Hiring
Are you generating value for your company or you?
In past articles, I have written about the new reality of work where, regardless of your title or work agreement, you are a service provider selling YOUR services to your firm. You company is NOT buying 40 hours a week but rather your specific skill-set. The next reality I need you to accept is that job security no longer exists. Whether you are a contract employee or an old timer, your job is only as secure as the value of your skills.
Peter’s Principle – Promoted to your level of incompetence
Dr Laurence Peter and Raymond Hull wrote an interesting book entitled The Peter Principle (in 1969). The basic premise is that employees are promoted as long as they work competently. This cycle eventually leads to a promotion above their “level of competence”. Interestingly, we have seen Peter’s corollary “in time, every post tends to be occupied by an employee who is incompetent to carry out their duties”. The concept of managing upward is the science of managing your incompetent boss to limit possible damage.
Should you reward the good or punish the bad?
The old management mantra says “Reward the good and punish the bad”. The fact is most of you have limited time and often have to prioritize tasks. So which one would you prioritize? The pre-eminent academic paper on the topic is called “Bad is stronger than good” and can be read here : http://www.csom.umn.edu/Assets/71516.pdf They methodically walk you through the research and clearly demonstrate that negative information, experiences and people are far more impactful than positive ones. The ideal situation is where you reward and accentuate the positive and get rid of the negative.
Managing cultural differences
Note: My series on conversational hypnosis is not yet complete but I decided to change the topic a little to ensure I cater to my different readers. I have spent the better part of the last 10 years managing larger organizations with international footprints. The allure of cheaper labour costs has been too strong to ignore for most organizations. For most, this is a new experience and most are ill-equipped to handle the cultural changes that come with this type of expansion.
A new model to consider when hiring employees
Even in the best economic times hiring a mid-to senior-level employee is an expensive proposition. Because the process is usually fairly lengthy, the hiring manager will be extra careful to ensure that they scrutinize every candidate in minute detail so that they make the best possible selection. They do not want to spend the time “getting the candidate hired” only to realize they may have made a bad decision. For these reasons alone, many companies have chosen to go without (jeopardizing the stability of their operations) or choose to go through temporary hiring agencies.