Dear W.W.

I always check references but it seems like companies are so scared of being sued, they wont tell you anything at all. Short of hiring a detective, what can you do? CHECK IT OUT

WHAT ARE THE KEYS TO CHECKING REFERENCES?

by Bob Rosner
Information on how your candidates have performed on jobs in the past IS getting harder to get, but the following tips will make it possible for you to ferret out the truth. For more, check out Robert Halfs book, Finding, Hiring and Keeping the Best Employees (Wiley, 1993).

Does your application encourage people to tell the truth?

Dear

CHECK

People like to embellish the past. Reduce that temptation by writing on your application, anyone who provides false information is subject to dismissal and by telling candidates that their information will be verified.

Do you make the best use of references?

Ask for at least ten references, instead of the usual three. This will force most candidates to list those with a more balanced view of them. Then start calling from the BOTTOM of the list.

Your letter got me thinking about my brothers twentieth high school reunion. Jay ambled in and spotted someone who looked vaguely familiar. Whatcha been doing? he asked. Oh, I been up at the state pen, the guy answered. The state pen? Jay asked. Yeah. Ten years. Armed robbery. Jay did a double-take, then talked to the guy for a while, then went off to mingle. Whats up? he asked the next person. I dont know, the guy answered. I just got out of the big house. Now, I believe that everyone deserves a second chance, and that you dont necessarily need to know a persons entire history. But you do need to know how your candidates have performed on jobs in the past.

Do you emphasize your interest in honesty?

Tell both candidates and references that you believe no one is perfect and that you discount purely positive recommendations.

Are you calling the best references?

Studies show that references from people in HR departments sound like clips from the TV-show Dragnet, just the facts maam. To get the best information, contact people who have actually worked with the candidate, the higher up the better.

Are you getting the most from your references?

Studies show that written references are considered reliable by only 37% of those surveyed, compared to 51% when the reference is given over the phone and 70% when given during a personal visit. You cant visit references for every candidate, but when filling a really important position, try doing a few in person.

Do you double-check negative references?

Perhaps the candidate and the referring person had a personality conflict. Perhaps the manager was upset about losing the candidate. Dont take any one reference at face value. Double-check any that stand out, and evaluate them all as a package. By the way, the importance of checking references doesnt apply only to employees. I got an email once from a supervisor whod seen her newest temp on TV. Trouble was, it was on Americas Most Wanted.

Online Ballot and Contest

How do you approach job references when hiring?
Checking references never seems to make it to the top of my to-do list, 23.4% I call them all, 37.9% I call a few, 38.5% Our winning strategy for dealing with references comes from Susan T. from Oakland, CA. Im an employment lawyer and tell our employees that if they carefully and consistently checked references, I would be out of a job. The first rule on checking references is to actually DO it. You would be amazed at the number of times it just doesnt get done because people think they are too busy and that their impressions just have to be accurate. I like to suggest requesting second-generation references. Ask the people listed as references to give the names and numbers of others who worked with the applicant. Often these are the most candid references of all.

Dear W.W.
For the first time were having a hard time finding excellent employees. Is this par for the course today or are we doing something wrong? HIRING BLANKS

HOW DO YOU HIRE THE BEST PEOPLE?

by Bob Rosner Do you start the hiring process by thinking about the last person you fired?
Reflecting on the pain, hassle and cost of firing someone will remind you how important it is to hire right the first time. It will motivate you to put in the time and effort the task deserves.

Dear

Hitting a hole in one is a challenge. Just ask Todd Obuchowski. He was on the 116 yard, par three, fourth hole in Lawrenceville, Massachusetts when he hit a long drive. A really long drive. It went over the green, onto a highway, ricocheted off the passenger side of a car, bounced back to the green, and rolled into the cup for a hole in one. Hard to believe? Nancy Bachan has a divot in her car to back up his story. So what does that have to do with hiring? Everything. If you want to hit a hole in one next time you hire an employee, you, too, should be prepared to bounce around-because in todays tight labor market, the route to great employees is nowhere near as straight and simple as it used to be. Here are some questions to help you recruit the best in todays challenging hiring environment. For more advice, check out Hiring Smart by Pierre Mornell (10 Speed, 1999).

BLANKS

Do you search as broadly as you should?

Remember the days when all it took to fill a position was a call to your local classifieds listings? No more. Todays successful companies plaster web sites with help wanted ads, look worldwide for candidates, even hire employees with no training in their industry if those individuals have the personality traits they need. Dont handicap your effort by keeping your search too narrow.

Do you get everyone involved in the search process?

Several Silicon Valley firms have begun to offer prizes to employees who lead them to talented new recruits. So should you! Hiring is too important to leave to Personnel. Get ALL your personnel involved.

Do you make personal calls to the candidates you want to meet with?
Phone calls, remember them? Thats how we used to communicate before email. Revert to tradition. A short phone call can give you a feel for them and their interest in working with you. Sure, some people dont come across on the phone, but what you learn about the rest can spare you lots of hassle later.

Do you give them an interview assignment?

Keep it simple, but ask potential hires to visit a store, plant, campus, office or web site before their interviews. Tell them youre interested in hearing their observations. Youll get a sense of how they do with followthrough. Plus, youll benefit from their outsiders view. Try these tips, because unless you score talented employees, it will be tough for you to even hit the green.

Online Ballot and Contest

If you were hiring someone, which would carry the most weight?
References, 3.9% Expertise, 23.8% Attitude, 72.2% Our winning strategy for hiring great employees comes from in Ed M. in Torrence, CA. First, what are the natural skills this position needs? Second, what skills can be learned by the employee? For example, if its a sales position being filled, I look for a salesperson. Ill teach them what theyll be selling (as long as theres an interest on their part). And finally, does the job require a committed problem solver? The smartest person doesnt always get the answer because their frustration level reaches its height before the problem is solved. Knowing more than the other candidate may not be the better hire over the person who will doggedly keep working on it until he/she figures it out.

Dear W.W.
My company claims that its trying to recruit minority employees but everyone who gets hired is white. When I asked about this, the director of HR told me they dont get many minority candidates. I find that hard to believe. How can I tell if thats bull, and what can I do to get them to hire more minorities? WORKING AT CAUCASIAN, INC.

HOW DO YOU BUILD A DIVERSE WORKFORCE?

by Bob Rosner Does your company reach out to diverse groups?
Remember the scene in the movie Casablanca when Claude Rains, the police inspector, says, round up all the usual suspects? Well, that describes how most companies go about recruiting: they go back to the same old sources again and again instead of seeking new, minorityoriented ones. To find minority candidates, go to publications, professional groups, universities and associations that have large minority memberships.

Dear

Does your company provide support and training for promising internal candidates?
Often companies have diamonds in the rough who, with a little training and support, could become contenders. Try offering mentor relationships and special training programs to promising minority employees.

Take a lesson from Phillip McCrory of Huntsville, Alabama. Phil developed a promising strategy for cleaning up oil spills on the high seas. Hes not a scientist or oil industry researcher. Hes a hairdresser-which is what gave him the idea of filling a mesh pillowcase full of hair to collect the oil. Sound flaky? Well, a scientist with NASA estimated that if Exxon had had pillowcases full of hair back in 1989, they could have cleaned up the entire Exxon Valdez spill in a single week. (It would have been a case of hair today, gone tomorrow . . .) Well, the oil retrieval biz isnt the only one in which valuable resources come from unexpected places. Companies that have successfully built diverse workforces have found that they needed to tap unexpected places, too. Fortunately, Diane Arthurs book, Recruiting, Interviewing, Selecting and Orienting New Employees (Amacom, 1998) offers tips that can help companies stop pulling out their hair and start developing strategies to recruit qualified minority candidates. I recommend it to your HR director because unless your company is doing all these things, hes probably right: you arent getting as many minority candidates as you should.

CAUCASIAN

Does your company involve minority employees in recruiting?

Your company should use its existing minority employees to build bridges to their own communities. They should ask employees advice on how to find qualified candidates, should ask them to help make contacts, and should reward them for participating in the recruitment program.

Is your companys motivation to meet legal requirements or to gain a competitive advantage?

Your companys goal should be to gain a strategic advantage over the competition by better representing the communities in which you operate, rather than just trying to hit affirmative action targets. If your company follows each of these strategies, the diversity of your workforce should grow. You and your HR director will be on the same wavelength and you wont have to split hairs.

Online Ballot and Contest

How do you feel about your company putting a lot of time and effort into recruiting a diverse workforce?
A waste of time and effort, 22.9% A requirement for success today, 27.9% Valuable, but not essential, 49% Our winning strategy for handling diversity comes from Susan K. in San Francisco, CA. Understand that, for historically-based survival needs, we people of color have learned that its often best to be quiet, to down-play our strengths, etc. Unfortunately, this doesnt show us off at interviews. Dont write someone off because they havent trumpeted their own strengths. Also remember that once you hire a minority person that you have not just hired another European American dressed in a different kind of body. This person may have a different world-view than a European American person might have. Dont be afraid; most of us dont bite, even when were expressing a different viewpoint than you do.

Dear W.W.
Our company has never had a formal program for orienting new employees. Ive just hired a bunch of new people and it seems like a good thing to start doing, but I dont even know where to begin. SHOW ME THE ROPES

HOW DO YOU SUCCESSFULLY ORIENT NEW EMPLOYEES?

by Bob Rosner Who ARE all these people and what do they do?
Sure, youll give your new employees an organizational chart listing all your people and their titles. But as we all know, the org chart tells only part of the story. Your rookies also need to know who the movers and shakers are, whom to approach with what kind of problem, and whom to avoid like the plague. Take months off their learning curve by giving them the inside scoop.

Dear

ROPES

Where do I go when I get stuck?

You probably dont want every rookie coming to you with every question. So create a buddy system. Pair up your new hires with old-timers who can teach them the ropes. If you pick your buddies carefully, this will be a morale and productivity booster for both parties.

One of my favorite annual events is the Wacky Warning Labels contest. I just love reading all the things that businesses-and their lawyers-think we consumers need to know. Last years winner was a label attached to a clothes iron that said, Never iron clothes while they are being worn. With companies producing labels like that youd think wed be great at orienting new employees, wouldnt you? But somehow we seem to give them hardly any warning at all. Even companies that have employee orientation programs rarely tell them the stuff they really need to know. As you plan your program, consider the following questions. For more ideas, check out Jean Barbazettes book, Successful New Employee Orientation (Pfeiffer, 1994).

Help! Wheres the bathroom?

Remember your first day at Company X when you shook 27 hands, smiled at 52 faces, learned how to use the phones and how to file benefits claims forms, were shown 5 copy machines, 3 bathrooms, 2 conference rooms, 1 lunchroom, and remembered none of it? Spare your new employees. Show them the really essential stuff-then let their buddies do the rest later when theyre ready to absorb more. And give them written instructions for any machines theyll need to use.

How do I get paid?

A new employees paycheck may not be a burning issue for you, but, guaranteed, it is for him. Make sure he knows everything he needs to know to get paid on time right from the start.

What are the rules around here?

Youve given your new recruits the company handbook. Now give them the UNWRITTEN rules. Tell them what the sacred cows are. Warn them about potential landmines. Protect them from unexpected shrapnel. Write the right kind of warning labels for your new employees and you just might be surprised at a totally wacky result: theyll be able to hit the ground running from the very start.

Online Ballot and Contest

What is your approach to new employee orientation?
Let them figure it out on their own, 14.3% Give em a little, 35.8% Give em a lot, 49.7% Our winning strategy for dealing with new employees comes from Renee D. in Cyberspace. We found managers were not always the best people to provide orientation because they dont remember not knowing what they now know. So we give each new person a mentor. We also have a follow up workshop testing them on what theyve learned in a fun way about 6 weeks later. If they didnt know it by then, they do by the time they left that workshop. In summary, hire the right person for the company culture, team and the specific job. That will take care of most problems. Then help them know what is expected of them and theyll give you 150%.

Dear W.W.
My little company just landed a big order from a huge warehouse chain. I need to ramp up my business but Im nervous about hiring permanent workers because theres no guarantee that well keep the new business. On the other hand Ive always had rotten luck hiring temps. What should I do? FROM FAMINE TO FEAST

IF YOU WERE THE BOSS, HOW WOULD YOU HANDLE TEMPORARY WORKERS?
by Bob Rosner
Well, sad to say, many companies treat temporary workers the way drivers treat rental cars: they drive them into the ground. The problem with that is that even though theyre called temporary, misplaced or abused temps can cause permanent damage to your business. Or, in your case, to your feelings about hiring temps again. But temps can be a boon to your business. You just need to hire the right ones-and then treat them carefully while theyre there. I turned to Dick Patton of Express Personnel Services to learn the secrets of hiring temps. His observations should also provide some insight to anyone out there whod like to be hired as a temp. Ive adapted his suggestions below.

Dear

FEAST

Do you treat a rental car as carefully as you treat your own? On second thought, dont answer that question; just listen to this story. My friend John once rented a car that had a mechanical device on it that prevented the car from going over 60 mph. Well, being industrious-and in a hurry-John figured out that he could go as fast as he wanted just by accelerating the car and putting it into neutral right before the speedometer hit 60. Terrific! Until one time he accidentally overshot neutral and put the car into reverse. . . Describing the experience later he adapted the old United Negro College Fund slogan. A transmission, he observed,is a terrible thing to waste.

Have you checked their references?

Although a recent Working Wounded poll found that only 5% of those surveyed admitted to lying on their resumes, experts say many more people than that actually play it fast and loose with the truth. So dont slack off just because theyre temps. Be sure that either you or your agency check all references.

Has the agency checked their skills before they show up at your door?
Temp agencies have skill tests for almost every job. Make sure they use them. Demand to see only qualified candidates.

Are you hiring a temp from a temp?

It may seem like prying, but always ask to speak to former customers of the person who will be selecting your temps. The temp industry, itself, is a high-turnover business. You want to be sure the person youre working with has a track record of making good choices. So the moral of the story is: hire your temporary workers correctly and theyll accelerate your business. Hire them badly and they can throw your company into reverse. And, as my friend John would agree, your business would be a terrible thing to waste.

Online Ballot and Contest

If your company got flooded with new business would you consider hiring temps if you were calling the shots?
No Temps (Id just say no), 15% Lots of Temps (The smart way to go), 38% Temps in Moderation (Just go slow), 47%. Our top temp strategy came from Michele in Bellevue, WA. Im a temp and my employer has given me my own email account. The best thing you can do for a temp is treat them like any other employee and youll be amazed at the results.