Hiring new employees is kind of like dating

At a recent meeting of the Henderson Libraries Business Book Club, we discussed a fascinating book called “SWAY, the Irresistible Pull of Irrational Behavior,” by Ori and Rom Brafman. Writing in the breezy style of “Freakonomics,” the Brafman brothers shed light on the real reasons we humans often behave in ways that are counterproductive (and sometimes downright stupid).

I was particularly intrigued by the section on hiring new employees. As a partner here at Imagine, I’ve been involved in this process enough to know that it’s an iffy proposition at best. We’ve been extremely fortunate in bringing new folks into the fold but, as the book points out, there’s a large element of luck involved. Don’t believe me? Take a look at the 10 most common job interview questions:

· Why should I hire you?

· What do you see yourself doing five years from now?

· What do you consider to be your greatest strengths and weaknesses?

· How would you describe yourself?

· What college subject did you like best? Least?

· What do you know about our company?

· Why did you decide to seek a job with our company?

· Why did you leave your last job?

· What do you want to earn five years from now?

· What do you really want to do in life?

If these sound familiar, you’re not alone. They sound familiar to your job candidates, too. Which makes it that much easier for them to game the system. In that respect, it’s kind of like dating.

In fact, according to the authors, only one of the above questions has any real value. Can you guess which one? (Cue “Jeopardy” theme.) Time’s up. It’s “What do you know about our company?” The reason is that it shows initiative on the part of the prospective employee.

Rather than relying on these essentially meaningless questions, the Brafmans recommend standardized tests as the best method for identifying the right people for your organization. Compatibility is a key component, another similarity to the world of dating. Eharmony, for example, emphasizes that element above all others.

At Imagine Marketing, we’ve used tests like “Strengths Finder” for some time now. But we’d still be hard pressed to completely abandon the interview process. (Actually, multiple interviews with multiple Imagine team members.) Maybe a combination of objective testing and gut instinct is the best approach. Now, if we could just find a way to quantify luck.

Brian Rouff serves as managing partner for Imagine Marketing.

Contact Brian at brouff@imnv.com.

Choosing the right words makes the difference

After news rocks a nation, a common question is, “Where were you when it happened?” My parents can tell you where they were when they heard John F. Kennedy had been assassinated. Back then, they heard it from their teachers, and later, the nightly news and daily newspapers. More recently, many people can tell you exactly which television they were glued to on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001 as the Twin Towers fell. When news came over bin Laden had been killed, I received it in a text message. I followed it up by looking on Facebook, where a number of news agencies are my “friends,” and then to CNN … all on my smartphone. Sitting in a restaurant, a friend of mine and I huddled around my phone to listen to Pres. Obama’s speech on YouTube. When the “Where were you?” question is asked, many people will respond with the social media or news websites they were on instead of their location and what television they were watching at the time.

Where people used to gather around radios to hear Franklin D. Roosevelt speak about the bombing of Pearl Harbor, today, the news comes to them. Presidential speeches have adapted to a modern format, becoming shorter and more concise. It’s easier to broadcast, quote and tweet them that way. In Sunday night’s speech by Pres. Obama, he got to the point, with the lede up front, in fine newspaper form. He then evoked the emotion, reminding all of us how we felt on Sept. 11, 2001 and reminded us of the history. The busier life gets, and the more time that passes, the easier it gets to push away the stuff that chokes you up or gives you chills for the immediacy of the life in front of you.

He also paid remembrance. Nearly 3,000 lives were lost on Sept. 11, 2001. He let us not forget that and spoke to the families directly, whether they were listening in their cars, on their couches or on their smartphones.

Pres. Obama reminded us with a few sentences, and all of a sudden, we were standing in front of that television 10 years ago. This takes wordsmithing.

He gave us heroes. They are faceless and nameless – for now – but for a moment, the President made us believe super heroes exist. Camouflage and all. Eight years of war and countless news reports and political campaigns tend to make us forget – there are people out there roaming the night who fight to protect us and the world. In his speech, he reminded us those super heroes are out there.

He presented background information on the mission. For months – years – this was all going on in the background. While Pres. Obama was touring tornado-ravaged Alabama, he was directing a secret covert operation. While Donald Trump was calling into question his birthright, Obama was aiding in planning one of the most vital American missions in recent history. During the annual White House Correspondents Dinner on Saturday night, while Obama was cracking up the press corps, the plan was in action. He took responsibility for giving the green light, but he also placed praise on the members of the military who stood on the front lines, carried out the mission and risked their lives for the world’s safety. Hollywood movies are made of this, and in the film about this firefight, the president won’t be the star but merely a player in the game. And he knows it.

He didn’t dwell in the past, however. In a world of instant news, it was important to keep looking forward. Although this was a large step, it wasn’t the only one. We still have a way to go before it is peaceful enough to bring our service men and women home to their families for more than 12 months at a time.

The speech got to the point, evoked emotion, retold history, remembered the dead, rewarded the heroes, and at the end, reminded Americans, as a country, we “can do whatever we set our mind to” – all in the span of 10 minutes. Like a dad reminding his kid who has fallen off his bike one too many times not to give up, Obama reiterated our accomplishments. After all, as “one nation, under God, indivisible,” they are all our accomplishments just as the sadness of Sept. 11 is our sorrow.

The speech, in all, was probably written in only a few hours, maybe minutes. In a tech-savvy nation when sound bites deliver a morsel of information in small increments, it was well constructed, sound bites firmly in place. On a list of historical speeches, will it rank? “We must – and we will – remain vigilant at home and abroad” probably won’t live up to “Four score and seven years ago,” “a day which will live in infamy,” or “ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country,” but for the moment, it was needed – on television, online and in print. It was what the country needed. Hail to the speech writer.

Tiffannie Bond serves as Media Relations Specialist for Imagine Marketing. E-mail Tiffannie at tbond@imnv.com.

Lessons learned from events related to Osama bin Laden’s death

It’s pretty clear everyone has something to say about yesterday’s news announcing the U.S. had killed Osama bin Laden. I’m one to get into the spirit of things, so here’s my take on it all – from a “lessons learned” perspective.

Punctuation, grammar and spelling always matter. When breaking news happens and you’re the media, it’s important to move and move fast. Prestige comes with being first (if you’re right), and when big news happens, everyone’s jockeying for that coveted “Heard first here” designation.

Lesson learned: No matter how fast you are, it’s critical to take that extra minute (sometimes even a few seconds) and re-read what you’ve written before it goes public. If you don’t, as you can see in picture to the right, you’ll look foolish.

Be prepared to talk a lot longer than you planned. At approximately 7:45 p.m. PDT yesterday, CBS News announced President Obama would address the nation “in 20 minutes.” The news station had already confirmed (through unnamed sources) the president would announce that Osama bin Laden had been killed. However, President Obama didn’t make his speech for another hour – leaving a lot of time for CBS to kill. Given the circumstances (it was last minute and they had no idea when they would have to cut to the president for his big speech), they did a great job filling the time. That said, they repeated themselves frequently, “recapping” what had been said just minutes prior.

Lesson learned: Plan for the expected and the unexpected.

Be on time. Or plan for not being on time. President Obama said he would address the nation at about 8-8:05 p.m. PDT (if memory serves). However, he didn’t actually make his speech until somewhere in the vicinity of 9 p.m. PDT – at which time the news of Osama’s death had already spread like wildfire via social media, CBS and more.

Lesson learned: If you want to be the first to say something, keep your cards close to your chest until it’s really show time.

If you’re going to schedule your Tweets, remember to cancel them. This is a point my co-worker brought up at our morning meeting. Amidst Tweets of Osama’s death and “Go USA!” were Tweets that just didn’t fit the atmosphere of the country – Tweets that were clearly scheduled. Scheduling your Tweets is certainly helpful, especially for busy people who want to stay consistently engaged with their followers. BUT there are exceptions to the rule, and huge news is one of them.

Lesson learned: When big news hits, cancel your scheduled Tweets for that time. Otherwise, you look out of touch and, possibly, even self-absorbed.

Remember who’s the U.S. president and who’s the dead terrorist. This goes hand-in-hand with my earlier point about grammar, spelling, etc., but it’s important enough that I wanted to make it a separate point. Over the past 15 hours, countless news stations across the country have announced Obama’s death. Misspelling names is one of the fastest ways to lose credibility. In fact, it’s so important that, in college, I had a journalism professor who would fail our entire test or paper if we misspelled even one name. I would say the effect is exponential if you’ve mistakenly announced our president’s murder instead of public enemy #1’s.

Lesson learned: If there are words or names that can obviously be easily misspelled, take extra care when writing them – every single time.

Never assume nothing happens overnight. I bet the announcement of Osama’s death sideswiped the poor chap at the BBC, who politely referred to the hated worldwide terrorist as “Mr. Bin Laden.” The courtesy wasn’t up for long, but it was humorous nonetheless. This is a minor example of what could happen, but it’s worth mentioning because there are countless stories of what’s taken place (on a much larger scale) when the unexpected happened and the person in charge at the time wasn’t trained to deal with it.

Lesson learned: If you’re going to leave someone behind to hold down the fort, make sure they’re capable of handling more than the expected.

If you don’t have much to say, don’t say much (if it’s possible). One of my favorite articles last night was one by the Associated Press. The entire article went like this:

“WASHINGTON – Al-Qaida mastermind Osama bin Laden is dead and the United States has his body, a person familiar with the developments says.

“President Barack Obama is expected to make that announcement from the White House late Sunday night.

“The person spoke on the condition of anonymity in order to speak ahead of the president.”

That’s it. Short and to the point and a good example for business and life. (One of my favorites, actually.)

Lesson learned: It’s OK to stop talking if you’ve said all that needs to be said.

On that note, that’s it from me. If you have any examples of more lessons learned from yesterday’s turn of events, I’d love to hear them.

Melissa Rothermel serves as Director of Media Relations for Imagine Marketing.
E-mail Melissa at mrothermel@imnv.com.