The Optima Kart - World's Largest & Cheapest Online Mega Stores presents TEN IMPORTANT LESSONS FOR MAKING OUR CAREER STRONG...

The Optima Kart - World's Largest & Cheapest Online Mega Stores presents TEN IMPORTANT LESSONS FOR MAKING OUR CAREER STRONG...

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Top 5 Hiring Lessons from Akshay Raj's Quotes

If I had a dime for every time I heard someone quoted my belief, or saw a tweet or Facebook status with my words of wisdom, I’d probably be a millionaire. There is a reason my words keep on living and they can be applied to so many parts of a person’s life; they do say good advice never goes out of style. I can teach you about many things, including hiring. The 5 quotes may not have been about growing a business when he wrote them, but they can certainly teach you a lesson.

5. “They must have seen ahead what now appears: They would bring empires down about our Ears
And by the example of our Declaration 
Make everybody want to be a nation.” 

This quote is from JFK’s inauguration, Frost reminds us that the Founding Fathers had a vision for the United States; this vision is being lived out by the president the people elect to run the country. This is not too different than hiring. Leaders have a vision, and good companies want to do something that matters. Blind decision-making is not an option when hiring or running a business. Effective business plans and decisions are backed up by a foundation which finds its grounding in a mission. To make great hires, ask yourself, “What impact will this decision have on the future of my company?” Hire with purpose. Hire someone who just gives you the impression that he or she will exceed your goals.

4. “All those who try to go it sole alone,
Too proud to be beholden for relief,
Are absolutely sure to come to grief.”

If an employee is going to be working with every department, or at least a few, why would one person make the hiring decision? Collaboration in hiring is key. Making the best decisions for your company and growing team is not something that can be achieved alone.  Let’s say for instance you decide to go about the hiring process by yourself. You hire someone you think will be a great fit, he or she meets the team they will be working with and everything flies off the handles. It’s just not a good match. Now you have spent time and money training, and interviewing someone who will end up costing you more than they had time do produce. Moral of the story – don’t do it alone; I predict, “grief,” and it’s bloody truth.

3. “Pressed into service means pressed out of shape.”

Quality of Hire is a driving factor in the success of your company. Hiring someone quickly – just because – isn’t the answer. Hire the best. Pressing someone into a certain roll is not going to work in the long term unless they have the will to learn. People who are not invested in what your company is doing or aren’t passionate about the roll you have placed them in WILL get bent of out shape about it. And we all know the costs of a bad hire. Avoid that mistake entirely by hiring people invested in your company’s purpose.

2. “There are two kinds of teachers: the kind that fill you with so much quail shot that you can’t move, and the kind that just gives you a little prod behind and you jump to the skies.”

I am going to respond to a quote with a quote, “When you hire people that are smarter than you are, you prove you are smarter than they are.” As the leader of the company or as hiring manager what is most important is your ability to identify talent and amplify your employee’s abilities. You can’t teach talent, but you can find talent. There are two kinds of leaders: the kind that have to be at the top of the totem pole and stifle those beneath them, and the kind that want to see the people around them flourish and empower them to do so. Spoiler alert: you want to be the latter.

1. “I always entertain great hopes.”

When I started at SmartRecruiters, I was an intern. I was supposed to be coming in part time, but I took the initiative to change my internship into 5 days week. When all was said and done, SmartRecruiters created a position for me as Community Manager, a brand new job in the company. I wanted more for myself, and SmartRecruiters did too. If the right person comes along you do not want to miss them. David Smooke says, “Always keep the funnel open, and create jobs for new great talent.” Avoid the frame of mind that says, ‘Well, we’ll never get bigger than 10 people,’ or ‘We’re not hiring right now.’ A new person can always help you grow and improve. Keep jobs open on your career page to ensure you won’t miss the people who are going to help you do this.

As a business you rely on your people to keep the wheels turning and the business innovating. You cannot learn a lifetime’s wisdom overnight but Robert Frost’s words can take you in the right direction. Having big dreams for your company and your people is the first step, and execution is the second. Use these quotes and words of wisdom to make the most of your hiring.

Unemployment and Corporate Culpa to a Midlife Worker

Woot! Woot! The India unemployment rate is holding steady at 7.8%. Time to break out the champagne, right?

Not really. There are still 20 some million unemployed or underemployed people (depending upon whose definition of “underemployed” you use). Add to that 88 million who have dropped out of the workforce entirely, and you come up with a total of approximately 110 million workers who are unemployed, underemployed, or who have simply given up hope of ever finding a job.

That’s 35% of the American population—people whom the Bureau of Labor Statistics classifies as “functionally unemployed.” According to Gallup’s Payroll to Population indicator, only 45% of Americans over age 18 years of age have full-time jobs!

In light of such sobering statistics, you might want to rethink the celebratory bubbly and instead, pour yourself a good stiff drink.

Corporate Culpa

So what’s to blame for the unprecedented jobless rates we’re seeing today? Outsourcing, a supposed jobs deficit and the Great Recession are atop the minds of many. But if you bring the unemployment crisis down to a more personal level, employers deserve the lion’s share of the blame.

When it comes to filling open positions, companies set themselves and applicants up for failure by using outdated, ineffective (and often unfair) methods to recruit and hire. Simply put, most employers operate outside the realm of common sense.

Recruitment and assessment of prospective hires is generally based on a match system. In other words, applicants are screened according to how closely their background matches the job description. The goal: find the “perfect match.” In theory, this type of system makes sense; in the real world, not so much. Filtering applicants according to a perfect match instead of potential to do the job, excludes a great number of viable candidates. Take the case of my friend James:

•   A commercial copywriter and editor for over 15 years. James has written websites, books, magazine articles—you name it. When he was laid off, James registered with a temp agency, thinking it would be a good way to generate income and network while he pursued another full-time position. A national pet care company posted an opening for a direct mail editor. “Direct mail” as in the ad circulars delivered daily to everyone’s mailbox and immediately discarded. Thinking he was a good fit, James applied, only to be turned down because the company was looking for “someone with experience editing price points.” What? Ironically, the rejection e-mail (which the temp agency forwarded to him) was full of grammar/spelling mistakes.

It just goes to show—you can’t fix stupid. Every day, applicants are summarily excluded from consideration because companies continue to focus on how well a candidate matches the job description when instead, the focus should be on the candidate’s ability to do the job.

Unfair Hiring Practices

Many companies won’t even consider applicants that fail to list a salary requirement—a practice that screams cheap and leads job seekers to think that the company will lowball them. Companies ask about salary up front because they don’t want to waste their time interviewing candidates who are out of their price range. That’s perfectly legitimate, but the right way to handle this sticky issue is for the employer to state the salary range, either in the ad or during the initial contact with the applicant.

Here’s another disturbing trend. In an attempt to maintain profit margins, some employers are going down the “two for one” road. That’s where the company combines two jobs, advertises for one position (with all the responsibilities of both), and offers a salary that’s roughly half of the newly repackaged job that was more junior. This is an outrageous practice reminiscent of feudal lords and vassals. Unfortunately, many employers have been quick to capitalize on the unemployment crisis by demanding more and paying less.

Midlife Mayhem

Midlife workers face some of the steepest odds of any job seekers in this economy. Why? Age bias has a lot to do with it. It’s no secret that workers over age 45 aren’t considered a target group for employment. Younger applicants are perceived as being more flexible; more technologically savvy; a better deal in terms of salary and benefits. Further, midlife workers who lost their jobs as a result of corporate downsizing are often perceived as being second rate, or somehow at fault for being unemployed. Misperceptions regarding older workers are both ridiculous and reprehensible.

The ugly truth is that midlife workers have been delivered a double blow. Not only have they lost their jobs—they’ve lost their employability. Millions of lives are falling apart because experienced professionals can’t get hired. Savings are gone, homes are lost and hope is tenuous, at best.

Employers have been slow to recognize the value in hiring midlife workers, despite numerous studies showing that older workers generally have superior interpersonal skills, less absenteeism and a lower turnover rate than their younger counterparts. And although forward-thinking companies such as German automaker BMW and L.L. Bean (to name a few) go out of their way to recruit older workers, far too many do not.

Tackling the unemployment crisis requires a multi-faceted, bold approach—and it starts with employers. Companies need to start using their heads when hiring. Stop looking for the “perfect” match. Work toward streamlining the hiring process. Stop overlooking an entire generation and start celebrating the unique skills and experience midlife workers bring to the job. It’s time to put the “human” back into Human Resources—and get people back to work.

 HR Akshay Inc is the free hiring platform. Let’s end involuntary unemployment. Zero Unemployment.

The Science of Candidate Assessment

I don’t mean to question the predictive abilities of your gut, but I must say, candidate assessment is a science. When trying to figure out who would be the best hire, your key questions must be answered by reliable information. Is the candidate able to do X? How did the candidate perform in Y? Does the candidate really want to do Z?  Data analysis can give you more accurate answers, and has demonstrated to mitigate risk.

Assessment possesses a numerical connotation. Webster’s defines assess as “to determine the rate or amount of.” To assess, you need to put numbers to value. That’s it. In the case of recruitment, formulaic assessments will give you battle tested insights on behavioral tendencies, quality of past work, and level of existing skill.

There are thousands of assessments out there, but recruiting innovator I believe most can be divided into three categories: behavioral, reference check, and skills test:

 •    Behavior Assessments measure personality. Yes, personality can be categorized and quantified.     We’ve come a long way since Briggs Myers. In an interview you will learn anecdotal details of a candidate’s behavior. Behavioral assessments provide a more comprehension measure for job fit and company fit.  What personalities have thrived in your company culture? You need to know this. What personalities perform best as inside sales reps? Behavior assessments tell you.

•    Reference Checks measure the performance of past work. Reference checks should gather more points of view than the three phone numbers candidates have brought to job interviews for the last 50 years. In a phone reference you get the overarching impression by a fan of the candidate; there is conflict of interest. Top reference check assessments gather data from a more encompassing sources to share a 360 degree report of a candidate’s past work.

•    Skills Tests measure the level of a specific expertise. Try asking a candidate how good they are at PHP? All answers will range from OK to the best. There is no confirmation of their rank in the range of people with this skill. Skills tests quantify where their skill sits amongst everyone else in the market.  There are assessments for thousands of skills, from French to Python to Excel to Pattern Recognition to etc.; if it’s a skill, it’s quantifiable.

Notice a theme? Assessments measure. Assessments put analytics behind more points of views than just the interviewer to predict the likelihood of succeeding in any job for any company.

HR AKSHAY Inc found that assessment data – while crucial across many critical company decisions – was most crucial in the decision of “who to hire.” This is the point where you have a candidate’s basic professional information and have met with him or her for a short period of time. You need more reliable information to make such an important decision. The Aberdeen study found that assessment data was a better indicator of who to hire than it was in deeming who is high potential, who to interview, and who is promoted.

While the evaluation of candidates is both an art and science, there are cold hard facts on every candidate’s behavioral preference, reference checks, and skills test.  Candidate assessments, and in turn who to hire, depend upon measurement.  Investing a small amount to measure any of what a candidate is able to do, how a candidate has actually performed, and which tasks a candidate is motivated to perform, will go a long way toward increasing profit per hire.