StartUp Growth Expert » Business Growth

10 Recruiting Websites Online

admin — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 08:30:39 +0000

The success of a business depends a lot on the quality of it’s employees. Attracting and keeping quality employees is a huge challenge for most businesses. Once a business decides that there is an open position, how do businesses go about promoting this position? Some companies use recruitment firms, but recruitment firms are expensive and NOT always reliable. Another option is your local newspaper or the hundreds of online recruiting sites that have sprung up. Here is a list of ten online recruiting sites that you may use to promote your job openings.

1. Monster.com

Monster.com is undoubtedly the largest job search website and it reaches every nook and corner of the world. The unique feature of this site is “International Search” which will net you opportunities from all corners of the globe. Other important aspects of the Monster website is the free ‘home page’, resume posting, and a variety of ‘career tools’ which enable candidates to find jobs that suit their interests and skills.

2. Jobs.com

Like Monster, Jobs.com is a site with a unique feature to search jobs internationally. Other major features are ‘additional search options’ where you can search any country whether it is the Middle East, United Kingdom or the Pacific. Job.com also publishes the resumes for the employers to view and has more than 70,000 listings.

3. HotJobs

Yahoo! Hotjobs is another popular website that has earned popularity among job seekers. As it is a Yahoo site it has the ‘look and feel’ of Yahoo besides good content, which is the speciality of Yahoo. Other important aspects are tools like Yahoo answers and a lot of articles. The powerful search engine gets you hundreds of listings from all over the world.

4. Net Temps

Temporary workers will find it easy to use Net-Temps website. The website is almost similar to other job search websites with an additional feature allowing job seekers to filter the search results on the basis of temporary or full-time work. Many job seekers just want a job to pay the bills but the only difference between full-time workers and freelancers is the period of work.

5. Indeed

The jobsite gives you a list of jobs from various other websites similar to what Dogpile provides – a list of results from search engines like Yahoo and Google. The search results are from job recruiting sites like CareerBuilder, Monster, and Hotjobs as well as individual employer websites.

6. CareerBuilder

CareerBuilder is another popular job search website. CareerBuilder has all the features of Hotjobs and Monster like resume posting, ‘job alerts’, searching jobs by industry/company/country/place.

7. All Job Search

Another website with a meta-search engine is AllJobSearch. This website can search through multiple sources and the search reaches almost 300 newsgroups, 200 websites and more than 500 newspapers. The service covers countries like UK, Canada and U.S. However, one disadvantage of AllJobSearch is that it gives you a list of outside links like Monster or Hotjobs and will search that particular link with your job search terms. It’s time saving, the results are not as expected and hence many people do not use this website.

8. Simply Hired

SimplyHired attracts a lot of first time job seekers. SimplyHired has a ‘tools’ section with tools like salary information, trend research which is available based on occupation and location. SimplyHired also provides information through email alerts.

9. College Recruiter

With the trend in recruiting changing, a lot of the companies advertise their entry-level positions in college career centers. Some employers advertise these positions only with universities. CollegeRecruiter is one of the websites that has a network of more than 11,000 career sites including those of military offices, universities and colleges. This is a website that is most suited to employers who are looking to hire for entry level positions.

10. StartUpGrowthExpert.com/jobs

This is the jobs section of StartUp Growth Expert. This is ideally suited for employers who are looking to hire entrepreneurial employees. On this site, you may also seek out investors, joint-venture partners and freelancers.

Feel free to list any of your favorite recruiting websites in the comments section below.

Why Improving Your Business Signage Is a Must

admin — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 23:15:50 +0000

Award-Winning Orange County Signs Maker Martin Neil explains how your Business Signage can transform your brand.

Having an attention-getting sign is critical for any business – no matter the industry. Your business signage identifies your business and location and it establishes your business image. Your business signage is the core of your brand identity strategy, whether it is proudly mounted on the building, on your booth or display at a trade show, or on your company vehicles.

It’s also the most cost-effective advertising you can do. The Small Business Administration says, “…signs are the most effective, yet least expensive form of advertising for the small business.” Building signage is often taken for granted, but signs are always on the job, advertising 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

How Improved Business Signage Will Help You Brand Your Company, Communicate with a Highly-Mobile Society & Leverage Your Advertising Efforts.

1 Your business signage is the only indicator that you exist and would like your prospect’s patronage.

2 A frequently-noticed business sign sends your message to more people per dollar invested than any other form of advertising. For example, if you display a $200 sign for one year at a location where 10,000 cars pass every day, you’ve reached over 3.5 million people (not counting passengers), at a cost per person of less than $.000057. (Less than six hundred-thousandths of a dollar.) Even a high-end, lighted or monument sign that costs $5000, still reaches those people at a cost of $.0014, or a little over a tenth of a cent each.

3 95% of retail business is location-based. As consumers pass by your place of business, an attractive and effective on-premise sign will leave a positive impression. When the time comes to make a decision or purchase, consumers will be attracted to you.

4 About 40 million Americans move annually to a new home, all needing to buy goods and services, and looking for brands that stand out.

5 Enhanced sign technology allows sign faces to be easily changed to match evolving marketing circumstances. New developments in lighting, plastics, digital printing resolution, and color profiling mean signs can now achieve the same visual effect as four-color magazine advertising.

6 Your company does not need to be a national franchise with a major advertising budget to “brand” your site with effective signage. If appropriately designed and placed, your sign can develop top-of-mind awareness of your products and services, no matter the size of your business.

7 Many communities and cities have strict sign codes requiring that signage remains attractive and in harmony with the look and feel of the community, while encouraging business activities. Advances in sign design and technology means that via signage, your company can communicate more effectively to potential customers in a way that enhances both your site and the community at large.

8 Purchase habits can be influenced with effective signage. Pricing or product information can influence a purchase decision or prompt an unplanned stop, which is critical, since nearly all businesses rely in part on impulse visits.

9 A well-designed sign can provide a positive perception of quality and service and create the image of a leader, even for the smaller business. For the national franchise or chain, on-premise signage reinforces all other media advertising, and maximizes advertising effectiveness at a low cost.

10 By adding your business signage to your car and “wrapping” your company vehicles with striking vinyl, you can generate over 600 visual impressions for every mile driven At about $0.35 per thousand impressions for a typical vehicle wrap, the cost is almost trivial compared to $3.56 for outdoor advertising or over $20.00 for typical magazine advertising.

About the Author

Orange County Business Signs Specialist Martin Neil contributes value to businesses and non-profit organizations across the United States by increasing their brand awareness with the very best sign solutions. He specializes in custom requirements for commercial building signage, vehicle wraps, office inside signage, trade show displays, promotional banners & flags, and large-size wall graphics. Improve your business signage by going to: http://www.Calibersi.com/Building-Signage.html

Image: thephotoholic / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

The Importance of Goal Setting

admin — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 11:24:50 +0000

In this interview Gary Ryan Blair, popularly known as the Goals Guy talks about the importance of goal setting and how setting (or not setting) goals affects us in our day-to-day lives.

This is part 2 of the interview with Gary Ryan Blair. If you want to read part 1 of the interview, please click here.

Vinil: How important is goal setting? I would assume that goal setting is part of the personal planning process right?

Gary: It is. It’s a huge part. As a matter of fact, I call it the centre of gravity. There’s a term in the military. I’ve been working with a number of different branches of government for years now and it’s actually called a centre of gravity. What it means is when a general goes in and builds a battle plan they ask, what is the centre of gravity? It’s one of three things: It’s a person, it’s a place or it’s a thing. Concentrate on this for a minute. It’s a person, a place, a thing. Well, what I want to get as it relates towards an individual is that I want you to equate your centre of gravity. It’s almost like your heartbeat. If your heart were not beating what kind of shape would you be in physically? And, the answer is very simple: you’d be non-existent. You’d be road kill, history.

Whatever word you want to use! And the exact same thing is true when it comes to your own life. Without goals, you are effectively toast. You are a competitive liability. You are of no value to your organization. And, quite frankly, you’re NOT doing all that much with your life. Your goals give meaning, it gives direction, it provides you with some sense of significance that you’re doing something of value. So, we all need to have some sense of goal direction on a day-to-day basis.

Vinil: If goal setting is so important why don’t more people set goals and why isn’t it taught in schools and universities? I’ve been to college for four years, no one told me about goal setting and that’s the case with most individuals who go through college. They’ve never been taught goal setting. What do you think are the primary reasons for that?

Gary: It’s a very good point. It’s one that’s bugged me for quite some time and I agree. With an advanced degree I’ve never learned the lesson myself. I really can’t answer the question as to why it’s not in the school system. It’s just not there because no one gives you a direct answer. But it’s a life skill. I’ve always basically said that there should be a course called “Cause and Effect 101” which basically shows people how to effectuate a result – how to go from intention to outcome to success as quickly as possible. And, we just don’t see that happen.

Here’s the deal: Most people are what I call functionally illiterate when it comes to goal setting. You know the subject matter may not seem overly sexy or interesting to folks but quite frankly there’s nothing more important in your life than knowing exactly what it is you want, why you want it and how you’re going to achieve it and on what day success is going to be and victory is going to be enjoyed. But when I talk about the illiterate concepts, some people are illiterate when it comes to reading. Some people are financially illiterate; they have no idea about investing their money. Some people are illiterate when it comes to running a business. Some when it comes to raising kids. And as a result of that they make a lot of mistakes. They screw themselves up or maybe even screw their family up because they have no skill sets. My whole aim in life is to teach people the literacy skills.

If you will associate with goal setting and unless you are taught, unless it’s modeled, unless you are consistently doing it, unless you’re in an environment where goal directed behavior in continually reinforced and rewarded you could flounder your entire life. I’ve seen people and I get emails every day from people of sixty, seventy, eighty years old saying I have no idea what I want to do with my life. I have no idea how to set goals.

Vinil: Everybody talks about goals being realistic. But isn’t realistic a relative term? How do you set a goal? Like what are the step-by-step procedures to set a goal?

Gary: Well, it’s actually very straightforward. Here’s the way that the whole thing works. I use a metaphor. And it’s a very simple one and I chose a simple one to get this point across. Think about a cookbook for just a moment. And to me a cookbook is the best success manual you’ll ever have in your life. And to understand a cookbook you have to understand something like a McDonalds, Burger King or Wendy’s for just a moment. And to become a franchise owner for McDonalds is going to cost you approximately a million dollars. And when you ask: “Well, what do you get for that million dollars?” They’ll say, well you get this, you get that, you get the distribution channel, you know the uh, the oil, the fries, the system and everything else. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Bottom line is truly what you get, is you get a big, fat recipe book.

You get a proven set of systems that have been documented, tested, proven, validated, put down in writing and they tell you: this will lead you to the promised land. That your success is absolutely, positively guaranteed if you follow this plan. So you’re buying a proven success system.

Well, if we were to take that and take that million dollars and condense it down to let’s say fifteen dollars, go into any Borders or Barnes and Nobles and pick yourself up a cookbook. Because that’s exactly the same thing. And this is the way that you should run your life.

When you open up the cookbook there’s five things you want to look for. Number one: there’s a gorgeous full color picture. That picture represents the future. That represents the ideal state. It represents what it is that you are trying to create. The same way that you see that roast beef, that pot roast, that soufflé, with absolute clarity is the exact same thing you need to be able to see in your own life. You need that type of clarity.

Number two, there’s a sequence. You’ll notice there’s a step one, a step two, three, four and five. In the same way that if I were to teach you a meringue, if I were to show you how to open up a combination lock, there’s a sequence. If you’re going to dial a phone number, there’s a sequence to numbers in order to get an outcome. What we need to be able to do is to understand and develop a sequence, a set of steps. Unfortunately, one of the biggest problems in life is most people are absolutely absent. Or should we say, they’re just out to lunch when it comes to this concept. They want to arrive without having made the trip. They want to get the six-pack without having to do the sit-ups nor eating properly or going out and doing a proper cardio. They want to be successful and rich and drive a wonderful car but they don’t want to necessarily have to pay the price of doing the hard work associated with it. So everything is out of sequence with people. As a result, they’ll never get the things that they want.

The ingredients in a cookbook are very precise. And this is where your goals come in. You can’t say, “I just want to make more money. I want to lose some weight. I want to get in a better relationship.” Those are not goals. Essentially what you’re listening to is somebody whose about to fail big time. Those are ambiguous statements that have no substantive value at all. I want to know that you’re going to do to increase your income by 15 percent in the next 16 months. I want to know that you‘re going to do to increase sales by 17 percent with this specific product and how you’re going to drive your profit margin by 22 percent.

You know, that’s a specific target that I can get my mind around. The fourth thing is that there’s a measurable component. In a cookbook you’ll notice if you look at it, those ingredients will tell you as I said they’ll be specific. It’ll tell you, you need eggs, you need butter, cream, whatever. But they’re also going to tell you you’ll need two eggs. you need a quart, you need a pint, you need a tablespoon. Whatever the ingredient happens to be. But there’s a measurable component associated with it so you can know if you’re doing it correctly.

Well, the measurement system, in the same way that the Yankees or HIG Capital have a measurement system. You turn on the game, you’ll see a scoreboard. The scoreboard tells you if you’re winning, losing or tied. And if it’s late in the game and you’re losing, guess what? You’ve got to get much more aggressive and change your strategy and your tactics. And most people again, just don’t understand how to do this. And the last thing that you need in terms of effectively achieving your goals, is you need a deadline.

For a recipe book, it will be time and temperature. Because when it comes to your goals and I don’t mean to hurt anyone’s feelings with what I’m about to say, but when it comes to your goals and your vision for your future, things that you want to do for yourself and your family, no one cares. No one has a vested interest. And, quite frankly, you do not give anyone any interest or any inkling to be concerned about your future if you don’t demonstrate a sense of urgency and don’t start setting deadlines on the goals you want to achieve.

And that’s the critical component: The important use of deadlines. So, quick summary: Those are the five things that are necessary.

This is part 2 of Gary Ryan Blair’s interview on Goal Setting. If you want to read part 1 of the interview, please click here.

About Gary Ryan Blair

Gary Ryan Blair is the author of the best selling book “Everything Counts: 52 remarkable ways to inspire excellence and drive results”. His handbooks, training programs and consulting services are field-tested and used by more than 80,000 organizations and 4 million employees worldwide. His latest program the 100 day challenge has been a best seller helping people from all over the world.

Interview with Goals Guy – Gary Ryan Blair : Part 1

admin — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 10:23:33 +0000

This is an interview with Gary Ryan Blair often referred to as the “Goals Guy.” He is the author of the best selling book “Everything Counts: 52 remarkable ways to inspire excellence and drive results”. In this interview he talks about how people should consciously create a personal strategic plan for themselves just like how major corporations do. His handbooks, training programs and consulting services are field-tested and used by more than 80,000 organizations and 4 million employees worldwide.

Vinil: Gary, I want to start by asking you about your training program: “The Personal Strategic Plan”. What is “The Personal Strategic Plan” and why do you need one?

Gary: You know…very simple concept. It’s based on the work I’ve done for corporate America for a number of decades now. And, I’ve been doing strategic planning at the highest level, very successfully by the way and I came across the idea that the exact same principles that I actually teach and share and implement with my corporate clients could be adapted towards an individual.

So if you look at it, what does a highly successful organization have? Well, they’ve got a very robust and a very strong vision for the future.

Every individual needs to be able to do that. They’ve got an over-riding mission that really helps them conceptualize their core goals. They’ve got a structure in place, a set of systems and ways they go about setting and achieving their goals. Systems that they will implement in order to effect outcomes. Obviously, they’re going to be driven by deadlines, measurement systems and everything else. And I just took the same exact concepts and re-engineered them so that it would work towards an individual’s life. And everybody, quite frankly, could benefit from having a good, solid plan for the future.

Vinil: What if you’re an employee in an organization? I meet people who say: “Well, I go to my job, I do what my boss tells me to do. So how is this plan actually going to help me? Why do I even need a plan? I just show up to work. I leave at 5 P.M. and I do whatever my boss tells me to do.” How do you answer that question?

Gary: Well, the first thing I would say is that’s a pretty frightening attitude if that’s the way someone would take it. In this day and age that attitude quite frankly is no longer acceptable. I’d say in a previous decade and even before that, going back and you know quite frankly for the entire working regimen that would have been fine. But nowadays, everybody and I emphasize everybody needs to look at themselves as an entrepreneur.

Quite frankly they need to develop and have a plan in place for their own skill sets for their own future. They’ve got to have a vision for themselves. They’ve got to make sure that they’re in control of their own future rather than just being absent in the direction of their future and letting somebody else do that for them.

Vinil: Does this plan need to be written? Because I meet people who say “ I have a plan”. And, when you tell them “Show me your plan,” they say, “It’s in my mind.” So, does this plan need to be written?

Gary: I’ll make it very simple. Your mind is blessed with permanent memory but it’s cursed with lousy recall. And an example very simply is this: Let’s just say that you’re going to go to the supermarket and you have a list of twenty items you wanted to get. We’ve all had this experience. Where somewhere between the green peas and the corn or the cereal, your brain takes a vacation: You can’t remember what on earth you went in the store for.

And of course you wind up coming home and you forget a number of items and you have some extra ones you didn’t plan on getting. When you unpack the bags all of a sudden you have perfect clarity. You remember suddenly: “Oh goodness, I forgot this is what I should have done, or needed to pick up”. Well, your mind is exactly the same way, but quite frankly, gets even more complex. If you just try to process everything and solve problems and plan for your future in your mind. You know the phone rings, there’s interruptions there’s email. There’s a whole host of different things that are constantly fighting and challenging for your focus. There’s no way you’re going to be able to do that. So the written process helps you to clarify your thinking. It helps you to objectify on paper, black and white and facts and figures and it removes the emotional connection and just look at it almost as if you were a third person. Look at the facts, the figures, the strengths, the weaknesses of the situation and then base your strategy moving forward based on your current data. And that’s not a process you can do in your head.

Vinil: What if somebody does not have a purpose? I meet people who say: “I want to do something with my life. But I’m not sure what I want to do. I don’t have a purpose yet. I don’t have a passion yet.” How would you answer that question?

Gary: There are a couple of parts to it. Let me talk about why it’s so important how this whole thing works. And then what happens if you don’t have it. Well, first let’s just look at your body for a moment. I think this is very, very important. You know, everything in your body, the way God created it has a specific purpose. Your eyes have a purpose, your nose has a purpose, your fingers, the skin on your body, your fingernails and toenails, your lungs, your small intestine, everything has a definitive purpose the way with which it was constructed.

Now, there were three things we were gifted at birth that we need to give purpose to. It’s what we think, it’s what we say and what we do. People think that the only thing we have control over is what you think. No, Not at all. Where people make mistakes and problems in their lives is that they think the wrong thoughts, they say the wrong words and they engage in the wrong activities. And that’s the crazy part about it because those are the things that were gifted to us at birth to control our own destiny.

Therefore, we need to wake up, get serious and realize that we can control what goes on in our mind, what we think about. We can choose to focus on solutions, we can choose to focus and talk about virtuous behavior. We can choose to engage in activity that is goal directed rather than that which is destructive. But it’s important for us to realize that those are the three tools that we have to effectuate a result.

Now, relating to your life’s purpose, if you’re not sure what it is then here’s the thing that you need to do: Number one: You need to make it your life’s purpose to find your life’s purpose. What that means is you need to pay attention. Look at other people. Pay attention to the activities that you’re engaged in. Which ones provide you with joy? Which ones you do with relative ease? Which ones do you just absolutely just disdain so you know which direction not to move in and so forth. Finding your purpose is not an accidental experience. It’s a conscious thing that you have to work your way through.

And, the other is that, in the mean time while you are going through that process, here’s what you absolutely have to do. There’s no alternative to this. You must commit your life to excellence. And here’s the reason why. Even if you’re not sure what your purpose is, if you are a receptionist at an office, you must answer that phone as if it is a Broadway performance. If you’re a waiter at a restaurant, you must give it everything you’ve got. Give your clients at that moment, at that table, a fantastic experience. If you’re giving a presentation, you must absolutely nail it and give it as much enthusiasm and as much benefits associated with it for your client so that you’re doing your job well. But the demonstration of excellence, what that is going to do is that is the qualitative aspect of your results. So even if you don’t know what the quantitative thing is, you can always focus on the qualitative aspect, which is excellence. I certainly hope that makes sense.

This is part 1 of the interview with Gary Ryan Blair. Part 2 of the interview will be coming soon.

About Gary Ryan Blair

How to Hire a Great CEO

admin — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 11:54:17 +0000

“To hire a GREAT CEO, the work must be put in on the front end. That means ADEQUATELY TRAINED INTERVIEWERS, building the interviewing team, an accurate job description, and writing effective interview questions. If you get lazy or take shortcuts on any of these upfront steps, you’re likely to sabotage the hiring results you achieve on the backend. What’s at stake here is the success or failure of an entire organization. It’s worth doing it right!”

- Carol Quinn, Hire Authority, Inc.

There comes a time in the stage of a company where the founding entrepreneur feels an outside CEO may be able to do a better job. Hiring an outside CEO may be one of the biggest and hardest decisions an entrepreneur can make. It is like giving up your baby to someone else. This is something that needs to be done with diligence and there needs to be an elaborate process to hiring a CEO.

Lot of companies go through hiring a CEO without any documented process. This often leads to uncertainty, confusion and a lot of time being wasted which does not help in making the right decision.

Mitch Wienick , President and CEO of Kelleher Associates says, “the process varies depending on the context like size of the company, succession planning within a company, current business situation, anticipated future skills, experience needed to lead the business, etc. But the most common process, involves developing a position description, sourcing-screening-interviewing candidates, developing and making an offer, negotiating an employment agreement and developing an onboarding plan.”

Find below, a process that can act as a guideline when hiring a CEO.

Step 1: Identify the results the CEO needs to accomplish

The biggest mistake companies make when hiring a CEO is that they have no clue what is expected from the CEO. The CEO’s job and the results expected from the CEO needs to be very clearly defined. This brings clarity to the process.

Writing a job description and the results expected from the CEO is often the first step in the recruiting process.

The job description of a CEO varies from company to company, it may not necessarily be a generic job description for all companies. Mitch Wienick , President and CEO of Kelleher Associates who is responsible for performance and business coaching of senior executives says, “companies expect a CEO in collaboration with the leadership team to develop a strategy and business model that creates meaningful competitive advantage.”

On the other hand, Robert Holdsworth, President of Energy Edge Technologies Corporation who recently hired a CEO says, “for the most part, the CEO job description covers everything. He or she needs to take the lead on creating the corporate culture, determining and communicating the vision and direction of the company, managing operations, marketing, revenue growth, setting budgets, protecting profitability and building a strong senior management team. In addition, for public companies, the CEO should have strong public markets experience, the ability to raise capital and knowledge of how to cross-collateralize equity.”

Step 2: Identify the qualities, skills and experience you require in your CEO

The worst thing when it comes to hiring a CEO is NOT knowing what you are looking for. It is very important for decision makers to know exactly what qualities, skills and type of experience they are looking for in a CEO.
Robert Holdsworth, President of Energy Edge Technologies Corporation looks for “leadership, integrity, communication, vision and decisiveness” whereas Mitch Wienick, President and CEO of Kelleher Associates believes in New York Times’s Adam Bryant’s top five qualities of successful CEOs that include “passionate curiosity, battle-hardened confidence, team smarts, a simple mindset and fearlessness.”

Lot of entrepreneurs who have hired CEOs believe passion and vision to be one of the top qualities of a CEO.

Carol Quinn of Hire Authority, Inc says, “as the leader and the driver of an organization, I want a visionary, someone with a powerful ATTITUDE (this goes along with innovation) and someone who makes it a priority throughout the entire organization to ‘get the right people on the bus, in the right seat and get the wrong people off’ (A Jim Collins quote – author of ‘Good to Great’). And yes, that includes the latter portion of the quote about being willing to get the wrong people off and creating a maximum performance organization.”

The other qualities, skills and experiences you may need to look at are relevant industry experience, past experience in running a business and knowledge about marketing, finance and accounting. I personally believe a Good CEO should be knowledgeable about every aspect of the business like accounting, finance, marketing, sales, operations, human resources and should provide great leadership and inspiration for the company.

Patricia Thompson, a corporate psychologist who works with companies and does psychological assessments on candidates for high-level positions talks in great detail about some of the qualities to look for in a CEO in this article here (click here to read her article).

Step 3: Prepare Interview Questions

This is another important step in the interview process. Most interviewers are not well equipped to know what questions to ask in a CEO interview. They mostly ask questions from a generic template that is same for all work positions. Every question should be asked with an intention to identify the key skills and qualities in the CEO.

According to Carol Quinn of Hire Authority, Inc “every interview question needs to gather information that accurately predicts future job performance. If it doesn’t do that, then it’s useless and a waste of the interviewer’s time.”

She further states that, “some questions can actually cause the interviewer over-rate an applicant’s answer by helping them to spin positive information back. Bad/ineffective interview questions and hiring decisions based on an applicant’s skill level alone are the top 2 reasons bad hires happen.”

It is also important to understand that the CEO interview is a two way process. Just as the company is evaluating the CEO candidate, the CEO candidate is also evaluating the company. Remember, good quality candidates always have more than one option and you want to make sure you are their first option. At the same time, don’t focus on selling your company to the candidate instead focus on identifying whether the candidate has the required skills to be a great CEO.

Robert Holdsworth, President of Energy Edge Technologies Corporation says, “After giving the candidate a good overview of the company, I like to ask, what initial ideas do you have for growing the company and making it a success?”

Mitch Wienick , President and CEO of Kelleher Associates says, “the questions should be both strategy and execution-related, open-ended, narrative-inducing and designed to get a clear sense of the CEO’s ability to effectively communicate with key stakeholders, motivate the organization and drive significant change.”

Patricia Thompson, a corporate psychologist who works with companies and does psychological assessments on candidates for high-level positions says, “A good structured interview can help uncover some of the qualities required in a good CEO.”

She further goes on to say, “I encourage asking questions about their vision for the company, risk tolerance and where they see opportunities for growth within the business (to get a sense of their ability to think strategically and if their perspective is aligned with that of the board). Asking them what they perceive to be the biggest challenges they will have to face in the role allows the interviewer to get a sense of their understanding of the business and their ability to synthesize that information to give a well-informed answer.”

Patricia also suggests behavioral interviewing as an effective way to get a sense of past experiences in specific areas. She says, “Asking about their biggest accomplishments in the past year can give you a sense of their ability to drive results. I also encourage having them describe their strengths and developmental opportunities as a means of assessing their level of insight. If a CEO candidate tells you that her only weaknesses are that she’s too much of a perfectionist and she works too hard, it’s a good bet that she lacks the level of self-awareness required to excel in the organization’s top spot. More general questions to ask include why the candidate is interested in this particular company, what value can he bring to the organization and why this is the right next step in his career.”

Patricia also suggests something very important that is often overlooked. She says, “It is also helpful to ask administrative staff how they were treated by the candidate, as it is never a good sign if someone is only interested in making a positive impression on those who are in positions of power.”

Step 4: Consider doing a Psychological Assessment of the Candidate

Patricia Thompson, a corporate psychologist who works with companies and does psychological assessments on candidates for high-level positions says, “By the time someone is in the running to become a CEO, he or she has probably become quite skilled at interviewing and presenting a positive image. That is why the data one is able to gather by having a psychologist conduct an assessment can be a valuable addition to the process, as it enables the company to get a more in-depth, objective perspective that is less susceptible to being affected by one’s ability to manage his or her impression.”

In explaining the process further, she says “First, an objective assessment of the CEO’s intellect is gathered through the use of problem-solving measures. These are used to assess the candidate’s general cognitive ability, critical thinking skills, abstract reasoning ability and intellectual flexibility. Candidates are also frequently given various personality tests. This way, the psychologist can see the individual’s strengths as they align with the needs of the business and the areas in which he or she is likely to need coaching or assistance. Also, if the individual has certain qualities that are likely to be problematic, the organization can be alerted to this so a disruptive hiring mistake can be avoided. Finally, the psychologist takes the potential CEO through an extensive interviewing process. The interview allows the psychologist to assess the CEO’s insights into himself or herself and others, their judgment, ability to communicate effectively, interpersonal skills, listening ability, executive presence, etc.”

She further says, “I consider the assessment to be a data point that corporations can utilize in making their hiring decision – it should never be the only factor considered when making a decision. Through the assessment I am able to provide a great deal of advice in terms of how the CEO is likely to approach the business, how he or she will interact with people, his or her risk tolerance, work style, level of insight, drive, results-orientation, etc.”

You can download a sample of a personal assessment here to see how it looks like. In fact, this is an actual personal assessment of myself, the author of the article – Vinil Ramdev. Download

Step 5: Build a well-trained Recruiting Team

This is another area where companies make a big mistake by having untrained and inexperienced interviewers on their team. An untrained interviewer can be a waste of time for the candidate and the company.

One CEO candidate who did not wish to be named said “One company that did a formal interview with me had somebody on their interview team who didn’t have a clue what was required of a CEO position. I felt like I was doing an entrance exam for an MBA program. This interviewer made a complete fool of himself by asking dumb questions like, what courses did you take in college? How many credit hours did you have in your entire college program? These questions might be relevant for an entry level interviewee but not for a CEO candidate who has several years experience of building solid businesses. This particular company did not know what they were looking for in a CEO. The entire interview was an absolute waste of time.”

Carol Quinn of Hire Authority, Inc says, “As I build my interviewing team, I will NOT allow anyone who has not been adequately trained on how to select the best to be involved. The role of each interviewer must be designated in advance and same with the interview questions. Interview guides must be created ahead of time and include effective interview questions for each of the skills determined to be necessary for success.”

She further states, “To hire a GREAT CEO, the work must be put in on the front end. That means ADEQUATELY TRAINED INTERVIEWERS, building the interviewing team, an accurate job description and writing effective interview questions. If you get lazy or take shortcuts on any of these upfront steps, you’re likely to sabotage the hiring results you achieve on the backend. What’s at stake here is the success or failure of an entire organization. It’s worth doing it right!”

Step 6: Make an Effective Offer

CEO compensation can be slightly different from compensation for other employees. I believe, the compensation for a CEO should be directly tied to the profits of the organization but this may not always be the case. It is also important to research the job market and identify the existing salaries of CEOs of similar companies.

Robert Holdsworth, President of Energy Edge Technologies Corporation says, “You start with a figure in mind which is a combination of salary, stock, bonuses and benefits. Part of the recruitment process is to then find candidates who are coming from a previous position with similar compensation and make it known what the compensation package looks like. This way there are fewer surprises and everyone on both sides of the table have similar expectations.”

It is also important to identify how much the company can afford to pay for a Great CEO. It is also important to be a little flexible. Even if you decide to pay slightly higher than what you initially expected, it might be okay because if the CEO is exceptionally good, he should be worth every penny because he could bring in great savings or additional profits to the company.

If you are 100% convinced about the caliber of the CEO and both parties want to work with each other, it is important to find a middle ground where the CEO candidate and the company are both quite comfortable with the arrangement.

Step 7: Build an On-Boarding Plan

This is another crucial step in the recruiting process.

How the Board of Directors and recruiting members welcome the new CEO and make him feel like an integral part of the organization will play a very important role in determining his success as a leader.

Several research findings have found that more than 30% of new managers and executives fail at their new jobs and leave within 18 months. Kevin Kelly, CEO of executive search firm Heidrick & Struggles said, “An internal study of 20,000 senior-level job searches revealed that 40 percent of executives hired at the senior level are pushed out, fail or quit within 18 months.”

Jackie Eder-Van Hook, principal and cofounder of Transition Management Consulting, an interim executive management and succession planning firm says, “An association executive’s first months on the job are critical. They can either help a leader understand the organization’s culture and stakeholders or alienate the CEO from staff and board members. With the right onboarding process, you can avoid the early missteps that make for short tenures.”

The On-Boarding Plan

On Day 1, sit down with the new CEO and prepare a 90 day or a 100 day plan for the company.
Be clear about what is expected from the new CEO. Give him a very clear job description.
Clear up the desk for the new CEO. Set-up the computer, internet and telephone ahead of time.
Give the new CEO a list of all the employees, their job descriptions, CVs and their contact information well in advance even before Day 1. It is important that the CEO takes some time to go through the CVs and job descriptions of each of the employees so that he understands the strengths and weaknesses of his team.
Board members should assign one person, preferably the outgoing CEO or an important Board member or a senior employee to introduce the CEO to all the employees in the company.

Some experts also recommend hiring a CEO as a consultant or in another capacity for a period of 3 to 6 months before transitioning him into the role of a CEO. Sometimes, this may not be an option. However, if this is an option, then it should be considered.

It is also important to have a succession plan in place and groom leaders within the organization NOT JUST to be future CEOs but also to be CFOs, COOs and Project Managers to take on leadership roles within the organization.

About the Author

Vinil Ramdev is an entrepreneur, speaker and author of several ebooks. He is founder of StartUpGrowthExpert.com – An Online Magazine For Entrepreneurs who want to start and grow extraordinary businesses.

Image: renjith krishnan / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Qualities of A Great CEO

Patricia Thompson — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 05:44:53 +0000

Patricia Thompson, a corporate psychologist who works with companies and does psychological assessments on candidates for high-level positions writes in great detail about some of the qualities required to be a great CEO.

The qualities a company looks for in a CEO can vary somewhat, depending on the organization’s culture and the state of the business. For example, companies in turn-around or building mode may require different qualities from companies that are running well and just in need of maintenance. That said, there are some general qualities that would be attractive in all CEOs.

The first is general intelligence. CEOs need to be able to effectively analyze complex data, think critically, be quantitatively skilled, recognize patterns and synthesize information. In addition to this standard form of intelligence, CEOs also need to have emotional intelligence. Good leaders have well-developed insights into people and are able to use their understanding of individual and group dynamics to influence, inspire and make decisions. They know the importance of developing those who report to them and building a cohesive and high-functioning team to drive the business. They are also self-aware. They understand their assets and potential liabilities so that they can leverage their strengths, develop in the areas that need it and make sure that the members of their teams have the appropriate skills to complement their strengths and shore up their weaknesses.

Good CEOs also obviously need to have good business acumen. They need an in-depth grasp of the industry in which they work so that they understand the trends and the market. They tend to be oriented toward growth and business development. They are assertive and confident enough to be able to make tough decisions when necessary. They are emotionally mature and possess balanced judgment. Because they set the tone for the business (as others are always watching them for cues), they understand the importance of monitoring their moods. Good CEOs are also strategic. While the tactical aspects related to execution can (and should) be delegated to others in the business, the CEO sets the vision for the organization. As such, they should be innovative and willing to take educated risks.

Finally, there are some more social and intangible factors that CEOs possess. They are able to establish themselves as credible and trustworthy by having a strong executive presence. They are able to build relationships with others effectively, and leverage those relationships to influence others and get things done. They are able to handle pressure effectively and persist in the face of obstacles. They are charismatic and inspirational, with excellent communication skills and an ability to interact effectively with a range of individuals – from front line staff to senior executives to the board.

Note from the Editor

Patricia has analyzed the qualities required to be a great CEO with laser sharp precision in this article. When I first read her article, I was impressed by how she had organized all the qualities required to be a Great CEO with so much clarity. Another point I’d like to add is that, I believe a great CEO is a people developer, he understands that people build a company and he focuses a lot of time and energy in building the most important resource in the organization – people. Besides, a great CEO provides inspiration and leadership. Quality employees want to work for him NOT for the pay check but because they admire him, respect him and want to do something for him. He unites and inspires people to work as a team.

- Vinil Ramdev, Chief Editor, StartUpGrowthExpert.com

About the Author

Dr. Patricia Thompson is a licensed psychologist whose current areas of professional interest include personality assessment, team-building, executive coaching and career planning. She has been working at Sperduto & Associates, Inc., a boutique corporate psychology and management consulting firm in Atlanta, GA since 2004. Her personal interests include playing and watching tennis, reading, playing the piano and updating her blog at blog.silverliningpsychology.com.

Book Review: Permission Marketing

Vinil Ramdev — Mon, 30 May 2011 16:49:02 +0000

Seth Godin’s book Permission Marketing is one of the most timely books for the new era of marketing. With the internet becoming a prominent form of communication, the new ways of marketing are dramatically changing. Seth believes the new marketer will take permission from his prospects before sending him information.

Seth believes the old era of interruption marketing is over. However, several companies are still stuck in the old era of interruption marketing. Tele-calling, sms blasts and junk email are still being used by several organizations for no results at all. The traditional forms of marketing are expensive, not easily trackable and do not really produce the results companies are looking for.

Seth believes the new marketing philosophy is turning strangers into friends, and friends into life-time customers. He believes frequency builds trust and permission facilitates frequency.

Overall, this book is a must-read for all marketers and entrepreneurs. Even if you do not agree with Seth Godin’s methods, this book will give you a totally different perspective on marketing.

Book review written by Vinil Ramdev

Vinil Ramdev is an entrepreneur, speaker and author of several ebooks. He is founder of StartUpGrowthExpert.com – An Online Magazine for Entrepreneurs who want to start and grow extraordinary businesses.

Would You Stay Open Beyond Closing Time for a Customer?

admin — Sat, 28 May 2011 11:27:18 +0000

We don’t close until the last customer leaves

I co-own a small farm winery just west of Gettysburg, PA, USA. We do our best to instill into our employees the concept that the customer is the ONLY reason that we exist. As such, we state “we don’t close until the last customer leaves”.

We back this up with policies that include:

No closing of registers while the last customers are present.

No closing activities are to be performed until that last customer leaves.

No turning off lights, locking of doors or any activity that would cause the customer to feel rushed.

Providing the same excellent service to the late comers as was given to the first ones.

We even open prior to published hours when someone shows up early.

- John G. Kramb, CEO, Adams County Winery

One extra customer a day (arrival at 6pm closing) = 320 additional services a year = $22,000. It’s that simple.

- Champe Granger, Owner, Grease Monkey franchises

I was recently traveling abroad on work and was struggling to keep up with my time due to a lot of work the day before leaving , I hadn’t had a hair cut for months and I had to get a hair cut before I could leave because I wasn’t sure if I would have the time to get a hair cut abroad, besides it was important to make a good impression on the client I was going to meet.

It was late in the evening about 7 pm and most salons in the city I live close at 8 pm. I called up the salon where I got a hair cut the last time and they said I couldn’t get an appointment because all their hair stylists had gone home. I went to another salon close to my home and the only stylist there was busy with another client, he said he wouldn’t be able to give me a hair cut because by the time, he finished working with his client, it would be closing time and he does not work beyond closing.

So, I went back home, surfed through an online directory and found another salon close to my home. I knew where this salon was, but I had never been there before. So, I called them and they said ‘no problem’, I could come down and get a hair cut. Once I went there, there were still some customers, I waited for a while and the stylist apologized for the delay. I had no problem with that because he was willing to provide his services even after closing time. I got the hair cut I wanted and the stylist was patient and happy to give me a hair cut even after closing time. He stayed back about 40 minutes beyond closing and was even generous enough to offer me a ride back home.

I am a sucker for great service. This time, the service was quite easily the best service I’ve received in a long time. Thank you Zara Salon, you guys rock.

How working insane hours paid off for this boutique advertising agency

We had designed packaging for a line of products our client was debuting at a trade show in St. Louis, where we’re located. We created incredible prototype packages for every product in the line so the client could have a dazzling shelf set for his customers to see. At 5:30 the night before the trade show opened, our client called in a panic and said, “Can you help me? I really screwed up. It’s my fault and I’m not sure what to do. I forgot to have you make the packaging for one of the products. I’ll pay anything. Can you help?”

We said we could help, naturally. We dove in and went into overdrive. My partner Terri was amazing. I lined up one of our vendors, who has a third shift to generate full color outputs on an emergency basis – as soon as we could get digital files to their shop, they would drop everything.

We sent the die lines for the box to another vendor, to cut templates out of cardboard and have them delivered immediately.

Terri designed like mad, while lined up everyone needed to get the job done.

I called our client back to see when he would need everything – he responded “The show starts at 7:00 a.m.” I guaranteed his prototype would be there on-time. I’d meet him a the convention center loading deck at 6:00 a.m.

Terri worked until 2:00 a.m., handed me the files and I sped to the files to printer for output. There was no time to allow for any mistakes uploading or downloading documents. I handed off the files at 2:15. Color outputs were finished at 4:00 and in our offices at 4:20. The cardboard for the packaging had arrived much earlier and was waiting. Terri trimmed the outputs and affixed them to the cardboard. She finished assembling by using hot glue to seal the packaging. The time was 5:15.

I hosed myself off in the sink as best I could and headed off to meet the client – I was out the door at 5:30. When Tony, our client, walked out of the convention center at 6:00, I was standing there with his prototype. He smiled and simply said, “Thanks. I owe you. You saved my butt.”

As he turned and hurried back inside I wondered if all this work would pay off. Sure, we charged rush for the previous twelve hour sprint. But would all the work pay off? It did. Two weeks later, we got a call with a nice assignment that paid just under $175,000.

- Bill Shelton, President, Left Field Creative

Book Review: The Dip

Vinil Ramdev — Sun, 27 Mar 2011 20:42:16 +0000

Seth Godin’s book “The Dip” according to Seth is a book on quitting. According to me, this is more a book on being the best at something rather than on quitting. It is an amazing book, very short and something every person motivated at being the best should read. This book is a such a short read, most people can read the entire book in a weekend, even if you are a slow reader.

I found the book very fascinating because Seth Godin is so unconventional, he debunks and challenges everything many of us have learned through several years of formal schooling. He believes you should not follow a proven system. All throughout business school and even outside of business school, many of us are obsessed with proven systems. As a CEO and a business consultant, I always believed in proven systems. I would search and identify proven systems rather than try something unconventional, innovative and something nobody else has done. Seth Godin changed all that for me. I, now don’t care as much about proven systems.

In the book, Seth Godin debunks the popular myth that all quitters are losers. Instead, he says,

“Quit the wrong stuff.
Stick with the right stuff.
Have the guts to do one or the other.”

Seth’s book discusses how every individual reaches a point in his career where he feels like quitting and the truly extraordinary people sometime in their career make a decision to be great. I believe this is what differentiates the best from the rest. Making a decision to be the best and not quitting when things get really tough. This is what Seth calls the Dip. The Dip is when things get really tough and you feel like quitting. Seth says, the Dip is the point where individuals choose to become great, become mediocre or quit.

The Dip is such a wonderful concept that it forces you to stick to things that you choose to be the best at even when things get really tough and quitting things that you don’t plan on being the best at. The time to make a decision to quit is even before you start a career, a project or a business. Reminds me of a former mentor who said “the worst time to quit is when things are at their worst.” There is so much truth to that, imagine selling your business when you are raking in huge losses. Good luck with that!

My understanding of key concepts in the book?

Focus on a niche and be the best at it.

Every thing under one roof is a lousy concept. I said that way back in 2005 when I was in the retail business when everything under one roof was a popular concept. I believed in finding a niche then, I still believe in finding a niche now.

Let go of the products and services that you don’t plan on being the best at. And, focus on the products and services that you plan on being the best at. When things get tough, don’t quit, go through the Dip and become the best at your chosen trade.

Screw the proven system. Try something different, something you believe in. Something that has never been tried before. That’s how great inventions and great business models have come about. The days of proven systems are over. It’s now time for innovation.

If you’ve read the book, feel free to discuss you interpretation of the book in the comments section below.

The book is available for purchase on Amazon.com, click here to buy the book.