Bad Hiring – Totally My Fault

I’m a little bit frustrated with my latest hiring decision. I think it’s because I’m too easily convinced by people who can answer one good question really well. That singular answer taints the rest and I lose a little perspective.

The current hire was a very convincing. He spoke well and gave very clear and effective answers to all the questions posed. My fault was that I didn’t probe him sufficiently and took everything at face value.

As I’ve mentioned before, the work I do is heavy on the numbers and that means some heavy duty Excel work. My fault was not to probe deep into this. Although Excel can be taught, it takes time to acquire the level that I’m looking for. The Hire has good analytical thinking. His main deficiency is in condensing that into something that stands on its own – without him having to explain it.

The moral here for me is that if I have the luxury of time, compromising is possible. If not, then I should have asked the questions that would prove that a person could hop into the job and run. In this instance, at this very point, I’ve screwed up royally.

In these troubled times……

Courtesy: dilbert.com

… it becomes necessary to tighten our belts and to lose all reason.

Our CEO declared a few weeks ago a number of cost-saving initiatives:

- All travel has to be approved by him (recently loosened – approval needs to be at Director level)

- No coffee or beverages to be purchased for customers or agencies should they come to visit our building; they need to pay for themselves, die of thirst, or drink tap water

- No Christmas parties for all departments; there will be a single Christmas party to be held in training rooms 1 and 2 on Christmas Eve (duration 2 hours)

- Made 44 jobs redundant last week as part of an “efficiency program”; he sent a company-wide email last week stating that the program will continue to run into the New Year.

Yes, I agree that tough times means tough measures. I’m not sure that it’s necessary to arbitrarily suffocate the joy out of life.

Leadership Program: Thoughts Part 2

“Work/Life Balance”

It’s nirvana for corporate climbers but perhaps ceded all but by the best corporate successes. An angle on it would be that to improve one’s standard of living, it is necessary to work very, very hard to achieve “corporate somethingness”. This may require some sacrifice of some present family time for the monetary reward. But as the climber grows more giddy with the air, it becomes even more necessary to stay away, since the demands of seniority requires dedication and application. Family time comes second.

So, the goal of achieving balance is so difficult to achieve. The way out? I’m not sure, but having an employer with the right attitudes is perhaps the best start.

Where I am at the moment, well, there’s potential.

Great Inspiration

 

Image from The Age

 

Today will be marked as an historic day in politics.

This man is an inspiration and his speech gave me goosebumps.

If we could all find the same level of dedication and belief to become great leaders and to provide inspiration to all those who have lost hope.

Leadership Program: Thoughts Part 1

I was fortunate enough to be nominated to attend an internal leadership development program earlier last week. The goals are fairly obvious and fairly well trodden – understanding what makes for good leadership and to develop my own personal style to adapt and apply to circumstances.

I then recalled a podcast I listened to about leadership and how to become a good one. Listen to it here.

The underlying thought I have to formulate my style is, “Why should great people work with me?”. This frames my entire technique. Gosh, I guess I’m on the path to being somebody.

Changing times

Just when I was getting comfortable on the new role, my manager has a quiet chat with me. During a recent overseas trip back home, he had put an offer on a house. This was quickly accepted by the seller and his plans to return to his native land are now accelerated.

So, my short stint with him is all I get. It’s such a pity – I have enormous respect for him and working with him was a big factor in my move. Such is corporate life.

(The real) final word on the conference

Morning #2 of the conference was always going to be a seedy affair. The company I work for has a reputation for getting banned from venues after conferences – such is the willingness of employees to let loose.

As far as I could gather, these were the shenanigans of the evening:
- one guy went for a swim at 2am after hours if drinking (back in his room safely, though)
- a large proportion of the 200 attendees squeezed into a single room for the “after party” (damage costs – $150)
- one guy decided to shave off all his hair in the midst of all this
- various wigs remain unclaimed from said party

The rest of the day was just a group of sobering employees being spoken to. Successive yak/presentations was all that was in store for the day. It all finished with a Q&A session with the Marketing Director. Again, he laid down the law. Again, I felt a level of respect for him and what he’s trying to do.

I’m just not so sure about the rest of us.

Final word on the conference

I forgot to wrap up my previous post on the conference.

Last time I wrote, I’d covered everything before dinner. The evening activity was a costume party where tables had to dress to a (organizationally set up) movie theme. People walked up to the dining room on a red carpet with papparazzi and cameras making a fuss. It was an interesting experience to say the least. This was then followed by an awards ceremony to celebrate the department’s best performers – in the spirit of the Oscars but executed like the Logies.

The greatest surprise of the evening was a very special guest speaker – Bryce Courtenay. Since the theme of the overall conference was “Once upon a time” or the heart of storytelling in marketing, having a writer of his insight and experience was chilling. I had never read his work but his telling of his life as an orphan in South Africa, his drive to become something more, his struggles and misery of losing his son to debilitating leukemia made you feel so strongly for him. It was simply great storytelling.

It was also a great way for me to end the evening. Soon after dinner, at the modest time of 10:30pm, I went to bed. This was much earlier than everyone else, but that’s a story for another post.

Conference Day 1 – It ain’t so bad

After a 5am start, a bus ride for an hour and a half, and a crude breakfast served in a brown paper bag, the conference isn’t as excruciating as I imagined.

The director opened proceedings and shot from the hip, no punches pulled. There were no bonuses because as a corporation we didn’t hit our numbers – simple. He agreed that everyone did the best they could and that even though external/non-controllable factors were a greater influence on the poor profitability, the rules are the rules. I respect the honesty. If anything, I have a newfound respect for the company. When truths are laid out like that, it eliminates the mistrust and suspicion, creating a desire to move on.

This could be an interesting conference, after all.

Dweeby little schmucks

There’s nothing I hate more than guys who don’t know me who call me champ. I also hate it when people at work take on the gratitude and team support thing too far, thinking they’re your pal, and that you actually find value in their praise.

Case in point – there’s a guy in our group finance area who needed a few market statistics from me for publication in some executive report. After trying to grapple with his indecipherable mumblings and absolute lack of knowledge of anything commercial, I finally worked out the picture he wanted to paint. I told him that it would take a few days because I wasn’t just sitting at my desk waiting for his grand stupidity for something to do. He then proceeds to try and get me to deliver by the next day because the Director needed it! (thankfully, this was true)

Dweeby then calls me, says I’m a “good man” for doing what I could and thanking me for my efforts. Grrr. Does he think he’s engendering goodwill on my part? Does he think that all the fake chumminess would make me go above and beyond for him?