How do you train supervisors to recruit the best people (and do all the other things like appraisal and discipline and dealing with change and reducing turnover)? Here are some hiring tips, and an introduction to a 10-in-1 training program that educates supervisors and managers in all the basic HR skills.
In the last Advisor, we told you about technology business leader Marc Andreesen’s refreshing approach to hiring. Yesterday, we noted the characteristics he looks for in applicants. Now let’s look at the process he recommends.
First, have a written process
Don’t try to wing it with hiring, he advises. You need a written process, and you need to share it with everyone. A random process will produce random results, he says.
Second, do basic skills tests
Andreesen interviews a lot of people who say they are programmers but who just can’t program. He puts them to the test, asking them to demonstrate sophisticated concepts such as linked lists or binary searches. It’s refreshing—but not frequent—when one says, “Oh, linked lists, let me show you how to do that.”
It’s the same for any field, Andreesen says. For sales reps, he says, ask them to sell you your product; for marketing people, have them whiteboard out a launch for your new product.
Educate your supervisors and managers on legal hiring and 9 other HR topics with a single program. It’s BLR’s Easy Trainer: Hiring, Discipline, & Termination. Try it at no cost or risk. Read more.
Third, write down interview questions ahead of time
You don’t want to have to come up with questions on the fly. And you do want to be able to listen to what the candidate has to say not trying to come up with your next question, which will happen if questions are not prepared in advance.
Fourth, pay attention to the little things in the interview
For example, if the person never laughs, she’s going to be hard to get along with, and if the person constantly interrupts, he’s an egomaniac, says Andreesen.
Fifth, pay attention to the little things during the reference calls
Hints of trouble usually signal major issues, Andreesen explains, because people generally soft-coat problems. For example, if you hear, “Sometimes she’s a little hard to get along with” or “He was sometimes a little moody,” head for the hills, he says.
How About Your Managers and Supervisors?
BLR’s Easy Trainer: Hiring, Discipline, & Termination contains 10 separate PowerPoint presentations for the price of one. Try it for 30 days … completely on us. Click for details.
Andreesen’s advice all points to one thing—that hiring these days is no simple matter. And that the need to train every supervisor and manager has never been more important. The stakes are too high to leave them to deal with dicey issues that include not only hiring but also discipline, people management, and firing, on their own.
We asked our editors to recommend a BLR program to meet these needs, and they came up with a real prize. It teaches the essentials of hiring legally and a whole lot more.
First, let us give you a sampling of some of the key concepts on hiring covered in our PowerPoint R program, Easy Trainer: Hiring, Discipline & Termination. Then, we’ll get to the “whole lot more.” For hiring:
–Job Descriptions. Every hire needs to be preceded by a legally drawn job description. These days, that means separately listing the essential skills of the job, so that a person with disabilities may be hired even if he or she cannot fulfill other, lesser functions.
–Job Advertising. Job ads should likewise focus on the essential skills and avoid use of terms that refer to gender, such as “repairman” or “saleswoman.” Educational requirements should also be job-related and no more stringent than the job requires. For example, requiring a college degree when it’s not absolutely needed creates bias against minorities who historically have lower college attendance rates.
–Interviews. Questions should be job-related and must not intrude into such protected areas as age, race, marital status, national origin, and disability or health condition. (Any preemployment tests must be job-related, as well.)
–Documentation. Keep all documents for at least a year, not only for the hire but also for all applicants.
Try Easy Trainer: Hiring, Discipline & Termination at no cost for 30 days! We even pay return postage. Click for info
The uniqueness of this program, the “more” we mentioned above, comes in the fact that the PowerPoint on legal hiring is just one of 10 PowerPoint programs on the CD that follow the entire employment “life cycle” from first day on the job to last.
These include new employee orientation, effective performance appraisal, progressive discipline, and lawfully done termination. There are PowerPoint sessions on managing change and reducing turnover, too. It is, in fact, 10 programs for the price of one. And all can easily be customized with your company’s specifics or used as is, right out of the box.
Daily Advisor has arranged for our subscribers to try the program at no cost for 30 days. We recommend you do so. Click the links below to see program samples, and to request your no-cost, no-risk trial.
Download multiple slide samples
Download speaker notes sample
Download topic list
10 Supervisor Training Programs for the Price of One … Try it at No Cost!
Train supervisors in 10 key HR areas that cover employees’ first day with you (e,g., hiring legally/orientation) right through to their last (e,g., progressive discipline/termination). Each topic gets a separate, customizable PowerPoint presentation, making BLR’s Easy Trainer: Hiring, Discipline & Termination the best value in training supervisors in HR that we know of. Try it at no cost! Read more.