Saturday, June 18, 2016

The To-Do list: How not to succeed as a Manager

Hurray. The evil manager you used to report to just got fired. Everyone on your team is happy. Even better: you’re the new manager. Woo-hoo!

Here’s what you should do to ensure that you will fail:

Don’t learn how to manage up.
You always thought your old boss was a jerk. Your new boss will be a jerk too. You hate bosses. You never want to be a boss. Just keep doing your old job. If your new boss absolutely insists on meeting with you now and then, fine. But don’t go out of your way to communicate or—ick—try to understand his or her goals and strategies. Certainly don’t be proactive or anything. After all, the whole stupid company sucks; you’re just here for a paycheck. Share your sentiments with your team.

Don’t learn how to manage down.
True, the old manager wasn’t the only problem. There’s one particular producer who complains more than he works. His negativity had started to poison others on the team, and the lack of productivity caused the downfall of the previous manager. But whatever. Just let it fester. After all, you’re friends with all of these people, and, hey, who cares about morale? Or productivity? And so what if the best people on your team leave, so that only the crappy people are left? Crappy people are kinda fun, too.

Don’t learn how to manage laterally.
A lot of what your department does also affects Marketing and Sales and other departments—and vice versa. But don’t bother learning what those departments do, or getting to know the heads of those departments and working with them to improve communication and efficiency. You’re kinda busy with your own stuff right now. And what are they gonna do anyway, tell the boss you’re not a team player? As if!

Do turn into a complete jerk, alienating everyone around you.
Remind everyone who will listen that you are now a manager, and that means that you’re important. The proper reply to any email or phone call that annoys you is: “DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM? DO YOU KNOW WHO I REPORT TO?” Tell your boss that he needs to punish the marketing director who disrespected you. Also, that old guy in Sales who always wears a tie and hangs out with the president; who the hell does he think he is, anyway?

It’s good that your new boss knows right away that you’re not gonna take crap from anybody. The more complaints he hears about you, the better. You’re a bulldog, dammit.

With luck, you should last a good six months in the new job. But don’t worry. With that new “Manager” title on your resume, job offers are going to come flooding in. You’re on your way to the top, baby!


Thursday, June 16, 2016

Strategic Thinking: How not to do it!!

As a manager, you may occasionally be asked to “think strategically.” That means to consider issues that have a broad impact on the company, such as long-term revenue opportunities, more efficient competition in a changing marketplace, and securing job offers from other companies before everyone at your company realizes you’re clueless.

Unfortunately, “thinking strategically” requires time, effort, and precious brain power that could be better spent on fantasy cricket. 

Here are five ways to avoid it:

1. Force yourself to focus on the day-to-day.
What’s due by the end of the week? When are those reports from London coming in? Don’t you have some sort of meeting to attend? Don’t worry about the fact that your company has no office in London. The point is, you’re a manager. Look busy.

2. Only manage down.
Pay lots of attention to the work your subordinates do. Has it been double-checked? Would it look better with a slightly larger font? How about an emoticon on the cover page? Don’t worry about your peers in other departments. And by all means don’t bother your boss. Respect his privacy and let him do his own job, and he’ll let you do yours.

3. Look busy.
Did I mention that? Get to work five minutes before your boss arrives, and pretend you’ve been there for hours. At the end of the day, splash water on your shirt and the back of your neck, then hurriedly rush by your boss’s office carrying a stack of reports just as he heads out the door.
“Oh, sorry, sir, didn’t see you!”
“Staying late again, son?”
“No, sir—early night. I should be done by nine.”
Leave two minutes after he does. The more time you spend thinking about how to look busy, the less time you have to worry about “strategic” things.

4. Never leave the office during the day.
That comes with the territory of being a manager. Don’t go to lunch with colleagues. Don’t meet with people from your industry. Don’t attend conferences. Don’t play on the company team, where you might meet someone from another department. You have work to do, and the office is the best place to pretend to do it. (See tip #3 above.)

5. Remember: minutiae are your friend.
No detail is too small to overlook. How many paper clips can you salvage in a day? Did you know that staples can be reused if you just bend the edges back? Try it! You’ll be surprised.


Good luck. And remember: don’t worry about the forest—it’s just a bunch of trees!

Tuesday, June 14, 2016

Team Building: An Art not a method!!

Hiring is a topic I’m passionate about because I like to work with bright, enthusiastic people who challenge me every day. I’ve spent the last decade building teams (most recently a product organization that includes designers, researchers, and product owners), and I’ve learned a number of lessons in that time. Let’s focus specifically on product ownership — a role that many gravitate toward, but few do well. I’ve seen many different types of people find success as product owners — from former developers, English majors, designers, and project managers, all the way to former CEOs and small business owners. (I prefer the term “product owner” to the more well-known “product manager” because managers manage and owners own, and building great products demands ownership.) I want people who are technical enough to dig deep with the development team and at the same time enjoy interacting with customers to discover value. Finding the right person with the right combination of customer focus, consensus building, and technical savvy isn’t easy, so I’ve put together a few things to look for during the interviewing process.


Things to avoid
Here are a few traits that are guaranteed non-starters.

  • Poor listening.  You know those interviewees who start rattling off their answer before they’ve really had a chance to listen to the question? In the same category are people who answer the question they want to answer, even if it’s not exactly what we asked. In our team-based environments, these personalities haven’t been successful. Besides, one of the key characteristics of a great product owner is listening to customers and not letting their own egos drown out the needs of our users.
  • Inability to connect the dots.  I look for people who have been active in all aspects of product development from the idea, concept, and research stages, all the way through to execution and optimization with wins under their belt.  When a candidate points to a different department and says, “The research team would talk to customers and tell me what to do,” or “I would hand off the specs to the development team,” I perceive this as a gap in their skill set.
  • Unclear communication.  One of the most effective attributes of a great product owner is the ability to distill a complex idea into a few concise statements. Simply put, the ability to deconstruct complex subjects into clear, simple statements of value is a requirement of great product owners. Whether talking to developers or evangelizing to stakeholders, the gift of simple communication is one that is necessary to perform the job at a high level.
  • Pirates not politicians. I recently asked a candidate what makes a great boss and he replied, “You scratch my back and I scratch yours,” which didn’t sit well with me.  How can you lead a group of innovators having learned all too well how to “play the game?” Your team will recognize when you speak from the heart versus when you’re just scratching someone’s back and lose trust in you over time. Immediately, I knew this candidate was from a big, slow organization and would have to unlearn some bad habits in order to be successful in our product organization.

Things we love
Here are a few qualities that will get you back for a second interview, even if you don’t necessarily have the domain knowledge.

  • Being the customer.  I appreciate product owners who can empathize with customers and dig deep in research by conducting face-to-face interviews with real users.  This pseud-method acting is a positive skill for product owners who want to excel, especially those without deep domain knowledge.  If you’re building a product for photographers but have very little domain knowledge, we better hear how you can’t wait to buy a camera and start learning the craft.
  • Going deep technically.  It’s perfectly OK if you aren’t a great developer. What I look for is curiosity.  If you’re a learner, you’ll figure out what you need to study in order to have a mutually beneficial conversation with your team and technical stakeholders. Different types of products will require different levels of technical depth, but generally, being willing and able to learn is the important part.
  • Ownership/Attitude.  It’s good to see evidence of perseverance. You’ll see this in people who have started their own company, candidates with an aura of “unstoppability”, or those who have shown the stick-to-it-ive-ness to solve tough problems. This is a cornerstone of great product people. There will be a million reasons why something can’t be done, but those product owners who are unlikely to give up, those who push through tough problems and those who actually enjoy the process of doing so are the ones who stand out.
I want to work with the best and be challenged every day. Recruiting top talent is the most important part of building a great company. Take it personally, don’t let recruiters do all the work on your behalf, and make sure that the employees doing the interviewing are the ones you’d like more of. Anytime I feel like recruiting is difficult, typically because I’m struggling to find the right talent, I check out a quote or post from Paul English to remind myself how important it is to wait for the right person to fill these roles.


Do you have what it takes? If so, sign up. We have stuff to build.


"A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way."

"

Friday, June 10, 2016

How to make Critical Feedbacks work for you

Speaking for myself, I love getting criticism and feedback, and am completely open to receiving it any time, any place…as long as it’s positive and complimentary. When it’s not . . . um . . . let’s just say that I’m not quite as receptive. Nor are most people.
Why is that? Why is feedback—whether it’s negative feedback or constructive criticism—so tough for most people to take? When we receive feedback that we don’t agree with, the tendency is to get defensive, to explain, to make excuses, to try to invalidate it, to deny it, to be offended by it, and even to resent the person giving it.

Your Brain at Work

I just finished reading an amazing book, Your Brain at Work, by David Rock, who explains the neuroscience behind why we react emotionally (and sometimes irrationally) to feedback that we don’t agree with or don’t want to hear.
In brief, our primitive brains are biologically wired to perceive feedback as a threat. Not to get too technical or neurological, but the amygdala—the fear center (referred to often by author Seth Godin as our “lizard brain”)—intuitively senses feedback as a threat and does anything possible to avoid it.
Rock compares the feelings that feedback triggers to that sick-to-the-stomach, hair-standing-up-on the-back-of-your-neck fear you might experience when walking alone down a dark, scary alley and hearing footsteps quickly sneaking up behind you. The sensation that we are about to be attacked. The feeling that our lives are in mortal danger. That’s what feedback can feel like. And when we receive negative feedback, we are, in fact, at risk, especially when we feel our confidence, our self-esteem, and our sense of self are under attack.
It’s the “fight, flight, or freeze” response in action. That’s why, when receiving negative feedback (or sometimes even positive and constructive feedback), we may respond by lashing out in defensiveness, running (or storming) away, or standing there, speechless, in shock and disbelief.

The Five Threats

David Rock created a now-classic acronym, SCARF, that clearly and effectively captures the ways that feedback may threaten us:

Status: Getting feedback may feel as if we are being spoken down to and that our status or position relative to that other person is being threatened. A boss’s saying something as simple as, “I need to see you in my office” can trigger a feeling of heart-stopping terror . . . and make you feel two feet tall.

Certainty: When we receive feedback, especially if it is unexpected, it could create feelings of uncertainty and confusion. You thought you did such a great job on that presentation, but now the feedback has made you doubt your abilities and shaken your self-confidence.

Autonomy: When we receive feedback that puts into question the decisions and choices we’ve made, not only might we start to doubt our own judgment, but we may now fear that our freedom and empowerment might be taken away.

Relatedness: When we receive feedback from someone, it could impact our relationship with that person. “How could you say that? I thought you liked me. I thought you were on my side. Is that what you REALLY think of me?”

Fairness: Have you ever received feedback from someone and felt misjudged, misunderstood, or unfairly evaluated? If you’ve had the reaction “That’s just not fair. That’s not true. You’ve got me all wrong!” then you know how it feels to have your sense of fairness threatened.
So, now that we know WHY feedback might be perceived as a threat to our personal well-being, and that it’s a completely natural, neurological, biological response, what can we do about it?

Making Feedback Work for You

1. Try to keep an open mind, consider the source and the intention, and keep things in perspective. Don’t react or overreact; just take the feedback in. With the self-awareness you now have about WHY feedback feels like an attack, it might be a little easier (over time, with practice!) to be more open to receiving the feedback objectively.

2. Though it’s natural to react emotionally (especially when under stress), try not to get defensive. Even though it may feel like you are being attacked when the feedback’s coming from multiple people simultaneously, be open to the feedback, let it settle in, and then decide what you want to do with it.

3. Feedback is a source of knowledge. Though some things may be difficult to hear or to admit, keep in mind the value of knowing. If you were about to go on stage to deliver a presentation, and you had a “Kick Me” sign on your back, toilet paper stuck to your shoe, and your fly was open, wouldn’t you be better off knowing than not knowing? At least now you can do something about it.

4. When you get vague, general, ambiguous feedback (e.g., “You need to do much better next time”), seek out specifics. Ask for suggestions on how you might improve. Confusing feedback is worse than no feedback at all. You could even request that the person start with something positive before getting to the constructive criticism. Encourage them to use the Feedback Sandwich with you!

5. Change your mindset about feedback. Reframe it as a developmental opportunity rather than a criticism of you personally. Recognize that while the tendency (basic human nature) is to focus on the negative, it is equally important to validate your strengths and leverage what you’ve done well.

6. After receiving feedback, take some time to let it sink in, and think strategically on what to do with it and where to go from here. Remember: Unless something is a real emergency that is causing serious, immediate problems, you don’t have to change or fix everything—or anything—overnight! In fact, it’s almost impossible. Continuous improvement is an on-going process and a lifelong journey. And feedback is a mechanism that will help you to stay on course and moving ever-forward. Without it, how will you know how well you’re doing?

The Gift
There’s an old saying that “Feedback is a gift.” And like any gift we receive, we can choose to toss it in the trash, or we can appreciate the thought behind it. Perhaps when we unwrap that gift, when we have a chance to sit alone with it and ponder it, we’ll find a nugget of truth hidden somewhere inside that box; one that we need to seriously consider.
And if feedback is, indeed, a gift, the polite thing to say to the feedback giver is, simply, “Thank you,” as you would to any gift giver.

So the next time someone approaches you with some feedback and says “Let’s talk,” be open to what they have to say.


And what better time than NOW to keep that sentiment in mind!

Wednesday, September 16, 2015

Job Interview: Pace your thinking, don’t go too fast, it could ruin your chances!

So, you have a job interview or a big meeting coming up with the boss or an important client. You’ve done your homework and you’re prepared, primed, and pumped up. But have you thought about your thinking speed?

We all know that interviews and high-stakes meetings can be stressful, and when nerves flare up, our tendency is to think and talk too fast, leading to our blowing that meeting that we prepared so hard for.

In his now classic book “Thinking, Fast and Slow,” Daniel Kahneman takes a deep dive into how we think – and teaches us how we can think more effectively. According to Kahneman, one of the biggest problems is that we tend to think too fast.

When your brain reacts and responds automatically and instinctively – almost thinking without really thinking, that’s what he calls “thinking fast.” This is how we think most of the time. On the other hand, “thinking slow” is when your brain hits the pause button and takes a moment to consciously reason, consider, question, analyze, and decide, before responding or acting. Of course there are stupid entities out there who would have some atrocious reasons to justify their thinking fast and effective.

Of course “thinking fast” is a good thing. We couldn’t possibly – and wouldn’t want to – have to over-analyze every little thing before responding. But, on the flipside, how often do we make mistakes because we jump to conclusions or have knee-jerk reactions when we might have benefitted from pausing, even momentarily, to devise a more thoughtful and well-considered response?
So how can you leverage the power of “thinking slow” in your next job interview or meeting? One way is by simply remembering this extremely effective behavioral interviewing technique called “PARLA.”

With the PARLA technique, you might start by finding out more specifically what the job opening entails; and then, focusing on just one of the biggest challenges you might face in that position, you respond with a real-life story that illustrates how you’ve successfully solved similar challenges before. PARLA stands for Problem, Action, Result, Learning, & Application:

P – Problem: Here’s a problem or situation I faced previously that’s similar to that of this role;
A – Action: Here’s the action I took;
R – Result: Here’s the result or outcome of that action;
L – Learning: Here’s what I learned from that experience;
A – Application: And (the most important and relevant part to the interviewer) here’s how I would apply what I learned from that prior experience in this new role.

Let’s say the interviewer asks you, “Why do you think you can do this job and why should I hire you over anybody else?” What often happens, in your excitement and enthusiasm to convince the interviewer that you’re the right person for the job, you excitedly blurt out something like, “Because I have a degree in x, and five years’ experience, and I’m a hard worker and team player, and blah blah blah.” Not only are you thinking fast, you’re talking fast, and often just rambling on. And that’s what everyone else does.

Instead, differentiate yourself by pausing for a brief moment and thinking slow…slow enough to come up with a thoughtful and winning PARLA-based response that’ll make you stand out from the crowd. Focus on one – just one – key aspect of the job, and respond with something like this:
“You had mentioned that one of the key responsibilities and greatest challenges of this position was X. Well, one time, in my last job I faced a similar challenge. Here’s what I did… Here’s what the outcome was… Here’s what I learned… And here’s how I would apply what I learned in this role….

Even if things didn’t go well in the Results phase, what’s important is that you took an Action to address a Problem, and you Learned something valuable that you can Apply going forward. And, in truth, that’s really what the interviewer is looking for.

By the way, PARLA is not just for use when BEING interviewed; it is actually a classic behavioral interviewing technique that was originally designed for the interviewer to use to interview YOU. If an interviewer ever starts a sentence with, “Tell me about a time when you faced a situation in which…” you will know that that is exactly what they’re doing…and what they are looking for in terms of a response! So (not to give away any behind-the-scenes interviewing secrets), now that you are aware of this very popular interviewing methodology, you are now equipped to respond more effectively going forward.

Seizing the opportunity to tell a true, well-structured personal story using the PARLA format will capture and hold the interviewer’s attention, shows that you can think on your feet, and demonstrates with poise and confidence that you have what it takes to do the job…because you’ve been there before.

That’s the power of “thinking slow” in action.


“You have to learn the rules of the game; then you have play better than anyone else”

Wednesday, September 2, 2015

Thinking about Thinking (Smart thinking enabled): De Bono’s “Six Thinking Hats”

Of all the different management, leadership, communication, innovation, and thinking tools, tips and techniques that I’ve learned over the years, nothing has affected me more, or has had more practical applications, than Edward de Bono’s “Six Thinking Hats” model.

De Bono, the guru of “thinking about thinking,” originated this framework that I now use, either consciously or unconsciously, literally every single day. It’s one of the best examples of how we can use visual and metaphorical thinking and communicating to solve real-world challenges.

The model in brief: There are six metaphorical “hats” — each a different color. Each hat represents a different type of thinking. By metaphorically taking off or putting on a different hat, you can intentionally and strategically switch to a different type of thinking.

Here are the six hat colors, and a brief overview of what type of thinking each represents:
1. White Hat: Neutral; objective; facts; data; information; objectivity
2. Red Hat: Emotion; gut feeling; intuition; passion; subjectivity
3. Black Hat: Cons; critical; caution; risks; costs; weaknesses; disadvantages
4. Yellow Hat: Pros; optimism; benefits; strengths; advantages
5. Green Hat: Creativity; innovation; brainstorming; new ideas; possibilities
6. Blue Hat: Process; structure; thinking about thinking; next steps

The Six Thinking Hats method can be applied in many different types of situations, for example:
  • In a meeting: as a formalized, structured process (e.g., a group brainstorming or strategy session)
  • In a one-on-one discussion: as a common language that will encourage dialogue and minimize conflict
  • In your own mind: as a way to frame your own thinking, separate fact from emotion, and make better decisions
When used in a group, it enables what De Bono calls “parallel thinking,” which occurs when all members metaphorically “wear” the same color hat at the same time. This dramatically improves communication, minimizes conflict, and fosters innovation.

How do the Six Thinking Hats do this? The best way to understand it is through a real-life illustration:
Say you’re in a meeting, trying to reach a decision. Instead of the normal chaos and conflict caused by endless debate, cross-talk, shooting down ideas, etc., what if we were able to say:
“Let’s temporarily put aside our Red Hats (our emotional reactions), our Black (negative/critical) and Yellow (positive/supportive) opinions, and all put on our White Hats to first objectively identify the objective facts and relevant data, before we start jumping to possible solutions (Green Hat) and proposing next steps (Blue Hat).”

Once agreed, from there the group can efficiently, and with minimal conflict and debate, run the situation through this simple and logically sequenced series of questions:
1. White Hat: What are the facts about the situation at hand?
2. Red Hat: How do people feel, emotionally, about the situation?
3. Black Hat: What’s not working — and why?
4. Yellow Hat: What is working – and why?
5. Green Hat: What’s new (ideas, possibilities)?
6. Blue Hat: What’s next (where do we go from here)?
(Note: You don’t necessarily always have to use the hats in this exact sequence; but this is an example of a very common and effective approach.)

By enabling parallel thinking —  by having everyone wear the the same color hat at the same time (and headed together in the same direction) — you will see how much more orderly your meetings will be, and how much more quickly you can reach decisions and get things done!
And if you assign one person in the meeting to be the Blue Hat leader, that person (regardless of organizational role or rank) will serve to make sure that things run smoothly, stay on track, and that everyone plays by the rules.

Using this methodology, my company and clients have successfully conducted numerous executive-level strategy meetings, facilitated cross-functional team-building and brainstorming sessions, and helped hundreds of individuals maximize the effectiveness of their own decision-making skills, along with their ability to more effectively conceive and communicate ideas.

Here’s a question that may hit close to home: How might you use the Six Thinking Hats in your job search?

Let’s say that you were presented with a potential job opportunity. What kind of question might each Thinking Hat pose to help you make the best possible decision?

1. White Hat: What are the objective facts about the position and the company (title, salary, benefits, location, industry, work environment, department, new manager, etc.)?
2. Red Hat: How do I feel about this opportunity; what is my gut telling me (am I excited, nervous, hesitant, concerned, etc)?
3. Black Hat: What don‘t I like about it, what’s bad about it — and why (i.e., what are the negatives or concerns associated with the White Hat facts and my Red Hat feelings)?
4. Yellow Hat: What do I like about it, what’s good about it – and why (what are the positives associated with the White Hat facts and my Red Hat feelings)?
5. Green Hat: What are the various options, alternatives, choices available to me (i.e., what’s going through my mind in terms of what-ifs, and out-of-the-box possibilities; what does it look like if I visualize actually taking this job)?
6. Blue Hat: What are the next steps; where do I go from here (when do I have to make a decision by, what do I have to do next, what actions should I take)?

Although this is just one simple and common example, you can easily see how using the Six Thinking Hats to frame your thinking can go a long way toward maximizing your effectiveness – and enhancing your confidence – when it comes to making any decision.

It is important to note, however, that while it takes just a few minutes to learn this seemingly simple model, it takes time, training, and much practice to truly master it.


A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves. - Lao Tzu

Saturday, August 29, 2015

Management Goon: Cover Letter – How not to read it!

There is one key rule in management: never hire anyone desperate or stupid enough to work for someone like you. Unfortunately, at some point in your management career you may need to replace an employee who was smart enough to quit.

If and when this happens, you will probably come across something known as a “resume” and its useless cousin, the “cover letter.”

Back when people used typewriters and an archaic delivery system known as the Indian Postal Service, cover letters served the important function of protecting resumes against damage caused by psychotic postal workers.

Since the advent of email sometime around 1972, resumes have been sent via email. Today, the purpose of a cover letter is to avoid attaching a resume to a completely blank email, which is frowned upon in some cultures.

You will recognize a cover letter by its adherence to the following format:
Beginning: Blah-blah-blah. Blah-blah-blah.
Middle: Blah-blah-blah. Blah-blah-blah-blah.
End: My resume is attached.

While most managers read only the resume, you should always print out and read the cover letter as well. This is a handy way to kill time and avoid doing actual work. Perhaps more important, it can serve as inexpensive gift wrap, lining for a birdcage, or holiday party confetti.
Under no circumstances should you pay attention to the following:

Ability to structure a coherent sentence
Typos, misspellings, and grammatical errors simply indicate that the candidate is either not particularly detail oriented or not particularly bright. Hey, as long as you know how to type “LOL” and “RU free 4 lunch?” you’ll probably be just fine here, right?

Hidden insights into character
Ramblings about being pursued by CIA operatives and/or having one’s brain scanned by aliens are probably just conversation fillers. Similarly, threats of physical violence against you or the company are often just idle boasts.

Knowledge of the company
The rocket scientists over in HR claim that a candidate should display some basic familiarity with the company or industry in which the company operates. But seriously, if the candidate knew anything about the company, why would he be applying?

Ability to persuade, sell, or inspire
Last time I checked this was a workplace, not Hallmark Channel. Next.

Above all, try not to think too deeply. About anything. Ever. No one ever got promoted by thinking.




If you want to make enemies, try to change something – Woodrow Wilson

Sunday, August 23, 2015

Background checks in India - Why they Fail!!

In a growing economy like India, companies are often seen in a mad rush to hire in the hundreds. Tight timelines for hiring and cost-consciousness often tempt recruiters to go easy on checks and verification.

And it is not hard to get fake documents in the country. There are close to 7500 companies in India, which operate just for providing fake employment and educational certificates, according to a report by First Advantage, a background screening company.

The company discovered this startling number during the process of education verification on prospective hires that it conducted for its clients. Among the discrepancies found in the second quarter of 2014, anomalies related to employment, address and education antecedents were at 60.4%, 15.9% and 6.0% respectively.

Who does these checks in India?
In India, the prevalent norm is for human resources (HR) to conduct a reference check from past employment based on the information provided by a candidate. The authentication of residential addresses, educational and criminal records is typically outsourced to third party background verification companies.

These agencies usually take between seven and 10 days to give a report and charge between Rs. 2,000 and Rs. 3,000 per candidate. The fee goes up in case of extensive checks and for senior level hires.

Despite the growth in the number of screening agencies, most companies are yet to give pre-employment background checks the importance it deserves.

About 90% of organized sector undertake some form of checks while 95% companies in the unorganized sector are still hiring without any background check.

Learn from IT firms
Executives involved in background checks say IT and ITES, banking and financial services and FMCG sectors are way ahead of their peers in sectors such as telecommunications, manufacturing, retail, hospitality, healthcare, travel, education and entertainment.

It is an investment as background checks help in safeguarding organizational assets, promoting safety at workplace, reducing turnover owing to right hiring, safeguarding company reputation, avoiding legal action and inspiring confidence in customers and shareholders,

IT companies such as Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys Technologies and Wipro are known to show zero-tolerance towards corporate fraud and fraudulent employees. Punitive actions include termination of services and blacklisting such candidates and recruiters.

In fact, the industry body for technology companies, National Association of Software and Services Companies, maintains a centralized database of IT and ITES employees and third-party verified information on education, experience history and personal details of these professionals.

Job portals such as Naukri, Monster and communities such as CiteHR forums also alert users of blacklisted candidates. But this is not enough for carrying out checks. There is no single platform for non-IT/ITES companies where details of fraudulent candidates and recruiters can be found.

Also, what makes the process of background verification difficult and cumbersome is the lack of a centralized repository of information, defined processes and procedures to conduct checks at educational institutes, police stations or courts.

But with newer forms of white collar crimes emerging, perhaps it is time that companies go the extra mile and conduct thorough background checks on prospective employees. 

Better to be safe, than sorry.

When a thing is done, it's done. Don't look back. Look forward to your next objective.

Sunday, August 16, 2015

Become a better Manager - Keep your hands on skills razor sharp!!

It starts when you land your first management position. Suddenly, you’re splitting your time between telling other people what to do and actually doing stuff yourself. And as you climb further up the chain, the balance shifts and you spend more and more time managing people, projects, budgets, and bosses. Then, one day, you realize that the unthinkable has happened: you’ve been so busy managing a team that you’ve let your hands-on skills deteriorate.
As you advance in your career, you will frequently hear that it’s not your hands-on skills, but rather your ability to lead your team to success that matters. I would never suggest that leadership ability is not critical to your advancement. It certainly is. But I would also suggest a supplement: pick a skill and keep it sharp. Keep it razor sharp. Having a relevant, current, hands-on skill is one of the best things you can do as you advance your career.

Recruiting Magnet
The single most important thing you need to do as both an advancing and established manager is to recruit and retain the very best talent. The best talent always has options and is always looking for the most engaging, rewarding, and interesting place to work. As a recruiter, you’ve got to present your organization and — more importantly — yourself as the most interesting person for whom to work. You need to let your candidates know that you’re going to challenge them. One of the best ways to do this is to show them just how much you challenge yourself.
Hands-on technical candidates want to know that their potential manager is going to give them the opportunity to work with current technology. What better way to demonstrate that than to be hands-on with current tech yourself? Candidates want to know that when they get excited about some new coding design pattern, their boss will engage with them about it. Furthermore, where are you going to find these very best candidates? Like all good recruiters, you’ll do best if you meet them where they are. You are far more likely to find like-minded candidates by staying hands-on with a current technology, and attending MeetUps and other groups yourself.

Find Something You Love
I joined The Times Group in 2008 as Corporate Head – Gujarat, India. I knew nothing about Corporate Culture or anything about driving Corporate Sales and Content Validation or Communication at Corporate level. I was just plain good in Motivating and adapting very fast to any environment. To learn the skills to a new level, I went to Indian Institute of Management (IIM) – Ahmedabad for a Management Development Program and started loving every aspect of my role in the Company. Wanting to round out my development background, I chose to learn Communication Strategies and Men and Women at Work. It empowered me to excel in my selection of candidates for my core team. Introductions made for great opportunities to continue that. I not only learned how to hire Managers and Executives for Corporate team but also to evaluate their skills.
So I went to IIM – Ahmedabad again and took some classes. I figured that there might be some students worth considering as candidates and at the very least, I’d learn a bunch. While it turned out that none of my fellow students were a good fit, I had learned enough that when I began my search for a full-time hire, I was able to attract a truly talented PhD-holding Corporate Strategist who was able to bring our ideas to life.

People Want to Know
Shortly after I joined KForce Inc and was placed in X Projects at Google Inc, my boss wanted to introduce me to the board of directors as the newest addition to the team. After giving a bit of preamble about how important technology is to our mission and how excited he was to have me on board, he relayed the story of me taking an Corporate Strategy class and how I had a team that defied odds and was able to work at 110x (x being the Cost to the Company to maintain the team). His real story to the board was that he hadn’t just hired another Program manager, but rather someone who is current, relevant, and would be able to attract talent to push the mission forward. The board’s reaction was universally approving.

Razor Sharp, Always
It’s an enormously worthwhile endeavor to keep learning new skills, even if you choose one that you don’t employ in your current gig. Whether it’s during one-on-one sessions or at a full team lunch, the boss who can talk turkey is the kind of manager who retains their best talent. If you can think of this as a hobby and not as work, all the better. Think of the glow on your face when you tell your friends about your favorite hobby. Now imagine having that same glow when you are relating your new skills to your colleagues. It will help you recruit, retain, and relate to the very best candidates. No matter how high up the technology food chain you get, having a few razor sharp skills will always pay dividends.


Good Management is the art of making problems so interesting and their solutions so constructive; that everyone wants to get to work and deal with them.

Friday, August 14, 2015

Job Hunt Simplified - The Approach


Job Hunt Simplified
In this economy, just showing up no longer counts. Jobs are no longer doled out to the deserving. Instead, they’re given to those that are the most qualified, the best prepared, and who prove that they want it the most.
This is my way of telling you not to start the job hunting process unless you’re willing to make it your relentless pursuit to end up in a hiring manager’s short list — the top three candidates of all the people who applied for a given job — every single time.
Tall order? Maybe. Achievable? Absolutely.

So what can you do today that will make an immediate and positive impact on your job hunt? Start refining the jobs you’re going to apply for.
GET REAL:
When candidates come into my office, I always ask what jobs they’re applying to. Nine out of ten times, the person has virtually no strategy around their company selection. Many can’t even remember where they’ve already applied. While this chaos and inability to focus may be caused by the ease of one-click applying (we call that “impulse shopping”), there is a better way.

Stop and really consider each role before you hit “Apply”. Do you really have a shot at it or are you just wishing? If it’s the latter, keep digging and networking. You want to begin to train your brain to consider the roles where even upon viewing you know you have a good chance of not only being invited in to an interview, but short listed for final rounds. Once you start evaluating companies based upon your ability to make it onto the short list, you’ll begin to evaluate the jobs you’re targeting in a whole new light.

Also, be sure not to become dejected if you make it to the late rounds but don’t ultimately get the offer. Honestly, you should feel as though you’ve won just by making into the top three. After you make it beyond that point, it’s as if a brand new interview process starts — one that’s based much more on personality, company fit, and how much you click with the hiring manager. And even if you don’t land the offer, you’ll still be in their memory and they’ll likely call you when a similar position opens up. The lesson here is that you can’t win every time, but if you interview well, you’ve done some good work that might just pay forward down the line.

Here’s how to step back and get laser-focused so you can win, place, or show. Let me make it real for you.


1. Create a “Target” spreadsheet in Excel.
Column A = Target Company
Column B = Target Title
Column C = Date Applied
Column D = Priority

Your Excel should look like the image below;-)



2. List the last 20 jobs you’ve applied to or have your eye on.
Only fill in columns A, B and C. If this takes more than 30 minutes, you’re doing something wrong, and I’m not talking about your Excel skills.
3. Prioritize. 
Go to the Priority column (“D”) and assign a rank to each job, with #1 being the one you believe you have the best chance of landing based upon how much your professional chops match the company’s needs. If you find any jobs on the list that can’t legitimately see yourself landing, assign them a zero.
4. Sort. 
What jobs made it to the top of your list? Are you excited about them? Do you believe that you have a better than average chance of making it onto a hiring manager’s short list based on the qualifications assigned to the role? If so, you’re in a good place to continue on. If not, you should be real with yourself and try this exercise again with more realistic jobs. This isn’t to say that you can’t have an occasional stretch position on your list. You certainly can and should, but each job can’t be a hail mary.

Over the next month, challenge yourself to re-prioritizing each time you apply to a new job. Spend 80% of your time focusing on the 20% of the jobs you can land and excel at.  Soon you’ll naturally begin to narrow down that enormous list of jobs from long shots to sure shots.




The Takeaway
Do the critical prep work worthy of the “best you” and pick the roles where you know you can actually win, place or show. It’ll be a heck of a boost on your job hunting confidence when you start earning your way into the winner’s circle, time after time.

A goal is a dream with a deadline....   Napoleon Hill