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I’ve spent much of my career teaching people how to have “crucial conversations.” In the work place, most crucial conversations are about feedback – the process of helping others improve by pointing out deficiencies in their behavior or work. I’ve realized lately that a lot of my work could have been avoided if leaders had understood one simple thing:
 
The primary reason people struggle with giving and receiving feedback is not a lack of proficiency but of frequency.
 
I learned this in a surprising way. Over the past year I’ve watched a group of 50 criminals, hard core drug addicts and homeless people start three highly successful companies. The first was a moving company — called The Other Side Movers. All 50 are part of a 2-year program called The Other Side Academy — or TOSA. The majority of the students at TOSA are there as an alternative to incarceration. Some were facing prison sentences decades in length. Instead, they are now living in a large historic home running businesses as a way to learn a new way of living. I serve as a board member of The Other Side Academy.
 
Within six months of starting The Other Side Movers, they paid off their first moving truck and purchased two more. Business will exceed $1 million in the first year. Even more impressive, they catapulted to the top of every referral site to become the #1 ranked moving company in their area. Customers sound like they are describing high-end spa services rather than movers. One typical review effuses: “Wow. This is the best customer experience I’ve ever had… These guys are true heroes!”
 
And their other two businesses are off to a similar start.
 
So how do they do it? How have a group of society’s castoffs come to dominate in each of their business undertakings?
 
At The Other Side Movers, feedback is normal.
 
Having spent a great deal of time urging people to improve the impact of their feedback by improving its packaging, I’ve been humbled to discover that we ought to spend more time increasing frequency rather than improving delivery.
 
A core value at The Other Side Movers is “200% Accountability.” Meaning every employee is expected to be 100% accountable for the quality of their own work, AND 100% accountable for the quality of the work of everyone else they see. The quickest way to get in trouble at The Other Side Movers is not to fail on #1, but on #2.
 
Here’s are three ways The Other Side Movers makes feedback normal:
 
It’s a regular ritual rather than an occasional blast.
Let’s face it, not many of us look forward to giving and receiving feedback. In fact, if we could get away with doing it every five years, we’d probably prefer it that way. Feedback at The Other Side Movers is given daily in two ways.
 
One is through “pull ups.” If you see someone doing something wrong, you are obligated to immediately “pull them up.” Then pass the information about the mistake to a crew leader. You don’t delve into detail during the pull up – you simply offer corrective feedback. The person receiving the feedback is encouraged to simply respond with “okay.” The vast majority of this kind of feedback is delivered by peers — sometimes even by a junior peer pointing out a problem to a more senior one.
 
The second is Games. Twice a week all employees sit in a circle and play “The Game.” The Game is a peer-driven process of bringing feedback to those you care enough about to help them improve. That doesn’t mean it is a love-fest. It can get loud and raucous. Feedback recipients are often defensive. But as other members of the group add their perspective to the feedback you’re given, you find it less tenable to deny the concerns – and eventually find the humility to embrace what your colleagues are telling you. The very frequency of Games — not the quality of delivery — lowers the emotional stakes over time to where team members become comfortable hearing difficult truths.
 
Patch up after you pull up.
The biggest predictor of whether people become defensive when presented feedback is not the elegance of the delivery — but the motive behind it. New team members at The Other Side Movers are instructed that their primary job is to help their brothers and sisters change their lives. That’s why they must hold them accountable. If they “play the game” to simply vent their own frustration — they’re doing it selfishly. And if that’s their motive, others will be less likely to listen. After giving someone a tough “pull up” team members are taught to offer a “patch up.” Patching up means helping them know they are cared about and respected. I’ve never seen more love expressed in any setting in my life than I have in Games. I’ve also never heard more cursing in any similar space of time. That they both happen in the same meeting is the reason feedback works at The Other Side Movers.
 
Groups do it better.
Everyone knows that defensiveness is the antibody of feedback. When managers in most workplaces meet with employees one-on-one, even the best prepared feedback can ricochet off deaf ears. The recipient has all manner of extenuating circumstances and cogent arguments with which to explain it away. The reason so little of this feedback gets through is that most of those who experienced the problem caused by the employee’s actions aren’t in the room.
 
This doesn’t happen at The Other Side Movers. Here, those who saw it say it. They’re all in The Game with you. Defensiveness often flares temporarily, but it is promptly smothered into irrelevance by a cloud of expert witnesses — the ones who were directly affected by what you did or did not do.
 
For example, customers of The Other Side Movers are stunned at the impeccable courtesy such an unusual group of characters show them. I learned why as I watched a team address a very sensitive issue during Games.
 
In the midst of the Game, one team member turned to a colleague and yelled, “Rick” (not his real name), “why were you staring at that woman’s body today?” (I cleaned up the exact allegation).
 
Rick flushed red. “I was not.” He shot back.
 
“The hell you weren’t. You were sitting there checking her out while her back was turned. It made me sick. You put us all at risk. We have a reputation and you could throw it all away by acting like a creep. Knock it off!”
 
Rick still looked defiant. Until three other team members spoke up. By the third, Rick’s shoulders slumped. He said, “I’m sorry. Yeah, I do that. I’ll stop.” And the Game moved to the next employee.
 
The culture at The Other Side Movers — and other businesses of The Other Side Academy — is not for everyone. Some walk out after the first game. And clearly companies with more “sophisticated” employees might struggle with the raw form of the feedback offered at The Other Side Movers. But I’m convinced they’re onto something.
 
My research over the past 30 years has shown that you can largely predict the health of an organization by measuring the average lag time between identifying and discussing problems. At The Other Side Movers that lag time is as close to zero as I’ve ever seen. And the results speak for themselves.
 
From Harvard Business Review

 
But before you start recommending that you attend every critical meeting at your company, keep the following in mind: Check your ego at the door. Ask yourself, am I feeling vulnerable or paranoid or do I really need to be there?
 
We know that adding more people around the table almost always results in more complexity and the need for more time. Is there another representative from your group there that you trust to raise concerns? Is the focus of the meeting related to work your team does, but will really be a deeper dive on the primary work of another group?
 
Reach out to a colleague who is on the list to find out more about the agenda and objective of the meeting to determine whether it’s appropriate for you to add your voice to the discussion.
 
Develop your rationale. Once you know enough about the agenda to affirm that you need to be involved in the discussion, ask yourself whether the cons of your attending are worth the benefits. If your assessment reveals that you’d just like to be included, drop it. But if your research reveals you should be included, begin to build your case. Be prepared to answer the question of why you need to be there in a non-self-serving way. Frame your reply with a focus on what perspective, expertise, or information your team might offer the group. Don’t ask if you need to be there; ask “does my role need to be present at the table?”
 
Offer to help. If you decide that it makes good business sense for your role to be at the meeting, and you’ve prepared your case, it’s time to raise the issue with the organizer. Send the host of the meeting an email, saying you wanted to check in about the meeting in question (let’s call it the Operations Update meeting). Request that the host stops by to chat, or invite them to a meeting—whatever is most appropriate in your organizational culture. “Dear Annika, do you have 15 minutes to chat about the Operations Update? I’m in the office tomorrow and relatively meeting-free, so please stop by whenever it works for you.” The key here is to reach out, briefly, in writing first, and then to conduct the conversation on the heart of the issue on the phone or in person — where you can convey your thoughts, feelings, and tone most clearly.
 
When you speak, don’t say “why wasn’t I invited to that meeting? I should have been invited!” Instead try something along the lines of “I noticed that I’m not on the attendee list for the weekly operations meeting. After speaking with Joe about what is generally covered on the agenda, I think it would be helpful if I was there. This will ensure that the marketing perspective is represented and will keep my team in the loop of upcoming priorities so we can plan accordingly and meet critical deadlines. If you agree that it makes sense for marketing to be included, we can discuss whether that representative is me or someone from my team.”
 
Stay neutral. Focus on the process rather than the personalities. The conversation shouldn’t be about you or how you feel, or about how it’s wrong that so and so is there but you’re not, and so on. Guide the conversation toward addressing why it makes sense for your role to be present. In our work with leadership teams about meeting governance, we coach folks to put the company first by stepping forward to “vote themselves off the island” by opting out of meetings where they wouldn’t add value.
 
When someone says “since my newly hired boss is now also attending this meeting, I really don’t need to be here anymore”—even at high-visibility prestigious meeting—it demonstrates to CEOs and peers that that person is putting the company first, and that selflessness and maturity goes a long way toward building social capital and goodwill. When you take the emotion out of the situation and look for opportunities for the organization to work together more efficiently and productively, and put aside your ego and individual career goals, you’ll gain the respect of your superiors, peers, and subordinates. Which increases the likelihood that when you deserve a seat at the table — you’ll get one.

What the Experts Say
 
There’s a difference between a difficult employee and a toxic one, says Dylan Minor, an assistant professor at the Kellogg School of Management who studies this topic. “I call them toxic because not only do they cause harm but they also spread their behavior to others,” she explains. “There’s a pattern of de-energizing, frustrating or putting down teammates,” adds Christine Porath, an associate professor at Georgetown and the author of Mastering Civility: A Manifesto for the Workplace. “It’s not just that Joe is rude. The whole team suffers because of it.” Of course, your first step as a manager should be to avoid hiring toxic people in the first place, but once they’re on your team, it can be hard to get rid of them. “Oftentimes the behavior doesn’t run against anything legal so you can’t fire them if others in the organization don’t agree that a line has been crossed,” Porath explains. Here’s what to do instead.
 
Dig deeper
 
The first step is to take a closer look at the behavior and what’s causing it. Is the person unhappy in the job? Struggling in their personal life? Frustrated with coworkers? “You might meet with them and ask how they’re doing — at work, at home, and with their career development,” suggests Porath. If you find there’s a reason for why they’re acting the way they are, offer to help. “A manager can use this information to coach the person, or suggest resources to help address the root of the problem.” For example, adds Minor, if the person is going through a divorce or struggling with a mental health issue, you could offer “counseling resources or time off that could potentially alleviate” the underlying issue.
 
Give them direct feedback
 
In many cases, toxic people are oblivious to the effect they have on others. “Most of the time people don’t realize that they’re as destructive as they are,” Porath says. “They’re too focused on their own behaviors and needs to be aware of the broader impact.”  That’s why it’s crucial to give direct and honest feedback — so they understand the problem and have an opportunity to change. The standard feedback rules apply:  Objectively explain the behavior and its effects, using specific, concrete examples.  “It’s not helpful to say, ‘You’re annoying us all,’” Porath explains. “You have to ground it in the work.”  Also discuss what kind of behavior you’d like to see instead and develop an improvement plan with the employee. “What do you expect them to change? Strive for clearly defined, measurable goals,” Porath says.  “You’re giving them the chance to have a more positive impact on people.”
 
Explain the consequences
 
If the carrot doesn’t work, you can also try the stick. “We all tend to respond more strongly to potential losses than we do to potential gains, so it’s important to show offenders what they stand to lose if they don’t improve,” says Porath. If the person is hesitant to reform, figure out what they care most about — the privilege of working from home, their bonus—and put that at stake. For most people, the possibility of missing out on a promised promotion or suffering other consequences “tied to the pocketbook” will be a strong motivation to behave in a more civil way.
 
Accept that some people won’t change
 
Of course, you should always hope that the person can change but not everyone will respond to the tactics listed above. Minor is currently researching toxic doctors and says that early results indicate that some are either unable or unwilling to change. Porath’s research on incivility has meanwhile found that “4% of people engage in this kind of behavior just because it’s fun and they believe they can get away with it.” In those extreme cases, you should recognize that you won’t be able to fix the problem and begin to explore more serious responses.
 
Document everything
 
If you conclude that you really need to fire the person, you must first document their offenses and any response you’ve offered so far. “You want to establish a pattern of behavior, the steps you took to address it, the information, warnings or resources provided to the employee, and the failure of the employee to change,” Porath says.  Include “supporting material” too: formal complaints, relevant information from performance evaluations, such as 360-degree or peer reviews. The idea, says Minor, is to protect yourself and the company and to show your employee exactly why they are being let go.
 
Separate the toxic person from other team members
 
Even if you can’t get rid of a bad apple, you can isolate it from the rest of the bushel so the rot doesn’t spread. Minor’s research shows that people close to a toxic employee are more likely to become toxic themselves, but the good news is that the risk also subsides quickly,” he says. As soon as you put some physical distance between the offender and the rest of the team – for example, by rearranging desks, reassigning projects, scheduling fewer all-hands meetings, or encouraging more work-from-home days — you’ll see the situation start to improve. Porath calls this “immunizing” the others. “You’re trying to protect people like you would with a disease,” she says. “You will hopefully decrease the number of run-ins and the cognitive loss.” But make sure to do this with discretion. Let employees come to you with their complaints about the toxic colleague and use “one-on-one conversations” to coach them on how they might minimize their interactions.”
 
Don’t get distracted
 
Managing a toxic person can eat up your time, energy, and productivity. But “don’t spend so much on one individual that your other priorities fall by the wayside,” says Porath. To counteract the negativity and make sure you’re still thriving, “surround yourself with supportive, positive people” and “look for meaning and purpose in your work,” she says.  Also focus on basic self-care. “If someone is draining you, build yourself up by exercising, eating right, sleeping, and taking breaks, both short-term ones and vacations,” she says. “Being healthy and proactive is the one thing we know that buffers people from the effects of toxic behavior.”
 
PRINCIPLES TO REMEMBER
 
Don’t:
- Bring the situation up with your other team members. Allow them to mention it first and then provide suggestions
- Try to fire the person unless you’ve documented the behavior, its impact, and your response
- Get so wrapped up in handling the issue that you ignore more important work and responsibilities
 
Do:
- Talk to the person to try to understand what’s causing the behavior
- Give concrete, specific feedback and offer the opportunity to change
- Look for ways to minimize interactions between the toxic employee and the rest of your team
 
By Amy Gallo, Harvard Business Review

"I have no weaknesses"
 
The worst thing you can answer is that you have no weaknesses. It is not credible, and show that you either hiding something or that you do not have self-awareness. Equally bad is it, however, to suggest properties that are not really weaknesses.
Instead of hiding the own weaknesses, it is better to tell how you are working to develop. All have areas we prefer to improve and there is nothing to hide. Can you explain what you want to get better at, showing you that you are mature and reflective.
 
"I work too much"
Do not mention a weakness that is not relevant for the job. Should you find a job as IT consultant, it does not matter that you're badly to turn up IKEA furniture. Also avoid simple answers such as "I work too hard," "I get too involved," or "I'm a perfectionist." Take rather the opportunity to show that you have the ability to learn from your own mistakes.
 
So what should you respond?
Here are 8 tips from best career advisor
 
1. Find a flaw that can be linked to job to do, and explain what you have done to improve.
 
2. Rephrase the question to areas you think you can develop on.
 
3. When you mention a weakness, it is important to give examples of situations in the workplace where you have encountered problems because of this. Then explain how you work to get better, and how far you have come. Show that you make an effort to improve your weaknesses.
 
4. Talk to people who know about the weaknesses you have at work.
 
5. Customizing you after business culture of the company you are applying at. If you answer that you are quickly tired of routines, it can fit nicely into a new business, but perhaps not as well in a larger and established.
 
6. Keep track of body language during the interview: Breathe normally and hold eye contact. Think about it, but do you use for a long time before answering, you have already shown a weakness.
 
7. Do not go to extremes in an attempt to be overly honest. A job interview is not the best place to confess your worst sins. Prepare an honest, relevant and constructive response.
 
8. Practice for yourself, in front of friends or in front of the camera.
 
By Olive Davin at Indeed Best jobs

Ça y est, vous êtes ami avec tout votre open space, ou presque, sur Facebook. D’ailleurs, il vous arrive de faire des groupes de discussion pour aller boire un verre après le boulot. Pour autant, pouvez-vous utiliser Messenger pour signaler à votre boss que vous aurez quinze minutes de retard ce matin? Et faut-il accepter comme ami ce client pour qui vous avez travaillé durant six mois sur un projet?
 
Lire aussi: Pouvoir et réseaux sociaux: je t'aime, moi non plus
 
Au bureau, les réseaux sociaux, en raison de leurs fonctionnalités instantanées, sont devenus des outils de travail mais «la frontière entre vie privée et professionnelle y est de plus en plus floue», constate Yan Luong, chargé de la communication digitale pour le Comité international de la Croix-Rouge (CICR).
 
Le risque de l’hyperconnectivité
 
Pour le salarié, certains écueils existent. D’abord, celui du «always on»: être toujours connecté, et se retrouver, à la faveur d’une notification, à traiter des questions professionnelles entre deux courses ou en famille, via son smartphone. Facebook ne s’y est pas trompé: Facebook@work, déclinaison du réseau social à destination des entreprises, doit être lancé courant 2016.
 
L’outil met notamment l’accent sur les groupes, pour travailler sur des projets. «Les groupes Facebook se développent beaucoup enentreprise et dans la vie privée: secrets, ils n’apparaissent pas lors de recherches; fermés, ils permettent de travailler sur des projets, ce qui crée des sortes d’intranets un peu pirates dans les entreprises, offrant parfois un plus haut niveau de discussion que sur un intranet classique», constate Yan Luong. Et des discussions professionnelles qui peuvent se dérouler tard dans la nuit…
 
Lire aussi: Comment les dirigeants mondiaux utilisent Snapchat
 
«Rien n’empêche un employeur ou un client d’envoyer un message WhatsApp à 22 h, mais rien n’oblige à y répondre, c’est une hygiène de vie», constate Aline Isoz, consultante en transformation numérique. Si l’entreprise n’a pas fourni de consignes précises, c’est finalement à chacun de définir ses propres règles.
 
«Je pense qu’il faut gérer ces outils comme on le fait avec son numéro de natel: certains le communiquent, d’autres non, et certains ne répondent pas en dehors des heures de bureau. De plus, les smartphones ont évolué: l’option «Ne pas déranger» permet de recevoir les notifications pour rester informé, sans être gêné», remarque Yan Luong.
 
Dans tous les cas, «il n’y a pas de réponse unique, valable partout sur tous les réseaux», constate Aline Isoz. «Tout varie selon le poste occupé et le secteur», confirme Yan Luong. «Pour savoir quelle attitude adopter, il faut se référer à la culture de sa propre entreprise en matière de réseaux sociaux, et en discuter avec sa propre équipe, qui peut encore avoir une gestion différente. Le tout est de définir et partager une philosophie, pour que si quelqu’un se retrouve mal à l’aise, il puisse en faire part», estime le spécialiste.
 
Ne pas abuser du contact
 
Une fois le distinguo privé-professionnel effectué, reste à savoir utiliser les réseaux au bureau. Ils offrent un accès privilégié à toute une série de contacts professionnels, mais supposent quelques codes et bonnes pratiques. Ainsi sur LinkedIn, outil professionnel par excellence, il importe d’être le plus personnel possible.
 
«Les messages types pour entrer en contact sont à bannir, il faut au contraire montrer qu’on s’intéresse à l’autre, écrire un message pertinent, jouer sur les points communs, que l’on peut avoir avec les profils des personnes avec qui on souhaite se connecter», conseille Mélanie Bourquin, responsable des médias sociaux pour l’agence genevoise details.ch.
 
Une fois le contact établi, la règle d’or reste d’éviter tout spam ou offre agressive, ouvertement commerciale. Un outil comme Twitter permet de toucher directement des personnes très influentes, via notamment les messages directs, que l’on peut rédiger de manière bien moins formelle qu’un e-mail, et plus courte, même si la limite du nombre de caractères de ces messages a récemment disparu. Mais la modération reste de mise.
 
«Sur un réseau, une personne m’a accepté, mais elle peut toujours me bloquer ou arrêter la relation. Il faut donc vraiment faire attention à ne pas brûler les étapes. Oui, l’outil me donne rapidement de très bons contacts, mais je suis conscient que tout peut s’arrêter d’autant plus vite!», note Matthias Lüfkens, directeur digital pour l’agence Burson-Marsteller et blogueur sur bilan.ch. En ligne comme dans la vraie vie, faites confiance à votre bon sens: si un contact ne donne pas suite à une sollicitation, mieux vaut éviter d’insister.
 
Outre les échanges professionnels, les réseaux sont aussi des lieux où l’on s’exprime sur des thématiques, où l’on donne une image de soi. «Même si on estime y être à titre totalement privé, on doit répondre à des exigences professionnelles: 70% des responsables de ressources humaines entrent les profils de candidats ou collaborateurs sur Google», rappelle Aline Isoz.
 
Gardez à l’esprit que tout ce qui est publié peut ressortir (lire ci-dessous). Et la formule consacrée «mes tweets n’engagent que moi» «ne veut rien dire, assure Matthias Lüfkens, du moment qu’on est identifiable – parfois simplement via son nom – et associable à une entreprise, toute prise de parole en ligne peut potentiellement être reprise par un journaliste comme émanant de l’entreprise». En termes de ligne de conduite, celle de la Confédération suisse fait référence parmi les experts.
 
Profiter des formations internes
 
Ce risque a tellement été intégré par les salariés, que ces derniers n’osent plus poster! «Aujourd’hui, le risque des entreprises serait que les collaborateurs s’autocensurent par peur de mal faire. Pour que les employés deviennent les premiers ambassadeurs de l’entreprise, il faut leur expliquer les bonnes pratiques, les accompagner et leur proposer des formations adaptées», constate David Labouré, formateur et consultant en médias sociaux.
 
Un manque de compétences et d’assurance que les employeurs cherchent à combler, par la mise en place de guides et de formations. Chez BNP Paribas Suisse, des sessions de familiarisation et de conseil aux réseaux sociaux sont ainsi prévues en 2016. «BNP Paribas a l’ambition de devenir une marque conversationnelle. Les réseaux sociaux sont très présents aujourd’hui, ils le seront encore plus demain et nous devons anticiper les besoins de nos clients qui évoluent très vite. Pour les collaborateurs, cela suppose un solide accompagnement au changement», explique Isabelle Wolff, responsable marque et communication de BNP Paribas en Suisse.
 
Des ressources à solliciter sans modération: 90% des entreprises utilisent les réseaux sociaux à titre commercial, selon une étude du cabinet Proskauer. Demain, maîtriser ces outils sera un prérequis, voire une exigence professionnelle, transformation digitale oblige.
 
By Camille Andres at Bilan

1. Avoid easy-to-practice questions. If you work for a major corporation, most of the interview questions used by hiring managers at your firm are publicly posted on Glassdoor.com — along with recommended answers. So start with a clean slate of questions, and at the very least eliminate overused and easy-to-practice questions with a low predictive value, like “What are your greatest strengths and weaknesses?” and ”Why are you the best candidate?” and ”What’s your dream job?” and ”Where would you like to be in five years?”
 
YOU AND YOUR TEAM
 
2. Be wary of historical questions. Questions that require a candidate to describe how they performed in the past, also known as “behavioral interview questions” (e.g., “Tell me about a time when you led…”), are problematic in a fast-moving world where yesterday’s approaches quickly become irrelevant. And according to research by professors Frank Schmidt and John Hunter, those questions predict success only 12% better than a coin flip. Why? Because the way a candidate did years ago at another firm may be the wrong answer today at this firm with its unique culture. Historical questions also allow a good storyteller to passionately describe how a problem was solved even though they only played a minor role in the solution.
 
3. Assess their ability to solve a problem. If you were hiring a chef, you would ask them to cook a meal. Taking a “job content” approach, by having an applicant do some of the actual work, is the best way to separate top candidates from average ones. Consider asking them to:
• Identify problems on the job. Say something like: “Please walk me through the steps of the process that you’ll use during your first weeks to identify the most important current problems or opportunities in your area.”
• Solve a current problem. The ability to solve current problems is often the number one predictive factor of job performance. Provide them with a description of an actual problem that they will face on their first day. Then ask them to walk you through the broad steps they would take in order to solve the problem. Prior to the interview, make a list of the essential steps. Deduct points if they omit important steps like gathering data, consulting with the team or customer, and identifying success metrics.
• Identify the problems in our process. Hand them a single-page description of a flawed existing process related to their job. Ask them to examine the process and identify the top three areas where they predict serious problems are likely to occur. Prior to the interview, make a list of those pain points and flaws.
 
4. Evaluate whether they’re forward-looking. In fast-evolving environments, employees must anticipate the future. Consider asking these questions to assess how well a candidate can do that:
• Outline your plan for this job. The very best develop a plan before they begin a major project or new job. Ask them to outline the elements of their plan of action for their first 3–6 months. Have them highlight key components, including goals, who they’ll consult with (by title), what data they’ll analyze, how they’ll communicate with their team, the metrics for assessing their plan’s success, etc.
• Forecast the evolution of the job/industry. Anticipating major shifts is critical. Ask them to forecast at least five ways that their job will likely evolve over the next three years as a result of changes in the business environment. New hires must also be able to anticipate changes in your industry. So consider asking candidates to project 3–5 major trends in our industry, and then forecast how the top firms will need to change over the next few years to meet those trends.
 
5. Assess a candidate’s ability to learn, adapt, and innovate. If the job requires any of those factors, consider these questions:
• Learning: “Outline the steps you’d take to continuously learn and maintain your expert status in one important technical area.”
• Agility: “Outline the steps you’d take to adapt when a dramatic unexpected change occurs in either technology or customer expectations.”
• Innovation: “Outline the steps you’d take to increase innovation among your team to respond to increased competition or new technologies.”
 
6. Avoid duplication. When selecting questions, avoid asking about factors like education and job responsibilities that were already covered in the resume or in the telephone screen.
 
7. Allocate time for selling. The bulk of the interview time should be allocated to assessing the candidate, but set aside time to excite and sell candidates on the job and your firm. Proactively ask, “What are the top factors that you’ll use to assess a job offer?” Then be sure to provide compelling information covering each “job acceptance factor.”
 
Interviews are tough to get right. (Some firms, like the India-based e-commerce company Flipkart, are successfully hiring candidates without a single interview). But research has shown that carefully selecting questions and determining acceptable answers ahead of time greatly increases your chances of success. Research also shows that most hiring decisions are made within 15 seconds, so you must consciously avoid any judgments until the interview is at least 50% completed.
 
Source: https://hbr.org/2016/02/7-rules-for-job-interview-questions-that-result-in-great-hires

Quand je commence à travailler dans une nouvelle entreprise, je suis toujours un peu nerveuse. Comme quand l'on voyage seul dans un pays inconnu, il est excitant de découvrir et d'apprendre de nouvelles choses, mais très angoissant de devoir adopter une nouvelle logistique et interpréter un langage qui nous est étranger. J'ai déjà fait l'expérience de ce tourbillon de changements et y ai été confrontée une nouvelle fois le mois dernier en tant que nouvelle rédactrice pour la rubrique Stratégie et Carrières de Business Insider.
 
A cette occasion, je me suis demandé à quel point la première impression est importante, et ce qu'un professionnel peut faire dès son arrivée pour assurer sa réussite future. "Les trois premiers mois d'un nouveau job sont la prolongation de l'entretien d'embauche," explique Amanda Augustine, experte en carrières chez TheLadders, un site d'emploi qui met en relation employeurs et demandeurs d'emploi en fonction de leur comptabilité avec le job.
 
"Dès le premier jour, vous devez être au meilleur de vous-même." Avec plus de dix ans d'expérience en conseil aux professionnels de haut niveau à son arc, Amanda Augustine détaille les différentes initiatives prises par les personnes brillantes lors de leur première semaine à un nouveau poste.
 
1. N'hésitez pas à vous présenter à tout le monde. Prenez l'initiative de rencontrer des gens. Dites bonjour dans l'ascenseur, dans la cuisine ou en croisant vos collègues lorsque vous allez aux toilettes. Cela finira par porter ses fruits. "La culture de l'entreprise est peut-être de nature efficace et énergique et vos collègues n'auront pas le temps de venir vers vous, souligne l'experte. Commencez avec le groupe qui est le plus proche de vous, les personnes avec qui vous êtes en collaboration directe." Il sera dans leur intérêt de commencer du bon pied leur relation avec vous puisque votre travail affectera directement le leur.
 
2. Liez-vous d'amitié avec un vétéran qui peut vous aider à comprendre le fonctionnement de l'entreprise (et vous dire où sont rangés les crayons). "Cherchez quelqu'un qui pourra vous aider à décoder les acronymes et les histoires de bureau." Amanda Augustine conseille de repérer les personnes stratégiques, celles qui travaillent dans l'entreprise depuis un bout de temps. Trouvez le vétéran qui sait ce qui marche ou pas, et peut vous faire une visite guidée. "Les entreprises ont leurs propres langage et plaisanteries. Cherchez quelqu'un qui pourra vous aider à décoder les acronymes et les histoires de bureau." De plus, vous aurez forcément besoin de quelqu'un à qui poser les questions idiotes qui vous viendront à l'esprit. Demander à votre chef où se trouvent les crayons revient à un peu sous-estimer ses compétences.
 
3. Définissez les attentes de votre boss et des autres employés. "Arrangez un rendez-vous avec votre patron," conseille Amanda Augustine. Profitez de cette rencontre initiale pour définir ce qu'il exige de vous cette première semaine, pour le mois à venir et les trois mois suivants. Si vous occupez une fonction managériale, il est également important d'exposer vos attentes à vos subordonnés directs. Du style de communication aux horaires, les jours qui suivent votre arrivée servent à donner le ton.
 
4. Résolvez l'énigme du café. Savoir où se trouve le café fait toujours partie d'une bonne stratégie de réussite. Il est également capital de découvrir toutes les règles tacites de l'espace de travail : si vous ne les respectez pas, vous ferez enrager les autres. Qui fait la vaisselle ? Quelles étagères sont à usage commun ? "Sur mon lieu de travail, il y a plusieurs frigos et les gens s'énervent si on n'utilise pas le bon, explique Amanda Augustine. Comportez-vous comme une éponge : regardez comment vos collègues font les choses. Il n'y a rien de mal à demander comment fonctionne la machine à café."
 
5. Commencez à montrer les qualités que vous avez promises à l'entreprise. "Peu importe les arguments que vous avez avancés lors de l'entretien de recrutement, donnez-vous pour mission de montrer que vous allez respecter vos promesses," explique l'experte. Si vous vous êtes vanté d'être un magicien du social media ou extrêmement doué avec les chiffres, commencez immédiatement à repenser la présence de l'entreprise sur les réseaux sociaux ou à analyser le trafic sur son site. Et commencez à rédiger un fichier qui répertorie vos réussites : vous garderez une trace de tous vos accomplissements, de vos contributions les plus importantes et des commentaires positifs que vous aurez obtenus. Il vaut mieux prendre cette habitude dès le début, ainsi vous aurez ces informations à disposition au moment d'évaluer vos performances et de négocier votre salaire.
 
6. Organisez-vous pour prendre de bonnes habitudes. "Surmontez les faiblesses que vous traînez depuis un bout de temps" Etant donné que vous devez gérer un flux important de nouvelles informations, le fait de prendre des bonnes habitudes et de vous organiser dès le début vous facilitera la vie par la suite. C'est aussi le moment de vous débarrasser de vos mauvaises habitudes. "Il s'agit là d'une opportunité de surmonter des problèmes ou des faiblesses que vous traînez depuis un bout de temps," précise l'experte. Si vous avez par exemple du mal à gérer votre temps, profitez de cette première semaine pour planifier le déroulement de vos journées et commencer à le mettre en pratique.
 
7. Consolidez vos nouvelles relations sur les réseaux professionnels. Une fois que vous êtes officiellement en fonction, il est important de mettre à jour votre intitulé professionnel sur les réseaux sociaux où vous êtes inscrit et vous abonner aux profils de l'entreprise et de vos collègues. Au fur et à mesure que vous rencontrez de nouvelles personnes, cimentez vos relations en les ajoutant surTwitter ou LinkedIn. Amanda Augustine conseille de choisir la plateforme la plus adaptée. Facebook, par exemple, est vu par beaucoup de gens comme un réseau social réservé à la vie privée, alors faites preuve de bon sens.
 
8. Recontactez d'anciens collègues. Selon l'experte et contrairement à ce que l'on pourrait penser, la première semaine d'un nouvel emploi est le moment parfait pour reprendre contact avec des anciens collègues. "Retournez sur vos pas : recontactez des gens de votre ancienne entreprise et demandez-leur de vous écrire des recommandations sur LinkedIn," suggère-t-elle. La meilleure période pour obtenir des recommandations est justement lorsque vous n'êtes pas à la recherche d'un nouvel emploi.
 
9. Repérez la pharmacie et vos endroits de prédilection pour déjeuner. Découvrez votre nouveau quartier. Savez-vous où se trouve la pharmacie la plus proche ? Et là où vous pouvez acheter un sandwich, inviter quelqu'un à boire un café ou organiser un déjeuner d'affaires agréable ? "Logistiquement parlant, vous devez savoir où vous procurer des pansements quand vous en aurez besoin," conclut Amanda Augustine.
 
Source: http://www.journaldunet.com/management/efficacite-personnelle/conseils-premiere-semaine-nouveau-travail.shtml

 
Article de Jenna Goudreau. Traduction par Joséphine Dennery, JDN. Voir l'article original : 9 Things Successful People Do In The First Week Of A New Job

Your Resume Will Face a Lot of Competition
Although it varies with the company and the job, on average 250 resumes are received for each corporate job opening. Finding a position opening late can’t help your chances because the first resume is received within 200 seconds after a position is posted. If you post your resume online on a major job site like Monster so that a recruiter can find it, you are facing stiff competition because 427,000 other resumes are posted on Monster alone each and every week (BeHiring).
 
Understanding the Hiring “Funnel” can Help You Gauge Your Chances
In recruiting, we have what is known as a “hiring funnel” or yield model for every job which helps recruiting leaders understand how many total applications they need to generate in order to get a single hire. As an applicant, this funnel reveals your chances of success at each step of the hiring process. For the specific case of an online job posting, on average, 1,000 individuals will see a job post, 200 will begin the application process, 100 will complete the application, 75 of those 100 resumes will be screened out by either the ATS or a recruiter, 25 resumes will be seen by the hiring manager, 4 to 6 will be invited for an interview, 1 to 3 of them will be invited back for final interview, 1 will be offered that job and 80 percent of those receiving an offer will accept it (Talent Function Group LLC).
 
Six Seconds of Resume Review Means Recruiters Will See Very Little
When you ask individual recruiters directly, they report that they spend up to 5 minutes reviewing each individual resume. However, a recent research study from TheLadders that included the direct observation of the actions of corporate recruiters demonstrated that the boast of this extended review time is a huge exaggeration. You may be shocked to know that the average recruiter spends a mere 6 seconds reviewing a resume. A similar study found the review time to be 5 – 7 seconds (BeHiring). Obviously six seconds only allows a recruiter to quickly scan (but not to read) a resume. We also know from observation that nearly 4 seconds of that 6-second scan is spent looking exclusively at four job areas, which are: 1) job titles, 2) companies you worked at, 3) start/end dates and 4) education. Like it or not, that narrow focus means that unless you make these four areas extremely easy for them to find within approximately four seconds, the odds are high that you will be instantly passed over. And finally be aware that whatever else that you have on your resume, the recruiter will have only the remaining approximately 2 seconds to find and be impressed with it. And finally, if you think the information in your cover letter will provide added support for your qualifications, you might be interested to know that a mere 17 percent of recruiters bother to read cover letters (BeHiring).
 
A Single Resume Error Can Instantly Disqualify You
A single resume error may prevent your resume from moving on. That is because 61 percent of recruiters will automatically dismiss a resume because it contains typos (Careerbuilder). In a similar light, 43 percent of hiring managers will disqualify a candidate from consideration because of spelling errors (Adecco). The use of an unprofessional email address will get a resume rejected 76 percent of the time (BeHiring). You should also be aware that prominently displaying dates that show that you are not currently employed may also get you prematurely rejected at many firms.
 
Weak LinkedIn Profiles Can Also Hurt You
Because many recruiters and hiring managers use LinkedIn profiles either to verify or to supplement resume information, those profiles also impact your chances. Ey- tracking technology used by TheLadders revealed that recruiters spend an average of 19 percent of their time on your LinkedIn profile simply viewing your picture (so a professional picture may be worthwhile). The research also revealed that just like resumes, weak organization, and scannability within a LinkedIn profile negatively impacted the recruiter’s ability to “process the profile” (TheLadders).
  
Be Aware That Even if Your Resume Fits the Job Posting, You May Still Be Rejected
To make matters worse, many of the corporate position descriptions that applicants are reading are poorly written or out of date when they are posted. So even if an applicant did spend the required time to fully read the job posting, they may still end up applying for a job that exists only on paper. So even though an applicant actually meets the written qualifications, they may be later rejected (without their knowledge) because after they applied, the hiring manager finally decided that they actually wanted a significantly different set of qualifications.
 
Making it Through a Keyword Search Requires a Customized Resume
The first preliminary resume screening step at most corporations is a computerized ATS system that scans submitted resumes for keywords that indicate that an applicant fits a particular job. I estimate more that 90 percent of candidates apply using their standard resume (without any customization). Unfortunately, this practice dramatically increases the odds that a resume will be instantly rejected because a resume that is not customized to the job will seldom include enough of the required “keywords” to qualify for the next step, a review by a human. Even if you are lucky enough to have a live recruiter review your resume, because recruiters spend on average less than 2 seconds (of the total six-second review) looking for a keyword match, unless the words are strategically placed so that they can be easily spotted, a recruiter will also likely reject it for not meeting the keyword target.
 
Remember a Resume Only Gets You an Interview
Even with a perfect resume and a little luck, getting through the initial resume screen by the recruiter only guarantees that your resume will qualify for a more thorough review during what I call the “knockout round.” During this next stage of review, the recruiter will have more time to assess your resume for your accomplishments, your quantified results, your skills, and the tools you can use. Unfortunately, the recruiter is usually looking for reasons to reject you, in order to avoid the criticism that will invariably come from the hiring manager if they find knockout factors in your resume. If no obvious knockout factors are found you can expect a telephone interview, and if you pass that, numerous in-person interviews (note: applicants can find the most common interview questions for a particular firm on glassdoor.com).
 
Even if You Do Everything Right, the Odds Can Be Less Than 1 Percent
Because of the many roadblocks, bottlenecks, and “knockout factors” that I have highlighted in this article, the overall odds of getting a job at a “best-place-to-work” firm can often be measured in single digits. For example, Deloitte, a top firm in the accounting field, actually brags that it only hires 3.5 percent of its applicants. Google, the firm with a No. 1 employer brand, gets well over 1 million applicants per year, which means that even during its robust hiring periods when it hires 4,000 people a year, your odds of getting hired are an amazingly low 4/10 of 1 percent. Those unfortunately are painfully low “lotto type odds.”
 
Up to 50 Percent of Recruiting Efforts Result in Failure
In case you’re curious, even with all the time, resources, and dollars invested in corporate recruiting processes, still between 30 percent and 50 percent of all recruiting efforts are classified by corporations as a failure. Failure is defined as when an offer was rejected or when the new hire quit or had to be terminated within the first year (staffing.org). Applicants should also note that 50 percent of all new hires later regret their decision to accept the job (Recruiting Roundtable).
 
Final Thoughts
Unfortunately, much of what is written about “the perfect resume” and the ideal job search approach is based on “old wives’ tales” and is simply wrong. However, when I review the numbers that are available to me from internal company recruiting data and publicly through research done by industry-leading firms like TheLadders, Adecco, BeHiring, staffing.org, and Careerbuilder, it doesn’t take long to realize that the real job search process differs significantly from the ideal one. Rather than leaving things to chance, my advice both to the applicant and to the corporate recruiting leader is to approach the job search process in a much more scientific way. For the applicant that means start by thoroughly reading the position description and making a list of the required keywords that both the ATS and the recruiter will need to see.
 
Next submit a customized resume that is in a scannable format that ensures that the key factors that recruiters need to see initially (job titles, company names, education, dates, keywords, etc.) are both powerful and easy to find during a quick six-second scan. But next comes the most important step: to literally “pretest” both your resume and your LinkedIn profile several times with a recruiter or HR professional. Pretesting makes sure that anyone who scans them for six seconds will be able to actually find each of the key points that recruiters need to find.
 
My final bit of advice is something that only insiders know. And that is to become an employee referral (the highest volume way to get hired). Because one of the firm’s own employees recommended you and also because the recruiter knows that they will likely have to provide feedback to that employee when they later inquire as to “why their referral was rejected,” résumés from referrals are reviewed much more closely.
 
I hope that by presenting these 35+ powerful recruiting-related numbers I have improved your understanding of the recruiting process and the roadblocks that you need to steer around in order to dramatically improve your odds of getting a great job.
 
Source: http://www.eremedia.com/ere/why-you-cant-get-a-job-recruiting-explained-by-the-numbers/

La tendance en Suisse
En Suisse, le rythme des recrutements devrait être stable selon 91% des 750 employeurs interrogés par Manpower. Ils sont quand même un petit 3% à s'attendre à une augmentation et autant à un ralentissement. La Suisse reste cependant en deçà de ses voisins européens avec une anticipation d'augmentation générale de +1% des projets de recrutement sur tout le territoire. Elle fait mieux que la France (-1%), mais moins bien que l'Allemagne (+3%) et l'Autriche (+4%). Parmi les cantons les plus recruteurs, nous trouvons en tête de peloton la Suisse centrale et Zurich qui mentionnent respectivement une augmentation de +6 % et +4 % d'embauches.
 
Qui recrute et dans quels secteurs? Les championnes du recrutement seront les PME avec un + 9 % qui témoigne de leur santé. Parmi les secteurs qui recrutent, l'industrie est en tête avec + 10%, suivie immédiatement des finances, les assurances et l'immobilier à + 9%. Loin derrière, avec + 1%, la construction et les secteurs public et social. En ce qui concerne les secteurs d'activité, ce sont le Med Tech, la mécanique de précision, la logistique qualifiée et la pharma qui constitueront les plus gros recruteurs.
 
Demande en hausse de personnel qualifié
En 2016, c'est au personnel qualifié que les recruteurs feront les yeux doux: les ingénieurs, les spécialistes en technologie SAP, les ingénieurs Med Tech, de précision et en mécanique, les experts de l'informatique en logistique ainsi qu'en gestion de la chaîne d'approvisionnement, seront particulièrement recherchés par les entreprises. À retenir également, une augmentation des offres de travail en intérim. Les patrons restant très prudents en matière d'embauche, ce qui n'empêche pas certaines entreprises de mettre en place des programmes spécifiques pour attirer les femmes demandeuses d'emploi. En conclusion, il n'y a pas d'optimisme béat de la part des entreprises suisses mais pas de sombres perspectives non plus. Les PME et le personnel qualifié, ingénieurs en particulier, devraient tirer leur épingle du jeu.
 
Source: http://www.monde-economique.ch/fr/posts/view/les-tendances-de-l-emploi-en-suisse-pour-le-premier-trimestre-2016?utm_campaign=buffer

 
Paula Williams, Fondatrice Jobers.ch