Horizon Point Consulting

Category: Beyond Work

Beyond Work is our line of resources for people and community leaders looking for something new and innovative outside, be it a new job, career change, or personal development outside of work.

  • Improving Applicant Conversion Rates

    Improving Applicant Conversion Rates

    We recently switched dentist offices. With three boys I always try to schedule their appointments at the same time and that normally means being handed a clipboard loaded with forms; one set for each child.

    To my surprise, when I walked up to the receptionist to sign in, she asked me to look at a computer screen on the counter and “fill out” their paperwork. On each screen, the information was pre-filled. All I had to do was make sure it was correct and click through the screens, then use an electronic signature pad to sign a few pages. It literally took me two minutes to complete the paperwork! Needless to say I was thankful for their easy new patient process. (That was just the beginning, the entire visit went very well)

    Job applicants want ease of use during the application process as well. Research shows that applicant drop off rates are anywhere between 60-75%. One of the top reasons cited is the length of the application. The longer it takes the candidate to complete the application, the higher the drop off rate. Applicants get frustrated with being required to provide information that isn’t necessary during the applicant process such as providing references or having to enter information that is available on the resume they are required to upload.

    According to Appcast, conversion rates can be increased up to 365% by reducing the time of the application process to five minutes or less. Many applicant tracking systems available today allow for easy applications, oftentimes even supporting one-click application processes. These systems also provide organizations with easy access to application metrics including drop off rates.

    When was the last time your organization analyzed applicant drop off rates and reviewed the application process?

  • Take a Lunch Break

    Take a Lunch Break

    “You want me to pick you up a biscuit for breakfast?”  One colleague asked another on his way into the office one morning.

    “No, Mary Ila is coming today.”

    “Gotcha.” he replied back.

    The HR Manager I work with regularly was the one refusing the biscuit because she knew if I’m there for the day, I am going to take her (make her go) to lunch.   This is such a given that now her collogues know when I’m there not to count on her to be there at lunch time.  Her friend/co-worker with the biscuit didn’t need any further explanation as to why she didn’t want a big breakfast.  Mary Ila here = a good lunch.  He’s gotten in on the lunch breaks with us at least once before too.

    The lunches started out, in her view I think, as me just trying to be nice.  And of course, I am taking her to lunch to be nice, but also because I’ve got to eat too.

    But she’s come to realize that I have bigger reasons for taking her to lunch.  She needs to get OUT of the office for a bit.   The lunches help us both recharge, have more casual, but still work-related conversations.  I can visibly see her relax a little once we get in the car and we are headed to what is most often our favorite-Mexican- meal.

    I had a purpose for the lunch breaks with her because intuitively I know she needs it.  Little did I know that there is a lot of science to back up lunch (not breakfast- see she didn’t need that biscuit!) as the most important meal of the day.

    In When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing by Daniel Pink,  Pink writes:

    “For example, a 2016 study looked at more than eight hundred workers (mostly in information technology, education, and media from eleven different organizations, some of whom regularly took lunch breaks away from their desks and some of whom did not.  The non-desk lunchers were better able to contend with workplace stress and showed less exhaustion and greater vigor not just during the remainder of the day but also one full year later.

    ‘Lunch breaks,’ the researchers say, ‘offer an important recovery setting to promote occupational health and well-being’- particularly for employees in cognitively or emotionally demanding jobs,’”

    Pink goes on to describe two things that need to be present for lunch breaks to have this positive outcome:

    1. Autonomy- Exercising how, when and whom you do it with.
    2. Detachment- Being both psychologically and physically detached from the work place (and the phone, etc. that may connect you to it).

    I do make her go to lunch and go with me, so I’m not sure how much autonomy I’ve given her in this.  However, we do practice detachment.

    I hope that the value she sees in the lunch breaks will help her be more autonomous in taking them.  Also by engaging others in the practice of breaking for lunch, she can model the way to detach from the workplace and work activities at some point during the day to recharge and refocus.

    Do you regularly take a lunch break?  If not, what would help make you start?  Call me- I’m always up for lunch if you need an accountability partner.

     

  • 3 Things to Do When You’re NOT Looking to Make a Career Move

    3 Things to Do When You’re NOT Looking to Make a Career Move

    HR professionals know the War for Talent is real. So, what does that mean for individuals who are comfortable in their current jobs? It’s simple; don’t get too comfortable.

    I received a call from a colleague once who said a hiring manager had reached out to her about me. Apparently, she had seen our connection on LinkedIn and asked if she thought I might be interested in a job. I wasn’t even looking, but was offered an opportunity that turned out to be enjoyable contract work and nice supplemental income.

    Now more than ever, recruiters and hiring managers are seeking out passive candidates. Even if you love your job, you never want to become complacent. Always strive to be the passive candidate companies are looking for.

    Here are 3 things to consider:

    1. Grow and foster your connections – reach out to at least one potential or current contact per week to touch base. This can be as simple as a call, text or email. Check out: 7 Networking Do’s and Don’ts.
    2. Keep your LinkedIn profile current. If you don’t have one, check out 3 Steps to Get Your LinkedIn Profile Job Search Ready.
    3. Be a lifelong learner. For ideas, read this article via HR bartender: How to Plan Time for Self- Learning.

    Are you ready to be an amazing, passive candidate?

  • Leaders Should Be Learners

    Leaders Should Be Learners

    Guest blog written by: Steve Graham

    The Commitment:

    Leaders set the tone for an organization.  They must be agile in their responses to the ever-changing marketplace and business climate.  Leaders are charged with growing organizations, and learning is a part of the growth process.

    Learning can take various shapes within an organization.  It can be organic, formalized, personalized, or on-demand.  Whatever the shape, learning needs to be part of a leader’s commitment to improve both personally and professionally.   One big lesson of learning is how to use failure.  The old saying, “Failure is not an option”, is not realistic.  Even though failure is not a strategic goal and we do not desire to fail, it is always a reality.

    Part of the commitment for leaders to be learners is becoming comfortable with vulnerability.  Leaders do not have all the answers and admitting that with confidence makes the leader authentic.  Leaders must go first! According to Patrick Lencioni, in his book, The Advantage: Why Organizational Health Trumps Everything Else in Business: “The only way for a leader of a team to create a safe environment for his team members to be vulnerable is by stepping up and doing something that feels unsafe and uncomfortable first.”  Being first means becoming comfortable with vulnerability.

    The Example:

    Leaders who value the impact of learning on growth and talent retention drive an organization where learning is part of the organizational DNA.  Those who set the example in their commitment to learning create organizations that are serious about learning.  How a leader uses failure to learn can set a good example for how to use these important lessons for improvement.  In the field of academic medicine, M&M (Morbidity and Mortality) Conferences are used to examine failures and medical errors. These are powerful in learning what went wrong and finding answers to correct problems and improve medical care.  The key objective of a well-run M&M conference is to identify adverse outcomes associated with medical error, to modify behavior and judgment based on previous experiences, and to prevent repetition of errors leading to complications. If Medicine finds value in learning from failures, should more organizations not do the same?  Yes! Leaders who are learners set an example and establish the value of learning within an organization.

    The Investment:

    Learning should never end. It is an investment in time and money.  Many leaders give excuses of why they cannot take time to learn.   Learning should be a priority and not an option.  It is an investment that successful leaders embrace. According to Dr. Brad Staats, Associate Professor of Operations at the University of North Carolina’s Kenan-Flagler School of Business: “Today’s fast-paced, ever-changing, global economy requires us to never stop learning or we risk becoming irrelevant. Savvy leaders recognize this means investing in their own learning journey, so they can develop the processes and behaviors required for ongoing success.”  Dr. Staats recent publication, Never Stop Learning: Stay Relevant, Reinvent Yourself, and Thrive, illustrates the importance of making the lifelong investment of learning.

    The Connection Between Executive Coaching & Learning:

    Coaching is an important part of learning.  It enhances the leader’s ability to be a better active listener.  Listening is a fundamental part of success as a leader.  In his bestselling book, What Got You Here Won’t Get You There, well-known Executive Coach, Marshall Goldsmith states: “80 percent of our success in learning from other people is based on how well we listen.”  Are you hearing more than listening?  Listening takes practice. It is a learned skill that successful leaders focus on to become better.

    Executive coaching is part of sound leadership development.  It can be incorporated to help leaders become more self-aware and learn to be more approachable and authentic in their influence.  Another great resource on how learning makes a better leader is a book titled: Learn Like Leader: Today’s Top Leaders Share Their Learning Journeys.

    When coaching is used with other learning initiatives, it helps develop a deeper purpose for the leader.  Developing the complete leader involves being committed, setting an example, and making an investment in self and others.  Focus on learning as a strategic resource in personal and professional development.

     

    About the Author: 

    Steve Graham serves as vice president for marketing, HR business partner and college instructor. He holds graduate degrees in management and higher education. As a life-long learner, he has additional graduate and professional education in executive and professional coaching, health care administration and strategic human resource management. Steve is also the Founder and President of Valiant Coaching & Talent Development, LLC.

    He is a certified HR professional with The Society for Human Resource Management, certified coach with the International Coach Federation and a Global Career Development Facilitator. His professional memberships include: The Society for Human Resource Management, the American Society for Healthcare Human Resources Administration, Association for Talent Development and International Coach Federation.

  • Explain Your Why. Don’t Assume Why.

    Explain Your Why. Don’t Assume Why.

    After a particularly long doctor’s appointment with our seven-year-old, the topic of his prescription (he has epilepsy and takes a medicine to control his seizures) came up.

    The nurse practitioner came back in to say she had sent it to the pharmacy electronically.

    My husband said, “We need it written in 500mL increments.”

    She looked at him like who do you think you are, trying to tell me how to write a prescription.

    I looked at my husband and tried to telepathically tell him, “Explain to her why you are making that request.”  I may or may not have also thought “You idiot” too, but that’s beside the point.

    You see, I knew why he was making this request. His request had good intentions, not meant to serve his ego, but to serve others. We get his medicine from the community pharmacy where my husband works. He’s in administration at the hospital. The medicine comes to the pharmacy in 250mL bottles. The way our son’s prescription was written last time required bottles to be split which is a real pain for the pharmacy staff. The dosage is so close to 500mL for a three-month supply (450mL I think) that, in his mind, it was easy and made logical sense to write the prescription at 500mL. It would save everyone time.

    The nurse knew none of this.

    But once he started to explain that really all he was trying to do was make life easier for the people he works with, her face relaxed and she simply said, “Sure, we can do that.”

    If we had explained our why before we made the request, things would have been easier. It was fortunate that we could explain our way out of what looked like an ego trip.

    On the flip side of this, the nurse only knew what she knew as well, and that was our request. Her defensive response was totally natural. It is what most of us do. Our brain goes into defense mode when we don’t have all the inputs we need to understand a situation.

    However, what often derails us is making assumptions about people’s motives (i.e. my husband was on a power or control trip) when we don’t have the full context for communication or behaviors towards us. We don’t naturally respond by seeing people in a positive light as our first reaction (i.e. my husband is trying to help someone else out) when we don’t have all the information needed to understand a situation.

    So the next time you make a request of someone, explain to them why you are making that request. If you are the recipient of a request without all the details, don’t assume the worst of the person or the situation. Ask clarifying questions to gain mutual understanding.

    How do you explain the why and not assume the why?