“I can’t stand my boss.”

“I HATE my job.”

These are very powerful statements that I hear on a regular basis from normal people all around the country.  These statements come from actuaries, bankers, food production professionals and sales people who are frustrated.  Normal, talented, hardworking people are humbled every day by confounding professional situations that affect them both inside and outside the normal work hours – these frustrations permeate their personal lives, affecting spouses, children and others in their wake. 

I’ll be honest, one of the many things that keeps me in this business is a recruiter’s ability to be a part of the solution for problems like these.  Unfortunately, however, no one (including a recruiter) can help a frustrated candidate until the frustrated candidate decides what they want to do with their lives.  Realizing that you are an unhappy employee is only part of the healing process.  Defining the ideal next step is just as critical or the embattled employee is doomed to continued unhappiness.

Deciding what you want to do with your career is MUCH harder than it appears on paper.  Today, there are several directions that almost any professional can take their career.  Within those directions there area several sub-directions that can allow someone to branch out and be a specialist.  Choosing the wrong path at any time in one’s career can mean the foregoing of future career progression, compensation or opportunity.  Choosing the right path can ensure a happy, productive professional career.  Changing jobs is a big deal.

If you could sculpt an ideal job opportunity what would it look like?  How would you interact with your boss and co-workers?  What would the office culture feel like?  What the heck would you do all day every day?  What would your salary be?  In a world of fairness and realism, visualize the professional scenario that would satisfy you the most.  When you begin your interview process, bring that wish list with you.  Screen companies as they screen you.  In each interview, rank the opportunity based on the criteria that you have outlined (just as a corporate recruiter would evaluate you in a job interview).  Map this out in a “T” chart for every interview and when the process is completed, my guess is that you will have made the strongest career decision of your life.

I would be very interested to learn what some of the people who read this blog list as their primary job considerations.  If you could carve out a top three list of things that are most important to you in a job search, what would they be?  Feel free to add comments below.  My criteria are as follows – 1) Am I working for an organization that is best positioned to help the candidates and companies that rely on me?  2) Am I working for an organization that is best positioned to help me realize my potential?  3) Am I working in a culture that is collaborative and rewarding?  What is important to you?

Jeff Kovar, Aureus Group Executive Recruiter

About the Author, Jeff Kovar
Jeff has been with the Aureus Group Executive team since September 2008 and in the recruiting business since April 2007. Prior to entering the recruiting world, he worked for five years in the corporate currency exchange business. He specializes in working with $100K+ candidates in the actuarial, financial, accounting, banking, and many other functional areas from coast to coast. Jeff enjoys golfing, watching Nebraska football, spending time with his wife Jenny, their son Connor, and jogging with their two labs, Freddy and Cali.

To get a better understanding of local hiring trends, Aureus Group recently conducted its Annual Hiring Trends Survey. According to the survey, 80% of respondents indicate plans to hire in 2011. While the majority of survey respondents plan to hire full-time positions, employers are also planning to fill part time and contract positions this year.

An overwhelming 80% of employers reported that “competency” is the most important skill they look for when making a final hiring decision. “Attitude” followed at 40%. When managing teams, respondents indicated that “resistance to change” and “inability to see beyond their functional role” were the top two most challenging employee issues. Forty percent of employers said that “poor interpersonal / communication skills” were also an employee challenge that made managing employees difficult.

When it came to reasons for employee terminations in the last two years, excluding downsizing due to the economy, 60% of survey respondents listed “unprofessional behavior” as the leading reason. Forty percent of respondents chose “low productivity” or “inability to work in a team environment” as primary rational for terminations.

Through the results of the survey we hope to provide you a better understanding of what challenges other employers are facing in the staffing process. Since the majority of employers expect to expand their workforce over the next few years, Aureus Group encourages you to be proactive with your talent management, acquisition, and retention strategies. Our partnership and consultation can help you with everything from analyzing fair market salaries, determining compensation plans, identifying talent gaps, to uncovering employee challenges.

Chris Carlson, Aureus Group Regional Manager, CPC

About the Author Chris Carlson
Chris is an experienced executive in the staffing industry. She has extensive experience in developing and implementing operational analyses and programs and has assisted hundreds of firms streamline processes and upgrade the competencies of its workforce. Finding innovative ways to generate new business and build teams is her passion. She has developed and executed many successful strategic marketing plans. Chris began her career at Aureus Group, a full-service professional recruiting firm, in 1994 and currently serves as the regional manager of Aureus Group specializing in the Finance & Accounting, Systems and Executive search areas.

 In addition, Chris is a Certified Professional Consultant, and has a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and a Master’s of Business Administration from the University of Nebraska at Omaha.

This kind of talent is unmistakable to the eye and easily linked to a sense of artistry.  The rarity of skills possessed by these freaks of nature is what makes them “talented”. The eyes tell us that supremely talented athletes are doing things that we know few others can do.

In the business world, and more specifically the world of “talent” acquisition, we too are looking for rare skills that are absolutely essential to make our organizations elite. The type of talent we are looking for does not always tantalize the senses like an artist or an athlete though.  We must be more cognizant of subtleties in an individual that makes them truly talented.  Here are three traits I find consistently in talented people.

Discipline – Fuel to the Fire
This quote by noted theological and biblical author Roy L. Smith sums it up best – “Discipline is the refining fire by which talent becomes ability.” What we don’t see is the hundreds of thousands of golf shots Tiger Woods has hit in practice sessions across his career. True ability is only realized through hard work and determination. Get to the bottom of it by asking candidates what they consider to be a hard day’s work. Ask what their most prized accomplishment is to get a sense of what they value. Accomplishments derived from a persistent and consistent effort over a long period of time can be assumed to be a result of strong discipline.

Confidence – The “It” Factor
Those who are true difference makers stand out, and likely always have.  They possess a general feel, or aura, that surrounds them. The manifestation of this “it”, I believe, is confidence. Confidence is real. Confidence is tangible.  Confidence is genuine.  It is not arrogant, rude, or insincere. Confident people believe in themselves and have a peace of mind that stems from knowing how to get a job done. Confident people do not over-worry, or appear stressed out.  When interviewing, candidates always try to ask questions that point to how they handle crisis. Poise under pressure is the trait I see most often in truly confident people.

Competitiveness – Rising to the Occasion
There are plenty of cases where talented people are not always competitive. I was a golfer for a mid-level division IA school in the 90s and met some of the most gifted players in the world during that time. Many of these individuals are household names now. A few never made it to the big time, and I was mystified at a couple of those cases where I thought there was no doubt.  These guys were “can’t misses”.  Yet, every year, a few at a time would fall of the radar completely. These peers of mine during that time were typically lackadaisical, and seemingly uninspired despite their undeniable physical gifts. You could not ruffle their feathers no matter how hard you tried, and they never got upset with a poor performance. Competitive people, as my dad says, “have a fire in their belly”.  It is this fire that fuels their discipline, and helps them build confidence by experiencing both success and defeat and learning from both. Find out from your candidates what drives them to succeed, and examples of how they have responded to poor performances. 

Surely, these three traits do not encompass all that is “talent”.  They are, however, intertwined possessions of those uber gifted individuals that I have met in my time as an athlete and a recruiter. They are the stuff that comprises the most successful people I know and admire, and they are the traits that we should work to find in all our people.

Nate Elgert, Senior Account Manager, Aureus Group

About the Author, Nate Elgert, Senior Account Manager

Nate was born and raised in Lincoln, Neb., graduated from Lincoln East High School, and went on to The University of Missouri at Kansas City (UMKC) where he was a four year letter-winner on the men’s golf team earning a bachelor’s degree in communication in 1999. Nate took a winding road back to Lincoln that led through Phoenix, Des Moines, Chicago, back to Kansas City, and then finally Lincoln once again in 2005. Before coming to Aureus Group in 2006 as an account manager in the Lincoln Accounting and Finance office, Nate was a golf professional, an advertising rep, and a mortgage lender. Currently, Nate is a senior account manager. He enjoys playing basketball, golf, and time with his wife Angie, his daughter Sofia, 2. Nate and Angie welcomed their second little girl in May.

Roger Fisher & William Ury have been touted by many as the masters of negotiating. If you haven’t already checked out their national bestseller, “Getting to Yes”, definitely add this to your reading list! This book will become your go-to resource on all issues related to negotiating.  So, whether you’re a hiring manager who is going through the annual budgeting process and trying to get approval to add another team member, or a professional who is considering a new job opportunity and preparing to negotiate an offer, these tips I’m about to share (on behalf of Fisher and Ury) will provide you with a solid foundation for achieving your negotiation goals.

According to Fisher and Ury, principled negotiation or negotiating on the merits, is always the best strategy.  There are four basic points one must keep in mind when engaging in a principled negotiation. 

Point #1–People
Separate the people from the problem. It’s too easy to let your emotions take the lead during negotiations. A skilled negotiator MUST take the approach of attacking the problem, not the other person involved in the negotiation.

Point #2–Interests
Focus on interests, not positions. In every negotiation, the parties have underlying interests that will inevitably influence the outcome. In order to develop an agreement that all parties feel comfortable agreeing to, it’s critical to look beyond each side’s position and explore those underlying interests. 

Point #3–Options
Generate a variety of possibilities before deciding what to do. Negotiations are often high pressure situations for those involved. Instead of focusing solely on getting to the agreement, it’s important to spend some time brainstorming. This takes the pressure off both parties and allows more creative solutions to develop.

 Point #4–Criteria
Insist that the result be based on some objective standard. This point is key because it allows the negotiating parties to agree to a fair standard that’s independent of either side’s desired outcome (i.e. market value, expert opinion, custom, or law). Instead of one party feeling like they’re giving in to the other party, both are agreeing to a fair solution.

Now that we’ve briefly reviewed the four key points of engaging in a successful negotiation, let’s consider the three stages of a negotiation: analysis, planning and discussion. The analysis stage involves trying to diagnose the situation. During this stage, the parties are gathering information, organizing the information and thinking about the situation. The planning stage refers to generating ideas and deciding what to do. Finally, the discussion phase involves the parties communicating back and forth, looking ahead at an agreement, and acknowledging differences in perceptions/feelings of frustration and anger/difficulties in communication.

This is just a brief snapshot of what it takes to become an effective negotiator. Make a point of reading Fisher & Ury’s “Getting to Yes” and start putting these tools into practice when negotiating scenarios present themselves in the future. What might feel uncomfortable and unnatural at first will soon become common practice. Before you know it, you’ll have colleagues and other trusted professionals reaching out to you for advice as they prepare for dreaded negotiations.

Stephanie Miller, Account Manager, Aureus Group

About Stephanie Miller
Stephanie Miller has worked for Aureus Group for almost five years.  As a Senior Account Manager within the Finance and Accounting division, Stephanie partners with organizations throughout the state of Iowa and provides staffing solutions within the accounting, finance, and human resources departments. With a bachelor’s degree in communication studies from Nebraska Wesleyan University, Stephanie is currently pursuing a master’s degree in negotiation and dispute resolution at Creighton University and is a certified professional consultant.

Stephanie reports that two of the most rewarding aspects of her job is seeing how pleased the client is when she’s successful in identifying a professional who meets the level of experience/skills the company desires for a particular position and also helping a candidate make a successful career change. In her free time she enjoys spending time with her husband, Chad, and their two dogs, Benny and Olive. She also loves to travel, check out new restaurants, watch movies, run, attend sporting events and theatrical performances, and volunteer through the United Way a few times per month.

New research by the global consulting firm HAY GROUP* shows that planned salary increases for 2011 are expected to be 3%, and although that is a sustained up tick relative to the low point in March 2009, it’s still well below the 4.5% to 5% increases at the beginning of this decade. After factoring in annualized consumer price index growth for 2010 at 2%, the final result is a “real” salary gain of just 1% overall next year.

We have seen several organizations get creative. The performance-orientated, post-recession world in which organizations are operating has long-term implications for reward. HR executives are looking for ways to balance cost of reward programs and limited pay increases with the need to attract, retain and engage key players. The mix of pay is changing. As organizations emerge from the recession, they are shifting more focus from fixed to variable pay. This is partly cost-driven, since higher proportions of variable pay allow companies to be more nimble during turbulent times.

Variable pay has also proven to be an effective tool for motivating performance and aligning employees with the organization’s goals and priorities. Traditionally, variable compensation has been used for the business development and executive work force. I think this pay model will continue to evolve to all levels and positions. 

*HAY GROUP forecasts are usually pretty accurate (this is their 30th year at it), and these results are based on their latest data, provided by more than 300 U.S. organizations from March – June 2010. Respondents include compensation professionals in HR departments of small-to-large size U.S. organizations across a wide range of industries. They represent compensation practices for 2,900 companies and more than 6.6 million employees.

Chris Carlson, Aureus Group Regional Manager, CPC

About Chris Carlson
Chris is an experienced executive in the staffing industry. She has extensive experience in developing and implementing operational analyses and programs and has assisted hundreds of firms streamline processes and upgrade the competencies of its workforce. Finding innovative ways to generate new business and build teams is her passion. She has developed and executed many successful strategic marketing plans. Chris began her career at Aureus Group, a full-service professional recruiting firm, in 1994 and currently serves as the regional manager of Aureus Group specializing in the Finance & Accounting, Systems and Executive search areas.

In addition, Chris is a Certified Professional Consultant, and has a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and a Master’s of Business Administration from the University of Nebraska at Omaha.

In his 30s he ran a major investment corporation on the west coast, and in his 40s he took over the family lumber business in Kansas City, which was the largest in the KC metro area and the only place to go before the dawn of Home Depot. The recession and housing crisis of the 80s killed his business and he lost everything but a little bit of land and real estate he owned.

I often asked this man about his life, what he had seen, and where he had been. He never so much as whispered a word of regret or despair for losing his wealth. He simply thanked the world for the opportunity to be alive and have the relationships he had. I knew him in his 50s and on into his 60s after he had essentially retired and became a humble candle-maker who enjoyed a round of golf and the close friends he made living on Charlotte Street in midtown Kansas City.

The story of his life, which ended much too early, is indeed a story unto itself which included close personal friendships with famous actors, musicians, and politicians.  Through it all, his rise to the top, and his fall from riches, he maintained something authentic to him that any leader can employ: an “attitude of gratitude.”

My friend never allowed envy or negativity to invade his world because he used his emotion to be thankful for just being where he was. In thinking about him, his life, and how it translates to the professional world we work in, there are certain lessons we can take. As managers, we must be thankful for those who work for us in a truly sincere and authentic manner. This type of gratitude is actionable.

In interviewing candidates I hear time and again that the reason they are looking for a new opportunity is a poor relationship with their manager. When asked further what that means, many mention that they just don’t feel appreciated, and that their opinion does not seem to matter. In essence, they feel they are a small and insignificant piece of the giant corporate machinery. 

Unfortunately, I hear this all too often when profiling our best candidates. Fortunately, this is so preventable. In many ways we already have the blueprint for solving this problem right in front of us.   Think of it this way. How do we train our service providers and sales teams? We train them to develop relationships with our clients in order for them to become more than a vendor, but arrive at that wonderful status of trusted advisor. This is when true synergy happens and both parties are pointed in the same direction. This is allowed to happen because there is equal value on both sides, and honest gratitude for each others contributions.

It stands to reason that as managers we should strive to create these same types of trust-built relationships with our employees. The synergistic results would be increased output and a higher morale in the workplace that is fun and engaging all the time. Okay, that may be an unattainable utopia, but the same theories that apply to how we treat our customers should apply to how we treat our employees.

It all starts with leaders creating a workplace culture that matches the sales culture: value every relationship, large or small; truly listen to your subordinates and co-workers; co-operatively search for solutions to problems by listening to each other to source mutually beneficial outcomes. Companies with the best retention get this and employ it across the organization. It is not surprising that these are typically some of the most profitable companies as well.  They truly grasp the concept of treating their customers AND employees with the absolute highest degree of respect and gratitude, and value every inch of these relationships.

I believe that true leaders are sincere, compassionate people with the capacity to care for every important thing around them. These individuals have that magnetic quality that makes you want to be around them and follow wherever they lead. True leaders garner respect from their employees and co-workers not because they ask for it or demand it, but because they earn it person by person. True leaders are a constant positive force within their sphere of influence and beyond by being genuinely appreciative of those around them.  

I am lucky enough to be blessed with this type of leadership at C & A Industries, and wish it upon everyone. This “attitude of gratitude” in the workplace is defined by how the leaders in any organization act. Your employees may be starving for it and sometimes it could be merely as simple as saying “thank you, thank you, thank you” and truly meaning it. 

Nate Elgert, Senior Account Manager, Aureus Group

About Nate Elgert
Nate was born and raised in Lincoln, Neb., graduated from Lincoln East High School, and went on to The University of Missouri at Kansas City (UMKC) where he was a four year letter-winner on the men’s golf team earning a bachelor’s degree in communication in 1999. Nate took a winding road back to Lincoln that led through Phoenix, Des Moines, Chicago, back to Kansas City, and then finally Lincoln once again in 2005. Before coming to Aureus Group in 2006 as an account manager in the Lincoln Accounting and Finance office, Nate was a golf professional, an advertising rep, and a mortgage lender. Currently, Nate is a senior account manager. He enjoys playing basketball, golf, and time with his wife Angie, his daughter Sofia, 2. Nate and Angie welcomed their second little girl in May.

When we listen to companies talk about their needs from a leadership perspective, the functional requirements are never the same, but the leadership qualities that they desire are extremely consistent. Years ago, many companies relied on trendy personality tests to determine what different candidates bring to the table. Companies were frustrated when candidates would be knocked out of their interview process by a computer and shortly thereafter accept roles with a competitor and blaze a trail of success. 

Today, the consensus from our clients has been that they would prefer a more hands-on personal approach to the “beyond the resume” evaluation. Below I have outlined a few of the hot buttons that companies today are looking for when they search for executive level impact players for their teams when focusing on the “soft skills” that transform a great resume into a great candidate.

Integrity - This is something that every client that we work with is adamant about when looking for leaders. With the public’s corporate mistrust that has sprouted from the recession of the last couple of years, our clients have made it clear to us that they are looking for people who will position their organizations as ethical leaders in their niche. Hiring managers know that integrity is a tough thing to screen for – that is where our in-depth reference check and background check process brings a great deal of comfort to the companies that hire us. Companies are looking for candidates with a pristine record of doing business ethically and treating people correctly.

Communication Skills - This is the broadest of brushes that you’ll find in a job description, but our clients have advised us that strong communication skills are a must-have when looking for leaders.  The key aspects of communication that are important to our clients have been the ability to drive initiatives both upward and downward within an organization, a track record of success creating a communicative corporate culture, and an ability to make a positive impression both in interpersonal settings and when speaking in front of groups. Once again, this is a tricky skill set to screen for when evaluating candidates, but through the interview process, it becomes apparent that candidates either bring this to the table or they do not.

Track Record of Success - If success isn’t measurable and meaningful, our clients don’t want to hear about it.  If there’s not a logical story behind how growth was facilitated, they aren’t interested in learning about it. It’s very easy to work for five years for a growing company and write on a resume, “Grew company from X revenue to X revenue”, but our clients have demanded that we show them HOW a candidate affected a growth pattern and ask us to map out how they overcame the hurdles on the path to success. Our clients do not want to be bombarded with numbers – they want to be told stories of challenges overcome and obstacles toppled.  The why behind the numbers has never been more important.

Leadership vs. Management - Bobby Knight said that there’s a major difference between looking at something and really seeing it and there’s a major difference between hearing something and actually listening to it. Our clients have made it clear that they’re looking for leaders, not managers. Leaders drive people to new heights, managers are task masters. Our clients retain us to find people with the horsepower to elevate employees around them to their potential. No longer is it appropriate for us to describe a candidate’s leadership style by mapping out the organizational chart below them. Companies ask us to paint a picture of how a candidate’s leadership transformed the culture, processes, and effectiveness of their employer.

To me, it is interesting to see how things have changed, just in the last few years, when it comes to corporate recruitment hot buttons. Inevitably, client wish lists will change in the coming years as well. In the military, the trend recently has moved from promoting facilitators instead of field generals. Obviously this is happening in the corporate world as well.

Jeff Kovar, Aureus Group Executive Recruiter

About Jeff Kovar

Jeff has been with the Aureus Executive Search team since September 2008 and in the recruiting business since April 2007. Prior to entering the recruiting world, he worked for five years in the corporate currency exchange business. He specializes in working with $100K+ candidates in the actuarial, financial, accounting, banking, and many other functional areas from coast to coast. Jeff enjoys golfing, watching Nebraska football, spending time with his wife Jenny and jogging with their two labs – Freddy and Cali.

If you are thinking of changing jobs, below is a list of concerns that you may be considering. The first section is a group of wounds that we do not necessarily consider to be severe enough to require a job change. If you’re thinking of changing jobs and would place yourself in this category, it might be a good idea to re-evaluate your situation and consider sticking it out. If you would place yourself in the second section, the time is probably right to check out other opportunities.

You might want to re-think changing jobs

1) Compensation – This is always a dangerous reason to change jobs. If candidates enjoy their job but feel they’re not being compensated appropriately, I always urge them to stick it out. The frustration level of candidates who are looking for more appropriate reasons are always more intense than those who are looking to leave their current situation for money reasons. 

2) Personality Conflicts – If interpersonal clashes are motivating you to look at new opportunities, I would suggest staying put. Generally, there are two sides to any story about inner-office clashes so leaving a position without resolving something like this can potentially burn bridges. Often, these can even be a great development opportunity for both parties who learn to work together and may expand their ability to blend in with different people.

Personality conflicts in the office can be exceptional opportunities to create a success story that could really highlight a candidate’s ability to work with people of different backgrounds in different divisions with different viewpoints and enhance their marketability.

3) Opportunism – If I call a candidate to discuss an opportunity and they indicate that the reason that now is an appropriate time for them to look at another job is because, in their words, “you called me”, then the conversation doesn’t last very long. If this is truly the case, then the candidate probably really likes their job, they’re probably engaged in their job and they’re most likely thrilled to go into the office every morning. If that is really the case, then why bother with a great situation?

Now is the time to make a move

1) Geography – If geography is getting in the way of a happy life, then the timing is good to make a change. As a recruiter, it is extremely fulfilling to help a candidate from the Northeast get closer to family, or to help a professional from Omaha get back home, or to help a native Californian get back to the Pacific Ocean. The pull of family and the comfort of home can be a strong and is absolutely an appropriate reason to investigate other opportunities.

2) Lack of Progression Opportunity – Companies want to hire candidates who have a burning desire to get something accomplished in their career. For some people that means that they’re looking to enhance their technical exposures. For others it means that they want to continue to progress and develop their leadership skills. For many, it means that they want to work for a company that will continually challenge them to grow.

For some people, working in a stagnant environment can be comfortable and stress free. But, for others who are passionate about driving their career forward, it can be maddening. If a candidate falls into the second of these two categories, then changing jobs could be an exceptional solution.

 3) Lack of Recognition – Progressive companies today have realized that an excellent way to enhance employee retention is to up the recognition levels. I am happy to say that C&A Industries does a fabulous job of recognizing people who stand out and work hard. I speak with candidates every day who have a measurable track record of meaningful impact that goes completely unnoticed.  For many people, job satisfaction is strongly affected by how much of an impact one feels that they are making in their company. It is very easy to get beaten down by an environment that doesn’t take time to say “thank you” and that pain can be alleviated by making an impact on a more appreciative organization. It is amazing how much employee satisfaction goes up when people are recognized for doing things the right way.

Evaluate your reasons, and when the time is right, start your career search with confidence knowing you have considered all the pros and cons.

Jeff Kovar, Aureus Group Recruiter

About Jeff Kovar

Jeff has been with the Aureus Group Executive Search team since September 2008 and in the recruiting business since April 2007. Prior to entering the recruiting world, he worked for five years in the corporate currency exchange business. He specializes in working with $100K+ candidates in the actuarial, financial, accounting, banking, and many other functional areas from coast to coast. Jeff enjoys golfing, watching Nebraska football, spending time with his wife Jenny and jogging with their two labs – Freddy and Cali.

My father, another mentor, always told me, “Successful, happy people surround themselves with people who have different experiences and are smarter than themselves”. In fact, he used to ask my friends about their grade point average. At the time, I always found this question bewildering since my father was a mechanic by trade who turned into a successful, happy entrepreneur. I guess after raising six children and developing cherished friendships throughout his 62 years he wanted to make sure we followed an easier path. I think about his random, unsolicited advice often.

The truth is that we are all a work in progress. In this fast-paced world of ours I think it’s imperative to slow down and listen to success stories as well as lessons learned from people who have these stories to share. Bridging the gap between generations, academics, and the real world takes a village. Collaboration is far too often a “fear zone” or something we think will take too much time. What I mean by that is I’ve noticed sometimes we feel like it’s a sign of weakness not to have all the answers or we just want to make a decision and move on. In reality most innovative solutions that impact teams’ and lives come from a group of people. A fresh objective look is truly a gift!

Whether you are just beginning your career, planning your retirement, or somewhere in the middle, I promise you have something to give and gain from building your network of mentors and finding others who you can mentor in return.

“…And you can take that to the bank!” – Bruce Carlson

To learn more about mentors and the value of mentorship visit the management section of About.com.

Chris Carlson, Aureus Group Regional Manager, CPC

About Chris Carlson
Chris is an experienced executive in the staffing industry. She has extensive experience in developing and implementing operational analyses and programs and has assisted hundreds of firms streamline processes and upgrade the competencies of its workforce. Finding innovative ways to generate new business and build teams is her passion. She has developed and executed many successful strategic marketing plans. Chris began her career at Aureus Group, a full-service professional recruiting firm, in 1994 and currently serves as the regional manager of Aureus Group specializing in the Finance & Accounting, Systems and Executive search areas.

In addition, Chris is a Certified Professional Consultant, and has a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and a Master’s of Business Administration from the University of Nebraska at Omaha.

We decided to ask our top clients, across varying industries, this question recently: What are the top three soft-skill (non-technical) traits you find in your highest performing employees? Here is what we found, in order of frequency:

1. High Integrity & Ethics
2. Loyalty
3. Accountability
4. Resourcefulness/Adaptability
5. Leadership

Any of this sound familiar? It kind of looks like the bullet points to every mission statement, or listing of company values I have seen. Organizations work hard to craft these company mantras, yet sometimes they are easily cast aside in the name of profit or strategic business direction. What we sometimes forget is that the traits presented in our company mantras are the living, breathing embodiment of our organization and they are what make up the characteristics of our best people.

I have never seen a list of company ideals though that includes intelligence or strategy. Can you imagine the environment of an organization where we only tried to hire the smartest and most strategic people, regardless of other traits? I’m sure there are some wall streeters that could say “yes” to that question, but hopefully that is not the culture we are really trying to breed. More in this in a moment.   

It should be noted that integrity was the runaway winner, with the next four coming in tightly packed together.   When we asked our best clients about their best people, they thought to mention “integrity” and “loyalty” before “intelligence”, “professionalism”, or “strategy”.

Just think how incredible it would be to work in an organization that was unilaterally high in integrity and accountability. Do you figure things might get done with the best intentions in mind always? How would company morale look? How would this impact your customers? Rhetoric aside, it is easy to pose these questions in a blog and imagine nirvana in the workplace. It is much harder to actually apply the idea in the real world. 

After all, how does one illustrate they have these traits? Therein lays the real challenge of shaping a corporate culture that truly follows our ideals. The reality is that many hiring processes are not too much unlike this scenario: Candidate comes in and sits down at a table while a hiring manager asks questions about their resume, and then the interview is over. From this are you able to assess that person’s character?   

We must avoid the trap of falling in love with hard skills and resume fluff and instead realize that although the hard skills must be present, it is the soft skills that make people dynamic. We must not be robotic in the way we profile our talent pool, and always remember that our customers do not necessarily care how smart our employees are, but rather they care about how they feel about the individuals representing our products and services.

Let’s face it, there are a lot of really smart people out there, but have you ever bought from someone just because of their intellect? On the flip side, how many times have your purchased or endorsed products or services based solely on how much you liked and trusted the individual selling it? For me, I know the latter of the two cases is the clear winner.

It is assumed that to get an interview with your organization, candidates will have the technical skills to get in the door. To get hired, they should also have the “it” factor that makes up your best people. Otherwise, even if you have hired the smartest person in the market, you have defeated the very ideals your company stands upon. If we commit to the practice of emulating our best people, we will in fact shape a positive culture and make our organizations stronger.

Nate Elgert, Account Manager, Aureus Group

About Nate Elgert
Nate was born and raised in Lincoln, Neb., graduated from Lincoln East High School, and went on to The University of Missouri at Kansas City (UMKC) where he was a four year letter-winner on the men’s golf team earning a bachelor’s degree in communication in 1999. Nate took a winding road back to Lincoln that led through Phoenix, Des Moines, Chicago, back to Kansas City, and then finally Lincoln once again in 2005. Before coming to Aureus Group in 2006 as an account manager in the Lincoln Accounting and Finance office, Nate was a golf professional, an advertising rep, and a mortgage lender. Currently, Nate is a senior account manager. He enjoys playing basketball, golf, and time with his wife Angie, his daughter Sofia, 2. Nate and Angie welcomed their second little girl in May.