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Hiring Happy Employees

Hiring happy, optimistic job applicantsproblems - like a pessimist.
can increase your company's productivityFor example, the interviewer could ask,
and lower turnover. Plus, optimistic,"Tell me about the two worst situations
confident employees are vastly moreyou got into in your last job." Then,
delightful to have on-board.the interviewer needs to observe if the
Methods to help companies havejob applicant answers like an optimist
optimistic, positive employees includeor a pessimist.
pre-employment tests, job interviews ofLEADERS MUST BE ROLE MODELS OF
applicants, managing being role-models,OPTIMISTIC ACTIONS
and reinforcing smiles.Ralph Waldo Emerson wisely observed,
What are happy, optimistic employees?"What you do speaks so loudly that I
In a book I co-authored - "Spontaneouscannot hear what you say." This quote
OptimismÂ(R)" -- we explainedillustrates why leaders, executives and
optimistic people focus on solutions andmanagers must be employees' role models
not on problems, have a "can-do"for optimistic and upbeat behavior.
mindset, and do what is needed toEvery leader can be a fabulous role
achieve goals despite all odds.model simply by focusing non-stop on
In contrast, the opposite of optimism is1. Goals - measurable goals with
pessimism. Pessimists focus on problemsdeadlines that help the company grow and
and not on solutions. Pessimisticprosper
people love to do three actions:2. Solutions - every time a problem
Complain, blame, and whine..arises, instantly focus on implementing
PRE-EMPLOYMENT TESTS HELP YOU HIRE HAPPYsolutions
EMPLOYEESAlso, the leader or manager must not
The quickest, easiest and cheapest wayallow employees to act pessimistic by
to have happy employees is to hire humanwhining, moaning, and complaining. When
beings who are optimistic and upbeat.an employee complains or whines, the
The most objective and customizableoptimistic leader simply needs to say,
method to assess job applicants is"I can tell that bothers you. Now,
pre-employment testing. When a companyplease tell me your possible solution to
tells me it wants to hire betterovercome the problem." Insist the
employees, we start by customizingemployee conjure up solutions, and not
pre-employment tests. How? We conductwallow in moaning about problems.
a "benchmarking study" by testingLEADERS NEED TO REINFORCE SMILING
current employees in each job. FromEye-opening research revealed the more
this, we discover test scores of thean employee smiles, the happier the
company's high-achieving "superstars" -customer. Harvard Business Review (5
that is, employees who are both highly07, page 24, reported Patricia Barger
productive and low turnover.of Bowling Green State U. and Alicia
Valuable finding: Almost invariably,Grandey of Penn State U. studied
high-achievers score above-average oremployees and customers in a coffee
high on two scales of the pre-employmentshop. They found the more an employee
test:smiled, the more the employee's
1. Optimism test scalecustomers felt happy with their coffee
2. Reactions to Pressure test scaleshop experience.
In contrast, underachievers in the sameLeaders and managers can apply the same
jobs in the same companies usually scoreactions in any company. The leader
(a) low on Optimism (i.e., they scoreneeds to smile, reinforce smiling by
pessimistic) and (b) low on Reaction toemployees, and hire employees who
Pressure (i.e., they score likereadily smile. This gels to create a
whiners).positive, happy corporate culture.
For example, one company recently did a3 KEYS TO HIRE HAPPY EMPLOYEES
"benchmarking study" for hiringManagers and leaders are smart to create
employees into seven jobs. On thean optimistic, upbeat workplace. My
pre-employment test, "superstar"pre-employment testing research reveals
employees in all seven jobs scored highhigh-achieving "superstar" employees
on both (1) Optimism scale and (2)overwhelmingly are optimistic and poised
Reactions to Pressure scale. Note:under pressure. To create a workforce
Although these seven jobs covered a wideof happy, positive employees, leaders
range of skill-levels and abilities,and managers can do the following:
pre-employment test scores showed1. Hire optimistic, upbeat job
high-achievers in all jobs exuded anapplicants - predicted by pre-employment
optimistic, 'can-do' personality.tests and interviews
KEY JOB INTERVIEW QUESTIONS ASSESS2. Be a role model - always displaying
OPTIMISMoptimists' actions
A second method to assess a job3. Reinforce employees' optimistic
applicant is job interviews.actions - e.g., focusing on solutions
Unfortunately, interviews prove quiteand smiling
subjective, and managers generally doBy leaders using these three keys, the
lousy at predicting job success based onresult is a company composed of
interviews.optimistic, 'can-do' employees who are
Question: What should managers do toA. Highly productive
assess a job applicant's optimism?B. Low turnover
Answer: Ask open-ended questions aboutC. A pleasure to work with
confronting problems. Then, notice ifD. Highly profitable
the applicant (a) focuses on solutions -© Copyright 2007 Michael Mercer,
like an optimist or (b) wallows aboutPh.D.



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