Week 9

Acton Hero: Matt Stewart

Acton Hero Matt Stewart teaches us a few great lessons in his video. He teaches us that we need to not focus on trying to make money but instead focus on the mission. If we only focus on making money our business will not likely succeed. Focusing more on doing it for the benefit of others and with the mission in mind will help us succeed. We need to not only make our business succeed but also help our employees succeed as well.

When you run your own business you need to exercise integrity, and set consistent values. We need to be careful of the "inner marketer" in us. It can make us think of the money aspect of things which can get us in trouble. It can convince us to enter into businesses that we never should have entered into in the first place. We need to find new ways to make and keep our business fun and exciting instead of moving onto another new business opportunity (something that may look bigger and better).

We can be successful when we are helping people learn and grow. If we focus on things other than making a profit than that is when we will make a profit.

Things I learned/want to remember this week:

• We need to be a hedgehog company, not a fox company. Hedgehog thinks of one big thing while foxes think of multiple little thing
• We need to ask ourselves these 3 questions
• What can we be the best in the world at (and equally important - what can we not be the best at) ?
• What is the economic denominator that best drives our economic engine (profit or cash flow per x) ?
• What are our fore people deeply passionate about?

                                

• Hiring Inforformation- I like this topic because I have learned a bit about hiring from my roommate who works as a manager. So this week's information is teaching me more things and reminding me of things my roommate told me.
• Find someone who may not have as many years of experience doing one thing. Because if they have 10 years experience doing 1 thing. They may be doing that for the rest of their life and may not do other things. If you hire someone who has been doing it for less amount of time they would be more willing to do other things as well. Which is beneficial for the business.
• Things we need to do when hiring
• Define the job requirements: Before you start the search, it's critical that you understand what the job involves and the education, skills, experience, and personal characteristics that are needed to perform it.
• Recruit promising candidates: Once you know what the job requires, you need to find candidates who have the necessary qualifications. The best way to find qualified candidates is to get the word out using your professional connections and recruiting resources. *My roommate is big on recruiting. If we are somewhere and she encounters someone who she thinks has great sales skills shes trying to find a way to have them work for her, or saying she wishes they could work for her.
• Interview: Conduct interviews with the most promising candidates so you can learn more about their abilities and experience, as well as whether they will be a good fit with your organization. Interviews also provide you with an opportunity to "sell" the position and the company and give job candidates the information they need to make an informed decision.
• Evaluate the candidates: Once all candidates have been interviewed, the people involved in the hiring decision must conduct an objective evaluation of each candidate.
• Make a decision and offer: The last step of the hiring process is making the decision and extending a job offer. Always aim for the individual who can contribute the most to your organization's success.
• Determine the Ideal Fit
• Background characteristics, such as educational background and past experience
• Personal characteristics, such as creative abilities and decision-making style
• Organizational structure, such as hierarchy and management
• Culture
• Your job description should include the following:
• Job title, business unit, organization
• Summary of the job tasks, responsibilities, and objectives
• Hiring manager, reporting manager
• Compensation, hours, location
• Background (education, experience) required
• Personal characteristics required
• Type of Recruitment Channels- there are lots of different ways to post jobs. I know this because when I am looking for jobs there are LOTS of different websites and other ways to look for jobs
• Recruiting agencies
• Newspaper ads
• Referrals from colleagues
• Trade publications
• Professional associations
• Networking
• Colleges and universities
• The Internet (recruitment Web sites and your company's Web site)
• Job fairs
• The minute they become managers, they have to realize it's not about you, it's about your team and the success of your team.
• When reviewing résumés, be on the alert for warning signs that can indicate areas of weakness such as:
• Lengthy description of education (possibly not much job experience)
• Obvious gaps in background
• Too much personal information (possibly not much job experience)
• Descriptions of jobs and positions only, with no descriptions of results or accomplishments
• Typos and poor reproduction quality
• Interview Process:
• Create an interview team. Before you begin interviewing candidates, you may want to set up an interview team to help with the process. The interview team should comprise a select few people who are familiar with the job function or who will be interacting with person hired. The team may include a representative from HR, other managers, peers, and direct reports. Each team member brings different experience and perspective to the process, resulting in a broader view that is more likely to lead to a successful hiring decision.
• Telephone-screening interview. You or someone from a recruiting agency, the interview team, HR, or your department may conduct a telephone-screening interview. Its purpose is to confirm that the candidate meets the stated job qualifications. It is also a good opportunity to get some initial impressions of the candidate: Does he or she call you back at the specified time? Communicate well?
• Initial in-person interview. Try to narrow the field to four to seven candidates before holding an initial interview. This interview will probably last 30 to 60 minutes. For less demanding positions, you may find out everything you need to know about the candidate in this interview. In other cases, you will need to see the person again.
• Second interview. Be very selective about which candidates are asked back for a second interview. At this point, if you don't have an interview team, you might ask others with a stake in the process to meet the candidate. These may include direct reports, potential peers, or other managers. This interview often brings out more of the "real" person.
• Final interview. Schedule a final interview with each candidate during which time you and, if appropriate, your manager sell the job and organization. You may also want the candidates to meet with someone from HR to learn briefly about company policies and benefits.
• Make a decision and offer. The last step of the hiring process is making the decision and extending a job offer. Always aim for the individual who can contribute the most to your organization's success.
• Structured VS Unstructured Interviews
• In a structured interview, you ask all of the candidates the same questions so you can compare answers. The purpose of structured interviews is to be fair and objective, but this approach may not elicit as much information from candidates as unstructured interviews. Structured interviews are more appropriate for positions that don't require much judgment or creative thinking.
• Unstructured interviews are individual conversations that do not necessarily cover all the same questions with every candidate. You may learn more about each candidate, but it will be difficult to compare their responses. This type of interview is beneficial when you are filling a position that involves a fair amount of decision making, problem solving, and interaction with others. It opens the door to productive areas of inquiry that neither you nor your colleagues may have anticipated.
• In most cases, it's probably a good idea to steer a middle path between these two interview approaches. Be flexible in your line of inquiry, but be sure that all interviewees respond to a core set of questions.
• An interview guide contains:
• A summary of the job requirements as outlined in your job profile
• The candidate's relevant experience and accomplishments
• Questions to ask to determine if the candidate has the qualities you want; some questions should be general and asked of all candidates, while other questions should be customized for each candidate
• There are three phases to the interview.
• Opening. 10% of the allotted time. Your goal is to make the candidate feel comfortable and to set expectations about the structure of the interview.
• Body. 80% of the allotted time. During this phase, you gather the information you will need to evaluate the candidate. You also "sell" your organization.
• Close. 10% of the allotted time. This phase is when you answer any remaining questions the candidate may have, explain the next steps in the hiring process, and thank the candidate for coming
• There are several things you can do to set the right tone at the beginning of the interview.
• Greet the candidate. To put the candidate at ease, be warm and friendly. Introduce yourself. Smile, make eye contact, and shake hands. Include the candidate's name in your greeting. If you are not sure how to pronounce it, ask. Be aware of cultural nuances.
• Select a quiet, private meeting space that will not be conducive to interruptions. Activate your voice mail or redirect your phone calls; do not take any calls during the interview.
• Make sure the candidate is physically comfortable. In the interview space, show the candidate where to put his or her coat and where to sit. Offer the candidate a beverage.
• Introduce yourself. Explain your role in the organization and how it relates to the open position.
• Explain the structure of the interview. For example, you might say:
• "I'm going to ask you about your experience."
• "I'm interested in finding out about you as an individual."
• "We're interested in finding out whether there is a good fit between your interests and abilities and our organizational needs."
• "I will tell you about our organization."
• "I'll be glad to take your questions at the end of the interview."
• Establish rapport with the candidate. There are several approaches you can use:
• Acknowledge some of the difficulties or awkwardness related to being interviewed, such as meeting a lot of new people or being tired at the end of the day.
• If you are the first to interview the candidate, ask how his or her commute was or how the directions to the building were.
• Complement the candidate on some aspect of the experience displayed in his or her résumé.
• Acknowledge that you have something in common, such as attending the same college or sharing an outside interest.
• The key to maintaining control is to ask most of the questions and do most of the listening. You should be listening 80% of the time.
• Follow logical lines of inquiry and return to them if the candidate asks a question.
• Avoid having the candidate ask questions until the end of the interview.
• If the candidate gets off track in answering a question, gently steer him or her back to your topic. Use phrases such as, "You were saying earlier..." or "tell me more about..."
• Actively listen. Focus on what the person is saying and withhold judgment.
• Regularly summarize what you hear to: confirm what has been said; make transitions between topics; and limit the comments of a wordy candidate. An example of such a summary would be, "Are you saying that there was a six-month period when you were supervising 20 people in two different departments? That must have been difficult. How did you stay organized and on top of what was happening?"
• Encourage the candidate to talk by smiling, nodding, and leaving pauses before you jump in with a comment or another question.
• Ask follow-up questions that lead to more elaboration and specific examples of key information about the candidate.
• Use the candidate's response in your follow-up questions.
• Use open-ended questions that incorporate terms such as "how," "why," "can you describe," and "tell me about."
• An effective question:
• Has a purpose
• Is tied to your decision-making criteria
• Opens communication
• Is job-related
• Is not "leading"
• Is nonthreatening
• Effective questions reflect favorably on you and demonstrate your interest. The candidate will sense that you took time to develop thoughtful questions.
• Inappropriate Question Topics:
• Age/date of birth
• Religion
• Race
• Citizenship
• Physical attributes
• Sexual orientation
• National origin
• Marital status
• Children
• Day care arrangements
• Arrests
• Place of residence; own or rent
• Previous worker's compensation claims
• Disabilities/physical ailments
• Specific promise of salary expectations
• Try to avoid:
• Being overly impressed with maturity or experience, or overly dismayed by youth and immaturity
• Mistaking a quiet, reserved, or calm demeanor for lack of motivation
• Mistaking the person's ability to play "the interview game," or his or her ability to talk easily, for intelligence or competence
• Allowing personal biases to influence your assessment; you might be tempted to judge the candidate harshly or discredit the opinions of your team members because the candidate reminds you of someone you dislike
• Looking for a friend or for a reflection of yourself in the candidate
• Assuming that graduates of certain institutions or former employees of certain organizations are automatically better qualified
• Giving too much weight to familiarity with the jargon of your business
• Focusing only on one or two key strengths and overlooking the absence of other key characteristics
• Failing to value motivation to get ahead
• Ignoring feedback from team members and looking at the candidate from your perspective only
• Weighing the impact this person will have on your position, such as improvements to processes that may impact your job
• Recruit Talent not Experience!
• When checking references:
• Take a little time to build rapport with the reference
• Briefly describe the job that the candidate is applying for
• Beware of the legal ramifications of asking and answering inappropriate questions
• Ask about the candidate's style, character, strengths, and weaknesses
• Ask tough questions and follow up with detailed probes
• Job offers are usually made in person or by telephone. Be sure to:
• Make the offer with enthusiasm.
• Make the offer personal by referring to something positive that you recall about the interview.
• Continue to gather information from the candidate regarding his or her concerns, the timing of the decision, and other organizations he or she may be considering.
• Provide a time frame for the offer so that the candidate knows how much time he or she has to respond.
• Include important facts in the hiring letter, such as:
• Starting date
• Job title
• Expected responsibilities
• Compensation
• Benefits summary
• Time limit for accepting the offer
• Journey to Higher Ground talk. Things I want to remember
• each choice has a consequence and each consequence, a destination

$100 Challenge Update:
This week I babysat lots! I babysat Wednesday night for 3.75 hours and I got $13ish an hour. I babysat Thursday night for 3 hours and got $15 an hour. I babysat Friday night for 4.5-4.75 hours and got $13ish an hour. I babysat Saturday night for 2.5 hours and got $16ish an hour. On saturday the weather changed and was stormy so I had to remind myself to leave earlier then usual to give myself extra time to get to work on time. On Friday I ended up leaving a little later then planned to babysit and then I got stuck in traffic. I need to account for time I may have traffic that will make things take longer