Horizon Point Consulting

Author: Mary Ila Ward

  • What Employers Want: Creativity

    What Employers Want: Creativity

    Creativity is a must have in today’s workplace.  Its one of the 4Cs all employers want.  People who can think outside the box are in demand, and always will be.  But I would take it a step further in that people who have the ability to redefine what the box is will always have a job, and many of them create that job for themselves.

    Fast Company featured the 100 Most Creative People in Business last month.  The #1 person was Nate Silver (the Money Ballguy) who is a prime example of what it means to redefine the box.

    He is quoted as describing creativity in two ways,  “pure expression” like in artistic endeavors and “finding different ways to approach and solve a problem.”  Creativity is problem solving at its best.  Silver has redefined the box by matching math and data with creativity to derive  “solutions in an era of information overload”.   An example:  Silver transformed predicting the success of minor league baseball players by looking at data instead of a scout’s opinion.  The things that were important in predicting success were not what most people thought.  He also was successful in calling the 2012 election perfectly (see his fivethirtyeight blog) by analyzing large amounts of data.  He redefined the box of election and pro athlete analysis by taking emotion out.

    What can we do to be more creative?

    •    Engage yourself in activities that are challenging which require you to problem solve.  Take the harder math class, sign up for a class to learn how to code or learn another language even though you know nothing about it.   Tell your boss you’re willing to tackle the tough issue at work even though you have no idea where to begin.
    •  Read about creative people.   What are they doing to help themselves think outside the box or redefine the box? Fast Company is a good place to start this reading.
    •  Talk to creative people.   We all know someone who seems to come with a new idea every minute.  Engage them in conversation to see what sparks their mind to action and problem solving and emulate their behaviors.
    •   Find time to think.  Sometimes we got so caught up in the rat race that we don’t take the time consciously set aside time for higher order thinking.    Want some tips for doing this? Read more here: Art Petty’s blog

    How do you stimulate your creative juices?

  • 2 Tips for Resolving Conflict Wisely

    THE SHORTEST DISTANCE TO SOLVE A CONFLICT DOES NOT TAKE THE PATH OF A TRIANGLE.

    One of the best interview questions to ask, regardless of the position is, “Tell me about a time when you had a conflict with another person and how did you resolve it?”

    This question was asked in a recent interview panel I was a part of and I loved the applicant’s response.  She started by stating, “I don’t practice triangular conflict resolution,” and then proceeded to describe a situation in which she went directly to the person the conflict was with in order to resolve the issue instead of sharing the conflict with a third party.

    I know I’ve been guilty of avoiding conflict with others by not addressing it head-on, which in most cases only makes it worse.  I’ve also been guilty of acting as someone’s third point in the triangle of his or her conflict, getting involved when it was not my place to do so.

    So how can we all help ourselves and help others to handle conflict wisely?:

    1. Demonstrate straight-line conflict resolution.    If you have a problem with someone, go directly to that person in private to solve the conflict.  If you can’t go directly to that person to discuss it in person (not in an email), then it can’t be that big of an issue.
    2. Don’t form the third point in the triangle for people.  If someone comes to you with a problem with another person, ask them if they have discussed the problem with that person.  If they haven’t, direct them to do so.   Don’t get in the middle.

    What has been your best method for resolving conflict?

  • What do employers want? The 4 Cs

    Employers want people who can do the jobs that require their business to be successful, and certain job titles and skills are more in demand than others. However, after working as corporate recruiter and with hundreds of businesses, I have a short list of skills that I think are absolutely sought after by all employers, regardless of the industry or job titles they hire for.

    The 4 Cs

    • Conscientiousness
    • Creativity
    • Collaboration
    • Communication

    Time spent developing these skills is critical to the success of anyone preparing for or in the job market.

    I’ll spend the next few weeks describing what these skills are and provide a list of things to do that can help develop these skills.   Yes, they are developable.  Although some people are born with more innate ability in some of these than others, they all can be defined and developed in concrete ways.

    The First C: Conscientiousness

    Conscientiousness is one of the most noted personality traits that is a predictor of job performance.  It’s also described as initiative.   You can read more about some characteristics and studies on things related to conscientious in this previous post, but I think an example of what conscientiousness looks like through behaviors that a person demonstrates is more helpful.

    An Example

    I’ve recently had an I/O grad student working with me on a community wage survey.   The faculty of the program (where I completed my Masters in I/O) selected her as an ideal candidate for this project, notably because of her interest in compensation.   I also indicated that I needed a self-starter who could stay focused while working on tedious data analysis and have the ability to meet a tight deadline.   AKA a conscientious person.

    Man did I get her!  She was the poster child of conscientiousness!

    Here are some behaviors she exhibited:

    • She arrived early for our first meeting for me to train her on how to do the data analysis.   With a 2 hour drive to get here, she planned accordingly and allotted herself more time to arrive just in case something came up on the way.
    • She asked thoughtful questions when needed in order to make sure she had an understanding of what was being asked of her to complete.
    • She lent suggestions about how to arrive at getting something done when she had a better method, and did so in a polite, helpful manner.
    • She worked remotely and handled her time to complete the project with zero supervision.
    • She was patient with me in my response to her email questions when I was out of town.   When I wasn’t answering a question right away, she moved on to work on other parts she didn’t have questions about instead of letting my absence get her behind.  THIS IS KEY!  Most people do not do this, they use it as an excuse not to complete work on time.
    • She created job aids for herself to remind her of steps that needed to be taken on each data set to make sure she did it correctly and consistently.
    • She clarified specific deadlines.  I told her I needed the completed survey to me on Wednesday, she asked for a specific time on Wednesday.
    • She turned the project in an hour early.
    • She performed every task asked of her correctly.  She followed directions.

    So, what tips can I glean from this to establish conscientiousness for myself so employers want to hire me?

    Behaviors are cultivated through habits.  Here are behaviors, based on this example you need to get in the habit of doing:

    1. Arrive early (and plan ahead to give yourself enough time to do so).
    2. Follow directions.
    3. Before you can follow directions, you have to listen to directions and/or read them!  Do this by eliminating distractions when you need to listen, and writing things down when necessary.
    4. Ask clarifying questions.
    5. Make suggestions in order to help people be more successful.
    6. Don’t wait on someone to prompt you to do something. Monitor yourself in getting work done; don’t rely on someone else to do it for you.   If your mom is always asking you to get your homework done or your boss is always asking for a certain task to be completed, you aren’t demonstrating conscientious behaviors.
    7. Complete work on what you can when you are waiting on information from someone else.  Do not use someone else’s absence as an excuse to quit working.
    8. Create tools that help you remember things in order to do things right the first time and consistently.  Oftentimes, all this needs to be is a checklist.
    9. Turn in assignments early; don’t procrastinate.

    Who do you know that is successful in their job or in school because they are conscientious?  What do they DO to show people they are conscientious?

  • Hiring Slow

    3 THINGS THE PROS DO

    I think we’ve all at one time or another been on the side of the recruiting process where it felt like a hurry up and wait game.  Applying for a job and jumping through the hoops to get it always seems to be a mind-numbingly slow process.  Even in my days as a recruiter, I often became frustrated with the slow process, particularly when I had a candidate that was perfect for a job and I was anxious to hire him or her.

    Despite the snails pace of hiring that can become frustrating, I was reminded at the Alabama SHRM conference about the importance of hiring slow, not because you’re taking too long, but because you have the right processes in place to select the best people.  Dawn Hrdlica-Burke with Daxko spoke about employee engagement, and emphasized that at Daxko, they hire slow which leads to more a more engaged workforce.  They take their time making sure they have the right candidate.

    At Daxko, they do three things as a part of their slow hiring process:

    Give candidates homework that relates to the job

    What I like about this:  It is an exercise in: 1) Do they have the skills for the job? 2) Do they have initiative and follow-through (which is necessary for almost every job out there)? and 3) It is gives them a realistic job preview of the work they are going to do, which connects to hiring for fit.  They may perform the homework, and screen themselves out because they don’t like the task assigned.

    Conduct a peer-to-peer interviews

    What I like about this:  Oftentimes peers can see positive or negative characteristics in a candidate that hiring managers don’t see.  It also assesses ability to work with others, which again, what job doesn’t require these days?

    Want to combine both #1 and #2 with one exercise?   You might enjoy reading this earlier post on hiring.

    Hire for fit.

    What I like about this:  First, hiring for fit implies that you have defined your company culture in ways that connects to competences you are looking for in candidates.   This leads to the expectation that 1)  People will further your company values and culture and 2) They will stay because their values are aligned with company values.   Want more info on this?  You may find this guest post I did for upstartHR post useful.

    What’s your best selection tip to lead to an engaged employee?

  • Are your employees on the border of “boredom and anxiety”?

    5 QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELF ABOUT FLOW IN THE WORKPLACE

    I’ve recently finished reading,Flow, by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, which discusses how people can improve their lives by cultivating optimal experiences.  Flow is a state where people control their inner experiences, regardless of outward influences.  Many people describe flow as a state in which they loose all track of time in what they are doing because they enjoy it so much. People who experience flow report feeling “strong” “active” “creative” “concentrated” and “motivated”.

    The author describes a flow experience as one where people are in-between the states of “boredom and anxiety” and postulates that in this state people are pushed to higher levels of performance and they actually enjoy it.

    Based on the studies conducted by the author, people are more likely to experience flow at work that at leisure.  Here are some questions to ask yourself in considering whether the work people do for you leads to flow:

    1.  Does the work require above average challenges? Is it difficult, but accomplishable?
    2. Does the work require people to use above average skills? Does it give people an opportunity to develop skills?
    3. Does the work have built in goals?
    4.  Does the work provide feedback in performance?
    5.  Are there rules that govern the work?  Are there ways to keep the work from being too ambiguous?

    These questions relate to what Hackman and Oldman site in Work Redesign as key factors in of reaching the outcomes of internal motivation, job satisfaction, performance quality, low absenteeism and low turnover:

    Job Dimensions:

    Skill Variety

    Task Identity (How much of the work is completed by one person as a part of a process?)

    Task Significance (Is the work important?)

    Autonomy

    Feedback

    Psychological States:

    Experienced Meaningfulness

    Felt Responsibility

    Knowledge of Results

    Growth Need Strength (Did this help me grow as an individual?)

     

    When have you experienced flow at work and what were the key characteristics of what you were doing that led to this experience?