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The Total View
Facts, tips, and tools to help you hire, manage, and motivate top-performing employees.
July
23, 2003
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in this issue
-- Tip No. 1: Candidates Need Not Apply to Win Discrimination
Suit!
-- Five More Tips To Help You Get Organized And Boost Productivity
-- Rule #1 of good employee behavior - Show up for work!
-- Is anyone feeling just a wee bit guilty?
-- Do Competitive Golfers Make Good Team Players?
-- Just announced! CriteriaOne training - September 11-13,
2003
-- Employee evaluations made easy!
-- Have you missed an issue of The Total View?
You can now view previous issues.
Greetings:
The
Total View is written by Ira Wolfe, president of Success
Performance Solutions and is distributed with permission by
The Chrysalis Corporation.
"Real"
personalities often times come out in sports, at home and
in the workplace when the going gets tough or right after
the honeymoon. Learning to interpret personality assessments
may best be left up to the professionals but understanding
human behavior - well, it doesn't get any easier than this
if you know what to look for!
You don't
want to miss - Do Competitive Golfers Make Good Team Players?
(See article below)
Tip No. 1: Candidates Need Not Apply to
Win Discrimination Suit!
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This
is the 1st of 5 Tips to Setting "A Hire Standard".
Watch
for Tips 2, 3, 4 and 5 in coming issues and don't miss last week's TotalView on "Debunking 7 Common Myths
about Personality Tests".
While
there is nothing to prevent workers from filing discrimination
claims, there are mechanisms in the law for weeding out claims
that have no chance of succeeding - Summary judgment is the
primary weeding-out mechanism employers can use to bring an
end to such claims early in litigation.
Employers
usually win summary judgment when plaintiffs cannot prove
they were qualified for a position or that they even applied
for a job. However, there are exceptions - Recently in Lockridge
v. Board of Trustees of the University of Arkansas, (2002),
the Eight Circuit expanded direct evidence to include situations
where an employer fails to establish "clear" (i.e. "fixed
or reasonably objective") standards and procedures for promoting
or hiring - The court found that the employer's most significant
problems were its failure to show what its hiring and promotion
procedures actually were or that they were applied consistently
- The court held that the "random and subjective" promotion
process used by the university constituted direct evidence
of a discriminatory practice.
(In this
case, Lockridge didn't even have to prove he even applied
for the job to file a suit!)
Based
on Lockridge and similar cases, it is clear that employers
that have formalized and structured employee selection systems
will have an easier time of disposing of suits by non-applicants.
Stated differently, employers that fail to structure their
employment selection systems may unnecessarily open themselves
to costly litigation not only from employees and applicants,
but also from individuals who never even applied for a job.
Source:
A Hire Standard, HR Magazine, July 2003
Click
Here to learn how the CriteriaOne process can help standardize
your company's hiring process and reduce your company's risk
of litigation.
Five
More Tips To Help You Get Organized And Boost Productivity
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Use
a vertical step rack for "hot files" or current project files,
making them vertical, in view, and quickly available. Storing
paper in divided, upright piles makes projects more approachable
and controllable.
Keep
an in/out basket only if you tend to it often. Once something
is second in a pile, it is temporarily lost. Traditional in/out
baskets can often become a magnet for paper in a moment of
indecision.
Install
lighting at your workspace that is adequate and appropriate
for your needs. Inadequate or overpowering light can each
have a negative impact on your performance.
Create
your "systems" based on your own common sense needs. Modify
whatever you read, hear, or see to accommodate your own requirements.
Move
around items on a bulletin board periodically so you continue
to actually see what is posted.
Looking
for more resources to help you and your staff get organized
and boost productivity? Follow this link to register for
teleclasses, purchase e-booklets, and read f.ree articles
on getting organized. You can even register for a teleclass
titled Organizing by Personality Style (this class
is based on the DISC model and is taught by Michael Spremulli).
Rule #1 of good employee behavior - Show
up for work!
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You offer the job and he accepts. But he
doesn't show up or shows up late. A few days later you suspect
he is stealing or allowing his friends to lift a few of
your items that he thinks you'll never miss.
Or maybe he does show up on time but loses
his cool with a customer and makes a few sexual innuendos
to your female workers. "If only I had known before I hired
him", you mutter.
CBI is your answer. For as little as $15
you can now pre-screen for:
Undependability
Dishonesty
Workplace
Aggression
Drugs
Computer
Abuse (personal emailing, surfing, etc)
NEW!
Sexual Harassment
The above counter productive behaviors devastate
a company's workforce and bottom line. The Counterproductive
Behavior Index is a new validated low-cost attitude survey
for entry level positions that screens out the chronic problem
employee before you hire.
Save
time, money, and stress in your workplace by screening out
the chronically undependable or dishonest, BEFORE they become
a management headache. This 10-15 minute screening tool
(available in English and Spanish) provides a risk profile
of the candidate and structured interview questions to keep
the bad apples out and stop them from spoiling the bunch.
Follow
this link to learn more about CBI and start cutting your
turnover today.
Is
anyone feeling just a wee bit guilty?
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The
results are in from the SPS July Integrity Survey and are
they ever interesting.
When
asked, have you ever returned a gift you broke for a refund
or replacement?
According
to our SPS Integrity survey, 1 out of 5 people (20 percent)
admitted that they did. Considering that the demographics
of our Total View subscribers are people in business and
most likely college educated professionals, this is a significant
number.
Would
you turn in your best friend if they were forged documents
and stole several thousands from your employer to pay medical
bills? Nearly 1 out of 7 (13 percent) admitted they would
not.
If a
policeman offers to forget a $150 speeding ticket in exchange
for paying him $50 in cash, what would you do? Again, 1
in 5 admitted they would pay the $50.
What
would you do if your employer was vandalized due to your
forgetting to lock the door on your way out last night?
Would you admit your carelessness. Well, the good news is
that 7 out of 8 said they would. I guess the bad news is
that 1 out of 7 would not!
And
for the final question, 7 out out 10 (70 percent) respondents
admitted to working on a personal project while pretending
to be working on business while on company time.
Planning
an employee survey? Customer satisfaction survey? Wage and
benefit survey? Call us today at 229-257-0665 for
a free consultation on designing, hosting and analysis of
your online surveys.
Click
here to view the complete results of the SPS Integrity Survey.
Do
Competitive Golfers Make Good Team Players?
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Whether
or not you personally play sports, most people understand
the dynamics of winning and losing and playing on individual
and team sports. That is why sports analogies are one of
the best tools at learning how to observe and interpret
human behavior.
Using
a golf analogy, be on the look-out for these actions and
words from a "10" competitor (based on the Competitive Scale
from TotalView Assessment System).
They
live and die by "winning is everything, it's the only thing."
They
compete with everyone in their foursome and the foursome in
front of them, in back of them and in the clubhouse.
Their
biggest competitor (and threat) is themselves.
They
begin placing bets on the way to the first tee - they bet
on individual scores, lengths of drives, number of putts,
team scores - you name it and they'll bet on it.
They
count your strokes as well as theirs.
They
purchase and play with only the best equipment.
If they
are losing, they offer new bets on new games with new rules
and new conditions and offer to play double or nothing on
the original bets.
If they
lose, they immediately ask you for a re- match.
If you
try and console them, they tell you "I just stink and might
as well quit" - then they just walk right into the clubhouse
and sign up for a golf lesson, begin looking at new equipment,
and pick up a bucket of balls and head off to the driving
range. Competitors NEVER quit!
If they
play well, it's them. If they lose - it's always the equipment,
course conditions or pace of play.
If they
win, you still hear about the putts they should have made,
the greens were too fast or slow, the rough was too thick.
Comparing the 10 to a 1 Competitor (or
an individual we'd refer to as Cooperative)
Cooperatives
believe that golf "is only a game".
They
don't even pick up a scorecard before they start - keeping
score just ruins the game.
In fact,
not losing any balls on the course is even more satisfying
than winning.
Coming
homes with more balls and tees than they started with is equivalent
to winning the Super Bowl.
Just
finishing a whole round and reaching the eighteenth green
before sunset is good enough, too.
If they
are not playing well, they offer to just sit out a few holes
not to hold you back.
If you
have a bad shot, they tell you "I didn't see that one, you
can take it over".
If you
are having a rough day, they suggest "we just set a limit
of seven on any hole".
If they
win, they refuse to accept your money from the bet - "just
keep it for next time" or "you drove - use it for gas".
If they
are losing, they pay off their bets after nine holes including
whatever they think they'd lose on the next nine holes.
If your
partner is upset that he or she is losing, you may let him/her
win by missing a few putts or intentionally hitting your ball
out of bounds. You apologize for their mistakes with " I apologize
for making you have a bad day."
(FYI:
for all you co-operatives: Apologies and concessions don't
help and even worse, it usually throws the extreme competitor
into an angry tirade with flying objects and whirling clubs.
It's best not to play Mother with a competitor!)
If you
win, you find excuses why you are not the better player, why
you just had a lucky day, and assure your golf mate that everyone
has a bad day now and then - and then duck!
Independence is one of the five distinct
personality factors that can be measured and understood
and holds strong validity and reliability in the workplace.
One of the two Independent subscales is Competitive (The
other is Assertive.)
Independence assesses how strong your preference
is to win - or to allow others to do the winning. A strong
competitor (8 to 10 on a scale of 10) may try too hard to
win, even long after the game is over. A strong cooperative
(1 to 3) may shy away from any form of competition and "lets
everyone else duke it out".
Personalities are not just results of tests.
Personalities are every day real-life behaviors. Assessments
like TotalView(tm) only provide a mechanism to learn about
people faster but they then do allow managers, coaches or
individuals to spend more quality time on interviewing,
developing, coaching and improving performance rather getting
lost in self- discovery phase.
Whether or not the competitiveness of a
golfer determines the fit on your team, what is important
for team building is that you identify the level of independence
and competitiveness that will be supported by your organization
and still be productive and profitable.
In other words, the right mix of Competitive/Cooperative
as well as the other Five Factors depends upon the requirements
of the job, the dynamics of the team and the values of the
organization. There are no right or wrong personalities
- just good fits and then all the rest of the population.
Want
to know what the personality requirements are for a position
within your company? Request a complimentary Job Analysis
Worksheet. After you complete this worksheet, we will generate
a personality success profile that is unique to the position
and your company. This success profile is valued at $150
and is limited to the first 10 companies who request
it. Be sure to type "Job Analysis Worksheet" in the
comment box. Request your Job Analysis Worksheet NOW!
Just announced! CriteriaOne training
- September 11-13, 2003
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"Light years ahead of the competition" says
one CriteriaOne participant.
"A must for anyone interested in lowering
turnover and improving productivity."
If job analysis, job matching or career
pathing, or employee testing is on your strategic calendar
this year, you don't want to miss CriteriaOne. ( CritieriaOne
received trademark status in March 2003.) Register by before
August 10 and save $500 off our registration fee for our
next CriteriaOne Train-the- trainer workshop to be held
on September 11-12-13 2003 in Lancaster PA. Read what one
participant in our last workshop had to say about his experience:
I thoroughly enjoyed the time spent at your
seminar along with meeting other end users of your products.
As a part time user of the TotalView product the reinforcement
training I receive is always useful. Here at UGI Utilities,
Electric Division we are a believer in the product as one
of the tools useful in finding the right fit when selecting
an employee. The TotalView product provides much more information
about a potential candidate than you can ever obtain from
reviewing a resume or conducting lengthy interviews.
D.L. UGI Utilities, Electric Division
Become
certified in CriteriaOne: The Whole Person Approach. Click
here. Please indicate the best time and day to contact you.
Employee evaluations made easy!
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Listening is just one of the thirty-six
competencies included in the Janus Performance Management
System. How would you rate yourself on the following criteria?
Would your co-workers and boss agree?
I give
people complete attention when they are talking.
I let
people share their views and opinions before offering their
own.
I avoid
jumping into a conversation to take control.
I avoid
interrupting or finishing other people's sentences.
The Online Janus Performance Management
System makes Competency ID and performance appraisal easy.
Identify from 3 to 10 core competencies per position, build
competency-based job descriptions, develop job- specific
interview questions and adminster performance evaluations
- a seamless, continuous, cost-effective solution to selecting
and managing top performers.
Janus is also available on CD-Rom.
Click
here to receive a FREE workbook on how to identify competencies.
Type "Competencies Workbook" in the comment box.
Have you missed an issue of The Total View?
You can now view previous issues.
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Follow
this link to view back issues of The Total View.
Feel free to share this resource with your staff and colleagues.
Contact Information
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email: mike@chrysaliscorporation.com
voice: 229-257-0665
web: http://www.chrysaliscorporation.com
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