Nothing Ever Happens

Over the past ten years, I have traded my strong intuition for a fairly complex, systematic and bullet-proof approach to hire and promote employees. Critical events have shaken my life radically (for the better) and I have discovered again my incredibly powerful intuitive forces. I have learned (still learning) to listen to them and decode them. 99% of my decision on a candidate during a job interview is taken during the first few minutes of our conversation. I can not tell why and what - I just feel it.

Anyway - Irv Grousbeck is a consulting professor at GSB Stanford and co-director of the Center for Entrepreneurial Studies. Here are a few useful and proven highlights, otherwise described as Grousbeck’s Pearls of Personnel Wisdom, which can help you navigate the always delicate matters of hiring, firing, and promoting: 10 Ideas For Entrepreneurs Facing Personnel Issues.

A quick list:

1. No unspoken messages. If you have something to say to an employee, tell him or her directly.
2. Work with your employees before firing them.
3. Pay up for the signature. Don’t let an employee leave without signing a general release form promising not to sue.
4. Never skimp on the background check.
5. Ask the $64,000 question, but do it delicately.
6. Pay more for A people.
7. Be careful when considering paying more to one employee.
8. Learn from performance reviews.
9. Hire people who already have a job.
10. Use headhunters, but beware of the unwritten rule. Check who they’ve been working with.