Gut Feel Or Plain Stupidity?

The surprising and shocking truth about the damage your instincts might be causing you.

Research indicates 93 percent of business owners believe that even with no training they can predict if someone will be a great team member from one of their interviews.

If this confidence was well founded then why do 30 percent of businesses collapse because of employee theft, which they do? Why do 50 percent of employees admit to being in the wrong job, which they also do?

Your instincts are not helping you recruit the right staff.

Interesting research also indicates that 92 percent of decisions are made on instincts However the world is full of charming charismatic confident people who make you warm and fuzzy, but ultimately will lead to your undoing.

John Clark in his book working with monsters says “white collar psychopaths exist in a variety of workplaces. They are individuals who manipulate their way through life and leave an indelible mark on both their victims and society. They are destructive men and women – cunning, cunning, self centered, ruthless and terrifying”. (1)

John suggests that up to three in every one hundred male employees may well be an occupational or corporate psychopath or sociopath. The numbers are slightly less in women however if you take a city like Sydney which has five million in habitants, you may well find 90,000 male occupational or corporate psychopath or sociopath and 30,000 females with the same disposition.

Your instincts will not save you from these people. The world has become far more complex, less trusting and less loyal.

If you consider the statistics below 

  • 37% of resumes are phoney.
  • 25% of employees make up their work history.
  • 85% of University students have admitted to cheating to obtain a degree.
  • 33% of higher education qualifications especially PhD’s are false (2)
  • Some of the people who falsified their PhD’s took part in medical procedures.

    Gut feeling

    Yes gut feeling does play a part in any decision making process however I highly recommend you diligently vet candidates before they even sit in front of you. Ultimately your mission as a business owner is to be able to predict if a job applicant is going to be a high performer in the work place.

    If you are rash and are beguiled by a charming persuasive applicant and it goes wrong then these people will

    • Drain your time
    • Drain your energy
    • Drain your cash flow
    • Drain your passion
    • Damage your relationship with your existing clients
    • Damage your relationship with potential clients

     Would you like more……………

    • Damages your relationship with your team
    • Damages your relationship with your family

    Is it worth gambling everything because that’s what you are doing if you don’t ask for guidance?

     

    “If you keep on doing what you’ve always done.

    You’ll keep on getting what you’ve always got”.

     Jack Canfield / Mark Victor Hansen / Les Hewitt

     

    1. Clarke, J. (2005) Working with monsters, Random House Australia p292
    2. Hughes, T. and Jowitt, M. (1996) ‘Managing people – recruitment,  selection and induction’, McGraw Hill Australia p 88

     

    Committed to hiring the right person the first time round and recovering all the costs of the campaign!

     

    .David Osborne


    David Osborne

    David Osborne

    www.profitablepersonnel.com

    The One Recruitment Word You Need To Know Above All Others!

    And The One Fact of Life You Need To Learn Early.

    In America Douglas Martin claimed the following achievements in his résumé which he submitted to the Fort Wayne Veterans Affairs Medical Center.

    • Trauma surgeon in Albuquerque
    • Vascular surgeon at the Mayo Clinic
    • Flight surgeon for the Tomcat wing of the U.S. Navy Medical Corp.
    • Served in Vietnam for 18 months as a surgeon
    • Has a master’s degree in public health from the University of Massachusetts
    • Graduate from medical school at “John” Hopkins University
    • Was awarded the following military honors – Navy Cross (in lieu of the Medal of Honor)
    • Legion of Merit, the Distinguished Flying Cross
    • Is an Army basic parachutist (1)

    In truth Douglas had none of the titles he claimed to have and yet if the Fort Wayne Veterans Affairs Medical Center had hired him he could have been given a role undertaking various medical procedures. You might think why would anyone claim to have titles they haven’t earned especially medical titles? Well it is not unusual, there is an epidemic of employees willing to do whatever it takes to infiltrate venerable organizations.

    Consider these facts 

  • 37% of resumes are phony.
  • 25% of employees make up their work history.
  • 85% of University students have admitted to cheating to obtain a degree.
  • 33% of higher education qualifications especially PhD’s are false. (2)
  • The One Recruitment Word You Need To Know Above All Others.

    The one recruitment word you need to know above all others is diligence. Business owners and managers often let their guard down because they are tired and need to find someone in the next seven days, but this thinking is a recipe for disaster.

    “A Bad Beginning Makes a Bad Ending”

    Euripides
    Greek Writer
     

     

    The One Recruitment Fact Of Life You Need To Know.

    The recruitment fact of life you need to know is that there is an epidemic of employees willing to do whatever it takes to infiltrate vulnerable organizations. It is absolutely critical you have a well tried and tested recruitment and selection process to stop incompetent and under committed people from infiltrating your company.

    Crucial fact:

    Only 5% of companies have a human resource department that actually measure how well their recruitment process works and therefore once the infiltrator is in your business it is up to you to detect the miss fit because 95% of businesses do not have a process that will accurately detect a recruitment mistake.

    How to eliminate deceitful employees from infiltrating your workplace.  

    1. Use a recruitment and selection process that is tried and tested.

    2. Have A grade personnel use the recruitment and selection process, because B grade selectors are NOT able to recruit A grade staff. 

    3. Have a measuring process in place that tells you quickly and clearly if the new employee is likely to be a high performer who will get on with you, your team and your customers and strive to achieve your business goals.      

    (1) Federal court documents

    (2) Hughes, T. and Jowitt, M. (1996) ‘Managing people – recruitment, selection and induction’, McGraw Hill Australia p 88

     

    Committed to hiring the right person the first time round and recovering all the costs of the campaign!

    .David Osborne