Posts by Evan Anderson, Oseberg

There are two kinds of companies: those who are leveraging technology to become global players and those who will ultimately end up being a pawn shop on main street.

My company is based on this premise: Every job deserves the right person. We help businesses improve their chances of making good hires.
The first thing we discover with most of our clients is that they need help getting ready to hire, which I believe is the most important part of the hiring process. If you don’t do it well, you’re going to end up hiring somebody, but it’s not likely to be the right person.

When it comes to hiring practices, my pet peeve is over-reliance on resumes.
Somebody invented the typewriter, and it became the currency of recruiting. Now we try to figure out by reading a resume—by what people say about their experience—if they have the right behavior, the right values, the right cultural fit, the right skills, and the ability to grow.

You’ve probably found that there are certain types of people who perform really well in your organization, and some who tend to struggle.

I learned the importance of fostering a strong corporate culture the hard way when I started LifeSquire—a company that I’ve built to fifteen employees in Oklahoma City, and that has seven franchises in other cities.

A few years after I purchased ECI Agency, we began facing significant cashflow challenges.
The economic downturn had just happened, and the bonuses we were used to receiving from the umbrella partnership we were a part of had stopped coming.

Before I became the president of ECI Agency, I had the opportunity to manage stores and regions with C.R. Anthony Company, The Men’s Wearhouse, and Golf USA.
Fortunately, in most of those situations I was able to manage my stores and regions (even the international operations for Golf USA) as if I were running my own business.

You know the Girl Scouts have cookie sales under control, but that’s not the type of sales that we recently added to our strategic plan at the Girl Scouts of Western Oklahoma.

I’m biased, but I think Girl Scouts have all the makings of excellent professionals.
Of course, you can’t really hire a Girl Scout. They’re busy with school, selling cookies, making a difference in their communities, you name it…

There are tremendous opportunities in our country for data-driven startups, particularly in Oklahoma City. Several industries have issues that could be resolved with effective use of data—but so far, there’s a gap between that need and the people who are ready and able to fill it.