HireBetter Blog

Case Study: Living Direct Finds a Leader

April 26th, 2012 | by | case studies, employee relations, hirebetter, human resources, interviewing, management, topgrading

Apr
26

Client: Living Direct

Role: VP of eCommerce and Marketing

Location: Austin, Texas

 

 

 

Sometimes a client approaches HireBetter with a pretty good idea of what they think they need in a new hire and they’re right.  Other times, we get a chance to shine when we help a client realize that a truly great hire can mean so much more for a company than they originally thought.  When Rick Lundbom came to HireBetter, he thought that he just wanted someone to manage his eCommerce and Marketing division.  Little did he know that we would deliver his right hand man who would quickly propel his business to new heights!

 

Intake:

Rick initially was really set on hiring a serious, but simple marketing person.  He wanted someone who had a very strong grasp of traditional e-commerce marketing principals AND was comfortable with big web data.  Furthermore, he wanted someone who was competitive and would thrive while working with his very young team (in his mid-30s, Lundbom is the resident “old guy” in the office).

He had a very specific model of an ideal candidate (even one “perfect” candidate in town who he said we would not be able to get) and a few specific types of candidates that he wanted to target.  He asked us to recruit those candidates first, but still use our expertise to find the right person for the role, whoever that was.

After we did a full intake evaluation, however, we realized that what the client really needed was a leader, someone with the leadership acumen AND technical skills to mentor and inspire his very young team.

 

Strategy and process:

As the client requested, we were sure to recruit the specific candidates that he wanted.  So we did.  And after we finished recruiting, we had three very strong candidates who met Rick’s criteria lined up and wanting the job:

 

  • A candidate with both Internet and retailing experience?  Got it.
  • One with e-commerce experience at a top 200 e-tailer?  Done.
  • Someone like his ideal local guy?  We actually got the “perfect” one who he thought would be unattainable.

 

…But we also found someone better.  From the first time we met him, we had a feeling that Dave was the guy.  Dave didn’t really fit the mold of what Rick said he wanted; he started off in tech and had only later gained an affinity for marketing.  We convinced the client to at least give him a call, and though he remained interested in his other candidates, we could tell that he knew that we might be onto something.

Then came the Topgrading® interview…

After putting the candidates through the VERY thorough Topgrading® interview process, it became abundantly clear who was the right one for the job.  After four hours with Dave, Rick was totally sold.  Though he didn’t look like the candidate the Rick initially had in mind, he knew that Dave was an A-player.

 

Results:

He was right.  Not only has Dave been able to lead the eCommerce and Marketing division at Living Direct, he has become Rick’s right hand man.  “He’s earned my trust,” Rick said.  And more than that, his presence has allowed him to work on growing the company.

“We are up 30% year over year and Dave is a big part of that…but he’s also freed up my time to work ON my business instead of IN my business.”

Dave has been fitting in very well at Living Direct, and even allowed Lundbom to get some much needed R&R: “I was able to take a two-week vacation for the first time in a LONG time.”

There’s nothing better for us than to see our clients so surprised when they see how much great talent can help their business.  Rick Lundbom came to us looking for a simple marketing guru.  What he got was a leader for his company, trust in his new partner, and the time to live his life again.  We’re glad to have gotten to help.

 

Want to see how HireBetter can go above and beyond for you and your company?  Take a look at how we’ve helped other clients, and then drop us a line.  We’d love to show you how HireBetter can help take your talent to new heights.

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Does Facebook really play a big role in a Hiring Manager Decision?

April 3rd, 2012 | by | guest post, social media

Apr
03

Does Facebook play a role in the decision making process of Hiring Managers today?  And should it?

According to an article written in 2010, 70% of recruiters and hiring managers had rejected an applicant because of something they’d seen on Facebook.   Things such as “inappropriate” comments, “unsuitable” photos and videos, and “criticism” of employers, co-worker or clients.

But what else can Facebook reveal about a potential candidate?  According to a recent study done by Northern Illinois University, Facebook can help reveal the Big Five personality traits – openness, extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and neuroticism.  For example, people who have lots of pictures and discussion about travel on their Facebook profile indicates that they are open to new things. While someone who has a large number of friends on Facebook is indicative of an extrovert.

However, Don Kluemper, one of the study’s authors, says that companies really shouldn’t use Facebook to screen applicants until more research has been done.  He suggests that hiring managers continue to use personality tests which do a better job of predicting performance.

As mentioned in previous blogs, HireBetter uses behavioral interviews to provide a superior snapshot of a candidate’s personality.

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HireBetter at SXSW 2012!

March 8th, 2012 | by | communication, hirebetter, networking, social media, technology

Mar
08

Each year, thousands of the brightest minds in business and technology converge on our home city of Austin, Texas for the SXSW Interactive conference.  This year, HireBetter is proud to be attending and looking for insights into how to attract, manage, and motivate today’s top innovative talent.

I’ll be blogging and tweeting throughout the week with ideas and questions about all sorts of talent issues and opportunities.  I hope to paint a picture of how to think about this special kind of talent.

If you’re attending SXSW this year, please let me know!  I’d love to meet in person.  If not, is there anything in particular that you’d like to know about high-tech, marketing, or media talent?  Let me know in the comment section below or Twitter, and I’ll see if I can figure out for you.

I’m looking forward to sharing what I learn with you, so keep an eye out for my coverage of SXSW 2012.

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How to Hire the Right Size Candidate

January 11th, 2012 | by | hiring, human resources, management, recruiting, talent, videos

Jan
11

In the clip above, HireBetter’s founder, Jonathan Davis, explains how difficult it is for a candidate with a small-business background to “make the jump” to a large company, and vice versa.

The skills and attitudes which may have led to success in one kind of company may set someone up to fail in another.  Even though it may seem like a good idea hire someone from a big company for a small company (or the other way around) some time, it’s a very risky move.  Here’s what our statistics show:

 

  • Hires moving from big companies to small companies fail two thirds of the time.
  • Hires moving from small companies to big companies fail four out of five times!

 

That’s more of a risk than you want to take, especially considering how expensive bad hires are.  Bear this in mind when you’re looking to make your next hire.

For more insights that we’ve learned from years of hiring experience, keep reading the HireBetter Blog and subscribe to our YouTube page.

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Two Ways to Avoid Bottlenecks in the Hiring Process

December 15th, 2011 | by | guest post, hiring, networking, recruiting, technology

Dec
15

From time to time, HireBetter’s blog will feature guest posts from writers with a unique insight into a particular talent issue.  Today’s post comes from Kyle Lagunas of Software Advice:

A business is a well-oiled machine, relying on the seamless execution of a number of processes to drive it forward. Disruptions and delays (bottlenecks) will occur unless you keep these processes in ship shape. In the hiring process, bottlenecks are more than just an inconvenience. They can damage company culture and tarnish your brand – making it more difficult to attract and hire top talent. Smoothing out bumps in the road before they turn into more serious issues is essential to the ongoing success of your recruiting and hiring efforts.

Kyle LagunasThat said, here are a couple leading causes of bottlenecks in the hiring process – and ways to avoid each one:

 

 

Sequential hiring style

You post the same ad you used last time, find three candidates to interview, and hope one of them has what you’re looking for. If not, you go back to square one–you post the ad, find three candidates, and the cycle repeats. But relying on the same old iterated process to meet myriad staffing needs is more than shortsighted, it’s inefficient.

The greatest value lies in having a working process. By designing a hiring process that works in tandem with talent management and supports your business strategy, your recruiting efforts will be much easier to manage. You don’t have to read every book ever written on hiring strategies, but you do need a uniform process that meets your organization’s culture, values and needs.

 

Living in the Dark Ages

Without the proper technology, the sheer volume of applications a single online job posting attracts can be nearly impossible to manage. As such, many organizations experience delays at the onset recruiting–which is frustrating for candidates and hiring managers alike. Accepting resumes and screening for experience and qualifications are a part of the process, but applicants perceive that nothing is happening until an interview takes place.

Online application and screening tools help companies maintain momentum by reducing time spent in this initial stage. If you don’t have an applicant tracking system, you need to get one. The first step toward minimizing bottlenecks in hiring is automating the most menial aspects of hiring so you can focus on engagement.

 

Best Practices are the Cure for Hiccups

Strategic staffing requires the cooperation and shared effort of multiple parties, and as with any business process, hiccups and delays in hiring will happen. With a sound process in place that keeps stakeholders informed and engaged, however, bottlenecks will be fewer and further between. By incorporating the best practices that make the most sense to your organization–and by leveraging solid technology–you’ll be better prepared to deal with any other flaws that emerge.

 

About the Author: Kyle Lagunas is the HR Analyst at Software Advice – a company that reviews human resources systems. For further reading on ways to avoid bottlenecks in the hiring process, this article can be found on Kyle’s HR blog in full: http://blog.softwareadvice.com/articles/hr/four-ways-to-avoid-bottlenecks-in-the-hiring-process-1120911/

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How To Become A “Recovering Job Description Writer”

December 8th, 2011 | by | hirebetter, hiring, human resources, job descriptions, recruiting, talent, videos

Dec
08

Jonathan Davis, HireBetter’s founder, considers himself a recovering job description writer.  And in this video, he explains why and how you can become one too.

Traditionally, to write a job description, you probably piece together attributes that you’d like in a new hire.  You start from the beginning and work forward.

 

Start at the end to know where you should be

But what we do, and what we encourage our clients to do, is start at the end.  Determine what this person should accomplish in their first 90 days, six months, or year on the job.  Now, when you look at your candidates, ask yourself whether they’ll deliver the success that you’ve just described.

This lets you be able to look at their background and determine if they have the skills to be able to do that, rather than them trying to convince you that they have the attributes that you asked for.

 

What kind of employee do you really want to hire?

No one really wants to just hire a “go-getter” or a “real closer,” you want someone who can successfully achieve specific results for your company.  So find out what “success” means in your role, and your accuracy will go way up.

 

For more, take a look at HireBetter’s YouTube Channel, and stay tuned to the HireBetter Blog for more information on how to attract, recruit, manage, and retain top talent. 

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The Three Reasons a Hire Doesn’t Work Out

November 30th, 2011 | by | hiring, human resources, job descriptions, recruiting, retention, talent

Nov
30

In this video, HireBetter’s founder, Jonathan Davis, explains why so many hires don’t work out.  He boiled it all down to three simple reasons:

 

Reason 1:  You failed to clearly articulate what you need someone to do

Reason 2:  You failed to tell that new person what you needed them to do

Reason 3:  They failed to agree that that’s what they need to do

 

If you want to start making better hiring decisions, you’ll have to avoid these three pitfalls.  And even though there are three reasons, remember, if you don’t get the first one right, the whole process falls apart.  So make sure you always properly define the role.

For more, take a look at HireBetter’s YouTube Channel, and stay tuned to the HireBetter Blog for more information on how to attract, recruit, manage, and retain top talent. 

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It’s Your Responsibility: Using CSR to Recruit, Engage, and Retain Top Talent

November 9th, 2011 | by | employee relations, hiring, human resources, management, recruiting, retention, talent

Nov
09

Last week, we posted the first half of our interview with Aman Singh.  In it, she explained how employees in today’s workplace demand that their employers be good corporate citizens.  Furthermore, she showed how companies that embrace Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and sustainability are more attractive to job-seekers.

In the second part of our interview, she explains how CSR helps companies attract young employees, improve employee retention, and engage their workforces.  She also warns us about some of the pitfalls that firms may encounter when implementing new socially responsible and sustainable policies.

Follow the jump for our conversation:

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What Goes Around, Comes Around: How Corporate Social Responsibility Helps Your Recruiting

November 2nd, 2011 | by | employee relations, health, human resources, management, recruiting, retention

Nov
02

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) isn’t on the front of most hiring manager’s minds, but it should be.  Today’s best workers care about the impact that their companies have on the world around them.  A-players love helping companies that do good, do well.

Companies that care about sustainability and CSR benefit in many ways, but some of the biggest gains lie in employee engagement, recruitment, and retention.

 

In Good Company: Aman Singh

I was fortunate enough to get to ask Aman Singh some questions about the subject last week. While working with The Wall Street Journal, Vault.com, Forbes, and many others, she’s studied how corporate social responsibility and sustainability help the companies that embrace it.  Now she runs Singh Solutions, her own CSR consultancy, and maintains the In Good Company blog.

Her insights make quite a compelling case for CSR from a talent perspective.  Anyone who wants a strong, well engaged workforce should take note.  Have a look at our conversation after the jump:

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The Three Huge Hiring Mistakes You Didn’t Know You Make

October 21st, 2011 | by | hirebetter, hiring, human resources, job descriptions, recruiting, talent

Oct
21

Every company can improve their hiring in some way.  And given how important successful hiring is, it’s scary to think that two-thirds of companies continue to make bad hires.  Here are three key hiring mistakes many companies make when hiring a new employee.  Are you making any of them?

 

Mistake number one: You pass off hiring duties to the wrong people       

You wouldn’t let an office manager design a factory or a chemist balance your budget.  You leave those jobs up to the experts.  But when it comes to hiring, many companies let just about anyone take charge of a hiring task. Building a great workforce is too important to leave in untrained hands, so make sure that only skilled talent experts run your search.

 

Mistake number two: You improperly define roles

The second big mistake is just as dangerous.  Maybe you are hiring good people, but the job just doesn’t match up with their skillset.  Or you’re settling because you can’t imagine what an ideal candidate even looks like.  If you can’t properly define a role and come up with an actionable plan to fill it, you’re doomed from the start.

 

Mistake number three:  You insufficiently assess the person you hire

When you make a hire, you’re not just bringing a collection of skills and experience onboard, you’re teaming up with a person.  Many companies get into trouble because they only look at easy to compare, conventional metrics and then hire the person who interviews the best.  You have to know how to thoroughly assess a candidate to get a good idea of who they truly are, and that’s not easy to do!  Very few know how to vet a candidate like that.

 

Bad hirers: There’s hope!

Luckily, these three mistakes are very curable.  HireBetter is committed to delivering the systems and expertise companies need to confidently make great hiring decisions.  We work with companies to define exactly what role they need to fill, determine what that ideal candidate looks like, and then deliver the very best candidates to you.  If you’re ready to start making great hires, contact us, and see how we can help you HireBetter.

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