Eric Jacobson

Archive for the ‘Hiring’ Category


How To Hire A Marketing Leader

In Effective Communications, General Leadership Skills, Hiring, Hiring Great People, Leadership, Leadership Education, Leadership Skills, Management, Marketing on January 19, 2012 at 7:35 pm

Welcome Debbie Laskey to my blog! 

With 15 years of marketing experience and an MBA Degree, Debbie developed her marketing expertise while working in the high-tech industry, the Consumer Marketing Department at Disneyland Paris in France, the non-profit arena, and the insurance industry. 

Currently, Debbie is a brand marketing and social media consultant to small businesses and nonprofits in California. 

I met Debbie a few years ago while we worked together on a training committee for MicroMentor, a nonprofit that connects small business owners with business mentors. 

  • Debbie and I recently discussed what business owners should look for when hiring marketing leaders, and highlights are provided below. 

Eric:  What personality traits are ideal for a marketing leader?

Debbie Laskey: First, marketing is not sales. I say this because, while the two areas must work in tandem if both departments exist in a company, sales people have very different personalities than those in marketing.

People who sell cars or real estate focus completely on the sale. Most people who work in marketing focus on the entire customer lifecycle from prospecting to building relationships to creating a sale to building repeat business. Therefore, marketing professionals need to be patient, flexible, high-energy, and dedicated. 

From a business perspective, the best marketing professionals are innovative, open-minded, adaptable, and enjoy working with all types of people. From a management perspective, the best marketing leaders are those who have managed both small and large teams, possess excellent communication skills, served as leaders in the past, and worked in a variety of industries.

Eric:  What’s the best professional background for a marketing leader?

Debbie Laskey: Talented marketing leaders can go from one industry to another with fast ramp-up time. Since experience and education are critical, a person who has worked as a marketing leader in one industry can apply what he/she has learned – both initiatives that worked and those that didn’t – and can easily market anything ranging from widgets to professional services. Naturally, there will be differences in the B2C, B2B, and nonprofit arenas, but marketing leaders can quickly study the competitive landscape, target market, value proposition, and then recommend viable marketing campaigns.

Eric:  What should be discussed during the interview process when searching for a marketing leader?

Debbie Laskey: Since a marketing leader should be an important member of a company’s leadership team, the hiring process should allow sufficient time for both parties to get to know each other. 

Several members of the company should interview the top candidates, and questions should focus on realistic situations to determine how the candidates will approach the development of marketing campaigns and how to increase business opportunities for the company. 

It is an insult to ask questions such as, “If you were a bug, which one would you be?” or “What are your strengths and weaknesses?” These questions range from the ridiculous to those that demand canned responses. The reality is that no one will hire a candidate who can list three weaknesses. Besides, if someone is a good interviewer, he/she can easily determine strengths and weaknesses without having to ask. 

Since the best interviews are conversations, rather than interrogations, focus on realistic marketing scenarios such as, “If we were going to implement a social media campaign, which social media channels would you emphasize and why?” or “If we were going to implement a mobile marketing initiative for the spring quarter, how would you create your plan?” 

Also, ask for details about previous marketing successes – and watch how the candidate explains the successes. Is he/she enthusiastic or bored? Does he/she take ownership of the campaign? Also, ask about marketing campaigns that might not have yielded the expected results. Ask the candidate to explain why and watch body language. Does he/she take ownership for the lack of results? 

If the candidate said he/she managed others, one way to confirm the accuracy of that fact is by asking how he/she rewarded or thanked a subordinate for performing excellent work. Again, watch how the candidate answers and be on the look-out for enthusiasm or discomfort.

Eric:  How should you measure the performance of a newly-hired marketing leader after 30 days, 90 days, and one year?

Debbie Laskey: When a new person joins the team as the marketing leader, there is often a lot to learn about the company, its competitive advantage, its target market, and its competitors. Therefore, a good marketing professional will spend time creating a marketing audit, which reflects on the external marketing environment (customers and competition), the internal marketing environment (company resources including staff, budgets, product portfolio, new products, pricing, distribution, and market share), and evaluates all previous marketing initiatives. 

It is critical to understand previous marketing activities, what worked, and what did not work in order to create a new marketing plan that will yield more successful results. 

If a company does not want the new marketing leader to analyze previous initiatives, that is a clue that the company does not want to undertake any serious marketing initiatives. Walk to the door and leave – no, run – the job is not a fit and will just cause frustration. But if the company’s leaders genuinely want to improve their business and implement new marketing initiatives, they will welcome a detailed marketing audit. 

Based on timing and priorities, an audit may take one-to-three months. 

In addition, a new marketing leader should speak with all department leaders to gain detailed understandings of their departments and how they will work in tandem with the marketing department. 

There may also be a need to hire additional marketing staff – that may take place during a marketing leader’s first six-to-twelve months. 

But the bottom line is that the new marketing leader and the business owner must agree on the marketing leader’s overall objectives for all timeframes – they must be on the same page for success to result.

Eric:  Where can a business owner learn more about marketing?

Debbie Laskey: Here are some excellent online marketing resources:

You may follow Debbie on Twitter (www.twitter.com/DebbieLaskeyMBA), Google+ (http://www.gplus.to/dlmba), or on her Blog (http://debbielaskey.blogspot.com).


How To Identify A Leader During An Interview

In General Leadership Skills, Hiring, Hiring Great People, Leadership, Leadership Books, Leadership Education, Leadership Skills, Management on January 7, 2012 at 8:31 pm

The next time you are interviewing a candidate and you want to access  their leadership skills, consider asking the candidate these questions:

  • What personal qualities define you as a leader?  Describe a situation when these qualities helped you lead others.
  • Give an example of when you demonstrated good leadership.
  • What is the toughest group from which you’ve had to get cooperation?
  • Have you ever had difficulty getting others to accept your ideas?  What was your approach?  Did it work?
  • Describe a situation in which you had to change your leadership style to achieve the goal?
  • One leadership skill is the ability to accommodate different views  in the workplace, regardless of what they are.  What have you done to  foster a wide number of views in your work environment?

Thanks to Sharon Armstrong, author of The Essential HR Handbook, for these helpful questions!


Now What Do You Ask A Job Candidate?

In General Leadership Skills, Hiring, Leadership, Management on June 17, 2011 at 7:49 pm

Twenty-some years ago, my supervisor taught me to ask job candidates, “If you are stranded on an island and could choose to have with you only one book and one magazine, which book and magazine would you choose?”

Over the years, some of the same books and magazines were often named by many respondents, but the range of mentioned books and magazines was quite varied.  As the candidate’s future leader, his/her
answer gave me a deeper insight into that person, particularly when I would ask the person to provide the reason for their choice.

But, what does one ask today?  Perhaps the new question is, “If you are stranded on an island and could choose only one media channel, which one would you choose?”  And, perhaps you offer the candidate this list of options instead of leaving the question open-ended:

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Google
  • Yahoo
  • Hulu

I wonder if the answers to this media channel question will be as, more, or less revealing than the former book and magazine question.  And, do you think I should change the list of options?  What should be added or deleted and why?


The Reasons To Interview Candidates In Three Different Places

In General Leadership Skills, Hiring, Hiring Great People, Leadership, Leadership Books, Leadership Education, Leadership Skills, Leadership Training, Management on February 19, 2011 at 9:08 am

One of the reasons you want to interview people in three different places is that candidates will usually be at their very best in the first interview (likely in your office).  After that, if they are pretending, the veneer will come off in subsequent meetings in out-of-the office locations.

Also, because most employees can only be successful in their jobs in different locations as well, it makes sense to witness your candidates in different settings.  So, consider interviewing the candidate over a lunch at a nearby restaurant. 

And, finally, consider interviewing them in a group setting where you invite a variety of your employees to be part of the group.  If you do this, be sure to let each employee voice their “vote” regarding the candidate after the meeting.

There are lots more great tips like this one in Thompson’s and Tracy’s new book, Now…Build a Great Business!


Don’t Hire Jerks, No Matter How Talented

In Company Culture, General Leadership Skills, Hiring, Hiring Great People, Leadership, Leadership Skills, Leadership Training, Management on February 8, 2011 at 7:35 am

“Don’t Hire Jerks, No Matter How Talented,” said Michael Lebowitz in a recent interview for The New York Times. 

Lebowitz is the CEO of Big Spaceship, a marketing and communications agency.  He claims, and I agree, that no matter how talented the person may be, if he/she can’t fit into the company culture and work effectively with co-workers, it doesn’t matter how talented he/she is.

The other advice Lebowitz gives is:

  • If you are the CEO, be the FIRST person to interview a candidate.  Don’t be last, as is typically the case.

“I completely step back from trying to assess their skills. I leave that to the people they’re going to be working with really closely,” said Lebowitz.  “And, so I spend as much time as an hour, sometimes 90 minutes, just trying to figure out who they are and if they’re going to be a good fit for the culture.”

In his interviews, Lebowitz asks these open-ended questions:

  • So, what do you do?
  • What do you like to do?
  • What should you do on your first day, first week, and first month?

“If one of the answers isn’t “listen,” then it’s not going to work out at all. 

Thanks to marketing guru, Debbie Laskey, for sending me the interview.


Don’t Hire Someone Just Like You

In Company Culture, General Leadership Skills, Hiring, Leadership Skills, Management, Team Building on August 24, 2010 at 8:08 pm

Despite the temptation to hire someone like yourself, hire someone to complement your skills –not to duplicate your skills.

Managers often find it easier, more comfortable, or less threatening to hire someone with similar skills and work habits. But, to build a well-balanced team and to achieve maximum success, you need to have employees who can fill in your weaker areas.

So, if you are a great idea person, but a poor communicator, hire someone with strong communications skills. Similarly, if your team excels in sales but lacks organization, add an employee who leads in organization.

This may all seem like common sense. And you obviously need to hire someone to meet certain/minimum skill sets and who will be a good overall fit. But, do what you can to avoid the trap or temptation to hire someone just like you.


HR Handbook Is For All Managers

In General Leadership Skills, Hiring, Job Descriptions, Leadership Books, Leadership Education, Leadership Skills, Leadership Training, Performance Appraisals on January 12, 2010 at 9:28 pm

It’s unfortunately too common for an employee to be promoted into a management position with little to no Human Resources (HR) training.  Similarly, many small business owners don’t have a dedicated human resources person so they end up muddling their way through critical human resources issues while wearing the HR hat.

These are some of the reasons authors Sharon Armstrong and Barbara Mitchell wrote the book “The Essential HR Handbook,” described by them as “a quick and handy resource for any manager or HR professional.”

If you don’t have the time or funds to attend HR training at a nearby educational institution or if there is not within your workplace a qualified and seasoned mentor to teach you HR skills, this book provides the novice manager important basics, accompanied by real-world examples and templates that you can readily use as you lead your team of one or more employees.  It’s also an excellent refresher for managers who need to hone their hiring, onboarding, and performance evaluating capabilities.

Within 250 digest-size pages, authors Armstrong and Mitchell cover:

  •        Strategic planning
  •        Mission statements
  •        Optimal staffing
  •        Interviewing
  •        Orientation and onboarding
  •        Training and development
  •        Performance evaluations
  •        Benefits
  •        Compensation
  •        Employee relations
  •        Legal considerations
  •        Diversity
  •        Technology
  •        21st-Century workplace challenges

So, the book covers the core elements of the HR function, and includes in each topic section/chapter a summary “Main Message For Managers” that serves as both a quick read for those with limited time and as a reminder point for future reference.

One of the most important chapters walks the reader through the entire performance appraisal process where the authors caution managers to watch for these pitfalls when rating employees:

  1.        Clustering everyone in the middle performance-rating categories
  2.        Overlooking flaws or exaggerating the achievements of favored employees
  3.        Excusing substandard performance or behavior because it is widespread
  4.        Letting one characteristic — positive or negative — affect your overall assessment
  5.        Rating someone based on the company he or she keeps
  6.        Rating someone based on a grudge you are holding
  7.        Rating someone based on too short of a time period
  8.        Rating everyone high, to make you look good

In addition, even seasoned managers who interact with their HR staff can benefit from, in particular, reading and learning the lingo in the chapter on legal considerations.

When Armstrong isn’t writing books, she’s reading, and one of her favorite leadership books  is “The 7 Hidden Reasons Employees Leave,” written by Leigh Branham, of Keeping The People, Inc., in Overland Park, KS.


Hire To Complement, Not To Duplicate

In General Leadership Skills, Hiring, Leading By Example on November 14, 2009 at 12:36 pm

Photo By: iStock

Despite the temptation to hire someone like yourself, hire someone to complement your skills –not to duplicate your skills.

Managers often find it easier, more comfortable, or less threatening to hire someone with similar skills and work habits. But, to build a well-balanced team and to achieve maximum success, you need to have employees who can fill in your weaker areas.

So, if you are a great idea person, but a poor communicator, hire someone with strong communications skills. Similarly, if your team excels in sales but lacks organization, add an employee who leads in organization.

This may all seem like common sense. And you obviously need to hire someone to meet certain/minimum skill sets and who will be a good overall fit. But, do what you can to avoid the trap or temptation to hire someone just like you.

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