You've all given me some great ideas so far. But reading the responses has, of
course, brought to mind other questions. For instance, how have people
successfully flushed out certain attitudes during the interview?
No offense to the consultants on the list, but please don't tell me "By
hiring me!" I'm looking for some meat here. I'm especially interested in how
recruiters/managers/HR practitioners have done this at their companies.
Thanks,
Tom Gorman
T_Gorman@pbp.com
P.S.
I've included a summary of the responses below. For brevity's sake, I
ommitted side threads that spun off from the main diaglogue.
1.
Is it helpful to answer your inquiry with "negative"
information?
It's obvious that a positive attitude
(in the folk use of the term) is something a lot of people
think is important, but there are two important observations:
1) the relation of attitude and individual and/or group work
performance is complex - Cindy Fisher wrote a review article
in Academy of Management Review a few years ago that nicely
summarized this point (entitled something like "On the dubious
` wisdom of expecting job satisfaction to correlate with
performance") One simply can not count on "happy workers
being productive workers"
2) direct assessment of attitude during hiring is transparent,
so it will be hard to separate the truly positive from the
merely pretending to be. Some argue that positive/negative
affectivity is a personality trait, so one might expect
a personality based measure to help predict job performance.
However, I've not seen anyone score personality measures for
this trait. In addition, it's not one of the "Big 5" dimensions
of personality that seem to have currency in defining
personality from an employment perspective (see Personnel Psych
in the early nineties for Barret/Mount reviews and Tett/Jackson
reviews of personality predicting job performance)
I think positive people are fun to work with, but I don't think
it's something we can reliably screen on; if positive truly
matters, then deal with it as a treatment issue (once hired
we'll try to treat people decently, and we'll expect them to
try to be as positive as they can.)
Sorry if this response is clutter rather than helpful.
Howard Miller,
Professor of Management
College of Business
Mankato State University
Mankato, MN 56002
phone: (507) 389-5400
email to:
howard.miller@mankato.msus.edu
2.
Tom, G. Neil Companies, 800-999-9111, markets a line of testing products
that have assisted thousands of companies in identifying individuals with
relevant work related skills and attitudes. Specifically, they sell the
"Can-Do" Attitude Test which measures some of the things you are talking
about. You can obtain a free sample by giving them a call.
3.
well, i can say that that is exactly how they hired me. i had worked as =
an assistant in HR for 3 months, and then, when they closed teir doors, =
i was hired at an HR consulting firm (where i am at now). I had little =
or no experience, but i was willing to read, take any classes and do =
anything to learn about HR. I have been here since July and I am now =
the Employment manager, Just as our receptionist is interested in =
learning recruiting, i have made her my assistant and i have taught her =
what i know as well as we learn together with little or no supervision. =
They trust my judgement. =20
I hope this can help you a little.
Jennifer Brooks
Employment Manager
Lydian Group
4.
I will assume you are being serious!
I am Kevin Kemper, chancellor of
Entrepreneurs' University and
CEO of Entrepreneurial Consulting, Inc.,
and CEO of
Paradise City, a new retirment community in
Hawaii.
I have taught this philosophy for 30 years AFTER MY DAD AND I DISCUSSED
IT AND DISLIKED HIS ANSWER ORIGINALLY. I felt, hell, just get the skill
you want and don't sweat the rest. I was wrong.
SInce then, extensive stuides I have conducted show:
a) the right attitude will please people and allow for
needed skill building;
b) the wrong attitude weighs like a boat anchor and everyone soon wanting
to be somewhere else when the
boat anchor or fog horn is around.
I was a contractor for the Az state GAme and Fish
7 years ago. My boss looked weary. I asked what
his problem was and he said
"I have two great ladies" available for the secretary
position; one is a bit more skilled and the other is
a better personality match.
I said it was an easy call; we cannot train someone
to be nice, cherry, exhuberant, etc. We can train
a seal to roll a ball if needed!!
ALWAYS TAKE REASONABLY SKILLED, POSITIVE, SMILING ATTITUDE OVER FAIR
ATTITUDE WITH BETTER SKILLS.
The attitude won't improve but the skills will!
How else may I help you?
OVER SLIGHTLY
5.
Perhaps an academic's answer, possibly a little off-target, will be of
some
help. First, though, just what do you mean by "attitude"? If we
translate
that to "motivation to learn" it may be easier to deal with.
The idea you present seems to suggest hiring people with the willingness
or
motivation (and, presumably, the aptitudes) to be trained for the target
job. That, as you will appreciate, is exactly what organizations such as
the military forces have been doing for many years. Basic I/O psychology
follows from there and you have many good texts available (e.g., I have
used the widely-accepted text: Paul Muchinsky (1993). Psychology applied
to work. Brooks/Cole).
Beyond this, you may want to consult the stream of research by Raymond Noe
and his associates. See, to begin:
Noe, R. A. (1986). Trainees' attributes and attitudes: Neglected
influences on training effectiveness. Academy of Management Review,
11 (4), 736-749.
Noe, R. A. & Schmitt, N. (1986). The influence of trainee attitudes on
training effectiveness: Test of a model. Personnel Psychology, 39,
497-523.
Ford, J. K. & Noe, R. A. (1987). Self-assessed training needs: The
effects of attitudes toward training, managerial level, and
function.
Personnel Psychology, 40, 39-53.
Dr John Etheredge,
Associate Professor, Department of Management,
Hong Kong Baptist University
Fax: (852) 2339-7569
E-mail:
ethbus@hkbu.edu.hk
6.
If the hiring choice is an applicant with the right attitude or the
right aptitude, which should we hire? If all else is equal, attitude.
We should hire based on minimal qualifications and maximum attitude.
I recommend Tom Petzinger's "The Front Lines" columns of March 7 and
April 11 of this year regarding the subject of attitude over aptitude.
The following is my note to Tom Petzinger concerning his
"The Front Lines" column on April 11, 1997 in the Wall Street Journal.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Hello Tom:
Thanks for another fascinating column.
The drop caps (TTO) in the column sum it up quite nicely:
"when TTO (Techies Take Over) disaster follows"
Joyce and Vic made mistakes common to well-meaning, technically
trained people--could have been civil engineers.
When Joyce realized that "lower your standards" was not the way to
go she came to an intellectual conclusion that is seldom made by the
technically trained professionals.
The original hiring profile was not that of a successful employee at
ASSI but rather what Joyce and Vic felt should be successful. A feeling
is like a belly button--everyone has one--but like a belly button a
feeling is pretty useless when selecting the right people to hire.
As a technically trained professional myself--Civil Engineer--I have
worked and suffered under technical managers who did not have the
foggiest idea how to manage themselves let alone others.
I applaud Joyce's decision to recruit from a wider pool of applicants
since a narrow pool yields fewer big fish.
We are in discussions with an external consultant to a major, well
known management consultant firm. The consultant told us that he asked
the CEO "what kind of new hire" did the CEO want. The CEO responded
"Stop hiring Ivy Leaguers and start hiring successful employees." The
CEO intuitively knew and so stated that there is more to success on
the job than where the new hire went to school.
If an employer recruits only from Ivy League schools they are really
limited their applicant pool to people who scored well over 1200 on
the SAT. This self-limiting recruitment process effectively screens
out most applicants who could become top performers.
At a School-to-Work meeting in Massachusetts last month one speaker
reported that in 1950 only 20% of the jobs in Massachusetts required a
college degree--which did not surprise me--I was really surprised when
he reported that in 1997 only 20% of the jobs in Massachusetts required
a college degree. This tells me that many hiring managers are using
the wrong selection criteria and are thus depriving themselves of
the opportunity to hire their best employees.
Keep up the theme of attitude over aptitude!
Sincerely,
Bob
---------------------------------------------------------------------
The following is my note to Tom Petzinger concerning his
"The Front Lines" column on March 7, 1997, in the Wall Street Journal.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Hi Tom:
Another excellent column today. I wish all managers could
understand the power of the message in your story.
"1. Hire attitude over aptitude."
We call the concept Job Fit. A simple concept that few hiring
managers know how to implement. Your column may help us convince
some managers to consider the importance of attitude.
"2. Create mission from above, methods from below."
This is great advice. Too many managers, who are not leaders,
try to convince everyone to adopt the vision when, in fact,
what their employees need to do is develop the methods to
achieve the mission.
"3. Foster feedback."
This behavior is often controlled by a manager's personality and
that is why selecting managers is critical to the success of
self-directed work teams--infrequent inappropriate behavior
by the manager may well prevent effective feedback.
"4. Unite the inside and the outside."
This would scare the pants off many a manager--letting the
inside people talk with the clients.
"5. Reward teamwork."
Here it is critical to hire team players. Some people are more
motivated by individual rewards while others more motivated by
team rewards. Some of us prefer to work alone while others prefer
to be a member of a team. Knowing which job applicants best meet
the demands of the job is a competitive advantage that users of
the Job Fit concept enjoy.
Thanks again for a great column, it should help my
sales efforts considerably.
Sincerely,
Bob
--------------------------------------------------------------
+----------------------------+
| Robert F. Gately, PE, MBA |
+----------------------------+-----------------------+
| GATELY CONSULTING (508) 473-0955 |
| 115 Dutcher Street Fax (508) 634-0670 |
| Hopedale, MA 01747-1006 Toll Free (800) 478-8117 |
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7.
Job Fit:
Skills are necessary, but not sufficient to predict future
success on the job. What is missing? The answer is Job Fit--
does the applicant have the right combination of mental
abilities, personal interests and personality traits to
allow success on the job? Very few managers can do this
type of assessment without very expensive professional
assistance, until recently.
These ideas are derived from iRIGHT PERSON-RIGHT JOB;
GUESS OR KNOW, The Breakthrough Technologies of
Performance Informationi by Chuck Russell.
_____________________
| |
| Company Fit |
| |
=====|============== |
|| | || |
|| | */////||*******|****
|| | */////|| | *
|| | */////|| | *
|| | */////|| | *
|| |______*/////||_______| *
|| * || *
|| * || Skills *
|| * || Match *
|| * || *
|| ******||************
|| ||
|| Job Fit ||
|| ||
====================
1 - COMPANY FIT may be determined by:
1 - Drug Testing
2 - Integrity Testing
3 - Honesty Testing
4 - Interviewing
2 - SKILLS MATCH can be assessed through:
1 - Educational Background
2 - Work History
3 - Objective Skills Testing
4 - Reference Checking
3 - JOB FIT is determined by three elements:
1 - Cognitive Ability
2 - Interests
3 - Measurable Dynamics of Personality
///// Indicates job applicants who have
///// Company Fit, Skills Match and Job Fit.
Few managers can determine Job Fit so what they evaluate
is the applicantis qualifications, education, etc., but
not Job Fit. On page 25 of RIGHT PERSON-RIGHT JOB; GUESS
OR KNOW, The Breakthrough Technologies of Performance
Information Chuck Russell writes:
iJob Fit is the degree to which the candidateis
cognitive abilities, interests, and personality
dynamics fit those required by*the*position.i
You can see by the overlapping three boxes, see above,
that unless we consider Job Fit our pool of acceptable
candidates will include many applicants who will not be
successful because they lack Job Fit. According to the
Job Fit concept only about 1/3 of the otherwise qualified
applicants have Job Fit based on the success traits
required for most positions. The other 2/3 include
the obvious misfits and the less obvious
future non-performers.
The misfits and non-performers are about equal
in number (1/3 each) but only the obvious misfits
are readily excluded in the screening process.
Therefore, we have reduced the pool of acceptable
applicants by 1/3, i.e., the obvious misfits, and
we are left with the 1/3 future non-performers and
the 1/3 with Job Fit. Or stated another way, the
pool of acceptable candidates consists of two equal
sized groups: applicants with Job Fit and the
future non-performers. Since most managers cannot
distinguish between the two groups the failure
rate in hiring is 50% or more with some studies
indicating failure rates approaching 70% for
critical positions.
Now consider the Peter Principle and the tendency
of managers to hire and promote people who are like
themselves and we see that the percentage of applicants
with Job Fit gets smaller and smaller. Companies must
break out of this downward spiral and start hiring and
promoting and selecting people who have Job Fit for
the job. Unless the right people are selected for our
positions there is little hope for improvement.
Finally, the best technical employees seldom make
the best managers, therefore a sea change in thinking
must be accomplished in most companies. Be forewarned,
however, that it may be impossible for some managers
to admit to themselves and others that they may have
been selected for their position based on inadequate
criteria, i.e., technical excellence and speaking ability.
+----------------------------+
| Robert F. Gately, PE, MBA |
+----------------------------+-----------------------+
| GATELY CONSULTING (508) 473-0955 |
| 115 Dutcher Street Fax (508) 634-0670 |
| Hopedale, MA 01747-1006 Toll Free (800) 478-8117 |
|
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/gately/ |
+----------------------------------------------------+
8.
We had a contract recruiter with my company for a few months, and he
hired by the candidates their attitude and his "gut feeling that they
could do the job", but not by the requirements for the positions. And
guess what, the majority of these candidates that he hired have had
performance problems. Needless to say, this recruiter is no longer with
us. Candidates need to have both attitude (hopefully good) and the
skills for the job to be successful.
Vicky Land
GTSI
Chantilly, VA
9.
Tom:
Unfortunately, I do not remember too much specific info about the
following source...but perhaps someone else will have better memory of
it -- or you can look up the source....
There was a spirited article in the publication FAST COMPANY about six
months ago on just that subject (and it may have been titled something
like "Hiring for Attitude") -- if the article does not point you
towards other resources, the author of the article might well be able
to...
good luck --
josh.
Josh Blatter (
jblatter@jbp.com)
Jossey-Bass/Pfeiffer
10.
Glenn Rowe <
growe@MORGAN.UCS.MUN.CA> wrote:
>>... "Everyone has brains ... what else you got?"
my answer, attitude maybe...<<
All too often managers rely solely on things
that they can see or feel like:
- School Transcripts
- Background Checks
- Interviews
- Resumes
- the gut
Attitude can be measured quite effectively, but first managers
need to know that their "gut feelings" are often no more than
gas pains. Managers must then admit that they are not the world's
best judge of character or attitude and then they need to open
their minds and look for ways to do what it is that needs to be
done--how to determine applicants' job suitability beyond the
superficial requirements of skills and knowledge.
Bob
+----------------------------+
| Robert F. Gately, PE, MBA |
+----------------------------+-----------------------+
| GATELY CONSULTING (508) 473-0955 |
| 115 Dutcher Street Fax (508) 634-0670 |
| Hopedale, MA 01747-1006 Toll Free (800) 478-8117 |
|
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/gately/ |
+----------------------------------------------------+