Assess Systems Australia » Rob McKay

Being a know-it-all is very persuasive

Rob McKay — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 00:21:14 +0000

Being a know-it-all Is very persuasive, particularly if you don't tell people you know it all. Social psychologists have performed many studies that demonstrate that people, especially in business settings, are more persuaded by proposals that come from credible and trustworthy sources.

The power of reciprocity

Rob McKay — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 11:31:49 +0000

Will people be just as likely to live up to the rule of reciprocity and return a favour in situations where nobody will ever know if the favour is returned?

Your personality - who’s to blame?

Rob McKay — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 04:51:05 +0000

Personality is stable after the age of about eighteen years, if you're a parent you probably think it's more like eight! Psychologists have found that there is about a four percent difference between eighteen and twenty years, but after we reach twenty we are stuck with who we are.

Tips on proactive recruiting

Rob McKay — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 23:30:10 +0000

Over the past years I have given dozens of seminars and speeches on the selection process. It doesnâ€™t matter if I am in Invercargill, Auckland, Napier, Sydney, or Singapore, I always hear the same complaint: â€œRob our area is different, there is a great shortage of talent here, we just canâ€™t find good peopleâ€. Yes, we [...]

What motivates salespeople

Rob McKay — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 00:48:29 +0000

If you think sales people are motivated by money, think again. Recently, the team at Assess Systems dived into the SalesMax database and crunched the numbers from the motivations scale. Of the eight motivators measured, the number one motivator ranked more than twice that of the number two motivator. What do you think it was?

The interview is not a conversation

Rob McKay — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 23:13:28 +0000

When hiring new employees, many managers think they can â€˜readâ€™ behind intervieweesâ€™ responses and know what they are really saying. Years of research have taught us that we are poor at â€˜readingâ€™ people. This leads to the danger of the hiring manager believing he/she can assess the candidateâ€™s personality fit with the role and the organisation â€“ the old â€œI can pickâ€™em when I seeâ€™emâ€, approach.

Poor Sales Performers Kill Your Revenue

Rob McKay — Wed, 04 Jul 2007 00:27:11 +0000

We all know about the 80-20 rule. You know: 80% of your sales comes from 20% of your salespeople, 80% of your profits come from 20% of your customers, and so on. The official name of this rule (yes there is one, this wasn't made up by the sales manager) is the Pareto Principle, also called the Law of the Vital Few and the principle of Factor Sparsity. In a nutshell, it says 80% of the consequences stem from 20% of the causes.

The Psychology of Interviewing

Rob McKay — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 06:28:49 +0000

Selecting employees based solely on an interview is, at best, a 'toss of the coin'; in other words, there is about a 50/50 chance that you will make the right decision.

We See What We Expect to See

Rob McKay — Tue, 28 Nov 2006 06:45:57 +0000

Information that is consistent with our pre-existing beliefs is often accepted at face value, whereas evidence that contradicts them is critically scrutinised and discounted.

The Benefits of Workplace Profiling

Rob McKay — Thu, 14 Sep 2006 02:47:50 +0000

Resumes and interviews will show you the fruits, profiling will show you the roots. Most mangers hire on the fruits, but usually always terminate on the roots.