As I explained earlier, unlike so many other employers these days, Jen Silver (www.RoofingUtah.com) is not experiencing a shortage of qualified labor in her company. In fact, she often has job seekers reaching out to her for opportunities. These are often people who have heard from her current millennial employees just how great it is to work for Roofing Utah.
No matter whether it’s a referral or an inquiry from a job posting, no matter whether the person comes highly recommended or not, Jen always uses a pre-screening test. There are no exceptions. People either take the test or they don’t get to move on to the next step in the interview process. According to Jen, this alone weeds out at least 50 percent of the people who just aren’t truly committed, a real timesaver.
Jen has used and is a big proponent of the MPO Personality Test (www.mpo-solution.com). MPO stands for Management and Performance in Organizations. It reveals personality traits to help her understand behavior patterns that will help her make better hiring decisions. While the testing company has various payment options, Jen has found that paying a yearly fee with unlimited usage gives her the most flexibility to test everyone.
MPO has the capacity to measure the interactions and level of intensity for seven of the most vital aspects of personality within the work context. These are: Originality of Thought – Emotional Spontaneity – Assertiveness – Extroversion – Pace – Structure – and Adaptability.
While many other companies she knows uses DISC, she has found MPO easier to manage and understand and easier to explain to applicants. Jen firmly believes that the more you understand about the people you’ll ultimately manager, the better you’ll be as a leader.
MPO helps her in hiring for all positions, many of which have different traits required to be successful. Whether she’s looking for an administrative type, a sales person or an installer, finding out about an individual’s assertiveness, introvert versus extrovert, ability to multi-task, need for structure, etc. is critical so that Jen is able to match the right person to the right position.
She does not keep the results of the testing a secret and will happily share the findings with both those she hires, and those she believes are not suited for her company. In fact, when someone does take the time to complete the test and Jen finds them to be not even remotely a match, she’ll have a conversation with that person, and often can offer them guidance as to where they might have a better chance of succeeding.
While testing plays a key part in her recruitment process, it’s not the singular factor in making a hiring decision. Jen assesses an individual’s attitude, experience, knowledge, and other factors that surface during the interview. Also, while the test may indicate that a person has certain traits that look good on paper, she’ll explain to the candidate what’s required for success in the position they’re applying for. This conversation helps her to better assess if the individual will likely be happy in the position long term. As best as possible, she wants people to be able to achieve success by being themselves.
I’ve learned so much about millennials and how to better hire, manage and maximize their abilities in the workplace. Jen Silver is a breath of fresh air in the remodeling industry, but her advice certainly applies to all types of companies. If you want to learn more, please reach out to me. If you’d like to speak with Jen directly, I’ll be happy to make the introduction.
Stephen
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