Michael Mercer, Ph.D.

Opportunity knocks.<br />
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You want a workforce of only productive, responsible, dependable employees. Right?<br />
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Problem = You have some (A) unproductive or underachieving employees, (B) irresponsible employees, plus (C) employees you cannot depend on.<br />
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YOU HAVE FANTASTIC OPPORTUNITY = HOLD “PUBLIC EXECUTIONS” NOW<br />
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Yes, you read that right. I recommend you hold “public executions” at your company. <br />
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I do not mean you “cancel” harm anyone physically. Do not hang anyone at dawn.<br />
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Instead, de-employ employees who are any of the following:<br />
> unproductive or only average in productivity<br />
> irresponsible<br />
> undependable<br />
> trouble-maker – who harms other employees’ productivity<br />
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And here is how to de-employ scumbags – oops, I mean lousy employees: Hold a “public execution.” By that, I mean make sure every employee in your company knows those lousy employees are being tossed out the door because they were (A) unproductive, (B) irresponsible, and (C) undependable.<br />
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You could hold an all-employee meeting after your de-employ underachievers. Clearly explain your company <br />
A. values and adores employees who are productive, responsible, and dependable<br />
B. will ‘throw out the door’ anyone who is unproductive, irresponsible, and undependable<br />
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End the meeting by saying all the survivors are appreciated – but do not give them any employment guarantees. Remaining at your company is based on being productive, responsible, and dependable. If any employees fall off the wagon, the management team will throw them off the wagon, that is, de-employ underachievers.<br />
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PRE-EMPLOYMENT TESTS TO THE RESCUE<br />
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Pre-employment tests give you the quickest and most accurate way to hire applicants likely to perform on-the-job like your company’s high-achievers.<br />
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How do pre-employment tests do that? Two ways. <br />
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First, for “white-collar” jobs, you readily can custom-tailor behavior, personality and cognitive ability tests so you know benchmark scores of your best employees. Then, you may prefer applicants who get pre-employment test scores similar to your outstanding employees on behavior and mental ability pre-employment tests.<br />
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Second, use a dependability pre-employment test for “blue-collar” jobs. You can prefer applicants whose pre-employment test scores forecast (a) honesty on test, (b) strong work ethic, (c) low impulsiveness – related to accidents and also interpersonal clashes, (d) low theft/stealing concerns, and (e) low substance abuse concerns.<br />
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Also, do interviews, reference checks, and background checks. But, remember these common problems: (a) Research shows most interviewers are horribly bad at predicting job performance based on their interviews, (b) it is hard to obtain useful reference checks, and (c) background checks miss many problems.<br />
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Pre-employment tests, in contrast, are research-based and can be custom-tailored to help you hire applicants with qualities similar to your company’s “superstar” employees.<br />
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EXAMPLE FROM A COMPANY PRESIDENT<br />
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I recently received a phone call from a company president. He considers hiring the best so important to business growth that he must approve all hires. He refuses to approve hiring anyone who may not be outstandingly productive, responsible, and dependable.<br />
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Pre-employment tests, he told me, are the key tool he uses to hire the best. <br />
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He explained, “We have huge numbers of applicants. Most have nice work histories – and sound great in interviews.”<br />
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“I rely on your pre-employment tests to hire great employees – because the pre-employment tests tell me whether an applicant will be as good as our best employees,” he observed.<br />
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“The pre-employment tests help us hire wonderful employees – just like our very best employees,” that company president concluded.<br />
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“PUBLIC EXECUTIONS” + PRE-EMPLOYMENT TESTS = WINNING FORMULA              <br />
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Productive, responsible, and dependable employees help your company grow. So, you may bet your company and your career on a fairly safe formula. <br />
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Simply do these steps:<br />
1. Make a list of your underachievers – employees you regret having on your payroll.<br />
2. Hold “Public Executions” – de-employ those average and below-average employees<br />
3. Tell remaining employees that you de-employ underachievers. You allow no place to hide.<br />
4. Use pre-employment tests – to help you hire the best.<br />
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When using pre-employment tests, do the following:<br />
First, for “white-collar” and skilled jobs, use pre-employment tests to predict – or forecast – both behaviors and mental abilities. Custom-tailor the two pre-employment tests to help you hire applicants who get test scores the same or similar to your super-productive employees.<br />
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Second, use dependability pre-employment test for “blue-collar,” hourly, and unskilled jobs. See if you can hire applicants whose test scores forecast they answered honestly, have great work ethic, are non-impulsive, and probably will not abuse substances nor steal.<br />
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Pre-employment tests and “public executions” will help you build a workforce of people who help your company grow – humans who are (A) productive, (B) responsible, and (C) dependable.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">COPYRIGHT 2009 MICHAEL MERCER, PH.D., www.MercerSystems.com<br />
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Michael Mercer, Ph.D., is a sought after expert on (a) pre-employment tests and (b) hiring the best. He wrote 5 books – including Hire the Best – & Avoid the Rest™. Dr. Mercer created three pre-employment tests that help companies select outstanding job applicants. The tests are Abilities Forecaster™, Behavior Forecaster™, and Dependability Forecaster™ tests. You can get – at no cost – Dr. Mercer’s 14-page report on “How to Hire Winners” plus a subscription to his Management Newsletter at www.MercerSystems.com.</span><br />
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