Five Problem Employees and What You Can Do About Them

Small companies aren’t immune from workplace behavior problems. Here’s what to do about them.

By Gwen Moran |   August 5, 2011

Problem employees inevitably surface in most workplaces and small companies aren’t immune. Sometimes, the problems are obvious, such as attendance issues or a failure to deliver results. Other times, a workplace harbors a problem and you might not immediately know the cause, says attorney Lisa Guerin, co-author of Dealing with Problem Employees.

As a busy entrepreneur, you’ll need to make sure desired workplace behavior is clarified or reinforced for each new employee. Sometimes you’ll need patience if an unproductive employee behavior stems from troubles at home. In other cases, the problems are so undesirable and worrisome, the employer needs to take swift, effective action to stave off a major loss. Here are five types of problem employees and what to do about them.

1. The Poor Fit. Bibby Gignilliat, 51, chief executive of Parties that Cook in San Francisco, thought she had hired a winner but found her new employee’s customer-service skills far from polished. “She kept saying things were ‘awesome’ and ‘totally cool’ and she would use ‘like’ every other word, even after repeated coaching, making a bad impression on customers,” Gignilliat says.

Gignilliat’s business of hosting parties with cooking classes — for a corporation’s team building exercise or as a fun event at a private home — requires a sophisticated set of skills to be deployed all at once in the heat of the action. This capacity for deft on-the-job maneuvering is sometimes hard to glean from an initial hour or so interview.

Gignilliat now works with new employees for a three-month probationary period before determining whether she’ll hire them permanently. She has also set up an internship policy to try out employees before adding them to her staff.

Employers need to make sure their expectations are clear through written policies and performance reviews, Guerin says.

2. The Disappearing Act. Sometimes, problematic behavior crops up in connection with troubles emerging in an employee’s personal life. For example, several months after Pac Team America president Eric Zuckerman, 30, gave a new employee time off to recover from injuries in a car accident, she was arriving late to work, leaving early, and sometimes sneaking away at midday for long naps from his Paramus, N.J., merchandise display company. After unsuccessfully trying to discuss the problem with her several times to find solutions to accommodate her, he eventually had to fire her.

Spotty attendance might signal any of a range of issues, from a problem at home or job dissatisfaction, Guerin says. Talk with your employee privately to find out if she has encountered a difficult personal problem or faces a life transition, such as a relationship breakup or an ill parent’s turn for the worse, and express sympathy. You might want to refer the worker to an employee assistance program if your health-insurance plan offers one as part of its package, she says. Or you can enlist an EAP provider to create such a program for your business. An EAP provider might offer counseling services by phone for as low as $18 an employee a year. (Check a national directory ateap.sap.com.) To learn more about EAP programs, consult the website of theEmployee Assistance Society of North America.

Remember: Employees with a personal or family health issue may be eligible for certain types of leave, depending on the situation and the workplace’s state.

If your talk with the employee uncovers an underlying dissatisfaction with your company, consider if he is raising a workplace practice that could bear some improvement. Perhaps the vacation policy hasn’t been clearly laid out, and with summer approaching, he is becoming resentful. But if the chat reveals deep-seated dissatisfaction, perhaps the employee needs to consider adjusting his attitude or if the job is a good fit. You may have to remind the employee that chronic and unexplained absences will be treated according to your company’s written attendance disciplinary policy.

3. The Scofflaw: Randy Cohen, 46, thought he had hired a new employee who fit the energetic, open culture of his Austin, Texas, ticket brokerage, TicketCity. But soon the employee routinely ignored policy and procedures. Cohen found himself constantly correcting the young salesperson’s behavior so that he didn’t alienate customers. “He made the company a bunch of money, but he was a pain,” says Cohen. Over the past 21 years, Cohen says he’s had other employees who’ve bucked the rules, including drinking on the job.

Cohen now has a policy of “firing fast” when he finds an employee who isn’t willing to follow rules. Legally speaking, an employee who engages in reckless behavior, such as driving dangerously or drinking on the job, can leave the employer liable for the actions within the “course and scope of employment.” So, if you learn that an employee is behaving in a way that could put others at risk, immediately investigate the situation and impose discipline, if appropriate, Guerin says.

4. The Sour Apple: Negative employees who bad-mouth the company and its leadership to fellow employees and even customers can disrupt morale. Cohen found one in his ranks after learning about the naysayer from other employees. Eventually the person left the company, but he says he wouldn’t be as tolerant again. “Someone like that can really hurt morale,” he says.

Guerin suggests a frank discussion with negative employees. Avoid discussing personal characteristics, such as “you’re irresponsible and negative.” Instead, state the problem and then explain why it has to change. For example, “You complain about customers and work responsibilities. This is hurtful to customer relationships and morale and needs to stop. If you have a problem with your job or co-workers, follow our resolution policy for these issues.”

Discontented employees who bad-mouth the company and its leadership to fellow employees and even customers can take a toll. Any small company might, as part of its growing pains, have a slipup that’s more apparent to workers inside the company than outsiders. But excessive public grousing by an employee needs to be stopped.

5. The Filcher: Regardless of their diligence in pre-hire screening, employers occasionally discover illegal activity by their employees. Vonda White, 46, recalls having an unsettling feeling about an employee at her Tarpon Springs, Fla., insurance-brokerage firm Collegiate Risk Management. He demonstrated a negative attitude and seemed distant in his day-to-day dealings with her. Eventually she discovered he had copied the company’s database and was trying to help a friend launch a competing company, White says.

Whether there is an increase in shrinkage, the cash drawer doesn’t add up, or an employee is stealing valuable information, theft can threaten your company’s bottom line. Approach employee theft cases as whodunits — the evidence points to a problem but the culprit needs to be found, Guerin says. You may need to supervise employees more closely or install security systems to prevent theft. White installed software that prevents employees from copying large or multiple files. “Depending on the size of the theft, it might make sense to talk to a lawyer or loss management specialist to decide on a strategy,” Guerin says.

As a general rule, direct, clear communication is the key to dealing with most employee problems, says Guerin. Once you discover a problem, it’s critical to take action instead of letting it fester and get worse.

by Alexis Grant

The digital revolution may have changed the hiring game, but for most applicants, the resume is not dead.
Candidates can now expect to be Googled and scoped out on social media, but in most cases employers still want a resume to learn about your skills, experience, and career path. A resume also makes it easy for them to make the case for hiring you to colleagues or bosses.
Here are five common misconceptions about resumes and how you should approach them during your job search:
1. It has to fit on one page. We’ve all been told at one time or another to keep our resume to one page, but this old standard no longer holds true. If you have enough experience to highlight on two pages, go for it.
Of course, if you’re new to the workforce, one page should suffice. But now that resumes are often entered into an applicant-tracking system, it’s more important than ever to include keywords that help the system match you to appropriate positions — and you might need more space to do that. This is even more essential to workers in certain technical fields who need to list, for example, fluency in multiple technical languages.
So experienced applicants, if you need the room to show how you’re the best candidate for the position, don’t be afraid of that second page.
2. You need an objective statement. Objective are out, professional summaries are in. As our blogger Alison Green often points out, objectives often don’t help your case, and they have the potential to hurt it. Hiring managers want to know you’re passionate about working for their company, not any company that fits your vague description.
A professional summary, on the contrary, allows whoever’s recruiting you to understand what you have to offer in a quick skim. It’s also an opportunity to present your experience in a way that applies to your goals and the company’s goals. Don’t just summarize what you’ve done; take it a step further and show what you have to offer the company you want to work for.
“Companies who are interviewing you don’t care about your objective, they care about their objective,” says Tony Beshara, a recruiter and author of Unbeatable Resumes. He advises against both an objective and a summary on a resume and says job seekers should dive right into experience.
3. You have to include all of your past experience. A friend who’s looking for a new job after only a few months with her current company asked me recently whether she needs to include the last few months on her resume. Here’s what I told her: You don’t have to include anything on your resume. What you include is up to you.
Everything you write on your resume has to be true, of course, but omitting certain positions that won’t help you get your next job and replacing them with experience that will put you in a better light is not only acceptable, it’s smart. Your resume is your chance to tell your career story, so weave that story in a way that’s beneficial to you.
In this case, the friend would likely have to explain a gap in employment if she left off her most recent job, which might be a good reason to include it. But nothing has to be on your resume.
4. Once you send it in, you’re off the hook until you hear back. With a crowded job market, following up is more important than ever. Even if the company asks you not to follow up with a phone call or email, you have plenty of other options. Research the company on their website, LinkedIn, and Twitter, and look for ways to connect with employees. Figure out where those employees hang out online or in person. Contact them in a non-annoying way, establish what you have in common, and you might earn an “in” with the company.
You can also research the hiring manager specifically. And if the company has a Facebook page or Twitter feed, interact with them there. Your goal is to come across as interested and enthusiastic, but not desperate. Failing to follow up after submitting your resume is a sure-fire way to let it disappear into a black hole.
5. It has to look interesting to catch a hiring manager’s eye. Yes, you want your resume to be interesting, but more in content than appearance. Aside from the content you choose to include, the next most important aspect of your resume is that it’s easy to read. De-cluttering, or getting rid of experience that’s not relevant or necessary, is one way to do this. Another is to use bold type, bullets, and plenty of white space.
For the average position, your resume is in competition with 110 others, Beshara says. “If it doesn’t hit them in the mouth real fast by having what you’ve done and who you’ve done it for [front and center], it gets passed over,” he says. “They move onto the next one.”

How to Hire Great Employees (Not Great Applicants)

By Mel Kleiman

The Problem with Behavioral Interviewing

Just as typewriters and record players have given way to desktop computers and handheld media players, outmoded employee selection systems need to be reinvented to take advantage of our new understanding of how to select employees in the 21st century.

Although behavioral interviewing was initially developed by industrial psychologists back in the 1970s, it is still in widespread use today. Predictably, during these past 30 years, everyone looking for a job has learned to expect interviewers to ask them about their past behaviors.

Just as we all learned what our teachers wanted to hear from us in school, prospective employees learned to deliver the answers interviewers want to hear. Ask, “Tell me about a time you had to deal with a difficult customer,” and all but the dullest applicant immediately understands that customer service is paramount and will respond to the question accordingly.

Every job applicant with a basic understanding of the interview process now knows that the most critical interview questions will concern past behaviors. The reason so many unsatisfactory new hire decisions are made is due to the fatal flaw in this system – specific past behaviors during specific past events are all but impossible to document or verify.

The continued reliance on the validity of behavioral questions has led to too many hiring decisions based more on the applicant’s presentation skills rather than on the person’s ability to perform on the job.

Great Employees vs. Great Applicants

Start hiring great employees (instead of great applicants) by shifting the focus from past behaviors to verifiable experiences and achievements. Begin by using an interview built upon the following five, essential questions. (To gain a sense of their effectiveness, as you read each one, ask yourself how you would respond if you were the applicant.)

Essential Question #1: “Tell me what you learned from your very first paying job.”

This is the first question interviewers should ask because our earliest learning experiences set the patterns and expectations for later experiences. (Hiring Hint: The story makes a lot more sense when you hear it from the beginning. Follow this up by asking them to talk briefly about each successive job and what was learned at each.)

Essential Question #2: “Which work achievements or accomplishments to-date are you most proud of?”

The achievements we value most reveal both our strongest character traits and our strongest desires. Identifying these speaks volumes about the kind of employee the applicant can become. (Hiring Hint: The number of achievements or accomplishments is not as important as the motivations that drove it.)

Essential Question #3: “On a scale from zero to ten, how would you rate yourself as a (job title) and why?”

Because we seldom see ourselves as others see do, the specific number is not as important as the fact that you will be able to verify if the applicant’s number is higher, lower, or the same as perceived by the applicants former managers or supervisors when you check references. (Hiring Hint: Would you rather have an employee who undervalues or overvalues their contributions reporting to you?)

Essential Question #4: “When we contact your former manager to verify your employment, what will he or she tell me about your last performance review?”

The answer will tell you a great deal about the applicant’s actual on-the-job performance, ability to take direction, and efforts to improve. (Hiring Hint: Phrased this way, this question will elicit the truth from 99% of applicants. For further verification, if you decide to extend a job offer, then ask for a copy of that review.)

Essential Question #5: “What would you like to ask me about the job or our company?”

The answers to this one reveal the applicant’s concerns and motivators or simply point out basic job information (benefits, hours, policies) that have not yet been communicated. (Hiring Hint: Follow this up by allowing the applicant one or two more questions for even more insight.)

Between Questions #3 and #4, ask all the other questions you’ve developed that help determine if the candidate is a good fit for the job, the department, and the company. After the interview, verify what you learned with this achievement-based interviewing technique through evidence-based selection criteria: thorough reference and background checks.

The further you can move your interviews away from outdated behavioral techniques and toward achievement- and evidence-based selection, the quicker your hiring effectiveness will improve. Like that great philosopher of our time Dilbert said: “Eighty-percent of a manager’s job is hiring the right people. The other 20 percent is leaving them alone so they can do what you hired them for.”

It’s old wisdom: surround yourself with people better than yourself. But how? How do you know that the people you’re putting around you are actually better, and not just richer/smarter/better looking?

Now that you know I can do this, here’s my methodology so you can do this, too:

• Let go of judgment. The first step in recognizing talent is recognizing talent! You can only do this if you are able to put aside your own issues and prejudices and see others for who they are. ie, if you’re starving, any chef is a 4 star chef. You’ve got to be able to compensate for your own “schtick” when assessing others.
• Let go of ignorance. Sifting through the self-promoters to get to what’s real requires that you have some education about the world around you.
• Let go of jealousy. If you’re jealous of what they’ve got, you’ll feel it, they’ll feel it, and badness will be inevitable.
• Let go of need. Needing others is only fractionally better than being jealous of them. Needing people leads you to make demands. Which amps up the awkward and ends painfully.
• Let go of labels. Strong people don’t need anyone to define a relationship with labels because they’re able to figure it out on their own. Trying to label a relationship can scare a strong person off. (Not comfortable with ambiguity? Keep that to yourself.)
• Let go of doubt. Great people want people around them who are even better then themselves. If you don’t believe you belong, you don’t belong.
• Let go of control. Great people will do things you don’t understand and can’t explain. Insisting on living in a world you fully understand will keep you from experiencing people who can open you up to new and bigger ideas. Great people approach their worlds with innocence, wonder, and curiosity.
• Let go of you. Help the people around you shine brighter. The strong ones’ll keep you around and start feeding your gift back to you. (The weak ones will show their true colors by trying to take advantage or assuming malintent on your part—easy to deal with once you’re prepared for it.)
• Let go of work/life distinctions. When the relationship comes first, it’s sometimes difficult to know if it’s going to grow into friendship, business, or both. Especially with great people who jump from idea to idea with ease, and make no distinction between a project that makes money and one done for fun. Be profersonal.
• Let go of self-esteem. The thing about surrounding yourself with awesome is, you are always being challenged. It’s with love and support, but they’re challenges nonetheless, and you must win, without help, without cheating, without rationalizing. And when you don’t win, you must bounce back quickly and confidently because you don’t want to fail twice in a row.
• Let go of ego. You love that local band? Accept that you’re just one small part of their success, and help them get big anyway. Make it your goal to enjoy next year’s conversation with that girl who claims she “discovered” the band on the radio “last month.”
• Let go of negative. Awesome people fix things or laugh about them. They see no third option.
• Let go of safe. Surrounding yourself with extraordinary people guarantees one thing: change. Scary, risky, life-altering change. No-more-comfort-zone change. For instance, if I were the worlds’ best matchmaker and we were hanging out, I could find you your true love. When I did, would you be ready? Great people requires us to abandon the safe harbor of our routines.

Did you get it yet? Greatness happens when you let go. It’s the ultimate “stone soup;” you bring only your true self and all the other ingredients you think you need actually are provided by others when the time comes. It takes an incredible amount of self-confidence and faith to play this game—but I never did say it was easy.

That’s my recipe. I hope you can make it work for you!

Time … is your friend, not your enemy!

By Kevin Kalstad, CPC  | Gecko Hospitality

In the past 4 weeks I have seen not one, but two great candidates walk away from two great job offers / opportunities. True Story!

Both situations were with different candidates and clients, but in essence it all boiled down to time. In my opinion, the candidate’s lack of patience for the client’s needs cost them these jobs. We tell our candidates that these searches take time! If the job you are interviewing has a larger title and area of responsibility, it will take even more time.

How long might these searches take? From the time we get your resume, to when you might get an offer, these are generally how long these searches might take.

Assistant Manager and or Sous Chef: Six to Eight weeks

Chef and or General Manager: Eight to Twelve weeks.

District or Area Manager: Twelve to Thirty Six weeks.

Bottom –Line?

We would urge you to be patient with the process. We want to place the right candidate, with the right client. More than ever, great companies are truly counting the total cost of each and every new hire they make. Hang in there with us, and we will get you a great job with and excellent company!

Send us your resume today to start the process. We never charge a fee to you, our candidates.

Will They Stay or Will They Go? (Your Employees, That Is)

June 8th, 2011 :: Rieva Lesonsky

Are your employees going to stay with your business as the economy improves and more job opportunities arise? This is a crucial consideration for small businesses, who can ill afford the time it takes to lose the knowledge of key employees, or to find and train new workers to replace them.

Recent findings from Deloitte’s Talent Edge 2020 survey series, which polled more than 350 employees at large companies worldwide, give some insights into employee attitudes toward the workforce. What interested me about this study is that it’s not just the state of the economy, but the generation of the worker, that is affecting their outlook about their jobs. In other words, employees in different age ranges have different frustrations and needs that will affect whether they stay with their current employers or attempt to leave.

Deloitte found that many companies are failing to address the critical needs and potential frustrations of their employees, and often do not have a realistic picture of how employees see them. Since this survey was targeted at big companies, this means opportunity for your business to address the issues that big firms are not.

The report found that employees aren’t waiting for things to improve—they are already actively testing the job market. Only 35% of employees surveyed expect to remain with their current employers, while nearly two out of three (65%) want to leave their current employers.

What are they looking for? Among employees surveyed who are actively or passively seeking out new employers, 53% say the prospect of job advancement or promotion would convince them to stay with their current employers. But there are some significant differences among generations when it comes to what triggers employees to stay or leave.

Baby Boomers expressed the greatest discontent with their employers. They were frustrated that their loyalty and hard work has been neither recognized nor rewarded. Nearly one-third (32%) of Baby Boomers also cited lack of trust in leadership as a key turnover trigger. In fact, this was their top-ranked reason to leave a job, and the highest percentage of any generation citing this issue.

While Boomers may be unhappy, Generation X employees are the most likely group to actually be considering exit from their current jobs. Only 28% of surveyed Gen Xers say they plan to stay with their current employers. What’s the biggest turnover trigger for them? Lack of career progress, cited by 65%. Generation X is at the time of life when they want to see forward movement.

Millennials’ idea of a good workplace differs sharply from the other generations. They are more likely to consider their employers’ commitment to “corporate responsibility/volunteerism” and a “fun work environment” important.

What do employees think of their workplace? Very few employees described their employers’ overall retention efforts as “world-class” or even “very good.” However, survey results show that employers who make an effort to keep their employees satisfied will be rewarded with employees who are far more likely to remain in their jobs.

I have been working on some great searches the past few weeks, and have come across an interesting pattern.

The companies I work with do not want resumes from candidates that are on career boards and job sites. That is such a different expectation from what most of you understand. They want to see and hear about great industry leaders that are not on these job sites. They want to have me present fresh and intriguing candidates.  Candidates they and their competitors have not seen.

Every employer has access to these sites. It has been heard that some employers are regularly viewing these sites not so much for new talent, but to see who on their current team may be “out looking for a job”.  Be very careful!

Another interesting phenomenon as of late is that if candidates are on an employer’s site posting for jobs, and they want to delete that online profile, they cannot in some cases. So, once you apply, you are in their tracking system indefinitely. What does that matter you say, well just this week I had some great candidates I wanted to take before a client for some great positions, but because they had already applied into the company’s database, they could not be presented. Could they still be reviewed by that client and hired, sure. But, your resume is in a huge and burgeoning system with thousands of other candidates. You are just a name and number. It will be very hard for you to get noticed, it at all.

However, if you use our services [never a fee to you], you will have a Gecko professional be your advocate in front of these companies. We take your resume right to the decision maker. These decision makers are taking our candidates and our word that these candidates are high quality industry leaders. We at Gecko have done our homework, and present you in a great light. We get through all the “noise” and to the top.

Give it a try, take you resume offline, stop applying to every little opening you see, and send us your resume today. You will not regret it.

Kevin Kalstad — Gecko Hospitality

“Don’t burn a bridge” and “Finish strong”

We have all heard the term “Don’t burn a bride”. Now more than ever, this term is vitally important as you are considering a job change.

With potentially hundreds of candidates vying for the same job opening, the job will most likely get offered to someone who has not “burned a bridge”.

Over the past few months I have heard different ways that people have “burned bridges”. These are real-life and current examples.

• A manager sent his boss a text message he was quitting without notice.
• A manager left a note that he was quitting on the desk in the mangers office with his keys, and quit.
• A manager took a hard-line stand and made comments about Senior Managers after several hourly team members were let go by those Senior Managers.
• And of course, the no call, no show. This is where someone just abandons their job, but never showing up to work for their shift.

Now each of these people have told me reasons for why they left their companies the way they did, but is anything that bad that you need to leave your employer this way? [Note: Of course there are ethical, and legal matters that may lead you to leave abruptly, even then, you can involve your HR department or senior level leaders in your company to get protected if the matter is that serious or harmful.]

Do you really want to be tainted with the reputation of leaving an employer this way? Do you really understand what you are about to do, and set into motion by leaving like this?

So, how do you avoid “burning a bride”? How do you protect your priceless reputation and career during a job change?

Here are a few things that should help, and help you “finish strong”.

1.       Before you even consider leaving, understand your options and count the cost of leaving.

2.       If you do decide to get a new job, start by getting a great recruiter [Like Gecko Hospitality] working for you, and representing you. We have the best job orders, and we have the direct connections to the decision-makers to your new potential employer[s].

3.       Once you get a recruiter retained, let us do the work for you. Concentrate on your job. We know how busy you are, and you need to ensure you are focused to your current job and your current employer.

4.       When we get an offer for you, and a new job lined up, you need to give you employer a written letter of resignation. You should give this to your direct report [boss] in person, and talk about it. Be prepared for potential high emotions, and being talked out of leaving. What is important is that you have taken the time to write you resignation; you are prepared to intelligently talk about it, and believe in it.

5.       Once your notice has been given, and accepted, agree upon a last date of your employment. Be flexible and helpful if your current employer needs a few more days than you gave. We will work with your new employer to coordinate your start date. Do not be worried that your new employer will be mad or upset if you need a few more days to finish strong with your current employer. Most likely your actions and desire to take care of your current company will speak volumes about your character, and who you are.

6.       As you wind down your final days, stay focused to caring for your guests, your team, and your owner’s interests.

How can this all be summed up?

Two words, “Finish Strong”!

Very few employers will remember your first day, but they always remember your last day.

I will say it again, “Finish Strong”!

Kevin Kalstad — Gecko Hopitality

Looking to hire? Don’t ask for the impossible

With more job candidates out there, employers are getting picky, sending their recruiters out on endless (and fruitless) missions. Here are a few ways to get the best out of a recruiter.

By Stephenie Overman, contributor

CNN Money

It’s a buyer’s market for companies looking to hire, but managers aren’t giving recruiters high marks for the candidates they are delivering.

Only one in three managers who have hiring authority is satisfied with the influence recruiting has on their business, according to the Corporate Leadership Council Recruiting research service.

It’s easy to blame recruiters, both in-house and external, says Todd Safferstone, managing director of CLC Recruiting. Managers “think recruiting should be a cakewalk” because the market is teeming with candidates.

“Haystacks are bigger, but the number of needles is largely unchanged. Hiring managers won’t be able to cut through those haystacks on their own,” Safferstone says.

It is true that “active candidates are loving organizations to death right now. It’s spray and pray” when it comes to sending out resumes, he says. CLC Recruiting reports that between 2007 and 2010 the average number of applicants increased by 128%.

However, that surfeit can lure managers into demanding “purple unicorns,” candidates with qualifications that go far beyond what’s required, Safferstone says.

Ed Davis, former head of staffing for United Airlines and ConAgra Foods (CAG), is familiar with the problem. “In a market where there appears to be a surplus, the common mistake is to tack on too many unnecessary requirements.”

If you’re planning to hire someone, you need to clearly identify the skills that are crucial for that position, Davis says. How will you define success in the job? What are the truly necessary leadership and technical skills?

“When you layer those [extra] things on, it’s like looking for a needle in a haystack. It may take longer to get [the new employee] and is what you ultimately end up getting really what you need for on-the-job success?”

Recruiters who just nod their heads and agree to hunt for purple unicorns aren’t doing you any favors, says Safferstone. And those “who want recruiters who are order takers are likely to get lower quality candidates … at greater expense.”

Instead of a complacent order taker, you want to a recruiter who makes you a little uncomfortable, Safferstone says. “The best recruiters ask the most non-obvious questions: Do you need to hire someone?  Tell me what the day-to-day experience is going to be.”

John Vlastelica, managing director for Recruiting Toolbox, Inc., a Seattle-based consulting firm, believes that once you make a decision to hire someone, you should expect a good recruiter to set up a 30 to 60-minute strategy meeting “to discuss how to find, engage and sell candidates who fit the profile, identify quality (not just available!) interviewers who can help to assess and sell candidates, and discuss things like compensation, relocation assistance, immigration, and the overall process,” Vlastelica says in an email.

The best recruiters might expect even more of your time, says Vlastelica. Although a great recruiter “can get an A-player on the hook,” you’re the one who will need to reel that candidate in.  ”A-players need to experience the investment a hiring manager makes in them as a candidate, as it tells them volumes about how good — or how bad — it may be to work for that same manager once hired.”

If it’s so difficult to get what you need from recruiters, should you just do it yourself?

No, it takes far too much time to locate good candidates and screen them when that’s not part of your day-to-day job, Davis says. Recruiters “know where the talent is. They know how to access talent in a way that’s efficient and legally compliant.”

The best recruiters have deep knowledge on both the state of the demand for talent and the available talent, according to Safferstone. That knowledge allows a recruiter “to say that finding an accountant who speaks five languages is never going to happen at what you are willing to pay, with the quality you want, in the timeframe you want.”

These recruiters “really know what they’re talking about. They’ve earned the right to challenge the hiring manager.”

If a recruiter you work with hasn’t stepped up, spell things out, Safferstone says. It’s best to say “here’s exactly what I need [and] why I need it.”

If you feel the recruiter can’t meet the challenge, you may need to raise the issue with the head of recruiting or human resources.

But before you do that, Safferstone recommends talking with the person who is most in tune with the current recruiting situation. That person, perhaps a more senior manager or head of HR, “might be able to give you a reality check” on whether your expectations are reasonable.

Be fair — make sure you haven’t been giving the recruiter a moving target. “A lot of recruiters report [that] managers have difficulty sticking to the original job description. They keep changing requirements, Safferstone says.”

And when it comes time to decide, decide.

“Dithering on the decision can be really dangerous,” Safferstone says.

Managers who take their time shopping around should understand that the best candidates will slip away.

“Every day you delay, the quality-of-hire ticks down. Most business managers recognize the point of diminishing returns, but they don’t tend to recognize that in hiring.”

It never ceases to amaze me how many times when speaking with potential candidates and discussing the different job openings I have available, someone says “go ahead and send me into XYZ Company”. I then ask them what they know about the company and they say “I really don’t know anything about them”. My response is usually at that point, “how can you know if you want to work for a company that you know nothing about?” I will usually give them some basic background knowledge and information, but I always make sure to tell them to go online and do some research about the company to see of it is going to be a fit for your style and culturally. Once you know about the concept and if you are still interested, then we will move forward in the process. But DO YOUR HOMEWORK FIRST! This is the only way you can make an intelligent decision when the time comes and an offer is made.
Also, it is very important just prior to any interview that you take the time to go over the company website of who you are interviewing with so that their information is fresh in your mind. You should know as much about the company as is possible to find out online. Things such as important people within the organization, if it is a publicly traded company the financial track record, the menu, current marketing and advertising campaigns, the company history, unit locations, new store openings, etc.
Most interviewers will ask at some point during the interview “what do you know about our company?” or “why do you want to work for XYZ?” If you have not done your homework and you go into the interview with little to no knowledge, it will show glaringly during this question and answer stage. This is the one point in the interview where you can really make a great impression and shine and show how much you really want the position by impressing the interviewer with your knowledge about the company. If you have a great answer to this question and can answer it with confidence, intelligently and with enthusiasm, this can be the answer that puts you over the top in the mind of the interviewer. Conversely, if you do poorly in conveying any standard knowledge about the company, it most likely will cause the interviewer to cut the interview short as they will think you do not have a genuine interest in them as a career choice, but rather just in need of a job. So make sure that you take the time before considering any company, that you do your homework, before deciding whether to pursue them. And more importantly, DO YOUR HOMEWORK prior to any interview to insure that you are set up for success. Remember, the more preparation you put into an interview, the more your chances of success. And make sure you have some questions prepared ahead of time that asks about the company and its culture and its people.
If you follow these guidelines, you should expect to have good results.

Good Luck!