Virginia Poly, Poly Placements, and how getting the right people can transform the organization.

@VirginiaPoly

Introduction

• 2011 Toronto Star’s ‘Ones to Watch’

• 2010 RBC Canadian Woman Entrepreneur Awards Winner of Deloitte Start-Up Award

• Profit Magazine Top W100 (2010)Profit Magazine Top W100 (2009)

• Profit Magazine PROFIT HOT 50 (2009) 6th fastest growing start-up in Canada

• The Branham300 (2008): Top 25 IT up and Comers in Canada

Poly Placements Today

Key learnings

• What successful interviews look like

• How to avoid common pitfalls

• Create a plan for successful interviewing

• Use Performance Profiles to drive better interviews

• Use BBI questions to predict success

• Identifying traits of top performers

According to studies, what’s the true hard cost associated with a mishire?

A. 2x the employee’s base salary

B. 5x the employee’s base salary

C. 15x the employee’s base salary

The High Cost of Bad Hires

Successful Interviews• Think ‘opportunity’, not ‘obstacle course’

• It shouldn’t be a command performance but an opportunity to really get to know a potential hire

• Think in terms of the contribution they can make to the organization

Common Pitfalls

Other Common Pitfalls

• Inadequate sourcing and pre-screening

• Using the wrong checklist

• Not understanding the job or the team culture

• ‘Going with your gut’

• The interviewer talkstoo much!

Setting up for Success

How much time do you typically spend preparing for an interview?

A.10 minutes

B. 30 minutes

C. 60 minutes

Blueprint: Performance

Profile

Analyzing Reponses

Sourcing Strategy

Interview Questions

Identifying Traits of Top Performers

The Interview Lifecycle

Blueprint:Performance Profile

• Go beyond the job description

• Identify activities

• Identify outcomes

MAJOR GOAL:Ensure profitable sales growth with a superior sales team, better customer service, continuing innovation and tight budget controls

KEY RESULT AREA PERFORMANCE STANDARDS

Grow revenue from $10M to $30M by end of Year 2

1. Increase SMB accounts from 10 to 20 by year 22. Reduce less profitable clients by year 1

Train a winning sales team

1. Managers’ training meeting at least 1x/month2. In-store sales training conducted 2x/month3. New employee training session conducted 1x/month

Improve CRM

1. All staff received 4 hours of customer service training per quarter

2. DSM has followed up with store managers weekly to ensure improved customer service

PERFORMANCE PROFILE: District Sales Manager

Why is this so important?

• Competencies flow from performance standards

• Improves hiring accuracy

• Will reduce turnover in the long term

Two categories of questions:

1. Informational

2. Behavioural-Based

Interview Questions

Informational questions

SKILL FROM PERFORMANCE

PROFILEFACT-FINDING QUESTION

Increase number of SMB accounts

“Tell me how you’ve grown sales from small/mid-sized business clients…”

Training expertise “What do you enjoy most about creating and implementing training programs?”

Building client/customer rapport

“Tell me how you build relationships with customers and clients…”

Different roles.Different responses.

GREATSALESPEOPLE

“I don’t like it. It makes me really upset when someone doubts

my credibility.”

“How do you feel when someone doubts what you have to say?”

GREATTEACHERS

“I love it! It shows that the other person is really interested in

learning!”

Behavioural BasedQuestions

BBI: BEHAVIOURAL BASED INTERVIEWING

Past behaviour is a good predictor of future behaviour.

BBI Questions

SKILL POSSIBLE BBI QUESTION

Adaptability to a changing marketplace

“Tell me about a time when you changed your priorities to address a changing situation.”

People management“Tell me about a time when you had to make a difficult decision about one of your employees.”

Innovation“Tell me about a time when you came up with a new way of doing something and how you measured results.”

QUESTION: Tell me about a time you overcame resistance to your ideas.

Analyze responses

CANDIDATE #1“It’s very important to be persistent, if you really believe in your ideas. If my team doesn’t agree with my idea, I know it’s just a matter of coming up with the right business case. It happens all the time.”

CANDIDATE #2

“Actually, it happened just yesterday.”

QUESTION: Tell me about a time you solved a problem outside your comfort zone.

Analyze responses

CANDIDATE #1“I inherited some existing staff members, who weren’t gelling together as a team. I engaged an improv actor and we spent an afternoon doing hilarious activities – it really broke the ice.”

CANDIDATE #2“Our team had to get a website up, and a week before the deadline, the

tech guy got pneumonia. So I spent a few late nights, called in a few

favours from web guys I know – and we got it up.”

MORE EFFECTIVE BBI:

• Spontaneous responses

• Specific examples

• Repeated behaviours

• Confidence without cockiness

Authentic vs Rehearsed Responses

2 OF OURFAVOURITE BBI QUESTIONS

“Tell me about the accomplishmentyou’re most proud of...”

“If I asked your manager/co-workers to describe you, what would they say?”

Using BBI

Scoring candidates

1 2 43 5

Most hiring mistakes happen

hereSource: Lou Adler

ANALYZING TOP PERFORMERS

It’s easier to identify new top performers if you know what your current ones look like.

What makes current top performerssuccessful in your organization?

• Compile a list of traits your top performers have in common

• Examine top performance in the organization, the department, and the role

• Refine the interviewing process

5 STEPS TO BETTER INTERVIEWS

1. Take the time to prepare

2. Create a Performance Profile

3. Ask questions designed to get at predictive behaviours

4. Analyze and score responses

5. Identify traits of top performers

Discussion