Kinsa Group Blog

Superstars.  Overachievers.  High performers.

Whatever you call them, you know your organization’s success depends on hiring and retaining them.  The following list will help you identify what sets the best and brightest apart:

1. They have found their focus.  High performers know their strengths and have found an expression for their talents in the workplace.
2. They are forward-thinkers – about projects and their own careers.  To thrive, they need to know how what they’re doing now will impact the future.
3. They are accurate appraisers – of peers, projects, and themselves.  They can spot talent in co-workers and chinks in their competitor’s armor.  Likewise, they recognize their own weaknesses and strive to improve them.
4. They are self-managers.  Research has shown that high performers consciously apply a systematic approach to every project they tackle.  This disciplined approach makes them more organized, productive, and fulfilled.
5. They are intrinsically motivated.  While money is undoubtedly important, high performers are fueled from within.  Their need to attain personal and organizational goals is often as great a reward as compensation.
6. They are optimistic.  High performers see the glass as half-full.  They tend to treat obstacles and setbacks on the job as temporary and therefore surmountable.
7. They respect other high performers.  Rather than focusing on hierarchy, high achievers operate within a society of mutual respect.  As a result, they will lend a hand to others with talent and help them flourish.
8. They are results-oriented.  These individuals won’t sit quietly and do a job just because they’re told to.  Top performers need to know how their efforts affect the organization’s “big picture,” and measure their efforts in terms of bottom-line results.
9. They take risks.  “Nothing ventured, nothing gained” is a personal mantra among high performers.  They do their homework, accept change easily, and are calculated risk-takers.

Kinsa Group’s recruiting professionals are experts at identifying high achievers who will perform well in your organization.  Whether you’re looking for a single plant manager, or a team of food technologists, we offer a variety of search and assessment services to deliver the best and brightest for you.

Planning to hire in 2011?

As optimism creeps back into our market, many food & beverage companies plan to increase their direct headcount.  If yours is among them, avoid these roadblocks to hiring success:

• Not pre-screening candidates.  Many hiring organizations skip this step, assuming that the interview process will weed out unacceptable candidates.  But in their attempt to streamline the process, these companies are wasting valuable time interviewing people whom they’d never hire.  Pre-screening allows you to eliminate candidates:  without basic knowledge and experience levels; outside your salary limits; with long-range goals that are not aligned with your company or available position.
• Relying solely on interviews to evaluate candidates.  Research has shown that the typical interview only increases the likelihood of selecting the best candidate by less than 2%.  Why?  Most managers don’t structure their interviews or develop scoring weights to pre-determine the best answers.  Additionally, candidates say what interviewers want to hear in order to get hired.
• Relying on general “good guy” criteria.  Most companies want to hire good people, but merely being a good person (i.e., enthusiastic, hard working, self-motivated, etc.) is not a predictor of job success.  A potential employee may have the best attitude in the world, but if they don’t have the job skills and experience you need, they can’t hit the ground running.
• Not investigating candidates’ backgrounds.  Sure, checking references, verifying work history and conducting background investigations are time- and labor-intensive.  But with résumé fraud on the rise, you must protect yourself from desperate job seekers who feel compelled to lie in order to get hired.

Tips for Heading-Off Hiring Mistakes

• Evaluate candidates on skills critical for job success.  Create a position analysis to select the skills most vital to your available job, and develop interview questions (and weighted responses) to identify and evaluate those skills.  The more structured your interview process, the less likely you will be to hire someone just because he’s similar to you or because he’s a “good guy.”
• Do more than talk.  To increase hiring success, develop several methods, in addition to the interview, for evaluating candidates.  Obviously, those methods will vary greatly based on the type of position available.  But as long as the tests and tasks you assign are directly related to the job at hand, your extra effort will provide a wealth of relevant information to help critically evaluate and compare candidates.
• Enlist the help of a hiring expert.  As a national food & beverage recruiter, The Kinsa Group has the resources and expertise to quickly and cost-effectively deliver executive and c-level food & beverage professionals with skills, experience and behavioral traits to succeed in your organization.  We use professionally trained interviewers, a wide array of assessments, thorough background checks and satisfaction guarantees to ensure the success of your next hire.

These days, competition for positions in the food and beverage industry is fierce.  With a greater number of candidates vying for fewer openings, you may find yourself having to say “No” more often.  Needless to say, writing rejection letters can be an unpleasant and stressful part of the hiring process.

But even when you can’t offer a job applicant the position, you can still end the interview process on a positive note.  Here are some quick tips for writing candidate rejection letters in a constructive way, to build good will with candidates and position your company as an employer of choice:

• Send out the rejection letter promptly.  If you’re certain you will not be hiring the individual, let him know that he was not selected as soon as possible.  Even when the news is bad, your timely follow-up will convey a high level of professionalism.
• Always use formal company letterhead for a rejection letter and never handwrite it.
• Address your candidate by name.  Further customize the letter with the position for which he applied, as well as a supportive comment about the applicant’s qualifications, experience or enthusiasm.  Although a rejection letter is basically a form letter, your candidate shouldn’t feel as though it is.
• Be direct, but gracious.  Make it clear that there were other candidates more qualified for the job, but do so in a respectful way.
• When appropriate, encourage further action.  If the candidate is a good culture fit, and may be qualified for other openings with your company, say so.  Encourage him to stay in touch and apply again.
• Always end on a positive note.  Thank the candidate for applying and interviewing.  Wish him good luck in his career development.  Remember, this may be the final impression this individual has of your company – make sure it’s a favorable one.
• Close the letter formally with “Sincerely,” or “Best wishes,” and sign your name.

Don’t want to write rejection letters? 

Call Kinsa national food and beverage industry recruiters with your professional placement needs.  We’ll handle every step of the process – from recruiting to assessment and initial interviews - and only present you with the most qualified candidates.  If you decide not to hire an individual we refer, just let us know and we’ll take care of the rest.