I am very excited to present this case study. Mike’s Carwash has been a client since 2004. In late September, the Wall Street Journal honored and recognized Mike’s as one of the Top Small Workplaces 2009! You can read the full article here.

One of the many factors that contributed to Mike’s Carwash receiving this designation is their rigorous employee selection process that all applicants must go through. They  hire approximately 1 out of every 100 people who apply! Needless to say, they are very selective. Mike’s is only interested in hiring top-performing, customer service oriented individuals and has been using two assessments that we offer; CandidClues and JobClues. These entry-level screening tools enable them to go much deeper than a traditional job interview and predict how well a person is suited for their unique work environment.

In this case study, I interviewed Tom Wiederin, HR and recruiting manager for Mike’s Carwash. He holds nothing back, and describes in detail the process they use, along with key factors they track to ensure the employee turnover is kept at a minimum.

Be sure to listen at 6:20 into the interview. Tom talks about  a key factor that is directly linked to identifying top applicants.

Congratulations to Mike’s Carwash for being recognized as one of the Wall Street Journal’s Top Small Workplace of 2009!

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I recently interviewed Sharon Neuenschwander, VP of Human Resources at First Bank of Berne. Sharon and FBB have been a long standing client of mine. In this interview, Sharon candidly shares her experience of implementing and utilizing a pre-employment assessment process. Sharon describes how our process has helped her reduce employee turnover and make better hires. She also talks about the initial resistance she faced when implementing this system and how she overcame it.

If you have ever thought about incorporating pre-employment assessments into your hiring process but were hesitant, you may be interested in what Sharon has to say.

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Have you ever tried to motivate employees only to have your effort blow up in your face?  You may have mistakenly thought that by offering a huge bonus or a free trip to an exotic location would engage all of your employees to work harder. Here’s a news flash — it wont!

Do you really want to know how to effectively motivate all of your employees? In this video I reveal the 6 ”hidden” motivators that over 90% of the workforce doesn’t even know exist. This is not about giving your staff  some ”ra ra” motivational speech, but rather how to uncover what really drives them. Once you know this, its incredibly easy to hire, retain, and and sustain a motivated workforce.

WARNING:  Some people have told us that the background music in this video is a bit “cheesy”. While that may be the case (personally I don’t believe it is I assure you that the information I share is quite valuable.

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How many times have you held your breath, made a wish, and crossed your fingers when calling a “customer service” department at a major company in hopes that you’d speak with someone who actually was interested in helping you? I’ll be honest with you, I do this just about every time I have to call one of these places. Reason being is that too many times its a horrible customer service experience.

I was pleasantly surprised –  actually elated — when I recently called the customer service department at Bank of America. The experience was outstanding and all businesses can learn from they way Bank of America operates in this arena.

In this edition of the Pocket Personality Profile Podcast, I explain exactly what Bank of America did right and the personality factors at play that are essential to a positive customer service experience. 

Kudos Bank of America, keep up the good work!

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What does it mean when people talk about finding the right personality for a job?

Personality is typically defined as the unique bundle of motivations, attitudes and behaviors that make each of us who we are. One individual’s bundle may be outgoing, creative, and excitable and another is reserved, organized, and calm. But when the quiet speak and the assertive are tamed, do aliens suddenly take over their bodies to do these weird things? Can people actually change their personalities so easily?

No, not really. When you observe changes like these, you typically are observing behaviors. Behaviors describe how individuals react to specific situations like problems, people, pace of environment and procedures. People, when willing and able, can adapt and modify their behavior easily but can personalities be changed? Do personalities keep us stuck in our ways?

Overwhelmingly consensus agrees that personalities rarely change after adolescence and when change does happen it happens slowly. For example. Your salesperson refuses to work your database and call prospects and clients. He has been “diagnosed” as having call reluctance. You invest thousands in training, provide coaching and phone scripts, and add sales incentives. Maybe, just maybe his behavior will change. But will this change stick? Not likely. If it does, how long will it be until the core personality shows through again or the individual burns out?

When it comes to the workplace, behaviors are like the wrapping on the gift. Sometimes the shape of the box and the design of the paper give away hints to what is inside. Many times the gift inside turns out to be something totally unexpected.

What is happening as a result of many of today’s hiring and succession decisions is that managers are making decisions based on the “gift wrap” or behaviors. After the gift is unwrapped and the proverbial honeymoon is over, all that is left is what’s inside – the personality. And many managers are wishing they kept the receipts because they are now stuck with very expensive unwanted gifts.

Personality testing is saving managers the enormous expense, heartache and embarrassment of hiring a “great personality” only to find out who they really hired is the wrong fit or worse, the infamous “problem personality”. Pesonality tests based on the five-factor model are widely accepted due to their usefulness in finding out who a person really is and how they will fit an environment, a team, or a job.

One five factor employee assessment TotalView helps hiring managers easily separate the achievers from the do-ers, the risk-takers from the risk-averse, the outgoing from the reserved, and the relaxed from the easily excitable. It helps predict if an individual will adapt and lead change, display leadership or sales ability, and benefit from coaching and development.

When looking to build an organization of people with the “right stuff”, think personality. Breakthroughs in technologies and volumes of empirical research are beginning to crack the code for identifying and developing peak performers.

This article originally appeared in The Total View, a weekly online newsletter that focuses on hiring, management and retention strategies. The Total View is written and published by Ira S. Wolfe and is distributed with permission by CorporatePersonalityProfiler.com and The Chrysalis Corporation. Subscribe for FREE to The Total View by typing your e-mail address in the newsletter sign-up box on the right side of this page.

In the news this week there was a story about two security guards who were photographed by a cyclist sleeping at their post on George Washington Bridge in New York city. They’ve since heard the words ‘you’re fired’!

Sleeping on the job, along with a host of other counter-productive behaviors pose big problems for employers in many different industries. In this episode, I explain the traits to look for when screening applicants so those with problem behaviors don’t end up working for your organization.

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Even if evidence exists that an employer’s hiring system has an adverse impact, the employer may still prevail if the selection procedure is valid and consistent with business necessity. Tests developed or selected by industrial/organizational psychologists for use in selecting candidates for a particular job are likely to be considered job-related by a court. Accordingly, employers are wise to use professionally developed employee selection devices that have been specifically tested for use with a particular job.

Industrial/organizational consultants also can help employers find tests that are valid in every sense of the term, meaning the consultants will measure jobs through job analyses, develop or select validated tests, and assist in administering such tests to applicants for the purpose of identifying candidates likely to possess the requisite knowledge, skills and abilities necessary to perform the job well.

The U.S. Department of Labor has encouraged the use of tests of this nature. Employers should use employment-related tests with care, however, making sure that the tests:

• Are not used to intentionally discriminate.
• Do not have an adverse impact on protected classes.
• Are job-related for the position in question.
• Are consistent with business necessity.

By considering and documenting all these elements, employers should be in a good position to defend the legality of their employment assessments. The work up front will pay off with lower litigation expenses in the future.

Source: A Hire Standard, HR Magazine, July 2003

This article originally appeared in The Total View, a weekly online newsletter that focuses on hiring, management and retention strategies. The Total View is written and published by Ira S. Wolfe and is distributed with permission by CorporatePersonalityProfiler.com and The Chrysalis Corporation. Subscribe for free to The Total View here.

Pre-employment tests do an outstanding job of identifying top candidates, but if implemented at the wrong time your results can be disastrous. In this episode I share with you the the best and worst times to implement a pre-employment testing system in your company. Knowing this information will ensure that you get the most from an assessment process.

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Employers are on a mission to find employees who have the right values – it’s no easy task.
What defines good values? Is it honesty? Hard work? Loyalty and dependability? Teamwork and tradition? What follows is by no means the answer. In fact, it may raise more questions and that’s my point. People seem to throw around the term “values” but nearly each and every person seems to have something else in mind.

Nearly every person would agree that stealing is wrong. That’s an easy one. But what about lying? A knee-jerk response might be to say of course it’s wrong -”we couldn’t trust anyone who lies”. But what happens when honesty conflicts with loyalty – two “good” values.

For example, is it more important to be honest with a friend or to keep a promise or commitment to one’s boss?

Let’s say your boss tells you what he just heard at lunch and makes you promise to hold “this information tight to your vest – you can’t tell anyone.” He then proceeds to tell you that XYZ Company is shutting its doors before June 30.

Keeping that news secret shouldn’t be a problem – except that XYZ Company is your best friend’s biggest client. And your friend is signing an agreement tonight on his new “dream’ house. Not only that, your friend’s employer is planning a major announcement before the end of the week about their plant expansion to boost production and hire 60 new employees, mostly to support this client.

Truth verses loyalty – two good values that often end up causing great internal and external conflict. If you break the promise you made to your boss because you owe it to your friend to tell him the truth, how could your boss ever trust you again? If you don’t tell your friend – well aren’t best friends supposed to look out for one another?

I know what you’re thinking but this is the real world folks. Your best friend is supposed to understand that you have been placed – and not willingly I might add – in a very uncomfortable situation. But if you really were a best friend, how could you let him purchase this new home on the eve of his termination?

Let’s try another one. You were recently hired as the new second shift supervisor by the company chosen to be the “Best Place to Work”. You were selected for this job over more than a dozen highly qualified candidates. When hired, your boss told you “Kid, I like your spunk, honesty and work ethic. Just do as I say and you’ll do just fine.”

“Of course, I’ll do what he says”, you think. “Why wouldn’t I? I’d be crazy to lose this job for doing something stupid.”

A few weeks later, you realize that nearly half of your workers are illegals, being paid under the table. Before that night, you were amazed at their work ethic and dependability, rare traits these days in the lower wage jobs. But illegals are illegal – (no, Yogi Berra didn’t say that – but he probably wished he did!) and it’s wrong.

Here is the ethical dilemma – and ethical choices are often a reflection of your personal values. If you report it to your boss’s boss, you’ll probably lose your job – and so will the illegal workers. You just got married and have a newborn at home. And thank goodness for the health care benefits. Your baby was diagnosed with a rare digestive disorder and the special diet and medications cost hundreds of dollars each month. There is no way in the world you could afford her care without this job.

The workers have families too and without these jobs they too will likely end up on the street, along with their spouses and kids.

So what do you do? Compromise your principle of honesty and just keep it quiet – or blow the whistle and risk losing your job, and the jobs of all these workers? They are good people just earning a living and buying local goods and services. If the company is exposed, its reputation will suffer, several businesses will likely stop doing business, and this downward spiral will likely end up in the loss of jobs – something the town couldn’t afford. So do you do what you believe is right or do what’s right for the community and your family?

Finding employees who share your moral and corporate values – it’s no easy task. Finding the right people is not just about finding employees with the right values but understanding how they will approach problems and procedures (DISC) and how they will prioritize options, alternatives, and choices (Personal Interests, Attitudes and Values).

What values do your employees bring to work – how will they make difficult ethical decisions and will these decisions fit with your values? Follow this link to learn more about the Personal Interests, Attitudes and Values(tm) assessment.

This article originally appeared in The Total View, a weekly online newsletter that focuses on hiring, management and retention strategies. The Total View is written and published by Ira S. Wolfe and is distributed with permission by CorporatePersonalityProfiler.com and The Chrysalis Corporation. Subscribe for free to The Total View here.

Ever wounder why some people in your company are top performers, while others are mediocre at best? In this training video I explain the 4 elements of a top performer. Knowing about these elements enables you identify job applicants who are a good fit for the position and your company. The end result is a better hire and low turnover.