How would you move mount Fuji?

 

     Innovation and creativity are probably the most important determinants of a company’s success or failure in today’s increasingly competitive business world. In order for a company to stay on the cutting edge, it has to continuously come up with new ideas, products and services that none of its competitors can offer to the customers. It is especially true of technology companies, because of the frequency of technological breakthroughs and the speed with which technology becomes outdated. Because of the significance creativity plays in the success of today’s organizations, more and more companies are looking for new ways to identify and select the most innovative employees that will help the company stay competitive.  

     Increasingly, employers turn their attention to unusual interview questions as a way to assess how well the candidate acts when faced with an unexpected situation (for example, Why are manhole covers round?). These interview questions give an employer an opportunity to reveal important characteristics of a candidate: creativity, sense of humor, the ability to think on one's feet and remain poised in times of stress. The candidates usually come prepared for traditional interviews with questions about strengths and weaknesses, how their supervisor would describe them and so forth. Thanks to the Internet and the plethora of information that it provides to job-seekers about job interviews, the candidates can easily learn and rehearse the best answers.  When it comes to the unusual interview questions, there is no way a candidate can prepare for them and as a result an employer gets an invaluable opportunity to assess the candidate’s analytical skills. There are no right or wrong answers to these questions; it is the thought process that matters. The employers believe that these types of questions predict the future performance better than questions about goals and accomplishments. One of the potential problems that I see with that approach is that the candidates are usually very nervous and tense during the interviews, and asking tough unexpected questions will only increase the stress level for them. If the candidate was not able to answer the question in a creative manner because the nerves got the best of him/her, it does not necessarily mean that the person is not creative or innovative in general.  As a result the company may pass on a potentially talented employee. 

  

Questions that Microsoft, Google and Yahoo used in their interview process:

-How do they make M&Ms?

-How would you weigh an airplane without a scale?

-How many golf balls can you fit into a school bus?

-How many times a day do a clock’s hands overlap?

-How much should you charge to wash all the windows in Seattle?

-You are shrunk to a height of a nickel and your mass is proportionally reduced so as to maintain your original density. You are then thrown into an empty glass blender. The blades will start moving in 60 seconds. What do you do?

-You need to check that your friend, Bob, has your correct phone number, but you cannot ask him directly. You must write a question on a card and give it to Eve who will take the card to Bob and return the answer to you. What must you write on the card, besides the question, to ensure Bob can encode the message so that Eve cannot read your phone number?

Articles used: How would you design Bill Gate's Bathroom?;  Unusual Job Interview Questions Help Select the Best

Orientations don't have to be boring

Traditional new employee orientations are usually characterized by seemingly endless paperwork and overwhelming amount of information about policies and benefits. Unfortunately, this approach lacks personal touch and does little to socialize a new hire into the company’s culture and make him/her feel welcomed.

     It is important to make new hires productive as fast as possible and the best way to do it is to speed up the assimilation process by engaging new employees in activities that reflect the company’s culture and create an instant connection between them and their new employer. Some companies prefer to send an employee handbook ahead of time in order to avoid an information overload on the first day of work. They also send all the legal paperwork in advance to make the first day less about filling out the papers and more about making a new employee a part of the organization. More and more companies find increasingly creative approaches to orientations. For example, in CityMax.com new employees always start on Fridays, when the pace of work slows down and everyone has the chance to get to know a new employee. New employees are welcomed with balloons, streamers and a welcome card from the whole staff. New hires of Gentle Giant Moving Company are required to run the stairs of a Boston stadium.  This helps the company not only test their stamina, but also show new hires that they are expected "to push themselves". After that the runners enjoy a meal while listening to the orientation speech of the CEO. All new employees of Foot Levelers have to watch a movie “Rudy” as a part of their orientation. After a movie there is a detailed discussion about what made Rudy successful and how these practices can be applied at everyday work.  From the early start employees learn that they need to stay focused on the task at hand, never give up and do everything in their power to solve problems.

     The creative approaches to orientation, like above mentioned, can make the process of assimilation of new employees much faster and much more effective compared to traditional orientations. 

Gentle Giant Moving Company Challenge:

Articles used: Bizarre Hiring Rituals; How to build an onboarding plan for a new hire

Do video resumes have a future?

     The video resume is a relatively recent phenomenon, and as unemployment rates go higher, more and more job seekers are looking for ways to stand out and attract an employer’s attention.   Many major job search sites provide users with an opportunity to upload video resumes and tips on how to make them.  However, very few companies actually accept video resumes.  

     There are several reasons why companies are so reluctant and cautious about making video resumes a part of their recruitment process.  First of all, viewing video resumes can be extremely time consuming. It takes a recruiter less than a minute to review a traditional paper resume, while most video resumes last from 3 to 6 minutes. Since companies usually get hundreds and sometimes even thousands of applications for a job opening, imagine how long the selection process would take if a recruiter had to watch that amount of video resumes! Second, employers are complaining about the level of professionalism of video resumes. Not all people feel comfortable in front of the camera, and as a result presentations can sound either too rehearsed or plain awkward.  Sometimes job seekers can also get too creative in their attempts to persuade perspective employers to hire them. Third, employers are worried about discrimination lawsuits that video resumes can invite, as they will provide the recruiter with such information as race, sex, disability and age of a candidate.  Fourth, if an employer requires video resumes as a condition for considering an applicant for an opening, it can be accused of adverse impact discrimination.  People who don’t have video cameras or computers may claim that they lacked access. However, video resumes may be appropriate for positions that require presentation skills and creativity (for example, marketers) and for positions where looks matter (TV host, dancer, singer).                                      

     Although a video resume can be an excellent supplement to a traditional resume, as it enables a candidate to present qualifications in a unique way and showcase communication skills and personality, it is still not obvious if video resumes will become ubiquitous.  They may, but companies will need to create policies and guidelines in order to protect themselves against potential discrimination lawsuits, and standards of what should be included in the video resume must be developed. 

Here is an example of a creative video resume: 

And here is an example of a successful video resume that helped the candidate to impress the employer and get an in-person interview: 

Articles used for a current post: Accepting video resumes; Drawbacks of a video resume

Social Media At Work

     In the last decade there has been a tremendous change in a way businesses are done. The changing business environment requires companies to be more flexible, lenient and inventive in ways they attract, retain and develop top talent. The book “Social Media At Work” by Jue, Marr and Kassotakis emphasizes the strategic importance of social media use, as it can contribute to the increased communication, collaboration and information sharing among employees of a globally dispersed company. One of the bigger challenges that companies face now is that the “demand is exceeding supply of critical workers” (p.27). As Baby Boomers start to retire and Generation Y is entering the workforce, it is important for companies to rethink their acquisition and retention strategies. Generation Y is extremely comfortable with technology and “will demand convenience in information access and real-time communication that satisfies their need for instant knowledge” (p.29). In my opinion, the increased use of social media may pose potential problems with employees from older generations. As older employees often don’t have a high level of comfort with technology, they may feel threatened and resent the change. 
     According to Jue et al., social media “helps to cut expenses and reduce the opportunity cost associated with travel for traditional instructor-led training. Through social media, experts have access to more affordable ways to design learning experiences “(p.74).  The potential problem with that approach is that the online training lacks the dynamic interaction between the students and the instructor and may affect the quality of training. Moreover, online training may be more appropriate for a younger generation who is used to it (live training vs online training ).  Human Resources Department in order to ensure maximum efficiency of the training should take into consideration the needs and learning preferences of various groups of employees. 
    The use of social media at work also raises the issue of appropriateness and “given the vast range in employee ages, generational perspectives can be an issue “(p.16).  HR Department is responsible for creating a set of rules and policies to set up boundaries. In addition, many companies start to use social media as a recruitment tool. However, using social networking site for recruitment purposes may lead to some legal issues. The sites like Facebook, often provide such information as marital status, religion, age, ethnicity, which all can be the reason for potential discrimination lawsuits.  
     It is obvious that social media is here to stay, and it will have a profound effect on all parts of the organization.