Welcome to your ultimate human resource management information


Hiring Happy Employees

Hiring happy, optimistic job applicants caninto in your last job." Then, the
increase your company's productivity andinterviewer needs to observe if the job
lower turnover. Plus, optimistic, confidentapplicant answers like an optimist or a
employees are vastly more delightful to havepessimist.
on-board.
LEADERS MUST BE ROLE MODELS OF OPTIMISTIC
Methods to help companies have optimistic,ACTIONS
positive employees include pre-employment
tests, job interviews of applicants, managingRalph Waldo Emerson wisely observed, "What
being  role-models,  and  reinforcing smiles.you do speaks so loudly that I cannot hear
what you say." This quote illustrates why
What are happy, optimistic employees? In aleaders, executives and managers must be
book I co-authored - "Spontaneousemployees' role models for optimistic and
OptimismÂ(R)" -- we explained optimisticupbeat  behavior.
people focus on solutions and not on
problems, have a "can-do" mindset, and doEvery leader can be a fabulous role model
what is needed to achieve goals despite allsimply  by  focusing  non-stop  on
odds.
1. Goals - measurable goals with deadlines
In contrast, the opposite of optimism isthat  help  the  company  grow  and  prosper
pessimism. Pessimists focus on problems and
not on solutions. Pessimistic people love to2. Solutions - every time a problem arises,
do three actions: Complain, blame, andinstantly  focus  on  implementing  solutions
whine..
Also, the leader or manager must not allow
PRE-EMPLOYMENT TESTS HELP YOU HIRE HAPPYemployees to act pessimistic by whining,
EMPLOYEESmoaning, and complaining. When an employee
complains or whines, the optimistic leader
The quickest, easiest and cheapest way tosimply needs to say, "I can tell that bothers
have happy employees is to hire human beingsyou. Now, please tell me your possible
who are optimistic and upbeat. The mostsolution to overcome the problem." Insist
objective and customizable method to assessthe employee conjure up solutions, and not
job applicants is pre-employment testing.wallow  in  moaning  about  problems.
When a company tells me it wants to hire
better employees, we start by customizingLEADERS  NEED  TO  REINFORCE  SMILING
pre-employment tests. How? We conduct a
"benchmarking study" by testing currentEye-opening research revealed the more an
employees in each job. From this, weemployee smiles, the happier the customer.
discover test scores of the company'sHarvard Business Review (5/07, page 24,
high-achieving "superstars" - that is,reported Patricia Barger of Bowling Green
employees who are both highly productive andState U. and Alicia Grandey of Penn State U.
low  turnover.studied employees and customers in a coffee
shop. They found the more an employee
Valuable finding: Almost invariably,smiled, the more the employee's customers
high-achievers score above-average or high onfelt happy with their coffee shop experience.
two  scales  of  the  pre-employment  test:
Leaders and managers can apply the same
1. Optimism  test  scaleactions in any company. The leader needs to
smile, reinforce smiling by employees, and
2. Reactions  to  Pressure  test  scalehire employees who readily smile. This gels
to create a positive, happy corporate
In contrast, underachievers in the same jobsculture.
in the same companies usually score (a) low
on Optimism (i.e., they score pessimistic)3  KEYS  TO  HIRE  HAPPY  EMPLOYEES
and (b) low on Reaction to Pressure (i.e.,
they  score  like  whiners).Managers and leaders are smart to create an
optimistic, upbeat workplace. My
For example, one company recently did apre-employment testing research reveals
"benchmarking study" for hiring employeeshigh-achieving "superstar" employees
into seven jobs. On the pre-employment test,overwhelmingly are optimistic and poised
"superstar" employees in all seven jobsunder pressure. To create a workforce of
scored high on both (1) Optimism scale andhappy, positive employees, leaders and
(2) Reactions to Pressure scale. Note:managers  can  do  the  following:
Although these seven jobs covered a wide
range of skill-levels and abilities,1. Hire optimistic, upbeat job applicants -
pre-employment test scores showedpredicted by pre-employment tests and
high-achievers in all jobs exuded aninterviews
optimistic,  'can-do'  personality.
2. Be a role model - always displaying
KEY  JOB  INTERVIEW QUESTIONS ASSESS OPTIMISMoptimists'  actions
A second method to assess a job applicant is3. Reinforce employees' optimistic actions -
job interviews. Unfortunately, interviewse.g.,  focusing  on  solutions  and  smiling
prove quite subjective, and managers
generally do lousy at predicting job successBy leaders using these three keys, the result
based  on  interviews.is a company composed of optimistic, 'can-do'
employees  who  are
Question: What should managers do to assess
a  job  applicant's  optimism?A. Highly  productive
Answer: Ask open-ended questions aboutB. Low  turnover
confronting problems. Then, notice if the
applicant (a) focuses on solutions - like anC. A  pleasure  to  work  with
optimist or (b) wallows about problems - like
a  pessimist.D. Highly  profitable
For example, the interviewer could ask, "Tell© Copyright 2007 Michael Mercer,
me about the two worst situations you gotPh.D.



1 A B C D E 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118