Would you hire him?

That was the test for friendship, marriage and employment authored by the late Elnora Schmadel (yes, that was her real name). Elnora was a psychologist and held seminars for the business community in Orange County, Calif. She could be ultra blunt. I took her to lunch one day and her first question to me was, “Do you love your wife?” I was stunned for a moment since nobody had ever asked me that. “Yes”, I replied. “I think you do,” she said. She told us to get real about our business lives. If clients didn’t pay on time, cut them loose. If you worried about their creditworthiness, do a proper check on them. Sometimes she hit a raw nerve as when she got a business couple arguing with each other in front of us. But she was there to help us. I look at people in the workplace and wonder how they ever got hired. Guys who haven’t shaved in weeks, or taken a haircut or shined their shoes. Clerks are jerks goes the old saying but gee, we would respect them if they respected us as customers. My friend Kris, the Swiss restaurant owner, used to tell me that the first thing he looked for in a restaurant was all the hiring mistakes. This economy can’t afford hiring mistakes. We need to tighten up the workplace and make it function more smoothly and more profitably. I’ve written a paper titled: “A service economy requires a service mentality”. Next time you’re out shopping or dining ask the question of the help, “Would you hire them?"