WorkPuzzle

How to Stop Wasting Time--Starting Right Now

I'm writing about this topic because I just started a new exercise designed to help me avoid wasting time. I started this exercise earlier today, so I can't tell if it works well long-term. But I can tell you that I’ve already pinpointed a couple of activities that I hope to permanently discard!

I didn't wake up this morning planning to do a time study. I simply felt frustrated when I realized that I had already wasted about two hours of my day. I didn’t mean to waste the time, but combining an unscheduled time slot with a lack of purpose and ‘time-wasting” sprouted like a weed.

I know that I must act purposefully for my time and effort to contribute to my long-term goals.  It’s frustrating to realize that I’ve fallen short of this objective. 

Fortunately I turned this frustration into some positive action and discovered an article that shed some light on this common struggle.   The article I found was written by Bruce Kasanoff and I immediately set out to follow its contents.  I think you’ll benefit from this as well.

A Highly Effective Way to Avoid Wasting Your Time

"Here's a simple way to potentially save hours of your time each week, by investing a total of about five minutes.

First thing in the morning, take a piece of paper and write a column of numbers representing each hour from the time you wake up until you go to sleep. For me, the list would start 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 1 and go all the way back to 12. (So far, you have invested about fifteen seconds.)

For this single day, at the top of every hour stop for 20 seconds and consider how happy you are with the way you spent your time. Did you invest it wisely? If the answer is yes, don't write anything.

But if you wouldn't repeat the way you spent the last hour, next to the number representing that hour write a few words that describes what you did. On one of my lists, for example, at 3 o’clock I wrote "pointless to talk with Ralph; doesn't listen," meaning that it was a waste of my time to meet with him.

Stick with this exercise all day; it takes very little time, just the discipline to stop every hour for a few seconds. But at the end of the day, you'll have a list of activities you wish you avoided. If the list has more than one or two items, you might want to continue the practice for a while.

If you make this a habit, you'll soon start to spot patterns. It will be easier to recognize ways in which you are wasting time and effort, and you'll do a better job of avoiding these.

You can also use this technique across an entire department to help all involved make better use of their time. To avoid offending people, I wouldn't suggest pooling the results. You can simply introduce the test and allow people to draw their own conclusions."

If you decide to implement this personally or within your office, be sure and let me know the results. And, I certainly hope that reading this WorkPuzzle edition won't turn up on your list of things to avoid! 

Question:  Have you developed any personal tactics for keeping "time-wasting" under control in your life? If so, let us know what you've learned.

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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. 

Meaning at Work: How to Tap a New Level of Performance in Your Agents and Employees

Dr. Robert Emmons, a prolific researcher and professor at the University of California, recently wrote:

“As far as we know, humans are the only meaning-seeking species on the planet. ‘Meaning- making’ is an activity that is distinctively human, a function of how the human brain is organized. 

The many ways in which humans conceptualize, create, and search for meaning has become a recent focus of behavioral science on the quality of life and subjective well-being.” 

A tremendous amount of research and writing on the connection between human performance and the meaning people find in their work has started to emerge because of this focus.   And, some of the heavy-hitters in the business world were quick to take notice of these discoveries. 

Here are some examples of how much attention is being paid to “meaning-making” at work:

• Research at McKinsey and Company has led to actionable strategies and tasks that help infuse meaning in the work of individuals and organizations.  These findings were based on research done by social scientists. Their full perspective and recommendations can be found in Beyond Performance: How Great Organizations Build Ultimate Competitive Advantage
• Gary Hamel, ranked by the Wall Street Journal as the world’s most influential business thinker, and who Fortune magazine called “the world’s leading expert on business strategy" is encouraging managers to see themselves as “entrepreneurs of meaning.”
• One of my favorite psychological researchers, Mikel Csìkszentmihàlyi, writes extensively about “the making of meaning” in his book Good Business.

I want to emphasize that the research being done in this area is far from the touchy-feely anecdotes or inspirational speaker clichés that sometimes sound similar. I have little tolerance for methods and insights that are not based on research.   Once you push through the surface language, there is substance behind this topic that leads to real and measurable performance improvements.

There is far too much to share with you about this subject matter in one blog edition, but here are a few examples that will get you thinking about the importance of meaning at work.  These examples were compiled by Susie Cranston and Scott Keeler at McKinsey and Company:

1.  Emerson Electric

"David Farr, chairman and CEO of Emerson Electric.... is known for asking virtually everyone he encounters in the organization four questions:

(a) How do you make a difference? (testing for alignment with the company’s direction)

(b) What improvement idea are you working on? (emphasizing continuous improvement)

(c) When did you last get coaching from your boss? (emphasizing the importance of people development)

(d) Who is the enemy? (emphasizing the importance of 'One Emerson' and no silos, as well as directing the staff’s energy toward the external threat).

The motivational effect of this approach has been widely noted by Emerson employees."

2.  Wells Fargo

"The CEO of Wells Fargo, John Stumpf, marked the first anniversary of its change program by sending out personal thank-you notes to all the employees who had been involved, with specific messages related to the impact of their individual work."

3.  PepsiCo

"Indra Nooyi, CEO of PepsiCo, sends the spouses of her top team handwritten thank-you letters. After seeing the impact of her own success on her mother during a visit to India, she began sending letters to the parents of her top team, too.

Some managers might dismiss these as token gestures—but employees often tell us that the resulting boost in motivation and in connection to the leader and the company can last for months if not years.

As Sam Walton, founder of Wal-Mart Stores, put it, 'Nothing else can quite substitute for a few well-chosen, well-timed, sincere words of praise. They’re absolutely free—and worth a fortune.'”

Don't get me wrong, working hard and expecting everyone else match your level of effort can be a powerful motivator. However, that philosophy has limitations.

As human beings, we need more.  Science is telling us that the “more” we’re looking for is meaning in our work.  Make sure your agents and employees understand and buy-into the meaning behind their tasks.  If they don’t, they’ll not reach their maximum potential and your team will suffer.

Question:  How do you help infuse your organization with meaning?   What communication techniques have you tried and found effective?

 

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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. 

Why "Career Seminars" Will Always Be Inferior to One-on-One Interviews

One of the questions we often get from hiring managers is:

“Are one-on-one interviews really necessary in the real estate hiring process?”

What’s implied in this question (and usually comes out later in the discussion) is that it might be more efficient to conduct group interviews with several candidates at once rather than one-on-one interviews.

The line of reason is that interviews take a lot of time, and many early stage candidates are not serious about making a career change.  The group interview is a great way to “weed-out” those who are not truly interested or unqualified.

In a real estate company, this “group interview” usually takes the form of a career seminar.  It typically is an informational meeting where the company describes the benefits of changing careers and becoming a real estate agent.  At the end of the meeting, there’s typically some call to action (sign-up for licensing school, schedule a follow-up meeting with a hiring manager, etc.) that encourages the candidate to move forward in the process.

For years, we’ve recommended not using this methodology for interfacing with the majority of candidates.  There is nothing wrong with running an occasional career seminar for those who truly want information about a real estate career.  However, using this tool as a replacement or precursor to one-on-one interviews has not proven to be a best practice for recruiting high quality individuals.

Outside of the empirical data that we collected on this topic (ie. most real estate companies consistently hire 40% to 60% “D” performers using traditional hiring techniques such as career seminars), I could not put my finger on the psychology of why the “group interview concept” was inferior until last week.  I found this insight in an odd place—a coaching article written by Ed Batista.

I’ve read Ed Batista’s blog for several years, but I usually gain insight from a coaching perspective, not a recruiting perspective.   Ed is a successful executive coach and an instructor and leadership coach at the Stanford Graduate School of Business.  His business is coaching, but in the process of explaining coaching concepts he reveals a lot about the psychology of people.

The particular blog that peaked my interest was titled:  Spending Attention.  In this discussion, Ed makes the point that focused attention is one of the most powerful forces made available to human beings—both from a giving and receiving perspective.

“Focused attention is our most precious resource, because 1) it's extremely taxing on our intellectual and emotional capabilities, 2) it can have a amazingly powerful effect on its object, and 3) it can't be subdivided. (We can pay continuous partial attention to multiple objects simultaneously, but we can truly focus on only one object at any given moment.)

Much of what I do as a coach and as an experiential educator at Stanford involves nothing more than devoting my full attention to another person. This is somewhat easier in a one-on-one coaching session with a client or student, and it's somewhat harder in a group setting, but under any circumstances it's a challenging task that's almost always worth the effort.”

So, what does this have to do with interviewing?  There’s something  powerful that happens to an individual when they receive another person’s full attention.  Ed puts it this way:

“… devoting our full attention to someone can be a novel experience for both of us that in and of itself stimulates something useful in the interaction. The other person feels seen, heard, recognized, validated, appreciated or challenged in ways that partial attention never generates. And as we momentarily quiet our inner voice, we suddenly become aware of so many things that we missed before--not only about the other person and our environment, but also about ourselves. The subtler, more elusive thoughts and feelings that are usually drowned out by the louder currents can now be heard.”

It’s obvious that humans crave focused attention.  In the hiring process, the best chance of making this happen is in a one-on-one interview. 

By the way, just because a person is sitting across the desk from you, doesn’t mean focused attention will happen (read the rest of Ed’s blog to learn more about how you can become effective at giving focused attention). 

But, focused attention is almost guaranteed NOT to happen in a group interview/career seminar setting.

A high quality candidate wants and deserves the focused attention of the hiring manager during the hiring process.  If this element is missing, the high quality candidates will exit the hiring process. 

When the high quality candidates leave the hiring process, all you’re left with are desperate candidates who believe they deserve no better than a career information session. 

Of course there are exceptions to this rule (I’m sure some of you will write me about how you hired your best agent ever through a career information session), but you won’t win the hiring game by betting on the exceptions.  In the long run, the time and effort you put into one-on-one interviews will pay off.

Question:  What techniques have you found effective in making candidates feel they have your focused attention during an interview?

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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. 

Making Your Interviews Memorable (For the Candidate)

Over the last couple of years, we’ve written more than 40 blogs that that cover the topic of interviewing.  While there is much research available on this topic, some of the best ideas and insights have come from our readers.  Today, I’d like to share another one these insights. 

Al Mirabelli is the Broker in Charge of the Prudential Carolinas Lake Norman Office.  His office is located in Huntersville, North Carolina.  A couple of weeks ago, a candidate that had recently interviewed in Al’s office sent their company’s recruiting coordinator the following email: 

“Yesterday’s meeting was great.  From the time I walked in (amazing the effect of seeing your own name with balloons) till the time I left, I could see why Prudential Carolinas Reality would be a great place to work and a good fit for me.  I have a few offers on the table right now. Prudential feels like the best fit for me. I would just need a day or to to go over finances to make sure it would be possible right now.”  

This peaked my interest.  What did the candidate mean when he said, “amazing the effect of seeing your own name with balloons?” 

Al provided some background later that week,

“At the entrance foyer of the lobby to my office I have a small [whiteboard easel] that welcomes candidates and other visitors to my office.  During the day of this candidate’s interview, we happen to be welcoming a local group of builders to our office who are partnering with some of our agents and attached some balloons to the whiteboard.  It was such a hit that they ended up taking a picture on their way out.  They later said they were very flattered that we would do such a thing.”

Apparently, the candidate was flattered as well and made a point of mentioning it to the recruiting coordinator during a follow-up call.

Who knew that such a simple thing would have such a great impact?  I must admit, that I was even a little skeptical when I heard this story.   Maybe this candidate was just overstating their feelings in the initial email.   

But, then I received this email a week later from Prudential Carolina’s recruiting coordinator:

“I thank you very much for allowing me to meet Al.  He definitely has passion for the business, which drew me in.  He was wonderful and the entire workforce was very courteous. 

They even had my name on a white board upon entry that said "Welcome [Candidate’s Name]."  It was great!  I plan on working at Prudential and learning the skills necessary so that I can be extremely successful in the field.  So with my ambitious nature and all the information that Al provided to me, I will be successful.”

[Note:  I removed/blurred the candidate’s names in the emails and pictures because we did not get their permission to share their identity]

Al and his staff are onto something—don’t you think?  I believe that Al has figured out how to tap a basic human need—the need for acknowledgment.

I recently read that acknowledgement lets people know that you have truly seen them.  It communicates we have taken the time to pay attention, to notice, and to speak out loud what they contribute, what they accomplish, and some of who they are at their best.

Al—great job on figuring this out and applying it to your interview process!  I hope others will try this as well.

Question:  Do you have interviewing techniques that you’ve found helpful.  If so, share them with us, and we’ll publish your ideas.

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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. 

The Progress Principle

Since reading the books "Flow" and "Finding Flow" summarizing the empirical research of Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, I constantly think about improving work tasks and how to keep them from being too boring or anxiety producing. 

The book, "The Progress Principle: Using Small Wins to Ignite Joy, Engagement, and Creativity at Work" by Teresa Amabile and Steven Kramer, does an excellent job reminding us what goes on inside the heads of those we are responsible for and how to improve their engagement at work. Analyzing nearly 12,000 diary entries, provided by 238 employees in 7 companies, the authors explain how managers can cultivate progress and enhance work life. 

 The diaries themselves can provide insight to the inner turmoil people experience, and that alone might be worth the price of the book. However, the real value comes in their insightful recommendations. Not only are the recommendations well worth considering, but existing research also agrees with the suggestions.

 In the book, the authors demonstrate how to remove obstacles to progress, such as pointless tasks and toxic relationships, how to enable progress, using clear goals matched with autonomity, and how to nourish interpersonal events that demonstrate respect and foster collegiality. 

 The following video is rather long, at 18 minutes, but, if you have the time on an upcoming flight, it may be worth a look. 

 

  

Knowing how to get and keep your team engaged may  qualify as one of the top three tasks of being a leader. You can work on many other factors, but, if you have disengaged workers, the progress will be slow.

Question:  Are you able to keep those around you engaged?  Share the techniques that you've found effective in keeping those on your team engaged.

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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. 

The Science and Benefit of Failure

    "Never underestimate the magical properties of failure. It rewires the brain and gets the creative juices flowing."

This quote caught my attention in an article I found in a recent edition of Psychology Today. The reason: I have lived that statement in so many ways. People who know me might not even know this,  I tend to forget my failures from time to time, but I failed a lot.

When I was in the 4th grade, I was a miserably poor reader, and was put in the lowest of the 3 reading groups. I was too active to sit still long enough to read, however, my 4th grade teacher saw something in me that led her to believe I could read better. She took the time after school, for what seemed like months on end, to get me up to speed.

When I graduated from high school, I had a 2.6 GPA, which continues to be embarrassing to admit. I eventually managed to set my sights on greater things. However, I had to spend the first two years in a mediocre college achieving a 3.8GPA to qualify for a more prestigious college.

Then, after being rejected in my application to graduate school, I found out, through some investigation, that I had been  considered  "on the bubble" for admissions due to stiff competition among the other applicants.  So I convinced the person in charge of the committee for admissions to the Psych program to an agreement: Admit me in as a provisional candidate, and, if I achieve less than a 3.8 GPA in the first quarter of school, then they can let me go. Conversely, if I achieve that GPA or more and am viewed by the professors as a valued student, then I'll be accepted to the program. I made the GPA and was voted as student representative to attend faculty meetings.

Those types of initially frustrating experiences have tended to follow me around in life. My hunch is, that if most of you who have been marginally successful think about it, you can come up with similar stories and events in your own life.

But what’s happening in our brains as these experiences occur that seem to lead, eventually for some, to success? Here is one explanation:

"With success, people keep on doing the same thing. When they fail, they are forced to adapt and change. That is not just a human characteristic but constitutes a basic feature of how the mammalian brain works.

If a lab rat no longer gets rewarded for pressing a lever that had yielded food pellets before, it gets visibly upset. As its frantic efforts fail, it resorts to all manner of strange, or novel, reactions; from grooming itself to biting the lever, or leaping into the air. It is learning that the world has changed and its brain is getting rewired, so to speak.  When one combines emotionalism with originality, that is fairly close to what most people think of as artistic creativity. Artists are not necessarily frustrated people but tend to be dissatisfied with what they have accomplished previously and try to do something better, or something new."

How do you handle failure? And...How do you view and treat others who fail?

The answers to those key questions may be two of the most important differentiators between the best leaders and the worst. Don't get stuck hiring only people who have succeeded recently. Many of those who have failed recently may have the best success tomorrow. (With the exception of people who fail at moral and character failure- we have to be more careful here).

Question:  Do you have a failure in your life that later contributed to your success?  Share your story—we’d enjoy hearing your experiences.

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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. 

Risk Averse is Life Averse--Part 2

In the last edition, I wrote about my mid-life transition that occurred 12 years ago. Reliving the details of that change reminded me of the tremendous risk I felt as I initiated my new plan.

Despite this risk, I knew that my choices were limited. I could remain burned-out and bored with the confines of a full-time clinical practice, or I could undergo some radical changes to my direction and see what happened.

One choice included no risk while the other included some risk (although it was far from financial ruin) but held the hope of freeing me from the trap I felt I was in.  

After describing the benefits that followed, I promised to tell you more about a new book that confirms the wisdom of taking calculated risks—especially during the productive years of a person’s career.

Karl Pillemer, a renowned gerontologist at Cornell University, wrote a book called "30 lessons for Living: Tried and True Advice from the Wisest Americans."  This book is a gem.  It includes insight that he distilled from interviewing more than 1000 aged Americans. While no book is perfect, it does contain themes of wisdom that are truly engaging and appear to resonate with eternal themes. 

To give you a quick bit of medicine from this book, read the following "refrigerator list" of principles learned:

1. Choose a career for the intrinsic rewards, not the financial ones.

2. Don’t give up on looking for a job that makes you happy.

3. Make the most of a bad job.

4. Emotional intelligence trumps every other kind.

5. Everyone needs autonomy.

After reading this list, spend some time soaking in the value of something this simple and profound. If you think about it, each of these rules is crucial to the recruiting process—both the interview and the follow-up process. It is what’s rumbling underneath the surface in the minds of the candidates.

This is an insightful basis for asking hard-hitting questions: Are you (ie. the candidate) in a career with intrinsic rewards? Are you in search for a job you enjoy? If they doubt their smarts, do you realize how important emotional intelligence is to succeeding? And, lastly, how badly do you want autonomy? 

Don't get me wrong. A real estate career is not for everyone. But the people in your pipeline figuratively raised their hands at some point thinking that it just might be for them. Will they regret it later if they don't try? 

Dr. Pillemer says, “yes.”  At least that’s what most of his research subjects told him:   

"I can only channel to you what the consensus of the 1200 elders in the study was. From the end of life, they definitely have a "take a risk" attitude, when it comes to time versus money.

They don't want you to do something that might bankrupt you, but if there's a choice to be able to live comfortably and have more time to actually live life, they recommend trying to make it happen.

It is a balance between being financially secure and having more time, but they really encourage us to not stay longer in a job we hate than absolutely possible."

This is valuable insight because most people whom you interview will be dissatisfied with their current job.  This is often their motivation for researching new careers. 

If you can help them see the future and overcome their natural aversion to risk, you’ve done them a great service.  You’ll also do yourself some good—you’ll hire agents who are motivated to flourish in your organization. 

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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. 

Risk Averse is Life Averse

About 12 years ago, I was burned out in my work-life.  At the time, I found it difficult to maintain almost any degree of excitement towards my daily routine. This was a new feeling for me. Up to this point, I had found it easy to capture enthusiasm towards my work. 

What caused this situation to develop?  There were probably several factors. Part of the issue was related to a transition at home.  I was being freed up from many parenting duties (I had one child in college and two more about to enter), and the nature of my role was changing.  

During that period (that I have since referred to as "Dave's Doldrums"), I was introduced to an exercise that eventually helped free me from those very doldrums. The task was called the "Sage Letter." 

I know it sounds a bit far out, and I usually avoid anything that remotely smells of pop psychology.  But I was desperate, and I thought I'd give it a try.

The exercise involved imagining myself as an 85-year-old man looking back at the events of my life. From that perspective, I wrote a letter of advice to myself at my current age (I was 40 at the time).  I know this sounds simple, but it actually takes some time to write such a letter.  I had to seriously dive headlong into this somewhat bizarre task of "becoming" this 85-year-old man. 

I eventually knew that I had arrived at the "right place" when I truly felt confronted with an actual 85-year-old version of myself.  I started uncovering my hidden blind spots and aversion to risk. The pure wisdom of brutal honesty suddenly poured out on the page.  I started to understand why I was experiencing these doldrums, and I could see how much self-sabotage was going on in my life.

This exercise helped me gain some much-needed clarity. The primary insight I experienced was an awareness of the risk aversion that had crept into my life. It had not been there before, but had slowly and insidiously developed.  But, it didn't stop there. The letter also revealed hidden truths about how to improve my marriage, my friendships and my spiritual life. 

Since that experience, I cut back on my private practice, began a consulting company, taught graduate classes at a local university, started leading a ministry at my Church, and helped start Tidemark and see it grow.  My energy and enthusiasm for life returned.

Why am I disclosing all this?  It's because I recently ran across some research explaining the risk aversion that I had felt during this critical juncture in my life.   It is actually quite common and typically happens during an individual’s child rearing years.  The result is a "freezing" of the ability a person has to thoughtfully make big life decisions and it later leads to a profound sense of regret. 

The research was summarized in a recent book, 30 Lessons for Living: Tried and True Advice from the Wisest Americans, written by Karl Pillemer, a human ecology professor at Cornell University. Dr. Pillemer spent five years interviewing more than 1000 Americans who are over 65 years old. 

In the book, he distills their wisdom into principles on work, life, marriage, parenting, and other topics. He also describes how many of these elderly people regret having been risk averse earlier in their lives. 

In the next edition, I'll share more about this research.  But in the mean time,  I'd like you to think about how this relates to the people you interview, recruit and manage. Who could you advise to use the "Sage Letter" exercise? Or, maybe it is time you give it a try to yourself.   

Question:  Are there any opportunities you missed in your professional life because you were risk adverse?  What did you learn from the experience?

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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. 

To Increase Your Recruiting Results--Help Others to Help Yourself

In my previous life (pre-Tidemark), I was a case manager for Big Brothers and Big Sisters in New Hampshire. Before that, I worked as an "at risk" youth counselor for another non-profit organization. 

While the backgrounds of those I served was not pretty, the outcomes of my efforts did make a difference. In my previous positions, I had to set my goals for the long-term.  Short-term results were either nonexistant or difficult to detect.   

Obviously,my experiences are not in the same vein as most real estate owners and managers, but there are some suprising similarities between the roles. In fact, if you're going to meet your retention and recruiting goals, you will be more successful if you approach the problem from a framework of helping those you want to recruit and retain. This is what worked at Big Brothers and Big Sisters, and it can work for you as well.

The starting point of this process is gaining an understanding of what is causing the individual to struggle (ie. what are his/her needs).  The only way to truly get this information is to naturally engage in a relationship building process. 

Once you can identify an area of concern and can help that person navigate through it, you have become an incredible source of value and authenticity--two critical components in retention and recruiting.

Brian Patrick Eha, assistant editor for Entrepreneur.com, recently wrote an article discussing the work of the late Zig Ziglar.  Below is an excerpt, which is very relevant to my point.

“If you want to achieve your goals,help others achieve theirs. Motivational speaker Zig Ziglar did just that, reportedly traveling more than five million miles in his career and touching a quarter of a billion lives. Fortunately for us, he left behind a lot of sound advice.

'You will get all you want in life if you help enough other people get what they want,' Ziglar famously said. Put his maxim into practice: Next time you're in a meeting, focus on discerning the other person's needs rather than your own.

Form personal connections with customers.
 Customers often buy from the businesses and sales professionals whom they like on a personal level. Do a little research before meeting with your next client and look for common ground.” 

Try substituting “customer” and “client” with "agents," both existing and those whom you wish to recruit.

Once you get to the point of helping people solve their problems or overcome obstacles impeding their success, you will have taken one giant step towards your recruiting and retention goals.

Take it from a Big Sister…helping others achieve their goals will naturally help you achieve yours.

Question:  What difficulties do your candidates commonly face?  Have you figured out a creative way to help them over these obstacles?  Take a minute to share what you’ve learned…

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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 regular contributor to WorkPuzzle. Comments or questions are welcome. .

When Change Hits, Your Top Talent Leaves First

Editor's Note:  This article was written by  Mark Johnson, a guest contributor to WorkPuzzle. Mark is a coach, speaker, and trainer who works with the Tom Ferry Companies. 

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Naturally, your best agents and staff have the most alternatives in the marketplace. Highly talented people are the most likely to be recruited away and the best equipped to leave on their own initiative.

If you wait until your agents (or staff) go public with their plans to leave --before you re-recruit them--you've obviously waited too long.  The heart leaves before the body.

Forbes recently published an article 10 Reasons Your Top Talent Will Leave You and it triggered me to think about how our broker owners, managers and leaders execute the retention effort across their companies.

Few things in business are as costly and disruptive as unexpected agent or staff departures. And despite what you feel or think, when Forbes interviewed employees here’s what they said:

• More than 30% believe they’ll be working someplace else inside of 12 months.
• More than 40% don’t respect the person they report to.
• More than 50% say they have different values than their employer.
• More than 60% don’t feel their career goals are aligned with the plans their employers have for them.
• More than 70% don’t feel appreciated or valued by their employer.

The facts are that agents and staff who are challenged, engaged, valued, and rewarded (emotionally, intellectually & financially) don't leave. However if you miss any of these critical areas, it’s only a matter of time until they head for the door. 

Forbes went on to identify these 10 reasons your talent will leave you:

1.  You Failed To Unleash Their Passions

2.  You Failed To Challenge Their Intellect

3.  You Failed To Engage Their Creativity

4.  You Failed To Develop Their Skills

5.  You Failed To Give Them A Voice

6.  You Failed To Care

7.  You Failed To Lead

8.  You Failed To Recognize Their Contributions

9.  You Failed To Increase Their Responsibility

10. You Failed To Keep Your Commitments

 

Smart leaders don’t allow these mistakes to happen. Start re-recruiting your key agents and staff today. Take a look at the 10 reasons and create a strategy in your company to address the biggest issues.

Start by spending less time trying to retain people, and more time understanding them, caring for them, investing in them, and leading them. When you do, the retention you desire will naturally happen. 

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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 Mark Johnson.  Mark is a coach, speaker, and trainer who works with high-performing real estate agents, teams, managers and leaders in the highly competitive Southern California marketplace and across the United States. 

 A US Army veteran, Mark has since led multi-million dollar strategic operations initiatives, major sales and recruiting promotions, sales force automation ventures,  and help desk support projects.  He currently works with the Tom Ferry Companies.