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Five Secrets To Successful Hiring – No.3

There are almost 6 million results in Google for the question „How to embellish your resume?“ So, anyone applying for an open job has a vast number of tactics and tricks to spice up that piece of paper that is representing their job experience. And recruiters can find it difficult to see through smoke and mirrors when looking for the right candidate.
But there are ways to narrow down the right person and find an employee that will feel perfect in their new role and who will be productive and happy.

The first two steps in this process are the alignment of core values and candidate’s values and job benchmarking. If you haven’t already, be sure to read through those and write down important takeaways.

But now, you have a resume in front of you. By the look of it, the person in front of you has all the necessary skills and experience. But resume can tell us a lot of things, but it can also tell us lies. It can say embellished things in a lot of cases, so how do we get the people to prove that what the resume says, they can do?

How do we prove people can do what their resume can do what they say?

A simple way to do that is: put people in the role before they get the role.

As a CEO of a medical billing company, I want people to prove they can do medical billing. Doesn’t matter are we talking about claims, if they can post payments effectively, or follow the upside of payments… Each role is very specific and we need to know they can do that before we bring them into our company. Especially if their resume says that they can do it.

Take an assessment

What has proved to me as an effective way of self-selection is: we make candidates take a medical billing assessment.

It’s an assessment of about 50 questions that they need to go through in 45 minutes and prove they know coding, billing, and everything else important in this line of work. They are allowed to use any tool that they want to, but they are being timed by an automated timer.

Sadly, the majority of times, people fail this assessment. Reasons are vast. However, I have seen time and time again that a person is coming from customer service in another company and they did HR work, thinking they can do medical billing which is unfortunately not the case. In those instances, self–selection works like a charm.

Self-selection is your friend

By putting a candidate in a role, they will be performing daily, you get a smaller number of applicants objectively. As the number of applicants gets smaller and smaller, your chances of finding the person who is right for the role get higher.

Only in case, a person proves they can do what they say they can do; they can move forward with the application. What this does is I don’t have to wonder will a lot of training and education be required once they get on board.

Hiring is super painful.

People can fudge their resumes; they can talk about themselves in a certain way that makes you think there is a skill set that might not be all that. So, you want to make sure that they can stand behind what their resume claims.

Whatever your industry is, you have enough experience in it to come up with your way of testing a skillset that you require in a certain role so that applicants can prove that they can do it.

Don’t waste time and energy

Let’s say you like the person after an interview and all that they told you about themselves. You went through their resume and it’s just perfect for the role that you need them to perform. But a person gets on board and is on a struggle bus from day one. Of course, you will give them some time to adjust. However, time passes and the situation is not improving. Your manager is complaining, your team has to do extra work, and the frustration is going around the company. You try with a bit of a warning, but nothing is happening. The person doesn’t reflect their resume. Before you blink, you are on day thirty, losing time and energy of yourself and your team on a person who is just not fit for the role. And the worst thing is: you could have identified that in the hiring process.

Don’t get yourself in that position. Take a look at more practical bits of advice for different industries and take notes. When you do, you will also be listening to my 100^th podcast! Started in 2018. and still offering you content that will help you personally and professionally!

By Alex Swire-Clark

I want to give the PERFECT gift

Christmas is only a few days away and we’re all looking forward to presents! Not only receiving some, but one of the best feelings in the world is when someone opens up something you got them and the smile lights up their face. However, we have all given gifts that have fallen flat. To not repeat that experience, we have created a guide of best gifts by personality style. You can choose from experiences, things to do or things to buy. Here is what is appropriate to buy for different personality types so you hit the home run this holiday season:

High D personality

They are outgoing and task-oriented people. They plan to sleep only when they are dead, they love challenges and have never met an obstacle they couldn’t overcome. They are all about performance and things that will show how they succeeded in life.

Experiences: Has to be something that will be competitive so they can show how well they are performing in an activity. Great choices are:

Putt-Putt Challenge (with the family)
Paintball (one of the safest sports out there, get it for your partner and their friends)
Ninja Warrior Training or introduction classes to some kind of training (if they are already physically active)
Things they can do: High D’s are always looking for something they can do so this will be an excellent choice
Tickets to a favorite sporting event (it’s the season of hockey, playoffs of football season is coming up…)
Escape room

Things to buy or make:

Tools (they like to create things and do it DIY style)
Competitive games – board games (I am a board game nerd and have hundreds of them and can help you out a lot there!)
Paper football tournament with your family (take them down the memory lane! If you need some help, HERE’S a tutorial how to create it)

High I personality

These folks are outgoing and people-oriented. They will talk to anyone, they are optimistic and enthusiastic, charismatic and they love to inspire people. So when you think of gifts for a High I, think: what will make them laugh?

Experiences: preferably plan something outside and most importantly: it has to be packed with fun!

Ax Throwing (it will create laughs and long-lasting memories)
Karaoke Night (you can find a lot of tracks on YouTube and have a fun family night)
Comedy tickets or Improv night at home (remember: whatever is going to generate fun and laughter is the way to go

Things they can do: Again, these are things they can have FUN with!

Party Game night

Indoor scavenger hunt (they like surprises so you can do it for free and hide smaller gifts around the house giving them clues so they can search around)
Surprise weekend getaway (anything that escapes the regular life; even if it’s a trip an hour away from home or simple thing like waterpark tickets)

Things to buy or make:

Tortilla blanket (If you don’t know what it is, HERE it is) Personalized socks with their face on them Funny sayings on glasses or mugs (I spotted one a few days ago and have to share it. It said: “I’m not slurring my speech; I’m speaking in cursive”)

High S personality

These are your reserved and people-oriented people. They don’t want to be in the spot but get energy by being around people. So, the key is to get them something that will involve other people, but in a low-key kind of way.

Experiences:

2 tickets for a movie (with a good friend or a partner)
Date night in the house (if you cook for them and they will appreciate it tremendously)

Things to buy or make: remember to make it PERSONAL

Framed photos or collages with friends and family
Cozy throw blanket or scarf personalized with their initials
Shelf decor with sweet sayings (“Home is where the heart is” and such. They will love it!)
Donation in his/her name to his/her favorite charity or hospital (they are really cause-driven so unlike many others, they will be over the Moon with this gift)

High C personality

What we have here are people who are reserved and task-oriented. They love analytics and data because they are very logical. So, when choosing a gift, look for logic.

Experiences:

Photography class
Master class on their favorite hobby

Things to buy or make: think “what is practical?” and you’ll hit a home run.

Organizers (anything that will bring order to chaos)
DIY Hacks (books, collection of videos that you can gift by creating a QR code. You can create one HERE)
Silicone Garlic Peeler Not sponsored!
Color Coded Mesh Storage Bags Not sponsored!
Rechargeable Hand Warmer Not sponsored!

May you pick the perfect gift and have the loveliest of Christmases! Merry Christmas! 🙂

By Dina Bralic

Five Secrets To Successful Hiring – No.1

Starting from McDonald’s, gas stations, and pizza places, all the way up to high-level companies, everyone is searching for employees these days. Not just that, but benefits are being offered to people that weren’t offered before, and the pay rate is increasing. That means that a lot of people out there won’t settle for 9 dollars per hour jobs when they can go and make 12 or 14 or in some states 17 or 18 dollars per hour. In the climate of 2021, it’s easy to ask yourself: how do we find and how do we keep good people?

Core values are oh-so-important

When thinking of finding new employees, a lot of employers will firstly think about skillset and resume that they would like to see from people applying for a job role. However, there is a fundamental piece of the puzzle that needs to happen before, and that is a question of core values.
To start the journey of finding the perfect fit for a job, you need to ask yourself:

What are your company’s core values? What are your mission and vision values?

If you think those are not important and you don’t have them listed, you need to do it ASAP. Without core values, we don’t have any foundational motivators and substance that would drive us forward.

I suggest you create a couple of core values that would round up what your company presents towards clients and what is it requesting from employees. In my company, Solor Inc. (medical billing company), our core values are:

Integrity
Clients first
Teamwork
Take the next step

Let people know about your core values before they even apply

Having core values listed is one thing. Communicating them is a whole other story. At Solor Inc., we explain our core values to potential new employees before they even apply.
Whenever we post a job opening, after obviously saying what the job is, the first line of description says: These are our core values: integrity, clients first, teamwork, and take the next step. If you don’t agree with these or these don’t fit who you are as a person, stop reading now.

Simple as that. Because if someone is not aligned with these, we don’t want them to read on. Without the alignment in core values, there will be slim to no chances that the work would be enjoyable for them or for us.
What this simple question is creating is a self-selection out of the equation. We want to have people who will tick all the necessary boxes as they move down the line, but it all starts with core values.

You have your core values. Good. But what are theirs?

Once you identify your core values and communicate them with a potential candidate, it’s time to see how they are thinking.

What we do is, as soon as someone applies for a role, we will send out an email to thank them for their application and give them the first step of the process. And that is to send to the company their personal core value statement.
What are your core values and how do you live them out in the workplace?
This task will get us the following:

We will find out if there is a core value alignment; did they take the time to read our ad, do they believe in integrity, serving others, teamwork, etc.
We will find out if they can communicate. If they will not take the time to pay attention to details, capitalize words, use punctuation, if they just throw something down quickly, the question is: do I want those kinds of people on my team? Honestly, I don’t. I want people who have attention to detail because of the positions that I hire for demand that. If they didn’t even check what are they writing, they won’t be able to communicate with my team or with our clients. So, I am mindful of this.

Once you get core values aligned, it’s time to move on to step to of the hiring process.

Don’t forget: without core values, people won’t stay for long so what would be the point in hiring them? No one wants to spend anyone’s time having an employee whose commitment to work would feel like nails on the chalkboard all the time.

If you want to have employees that will work well in your team and who will stay with you for the long run, you need to build the foundation of a good team. Get to know how do people live out their core values in the workplace. The easiest way to find that out is to simply ask.

More secrets of successful hiring can be found in the upcoming articles. Also, check out these great courses for creating good team in your company, based on Emotional Intelligence and DISC method.

By Alex Swire-Clark

Four Most Important Aspects of Emotional Intelligence

Without the involvement of Emotional Intelligence in our relationships, whether they are happening in the workplace or at home, we can’t expect much success. Even though there is a lot of talk about E.I. and its benefits, it is not always clear how to fully understand it and implement it to create winning relationships.

Here are four steps that will help you build a world-class, winning team around you:

1. Self-awareness

To understand others, we must first understand ourselves. Many of us believe we possess self-awareness, but that is not always the case. We need to understand how we see our environment. What is the lens through which we give and receive information on a daily basis? Do we have a good understanding of the way we see our world?
It is not easy to be objective when answering these questions, however, some tools can help us. One of the most prominent ones is DISC Assessment. The simplest test that you will ever take and which lasts around 10 minutes, but which gives you a clear description of your personality style and guidance on how to enhance your good sides while avoiding the blind spots you have. Take it HERE.

2. Self-management

Do you know how do you respond to your environment? When you interact with others in different situations, are you sure how will you respond? This is a matter of emotional self-control. Even more, knowing are you proactive or reactive, can you easily adapt to new situations and are you going to have an intense reaction to specific people or events. If you learn how to be prepared for your reactions and learn your blind spots, you will see a direct impact on your achievement, initiative, and optimism! Who wouldn’t want that?

3. Social awareness

While it is super important to understand your reactions, it is equally important to understand what the reaction of others will be. The important thing to remember is they might react differently than us. Accepting this as a fact while recognizing the reasons behind their reaction will allow us to adapt our behavior and get to the next step:

4. Relationship management

Relationship management is all about how you work with others and how do you help each other to achieve goals (whether it is in personal or professional life). You should keep in mind that you get energy from specific roles, while another person can be demotivated by the same and seek motivation from a completely different role. That’s the beauty of everyone being a unique mix of four personality styles. You can learn how to use this diversity to motivate others in a correct way for them to create winning conditions for both parties in a relationship.

Even though there are only four steps to building winning relationships, there are many subtle tricks in mastering the knowledge about yourself and the people around you. I have been teaching techniques to do this for more than 20 years and I continue to do so. Why? DISC Method has saved my marriage many years ago and I have seen it transform the lives of others countless times. If you wish to see me in action feel free to Schedule a Call and let’s find out how I can help you understand others and unlock your and their full potential.

By Alex Swire-Clark

The Dominant High D Personality Style

We all have someone at the workplace or at home who is always leading people around, asking for impossible tasks to be done or seems to never stop, right? Or maybe you have been “accused” of never taking it slow, or being aggressive all the time? All of the mentioned characteristics come from a high D personality style.

It starts with understanding ourselves first, then understanding others and finally adapting our behavior to the personality styles around us. In order to speak the same language, and you want that of course, it’s important to recognize key points of high D personality style: they are outgoing and task-oriented people.

To recognize a high D and understand them better, here are few of behaviors that you will often observe:

DOMINANT: They are bigger than life and they take charge. Reason? They want to be in leadership roles. They have too many good ideas to just follow someone else.

DIRECT: What comes to their mind, comes out of their mouth. They are not trying to be rude, but they cut to the chase and almost never waste time on any extra words. They’ve got places to be.

DEMANDING: They want what they want, when they want it. That’s the reason you can find them in managerial positions so often. High D’s are visionaries and extremely innovative. Think of Walt Disney, a guy who kept getting knocked down but never stopped until he reached his goal. Not just that, but the world he created is so innovative that there was never anyone else like him. Perfect example of a high D.

DECISIVE: If you could describe them through a phrase, it would be one of these: “Put up or shut up”, “Fish or cut bait”, “Do something or move out of the way”. In the business world, they love to get a return on investment, and they can’t have that if they are not really decisive and brave about making every decision.

DETERMINED: They are huge challenge lovers and love to win. A good example is Bear Grills or contestants of Survivor. They are wired to persevere until they achieve their goal. Generally speaking, if you want something done, give a high D a challenge and say “I don’t think you can get it done”. This will be the fuel that will push them to not stop, not sleep, not eat until they achieve the goal.

DOER: People who fall into the high D category tick a lot of boxes on a daily basis. They love to get things done during their long days. Even if you think that’s not a proper way to lead life (getting up before 5am and going to bed after 1am), you have to understand this is their natural habitat and they adore it.

Did someone come to mind while you were reading this? Or you just ticked every box next to this description thinking of your own behavior?

Whatever the answer is, it’s the correct one! The point is to be self–aware and to understand others better.

To understand high D even better, check out my Podcast about this subject to get some practical examples from the high D life and ways on how to communicate with a high D, avoid conflict or how to adapt your high D behavior so that people understand you better.

Find the podcast HERE.

To find out are you a high D, check HERE.

Uncategorized

How do we prove people can do what their resume can do what they say?

Take an assessment

Self-selection is your friend

Hiring is super painful.

Don’t waste time and energy

High D personality

High I personality

High S personality

High C personality

May you pick the perfect gift and have the loveliest of Christmases! Merry Christmas! 🙂

Core values are oh-so-important

Let people know about your core values before they even apply

You have your core values. Good. But what are theirs?

Concise Adult Version