5 Ways To Spot A Bad Boss In An Interview

A boss can literally, make or break your career. Here are five ways to spot the bad ones before they become yours.

A great boss can make you feel engaged and empowered at work, will keep you out of unnecessary office politics, and can identify and grow your strengths. But a bad boss can make the most impressive job on paper (and salary) quickly unbearable. Not only will a bad boss make you dislike at least 80% of your week, your relationships might suffer, too. A recent study conducted at Baylor University found that stress and tension caused by an abusive boss “affects the marital relationship and subsequently, the employee’s entire family.” Supervisor abuse isn’t always as blatant as a screaming temper tantrum; it can include taking personal anger out on you for no reason, dismissing your ideas in a meeting, or simply, being rude and critical of your work, while offering no constructive ways to improve it.  Whatever the exhibition of bad boss behavior, your work and personal life will suffer. Merideth Ferguson, PH.D., co-author of the study and assistant professor of management and entrepreneurship at Baylor explains that “it may be that as supervisor abuse heightens tension in the relationship, the employee is less motivated or able to engage in positive interactions with the partner and other family members.”

There are many ways to try and combat the effects of a bad boss, including confronting him or her directly to work towards a productive solution, suggesting that you report to another supervisor, or soliciting the help of human resources.  But none of those tactics guarantee improvement, and quite often, they’ll lead to more stress. The best solution is to spot a bad boss—before they become yours! Here are five ways to tell whether your interviewer is a future bad boss.

1. Pronoun usage. Performance consultant John Brubaker says that the top verbal tell a boss gives is in pronoun choice and the context it is used. If your interviewer uses the term “you” in communicating negative information ( such as, “you will deal with a lot of ambiguity”), don’t expect the boss to be a mentor.  If the boss chooses the word “I” to describe the department’s success—that’s a red flag.  If the interviewer says “we” in regards to a particular challenge the team or company faced, it may indicate that he or she deflects responsibility and places blame.

2. Concern with your hobbies. There is a fine line between genuine relationship building, and fishing for information, so use your discretion on this one. If you have an overall good impression of the potential boss it may be that he or she is truly interested in the fact that you are heavily involved in charity work, and is simply getting to know you. On the other hand, the interviewer may be trying to determine whether you have too many commitments outside of work. The interviewer can’t legally ask if you are married, or have kids, so digging into your personal life can be a clever way to understand just how available you are.

3. They’re distracted. The era of email, BlackBerrys and smartphones have made it “okay” for people to develop disrespectful communication habits in the name of work. Particularly in a frenzied workplace, reading email while a person is speaking, multi-tasking on conference calls and checking the message behind that blinking BlackBerry mid-conversation has become the norm of business communications. But, regardless of his or her role in the company, the interviewer should be striving to make a good impression—which includes shutting down tech tools to give you undivided attention. If your interviewer is glancing at emails while you’re speaking, taking phone calls, or late to the interview, don’t expect a boss who will make time for you.

4. They can’t give you a straight answer. Caren Goldberg, Ph.D. is an HR professor at the Kogod School of Business at American University. She says a key “tell” is vague answers to your questions. Listen for pauses, awkwardness, or overly-generic responses when you inquire what happened to the person who held the position you are interviewing for, and/or what has created the need to hire. (For example, if you are told the person was a “bad fit,” it may indicate that the workplace doesn’t spend much time on employee-development, and blames them when things don’t work out).

You should also question turnover rates, how long people stay in given roles, and what their career path has been. All of these answers can indicate not only if the boss is one people want to work for, but whether pay is competitive, and employees are given a career growth plan.

5. They’ve got a record. Ask the potential boss how long he or she has been at the company, in the role, and where he or she worked before coming to it to get a feel for his or management style, and whether it’s what you respond to.  For example, bosses making a switch from a large corporation to a small company may lead with formality. On the other hand, entrepreneurs tend to be passionately involved in business, which can be a help or a hindrance, depending on your workstyle.

Goldberg also recommends searching the site eBossWatch, where you read reviews that former employees have given to a boss. If you’re serious about the position, she also suggests reaching to the former employee whose spot you are interviewing for, and asking for their take on the workplace. (LinkedIn makes this task easy to do). The former employee’s recount may not necessarily reflect your potential experience, but it can help you to determine whether his or her description of the job and company “jibes” with what the potential boss said.

By Stephanie Taylor Christensen

The Myth of Potential: 5 Ways to Develop Talent

In high school, I wasn't an amazing athlete, but one of my closest friends sure was. Most people didn't know it, though. He was quiet, even shy, and spent most of his time either practicing or studying. Nothing he did off the court—not the way he acted, how he dressed, or who he talked to—shouted "jock!" But he handled a basketball as if he'd been born with one in each hand. According to our school's coach, one of the best in the region, my friend had "real potential." He even talked about him going pro.

But what is potential? When most people say "potential," what they really mean is "proven success." After all, no one mentioned my friend's potential when he was an awkward third grader learning how to dribble. It wasn't until he already established himself as a local superstar that people started talking about his potential. 

The truth is everyone has potential, and nearly every employee has some talent of great potential value. But developing that talent takes serious work, both from employees and their managers—just like the thousands of hours my friend put in every day after school, along with the encouragement and instruction from his dad and his coach.

Developing talent—that is, helping every employee reach their potential—should be a goal of every leader. In fact, at GE top executives spend as much as 40% of their time identifying and mentoring their replacements. Leaders at other companies would be wise to follow suit. Here's how to start:

1. Give employees time to focus. 

With the frenetic pace of business, it's easy to get lost in a sea of deadlines and shifting priorities. The best leaders encourage employees to spend time absorbed in a single project or area of focus—especially when it's a stretch assignment that will challenge their abilities.

Some of the most innovative companies in the country put a priority on free or flexible time. For example, Google developers and engineers receive "20 percent time"—eight hours a week they can devote solely to projects of their choice. Likewise, Bell Labs—one of the biggest American innovators of all time—gave scientists and engineers the opportunity to spend years researching a single product.

2. Promote the value of learning. 

Leaders should be on a constant lookout for professional development opportunities. Taking time to focus on learning helps employees crystallize their goals and determine what skills and areas of growth are most important to them.

As I mentioned, General Electric is one example of a company that places a premium on promoting the value of professional development and learning. The company has a Chief Learning Officer and spends $1 billion a year in training its employees through the GE Global Learning initiative. That's about $3,500 per year for each of their 290,000 employees. 

3. Ask lots of questions. 

It's no secret that leadership requires clear and effective communication. When it comes to developing talent, leaders should focus on the listening side of the communication equation. Find out what's important to employees, what experience they have, where they see themselves in the future, and what excites them about the company.

Colin Powell nicely sums up the importance of listening and effective communication: "The day soldiers stop bringing you their problems is the day you have stopped leading them." His words are just as true in the corporate world as they are in the military one.

4. Give frequent, specific feedback. 

It's far too easy for managers to only give feedback during performance reviews or to offer vague platitudes. The best mentors provide quality feedback that's timely, genuine, and focused on desired behaviors. It's also important to be positive and forgo any personal judgments.

To reinforce how critical providing quality feedback is, try Googling "leaders and the importance of feedback." The search yields over 18 million results (and lots of good advice). 

5. Treat failure as an opportunity for improvement. 

Nobody likes failure, but everybody enjoys saving face. When employees fail, they're often at their most vulnerable. And that's a good thing. It means they're open to receiving feedback, trying new approaches, and improving areas of weakness. Stay positive as you help your team members take advantage of these opportunities.

Some of the most meaningful learning in my life has been in response to failure. A beloved high school teacher of mine often used the mantras, "Failure is a better teacher than success," and, "The bigger the failure, the bigger the lesson." Obviously, no one wants to encourage failure, but it's important to realize that it will happen—and embrace it for what it is: a learning opportunity. 

Remember: Everyone has potential, but that potential may remain hidden without skilled mentoring and effective leadership. Take time to help employees discover their talents, learn from failures, and build on their successes. It may just save your company some major recruitment dollars.




By, Joel Garfinkle - one of the top 50 leadership coaches in the U.S

5 Minute Management Course

Lesson 1:

A sales rep, an administration clerk, and the manager are walking to lunch when they find an antique oil lamp. 
They rub it and a Genie comes out. 
The Genie says, 'I'll give each of you just one wish.'
'Me first! Me first!' says the admin clerk. 'I want to be in the Bahamas , driving a speedboat, without a care in the world.'
Puff! She's gone.

'Me next! Me next!' says the sales rep... 'I want to be in Hawaii , relaxing on the beach with my personal masseuse, an endless supply of Pina Coladas and the love of my life.'

Puff! He's gone

'OK, you're up,' the Genie says to the manager.
The manager says, 'I want those two back in the office after Lunch.'

Moral of the story:
Always let your boss have the first say.

Lesson 2
An eagle was sitting on a tree resting, doing nothing.

A small rabbit saw the eagle and asked him, 'Can I also sit like you and do nothing?'
The eagle answered: 'Sure, why not.'

So, the rabbit sat on the ground below the eagle and rested. All of a sudden, a fox appeared, jumped on the rabbit and ate it.

Moral of the story:
To be sitting and doing nothing, you must be sitting very, very high up.

Lesson 3

A turkey was chatting with a bull.

'I would love to be able to get to the top of that tree' sighed the turkey, 'but I haven't got the energy.'
'Well, why don't you nibble on some of my droppings?' replied the bull. They're packed with nutrients.'

The turkey pecked at a lump of dung, and found it actually gave him enough strength to reach the lowest branch of the tree.

The next day, after eating some more dung, he reached the second branch.

Finally after a fourth night, the turkey was proudly perched at the top of the tree.

He was promptly spotted by a farmer, who shot him out of the tree

Moral of the story:
Bull Sh!t might get you to the top, but it won't keep you there..

Lesson 4.(AB tells this very nicely in BHTB)

A little bird was flying south for the winter. It was so cold the bird froze and fell to the ground into a large field.

While he was lying there, a cow came by and dropped some dung on him.

As the frozen bird lay there in the pile of cow dung, he began to realize how warm he was.

The dung was actually thawing him out!

He lay there all warm and happy, and soon began to sing for joy.
A passing cat heard the bird singing and came to investigate.

Following the sound, the cat discovered the bird under the pile of cow dung, and promptly dug him out and ate him.

Morals of the story: 
(1) Not everyone who sh!ts on you is your enemy.

(2) Not everyone who gets you out of sh!t is your
friend.

(3) And when you're in deep sh!t, it's best to keep
your mouth shut!

THUS ENDS THE FIVE MINUTE MANAGEMENT COURSE

Six Strategies to Keep You Engaged at Work

Engaged employees have the highest productivity because they show up mentally and physically every day with a high degree of motivation to deliver extraordinary results.



The following six strategies will keep you engaged at work.

1. Build friendships with people at work.



• On a scale of 1 (low)- 10(high), how satisfied are you with the friendships you have at work?



• Love and connection is the most important emotional need that people have to stay motivated.



• We spend roughly 50% more time with our customers, coworkers, and bosses than we do with our friends, significant others, children and other relatives combined.



• Gallup research shows that without a best friend at work, the chances of being engaged in your job are 1 in 12.



• Gallup research shows that employees who have a close friendship with their boss are more than 2.5 times as likely to be satisfied with their job.



Action Item: If you want to be more engaged at work, develop at least three strong friendships at the office, maybe even one with your boss/senior.



2. Develop a learning and growth plan on a quarterly basis.



• On a scale of 1 (low)- 10(high), how satisfied are you with the opportunity you have to learn and grow in your current role?



• Learning and growth is a life-long emotional need that people have to stay motivated.



• You currently have skills, behaviours and experience that enable you to deliver results.



• Action Item: Identify learning and growth objectives and develop a 90-day action plan to improve your skills, behaviours and experience in required areas to help you achieve your full potential.

3. Contribute to the success of the people around you.


• On a scale of 1 (low)- 10(high), how satisfied are you with the contribution you make to the success of both internal and external people?



• Contribution is a life-long emotional need that people have to stay motivated.



• Action Item: Identify three activities that you do that contribute to the success of others. Develop a plan to spend more time doing these activities and/or add new activities within the scope of your role.



4. Step into your significance.



• On a scale of 1 (low)- 10(high), how significant and important is the work that you do?



• Significance is a life-long emotional need that people have to stay motivated.



• When you do activities that you love to do, you feel a sense of purpose and significance.



• Action Item: Identify what you do that makes you feel significant and important. Develop a plan to spend more time doing these activities and/or add new activities within the scope of your role.



5. Embrace variety and challenge.



• On a scale of 1 (low)- 10(high), how satisfied are you with the amount of variety and challenge in your current role?



• Variety and challenge is a life-long emotional need that people have to stay motivated.



• Boredom sets in if you don’t have enough variety and challenge in your role.



• Action Item: Identify what you do that makes you feel a sense of variety and challenge. Develop a plan to spend more time doing these activities and/or add new activities within the scope of your role.



6. Create certainty to achieve career success.



• On a scale of 1 (low)- 10(high), how satisfied are you with the amount of certainty and control you have related to your career success?



• Certainty is a life-long emotional need that people have to stay motivated.



• Fear and pessimism set in if you don’t have enough certainty related to your career success.



• Action Item: Define what career success looks like to you. Reach out to your boss (and other coaches and mentors) to help you create more certainty related to your career success.




By Hari Das Nair - Vice President & Group Head - Human Resources

Why are there so many women in HR?

Does HR attract women because it’s perceived to be a soft and fluffy profession? Johann Tasker (a man) of UK-based Personnel Todaylooks for an answer

The figures speak for themselves. Seventy-two per cent of UK-based Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) members are women. Only 28 per cent of the 124,500 membership are men.

Paul Turner, general manager, people, at West Bromwich Building Society, has an HR team of 25. Only three of them are men. He says the imbalance in his team is because men are not attracted into the profession. But he adds that a more in-depth examination of why that is the case can be controversial. “I hate getting into conversations like this because you are almost forced to generalise and that can be dangerous,” he says.

“HR is generally perceived to be a profession based around people and people skills. Men – and this is too deep a topic to be specific about – tend to be attracted to areas that are more systematic, more structured and more competitive.”

Duncan Brown, assistant director general at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), attributes the high levels of women in HR to educational background. “In the UK, HR has been associated with a ‘softer’ social science background which tends to attract women, whereas men tend to prefer the ‘harder’ sciences.”

HR’s image and perception has served to turn men off joining the profession, argues Marianne Huggett, associate director at the Work Foundation.

“As far as many people in the outside world are concerned, [HR] is a soft and fluffy job all about social and welfare issues,” she says. “Anyone who gets close to HR knows it is anything but soft,” says Huggett. “But I think the common misconception is something that has, in the past, acted as a disincentive for men to get involved in the profession.”

But Huggett rejects the popular argument that women are more attracted to HR because they are in some way genetically predisposed to the nature of the job. “Maybe there is a slight element of predisposition, but I would be uncomfortable saying it was anything more than minor,” she says.

Welfare roots

To understand why there are more women in HR we must look at the history of the profession in the UK, says Angela O’Connor, HR director at the Crown Prosecution Service.

“The roots of HR go as far back as the late 19th century, when the role of welfare workers was to take care of women and girls in the workforce,” she says. “These welfare workers were all women, and as more women entered the workplace during the two world wars, the number in welfare work increased and their role expanded to include recruitment and training.”

The development from the welfare role to personnel, and then to HR, took place, therefore, in a predominantly female environment – in much the same way, for example, that engineering developed as a mainly male occupation. And just as small, but increasing, numbers of women have entered engineering over the past few decades, O’Connor believes HR can be seen to be a predominantly female occupation attracting an increasing, but still relatively small, number of men.

No soft option

Unlike Huggett, Turner has more sympathy for the view that women seem to be attracted to caring “people-based” professions such as HR, while men have traditionally preferred professions where success is judged on results.

“In male-dominated professions, such as sales, law or engineering, you can see the number of sales made, or court cases won, or bridges built,” he says. “You can usually see exactly what has been achieved. But in HR, it has not always been easy to measure your achievement.”

Turner also rejects the notion that women prefer HR because it is a soft option. In the difficult areas of HR that managers often shy away from – such as discipline or hard-edged negotiations – he says it is often the women who are prepared to cut to the quick and be decisive.

“HR is a job where the amount of power you have lies in your ability to influence other people, whereas in many other jobs, you have power through position. I think the women who come into HR and do well are particularly good at influencing other people.”

Women also seem to be less precious about positions, says Turner. “I don’t mean that they don’t care about status. I mean that they seem to be more open minded when it comes to moving towards or away from a particular point of argument, whereas men often feel it is a sign of weakness.

“The key HR skills in many areas are the ability to empathise, relate and influence, and use emotional intelligence. I am not suggesting that men don’t have emotional intelligence, but in HR the women who do well have bags and bags of it,” Turner says.

To the casual observer, all of this might make it seem that HR really is a woman’s world. But a closer look at the statistics reveals this is not the case. Women may outnumber men at the lower levels of the profession, but it is a different story at the top.

Glass ceiling

Figures from the UK Chartered Management Institute reveal a significant pay gap between men and women in middle management HR posts. On average, women earn salaries of 41,000, but men earn 49,000. And while there are fewer men in HR, their relative numbers increase with job seniority. Added to this, only 40 per cent of HR directors are women, so when it comes to promotion, the glass ceiling, it seems, is intact.

Susan Anderson, director of HR policy for the Confederation of British Industry, says HR directors are often male because in the past, women didn’t return to work after having a career break to start a family. Those who put their career on hold, returned to the profession lower down the career ladder. But this is changing and there is room for optimism, she adds.

“There are lots of female HR role models who have reached the top,” says Anderson. “Perceptions are changing, but it should not be the case of saying that unless there is a fifty-fifty split we have failed. That would be a mistake,” she adds.

Companies which fail to promote female HR managers to director level are missing a trick, suggests Mary Mercer, principal consultant at the Institute for Employment Studies. But women themselves should do more to promote their cause, she says.

“It’s only recently that HR has begun to be represented at board level in the UK. The views of HR have got to change and many of the women in HR have to think about championing HR and focusing on the impact that it can have on the bottom line.”

Mercer believes good HR practice can have a bigger impact on an organisation’s bottom line than almost anything else. Good people management can account for a 15 per cent positive variation in business performance, whereas something like strategy only accounts for 2 per cent, she explains.

“It has to be thought of in those terms for women in HR to get themselves onto the boards of organisations and start getting people to think about HR when they are thinking of business decisions. The people element has traditionally been thought of last and that attitude has to change.”

Men at the top

When Mercer studied for her Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development qualification, there were no men on her course. All too often, she says, HR departments are staffed by women, but the director is a man – and often one who has come into HR from another role within the business.

“There is a feeling that anyone can ‘do’ HR, that it is something anyone can pick up. This has led to a lack of professionalism within HR and a lack of focus on business outcomes. It is a challenge for women if they want their careers to be taken seriously and if HR is to be put on the map,” says Mercer.

The development of the HR business partner role, for example, requires business experience and qualifications. This role will give HR more clout within business and should help put it on the map, while at the same time moving the profession away from its soft and fluffy image. But will the emphasis on business experience appeal more to men?

Turner doesn’t think more men will take up such roles. Forward-looking companies are increasingly employing people on merit, rather than according to gender, he says.

“I don’t think it’s an HR issue. I think it’s a general issue around the need to recognise that if you have a quality person going on maternity leave then you want them back, and you want to make sure you keep them.”

O’Connor concurs. She doesn’t believe that a move towards more HR business partner roles will see more men rushing to join the profession.

“This assumes two things,” she says. “First, that women are less business-focused and results-orientated than men. And second, that the ‘soft skills’ for which women have traditionally been valued are not compatible with a strong business focus. I think both assumptions are wrong.”

Feedback from the profession

"Women are more attracted to the humanist side of the work. More men would create a better balance, but they need to be excited and have a passion for the work. Having a lot of women in HR is not a bad thing, unless there are barriers for them to make the step to HR director level."

- Craig White, station training and development officer, Royal Air Force

"HR is a job where the amount of power you have lies in your ability to influence other people, whereas in many other jobs, you have power through position. Women who come into HR and do well are particularly good at influencing people."

- Paul Turner, general manager, people, West Bromwich Building Society

"Women are more social animals than men and, therefore, more attracted to the HR profession. It may be self-perpetuating - if there were more women in senior roles, that could fuel the interest of other women."

- David Regester, managing director, Anne Shaw Consultants

"The days of demanding industrial/employee relations roles created macho environments that appealed to men. Now HR is focused on developing, engaging and supporting people, it is more attractive to women."

- Paul Pagliari, senior director, HR, Immigration and Nationality Directorate

"A lot of HR activity is to do with multi-tasking and juggling work - women can be much better at that than men. There does need to be an influx of male candidates into the profession, especially in the more junior roles."

- Liz Thompson, director, Liz Thompson HR

"I think it comes back to the traditional personnel and welfare department. Women are a lot better at working as part of that than men. The level of pay might also be an issue."

- Debbie Handley, HR adviser, Mellon Analytical Solutions

"It may be something about the way that some organisations set themselves up. HR is not perceived as a serious business function. There is no machismo in [the function] and that appeals more to women."

- Mark Harrison, consultant, Kineo

This article first appeared in Personnel Today magazine. www.personneltoday.com

Four Steps to Building Organization-Wide Diversity

Companies with high levels of diversity typically benefit from the mix of ideas and perspectives that people from different backgrounds and life experiences bring to the table. Still, many companies find themselves struggling to develop and implement a successful blueprint for diversity and inclusion.

While each company is different, there are some universal best practices that can help organizations create, implement and sustain an effective diversity strategy. By following these four steps, companies can develop a functional strategy to increase diversity across all demographics, creating a work environment that includes a vibrant mix of people and perspectives.

1. Define diversity for the organization.

Diversity can mean different things to different people, so the first step is to define what diversity means to the organization as a whole. Part of this process entails analyzing the diversity of the current landscape to determine potential gaps. Identify where the organization could benefit from including not just people of different gender, ethnicity or age, but also where operations could benefit from more innovation and risk-taking or different ways of thinking. After analyzing where those talent gaps are, determine a realistic time frame for developing, implementing and monitoring the diversity strategy.

2. Ensure alignment between business requirements and talent needs.

The next step is to make sure the team is on the same page and that business requirements line up with talent needs. Diversity leaders can determine whether the company has the time and resources to develop current employees or whether it needs to hire new talent to fill gaps to improve diversity. It's also important to take necessary steps to ensure the organization is well prepared to manage the increase in constructive conflict that can result when people with different perspectives share their ideas.

3. Move from strategy to action.

While diversity leaders might have a great diversity plan on paper, it must be translated into specific actions throughout the organization. For instance, hiring managers should be trained to refocus their hiring strategies on diversity from being more aware of the value of diversity to recognizing their role in hiring and developing a more diverse workforce. They should be taught to identify individuals who can bring or develop the practical skills needed by the business.

4. Create an ongoing culture of diversity.

A successful diversity strategy requires an understanding of the organization's culture and what can be done to ensure a sustainable diversity strategy. An ongoing culture of diversity can be maintained by rewarding people for such activities as mentoring others, inviting dissenting opinions, taking calculated risks or creating ways for people to collaborate. Encouraging these actions can help the entire organization understand and appreciate the value of diversity and how it impacts bottom-line business results.

Developing a successful diversity strategy isn't just about filling key talent gaps; it's about hiring qualified people across all demographics who can bring new ideas to the organization. By focusing on that strategy, companies will have a blueprint for sourcing, hiring and managing talent from all backgrounds.

By Steve Lopez - Director of consulting services at Manpower Group Solutions.

Six Keys to Being Excellent at Anything

six keys to achieving excellence

1. Pursue what you love. Passion is an incredible motivator. It fuels focus, resilience, and perseverance.
2. Do the hardest work first. We all move instinctively toward pleasure and away from pain. Most great performers, Ericsson and others have found, delay gratification and take on the difficult work of practice in the mornings, before they do anything else. That's when most of us have the most energy and the fewest distractions.
3. Practice intensely, without interruption for short periods of no longer than 90 minutes and then take a break. Ninety minutes appears to be the maximum amount of time that we can bring the highest level of focus to any given activity. The evidence is equally strong that great performers practice no more than 4 ½ hours a day.
4. Seek expert feedback, in intermittent doses. The simpler and more precise the feedback, the more equipped you are to make adjustments. Too much feedback, too continuously can create cognitive overload, increase anxiety, and interfere with learning.
5. Take regular renewal breaks. Relaxing after intense effort not only provides an opportunity to rejuvenate, but also to metabolize and embed learning. It's also during rest that the right hemisphere becomes more dominant, which can lead to creative breakthroughs.
6. Ritualize practice. Will and discipline are wildly overrated. As the researcher Roy Baumeisterhas found, none of us have very much of it. The best way to insure you'll take on difficult tasks is to build rituals — specific, inviolable times at which you do them, so that over time you do them without having to squander energy thinking about them.

By Tony Schwartz

Seven "Non-Negotiables" to Prevent a Bad Hire

To avoid that, when we make hires, we screen candidates using a list of personal characteristics we call the Non-Negotiables. First there were four. Ultimately, we've expanded the list to seven. These are the characteristics that have become the primary criteria for hiring decisions — things we value even more than skills and background. When we add people to our nearly 100-person company, these criteria are non-negotiable.

The seven Non-Negotiables are Respect, Belief, Loyalty, Commitment, Trust, Courage and Gratitude.

Ideal hires bring traditional and job-specific capabilities and high proficiencies in these seven core traits. However, in many cases, the Non-Negotiables have led us to make what others would consider "unusual hires." The result, for our company, has been near-zero turnover — and many employees express the desire and willingness to stay with us for life.

It took us a few years before we fully embraced the concept of the Non-Negotiables as an explicit hiring goal. We always sought individuals with high character strengths and strong work ethics. In HR parlance, we looked for "athletes," and we talked about assessing the right fit through a strong "gut feeling." Since January 2011, we've gone further: We've now articulated these traits as full and formal requirements for the people we hire. Granted, it is more difficult to identify and assess character traits than concrete skills — however, the strategy we are using thus far seems to be meeting success. We ask potential candidates to tell us about situations where they have exemplified each of the non-negotiable traits. Because each candidate is interviewed by multiple leaders, we compare assessments on each of the traits. Later on, we may also move to an actual scoring system as well.

We also ask the same questions of the individual's references — not the references they list on their resume, but of their former co-workers, associates and bosses that we identify independently, and who are in a position to speak open and candidly about the candidate's strengths (or weaknesses) in exhibiting these traits. Clearly, it's not an exact science — but we are finding the ways to become more precise as we grow.

At times focusing on this non-traditional hiring criteria leads us to hire people with unusual backgrounds. When Kevin Batchelor — now one of our two VP's of Engineering — came to work here, he was not a programmer at all; his degrees were in theater and anthropology. Now, eight years later, his software designs are winning awards. John David King — now our EVP of Sales and Marketing — had no prior background in leading a sales organization. He had heart, spirit, and character, coupled with a law degree and a bachelor's degree in communications.

We've filled our developer ranks largely through a partnership with Utah Valley University. We started by looking for interns — the right people with the right characteristics who wanted to learn how to code. One of them was a firefighter, one an electrician, and one was in the culinary program. Some were programmers by training, but only interested (or so they thought) in programming Internet games.

We have a strong community focus — of our near 100 employees, 40 are or have been interns working on flexible schedules to allow them to finish their degrees.

Our approach is contradictory to most conventional management wisdom, which suggests that hiring managers focus on relevant skills and experience. But it is working for us.

Our company has no shortage of talent because we've trained the people we bring in with care. Our employees are respectful of each other, and as a company we strive to be respectful of others as well. In a competitive $1 billion software market we are collegial — we list our competitors' offerings along with our own products on our Facebook page, and we applaud their successes along with our own.

Our hiring strategy has built a loyal base of employees during a time when the typical career path is to "keep the options open" and to be at least periodically shopping around. Our strategy will continue to be the right one for us. Perhaps it could work for other organizations as well. We look forward to your opinions and thoughts.

By David K. Williams and Mary Michelle Scott

The Paradox of High Potentials

To retain high-potential employees, the conventional wisdom is deceptively simple: Identify, develop, and nurture them. By paying special attention to the very best people, they will stay with the firmand eventually emerge as key leaders.

But translating this into action is much more difficult. As the former head of executive development at GE used to tell me, "There's a difference between doing it and really doing it." Many firms have trouble keeping their best people, despite their investments in talent management. In fact, a study last year by the Corporate Executive Board indicated that "25 percent of employer-identified, high-potential employees plan to leave their current companies within the year, as compared to only 10 percent in 2006."The study also found that 40% of the internal job moves for high potentials ended in failure.

So despite the focus on high potentials and the importance of effectively managing them, why do so many organizations struggle to do it well? Let me suggest two reasons.

Discomfort with Differentiation: In order to focus on high potentials, some employees need to be singled out. And, truth be told, most managers hate to differentiate. They would prefer to treat everyone the same, avoiding the uncomfortable process of sorting people by levels of performance. As a result, managers will identify certain employees as "high-potential" simply because they don't want to tell them that they're outperformed by their colleagues. And others, who are appropriately selected, are not told because it would create an uncomfortable two-class system. In other words, managers avoid declaring who the high potentials are, for fear of upsetting people who were not selected.

Discomfort with Developmental Dialogue: Even if high potentials are identified properly, bringing them to the next level requires a continual, complex dialogue. Managers need to stretch, challenge, and coach their high-potential employees and make sure their assignments push them beyond their comfort zones. To do so, they have to work with senior business leaders and HR to clarify assessments, identify opportunities, and coordinate possible moves. Without multi-dimensional dialogue about these issues, managers tend to hold on to their high-potential people instead of helping them along an intentional developmental pathway. High-potentials then may interpret this as a lack of company support and will be inclined to look elsewhere.

Unfortunately, engaging in this kind of developmental dialogue is foreign to many managers and can cause just as much anxiety as the need to differentiate. In fact most managers avoid coaching discussions, particularly with employees who have more potential in their careers than they do.

Taken together, the twin discomforts of differentiation and dialogue hinder high-potential programs, even when senior line and HR executives do a good job of centrally structuring assessments, rotations, and training. This may at least partly explain why so many company-identified high potentials don't remain with their firms.

To increase the odds of success, senior executives need to focus not just on the high-potential programs, but the underlying anxieties of managers who have to execute them. One way to do this, for example, is to require managers to mentor one of their high-potential direct reports. Not only will this approach be good for the chosen employees in the short-term, but also it will force managers to get more comfortable with performance differentiation and developmental dialogues. As anyone who has done it can attest, mentoring benefits the mentor as much (if not more) than the mentee.

By RON ASHKENAS-  managing partner of Schaffer Consulting and a co-author of The GE Work-Out and The Boundaryless Organization.

How to Be an Inspiration to Others

Sachin Tendulkar has inspired thousands of young boys to take up cricket. Lata Mangeshkar has inspired many to become professional singers. There are a million such examples of people who have been an inspiration to others. How does one get there? How can you inspire people? How can you become someone that people look up to?

Do what you love

Had Sachin become an accountant, would he have been so successful? Would he have become the sweetheart of the nation that he is today? Perhaps not. So start by doing what you love to do and are good at. At the same time, don’t think about money or fame. Just quietly go about doing your job and success will follow.

Success breeds inspiration

Look at the Tatas and Birlas. I am sure they didn’t get into business saying one day we will inspire people. Inspiration happened on the way. Their success is one of the reasons why people look up to them.

It’s not only success

But it’s not only success, it’s their personality- them as people that inspires us too. There are thousands of people who have become successful using unscrupulous means. We don’t get inspired by them. Even your father or a friend could be an inspiration. Not because they are rich and successful, but maybe because they never lie, or are hardworking or are always there for you.

It doesn’t need to be big

You don’t necessarily need to climb Everest to be inspiring. It could be really simple things. Like learning to read and write at the age of 80, finishing a novel you’ve been working on for years, quitting your job to open a restaurant, taking care of your ill mother. Any activity that is done with all your heart will be an inspiration to others.

Putting others before you

Mother Teresa was a saint, not because she always dressed in white and smiled at everyone, but because she sacrificed everything for others. She always put others before her. Give up the larger chunk of apple pie to your sibling, let your friend go to Disneyland instead of you because he can’t afford or, on your birthday, instead of spending thousands of rupees on a party and getting drunk, go to an orphanage and play with the children there. The day you start giving up what you love for others, that’s the day people will start looking up to you and will get inspired. But this doesn’t mean you pretend to give just to be admired. You really should want to do it.

Humbleness 

Even after being so immensely successful, Sachin and Lata are both incredibly humble human beings. There’s not an iota of pride in their voice when they speak in public. That’s one of the most important traits one needs to inspire others. The more successful you become, the richer you get, more humble you should be.

Start giving, and serving others selflessly and sooner or later, people will start admiring you for the person that you are.

SOURCE: KAILASH SRINIVASAN IN YAHOO

How to Build a Successful Company

HAVING YOUR OWN ‘START-UP’ HAS ALMOST BECOME THE STATUS QUO IN TODAY’S MARKETS. EVERY DAY, WE HEAR NEWS ABOUT SOME NEW START UP OR THE OTHER– THEY SEEM TO BE SPROUTING ALL OVER THE PLACE. HOWEVER, EVERY ONE OF THESE NEW COMPANIES MAKES IT BIG IN THE REAL WORLD OUT THERE. SO WHAT IS IT THAT DIFFER THE BIG, SUCCESSFUL COMPANIES FROM THE ONES THAT FIZZ OUT OVER THE COURSE OF TIME?

1. Organization

Proper organization is the key factor to any company’s success. It is the manager’s responsibility to layout the company structure in a manner which ensures the stability of the company in the long run. The company should be able to tackle any new changes or developments that may come up in the market or in their respective fields.

2. Goals

The employees’ goals should be in line with the company’s goals. It is up to the manager to create such an environment in the company, where everyone works for a common cause. Providing the employees with incentives and other motivational factors are effective ways of spreading a feeling of oneness with the company.

3. Effective communication

This is the most essential factor to be implemented in any organization. Top to bottom communication has to be highly effective and vice versa. All communication channels should be capable of properly functioning in both directions. The manager should be capable of making the employees aware of any new or modified organizational strategies for the proper functioning of the company. Meanwhile, the employees should also make a note of communicating any significant internal developments to the higher management. In today’s world of intertwined mass media and social networking, managers should make the most out of the available technology to connect with employees on newer levels.

4. Decisions, decisions

A single decision has the power to make or break the future of a company. Proper analysis of the problem at hand is required in such cases. Rushing things is pointless in the longer scheme and may end up causing havoc. Prioritizing as well as looking for alternatives are two important factors to be kept in mind.

5. Make hay while the sun shines

Be it a new one or an old one, a company is bound to face hardships and struggles in its path. There is no escaping this bitter truth. In such a case, pre-planning is of utmost importance. The manager should see to it that an effective planning strategy is implemented throughout all levels of the company. Apart from obstacle management, good planning can also help in achieving preset targets for the company.

6. Take hold of the reins

Leading by example is one very important trait that a manager should possess. Seeing and observing a superior work selflessly for the good of the company also motivates the employees to give their best. The manager should possess the ability to take control of a wayward situation by the scruff of the neck and turn it around for the company’s benefit. It is factors like these which play an important role in deciding the success of a company. Focused implementation of these points creates a culture within the company, where taking No for an answer is just not an option. Everybody works together to achieve a common target and keeps the company up and kicking. Happy employees and a financially sound company are the perfect benchmarks for a successful company.
BY: PARASHAR THANKI IN YAHOO

10 Salary Negotiating Mistakes to Avoid

When it comes time to negotiate salary for a new job, make sure that you don't make these 10 key errors:

1. Being unprepared. At some point, employers are likely to ask what salary range you're looking for, possibly as soon as their first contact with you. If you're caught off-guard, you risk low-balling yourself or otherwise saying something that will harm you in salary negotiations later. It's crucial to do your homework ahead of time so that you're ready when the question comes up.

2. Negotiating before you have an offer. There's no point trying to negotiate before you have a job offer; after all, the employer still hasn't even decided if they want to hire you. Your leverage will be far stronger once someone is certain that you're the one they want.

3. Relying on online salary sites to give accurate information. While salary sites might seem like the most obvious way to figure out what to ask for, these sites are frequently unreliable, in part because the job titles they list often represent wildly different scopes of responsibility. Professional associations in your industry might do more reliable salary surveys, but even then, you're more likely to get the right range by talking to people in your field.

4. Discussing salary in your cover letter. Some candidates announce their salary requirements in their cover letters without being asked, and some even include their salary history on their resumes. There's no reason to talk money at this stage, and doing it unprompted at the application stage can come across as naive.

5. Citing your finances. Salary conversations should be solely about your value to the company, not about your own finances. Employers don't pay people based on financial need, so don't cite your mortgage or your kid's college tuition as a reason you're asking for more money.

6. Asking for too long to respond to an offer. It's normal to request a few days to consider an offer, and sometimes employers will give you a week or so. But if you ask for much time beyond that, you risk signaling that you're not excited about the job, but might settle for it if you don't get any other offers. That's a good way to lessen the hiring manager's enthusiasm and bring into question your own.

7. Not factoring in the benefits package. Salary is only one part of a compensation package; you also need to factor in benefits like healthcare, retirement contributions, and paid leave. After all, if you'll be paying significantly more for healthcare or receiving fewer paid vacation days than you're used to, that might cancel out part of any salary gains you hope to make. On the other hand, being able to work from home or having an on-site day care might be benefits that make it worth it to you to take a slightly lower salary.

8. Underestimating happiness as a factor. A higher salary generally won't make up for a job where you'll be miserable, so think carefully about factors other than money: the work you'll be doing, the people with whom you'll be working, the company culture, and even the length of your commute. It might be worth giving up a bit of extra pay to ensure that you're happy going to work every day.

9. Listening to bad advice. Negotiation advice that worked a few decades ago isn't always effective now. In fact, some of it can hurt your chances. For instance, delaying the salary conversation as long as you can or refusing to name a figure first--common advice in previous generations--can backfire today by turning the employer off and making you look like you're playing games.

10. Not negotiating. Whatever you do, negotiate. If you simply take the first salary you're offered, you'll never know if you could have received more by simply asking.

By Alison Green | U.S.News & World Report LP – Wed 30 May, 2012