Training & Telephone Coaching for Managers & Leaders  Case Histories

Hire, Fire & Inspire Employees

Martyn Carruthers

Effective executives use their relationship skills to promote harmony, civility and goodwill between themselves, managers and employees. Trust-building, conflict resolution, stress control and preventive interventions are essential keys to hiring, firing and inspiring employees.

Well-selected employees who feel respected and appreciated are more productive, have fewer sick days, and are less likely to create conflicts.

Well-trained managers who deserve their position use their power carefully develop the most productive workgroups. However, training cannot provide essential managerial qualities such as integrity, judgment, initiative, foresight, energy, drive, leadership, intuition, decisiveness, dependability, stability, fairness, ambition, dedication, objectivity and co-operation. Systemic Solutions can assist existing staff develop these qualities; or people with the desired qualities can be identified and hired.

How can your organization hire people with these appropriate qualities? Some potential employees will pretend these qualities during interviews. The normal hiring format of brief interviews with background checks provide limited information for such expensive decisions. Managers need interview skills that delve beneath the surface ... legally providing essential information that predicts an employees future work relationships, performance and behavior.

Hiring good employees is an expensive process - especially if inappropriate people are hired by mistake. The following tips help find appropriate employees, and apply in most industrial countries, although regional and cultural conditions may differ.

Hiring Tips

1. Hiring decisions reflect your managerial qualities. Get the information you need.
2. Determine the required personality traits as well as education and experience
3. Determine the required relationship skills and how to evaluate them
4. Build teams! Beware of only hiring people who are like you!
5. Consider requiring key employees to sign non-competition agreements
6. Consider pre-employment drug testing and medical screening

Hiring - Before Advertising

Evaluate the personality and relationship requirements carefully. Potential employees may have studied résumé writing and passing interviews. Do you want short-term or long-term employees? Should employees be friendly under stress? Do you want employees who prefer details or "big pictures"? Do you need an independent lone ranger or a co-operative team-worker? Is this a proactive or reactive position? Should this person be creative - or follow instructions carefully?

Systemic Diagnosis can help you identify exactly which skills you need - and provide you with ways for identifying people with those skills. We use a synthesis of Myer's Briggs personality assessment and LAB profile metaprograms with our own goal-diagnosis, history diagnosis and behavior prediction tools to help you evaluate current staff, vacant positions and prospective employees.

Hiring - Before Interviews

1. Prior to each interview, review the exact position and the personality requirements.
2. Prepare general questions, e.g. What is your greatest asset? What was your favorite task? Why did you like it?
3. Prepare specific questions e.g. What would you do if ... ? How would you prevent ... ?
4. Review each applicant's resume and compose specific questions, e.g. What did you like about working at ABC Co?
5. Dress to match your company culture, and dress smartly.

Hiring - During Interviews

1. Welcome applicants and put them at ease. (Relaxed applicants give more complete answers to your questions.)
2. Ask questions clearly and specifically. Note personality patterns.
3. Ask for details. Give each applicant time to answer completely.
4. Be kind to each applicant - you may work with this person.
5. Applicants are also assessing you ... promote your company as a good place to work.
6. Tell applicants what their next steps should be.

Hiring - After Interviews

1. Compare the interview results with the required profile for the vacant position.
2. Imagine each applicant at work doing the job. How do they look, in your mind?
3. Create a "short list" of the most likely candidates.
4. Tactfully inform all applicants about your decisions.
5. Record details of "nearly hired" applicants for future vacancies.

Before Firing or Downsizing:

• Have you cut all unnecessary effort?
• Have you managed workplace stress?  Stress Control
• Have you rewarded profitable behavior?
• Have you encouraged employee creativity? Creativity
• Have you planned the actions of key people?

Firing employees is stressful for employees, for managers, and for remaining staff. Here are a few guidelines:

Firing Tips

 

In a 1995 survey of 1,200 workers by Yankelovich Partners for William M. Mercer, Inc., more than 80% of American workers said that they could improve their productivity by an average of 25%. About 25% of workers felt that they could improve their productivity by 50% or more. If those figures are only half true, how do managers sabotage such a massive productivity increase ... ?

Inspire Employees:

1. Promote and reward high (yet achievable) performance objectives
2. Provide an efficient, responsive, fair and productive environment
3. Provide ways to achieve personal goals inside organizational goals
4. Listen, listen and then listen some more
5. Provide a healthy, safe, secure, and accessible workplace

Personal charisma and the ability to inspire are vital executive qualities. If you cannot inspire employees with your dynamic leadership and vision, at least avoid trying to motivate them with threats.

Many managers either over-control or under-control. Instead, provide your employees with strong support. Manage for results, not for process.

Many employees leave their jobs because they feel bored. Learn "guerilla inspiration". Perhaps close the office for an hour one morning to watch funny videos. Perhaps announce occasional half day vacations. Perhaps arrange donuts and videos for employees on random afternoons. Guerilla inspiration helps convince employees to stay with you.

Involve Employees

• Support the professional development of executives, managers and supervisors
• Emphasize performance management to new supervisors and managers
• Attract and retain a diverse workforce
• Train employees in company policies and their implementation
• Communicate the organization's vision, values and expectations
• Interview all employees at least annually
• Involve employees in controlling costs

Every workplace and every workforce will change. New programs lead to new personnel and training deficiencies, and require that executives become more creative in managing human resources while keeping pace with changing technology. While this is rarely simple, "Well begun is half done".

Strategic Planning

Plan with a difference - Soulwork whole brain planning helps you find and plan your goals and resolve blocks to success - even those that you didn't know about consciously.

Allow systemic goal diagnosis and planning to integrate all of your skills and qualities into personal and organizational "visions".

Strategic planning helps you define and sequence the steps you can follow to make your goals reality.

Relationship Management

You keep your work and your other relationships separate, right?

Wrong - your relationships at work will reflect your other relationships and vice versa. Most performance blocks are due to poorly managed relationships.

Relationship management helps sort out all relationship problems, in a sequence suited to motivation, goals and resources.

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Copyright © Martyn Carruthers 1996-2009 All rights reserved. These Systemic Solutions were primarily developed by Martyn Carruthers. We coach and train people to succeed by solving emotional and relationship problems. This information is for your general knowledge only. Please consult a physician about medical conditions and before changing any medical treatment. Link to our pages, but get Martyn's written permission to post or publish his work.