Hiring Smarter: Change How You Hire and Get A Competitive Edge
Themes - New Hiring Process, Psychology of selection

It’s time to look beyond the “buzzwords” and truly rethink the hiring process instead of tweaking “business as usual”.   This is a fast-paced look at some clever and aggressive new hiring processes that save money, time and effort and are legally compliant.  Mixing fresh case studies with psychological theory, Karl covers new ground with a data-driven look at the hiring process.

• The top six reasons why hiring is back as a front burner issue
• Why very little has changed in 50 years
• Why hiring managers are blocking new hiring methods
• Sincere but failed tactics
• Why attitude questions are more important than skill questions
• New rules on recordkeeping for Internet Applicants
• How to fix the problem
• Real life case studies about new methods.

 All of this is based on a radical re-thinking of the hiring process, and can be applied to any organization.   It looks at the issue from many sides:

• The five things applicants want
• The four things managers demand
• The three things HR would like
• The two things lawyers expect
• The one thing the CEO needs

Bad hires come from bad data, and this session shares good, practical secrets. Karl will challenge how your organization hires now, and give practical tips and advice on making clever process changes that will produce real results.

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Risk, Rewards and Cannibalism - Modern Lessons of the Donner Party
Themes: leadership, overcoming adversity, managing risk

It takes a gripping story to get people's attention, and the saga of the Donner Party does just that. This fast-paced presentation weaves the true story of the ill-fated wagon train with clear lessons for modern organizations.
A business professional who is a direct descendant of George Donner, Karl Ahlrichs has done significant personal research, including following the path of the actual wagon train and documenting the scenes with his award-winning photography. He has traveled the trail with historians and the descendants of other families in the party, and has a solid grasp of the compelling story.
Key points in this presentation:

• Choose leaders well. Egos and personal agendas can interfere with the choice of leader.
• Pick your fights. Know the difference between a perceived risk and an actual risk.
• Stay open-minded. Early decisions can box you in. Remain open to additional information that might change your actions.
• Choose your advisors. Make sure they have your best interests in mind.
• Be a "Change Master". Your possessions and old ways of thinking can quickly trap you.
• Stick together. Teamwork is vital when things get tough.
• Be prepared. Luck and forces outside your control hold the trump cards.
• Adapt to the present. Adjust your priorities to the situation.
• When you succeed, learn from the experience. Mourn the losses, celebrate the wins and move on.

All of these points are illustrated with true stories and vignettes from the trail. The audience will both relive history and learn practical lessons for modern life. Karl is a storyteller who is very comfortable with his material, and can connect material more than 150 years old with a modern audience of any level, in any business.

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Searching for Heroes - The New Definition of Leadership
Themes: Building leadership at all levels, Setting high standards, Personal "Branding"

Simply put, leadership is at the core of the workplace issues on our collective front burners. At the same time, the new workforce has shorter attention spans and higher standards, and the leadership model must change to reflect this new world. Karl shares how good leadership can be the "silver bullet" for today's workplace issues, and gives "real-life" examples of how to grow a leadership culture in any organization.
Topics covered include:

• The rules are changing - What is behind the new challenges, and how it will get worse.
• A short list of what makes a leader - the four main character traits in leadership.
• A job description for a modern leader. 
• Why is leadership so hard to attain? Three reasons why leadership is so elusive, and two ways to fix the problem. 
• Managers v. Leaders - how to tell them apart. 
• Personal Branding - Becoming CEO of "You, Inc.", and how to make yourself stand out.
  What is the real "Power of You?" 
• How to make order from the chaos, and the importance of standing for something.
• Shakespeare got it right - the passage from "Hamlet" that summarizes it all.

Overall lessons learned:

• Leaders are authentic.
• Leaders are listeners, and are fueled by curiosity
• Leaders encourage, but are never satisfied. They are always raising the stakes
• Leaders provide direction (That's different than providing the answers)
• Leaders make unexpected connections. They see patterns
• Leaders protect their people from danger, but expose them to reality.
• Leaders stand for values that don't change
• And, finally, leaders make more leaders.

This presentation starts with some appropriate humor, is heavy on "how-to" content in the middle, and very inspirational at the end. The very first time this speech was presented, the audience responded with a spontaneous standing ovation.

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Reducing the Risk of Corporate Politics
Themes: communication, productivity, leadership
When people talk about organizational politics, they usually mean something dirty or underhanded. Just say the words "office politics", and you sense the disdain. When you're out to get something done you have to play politics!
No one exists in an atmosphere where every one agrees. Politics is the art of trying to accomplish things within organizations. To paraphrase Plato, that well-known consultant: "...those who think they're too smart to engage in politics will be governed by those who are dumber."
Key points in this presentation:

• It matters - only 15% of job terminations are due to poor performance or lack of skills, and "playing politics" begins at the moment of hire.
• Redefine the word with a more accurate description: calling it "interpersonal communication" instead of "politics."
• Appearances matter. Organizational politics is no different from other aspects of the world of communication - or of life in general. The best packaged idea wins, not necessarily the best idea.
• The rules are different in growing companies vs. aging companies, and the presentation reviews those rules.
• The good side of politics can be a powerful force. The program offers specific examples of the upside possible with politics.

The presentation is interactive, sharing and analyzing experiences based on politics, followed with "best practices" of how communication skills can be used as a positive force in working with others.
We all compete for schedules, projects, money and training. This program teaches how to be better communicators and better organizational politicians.

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Great Ideas Aren't Enough - Selling Ideas to an Indifferent World Inside Organizations
Themes: understanding internal customers, applying sales & marketing to other disciplines

Today's professional needs all the skills of a company COO - plus sales and marketing. To sell new practices up and down the corporate pyramid, you need to motivate others to change, and to market your ideas to a complex and often indifferent clientele.
This fast-paced talk offers a proven framework that separates client departments into four types based on their values, then gives a concise explanation of how to best interact with each type. This session then reviews proven marketing techniques that apply, and teaches an executive sales practice that is effective at selling concepts.
Key points in this presentation:

• It is getting tougher to sell ideas. All audiences have higher standards and shorter attention spans, and are becoming very selective about the messages they will "hear:"
• A quick review of basic motivational theories provides the learning foundation. To break through the barriers, we review the theories behind personal motivation.
• Consciously branding yourself is vital. The first point in getting others to see you as credible is the development of a strong, positive personal brand.
• Who are your clients? Recognize that individual departments have differing styles and cultures, and therefore will better respond to different messages.
• Define their style. Based on the client's need for information and desire for a personal relationship, a four quadrant model is built that explains the best way to sell an idea to the different groups.
• Adjust your message to their style. Learn concise, practical skills that work with each population.

All of these points are illustrated with true stories and vignettes from modern business life. Karl is a storyteller who is very comfortable with his material, and can connect issues from many business disciplines with an audience of any level, in any business.

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Thinking INSIDE The Box – Working With CFOs
Theme: Adapting Behaviors, Strategic Partnerships. Selling Ideas

Note: This program can be adapted for any group that works with CFOs.

Good news and bad news - as Human Resources becomes Human Capital, the HR function is becoming more firmly aligned with Finance. The good news; HR, through solid metrics and a strategic alignment with the bottom line, has a chance at making a significant impact on the organization. The bad news is that few HR people understand the constraints and convoluted thinking of their new partner, the CFO.
HR Practitioner and Consultant Karl Ahlrichs has studied CFOs, and will share his findings in this fast-paced presentation aimed at bridging the gap to HR.

To learn the language, Karl enrolled in an MBA program with an emphasis on Finance and Statistics. To learn the thought patterns and key issues, Karl hosts a regional CFO peer group, facilitating a monthly "best practice" sharing with a group of CFOs, with more than 100 members in the group. He invited CFOs to speak at the Indiana State SHRM Conference, addressing "The Mindset of the CFO" for HR professionals. Finally, to study their social behaviors, Karl played in golf tournaments with them (poorly) and frequently attends meetings of the financial trade associations.
Karl's presentation is focused on three areas:

• A quick review of the "real life" world of the CFO,
• a view of the world and the workforce through the eyes of a CFO, and
• a list of "best practices" that work effectively in communicating with (and gaining the trust of) a CFO.

All of this is presented in a fast paced, entertaining manner, illustrated with real life examples and seen through the eyes of a Human Resource professional who is bilingual with finance.

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Future Trends - The Problem Will Be Men
Theme: workplace trends, current events

There is a disturbing trend in the workforce: the growing social problem of undereducated, unmarried, unemployed men. In this thought-provoking keynote address, several parallel trends are noted and possible outcomes are outlined.
The challenge:

• By all measures, boys are doing worse than girls at every age in elementary and high school,
• In college, girls are narrowing the academic performance gap in math and science, and now outnumber boys. In most universities.
• Women dominate the jobs that are growing, while men, especially those with the least education, are in jobs that are declining.
• Men without jobs are not marriage material.
• Men do not necessarily adopt "social behavior" when left to themselves.

In addition, jobs are increasingly knowledge-based, and women are generally succeeding at doing "men's work" in this new economy while men are not backfilling the high skill "women's jobs," such as nursing.
In this presentation, Karl projects where the trends may take us, and what actions the listener can take to reduce the coming crisis of men as a social problem.
Karl has direct experience in several areas that apply to the topic. He is a consultant to the corporate world, guest lecturer in schools and universities, works with the Boy Scouts, and is youth group leader in an urban church.
This thought provoking keynote is most effective with an audience involved in their communities and the development of their next generation of citizens.

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 People as a Competitive Advantage
Themes: Trends, Hiring, Retention, Leadership,

This presentation carries a powerful message for anyone in an organization where people can be (or should be) the competitive difference.

In this fast paced presentation, we will look at leadership challenges and what has changed in today’s work force, and then apply that knowledge to hiring and retention.  In short, this presentation will help you improve your organization’s workforce effectiveness.

Karl uncovers what has changed in today’s job seekers and why we need to do more than just a quality interviews.  He outlines the series of steps that every organization must follow to make sure that they are hiring employees that will make a difference, based on valid data.

Key points in this presentation:

• The world is different – as the situations shift, the answers have to change.
• The hiring process is broken – with the changing workforce and the “time crunch” everyone feels, the process of hiring must be adapted to the times
• The talent pool is changing – the differing generations and the increasing expectations of the workforce are causing real gaps in what is wanted, who is hired and how they are retained.
• The answer can be simple – the existing processes are producing exactly the results that they were planned for.  Change the process for a better result.

Hiring Smart can focus on recruiting the third millennium workforce, but is applicable to all organizations and their applicants. Karl’s presentation and unique style of delivery keeps audiences interested and involved – and allows everyone to share ideas and information about hiring smarter and making people a competitive advantage.

“Whaddayamean, Value?”  A Concise, Entertaining Guide to Defining Value
Themes: Personal Beliefs, Selling Value, Understanding the big picture

Value is a big issue.  CEOs and CFOs talk of value, value propositions and creating value, but HR usually misunderstands what the term really means.  Value—like beauty—is often in the eye of the beholder.

This presentation builds comfort and knowledge with this vague but very important term.  We will discuss the origins, the application, some case studies, and the proper use of value as a lever in defining a department and an individual’s impact on the bottom line.

The goals of this presentation are:

• To build practical knowledge about a complex (but vague) term commonly used in the executive suite. 
• To build comfort in using the term in all of its forms – noun, verb, adverb, etc. 
• To give common sense examples that HR professionals can use immediately in their jobs.

…and, of course, to be a session that offers a high value for the time invested in attending.

This is an excellent session to begin or end a conference with – it empowers people to take action and implement what they are learning. 

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Luck in the Workplace - Build a Team of Fortunate People
Themes – Hiring, Retention, Behavior and looking at the workforce from a different viewpoint.

It never fails.  A few “unlucky” people often cause a high percentage of an organization’s worker’s comp and health care claims, safety issues and productivity problems.  Wouldn’t it be great if you could spot “bad luck” BEFORE you make a hiring offer, or coach “fortunate” skills in existing employees?  Given the importance of luck, it is vital to understand and measure it, and then assess and hire or train for it.

Take a look at a key area of the workforce from a fresh viewpoint. This presentation is based on ongoing research on the psychological and behavioral foundations of fortunate behavior.  Engaging the audience with a data-based examination of luck, the presentation uses assessment methods and psychological theory to develop a better understanding of fortunate behavior, and closes with direct, practical advice on reducing the “victim” mentality in an organization. 

Topics covered include:
            Survey results on general population re: lucky/unlucky
Strong tendency for people who said they’re lucky in one area to also be lucky in others.
            Lucky vs. Unlucky:
Unlucky have accidents and don’t stick to their diets, so they have higher medical claims. 
Unlucky have a “why bother” attitude and are difficult to engage in team behaviors
                        Unlucky stop at the first failure and accept their fate.
            The four main differences between lucky and unlucky people
Luck isn’t divine intervention—It is a combination of attitudes and behaviors. 
The benefits of luck in the workplace
How to screen and hire for luck
How to make unlucky people more fortunate

Results

• A solid understanding of fortunate behavior, in life and in the workplace
• How to use assessment tools to select a lucky workforce
• How to train your existing workforce to be more lucky.
• We will end with how to get more luck into your life.

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Diversity – Why Bother?
Theme: Culture change, people as a competitive advantage

Beyond social and moral responsibility, having a culture that encourages the full participation of all people on the team can be a real competitive advantage.  Additionally, most audiences have an out-of-date perception of diversity in modern organizations.

This presentations starts with the “Why Bother…” question, clarifies the importance of a diversity-based culture, then works backwards on how to understand and implement the process. 

So, why bother, indeed?  The answer is broad:

• Diversity can improve the quality of your organization's workforce and can be the catalyst for a better return on your investment in human capital.
• It will help you capitalize on new markets; customer bases are becoming even more diverse than the workforce.
• It will increase creativity, with benefits that go in all directions.
• In short, it is part of a flexible workforce, and flexibility ensures survival.

This presentation looks at:

• The new definition of diversity, with better word choices to describe it
• A quick historical time line through the three major phases that have brought us to where we are
• A discussion of the importance of people as a competitive advantage
• Examples of creativity, flexibility and new directions that come from having a culture of inclusion.
• Eight specific guidelines to make it all happen, in handy bullet point form as a handout.

This presentation ends with a call for action in the development of higher personal awareness of the importance of remaining mentally young, open to new ideas and comfortable working with everyone on the team.

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• customize an existing training program, or
• create a program specific to your needs and requirements.