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THEPERSONNELTOUCH Hire Evidence Not Hope Reality vs. fantasy-based job interviewing N INETY FIVE PERCENT OF YOUR BUSINESS SUCCESS depends on hiring the right people to work for you and represent your com- pany to the buying public. Not products, people! After all, you and your competitors pretty much sell the same products and services these days, don't you? People are the differentiator that will cause your business to stand out from the crowd. But not all new hires are created equal. Only 25 percent of new hires end up becoming high-performers; 50 percent are disappointments, and 25 percent are chronic disappointments. One great high-performing employee Terry McKenna is principal and co-founder of Employee Performance Strategies, Inc. (EPS), based in Kure Beach, NC. You can contact him at (910) 458-5227 or terrym@eps-i.com. can do the work of three good perform- ing employees. As a matter of fact, high- performers are free because they pay for themselves. Bad employees, on the other hand, are very costly in so many ways: sloppy job performance, poor cus- tomer service, toxic with coworkers, morale killers, and require an inordinate amount of time and attention (hand- holding) from their supervisor; time that the supervisor could be spending on more important issues, further devel- oping their high-performers. Bad employees frustrate your high- performers, because your high-perform- ers are smart people and smart people don't like working with stupid people. Am I wrong? High- performers won't tolerate bad employees; they'll quit first. If you've had a high-performer who quit on you because you tolerated non-performers, do you now regret not addressing and rectifying those non-performers? WHEN IS IT TIME TO FIRE AN EMPLOYEE? I'm often asked, "When should you fire an employee?" My response is always the same - when you first think of it, or, when you find yourself complaining to your spouse about the employee. Here's the acid test question to ask yourself when you find yourself con- templating firing an employee: Would you, knowing what you now know about this employee, enthusi- astically (enthusiastically is the operative word here) rehire the employee? If you're not enthusiastic, then fire them. I certainly don't want to come across as a cold, heartless individual. My point is this—small busi- ness operators don't have the luxury of time and resources to develop a bad hire into a high-perform- er by teaching them the skills they'll need to succeed. You can, however, hire high-performers by zeroing in on proven skills and track record. Interview for what you're looking for: friendly, responsible, initia- tive, honest, desire to succeed, etc. Interview for and confirm through their past job experiences the skills you desire. Then hire the best and let them do what they do best – produce results. FIVE THINGS HIGH-PERFORMERS LOOK FOR Here are the top five things high-performers look for in a company: Co-workers: Am I going to enjoy or regret working with my potential coworkers? Challenging job: Is this job challenging and engaging or is it going to bore me to death? Opportunity: Do I have an opportunity to learn new skills and advance in the company, or is this a no-skill, dead-end job? Growth: Will the skills I learn serve me both professionally as well as personally? Money: Will I be able to pay my bills and make additional money if I prove myself? 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. When it comes to employee selection and termi- nation, use this as your mantra: Hire slow, fire fast. And here's a tip to determine just how bad the job candidate wants the job – let them schedule the job reference phone calls for you. References must be his or her last three to five supervisors. For daily tips, insights and inspiration follow me on my Blog at: terrymckenna.typepad.com. 10 MAY/JUNE 2012 NPN Magazine n www.npnweb.com