Identifying Top Performers
Traits to hire by
Select Comfort not only keeps track of its best-performing employees but also attempts to isolate which characteristics make them productive. The company uses that information as a guide in its hiring. "We do focus groups where we talk to our top performers about what makes them successful," says Sara Evans, human-resources staffing coordinator. Those employees are also asked to take a standard personality-profiling test, which requires them to identify behaviors that are most and least like them (for example, gentle/kind, humble/reserved, and so on). Computerized scoring generates a 20-page personality profile, information that is used to develop interview questions for prospective employees. A top performer might also be asked to help develop questions for a series of multidisciplinary interviews with job candidates. The glitch: "The profile you were looking for two years ago isn't the same as it is today," says de Naray. So the company updates the profiles (the top performers might be different employees) every year.
"Our interviewing process is intense," says de Naray. "We spend an enormous amount of time probing who you are as an individual." Prospective employees may be asked how they deal with frustration, to describe a milestone in their careers, or how they organize tasks. "They wanted to make sure we had a good match around principles and values," recalls Rob Hawthorne, the newly hired CEO. "Then they needed to find out if I had the skills to run the company."
Defining Jobs
Incorporating a training function
At Select Comfort all new employees at the home office go through a two-day orientation at the University of Select Comfort, an internal training facility that also offers ongoing skills courses. New hires at the company's retail stores are trained by their area managers but also complete a video training program on Select Comfort's specific selling method, called Desire Fulfillment Selling (DFS).
"We get an exam that comes to us every quarter," says Karen McFarland. "Or sometimes we might get a surprise visit from corporate headquarters and be given a test." A monthly video called Talking Select keeps all employees abreast of new production techniques, plans for expansion, the results of market research, or any number of other companywide issues.
The company also relies heavily on its employees to help ease the transition for new hires. When Gloria Inabinet and her colleagues in South Carolina started their new jobs, seven master sewers were flown in from the company's Minneapolis manufacturing plant to help train the newcomers. "They didn't just train me, but they taught me how to be a trainer, too," says Inabinet, who was elected by the master sewers and her supervisor as one of four people on her shift qualified to train others. In Minneapolis, several departments use the buddy system to integrate new employees. "We take new representatives and pair them up with more experienced employees," says Amanda Birnstengel, a customer-service supervisor. Employees who volunteer to be buddies earn points toward pay increases.
"We intend for people to stay with us a long time," says de Naray. He's convinced that the key to employee longevity--and its corresponding effect on the bottom line--is to reduce the risk of a mismatch before making an offer. "Once someone joins, we expect them to be the right person from day one," he says. "We know they have some skill sets or characteristics that the company needs, so we don't waste time up front not trusting them." With that burden lifted, the company can set its sights on the next 1,300 employees.
HIRE POWER
Not every company has--or needs--as comprehensive an approach to recruiting as Select Comfort's. For some Inc. 500 companies, it all boils down to a handful of successful techniques, including:
If You Can Find This Ad, You Can Have This Job. At Bristol Technology Inc. (#140), CEO Keith Blackwell finds 80% of his new hires through the company's Web page, which introduces job seekers to everything from the company culture to its picturesque hometown, Ridgefield, Conn. Applicants E-mail their rÉsumÉs, which pop up immediately on the computer screens of key managers. "We respond to everyone within 24 hours," says Blackwell. "And that allows us to interview them, make them an offer, and hire them before anyone else does."
Are There More at Home Like You? Nepotism is the norm at Betek Manufacturing (#275), where 30% of all employees have a relative working nearby. Nearly 80% of all hires are Vietnamese or Mexican, from cultures in which family ties typically run deep. "When they work together, they can carpool and also train new people more easily," says CEO Binh Nguyen.
Do You Want This Job Badly? How Badly? I CAN'T HEAR YOU! When Forrest Wheat is looking for a few good men (or women), he usually relies upon the good judgment of his former employer--the military. About two-thirds of Wheat International's (#174) workers are retired military personnel, armed with "a can-do spirit," says the CEO. Wheat's a navy man, but that hasn't stopped him from hiring the occasional marine and even an air force colonel.
We'll Take You--and Your Flock. When Howard Getson hired four Baptist ministers as key programmers for his software-development company, IntellAgent Control Corp. (#221), it was a blessing in disguise. Each minister has recruited several members of his congregation, which, says Getson, "has created an unparalleled atmosphere of kindness and integrity." There's an added benefit: "They atone for my sins," says Getson.
Take a Job Here, and You'll Never Have to See Me Again. Only seven of Ray Neverdahl's 100 employees work out of Neverdahl-Loft & Associates' (#182) main office in Lincoln, Neb.; the rest are scattered throughout the country. Since the company does computer consulting in 18 states, Neverdahl gives potential employees a wide choice of locations. "Our turnover is low because the consultants are living in the area of their choice," says Neverdahl.
You Can't Hide from Us, So You Might as Well Work for Us. K.C. Sukumar isn't bothered by the scarcity of American software developers, even though programming talent is the lifeblood of Taj Technologies (#294). He recruits globally, targeting professionals in India and the Philippines who have worked for U.S. multinationals overseas. "They get on the plane on Saturday and arrive Monday ready to work," says Sukumar.
Here Comes the Bribe. Bristol Technology (#140) gives anyone who successfully recommends a hire a $675 Cannondale mountain bike. At AccuData America (#329), any employee referral is worth $2,000, with $500 paid out immediately, another $500 paid after three months, and the remaining $1,000 given six months after the hire. Employees at Analytical Graphics (#408) collect their entire $2,000 bounty in 90 days, while at Omicron Systems (#293), half the $3,000 referral bonus is paid in three months, the other half at the end of the year. Finally, Hilton H. Augustine Jr., CEO of Global Management Systems (#83), rewards employees with immediate bonuses of $2,000 for technical referrals and $1,000 for nontechnical ones. "It's not the employee's fault if the referral doesn't work out," he says. "That's management's responsibility."
