What Business Leaders Can Learn About Hiring From Zach Nelson - Spark Hire

What Business Leaders Can Learn About Hiring From Zach Nelson - Spark HireYou may have no idea who Zach Nelson is, and perhaps youve never heard of NetSuite eitherbei. However, there is much hiring managers can learn from the way he is dealing with his companys expansion. Since his company went public in 2007, it has nearly doubled in size. That seems like a dream to fruchtwein business leaders, but it wasnt experienced without any difficulty. As NetSuite- a company that specializes in customer-management and logistics software- started to grow, Nelson and his chief people officer Marty Raume realized they were having an issue with retaining employees. Its an issue many companies are having these days, especially as the job market begins to pick up.Rather than continue to hire and train the way they were used to, Nelson and Raume decided to make a few strong changes.For starters, Nelson, the CEO and Raume started working together to improve their hiring. Rather than have others doing the hiring for him, Nelson was directly involved in the process. They broke down the numbers and realized that out of the 450 people they had hired at the time, 100 had left before completing their first year. On top of that, the same 10 people were pulling in the most sales. So what did they do that other companies can take note of?Create an Assessment of Successful EmployeesBefore moving on and hiring more people that probably wouldnt work out, Raume created an assessment that she sent out to the top producers in the company. With that information she could create a list of traits top candidates should possess before being offered a position. This is something any company having hiring issues can do- and it doesnt have to come at any cost. This is certainly something that Spark Hire has touched on countless times before when discussing the success of a hiring process. Before hiring, employers should fully understand the role and what is needed from the person that is expected to fill it. What skills are most valuable? What kind of personality or character should this person have? Must they be aggressive, independent, and driven? Or more of a team player that brings creativity to the table? Understanding what works best for this position is the first step in making a good hire.Raume took this assessment and started using it in the hiring and recruiting process. As a result, NetSuite only lost five salespeople within a year of their start date belastung year. The assessment was a success, and can be for your company as well.Get CEOs Involved in Some WayWhen a company is a startup, its much easier for the CEO or founder of the company to be heavily involved in most or all decisions of the company. As a company begins to grow though (which is the desired outcome of all startups) it becomes increasingly difficult for the CEO to have his hand in all of the cookie jars. Hiring, however, is one of the most important aspects of a company and one that Nelson took ver y seriously. When the company decided to start making changes, he decided to review every job offer that was made to a candidate. He may not have been able to directly meet each person, but making sure he sees the resume of the candidate in question made a big difference.If you know who your employees are recruiting and signing on, then you have a general idea of who is working for your company. Plus, Nelson believes that when his employees know that he must approve or look at candidates before they are accepted, they work harder to find the best candidate. This may not work for every company, but having a CEO or a boss that is engaged with his or her employees is an important factor and paves the road for strong employee retention.TrainingLastly, making sure you have a sound training process is key in retaining employees. You can have the best hiring process in the world, but if employees walk into your company and are met with a shoddy or terrible training period it can negatively affect their entire employment. Companies need to be sure they are hands-on with their training and not presenting their new hires with a confusing or fuzzy layout of the position or company.Furthermore, making sure you instill your company values or company culture right from the start is important in fostering long-term employees. Ensure that your new hire(s) know what is expected of them from the start and that those goals are clear. Be sure they understand what is most important to your company and what kind of culture your company exhibits.Making sure you stay on top of things as your company grows is definitely important in its success. Take a note, or two, from Nelson and NetSuite and be sure your hiring process is the best it can be.IMAGE Courtesy of Flickr by Dita Margarita

How To Avoid Social Media Mistakes That Will Get You Fired

How To Avoid Social Media Mistakes That Will Get You FiredHow To Avoid Social Media Mistakes That Will Get You FiredIts an interesting conundrum. As an employee or a job seeker, youre encouraged to be active on social media. After all, according to the 2015 Jobvite Recruiter Nation survey, 92 percent of recruiters said they are turning more and more to social media to recruit talent. But, your social media presence can also get your fired or keep you from ever getting the job in the first place.The trick, then, is to balance the opportunities social media provides while being mindful of the potential pitfalls.Here are four people who werent so mindful, and what you can learn from their mistakes1. Man asks drug dealer to deliver him weed at work on Twitter.Really? This happened? Yes.Quickly after a Canadian man tweeted asking for a drug dealer in the area to deliver him weed at work, the local polices Twitter account responded and, despite the tweeters claims that it welches a joke, the organization he worked at later confirmed he was relieved of his duties.The lesson Beyond the obvious dont post about illegal activities, you never know whos listening.Here, it was the police, but in everyday situations it could be your boss, your clients, or other people who may see questionable content you share and create problems for you at work. You may block people like your boss, manager, etc., but you cant ever really be sure who sees the things you share.Avoid posting things that are too controversial or could impact your status at work, even if its from a personal account, to make sure your social media activity doesnt hurt you down the road.2. Tennessee man posts death wish for local office on Facebook, resigns under pressure.Larry Hughes got a speeding ticket on the way to work one morning and instead of banging his hands on the steering wheel like most people, he took to Facebook. Hughes wrote a scathing post that wished death on the officer. Although he quickly too k it down, the post had already gone viral.The result? Hughes received hate messages on Facebook from all over the country, and his employers got dozens of messages asking for him to be fired. Soon after, Hughes resigned to avoid causing the company any more problems.The lesson When something happens that makes you want to vent on social media, take a minute to think about the ramifications it could have on your personal and professional life before you hit the keyboard.If you cant stop yourself, type out your post in a text editor or email draft then read it over before posting it. More often than bedrngnis, youll realize how harmful it can be and hit delete.3. Hydro One employee fired for live TV comments that went viral.Shawn Simoes thought he was being funny when he supported his friends vulgar interruption of a live newscast by arguing that it was f hilarious and not disrespectful, because it happens everywhere. Video of the reporter challenging Simoes and his friends, which ha ppened outside of a Toronto FC soccer match, went viral.Once newspapers made a connection between Simoes and Hydro One, his employer saw the video and quickly released a statement saying it was terminating Simoes based on a violation of its code of conduct.The lesson In our social media-connected world, you always represent your employer. Whether you post inflammatory things online or say them in public, theres a possibility that your employer will see them and take action.Yes, Simoes interrupted a live TV broadcast, so his face was everywhere within minutes. But the same thing can happen to you if someone around you is recording your actions. Just because youre not online doesnt mean you cant end up there, and if you do, your employer may not like how youre representing them.4. Facebook Twitter posts cost CFO his job.Gene Morphis was the CFO of fashion retailer Francescas Holdings Corp., until he started tweeting sensitive information about his company.Morphis had a very active so cial media presence and a blog that he used to talk about just about everything. The problems started when he posted things like Board meeting. Good numbers=Happy Board and Roadshow completed. Sold $275 million of secondary shares. Earned my pay this week on Facebook and Twitter.Company officials reviewed his social media accounts and found out that, on top of venting about the rigors of his job, he frequently shared information that violated the companys confidentiality policies. As a result, Morphis was terminated for cause.The lesson Whether youre the CFO, an entry-level employee, or something in between, sharing information about what youre working on or how you feel about your job could get you fired.If you cant avoid talking about work online, take the time to get to know your organizations social media policies so you know whats OK to talk about and what can get you in trouble.If you are going to talk about work online, its always good practice to keep things positive. Instea d of venting your frustrations with your boss to your followers, talk about the good things youre doing or the role your company is playing in your community.Will employers like what they see when they look at your social media activity? Could what youre currently sharing get you in trouble?Lior Tal is the co-founder and CEO of RepnUp, a platform that helps you instantly analyze and clean up yoursocial media profiles and easily manage your personal online reputation. Connect with Lior and the RepnUp team on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.