Roadblocks and blind spots, and an assessment's view

I wonder about what's blocking me from reaching my potential and it's unnerving to think there's things in my way I'm not aware of! The whole "what-I-don't-know-that-I-don't-know" syndrome can cause the deep ponderer some real problems.

But....it should also cause one to search the matter out, to ask questions, to go deeper.

Do you try to think into your results? Think about it, if you believe the Bible you have to wonder about these statements -

You are made in the image of God.

Seek out the kingdom within you.

I do believe the Bible is relevant and the period-the-end Word of God, but....I also believe all the truths are not readily apparent. This that causes me to really wonder what I'm missing? How do I bring out that image in me? What am I missing that's causing me not to move on? What character flaw do I not see? What competence do a strengthen and what weakness do I just drop? What I'm I not seeing that others see? What's keeping me from getting past a recurring problem? What's.......

To see something in your blind spot, you have to either move around, or, have someone point it out to you. Otherwise it's not a blind spot. Correct? Normally, I need someone to point it out to me, or to utilize some sort of device.

A device to eliminate blind spots, and roadblocks, are good assessments. I've been using assessments for over 20 years. This began when I read an article about the top 20 loan officers in the U.S. and was struck by all the commonalities. Not necessarily in their marketing and customer base, but other aspects of the people themselves. The search for those commonalities led me to the utilization of over 3,000 assessments as I've worked to help individuals and teams increase their performance and results.

A good assessment will help.....

• give a clear and accurate depiction of where the individual is today
• prepare the individuals for the path and create a map to insure the individual's success
• identify key areas in which the individual needs development
• an individual choose or change careers
• equip teams to function at a highly collaborative level
• manage employee development
• leadership development
• with job fit (whether you're looking for a job, or interviewing others)
• succession planning and talent management

What an assessment is not - an assessment doesn't put you in a box. An assessment helps you learn the talents, attitudes, skills and knowledge already in your box. That realization can then be used to improve and get better results in the years ahead.

To that end...... what "lid" is keeping you from rising to your potential?

What blind spots have kept you from your potential in 2014?

What blind spots will keep you from your potential in 2015?

Notes from the book "The Talent Masters"

Notes from Conaty and Charan's book "The Talent Masters" -

1. An enlightened leadership team, starting with the CEO. We find that such leaders invest at least a quarter of their time in spotting and developing other leaders; sat companies such as GE and P&G, it's closer to 40%.

2. Meritocracy through differentiation. Warning....differentiation breeds meritocracy; sameness breeds meritocracy. Talent masters dig into the causes underlying performance so that they can recognize and reward leaders according to their talents, behaviors, and values.

3. Working values. By whatever name the values are called, masters repeat and repeat and repeat their values, and reinforce them by linking recognition and rewards with them.

4. A culture of trust and candor. A company can develop its people only if it has accurate information about their strengths and development needs.

5. Rigorous talent assessment. Talent masters have the same goal and results orientation in their people processes as they do in their financial systems.

6. A business partnership with human resources. Talent masters use human resource leaders as active and effective business partners.

7. Continuous learning and improvement. Talent masters recognize that a fast-changing business environment requires constant change and updating of both their leaders' skills and their own leadership criteria.

A couple of my thoughts - Conaty and Charan's background lends their writings to experience, not opinions (this is good). As I read this book, I'm taking notes and underlining (as I do in most books), but I'm finding that I'm tending to correlate much of what they have to say with others.

This is also good and gives credibility. I'll bring those out in coming posts.

Good stuff!!!

To that end.....

Top 20% of Sales People......Empathy

Understanding the other person's point of view is a trait that is found in the top 20% of all marketing and sales people.

The MuRF SMARTS (Sales Marketing and Representative Traits Survey) identifies this trait in an individual. The ability to get along with, to develop trusting relations with, and to communicate effectively with others comprises a set of skills that has long been deemed central to the job of marketing and sales.

Taken as a whole, this set of interpersonal communication competencies deals with the person's ability to establish warm, empathic, nondirective, trusting relations with others and with potential and current clients.

In the scale below, this person appears to be somewhat comfortable in expressing his feelings and in understanding the feelings of others. He seems to have a good understanding of the importance of empathetic communication in the marketing and sales profession. He is comfortable when others come to him with strong feelings and will tend to listen.

To learn more about the SMARTS and how you can use this powerful report to achieve better results in your entire organization please contact Danny Smith at 512-773-6528 or danny@DannyLSmith.com.

We'll also send you a sample copy of the entire SMARTS report for the asking.

Natural Talent is Normally Stuffed....

Marcus Buckingham, in his bestselling book, “First Break All The Rules”, tells us that it is a fundamental flaw the way businesses have been routinely managing their employees. The atypical business takes an employee's education into consideration during the interview, looks at the experience, and then expects results.

Yet, as Buckingham points out, it is the rare employer that doesn't neglect the natural talents of its workforce.

Natural talent is usually stuffed inside the employee and the longer the talent is not used, the more apt it is to not be noticed.

Hence, a good SWOT analysis; determine your strength, weakness, opportunities and threats by completing a good assessment, survey or evaluation. These talents we have are many times hidden in our blind spots right along side un-used strengths and they're hidden by our weaknesses.

If you'd like a free Assessment of Behavioral Characteristic, email me at danny@DannyLSmith.com; no charge, no obligation (limited offer expires 12/1/2010). You can read more about this and other assessments at http://www.dannylsmith.com/.


Blessings

Making the Business Case for Assessments - Concern #5

The following is Concern #5 of an excerpt of Making the Business Case for Assessments by Ron Tepner and Dan Lezotte in Human Resource Executive Online.
Concern: Does the assessment really work? I'm pretty good at reading people and generally know who I should and should not hire.


Response: .....our hiring success prior to using assessments was less than stellar, although the success rate varied across our 2,300 stores. Too many new hires in the technician/mechanic position left within the first six months on the job, so we were always looking to bring in new technicians.


We needed to show our field managers that more patience and care in the selection of technicians would pay off for them in the long run through lower turnover and greater productivity, leading to fewer open positions. To do this, we needed to demonstrate the value of assessments in a language they understood -- that is, the way assessments could help them grow their business.


We believed that a clear demonstration of the value of assessments to business outcomes would allay most, if not all, of their concerns.

To demonstrate the value of our assessments for the technician position, we conducted, with the help of our vendor-partner APT, a comprehensive validation study. For test developers, our approach would be referred to as a "predictive, criterion-related validation study."

This study also provided our legal defensibility in the event our selection processes are challenged under Title VII....And, since we knew actual out-of-pocket costs associated with bringing a new hire on board (about $2,300 per hire), we were able to convert the differential turnover rates into a dollar amount. We conservatively estimated we could save $1.5 million in turnover costs by using the assessment and avoiding hiring those applicants in the bottom quartile.

Ron Tepner, the vice president of human resources for Bridgestone Retail Operations, headquartered in Bloomingdale, Ill. Daniel Lezotte is Darien, Conn.-based APT's vice president for the Midwest Region.

Making the Business Case for Assessments - Concern #4

The following is Concern #4 of an excerpt of Making the Business Case for Assessments by Ron Tepner and Dan Lezotte in Human Resource Executive Online.


Concern: The assessment will take control away from me in making hiring decisions. What if I really want to hire someone but the assessment says I can't?


Response: As the positive impact of less turnover and higher productivity takes hold, the candidate pool will be populated with more qualified candidates from which to select. If the assessment results suggest a candidate is not a good fit, the manager will have several other qualified candidates from which to choose.

(Note...remember that this is a tool that you choose how to use. You can hire whomever you'd like.)

Making the Business Case for Assessments - Concern #3

The following is Concern #3 of an excerpt of Making the Business Case for Assessments by Ron Tepner and Dan Lezotte in Human Resource Executive Online.


Concern: Our applicants will not put up with an involved, time-consuming selection process -- they'll just go somewhere else
 
Tepner and Lezotte's Response: One of the few advantages of a down economy is that more qualified applicants are available for open positions. While we should always be sure we are hiring the best person for the job and a person who has a high probability of success in the job, having a larger applicant pool provides us the luxury of being even more selective. In fact, we have found that many applicants (who are now employees) viewed our organization more favorably as a result of having gone through a rigorous selection process. We also believe that it honors our existing workforce to not just allow anyone into the camp and expect good folks to work with those who are not the best.

Making the Business Case for Assessments - Concern #2

The following is Concern #2 of an excerpt of Making the Business Case for Assessments by Ron Tepner and Dan Lezotte in Human Resource Executive Online.

There is a shortage of available talent for our open positions and we can't let anyone "get away;" we don't have the luxury of being selective.

Tepner and Lezotte's Response: The benefits of being selective outweigh the perceived lack of luxury. The new practice of requiring the assessment assures a larger population of more productive, longer-tenured employees who help create customer loyalty.

Making the Business Case for Assessments - Concern #1

The following is Concern #1 of an excerpt of Making the Business Case for Assessments by Ron Tepner and Dan Lezotte in Human Resource Executive Online.

Concern #1: There is a shortage of available talent for our open positions and we can't let anyone "get away;" we don't have the luxury of being selective.


Tepner and Lezeotte's Response: The benefits of being selective outweigh the perceived lack of luxury. The new practice of requiring the assessment assures a larger population of more productive, longer-tenured employees who help create customer loyalty.

Making the Business Case for Assessments

The following is an excerpt of Making the Business Case for Assessments by Ron Tepner and Dan Lezotte in Human Resource Executive Online.

The authors argue that, especially in a poor economy, assessments will show a positive link to the bottom line. They relay several arguments they needed to overcome when rolling out and generating buy-in for their company's plan.

It is particularly important to "make the case" for assessments in a down economy where we have the unusual luxury of more applicants than openings, and the opportunity to be very selective in our new hires.

And, we can ill afford hiring mistakes, or failing to maximize our selection effectiveness, in an economy where productivity and customer service are critical to overcoming the economic challenges that have created a very fine line between success and failure.

As a human resource function, it is our objective to provide our field managers with tools to help them grow their businesses. However, we must first overcome perceived and real obstacles by demonstrating the value of the tools we are offering before we can expect our field managers to fully buy-in.
 
I'll post these additional parts of this article, along with the corresponding responses, over the next few days:

• There is a shortage of available talent for our open positions and we can't let anyone "get away;" we don't have the luxury of being selective.
• Our applicants will not put up with an involved, time-consuming selection process -- they'll just go somewhere else
• It's too inconvenient and time-consuming to ask an applicant to drive to a district office or testing location to take an assessment. We need them to start right away.
• The assessment will take control away from me in making hiring decisions. What if I really want to hire someone but the assessment says I can't?
• Does the assessment really work? I'm pretty good at reading people and generally know who I should and should not hire.

To that end.....

Exit Interview can be a Farce

The number one reason a resigning employee gives his/her manager or HR person for leaving is "money."

Yet reality is that most employees are not recruited to leave their jobs. The employee typically decides to look for a new job and interviews for the change. More money is sometimes offered, but not always. Even when money was the reason, the decision to leave was made long before the money was discussed.

Our Online Exit Interview allows an organization to uncover what lead to the employee wanting to leave in the first place, thereby enabling the company to make the necessary adjustments to keep key talent.

To learn more about this important tool, contact Danny Smith at 512-773-6528 or danny@DannyLSmith.com.

Right Job, Right Fit

No matter what side of the hiring desk you are setting on, job-fit matters. If you are the job seeker, I understand you need the money and will sometimes take what job you have to take in order to bring in the bacon! And sometimes, the employer just needs a warm body.

But don't kid yourselves. Be upfront to yourself, and preferably to the other person(s), about why you are taking the job or person.

The more you lie to yourself, the more you'll distrust yourself. The more you distrust yourself, the more you'll distrust others. The more you distrust others, the less effective you'll be in everything you do. And the ball keeps rolling downhill.

The right job? The right fit? Seek out answers to who you are and what you are meant to be.

If you are in a job you aren't right for, and there are ways to determine such......DO A GOOD JOB WHILE YOU ARE TAKING MONEY FOR IT. And please, don't complain. Just do the job, and search.

Proverbs tells us the glory of kings is to search the matter out. Most of us have severe blind spots about ourselves and our situations. Search the matter you are in out. Ask questions about yourself..to others. Learn who you are and what you are meant to be. I'll give you a free online personality assessment; email me at danny@DannyLSmith.com. No charge, no strings. I just want to help you know who you are. After using over 3000 assessments in the past 15 years, I've found these to be a very effective tool.

To that end.....