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Termyn8or -> RE: Calling all company owners (1/8/2009 9:06:28 AM)
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Speaking as a confirmed racist (but not how most people percieve it) I will quell this racism talk with one statement. All employees are green. The greener the better. (I mean the color of money, not inexperienced) If you are the one to make the decision on who to hire and you use any criteria other than ability and motivation to make your selection, you do not belong in control. Period.
There are other aspects as well, first of all if you are hiring someone to answer phones, they need good diction and enunciation. I can tell you by personal experience that this has little or nothing to do with race. It has to do with the motivation of the person to be well understood and have their ideas taken seriously.
There are other factors of course. Take "the kid" at work. He is here from West Africa in engineering school. He is young, has agility of mind, seems to want to keep his job at least and wants to learn. However his diction is very poor in English. It's like every word is strained, hard to get out, but it is not ghettoese. His first language is French. Competent in his job, but rarely asked (or axed) to answer the phone. I mean only in sheer desperation, really. He has enough work ethic and ability to keep the job, and has been there longer than I.
As to communication abilities, unfortunately some must find their own motivation to improve, I did. I was very poor at it at one time. School cannot instill this desire, but once one has the desire, every word they read is a lesson.
Of course now nobody can expect perfection, even from writers. That's why they have proofers. Of the many of the well educated around here, many grammatical rules are broken. Even among the most literate of us, some do not know that it is improper, for example to end a sentence with the word too or also. (that particuklar sentence being exempt as it is an example). It is also incorrect to use "to do _____ with", the proper form being "with which to _____". I do admit that I don't always follow the rules, but I do try. (another example right there, using the word "to" at the end of that sentence would be improper).
As such I went from barely being able to communicate in writing, to at my last job, the one to generate most outgoing company correspondence. (if someone is watching, those commas might be misplaced)
Linguistic skills are necessary to perform some jobs, and as you don't hire an eighty pound Grandmother to move heavy equipment, you don't hire a football player to write a technical paper. I guess it would follow that you don't hire a politician as a treasurer. :-)
I was lucky, I fell into something in which I was very interested. While the interest has faded, I still do it, and do it well. I have been on the other side of the desk so to speak, and I know all about the bottom line. The other day I spent four hours on a job just to find out that it needed such expensive repairs that it wasn't worth fixing. That's around a thousand dollars on a good day. We will never make money on the job, that is the breaks. But then there are days when I pull in a few grand in a six hour day, it all comes out in the wash so to speak. But I know and am cognizant of these factors, and that is appreciated.
If I were to give a job interview today, it would probably be quite interesting. They walk in with their train of thought, their plan, their presentment. As the interviewer I would see my job as derailing any of these preconcieved notions and find out how the applicant thinks on his feet. For example :
Q: Why do you want to work here ? "
A1. I want a job where I can get along with others well and have a positive experience at work. Where my talents are encouraged.
A2. I would like to be appreciated and paid well of course, just a chance to prove my worth is all I need because I welcome a challenge. The new environment will be refreshing and since I learn very quickly I am quite sure I can soon become a valuable asset to the company, which is the only real way to gain job security.
So who gets the job ?
A competent interviewer must also be a competent interviewee. I have long said that with a bit of research pre-interview, that I could get almost any job within reason. I mean something totally out of my field. In today's economy of course I no longer make that claim.
I guess I am old. Twenty some years ago I got a job in the midst of 154 other applicants. They had a competency exam which I not only aced, I actually rewrote it. One question was to pick all possible causes of certain instrument readings, and I made a notation on the test to see me about this particular answer. When I explained the logic behind my answer, I got the job.
So picking the right person for the job is of paramount importance, especially for an apprenticeship. They must actually have the interest, just the desire for money is not enough. Everyone has a desire for money. If I needed money and had to take a job as a blacksmith or a soapmaker, it would not be my first choice. I would do my best of course, but would I stick around ?
And I must mention ex-cons. If I needed workers, say laborers, the first place I would go is to a prison. I know how to handle them because I should be an ex-con, but was slick enough not to be. Not that I am proud, but the attitude it instills is priceless. Once you get their respect, it sticks pretty well. In fact we have a local 310 union which is construction laborers, we call it the prison union. They make good money, but the work is physically demanding. You do need an understanding of how the whole thing works, but they have trouble finding people who can brave the conditions and are physically well enough to actually do the job. I have on occasion, but only as a temporary measure between jobs. Ex-cons had years to work out, do very little drugs or anything and are usually pretty physically fit.
Remember about the right person for the job ? Those physically fit people have something to offer, and a smart bussinessman should be focussed on exploiting that. Not abusing it, but exploiting it.
You face another problem with workers who have been in the workforce for a long time. They have experienced the breakage of a natural law, in that "what goes up, must come down". To many, the law of gravity has been disproven by business with all their outsourcing and off shoring. The law of gravity does apply to loyalty where I work, but that is the exception rather than the rule. Is it because the owner of the company is an all around good guy, or is because of what I can do for him ? This is hard to determine.
This is long enough, I was trying for shorter posts.
<smacks self in head
Where am I ?
People in the wrong positions is what got us here. Politicians should probably be tailors, lawyers, I have no ideas except to ease the energy crunch (i.e. fuel).CEOs apparently should be floor sweepers given the current events in the economy and social workers should probably be waiting on tables.
"So that's the triple bronze burger with three cheeses, a large fries, a side of perogis, the finger licking snack bowl and a diet Coke right ? ". "Yes, and if you can get me an application for welfare while you're at it".
T
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