Recruitment Q&A

A job interview is a lot like a test. If you know what the interviewer is looking for, you can answer accordingly and pass the test. Of course, you can just give the answers they're looking for and land the job, but it may not be a good fit for you if you do.
You want to know if you are really the right answer to the questions. Being genuine counts. That way you'll be more likely to like what you're doing and excel at it. You'll also be more likely to meet the employer's needs. Yes, employers often have a different perspective on what is most important than you do. What you have to do is find as close a match for both of you as possible! Everyone needs to have most of their needs covered.
Usually when we think about what those needs are, we think about pay, hours, skills, benefits and personalities. I'll bet you've already passed a few job interviews in your time, but even if this is new to you, you get the idea.
Check the advertisement. Match it to your training and history. Then highlight the matches while talking about your skills during the interview. Each time you study for the interview, you get better at doing them. Sometimes we do get the job. Sometimes it isn't a fit. But we learn more each time we go through the process. How about learning about yourself in terms of your best self-expression and then matching that to the employer's needs?
Say you know how to write an engineering resume, doctor resume, administrative assistant resume etc. You know how much the job needs to pay. You have an idea what's being offered. But how much do you know about your own personality, what motivates you and how that will work for your employer? If you pay attention to which of seven traits or skills are important to you and your employer, you'll be able to find a better fit. They're very important in the task of doing what's needed, as well as being your best self on the job. The seven skills or traits are: leadership, service, storytelling, efficiency, inspiration, information and innovation. Chances are that you are really good with at least two of these.
Let's take a look at what each one means and how they show up in a business environment.

• First let's look at leadership. Are you a good leader? Can you prove it from anything in your resume or with information from your life? You may think not, but even good parenting skills could potentially show leadership if you think about it. Do you take the lead in your community in some way? Look closely at your life and see.
• Now service. Do you feel good when you do something for someone else? Are you always helping people out? Are you someone who gives to others? These activities and desires could show that you are good at service.
• Next storytelling. The trait of storytelling may surprise you, but think about it. What does every good salesperson really do? They tell you a story about their product or service that helps you decide whether or not to buy it, right? Good. Look for that in your history.
• Efficiency. Are you one of those people who is incredibly organized and can do things better and faster than almost anyone else? This is a great trait to have. It may seem obvious that an employer would want this, but is it one of your best skills, or not? That's what you want to know.
• Inspiration is next. Do you want to make the world a better to live in? Inspire others to be their best? Are your friends always coming to you when they need to talk to someone? Then you may be very good at inspiration.
• Of course, with computers and the information overload we all deal with, we must deal with information. But do you love doing it? Are you a whiz at finding whatever information you or anyone else may need on anything you want? Do you enjoy finding information for other people? If so, it may be one of your best skills.
• And then there is innovation. How do you do at coming up with new ideas on how to make things work better than ever before? Do you constantly have a better idea? Then you may be an innovator.

Each of these skills has its place in the workplace. None of them rates higher than the others. All of them are needed and valued in the right job. Look at your goals, your personality and your resume and see which are your top two. Then go find a job that fits the best in you and give it your all!

KPI's, targets, training and development are always a good start.

A lot of people don't want a normal 9-5 job and lets be honest you don't want your employees to have the 9-5 mentality either.

People are motivated by different things and it is important to keep that in mind when look at rewards programs. Sometimes cash bonuses get a little boring and predictable so change it up a little. Ask your employees what they want.

KPI's should always be setup with the companies goals in mind. If employees are achieving targets based on KPI's then your company is achieving it's goals and your employees are achieving their targets resulting in rewards.

For some employees they want to know they have a future in the company. They want something to work towards. By providing training they have the ability to learn new areas of the company and it could help them find something they are passionate about.

Part of your KPI's could include training, this means in order for an employee to make their monthly target they must also complete 1 training program you have. This could be a short only training course you have setup. It could be based on industry legislation, compliance issues or career development.

This not only ensures your employees are up to date with current legislation increasing your compliance, it also gives them the opportunity to improve themselves.

If your employee thinks they are going to be stuck behind the same desk for the rest of lives what motivation could they possibly have to be energetic and creative?

Rewards can be in the form of training and giving them more responsibility. That not only helps you out it can also really motivate them.

Oh, and one thing I would like to point out.

Don't ever hold a company meeting to tell everyone how they made you so much money for the month unless you are also giving them a reward.

I remember when I was a teenager working in a factory. The owner gathered all the employees in the workshop and said.

"I would just like to congratulate you on making an extra effort this month. This month has been the most productive in a long time and as a result we have made a lot of money. Thank you for doing the extra over time (unpaid) and working faster".

Needless to say as soon as he walked back into the office all the workers were saying:

"Sure George, it is always a pleasure to break our backs to make you more money".

and

"Thanks for the motivation jerk, wont happen again".

The owner pushed us harder for the month saying we had fallen behind. However it was leaked he was just trying to see how much he could push us to increase productivity. Forcing people to do unpaid overtime is not the best option. Then rubbing it their faces afterwards really had an impact. A lot of people quit the following month.