Institute of Management Consultants members from Oregon and Washington gathered with guests for Secrets for Conquering a Tight Labor Market, a talk at Antioch University, Seattle last night, September 20th.

The evening began with old friends saying hello and meeting new friends with good food and beverages at Antioch’s beautiful new building. I’m an Antioch University graduate (Class of 2005) and it was great to once again see classmates and faculty.

Economic Outlook – Recruiting and Hiring

As president of our IMC chapter, I opened with economic remarks regarding the day’s Federal Reserve news that low interest rates would continue.

Unemployment continues nationally at about 4.4%. In the greater Seattle area, job growth surged in June and July, then softened in August. Seattle continues to be one of the hottest business and employment markets in the country. Oregon’s growth is good as well, particularly for Bend and Portland. Many of the newcomers to Oregon’s cities are in their 30s with college degrees. Jobs in Oregon’s cities continue to grow at a significantly greater rate than in rural counties.

Clients have been telling us for about a year that hiring qualified new recruits is becoming more difficult than during the months coming out of the recession, when unemployment was high.

On top of the difficulty in recruiting and hiring, reports are increasing about companies losing some of their best talent to competitors who are making attractive offers.

After these opening comments, I introduced Seattle consultant Chuck Roxin. Chuck is Charles Roxin CMC of Roxin Solutions, LLC, an IMC member since the 80s. Roxin Solutions specializes in startup firm growth. Chuck is active in the Seattle University Entrepreneurship Center. He had been asked to be a judge at the Entrepreneurship Center’s contest held last night, but opted to join us instead. Chuck introduced our guest speaker, Lynn Taylor, CEO at Taylor Protocols.

The Core Values Index™

Lynn Taylor, Core Values Index

Lynn Taylor, CEO Taylor Protocols, Inc.

Lynn Taylor has been a turn-around consultant. At some point, he realized that using traditional methods for hiring produced uniformly miserable results regardless of whether it was him or HR doing the hiring. At the same time, he undertood that most business problems are people problems that can be resolved by getting the “right people in the right jobs.”

He applied his knowledge of language, algorithms and coding to develop a method for discerning the “core values” of an individual and using that knowledge to determine the kinds of work that person would be most productive and happiest doing.

That is the origin of the Core Values Index. Lynn has written several books about his findings and over the past 20+ years, he has grown Taylor Protocols Inc. into an international firm. Over 800,000 have taken the Core Values Index (CVI) and learned more about what Abraham Maslow described as our innate and unchanging nature.

The performance of employees can be evaluated as A, B, C or D. C and D performance drives companies out of business. B is good and A performance is great. Firms with an A team excel. The staff is passionate, engaged and they love their work. Customers and clients instantly see the difference and are attracted to these firms. All of us have direct experience and stories of great companies from whom we buy products and services.

Personality changes over time. Our values can also change, but to a much smaller extent. The Core Values assessment has a repeat score validation of 97.6% with third party validation from Seattle Research Partners. This is a much higher repeat score validation than virtually any of the 2,000+ human assessments available.

Getting the Right People into the Right Jobs

Last night, Lynn reviewed case studies of firms who’ve made dramatic productivity improvements using the CVI. Organizations produce higher results with fewer employees when all staff are best suited for the work they do and love doing.

When we are in a role that allows us to do our best work, we love doing it. We’re most productive. That’s great for the employee and great for the company. Stress, depression and frustration result when people do jobs they hate whether they continue for the money, the stability, the benefits or for whatever reason.

When low performers are moved to work they’re suited for and enjoy doing, their performance improves. Each of us has a unique recipe of core values. Lynn and his company have built a methodology for organizations and individuals to determine their Core Values with the CVI. Taylor Protocols has tools enabling companies to discover the optimal CVI requirements for any particular position and then find the individual with those core values.

Getting the right people in the right jobs leads to higher productivity with happier staff, an A team of top performers.

As a professional management consultant, I have brought Lynn and Taylor Protocols into for- profit and non-profit firms. The improvements we’ve seen in the productivity have been significant. Many times, it was directly related to staff taking the Core Values Index. As a result, these firms were better able to understand their staff’s core values, which in turn allowed them to reorganize the jobs, productivity and work satisfaction of their team.

Take the Core Values Index assessment today to learn your own core values and innate, true and unchanging nature.