2024 - Lighthouse Consulting Services

Bridging the Gap: Resolving Conflicts by Embracing Work Styles

Conflicts are inevitable in any setting. We each bring unique backgrounds, experiences, and personality traits to the table and these differences can often lead to misunderstandings. Interestingly, many conflicts in the workplace don’t stem from disagreements over tasks but rather from miscommunications rooted in varying work styles. Understanding these work styles is a powerful tool for resolving these miscommunications and fostering a collaborative environment. By recognizing and respecting individual differences, leaders and team members can avoid common pitfalls that lead to workplace discord and slow down progress. This knowledge serves as a foundation for developing empathy across teams.

The Role of Work Styles in Conflict

Work styles can be categorized into several types, such as task-oriented versus relationship-oriented, structured versus flexible, detail-focused versus big-picture-focused, and proactive versus reactive. These differences are not inherently problematic; in fact, they can bring a richness of perspective to a team. However, when these styles clash, they can lead to misunderstandings, frustration, and ultimately, conflict.

I once worked with a colleague, Joe, who would often say in frustration, “I wish everyone would just think like me.” In this case, his frustration stemmed from a lack of understanding of another colleague, Joan’s, perspective. They were using similar words, appeared to have similar ideas but the execution was not on the same page.

Joe’s approach was straightforward—he wanted everyone to get on board with his vision and move forward quickly. He believed that once everyone saw things from his perspective, the best path would be clear. On the other hand, Joan preferred to gather all the data, ensuring that every detail was considered before making a decision. She wanted to discuss what was needed, test for gaps in information, and ensure nothing was overlooked.

This mismatch created tension. Joe was ready to move forward, while Joan was still in the information-gathering phase. Although they were discussing the same project, they were in completely different mindsets.

Had they understood each other’s thinking processes, they could have avoided frustration. Joan could acknowledge Joe’s message, and Joe could give Joan the space to gather the necessary data. Instead, they were stuck in a cycle of misunderstanding, wishing the other person would just “think like me.”

Variety in thought processes creates a balanced team. It mitigates blind spots and encourages healthy conflict. This dynamic keeps things moving forward and prevents teams from getting caught in a never-ending loop of inaction.

Developing a deeper understanding of each team member’s thinking style and learning how to leverage these styles for the best results can create an unstoppable team dynamic. It empowers individuals to better articulate their needs while recognizing others’ perspectives. When conflicts arise, they can transform into healthy exchanges rather than battles over who is right. This insight equips teams to bridge differences before they escalate into significant issues.

Bringing the Concept of Thinking Styles into a Team Dynamic

I worked with one team that struggled to meet its goals on time. While they agreed on the overall objectives, they couldn’t seem to piece everything together to achieve them. We conducted a team-building exercise focused on reviewing each person’s decision-making and communication style. This process identified each person’s unique work style and the support needed for each approach.

The results were enlightening. This newfound understanding sparked something new in their team dynamics, energizing the group. They began to acknowledge each other’s styles, integrate different approaches into their thinking, and as a result, the team’s communication and collaboration reached new heights.

By fostering empathy and understanding, teams can achieve extraordinary results.

Enhancing Communication Between Introverts and Extroverts

Introversion and extroversion are prime examples of how differing work styles can lead to conflict. Introverts often prefer to think deeply before speaking, working alone or in small groups. Extroverts, by contrast, are energized by social interactions and may speak their thoughts as they arise. These differing communication styles can cause friction in team settings, especially when collaboration is required.

Paul, an extroverted team leader, was frustrated with Olivia, one of his direct reports, who was an introvert. Paul frequently asked for input during team meetings, expecting immediate feedback. Olivia, however, preferred to process information before responding, which Paul misinterpreted as disengagement. Their conflicting communication styles began to erode trust between them.

Recognizing the strain this was causing, their manager encouraged the entire team to complete work style personality assessments. The results revealed that Olivia’s introversion led her to prefer thoughtful, reflective responses, while Paul’s extroversion made him more comfortable with spontaneous, real-time discussions.

Once Paul understood that Olivia’s need for reflection wasn’t disengagement but simply her way of processing information, he knew to give her the space she needed. Similarly, Olivia understood that Paul’s eagerness for immediate feedback wasn’t pushy but a reflection of his collaborative nature.

By adjusting his approach—such as sending meeting agendas and information in advance—Paul allowed Olivia the time she needed to prepare thoughtful contributions. Olivia, in turn, became more comfortable engaging in discussions, knowing she had time to reflect beforehand. Through the lens of their work styles, both gained empathy for each other’s approaches, improving their communication and enhancing team collaboration.

Practical Steps for Using Work Styles to Resolve Conflict

These stories illustrate how identifying work styles can be a powerful tool for conflict resolution. Here are some practical steps to leverage these assessments for resolving workplace conflicts:

Encourage Self-Awareness: Personality assessments allow individuals to develop a deeper understanding of their work styles. This self-awareness is the first step in recognizing how one’s behaviors might be perceived by others.
Foster Empathy: When team members understand the work styles of their colleagues, they are more likely to approach conflicts with empathy. Personality assessments help teams move beyond surface-level assumptions and appreciate the different strengths each individual brings to the table.
Facilitate Open Communication: Use work style assessments as a starting point for conversations about communication preferences, decision-making processes, and potential friction points. This can help prevent misunderstandings before they escalate into conflicts.
Adapt Expectations and Processes: By identifying individual work styles, teams can adjust workflows and expectations to empower different approaches. This flexibility helps resolve conflicts and leads to a more collaborative work environment.
Focus on Team Dynamics: Assessments not only help individuals but also offer insights into overall team dynamics. Leaders can use this information to create balanced teams, ensuring a mix of complementary work styles that enhance collaboration.

Conflict in the workplace is often rooted in clashing work styles rather than fundamental differences in values or goals. An in-depth work style personality assessment can provide critical insights into these differences, offering a path to greater empathy, understanding, and ultimately, resolution. By using these assessments, teams can bridge communication gaps, resolve conflicts more effectively, and enhance their overall performance. Embracing these differences, rather than trying to eliminate them, can lead to stronger, more cohesive teams that are better equipped to handle challenges and achieve their shared goals.

The team at Lighthouse Consulting Partners, LLC remain focused on their mission statement – “To bring effective insight to your business”. This is done through the use of in-depth work style personality assessments to raise the hiring bar so companies select the best people to reduce hiring and management errors. Lighthouse can test in 19 different languages, provide executive and leadership coaching and offers a variety of workshops – team building, interpersonal communication, stress management and more.

If you would like additional information on this topic, please contact us at (310) 453-6556, email pattyc@lighthouseconsulting.com or visit our website: www.lighthouseconsulting.com.

4 Steps to Effective Strategic Planning & Implementation

By David Shaffer, Senior Consultant

Learn to “Charter” Strategic Initiatives, Manage Accountability & Achieve Results

Most companies schedule their management retreat to develop and establish the strategic direction for the remainder of the year, as well as a 3-5 year outlook. The process, although it can contribute to team building by “getting away” from the daily grind, frequently does not result in strategy. That’s because what starts as a noble intention or cause ends with little to no accountability, letting life return to “normal” soon after the planning meeting. Effective Strategic Planning Implementation requires accountability both in the creation and management of strategic initiatives. Here is practical & accountable approach to effective strategic planning and implementation.

ONE: Develop Strategic Initiatives

Many times there is confusion between what initiatives are truly strategic versus what are simply tasks and obstacles that impact the daily operating procedure.

As an example of what not to do: one company identified distribution of various financial reports as a strategic means of raising financial performance. Although the concept may sound strategic it is merely an improvement in task execution, addressing an operational issue rather than a strategy that aligns with the direction of the company.

Here is what you should do: Your strategic planning session should generate and classify two types of initiatives.

1. A few critical initiatives expected to be implemented in the short term, within the current fiscal year
2. A few growth initiatives, requiring more exploration in order to lay the foundation for future critical initiative consideration.

Organizations that define more than 5-6 critical initiatives are generally focused on task implementation rather than strategy. Likewise, exploration of more than 2-3 growth initiatives represents a strategic planning outcome that has no direction or focus.

TWO: Assign Accountability

Once both critical and growth initiatives have been defined, individual Project Managers should be assigned to lead the charge, plan the implementation, drive the process & communicate the results. The use of chartering is a process commonly used by project managers that allows organizations to clearly convert strategy into action while managing accountability.

For each strategic initiative a charter is written, reported against and reviewed regularly by the management team. It is important to note that as a result of exploration efforts, growth initiatives can often become new critical initiatives that require project managers and charters.

THREE: Build Strategic Project Charters

Multiple resources are typically used to implement each strategic initiative. However it is essential that one individual have responsibility and accountability for each project & project charter.

The aggregate of strategic initiatives & associated charters represent the short term and long term implementation of the key strategies. Although they are prepared and managed by different individuals, it is important that the approach is consistent. So just what does one include in a charter? Let’s take a deeper look.

Background

Description and facts related to the problem, opportunity or situation that the project is going to address. The background lays out the context of the charter; however the details of the charter are laid out in subsequent sections. The background should refer to discussions generated during the strategic planning session.

Key Challenges

In every endeavor there are generally challenges. This section provides a description of the challenges, obstacles and issues that must be overcome in order to successfully complete the charter (project) and to deliver the benefits. This is not a description of the tasks, even though carrying out the tasks may be challenging.

Project Overview and Rationale

Description of what the project will accomplish at a high level, and a list of the project objectives and business benefits.

Brief example: The objective of this project is to develop and implement a new, automated sales order entry system. The new system should reduce the time to configure and enter a new order from 4 hours to approximately 20 minutes (objective). It will significantly reduce order entry errors, increase sales and improve customer satisfaction (benefits).

Approach

Description of how the project will be carried out: the team, methodology, and timeframe for carrying out the project. The description should be a high level and should not duplicate the list of milestones or major deliverables.

Scope:

Description of the boundaries of the project: what it will and will not address.

Major Milestones

Milestones should reflect the overall approach and should cover the complete lifecycle of the project. The list of milestones does not however constitute a complete project plan. Milestones will be changed and should be updated when the project plan is completed.

Start Date: xx/xx/xxxx End Date: xx/xx/xxxx

First Major Milestone: xx/xx/xxxx

Major Action: xx/xx/xxxx

Middle Target Date xx/xx/xxxx

Major Action: xx/xx/xxxx
Major Action: xx/xx/xxxx

Milestone close to completion: xx/xx/xxxx

Major Deliverables:

List of specific accomplishments, documents, or other tangible outputs of the project. Deliverables are not the same as objectives or business benefits. The deliverables may duplicate some of the major milestones (i.e., the completion of a deliverable could be a milestone.)

Stakeholders and Resources

Customer: [Group that will directly benefit from this project. Could be an internal or external customer or stakeholder group. Be specific.]

Sponsor: [Executive who has overall responsibility for the project. Approves the charter and budget. Heads up Steering Committee as needed.]

Project Manager: [Manager with responsibility for the leadership and day-to-day management of the project.]

Outside Resources: [As needed.]
Team Members: [Resources assigned to the project who will participate throughout the project. Do not include SMEs (subject matter experts) or other resources that work on specific tasks or are consulted with during the project.]

Project Budget

Training materials: $ X

Marketing materials: $ Y

Outside resources: $ Z

Assumptions, Constraints and Concerns

Assumptions:

[Events or conditions that must be in place in order for the project to start or to be completed.]
E.g. new marketing manager must be hired and in place by no later than 6/1.

Constraints:

[Limitations that the project must adhere to.]

Concerns:

[Events or conditions that may occur, that would impact the successful completion of the project.]
E.g., If the pending acquisition closes before 7/31, some of our team resources may be pulled into the integration effort.

The assumptions, constraints and concerns must be specific to the project – not conditions that are necessary for any project. Examples of conditions that should not be listed are:

Having adequate budget, resources and strong support from leadership. (True for any project.)
No major economics or business disruptions. (True for any project.)

FOUR: Monitor & Communicate Progress

Many organizations struggle with the implementation of key initiatives; accountability is frequently a major stumbling block. By assigning Project Managers and the consistent use of project chartering, project plans can be well defined, resourced and monitored. The aggregate results of the charters collectively address the implementation of defined key initiatives. It is customary that on a weekly basis, each Project Manager reports the status of their charter so that combined project plans are managed by a single source. That is, for quality and consistency the overall progress of the initiatives is maintained in a central repository accessible to the entire management & leadership team.

There are many ways to distill strategic planning into execution. Chartering is a great way to focus on execution while creating accountability & buy-in throughout the process.

David Shaffer, MBA , Sr. Consultant, is our practice head for our Business Consulting For Higher Productivity Division and for our ERP and M&A practice. He is recognized for his ability to effectively integrate all aspects of the business, including financial management, information systems, infrastructure, sales management, sales strategies, and operations. David assists companies from planning through operational and business process improvement opportunities to the selection and integration of management information systems solutions. His range of company support includes start-ups through Fortune 500 firms.

Lighthouse Consulting Partners, LLC Divisions

Testing Division provides a variety of services, including in-depth work style & personality assessments for new hires & staff development. LCP can test in 19 different languages, skills testing, domestic and international interpersonal coaching and offer a variety of workshops – team building, interpersonal communication.

Business Consulting for Higher Productivity Division provides stress & time management workshops, sales & customer service training and negotiation skills, leadership training, market research, staff planning, operations, ERP/MRP selection and implementation, refining a remote work force, M&A including due diligence – success planning – value creation and much more.

To order the books, “Cracking the Personality Code”, “Cracking the Business Code” and “Cracking the High-Performance Team Code”, please go to www.lighthouseconsulting.com.

Hire Right the First Time

Hire Right The First Time By Dana Borowka, MA Is your company still hiring employees using the same process it did five years ago? Think carefully about the question for a moment. Is the company recruiting, screening, interviewing, and verifying using the same techniques and procedures as in the past? Next question. Do you wonder […]

How To Develop The Next Generation Of Company Leaders

By David Shaffer MBA , Sr. Consultant, Practice Head for M&A and ERP/MRP

Finding and keeping great employees is getting increasingly hard. Your company’s ability to fight and win the ongoing talent wars hinges on your most important asset: your leaders.

According to research in the Harvard Business Review, “Leaders who prioritize relationships with their employees and lead from a place of positivity and kindness simply do better, and company culture has a bigger influence on employee well-being than salary and benefits (“The Power of Healthy Relationships at Work,” June 21, 2022).

When it comes to attracting and retaining better employees, it comes down to leaders fostering positive relationships at work. But positive leader-employee relationships do not happen by chance.

Most managers weren’t born knowing how to create those positive relationships. But your organization should not suffer while your leaders learn by trial and error. In an age when there is an ever-escalating war for the better employees, it has never been more important for a business to invest in developing leaders.

This is why CEOs of privately owned companies in the $5 million to $100 million in revenue range and division heads of global organizations need to make sure to invest in training managers.

In other words, so one day they can confidently turn over the day-to-day management of the company to the next group of leaders. Here is a comeback story of a business owner who did just that.

How Fred Developed New Leaders

This is the tale of a 48-year-old business owner named Fred (not his real name), who created a small manufacturing company with annual revenues north of $5 million. On a personal note, Fred was a spiritual man who enjoyed being an active volunteer at his church.

On the job Fred had faith in his people and believed in them to work issues out. Unfortunately, that led to him being a victim of undeserved misfortune, His people loved working for Fred and knocked themselves out for him; however, as the adage states, haste makes waste.

Fred’s business problem was wasteful rework costs in excess of 35%, which meant that millions of dollars of the products required rework. That’s a tremendous amount of dollars that had to be absorbed by the business on a regular basis.

When Fred invited me in, I did an assessment to determine the root causes of the troubles. On the basis of that review as well as doing the LCS in-depth work style and personality assessment, we identified two solutions that needed to be implemented.

“On top of the rework nightmare, sales are dropping like a stone because all of the sales are being funneled through me, and I am totally consumed by the rework issue,” said Fred. “My sales team has been reduced to being order takers, not order generators. These are good people, and I do not know what to do.”

“We can fix this, Fred,” I told him. “It’s not going to be easy because you have some blind spots. You need to make some changes, but we can tackle the two needed solutions together.”

The first solution was a lean manufacturing process, which included quality control checks throughout the manufacturing process. That way, they could identify potential defects right at the point of the defect rather than at the end when it’s delivered to the customer.

That may sound like a very simplistic thing to do. However, understand that within the operation, there was a need to develop leaders who understood how to schedule the projects, communicate the goals to their team, and resolve issues with the people.

We conducted workshops for each of the shop supervisors, plus the shop foreman. We also brought in the sales team to talk about effective communication between sales and operations so that we could identify where time was being spent.

The second solution was to turn over the reins to the next generation. Eventually, we removed Fred as the owner from the day-to-day operations and put in place an executive team that included sales management, supervisors, shop foremen, as well as accounting to meet on a daily on what are the issues. We also did our LCS team building program, which includes using our LCS in-depth work style and personality assessment for the staff members. This provided me with insights into how to get the most from the team members as well as with helping them to bond and communicate with each other at a whole new level.

The net result was that the rework was reduced to 5% from 35%, and sales rose by 15% because now sales were not having to deal with the quality issues that were affecting sales. And here’s the kicker, Fred was a happier owner because it allowed him more volunteer time to lead bible study sessions at the church.

Seven Steps To Develop The Next Generation

With Fred, we followed these seven steps:

Step One. Maintain the mission, vision, and values that are a part of the company. The journey begins with an assessment of the DNA of the business.

Step Two. Recognize the strengths that each person brings to the company. Leadership is not a birthright; it is about potential. So, test your people to assess leadership potential. Conducting in-depth work style and personality assessments can be extremely useful.

Step Three. Understand that leadership is something that is developed. Know this: leaders are not born; leaders are trained. Never has a baby been born, and the doctor slapped his or her bottom and declared, “Now here is a future company president.” Certain positive traits develop during a person’s life, which is a gift. But just relying on gifts and not training future leaders is a bad option for small-to-midsized companies.

Step Four. Dispel the belief that the best performers make the best leaders. Don’t make the classic blunder of just thrusting top performers into leadership roles. That is a 50/50 proposition at best. Once, I was a director of business process improvement and information systems consulting at one of the big accounting firms. The philosophy within the CPA firm was that you took your top-performing senior managers who were outstanding in doing tax returns, and you, therefore, promoted them to partner. Then we came to the realization that they don’t know how to be good at business development, a key requirement of a partner.

Step Five. Allow for creativity yet stay within the values of the company. People are not robots. And nor would you want them to be.

Step Six. Train leaders throughout all levels of management or job responsibilities. If you think training is expensive, then look at the costs of not training. Trained leaders make it easier for the company to fill jobs with the right people, retain top talent, and keep employees fully engaged. Today this is no easy feat, and paying more in wages and benefits is not the answer.

Step Seven. Introduce accountability and taking responsibility. Are you familiar with the “Miracle on Ice” with the US hockey team winning the Olympic gold medal in 1980? The underdog US team beat the Russians and made it to the finals to win it all. But if you really dig into the analysis of what happened, the coaches of that team took a bunch of individuals that were stars at different levels and molded them into a team. They achieved their goal of winning a gold medal by introducing accountability and taking responsibility.

Use A Three-Phase Approach

To optimize success, companies use a three-phase approach:

Phase One. Company Assessment And Understanding. This starts with meetings with executives and ownership to understand the company’s mission, vision, and values. Then comes outlining a key strategy for transition and personnel development. Follow this with preparing an objective assessment of the current environment, including gaps analysis to reach the desired structure. Next, we need to get everyone on board with the changes, so we prepare a presentation for review with key personnel.

Phase Two. Conduct A Workshop On Leadership And Accountability. Begin by reviewing components of leadership. Next, cover how to create an environment of accountability. Then cover the characteristics of effective communication. This is followed by a discussion of setting and achieving goals by leveraging talent and reaching individual potential. Lead the group to understand how to achieve team effectiveness. Nothing is ever smooth, so cover how to handle and resolve conflict. Finally cover the most effective means of coaching.

Phase Three. Continued Follow-up. This is not a case of setting it and forgetting it. Schedule one-on-one coaching sessions. Conduct group meetings to share experiences. And celebrate milestones that measure achievement.

Summing It Up

In my experience, privately owned companies are looking to put in place the next level of leadership within their company.

The main goal is to allow the existing ownership to be able to have appropriate leaders developed within the organization that allows for the owner/manager to extricate themselves from the day-to-day business and still be in a position to provide high-level feedback on what’s going on within their company,

If you are open to a conversation about how to develop your next generation of leaders, or how our in-depth work style personality assessment could help your team, please contact us at 310-453-6556, extension 410 or email pattyc@lighthouseconsulting.com and our website is www.lighthouseconsulting.com.

David Shaffer, MBA , Sr. Consultant, is our practice head for our Business Consulting For Higher Productivity Division and for our ERP and M&A practice. He is recognized for his ability to effectively integrate all aspects of the business, including financial management, information systems, infrastructure, sales management, sales strategies, and operations. David assists companies from planning through operational and business process improvement opportunities to the selection and integration of management information systems solutions. His range of company support includes start-ups through Fortune 500 firms.

Lighthouse Consulting Partners, LLC Divisions

Testing Division provides a variety of services, including in-depth work style & personality assessments for new hires & staff development. LCP can test in 19 different languages, skills testing, domestic and international interpersonal coaching and offer a variety of workshops – team building, interpersonal communication.

Business Consulting for Higher Productivity Division provides stress & time management workshops, sales & customer service training and negotiation skills, leadership training, market research, staff planning, operations, ERP/MRP selection and implementation, refining a remote work force, M&A including due diligence – success planning – value creation and much more.

To order the books, “Cracking the Personality Code”, “Cracking the Business Code” and “Cracking the High-Performance Team Code”, please go to www.lighthouseconsulting.com.

Five Ways To Increase Value For A Merger, Acquisition, Or Succession

By David Shaffer MBA , Sr. Consultant, Practice Head for M&A and ERP/MRP

We recently did an Open Line on this topic with David, so please click on the link for the slides/audio:
Keeping on Track Open Line – M & A and Succession Planning – 5 Top Things to Consider with guest, David Shaffer.
Please click on the website link or copy/paste the full link into your internet browser: https://recordings.join.me/IyY5elXeoEGX8niO7Cw5-g

Does your business serve you or do you serve your business?

“Once you recognize that the purpose of your life is not to serve your business, but that the primary purpose of your business is to serve your life, you can then go to work on your business, rather than in it, with a full understanding of why it is absolutely necessary for you to do so.”

Those are the words of bestselling business author Michael E. Gerber, who wrote The E-Myth Revisited.

For the better part of 40 years, Gerber has been encouraging business owners to work “on, not in” their business. Gerber firmly believes every company should be built as a product to sell.

Are you building a business you can sell? More important, are you optimizing the value of that business for a sale, merger, or succession plan?

What Is Your Current State Of Mind?

Which of the following statements best describes your current state of mind as the business owner:

• I have been working in my business for many years and I am ready to explore alternatives.
• I had hoped that my family would continue the legacy but there is little interest.
• I struggle with balancing the cash flow and need capital infusion to keep going.
• My team continues to point to having to upgrade my use of information systems
• My key team members are in the same age bracket as me and not certain they can move into leadership.
• My competitors are constantly focusing on their growth and my opportunities are being pressured to reduce margins.

For some business owners, all six of the above statements apply to their situation.

Five Action Steps To Assess Your Current Situation And Start Toward Value Creation

The following five action steps are designed to help you assess your situation. The steps also provide an outline for making your business more valuable.

Step One. Review, update, or create a strategic business plan that well defines your business.

By JESHOOTS.COM

Do you have a strategic plan that well defines your business? Because any potential buyer is going to want to see what is the business, what is the mission, what are the vision, what are the values of that business.

Do a detailed SWOT (strength, weakness, opportunities and threats) analysis so that it’s well defined. Outline the structure or organization that is in place that you can show a potential buyer. Or, analyze internally how you can extricate yourself from the business.

Step Two. Review your financial reporting to assure a proper representation of cash management.

The second step, which is critical, is your financial reporting. Are you able to provide accurate historical financial reporting? Can you determine your EBITDA, which is your bottom-line profitability?

When I value a business, I look at the EBITDA, which is the earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization (that funny money that helps you pay less in taxes). When interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization are removed it becomes the true bottom line.

Within each industry there is multiple of earnings defined by the industry to calculate business value. The more you have exclusivity within the industry, the higher the multiple. You multiply those two numbers together and it gives you a good idea of the value of the business.

Step Three. Complete an objective assessment of your organization.

Can you explain to potential buyers your mission and vision? Do you have clear goals, objectives, systems, and policies?

When we go in to work with a client, we assess where they are today, what they’re looking to achieve in the longer term, and then where do the gaps exist. Following that we work with the company to put in place the appropriate steps to close the gap and create more value.

Step Four. Assess your role as business owner.

When we work a business, next we ask the owner to really take a look at themselves and where are they as far as key responsibilities. Do they have a transition plan to move out of the business? Are they communicating internally to keep personnel?
One of the things I see a lot in an acquisition is when a buyer says to the owner selling the business that it appears to be very dependent upon you. Then they say, “We’re going to put in place a three-year plan where over a three year period we’re going to buy out your business, but you need to be around for three years and hit certain objectives.

Well, if you’re a driven type personality and you’ve been successfully running your business for years, the last thing you want is someone externally telling you how to run your business.

That’s why we work with owners to extricate themselves from the business before the sale. That way they do not have to stick around as an employee for several years.

Step Five. Engage with experienced support team.

By Nick Fewings

Getting ready for a sale, merger or succession plan is not something for the do-it-yourselfer. This is probably a once in a lifetime transaction for you. This is the time to do some due diligence and get a team of trusted advisors on your side.

The trusted advisors you engage should have experience both on the operations and financial side. The objective, regardless of the exit path you choose, is to create value in the business. In many acquisitions there are tax ramifications, shelters, and potential benefits. The use of a qualified tax advisor will help uncover both opportunities and potential liabilities. Engaging a firm to complete financial due diligence and identify target markets reduces time and helps create a realistic value proposition.

Indeed, if Gerber is correct and your business is a product to be sold, you should work on the business, so you realize the best price. Here is a case in point about family business owners who sought help.

More Cash Flow And Time To Enjoy Life

Once I worked with a family-owned business and both principals were about to turn 60. They were at a crossroads as business owners. The dilemma was; should they stay or should they go?

This couple were the overstressed owners of a privately owned manufacturing company. When I was introduced to them they were looking to make changes in their internal information systems from a very archaic system to a new one.

I was brought in to work as a conduit between the owners and their operational team and the software firm. Because of my background in manufacturing operations and systems, I was very much involved in helping with the implementation, project management. and delivery of that information system.

However, further exploration and understanding of the business demonstrated that there was more than the existence of an archaic system problem. What we determined is that the information systems brought with it a need to align the organization and the best practices because the ownership was considering two options.

Option one was to sell the business, and option two was to retain the business. Neither option sounded attractive.

Both owners were heavily involved in day-to-day operations. Collectively they were involved in the manufacturing and delivering of products and overseeing the sales team as well as overseeing all of the human resources and finances of the company.

By PublicCo

Through the work that I did outside of the systems, we restructured the entire organization where we brought in interim sales management. We took one of the key operation people, promoted him to chief operating officer, put in place a dotted line between him and the sales team.

We brought in and developed a key accounting person to oversee all of the receivables, payables, and general ledger. Then we put together an advisory team that included myself with the owners. And through the implementation of the new system, we put in place dashboards to monitor the management of the system.

The net result was we increased the value of the company by 10% in the first year simply by having visibility into the profitability of the company. We had no need other than to bring in an interim sales manager to increase our expenses on personnel. We uncovered that their sales team was really one of customer service as opposed to new account sales.

We were able to reduce the outside sales team by two individuals, which represented 60% of their sales team. We added in customer service in-house at a far less expense. The whole process took 20 months.

The moral of the story: the owners now have more cash flow and time to enjoy life. The were able to purchase a second home outside of the state. They travel on a regular basis. Recently they sent me an email saying that they were on a two-week vacation and the company is running.

Now they are also entertaining a potential sale. But at this stage, they are less stressed over the sale because they know they’re making money and they’re not involved on the day-to-day operations of the business.

Conclusion

Whether the decision is to sell the business or retain, the creation of value is always a benefit. Whether it stays with ownership or enhances the sales, it is a cornerstone best practice.

If you are open to a conversation about mergers and succession, improving manufacturing workflow or if you are a service company taking a look at various ways to improve efficiencies, or how our in-depth work style and personality assessment could help to hire the right person and understand how to best work with the candidate from day one as well as gaining insights of your team, please contact us at 310-453-6556, extension 410.

If you would like additional information on this topic or others, please contact Lighthouse Consulting Partners LLC, Santa Monica, CA, (310) 453-6556, pattyc@lighthouseconsulting.com & our website: www.lighthouseconsulting.com.

David Shaffer, MBA , Sr. Consultant, is our practice head for our Business Consulting For Higher Productivity Division and for our ERP and M&A practice. He is recognized for his ability to effectively integrate all aspects of the business, including financial management, information systems, infrastructure, sales management, sales strategies, and operations. David assists companies from planning through operational and business process improvement opportunities to the selection and integration of management information systems solutions. His range of company support includes start-ups through Fortune 500 firms.

Lighthouse Consulting Partners, LLC Divisions

Testing Division provides a variety of services, including in-depth work style & personality assessments for new hires & staff development. LCP can test in 19 different languages, skills testing, domestic and international interpersonal coaching and offer a variety of workshops – team building, interpersonal communication.

Business Consulting for Higher Productivity Division provides stress & time management workshops, sales & customer service training and negotiation skills, leadership training, market research, staff planning, operations, ERP/MRP selection and implementation, refining a remote work force, M&A including due diligence – success planning – value creation and much more.

To order the books, “Cracking the Personality Code”, “Cracking the Business Code” and “Cracking the High-Performance Team Code”, please go to www.lighthouseconsulting.com.

The Power of 360 Assessments In the Evolving Workplace

By Patty Crabtree, Sr. Consultant

Back in math class, you learned 360 degrees meant to go full circle, a whole circuit, the complete cycle, or a literal round trip. In other words, to circle around to get a full view. In today’s evolving workplace, leaders are taking a complete new full look at the 360 assessments.

by Gerd Altmann

Beginning in the 1990s, the natural desire to improve the performance of leaders through feedback gave rise to the popularity of 360 assessments. The objective was using these assessments is to create high-performing organizations by tapping into the collective feedback of many colleagues, rather than just a top-down approach.

In today’s evolving hybrid work environment, 360 assessments can be an important tool. The fundamentals of remote interactions are different than having everyone in the office. Attaining meaningful feedback regarding interpersonal interactions can help guide a company leadership and overall team training. Meaningful dialogues can lead to individual and company development plans that support the desired growth and success.

That is the power; however, there is a danger. The amount and level of training of those providing 360 assessment feedback can impact the level of accuracy of the feedback. There can also be a lack of follow through with the feedback. Without guidance from a trained professional, bias may distort the value of the feedback.

But there is a way to avoid this feedback peril.

Why The Waning Effectiveness?

Naturally to some degree people are resistant to feedback. We all have defenses against feedback, so the process needs to be mediated by someone who is trained to do this.

Before using 360 assessment assessments, some people are curious about the origins of the approach. It all began around 1930 when military psychologist Johann Baptist Rieffert developed a methodology to select officer candidates for the German army.

by Dorothe

The jump to the business world occurred in the 1950s when the Esso Research and Engineering Company gathered information on employees, which arguably is the first recorded business use of the technique.

Also called multi-rater assessments, 360 assessment feedback is a process through which feedback is gathered from an employee’s supervisors, subordinates, and colleagues, as well as a self-evaluation by the employee themselves. The 360 assessments can be contrasted with downward feedback from the boss or upward feedback delivered to managers by staff.

Over the years, 360 assessments have lost some of its effectiveness. This is due to many factors. Automation has taken away from the meaningful aspect of the feedback. A lack of creating development plans and holding others accountable to their growth commitments has lessen the impact. Follow through on growth commitments wane as other priorities take over. These assessments have become routine and just part of the process.

A worst-case scenario is to just grab some 360 assessment tool from the Internet and let the recipients interpret the feedback from the various people on their own. Looking for the cheap option does not make it the best approach.

360 assessments, done in an effective and meaningful way, can be a powerful tool for development. Being curious about the feedback as opposed to just gathering the data can elicit more opportunities for growth.

An automated approach limits the opportunity for this curiosity. Many automated systems will have options to rate multiple factors on a scale of 1-5, which is typically done anonymously. People can be skeptical of the anonymity and will give high ratings or incomplete feedback fearing potential backlash or just wanting to check this process off their list. They don’t see change from the effort of providing worthwhile feedback so there can be ambivalence to the process.

The Return of the 360 Assessment Gift

Feedback is a powerful growth tool. Understanding how others view your performance and your impact on those around you can make your stronger. Feedback is truly a gift.

Recently, one growing company decided to perform a 360 assessment on their senior leadership. They had weathered the pandemic, implementing some hybrid positions and were seeing a post-pandemic rebound. Their first reaction was to take operations back to the way it was done prior to 2020. This is what they knew, what was comfortable and a quick response to meet the client needs. It caused some conflict as staff were looking to continue the new ways. On top of this, they also faced a change in senior leadership as a retirement occurred.

by Headway

They wanted to take embrace the evolution, but leadership had some blind spots. They needed to know if they were ready for everything coming their way and decided to get a better understanding of how leadership was being viewed.

Using the 360 assessments, a picture was painted showing the strengths of the team along with opportunities to grow their leadership skills. There was an opportunity to embrace the changes the pandemic brought and enhance communication. The leaders listened to the feedback and heard the messages shared.

They created a developmental plan to strengthen the areas where staff felt some growth needed. Leaders saw how they were holding back the company’s momentum by not embracing the lessons learned over the past few years. They also understood how they needed to step up communication to ensure everyone felt included and were clear on the company’s vision. The lessons of a hybrid work environment became a larger part of their culture.

We also worked with them to keep the conversation alive and provide tools for the leaders to meet their goals. By using a professional coach, leaders had a safe environment to share their successes and struggles and discuss new ways to embrace the opportunities.

Avoid the Misuse of the 360 Assessment

Any tool can be used for good or for harm.

Some people see 360 assessment feedback as punitive and unproductive. This comes from how companies use this tool. It is not a process to check off the list but an opportunity to have thoughtful feedback that can support growth and change.

by Jason Goodman

Lighthouse Consulting uses an interview style and collaborative approach to the assessment. We partner with the organization to help ensure the feedback is effective and inspires change. We have conversations with the participants to elicit meaningful feedback and cultivate a deeper understanding of the individual’s strengths and opportunities. Follow up questions happen in the moment that supports a more effective discussion of their observations.

Debriefing with each client helps manage the potential emotional response to the feedback. This partnering method puts the focus on the opportunities and empowers the leaders toward growth. This partnership continues through coaching to achieve the desired goals.

When successfully implemented, 360 assessment feedback can be a game-changer for a business. This process can initiate positive changes and provide more accurate performance evaluations leading to accelerated professional growth.

When professionally conducted, interpreted and coached, the results can be significant. Without a trained professional, the value of their results can be diluted and meaningful change lost in the process.”

If you are open to a conversation about the 360 assessment process or how our in-depth work style and personality assessment could help your team, including pricing and the science behind the tests, please contact us at 310-453-6556, extension 403.

Patty Crabtree is a Senior Consultant at Lighthouse Consulting Services with 25 years of operations and finance leadership experience.

Lighthouse Consulting Services, LLC Divisions

Testing Division provides a variety of services, including in-depth work style & personality assessments for new hires & staff development. LCS can test in 19 different languages, skills testing, domestic and international interpersonal coaching and offer a variety of workshops – team building, interpersonal communication.

Business Consulting for Higher Productivity Division provides stress & time management workshops, sales & customer service training and negotiation skills, leadership training, market research, staff planning, operations, ERP/MRP selection and implementation, refining a remote work force, M&A including due diligence – success planning – value creation and much more.

To order the books, “Cracking the Personality Code”, “Cracking the Business Code” and “Cracking the High-Performance Team Code”, please go to www.lighthouseconsulting.com.

If you would like additional information on this topic or others, please contact your Human Resources department or Lighthouse Consulting Services LLC, Santa Monica, CA, (310) 453-6556, dana@lighthouseconsulting.com & our website: www.lighthouseconsulting.com.

The Future of Sales

By Dana Borowka, MA

Not all sales and marketing people are created equal. In a challenging economy, you want to hire people who are creative, innovative and can get results despite the roadblocks. After all, today is a new day with new opportunities for those that are open to them. To improve hiring decisions, many companies have found out how to crack the personality code by using robust in-depth work style personality testing. Work style assessments are a standard recruiting practice for many branches of the government and military, as well as many Fortune 500 companies when assessing potential hires for key or critical positions.

Our research for our book, Cracking the Personality Code, reveals that this is not guesswork or an untested science. Here are eight proven ways to use in-depth work style personality testing to hire the right sales and marketing people who are willing to fight for market share.

1. Compare Their Resume Against Your Job Description

Sounds obvious, doesn’t it? Surprising how easy it is to blow right past this step in the hiring process. Past experience alone is not what you are looking for when you review the resume. You are looking at how well they performed, what were their successes, and how adaptable they might be to the job that needs to be done for your organization. Experience is nice, but it is results that really count.

2. Assess Their Problem-Solving Resources

Is this person a problem solver? If so, what kind of problem solver? Each of us has unique problem-solving resources on which we rely. You will want to determine what the person’s strengths are when it comes to problem solving. What are the usual approaches this person will use to resolve these problems?

3. Determine Their Patterns For Coping With Stress

Stress is a force that tends to distort the body, a factor that induces bodily or mental tension, or an automatic physical reaction to a danger or demand in the environment. As one physician stated, “Stress is any demand, either internal, external or both, that causes us to mentally and physically readjust in order to maintain a sense of balance within our life.”

Without a doubt, stress is a fact of life in today’s work world. So determining a candidate’s or employee’s ability to cope with stress is critical for a manager.

4. Examine Their Interpersonal Interaction Styles

Breakdowns in communication are never good for an organization. So take a good look at the individual’s style for relating and communicating with others. How do they usually react in dealing with others? What is their comfort level in interacting and personal connection with others? Personality assessments can tell you the person’s major sources of gratification and satisfaction when building relationships with each other.

This is the time to identify potential red flags. A personality assessment can discover issues that are sometimes overlooked during the traditional interviewing process and can quantify a hunch or feeling the interviewer may have about a particular candidate. Knowing interpersonal interaction styles can also help understand how to manage individuals for greater work performance. A comparison of the interpersonal dynamics of teams, departments, employees and candidates is well worth the effort.

5. Analyze Career Activity Interests

Certain personality tests help you gain information which may either support the person’s present career choices or assist them to explore, consider and plan for another career direction. This is not to say you will be recommending another career choice to someone you are considering hiring or currently managing. Rather, you are using this information to determine fit. All organizations want to ensure that they have the right people in the right positions and effectively distribute these human assets and talents.

6. Assess How They Respond To Tests

You should also use tests with scales for what is known as “impression management.” This is necessary in order to understand the accuracy of results and whether someone is trying to “fake good” or misrepresent themselves. A critical element in predicting a potential candidate’s success is measuring real personality and style in an interview. An in-depth work style and personality assessment presents a fairly accurate picture of a candidate’s personality, work style and fit within a company’s culture.

If a profile does not have an impression management scale, then it is difficult to tell how accurate the data is. A profile needs to have at least 165 questions in order to gather enough data for this scale. Otherwise you will have no idea of the picture you are getting from an assessment.

7. Chronicle Strengths & Weakness Ledger

Benjamin Franklin reportedly had a decision-making process when he was faced with important challenges. Franklin divided a sheet of paper into two columns, and on the left side listed the reasons for doing something and on the right side the reasons against. Much like a bank ledger with credits and debits, this simple tool greatly aided the analysis of information. Often a quick scan of the two lists gave him the information he needed to make the right choice.

We recommend you do the same for the personality of a job candidate or an employee under your supervision. Like a bank ledger, every credit should have a corresponding debit. That is because for every strength a person possesses there is a corresponding weakness. Being assertive is a strength; however, that personality can be too assertive and off putting for some people they deal with.

8. Create Personality Probing Interview Questions

So, what have you learned about the job candidate so far through personality assessments? What remains to learn? To find out, developinterview questions that probe facets of the personality you need more details on

Forget those old standby questions like, ‘Tell me about your strengths and weaknesses’. Instead, let’s say you wanted to determine how they cope with stress. You might ask the candidate to give an example of when they made a terrible mistake and how they handled it. Ask them how they think others perceive them when they are under stress. For making a mistake, did they blame others or take responsibility for the outcome? Listen for their process. Do they ask for help? Watch body language and tone of voice to see how much insecurity the candidate expresses at the idea of making a mistake or having stress..

As consultants trained in psychology, this is something we help our clients create for new candidates. To help you create questions, here are some preliminary interview questions for a candidate. Naturally, these are not meant to be questions to ask all candidates, but are indicative of the types of questions you might ask:

What process do you think helps you to learn? Give an example of how you learn a very complex system or skill and what your process was?

How would you handle a situation that brought up many different changes? How do you like to see change take place? Give an example when change was implemented and it just didn’t work out.

Have you ever worked with individuals who are abstract thinkers? How did you deal with that kind of thought process?

Give an example of when you have had to make an exception to the guidelines or rules. How have you handled that?

What was the most challenging sales situation you have ever faced and won? Give an example of when you lost a sale and what you could have done differently.

Whew, seems like a lot to worry about. As with any business decision, having and organizing the right information is critical. Work style and personality assessment testing can provide insight into potential hires, as well as the current workforce. The trick is to gather the information and then look at it in an organized fashion.

If you would like additional information on this topic or others, please contact your Human Resources department or Lighthouse Consulting Services LLC, Santa Monica, CA 90403, (310) 453-6556, dana@lighthouseconsulting.com & our website: www.lighthouseconsulting.com

Dana Borowka, MA, CEO of Lighthouse Consulting Services, LLC and his organization constantly remain focused on their mission statement – “To bring effective insight to your business”. They do this through the use of in-depth work style & personality assessments to raise the hiring bar so companies select the right people to reduce hiring and management errors. LCS can test in 19 different languages, provide domestic and international interpersonal coaching and offer a variety of workshops – team building, interpersonal communication, stress & time management, sales & customer service training and negotiation skills as well as our full-service Business Consulting Division. Dana has over 30 years of business consulting experience and is a nationally renowned speaker, radio and TV personality on many topics. He is the co-author of the books, “Cracking the Personality Code”, “Cracking the Business Code” and “Cracking the High-Performance Team Code”. To order the books, please visit www.lighthouseconsulting.com.

Lighthouse Consulting Services, LLC Divisions

Testing Division provides a variety of services, including in-depth work style & personality assessments for new hires & staff development. LCS can test in 19 different languages, skills testing, domestic and international interpersonal coaching and offer a variety of workshops – team building, interpersonal communication.

Business Consulting for Higher Productivity Division provides stress & time management workshops, sales & customer service training and negotiation skills, leadership training, market research, staff planning, operations, ERP/MRP selection and implementation, refining a remote work force, M&A including due diligence – success planning – value creation and much more.

Time To Leverage Your Staff For Higher Productivity

By Doug Clute

In his business classic Good to Great, Jim Collins said: “Great vision without great people is irrelevant.” Famously Collins says you need to have the right people in the right seats on your bus.

In business, profits and shareholder returns can be linked to productivity growth, which can be directly linked to having great people. Productivity measures output per unit of input, such as labor, capital or any other resource – and is typically calculated for the economy as a whole, as a ratio of gross domestic product (GDP) to hours worked. Labor productivity may be further broken down by sector to examine trends in labor growth, wage levels and technological improvement.

A staffing plan makes sure you have the right people in the right spots at the right time.

A Staffing Plan Fit For A King

Have you ever tasted Original Hawaiian Sweet Bread?

The bakery that created this treat was founded in the 1950s in Hilo, Hawaii and later became known as King’s Hawaiian. In 1977 the company expanded and built its first mainland bakery in Torrance, California. Its vision was to become the biggest Hawaiian food company in the world.

To support their continued growth, in 2010 their strategy included building a new production facility. To better serve the East Coast they started construction on a third bakery facility in Oakwood, Georgia. This was a project that was estimated to take at least one year to complete. Initial staffing of the new facility would require hiring over one hundred new employees.

Well before construction began, a staffing plan was developed and implemented. The plan included headcount, timing, skills needed, and training required for each position.

Success was dependent on a lot of hard work by great people. Internal partnerships between operations and human resources, as well as relationships with local agencies and recruiting partners were key to its success.

The plant opened on schedule and within budget. Since then, the plant has been expanded several times and each time a staffing plan was one of the keys to success.

Staffing Linked To Productivity

Productivity is a measure of the efficiency of a company’s production process, This is calculated by measuring the number of units produced relative to employee labor hours or by measuring a company’s net sales relative to employee labor hours.

Most successful organizations have a strong understanding of their strategic direction. Mission and vision statements communicate who they are, what they do, and where they are going. Operational plans and budgets that lay out the organization’s periodic goals, objectives, and projects that are in support of the mission and vision.

But will they achieve the mission and vision without the right people? Even with a clear mission and vision, without the talent required to support this direction, organizations are unlikely to reach their full potential. Management journals contain many studies that have found that companies incorporating a staffing plan into their business are more likely to increase performance.

For many organizations – especially one that is growing quickly – the focus is often on things like improving or expanding products and services; increasing revenue; and acquiring new customers. These are the lifeblood of a successful growing business. However, if the workforce needed to support this growth is more of an afterthought, it can slow that growth and even jeopardize servicing existing customers.

The Six Steps Of Staff Planning

There are six steps included in the staff planning process: establishing goals, identifying influencers, surveying the current state, envisioning needs, conducting a gap analysis, and developing and executing a plan. Let’s examine each step:

One: Establishing Goals. This step should largely be completed through the operational planning process mentioned above. Having an accurate understanding of the periodic goals, objectives and projects the organization anticipates completing in the planning cycle is the foundation of successful staff planning.

Two: Identifying Influencers. What factors might influence the staffing plan? Influencers can be external or internal. They can be positive or negative. An influencer is anything that might affect the plan but is largely uncontrollable by the organization. This step can be completed with a brainstorming session to identify factors that need to be considered. What is the status of the local labor market? Are there any technology changes that will impact productivity? Are local competitors growing or laying off staff? Are there any facility constraints such as office space limitations?

Three: Surveying the Current State. What is the state of the organization’s current staff? What expertise does each staff member have? Are there employees who are likely to leave for personal reasons or retirement? What employees are likely to be promoted into different roles? Are there poor performers who may need to improve or be replaced? While this step includes a listing of headcount, the main objective is to create an inventory of skill sets, competencies, and availability of the current staff.

Four: Envisioning Future Needs. To reach the organizational goals and complete the projects identified in step one, what skills, competencies, and staffing will be required? It is best to complete this step with the mindset of building the staff from scratch. This will help identify requirements without being overly influenced by the current state. Will the goals and projects require new competencies? Will additional staff be needed? Will staffing need to change during the year? Would using contractors or outside expertise be a good fit to meet short term needs?

Five: Conducting a Gap Analysis. What is missing between the current state and projected needs to accomplish the organization’s goals? Is additional training needed? What would be the timing of any new training? Do you need to add staff? In what positions, when will they be needed, how long will it take to recruit and onboard? Are current staff in the correct roles, or would reassignment make better use of their skills.

Six: Developing and Implementing the Plan. With the insight and information developed through this process the organization can now build a plan to successfully support their goals and projects. Planning for needed training, recruitment of staff additions and backfilling departures, use of outside expertise, etc. This plan will include actions as well as timing. The ultimate impact the plan has on the organization is dependent on an effective implementation and follow up. Committing to periodic updates and review will keep the plan on pace.

Let The Process Flow

This overview references six separate steps in the process. In concept the process follows the logical thought flow. However, in practice steps may overlap. The staff planning process can include as few or as many individuals as needed. Staffing plans can be created in any format that is comfortable to the organization. What is important is that the plan includes the relevant information in a format that is easy to understand and actionable.

Here is a thought to guide the plan. In the words of Lawrence Bossidy of General Electric: “I am convinced that nothing we do is more important than hiring and developing people. At the end of the day you bet on people, not on strategies.”

The right staffing plan improves the odds of succeeding on the bets you make on your people.

If you are open to a conversation about staffing planning and how our in-depth work style and personality assessment could help, please contact us at 310-453-6556, extension 403.

Doug Clute is a Senior Human Capital LCS Consultant with over 30 years of insight and expertise as a human capital management executive within four different industries on an international scale.

Lighthouse Consulting Services, LLC Divisions

Testing Division provides a variety of services, including in-depth work style & personality assessments for new hires & staff development. LCS can test in 19 different languages, skills testing, domestic and international interpersonal coaching and offer a variety of workshops – team building, interpersonal communication.

Business Consulting for Higher Productivity Division provides stress & time management workshops, sales & customer service training and negotiation skills, leadership training, market research, staff planning, operations, ERP/MRP selection and implementation, refining a remote work force, M&A including due diligence – success planning – value creation and much more.

To order the books, “Cracking the Personality Code”, “Cracking the Business Code” and “Cracking the High-Performance Team Code”, please go to www.lighthouseconsulting.com.

If you would like additional information on this topic or others, please contact Lighthouse Consulting Services LLC, Santa Monica, CA, (310) 453-6556, extension 403, dana@lighthouseconsulting.com & our website: www.lighthouseconsulting.com.

Don’t Rush the Hiring Process: Bad Hires Are 3X More Costly Than You Think

By Dana Borowka, MA

There is an old adage that one bad apple can spoil the whole bunch. A bad hire can be that bad apple for you.

by Natalie Grainger

Now contrast that to the famous words of anthropologist Margaret Mead: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”

This is the power of good hires. Team members working together in thoughtful, committed ways to the company mission, core values and objectives can change your workplace world for the better.

When our team has conversations with C-level executives, better hiring is on their minds. Research backs this up.

“Labor shortages are driving talent retention and recruitment to the top of the CEO agenda in 2022,” concluded The Conference Board in its 2022 “C-Suite Outlook,” it’s 23rd annual survey. The report reflects the views of 1,614 C-suite executives, including 917 CEOs globally.

The Conference Board report details the external stress points business leaders face and the impact of these stressors on growth strategies. It includes views on the benefits and risks of hybrid work models, and the struggles to find and keep good employees.

Finding good employees is noticeably harder these days. Research from Glassdoor says attracting the right job candidates is the most difficult task for 76% of hiring managers. A common woe is that the best hires are snapped up in the first ten days of actively being available on the market. This adds up to a hiring process that lasts 36 days, on average.

True Cost Of Bad Hires

Bad hires can cost your company more than you think. CareerBuilder reports that 74% of employers say they have hired the wrong person for the job.

by FIN

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the average cost of a bad hire is up to 30% of the employee’s first-year earnings.

When you examine the true costs broken down by hiring, retention, and pay, you might conclude the researchers at the Labor Department might be lowballing the true cost. Our team extrapolates the real cost might equal at least projected first-year earnings and maybe more.

Here’s why: Poor hires can result in lost productivity and expenses in hiring, recruiting, and training replacements. That can quickly add up.

Robert Half International reports in Fortune Insiders that managers assert lost salary isn’t the only money they lose by hiring the wrong person. Managers must also spend 17% of their time monitoring underperforming employees. In a typical workweek, that time suck equates to nearly a full day of wasted time.

A Harvard Business Review column by David K. Williams and Mary Michele Scott noted “that of nearly 2,700 employers surveyed, 41% estimate a single bad hire cost $25,000. A quarter of respondents estimate a bad choice has cost $50,000 or more.”

Not to mention the demoralizing impact on other employees.

”A hire that is going the wrong direction is bad for everybody involved,” writes Williams and Scott. “A dismissal is bad for the morale of the entire team. It’s even worse for the morale and future of the person you fire, who faces one of the most stressful events in human experience.”

by Tim Mossholder

Here are just some of the ways your company can suffer: lost productivity, loss of focus, poor execution, training costs, legal fees, damaged employee morale, damaged reputation in the marketplace, and lost manager supervision time.

Research by Gallup estimates that actively disengaged employees in the United States cost businesses anywhere from $450 billion to $550 billion in lost productivity each year.

Plus, the number of bad hires is staggering. Think of how many new hires fail to meet expectations.

“Over 50% of newly hired employees fail to meet expectations,” says recruiting expert Barry Deutsch of Impact Hiring Solutions. “Most hiring managers don’t make a significant change by firing the person, putting a PIP together, or having a deep developmental program to improve performance or behavior. They just accept partially competent people, or take those elements off the plate that the employee can’t do – and the manager does it by allowing the monkey to be transferred onto their back.”

Deutsch says that is the definition of dysfunctional.

How To Avoid Bad Hires

Deutsch, coauthor of the book You’re Not The Person I Hired, offers several suggestions for avoiding bad hires.

“One of the most powerful interview techniques for measuring success is to probe for the ability to continuously learn and adapt it to their job and expectations,” says Deutsch. “Do you probe for deep and continuous learning from the professionals and managers you’re looking to hire?”

According to Deutsch, the interview, when conducted with focused structured questions that correlate to job expectations, can be a very reliable predictor of future success.

“Unfortunately, most hiring managers don’t define the expectations so the interview questions are in doubt,” adds Deutsch “Secondly, the biggest mistake is that most hiring managers have never been trained how to conduct an accurate interview – so they are just winging it based on their life experiences. No wonder, the studies show that interview accuracy is basically as effective as rolling dice.”

Deutsch believes a proper interview process includes in-depth work style and personality assessments. As with any business decision, having the right information is critical. Work style and personality assessment testing can help reduce bad hires in three main ways:

by Bernd Dittrich

Identify potential red flags. An In-depth Workstyle and Personality assessment can discover issues that are sometimes overlooked during the interviewing process and can quantify an intuition or feeling the interviewer may have about a particular candidate. It can be used to identify potential red flags concerning behavioral issues, help understand how to manage individuals for greater work performance and compare interpersonal dynamics of teams, departments, and candidates.

Optimize employees’ work performance. An In-depth Workstyle and Personality can provide extensive information on an individual’s ability to work with their job responsibilities, team dynamics and company culture. Additionally, the assessment can show effective strategies to gain optimal performance from that individual within their particular work environment. It can also be employed to quickly identify the most effective management style for a new employee or predict how team members are likely to interact.

Ensure you have the right people in the right positions: Additionally, an In-depth Workstyle and Personality Assessments can be utilized in rehires, or situations which call for employees to re-apply for their current jobs, as in the case of a corporate merger or restructuring. A personality assessment can also ensure that your company continues to have the right people in the right positions and distribute assets and talents effectively.

How does Deutsch define a good hire?

by Jackalope West

“I would define quality of hire as a candidate who hits or exceeds your specific quantifiable outcomes at the 90-day or six-month timeframe with a set of behaviors and style that is consistent with your organizational culture and values,” says Deutsch.

Assessments and professional feedback is not just for the Fortune 500 companies, but can help organizations of all sizes with avoiding bad hires.

Lighthouse Consulting Services helps a variety of companies avoid bad hires through in-depth workstyle and personality assessments and professional interpretation of the results. Not only does this help avoid bad hires, but these assessments also help companies get the most out of new hires from day one. These assessments are tremendous productivity tools for managers who want high-performing teams.

In addition, Lighthouse Consulting provides 360-degree feedback surveys. Be warned: The amount and level of training of those providing the 360-degree feedback can impact the level of accuracy of the feedback.

Without guidance from a trained professional, bias may distort the value of the feedback. To get the full benefit, leaders need to be debriefed on the 360-degree survey results by trained professionals such as those who are part of the Lighthouse Consulting team.

Bottom line: When professionally conducted and interpreted, the results assessments help produce can be significant. But without a trained professional to help interpret the assessments, the value of their results is severely diminished.

by Kyler Boone

Dana Borowka, MA, CEO of Lighthouse Consulting Services, LLC and his organization constantly remain focused on their mission statement – “To bring effective insight to your business”. They do this through the use of in-depth work style & personality assessments to raise the hiring bar so companies select the right people to reduce hiring and management errors. LCS can test in 19 different languages, provide domestic and international interpersonal coaching and offer a variety of workshops – team building, interpersonal communication, stress & time management, sales & customer service training and negotiation skills as well as our full-service Business Consulting Division. Dana has over 30 years of business consulting experience and is a nationally renowned speaker, radio and TV personality on many topics. He is the co-author of the books, “Cracking the Personality Code”, “Cracking the Business Code” and “Cracking the High-Performance Team Code”. To order the books, please visit www.lighthouseconsulting.com.

Lighthouse Consulting Services, LLC – Testing Division provides a variety of services, including in-depth work style & personality assessments for new hires & staff development. LCS can test in 19 different languages, skills testing, domestic and international interpersonal coaching and offer a variety of workshops – team building, interpersonal communication. Business Consulting for Higher Productivity Division provides stress & time management workshops, sales & customer service training and negotiation skills, leadership training, market research, staff planning, operations, ERP/MRP selection and implementation, refining a remote work force, M&A including due diligence – success planning – value creation and much more.

If you would like additional information on this topic or others, please contact Lighthouse Consulting Services LLC, Santa Monica, CA, (310) 453-6556, dana@lighthouseconsulting.com & our website: www.lighthouseconsulting.com.

Archive for year: 2024

By David Shaffer MBA , Sr. Consultant, Practice Head for M&A and ERP/MRP

By David Shaffer MBA , Sr. Consultant, Practice Head for M&A and ERP/MRP

What Is Your Current State Of Mind?

Five Action Steps To Assess Your Current Situation And Start Toward Value Creation

More Cash Flow And Time To Enjoy Life

Conclusion

By Patty Crabtree, Sr. Consultant

Why The Waning Effectiveness?

The Return of the 360 Assessment Gift

Avoid the Misuse of the 360 Assessment

By Dana Borowka, MA

1. Compare Their Resume Against Your Job Description

2. Assess Their Problem-Solving Resources

3. Determine Their Patterns For Coping With Stress

4. Examine Their Interpersonal Interaction Styles

5. Analyze Career Activity Interests

6. Assess How They Respond To Tests

7. Chronicle Strengths & Weakness Ledger

8. Create Personality Probing Interview Questions

By Doug Clute

A Staffing Plan Fit For A King

Staffing Linked To Productivity

The Six Steps Of Staff Planning

Let The Process Flow

By Dana Borowka, MA

True Cost Of Bad Hires

How To Avoid Bad Hires

In-Depth Work Style Personality Testing

Talent Development

Lighthouse Consulting Partners, LLC

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