Would you agree that past behavior is a good predictor of future behavior?  And if so, how do we as small business employers guide candidates to share those past behaviors that are applicable to the position we are working to fill?  Might I suggest a cleverly designed one-on-one interview (but only when you are satisfied as to the “advertised” details about your applicant)…

A resume and a qualifying phone interview usually can determine the facts about an applicant’s work history. Likewise, you should have all the material you’ll need to run a background check on the employee’s claims to schooling and job chronology. No matter how big or small your business is, make sure you get this done before moving forward with a hire.

Too many small business owners, though, pressed by their needs and calendar, fail to bring importance to the interview that investigates past behavior. Too many tell me that they know a good employee “when they see one,” or they’ll say, “my gut tells me this is the right guy/gal.” Often,  these are the same folks who complain about employee turnover and the work ethic of today’s generation.

Experience tells me that 90% of the bad hires made are made because of poor interviews – by the employer. If you want to fix this, prepare an interview that seeks to uncover past behavior trends:

• List the questions you are going to ask.
• List the questions that you might ask if the conversation takes you there.
• Include space for your notes after each question.
• Include a scale of 1 – 5 regarding the quality of the response.
• Use a checklist to verify the issues, facts, and behaviors covered.

Do not intimidate the applicant. Present a positive and welcoming personality. But do start the questions immediately.

Ask Open Questions up front: “Did you have trouble finding the office?” “Have you met any of our people, and what was your impression?” “Take a look around and tell me if you would have trouble working in the environment you have noticed so far?” Such questions require more than “yes” or “no” answers.

Revert to Closed Questions: “I see by your resume you graduated from High School. Is that correct?” “You’re here to interview for the customer service position?” “You wrote on your application that you are available to start immediately. Is that right?”  By now, you have like established a bit of a comfort level with the candidate and can be more confident in the honesty of the behavioral questions to follow.

Push on to Behavioral Questions:  Behavioral Questions expect the applicant to reply at length. I suggest you tell them up front that you are interested in the action they took to fix a problem and in the result their action achieved.

Pose a Problem:  “We had been receiving complaints that a customer service rep was losing his temper on the phone with customers. The complaints were reported to me by one of his co-workers. Our workers are encouraged to solve such problems on the floor. Have you been in a position where you were concerned about the behavior of a co-worker?”

Listen:  You want to listen with your script and evaluation survey in hand. You are interested in the applicant’s answer and the results of his action. But, you are also interested in the way the applicant answers. For examples, does he take time to frame his answer? does his answer reflect an understanding of the question? and do his “results” match the behavioral need?

Prepare your questions with the job description in mind: “Tell me about a time when you . . . ?” “Imagine that you find yourself in the following situation . . . “ How would you fix a situation like . . . ?” Establish metrics and a point system for each question. If there is more than one person on the hiring team, put the script in each of their hands and discuss the scores and any variances.

Then – and only then – having followed a process such as this, if you have two candidates with equal scores, then, by all means, please go with your instinct – this time backed up with preparation and investigation.

Despite the resources we have gathered here, our American Heroes – service men and women – often find it difficult to find placement upon their return (in fact, NBC reports 12% unemployment in this group).  Small business owners are not positioned to solve all of the problems, but as job creators, you can help.

Included here is a list of various campaigns and efforts aimed at helping our Heroes re-join the workforce.  As you review the list, ask yourself how returning vets can address your business needs. The vast majority of these Heroes are clerks, drivers, cooks, nurses, equipment operators, etc. They have demonstrable skills and extensive training. They are – in their experience and training – alert, dependable, reliable, and accountable. They work with focus, and they finish assignments as instructed and on time. They work collaboratively and without ego.

If you hire this year, give them first crack. But, if you are concerned about erratic behavior, dependency issues, and post-traumatic stress disorders, think again. The great majority of vets return without these problems, and most serve with honor in and out of the military. Still, you can form a pro-active alliance with the designated Vet Rep at your local unemployment office. Develop a relationship that is clear and honest. Let the rep know what you need and what limits you put on variance from the “normal.” Where there is difficulty in the match, the rep can anticipate your needs, smooth the transition, and coach the candidate. Check out the resources below and make a vet your next hire!

Hire Heroes USA is a campaign orchestrated by a non-profit with partners including The US Chamber of Commerce, Anheuser Busch, Ryder Trucks, and others. With distinguished Boards of Directors and Advisors, it presents a professional venue to assist returning veterans in finding worthy employment.

Hiring Our Heroes is an initiative of The US Chamber of Commerce to provide job opportunities for 500,000 veterans in alliance with Capital One and The National Chamber Foundation (NCF). Since their start in 2011, they have sponsored 130 job fairs and hired 9,000 vets or military spouses.

Heroes Hiring Heroes encourages veterans to hire returning military. A project of the Employer Support Group of the Guard and Reserve, it is significant federal to support the hiring of vets into national and state employment opportunities.

Hire a Hero is a Monster-like employment search engine where vets can post resumes and research job opportunities. Employers can post jobs here for a focused attention. The site includes alliances with UCLA and Discover credit cards.

The Hiring Heroes Act of 2011 offers incentives attractive to small business owners. This bi-partisan legislation enables veterans to return to the civilian job market through the Department of Defense’s Transition Assistance Program (TAP). TAP offers job search information, cover letter and resume writing training, and interview practice. The Hiring Heroes Act fast tracks veterans into federal employment opportunities by eliminating the wait for their veteran preference. It removes barriers in transitioning returning vets to jobs requiring skills they have demonstrated: medical practitioners, drivers, heavy equipment operators, etc. And, finally, employers are promised $5,000 in benefits for every veteran hired and $9,000 for hiring those with disabilities.

We make big mistakes when we confuse customer service with friendliness, goodwill, and personal warmth. “Cheerful” and “upbeat” are personality traits – not skills. Until you figure this out, you will go through a lot of customer service turnover – and risk loss of customers.

When thinking about what you need in customer service help, write and re-write the job description. There are templates on line that you can easily adapt to your business type. Take the opportunity – before you frame your advertisement – to differentiate between experience, skills, and aptitudes.

For example, identify the length and relevance of the experience you want. Most small businesses are not in a position to train people on the job, so plan on paying the wage that two years’ experience would expect. Customer service skills are not easily universally transferable. A customer rep experienced in tech responses is not suitable for a realtor’s office or a construction outfit. So, narrow your search.

Skills are specific to your business and include demonstrated ability with your business office machines and software. Whether it is handling your phones, cash register, fax machines, databases, or whatever, you need a new hire to hit the ground running. Prepare a test for outcomes you want to see.

But, customer service attitude is the bigger challenge. You need to test and interview for the customer service “mindset” that is going to profit you. Again, charming, spunky, charismatic, etc. are nice qualities to have in your staff. Still, they do not guarantee a good fit, comfort in the work, or productive customer retention for you. You need interview questions that assure the applicant’s self-possession, independence, accountability, patience, and emotional balance.

When you schedule the interview, let them know you will test their experience, and, following the testing, you will ask about their knowledge of your products and services. A heads-up candidate will do the homework.

Here’s the key questions you’ll want to ask: 

• What do you enjoy about working in customer service? 
• What aspect of customer service are you particularly strong at?
• When I talk to your previous employer, will s/he confirm that?
• How do you start communication with a client?
• What steps do you take to identify the customer’s problem and level of displeasure?
• What have you done at your present/last company to increase revenues, reduce costs, or save time?
• Tell me about a time that you helped resolve a particularly difficult customer issue. 
• Talk about a time when you were unable to help the customer with their problem – what was the issue and how did you handle the situation? 
• What have you done to be a better customer service representative?  
• What would you do if your replacement did not appear for work?
• Some customers are rude – in addition to being dissatisfied. How do you manage customer rudeness?

In each of these questions, look for responses that report a behavioral process. If the candidate can report a behavior, a process from beginning to end, then, s/he has studied the matter. A candidate with a process manages a customer situation instead of merely responding. You can rely on thought and follow-through instead of unthinking emotional stress. And, finally, you have someone used to being measured. This is a win-win customer service rep.

Employee medical insurance benefits often complicate things for small business owners, and that fact is unlikely to change.  Recent developments in the employee medical benefit arena offer some good news, some bad news, and some options yet to become available. 

You might be relieved to know that medical insurance premiums for small business employers have increased at a slower rate than those for large employers. Despite sharp increases across the board in 2011, rates for small business programs showed a 6% increase versus 8% for large employers.

Small businesses, on the average, sponsor programs with higher deductibles, co-pays, and less comprehensive coverage. On the other hand, small businesses pay more of the cost per employee than the larger companies do. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, small business owners pay a surprising 85% of single person plans and 64% of family plans. Fully 35% of small businesses pay 100% of the premium for their employees although this percentage has declined steadily in recent years.

Over all, the percentage of employers offering medical insurance has continued to decline. In addition, the percentage of employees declining coverage when it is offered has increased. It would appear employees feel so pressed by the economy that they decline the cost of the benefit offered. At the same time, employers are pressed by the economy into withdrawing the offer.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act takes effect fully in 2014. It will enable employees, without medical insurance at work, to purchase insurance on the open market. Theoretically, that market will prove competitive. The PPACA will protect applicants with pre-existing condition, and the market should offer a variety of options and plan prices – in time.

There are some signs that employees are risking loss by opting out of insurance now in anticipation of the protections afforded by the PPACA. And, some employers may slim down their benefit programs in advance of the Act. How this will affect premium costs is a mystery at this time. Medical insurance is still a risk pool; fewer participants increase the risk. If the employees secure their insurance – and there is no guarantee they will – outside of the employer’s group, they may or may not reduce the loss ratio experienced by the employer group.

If we assume that the insurance underwriters/companies are working forward on these issues, they will aggressively move into the 2014 market with attractive offers for uninsured workers. However, I believe they will prudently develop plans and rates attractive to employers because employers provide a filtering underwriting screen for them. Underwriters know that steadily employed workers have an edge in character, life style, and longevity.

If you are looking for an alternative to your current HR data management software, workday.com just might be the answer.

You already know that the Cloud is a virtual place for storage and data, reducing user risk and server expenses. For some time, you have been able to save correspondence, records, memos, emails, etc. in the Cloud to enjoy ease of access. However, users are finding an increasing number of specialized applications.  Enter workday.com.

Caution: This application would only be of interest to employers of a “certain” size because its total service package may be more than you need. Still, I think the site and the idea are worth exploring.

 Workday offers you a wide spectrum of payroll needs:

• Enter payroll data on each worker on single page.
• Run multiple pay groups together.
• Empower employees to access online pay slips, tax statements, tax and payment options.
• Update tax changes automatically.
• Calculate and retrieve exceptions and fiscal numbers with flexibility and accuracy.

Workday offers payroll Co-Sourcing to:

• Reduce manual effort in payroll processing, taxes, and garnishments.
• Provide visibility and audit controls.
• Offer one-click management of unique situations like termination.
• Reduce need to transmit data to processing center or to wait on record batching.
• Integrate and monitor payroll activities against other budget behavior.
• Forecast overtime impacts, calculate pay ranges, and predict cash flow.

Workday provides reports on many things:

• Compensation management
• Absenteeism
• Employee Benefits
• Performance Management
• Succession Planning

After reviewing all this, I have to say that Human Resources Management is more complex and important than a website can handle. Human Capital Management serves its purpose but lacks the personal touch only you can bring to the mix. However, I feel it is worth exploring Cloud opportunities for HR data management.

What I like is:

• Lower cost of ownership in your ability to outsource some clerical activities and redeploy personnel and IT resources.
• Valuable actionable analytics, information and cross discipline data that improves management decision making.
• Efficiencies in processing payroll for multiple teams like those in various construction locations, and in having personal ownership of the data wherever you are – on site or not, pc or mobile device.

Take a look – it provides introductory videos and webinars – to see what you think!

Are dependable employees myth or legend?  Small business owners tell me that they are desperate for dependable employees. And while I’m sure they are hurting for reliable and accountable workers, I sometimes find that part of the problem is confusion in the employer’s expectations, and the other part arises from their failure to structure their hiring interview to these needs. 

Employers look for personal chemistry and, in so doing, miss clues to specific behaviors. They would be smarter to structure the interview around specific desired behaviors. For example, dependability should not be a generalized characteristic. It should be a virtue defined by specific behaviors.  

Dependability is a measure of things that the boss wants to depend on. Employers need employee support in their business process. They need people to show up and be on time. They need workers who respond to customers’ questions and complaints on a timely basis. They look for new hires that are willing to work on teams and go the extra mile. These are all measurable behaviors for which you can structure interview questions.

 Make your list of dependability behaviors:

• Completes assignments as scheduled
• Arrives at meetings or events on time.
• Completes reports to teammates and superiors on time.
• Follows business’s rules and regulations.
• Solves customer problems on time.
• Willingly takes on work when peers are overloaded.

If dependability is delivering on promises, an interviewing employer may want to ask:

• People miss work from time to time. What would you say are good reasons to miss work?
• What would you say is satisfactory attendance at work – 75%, 90% or 100%? How many days work did you miss last year?
• Tell me about a time when you accepted responsibility for a problem at work.
• Describe the reaction of your coworkers when someone is late for work.
• Give me an example of how you prioritize things.
• We expect employees to keep in touch with customers. How frequently would you make contact to keep customers satisfied?
• Only 4 employees showed up when 6 were on the schedule. How would you handle this?
• Suppose you woke up and heard the weather and traffic are bad. How would you react?
• Many things happen in our personal lives. Just what would affect your dependability at work?
• What happens if your car doesn’t start?
• How do you handle a customer problem if the call comes as you are leaving for lunch?

These are all questions you can ask in a qualifying phone interview. If you want to save them for a face-to-face interview, stick to your plan. These questions won’t take more than five of the minutes you allocated for the meeting. Structure the questions, make your list, and take notes. If nothing else, the job candidate will walk away with a sense of how important dependability is to you.

Hiring with Craigslist (www.craigslist.com) might be your best option for reaching interested qualified hourly workers – but only if you use it well.

To be certain, it’s an employer’s market right now with unemployment at 10%. But, you can’t take for granted a pool of talented, experienced candidates. You still have to get the word out that you want the best and brightest to fill your open position.

Small businesses have few effective recruiting resources. Ads in big newspapers are costly and counter-productive. Small local papers reach all the people you don’t want and none of the people you do. Monster sites are too universal for your own good.  Setting aside local networking and word of mouth, Craigslist might be just the resource you need.

Open a Craigslist account.

Follow the prompts at https://accounts.craigslist.org/login/signup. Follow the link they email you to complete your application. Identify yourself as fully or as anonymously as you wish to appear in your postings. For example, you may not want phone calls or walk-ins until you have reviewed email responses.

As you set up account, you will receive an email address that will direct responses to your postings into an inbox you can open at your convenience. There is no fee to advertise (except in large markets), you can use as many words as you like, and you are assured anonymity if you want.

Create intriguing ads.

• Review the categories where your job will appear. You can post the job in more than one category.
• Title the job to attract applicants. For example, “Front Desk Personality” appeals more than “receptionist” does. “Problem Solver” interests more than “customer service rep.”
• Be conversational and inviting in tone. Avoid the dos and don’ts of a job description.
• Offer a snapshot of the job and the workplace culture. Sell your culture and, then, describe your needs and expectations.

For example, an ad for an office assistant might read so:

“It’s 10:07 P.M., and I’m still working!!

Beth Marcus and I are architects in a growing practice located in Farmington. We are different from other design firms in town. Our clients are small developers that rely on our advice. We help our friends and clients with their design needs, and hone their construction strategies so that they can be profitable even in difficult economic times.

But, I’m stuck working late again because I’ve just got too many things to do – accounting, bookkeeping and payroll projects are just piling up. With the housing market in the bind it is, I should spend more time advising clients and less on bookkeeping projects.

Can you help me take care of the accounting so that we are able to provide the high-end consulting services they need?

Are you somebody who’s superb at handling details? A loyal, hardworking, energetic person who follows through and almost never misses a deadline? Your last employer considered hiring two people to replace you? Excellent with QuickBooks and understand bookkeeping inside and out? Comfortable in a small business environment where priorities change quickly? A super organized get-it-done type who’s also very good at communicating with people?

If you are all these things, reply with your resume and cover letter.

Did I mention we need someone loyal, energetic and deadline driven?”

This creates a picture of the need and the person we are looking for. It lets candidates really express their own fitness and show what they bring to the table. Let your readers and target group know what you REALLY want and encourage them to sell themselves and your business!

Grovo is a small, business friendly online training program. A hub for web users, Grovo trains people in the latest ins and outs of social media and other sites – all at no or low-cost, depending on your preferences.

You’ll find easy-to-follow videos on navigating social media, such as Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn, as well as more challenging sites like Google Analytics. It offers self-paced courses for employees with certificates awarded on completion.

Enroll for a free three-day trial, or sign up for $9 per month. (Special programs for larger or more directed business applications run to $190 per month.)

Grovo is a timely innovative idea  promising big things. Check it out at www.grovo.com. You’ll find an extensive list of sites served and courses offered. Grovo writers and voices have created a university of videos, lessons, quizzes, and glossaries. Videos and materials demonstrate high quality, well done, production standards.

The system sets up a personal dashboard from which you can customize and follow your progress to become more proficient in use of sites that promote or manage your business

Grovo begins with a survey (some may find too narrow) that asks you to choose a category:

• Social Media include Facebook, Quora, Twitter, and others.
• Productivity has sites such as BasseCamp, Google Docs, Mint, and more.
• Online Marketing navigates Craigslist, GoDaddy, Facebook Pages, and similar tools.
• Web Essentials over Chrome, Skype, Firefox and related sites.
• Shopping offers courses in eBay, PayPal, and Amazon.
• Entertainment takes you through Yelp, YouTube, Opentable, etc.

 Grovo lists course title and duration. The structure of courses is well planned and easy to follow, and I can recommend Grovo, especially to business owners who, frankly, are lost when it comes to the technology overwhelming them and waste time hunting and pecking their way around sites that are less than intuitive.

 I also think it is a great tool for training employees to a consistent skill set. How many of your new hires claim a competence that you find they exaggerated? By assigning them to Grovo training, you can follow their progress and be satisfied in a certificated outcome.

 What’s the downside? Well, some people find the content to be weak. The scripts sometimes sound like the website’s own public relations. Perky, upbeat, and filled with buzzwords, they are often superficial, failing to drill down into definitions or navigation steps.

 Users with a higher level of experience and expertise may find their training needs better served by www.lynda.com, But, more about that at a later date!

Do incentives really motivate increased productivity?  Do rewards guarantee repeated behavior? If you believe they do, then you’ll need to reward valued and productive employees – but only if you want to keep them. If you think your workers feel entitled to wages, then build incentives into employee productivity.

I should point out that a structured incentive program is not for every situation. It requires  thought, advice, communication, and a real commitment to see it through.

Let your compensation consultant determine your business readiness for an incentive plan, but you can anticipate a few basic ideas:

• Individual Performance. Give an employee $10 every time a customer commends his/her performance. Hand a receptionist a gift certificate for every five callers qualified as sales prospects.
• Department Performance. Divide a cash prize among department workers when they exceed a target. For example, spread cash among customer service reps if satisfaction surveys hit the target or if they meet an attendance goal.
• Overall Performance. Pay a bonus to everyone if the business meets its overall goals. (You can tier the distribution and require employee longevity.)

Cautions:

• First pay a living wage. If workers are not paid fairly in the first place, there is no incentive in improving your profits.
• Understand that cash is not always the most effective incentive. For example, employees are more likely to be motivated by improved health or pension benefits.
• Performance problems may not be resolved with incentives. For example, poor performance may reflect poor morale that may be turned around with a change in equipment, supervision, or communication.
• Provide metrics for goals that are reasonably achievable. You cannot measure attitude; you can measure attendance. You cannot measure product knowledge, but you can count quality rejects.
• Communicate clearly, thoroughly, and repeatedly the terms and conditions of the program. It is good to promote competition, but you’ll lose if the plan seems unfair or inconsistent. You might be surprised how hard it is to sell employees on their own benefits.

DO not do this on your own, and don’t even think about it if you are not willing to commit to honoring it for at least a targeted number of years.

Who needs a resume when you’re self-employed? The simple answer is that you do – and you need to grow it with your small business.  Why?  Two main reasons that benefit your small business include: 

1. Vendors and customers want to know that they are dealing with an experienced and capable leader.  Your resume – which is a detailed foundation for your short bio or Curriculum Vitae – provides evidence for your experience and capabilities.
2. Keeping a record of your small business achievements helps inform your marketing efforts and gives you solid evidence to back up your sales claims.

Focus on action and results!

You are the best one to keep a record of your small business achievements. Think of your performance every six months, and write down the benchmarks as if you were preparing a real resume.  Consider the resumes that most appeal to you as an employer. 

I prefer to see a one-page resume, two at the most. I want to see a list of titles and bullets that match the needs I have identified and put into my search. I don’t need or want flowery or rambling discourse on life’s objectives and dreams. The best candidate is the one who can make the match, and demonstrate how actions correspond to results. 

• List bullets beginning with action words, such as, negotiated, brokered, contracted, hired, budgeted, and so on.
• Wherever possible, quantify the action. List the number of contracts or the dollars budgeted. Use whole numbers, percentages, currency, and the like.

In short, the small business owner needs to be his/her own record keeper. If nothing else, this is therapeutic; it just makes you feel better. But, it also remains a record of achievement that may be meaningful down the road to clients, vendors, employees, and other potential partners. It will reflect your sweat equity, the building of your business and confidence, the shaping of your personal and business identity.