Hiring: Hunch Based versus Computer Modeling

A recent article in the Wall Street Journal ( Sept. 20th, 2012 article link is below), talks about how algorithms and computer modeling are now used to hire personnel. It does not mention interviews and validation of assessment (or test) results which are critical components to a final job offer and/or promotion, and implies that resumes, education and experience are not considered or not weighted very heavily.

Algorithms Run the Workplace - Companies Trade In Hunch-Based Hiring for Computer Modeling

The companies that we worked with, many of them large BPO/Call Center companies, as well as the training we conducted, emphasized the importance of assessments in better defining "job fit" through Benchmarking, which has been proven over many years to significantly increase employee retention and heightened job performance. However, equally important is observing the distortion value (a measure of how consistently a candidate answers the questions during the assessment/test) and validating the results by asking Behavior Event Interview (BEI) questions and conducting background checks!

The reason for using assessments is to consistently evaluate candidates in a time-sensitive manner, and in an unbiased way. This is critical as it has been proven that people decide on a candidate within the first 4.3 minutes of an interview, which means that the interviewer is strictly going by "gut" instinct unless he/she is well trained to overlook first impressions.

Most of the large BPO/Call Center companies generally desire to test, interview and make a job offer within 8-10 hours. The reason, especially at the height of mass hiring and new client ramp-ups, is to quickly identify good candidates, make an offer, and get an acceptance within one day, so that these candidates are not lost to other companies. These methods are employed by many industries, large and small and who may not be needing to meet such strict time requirements.

Good assessments should take into account: Learning Index (IQ), Behavioral Index (EQ) and Areas of Interest that the candidate has. If there is good alignment with the position and the company, this good "job fit" will greatly enhance success, both for the candidate and the hiring company.

ATS (Applicant Tracking Systems) are used to manage large numbers of applicants, help identify those who do not meet the minimum requirements and filter them out, while keeping track of those who move on through the hiring process, and also help prevent the same candidate from applying multiple times within a given time frame to the same company for multiple positions.

In the above article there is mention about commuting time being a criteria. However, especially for overseas operations, many times candidates learn of this "select-out" criteria, and merely list a relative's address that is nearby the facility. An interview and especially a background check will quickly help to identify if the candidate does indeed live within the prescribed radius of work.

A couple of scenarios which are used are:

So, while assessments are excellent in evaluating candidates, they should only be weighted at 1/3 of the total value in the hiring process, as validation of the results through a BEI interviews and good background checks, are critical.

Are you following these key principles?

Apple vs Samsung - Ethics

In the last two postings, Samsung has regretfully been a topic about poor Customer Service. The court decision in California upheld Apple's case about copying, indicating additional possible company culture issues? All of this is not a good use of company money by fighting in court (which directly affects profitability and brand image),....but it seems to be part of our litigious nature. What ever happened to the hand shake and person's word being their bond?

Sadly, not for many years now.

Ethics seems to stem from parental values, country values, educational reinforcement or lack there of, core values espoused by the company and reiterated/communicated in employee handbooks and demonstrated over many years, Leadership, and Senior Management values.

Do you agree?

Another Customer Service Issue for Samsung? Is it Endemic?

In my earlier blog, a recent experience with Samsung in the Philippines was highlighted. In fact, after several months in the Philippines, I never received an e-mail or text message from them about the status of the product of interest. To my knowledge the Galaxy Y Pro, Duo Sim has still not been launched there or in the US.

In a recent article in the New York Times, another poor to no Customer Service experience was high lighted (attached below as well as the link). Maybe, this is a more endemic problem going back to the culture of the company? It seems to go deeper than just to one or two people.

If you do a Google search, the two top sites to check out about Samsung customer service brings up:

Samsung Customer Service - Customer Service Score Board

In this survey (the above link) they ranked #344 out of 555 companies. Pretty poor to say the least.

The second site was Amazon's and it appears to be even worse. Many of these issues, at Amazon, were concerning Large Screen TV's and customer service related to them.

Amazon's Customer Service Discussions = HORRIBLE

Sadly, it seems that Samsung has a lot of work to address in the Customer Service area. This sure will not help their new product launches, or the recent court ruling between Apple and Samsung Jury Court Case in San Jose, CA where they were fined $ 1.05 Billion (Apple did not violate any Samsung patents). Apple Wins Big in Patent Case

It seems that they are lacking training, and core values that support a culture of good Customer Service.

While the stock price has doubled in a year and a half, the question is how much more growth could they have realized without these negative customer service (CS) reports. In the Amazon Discussions (link is above) there were a number of references to people not buying a Samsung product or being aware of the problems and "hoping" that they were "lucky" not to have problems that would necessitate the need to contact customer service. If this trend continues in CS, then the stock price and valuation, and their sales may have more than a few rough spots in the coming months and years.

The Haggler

A Printer Freezes Up, and the Maker Does, Too

By DAVID SEGAL

Published: August 18, 2012

Christoph Hitz

Q. In September 2010, I bought a Samsung all-in-one laser printer. It performed well until early 2012, when Samsung changed something in its toner cartridges. The cartridges have the same name and product number, but they no longer work with my printer. I realized this after buying and returning several Samsung-brand toner cartridges, all of which produced paper-feed and other problems.

I called Samsung support, and a rep told me that I could not use the new cartridges, and that, because my printer was beyond the one-year warranty period, a technician would have to come to my office, at my expense, to update the printer’s firmware. The charge for that visit, I was told, would probably cost as much as a new printer. In other words, Samsung made a change, without telling me or other customers about the change, that instantly made a relatively new printer obsolete and basically unusable.

Just as a comparison, the printer that was replaced by the Samsung was a Hewlett-Packard laser printer that I bought in 1995 that finally gave up the ghost after 15 years of use and many, many toner cartridges.

This seems like a case of planned obsolescence designed to enrich Samsung, does it not? Jon Showstack

Kentfield, Calif.

A. Let us stipulate at the outset that this is a strange case. The strange part is that Mr. Showstack unquestionably has the problem he describes — as we will later see, Samsung sends out a technician and confirms as much. But if the company actually manufactured lots of cartridges that did not work with printers of such recent vintage, you would expect a lot of noise on the Internet’s many complaint Web sites.

Instead, there is a little bit of noise, on sites like CNet. Not exactly an outpouring of rage.

When the Haggler wrote to Samsung, a woman named Rachel Quinlan, who works for the public relations firm Weber Shandwick, sent an e-mail that she said should be attributed to a “spokesperson” for the company. She declined to name that person.

Really? A spokesperson — a person who speaks for a living — who wants to be anonymous? Not only does this sound ridiculous, it also makes Samsung seem tin-eared. Actually, that is unfair to tin, which is far more supple than Samsung is in this circumstance. What consumers and the Haggler want when products break is some sense that human beings are trying to fix them. (Note to corporations: the anonymous spokesman is a dreadful idea.)

“We are sorry to hear of the problem described by Mr. Showstack and have investigated his concerns,” the person wrote. “Samsung printers work with all cartridges except counterfeit or gray market cartridges. To the best of our knowledge, the problem described by Mr. Showstack is an anomaly; and we have received no similar complaints from other customers on the referenced model. We have since spoken to Mr. Showstack and offered a courtesy on-site repair, which he has accepted.”

The part about counterfeit and gray market cartridges strongly implies that the problem here might be Mr. Showstack’s reliance on non-Samsung cartridges. But Mr. Showstack sent photographs of the cartridges and the boxes they came in, and they sure look like Samsung’s own. The Haggler forwarded those photos to Ms. Quinlan. She did not comment. Nor did the anonymous spokesperson.

As promised, Samsung sent a technician to Mr. Showstack’s office. It did not go well. The printer did not work with a new cartridge brought by the technician.

Ms. Quinlan then sent another e-mail from the anonymous spokesperson repeating that Mr. Showstack’s issue appeared to be an anomaly. And further: “Nothing indicates that there is a general compatibility problem with this printer model and replacement cartridges. Mr. Showstack has accepted our offer of an exchange unit so that we can bring his printer and cartridge to our labs and conduct tests to investigate the problem.”

The Haggler detects a lawyerly quality to the wording here. By saying that there is no reason to think there is a compatibility problem with this printer model and new cartridges, an obvious question is raised: What about other models?

Further, in trying to look into the problem himself, Mr. Showstack says he heard that Samsung had printed an internal bulletin stating that there is indeed a compatibility problem with the printer and cartridges he’s been using.

So the Haggler wrote to Ms. Quinlan: What about other models of Samsung printers? Do they have a compatibility problem? And is it true that Samsung has published an internal bulletin on this subject, suggesting that this is a known problem?

Here is Ms. Quinlan’s response, in its entirety: “We have no further information to share.”

Signoffs don’t get more Nixonian, do they? A technician did return to Mr. Showstack’s office and traded his faulty printer for a new one. The Haggler applauds that move, but was confounded a few days later when Ms. Quinlan wrote to say that Samsung’s tests had found that the root of Mr. Showstack’s problem was a faulty cartridge. Huh? A bunch of different cartridges had failed, not just one. 

When the Haggler said how nonsensical this explanation was, Ms. Quinlan replied with this: “At this point we have nothing more to share.” 

Less than illuminating, to say the least. But a fitting end to Samsung’s ham-handed approach to public relations. 

A Printer Freezes Up And the Maker Does, Too 

Managing Expectations and Marketing - Samsung

It's interesting that Samsung share values have dropped their market capitalization by 4.2% on Monday, as announced in press releases in the last two days. Of course, the World markets are down and with the problems confronted by Europe at the moment, demand may be down.

However, marketing might also be a major contributor. Why? Well from personal observations, they have not done a good job of managing and meeting expectations on some of their products.

A case in point is the Galaxy Y Pro Duo-Sim. In the Philippines, they have been talking about launching this product since the beginning of January, and it is yet to be released. They appear to have released it in India, but so far that seems to be the only market. In successive months, when asked in their stores as to when this product will be released, it is the evasive "within the next two months." We are now at the end of June, 2012.

Last week Samsung launched the Galaxy S III in the US and earlier in other markets. So now, will people who want a Duo-Sim, wait for this Duo-Sim version with a keyboard or buy the older processor and older features from the Y Pro Duo? This looks like a mess from a marketing and product positioning point of view.

Even a visit to Samsung's Corporate Offices last Friday, and asking to speak with someone about when the Y Pro Duo will be released, access was not granted to see anyone in their offices. Only a person coming through the lobby from Samsung, took my business card. "They will get back in response to your question."

So, three business days have elapsed and still no word. Where is the market positioning? Where is the customer service in addressing questions? 

Maybe we should be assured by J.K. Shin's (President for Samsung's Mobile Business) upbeat announcements, but if you compare these two launches: Samsung vs Apple's iPhone 4S....is there any comparison?

It seems Samsung has some work to do, regardless of whether the Galaxy S III is a success or not, it doesn't speak highly of how this company manages it's high visibility business. Maybe they need some marketing and visioning exercises.

Recent pre-launch reports on the iPhone 5 indicates that the Galaxy S III optimism might be a bit premature as it will be good competitive product.

This isn't going to help the mobile division either:

U.S. Judge Orders Halt to Samsung Sales of Galaxy Tab

What do you think?

Samsung Shares Fall on Lowered Estimates - WSJ

Financial Health of Asian Economies In Times of European Trouble

Obviously, as CEOs and C-Suite Executives, as well as senior mangers, investment strategies, strategic plans, budgets and forecasts in Asia can be greatly affected by the ongoing circumstances in Europe, and this is the reason why they are posted here for your scrutiny.

In yesterday's Wall Street Journal, this data was displayed about the Financial Health of Asian Economies in case of a Euro Emergency. Obviously, the concern is the possible contagion from Greece, and even more so from Spain and Italy's major financial problems rippling through the Asian economies. Some countries will fare better and others will be more exposed.  The overviews provided were interesting. Since it was a bit hard to piece it all together from the online WSJ version, the entire section is posted below. The individual country summaries are posted below the Table for your review, however immediately below here are some additional comments or thoughts.

The surprising countries of strength based on the data seem to be:
1) Philippines - with low European exposure both in trade and Bank lending, which one would expect, but a reasonably good financial score card in Foreign Exchange Reserves (FX) to Gross Government Debt (GGD).
2) Indonesia - however their FX is quite low.
3) China - recent announcements in the past couple of months indicates a great slowing of their economy overall, but they have a good FX to GGD ratio.
4) South Korea
5) Thailand
6) Taiwan, Malaysia

The highest exposures appear to be in:
1) Hong Kong
2) Singapore

Do you agree? Feel free to comment. The full article is below for your analysis.

In Case of Euro Emergency

The financial health of Asian economies in the event of a euro-zone meltdown can be gauged by several indicators:
1. Percentage of an economy's GDP that comes from exports to the EU (a large number signals heavy trade reliance on Europe)
2. European bank lending as a percentage of an economy's GDP (a high percentage indicates significant exposure to European banks)
3. Foreign-exchange reserves as a percentage of GDP (large reserves give a country/region more of a buffer against financial shocks)
4. Government debt as a percentage of GDP (low debt levels give governments more room for stimulus spending)

Country/Region	1. Exports to the EU, 2011	2. European bank loans, 4Q of 2011	3. Foreign-exchange reserves*	4. Gross government debt, 2011**
Australia	1.4%	18.0%	2.6%	22.9%
China	4.9%	3.5%	45.3%	25.8%
Hong Kong	19.0%	150.9%	117.9%	33.9%
India	3.1%	7.3%	15.6%	68.1%
Indonesia	2.4%	4.9%	12.9%	25.0%
Japan	1.6%	6.9%	20.5%	229.8%
Malaysia	8.7%	20.3%	43.8%	52.6%
Philippines	2.9%	7.1%	29.7%	40.5%
Singapore	15.2%	70.6%	93.6%	100.8%
South Korea	5.0%	12.8%	27.7%	34.1%
Taiwan	6.7%	16.2%	83.4%	40.8%
Thailand	6.9%	6.5%	48.6%	41.7%
Vietnam	13.1%	9.1%	13.9%	38.0%

* Numbers of Japan and Taiwan are from May, China and Malaysia from March and the rest from April. Vietnam's number is an estimate.
** Numbers of Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia and Taiwan are estimates; numbers of Singapore and Hong Kong are offset by substantial fiscal reserves.
Sources: CEIC (exports); Bank for International Settlements, HSBC (bank loans); Asian Development Bank, International Monetary Fund, People's Bank of China, Central Bank of Republic of China (Taiwan) (foreign-exchange reserves); IMF (government debt); WSJ calculations

Australia
Australia is well positioned to withstand a euro meltdown. It has responded to slower growth with interest rate cuts and has room to cut more. Government debt is low and inflation tame, so fiscal stimulus would be possible. It can also rely on China’s stimulus to pass through to its booming mining sector, though falling commodity prices are always a risk. A drop in lofty housing prices could exacerbate a slowdown.

China
China is in decent shape to respond to a euro crisis. It is less trade dependant than in 2008 thanks to increased domestic demand and investment. The U.S. displaced Europe as China’s largest export market this year. Government debt is low and foreign reserves are massive. China has started to boost its economy with an interest rate cut and other moves, though some question the viability of a big 2008 style stimulus package given the overhang of questionable loans in the banking system. With a closed capital account, there’s minimal exposure to European lending.

Hong Kong
International trade and finance hub Hong Kong will be on the front lines of a European meltdown. But it has the weapons to fight back, with massive rainy-day funds equal to more than three years' worth of government spending. Its banking system has weathered crisis after crisis with little harm thanks to a deep deposit base and strong government oversight. The frothy property market is a wild card. A drop in prices would sap confidence among Hong Kong consumers.

India
India is weaker than most countries heading into a euro mess. Its worst growth trajectory in a decade combined with persistent inflation and falling reserves have prevented the central bank from acting aggressively. Swelling government deficits make a big stimulus program difficult to pull off. On the plus side, weaker commodity prices would help alleviate its current-account deficit by lowering imports and reduce government debt problems by lowering the bill for fuel subsidies. Another plus: exports play a small role in the economy.

Indonesia
Indonesia's outlook is mixed when it comes to euro trauma. It has relatively limited ties to Europe and its banks. Its economy is driven by domestic demand and consumers who are largely insulated from global markets. Government coffers are flush. But high foreign ownership of government bonds and modest currency reserves mean its financial system is vulnerable to bouts of global financial panic, as seen with the recent slide the rupiah. Indonesia's central bank has been proactive to spur growth, cutting rates three times since September, citing the uncertainty from Europe.

Japan
A global panic would be another blow to beleaguered Japan. The yen would likely rise higher, making a slowdown in demand from European customers even worse for Japan's exporters, as a stronger yen makes Japanese goods more expensive. With interest rates already near zero and government debt the highest in the world, Japan has limited room to react to a crisis with a big stimulus or monetary easing.

Malaysia
Malaysia’s reliance on trade and European bank funding make it more exposed than most countries. Foreign ownership of government bonds has risen to 39% of the total, a record high. Some fear a spike in borrowing costs if investors leave in a global panic. Malaysia does have large currency reserves to fight such a capital flight. And while government debt is higher than some, it has the firepower to continue sizeable government spending projects.

Philippines
The Philippines is better positioned than in the past to withstand a downturn, with a stronger government balance sheet and a robust domestic economy. Foreign reserves are high enough to fight capital flight. A weakness is exports, which are heavily concentrated in the electronics sector with a heavy reliance on Europe as an end customer. Critical remittances from overseas workers showed resilience in the last crisis. As an energy importer, a fall in commodity prices would aid growth.

Singapore
Singapore will bear the brunt of a euro meltdown as this trade- and finance-dependent economy has more exposure to European banks and European trade than most nations. As a regional banking hub, financial services alone constitutes 12% of its GDP. The recent sharp increase in tourism could reverse, causing further pain. But Singapore is also used to wild swings in demand and has deep pockets to keep workers employed and businesses alive.

South Korea
As a prolific global exporter, South Korea is exposed more than most countries to a meltdown in European demand. Half of its GDP in 2011 was from trade. But Korea has shored up its exposure to foreign financial markets, a weakness that caused its currency to plunge in 2008. Korea has boosted its reserves and banks have lowered dependance on short-term foreign loans. Ties to China could help if Beijing pushes a big stimulus, boosting demand for Korean-made construction machinery, engines and steel.

Taiwan
A euro collapse and global recession would hit Taiwan’s technology-export-oriented economy hard. Close to 7% of its GDP is made up from European exports and that doesn’t count the chips and processors Taiwan sends to China and elsewhere that get re-exported to Europe. Taiwan’s foreign-currency reserves are a fortress--like 83% of GDP--providing protection from a global capital shortage. 

Thailand
Thailand will feel a chill with nearly 7% of its GDP derived directly from European demand and a high ratio of exports to GDP. Yet Thailand has made a conscious push to lessen that dependency on trade by boosting domestic demand. The government hiked minimum wages as much as 40% to put money in consumers' pockets. Banks are strong and ample currency reserves will alleviate financial market gyrations.

Vietnam
Vietnam is in a weak position to withstand a euro meltdown, relying heavily on Europe for exports and for foreign direct investment. Growth slowed substantially in the past year, leaving the banking system weak and unable to deliver a big lending boost like it did in 2009. While foreign reserves have risen lately, they are still relatively low. Vietnam’s persistent shortage of capital has led to several currency devaluations, a situation that could repeat. Inflation has eased significantly over the past year, which at least gives policy makers some room to cut interest rates.

Improper vetting of Data on a Resume leads to Resignations at Yahoo!

As mentioned in a couple of earlier blog posts, making sure that the references check out and information on Resumes/c.v.'s is accurate before hiring someone, is critical and essential. This impacts the corporation on multiple levels:

1) Making sure that there is good "Job Fit" by contacting people who have worked with the individual before and how they have performed, and in "assessing" behavioral traits that fit with the position's benchmark, based on top performers.

2) Ensuring that the Ethics and Moral values of the person are consistent with the company's values, as this person's interaction with all levels of the company's personnel will have some effect, regardless of position within the company, from sanitary engineer on up.

3) Finding a replacement can take time and interrupts strategies or activities being handled by the individual in question and can set back the initiatives, by months to even years.

4) It affects the morale of of the company and personnel. The higher the position of the person or people in question, the broader the impact and negative affect on the company. In this most recent case at Yahoo!, which has been struggling to compete against Google, it casts ongoing credibility issues for the company, both internally and with shareholders. Morale and Credibility Issues follow Yahoo!

And:
5) In this case, it has affected not only the career of the individual who embellished his credentials, but also, regrettably another Board member.

Have all the shoes fallen yet? Only time will tell! There should be policy changes put into place to prevent a occurrence, that is clear.

Scott Thompson CEO of Yahoo! Resigns

Patti Hart of Yahoo! Resigns Over CEO's botched Academic Records

Top Job Positions in Decline and Hot

In a recent WSJ article at:

5 Sectors Slowing Job Growth & Increased Growth 

It shows the following industries currently in decline for this year;
1) Retail - Department Stores
2) TV, Movie and Music
3) Travel
4) Amusement & Gaming
5) Child Care

Industries doing well this year are:
Military and Legal and then: 
Social Media
Accounting and Human Resources
Engineering and Geologists
Health Care Professionals
Hospitality & Retail (Food & Leisure)

Good luck to all of us! Keep moving forward regardless of the challenges!