Over the past month we have had a number of conversations with sales managers. As we come out of the pandemic, they are expanding their sales force to meet increased demand, which in turn, requires increasing the number of sales managers. Focusing on the sales manager component, many companies would prefer to promote from within. […]
Today’s hiring managers have their work cut out for them. People are leaving the workforce at record rates, and many are in no rush to return. No industry or position is immune. Good candidates are often scarce. With employee retention a concern for any organization, accuracy is at a premium. You simply cannot afford mis-hires. […]
Every day we read in the news and on social media about the “Great Resignation”. In 2021 over 40,000 people resigned from their jobs, with more than 4,000 of them taking place in November of that year. Employee engagement, defined as the level of enthusiasm and dedication a worker feels towards their job, is between […]
The disruptions since the start of the pandemic have turned out to be longer lasting than first anticipated. We haven’t gone back to the “old normal” as many are still working from home, conferences are taking place remotely (if at all), supply chain issues continue, and the health care system in many places is under […]
Succession planning is an integral part of the talent management process. It provides a way to identify key roles, people with the right skills and high potential and key positions that may need filling in a short space of time. Many of the executives we speak with express concern about their company’s lack of bench strength. […]
At Profiles, Inc. we have noticed a dramatic increase in the number of organizations hiring customer service personnel. This surge appears to be driven by a number of factors. One reason for the increased need is due to the higher number of people working from home and their off-site, online support requirements. Also, historically there […]
Virtually everywhere you read on social media and in the news, we’re learning about the staggering number of people leaving their job. Gallup and Harvard Business Review reported over 11,200 resignations in February, March, and April, 2021. CBS News reports more than 4,100 resignations in the month of August 2021. It is estimated that 40% […]
I have been a sales leader for over 30 years with the goal of hiring the best, most talented sales people. It has become apparent to me that a key must-have skill that determines high performance is self-awareness. A quote from a 2014 Harvard Business Review article by Muriel Wilkens really captures the essence of […]
We are proud to announce that Nancy Ness, President of Profiles Incorporated, has received the 2020 PXT Select™ Diamond Award at both the wholesale sales and retail sales level. The Diamond Award is the highest tier of recognition and reflects Nancy’s top sales dollars, as well as her excellent experience in sales, training and management. […]
We all have heard the phrase “Listen to Learn.” Your best persuaders have very good listening skills. The question is: What do we listen for? If we are selling a product, we listen for opportunities for our product benefits to be a solution for the client. If we work in an organizational function other than […]
One of our clients recently mentioned their leadership team had raised the question: How do we really know we have the right leadership in place to drive the rapid growth we expect? The variety of available statistics indicates this is a valid question that many organizations should be asking. The reality is only about 1/3 of […]
In a recent Harvard Business Review article titled “7 Reasons Salespeople Don’t Close the Deal”, a survey conducted produced some interesting findings. The top reasons given for not buying was a lack of trust and they did not respect the salesperson. Also, in this survey the following data was discovered: 12% of salespeople are excellent […]
I was having a conversation with one of our client VP of Sales recently. He was in the process of hiring two new region managers and ten new territory managers. He had four candidates that were a very good fit with their region manager Profiles Performance Model and a number of talented industry experienced territory […]
Oftentimes, our customers will tell us that when recruiting and working with current employees they are really interested in understanding how people work through their decision-making process. And, it’s one of the hardest characteristics to determine in an interview, especially when so many these days are virtual due to the pandemic. The PXT Select assessment […]
Many of our customers have shared with us the difficulties they encounter while trying to lead their various teams through a pandemic. It’s not easy when you cannot meet in person. Once you have completed the Profile XT assessment and have the data for each team member you are able to generate a Profiles XT […]
Many of our customers have told us about the challenges they face when performing a meaningful on-boarding process since they are unable to meet the new employee in person when hiring during a pandemic. Once you have hired a new employee using the Profile PXT Assessment Technology, a Manager/Employee report is created. Find a sample […]
Over the last 6 to 8 weeks as the U.S. economy has begun to open more broadly, we find our customers increasing their hiring activity. At Profiles Incorporated, one of the questions we have been asking our customers is Has the pandemic created any new recruiting issues for your organization? Universally, the response has been […]
Picture yourself smiling and shaking the hand of a new employee on their first day of work. You’re excited because, well, you hired them. They could be a completely new hire or someone who moved to your team from within the company. Regardless, imagine you feel pretty good about them. After all, they came to […]
Thousands of years ago, our ancestors discovered an innovation that changed the course of history—fire. Not only did fire allow people to cook their food (rendering asparagus slightly more palatable), it enabled humans to dispel the darkness and identify threats lurking in the shadows. Fire led to security. And from a place of security, humanity thrived. Although […]
Hiring managers are essentially the gatekeepers of a company, because they have the largest influence over a candidate’s admission. But, with this authoritative position and essential responsibility comes the demand to hire the right job fit while preventing employee turnover within the company. This can be a challenging process because hiring managers are, for lack […]
Well, it is “Game Day” on many fronts. The Final 4 basketball event truly served up a fantastic dose of March Madness, the baseball season is off and running, the Minnesota Wild are in the Stanley Cup playoffs and The Masters golf tournament are all indicative of the traditional passage to the “Right of Spring.” […]
The May, 2004 edition of Harvard Business Review featured an article on how it is risky to hire top performers from other companies. They advised that we are better off growing our own stars rather than headhunting our competitors. Why would that be? There are of course several reasons, but what is the recurring theme? […]
Many of us loved the movie The Matrix as there were so many analogies and metaphors that resonated with how we experience life. One of my favorite lines came from Morpheus (played by Laurence Fishburne), the brilliant leader who searched his whole life for Neo, the messiah-like hero who was chosen to save the world […]
Landing a job in sales is one thing, but being successful in sales can prove to be a much more challenging and stressful task. There are a couple of reasons job boards are always flooded with open sales positions: Working in sales isn’t for everyone. If the stress of quotas and performance-based job security is […]
Do you remember Milli Vanilli? I know, blast from the past. They were a pop-artist group from the late 80’s and early 90’s with popular songs like “Blame it on the Rain” and “Girl, You Know it’s True”. They were not only made famous by those songs, but by a much more powerful fact: they […]