\u201cYou have two great loves in your life,\u201d he tells Lassiter, \u201cyour horses and this company. And you\u2019re a man who prides himself in finding talent in unusual places.\u201d<\/p>\n
Peter Lassiter<\/strong>: \u201cHow would you know that?\u201d<\/p>\n Jack Campbell<\/strong>: \u201cBecause I\u2019m here. I\u2019m prepared to do whatever it takes to get this job. I\u2019ll start wherever I have to start. I\u2019ll park cars if I have to. The biggest part of judging character is knowing yourself, and I know this: I can do this job. I can. Give me a chance, Peter. I won\u2019t let you down.\u201d<\/p>\n The Hollywood treatment aside, perhaps the days of chance meetings and job opportunities starting from impromptu conversations have all but vanished. The film was shot prior to the proliferation of online job resources and social media outlets. The web has enabled job hunters to ferret out employment positions anywhere in the country, or the world for that matter. Hunters can rely on LinkedIn, Monster, Indeed, Glassdoor and other countless services that align companies with prospective employees, utilizing countless tools that provide insight into potential matches.<\/p>\n In shrinking the job-hunting process, these tools have also raised the degree of difficulty for job seekers. It\u2019s not out of the ordinary for companies to receive hundreds of applications for a single job posting. Employers have resorted to using software that scans resumes and cover letters for key words that can eliminate a lion\u2019s share of applicants before a pair of human eyes comes into play. From an employer\u2019s standpoint, it allows firms to cut to the chase quicker to find the handful of candidates who are legitimate prospects.<\/p>\n So, has technology taken the teeth out of old-fashioned, people-judging tactics? We\u2019ve canvassed a number of office technology dealerships to gauge the processes they utilize to recruit and hire quality employees, as well as the challenges they face maintaining their most valuable players.<\/p>\n Employees Know Best<\/strong><\/p>\n While Eakes Office Solutions of Grand Island, NE, relies on online sites such as LinkedIn and Indeed\u2014not to mention traditional newspaper advertisements\u2014to scout out new talent. But perhaps its strongest go-to medium is referrals from current employees, according to Kevin Fries, human resources manager.<\/p>\n We drill pretty deep into what type of person they are from an integrity standpoint and work ethic<\/p>\n Kevin Fries, Eakes Office Solutions<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Kevin Fries, \u201cOur current employees know what type of person it would take to work at Eakes, and understand best who would be an ideal fit from a cultural standpoint,\u201d he said. \u201cThey need to live the same core values we live as a company. Beyond that, because we have 14 locations across the state of Nebraska, we have different challenges with what works. In some areas, we can use local colleges to help us find people, and in other parts of the state, traditional newspaper ads work well.\u201d<\/p>\n Fries believes Eakes has a fairly rigorous interviewing process. The typical candidate has a minimum of two interviews with various personnel at the dealership, which also relies on pre-employment screening and testing. When the final candidates have been selected based upon technical skills, education and background, the cultural fit is generally the final piece that often separates one person from the pack.<\/p>\n \u201cWe drill pretty deep into what type of person they are from an integrity standpoint and work ethic,\u201d Fries added. \u201cAre they trying to be the best they can be? We\u2019re just trying to dig as deep as we can to get the right person. It\u2019s important that they\u2019re going to work their tail off, yet still have fun and conduct themselves with a high level of integrity.\u201d<\/p>\n Chris Taylor, Personal relationships are also a strong source of candidate discovery for Fisher\u2019s Technology of Boise, ID. CEO Chris Taylor ranks employee networks atop the list for finding talent, but the pipeline can be fortified by individuals who attend company events, including social, charitable and educational outings. These settings provide potential candidates, as well as Fisher\u2019s executives, a chance to learn more about one another in a natural atmosphere.<\/p>\n Interestingly, Taylor ranks traditional career search tools and staffing agencies as a \u201cdistant third\u201d choice for finding potential candidates. He prefers to target people who possess strong values that mesh with Fisher\u2019s way of doing business.<\/p>\n \u201cIf someone has a positive attitude, is driven to make customers extremely happy, is humble and wants to win, they are likely a fit,\u201d he said. \u201cCertainly, some job-specific skill level is required after that, but we can train skills. We can\u2019t train attitude and values.\u201d<\/p>\n Finding Top Choices<\/strong><\/p>\n Emmy Georgeson, imageOne<\/p><\/div>\n Geographies can often dictate the degree of difficulty in finding key personnel, whether a dealer is seeking their next sales superstar, a new service tech or admin staff. One of the realities learned from fishing in the talent pool is that many of the best and brightest are gainfully employed, notes Emmy Georgeson, head of Recruitment & Development for imageOne of Oak Park, MI. The dealer sees many candidates who are unemployed or unhappy with their current jobs, while others are young and lacking the desired experience for a position. Although imageOne handles hiring within, they may reach out to recruiting firms for extra help with sales and service technician openings.<\/p>\n The challenge in retention is that it takes consistent, diligent attention and understanding. It also takes great listening, open mindedness, great feedback and a commitment to their development.<\/p>\n Emmy Georgeson, imageOne<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Even with the difficulties in finding optimal candidates, imageOne is uncompromising in its standards for seeking potential team members. \u201cOur hiring process is \u2018Thorough, Thoughtful and Collaborative,\u2019 \u201d Georgeson said. \u201cAll of our recruiting efforts are based on the core values of imageOne: Open and Honest, A Passion for the Extraordinary, Flawless Execution and Thinking Like a Visionary.<\/p>\n \u201cOur recruiting process is strong because we start with a clear understanding of the position we\u2019re recruiting for,\u201d she added. \u201cWe understand the role and responsibilities, but more importantly, the core competencies required for that person to have success in the job. Then we note how we\u2019re going to measure their success.\u201d<\/p>\n One of the more unique aspects of imageOne\u2019s application process is its requirement that applicants write a series of short answers on how they embrace the dealer\u2019s core values in their everyday lives. This provides imageOne with insight into the applicant that can\u2019t be found on a resume, and showcases their written communication skills in a spontaneous manner.<\/p>\n That sets the stage for an involved interview process that includes a telephone screening, manager interview, executive interviews with the CEO and\/or president, as well as talks with two or three other team members. Georgeson notes that a candidate can go through as many as six interviews prior to being hired. These interviews are complemented by online assessments, such as the Watson Glaser Critical Thinking Test and the Kolbe A assessment, which examine an individual\u2019s ability to digest and understand situations and information and a person\u2019s instinctive method of operation, respectfully. Sales candidates are also asked to shadow a sales rep for half a day.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a very reciprocal process,\u201d Georgeson said. \u201cThey need to meet as many people as they can and experience our business and culture, and we need to see them in all those different situations so that we can make this decision together.\u201d<\/p>\n Much like its contemporaries, Fraser Advanced Information Systems of West Reading, PA, finds its best resource for new hires lies in employee referrals. However, the company revamped its referral program in 2017, which has led to not only an increase in recommendations, but a spike in new hires through that avenue as well.<\/p>\n Alexandra Goodman, Fraser AIS<\/p><\/div>\n Fraser also relies on job boards and online tools, to a lesser extent, notes Alexandra Goodman, HR manager. But it is the referrals that have enabled the dealership to keep head-count pace as the firm continues to grow.<\/p>\n Assessment Tools<\/strong><\/p>\n Goodman points out that Fraser\u2019s interview process is intended to onboard individuals who can best move the company forward as opposed to simply filling a cubicle. The initial engagement is a phone conversation that mutually determines whether the opportunity and the candidate mesh. The second stage is an in-person interview and the completion of an Interest Analysis, as well as a DiSC personality profile assessment, which yields where the candidate might best fit within the organization.<\/p>\n \u201cAfter a meeting with upper management, a final role and compensation review with a verbal offer is discussed prior to a formal written offer being sent,\u201d Goodman said. \u201cAt every level, our hiring managers are looking for candidates who can impact Fraser\u2019s key drivers and fit with our core competencies.\u201d<\/p>\n Fraser is careful not to bog down the process. The unemployment level in Pennsylvania was 4.8 in March of this year, which is higher than the 3.8 national average through April. That ratchets up the competition for candidates who are interviewing with multiple companies. \u201cUrgency in timing and the quality of the courtship are important to our process,\u201d Goodman pointed out.<\/p>\n One of the key challenges for Fisher\u2019s Technology is ensuring that internal candidates who are promoted have the particular skill sets to adequately fulfill the role of a manager, for instance. Taylor notes that a great sole contributor doesn\u2019t necessarily make for an ideal leader of people. Such a promotion could subtract a stellar sole contributor while adding a mediocre (or worse) manager.<\/p>\n \u201cOur challenge is to identify natural leaders and empower them to lead,\u201d he said. \u201cFor the rest of our amazing people who deep down don\u2019t want to manage others, we need to help them grow in skill set, add challenges, and enhance career satisfaction without becoming a manager.\u201d<\/p>\n Extended Engagements<\/strong><\/p>\n The key to employee retention for Eakes Office Systems is understanding an employee\u2019s internal driver\u2014and finding out what makes them click. \u201cWe\u2019re focusing on engagement with our workforce,\u201d Fries said. \u201cThe key to finding a good employee and keeping them for the long haul is to make sure they\u2019re engaged in what they\u2019re doing in their job. That\u2019s one of the biggest challenges, because each employee is different, and we need to drive that engagement toward all the employees.\u201d<\/p>\n Georgeson believes retention is much less of a problem for imageOne than finding candidates. Once the dealer is able to lock into a team member, regardless of the role, they\u2019re generally on board for the long term. imageOne hasn\u2019t turned over a sales person in at least three years, despite growing its rep bullpen. Overall tenure lengths range from five to 22 years.<\/p>\n \u201cThe challenge in retention is that it takes consistent, diligent attention and understanding,\u201d Georgeson said. \u201cIt also takes great listening, open mindedness, great feedback and a commitment to their development. For us, it\u2019s not a challenge, because it\u2019s what we do. Our top sales team member has been here 22 years and it\u2019s because of the culture that we offer.\u201d<\/p>\n Keith Roher, Yet, despite all of your experience with sales reps at every mile marker of the competency map, using gut instincts to choose your next wonder boy or golden girl may not be the best course of action. Keith Roher, CEO and managing partner of Next Level Impacts, an advisory firm that consults with dealers on issues ranging from MPS, BPO, productivity and recruiting, has been down this road himself. The former president and partner of Zeno Office Solutions, Roher is well versed on the topic of why office technology dealerships struggle with the frustrations, and the inevitable turnover, in their quest to bring home and maintain top sales performers.<\/p>\n \u201cThe number-one issue is expectations. Dealers need to be able to define expectations up front in the interview process,\u201d he said. \u201cIn a 2016 Gartner report that asked reps why they left, it wasn\u2019t because of money. The top reason was expectations and the second was poor management. As a sales manager or vice president of sales, we have a budget to hit and a head-count target to achieve. In order to get to the budget, we make decisions on hiring reps using our gut instincts\u2014which I\u2019ve done as well\u2014but we need to move beyond just that first impression.\u201d<\/p>\n Setting Expectations<\/strong><\/p>\n Expectations often aren\u2019t met simply because dealers fail to paint a true picture of the roles these reps undertake. Successful firms do a better job of breaking down the rep\u2019s assignment, including the percentage of time spent farming and hunting, and more accurately convey what is expected.<\/p>\n \u201cWe sometimes gloss over that, because we have a tinge of desperation,\u201d Roher noted. \u201cWe like the candidate up front\u2014they look and sound good and have the talk track down. But once you get them into hand-to-hand combat mode, they don\u2019t get the job done. So we turn them over.\u201d<\/p>\n Roher firmly believes that developing reps is the best way to ensure that a dealer\u2019s best-and-brightest sales performers will remain on board for the long term. The key here is that the reps need to feel like they\u2019re being developed. That starts with the VP of sales and the sales manager staying on message and not contradicting one another. The moment a sales manager goes off script on an aspect that was driven home during the training period, it will invariably lead to frustration for the rep.<\/p>\n So why do we struggle when it comes to gut instincts? It\u2019s not an easy answer. Competition for strong salespeople is through the roof; the job market has improved, and companies are battling for the best of the best. Some candidates hone in on salaries and don\u2019t understand the full value of the compensation package in comparison to positions in other industries. Drawing an apples-to-apples comparison may be misleading.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s just a different, more complex sales individual that we\u2019re hiring today,\u201d Roher observed.<\/p>\n Sourcing Candidates<\/strong><\/p>\n Roher has sampled all of the credible online resources for hiring and feels that LinkedIn, by far, should be the platform of choice. It is the perfect table-setter\u2014complete with resume, photo, recommendations and connections\u2014 providing a holistic view from which the dealer\/recruiter can build a conversation with the candidate. The extent to which a candidate takes great care in building that profile also yields insight into the person\u2019s diligence.<\/p>\n On the flip side, the easier it is to reach out to employers, the greater the risk of saturation applications. When Roher posts openings for positions, he estimates that 90 percent of the people are wrong for the job. On top of that, roughly 70 percent of that group blasted out their resumes to multiple job posts. That becomes evident when Roher asks a given candidate what attracted him or her about the job, as they tend to fumble their way through an answer or (giving consolation points for honesty) flat-out admit that they don\u2019t remember what they sent. That frustrates Roher to no end.<\/p>\n The best candidates, and the ones Roher relishes approaching, are the employed stars who aren\u2019t in the market for a new job. Herein lies the real essence of recruiting.<\/p>\n \u201cI find that the diamonds in the rough are the people who are not expecting to know who I am or why I\u2019m sending them a message, because they\u2019re not expecting a message from me,\u201d he said. \u201cI feel I have a compelling story, a strategy that I use. Everyone responds to me\u2014not usually with the answer that I want\u2014but at least we get a dialogue going. It\u2019s a courtship. When a client provides the demographics it\u2019s seeking in a hire, those are the people I\u2019m going to focus on.\u201d<\/p>\n Full Compensation Picture<\/strong><\/p>\n It is important for hiring managers to paint a complete picture of the benefits that are available to the top performers: Annual contests that offer Rolex watches, high-end electronics and president\u2019s club trips to exotic destinations. Those are the kind of enticements that add sparkle to the eyes of top performers. And candidates will beam at the thought of a 75-cent employer contribution for every dollar invested in the 401K program. Outlining the full breadth of the compensation, like clearly articulating the expectations of the job, will inevitably lead to more impactful hiring.<\/p>\n One area that also concerns Roher is the practice of paying annuities to sales representatives. In theory, he feels it\u2019s not a bad idea for smaller dealerships in the sub-$10 million range. \u201cI don\u2019t want my reps waking up in the morning, feeling that they don\u2019t have to bust their ass as hard today because they know they have $2,500 coming in this month because of the annuity. Some owners might then pay a smaller percentage if the reps aren\u2019t consistently hitting their number, but I still have a fundamental issue with it.\u201d<\/p>\n Journey to Onboard<\/strong><\/p>\n One bit of advice Roher would offer dealers and their hiring team is to tighten up the interview process. Two weeks is the magic number from initial connection to job offer, and he feels many dealers would be well served to remove superfluous steps or consolidate the process. Roher can appreciate the need for multiple screeners, and he advocates a \u201ccooling-off\u201d period between interviews to see if the second impression of the candidate meshes with that gleaned from the initial meeting. But if the process drags out for a month or longer, the greater the risk for losing the candidate to a more-expedient employer.<\/p>\n \u201cOne thing we did a good job with at Zeno was, before we hired anyone, we prepared them the night before they were to come into the office by giving them a list of accounts they would call the next day,\u201d Roher explained. \u201cThat allowed us to see what kind of research they would do on the accounts. The next day, we\u2019d have our manager make a few calls in front of the candidate so that he or she could hear the cadence of the conversation. Then we\u2019d give the person a short script and have them do a call. In doing this, you can quickly smoke out the candidates who are going to embrace it.\u201d<\/p>\n Finally, it is important for dealers to employ a sales-management-development component to complement its sales coaching and development. \u201cA lot of companies think that teaching or developing managers to recruit is a waste of time, because they need to be in the field,\u201d Roher said. \u201cI totally disagree with that. Especially today, with social media, it doesn\u2019t take a lot of leadership\u2019s time to spend 30 minutes early in the morning or late in the evening, firing off quick little LinkedIn InMails, but there\u2019s an art to it. In addition to benchmark development and leadership development, part of the subset of leadership development should be recruiting and how they\u2019re doing it, instead of just relying on an in-house or outsourced recruiter.\u201d <\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In the 2000 film, \u201cThe Family Man,\u201d Nicolas Cage\u2019s character, Jack Campbell, finds himself in an alternate universe. In it, he tries (among other things) to win his way into a job with a Wall Street M&A firm, P.K. Lassiter. In \u201creal\u201d life, Campbell is the president of P.K. Lassiter, but this glimpse into an alternate reality transforms him into a tire salesman from New Jersey. Stripped of title and position, with only an E.F. Hutton internship on his resume, Campbell has few tools to legitimately win a position with the firm, and must talk his way onto the ground floor of the company. Here is an excerpt from his legendary pitch. Jack Campbell: \u201cBusiness is business. Wall Street, Main Street. It\u2019s all a bunch of people getting up in the morning, trying to figure out how they\u2019re going to send their kids to college. It\u2019s just people, and I know people. \u201cYou have two great loves in your life,\u201d he tells Lassiter, \u201cyour horses and this company. And you\u2019re a man who prides himself in finding talent in unusual places.\u201d Peter Lassiter: \u201cHow would you know that?\u201d Jack Campbell: \u201cBecause I\u2019m here. I\u2019m prepared to do whatever it takes to get this job. I\u2019ll start wherever I have to start. I\u2019ll park cars if I have to. The biggest part of judging character is knowing yourself, and I know this: I can do this job. I can. Give me a chance, Peter. I won\u2019t let you down.\u201d The Hollywood treatment aside, perhaps the days of chance meetings and job opportunities starting from impromptu conversations have all but vanished. The film was shot prior to the proliferation of online job resources and social media outlets. The web has enabled job hunters to ferret out employment positions anywhere in the country, or the world for that matter. Hunters can rely on LinkedIn, Monster, Indeed, Glassdoor and other countless services that align companies with prospective employees, utilizing countless tools that provide insight into potential matches. In shrinking the job-hunting process, these tools have also raised the degree of difficulty for job seekers. It\u2019s not out of the ordinary for companies to receive hundreds of applications for a single job posting. Employers have resorted to using software that scans resumes and cover letters for key words that can eliminate a lion\u2019s share of applicants before a pair of human eyes comes into play. From an employer\u2019s standpoint, it allows firms to cut to the chase quicker to find the handful of candidates who are legitimate prospects. So, has technology taken the teeth out of old-fashioned, people-judging tactics? We\u2019ve canvassed a number of office technology dealerships to gauge the processes they utilize to recruit and hire quality employees, as well as the challenges they face maintaining their most valuable players. Employees Know Best While Eakes Office Solutions of Grand Island, NE, relies on online sites such as LinkedIn and Indeed\u2014not to mention traditional newspaper advertisements\u2014to scout out new talent. But perhaps its strongest go-to medium is referrals from current employees, according to Kevin Fries, human resources manager. We drill pretty deep into what type of person they are from an integrity standpoint and work ethic Kevin Fries, Eakes Office Solutions \u201cOur current employees know what type of person it would take to work at Eakes, and understand best who would be an ideal fit from a cultural standpoint,\u201d he said. \u201cThey need to live the same core values we live as a company. Beyond that, because we have 14 locations across the state of Nebraska, we have different challenges with what works. In some areas, we can use local colleges to help us find people, and in other parts of the state, traditional newspaper ads work well.\u201d Fries believes Eakes has a fairly rigorous interviewing process. The typical candidate has a minimum of two interviews with various personnel at the dealership, which also relies on pre-employment screening and testing. When the final candidates have been selected based upon technical skills, education and background, the cultural fit is generally the final piece that often separates one person from the pack. \u201cWe drill pretty deep into what type of person they are from an integrity standpoint and work ethic,\u201d Fries added. \u201cAre they trying to be the best they can be? We\u2019re just trying to dig as deep as we can to get the right person. It\u2019s important that they\u2019re going to work their tail off, yet still have fun and conduct themselves with a high level of integrity.\u201d Personal relationships are also a strong source of candidate discovery for Fisher\u2019s Technology of Boise, ID. CEO Chris Taylor ranks employee networks atop the list for finding talent, but the pipeline can be fortified by individuals who attend company events, including social, charitable and educational outings. These settings provide potential candidates, as well as Fisher\u2019s executives, a chance to learn more about one another in a natural atmosphere. Interestingly, Taylor ranks traditional career search tools and staffing agencies as a \u201cdistant third\u201d choice for finding potential candidates. He prefers to target people who possess strong values that mesh with Fisher\u2019s way of doing business. \u201cIf someone has a positive attitude, is driven to make customers extremely happy, is humble and wants to win, they are likely a fit,\u201d he said. \u201cCertainly, some job-specific skill level is required after that, but we can train skills. We can\u2019t train attitude and values.\u201d Finding Top Choices Geographies can often dictate the degree of difficulty in finding key personnel, whether a dealer is seeking their next sales superstar, a new service tech or admin staff. One of the realities learned from fishing in the talent pool is that many of the best and brightest are gainfully employed, notes Emmy Georgeson, head of Recruitment & Development for imageOne of Oak Park, MI. The dealer sees many candidates who are unemployed or unhappy with their current jobs, while others are young and lacking the desired experience for a position. Although imageOne handles hiring […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":166,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1641],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29816"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/166"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29816"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29816\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38016,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29816\/revisions\/38016"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29816"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29816"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29816"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Kevin-Fries-Eakes.png\")
Eakes Office Solutions<\/p><\/div>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Chris-Taylor-Fishers.jpg\")
Fisher\u2019s Technology<\/p><\/div>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Emmy-Georgeson-imageOne.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Alexandra-Goodman-Fraser-AIS.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Keith-Roher.jpg\")
CEO\/Managing Partner,
Next Level Impacts<\/p><\/div>\n