systematic approach to their recruiting process because it can have a great effect on both the performance and profitability of your business.

According to leading management experts, crucial to such a systematic approach is changing the mindset within the company from one that sees executive hiring as a means to plug gaps in the organization’s structure, to one in which the company’s strategy is the origin for its decisions concerning who to hire, what management skills they must possess, and how they should lead an increasingly global workforce.

These leading management experts acknowledge that only a few hiring organizations around the world can actually point at the cost of their overall recruitment initiatives, let alone the exact return on investment those activities are driving to improve corporate financial performance.

The Asia-Pacific region’s executive headhunters will be instrumental in connecting those dots, in part due to the prevailing demand for Asia experienced executives, and also because more of the world’s largest multinational companies are investing more heavily in workforce contingency planning.

That is, they are not only paying headhunters to plug existing gaps in the corporate hierarchy. Increasingly, these companies are paying headhunters for what they know, who they know, and how they might prolong the company’s brand and growth story to individuals it may someday desire to recruit, depending on how its strategy adapts against the backdrop of such rapid growth in Asia.

If Asia experienced executives is the new oil that is fueling the progress of companies around the world, the Asia-Pacific region is definitely the world’s fastest-growing oil field, and one that will surely draw new front lines in the global competition for top talent. So, competitors throughout the world, beware.

Hunt Partners – http://www.hunt-partners.com – is a high end Executive Search firm providing search and human capital solutions for global and regional clients who require discreet search of top management and board level positions.

In a survey conducted recently, 600 chief executives of multinational companies with businesses across Asia said a lack of qualified staff ranked as their biggest worry in China and South-East Asia. It was their second-biggest concern in Japan after cultural differences and the fourth-biggest in India after problems with infrastructure, bureaucracy and wage inflation. Across almost every industry and sector the situation is not different either.
Old Asia-hands may find it easy to realize why there is such worry. The region’s swift economic growth has fished out the pool of existing talent, they would say. But, the education has been a letdown as well. Recent progress in many parts of Asia has been so enormous that it has swiftly changed the type of skills required by businesses. Schools and universities have been found wanting in keeping pace.

This is particularly true for professional staff. Airlines are one example. With rising deregulation, many new carriers are getting established and airlines are offering more services to live up to demand. But, there is an awful scarcity of pilots. According to a training organization, the commercial-pilot training arm of Boeing, India has less than 3,000 pilots today but will require more than 12,000 by 2025. China will need to unearth an average of 2,200 new pilots a year just to keep themselves afloat with the progress in air travel, which implies it will require more than 40,000 pilots by 2025. Meanwhile, with big international airlines training only a few hundred pilots a year, Asian airlines have taken to plundering them, often from each other. Philippine Airlines, for instance, had to give away 75 pilots to overseas airlines during the past three years. China has been trying to persuade pilots from Brazil, among other places.

Hiring Asians who have been educated abroad and bringing them back does not always succeed. They often anticipate to be paid a lot. Some insist on expatriate packages with paid flights back to America or Europe. They may also be unaware about local developments. But, the biggest concern is that their colleagues regularly resent them. This is especially so in China, where one of the respectful names for returning people is hai gui or sea turtles. A similar attitude sometimes appears in India too. Companies realize that the turtles tend to suit best in the finance industry or in privately owned businesses.

With such a gulf between supply and demand in Asia’s labor markets, companies will have to improve at hiring good staff and sustaining them. But, as some companies will always be better at this than others, the job-hopping and plundering are forecasted to continue for many years, until education and training gets elevated enough. The aftereffects of that are stark. It will restrict the growth. It has to actually. Which implies that without talented recruiting policies, some firms may result in backtracking their bold Asian growth-plans.

Hunt Partners – http://www.hunt-partners.com – is a high end Executive Search firm providing search and human capital solutions for global and regional clients who require discreet search of top management and board level positions.

Close your eyes. Think of the perfect mate. Are you done? Close your eyes again. Think some more. How long is your list of requirements of the perfect mate? Are there five of them? Ten? Perhaps, you have twenty. Think about your list again. Are each of those really requirements of your ideal mate? Or, are those desired attributes? On which items are you willing to be flexible? For example, some people say the religion of their mate is a requirement while height is only desired. For others, it is the other way around.

People make decisions every day based on their desired and required aspects. There are some aspects on which people can compromise and others where they cannot. This challenge hits employers when they are trying to attract sales talent to apply for their open positions. Instead of creating ads on job boards that invite folks to apply, they tightly close the spigot. I regularly look at the job boards to see how companies are attempting to attract great sales talent. What I find is interesting. Companies place an ad listing what attributes are required of the candidate. However, when I speak to companies about their ad, I find that many of the items on their list fall more in the desired category.

I’ve also talked with sales people about their perceptions of a job advertisement that lists requirements. “I look at the list of requirements in the posting and if I don’t have 100% of the background, I don’t submit my resume”, said a sales person actively looking for a new role. When I ask employers about their biggest challenges, finding great candidates ranks high on their list. “It just seems that we place an ad on a job board and we get few candidates to respond,” said one employer.

Here is the disconnect. Employers publish job advertisements to lure sales candidates to apply. Yet, that same tool is choking the entire process. In essence, instead of enticing candidates to apply, they are convincing them that they won’t be considered.

Here is an example of the requirements section from a job board advertisement

The successful candidate must have
* BA/BS with a focus on business or life science
* An MBA from a well-respected institution
* 10 years sales management experience
* 10+ years business to business sales experience to the Fortune 1000
* Broad knowledge of principles and methods in a recognized professional field, or working knowledge of multiple fields
* Well-versed in using CRM tools
* Experience selling in disciplined, formal sales methodology is essential
* Must be good at developing and articulating ROI to C-Level Executives
* Telecommunications experience is a must

How many people meet this list of criteria? Very, very few. Would this company really not consider a candidate that met the most critical elements of their criteria, but was missing an element or two? Well, by publishing an ad that is so restrictive, those candidates won’t apply. The company misses out on those potential superstars.

I’m a huge proponent of formulating a profile of a company’s ideal sales candidate. Yet, if that profile is so restrictive that only one person in the world matches it, how will this company ever hire anyone? I’m not suggesting that companies reduce their standards or that they hire subpar performers. No one wins in those instances. However, there are two follow-on steps of the process.

Let’s say you have come up with twenty items for your ideal sales candidate profile. The next thing to do is to rank them in importance so that each item is ranked one through twenty. The first one on the list is the one deemed most important. In essence, you are prioritizing the importance of the criteria. Not much different than what people subconsciously do when searching for a mate.

Once that is done, the next step is to categorize each as either required or desired. I won’t insult your intelligence by defining those. Start with number twenty (least important from the prior exercise) and work your way down to number one. If this exercise was done correctly, the lion share of the items become “desired” while the finite few at the top become required. It is the few items that are deemed critical to one’s success in the job that should be listed as required in an ad.

This is a challenging set of exercises, no doubt. That’s the whole point. You want to make sure you encourage the right candidates to apply versus discouraging them. Thinking back to the company who had the laborious list of requirements. Would they really not hire a really bright individual who lacks the MBA component of the profile? If the answer is no, they shouldn’t list that in their ad as it discourages potentially strong candidates from applying. Did they put the requirement of a telecommunications background in the ad because they prefer not to teach the industry? If the answer is yes, then they wouldn’t want to put that in the ad because they could miss out on a superstar sales person who needs a little assistance learning the business.

This issue isn’t limited to candidates and employers. Recruiters are frustrated too. The company provides them with such restrictions that they feel handcuffed in their ability to find the right candidates. “I really want to help my client, but I feel like I’m searching for a needle in a haystack. I don’t dare send any candidates unless I find an exact match to what they’ve given me,” says one recruiter. Continuing on, “I don’t think they intend to be so restrictive, but that’s what they have given me to work with.”

Attracting great talent is very difficult to do. The great ones are typically wedded to their employer. Don’t let the few great ones that are in the market get away. Make sure your communication to attract talent is formulated to truly represent what was intended.

Lee B. Salz is President of Sales Dodo and the author of “Soar Despite Your Dodo Sales Manager.” Lee is available for keynote speaking, business consulting, and sales training. He can be reached via email at lsalz@salesdodo.com, his website at http://www.salesdodo.com or by phone at 763.416.4321.

Does your organization struggle with employee turnover and absenteeism? Is your company wasting time and money on bad hiring decisions? This article is designed to provide you with some useful tips for hiring reliable people. Specific job requirements may vary; however, the following information includes helpful and important guidelines from which every organization can benefit.

Employee turnover and absenteeism is inevitable. But when these things become excessive they can quickly put a business into the red. The cost associated with employee turnover and absenteeism is easy to overlook or ignore because they often go unrealized. Employee turnover and absenteeism have obvious costs that you can track, but the actual costs take a greater toll.

Are you frustrated by the costs associated with employee turnover and absenteeism?

A fundamental issue that managers need to understand in regards to employee turnover and absenteeism is the connection between the two. Extreme cases of employee absenteeism can sometimes be an early predictor of who is likely to leave the organization, resulting in employee turnover.

Let’s take a look at each issue, how they can affect your organization and how you can reduce their instances to save your company time, money and resources.

Employee Turnover
Dissatisfied people change jobs at an alarming rate. U.S. Bureau of Labor statistics report that “job hoppers make up 39% of the work force.” Many new employees do not become fully productive until they’ve been oriented, properly trained and gain experience in the company – a process that usually takes several months. The time, effort and money invested in a new employee are lost when they walk out the door and leave their job.

Costs related to employee turnover can reach 150% of annual compensation for employees and 200% to 250% of annual compensation for managerial and sales positions. A mid-sized company of 1,000 employees with an annual turnover of 10% stands to experience $7.5 million in related costs!

Employee Absenteeism
Organizations with high employee absenteeism and reliability issues cannot function efficiently. The expense of employee absence, along with last minute no-shows, is a big financial burden for businesses.

So what counts as an absence? An absence refers to time an employee is not on the job during scheduled working hours, except the leave has been granted (holiday, vacation time etc.). On average, a day of absence can cost an organization $610 per employee. The average annual costs associated with employee absenteeism can range from an estimated $60,000 for small employers to over $1 million dollars for large companies.

Ask yourself the following questions:

- Would you like to know in advance if a job candidate is going to have the kind of work ethic and reliability you’ve come to expect?
- Would you like to be able to predict issues with substance abuse and employee theft in advance of hiring someone?
- Would you like to know if the candidate is going to be a good fit for the job and your company?

If you answered ‘yes’ to any one of these questions, we can help. Download the rest of this guide on our site listed below.

Nancy Ness is Vice President of Profiles Incorporated, authorized dealer for Profiles International, the world’s leader and innovator in designing human resource management tools. To view the rest of this article visit us online at http://www.profilesintl.com/landing/reduce-employee-turnover.php

Does your organization struggle with hiring great employees? Do you suffer from employee conflict or workforce compatibility issues? This article is designed to provide you with some useful tips to consider for your hiring process. Specific requirements may vary from job to job; however, the following information includes helpful and important guidelines from which every organization can benefit.

Managing employee conflict and communication issues is tough. Sometimes it seems that every employee and their working relationships are plagued with difficulties. What if you could help members of your team communicate better and experience higher employee morale and higher productivity? It all starts with an effective hiring process.

Identify Your Organization’s Hiring Challenges
The first and most critical step is being able to identify the challenges you are currently facing in your workforce and then find the solutions that will help you solve those challenges. Those challenges can be addressed with a few simple changes in your hiring strategy. Here are some common challenges faced by organizations in the hiring process:

- Need help finding interview questions that will determine if a candidate is going to be a fit for the job and a match for the company culture.

- Want to require background checks in hiring process that provide references and past history on candidates.

- Make hiring decisions without screening job applicants for their personality and abilities.

Review Your Hiring Methods
Renowned business guru, Peter Drucker, estimates that two-thirds of employee hiring decisions may be hiring mistakes. From your experience, you know you have hired some excellent employees yet some of them have failed. Now take a moment and think back. Did you use pre-employment screening methods to assess job candidates? What made you choose a particular applicant to fill the position? We have found that employers use the same hiring methods for any position. This suggests that your existing employee selection process may produce inconsistent hiring results and increased turnover.

Furthermore, your hiring process is one of the most strategic and valuable places you can cut costs and maximize productivity – if your process works correctly the first time. Employing a proven employee screening system is essential to making sure that your hiring process works effectively.

Every hiring decision you make will have some level of subjectivity – it’s inevitable. However, you can improve your hiring process by leveraging best practices along with the latest technologies. This will allow you to not only improve hiring practices, but will also to better manage employees, their development and succession.

Hiring best practices start with a more focused approach to how you define job requirements. This practice is often neglected in the hiring process because hiring managers tend to focus on what a candidate will do, rather than the characteristics they must possess to be successful in the position. By clearly defining the skills and traits necessary to be successful on the job, you’ll be better suited to evaluate candidates against that criteria to get the best match. Download the rest of this guide on our site listed below.

Nancy Ness is Vice President of Profiles Incorporated, authorized dealer for Profiles International, the world’s leader and innovator in designing human resource management tools. To view the rest of this article visit us online at http://www.profilesintl.com/landing/workforce-compatibility.php

Does your organization struggle with hiring great sales people? Does your sales department suffer low productivity or high turnover? This article is designed to provide you with some useful tips for hiring sales people. Specific job requirements may vary; however, the following information includes helpful and important guidelines from which every sales organization can benefit.

There are few organizational challenges that compare to the difficulty of recruiting and hiring a successful sales force. Sales people have the greatest impact on your bottom line and when they don’t perform, your business suffers. That’s why effective sales hiring is so critical.

Have you ever wondered why it’s so difficult to hire people that can sell consistently, year after year?

The short answer is this: the selling profession requires qualities and skills that not everyone possesses. All too often, previous experience, a clean resume and camaraderie in an interview are the primary predictors of success, which often leads to sales hiring mistakes that can cause high turnover and ineffectiveness in sales teams.

When a sales force fails to meet their goals, most companies react by implementing sales training programs or by replacing the employees who display the lowest level of performance. This can be a never-ending cycle if your sales hiring and selection process is based on instinct and a good resume alone.

So how do you rank your sales team? Do you believe you’ve hired the best sales people for your organization? Here are some things to consider:

- 54% of sales managers believe they have the right people in their sales teams
- 56% of sales managers believe the people in their sales teams are in the right positions
- 54% of sales managers recognize the need to improve their process for leveraging the potential of strong performers
- 29% of sales managers admit that the talent in their sales force isn’t being fully utilized

A little more than half! That’s it?! A little more than half of sales managers believe they’re hired the right person for the right job. Wouldn’t you like to make that number closer to 100%? Wouldn’t it be great to say that almost every person in your sales team is a top performer who belongs in their respective position? You’re probably already familiar with the “80-20″ rule in sales, in which 20 percent of the sales people make 80 percent of the sales. What if you could take that 20 percent of your top-performing sales team and hire more people that have the same skills and characteristics that make them successful? The good news is that it’s possible with the right sales hiring tools.

Sales Hiring: Job Fit

There is no greater tragedy in business than putting competent employees into jobs in which they are destined to fail. When this happens, their potential is wasted. The classic example of a poor job fit is when a company picks its best salesperson to be a sales manager and then finds that he or she is unsuccessful, unhappy or unproductive in the new position. The qualities that make for a great sales person are different from those of a great sales manager. It is extremely rare that an individual can do both well.

Job Fit is the single most important factor in sales hiring success.

To download the rest of this guide, visit our site listed below.

Nancy Ness is Vice President of Profiles Incorporated, authorized dealer for Profiles International, the world’s leader and innovator in designing human resource management tools. To see the rest of this article visit us online at http://www.profilesintl.com/landing/sales-hiring-strategies.php.

During the course of my career as a small business owner I’ve become a bit of an expert on the hiring and firing of employees. But especially when it comes to firing. I’ve long ago lost count on the number of people I’ve fired but I can tell you that I’ve personally had to pink slip well over a hundred people. Like I said I’ve long ago lost count.

I’ve always tried to take care of those that have come to work for me. I’ve always believed in doing my best for those that give me their best. And as many small business owners know your employees can become a sort of extended family for you. I’ve made some very good friends over the years and enjoyed knowing a great many people. But I’ve also learned some valuable lessons along the way.

One thing I’ve learned and constantly preach is understanding the business you’re in. This can be especially important when it comes to hiring people. You need to understand the type of people your business will attract. If your company designs software then you obviously are going to attract a better educated worker than say if you run a fast food restaurant. Some businesses tend to attract younger people and some older. So you need to understand the quality of worker you can expect will show up at your door looking for a job. Of course pay and benefits have a lot to do with it but so does your working environment. I’ve had quite a few people interview for a job with me that just didn’t understand the kind of job they were applying for. Every business has a sort of atmosphere it develops and many industries have a built in image that you alone will never be able to change.

The problem with a business is eventually you do have to hire somebody. Otherwise that business will never be able to grow and really prosper. You can’t do it all even though you wish you could. But as I already mentioned the type of business you own will be a big factor in the pool of candidates available to you.

For myself this was especially true it seems and unfortunately for me not in a good way. This to me would help explain why I fired so many of them. I also have contributed to the problem. I happen to want to see people succeed and have been known to give many a second chance if I thought a person seemed worth the effort. I have on occasion been burned but not every time. As I said I like to see people succeed and I’ve always believed in rewarding their efforts when they helped the business.

It’s often been said that one very good way to get great productivity out of someone was to make them take ownership of what they do. When the business does well they should do well also, not just the owner. I’ve always believed in that policy. The problem is too many people want to take advantage of it and you. And the bigger a business gets the more they think they can get away with.

I’ve helped out more people than I can remember especially ones that have managed to get themselves into financial trouble. I’ve helped employees find places to stay, pay their rent, move their furniture and so on. To me they were apart of the family and if I could help I did.

For all I’ve done I’ve barely even gotten a thank you. More often I’ve had those same employees cuss me out behind my back and try to take advantage of me and my business. I’ve unfortunately had to fire people for a lot of offenses. You of course have the usual show up late or not at all types. They’re easy to deal with.

I’ve had employees go much farther with the trouble they caused me. I once had a office assistant steal a check and try to cash it for $5000. I had one employee that had been issued a gas card use it to buy gas and then he sold the gas to some friends. I once found a pot plant growing out of one of our bathroom sinks. I’ve had employees steal tools. And for me the biggest offense of all is when they stop doing their jobs. This applies to the salesmen I’ve had in the past. They go out day after day and bring in less than I’m paying them. I know salesmen can have bad weeks or months but it’s the customers that usually let me know when they hadn’t seen they’re rep and can’t get ahold of them.

The point I’m getting at is that as a business grows larger and more people are needed to keep it going, you have to be aware that while you may have your employees best interests in mind they might not have yours but they most certainly have their own best interests in mind also. And because you are only one person you can’t watch them all forever.

But take heart, there are others out there that might one day come to work for you. And they will realize that if they also take care of your business as if it was their own it and you will take care of them. I managed to find a couple along the way and I expect you can find some of those people too.

Cash Miller is an experienced entrepreneur and speaker who has spent over a decade as a small business owner. His years of experience in small business cover many topics. For more small business information you can go to http://www.SmallBusinessDelivered.com