The Serum That Eliminates Mis-Hires

Most C-Players know they can get away with faking resumes and interviews because reference checks are superficial

According to the Harvard Business Review, as much as 80% of employee turnover stems from bad hiring decisions. Most organizations hire Top Performers or A-Players at the very low rate of only 25% of the time. In the process, wasting millions of dollars and losing valuable time by hiring and leading low performers or B-Players. Both the dollars and time are scarce resources that can be put to better use.

Intuitively, you know that you want A-Players. They “carry” the company, while C-Players suck the creative and positive energy out of the company.

We spoke with over 100 Presales Leaders to identify the qualities, behaviors and experiences they look for during the interview process. They include:

• Having the right mix of interpersonal and technical expertise.
• Can dig into the customer’s pain during the discovery call and ask 2nd and 3rd level questions to understand the core issue.
• Articulating concrete examples of successfully leading deals to a close.
• Aligning the business outcome with the technology.
• The ability to present and own a room.

 Digging deeper, we found that SE Leaders are looking for:

A Growth Mindset:

• The capacity to handle the SE sprint of activities (multiple PoC’s, presentations, etc.).
• Take ownership of deals and run with them.
• A willingness to admit their limitations and say “I don’t know”.
• Contribute without being asked and self-manage their work. 
• Demonstrates a lot of capabilities and initiative.

Closing Deals

• Articulate the business consequence from the customer’s perspective.
• An aptitude to work in ambiguity; especially for platform sales where SE's end up working in the grey areas.
• Put their ego aside in customer meetings to lead customers on a journey; and not the need to be the smartest one in the room and have to correct the customer.
• Empathy, relate on an emotional level to the prospects pain and an ability to deal with disgruntled customers.
• Detail how they have been tied to an inferior product and were able to overcome it.

Curiosity

• An understanding of the SE’s approach to learning and examples of how they have enabled themselves throughout their career. 
• Have they grown their span of interest vs going deeper into their levels of expertise?
• A passion for technology and solving problems.
• Does not rely on the company to teach them new skills…constantly learning.

 Culture

• Have performed at a high level in an environment similar to the norms and expectations of the team/company.
• Share experiences and knowledge (no one works alone).
• An ability to work with a multitude of Account Executive personalities.
• Can gain the trust of the team and customers.
• Is authentic and will put the team’s objectives first.

In the end, a cultural fit that aligns with the company’s behavioral customs.

If every Presales Leader knows the qualities and experiences they are looking for, why are only 25% of the hires Top Performers?  

Four issues that cause Mis-Hires in the interview process:

1. Dishonesty - by low-performing candidates that fake resumes and interviews.
2. Insufficient information – you will never understand the true impact of a candidate during 30 minute behavioral interviews.
3. Lack of verifiable achievements or just not validating them.
4. Stakeholders incorporating their bias.

Eliminating Lies - Yes, lies on resumes and in the interview process are a problem. A survey by CareerBuilder.com found that out of 2,000 people, 58% of the candidates lied on their resume. The study showed that prior to the recession, only 33% of interviewers took more than 2 minutes to read resumes. Due to the rampant lying, that figure has rose to 42%.

Lying happens everywhere. A recent investigation by NBC News found that a State Department Official, Mina Chang, invented a role on a U.N. panel, and even published a faked photo of herself being on the cover of Time magazine to get the job she wanted.

She was being considered for an even bigger government job, one with a budget of more than $1 billion, until Congress started asking questions about her résumé. To get scam artist's out of your interview process you need a "Truth Serum".

The Truth Serum

There are ways to eliminate the lies and allow you to consistently hire A-Players. Dr. Brad Smart, author of Topgrading states that the most effective part of the Topgrading process is the "Truth Serum", which has worked to scare away undesirable candidates for decades (and no, you don't need Sodium Pentothal).

It is a simple step that has a proven track record of success over the last 30 years. Your application form needs to inform candidates that a final step in hiring is for THE APPLICANT (not you) to arrange reference calls with former bosses and others.

In addition, Topgrading interviews ask for their prior managers ratings. If candidates know that they have to arrange reference calls, studies have found that the information candidates provide is incredibly accurate.

Use the “Truth Serum,” which for more than three decades has motivated all candidates, even the C-Players, to tell you the whole truth in interviews. As mentioned above, at every step in the hiring process, remind candidates that a final step before receiving a job offer is for THEM to arrange reference calls with former bosses and others.

You’ll find that when you inject the “Truth Serum,” into the process, most C-Players will drop out (because they likely faked their resumes) and A-Players will happily arrange those reference calls.

When candidates fill out their application, (or a Topgrading Career History Form), the "Truth Serum" on the application ask's for honest prior manager rating and much more. This form produces an overview snapshot of each candidate to screen out weaker candidates.

Recruit a tandem interviewer to do these interviews with you, even if they are via video, two minds are a much better than one. You will learn a lot by watching a candidate while your counter interviewer asks questions.

Conduct reference calls with former managers. Ask the candidate to arrange the calls and you and your tandem interviewer talk with those former bosses. Prior managers are much more receptive to the call when the candidate setup up the call.

This process more than triples successful hiring because it solves the biggest problems that account for 75% Mis-Hires...lying.

----

Are you ready to take your leadership career to the next level and build high performing teams? You can start by booking a Strategy call with me HERE. No need to use us on a search.

Steven Shaffer is the Founder/President of GRN Beachwood, Ranked by Forbes Magazine as a Top 20 Executive Recruiting Firm. Follow us on LinkedIn or at Global Recruiters of Beachwood.