Reach Consensus on A Candidates, How to Avoid Cancer, Our Favorite Christmas Tradition
Business
Candidate Discussion & Reaching Consensus
You’ve now completed your phone interviews, which determined who came to the in-person interviews. The in-person interviews are complete and everyone who met the candidate has graded the candidate using their scorecard.
Now the interviewing team comes together to compare their scores and decide which candidates make it to the next stage – the reference interview.
Step 1 – Gather the Team – Gather everyone who was on the interviewing team and you can also invite everyone who had an opportunity to interact with the candidate. The entire interview team should be at the meeting. You can gather the scorecards from anyone else who cannot attend the discussion. The scorecards should contains scores and comments that can speak for the grader in their absence.
Step 2 – Tally the Scores – Using a whiteboard begin to tally the scores for each category on the scorecard / interview template (they should match). This is a great time for discussion about why you chose the score you did. Let each individual have their say and modify their score if they believe they were too harsh or lenient in their grading. First impressions are generally best, so encourage the evaluators to stick with their scores if they are comfortable with them.
The key to this process is discussing each area of the scorecard separately. A discussion that starts with simply should we hire them or not can get very divisive and be way too based on personality. We have taken that out of our system by focusing on scores that we believe represent the qualities needed for someone to be successful in this position. Animated discussion about one characteristic is a lot easier than grading the person as a whole. Let the scores do their work.
Step 3 – Sum the Totals – You should now have total scores for each area on your scorecard. You might have weighted some areas of your scorecard as more important than others. If you did, make sure you use those weights before you sum the scores. Sum the scores and rank the candidates based on their total scores.
Step 4 – Reach Consensus – In the end, the hiring manager should have the last call on who makes it to the next stage. But, this is the opportunity for the team to push and pull on each other’s evaluation of the candidates.
To reach consensus, I like using a simple method called “5 Finger Consensus.” The question you want to reach consensus on is if all team members agree with the scores as stated and with which candidates will move to the next stage. First explain to them how to “vote with their fist.” 1 Finger (middle finger not allowed) – I strongly disagree; 2 Fingers – I disagree, 3 Fingers – I am not totally on board, but will support the decision of the team; 4 Fingers – I agree and 5 Fingers – I strongly agree.
Just like Rock, Paper, Scissors everybody must vote at the same time. 90+% of your team will not vote against their senior leaders, so everyone going at the same time matters. If you have some real introverts in the room, you can have everyone vote on paper.
If everyone is not a 3 or above, I suggest you keep digging. You only have your best players on your interview team. If you cannot get them on board with the hire, the rest of the team might be missing something. Keep digging, exploring, whatever you need to do to get everyone on board.
The senior leader always has the final call, but you want to empower your team to make great hires so trust the process.
Next week, we’ll move on to one of the most overlooked, but most useful stages of the process – the reference interview.
Health
75% of Cancer Can Be Prevented
Cancer is the second leading cause of death in America. Scientists at the Harvard School of Public Health estimate that up to up to 75% of American cancer deaths can be prevented. That is a huge opportunity for us to take our health into our own hands and live in such a way that we reduce our risk of dying from cancer. 30% of cancers are caused by smoking and tobacco use and another 30% are caused by obesity and our diet. We can control both of those! Here are the top tips I found from Harvard and the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine:
- Eat more fruits and vegetables – to reduce the risk of several forms of cancer.
- Limit or avoid alcohol – to reduce the risk of mouth, pharynx, larynx, esophagus, colon, rectum and breast cancers.
- Avoid red and processed meats – to avoid cancers of the colon and rectum.
- Avoid grilled, fried and broiled meats – to reduce the risk of colon, rectum, breast, prostate, kidney and prostate cancers.
- Women should consume soy products in adolescence – to reduce the risk of breast cancer.
- Avoid Dairy – to reduce the risk of prostate cancer. This one can be controversial, but my wife and I have successfully switched to almond milk because one of our kids is allergic to dairy. The only time we miss real milk is when eating cookies! Interesting video describing the links between dairy and prostate cancer here.
- Exercise regularly – it will reduce your risk even if you do not lose weight.
- Stay lean – obesity increases the risk of many forms of cancer.
- Avoid radiation and toxins – from testing and your workplace. Also, practice sun safety.
- Avoid infections – hepatitis, HIV and the human papillomavirus can all contribute to cancer.
- Get enough vitamin D – You’ll need to supplement to get 800 to 1,000 IU a day and a little sunshine will help. You don’t need a tan to get vitamin D from the sun, just about half of the time if takes for your skin to turn pink.
- Stop Using Tobacco – in all forms.
The great news is that a healthy lifestyle can protect us from cancer, stroke and heart disease. Avoid all of these and you are avoiding almost 70% of the causes of death in the US. This is a huge opportunity for us to take our health into our own hands!
Life, Fun, Whatever
Our Best Christmas Tradition
Jill and I have 4 children now – ages 5 to 3 months. Jill and I are both fairly simple people with relatively simple tastes. Neither of our love languages are gifts. So combine that with our faith and we wanted to take a less “stuff focused” approach to Christmas. We started asking some of our good friends who shared our views what they did and one response was a great book called “The Sparkle Box” and it has become the centerpiece of our Christmas traditions.
Here is how it works. First of all buy the book (link below), but here are the basics. Christmas is the celebration of Jesus’ birthday, not yours (this even hurts my 45 year old self – I love stuff as much as the next person). How can we give gifts to Jesus? We can certainly put our focus, praise and worship on Him during this season, but we can also give to those who Jesus held the most compassion for – the poor and the needy. That is where the Sparkle Box comes in. Focus your Christmas season on doing kind acts to others and write them down on slips of paper. Jill often grabs photos from the internet so the kids can “get it” quickly. Put those slips into the Sparkle Box.
On Christmas morning, make opening the Sparkle Box and reading about how you and your family gave gifts to Jesus during the holidays the first thing you do. We still do a few gifts for the kids and our families do plenty! Trust me, our kids are not hurting for Christmas presents.
We have been amazed at how our kids have responded to this. We have really been able to keep the focus of the season on Jesus. I highly recommend the book!
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