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Employer Resources
10 Ways to Retain Your Best People
10 Interview Questions
The following questions can provide a great start toward assessing whether a candidate is a good fit for a particular position. Keep in mind that with these types of questions, the more detail a candidate provides the better. Use follow up questions to get the candidate to be specific about the situations, the actions that they took and how the situations ultimately ended up. Questions can be tailored to lead into information that is specific to the role for which the candidate is interviewing.
1. What accomplishments/successes are you most
proud of in your position? (Name the position)
2. What did you find most/least enjoyable about
your position? (Name the position)
3. What were your expectations going into your job?
Were they met? (If the answer is no, why not?)
4. What would your supervisor(s) tell me about your
strengths, weaknesses and overall performance if
I were to ask them? Describe the results of your
last performance review.
5. Tell me about the best boss you have had. Now
tell me about the worst boss. What made it
tough to work for him/her?
6. What adjectives best describe you? (Follow up
by asking for examples of where these have
come into play in the performance of their job.)
7. Describe a problem situation(s) you have
encountered and the steps you took to resolve
it. What was the final result?
8. Describe a team project you participated in, your
specific role and the result.
9. Describe the characteristics you are looking for in
an organization that would make it a good fit for
you.
10. What is important for me to know about you that
we haven't already discussed?
10 Non-Monetary Ways To Retain Your Best People
1. The number one cause of turnover is limited
recognition and praise. Create an environment
where promotions are the result of performance.
Find creative ways to recognize employees such
as written notes or short meetings with the only
reason to recognize performance.
2. Encourage employee input. Studies show
increased commitment increases a sense of
involvement and ownership within the
organization.
3. Teams get more done than individuals. Build
teams and recognize team leaders and key
contributors. Loyal bonds between employees will
decrease turnover.
4. An environment that encourages new ideas and
innovation is critical. Listen openly to new ideas
and look for opportunities to implement them.
People that feel stifled will look for a more
receptive audience.
5. Challenge your employees. Talented people want
to learn and grow. The best companies and the
best bosses are the ones that aid in helping
people realize their goals.
6. Get rid of bad apples as quickly as possible. Bad
attitudes and weak performance undermine
everyone's performance. Your best people will
see this as a reflection of the company and of
leadership.
7. Show interest in your employee's personal life.
People need to be cared for as people not just as
employees. Attend that wedding or ask about the
daughter's track meet.
8. Hold meetings only when necessary. Non-
productive meetings are a top complaint of the
best performers. Lazy people love meetings.
9. Humanize your leadership team. Admitting your
mistakes and offering apologies will instill an
environment where people take responsibility.
They will also forgive mistakes.
10. Invest in the future. Don't place all your
attention on underperforming employees. Be sure
you're supporting, encouraging and rewarding
your best performers.
Topgrading: How Leading Companies Win by Hiring, Coaching and Keeping the Best People
by Bradford D. Smart
Great companies are made, not born. The secret is hiring the right people - the "A" players. This is, of course, easier said than done. Statistically, half of all employment situations result in a mis-hire: the wrong person for the wrong job. And with the cost of a mis-hire at twenty-four times salary, the financial drain can be staggering. Compare that with Brad Smart's 90% success rate and you'll understand why topgraded organizations such as General Electric and AlliedSignal consistently beat the competition.
In this unparalleled work, Dr. Smart introduces the Topgrading concept-how and why it works. Managers at every level and at companies large and small will learn to implement his proven fool-proof method. The author spells out his practical hands-on approach and provides intriguing case studies culled from his file of more than 4,000 in-depth interviews.
Further, Topgrading's expert coaching techniques turn "B" players into "A" players.
The lesson is simple: managers who topgrade become leaders-"A" players-achieving success not only for their companies but for themselves.
Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don't
by Jim Collins
The Challenge:
Built to Last, the definitive management of the nineties, showed how great companies triumphed time and how long-term sustained performance can be engineered into the DNA of an enterprise from the very beginning.
But what about the company that is not born with great DNA? How can good companies, mediocre companies, and even bad companies achieve enduring greatness?
The Study:
For years this question preyed on the mind of Jim Collins. Are there companies that defy gravity and convert long-term mediocrity or worse into long-term superiority? And if so, what are the universal distinguishing characteristics that cause a company to go from good to great?
The Findings:
The findings of the Good To Great study will surprise many readers and shed light on virtually every area of management strategy and practice. The findings include:
- Level 5 Leaders: The research team was shocked to discover the type of leadership required to achieve greatness.
- The Hedgehog Concept (Simplicity Within The Three Circles): To go from good to great requires transcending the curse of confidence.
- A Culture of Discipline: When you combine a culture of discipline with an ethic of entrepreneurship, you get the magical alchemy of great results.
- Technology Accelerators: Good-to-great companies think differently about the role of technology.
- The Flywheel and the Doom Loop: Those who launch radical change programs and wrenching restructurings will almost certainly fail to make the leap.
"Some of the key concepts discerned in the study," comments Jim Collins, "fly in the face of our modern business culture and will, quite frankly, upset some people."
Perhaps, but who can afford to ignore these findings?
Finding and Keeping Great Employees
by Jim Harris, Joan Brannick
Based on extensive research into "best practices" at a wide variety of organizations, Finding & Keeping Great Employees reveals how some of today's most progressive companies are meeting that challenge - and shutting down the revolving door - by leveraging their core purpose and corporate culture to attract and retain top talent. They are creating a workforce of people whose values and skills align closely with the organization's driving purpose - a match that ensures competitive advantage. Finding & Keeping Great Employees offers dozens of illuminating case studies and examples from companies of all types and sizes (from Cisco Systems and SmithKline Beecham to VanCity Credit Union and Midway Services). And it provides action plans that enable you to adapt their cutting-edge recruiting and retention techniques to your own organization.
Candidate Assessment Tool
Management by Design works in the area of Organizational Behavior. Our goal is to combine Business and Psychology to reduce uncertainty about people-choices. No other instrument has the power to evaluate an employee/candidate like the Digital Couch. Using the Digital Couch and the Virtual Psychologists puts your company back in control of their employee decisions. It's like having a full time professional psychologist at a fraction of the cost!
Key Benefits of Digital Couch:
- Most sophisticated "read" of a candidate's Impression Management
- Finds major Traits just as any quality academic instrument
- Finds Motivations (what drives Traits) and Defenses (stress reactions)
- Complex algorithms to accurately determine a person's unique response set
- Michigan Banker Association
- Michigan Association of Community Bankers
- Society for Human Resource Management
- Association for Human Resource Management
- Association for Corporate Growth
