Corrections or additions?
These articles by Melinda Sherwood were published in U.S. 1 Newspaper on July 28,
1999. All rights reserved.
Employee Profiling
Hiring a bad employee can cost thousands of dollars
and months of time, yet most businesses still prefer to rely on the
skimpy evidence produced from resumes and a couple of interviews.
“Most of the time when you make decisions with people you’re looking
at the tip of the iceberg,” says Anthony Pantaleone, regional
vice president of Profiles International Inc., a company that produces
employee testing software. “The Titanic was sunk by an iceberg,
but it was what was below the water that sunk the ship.”
Pantaleone says that studies have shown that the interview is one
of the least effective ways to learn about a job candidate. “We’re
human and we tend to hire people who are like ourselves,” he says.
“But if you hire in your own image, you may not actually be looking
at who’s right for the job.”
Another option is employee testing, what Pantaleone calls the “New
Art of Hiring Smart,” which he explains on Thursday, August 5,
at 7:15 a.m. at the Clarion Hotel and Towers in Edison. It is part
of the Middlesex County Chamber breakfast series. Cost: $30. Call
732-821-1700.
Profiles International Inc. (https://www.profilesnj.com,
or https://www.profilesinternational.com.), based in Waco,
Texas, produces the next generation of Myers Briggs-like tests, that
can be taken on the computer. Tests include Career Mapper, an interest/skill
assessment for jobseekers, and Step One Survey, a test employers use
to evaluate a person’s integrity, relationship with substance abuse,
reliability and work ethic (which ShopRite food stores currently use).
Psychologists run each test on focus groups to ensure that everyone,
regardless of background, sees the same inkblot.
Pantaleone graduated from Rutgers, Class of 1991, with a BS in accounting.
After taking one of Profiles’ tests, he learned that he is “bad
with data,” and fell more naturally into jobs that involve interaction
with people. Now he manages the company’s regional sales office in
Parsippany.
At first, though, it was the economic inefficiency of the hiring process
that attracted him to the job. “I’m used to looking at the bottom
line by curbing costs,” he says. “The one area that is almost
an intangible is the people element; it’s not as easily measured as
numbers, but it significantly impacts the bottom line. We wanted to
take the uncertainty out of hiring.”
The reasons to implement employee tests are compelling, and Pantaleone
offers a few:
HR departments don’t know the job and may have littleinteraction with those who do. Even the process of gathering a talentedpool of prospects is compromised.Replication of incompetency, or the Peter Principle, asPantaleone calls. “When incompetents climb the ladder, they hirewho they like,” and so on, until an institution starts to decayfrom the bottom up.Hiring a rabbit to swim. “You can hire a rabbit toswim, but you’d be better off to hire a fish,” says Pantaleone.Skills assessment tests can determine whether an individual has aproclivity towards a certain job or activity.Tight-lip policy on references. The only outside indicatorof an individual’s character — the job recommendation — isinherently biased, and former employers are not legally permittedto say much. “They’re just going to give name, rank and serialnumber because they don’t want to say anything bad about someone forfear of a lawsuit,” he says.Pantaleone doesn’t suggest ditching the job interview altogether,but employers do need to improve the hiring process by learning moreeffective techniques. Employees can start by asking better interviewquestions, says Pantaleone. Something that goes beyond “Tell meabout yourself.”Top Of PageRapport on DemandIs winning that account or making that contact importantenough to you that you will gladly wriggle in your seat and talk gibberish?If that’s what the person across from you is doing, that’s what youshould do too, says Della Menechella, a master-practitionerof neuro-linguistic programming (a high-tech way of saying communicationskills).”People like people who are like them,” she says, and youcan build instant rapport by merely mimicking the way a person communicates,whether it’s rapid-fire conversation, or a slow, dulling drawl. That’sthe definition of a master communicator, says Menechella. “Toknow what you’re doing and to do it consciously to get a specificresult is where the mastery comes in,” she says. “If you cancommunicate you can do anything.”Menechella presents “How To Take the Breaks off Your life andput it into High Gear,” a recipe for overcoming self-imposed obstacles,on Tuesday August 3, at 6 p.m. at the University Inn and ConferenceCenter at Rutgers. It’s part of the New Jersey Association of WomenBusiness Owners free open house. Call 732-238-8408.Before she was a motivational speaker, Menechella worked 10 yearsas corporate human resources executive for Viacom and holds a BA inbusiness from Rutgers, Class of 1981. But that was in her former life,she will tell you.For the past 14 years she’s studied everything from Gestalt therapyto famous orators searching for an answer to an age-old question:What’s the essential difference between people who are successfuland those who are not?The difference between success and failure: it’s all in your mind,says Menechella. “It takes being open to seeing life differentlyand making changes and choosing the way you want to react to things,”she says. “I believe so many people are settling for less.”Self-help guru? Not her, says Menechella. “There are a lot ofpeople out there teaching a positive attitude, and that’s great, butI’ve never been able to use that,” she says. “When you don’tfeel real positive what do you do? I don’t think people know how theyoperate and that’s one of things I want to teach.”As president of Personal Peak Performance (Della04055@aol.com,732-985-1919), Menechella gives one-hour or full-day programs on everythingfrom tapping into creativity, to perfecting your customer servicetechniques. In sales particularly, it’s necessary to be extremelysensitive to the full range of communication possibilities, sincewords only account for about 7 percent of the entire process. “Yourgoal is to meet client’s needs then you want to make them feel comfortablewith you,” she says. “If you’re very different, the nervoussystem gets overloaded, but if I meet someone who talks rapidly, Ifeel like I’ve met a soulmate.”Whether you are pitching an idea to a partner or potential client,Menechella says you should employ the following tricks to achieveinstant rapport:Match your speaker, meet them where they are. “Thereare queues that tell you which way people like to get information,”says Menechella. “Visually-oriented people usually speak veryquickly.” Throw phrases like “see what I mean,” and “lookat what I’m saying” into the conversation, or use visuals likebrochures. People who speak slowly are kinesthetically oriented –moved by feelings — and tend to look down to the right, says Menechella,because that’s how they access their feelings about something. Phraseslike “how are you handling this” are more on the mark. “Matchthem where they are to develop a rapport and then lead them in a differentdirection,” says Menechella.Parrot the body language of those around you. If someoneis sitting back, sit back. If someone’s legs are crossed, cross yours.”People say `Oh my god, they’re going to know what I’m doing,’but they won’t know,” she says.Menechella knew that she had won an account when she watched the keydecision makers parrot her body posture at a sales meeting. “It’slike when someone yawns and the rest of the world follows,” shesays. “If there’s a connection, you can’t help it.”Use “fogging,” or validating, to overcome objections.Instead of trying to persuade a person to feel differently, simplysay “If I were in your position I’d feel the same way.””Acknowledge where someone is and move on,” says Menechella.”If somebody doesn’t feel validated they’re going to continueobjecting.”Don’t treat an angry customer calmly, contrary to commonpractice. “It makes me even more angry because I feel like theydon’t understand me,” says Menechella. Without sounding combative,be alert and sympathetic. Say something like: “You sound likeyou’re upset!” No more patronizing tones.To put on a more positive attitude, look up and smile. “Yourbrain cannot feel bad in that body posture; it doesn’t compute,”she says. “When you see someone who’s won the Olympic gold, that’swhat they’re doing.” Use your body to create feeling.In group situations, adaptconstantly. “Imagine acocktail party,” she says. “You don’t serve everyone the samedrink.” Likewise, be fluid in your ability to match each person.”What you’re saying is that I really care about you enough tochange my style of communicating.”It’s better diplomacy, and it’s better humanity, says Menechella.”People make others wrong if they’re not the same,” she says.”We want to change them. If people trust in you, they will followyou. The person who has the most options, wins.”– Melinda SherwoodPrevious StoryCorrections or additions?This page is published by PrincetonInfo.com— the web site for U.S. 1 Newspaper in Princeton, New Jersey.
