Category Archives: Hiring & Firing

Big companies are using hiring algorithms and with great success to find the best employees for the job. There are so many factors involved in hiring, that an algorithm is the only way to sort through the stack of resumes. I use algorithms in every stage of my business, but my algorithms are simpler and can be created by simple computer programs or on paper. I use algorithms to buy stocks, hire companies, and sort search results on my directories. Some of my algorithms have 14 factors, while others have only 3 that can be calculated in my head. I think that three factors is not enough and over time I will try to complicate my overly simplistic algorithm for one of my search results with some new factors.

Today’s management seems to be obsessed with computers, labor saving technology, and algorithms. These are all good things. But, there is no substitute for good old fashioned skills. Similarly, with all of the new social mediums coming up whose names I don’t even know who are the successers to Facebook, Twitter, the telephone, telegrams, hand written letters, medieval scribes and messengers — good old fashioned writing skills are still paramount and “some things ain’t never gonna change!”

Putting algorithmic considerations aside, there are basic personality considerations.

1. Does the new employee feel like someone the boss and team wants to work with? Would you want to be stuck in a car for three hours with this person? Would you want your kids to hang out with them?

2. Have the employee do some test work for the company for a while and evaluate the work. Also evaluate the interaction between the worker and the boss.

3. The biggest test in an employee is seeing how their attitude is roughly four to five months after being hired. This is when people’s good attitude starts to fade. No matter how good your algorithm is, it cannot predict a person’s future attitude. You can see how fast they quit their previous jobs which is some sort of indication.

4. You can learn a lot by looking at someone’s personal life. It is not appropriate at a job interview to ask personal questions, but knowing a person’s private life can tell you a lot about how they will work. I hired a lady who kept boyfriends for exactly eighteen months and then went on to another boyfriend. She did this again and again over the course of decades. Guess how long she lasted at her job with me? Exactly eighteen months!

My final point is to incorporate personality into algorithms. But, how can this be done? You can enter your assessment of someone’s personality or compatibility with your company into the algorithm to give them more points or less points. The problem is that the biggest factor in the personality algorithm encompasses whether or not you will lose interest, quit, or become a personality problem for the company. Maybe hiring agents should hire a psychic and put their input into the algorithm — now we’re talking!

Worldwide, it is hard to find good workers. Especially in India, America and the UK, there is a shortage of qualified workers for many tasks. But, what if you could hire a refugee? Workers in America typically say, “I don’t know if I really want to do this.” Refugees don’t talk like that. They have bills to pay and bellies to fee. They will do the most unpleasant work for pennies. But, how do you get a Somali guy to come to India to work at your BPO? And can you train them?

The good news is that many Syrian and African refugees speak English (perhaps better than you do.) If you could train them to do certain tasks for your company, you might have a reliable workforce. In India, it is common for people to quit their jobs on a whim to seek better opportunities. Refugees would be more likely to stick to their job since they have tasted starvation and don’t want any more of it.

On the flip side, having refugees in India would worsen the Hindu-Muslim divide. So, although you might get your work done, there might be more riots, and eventually a civil war. So, in the long run it might not be worth it unless you live in a part of India that is already mostly Muslim.

When you go out to find a date, your friends will push their narrow-minded views down your throat. They will insist that the girl comes from your type of background, has the right type of job, and dresses the right way. In my experience, none of this matter, not even a little bit. I dated a girl from the right background, the right spiritual group, the right type of job, and the right type of family — it was the worst relationship I’ve ever had and broke in a very painful way.

Years earlier, I dated someone from a different continent who was not educated, hardly spoke English, was eighteen years older than I was, and had nothing in common with me. I had a much longer and more pleasant relationship.

After I summed up all of my platonic and romantic relationships and friendships and figured out what was good and bad about each one, what I discovered was…

1. The relationships that lasted the longest were with people who were from a similar class whose parents were from the same educational level and/or level of sophistication my parents were from. But, they weren’t necessarily from the same country.

2. In romantic relationships what matters most is:
Chemistry, Conversation, Cooperation, Consideration, Similar attitudes about abortion, Similar attitudes about sexuality

3. In marriage what matters most is
Family — whether you get along with them, Attitude about saving & spending, Type of job the other person has, Spiritual Views, Cultural Views, Common Goals, and Loyalty (perhaps this one should come first)

As you can see, the list for marriage and romance are completely different the minute a commitment is there — at least from my point of view.

Finding an Outsourcing Company
So, what if you were looking for a BPO to hire, and you talked to a few of the managers for a while. Would it make sense to hire a company because you felt good chemistry with them?

CUSTOMER: I really like your voice.

RAHUL (BPO MANAGER): Gee thanks.

CUSTOMER: I feel like we have good chemistry together and a deep connection.

RAHUL: That figures, I majored in chemistry in college. This connection is pretty good. It’s Fios.

CUSTOMER: I’m looking for a meaningful relationship with an ePublishing company

RAHUL: We can deliver meaning in any context — online or book format — your choice. But maybe we can shoot for an eFling first.

CUSTOMER: That’s not what I meant. I’m looking for a deeper friendship

RAHUL: I”m not sure my wife would be okay with that. I’ll have to ask. Or she could come along

CUSTOMER: I just feel so happy when I meet everyone’s family.

RAHUL: You obviously haven’t met my sister. Just one more question…

RAHUL: Yes. Yes.

CUSTOMER: What are your views on abortion?

RAHUL: I’m pro-choice: eCommerce format or PDF.

CUSTOMER: We mesh perfectly. I’m finding you very sexy right now. What are your attitudes about saving and spending?

RAHUL: I save for a rainy day. And I spend on umbrellas.

CUSTOMER: Spiritual views?

RAHUL: I pray it doesn’t rain today. I just washed my car.

Do you hire others? Does it never work out that well? Most employers feel the same way. It is hard to hire perfect people. In real life, we would be better off with employees who were more like partners — people who had our back at all times no matter what. If outsourcing companies would get it through their heads that they would get more business by being partners instead of demanding some legal partnership contract — the world of outsourcing would be completely transformed. People only care about themselves, and that is the problem with todays world — and with hiring.

I bet Warren Buffet has a very refined intuition when it comes to hiring. He has hired and fired so many people in his life and seen the results. I bet he can spot a winning horse from a mile away. I am beginning to spot winners and losers too. It has nothing to do with skills either. Motivation, integrity, and intelligence are what I look for. Most people have none of these traits. But, your star employee must have all of them otherwise you are screwed.

But, how do you know who has the winning traits, plus job related skills? Spotting intelligence is easy. Just talk to someone for a few minutes. Throw out some complicated thoughts, or make a few slightly intellectual jokes and listen for the silence. I can tell just by listening to someone’s tone of voice what their IQ is. Normally at an interview, after the first 30 seconds have passed, I know if the person is going to make it or not. I throw out some thought provoking questions to see if I get an intelligent answer or not.

Knowing someone’s level of motivation and integrity are a little harder. When people want a job, they tell you what you want to hear. This is a waste of time, especially if you can’t read between the lines. How much trouble are they willing to go through to work for you is the only thing you should be thinking. After all, after four months have passed when you are in a bind and need them to put in a little extra work, if they have the “why bother” attitude, you are screwed. So, think of that before you hire them. This is why large companies have four interviews — yes four! Someone not motivated or committed probably won’t show up for all four.

But, you can ask them about what happened at their last job. If they seem to have been motivated about how they handled business, that is a good sign. If they showed concern for all of the details of the job, rather than just how they felt, that might be a good sign. It’s certainly not a bad sign.

Figuring out if someone has integrity is much harder. You can think of some trick situations to see if they will cheat. Or, you can ask them about their relationships with their parents, boyfriends, etc. If they have poor relationships with them, they will also have a poor relationship with you for whatever reason — including possibly integrity.

Some people who cheat a lot are always watching others to catch them cheating. This is a form of projecting. On the other hand, karmically speaking, cheaters work with cheaters. You can ask how upset they get if someone lies to them too.

Figuring out how much the other person likes you is also very important. People who like you will do much more for you. How good is your intuition for figuring out who likes you?

There is a lot to think about when hiring someone. I hope you can figure it all out. My solution is to not hire people, because I already know what is going to happen!

As children we are taught not to judge a book by its cover. We are taught not to judge people based on appearances. I was watching a TV show about cops in New York who were explaining to their children that just because someone looks scary that they are not necessarily a bad guy. However, experience has taught me that if there is something scary about you, some negative character trait will turn up somewhere. You might not be a criminal, but some other bad tendency will surface. If you associate with bad people, there will be something bad about you. The apple never falls far from the tree, so people — let’s use our common sense here.

You can learn a lot from the salesperson
So, how does this silly discussion apply to the world of business? Doing business is a little like being a cop. You need to judge your instincts. You need to assess situations and offers. You need to know the right companies to hire. You cannot tell much by talking to the salesperson over the phone. They are always pleasant and up beat. However, if the salesperson can’t answer questions and tells you that everything you want is easily possible, they are probably talking nonsense as I have never seen a company cooperate more then 20% with me in the long run — there are always many snags and limitations.

Communication is the indicator you’ve been waiting for.
If a company sends illiterate looking emails to you, it is a sign that their service is not that good. When I get poorly written emails from companies and then call them, the oral communication is always unbelievably bad. I am not perfect myself, but I judge companies on how good their writing skills are. See how clearly they talk to you. Do they like talking to you? If not, then don’t use them. Some people talk too fast, others mumble, while some garble. Try to find someone who communicates clearly. I deal mostly with foreigners, so they will have accents, but that is okay. If their English is educated sounding and clear, that is the main thing. Additionally, a company with a poor phone line that is so bad that they are constantly making you repeat yourself and then blaming you for not using a better phone — is not a company you should use. So, judge a company by their phone lines, conversation, and emails. But, my favorite indication of a company is their office.

The office is the window to a company’s soul
Charlie Munger always used to do walk arounds in people’s offices. He wanted to know if the company would be a good investment. He could tell a lot by how the employees acted. Did they have good body language? Did they look happy? Did they dress well? Did they slouch? I do many walk arounds at companies. When I ask questions, I seldom get good answers. When I ask people to email me back, I always have to wait for weeks only to get a useless answer. I can tell by the energy of the workers that they are mentally dull most of the time and not interested in their work or in their customers. I am more interested in companies that are alive.

Decor means a lot too
Some offices are not very thoughtfully decorated. Others have cheap or incomplete decor. I went to a spa at the Singapore airport that had nice plants, beautiful tile floors, Japanese sliding paper doors, and aroma therapy. I felt immediately relaxed upon entering. I went to another spa in Los Angeles where they had beautiful pictures of the Buddha, fancy pillows, and plants too. I felt relaxed there too, and their spa services were much better than another spa I went to with cheap looking decor. There was one case of an office with a very plain and inexpensive decor. They offered good service to me for years, but then the boss lost his temper and I stopped using their service. Sometimes there is a delayed reaction in business. If you see a bad sign in someone you’ve hired, it is like a ticking time-bomb. You know something will happen, but you’re not sure when, where or how. In this case it was 17 years before something happened.

How do you judge overseas companies
It is harder to judge a company that you can’t visit. My suggestion is to visit it anyway, or don’t use them. Invest in getting to know people personally. It is too risky to do any type of business with people you aren’t sure about. But, if you use companies that you don’t have time to visit, try to do that office walk around without physically seeing the office. You can learn a lot by interviewing a few of their workers. Instead of seeing haggard looking people slouching around, you can hear the slouching over the phone. You can hear the “I’m tired and want to go home” tone in their voice. Many of the signs are there. Blind people can’t see, but compensate by using their other senses more elaborately. If you can’t see a company you want to work with, try to be like a blind person and learn about them using your other senses.

Summary
Remember — Christianity says judge not lest you should be judged. In business you have to judge. So, try to be intelligent about how you judge. Look for the signs, and try to look around in as many ways as you can to see more signs. Additionally, when you compare companies, you might consider comparing hundreds rather than two or three as most companies are not what they are cracked up to be — except for spas in Singapore!

Your success in business could be determined by having workers that care. But, how do you differentiate a caring workers from one who does not? In real life it is not so easy as there are many levels to caring. There are many profiles of workers and each one is different.

Also See: Good Sign Bad Sign: What to look for in newly hired workers

The Drone – The worker who just does their job
There are many people who just do their job. They don’t care if the work is good and they don’t even double check or look for feed back. They just don’t care, and it shows. Miraculously many bosses keep this type of worker and don’t look for better which results in very mediocre output!

The Nice Person – The worker who is pleasant to all
There are some workers who are very polite and pleasant. They are so considerate that you might be fooled into thinking that they really care. Don’t be!

The Good Communicator – The worker who will have detailed conversations with you
There are other workers who will have long talks with you about work. They will suggest their own ideas which are often good ones. They will make sure work gets done. But, this type might slack off starting a few months before they quit, so beware!

The Loyal Worker – The worker who sticks around
Some people are quitters while others show loyalty to the boss. This doesn’t necessarily mean they care about their job, but they value the stability of the work.

The Selectively Caring Worker – The worker who cares about some aspects of their work
Some people care a lot about the parts of their work that they relate to, but don’t care at all about many other parts of the work that the boss tries to get them to put more emphasis on. These are “selectively” caring workers.

The Undependable Caring Worker
I know people who care tremendously about their work and its results. They care so much that if one person calls them back, they will look through the trash to try to find the data to associate the person’s number with their name. They will invest twenty minutes calling someone back who didn’t even leave a message and then go to the beach when they are supposed to be at work the next day. This type of worker will waste endless time on something that is completely meaningless and completely neglect the bigger picture.

Also See: What does Warren Buffet look for when he hires?

The Limited Availability Freelancer
With freelancers, this is a regular problem. You might have a very caring and conscientious worker who just won’t do more than a few hours a week for you because their other work is a priority. At least they didn’t leave you completely in the cold. This is a type of worker you can work with in the long run because they are panning out even though they always leave you wishing for more!

The Midnight Toker
Ideally, you need a worker who will care about all of the aspects of their work. You need someone who will stay until midnight if necessary. You need someone who is constantly trying to improve upon themselves. And finally, you need someone who is loyal and won’t quit on a whim.

Perfection is Not Always Possible
It might not be so easy to find perfect workers every time. But, if you are constantly interviewing people all the time, you might get better at finding them and keeping them on board. The perfect company has perfect workers, so keep perfection as your goal.

As my friend Chung-Ho who owns a Chinese bakery always says, “Reach for the moon cake!”

You might also like:

A 20 minute office visit reveals the character of a company!
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2013/12/12/a-20-minute-office-visit-reveals-the-character-of-a-company/

The 2% rule; Only 2% of companies are worth hiring
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2013/10/21/the-2-rule-only-2-of-companies-are-worth-hiring/

I have a friend who is slightly biased. I grew up with very feminist and “liberal” people who didn’t believe in traditional notions. However, as I am growing older, I realize that women’s behavior in the work world is not like men at all. What are the differences?

Feminists say that women can do anything that a man can do just as well or better. This is partly true, but what makes it not true?

1. Pregnancy
If a woman becomes pregnant and has a child, she will not be able to work her job the same way a man will. Additionally, after the child is born, it will need its mommy, and if mommy is working forty hours a week and commuting, who will be raising the child? You can’t be both — you can’t compete in the work world and be a mommy at the same time. You either need to choose one or the other, or divide your time equitably by working part-time or preferably part-time from home.

2. Mid-life burnout
Men have a mid-life crisis sometimes in their late forties or fifties. They want to get the sports car, leather pants, travel, have affairs, try new things. They grow tired of work sometimes. Perhaps this is temporary. I have my mid-life crisis every several months and then I snap out of it and get focused. Women often have a crisis in their thirties where they lose their drive to be a good worker and long for meaning in their lives. They often want to slow down and be at home. This is because women are genetically programmed to nest, not hunt — something feminists can’t get through their heads!

3. Menopause
Women do not work as effectively in their late fifties. They get more cranky, and slow down. It is hard to do well in the work world if you are upset all the time and have less energy.

4. High Turnover
As far as people I have interacted with, I have seen that the businesses I am familiar with have a 100% turnover rate with female employees. A local social media company assists me with Facebook. Only one of their female employees lasted longer than three years. At our local massage place, five years later the two guys who manage it are still there. But, not one of their ladies has lasted more than three years.

5. Overtime
Are women as willing to do overtime as men? I have heard mixed reviews on this. But, if you have a family and kids, it becomes almost impossible to do this without sacrificing in a devastating way.

6. Drama
When men lose their temper at work you have a flare up. But, my experience working with men is that they are there to work. Women like to complain more and create dramas much more than men.

7. Patience
This is one area where women in their twenties do much better than men. Men are judged by their accomplishments and are in a huge hurry to get ahead, but sometimes want to cut corners or get out of doing the work necessary to achieve this. Women are more willing to put up with unflattering work year after year. Additionally, women who get ahead almost always do so by sticking with the same job for fifteen or more years and learning to be good at all of the facets of the job.

8. Trauma
I have noticed that women tend to excel in the field of medicine and education. These are industries that combine intelligence, patience, and nurturing — traits that come naturally to the average woman. However, jobs requiring being involved in hostile situations such as the police force, the military, or even the legal field bring out over-aggressiveness in women and also lead to mental trauma in women. Men suffer from PTSD after military tours, but women who I have experienced first hand go much more off their rocker after having military and/or police experience. They feel they have to overcompensate for being a woman by being extra harsh and brutal, not to mention the trauma which seems to affect them much more strongly than it affects men. How many decades will it take for the military to realize that men are biologically programmed to be able to handle stressful combat situations a lot better than women are.

Summary
The reason why women are not equivalents to men in the workplace has nothing to do with intelligence. It has everything to do with biological programming, emotional stability, and family obligations. Putting aside the fact that many women are excellent workers, they were programmed to nest, not hunt. How many more centuries will it take until society figure this out? After being raised and strong-armed by feminists my entire childhood, it is hard to get reality into my head and forced notions of gender equality out of my head. It has taken me 28 years, and I still see the world through colored feminist glasses, but I’m beginning to come to my senses.