Tony Bender

Some states have passed laws making it illegal to ask a potential employee for access to his or her social media content.  As much as I sympathize with employers and the challenges posed with hiring, I applaud the efforts of these states.

It certainly seems reasonable that an employer have the right to research prospective employees using publicly available information.  Commonly used background checks are also reasonable as they can expose past illegal activities.  Despite what anyone says about the privacy of social media, the content shared with friends/followers/connections only should be considered private unless and until it is exposed publicly by either the individual or friend/follower/connection.

When hiring someone, you must be diligent.  Dave Ramsey is well known for spending considerable time and using a series of interviews before hiring someone.  It can just be too costly to hire the wrong candidate.

Here are some tips for hiring the right person:

1. Know what you want.  I once interviewed and hired someone who most people thought was too “quircky”.  That didn’t bother me.  I wanted someone who would be working independently most of the time combing through vast amounts of data.  Quite frankly, “quircky” was what I needed!  He turned out to be an excellent choice.
2.  Communicate what you want.  Make sure your job description is accurate and, when interviewing, make sure the candidate is clear on the expectations.
3. Pay attention to the little things.
   1. How is the person dressed?  Even if you are hiring for a blue-collar job, if someone is nicely dressed, it shows initiative. 
   2. How does the person act?  Are the pleasant to talk to or do they seem a bit edgy?  If they are even the least bit defensive or confrontational in an interview, they will be 10 times worse on the job.
   3. Are they friendly and polite?  Do they say please and thank you?  Do they smile and laugh?  I’m serious.  Not doing these things shows either arrogance or deference, and you don’t want either one.  Be careful not to confuse the behavior, though, with nervousness.
   4. How do they talk about other people?  It is for them to talk about challenges they had with other people.  It is not ok for them to talk about the flaws in others.  You want the focus to be on what they did to ensure a good working relationship despite the issues.
   5. Do they speak from the heart?  You aren’t looking for tears, but you want to know they felt a connection with something…anything.  Lack of emotion is troubling because it shows they are unable to be passionate (which is a desirable trait) or that you have difficulty being passionate with regard to your work.
   6. Do your homework. 
      1. Contact references.  You don’t gain much by talking to personal references as nobody will provide a personal reference that will not give them a glowing recommendation.  Rely more on discussions with past employers.
      2. Perform background checks.  This is rather obvious.  You are primarily looking for legal issues.  Those could be criminal or civil issues, bankruptcies, etc.
      3. Search online.  You may find public Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn accounts.  What do they post online?  Do they have a blog?  If so, what do they say in their postings?
      4. Don’t be afraid to “snoop”.  You are making the investment and taking the risk, so you have every right to gather as much information as possible (within legal boundaries) to enable you to make a better decision.

There are companies that can help you screen employees.  You can also work with a company like ISB Partners to help you develop a strategy for hiring.  They can also help you assign a value to the cost of training and losing an employee.  It can be as high as 50% of their annual wages.

The most important thing to remember is that hiring an employee is easy.  Hiring the right employee, however, takes real effort.  When you consider the costs, the effort seems a small price to pay.

As I was cutting branches that had fallen from a recent storm, I noticed something different between the branches that had fallen and the branches that remained.  The ones that remained seemed to be lighter and more flexible.  The ones that snapped had put up more of a fight…trying to resist the wind instead of moving with it.

We find the same sort of phenomena in business.  The businesses that maintain their flexibility are better able to survive the storms.  Those that want to remain firm in their ways and fight the forces of change are subjected a battering that they will not always survive.  Look at what is happening to RIM (the maker of Blackberry devices) today.  Once a leader in smart phones, RIMs market share has dwindled dramatically, as is their company.  It would appear that they could not foresee the demand for touchscreens soon enough.  They also did not make enough of an effort to encourage the development of apps for Blackberry.

Change is at the essence of business.  At some point, your business model will have to change.  Don’t be afraid to make the changes necessary to insure your business succeeds not only today, but tomorrow as well.

Consider hiring a consultant to help you develop a strategic plan.  Better yet, consider a company like ISB Partners, LLC.  For a small monthly fee, they will not only work with you to plan for the future, but help you develop a sustainable business model today.