Fistful of Talent

Farmer Wants a Wife - But These Girls Have "Retention Issue" Written All Over Them...

Oh yeah, admit it, you knew the chick from Omaha would be writing this one. Have you seen the promos for this particular show? It's called "Farmer wants a Wife". Premise? Hundreds (okay tens) of glam pixies with very trim thighs don cowboy boots and chase chickens in an attempt to show an "old fashioned hunk farmer" that they are the right woman for the job. That is, the job of farmer's wife. Um...yeah.

So what possible application can this have to recruiting? Just this - sometimes we're so desperate to please a client or get a candidate the job he really, really wants, that we lose sight of a VERY important part of the job - making sure it's the right match, not just A MATCH. The truth is you can get a fee for any old placement, and I'm sure not knocking that. But until you take a full on consultative approach (and I do not consider chasing chickens or mass emailing candidates consultative), you're not going to find a long-lasting relationship that's beneficial for all three sides (that's you, the client and the candidate).

Kristin Gisarro brings this up a little bit over on TalentMash in her post about retention. She successfully argues that (competent) recruiters tend to be pretty darned good at retention efforts and it's in their best interest to get even better at them. Making sure that the void you fill continues to tell a story, (through the super awesome placement you made) even after you've gone, is a great way to make sure that your match sticks.

Which is more than I can say for whoever becomes the Farmer's Wife... As soon as he tells that city girl to fix him a chicken pot pie, the Springer scene is on...

Editor's Note - Maren Hogan is a millennial living the dream in Omaha, Nebraska.  When she's not plotting the downfall of Gen Xer's like me, she's doing marketing and development for an IT recruiting and outsourcing firm called HCI.  Maren's slated to appear in the first reality TV series that challenges participants to belong to 100 social networks, have 2 jobs, 3 kids, etc.  First one to drop a ball gets kicked off the show each week.

New Recruiting Campaign - Keyword "Google Killer"....

WOW - I love it when a company is in a competitive situation, and lets it all hang out, even with something as image restricted as the recruiting process.

What's gotten me thinking about this?  This freaking cool ad from the Euros within Microsoft, as reported from Valleywag:

"After more than a decade of trans-Atlantic antitrust scrutiny, one would think Microsoft would be, oh, I don't know, subtle about its ambitions to destroy a competitor. Someone in Microsoft's European HR offices didn't get the message. A poster advertising jobs at Microsoft Europe lists, among other qualities it's looking for in candidates, the ability to be a "Google killer."

Decent point about the past Anti-trust woes at Microsoft.  But once I get past that (after all, that's not my issue), the fact remains that I love two things about this ad:

1.  The fact that a company is in a competitive situation and puts "<fill in the blank> Killer" as a tag.  Imagine Pepsi/Coke, CNN/Fox News or Hatfield/McCoy, and it just fits.

2.  The whole concept of the tag cloud for an ad is HYPED.  Get me some of that, and get me some of that, right now.  Who else loves that?  Am I alone in my pandering?

$50 Bonus for the first member of FOT that revamps their careers site to Tag Clouds. I'm talking cash money here, people.  None of that "this counter check is good, I promise" crap I pulled on you last week...

Michael Wolfe - Are you listening?  You might get the Source equivalent of the Nobel Prize for pulling this off.  No pressure - I'm sure Taleo Business Edition has the flexibility to do this...

Shhh! Be Vewy, Vewy Quiet. I'm Huntin' Wabbits!

By now, we are all painfully familiar with the term ATS (Applicant Tracking System).  I say painfully, because there is a lot of pain involved with these systems.  I am not talking about the pain of selecting and then implementing them - I am referring to the pain of actually using them and have them add benefit to your recruiting organization. 

Remember Elmer Fudd?  The great bard of cartoon hunting lore who incessantly chased that "wascally wabbit"?  Fudd was a tracker.  And thus my point.  You track animals and you have relationships with people.  No talented person in their right mind wants to be tracked.  By their very name, ATS systems tell us all we need to know about their usefulness when it comes to recruiting.  I commonly refer to these so called systems as Animal Tracking Systems.  I think it is more accurate of what they are.

Let's face it.  The ATS was built to manage process and track information for the purpose of compliance, EEOC, OFCCP, the corporate legal counsel and HR weenies in the house.  Sure, occasionally they kick out some tired, worn out and meaningless metric about time to fill, or number of positions filled in a quarter, but all the ATS really does is take the recruiting process on paper and put it on a server.  No value add whatsoever to actual recruiting. 

Recruiting isn't about process or tracking.  Great recruiting is about useful information, relationships, networking, needs-based consulting and exceptional communication.  No ATS made yet has been able to do these things well.  Nope, it comes down to a skilled recruiter being able to execute exceptionally well in all of these areas.  Sure, a system can house the information necessary to help a recruiter make better decisions, but in the end, it really all comes down to how effectively the recruiter can execute when they get to the right talent.  Sadly, ATS systems are ill equipped to add any value to this endeavor.

Any recruiting organization that seeks to add value to their company or client has to build and/or manipulate their current system into a TRMS (Talent Relationship Management System), so that the activities of real recruiting are enhanced by the system.  The list of functionality necessary to do this properly is quite extensive, but it can be done, and has been done, in many right-thinking, recruiting organizations. 

That said, the ATS providers continue to feed the recruiting masses the same old Elmer Fudd "tracking" approach, which only further erodes the value of recruiting to the organization they serve.  The blame for this doesn't lie with the ATS providers.  Nope, it lies with the recruiting masses that keep accepting it and implementing it. 

Wake up people!   Did Fudd ever kill the wabbit?

Can You Sell the Flipping Offer a Little Bit, Please?

Here's a big struggle for me as an internal recruiter and HR pro - I like the manager to make the offer to a candidate.  After all, he/she is the lifeline for the employee within the company, so it makes sense that the offer comes from them.

Plus, making offers on behalf of managers makes me feel like the Darth Vader of HR.  Come to the Death Star for all employment matters - you can't talk to your manager about stuff like that...<shudder>

But, there's this little problem with managers making offers.  They don't sell hard enough, because they don't have the same skills in this area as a good recruiter or HR pro. 

Apparently, I'm not alone.  From David Szary at the Fordyce Letter:

"When an offer is made, most recruiters usually don’t start like this…

I am so excited to present this offer. Based on our initial discussion, we can provide you with:

• An opportunity to move into a supervisory role in 18 months.
• A chance to lead a team of 10 responsible for launching a new system in 15 facilities throughout North America.
• Six Sigma training. We will sponsor you to become a black belt!
• Opportunity to manage the project from Day I using RET technology.
• A commute of 15 minutes and less than 25% travel.

Most often, we skip over the career, non-monetary motives and start like this . . .

We are pleased to provide this offer.

• Your base compensation is…
• Your bonus is this…
• Your benefits are XXXXX
• Of course this is all contingent upon finalizing your background check, etc.

Based on the typical process, why wouldn’t a candidate dwell on the monetary part of the offer, since it’s all we talk about and is documented in the offer letter?"

Tell it like it is, brother Szary.  I'd add the postive points on culture and an opportunity to learn from some of the talent around whom the candidate would be working.

Can we sell the flipping offers a little bit today, people?  Please?

It's worth 2-3% of the salary you are offering in counter-offers, if you are making a market-based offer to begin with (no lowballs!).

Candidates Who Flame Former Co-Workers...Never a Good Idea!

Disclaimer: I have changed the names to protect the innocent in this scenario. As you'll see and read below, the only innocent ones who deserve protection are "former co-worker", "manager", and "third party" - the "candidate" doesn't deserve protection, but he'll get it anyway.

Here's the scenario. "Candidate" applies for a job at "Company XYZ" while still employed at "Company ABC". He soon realizes that his "former co-worker" is now the "manager" for the position he has just applied for.

Here's where it gets interesting...the best part of this is that "candidate" sent this to me via e-mail.

Check out the e-mail...

Thanks for the information below. I didn't realize that it was "former co-worker" who was handling the position. I don't normally toot my own horn. But in this case I feel it's necessary. I am 10 times the developer that "former co-worker" is and his work ethic and level of excellence isn't even on the same page as my own. I have worked very closely with him and reviewed his code. It is substandard in my opinion. He's friendly and easy to get along with. I liked working with him because of his spirit of cooperation. But in all honesty, he's very lazy. I have done twice his work here at "company ABC". I have 17 years of experience in my skills and I've been an architect is some of my roles. "Former co-worker's" skills simply do not even compare. Ask "third party".

I was shocked...could not believe that this "candidate" actually sent this to me via e-mail.  After he let off this steam, he continued to contact me regarding this opportunity and couldn't understand why he wasn't being considered and brought in for an interview with "former co-worker"/"manager".

Just in case you are curious, this is definitely a true story, and no, I never considered this "candidate" any further for the position he applied for.

We all look for behavioral clues when interviewing and considering candidates for positions at our company - especially those who are disgruntled who would completely tear down any form of momentum or team work that already exists in your team.  He just took care of himself without me having to bring him in for an interview.

Any thoughts?  Would your approach differ?  What if you thought the candidate was right?

Editor's Note - Michael Wolfe is a HR Manager for SourceMedical, a medical software firm focused on solutions for the outpatient surgery and therapy markets.  As part of his role with SourceMedical, Michael spends a lot of time recruiting, and obviously talking to "interesting" candidates.  No truth to the rumor that Michael was interviewing for a position on my team and I was the "former co-worker/manager" in question.  At least as far as I know...

Facebook Has A Prom - You Weren't Invited...

This is going to make your annual employee appreciation luncheon look a little stale:

"It's true: Facebook held a prom for its employees in San Francisco last night at the Metreon. The shopping mall-cineplex's fourth floor was tastefully decorated with white flowers, and the gathered Facebookers were dressed up — and so youthful, you might think it was an actual prom, save for the booze being poured at the open bars. (Ubiquitous photographee Julia Allison, who was invited, did not attend, staying in New York for a book party instead.) Why throw a prom? Facebook is going all-out for prom season this year, with a tie-in to Sony's Prom Night and a prom-dress partnership with Sears. Why not reward employees working on prom marketing campaigns with a throwback prom of their own?

But besides the commercial rationale, there's a more disturbing reason for Facebook to throw a prom for its employees. With its cafeterias, gyms, and volleyball courts, Google likes to makes its employees feel like they never left college. Could Facebook be trying to make its workers feel like they never left high school? Infantilization is an effective employee-retention program. But it is not a particularly attractive one."

I thought this was an expensive play when I first read it.  Now I think it's brilliant.  You don't really have to spend a lot of money - just shift your annual or quarterly appreciation event that you host somewhere to a prom theme.  Throw up some streamers, provide the food (minus the booze - I'm a HR hack) and call it a prom.  If employees want to rent a tux - great!  That's their choice and it doesn't go to your expense line.

Next up - Employee rush season.  Click through to see the prom photos on Valleywag...

I'm Declaring Today a National "Hug It Out With HR Day"...

Have you given the business equivalent of a hug to your HR professional today? If not (and my guess is that you haven't EVER done that), then I'd like to suggest that you try it just once. C'mon. You can do it... O.K., maybe instead of actually hugging them, you could say "Thanks" every once in awhile and ensure that they know how important they are.

It's tough to be in HR today. Even though talent management and employee related issues are touted as a strategic priority, HR often lacks the support and resources to be effective in those areas, and there's no shortage of negativity out there for the HR professional to deal with. Numerous widely read and discussed articles have attacked the profession - "Why We Hate HR", "A World Without HR", and "HR Still Doesn't Get It" just to name a few. While I may be a little biased after having spent the majority of my career in HR before making a change to focus on recruiting and coaching, I LOVE HR, couldn't imagine a world without it, and think there are a number of people in any given organization who just "don't get it" - including CEO's and organizational leaders who don't see HR as key players on their teams.

Recently, Steve Roesler blogged at All Things Workplace about "Why HR Really, Really Matters". In this post, he pretty much sums up HR's role:

"HR: Pediatrician, Cheerleader, Undertaker...

HR folks may be the only ones in an organization who knew you before you got the job; participated in getting you into the job; helped orient you to your job; participated in your development for the next job; listens to what you hate about your job; talks to your boss about what you hate about your boss and how (s)he manages your job; and maybe even escorts you out of your job - and the building. (What the heck, Elvis became famous for leaving the building.)

Why does this matter?

We've been talking "systemic" thinking. When something touches every nook and cranny of a system, it has a huge impact. Constantly."

Wow. You'd think that the people or team within an organization that touches every employee in some way would be highly valued, and the employees who work in that area would have some of the highest job satisfaction levels in the company. And while that's certainly true in some organizations, I've met many a talented HR professional who is burnt out or disengaged, including those who have left their companies and/or are considering leaving the profession. Why? Because like Rodney Dangerfield - HR folks often "get no respect". What happens to employees who don't feel respected or valued by their managers and companies? They flame out. They give up. They leave. An article titled "Fueling Employee Burnout" from Human Resources Executive magazine, a Wharton School study on burnout pitched the following:

"One of the biggest complaints employees have is they are not sufficiently recognized by their organizations for the work that they do. Respect is a component of recognition. When employees don't feel that their organization respects and values them, they tend to experience higher levels of burnout."

Wouldn't it be a novel idea to go out of your way to recognize your HR team and communicate how much you value their contributions? They like t-shirts and coffee mugs just as much as the rest of the team, but they also like things like being recognized by the CEO in front of the entire organization (think top salesperson receiving a President's Award). Or, how about showing respect for your senior HR leader's contributions by doing something like investing in an Executive Coach for them? When you think about it, that person has no one to talk to within the organization about their personal goals, struggles or frustrations. HR typically fills that role for the rest of the organization, and the senior HR leader is often an advisor to the CEO, but they have no one there to talk to. Keeping their "stuff" to themselves isn't any healthier for a HR Pro than it is for other people.

I challenge you to get creative and to show appreciation to your HR team today. They're the heart and soul of your company. And while you're at it, you should show some love to your favorite Recruiter, too. (ahem) I'm just saying...

Editor's Note - Jennifer McClure is a Vice President at Centennial, Inc., a Cincinnati-based recruitment and coaching firm, where she's charged with strategic recruiting efforts, executive coaching and business development for the firm.  As a former HR Pro turned Recruiter, I'm confused - is she going to be the recipient or giver of hugs?  I also need to reconcile how the harassment suits against HR Pros are going to affect my livelihood.  If you're in the Queen City today, look for Jennifer holding the sign pictured above in the University of Cincinnati area of town...

Don't Show Up to My Interview Looking Like Courtney Love...

How much does what candidates wear to interviews tell you?  Or do you even care?

When I first moved to DC and began interviewing around, my sister told me I needed to dress more conservatively. Not that I was showing up in a bustier and fishnet stockings… I save those goodies for the weekend. I generally look like I have stepped out of a Banana Republic advertisement for their suiting line… Yet still, she said I needed to keep the suit but wear less makeup, less jewelry, and just be less trendy. People in DC are very conservative, she quipped. And apparently, in the business setting, she seemed to think that I looked a bit out of place. I refused to give in though – I would not compromise my fashion sense just to get a job. Who cares about furthering my career! I’d rather look good...

Sitting on the other side of the table and from a recruiter’s perspective, I don’t know if I’ve ever thought any less of a candidate who was fashionable. I might have looked them over with envy if they had great heels or a banging suit on… but looking good is never to one’s detriment. Showing up sloppy though… that’s another story.

I’ve done most of my recruiting in Seattle and DC, and a little bit in London, too. I’ve recruited for both the public and private sectors and at every level of the organization from file clerk to C-suite. Each city and sector, and the various industries I’ve been in, are very different from one another. Different cultures dictate different norms, so I hear… but I don’t buy it. White collar job? Have a white collar on. I expect candidates to show up for interviews in a suit. [Tech candidates, you’re the only ones I’ll exempt… I still expect a collared shirt at minimum though. Granted, I’ve never done start-up or high-tech… the expectation for interview attire is most definitely different there. I’m still not sure if I agree. ]

If I greet you in the lobby and see anything less, I will absolutely have a difficult time getting past that. I don’t expect you to be dressed to the nines with perfectly shined shoes, sparkly cufflinks or a designer handbag/attaché case – this isn’t a date. But I do expect you to arrive dressed to impress because otherwise, how am I to know that you care? I want to know that you put some thought into your ensemble because making a good impression matters to you and you are the kind of guy/gal who thinks about details.

So, wipe off the crumbs folks. Make sure you haven’t any major spots, check for spinach in your teeth. Sloppy dress = sloppy work. I think there’s something to that.

Kelly Dingee Doesn't Talk Like Folks From Around Here...

Check out FOT teammate Kelly Dingee's latest AIRS Sourcing Report today.  She doesn't talk like you and me - not saying that's a bad thing, I'm just saying... Case in point, here's a search string from the report:

SEARCH STRING: (@shpe.org OR @henaac.org OR @maes-natl.org OR @shpefoundation.org OR @nacme.org OR @hacu.net OR @swe.org) (alumni OR student) (officer OR president OR secretary OR member OR roster OR alumni OR attendee OR speaker OR treasurer OR committee) site:edu

Wow.  Let's play it like Jeopardy, and that's the answer.  You tell me what the question is.

<...crickets...>

Right - that's what I thought.  Earlier this week Hebert was riffing about the cognitive surplus, now Dingee is working the NASA angle.  No one here is impressed anymore that I now have a Twitter account...

I'm out - have a great weekend...

The "Secret Sauce" of Your Search Process Isn't a Suit That Costs 1K...

Managing a successful search assignment as a Third Party Recruiter (hint - if you treat your internal recruiting role as a business, these apply to you as well) has many components that all lead to the same finish line. Right?  Well... let's walk through it for a moment - shall we?

1.  First, there is the ever important search acquisition/business development and  agreement execution process. It wouldn't be prudent to get started without an agreement that clearly outlines the business terms of each search assignment.

2.  Don't forget the position profile and detailed job description with your client's buy-in and sign-off.

3.  Then, once we know the type of person we are searching for  - it's on to research, profiling and company and candidate sourcing. That can take a while depending on the complexity of the search and the ideal candidate profile.

4.  Once we have our target list of (who knows how many) names, we can begin our networking - it's time to have (MANY) conversations with many candidates, candidate sources, the rare (did I mention really rare) low hanging fruit that might have a lead or two.

5.  Then, it's time for phone screens and interviews for days or weeks depending on the search and then it's (GUESS WHAT?) time for more calls and more screens and yes...more initial interviews.

Whew!!! Obviously, you want to do extremely well in each phase of the search assignment - but remember....our currency is human capital, RIGHT? At the end of the day - the main ingredient to success is not hidden in some secret sauce that the large firms profess to have. Many think it could be the brand equity they have in the shingle that hangs outside their door. Maybe it's the letterhead they use, their practice brochure, the high-end dinners they buy or the $1K suits their consultants wear?

Here's the scoop....What makes them different and will make YOU different is your ability to control the entire process  - and I mean "flawlessly" - end to end. Managing your client and candidates through multiple weeks (and months) of on-going conference calls and in-person meetings is NOT a lay-up. 

Far from it.  It's juggling with chainsaws...

It takes special skill to be able to control and know every detail of the search and it is essential that you learn to sweat the small stuff.   So.... do your best to get better at writing a solid search agreement that's fair for both parties, have the know-how to write killer position profiles, become proficient at candidate profiling and sourcing, and you must resolve to always improve your interviewing skills every time you meet with a candidate and a client.  THE real key to all of this is (drum roll please...) becoming excellent at managing the entire search process. Once you do that, you will be forced to improve in all areas of search.  Become a "Master" at managing the entire search process and you"ll have the recipe to the secret sauce!

Editor's Note - Tim Tolan is a partner at Sanford Rose Associates and specializes in Executive Search in Healthcare IT.  He's a closer, and you really don't want to call him unless you're ready to bring out the bazooka to bag some big game.  Even though I've worked with Tim in the past, I'm going to go ahead and break the story on his backyard BBQ secret sauce.  It's Thousand Island dressing mixed with ketchup...I was expecting more, weren't you?....