The Ultimate - and brutally honest - job search primer!

Even though Guy talks to the Silicon Valley/Tech experience, this is nonetheless great information about how to get hired for any job! Read it at your own risk!

Many people ask me for advice about getting a job in Silicon Valley, so here’s the inside scoop. Not everyone will agree with this advice, and some will outright deny what I’m saying, but if you use these tips you will stand head and shoulders above most candidates.

1. Love what the company does. Passion for what a company makes or does is the most important factor in getting a job in Silicon Valley. Companies here are built on passion—indeed, perhaps more passion than reality. Hence, they hire passionate people who are already in the Reality Distortion Field. The question is, How do you show your passion?

   The best way is to profess your love of the company’s product or service, and I literally mean “love” not “read about,” “have used,” or “looked at the web site.” If the company is at all enlightened, passion can overcome the lack of a “perfect” educational background and work experience.

   The second best answer is to “know” the company. There never was, but there certainly isn’t now, any excuse for not knowing a great deal about the company. Hardly rocket science, right? But you’d be amazed at how many candidates show up with very little knowledge and sink their chances by asking something as stupid as, “What do you guys do?”

   Corollary: Rather than hoping that the openings that you like are at companies that you like, find out if the companies that you like have openings that you like. (Forgive me Harold Keables, for this sentence sets a new record for the number of “thats.”)

2. Create a solid pitch and bring it with you. In Silicon Valley, you can tell that a person is pitching because her lips are moving. Think of your resume as a “PowerPoint pitch” for you, the product. Hopefully you’ve heard of the 10/20/30 Rule of PowerPoint...here’s the 1/2/3 Rule of Resumes:

   • 1 page long. When some job candidates read this, they will think, “Guy is referring to the hoi polloi and unwashed masses, not me. I have ten years of experience at four different companies covering five different positions. My resume needs to be two—maybe even three-pages—to adequately explain the totality of my wonderfulness. And the more I mention, the more the company might see things they like.”

     As a rule of thumb, if you can’t pitch your company in ten slides or pitch yourself in one page, your idea is stupid and you suck, respectively.

   • 2 key points. Your resume (and interview) should communicate only two, perhaps three, key points. Key points include pertinent work experience, applicable education, or a love for what the company does. One key point is too few, and three is at the edge of too many.

   • 3 sections. “Two key points” means that your resume should only have three sections: contact information, work experience, and educational background. This specifically excludes “objectives” (do you really think that a company cares what you want to be when you grow up?), “references available on upon request” (duh, of course you’ll have to give references if you’re asked; more on this later), and “outside interests” (that Lamaze class training will come in really handy when the company delivers software by C section but not right now).

   While I’m at it, here are some additional resume tiplets:

   • Have some fresh eyes take a look at it. Fresh eyes will always find mistakes that you missed.

   • Begin each line item of the experience section with an active verb such as “created,” “designed,” “wrote,” or “sold.”

   • Follow this active-verb description with what you accomplished. The best “whats” are quantifiable results such as sales, cost reductions, or shipped products. The worst “whats” are the number of people you managed and the amount of budget you blew through. The key is not the size of the staff or the the size of the budget—it’s what you accomplished with them.

   • Bring copies of your resume to the interview. Suppose that one of the interviewers asks for a copy of your resume. It would be nice to have it with you because much of Silicon Valley suffers from Attention Deficit Disorder, so once you’re out of sight, you’re out of mind.

3. Know—or better yet—dislike the competition. Another form of passion is a dislike of a company’s competition. Don’t take this too far because no company you’d want to work for will hire a psychopath but expressing the desire to defeat Microsoft at Apple, Google at Microsoft, or Nintendo at Sony is a positive thing. If nothing else, it shows that you understand the competitive marketplace.

4. Expect the funny farm. Most likely you’ll go through a group grope of interviews by four or five people. Most likely only one of them has hired and managed people before. Most likely this is the cast of characters that you’ll meet. Use these stereotypes to prepare answers to their questions and concerns.

   Stereotype	Description	Key Question	Key Answer
   Wunderkind	Dropped out of Stanford while getting an advanced degree. Scored 1600 on the SAT. Still a virgin. Needs a regression equation to buy a pack of gum. On his way to being farmed out (that is, made CTO), but he doesn’t know it yet.	How did your PhD orals go?	Fine, how did yours go?
   Mom	Maybe the only adult on the team. Part office manager, part psychiatrist, part mother, and part school principal. Easy to dismiss as “clerical staff,” but she’s the go-to lady when the wunderkinds need real-world advice.	Do you have children?	Yes, would you like to see their pictures? Or No, but I love kids. Do you have any?
   Mr. CPG	Brought in by the wunderkinds to fix marketing even though they think the company’s gizmo is so cool that it doesn’t need marketing. Can’t do a demo of the product but believes that everything is a consumer packaged good. MBA. Worked for five years for Playtex marketing tampons. Leases a Cadillac.	What do you think of Kotler’s Five Ps of marketing?	They are still important, but the Internet and online communities have made life much for complex for marketers. I’m glad you’re running that function here because I can learn a lot from you.
   Sunil	Veep of engineering. After six months of searching, the wunderkinds finally settled on someone who they thought could scale the infrastructure and had room temperature IQ. (How hard could it be support six million simultaneous users?) The venture capitalists were very happy when he was hired. Brother-in-law runs an outsourcing programming shop in Bangalore that the company uses.	What do you think of Squid web proxy caching?	I think that good architecture makes proxy caching unnecessary.
   Jasmine McGuire	The sales expert. Finally, the wunderkinds found a sales person that they could stand for more than fifteen minutes. Pissed off that there aren’t more women managers in the company. Worked for ten years at an established Silicon Valley firm where she exceeded quota every year. Sporadic guilt pangs about not seeing her kids enough.	What do you think is the key selling proposition of our product?	There are so many possibilities: ease of use, speed, scalability, world-class tech support... But you’re the expert: what’s worked for you?
   Lifer	Started at the company when computers were as big as a room and “partner” was a noun, not a verb. Only person in the company who uses a RPN calculator. Wants to make sure that the company never forgets its roots. Perfectly happy just to be a great engineer. Drives a second-hand Prius.	Did you watch the History Channel special about Arpanet?	Yeah, I sure did; in fact, I recorded it on my Betamax machine. I still think the Beta format is better than VHS.
   Grecian Gray	A Mr. CPG who lasted. Knows everyone in the industry but only an inch deep. Too old to go to another startup but too young to retire. Schedules offsites wherever there’s a great golf course. Has had several affairs with employees in the company. Leases a Boxster.	What do you think of the 7 Series BMWs?	They’re nice, but that’s for a family man. Give me a sportscar anyday.
   HR Professional	Loves the company. Loves her job. Been there and seen that. Bull-shiitake proof. You may think she’s “just an HR person,” but she’ll torpedo you if you piss her off. One of the first people you’d recruit if you leave the company to start something.	What would you like to be doing in five years?	I would like to grow into a management position at this company by further developing my skillset.
   Ms. CEO	Proof that ice water can run in people’s veins. Tough, talented. Shattered the glass ceiling into a thousand pieces. Sports a trophy husband. Makes the Merrill Streep character in The Devil Wears Prada look like a girl scout. Friends with Carly Fiorina.	Did you see that article in Forbes about me?	“Seen it?” Are you kidding? I have a copy right here. I was going to ask you to autograph it.
   Don Corleone	Executive with the company for twenty years. Feared by employees who don’t know him. Loved by those who do. Net worth exceeds $50 million. Empty nester but got his kids summer jobs at the company when they were still in the house. Board member. Secretary answers his email.	What makes you think you can conribute to this company?	I’ve read about how much you contributed to the company over your career, and I can only hope to make a contribution as large as yours.

   
   

5. Show up early. Get to your interview at least thirty minutes early because (a) you might hit traffic; (b) it make take a while to get signed in and badged; (c) you might learn something from the receptionist; and (d) you don’t want to be rushed and flustered when you start your interview.

6. Overdress, or, ask what to wear. Tech companies are notorious for t-shirts-and-jeans dress codes, but whether this is appropriate dress for an interview depends on the position and on the interviewer (it might just be your luck that the interviewer recently joined from another organization that had a much stricter dress code). A good rule of thumb is to dress one level above the company norm: for example, for a t-shirt style company, wear a collared polo shirt. If in doubt, ask what’s appropriate for the interview.

7. Answer the first question, “How are you?” with a great response. For example, a great response is, “I feel great. I’m really anxious to learn more about this job and tell you about myself, so that we can determine if we’re a good match.” In other settings, this question is an unimportant formality. In an interview it’s an opening to blow away the interviewer with your enthusiasm.

   Whatever you do, don’t answer the question with the truth: “I’m stuck in a dead-end marriage, my kids have chronic diseases, so I need a good medical plan, and the credit card companies are calling.” Tech companies do not hire out of sympathy, and this is a job interview, not out-patient psychiatric counseling.

8. Get the scoop from the first interviewer. A job interview is a sales call: Listen to what the customer says she wants and then explain why you are the solution. Many interviewers will tell you how to sell to their company. The sooner you get this information, the better.

   These are good questions to ask to get the ball rolling:

   • “What are you concerned about in filling this role?”

   • “What are the company’s greatest challenges?”

   • “What are the hot buttons of the other people I’ll be meeting?”

9. Think: Plug and play, plug and play, plug and play. Sorry, but Silicon Valley companies do not develop employees. (“Management trainee” is an oxymoron in Silicon Valley.) Metaphorically speaking, we like to open the box, plug in the gizmo, and be up and running, so you should always be answering the question: How can I immediately help this company? If you can’t help the company immediately, then maybe this isn’t the right company for you.

   This isn’t to say that you need five years of experience to get a job in Silicon Valley. For example, someone straight out of college (or high school) can help by testing software, answering the phone, answering tech support questions, whatever. But don’t expect the luxury of a long training program before you start contributing to the bottom line.

10. Take notes. I wouldn’t whip out a Windows tablet PC if I were interviewing at Apple, but taking notes is a good idea for three reasons: first, you can use what you learn in follow-on interviews; second, if an interviewer asks, “Who have you talked to here so far?” it would be good to be able to answer; and third, it will make you look like a serious, attentive candidate.

11. Confess your sins. If you did something stupid in your past, the company will find out, so it’s better if it finds out from you rather than from a search on the Internet. A tech entrepreneur once told me how he rented out his chest as a billboard and made $2,500 (it’s a long story). A woman that he met on Match.com found this out, and it was an issue. If a date can find this stuff from your past, you can bet an interviewer will. Hopefully, this makes you think twice about the stupid things you’re tempted do on MySpace.

12. Retract your mistakes. If you screw up an answer in an interview, it’s cool to say, “That was a crappy answer. Let me try again.” If nothing else, it shows that you can realize and correct a mistake in real time. It’s better to retract a stupid answer than to leave a permanent impression of cluelessness.

13. Prepare five ways that you think the company could improve. If you are new to Silicon Valley, you’ll quickly learn something: We’re just as clueless as any other place on the face of this earth. Here the blind lead the blind, and in the valley of the blind, the one-eyed candidate is very attractive. All this means you should prepare five good ideas about what the company can do to improve its product, fix its marketing, and increase sales. When all the dust settles, it would be great if the interviewers remember you as “the guy with the good ideas.”

14. Provide your references on the spot. Print your list of referencs so that you can provide them in the interview—as opposed to providing them later. In general, try to anticpate every possible request that would turn into a follow-up item: providing references, sample work, examples from your portfolio, software that you’ve written, whatever.

    One more thing about references: Provide only people who will swear on a stack of bibles that you’re great. Before you use a person as a reference you should ask the $64,000 question: “I don’t want you to provide a reference unless you feel 100% comfortable doing it: Are you 100% sure?” This accomplishes two things: you eliminate the references who will “damn you with faint praise” and you secure a committment to a great reference to the extent that such a thing can be secured.

    If you really want to play the reference game at the highest level, ask your best reference to proactively call the interviewer. This works well especially if your reference is famous.

15. Tell the interviewer you see a good fit and want the job if this is the truth.You’d also be amazed at how few candidates go for the close. You should clearly communicate that you want the job because aggressiveness counts for a lot in job interviews in Silicon Valley. Then ask what else the company needs to learn about you and what the next steps are.

    If you don’t think there’s a good fit, say so too. At least you’ll be remembered as an honest person. Perhaps the company will have a position in the future that is a good fit.

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Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/guykawasaki/Gypm/~3/12237364/the_inside_scoo.html

Tags: getgame.biz, restaurant marketing, restaurant coaching, restaurant consulting, bar marketing, bar consulting, jeffrey summers, GameOn, restaurant blogs, marketing, promotions, food cost, prime cost, labor cost, hiring, staffing, viral marketing, word of mouth, restaurant management, restaurant owner, independent restaurant owner, marketing, email marketing

The Gift of Risk

Doug Sundheim

Do you think the people who were trying to reach the top of Everest were not full of doubts? For a hundred years, people tried and lost their lives. Not even their dead bodies came back. But still, more people tried...risking...knowing that they may never come back. Why? Because it was worth it. Because in the very risk something is born inside you: the center. It is born only in the risk. That's the beauty of risk, the gift of risk.

Paraphrased from Osho (1931-1990), Indian Professor of Philosophy, Spiritual master

Six years ago, while coaching a client, I stumbled upon a very important question. We were talking about the idea of living with "no regrets" when I asked him, "When in your life did you feel most alive?" He reflected for a moment and told me about the summer he overcame his fear of water and learned to sail. When he finished he was grinning ear-to-ear. Subsequently, I have asked hundreds of people the same question and have been struck by the similarity of their answers. In particular I've noticed 3 themes. (1) Nearly everyone describes a scenario in which they pushed themselves out of their comfort zone and took risks. (2) The OUTCOME of taking the risk is rarely the main thrust of the story - it's usually the process of taking them that they remember most fondly. (3) When people finish their story, they've often got a big smile on their face.

Consider This:

The gift of risk-taking doesn't lie in what you achieve by risking - it lies in who you become as a result of the process. Confident. Engaged. Alive. Furthermore, it isn't something you do once in a while - it's an approach to life. Open. Exploratory. Daring. You know it when you let it slip out of your life. You feel stagnant, lethargic, bored. Risks have no shelf life - yesterday's risks are today's ego trip. Today is new. RE-ENGAGE. RE-RISK.

Try This:

1. Ask yourself the same question, "When in your life did you feel most alive?"
2. What were you doing? Why did it feel so good? Which of your core values were you living?
3. It's likely you were taking some risks at the time.
4. If you've haven't felt that alive in a while, what could you do to re-engage, to push past your comfort zone?
5. Remember, the gift of risk lies not in what you achieve, but in who you become by taking them.

Source: http://briefsforbuildingbetterbrands.blogspot.com/2006/08/risky-business.html

Tags: getgame.biz, restaurant marketing, restaurant coaching, restaurant consulting, bar marketing, bar consulting, jeffrey summers, GameOn, restaurant blogs, marketing, promotions, food cost, prime cost, labor cost, hiring, staffing, viral marketing, word of mouth, restaurant management, restaurant owner, independent restaurant owner, marketing, email marketing

TV Cooking Programmes Drive a Surge of Interest in Culinary Art Schools

With the increase in number and popularity of television programmes focusing on cooking and culinary skills a large number of people are finding the internet a key place to find tips and information on culinary art schools. (PRWEB Aug 8, 2006)

Read Article Here: http://www.prweb.com//releases/2006/8/prweb420450.htm

Now here is a really cool person!

Cindy Boswell serves her customers at the Blue Plate Cafe with love and a friendly smile.

She hopes to brighten their day and maybe get a good tip, but one customer is giving her much more in return - a second chance at life.

Read Article

More States Boost Minimum Wage

Lawmakers in North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Delaware have recently approved increases to their state's minimum wage.

In North Carolina, the minimum wage will increase from $5.15 per hour to $6.15 per hour effective January 1, 2007. The new minimum wage law also ties North Carolina 's minimum wage to the federal Fair Labor Standards Act. If the federal minimum wage is raised, employees in North Carolina will receive whichever wage is higher.

In Pennsylvania, the minimum wage will increase from $5.15 per hour to $6.25 per hour on January 1, 2007, and to $7.15 on July 1, 2007. For employers with the equivalent of 10 or fewer full-time employees (based on a 40-hour workweek), the minimum wage will increase in three steps: $5.65 on January 1, 2007; $6.65 on July 1, 2007; and $7.15 on July 1, 2008.

In Delaware, the state minimum wage will increase from $6.15 per hour to $6.65 per hour on January 1, 2007, and to $7.15 per hour on January 1, 2008.

New Program Aims to Help Employers Comply with Immigration Law

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has launched a new initiative to help employers ensure that they are hiring and employing a workforce that is authorized to work in the United States.

Read more here!

Danny Meyer: Keeping tabs on a food empire

The president of the Union Square Hospitality Group says a successful restaurant isn't about the menu - it's about the people who serve it.

Source: http://www.restaurantnewsresource.com/article23231.html

Who Would You Want Running Your Business?

I was in a meeting the other day and I witnessed an exchange between the people at the meeting about the problems they are having in their business. They were complaining that it is tough to get employees to show up on time, do their job even when the boss isn't watching, call in when they are sick or going to be late, be courteous to customers and so on. The list went on and on.

I stepped back for a moment and thought about who is it that sets this all up? Who is it that really trains these employees as to what is expected? It's the manager. So with that in mind, if you were hiring a new manager, what would be the most important qualities you'd look for? Would you want to have someone with good communication and relationship skills along with the ability to motivate, manage and solve problems? How about qualities such as honesty, integrity, moral courage, accountability and fairness? Would you also want the manager to have a high level of demonstrated knowledge and competence in the business you are all about?

What if you found someone that not only was an accomplished manager in the areas of your business but also had a history of successful business accomplishments? Would that make that person an ideal candidate? Now let's jump on the other side. What if you found someone that was a pitbull of a manager who made lots of money for the companies they were involved with but was lacking in all of the character qualities mentioned. They were demanding, temperamental, high strung, always on edge and were just downright rude and/or nasty to others around them. They do whatever it takes to get ahead, including making some unethical decisions but did them in the name of getting to that next level within the business. They were the type of person that was not liked by employees but they did what was needed to be done to make more money for the company. Their numbers they produced did not lie. Would you hire that person over the other person?

My point I'm trying to make is that who you hire says a lot about your company. Warren Buffet said, In looking for people to hire, look for three qualities: integrity, intelligence and energy. And if they don't have the first, the other two will kill you.

Since it's easier to train a person of good character to do a job well than it is to develop character in a skilled but unprincipled person, if you had to choose, would you hire people in your company for character and train for skills?

I shared these points with the people at the meeting and emphasized that your business will get better when the people in your business get better. Your sales will get better when your sales people get better. Your customer service will get better when your people doing customer service get better. Your employees get better when managers supervising them get better. In fact, kids will get better when parents get better. And parents will get better when husbands and wives get better. Do you get the theme here?

A sidebar to this post is that 3 people after the meeting hired me to come in and train their managers and employees in ethics in the workplace. Pretty cool!

Source: http://ethics.ducttapemarketing.com/2006/07/who_would_you_w.html

Shameless commercial!

If you have talent issues you need resolved, call me at 1-877-GameOn1 to talk about how we can help you coach your talent to better success!

The first one who does this in your market is going to win big. It might as well be you!

Also, check out my online store and see what products and services you can use to help you coach yourself to a better business!

"Kids Today" Articles in Stanford Magazine

The July/August issue of Stanford Magazine contains a marvelous collection of articles about “Kids Today.” If you have a kid, you must read it. If you know anyone with a kid, you should send it to them. Certainly every mommy blogger should link to it!

Here is a partial list of the articles:
“Growing Concerns” Six faculty experts weigh in on aimless adolescents, media messages, and why raising kids really does take a village.
“Good Sports” A veteran youth coach says a winning record has nothing to do with scores. By Brian Doyle
“Put to the Test” Who is right about education reform? Two views on No Child Left Behind.


Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/guykawasaki/Gypm/~3/http%3A%2F%2Fblog.guykawasaki.com%2F2006%2F07%2Fkids_today_arti.html

The "Killer" Interview Question

By: Harry Joiner, Management Recruiter

Did you know that an ostrich's eye is bigger than it's brain? Yep. And they probably have a better eye for management talent than many companies.

All management recruiters are in the business of trying to help companies get their arms around what Peter Drucker believed was the final frontier in competitive advantage: Attracting, hiring and growing great people. So much has been written on the subject -- yet so many companies get it wrong, which is why it's still a reliable source of competitive advantage.

And it's not like I have all of the answers. But I do read old-school management books by guys you may have never heard of. Like Richard Sloma -- who wrote No Nonsense Management way back in 1977. Mr. Sloma had a cult following among management students who enjoyed his clear, unvarnished way of handling issues. In particular, Mr. Sloma had a knack for distilling complex issues down to one or two key points.

The Killer Interview Question

For example, Mr. Sloma had ONE, single job interview question that he used for learning almost everything you need to know about an interviewee's managerial competence. Are you ready? Here it is ...

What was the worst mistake you ever made; and what was the worst damage you did to your employer's P&L and balance sheet?

According to Mr. Sloma, you immediately learn four critical things about a candidate from his or her answer:

1. The magnitude of the mistake directly identifies the level that the candidate had in his employer's hierarchy. Mr. Sloma always reasoned that candidates cannot make big mistakes at low levels.
2. The magnitude also demonstrates the extent to which leadership was exercised.
3. Since few people repeat a mistake once made, you learn the depth of experience gained by the interviewee.
4. Finally, the elaboration in the answer reveals character traits -- especially the extent to which the mistake was palmed off as someone else's fault.

All of this makes perfect sense. Executives who get great results often lead great, big projects -- and the bigger the project, the bigger the risk. And sooner or later, even the most successful executives are bound to taste failure.

It's like my dad used to tell me: Sometimes you gotta go out on a limb because that's where the best fruit is.

Source: http://recruiter.ducttapemarketing.com/2006/07/the_killer_inte.html

Online applications for hourly jobs skyrocket!

The Internet is now the preferred application method among hourly job-seekers, according to new research announced by Unicru Inc.

Read article.

Exit Interview Questions!

Here are some typical interview questions being included on exit surveys and depending on the answers, most surveys include follow-up questions that hone in on specifics:

1. Did you find your new job or did it find you?
2. Were you satisfied with your compensation and benefits?
3. How did you feel about your supervisor?
4. How did you feel about the working relationships you had with members of your team?
5. Did you work give you a sense of accomplishment?
6. Are there things we could have done to make your job more fulfilling?
7. Did you feel you had opportunities to expand your knowledge and learning?
8. What are some things you would address that are problems in the workplace?
9. What competencies do you feel were required to do your job and did you have them?
10. What did you like about your job? What did you dislike about your job?
11. If there were an opportunity to return, would you do that?

New Hire Questionnaire

Download my New Hire Questionnaire here.

End Your Recruiting Problems … Without Spending a Dime!

Almost everyone now realizes that the so-called "next war for talent" is already well under way. In some industries it has only recently heated up, while in other areas, like health care, law enforcement and construction, the battle to attract top talent has been ongoing for years. Making the fight even more difficult is the fact that budgets in most recruiting departments have been cut to the point where there is no extra money to try new recruiting approaches. But here’s the secret: If you want to attract the very best talent, it doesn’t take a lot of money or technology. All it takes is the courage to try something new. So if you’re looking for almost foolproof no-cost recruiting tools, here some of the ones used by leading firms.

Read more here.

Help!

Hey! I need material to write about!

Do you have questions you need the answers to right now? Email them to me and I’ll answer them in the blog.

I am sure there are a lot of others who are going through the same situation and would appreciate the response also.

Naturally I will keep your name and information confidential.

Send them to Jeffrey@GetGame.Biz

2 days that could just change your life!

I always ask the question; "What are you willing to do today to become more successful tomorrow?"

So next month, on July 17th & 18th you and I will get the opportunity to work on your restaurant together and create a GamePlan for moving it to the next level! I will be conducting my first "whiteboard session"! A "no holds barred" chance for you to get together with a couple of whiteboards, 14 other owners and operators along with myself here in Dallas to create a GamePlan for moving your business forward.

There will be no agenda other than the one you create from the areas of your operation you want to discuss over the two days. Also, since small groups accomplish more in a shorter timeframe, I am limiting it to only the first 15 people who respond. It can be you and your GM, spouse, partner, whomever. But I will only accept 15 people.

The price for the two day sesion is $299 per person. If you're a coaching client your price is only $199 I have had so many requests for this that I seriously expect the slots to be filled by the end of today. Right now, I have no plans for another one any time soon. I am just way too busy traveling the country coaching clients.

Visit the link for the sessions here!

Seven Fixes to Tame the Beast Called Turnover

What can you do to fix or control your turnover problem?

1. Make managers accountable for retention. Often times, restaurant owners are concerned about financial results at the expense of employee turnover. What they don't realize that constant turnover is crippling the operation. High turnover leads to poor service, and low employee moral. Do you want unhappy employees service your customers?

2. Train managers to establish and develop retention skills, instead of simply following policies and procedures. So often I see restaurant operators enforcing policies that encourages employee turnover.

3. Improve hiring and selection. By improving the selection process you increase your chances of finding the right employee for the job. This can dramatically decrease your turnover.

4. Bolster recruiting efforts. Use all the tools available to recruit the best talent.

5. Increase efforts to retain top talent. You have a lot of money and time invested in your top employees. Take the time to do all you can to retain them.

6. Re-energize and refocus retention programs. Good companies have great managers. Good front-line managers improve employee retention. Managers must gain retention skills, which are distinct from general manager competencies. Managers must be retention monitors, trust builders, "empowerers" and experts in demonstrating and promoting flexibility.

7. Make turnover reduction part of your organization' culture, not just a short-term campaign.

Nine Ways to Improve Employee Performance

1. Hire the values you are looking for.
2. Find out why employees are not performing and ask what you can do to help them do a better job.
3. Tell employees what you expect.
4. Give employees clear performance standards.
5. Make sure that employees have the tools to do the job.
6. Get employees input on what behaviors they (the employees) should be engaged in.
7. Have employees come up with 10 "house values."
8. Train, coach, evaluate, and reward the values identified above.
9. Improve your feedback by dealing with the problems that are within an employee's control, think through what you will say and how you will say it, and be specific about behaviors rather than attitudes.

Passion and Perseverance means more than talent!

Check out this great free article from Psychology Today about hiring more for passion and perseverance than talent!

I'm Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!

Hey Friends!

Just a note to let you know that we are back from our first vacation in 2 years and you will start to once again see my postings about every issue concerning our businesses on the website as well as each blog.

I have a ton of articles, information and downloads to share with you so check back daily – or better yet sign up to receive my posts via email!

I hope you are all enjoying increasing success!

Jeffrey

Are your player's service minded?

Today seemed to revolve around hiring questions and drilling down into subjects during the interview that gave insight into a player's ability to be "service minded". So here is a fairly lengthy list of questions to ask potential players for any position on the team.

Outstanding interview on Job Satisfaction with Seth Godin!

http://www.getgame.biz/Articles/ERE_SethGint.doc

The Central Nervous System and the Heart - Passionate Partnership or an Apathetic Affiliation?

- By Lizz Chambers, CHA, CHE

We all understand that you cannot force associates to be passionate about their work -passions cannot be controlled by external forces. Teamwork if forced will never be effective. Instead, we must depend on our Leaders to create environments that inspire passion and promote teamwork.

http://www.restaurantnewsresource.com/article22090.html

Quote of the epoch.

"If you refuse to accept anything but the best, you very often get it."
W. Somerset Maugham, novelist

"Changing Culture, Changing Rewards"

An organization's culture can be defined as "What it's like to work around here." Its dimensions include the following:

• What the organization expects from its people and how it communicates those expectations
• How the organization does its work
• Whether there are major class distinctions between employee groups (e.g. management vs. line employees) or if the work environment is more egalitarian
• How and by whom decisions are made
• How work is organized-by functions, business lines or customers
• The level of employee involvement and to what degree employees are encouraged to take risks
• Whether employees are encouraged to compete with one another or to support one another
• The meaning of success in the organization.
  
  SOURCE: Sibson & Company
  Personnel Journal, April 1995, Vol. 74, No. 4, p. 32.

Five components of a total reward strategy. Part 1

A Total Reward Strategy Should Include Five Components...

http://www.workforce.com/archive/feature/22/20/02/223718.php

Five components of a total reward strategy Part 2

Successful change often requires a balancing act between what seems as different as apples and oranges. But to reap the benefits of reengineering, companies must simultaneously alter how employees work and provide supportive rewards.

http://www.workforce.com/archive/feature/22/20/02/index.php

How do you start to change your culture?

You must first understand your current culture before attempting to change it. This may seem obvious, but many companies skip this step--and pay for it later.

http://www.workforce.com/archive/article/24/28/22.php?ht=

Are You Safe?

I woke up on Sunday morning to a flat rear tire. Not fun. So I called up the all-time best car insurance company in the world, USAA and had their roadside assistance come on out and fix it. When the call connected, before I could get any words out of my mouth, I was asked, “Are you safe?”
Sure they were going to come fix my tire. Sure it was their job. But they were concerned about my personal safety first and foremost. This is a huge insurance company, mind you.
Needless to say, they continue to impress me.
But it got me thinking about how it’s those unexpected surprises that can really go beyond what a great identity is all about. Everyone hangs their hat (or at least tries to) on customer service. And the words have just about lost all meaning. Greg Cordell once spoke to us about the Reward part of FIRE (Fascinate, Inspire, Reward and Engage) and how sometimes the best reward – and the simplest – you can ever give you customers is a smile. Maybe today is the day that you try to go beyond the status quo and reward someone you come into contact with for absolutely to reason other than they are your customer.

Read Post Here.

It's The People Stupid!

Imagine the best dining experience you ever had in your life, where you were the guest. Now imagine that kind of experience happening in your restaurant. Does it seem realistic to think it can happen in your place? Could you do even better? The answer to the latter is no, even if the answer to the former is yes. Why no? Because you cannot execute a better service experience for your guests if you have never experienced it yourself. Now try to imagine the best service experience any of your 16 to 24 year old staff has been a part of. Getting the picture? Scary huh? “Oh, but we train great service,” you brag. If the operation that gave you your best experience opened next door to you, would you be scared? Why? And what’s this got to do with managing employees? The answer is…everything!

Let’s get to the basics really fast. You don’t manage people, you lead them. And how you lead your employees directly relates to how they treat your guests and your business. If you do not believe that now, call your attorney and begin the bankruptcy paperwork. Then call your old boss up from the ad agency or the insurance office or wherever you came from where people told you that you were a good cook and should open yourself a restaurant, cause you’re gonna need a job. What business are you in? The food business? No. Retail? No. It’s the people business stupid! And it’s all about relationships!
Your vendors are people. Guests are people. Employees are people. There are people at the business next door to yours. Your accountant is people. Your attorney is people. (Well maybe not your attorney.) We as independent restaurateurs need to stop deluding ourselves that we can compete with anyone, including ourselves, (don’t ask, that’s another whole article!) without great talent in our stores. Only the best talent can give you the culture you need to succeed today - the best servers, cooks, HOSTS!!! (The verb not the noun!), bartenders, bussers, dishwashers and MANAGERS!!! Put anything short of the best talent on your floor or in your kitchen and you are asking for failure. And this is a NO EXCUSES situation. The 4-alarm bell is ringing in this country for great talent for this industry and YOU need to answer it. You need the will to win this. Remember the David Ambrose quote, “If you have the will to win, you have achieved half your success; if you don’t, you have achieved half your failure.”

Only “A” & “B” level talent for me!!
Why? Because anything less than that will cost you so much money and lost opportunities that you won’t win. And let’s not kid ourselves, winning is everything! Besides, somebody is gonna get the best talent, why not you? You need the best talent to get the best guests (read loyal guests!) to create the best profitable restaurant. So you better start paying more attention to your talent than your guests! WOW! Did he really say that? Yes Mr. Miss. Mrs. or Ms Restaurant Owner. I did! 80% of guests, who say they have an enjoyable experience in your restaurant, will tell you that as they go across the street to the next great place with better buzz! Loyal guests are the most profitable ones to have. And in order to get more of them you need to fulfill their ever increasing demands. That starts with having the talent on the floor to satisfy those butts in your seats. Having “C” & “D” level talent will get you “D” & “F” level guest loyalty, and a P&L not worth spit! Knees knocking yet? If you’re the owner of some of the restaurants I’ve been in lately, they should be! It ain’t pretty out there! Service sucks! Turnover is atrocious! Prospects without great talent? Give me a break! Guests are getting even more demanding and have more options to choose from. Now is the time for you to stop hiring the untalented and the anti-service minded, and start filling your benches with superstars!

First things first!
Get your house in order! It may seem like a catch 22, you say. I cannot do this until I get “A” players, but you cannot get “A” players until you do it! I’d rather run a business with 6 superstars and be shorthanded by 6 employees, than run one with a full staff of people from the Driver’s License Academy of Hospitality! Get your systems down, processes down, cleanliness at the “A” level, and exterminate the “C” and “D” players…before you even attempt to take the first interview. Why? Because if I’m a superstar I have my pick of employers and if you are disorganized, dirty, no rhyme or reason to what’s happening, or you have slackers that I will have to work with? Then see ya! One last thing…get back your passion! That is the great thing about getting out of bed in the morning. You have a chance to do whatever you want, the way you want. So why not do it best!?? Shed the acceptance of anything less than superior work and put that smile back on your face that you lost because you are battle weary, and get better tools, get better supplies and get better soldiers! Remember, the first person you must lead is you!

Get ‘Em While They’re Hot!
The first place you start is with the “A” players on your staff now! Where are their “A” friends and relatives working? Talk about instant teams! At one of my restaurants, I had hired a mother, her two children and their best friends. Instant core! Instant team! No discipline required, all I had to do was reward them as they helped push us to new levels. It was amazing. Now let’s talk about what happens if you have to go outside to get a team.
If you are doing the same old newspaper ads, placemats, signs on the reader boards and doors, etc…then Heaven help you. Given that our workforce now gets their news from the likes of Jon Stewart, talks to their friends in chat rooms on THE INTERNET, (hint), downloads MP3’s into their iPod’s from THE INTERNET, (hint, hint), while doing homework in virtual classrooms via THE INTERNET, (hint, hint, hint), how do you think traditional methods are going to attract the talent you need? You need to get creative by incorporating THE INTERNET (didn’t see that one coming did you?) in your staffing campaigns. And guess what? If you can land a couple great prospects, chances are you will get access to their great friends too! Talent travels in packs. “A” and “B” talent hangs out with “A” and “B” talent. Moreover, just the opposite is true also. If you hire slackers and goof offs, then those slackers and goof off’s friends will apply also – or wait in you dining room hoping their slacker friends will slip them some free stuff! So here’s another candid question. What are you doing to attract great talent? What do you have to offer them? And don’t say a paycheck. That worked for me and you, but not today’s talent! OMG! They want more!! (Check out www.beloit.edu/~pubaff/mindset)

Is it all about the “bling bling?”
First off they want a cool place to work. Are you cool? Does your staff have fun? Do you have fun? Do they have cool uniforms to wear? Cool benefits? Cool tools? Do their cool friends get to work with them? Are you a cool enough boss to work for? And don’t give me crap about how serious you are about your food or business and therefore don’t have time for cool. Supply cool and you’ll never have to run another campaign for help ever again. Even guests want to experience cool.

Cool Is As Cool Does!
Cool is having complete and realistic job descriptions for applicants to read over so that they know exactly what they are getting themselves into, and neither of you get surprised by talent leaving you because the work wasn’t what they expected after your super duper sales pitch. This happens to be the number one reason people will leave you. Do on-the-job work experience if they have never worked in a restaurant before. Bring them in for a day to shadow one of your best and brightest so that they see everything involved. Yes, you have to pay them. Better they leave knowing, than to have them leave 30 days or more into it! Cool is also offering cool incentives for your current “A” players to refer their “A” friends to you. CD’s, MP3 players, DVD players, movie tickets, gift cards to their favorite stores, etc… Cool stuff! Oh and do not forget to allow your coolest players to interview potential teammates. They can sniff out fake cool anywhere faster than you ever thought about.

More cool tools!
DO REFERENCE CHECKS!!! Did you hear me? DO REFERENCE CHECKS!!! No job history? Ask for teacher references. References from any adult leader of any school activity they participate in, church leader, etc…and get three! Don’t have three? Why not? Red flag!!! My daughter is 14 years old and has a 3 page resume!!! She has references from her softball coach, soccer coach, babysitting jobs, honor roll, basketball coach, Bible school leader, and that was just from last summer! Talent is active. And please for Pete’s sake, make sure they are service minded! Ask them questions directly related to serving others.
Next…cool training! Oh yeah! You’re going to be training your buns off! Although videos of some 1970’s shot training guide for the lame and the brain dead won’t do it. Think interactive!!! CD & DVD training or better yet virtual training online! (See www.pencominternational.com) Give it to them in a medium they play with all day and you will have better execution. DOH! The flipside to cool training is cool coaching. Today’s talent wants the “why” before the “how”, so give it to them. This may mean you have to get some coaching to give some coaching. So you better get your brain and heart wrapped around this fast. (www.rainmakerthinking.com). Mentoring. Don’t forget the mentoring. Get them paired up with another superstar who will be available for anything. Before, during and after their initial training. Mentoring is also your best opportunity to keep them if they feel they have a “best friend” at work on whom they can count on for support outside of the owner/manager.
What does prepared look like? They want feedback. And tons of it! You have to drive a culture of intense feedback and coaching. This includes getting input from the same talent you are about to coach or critique. Hold leaders in you restaurant accountable for exemplifying those behaviors critical to your success.!
Don’t be stingy either. Reward great behavior! Share the wealth! Pay them for the awesome job they do. Offer cash incentives and bonuses for superior work. Have a server have 3 guests call you back after their experience and praise them to no end? Hand them $50 (in front of their peers!!!). Create that culture of great rewards for great behaviors. Try finding something cool about them every shift that they do to make your operation successful instead of the “gotcha” mentality so many of you have now. And the greatest thing you have to do, no matter what – get rid of underperformers! This goes for even those “superstars” you have that know every position on the line, yet can’t seem to ever help you get to the next level because they sit in the back and stab you with every new-hire you get by bad mouthing your every effort to change for the better. “A” & “B” players will leave you faster than anything if you surround them with slackers. Then they will tell all their “A” friends that you suck as an employer! Try working through that. And forget about getting their families business or any of their families friends business, and so on, and so forth.

Cool Opportunities!
The next cool thing is to have more cool opportunities for them to grow into! You have to have some or you will never have some. This means actively discovering what talents lie inside your staff and utilizing them to their fullest. Have a marketing major on staff as a server? Use their classroom knowledge and passion for their field of study to help you in your marketing efforts. Design majors? Business majors? Heaven forbid Hospitality majors??? Use your business to build them experience and they will use that experience to build your business. PROMOTE FROM WITHIN! This will also show them how much you value their contributions, as well as making them feel like a part of a really cool organization. Can you say Maslow’s hierarchy of needs?

Give them the 411!!
Share with them how much profit, per dollar the business generates and why! Let them know how many lasagna plates it takes for them to sell to make up for the one dropped appetizer plate or drinking glass. Reward them for digging silverware and ramekins out of the trash and remind them how that contributes to the team. I go so far as to bonus my cooks on a given area of food cost. I put one cook in charge of each food cost area, i.e.…produce, meat, dairy, etc…and post their results on a large blackboard in the kitchen to track their progress.

Celebrate Good Times, Come On!
We celebrate everything we can think of. We start by doing pizza day the first Tuesday of every month to celebrate any birthdays or anniversaries that month. That way everybody gets to be there and participate. The staff plans it and carries it out. If we achieve a sales goal or break a day or week sales record for a shift, we celebrate that too by having each team member on that shift wear a specially made t-shirt. We recognize graduations, grades, kid’s birthdays, new cars, you name it! Pre-shift or post shift meetings are perfect for this.

The Ultimate Cool!
The coolest thing you can do or be for these potential superstars? Build relationships with them! Start by believing in them, even before they have shown you any results. As hard as that may seem, they need to know how much you care before they care about what you care about. Then it becomes a matter of support for them and they feel like they can do anything because you believe they can. Then you have to build in successes for them along the way to develop their own self-confidence. Talk to them daily. The first 30 minutes of each of my days starts by walking around and just saying hey to everyone and catching up with them from the last time I saw them. I ask about their kids ball games, dates, classes, family events, movies they saw, just everyday stuff that tells them I care. Guess what the last 30 minutes of my day consists of? Exactly! Saying goodbye to each team member. Thanking them for a great job and making sure I know when they work next. And I tell you, you will come to love these moments with you staff. Even when you do not feel like getting out of bed in the morning, they will pick you up and put you in a higher place. If one of them performs below standard, all I have to do is look at them and they know immediately what they did and how to correct it, and I know they know, and their look tells me they won’t let it happen again. Can you guess how low my turnover is? OK, you hired great talent, given them some really good, cool training, now what? Give them responsibility! Trust them to do the job you trained them to do. Empower them to make decisions. REAL DECISIONS! Give them input into operational processes and change! After all, they are the ones doing the job every guest, every table, every shift.
The last thing I can say is this, excuses and vacillation will not get the job done. Business, or life for that matter, won’t wait around until you get your act together. Life is happening now, whether you’re ready or not! Get positive. Get pro-active. Get in the game.

Have Fun Today!
Jeffrey Summers, Head Coach
GameOn! Restaurant Coaching Solutions™