Recruit, Inspire & Retain |
March 2006 |
|
Ideas for "Marketing" and Providing "Customer Service" to Current and Potential Employees |
|
TRAINING
SYSTEMS,
INC.
Great Training for Great Employees |
Visit our website,
www.trainingsys.com
|
| ABOUT US | BOOKS & FUN STUFF |
|
COOL STUFF IN THIS ISSUE! |
|
|||||
READ A BUSINESS
BOOK ON A DECK OF CARDS! |
READERS! If you find an article worthy of Recruit, Inspire & Retain, please send it (with a note telling us where you found it) |
| Remember, Recruit, Inspire & Retain back issues are available at http://www.trainingsys.com/rir/index.htm. |
|
If this was forwarded to you, get your own copy FREE! |
|
|
Developing a 30 Second Commercial for Working in Your Organization
If you see someone demonstrating excellent customer service skills while you’re having dinner with your family, do you approach that individual and discuss job opportunities with your organization? When you attend a job or career fair, do you grab the attention of the many attendees by sharing valuable information about your organization? If someone asks you why a person should consider working with your organization, do you have a ready answer?
Increasingly today, there are many day-to-day opportunities to recruit for our companies. Smart employers are learning that recruitment is everybody’s job, not just that of human resources.
When you meet prospective candidates, how do you "wow" them and get them interested in your company? Every recruiter and business leader should have their "30 second commercial" at the ready for talking with candidates about the benefits and advantages of employment.
What is a 30 second commercial? It’s a brief sales pitch—a spiel—about what your company has to offer. It’s also called an "elevator speech" since in an elevator you only have a few seconds to meet and impress another.
You might need a good question to hook the interest of the individual. One recruiter would ask candidates she observed at restaurants exhibiting great customer service skills this question: "You are doing a great job here. Does this company appreciate your hard work/dedication/commitment to customers?" In that first question she had their interest and attention and could then go on to explain how her organization valued great employees.
Consider what your organization has to offer. Instead of thinking about the "features" of your employer; as great sales people have learned, present the benefits and advantages. In other words, quickly share WIFM—the station we all tune in to—"What’s in it for me."
Consider a short personal story. "I started in this company seven years ago as a novice, and now I’m an Assistant District Manager responsible for nine stores. I have much potential for growth in this expanding company." Or, "I believe the commitment this company shows to both being an incredible learning organization, plus one that is family-friendly is what keeps me happy and balanced. And not a lot of people can say that about their employers."
Make all your employees responsible for their own 30 second commercial so that recruitment can truly be everybody’s job.
Reprinted with permission from The Employment Strategist eNewsletter, by Cathy Fyock, (
TRAINING SYSTEMS, INC. Associate).|
Get more tips on recruiting great employees from TRAINING SYSTEMS. |
**TOOL BOX**
|
 Have
a recruitment, inspiration, training, or retention idea or question? Ask by
clicking the question mark, and we’ll post your idea or question (and the
answer) in Answers & Ideas
on Recruiting, Inspiring, Training, & Retaining Great Employees at
http://www.trainingsys.com. |
 |
* | The University of Maryland | |
| * | TM Television | ||
New Quotes!
We now have over 884 of our fun 8½ x 11 bright posters with quotes. After each new batch is made, I say, "This will surely be the last – we have all the quotes there are now!" And then, you all send us more. Here’s the latest:
Let Your Life Speak. –
Quaker expression
"I’ve learned that you can
tell a lot about a person by the way he/she handles these 3 things: a rainy
day, lost luggage, and tangled Christmas tree lights." – Maya Angelou
"What I find to be the truth
is always closely intermeshed with how I feel at the moment." – John
Steinbeck
"There are two kinds of
people-those who come into a room and say, ‘Well, here I am’ and those who
come in and say, ‘Ah, there you are.’" – Frederick Collins
The real purpose of books is
to inspire the mind to do it’s own thinking.
"The person who knows how to
laugh at himself will never cease to be amused." – Shirley MacLaine
"The only people you should
ever want to get ‘even’ with are those who have helped you." – John
Honeyfeld
Nothing is worth more than
this day.
"My behaviour determines my
emotions; my habits develop my behaviour; my will dictates my habits; my
character directs my will." – Tom Crane
"Just because you made the
choice once doesn’t mean you have to live with it." – Karen Beckwith
"I’ve learned that no matter
what happens, or how bad it seems today, life does go on and it will be
better tomorrow." – Maya Angelou
"I have so much to do today
that I should spend the first three hours in prayer." – Martin Luther
Feed your faith and your
doubts will starve to death.
"Education is for life, not just
the immediate moment." – Rev. William M. Shand III
"Confidence is the
expectation of a positive outcome." – Rosabeth Moss Kanter
"An apology is the super glue
of life. It can repair just about anything." – Lynn Johnston
"In changing times, the
learners inherit the earth...while the learned find themselves well educated
for a world that no longer exist." – Dr. Michael G. Loftis
"If you celebrate what people
do well, it’s like giving them oxygen and they perform way beyond your
expectations." – Maria Elena Lagomasino
**TOOL
BOX**
|
| * |
Richard Usmiller, VP Human
Capital, Savantage Solutions, requested a copy of "No More
Recruiting for Top Spots" last month and said, " I’d love a copy
of that article. Have enjoyed your work for years, and I look
forward to this helping us as we begin our journey towards creating
an effective succession planning/career pathing model for the
company. You always provide one with good tips that relate to my
job. Thanks!" |
| * |
The Trainer’s Warehouse published
Delivering Dynamic Presentations, by
TRAINING SYSTEMS,
INC.
President, Carolyn B. Thompson on their website. |
| * | CMA Management Report published this review of Death By Meeting by TRAINING SYSTEMS, INC. President, Carolyn B. Thompson. |
Thank Them – Write a Note (Yes, Write It!)
Emailing Thank-You’s, especially to groups, is so fast. Most of us get 200+ emails/day – many going unread. But a hand addressed envelope – I’ll open that immediately!
Yes, it takes more time to write (do I still remember how?) a Thank-You note, but these days it’s likely to mean more to your recipient. Why? It can convey a warmth that electronic means can’t. (Come on, what’s it going to take – 2 minutes?)
|
Get more tips on inspiring great employees from TRAINING SYSTEMS. |
**TOOL BOX**
|
|||||||||||||||
"Tools, Tips, & Toys For Adventurous Trainers"
That’s the tag line on the
Winter 2006 catalogue. We’ve loved the Doctoroff family’s wonderful training
supplies for years. They sell some
TRAINING SYSTEMS,
INC. products and products of our
Associates, like Sharon Bowman’s books. We do love them for that and for the
continuing interest they take in
TRAINING SYSTEMS,
INC. work and staff’s personal
lives. BUT what we really love are the awesome variety of learning aids and
training design/facilitator tools.
Just a sample:
Signs that read, "No Whining Any Time" or "Serious Learners Only Beyond This
Point"
Gold lapel pins that read: "Star Trainer"
Sharon Bowman’s new book, The Ten Minute Trainer, Mel Silberman’s book, 101 Ways to Make Training Active, Ken Blanchard’s video Whale Done
Scratch off stickers to make your own scratch & win cards
Various price points for game show software/equipment
Really cool highlighting tape and borders for flip charts
Stop and go lights to help learners pace themselves
Write on/wipe off signs for learners to hold up
Tunes for Trainers and other royalty paid music
...and more and more and moreandmoreandmoreandmoreandmore...
At
http://www.trainerswarehouse.com
|
Get more tips on training great employees from TRAINING SYSTEMS. |
**TOOL BOX**
|
|||||||||||||
Job Profiling – The Key to Talent & Performance Management
by Jim Graber, Business Decisions Inc
Talent and Performance Management Programs (TPM) have become a priority for large and small organizations alike. Competency models are a critical building block. Most organizations lack the expertise and tools to create high quality competency models efficiently and specifically enough to meet legal guidelines.
Although competency models are probably the single most critical element needed for TPM, they are best developed as part of a broader job description that we call a Job Profile. The Job Profile includes the information found in typical job descriptions (key responsibilities, entry requirements, etc.) plus additional information needed for effective talent and performance management. Job profiling can be done at the job level (e.g. customer service representative) or for a family of positions (e.g. Sales) or for a level within the organization (e.g. Middle Management) or for a talent pool (e.g. High Potentials).
Typically, the process accomplishes the following:
 |
Prioritizes key job responsibilities |
|
|
Identifies key deliverables |
|
|
Develops a critical competencies list tied back to job responsibilities and deliverables. Competencies are weighted, and the desired level of performance required for the job (beginner through expert) is identified. |
|
|
Identifies job characteristics that help determine whether the job matches the personal preferences of an individual |
|
|
Optionally defines outstanding performance and the behaviors utilized by effective performers though the development of Job standards. These job standards are used to direct performance and complete performance reviews. |
|
|
Optionally collects additional data needed by the organization while developing the job profile. For example, depending on the needs of the organization, it may be logical to take advantage of the job profiling process to evaluate jobs on compensation factors, or to identify job entry requirements such as education and experience. |
Job profiles are at the foundation of Talent and Performance Management (TPM). Job profiles provide the information needed to assess individual skill levels of employees or job candidates and identify critical skill gaps. Job profiles also drive high quality group training needs analysis, career development programs, succession planning, and performance planning and review. Job profiles are also an excellent mechanism for defining future talent needs and proactively developing the workforce. When job profiling isn't done well, all subsequent TPM steps are at risk. For example, using the wrong competencies to select or develop employees for a position wastes time, and worse, may mean you may select an unqualified employee or miss an opportunity to provide critical training. There are even potential legal consequences if job profiling is not done well and in accordance with the 1978 EEO Uniform Guidelines.
Tailoring the Process to Fit Your Needs
Job Profiling and competency modeling tend to be tailored a bit for each
company. The following steps describe a process for making job profiling and
competency modeling work well for you:
| 1. | Identify a TPM Steering Group as well as a TPM Implementation Team. Often there is some overlap in these groups. | |
| 2. | They then interview key stakeholders for the process (leadership, different HR specialties and representatives from line functions) to determine interests and needs. | |
| 3. | Determine strategy for developing the profiles based on the identified stakeholder needs. Strategies may include any of the following: | |
 |
Building the profiles using the people most knowledgeable about each job/family/level in small groups led by a trained job profiling facilitator. This is an excellent way of ensuring high quality information is captured as well as increasing buy-in and credibility prior to using the profiles for assessment purposes. | |
|
|
Alternately, you may choose to build draft profiles for your organization based on existing materials and then bring in those knowledgeable about the job/family/level to tune-up and validate the draft. This approach makes limited use of their time. | |
|
|
Purchase a database of job profiles to use as a foundation. This may get you up and running most quickly and also minimize your internal effort, but it clearly can be costly and the profiles may not be a close enough match to your positions. | |
|
4.
|
Decide on which basic elements of the job profiling process you wish to include now, and which you may want to add later. For example, performance standards may not be needed, or it may be that determining desired performance levels will be an enhancement for year 2. | |
| 5. | Determine what special information collection needs you have that go beyond base job profiles. For example, do you need to collect information to evaluate job pay and create internal equity? Do you want to use the process to update your job descriptions? Maybe you want to identify entry requirements such as education and experience. | |
| 6. | Identify what organization information is currently available and pertinent to the profiling process such as job descriptions, performance standards, etc. | |
| 7. | Tailor the elements of your process further: | |
|
|
Use a pre-developed commercial competency library, an internal competency library, or a combination of both. If using a commercial library, significant tailoring may be needed if it doesn't include technical competencies. Also, competencies that don't apply for your organization should be eliminated. | |
|
|
Decide if you want to capture job responsibilities, deliverables, or both to basically define the job in task groups. | |
|
|
Select the weighting approach for task groups - percentages or "whole numbers". | |
|
|
Select the job characteristics you will use - a commercially available list or an internal list. These characteristics should usually have some proven usefulness in career development and talent management research. | |
|
|
Decide if you will be weighting competencies. | |
|
8.
|
Identify Employee Core Competencies. Core competencies apply across the organization and are key to success in every position. Additionally, it is useful to identify Core Leadership Competencies for all persons that lead others. If core and leadership competencies haven't been identified, it is very important to follow a careful process for creating them that usually relies on research, review of competencies of other companies, significant input from organization members, and communication/change management strategies. | |
Job Profiling Meeting Steps
The best way to be sure your job profiling is thorough is to conduct the process in a meeting with those most knowledgeable people. Here are the steps involved in a standard job profiling meeting conducted with a trained facilitator and 2-5 subject matter experts. We have developed this approach based on 15+ years of experience developing thousands of job profiles and training dozens of persons to do job profiling.
|
Get more tips on retaining great employees from TRAINING SYSTEMS. |
**TOOL BOX**
|
|||||||||||||||
|
FUN DAYS TO CELEBRATE/PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT CONFERENCES/WAYS TO VOLUNTEER & GIVE |
MARCH SPECIAL DAYS
March is...
Optimism Month
International Mirth Month
March 5-11 – Chocolate Chip Cookie Week
March 9-15 – Girl Scout Week (factoid: 70% of women in Congress are Girl
Scouts)
March 19-24 – World Clown Week
March 20-26 – Bubble Week
March 7 – Cereal Day
March 8 – Learn What Your Name Means Day, No Smoking Day
March 10 – Middle Name Pride Day & Telephone Day (call someone and tell
them your middle
name, no matter how geeky it is)
March 15 – Ides of March & Potato Chip Day (Beware: chips may be your
downfall)
March 16 – Everything You Do Is Right Day (goes without saying!)
March 17 – St. Patrick’s Day
March 18 – Awkward Moments Day
March 19 – Let’s Laugh Day & Chocolate Caramel Day
March 20 – Act Happy Day & Smile Rejuvenation Day (depressed people gotta
hatee March 20th)
March 21 – Flower Day
March 24 – Chocolate Covered Raisins Day
March 26 – Make Up Your Own Holiday Day
March 27 – Fly A Kite Day (the 1 day a year you can tell people off &
they won’t be offended)
April 1 – April Fool’s Day
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT CONFERENCES
March 10-12, 2006
David Glickman’s Hoot Camp: The Book Camp for Humor, Embassy Suites,
Tampa, FL,
http://www.hootcamp.com
March 12-15, 2006
Questionmark 2006 Users Conference, San Francisco, CA,
March 13-16, 2006
Christian Management Association Conference, Denver, CO,
March 15-18, 2006
19th Annual International Mentoring Association Conference,
Chicago, IL,
March 17-18, 2006
Laurie Beth Jones Path for Adults: Personal Growth, Phoenix, AZ,
March 29-31, 2006
Dave Meier’s 3-day Accelerated Learning Training Methods Workshop,
Orlando, FL,
March 31-April 3, 2006
Humor Project Cruise to the BaHAHAHAmas, from Miami to
Bahamas,
April 6-7, 2006
Managing for Impact: HR Metrics and Firm Performance, Cornell
University, Ithaca, NY,
April 9-12, 2006
International Association for Human Resource Information Management 2006
Conference, Washington, D.C.,
http://www.ihrim.org/events/2006spring/efp/index.asp
April 10-12, 2006
Dave Meier’s 3-day Accelerated Learning Training Methods Workshop,
Atlanta, GA,
April 18-21, 2006
15th Annual Association of Australian Career Counselors (AACC)
Conference, Sydney, Australia,
April 23-26, 2006
Strategic Leadership for Women in Human Resources, Simmons School of
Management, Boston, MA,
April 24-28, 2006
Leadership Development for HR Professionals, CCL campus, Colorado
Springs, CO,
May 28-31, 2006
International Personnel Management Association Canada 2006 National
Training Conference, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada,
June 14-17, 2006
European Distance and E Learning Network 2006 Annual Conference,
Vienna, Austria,
June 22-23, 2006
Accelerated Learning Advanced Design Class, Lake Geneva, WI,
June 25-28, 2006
SHRM's 2006 Annual Conference & Exposition, Washington, DC,
July 7-9, 2006
National Career Development Association 2006 Conference, Chicago, IL,
1-866-FOR-NCDA
July 26-30, 2006
WorldFuture 2006: Creating Global Strategies for Humanity’s Future,
Sheraton Centre Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada,
July 28-30, 2006
Annual Conference of the World Future Society, Sheraton Centre
Toronto Hotel, Toronto, Ontario, Canada,
Enter the 2006 ASAE Associations Advance America Awards!
May 2, 2006 is the deadline for programs conducted between
January 2006 and April 2006
For details on eligibility and award categories, go to
WAYS TO VOLUNTEER & GIVE
Give a Little Love:
The easiest way to feel good is to do good! The following sites let you
donate to all your favorite charities in 1 place.
Network for Good (
JustGive (http://www.justgive.org)
GuideStar (http://www.guidestar.org)
RECYCLING
Responsibly Dispose of Your Old Electronics
Donate PCs to National Cristina Foundation,
Recycle PCs and other computer products at Hewlett Packard and Dell. See their websites for details.
Find local Electronics recyclers at http://www.earth911.org and
http://www.ebay.com/rethink
WWW.TRAININGSYS.COM
Get FREE access to great recruiting, inspiring, training & retaining tips,
ideas & resources where you can:
* Download articles for your newsletter!!!
*
Use free online assessments!
* Purchase books, tapes & fun
incentives to help you & your employees be the best!
*
Get new tips each month on Recruiting, Inspiring, Training, & Retaining
great employees!
*Have a recruitment, inspiration, training, or retention idea or question?
Send E-mail,
and we’ll post your idea or question (and the answer) in Answers & Ideas on
Recruiting, Inspiring, Training, & Retaining Great Employees at
http://www.trainingsys.com
*
Click on links to great managing and training websites!
*
Purchase our famous inspirational quote posters!
*
Get answers to your employee recruiting, inspiring, retaining, & training
questions from our experts!
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Copyright 2006 TRAINING SYSTEMS, INC. All rights reserved.
**FORWARD RECRUIT, INSPIRE & RETAIN TO OTHERS
Remember, you can get issues you missed at our Website
http://www.trainingsys.com/rir/index.htm. For older (pre-1997) issues,
call 800-469-3560 or send an E-mail.
**ARTICLE REPRINTS FOR RECRUIT, INSPIRE & RETAIN
An ideal way to introduce new ideas or stimulate learning with the
employees in your organization.
Article reprints can also serve as a powerful promotional or sales tool -
include them with your
brochures, newsletters & media kits. For complete information on article
reprints or copyright
permission, call 1-800-469-3560 or
E-mail.
**YOU HAVE UNIQUE, VALUABLE KNOWLEDGE FOR OTHERS
UNSUBSCRIBE - send blank E-mail to:
leave-rir@trainingsys.com Change your
E-mail address (we want to keep you!) - unsubscribe under your old
address (send blank E-mail
We’d love to print your articles on recruiting, inspiring, training and
retaining employees. E-mail
your article.
**We’ll be back next month with more great tips, ideas, success stories, and
information to help you recruit, inspire, train, & retain great employees!
RECRUIT, INSPIRE & RETAIN contains links to websites operated by
organizations other than
TRAINING SYSTEMS, INC.
These links are for your convenience and we assume
no responsibility for the content or operations of those sites.
RECRUIT, INSPIRE & RETAIN
TRAINING SYSTEMS, INC.,
published 12 times/year. Editor: Carolyn B. Thompson, Data Entry: Patti
Lowczyk (Lowczyk Secretarial), HTML: Debbie Daw (http://www.helpquestdomains.com).
Visit us at http://www.trainingsys.com
soon!
SUBSCRIBE (it's FREE) -
send blank E-mail to:
join-rir@trainingsys.com
to: leave-rir@trainingsys.com)
then subscribe your new address (send blank E-mail to:
join-rir@trainingsys.com)