This past weekend, my husband Don and I went to one of our favorite family holiday parties, courtesy of my cousin James and his wife, Louisa. They have all the right ingredients: hospitable, winning personalities; a big Victorian home that they annually fill with all of my cousins, aunts, and uncles; great food; fabulous wines; and lots of interesting conversation.

And while the bonhomie is always a "10," this year all of us were checking in with each other about what is happening at our jobs, our companies and the economy in general. The consensus was that most of us know people who have been laid-off… or are about to be. I think there are lots of these conversations going on everywhere!


The "Phone's Ringing Factor"

You probably won't be surprised when I tell you that we are getting lots of phone calls from salespeople who have been laid off. And, in our outbound recruiting, we are talking to people who have been recently laid off as well. The good news (if you can call it that) is that the candidate pool for you to draw on in your recruiting efforts is growing. The bad news is that some of that pool is the marginal talent — which is why they are in the pool! And, it is incumbent upon you to find out if you have a marginal performer or some real talent.


The Economy as an Excuse

There is no doubt that some companies are cutting to the bone, laying off workers who had previously been invaluable to their efforts. This is especially painful to see. But I believe there are also some companies that are using this recession and the current economic situation to get rid of their low performers. They are laying off marginal performers who probably should have been laid off a long time ago. I know this for a fact. I talk to some of those people every day!


Separating the Wheat from the Chaff

Many times I am surprised at how nonchalantly a candidate will state that they have been laid off. Some actually say those words like it's the "end of story," no need to question the circumstances and no further explanation is needed. More often than not, some are very surprised when I start to ask them questions about the situation. (Actually, the more surprised they seem at my follow up, the more leery I become.)

Here's how you can get the real information you need to accurately assess your laid-off candidate:

• Tell me more: When a candidate says they were laid off, I ask them to tell me more about the layoff. I sit back and let them give me an explanation. If I don't get a good sense of the situation I keep on questioning until I do. They may be squirming but it's necessary for me to get the real story.
 
• How big was the lay-off: I ask them how big the lay-off was, how many people were affected, any unusual circumstances that precipitated the layoffs, and so on. You get the picture.
 
• The last standing or the first to go? Get an idea of the chronology of the lay-off. There's a big difference between someone who had survived multiple layoffs and was the last to go and someone who was laid off in the "first cut." Make sure you know where the candidate was on this timeline.
 
• Drill down on the numbers: The numbers don't lie. Sales performance is pretty easy to quantify and assess. And, companies usually don't lay off proven sales performers. Get their quota attainment numbers for at least the past three years. Last week, while recruiting for a wireless salesperson, I spoke to a woman who was recently "downsized." The real story was that of a group of seven in her division, two were laid off. She was one of the two. And although it turned out that she was the last of the group hired, she hadn't hit her quota for the past two years. I bet that company wouldn't have cared about seniority if she had been the #1 in the group!
 
• Ask for a reference: If your candidate claims that they were doing everything right and hitting their goals and they were still downsized and you are still not fully understanding the situation (or their explanation of it), ask the candidate for a reference. The laid-off performer should be happy to provide this. Many times, when a company has to lay off such an employee, they proactively offer to be a reference.

He wasn't exactly in tune, but he sure was enthusiastic. Congratulations to Ted Mulberg of Houston, Texas who was Caller #3 last month, serenading me with a few of his favorite holiday hits. For his bravura performance, Ted was sent a big box of yummy cookies from Dancing Deer.

We delivered to our client, Advantedge Healthcare Solutions of Warren, New Jersey, a real Christmas present this past December in the form of a new New England Regional Sales Manager. AHS is a billing/records management technology provider for hospitals and specialty physician practices. They've been growing at a healthy clip and we are delighted to be part of that growth.