Author: Shannon Cassidy

To add exceptional team members, ask great interview questions

To Add Exceptional Team Members, Ask Great Interview Questions

Shannon Cassidy Leave a comment

You’ve pored over dozens of resumes, scoured social media accounts and, finally, narrowed the field to just a few candidates for an important open position in your company. Next comes the most critical step in the process: the interviews.

Managers and human resources professionals can only tell so much about candidates by reviewing their credentials. Candidates who look great “on paper” can turn out in real life to be a poor fit for your company, and interviews provide the all-important face time.

The in-person interviews with your top candidates provide you with important visual cues about how an individual may perform. How is the candidate dressed? Does she seem nervous or evasive? How does he interact with your team? When you’ve identified several candidates with similar skills, education and work experience, the interview can provide important missing information you need to make a final selection.

With interviews carrying so much weight in the hiring process, it’s critical to ask compelling questions that get your candidates talking openly. As Entrepreneur notes, asking the right questions can help you identify individuals with high levels of emotional intelligence, which includes traits like self-control, persistence and the ability to get along with others. Employees with high EI are said to be able to adjust better to change, to be flexible and to work as part of teams.

Here are eight of the top questions that encourage your candidates to provide honest, open answers that can help you predict future success.

Envision that it’s a year from now; what has our team achieved?

This question gives the candidate a chance to express her strategic vision and knowledge of your company. A thoughtful answer demonstrates that she’s taken the time to learn about your challenges and to brainstorm solutions.

Who do you consider a role model, and why?

Choice of role model can tell you a lot about your candidate’s level of introspection, and it can potentially give you an idea about what behaviors to expect, as Inc. notes. It also reveals the character and attributes your candidate wishes to emulate.

If you launched a new business, what would you want to be its three top values?

This question provides you with insights into a candidate’s priorities, notes Entrepreneur. Understanding that candidates may be surprisingly candid in interviews, you want to hear answers like “trust,” “integrity,” “empathy” and “fair play.” Values that wouldn’t be a fit with your corporate culture and ethics should give you pause.

What aspects of your past jobs have you not enjoyed?

All candidates expect to be asked about their strengths and weaknesses. But asking specifically about parts of their current or previous jobs that they didn’t like can result in honest answers. No one enjoys everything about any job, despite what applicants will say in interviews. Understanding your candidate’s likes and dislikes will help you determine if the individual will be a good fit for your specific job opening.

Tell me about a lasting friendship you’ve developed in a job

Building relationships only happens over time and with sustained effort, and it is a marker for high emotional intelligence. With this question, you learn how much your candidate values other employees as people, and it can give you an idea of your candidate’s level of commitment to team members.

What skill or expertise should you develop?

No one has mastered every possible skill, and you want to hear that your candidate is curious and has a desire to continue learning and improving in his field. If an individual doesn’t have an answer, you can take it as a sign that he doesn’t feel he has anything left to learn.

Describe a time in a job when things didn’t go the way you’d hoped

By asking about something that didn’t go well, you can gather information about your candidate’s tendencies as a self-starter and whether she views challenges as permanent setbacks or opportunities for growth. You also may learn whether your candidate is a team player or would point a finger of blame at colleagues.

What are your questions for me?

Providing your candidate with an opportunity to ask you questions can tell you how much she prepared in advance or how well she thinks on her feet. It also can give you an idea of the innovative — or potentially disruptive — ideas your new employee will bring to the table.

To uncover valuable information, ask the right interview questions

Few decisions are as important to your organization as the employees you hire. By asking compelling, open-ended questions, you can uncover your candidates’ emotional intelligence levels and improve your chances of adding strong team members.

Using Reward and Affirmation to Influence

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How do you know you are successfully leading and influencing others?

  • Your influence causes people in a group to work as one in order to achieve common goals.
  • Your influence inspires and motivates followers to become better.
  • Your influence instills a sense of followership in members of a group.

One key way to accomplish this is through appreciating others on the team through rewards and affirmation.

Yet this is hugely lacking in today’s business culture. A recent Gallup Poll found that almost two out of three people receive no workplace recognition in a given year.

This underscores a recent finding from the U.S. Department of Labor that the number one reason people leave their jobs is because they “don’t feel appreciated.”

The Difference Between Reward and Recognition

Reward and affirmation are not the same. Webster defines a reward as something given for a worthy behavior or performance. These are tangible and may be in the form of a raise, stock options, profit sharing, extra vacation time, travel packages and bonuses.

Affirmation, on the other hand, is a favorable notice of an achievement done by an individual or group.

Both are necessary to keep morale high. A team member who is continually told they are doing a great job but never sees a raise or other tangible reward will soon believe they are being treated unfairly. On the other hand, money alone is not enough of an internal motivation to keep someone in a culture that lacks gratitude and appreciation.

The Eight Reasons Why People Do What They Do and Examples of Affirmations for Each

Psychologist Bobb Biehl points to eight reasons why people do what they do. These are to feel:

  1. Loved: to be unconditionally loved and received (ex. honest heart-felt authentic appreciation)
  2. Significant: to make a difference and bring transformation whether or not you ever receive credit (ex. changing the health of a company)
  3. Admired: to have others aspire to be like you in some regard (ex. to have team members who desire to be mentored by you)
  4. Recognized: to be publicly applauded and recognized by name (ex. to be awarded at a banquet or meeting)
  5. Appreciated: to be thanked verbally or in writing, privately is fine (ex. to be verbally told or given a handwritten note saying thank you)
  6. Secure: to have some semblance of control and protection (ex. to have a stable position and paycheck)
  7. Respected: to be asked for input because you are perceived as valuable and wise (ex. asked to be on a committee or board)
  8. Accepted: to belong socially to the team or community (ex. invited and not left out on informal staff lunch outing)

Typically, someone has a dominant form of affirmation with some secondary forms present. Affirming the individual through multiple meaning channels can be a powerful esteem builder.

Catch and Affirm Someone Doing It Right to Encourage Repeated Behavior 

When a great action, teamwork, or an attitude is appreciated, it provides positive reinforcement, thus strengthening the particular behavior. When the colleague or employee is recognized for her efforts, the team member will be much more likely to go the extra mile to meet her superior’s expectations.  Emotional buy-in is created when she feels that she will always be appreciated and rewarded. Thus, the likelihood of that team member and all team members doing their tasks well will increase.

Rewarding and Affirming Lead to Increased Self-Esteem and Productivity

Rewards and appreciation also boost the employee’s self-esteem. He feels that the company thinks of him as an asset to the organization. When team members feel that they have contributed to a positive outcome within the business, they will feel good about themselves and will enjoy their job more. A happy team member is more productive than someone who is disgruntled or apathetic.

Individualization is Key

In order for recognition to be meaningful, it must be tailored to the recipient’s preferences, not the giver’s preferences. If you as a leader prefer to receive affirmation from being recognized, don’t assume this is how all your team members prefer to receive affirmation. In fact, some people strongly dislike to be publicly awarded.

You must take the time to know what motivates each team member.

Here are affirmation-understanding questions Gallup suggests to ask:

  • What is the greatest recognition you have ever received?
  • What are your “hot buttons” — hobbies or interests you like to talk about?
  • What increases your positive emotion or “fills your bucket” the most?
  • From whom do you most like to receive recognition or praise?
  • What type of recognition, or praise do you like best? Do you like public, private, written, verbal, or other kinds of recognition?
  • What form of recognition motivates you the most? Do you like gift certificates, a title for winning a competition, a meaningful note or e-mail, or something else?

Give Specific Affirmation Tied to a Task

A generic “good job” means little in terms of creating repeated behaviors. Telling a team member, “I really appreciate the extra time you spent on that report,” has much more meaning. Be sure to include why you appreciate them. “The extra time you spent providing details about projected income allowed me to get our budgeted expenses pushed through the committee.”  Every report you get from that team member in the future will be apt to have extra effort put into its creation. When team members can tie their activity to how and why it helps the organization, morale rises.

Give General Affirmation Tied to Their Character and Growing Leadership

While a majority of affirmation should be tied to direct actions and accomplishments, it IS important to celebrate the whole person. Set aside time to have a conversation where you affirm team members in an individual way. Of course, sincerity is vital. We tend to know ourselves and can easily recognize when a leader is using false flattery.

Here are some general affirmations:

  • Leadership comes naturally to you.
  • You have superior managerial skills.
  • You take charge easily no matter what the situation.
  • People often look to you for advice.
  • You embrace responsibility.
  • You initiate projects without me asking.
  • You work diligently with minimal supervision.
  • You are honest and candid.
  • You bring a sense of peace when there is chaos.
  • You accept new challenges.
  • You have great interpersonal skills.
  • You make things happen.
  • You draw out the best in others.
  • You are an encourager.

What Can Happen When We Don’t Affirm

The absence of giving rewards and affirmation to team members who have performed and behaved well in the company will have negative effects. Team members will begin to underperform. They will feel that there is no reason to exert extra effort in performing tasks. They will be more likely to take unwarranted breaks, mindlessly surf the web, arrive at work late or ignore rules. These negative effects may bleed over into colleagues. A team member may complain, spreading negative energy and pass blame to others. In the final act, a team member who feels unrewarded and under-affirmed will opt to leave the organization.

Giving rewards and affirmation to worthy team members is an ongoing activity of a great leader. Great leaders create great team members, and rewarded and affirmed team members make a leader great.

Turning Conflict into a Positive for Your Organization

Shannon Cassidy Leave a comment

Employees are people and, let’s face it, where there are people, there’s conflict. Managers and human resources professionals sometimes have a tendency to avoid conflict in hopes that it will resolve on its own. Unfortunately, letting conflict go unaddressed in the workplace can lead to major problems.

Conflicts arise for any number of reasons, including personality clashes, differing opinions about work tasks, questionable organizational structure, opposing values, weak management and poor communication. Whatever the reason, conflict that’s managed well can lead to positive outcomes like better solutions to pressing issues and improved business relationships, notes the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Managing it poorly — or ignoring it — can be disastrous.

The trouble with avoiding conflict

Conflict that’s left to fester costs businesses big every year in subpar performance, absenteeism, staff turnover, missed deadlines, reduced quality, lost sales and lower customer satisfaction. Employee morale also can go down the drain for the people involved in the conflict and for those forced to work with them.

Managing conflict is critical. Using it to the advantage of your organization is even better. But how?

Create managed debates

Set up regular meetings for questions and formal debate to keep discussion within a professional forum rather than around the water cooler, Entrepreneur magazine advises. Be sure to limit the scope of discussions and have a neutral party who can serve as a moderator to head off rehashing the same issues every week.

Respect all opinions

In your scheduled debate sessions and in impromptu discussions, treat all opinions with respect. You don’t want to give the appearance of favoritism toward certain staff members. Insist that employees also are respectful toward each other — and toward you — in all discussions.

Level the playing field

Managers and HR professionals understand that discussions take on a different tone when the CEO is in the room. As much as possible, drive home the point that everyone is equal in the debate sessions. Don’t let potentially beneficial communication be thwarted by the boundaries of roles and titles.

Keep it professional

Ensure that feedback from management team members is free of negative emotions, personal judgments and labels, as Entrepreneur advises. Discussions overall should be kept focused on business and should stay clear of any personal issues, which are best addressed with HR staff in private. It’s never appropriate to disparage staff or to comment on private relationships or activities.

Focus on solutions

Debate sessions can easily turn into never-ending gripe sessions that rehash the same problems without getting anywhere. Frame discussions from the beginning in terms of finding solutions. If a particular employee raises an issue or points out a problem, does she have thoughts on how it might be solved? Always work toward resolving conflict and generating solutions to problems.

Make it about team-building

Staff members — including senior leadership — are a team, and that point should be reinforced constantly. Everyone should be working toward the common goal of productivity and pleasing customers. If that’s not happening, it’s a problem. Reinforce the idea that despite any personal differences or conflicts, you are all part of the same united team.

Outside your debate sessions, plan some fun activities like potlucks or outings to let people get to know each other as people, as Intuit advises. People who know each other better are more likely to get along, or at least to tolerate each other.

Intervene when necessary

There’s conflict, and then there’s harassment and bullying. It’s critical that managers and HR team members know the difference and step in when necessary. Conflicts in the workplace often stem from personalities that simply don’t mesh well, but issues may be much more serious in some cases. If an employee is being insulted on the basis of gender, religion, ethnicity or other personal factors, it’s time to step in — with input from an employment lawyer.

Turning conflict into a positive for your organization

Conflict exists in every organization. How you handle it can mean the difference in a chaotic, tense workplace and one in which employees work together as a team to solve problems. To use conflict for the better, expect it and set up a process for managing it.

ready set go goal setting

Get Ready, Get Set, Goal! Achieving Success Through Goal Setting

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Goals are an important part of life.  Whether working to become a better version of ourselves, desiring to improve relationships, seeking more fulfillment, or desiring greater success, goals keep us moving forward.  Few people actually take the time to set goals, and even fewer write them down.  But studies have proven that those who actually write down goals are largely successful as compared to those who don’t, let alone those who don’t have a clear sense of their goals.  Developing goals help us to attain a more desirable life, and to build self-confidence as we reflect on the concerted efforts we made to end up in a happier place than where we started.  Working to achieve goals provides a great sense of empowerment.

If you are ready to get on the path toward positive change in your life, getting those goals set and preparing to put them into action will be the key foundation to a stronger, more fulfilled you.  Are you ready?

Get Ready

In preparing to set your goals, it is important to look inward and consider what changes will truly make you happier.  The goals you make should be about you and your desires, and not what you perceive others may want out of you.  Consider what actually motivates you to be the best you that is possible.  Once these reflections are taken into account, begin by making a list of the changes or improvements that you would like to make and prioritize them.  Upon outlining the particular goals you have for yourself, it is time to set your goals, and yourself, up for success.

Get Set

In setting your goals, it is extremely important to articulate them positively. Don’t consider what you will lose; instead, focus on what you will gain.  For example, rather than stating that you would like to eat less junk-food, aim for eating healthfully. Rather than wanting less stress, focus on creating a more balanced lifestyle.  Framing goals in a positive light increases motivation, which leads to success and decreases self-criticism, which leads to defeat.

Secondly, it is important to clearly define your goals. For example, while desiring greater happiness is a great objective, to reach that end, the goal that you set must be not be vague.  What does happiness look like to you? What specific areas in your life can you take control of to create greater happiness?  Once you can clearly specify where you want to arrive at, you are nearly ready to set your goals in place.

A crucial element in setting goals is to ask yourself whether they are realistic and possible for you to attain.  Consider the steps you will need to take in order to reach those goals, and how long it may actually take for those steps to produce a possible outcome. Break big goals down into smaller ones, and set a time-limit that is possible to meet that goal so that you can measure your progress.

Once your specific, positive, realistic goals are written down, you are ready to take action.

Goal!

Achieving your goals requires action, but if you are going to continue to move toward progress, you need to have prompts and markers in place.  Displaying your goals where you will see them throughout the day will encourage, remind, and motivate you to continue toward success.  Having a support system in place, where a friend, family member, or colleague can check in on your progress is equally important to keeping you accountable in moving forward.  Lastly, it is essential that successes – even small ones – are celebrated, ensuring you that betterment is possible.

Are you ready to make changes in your life? You are the only thing standing in the way. Go for it!

7 Ways to Identify a Prospective Leader

6 Ways to Identify a Prospective Leader

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Imagine this: An organization is seeking a key financial officer. Because of their location, the position is very difficult to fill. Two of their staff accountants have leadership potential, which they’ve identified, but neither has leadership experience or their CPA, which is a requirement of the position. Time constraints force the company to hire an experienced financial leader from the outside and provide competitive compensation, relocation assistance, and extensive orientation to the company.

Promoting from within is rarely possible if leaders wait until the position opens to begin identifying potential candidates. If the leadership team of the above organization had been identifying prospective leaders consistently and investing in their education, training, and development, they would have had a leader in house when the position opened. They would have dodged the high compensation for an experienced professional, the relocation allowance, and the costs invested in orientation to the company. Furthermore, the right leader from within the organization has employee respect and knowledge of roles and processes from day one.

Identifying leadership potential requires conscious observation of behaviors. What characteristics can indicate leadership potential?

They Show Above-the-Bar Performance

Performance and attendance that exceed expectations are two very early indicators of a potential leader. Potential leaders personally invest in the success of the organization through commitment to their role. They show relentless drive and hunger for increased knowledge and success.

They are Solution Oriented

Potential leaders are solution oriented. They never bring a problem to the table without a viable solution and an understanding of the shortcomings or potential issues each solution may bring. They are quick to identify problems in processes whose solutions may improve the organization.

They Display an Organizational Viewpoint

One surefire way to spot a potential leader is to identify those are able to see the big picture. They understand what others do in the organization and the value of each role. They express agreement with their supervisor often and display an understanding of their supervisor’s responsibilities. They understand the discernment process and trust the administration team.

They Make Decisions

Potential leaders analyze data to make sound decisions. They weigh out pros and cons and take risks when beneficial to the company. They seek guidance when necessary, but require very little in the decision making process. Strong leaders must be able to make decisions based on data presented and very few employees show this kind of commitment to a decision.

They Do the Right Thing

A potential leader claims their mistakes regardless of their fear of repercussion. They make ethical business decisions, always choosing what is right over what is easy or may benefit themselves. They stand up against unethical behavior and refuse to participate.

They Appreciate Feedback

In order to be a good leader, an employee has to be able to take feedback constructively. Employees who show increased drive following constructive feedback indicate high potential for leadership ability.

Supervisors and management should seek to identify leaders as early as possible; some are evident as early as during the screening process. Identified leaders should be provided with coaching and mentoring, educational opportunities, and insight into the management process. It should be clearly communicated to them that the leadership team believes they have the potential to advance within the organization. They may be promoted slowly to more demanding positions to test their mental fortitude, people skills, commitment, and ability to learn and evolve.

Because leaders promoted from within are tested over a much longer period of time and in more complex ways and trained specifically for the organization, most companies find that there is less risk involved then when hiring from the outside.