PsyMax Solutions Newsletter: Trend Watch
Skills or Behaviors - Which are more important?
In This Issue:
- Skills or Behaviors - Which are more important?
- Top 20 Ways to Avoid Problems with the EEOC
- Sneak Preview : New PsyMax Products to Launch in 2007
- PsyMax Breakfast Series Hits The Road
1. Skills or Behaviors - Which are more important?
The dynamics that determine who is hired for a particular job involve a wide range of factors.
Are you better off hiring someone with outstanding job knowledge and the right mix of technical skills? Or, is it better to hire someone that fits your culture even though his/her experience and technical skills might not be as strong as other candidates?
The answer to these questions can usually be found by analyzing your most recent firing scenarios.
Hiring someone is fun. Firing them is not.
When a person is let go from a position within your organization, is it because they didn't have the skills or knowledge to do the job? Or, were they fired for being a misfit within the organization?
Most people are let go because they did not fit within the culture of an organization; not because they lacked the skills to do the job.
The problem starts early in the hiring process. People too often are hired based only on their technical skills.what they know, have done or are trained to do.
"Sam has great experience!"
People are usually fired for their mismatched work styles such as not being a team player or having a poor attitude. A generation ago, work styles were viewed as merely "fluff." Not anymore!
"Sam was a loose cannon around here."
For whatever reason, job candidates today often forget to bring their people skills to an interview. They appear to feel just getting an MBA or having a lot of experience and technical knowledge will guarantee a good job. Not true.
The good news for hiring managers is that there is a better way to identify the right person for the right job. You no longer have to rely just on a resume and "gut feeling" about a job candidate. Using assessments to measure work styles, managers now can improve prediction of a candidate's work habits and potential fit within their organization.
2. Top Twenty Ways to Avoid Problems with the EEOC
As a public service to businesses, the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) provides a list of 20 actions to take regarding harassment issues within the workplace. Being proactive about workplace harassment policies lowers the risk of having to meet one of their investigators in a courtroom.
Avoiding potential problems requires:
- Having a formal policy against harassment of all types.
- Not burying your harassment policy in an employee handbook and making it too lengthy and hard to understand.
- Having a policy that describes the types of prohibited conduct, the potential consequences and how an employee should properly report any misconduct.
- Having a policy that applies to all staff members at all levels equally, especially top management types.
- Treating all complaints seriously even it they seem frivolous, trivial or even informal.
- Recognizing that third-party harassment by customers or suppliers of your employees is a problem.
- Insuring that all supervisory personnel recognize the need for action when inappropriate conduct is reported, observed or suspected.
- Effectively communicating the intent to take action to the complainant.
- Assuring to complainant or witnesses that there will be no retaliation.
- Emphasizing to alleged perpetrator the need to avoid any action which even appears retaliatory.
- Beginning an investigation immediately. (Delaying affects the quality of an investigation and suggests disinterest to complainant.)
- Doing something even when the "victim" is not cooperative.
- Insuring a proper investigation of the situation.
- Making sure that the "Investigator" of the "alleged situation" is perceived as competent and objective in order to avoid lack of cooperation by the staff.
- Promising absolute confidentiality to complainant or witnesses.
- Codifying all results of the investigation.
- Taking adequate corrective action to prevent future occurrences and recognizing that a "cease and desist" order can be insufficient.
- Advising complainant and alleged harasser of results of inquiry.
- Making sure that the performance standards for supervisors require individual responsibility for promoting a harassment free environment and equal opportunity for all on staff.
- Checking the EEOC website (www.eeoc.gov) regularly for the latest guidance and developments in equal employment opportunity.
And, when reviewing company policies regarding harassment in the workplace, the following top 10 types of discrimination in the workplace need to be addressed:
- Age
- Disability
- Equal Pay
- National Origin
- Pregnancy
- Race
- Religion
- Retaliation
- Sex
- Sexual Harassment
Who Can File a Charge of Discrimination?
- Any individual who believes that his or her employment rights have been violated may file a charge of discrimination with EEOC.
- In addition, an individual, organization, or agency may file a charge on behalf of another person in order to protect the aggrieved person's identity.
What Are the Time Limits for Filing a Charge of Discrimination?
- All laws enforced by EEOC, except the Equal Pay Act, require filing a charge with EEOC before a private lawsuit may be filed in court. There are strict time limits within which charges must be filed:
- A charge must be filed with EEOC within 180 days from the date of the alleged violation, in order to protect the charging party's rights.
- This 180-day filing deadline is extended to 300 days if the charge also is covered by a state or local anti-discrimination law. For ADEA charges, only state laws extend the filing limit to 300 days.
- These time limits do not apply to claims under the Equal Pay Act, because under that Act, persons do not have to first file a charge with EEOC in order to have the right to go to court. However, since many EPA claims also raise Title VII sex discrimination issues, it may be advisable to file charges under both laws within the time limits indicated.
- To protect legal rights, it is always best to contact EEOC promptly when discrimination is suspected.
3. Sneak Preview: New PsyMax Products to Launch in 2007
We've been listening to your feedback. As a result of our customers' changing needs, PsyMax is launching a series of four new assessment tools:
PsyMax Hourly Work Style Assessment® - Is a quick, inexpensive measure of organizational fit for associates in hourly positions like cashiers, waiters, counter personnel and others whose jobs require basic skills.
PsyMax Integrity Work Style Assessment® - Helps employers minimize negative employee behaviors such as lapses in ethics, harassment, violence towards others, and disregard for safety procedures. Suitable for applicants and employees in entry-level, managerial, and professional positions.
PsyMax Customer Service Work Style Assessment® - Assists employers identify the right people for positions such as retail clerks, cashiers, front desk managers and those in similar service-oriented positions.
PsyMax Sales Associate Work Style Assessment® - Aids in clariging individuals with sales ability, from prospecting to closing deals. This assessment was designed to help employers identify employees who are driven by success, achievement, customer service, and meeting goals.
Request a Product Information Sheet
4. PsyMax Breakfast Series Hits the Road
PsyMax is taking its popular educational breakfast series on the road. The next event will be held in Detroit, Michigan on the morning of January 18, 2007.
"Recruiting in Today's Business Environment"
Presented by Stephen Lowisz
President and CEO
Qualigence, Inc.
The Westin Southfield Detroit
1500 Town Center
Southfield, MI 48075
About PsyMax Solutions
PsyMax Solutions offers an on-demand and integrated Human Capital website that provides world class assessment, interviewing, development, coaching, career, and 360° reports and programs for employees and managers. The PsyMax Solutions product suite is based on the work of psychologists who have conducted and written reports for over 20,000 managers. Our product suite generates results equal in quality, but at a fraction of the cost.
The PsyMax Solutions product suite is ready for immediate use without time-consuming and expensive consulting and IT set-up costs. In minutes you can create your own customized Human Capital website and use our integrated product suite to align your recruitment and development processes. To learn more about PsyMax Solutions, please visit us on the web at www.psymaxsolutions.com, e-mail us at info@psymaxsolutions.com, or call us at 866.774.2273.