One-half of the new employees hired leave their positions within one year, according the Dan Heath co-author of Decisive: How To Make Better Choices in Life and Work. This suggests employers are too quick to hire and the candidate may be too quick to accept.


Heath offers these reasons for poor decisions; narrow framing such as “whether or not thinking;” confirmation bias; short-term emotions; and overconfidence.


The acronym WRAP is used to combat these decision villains. Widen your options. Whenever you find yourself in the “whether or not” decision, stop. Allow that thinking to be an alarm. One technique is the “vanishing options test.” Take your first option off the table to produce more options. Another strategy is the “fall in love twice.” Keep generating options until you have two options that you love. Then make a choice.


The R stands for Reality Test Assumptions. Searching for truth is most often searching for confirmation. Heath suggests being forcibly exposed to different points of view; creating a system that spurs disagreement and turning debates into experiments.


Attain Distance Before Deciding is Heath’s third tip. Short term emotions crowd out long -term interests. Questions to ask yourself include; What would my successor do? and How would I advise my best friend?


Prepare To Be Wrong. Create a tripwire. Try out the new idea with a concrete objective to meet by an established short –term deadline. The timed objective is the tripwire. If it’s not attained, go back to the previous process with the new information from the attempted failure. This preemptively bursts bubbles and makes it safe to be wrong.


One example utilizing this process is hiring a candidate contractually for a short period of time to assess performance in the position. After the contract is over, determine whether to hire the individual as an employee. This creative selection process may appear ludicrous along with the lengthy four-step decision-making process.


The fact remains, decision-making is a critical skill set that everyone requires and few schools teach. Smart decisions are quick and informed, consider multiple perspectives, and acknowledge consequences. Hillary Rodham Clinton stated “evidence, not ideology is the basis of good decisions.”


Nikita Devereaux owns It’s a Smart Decision!TM coaching and training consulting firm to help people work smarter. She offers a quick six-perspective check-in for decisions. These perspectives include facts, feelings, benefits, cautions, control and creative solutions. Carefully identifying the problem is the first step. Identifying the desired outcome is the next step. Then apply the perspectives to achieve a good decision.


Peter Bregman, author and business advisor also recommends identifying desired outcome before moving forward. It’s reminiscent of Stephen R. Covey’s second habit “Begin with the end in mind.” Covey and Bregman both suggest pausing between stimulus and response. Bregman stated, people are five times more likely to make the right choice when they pause two-and-a-half minutes before reacting.


In Bregman’s latest book, 18 Minutes: Find Your Focus, Master Distraction, and Get The Right Things Done recommends identifying five important things to accomplish each year, as well as a box for the day-to-day stuff. Create an environment that allow those six boxes to be apparent.


His 18 minutes concept starts with 5 minutes each morning before opening email to identify what you can realistically accomplish to push your important things forward. Then spend one minute each hour breathing and asking yourself, “Am I doing what I want or need to be doing? or “Am I being who I most want to be right now?” Spend the last five minutes assessing your day; “What did I learn?; “Who do I need to thank?”; “Who do I need to bring up to date?” These are also healthy questions to ask before, during and after any business meeting.

Legislative Update

Criminal Records


Indiana House Enrolled Act 1482 becomes effective July 1, 2013. This law permits individuals arrested or convicted of certain crimes to have those records expunged. In addition, it prohibits employers from discriminating against any person because a conviction or arrest record was expunged and restricts an employer’s ability to request information from applicants regarding criminal convictions.


Check non-discrimination policies and employment applications to assure compliance.


Filling the Skills Gap


Indiana joined fourteen other states by creating more licensing opportunities for members of the armed forces and veterans. Michelle Obama urged states to take legislative action to help members of the armed services get the credentials they need to successfully transition to the civilian labor market. Indiana passed a law to streamline the process for veterans to earn emergency medical services (EMS) licenses.


GINA Settled


The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) settled its first lawsuit alleging Genetic Information Non- Discrimination Act (GINA) violations. At the conclusion of Rhonda Jones’ temporary assignment, Fabricut offered her a permanent position pending a drug screen and physical. The physical included a family medical history where she disclosed a number of medical conditions. She was also diagnosed with carpel tunnel syndrome. The company rescinded the offer. Fabricut violated the law by requesting a family medical history, even through a third party.

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