Quick Printing

SEP 2013

Quick Printing is the only business resource serving the quick and small commercial printing niche in North America. Quick Printing is the authoritative source for business information, emerging technologies, shop profiles and management insight.

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EXECUTIVE SUITE Bad Hires are Expensive Testing before hiring can save you time, money, and headaches. By Dr. David Claerbaut Your Story hink about it. So often we focus on the cost of labor in terms of compensation only. That's pretty logical because we can calculate that and pump it into the budget. No muss, no fuss, and we know exactly the cost. But what if we hire this person, he proves to be a bust, and we now have to hire again. How much does that cost? T Maria's Story Let me give you an example. Maria wanted to go into print sales. She had been in customer service at a smaller company and wanted to make a few more bucks. No problem with that motivation. Anyway, Maria 1) knew the industry and its technology—a big plus, 2) was great with people, and 3) had been a proven hard worker. It looked as if we scored a 10 on this one. Until we tested her. The tests indicated that she was long on detail and reliability, but indicated no real "killer instinct" and persuasiveness—both of which are absolutely critical to sales success. Think about it. Had the company with which I worked hired Maria, they would have paid her a draw, w w w. M y P R I N T R e s o u r c e . c o m or some similar form of compensation, for six, nine, maybe 12 months before they decided to cut the rope and stop spending good green after bad. George's Story Here's another one. George wanted to work in a technical area requiring careful teamwork. He knew the tech issues cold and interviewed splendidly. Moreover, he was decisive and filled with innovative ideas. Got to hire this guy, right? There is no way to be absolutely rock certain you have hired the right person. There are, however, ways to stack the chips on your side. © iStockphoto/Thinkstock Many of you could put a price tag on that, depending on the job and the productivity. But before you do you might want to look at a hidden cost—time. Think of how many labor hours go into hiring one person for one important job. That is not direct labor, my friend. That time produces nothing. Now, what if you have to do it all over again? And what about the morale impact of a "lemon" hire? You get the point. There is no way to be absolutely rock certain you have hired the right person. There are, however, ways to stack the chips on your side. One of them is to test serious candidates. Yes, I have a testing service you can use, but whether you use my system or another, you are wise to use one because good tests are uncanny in their capacity to find the holes in the Swiss cheese. By now you know where I am going. You can sift the resumes all day long, interview the candidates at length, and even check references (if that is legal), and you may still come a cropper on something you simply cannot see from those vantage points. What good tests do is ask questions—directly and indirectly—in a disarming fashion so that the test taker really cannot snooker the instrument with "right" answers. What develops is a profile, one that indicates traits and likely tendencies. And when you mix those in with your other due diligence you get a more clear and complete picture. When I started as a consultant, I didn't believe in tests. I thought I had this godlike capacity to read through anyone. I was good, but I wasn't that good. Neither Wrong. George's test indicated he was so enamored of power that he would have been better suited for the job of some 16th century emperor than a key spot on a production team. George may well have been effective on the tech front, in the limited sense, but there was no way he would take instruction from anyone, let alone follow instructions with which he might disagree. is anyone else. So I encourage you to take that extra step. Although no test is foolproof, it is wise to spend a few bucks up front to improve your odds, rather than act in haste and repent (but not in leisure). ◗◗ Dr. David Claerbaut has spent more than 25 years consulting in the graphic arts industry. You can reach him directly at 702-354-7000 or email him at drdavid@ fcbb.com. Learn more at MyPRINTResource. com/10746916. September 2013 / QUICK PRINTING 43

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