Recruit, Inspire & Retain

Hiring People Who Are “Overqualified” 

— A Legal Implication

Be Careful When You Use the Word "Overqualified"
Employers should be cautious when evaluating job applicants who are "overqualified," because courts might view that characterization as a pretext for age discrimination. That is what happened in Hamm v. Hevesi, where an applicant was turned down for a position and sued in a federal court in New York alleging age discrimination. The court refused to dismiss the case.

The employer asserted that the applicant was rejected because he had not shown a genuine interest in the position. However, because one of his interviewers had described him as "overqualified," the applicant argued that the reasons given for the decision not to hire him were a pretext. The court ruled that the applicant was entitled to have a jury decide the issue, stating that the word "overqualified" might simply be "a code word for too old." Of course, there can be legitimate business reasons for turning down an overqualified candidate. But where the employer’s decision is really motivated by considerations of age, the rejection will not pass muster.

Could It Save Training Costs? — Pro & Con
PRO
Saving on training costs.
Hitting the road faster.
May be able to guide, coach others.
May be appropriate for future leadership (or higher leadership) roles.

CON
Potential turnover because the person is accepting the job in a bad job market and will leave for a better job as soon as the market changes.
The individual will lose motivation very quickly because the job will get old to him.
Others in the organization—even the individual’s supervisor — may feel threatened by his presence and experience.

Is It A Good Thing to Hire Someone You Feel is Overqualified?
The answer lies in deciding which of the above will occur in your particular organization. Can you make the job more interesting and challenging by giving the individual more responsibility and/or authority fairly quickly? You might, for example, make this person a trainer for new hires in the organization. Or, you may give him special assignments, such as developing training manuals.

Other questions to consider: is the supervisor/manager working with the individual capable of handling the individual? What is the climate in your organization relative to bringing in highly skilled people? Perhaps you have always hired people who are unskilled. How will they react to a skilled person?

Most of all, you’ll want to find out more about the motivations and interests of the individual. Find out where he gets his kicks. Do outside interests provide most of his motivation, or does he need a particular job for motivation? Find out how realistic his career aspirations are. Query him on how long he expects to perform at the job before being promoted.

The bottom-line: hire the person you feel is “overqualified” if the environment and the individual's needs match your organization.

* Those of us who edit/write/produce publications often wonder who’s really reading. The day the March issue of Recruit, Inspire & Retain hit your mailboxes, I was wondering and to my delight heard from several people:

• Jim Graber, Business Decisions, Inc., emailed: “I just read your March issue of Recruit, Inspire & Retain. It was excellent! I know how much work goes into a newsletter. I am sure many of the others have been equally good. I admit that I rarely take the time to read the newsletters I receive, but will start making an effort to read yours when it arrives.”
• Merideth Bromfield, Primerica, at a meeting: “I just got your newsletter. Thanks, I look forward to reading it each month.”

Thanks for letting us know you're finding it useful!

* Chicago Tribune March 29, 2004 did a front page story on gifts given to Mayor Richard Daley over the years and included this entry about books: ”…Daley loves books, and a mayoral aid said he keeps most of what he receives: “Royal Babylon: The Alarming History of European Royalty,’ courtesy of one-time Daley rival Ald. Edward Burke: and ‘The Leadership Genius of George W Bush,’ from Carolyn Thompson of south suburban Frankfort. (Daley may be a Democrat, but he is a big Bush admirer.) Retired Gen. Wesley Clark sent his book, “Waging Modern War,’ about a year before he declared his candidacy for president. Another one-time presidential candidate, Bill Bradley, gave Daley his book, ‘The Journey From Here.’…”
Thanks staff reporter Gary Washburn

Communication Identified as Most Important Leadership Skill

The Joliet, IL Chamber of Commerce offers an incredible service to their 400+ members and really to every other employer in the world! Each year, they run a Youth Leadership Seminar for 30 top high school students (chosen by their teachers). I had the pleasure of hearing from many of them just exactly what they learned and how they’d use it. 

All of them now believe that the ability to communicate is the strongest asset a leader possesses.

So, for all you readers who want to enhance your communication skills – here’s an excerpt from the chapter on how to Give It to ‘Em Straight.

Short Sentences
“We refuse to be discouraged.”

Look for words and sentences in your writing and speaking to shorten. There are sure to be 9-letter words for which you can substitute 5-letter words, and 15-word sentences that you can shorten to 10. Short, simple words and sentences make it easier for people to get your message more quickly. You can still say many things. Just do it in many short sentences instead of a few long ones. 

Many short sentences are easier to understand because they draw listeners or readers in. Your audience can picture what’s happening because they’re understanding as they’re reading or hearing. Long sentences require people to go back over the words to get the meaning and make the picture—and most of us don’t bother. We just go on to the next sentence instead.

Powerful Words
“America must keep it’s pledges to defend friends from aggression.”

Normally, the word “must” is on our “not today, not ever” list. It sounds overbearing and patronizing. (Think about it: Who in your life said, “You must...”? Your parents, your teachers...do you need more of that?) But coming out of Bush’s mouth in the preceding example sentence, must is a powerful word. That’s because it’s America (a vision, a concept) that must instead of you. When speaking about yourself must is powerful as well—as in “I must commit myself to moving this organization ahead”.

Optimistic/Positive Words
“It was exciting the first time I flew.”

Use words that make people feel your optimism. Bush uses the words excite, excited, and exciting frequently. It’s important that you be sincerely excited or your use of the word, instead of creating a feeling of optimism, will create a feeling of being lied to. 

“a smart, talented lawyer”

Bush says good things about people and situations. In the famous words of Ena, Bambi’s mother, “If you can’t say something nice, say nothing at all.” It’s a goal worth working toward.

Finally, there’s the obvious: Delete the negatives. 

Next month, learn George W’s final 3 Straight Talk skills.

Excerpted from The Leadership Genius of George W. Bush, pp. 190-191

Success Linked to Commitment to Learning

A study in retail banking that included interviews with more than 100 senior executives credited employee training for increased revenue, better customer service and other key benefits. 

These Same Findings Apply to Your Industry!

The study revealed, among other findings, that 82% of banking executives feel training has a moderate to major impact on customer satisfaction. On overall quality, 75% said training has a moderate to major impact, while 63% said training spurs revenue growth. 

The Bank Administration Institute (BAI), a professional organization devoted to improving the performance of financial-services companies and individuals, led the study to survey 139 senior banking executives and compile the results.

Although it is widely recognized that learning plays a role in the success of a financial institution, this study included statistical analysis to determine the link between specific business results such as revenue growth and retail banks’ commitment to learning and development. 

James M. McNeil, executive director of delivery channels for BAI, said the results reveal key trends that struggling banks can learn from. “High-performing banks tend to be very good at not only recognizing the importance of training and development, but also at aligning training with corporate goals,” McNeil said. “High performers also tend to manage their training budgets wisely, evaluate results through formal measurement programs and embrace technology.” 

Below are some of the study’s key findings: 
o81% of respondents felt training had a moderate to major impact on overcoming the challenge of sales and marketing initiatives. 
o77% felt training had a moderate to major impact on overcoming the challenges of customer service initiatives. 
o68% felt training had a moderate to major impact on productivity. 
o66% felt training had a moderate to major impact on deposit growth.

The research study also examined how much training retail banks conduct: 
o86% of banks surveyed provide a minimum of 9 hours of company-paid training per employee per year. 
o78% of banks train at least 60% of their workforce each year.

Adapted from “The Performance Impact of Training and Development on Retail Banking”, www.bai.org/bottomlineimpact/

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