It’s a widely accepted maxim of the business world: Great companies begin with great people. When you have the benefit of top-shelf talent at all levels of your organization, then the possibilities are limitless. There’s just one small problem - great people don’t just show up in your lobby, ready to get the job done. You have [...]
Let’s say you’ve just hired a Controller for your business. You’re giving this person responsibility over your company’s entire financial operation - cash management, banking, client receivables…the whole enchilada. You’re excited, because you’re finally freeing yourself up to focus on the things that you should be focusing on in order to grow your business.
The problem [...]
You’ve just completed an exhaustive interview process with your candidate - a telephone screen, two personal interviews, reference checks, and the 30-60-90 day plan. You talked to the candidate on Friday, and they verbally accepted the position. “That all sounds great,” they said after hearing your verbal offer, “I look forward to reviewing your offer over the [...]
I think I’ve finally found a “foolproof” way to size up a potential employee. Matter of fact, I think this is a sure-fire way to size up just about anyone. Several leading business thinkers have written on this topic, including the great Jim Collins - so I’m in no way claiming ownership of this process [...]
In a previous post, I discussed the concept of giving your final candidate a homework assignment - the “30/60/90 Day Performance Plan.” In this post, we’ll discuss the process of evaluating their response.
If you followed my general guidelines, then your candidate has emailed you a document that’s about a page or two long, and contains a summary [...]
Fewer than 10% of managers conduct their own reference checks. When you leave reference checking in the hands of someone else, you’re really rolling the dice with your new hire. Worst of all is the hiring manager who neither conducts references themselves, nor gets a third party to conduct references for them.
Would you ever consider [...]
In Part 1 of “How to Conduct a Reference Check,” we covered some basic principles of conducting a reference check. The “must-do’s” of reference checking, if you will. Here in Part 2, I’ll tell you exactly what questions to ask, and why.
A reference check call should take no more then 20 minutes, barring some unforeseen revelation that merits a [...]
It’s the step that 90% of all entrepreneurs and business managers fail to complete during their hiring process: the reference check. If you’re sitting there reading this and are one of those managers that never conducts reference checks, I want you slap yourself across the face, promise yourself “never again will I fail to conduct [...]