Hiring

You Need to Hire Based on Your Vivid Vision®

Even down to the employee recruiting stage, your company’s Vivid Vision® helps ensure alignment.

That’s why you need to hire based on your Vivid Vision®, but how do you do that?

Also, if you don’t know what a Vivid Vision® is, check out this blog first!

Require a Pre-Interview Vivid Vision® Reading

Have all your potential employees read your Vivid Vision® before their first interview. This way they’ll know if the job/work culture will feel right to them. Ideally, doing this weeds out unqualified candidates.

One bad apple can spoil the whole bunch. You don’t want an employee that doesn’t want to make your Vivid Vision® a reality. Not only will that employee be a drain, but they’ll bring others down, too.

Ensure Everyone Gets a Copy of Your Vivid Vision®

To make sure that everyone does read your Vivid Vision® before their first interview, set up an email auto-reply so that all candidates who send their resumes to your company via email instantly get a response.

This response should say something like, “Thank you for applying to work for us. Please read the attached Vivid Vision® that describes what our company looks and feels like three years out. If this sounds like the kind of company you’d like to help build, send us an email with the words, ‘please interview me’ in the subject line.”

It’s a great system that saves everyone a lot of time by not interviewing candidates that don’t like what the future has in store for them. It also shines a spotlight on candidates who are paying attention and take the time to send a reply back following your directions. Plus, in the interview, you’ll know if they’ve read your Vivid Vision®. The ones who have will stand out!

Come Back to the Vivid Vision® Frequently

It’s important that, even after hiring, you have all of your employees and suppliers re-read your Vivid Vision® every quarter. When every employee reads it, the process of alignment starts taking place.

Every quarter, have each person read the Vivid Vision® quietly and circle keywords or sentences that resonate with them. Then go around the room and have each person read out the areas they like. This provides alignment for the whole team before the brainstorming process takes place. It can also assist in planning and prioritizing future projects.

“It is very important that you share your Vivid Vision with your employees. When your employees know exactly what is envisioned for the company in the next three years, especially all the minor details, they know that their work will have an impact.” – COO Alliance

Your Vivid Vision® should be in use in all aspects of the job, from hiring to being an employee. Everyone involved with your company needs to be familiar with it. If a potential candidate doesn’t bother to get to know it, then their interview isn’t worth your time!

Do you use a Vivid Vision® or something like it when hiring new employees? Let us know in the comments below!

If you have questions or would like more information, I’d be happy to help. Please send an email, and my team will get in touch with you!

Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in June 2012 and has been edited for accuracy and comprehensiveness.

The Secret to Successful One-on-One Interviews

“What’s your biggest fault?”

“Tell me about a time you disagreed with a supervisor.”

These are just a couple of traditional interview questions asked all the time by highly trained HR insiders. The problem is, traditional, wishy-washy interviews suck.

Sticking to the typical, pre-approved interview script means that the interviewee only says what they think you want to hear. Because of that, you end up missing out on asking a lot of questions you wanted, and needed, to ask.

So how do you have successful one-on-one interviews?

Interviews Should be Serious, Personal, and Intense

Does this mean you should hang a bare light bulb and polish up your waterboarding skills? Certainly not, but that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be intense. Staffing your company is too important not to push for the best.

Avoiding an intense interview and therefore avoiding questions that could create potentially awkward situations can come back to haunt you. Besides, once the person is hired, things are going to get a lot more intense than the interview, so you’d be better off seeing how they deal with it in the one-on-one interview before offering them a contract.

“Ask unexpected questions. Get your applicants to tell you about the time they disagreed with a customer and how they handled it. Ask them their top three workplace accomplishments. They’re all great, tried and true interview questions. You’ll be surprised by how much more you can learn with these!” – Cameron Herold

Find a Balance

The secret to a successful one-on-one interview is balancing a professional, respectful approach and also getting what you want.

One of the most important things to know before going into an interview is that almost everyone lies, or at least exaggerates. The key is to listen to your gut and dig deeper when it tells you that something is fishy. It’s easy for someone to claim they’re good at a skill, but when you ask them something that requires them to prove it, that’s when you catch them in a lie.

Does your interviewee claim to be great at time management? Then ask them what their time management strategies are and how they put them to use in the workplace. Make sure they give concrete examples. Vague answers are an answer themselves — the answer being that they’re lying.

Yes, the interview might get awkward, but that’s the cost of finding the perfect candidates. If you simply stick to a traditional interview script, it’s easy for people who only exaggerate their skills to sneak their way into the job.

Use Pregnant Pauses

Another good technique for one-on-one interviews is to use pregnant pauses to your advantage. Sometimes it can be useful to count to ten in your head after an interviewee finishes an answer to see if they volunteer more information into that pause.

Sure, it definitely creates some extremely awkward silences, but the information you can garner not just from the additional information they’ll volunteer, but also from how the individual responds to the pause is so valuable to you in the interview process.

Don’t shy away from the intense and the awkward. It’s a job interview. Sometimes you have to get intense to find the best people you can for the job. It’s worth it.

Do you have any other interview strategies that you use? Let us know in the comments below!

If you have questions or would like more information, I’d be happy to help. Please send an email, and my team will get in touch with you!

Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in August 2016 and has been edited for accuracy and comprehensiveness.

Everything I Know About Recruiting I Learned Duck Hunting

Duck Hunting for Employees

My grandfather Cam Shortts was a great businessman, but he was an even better hunter.

He owned a successful hunting and fishing lodge in northern Ontario, an amazing place where I spent many, many days in my youth. It was a lodge that was frequented by corporate big wigs – CEOs, CFOs and COOs holed up there on their vacations.

And it was “up north” nestled on the shore of a shimmering lake with that great man that I learned everything I needed to know about recruiting.

No, Gramps wouldn’t drag out his old business school texts to the duck blind. Instead, his methodical, precise approach to hunting taught me valuable lessons I’ve carried with me ever since.

Grandpa knew exactly what kind of ducks he wanted before he set out to hunt—mallards, blue-winged teals, and wood ducks. But more importantly, he knew what kinds of ducks he didn’t want. Namely, fish ducks who are renowned for tasting downright terrible.

It’s an approach many business people don’t take when “hunting” for candidates. Sometimes, hiring the right Chief Operating Officer, marketing executive, sales personnel or even a CEO for that matter, is about NOT choosing someone who will be bad for the company. Businesses focus so much on what they want, they don’t consider what they don’t want. Before the hiring process begins, you should absolutely list all the traits you would love to have in the ideal applicant—e.g., years of marketing experience, ability to travel, an MBA, with exemplary prior experience as a Chief Operations Officer, etc.

But then, think about the traits you absolutely don’t want. Your list might have things like avoiding candidates who appear to jump from job to job far too often, or who have worked for a company you don’t respect, or even candidates who smoke. I know of a CEO who gave the keynote speech at a COO training seminar just because he wanted to scout a COO he could make his 2nd in command. And believe it or not, he wrote off most of the COO candidates for being late to the training seminar because they were brushing off training as a unimportant experience!

Grandpa was so focused on getting the ducks he wanted, there were many times we’d go home without having fired a single shot (not an easy task for a 14-year-old who really liked to shoot!) He always said he’d rather leave without a single duck then leave with a bad one.

This lesson rang true when I was involved in hiring for a key senior position. I won’t name the company, but I will say is that we were on the lookout for a fearless Chief Operating Officer who could transition a company through difficult times. A director and I traveled to Boston and whittled 150 resumes down to 16 candidates. After multiple interviews with each of them, both my colleague and I couldn’t pinpoint one that blew us away. And despite the pressure to hire for the role, both of our guts said “no” so we flew home empty-handed.

Knowing what kind of ducks he wanted was one thing, but Grandpa’s ability to pick them out when most everyone else couldn’t even see any ducks in the sky was amazing. It’s a skill he honed over years of hunting (he did own a hunting lodge after all) and it’s a skill I’ve picked up after hiring hundreds of people in my career. CEOs, Chief Operations Officers, CFOs, you name it, and I have hired them.

Nearly anyone can gloss over their weaknesses with a fancy resume or well-crafted cover letter. But once you get that candidate into an interview, it’s easy to see right through their bluster and unearth the real candidate (for better or worse).

Huddled in our blind, waiting patiently for the birds we wanted—those are the memories I will always have of my Grandpa. These are also the lessons that have helped me recruit awesome employees throughout my career.

Happy hunting!

Learn more about how high growth can be yours on Cameron Herold contact page or email rachyl@cameronherold.com

Title Creep is Nuts…

 

8b20 years ago, a VP or C-level title meant everything.  Now it seems, Gen Y has pushed for bigger tittles, and weaker leaders have given in to them.

With larger titles comes higher pay, and at times unwarranted expectations from those we give them to.

Instead of giving out titles quickly.   Do this instead.  List the TOP 5 things the person has to get done in the next 12 months.  Then give  a title that’s tied to those outcomes.  And pay them based on what they are going to get done, not on some fancy inflated title.

Don’t Make This Mistake…

 

Never let go of a great potential job candidate.

When you have a great potential hire, hire them.

Never let go.  Never give up.  Never let HR get in the way.

Don’t sit back ‘hoping’ they decide to work with you.  When you know they are perfect, hire them.  NOW.

I was coaching a CEO today, who said he had a great potential hire.  Someone, who he thought they might lose because of something one of the interviewers had said during the final interview.  He was hoping they’d decide to take the job.  He was going to contact HR to see how the candidate was progressing with their decision.

I jumped on this as a coaching moment, and said “CALL THEM NOW”.

I gave him the old scenario.  If you were in a bar as a 20 something, and had your eye on a cute girl who you really liked.  Would you walk over to her friend to ask if she liked you.  You might.  But during those few minutes of weakness, or indecision, what if another guy walked over to talk to the girl you liked while you were ‘waiting’ to see if she liked you.  Chances are – you might lose out.

When you’re hiring – HIRE.  Business is a full contact sport.  Don’t ‘hope’ great people join the company.  If you have them in your sights – land them.  NOW.

Map Out Your Hiring Needs, Or Fail!!!

 

Growing a successful business involves so much forecasting and visualization, you’d almost expect to see crystal balls on the desks of the world’s top entrepreneurs. Just think of all there is to think about; venture funding, revenue predictions, office space.

Unfortunately, one area often overlooked is forecasting your business’s hiring needs. Stakeholders get caught up in the day-to-day running of the business and scramble to fill needs as they arise.

Not good.

As I say in my book, Double Double, if you’re scrambling to hire, it’s game over and you lose.

When I worked at 1-800-GOT-JUNK?, I had our staffing plans mapped out by the month three years out. I had no choice, we were coming off our sixth straight year of 100% revenue growth. Things were expanding so fast that scrambling for new hires could have put us in a hole from which we never could have recovered.

I can’t stress it enough: You too should have your hiring needs forecast at least a year out. This gives you plenty of time to identify the role, define its requirements, seek ideal candidates and whittle them down in a robust, pragmatic recruiting process.

Filling holes as they open often leads to compromise, quick decisions and less-than-ideal hires. It also puts undue pressure on your existing staff who must work extra hard to fill the widening void as you go through the hiring process.

Have a plan for low growth, average growth and hyper-growth, so you’re prepared for all contingencies.

A lot of people scoff at this idea. “We’re an awesome place to work,” they say. “Great candidates will throw themselves at us.”

It’s foolish logic that can really get any company in trouble. If your business truly is a great place to work, you will likely have a lot of great people clamoring to work with you. But you’ll also have hundreds if not thousands of other candidates throwing their hats in the ring. The process of weeding out the duds is exhausting, and time consuming. You might eventually find the perfect fit, but you’ll the process will take a lot longer than you think, and put you further behind.

Then there are the problems faced by young, inexperienced companies. Even if the leaders forecast their hiring needs, they often severely underestimate the difficulty they’ll have in filling it.

I had one client who determined he needed to hire 12 teachers for his chain of bilingual preschools. Great, I said, how many resumes do you think you need to fill those roles, and where do you plan on getting them?

As I took him through the process, I showed him he’d need well over 500 applicants to have a realistic chance of finding 12 great fits. And as a small company that lacked any real ‘buzz’, reaching that number would be a challenge.

Finding the right candidate is hard enough; you need every advantage you can get. Being prepared gives you a chance to recruit on your terms, with no stress and no compromise. Just the way you like it.

There Is No “I” in TEAM !!! Do Your Employees Help Each Other Like This…

 

 

Do your employees help each other like this ?  Do they take pride in helping others in different business areas ?  Are they motivated by seeing others succeed ?

Hire people who care.  Hire people who want to see others succeed.  I’ll tell you what, the player with the #2 on his jersey will show those same caring traits as an adult as he does in this video.  And if you had a team filled with people like him, imagine how much faster your company would grow.

Hire people with the behavioral traits you want…

For more information on this topic, check out: Building a World Class Culture and Leadership at 100MPH.

Get Set For Interviewing Candidates!!!

job_hunt
Other than thoroughly reviewing a job candidate’s past employers online, dig around on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube to see how they portray themselves. Social Networks are public domain, so don’t feel like you’re infringing on anyone’s rights.  Some of the things you find may surprise you!  Read on, and get more insights here too.

Formulate a list of questions related to the preferences you’ve already decided you need in a candidate. Your preparation should give you a list of areas to delve into deeper. I love making my questions right on their resume and then, once I’ve got a ton of questions written down, putting a number beside each in the order I’ll ask them to ensure I cover it all.

One-on-one interviews should always be two hours and can often go as long as four hours if you’ve really prepared and really grill the candidate, asking multiple questions around each area.

The setting for the interviews should be appropriate. Use your intuition to know whether a more or less formal atmosphere is appropriate.

The interviewer explains this stage of the process to the candidate. Build rapport with the candidate, but don’t do all of the talking. The interviewer has to stay in control of the discussion, so don’t let the candidate control the time or the questions. They’ll have their turn to ask questions later.

Always look for transition points in their job history because that’s where the most illustrative stories lie, and if a candidate shares them, you’ll begin to see more of them as a person. Moving between jobs, schools, career changes, and marriages help you get a better idea for who the candidate is as a person.  Probe into the transitions –respectfully – and find out why they happened. Don’t assume all transitions are bad – ask the candidate why they made the choices they did in order to get a comprehensive picture of them as an individual.

BEST Recruiting Strategy EVER!!!

78bI have been recruiting thousands of employees for 25 years now – and this is easily the best recruiting tactic I’ve ever heard of for getting true A Players.  It’s a twist on the old internal referral bonus…

I cover a ton of other systems on recruiting and interviewing here – but this one is fantastic…

  • All employees are eligible.
  • Any employee referring another person from outside the company who gets hired earns a bonus of 100% of that employees starting salary.  i.e. refer a person who earns $120,000 and you earn a bonus of $120,000
  • The bonus is paid out 10% a year, for 10 years.  So you’ll earn $12,000 a year for the next 10 years…
  • Caveat is – both of you need to be working for the company for the bonus to keep being paid out.  If either of you leave for any reason – it stops.
  • Keep referring new hires, and you’ll keep adding new bonus amounts on top of the others.

The best part of this is, internal employees will work to keep people happy so they stay, you’ll have a built in happiness machine.

Seems expensive at first blush – but it will drive great new people into the company, and the longer people are with you, the more skills and culture they’ll build up for you.

More great tools about recruiting here…

For information on this topic, check out: Leadership at 100MPH.

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Meetings Suck: Turning One Of The Most Loathed Elements Of Business Into One Of The Most Valuable

We all know that meetings suck, right?

You hear it all the time. It’s the one thing that almost everyone in business can agree on.

Except it’s not actually true… 

Meetings don’t suck.

We just suck at running meetings.   

When done right, meetings not only work, they make people and companies better.

In Meetings Suck, world renowned business expert and growth guru Cameron Herold teaches you how to use focused, time effective meetings to help you and your company soar.

This book shows you immediately actionable, step-by-step systems that ensure that you and everyone in your organization improves your meetings, right away.

In the process, you’ll turn meetings that suck into meetings that work. 

In life, we always hear about people who’ve made huge decisions from their gut – without data.Today, I want you to make a decision, not only from your gut, but also from some data.  A decision that is only $12 per employee but will be priceless for your business.

Right now, your gut is telling you something is wrong with your company’s meetings.  You KNOW everyone complains about meetings.

People HATE going to them, they HATE running them, and they really have NO idea which meetings are truly necessary but they hold meetings simply because they think that is what they SHOULD do.

Even some of the smartest CEOs in the world complain about meetings – Elon Musk publicly told employees at Tesla & SpaceX to walk out of meetings if they weren’t being run properly.

I sent Elon a message saying that wasn’t going to fix anything – the key is to fix the root of the problem – NOT continue to ignore why meetings suck.

A Meeting is – Any phone call, video call or occasion where 2 or more people meet to discuss or work-through office topics.

Most employees on average spend 1-2 hours per day in meetings.

And likely, none of those employees – front-line staff or leaders – have had any training on how to attend meetings or participate in them, LET ALONE How to RUN THEM.

Consider this…

If the Average employee spends just 1 Hour per day in meetings – that’s 1/8th of their time.

If the Average employee earns $50,000 per year.

And they’re spending 1/8th of their time in meetings, that means you’re paying $6,250 dollars per year for just ONE employee to attend meetings.

The reality is, employees spend 1/8th of their time – and 1/8th of your company’s payroll – doing something they have literally NO idea how to do.

The Reality is…

95% of employees are booking & leading meetings – and they have NEVER been trained on how to run them.

95% of employees have had NO training on how to show up and participate in the meetings they attend daily.

And 95% of employees and companies have no idea what meetings are even necessary to hold.

Meetings CAN be hugely effective – IF you know how to run them

Meetings don’t SUCK, we just SUCK at running meetings. 

Investing $15 per employee – to help ensure the $50,000 a year you spend on them is an obvious and easy choice.

This could be the most impactful $15 you’ll ever spend and will save the company’s money, time and resources instantly.

Buying a copy of Meetings Suck for 100% of your employees and having them read it this month will have a huge impact on your company’s success.

book-5

Free PR: How To Get Chased By The Press Without Hiring A PR Firm

Public relations has always been an essential part of doing business which is probably why you’re shelling out big money to an outside PR firm. But the truth is that you don’t need them. You already have all the necessary tools in-house to do as good a job as the so-called experts. 

Cameron Herold and Adrian Salamunovic have taught thousands of company execs how to exploit free media coverage and ditch these expensive, often ineffective outsiders. 

Cameron & Adrian have also built in-house PR teams, spent decades learning how to generate Free PR and how to leverage public relations to complement their sales and marketing strategy. 

In Free PR, you’ll learn how the media world operates while you gain invaluable insider knowledge and actionable advice on how to: 

  • Build your own in-house PR team
  • Provide effective interviews
  • Score great media coverage for free with just a few easy steps 

Landing public relations coverage for yourself and your company is a powerful tool to help elevate your personal brand. PR is easier to generate than marketing, PR is easier to leverage than marketing and PR is more cost effective than marketing. In other words, Public Relations is more critical than ever in growing your brand and your business. 

You’ve got more passion, commitment, a larger stake, and a deeper understanding of your business than any outside PR firm could ever have. So stop wasting money and take the reins yourself.  Learn the secrets to landing TONS of Free PR for your company.

What they’re saying:

“I think PR is the core for promoting any business. Public relations acquires customers! That’s what’s cool about this book.”

– Kevin O’Leary,  Shark on ABC’s Shark Tank

“The ultimate guidebook for those looking to get press, grow their brand, and get in front of the masses. Free PR is the roadmap you’ve been looking for.”

– Peter Shankman, Founder, Help a Reporter Out (HARO)

“Adrian and Cameron will show you the secrets of getting massive exposure for your business. This book is packed with actionable insights from two guys that actually know how to to do it.”

– Dan Martell,  Serial Entrepreneur & Investor (Intercom.io, Unbounce)

“I told Cameron to write the book on generating free PR. I’m excited to see that he’s finally sharing his secrets with the world. This is a must read for any entrepreneurial company and marketing team.”

– Verne Harnish, Founder of Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO) and author of Scaling Up (Rockefeller Habits 2.0)

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Vivid Vision: A Remarkable Tool For Aligning Your Business Around a Shared Vision of the Future

Many corporations have slick, flashy mission statements that ultimately do little to motivate employees and less to impress customers, investors, and partners. 

But there is a way to share your excitement for the future of your company in a clear, compelling, and powerful way and entrepreneur and business growth expert Cameron Herold can show you how. 

Vivid Vision is a revolutionary tool that will help owners, CEOs, and senior managers create inspirational, detailed, and actionable three-year mission statements for their companies. In this easy-to-follow guide, Herold walks organization leaders through the simple steps to creating their own Vivid Vision, from brainstorming to sharing the ideas to using the document to drive progress in the years to come. 

By focusing on mapping out how you see your company looking and feeling in every category of business, without getting bogged down by data and numbers or how it will happen, Vivid Vision creates a holistic road map to success that will get all of your teammates passionate about the big picture. 

Your company is your dream, one that you want to share with your staff, clients, and stakeholders. Vivid Vision is the tool you need to make that dream a reality.

miracle-morning

The Miracle Morning for
Entrepreneurs: Elevate Your SELF to
Elevate Your BUSINESS

READY FOR EXPLOSIVE GROWTH AS AN ENTREPRENEUR AND ACCELERATED SUCCESS IN THE REST OF YOUR LIFE?

A step-by-step guide to enjoying the roller-coaster ride of growth — while getting the most out of life as an entrepreneur. A growth-focused approach: The book is divided into three sections, which cover planning for fast growth, building a company for fast growth, and leading for fast growth. Each topic the author covers — from creating a vision for the company’s future to learning how to generate free PR for a developing company — is squarely focused on the end goal: doubling the size of the entrepreneur’s company in three years or less. A down-to-earth action plan: Herold’s experienced-based advice never gets bogged down in generalities or theory. Instead, he offers a wealth of practical tips, including: How to design meetings for maximum efficiency; How to hire top-quality talent; How to grow in particularly tough markets; How to put together a board of advisors — even for a smaller company; How even the busy entrepreneur can achieve a work/life balance.

READY FOR EXPLOSIVE GROWTH AS AN ENTREPRENEUR AND ACCELERATED SUCCESS IN THE REST OF YOUR LIFE?

Hal Elrod’sThe Miracle Morning has helped redefine the mornings and the lives of millions of readers since 2012. Since then, careers have been launched, goals have been met, and dreams have been realized, all through the power of the Miracle Morning’s six Life S.A.V.E.R.S.

THESE SIX DAILY PRACTICES WILL FUEL YOUR EFFORTS TO CREATE AND SUSTAIN POSITIVE CHANGE IN YOUR LIFE.

Now The Miracle Morning for Entrepreneurs brings you these principles in a whole new light—alongside the Entrepreneurial Elevation Principles and the Entrepreneur’s Elevation Skills. These are essential skills that you need to create a successful business and personal life. Cameron Herold— Bestselling Author and a widely-respected expert on entrepreneurial mindset—brings his wisdom and insight to you using Hal Elrod’s powerful Miracle Morning framework.

DEVELOP A VISION FOR YOUR BUSINESS, AND BECOME THE INFLUENTIAL AND INSPIRING LEADER YOU WERE ALWAYS MEANT TO BE.

The principles and skills you’ll find in this book will help you to channel your passion and achieve balance in a remarkable new way. – Learn why mornings matter more than you think – Learn how to master your own self-leadership and accelerate your personal development – Learn how to manage your energy—physical, mental, and emotional – Learn how to implement Hal Elrod’s invaluable Life S.A.V.E.R.S. in your daily routine – And much more… You’re already an entrepreneur. Now discover how to take your success to the next level by first taking yourself to the next level. The Miracle Morning for Entrepreneurs is your roadmap to masterfully building an empire with a powerful vision, utilizing your areas of personal genius, with the right team at your side.

Start giving your business and your life the very best opportunities for success, right now.

A step-by-step guide to enjoying the roller-coaster ride of growth — while getting the most out of life as an entrepreneur. A growth-focused approach: The book is divided into three sections, which cover planning for fast growth, building a company for fast growth, and leading for fast growth. Each topic the author covers — from creating a vision for the company’s future to learning how to generate free PR for a developing company — is squarely focused on the end goal: doubling the size of the entrepreneur’s company in three years or less. A down-to-earth action plan: Herold’s experienced-based advice never gets bogged down in generalities or theory. Instead, he offers a wealth of practical tips, including: How to design meetings for maximum efficiency; How to hire top-quality talent; How to grow in particularly tough markets; How to put together a board of advisors — even for a smaller company; How even the busy entrepreneur can achieve a work/life balance.