WorkPuzzle

Become a “Talent Gatherer” and You May Forget You’re Recruiting

In my quest to encourage, promote and assist our clients in their recruiting efforts, I often find myself trying to find a new way to approach the work of recruiting. 

Most all of the managers with whom I have worked understand the need for consistent recruiting results, but they really languish in the execution of that task.   In helping them overcome this common state of mind, I often find myself trying to reframe this experience into something less objectionable.

I have written in the past about changing one’s mindset from the concept of recruiting to the reality of relationship building, which most managers do naturally well. 

I have also discussed the idea of the recruiting process mirroring that of the sales process.  In any sales process, it’s common sense that one prospects, identifies a client, and nurtures that relationship consistently and thoughtfully until it closes. Looking at the recruiting process from that perspective should not feel objectionable—especially to those managers who love to sell.

So here I am again, trying to playfully trick hiring managers into falling in love with the recruiting process.  Margaret Heffernan, an entrepreneur and author, brought this new vantage point to my attention.   Consider how she has learned to find and engage talented individuals for her business:

“Every CEO I know worries about people and talent. How do you find and keep the right people? Why is it so hard to find employees when you need them? Why does recruitment take so long and cost so much?

These questions contain the answers. Most leaders fill slots as they arise--and that's the wrong way around. What more creative leaders do is collect talent, all the time. At conferences, visiting other companies, at community events, talking to the parents of their children: they scan the horizon constantly for energy, talent, and drive.

Then, when they find those qualities, they can do one of three things.

They can notice and move on--and remain frustrated.

They can notice, develop a relationship with the people who've caught their attention, and keep lines of communication open. (They're like casting agents who watch every movie, see every play--even school plays--and know immediately what to do when a spot opens up.)

But the boldest of these CEOs go even further: they just hire the talent in the confidence that great people make themselves useful. This doesn't always look efficient but it can be terrifically productive. How many business owners can seriously afford to keep talent out?

Talent gatherers are, in effect, impresarios. They are always recruiting because they just love finding new talent, connecting to it, and nurturing it. It's their nature, not just their job. Everyone else is just trying to catch up.”

From Margaret’s perspective, real estate owners are indeed bold because they understand the need to constantly be on the lookout for potential talent.  They encourage both their managers and their agents (in the form of referral programs) to be constantly performing the recruiting function as they go about their normal business duties.

But in Margaret’s description, most real estate hiring managers get stuck on points one and two.  It’s all too easy to see opportunity and take no action. 

But, it’s also too easy to only consider those “actors” who seem to be close to a “role” you need to fill. This is equivalent to a hiring manager only taking notice of those who are already licensed or in school for real estate.  Those candidates are perceived to be the most visible and easier to communicate with since you most likely run in the same circles, but this is a limited source for recruiting.

For me, the third point relates to opening up the hiring aperture to hiring new agent talent.  By beginning a dialog, (i.e. starting a relationship) with highly skilled individuals in your community you open up the door to on-boarding a new pool of talent that could convert at any point in time. 

Does this type of recruiting seem time consuming to you?  Even if your efforts don’t directly produce a hire, might they become your next client or referral?  It seems to me you are already building these relationships…why not explore the possibility of a career in real estate with them as well?

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Editor's Note: Lee Gray is the Senior Account Manager at Tidemark Inc. Lee is a guest contributor to WorkPuzzle. Comments or questions are welcome. .

Shopping for a Broker: Are New Agents Buying What You’re Selling

Earlier this year, our company had the privilege of hiring Helen Jackson.  Helen is a very talented individual who I’ve known for many years.  She has served our community (a mid-sized suburb of Seattle) in many non-profit, education and athletic advisory roles.  She is known and admired by more people in our community than I could begin to count.

Her daughter Emily grew up playing baseball (not softball) with a couple of my sons.  I remember frequently asking my boys…"Did Emily strike you out today?" The answer was often…"Yes, she did!"  That’s a tough thing for a teenage boy to admit. Emily is now playing softball at a Division-I college in Illinois.

When Helen agreed to work with our company, I was eager to hear her perspective on our business and the role we play in the real estate industry.  Being competitive herself and working with so many high performers over the years, I suspected her insight would be helpful.

I’ve not been disappointed.  She has worked in a consulting role with one of our clients in the Midwest over the last couple of months.  As a recruiting coordinator, she works closely with both hiring managers and candidates.

Last week, she offered to record some of her thoughts on working in this new role.  Her thoughts (in this dialog) are from the candidate’s perspective, and I thought they were worth sharing.

"I've been working with Tidemark for several months as a recruiter and I am continuously surprised at how very few individuals truly understand the challenges and opportunities of becoming a real estate agent; particularly in choosing the right broker.

My mother was an agent and a broker well into her sixties and mentioned many times that it allowed her to survive as a middle-aged widow with no other form of income. As a broker, she had several agents working in her firm and she always said that making sure your agents were successful was the same as having a successful business.

But that was in the time of the real estate boom, in a small New England town where she knew most of the residents. What about today, I wondered?

Today, the real estate market seems to work like the stock market, albeit a little slower, but still driven by the economy and the whims of buyers and sellers. So, the broker an agent chooses is extremely important.

In researching what makes a great broker, I realized that the characteristics of a good broker are exactly what I would want in an agent if I were buying or selling a home.

I developed the following acronym to express those defining features:

Honesty. Tell me what I can expect financially and explain the relationship of the broker and agent in clear and concise terms.

Opportunity. What are the opportunities; how long will it take for me to realize the opportunity and where are the pitfalls?

Mentoring. What classes and training are offered. Who teaches the classes? Is there a fee?

Expenses. What are they? Do you assist in developing an expenses spreadsheet? What are the splits? Can I really make a profit? How?

Support. Are you there for me? Can I come to you for advice; encouragement? Do you reach out to me to see how I am doing?"

 

Do a quick inventory:  Do you find yourself positively addressing these issues during your interactions with candidates?  It’s important to remember that new agents are “buying” a business relationship with their broker. Helen has done a great job of identifying what many of the best buyers are seeking.

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Editor's Note: This article was written by Ben Hess. Ben is the Founding Partner and Managing Director of Tidemark, Inc. and a regular contributor to WorkPuzzle. 

How to Reach the Recruiting Goal Line-Part 2

Hopefully, you had the opportunity to read Part 1 of this discussion.  I thought Dave did a great job of explaining how gaining momentum in the recruiting process requires a focus on completing small tasks over time.  If you’re not a football fan—hang in there: We’re almost done with the football analogies.

For the Seahawks, the “small task” that kept them out of the end zone (a week ago Monday) was a failure to convert on 3^rd down. 

Likewise, if you’re experiencing a lack of hires, the source of the problem is always earlier in the hiring process.  If you identify and fix the upstream problems, the hires will come.

After reading Dave’s post, I spent some time studying the source article in the Seattle Times, and I was surprised what I discovered.   There was a short quote by one of Seattle’s receivers that caught my attention:

"Every week Pete Carroll (the Seahawk’s Head Coach) asks his team a rhetorical question, in which the answer never changes.

Said receiver Sidney Rice, ‘He always asks us…what do we have to do to win in third and 10-plus? And the answer is always: Stay out of that situation.'

The Seahawks have not done a good job avoiding third-and-long situations. The Seahawks have had 29 third downs this season and 21 of them have been 3rd-and-6 or longer. Of those 21, 14 have been 3rd-and-10 or longer.

Seattle has converted on 38 percent of those third downs, which ranks 18th in the league, but it’s not a sustainable way to operate. Rice said facing 3rd-and-long allows defenses to play Seattle differently than they normally have to because the threat to run the ball is gone. "

I think there are two applications from this part of the article:

1.  Professionals use metrics.  Considering these guys are a bunch of dumb football jocks, they sure do use math a lot!  Why?  Because they’re professionals, and professionals use metrics.  You should know and track the recruiting metrics that lead to your hiring success—that’s what professionals do.

2.  Don’t do all of your recruiting on 3^rd down.   Our staff works with hundreds of real estate hiring managers in different parts of the country.  At least once a week, we hear one or more of these hiring managers try to convince themselves they don’t want to meet with “new to real estate” candidates until they are already licensed or actively enrolled in real estate school. 

In recruiting, this is equivalent to gaining no yardage on 1^st and 2^nd down and facing 3^rd down and long yardage on every interview.  At this point in the recruiting game, your competitors know exactly what you’re going to do and will easily key upon your weaknesses. 

We have one client who insists on conducting only late stage interviews.  They regularly lose 50% of their recruiting opportunities to competitors—even though they are the best company in their market.   

This happens because they wait too long to engage the candidates.  At this point in the hiring process, the candidates have no relationship with the hiring manager.  They are very susceptible to being fooled by lower splits, accepting gimmicky promotions, and believing promises that will never be kept.

In contrast, we regularly see clients who engage candidates early in the process that have “lost to competitor” rates of 10% or less.  Why?  The candidates tend to sign with the person they trust.   When objections are raised late in the hiring process, they can be thoughtfully discussed and handled with the candidate’s best interest in mind. 

Getting the hire under these conditions is often a small nudge at the end of the process instead of lobbing a pass into a crowded group of competitors and hoping for the best.

How did the Seahawks do last Sunday?  They had a huge come-from-behind win in overtime against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.  While there were definitely some miraculous plays that helped them win, there was a small stat buried in the box score that many people will overlook:

"The Seahawks converted eight of 12 third-down situations, for a season-high percentage (.667), including their final six. The Seahawks finished with 415 yards, their third-highest total of the season. Their 26 first downs were the second-highest total."

The Seahawks learned their lesson and put themselves in a position to win.  Hopefully, you will do the same.

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Editor's Note: This article was written by Ben Hess. Ben is the Founding Partner and Managing Director of Tidemark, Inc. and a regular contributor to WorkPuzzle. 

How to Reach The Recruiting Goal Line

If you happen to be a football fan you will know that the recent Monday Night Football game, Seattle Seahawks vs. the St. Louis Rams, was a disappointing win for the Hawks. 

That’s right a win, not a loss; so why disappointing? 

The Seahawks, as do many other professional sports teams rely on consistency, rhythm and what some might call “staying on schedule” to reach that ultimate goal – the touchdown.

The comments about that game, from the Hawks coaches and players, may give some insight into reaching your own goal line. 

The following is an excerpt from an article in the Seattle Times. 

"Quarterback Russell Wilson always talks about staying on schedule. By that he means picking up positive yards on first down, then doing the same on second down to be in good position on third down. Negative plays or no-gains throw Seattle off schedule.

 That’s what happened against the Rams. The Seahawks averaged just 1.1 yards on first down, and that’s not including a penalty on guard J.R. Sweezy. As a result, Seattle was just 2 for 11 on third down and now ranks 28th in the league in third-down efficiency.

“I don’t think we were good on any down,” Baldwin said. “First down was terrible as well. We couldn’t stay on schedule, couldn’t get any rhythm.”

As a recruiter or hiring manager, you are the quarterback of the recruiting function of your business. It is up to you to make sure you get that “yardage on the first down” that lets you stay on schedule and move “down the field.”

You do this by knowing what you want to accomplish, finding efficiencies in your plan, and keeping on schedule to ultimately meet your objective. None of these objectives are possible without metrics.

To continue the sports analogy, what if we divided your ultimate goal into "downs?"

Just like football, getting to the next down requires building a schedule of tasks and analyzing the results.   Examining the metrics is the best way to win in recruiting. 

Here is a list of common recruiting metrics that should become second nature to any recruiting professional within the real estate industry:

Number of connections with candidates: (live calls or email exchanges)

Number of additions to pipeline (permission to follow-up)

Number of one-on-one interviews (face-to-face)

Number of enrollments in licensing school

Number of follow-up connections (post-interview)

Interview-to-hire percentage

Post-Interview pipeline-to-hire percentage

Licensing school drop-out percentage

Number of offers

Number of hires

Lost-to-competitor percentage

If you’re meeting benchmarks on these recruiting metrics, you’ll also be consistently gaining momentum in your recruiting process.  You’ll find it easier to stay on schedule, create a comfortable rhythm, recognize efficiencies, and successfully reach your goal. 

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Editor's Note: This article was written by Dr. David Mashburn. Dave is a Clinical and Consulting Psychologist, a Partner at Tidemark, Inc. and a regular contributor to WorkPuzzle. 

Increasing the Quality of Your Recruiting Interactions

Last May I wrote a two-part series on “Recruiting Expertise.”  If you missed that series or need a refresher feel free to revisit that discussion.   Today, I’d like to focus not only on the concept of "Quality in Recruiting," but also show you a real example of how one manager is actually executing a quality driven recruiting strategy.

We recently welcomed CBSHOME, a Berkshire Hathaway Affiliate, on board as a client.  After rolling out our flagship product HiringCenter (new agent recruiting program), they subsequently rolled out the TalentPipeline (experienced agent software designed specifically for managers as they execute their own recruiting strategy).  It is from the TalentPipeline that I came across a perfect example of, what I consider to be, a quality driven recruiting strategy.

As anyone knows, who has been trained by me, I am a bit like Big Brother (Sister) in that I do check in to make sure things are firing on all cylinders or address any red flags, or in this case applaud excellent performance. Deda Myrhe, an Assistant Manager with CBSHOME is the recipient of my kudos.  With Deda’s and the company’s permission I would like to share four observations from Deda’s work.

Below is a snapshot of this candidate’s history from Deda’s TalentPipeline.

October 7, 2013 Note by Deda Myhre  10/2/13- Called and invited her to meeting Tues. She is in class all week at Larabee finishing up, then has prep next weekend. She will schedule to test as soon as she is available after that.   September 19, 2013 Note by Deda Myhre  9/17/13 - Communicated with Alex via email as she inquired about coming to meeting on Tuesday and setting up her desk space. I gave her the go ahead and encouraged her to start stopping in and forming some r elationships. She is extremely excited to get started.   September 5, 2013 Note by Deda Myhre  9/5 - Did not start classes today as brother is getting married this weekend and lots of family stuff going on. Plans to be in class on Monday!   September 5, 2013 Note by Deda Myhre  9/5 - Checked in to see how classes are going and offered to help in any way. Invited her to stop by the office again if possible.   August 30, 2013 Note by Deda Myhre  8/29/13- Responded that she is so very excited to start attending classes! Has the schedule and plans to be at every one. Can't wait to become a realtor!   August 29, 2013 Note by Deda Myhre  8/29/13-Sent her a note to check in and see how she is doing.   August 20, 2013 Note by Deda Myhre  6/30- Met with her and hit it off! She signed a letter of intent. Picked out a desk. 7/8 - Very excited to join us. Invited her to a meeting. Hopes to be able to take off some work to do that.

My Observations:

1. The Size of her Pipeline.  She has a manageable pipeline of 21 candidates.  This will likely ebb and flow in size as she adds people and/or hires/removes people from her pipeline.   What Deda did not do was dump a large database in the software, but has rather kept it reasonable such that she can build quality relationships with regular contact over time.
2. The Frequency of Contact.  Over a six week period of time Deda reached out to engage her candidate once every one or two weeks.
3. The Varied Methods of Contact.  Over those six weeks Deda spoke with her candidate over the phone, left voicemails, emailed and had face-to-face time.
4. High Content/Value of Interaction.  I should emphasize that this candidate is not yet licensed.  With that said, after the interview Deda invited her to pick out a desk, and invited her back 3 times to attend meetings and to come into the office to start feeling comfortable with the office culture.  Deda has also extended her knowledge to help her candidate through the schooling process.

So, Deda Myrhe, I applaud your efforts to stay in front of your candidates with the kind of authenticity that really does add value to this person’s dream of becoming a real estate agent.  

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Join the WorkPuzzle Discussion at the Tidemark Online Community (TMOC)

Engage in the WorkPuzzle discussion by joining the TMOC private social network.  Commenting on a public blog like WorkPuzzle can be a little intimidating, so why not join the discussion inside the privacy of the TMOC discussion group?  

By joining TMOC, you'll get to see who else is in the group and your comments will only be seen by those whom you trust.   Joining TMOC is quick, easy, and free (no kidding…this takes less than 2 minutes).   To get started, click here.

Already of a member of TMOC?  If so, join the WorkPuzzle Dialog Group by clicking on the WorkPuzzle Group icon on the left side of your TMOC homepage.  Questions?   Email the WorkPuzzle editor (workpuzzle@hiringcenter.net) and we'll walk through the process.

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Editor's Note: Lee Gray is the Senior Account Manager at Tidemark Inc. Lee is a guest contributor to WorkPuzzle. Comments or questions are welcome. .

New Life, a Maternity Nurse, and Recruiting

By the time you read this WorkPuzzle, I'll be a grandfather for the first time.

I am writing this as my oldest son and daughter-in-law are in the delivery room. We are literally minutes (or maybe hours) away from the culmination of months of anticipation.

As you might have guessed, I’m very excited about this event, and I was anticipating this day for a long time—even before the pregnancy began. 

I have to repeat it to believe it...”I will be a Grandfather today.” A new light and life will change ours forever. What a blessing.

What has made this process more enjoyable and contributed to this great day is someone who is being paid to be here, but you'd never know it.

Who? The maternity nurse assigned to our grandson's birth. Her name is Bonnie.

Although I hadn't thought to ask Bonnie how many times she’s helped bring a new life into the world, she did mention she might have been my wife's nurse 24 years ago, when she gave birth to our youngest child! 

It just dawned on me--Bonnie has a miraculous perspective on her job. After more than 24 years of delivering babies, she is treating our family and this experience with a fresh sense of respect and her own sense of joy.  It’s been an incredible experience.

Bonnie has something to teach us all about recruiting.

The process of recruiting requires an enormous amount of calls, emails, and interviews to be successful. Maintaining a respectful and joyful attitude towards each and every contact makes the process work.

In essence, the best recruiters and hiring managers have an “anchor” of empathy that grounds every interaction with those in the recruiting process.  

Candidates are hoping for a new birth to their work lives.  Like Bonnie, you’re dealing with an equally delicate moment in their lives.  Each day, you have the opportunity to make it special, pleasant, peaceful, and full of hope.

On behalf of all those who you’ve already helped find what they do best…thank you.   You’re doing more meaningful work than you realize.

Editor's Note:  Jonas Mashburn was born at 11:30pm on Wednesday night.  He was welcomed into the world by a very happy grandpa and many other family members.

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Join the WorkPuzzle Discussion at the Tidemark Online Community (TMOC)

Engage in the WorkPuzzle discussion by joining the TMOC private social network.  Commenting on a public blog like WorkPuzzle can be a little intimidating, so why not join the discussion inside the privacy of the TMOC discussion group?  

By joining TMOC, you'll get to see who else is in the group and your comments will only be seen by those whom you trust.   Joining TMOC is quick, easy, and free (no kidding…this takes less than 2 minutes).   To get started, click here.

Already of a member of TMOC?  If so, join the WorkPuzzle Dialog Group by clicking on the WorkPuzzle Group icon on the left side of your TMOC homepage.  Questions?   Email the WorkPuzzle editor (workpuzzle@hiringcenter.net) and we'll walk through the process.

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Editor's Note: This article was written by Dr. David Mashburn. Dave is a Clinical and Consulting Psychologist, a Partner at Tidemark, Inc. and a regular contributor to WorkPuzzle. 

Become a Godfather Manager

The most common obstruction to great marriages, families, friendships and organizations is the timeless reluctance to be truthful and honest when truth might cause conflict.

I have seen this both clinically and while consulting with organizations.  For example, I recently attended a meeting with 15 individuals in the room.  There was so much pent up disagreement among the group, no one wanted to give their opinion on any issue brought to the table.  The group was locked-up and completely paralyzed.

If you ever experienced a situation like this, you know how frustrating and debilitating this can be for a team.  If you’re the manager for such a team, it is near impossible to defuse such an impasse.

That’s why a recent article in the Harvard Business Review caught my eye.  Rather than giving advice on how to fix the mess, the authors give recommendations on avoiding it in the first place.

The article was written by Ron Ashkenas and Lisa Bodell and offers the following insights around conflict avoidance.

"Most people want to be liked: It’s one of the fundamental tenets of human behavior.

Because of that motivation, many of us have an unconscious desire to avoid conflict. We prefer to “get along,” “not make waves,” and “act as a team player.” We all want to be known as a great person to work with.

The only problem with this mindset is that creative ideas and better ways of getting things done often stem from constructive conflict. Organizations need it to advance. And even in the day-to-day, workplace conflict is still inevitable because organizations are full of bright, ambitious people with different points of view, controversial ideas, and disparate values.

There’s no way that we can get along with everyone all the time. Finding the right balance between the need to deal with conflict and the instinct to avoid it is one of the toughest challenges that most managers face."

They go on to offer the following tips (one quite humorous) regarding creating a culture that invites constructive conflict. 

Quote The Godfather. In order to foster more constructive conflict and feedback, remind your team and your colleagues about Don Corleone’s admonition that ‘it’s not personal, it’s business.’

Doing this will reinforce the notion that we can disagree about ideas and strategies, but still respect and like each other — something that is often forgotten in the heat of battle.

With this principle in mind, encourage team members to ask probing questions and challenge assumptions. Eventually asking, ‘Have you thought about this?’ should feel like a productive conversation, rather than a personal attack.

Create challenge events. Rather than leave it to chance, schedule time with your team to question norms and change the way things are done. Make it clear to them that processes are expected to evolve over time (even the ones you created) and that it’s OK to push back on them.

Doing this will create a “safe space” where they can assess whether routine tasks are worth the effort, and modify them if necessary. It also allows people who might hesitate to raise issues by themselves feel more comfortable doing so in a group.

Recognize employees who question the status quo. When employees take the risk of creating a productive disruption, give them positive reinforcement. If someone pushes back or raises an uncomfortable question in a meeting, back them up rather than shut them down. If possible, use it as a teachable moment to encourage others to do the same.

Set ground rules for conflict. Since everyone struggles with conflict to some degree, develop a few standards for how your team can manage it constructively.

For example in one company’s review sessions, participants need to begin with at least two positive comments before anyone is allowed to throw in a criticism. Although it feels a little awkward at times, this practice forces everyone to take a more balanced view of other people’s work, which reduces the tension and allows for more productive discussions.

In another firm, every meeting ends with five minutes of what’s called a “plus/delta” critique of the meeting – with quick comments about what was good about it and what should be changed the next time. Again, this more structured practice makes it easy and acceptable to openly and constructively criticize.

In the short-term, it’s almost always easier to avoid conflict and come across as being a “nice” manager. But more often than not, being a little less nice might be the best thing for your people, your organization, and you."

I could not agree more. What are the thoughts of our readers?

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Editor's Note: This article was written by Dr. David Mashburn. Dave is a Clinical and Consulting Psychologist, a Partner at Tidemark, Inc. and a regular contributor to WorkPuzzle. 

Are Your Job Ads Too Classified?

Did you know that 90% of the job ads posted today persist in describing the requirements of experience, skills, and education for each position as the only criteria? This would seem to be a logical system for attracting well-qualified candidates.

However, I am personally aware of several cases of individuals who have shied away from applying for those opportunities where the prerequisites are so selectively detailed. These were extremely talented candidates with many of the characteristics that would make them great employees in any field.

So why didn’t these candidates apply? Because, based on the ad content, they believed the company was more interested in experience and skill level than talent, drive and desire.

There are multiple layers behind why the “traditional” way doesn't work. You have probably heard me say that this method doesn't speak to the person. For example, “skills” do not tap a person’s curiosity, awareness or attentiveness or how they work in a group or leadership situation.

Finding more about who they are, what they are interested in, and how they view a beneficial working relationship will give you the relevant information needed to identify the successful employee. 

 Lou Adler, a widely read author in recruiting circles, recently wrote:

"Earlier this year, I saw an ad for Facebook’s VP of Human Resources. It listed a bunch of experience requirements interlaced with some generic responsibilities and hyperbole.

To me this is backwards. It’s far better to define the job before defining the person. If a person has successfully accomplished something similar, he or she has exactly the level of skills, experience and academics required.

The worked required to be done determines the skills needed, the skills needed don't define the work required.  80-90% of the people who get promoted internally into these same spots don’t have the experience, skills and academics listed as required for someone hired from the outside.

What they do have is something far better – a track record of performance that indicates they can take on a bigger role in the company.

It seems obvious that if a company wants to hire people who are both competent and motivated to do the work required, they need to start by defining the work required.

Yet somehow this basic concept is lost when a new job opens up. Instead of defining the job, managers focus on defining the person. The end result is not a job description at all, but a person description.

This limits the selection pool to a narrow group of people just like the people the company has hired in the past. By default, this precludes expanding the company’s diversity hiring program or raising the company’s overall talent level.

For The Essential Guide for Hiring & Getting Hired, I asked one of the top labor attorney’s in the country, David Goldstein from Littler Mendelson, to review the idea of using performance objectives to define the job, rather than skills. Here are a few of his comments (you’ll find his full report in the book):

 ‘A properly prepared performance profile ...and focusing on “Year 1 and Beyond” criteria may open the door to more minority, military, and disabled candidates who have a less “traditional” mix of experiences, thereby supporting affirmative action or diversity efforts.’

Hiring a more diverse and talented workforce starts by defining the work required for success, not the skills, experiences and academics needed to do the work.

This is not rocket science, just commonsense, but apparently commonsense is not one of the skills required for hiring people."

Lou’s article and book are extremely valuable tools in today’s competitive hiring environment. I am excited by the fact that most of our clients use this hiring method and apply the philosophy it evokes.

Perhaps it may be easier to practice these principles when it comes to independent contractors such as real estate agents, but it is also the right thing to do. 

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Editor's Note: This article was written by Dr. David Mashburn. Dave is a Clinical and Consulting Psychologist, a Partner at Tidemark, Inc. and a regular contributor to WorkPuzzle. 

Cognitive Ease—The Secret to Great Interviewing—Part 2

Earlier this week, I suggested that most people show up to an interview experiencing “cognitive strain.”  Unless you can help a person migrate to a place of cognitive ease, they’ll have a difficult time hearing and engaging most of what you’re trying to communicate.  If you didn't read the first article in this discussion, you may want to catch up before trying to digest today’s topic.

How do you get someone from a state of cognitive strain to a place of cognitive ease?  Daniel Kahneman spends several chapters in his best-selling book, Thinking, Fast and Slow, addressing this topic.

Part of the answer to the question can be summed up in this diagram:

The items listed on the right side are the feelings we want the candidate to have when they leave the interview.  These traits are the natural results of feeling cognitive ease.

Some of the causes that produce cognitive ease are listed on the left side.  As you might suspect, if you can become proficient at influencing the items on the left (by the way, this is not a complete list—there are many more elements), candidates will start experiencing something remarkable at your interviews.

As I mentioned earlier, Kahneman spends several chapters explaining and citing research for these causes.  Not all of these would relate to interviewing (although a surprising number do apply), so we’ll just explore “related experience” today.  If you have an interest in learning more, you can delve into this topic by picking up a copy of his book.

Here is a simple question that Dr. Kahneman often asks his audiences:

“How many animals of each kind did Moses take into the ark?

The number of people who detect what was wrong with this question is so small that it has been dubbed the Moses illusion.  Moses took no animals into the ark; Noah did.

The idea of animals going into the ark sets up a biblical context, and Moses is not abnormal in that context.  You did not positively expect him, but the mention of his name is not surprising. It also helps that Moses and Noah have the same vowel sound and number of syllables.

As with triads that produce cognitive ease, you unconsciously detect associative coherence between Moses and ‘ark’ and so quickly accept the question.”

By default, the human mind wants to maintain (or get to) a state of System 1 thinking.  One of the ways it maintains this state is to look for related experiences.  When you heard just a few words (animals and ark), it quickly pulled a story from memory that allowed you to answer the question without leaving a state of cognitive ease.

The error you made (and we all make) illustrates how quickly the mind retrieves, depends upon, and desires related experiences. 

Let’s suppose I ask a different question:  How many chickens did Eric take to the marina? 

Of course, you quickly get frozen with this question.  Who’s Eric?  Why does he have chickens?  Is he taking the chickens to a boat, or is there a restaurant near the marina? And, so on.   Your mind does not even consider the first part of the question—how many chickens are there?   

In the first question, none of the background mattered because the “related experience” filled in the context.

Side note:  The relationship between related experience and cognitive ease is leveraged frequently by companies such as Geico during their marketing campaigns.  Next time you see or hear a Geico commercial, see if you can detect it.

What does this have to do with interviewing?

A “related experience” is one of the best pathways to get a candidate to a state of cognitive ease during an interview.

The point is not to deceive anyone in the interview process (we make the assumption that you’re offering the person something that will be advantageous for his or her career), but instead allow them to feel good about you and your organization and trust the things you’re communicating.

How do you find related experiences?  Here are two sources you can use immediately:

Pop culture.  How many times have you been in a meeting and someone says…"this is like the TV show Survivor.  Someone is going to get voted off the island."  This is a related experience.  Find two or three references in pop culture that would relate to the points you commonly make during and interview.

The candidate’s own experiences.  If you spend time (the first 20 to 30 minutes of the interview) drawing out and listening to the candidate’s story, you’ll have plenty of material to draw upon to find related experiences.  Restating the candidate’s own experiences and then relating it to the realities of working in your office is very powerful.

If you can master the concepts of related experience and cognitive ease, you will take your interview skills to a whole new level.   You’ll not only reap the rewards of hiring more agents, but you’ll also experience some cognitive ease for yourself!

 

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Editor's Note: This article was written by Ben Hess. Ben is the Founding Partner and Managing Director of Tidemark, Inc. and a regular contributor to WorkPuzzle. 

Cognitive Ease: The Secret to Great Interviewing

Think of yourself sitting in a canoe in a swift flowing river.  You’re paddling desperately with the intention of making it 100 yards upstream. 

To get there, you’ll need to focus on the task, apply some paddling skill, and consistently exert yourself.   Because you’ll be fighting against the current, you’ll experience some frustration and probably arrive out of breath and needing to rest.

In a figurative sense, this is how most people feel when they go to an interview.  The fast-flowing current is called “cognitive strain,” and it’s a silent factor that works against you in every interview.

In the next couple of WorkPuzzles, we’ll teach you how to alleviate cognitive strain and start conducting your interviews in the calm water of “cognitive ease.”

A few weeks ago, I introduced you to Daniel Kahneman, a Nobel Prize winning psychologist who recently published his best selling manifesto called Thinking, Fast and Slow.

If you didn’t catch the previous discussions on this topic, I’d recommend reading the first blog in this series.  It will give you some background for today’s WorkPuzzle.

In his book, Kahneman introduces his readers to the concept of “cognitive ease.”  In simple terms, it is the natural desire a person has to make decisions and judgments using “System 1” thinking.

As you may remember, System 1 is the fast, intuitive, and automatic way of making decisions and judgments.   System 2 is the slower way of thinking that requires more conscious judgments and critical analysis.

Dr. Kahneman defines cognitive ease in this way:

“Whenever you are conscious, and perhaps even when you are not, multiple computations are going on in your brain, which maintain and update current answers to some key questions:

Is anything new going on? Is there a threat? Are things going well? Should my attention be redirected? Is more effort needed for this task?

You can think of a cockpit, with a set of dials that indicate the current values of each of these essential variables. The assessments are carried out automatically by System 1 and one of their functions is to determine whether extra effort is required from System 2.

One of the dials measures cognitive ease, and its range is between “easy” and “strained.” 

Easy is a sign that things are going well—no threats, no major news, no need to redirect attention or mobilize effort. 

Strained indicates that a problem exists, which will require increased mobilization of System 2.

When you are in a state of cognitive ease, you are probably in a good mood, like what you see, believe what you hear, trust your intuitions, and feel that the current situation is comfortably familiar. 

When you feel cognitive strain, you are more likely to be more vigilant and suspicious, invest more effort in what you are doing, feel less comfortable, and make few errors, but you also are less intuitive and less creative than usual.”

With these definitions as a background, would you rather have someone be experiencing “cognitive ease” or “cognitive strain” during an interview?

Obviously, you’d want the person to be experiencing cognitive ease.  If candidates are suspicious, uncomfortable, and lacking the creativity to imagine themselves in a new career, your interviews are not going to come to life.  It's very difficult to build a relationship with individuals who remain in this state.

Here’s something you may not have considered:  Every candidate you interview (especially if the person is a “new to real estate” candidate) is experiencing cognitive strain when they arrive at your office.

There are very few exceptions to this rule.  Interviews are stressful.  Being in a new environment, meeting new people, receiving a bunch of new information, and having the perception you’re being evaluated puts people squarely in System 2 thinking. 

One of the secrets of successful interviewing is helping a person migrate from a state of cognitive strain to a place of cognitive ease during the 45 minutes you spend with the candidate. If the candidate remains in a state of cognitive strain (and most people do), the person will not have the ability to truly hear and engage most of what you’re trying to communicate.

How do you do this?  Daniel Kahneman has some great insight on this topic based on the research that he and others of have done.  It’s fascinating stuff, and we’ll cover it during our next WorkPuzzle discussion.  

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Editor's Note: This article was written by Ben Hess. Ben is the Founding Partner and Managing Director of Tidemark, Inc. and a regular contributor to WorkPuzzle.