Today we’d like to introduce you to Lee Clough.
Hi Lee, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
After working in HR for 20 years in a large international company, I decided to offer the same HR services to small businesses in my area. They were not interested.
What they did want help with was culling through applicants to their job postings. For my first 5 clients, I did okay overall. A great candidate, some good candidates, an ‘ish’ candidate and one TERRIBLE suggestion. Why were my results all over the place? I was SO very embarrassed about the ‘ish’ and terrible candidates I suggested that I started researching better ways to Interview candidates.
I found – and fell in love – with Motivation-Based Interviewing (MBI). I used MBI for one year with far greater success AND fewer candidates for my clients to interview. My standards were high and over time proven, so much so that one of my clients gave me access to his calendar. I was allowed to schedule interviews for him directly, I did not need to review or plead my case with him. The results had been such that he now trusted my suggestions.
I went back to MBI to learn more and ended up teaching the course. Currently, I split my time teaching how to interview and interviewing applicants for my clients (businesses) all over the United States and I love it.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I found I was selecting candidates that were good at interviewing. Not necessarily candidates that would do a great job.
When I asked open ended Behavior-Based Interview questions like “what would you do if…….” that generated some great answers, but those great answers (to the what if questions) had little relation or bearing as to what the candidate DID DO when hired.
Similarly, I found little or no relationship between how much a candidate tells me they want the job, can do the job, will do an amazing job and the work and dedication demonstrated when they got the job. Almost the reverse.
Through MBI, I found better, more effective questions to ascertain the employees’ desires and dedication to work. I also found it was up to me, as the interviewer, to determine if the candidate’s wants and desires are a match to the job.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
I want to help business owners hire better. To hire the best person for the position, for their company.
That does not mean hiring the first person that applies. I call it Hiring the Right Employee, not the Right Now Employee. That is hard in normal times, that is even harder now.
I addition to interviewing and finding the right candidate for companies, once they’ve seen what MBI can do, I can teach them how to implement and use MBI going forward.
I’ve really enjoyed teaching over Zoom but I can wait to get back to teaching in person. Just finished the last class for 2021 but there are already public classes scheduled for 2022 at https://www.hireauthority.com/remote-mbi/ or if you have a company with a couple of people to train, request a private class (zoom or in-person). For more information about MBI (https://www.hireauthority.com/) for more information on Clough Consulting or to schedule a time to talk about your hiring needs (https://www.cloughconsultingllc.com/).
Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?
Taking the best possible care of my clients, even if that means finding someone else to work with them.
If a client asks for something outside of my narrow vein of interviewing, I would rather find the best person to address that clients’ needs – even if it is not me. I spend time networking to find and maintain relationships with excellent HR contacts.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: https://www.cloughconsultingllc.com/
