Tip of the Month:

Welcome to our next Newsletter! In here I will attempt to address some of the common concerns and questions that arise in the selection and hiring of good people in our industry. And today's tip: YOU ARE ALWAYS LOOKING FOR GOOD PEOPLE- EVERYWHERE!

In a market suddenly flush with desperate candidates that want to go to work for you, it pays to be very, very careful in your hiring. True, it is still not easy to find high quality, ideal profiles, and, can you guess why? Yes, they are the ones performing reasonably well for their current firms, and are less likely to end up on the street. So, the sweet smell of experience on that current interviewee may well be an applied cologne, and not a developed aura. You have to be careful. As I and my Readers constantly advise, we will not tell you to hire or not to hire, but rather, to caution you on what you must do to make a person successful. But it starts with good raw materials.

Even so, if you hire high Analysis, or high Conformance, or even the (shudder) dreaded Counselor, all is not lost. You just have more requirement for time and money that you will need to pour into that individual, especially in a tight market. Therein lies the catch. As with most Managers, and trust me, I have fallen into this trap myself, it is so easy to make a commitment to apply all that time and money, on the day you decide to hire. But, make no mistake, if you do not stick to that commitment for at least ninety days in intensity, and probably another ninety days of ongoing, less intensive (STAR): Structure, Training, Accountability and Role play, then you are scheduling a weak hire for failure. Counting all the expenses, from salary to fixed, from good will to lost production, a bad hire is still running $45-65k over three to four months. Much more over six to eight months!

So, the number one way to find better people is to get pro-active. Learn to watch people, everywhere you go. Do not look only within our industry. Some of the best producers have come from some of the most unlikely places, all because they had the spark of determination, challenge, competitiveness and energy. Given the right STAR treatment, those with the right stuff come up to speed more quickly, make you money sooner, and last longer. And, to make sure, it is not just what you see, or what you hear in the interview. It is what is inside. Remember, between the PEAC SYSTEM® 5evaluation and the Reads, we can help. Let's go find some good ones! Keep us in mind!