Stressed recruiter? Take a chill-pill

Stress at work is dangerous. Seriously. I believe it leads to medical issues, and it certainly will harm your relationships and overall quality of life. And that is bad for us recruiters because we do one of the toughest jobs around . The ‘all or nothing’ nature of what we do is designed to induce stress, it seems. Over the years I have seen recruiters reduced to highly destructive and antisocial behavior as a result of the stress they feel, as they fight to achieve targets, deal with major disappointments, and cope with rude clients and ungrateful candidates. Drinking too much. Drug abuse. Anger directed at colleagues. Wild mood swings. Dishonest dealings. Depression. Rapid weight gain or loss. All unfortunate. All harmful. But what can you do about it? Pressure and stress is part of what we do. It’s not going to go away. The reality is we need to learn to cope. Have some releases that ease the pressure and redress the balance. Here are a few things I recommend, when it comes to battling the stress tsunami. Have a good cry. Seriously. Or, once the phone is put down, let off some steam. As long as it’s not directed at a colleague. As long as it’s quick. As long as you bounce back fast, it’s OK! In fact, given our job, it would be weird not to melt down occasionally. I was not much of a crier myself, but when things went seriously wrong it was not unknown for me to let slip a few choice expletives, punch the desk, bang my head on the wall. It’s OK. Let it go. You will feel better afterward. But then… move on! Get perspective . Breathe. Again, I am serious. Push back from your desk. Suck in the big ones. Deliberately and consciously shift your thinking. Dump the negatives. ‘It will go well’, not ‘it’s all going down the gurgler’. I believe in PMA (Positive Mental Attitude). And I also believe that we can control how we react to situations. Jump off the stress treadmill. Take a chill-pill. Recalibrate your attitude. Whatever crappy thing just happened, it’s not that serious. Recognise the warning signs. This is simple, but big. If stress is building and you can see it’s getting worse, sometimes discretion is the greater part of valour. Take evasive action. Avoid that irritating client call. Stop making sales calls for an hour where you are getting nowhere with rude clients, and call 10 of your best talent instead. They will be pleased to hear from you and that will cheer you up right there! Leave the office early. You can make it up tomorrow. Call someone who will cheer you up. Set an achievable goal. One you can get, and that will make you feel good. This is key. A massive sea of work is piling up all around you. You can see no way you can get it done. Every call you take seems to pile more and more on you. The ‘to do’ list is getting ever longer.  So here is the trick. Cross everything on the ‘to do’ list out, except the top 3 big, hairy important things that must get done. Forget the rest. You were not going to get to them anyway, were you? Scratch them out and get the big 3 to 5 things done. Then go home. Successful. Sweat a little. This is my most personal tip. I reckon exercise reduces stress exponentially. In fact I have month’s gym session in my diary ahead of time – 3 or 4 a week – and I don’t change them for anybody (unless my wife tells me to. Obviously.). And I go in the middle of the day. Just around the corner from my office. It suits me because I work long hours and it does not really matter when I take the break, as long as I take it. For you it might be different, but if you feel the stress building, don’t hit the grog or buy that burger to give you the comfort you crave. Run, gym, bike or even just a swift walk. For me it’s a lifesaver. Someone even told me that if they have a difficult meeting with me, they try to arrange it after my gym session, because, inevitably, I am ‘much calmer’. Being a recruiter means stress. It never fully goes away no matter how good you are. You have to manage it. Because if we can manage the pressure, being a recruiter rocks ! Hope these tips help you! ***************************************************************************************************** Subscribe to The Savage Truth and ‘Like” our Facebook page to enure you get your recruiting brain-food fix.

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Stressed recruiter? Take a chill-pill

Tags: building morale, chill, coaching recruiters, employee engagement, Industry Chat, managing stress, motivation, pill, recruiter, result

Fun and Money – The two reasons to come to work

There are only two reasons to come to work. Fun and money. And you have to have both . One of them will not be enough. Not if you want to love what you do, that is. Having a job where you get just one or the other, often seduces you into thinking you have found your dream job. But in most cases that dream fades like mirage as you realise a key ingredient of  ‘job love’ is missing. And for recruiters, where our job is so hard, and the disappointments so many, you simply have to have them both for it all to be worth it. Fun and money. But let’s dig into what I mean by ‘fun’ and ‘money’. At work, ‘fun’ is much more than just having a giggle. Fun means working in a business where you believe in the vision and the ethos. That’s where ‘fun’ begins. To do a challenging job well, every day, you have to be doing something that has meaning to you. Fun on the job means working with people you like and respect. Fun at work includes collaboration, mutual support and a strong bond of shared goals. Fun means winning more than losing, continuous learning, constantly growing as a business person, and doing something you know impacts people in a positive way. That’s fun. And it includes traditional fun too. A workplace where we can have a laugh, where we can socialise easily, enjoy each other’s company and celebrate group and individual success. A job that enhances your self esteem and sense of worth. That is fun. Is that how it is for you where you work? If you are going to thrive as a recruiter, indeed in any role, you need to have ‘fun’ the way I define it here. But what about ‘money’? I don’t simply mean the amount you get paid, as important as that may be. I mean working in a business that is financially successful, for a start. If we have a great product or service and deliver it well, we will thrive. And that is where you want to work. Profit is not a dirty word. Profit is like oxygen. We don’t wake up every day with ‘profit’ as our only goal, but like oxygen, we sure notice when it’s not there! Making money means we can invest in people, learning, marketing and technology. And that is fun! And ‘money’ means getting a fair reward for the effort applied and the result achieved. So a heavy element of reward for result is a good thing. And that means if you are good at your job, you get well rewarded. And financial success is important in only one way. More choices in life . And that leads us back to fun! So there it is. You can read many books on employee engagement and motivation at work. Put them all aside. You don’t need them to evaluate whether you are in the right job, recruiter or not. Want to love what you do? Work with the ‘twin sisters of the holy grail’ – Fun and Money *************************************************************************************************** Subscribe to The Savage Truth and ‘Like” our Facebook page to enure you get your recruiting brain-food fix.

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Fun and Money – The two reasons to come to work

Tags: coaching recruiters, employee engagement, Industry Chat, Job Satisfaction, leadership, money, result

Talent community or field of dreams?

Build it and they'll come. Will they? Will it work? Will anyone really care? There is constantly so much debate about the talent community. Brave New Talent apparently advertise “Build a community in 10 minutes”. But what is the point? 10 minutes, 10 days or 10 years does it really matter? Take our friend Twitter for a moment. Let's take our sterotypical sales person. Nowhere to be seen until they smell money and then they're all over you on any channel they can find you. Sign the deal and whoosh, they be gone never to be seen until of course it is time for that renewal. Or take prospective customers. Need that proposal like yesterday for that pitch they are doing to the board tomorrow. Love you for your help until they've had it. Next day and whoosh they be gone never to reply to your e-mail or voicemail ever again. Surely job seekers and recruiters are no different. No one cares about a long term relationship in the sales process. It's all about what I can get out of it for me and if we have a match then bingo we do a deal. If not, hasta la vista baby. Once I'm a customer/employee we have a vested interest in a long term relationship but otherwise it is a process of selflessness; getting what you can for your own benefit. But that's fine as long as we all recognise the rules of reality and stop trying to kid ourselves there is something deeper bringing us together. But here's another point. Who cares if this is how it works? I have a sneaking suspicion that all that really matters is success but the measures of success I hear talked about are what are wrong. Not that I actually hear that much about measuring success. I've heard about recruiters now having more applications (due to a Facebook advertising campaign) than they can handle whereas before they didn't have enough appplications. That's the success measure? I hope not! Furthermore, surely it's not about number of discussions, number of members (for a recruitment approach), comments, status updates etc. Surely is it about solving your business problem. If volume solves the problem then great but I rarely hear the problem articulated. I “hear” the debates about what makes a TC a TC but rarely do I hear any of the debatees talk about the business problem that they are trying to solve. They all seem to get het up about definition whilst missing the WHY. Like why do I want one? How will it help me? What problem will it solve? I see so many great ideas turn quickly into code but rarely into a successful business. Before we start writing code we need to check that the users will want what we are building. Steve Jobs would argue against this BTW. He apparently (I only read this point, he didn't tell me when we had a beer last year) thinks that the last place to look for product ideas are your existing customers (candidates). I kind of agree but still think it is a good idea to ask a few candidates what they think of your idea. Like will it help them achieve what they want to achieve? Simple stuff but hands up anyone who has built a business/product recently and actually asked “customers” if it helped them BEFORE they started to produce? Yeah, yeah I know you don't have to launch the perfect product first time these days but you do need to know that what you create solves a real problem. Of course you think it does solve a problem, why else would you create it but without actually checking with some potential users/customers first it is like roulette. There's a slim chance you are right but why not just check?! But, and it is a BIG but, what if you just know that this is the right thing to do? What if all the naysayers can argue with such eloquence that they must be right? Should you listen or should you follow your heart? Build it and they will come. Maybe it is not the idea that is wrong but the strategy or the build or the market. Maybe they will come but just from somewhere else. Sometimes you just have to say WTF; I'm doing it anyway. The opening words of this trailer say it all; yet still they came. In the meantime I'm off to get my tractor; I've work to do! Click image to view video on YouTube as “embed” disabled by Universal Studios!!

Tags: attraction, collaborative recruiting, communities, direct recruiting, employee engagement, Industry Chat, social media, social recruiting, Talent Acquisition, talent-management

Is your culture killing your social media efforts? #in

So your CEO has a BHAG . Chances are it includes the Internet, social, technology, maybe even the cloud. But here’s the bigger question. Can your company adapt to the changes ahead? Or is your culture so engrained that it cannot handle change? Of course I don’t mean you, it’s everyone else that has problems with culture. Really? Swap desks right now with someone else without telling them. See how well they adapt to a sudden change that can be easily undone. The BHAG may exist but will your people stop it happening? Do you have leaders that can help them change? Only you know the truth.

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Is your culture killing your social media efforts? #in

Tags: ceo, change, Desks, employee engagement, Fun, hmmm, Industry Chat, result, social, technology, Truth

Is your culture killing your social media efforts? #in

So your CEO has a BHAG . Chances are it includes the Internet, social, technology, maybe even the cloud. But here’s the bigger question. Can your company adapt to the changes ahead? Or is your culture so engrained that it cannot handle change? Of course I don’t mean you, it’s everyone else that has problems with culture. Really? Swap desks right now with someone else without telling them. See how well they adapt to a sudden change that can be easily undone. The BHAG may exist but will your people stop it happening? Do you have leaders that can help them change? Only you know the truth.

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Is your culture killing your social media efforts? #in

Tags: ceo, change, Desks, employee engagement, Fun, hmmm, Industry Chat, result, social, social media, technology, Truth

Is your culture killing your social media efforts?

So your CEO has a BHAG . Chances are it includes the Internet, social, technology, maybe even the cloud. But here’s the bigger question. Can your company adapt to the changes ahead? Or is your culture so engrained that it cannot handle change? Of course I don’t mean you, it’s everyone else that has problems with culture. Really? Swap desks right now with someone else without telling them. See how well they adapt to a sudden change that can be easily undone. The BHAG may exist but will your people stop it happening? Do you have leaders that can help them change? Only you know the truth.

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Is your culture killing your social media efforts?

Tags: ceo, change, Desks, employee engagement, Fun, hmmm, Industry Chat, result, technology

What’s in a name Costa?

Toffee or caramel. Does it really matter? In most cases it doesn’t which is what some bright spark in Costa product marketing thought. But try telling that to the kids – or the baristas! Last season(!) they had the caramel crunch which was an ice/milk/caramel sauce drink all put together using the amazing Blendtec blender. You could also get a coffee version. Coffee or caramel. Different name, different sound. Not something that gets mixed up. Now this season they have the toffee cooler and the coffee cooler. See where this is going? The person who decided on the name change (even though it still uses CARAMEL sauce) has probably never served one of these in their life. The staff are struggling with this as customers ask for one thing but get another. Stupid staff you may think, but in a noisy coffee shop with Blendtec blenders screaming away in the background they are up against it. Marketing or whoever you are; get out of your shiny offices and put yourself on the frontline. You may just learn something. So far no one cares. Why should they? Profits maybe? How many get thrown away because of a name? What does that cost in time and reputation? What about opening up a communication channel so your employees can tell you about such things? Like Facebook but internal only? You know Facebook don’t you, and Twitter. You spend countless hours and £’s wooing your customers via these channels but ignore your staff. Shame on you Costa. Treat your employees like customers and they will give you great ideas, stay longer, tell their friends. Ignore them at your peril. Toffee or caramel? Who would have thought it.

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What’s in a name Costa?

Tags: caramel, crunch, employee engagement, facebook, hmmm, Industry Chat, result, retailers, sauce, social media, spark, thought, toffee

Being a recruiter rocks!

I love being a recruiter. Seriously, I think it’s the best job in the world. Yet 80% of people who enter this industry, fail in the first 2 years, leave, and are never sighted again. And it’s true, it is tough being a recruiter. And I believe in the modern era it’s getting even harder. During the downturn it got even worse. We all worked harder and harder, and earned less and less. On top of that, our customers seem to resent us more than ever, as can be seen in my recent blog, ‘God I hate recruiters’ . Ironically there is a fate worse than being amongst the 80% of recruiters who fail. Yes, being an average, mediocre, ploddy recruiter who survives is real purgatory. Why? Because this job is too hard, has too many disappointments, not to be great at it. You have to be a great recruiter to reap the rewards that make it all worthwhile. So for the top 5%, the cream, recruiting is the coolest job in the world. Here’s why: Recruiting is a win/win/win. Unlike most commercial transactions, recruiting is not a win/lose scenario. If I sell you a car I aim for the highest price, you push for the lowest. One of us will feel we ‘won’, the other a bit despondent that we ‘lost’.  But in the perfect recruitment scenario everybody wins. Happy client, happy candidate, happy you. This is not as trivial as it seems. There is something intensely rewarding about doing a job where everyone is grateful, everyone is excited with the outcome… and then you get paid as well. You create great outcomes. Maybe the coolest thing about being a recruiter is that this is a job where you actually make good things happen. The candidate is reluctant to go on an interview, but through your influencing skills they reluctantly go along, do fantastically well, love the job, and get hired! The client won’t see your top talent because of something they spotted in the resume, but you persist, explaining the person is better than the paper, the client relents and your talent gets the job, gets promoted and in time becomes your client!  For me, when I recruited, this was the real buzz. Making things happen. Controlling the process. I would crack open a beer on Friday and reflect. That would NOT have happened if I had not seen the opportunity and influenced the outcome. Beyond cool. And of course that leads us to another reason why recruiting rocks. What we do actually matters . I mean it really matters. Recruiters get a horrific wrap sometimes, and often it’s deserved but hey, at the end of the day, we find people jobs! And that’s a good thing right? Something to be proud of. It makes an impact. We change people’s lives. We solve companies staffing issues. We help people further their career ambitions. Fantastic! One of the beautiful things about our business is that it is so measurable . This does not suit everybody I know, but in recruiting there is nowhere to hide, and I like that. If you have the right temperament, you will thrive in this competitive environment, love the fact that you can measure yourself against your competitors and colleagues, and revel in the transparency of fee-tables and pay-by-results. Truly in our business, you eat what you kill. You can own your market . If you have longevity, if you maintain integrity, if you deliver service and outcomes that your customers want… you can elevate yourself to a true trusted advisor, and then recruitment becomes a beautiful, beautiful thing.  All your work is exclusive, all your candidates come via referrals and commendations, clients treat you with respect, seek your advice, bring you into the tent . You actually ‘own’ your patch and that is a wonderful place to be! Yes it’s true. Recruiting Rocks. When it all boils down, what all of us want from a great job is just two things. Fun & Money. And if you’re a great recruiter you’ll get lots of both. The fun of winning, the fun of finding people jobs, the fun of working in a job that actually counts. And money? I don’t mean how much you earn, although of course that important. I mean working in a job where you get a great return on your efforts. That is where it is at! So if you are having a down day. Never forget. Fun and money. Recruitment rocks! For regular recruiting brain food, please subscribe to The Savage Truth.

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Being a recruiter rocks!

Tags: building morale, employee engagement, Industry Chat, motivating recruiters, recruiter, Recruitment Agencies, result, Rocks

Real leaders give people what they need, not what they want

This post is for anyone who manages people, or who hopes to in the future. It will probably draw some flak too, but that’s because I don’t really believe in generational differences. I think it has been largely hyped and exaggerated. I have plenty of employees at Firebrand who fit into the so-called ‘Gen Y’ age bracket. And I don’t see the negative characteristics often ascribed to this ‘generation’. Mostly, I see hard working, highly focused individuals who want to do well, have fun and make a difference. And many of them have been with us years, defying the job-hopping Gen Y stereotypes. Often, too much talk of how to ‘manage the generations’ leads to skipping over some of the difficult things that need to be done when managing people. And I reckon those things need to be done no matter who you are dealing with. One of the ways I define great leadership is that the leader actually cares. Bureaucrats do not make leaders. Administrators don’t make leaders either. But before we go any further on the subject of “caring” for our people, a key word of warning on this. Unfortunately there is too much hype nowadays about the idea that leaders must show concern for their teams. Apparently you have to give a figurative cuddle of support to ‘Gen Y’ staff on the hour or they will resign and go Llama farming in Peru. Codswallop. You cannot fake the fact that you care about the people in the business. There is nothing worse than a manager returning from the latest interpersonal skills training program with “concern” for others beaming from every orifice. It’s not real and everyone knows it’s not real. Real leaders don’t need training programmes to convince their staff they care. What’s more, real leaders empathise with the people they lead. By this I mean the leader knows what a recruiter does, knows how hard it is and knows the inevitable peaks and troughs. I have always found it key to any success I have had as a manager of recruiters, that I have worked a desk myself. I feel the recruiter’s pain to this day. I have had shocking months, offers turned down and phones slammed in my ear.  So I do understand the bruises the job will give you. I also like everyone I work with on an interpersonal level, so I really do care when someone is having a bad month or day. But some times the empathy you need to have is of the “tough” kind. View video on YouTube Tough empathy means giving your consultants what they NEED not what they want. That means often telling people things they don’t want to hear, or setting work practices and goals that at first they may not agree with, or like at all. But that’s OK because tough empathy works – and tough empathy is about what’s needed at a particular point in time, not what’s preferred by the consulting team. After all, the team may want something, or prefer something else, but they don’t after all ultimately carry the responsibility for the business, do they? You do though. At its best, what tough empathy means, is a balance between respect for the individual and the business imperative to achieve the task at hand. So it could mean sitting with a recruiter who is failing, but who you know can make it. It will mean putting that person on a rehabilitation plan. It means closely managing activities, imposing time management regimes, setting daily goals, and providing intense coaching. It’s confronting and scary for the consultant. It’s frankly not that much fun for the leader either. Yes it’s tough. But you are doing it because you care about their success and their future – and at a deep level they know that. Do you see what I am saying here? The recruiter knows you are doing something difficult for you, and difficult for her, because you care about what happens to her.  And the power in that dynamic is almost immeasurable. Some people think that to be a great leader you have to be liked by all. That could not be more untrue. People in our industry, regardless of  ‘generation’ are not looking for friends when they look to their boss. They are looking for direction, support, honesty and clarity. And even though they may not know it at first, they may be looking for the occasional dose of tough empathy too. For regular recruiting brain food, please subscribe to The Savage Truth.

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Real leaders give people what they need, not what they want

Tags: building morale, coaching recruiters, employee engagement, Industry Chat, leaders, leadership, Recruitment Agencies, result

10 golden rules of communication for leaders

I find managing a business really difficult. Seldom a week goes by that I don’t think I could have done something better. And of course as a leader, communicating the vision, communicating change, communicating expectations – these are subtle skills, which I don’t think any of us truly master. However, developing these skills is fundamental to our success. Particularly now, where so many employees have so much choice, engaging people with the company’s goals is, in my view, perhaps the leader’s primary role. View video on YouTube You will never be accused of over-communicating. No one is going to resign because you share too much information; be disaffected because you tell them what they are doing well, and how they can get even better.  It’s better to err on the side of sharing the vision and the values too often, than too little. I am forever getting surprised when people tell me they have “never heard that before”, when in my mind it’s been said a thousand times. Nothing scientific here. Just 10 golden rules I have learned over many years of trial and error. Communicate early and often. Don’t wait till people start to make things up because of a lack of information. Don’t communicate only once and think people will “get it”. They almost certainly won’t. Repeat the message in different ways and at different times. Tell them everything or tell them nothing. I have learned that telling people half the story is dangerous. They will invent the missing information. If you are not ready to tell the full story, rather say nothing. Of course in most situations is better to tell it all, early. Empathise before you communicate. “I understand that cutting the advertising budget is going to make it harder for you to achieve your personal goals in some respects, but it’s not working so we want to spend the money smarter.” Deliver on commitments that you communicate or do not make those commitments. This is likely to be your most costly mistake. Communicating change or promises that you don’t follow-up on. We all get enthusiastic and we want to share positive news, but it is best to remain silent unless you know you can follow through. Not delivering kills credibility as a leader and does irreparable damage to the trust. Use informal and formal channels. Sure, share company news via emails and newsletters, but also take the time to sit at the desk of a key person, or over drinks, or on the way back from a client visit. This is where you will get the questions and be able to really cut through any confusion. Celebrate wins and tell success stories. Small and frequent. Success builds belief. Share the news of Mary’s biggest placement, Fred’s first retained order, our biggest placement ever, a key new client won. People want to work with winners and love to hear positive war stories. They are happening every day. Communicate them! Share confidential information regularly. You have to make this call, but I believe it builds trust and buy-in. The company results, margins, client revenues.  Yes it’s sensitive stuff, but mostly I find people will be mature and will value being brought into the inner circle. Where possible speak, don’t email. It’s a thousand times better and more effective. You can always follow up with an email if you just can’t stand not sending one (see here for my views on technology and communicating). Plan and prepare for delivering tricky news. If you have something distasteful to communicate, for example your company is going to have to close a branch office, predict the questions you are likely to get or people are likely to think. Prepare honest, carefully crafted answers. Be careful of the language you use. For example “we have decided not to replace the consultant who left the perm desk because we see the perm market plateauing for a while and we think the people we have now are fully capable of servicing our current client workload”. That’s a lot better than “We are not replacing her because the perm market is so bad and will probably tank even further soon, so we think it is dangerous to hire someone else because none of you will have enough to do”. Tell the right people the right things . This is key. Don’t have ‘communications favourites’ where you share news first with a selected few. It creates distrust and lack of loyalty. And never talk to one recruiter about the mistakes or weaknesses of another. View video on YouTube Please subscribe to The Savage Truth, for fresh opinion, tips and tactics about recruitment and leadership.

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10 golden rules of communication for leaders

Tags: brand you, building morale, business management, employee engagement, Industry Chat, leadership, Management Skills, Recruitment Agencies

5 signs your new recruiter is destined to fail!

In just about every country that Firebrand operates, we are finding it difficult to hire great recruiters. We have pretty tightly defined criteria, so I guess that’s not a surprise. However, what is a little unusual so soon after a severe recession, is the evident rush to hire recruiters across the board. In Australia there is such a shortage of experienced recruiters that one ‘Rec to Rec’ recruiter told me she has over 1200 vacant orders in Sydney alone! In the UK we find that there is strong competition to hire recruiters, and Asia is much the same. So inevitability, recruitment firms (and corporates too, I imagine) will relax their criteria, maybe train more newbies into the industry, and that is no bad thing. But… The biggest cost to every recruitment firm is salaries, and the primary destroyer of profits is under-performing or failed recruiters. That is a fact. So as the recruitment industry gains momentum, we all have to make sure we hire people who can bill consistently, who can learn, and who fit our culture. The irony is that our industry is notorious for making bad hires. We don’t train that well either as a rule, and our own staff turnover is often a disgrace. Yet there is another problem, which might at first seem counter-intuitive. When we make a bad hire, often we are slow to put it right. We hold on to under-performing people for too long. Now please don’t misunderstand me. I don’t believe in ‘Hire and Fire’. Indeed our mantra at Firebrand is to apply the utmost rigour to making the right hire, and then put huge effort into making sure that hire works out. We invest heavily, and for a long time, to bring people to full productivity. But even so there are sometimes early signs you have made a wrong hire and it’s not going to work. I am not suggesting you let someone go if one or even all of these signs emerge, but it should set off alarms and trigger action. Because doing nothing is the one thing you should not do. Slow learners. Intelligence is a much underestimated trait when it comes to recruiting. I always look for it when hiring. A newbie who is slow to learn, repeats mistakes and just does not ‘get things’ is a potential disaster. Proceed with caution. Unwilling learners. “Coachability “ is a key recruiter requirement in my opinion. Poor listeners, know-it-alls, and those who just can’t focus on learning different ways in their new environment, are likely to fail long-term. Social misfits. Seriously, sometimes in the first day I know I have made a bad hire. Not because they can’t recruit. But because they can’t fit in. Inappropriate jokes, over-familiarity, too loud or too quiet. Of course you have to take into account new-starter nerves, and often people settle in over time. But sometimes, you just KNOW…this is wrong! Late and lazy. I always see a red light flashing when the new recruiter starts coming in late in the first week, misses meetings, or does not follow up on simple, basic tasks you have given them. If that’s their “honeymoon” effort, just wait till a few months down the track! Lack of courage. Sounds strange talking about courage in a desk job. But, in fact, you do need to be brave in recruitment. Make that cold call. Tell that candidate they are not right for a job they really covet. Negotiate a fee. Lead a client meeting with your new boss in the room. I have noticed that new recruiters show their “courage colours” early. Don’t throw a raw newbie in the deep-end. That’s not right and unlikely to help. But they do need to be given little tasks, which involve doing tricky things. How they tackle those is a strong signal of their long term success. Please use my tips with care. Every new recruiter will show some of these faults. But on the other hand if you see them in a rookie, hone in on it. Examine it. Test it. Counsel them on it. And look for rapid improvement. If improvement is not forthcoming, you may have a serious issue.

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5 signs your new recruiter is destined to fail!

Tags: coaching recruiters, employee engagement, Industry Chat, managing recruiters, recruiter, recruiter coaching, recruiting recruiters, Recruitment Agencies, recruitment skills, result, Signs

Great learning happens in groups; collaboration is the stuff of growth

The teacher should teach the way the learner learns NOT the learner should learn the way the teacher teaches. Amazing thinking and fantastic way of communicating the message through video. 11 minutes well spent.

Tags: communities, employee engagement, Generation Y, hmmm, Industry Chat, Learner, result

Employee Engagement = Positive Organizational Emotion: Discuss

This week I am on vacation.  From my job.  For the most part.  Checking email here and there.  Writing a blog post or two (though I consider this more fun than work, more stress relieving than inducing).  And isn't it fitting that while on vacation, I come across an article from the Harvard Public Health Review on the impact of positive emotions and health?  It is extraordinarily comforting to me to learn that research completely supports and justifies those things I do (shopping, the occasional pint of Haagen Dazs coffee ice cream) that make me happy and less stressed. “In a 2007 study that followed more than 6,000 men and women aged 25 to 74 for 20 years, for example, [Laura Kubzansky] found that emotional vitality—a sense of enthusiasm, of hopefulness, of engagement in life, and the ability to face life’s stresses with emotional balance—appears to reduce the risk of coronary heart disease. The protective effect was distinct and measurable, even when taking into account such wholesome behaviors as not smoking and regular exercise.” We all know that being around positive people is more pleasant, more engaging, and potentially encourages greater productivity (unless I am a total Pollyanna, which, I assure you, is NOT a word often associated with me.  Snarky, sure.  Pollyanna, no).  We also know that these past couple of years, optimism and positivity have been somewhat lacking , especially in workplaces, which has carried over to homeplaces.  So we should not be surprised, according to research, when we see increases in chronic disease diagnoses such as heart issues, etc.  There is cause for optimism, however.  Research also suggests that if we can: find ways to provide humans (children AND adults) mechanisms to encourage enthusiasm, hopefulness, engagement, and positive outlooks for the future and that one can affect those outcomes, enable social connections, and establish support systems (policies, resources, counseling) that create opportunities for people to make better behavioral choices, …then we can directly, positively impact health, which directly, positively impacts organizational and societal bottom lines. Hey, executives and HR people, are you listening to this?  Isn't one of the biggest worries for organizations today the cost of healthcare for employees (and for some companies, retirees)?  And isn't another big worry for executives figuring out how produce more (customer satisfaction, revenue, profit, shareholder return) while keeping costs low (e.g., doing as much or more with fewer people)?  Seems to me that if we can create an organizational formula for creating and enhancing employee optimism and positive emotions in and about the workplace, we might find ourselves making good progress towards mitigating these concerns. Oh, wait a minute…  silly me, I forgot.  “Employee engagement,” and “great place to work,” and yadda yadda yadda…  These are the things that are supposed enable greater productivity, right?  But what is employee engagement, really?  Multitudinous definitions exist, no question.  For me, the most compelling has been, and continues to be, an environment in which I want to give extra, discretionary time and effort to my work, because I believe in and am optimistic and enthusiastic about where my company is going and how I contribute to that mission and vision.  I know where I fit in because I get feedback to that effect, and if I go off course, I get feedback to get me back on the right path. A couple of weeks ago I blogged about great place to work lists not being great indicators of organizations with great talent management practices.  That is because I don't necessarily think that great talent management practices  – excellent processes enabled by appropriate technologies – alone make a great place to work.  I do think that great places to work illicit discretionary effort from employees because somehow, in some way, these organizations provide strong bases for employee optimism, provide mechanisms for employees to see where the organization is going and how each and every one contributes to making the mission and vision real.  Even when the economy is in the tank, employees at these organizations are optimistic.  This has little to do with talent management.  It has A LOT to do with leadership.  Here's the “discuss” part:  how many organizations require that their leaders a) be emotionally and socially competent, and b) have the ability to build emotional and social competence in their employees?  Isn't that a definition of engagement?  Discuss. Editor's Note -  Suzanne Rumsey is  a  Senior Consultant & Director, Consulting Services with Knowledge Infusion. Suzanne isn't just any 'ole consultant though – she's a former HR pro turned consultant, who spent time with orgs like Boeing and Health Net where she shaped workforce planning and talent management initiatives… which means she really knows what she's talking about and has the actual experiences under her belt to back it up and give you advice. Now that's the kind of consultant we really like.

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Tags: emotional-intelligence, employee engagement, good hr, great place to work, Industry Chat, job, leadership, leadership development, result, social intelligence, social-networking, wellness, work life balance

When Will Zappos Jump the Shark?

I probably don’t have to explain it but I will – jumping the shark is that moment when something goes from good to meh, from cool to something your Dad says too often and thinks is funny, from relevant to irrelevant. Now, if you belong to any LinkedIn groups associated with HR, or follow any blogs (including this one) that have any connection to HR – or even if you've lived in a cave for 20 years – you've seen Zappos on a pedastal as THE way to drive employee engagement.  Zappos is the company everyone wants to be and every girl/guy wants to be with. Zappos is the holy grail of employee engagement. I know for many it is totally wrong to ask this but… is Zappos ready to jump the shark?   Hold tight – I’m sure there was a disturbance in the force the minute those words hit the Google.  But stay with me here folks.   Don’t get me wrong – they are very, very good at engaging their employees.  They have found the “not-so-secret-sauce” that creates a connection between their brand, their customers and their employees.  I say it as “not-so-secret” because it’s been around since Herzberg talked about the Two-Factor Theory in the 1960’s. And Google was the poster child before them –before they started needing pure unadulterated cash to keep employees. And Enron before that – when they were on Fortunes Best Places to Work for three years running – 1999, 2000, 2001. I’m not saying Zappos is Enron.   Not even close.   What I am saying is that as an HR pro, you cannot think you will ever turn your organization INTO Zappos.  You can’t.  And that is why I wonder when the realization will hit HR folks that Zappos isn’t the answer to your issues with employee engagement.   What Zappos is doing is the answer to THEIR issue of employee engagement. The other night on the #HRHappyHour blogtalkradio show hosted by Boese and Minion (I think that has a ring to it no?   Boese and Minion in the morning! )   Jamie Naughton from Zappos was on the show talking about how they drive engagement at their offices.  Great stuff and it works really well for them.  I like what Zappos is doing.  They are a smart, smart group of folks. But one comment was made that I think was missed by many – and that was from Jamie – she said that what they do at Zappos works for them but it’s not for everyone.  Then the questions went back to what Zappos does and how to do that at other companies.  I think folks missed that very important point.   The answer isn’t doing what Zappos does.  It’s doing what is right for your company. Don’t copy Zappos.   Don’t do what they are doing.   Creating versus Changing Zappos built their culture to be what it is.  If you are working in HR at a company with more than a few hundred employees and more than 5 years of history I’m gonna save you some time here – don’t follow the Zappos plan.  Don’t do parades.  Don’t do tours of the offices.  Don’t offer people $2,000 to quit.  It won’t work for you. You already have a culture.  You may need to change your culture.  And changing a culture is a much different issue than building one. My concern is that I think we’re going to see many companies adopt activities that are similar to Zappos and see them fail miserably because what Zappos does  isn't  what you should do.  What you need to do is find those things that resonate with your existing culture – and move them toward what you want your culture to be. You are not Zappos.  You are you.  Manifest Your Coolness – Not Theirs There will always be the new darling of employee engagement.  At one time it was Google.  Before that it was SAS (although they’re still hanging strong – mental note:  research them again.) Zappos is a cool company with a cool culture.  But you’re not Zappos and you shouldn’t be. You should, however, understand the core connection Zappos has – not the things that are visible and easy to copy.  Those are manifestations of the core things you should be paying attention to.  Take those core things like respect, communication, transparency – and find your own way of making them visible. I don’t know when Zappos will jump the shark – but I’m sure they will – not as a company – but as an exemplar of what “all” companies should be. Okay – ring the Secret Service- I think I’m gonna need some protection now that I’ve dissed Zappos. Editor's Note -  Paul Hebert is the Managing Director for  i2i  (an influence consultancy), the brain behind  Incentive Intelligence  and a recognized authority on incentives and performance motivation. Want to know what's going to motivate your people to perform at their best and impact the bottom line? Want to know whether your service award program really means anything at all? And are there psychological principles that drive your employees behavior? Paul's your guy… unless you fervently bow down to Maslow.  

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Tags: change, current affairs, Dad, employee engagement, employee relations, good hr, Industry Chat, jumping, paul hebert, result, shark, tony hsieh, two-factor theory, zappos

Recruitment. It’s like running a marathon, just harder

For alerts on new postings, recruiting information, free training videos and more, please subscribe to ‘The Savage Truth’ . ***************************************************************************************************** Not so long ago, I ran the Sydney Half Marathon . That’s 21.1 kilometres around the streets of Sydney. Took just over two hours for me to do it too. But running a Half Marathon is no big deal. Even at my age, and with my drinking habits. Thousands do it regularly. In the Aquent business we have plenty of real athletes, some of whom comfortably run full marathons! So why tell you this? Well, running this marathon reminded me of a very important life lesson. And it’s a lesson that has huge significance for anyone who wants to be a great recruiter and make a long-term career in this industry. The story goes like this. I suspected I might be a little unfit, so I went for a jog around my neighborhood. Problem was that after three kilometres I had to stop as I was out of breath and felt dizzy. Bad news. I was seriously unfit! As I hobbled home, I made a rash promise to myself. It was 9 weeks until the Sydney Half Marathon , and I decided I would get fit enough to run it. So easy to say. So hard to follow through. But I was determined, and I started training. Gym. Road running. Running on a treadmill. It hurt. I hated every second. The gym was full of smug dudes who looked like models from Men’s Health magazine. Running the streets was cold, and friends of mine would honk and laugh as they drove past. One week into my programme, I got home from a run and I started to waver. “This is ridiculous,” I thought. “I am too old for this rubbish,” I reasoned. “I don’t need to actually run a marathon to get fit,” I persuaded myself. “I am far too busy. I have travel coming up. There is no time to get fit for this,” I tried to convince myself. By the time I got into my warm living room I had decided to give up the stupid half marathon idea, and I was on my way to the fridge to grab a beer (which I had given up for 9 weeks too by the way!) Suddenly an image flashed into my mind. I was sharply reminded of a conversation I had had that very afternoon with a recruiter in our Sydney team. This person was a good recruiter, but young and relatively inexperienced. He was going through a rough time. Two bad months. Offers turned down. He was despondent and was telling me he was not sure “if recruiting was right for him”. During that conversation I did not hold back. I talked about persistence. I spoke of the fact that nothing worth having ever came easy. I spoke of courage and character. I told him stories about bad patches I had had, and how determination had turned things around.  I examined how building a reputation and a real business took time. I shared my opinion that often you feel as though you are getting no traction, but that all the work he was doing would pay off in time, and when it did he would feel pride and self-esteem and a sense of achievement. And every word I told him is true. But as I hesitated at the fridge door, about to grab the beer, I realised what a hypocrite I was being . How could I tell this guy to knuckle down? To persevere in the face of something he found difficult, when I was giving up on my half-marathon after only 6 days training? I closed the fridge and the next day hit the road again. Over the next two months I trained four or five times a week and I hated almost every session. I got a calf injury and came so close to giving up. I made so little progress for the first month that I felt I was getting less fit instead of more fit. I had to travel overseas for work and the temptation to give up training was overwhelming. But I held firm and I trained in hotel gyms and I jogged along the murky Singapore River in 90% humidity, when I could have been in the cool bar of the Marriott hotel . School holidays came around and I took the family on a holiday to Borneo and with only two weeks to go until race itself, I resisted the hotel in-pool bar and jogged down the main street of Kota Kinabalu instead – to the utter amazement of the locals who were sensibly resting under shady trees, or sitting under fans drinking iced tea. But that conversation with the Sydney recruiter kept coming back to me. Don’t give up. This will pay off. You have to put in the hard work before the rewards come. One week out from the race I went to the Sydney Botanical Gardens and ran 15 kilometers. I did the distance, but it hurt so much I wanted to lie down under one of the giant Port Jackson fig trees that line Sydney Harbour . I truly came so close to giving up on the race there and then. On the day of the race I nearly didn’t get out of bed. It was cold. I knew that 15 km had nearly floored me. How could I run 21 kilometers? At the event itself were 10,000 runners. And trust me this was no fun-run. No one was pushing prams or dressed in Superman outfits. These guys were serious!  They all looked like East African Olympians. Skinny with all the right gear. I felt well out of place and half felt like slinking off and going home. But I did the race. And I was pumped and sped through the first 15 kms as though it was a stroll in the park. It got harder after that, but I finished, ran every step and I did it in a better time than I expected. And it felt great. No doubt it was worth all the hassle and the pain. And so is it with our jobs. It’s true that often people have early success in our job. A good match, a bit of good fortune, a client or two inherited.  It can make you look good and there is nothing wrong with taking wins when they come around. But real success? Building reputation that will last? Developing sophisticated skills? Building a portfolio of loyal clients? Evolving into a trusted advisor? Generating referrals and word of mouth talent? Generating repeat business? Securing clients who use you exclusively? That takes time, perseverance and effort. It takes consistent activity. It takes moral courage to do difficult things like cold calling. It takes ego strength to withstand rejection and poor results. It takes an open mind to learn new skills and work at the things you are not good at. And slowly but surely the rewards will come. Recruitment or running. The only place success comes before work is in the dictionary.

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Recruitment. It’s like running a marathon, just harder

Tags: Bad News, career, Dudes, employee engagement, Health Magazine, Industry Chat, Jog, Kilometres, leadership, Living Room, magazine, Marathons, Men S Health, Neighborhood Problem, postings, recruiter, recruitment agencies, Rubbish, Running, Running A Half Marathon, Running A Marathon, Running Marathon, Running On A Treadmill, Savage Truth, streets, Streets Of Sydney, sydney, Sydney Half Marathon, Sydney Marathon, term, Term Career, Truth

Coaching Recruiters. Shut up and let them talk!

This is the fifth blog in my series on great coaching for managers of recruiter teams. Previously I expanded on the importance of ‘live feedback’ , ‘real life coaching’ , as well as the tactic of ‘plugging in’ new recruits. Today we look at ‘role swapping’. Many managers I have worked with feel that if they are not doing the talking or showing the consultant how the job is done, then they are not providing valuable input. This is not always true. From time to time, it is highly effective for the manager or coach to reverse roles, providing feedback after the event. For example, once you have a consultant up to a certain level of competence, or even with your more experienced people, take them on a client visit with you where they lead the discussion, where they take in the job, where they do the selling and you play a secondary role. You may be surprised how difficult this is to do! Many managers simply cannot help themselves on a client meeting and leap in to take control. I understand why, but look at the bigger picture. When is the recruiter ever going to learn if you always take control? In fact you are setting that person up for disaster because the first time they actually get to run a client meeting, they really will be on their own. i.e. when you are not there. So sure, be ready to leap in if it goes totally off the rails, but otherwise let the recruiter run it. Then afterwards in the cab back to the office, or in a coffee shop, do a full, immediate de-brief, pointing out missed opportunities or where things could be handled differently. The same role swapping should be applied to interviewing candidates. Your consultant interviews, you observe and feedback afterwards. The most powerful coaching you will ever do.

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Coaching Recruiters. Shut up and let them talk!

Tags: Blog, coach, Coffee Shop, Competence, Disaster, employee engagement, Industry Chat, Interviews, job, leadership, life, Life Coaching, Management Skills, New Recruits, people, postings, Providing Feedback, recruiter, recruiters, recruits, result, Savage, Savage Truth, Tactic, Truth

How to Motivate Employees to Succeed

This guest post is contributed by Melissa Tamura. Every employer wants to get the most productivity from their employees. If you push too hard, though, you risk making employees unhappy, causing unwelcome turnover and costing you money. So the question remains, how do you motivate your employees to work their best? Praise Employers are often amazed how well this one little trick, which costs nothing, can so strongly motivate employee behavior. Bosses often think that their employees are only motivated by money, but the truth is, employees want to like their jobs. They want to like their bosses and the companies for whom they work. This can be a huge leverage for employers, especially in tough economic times when money just isn’t there for performance bonuses. Every employee performance review should highlight two or three positive aspects of the person’s performance for every negative aspect. Show appreciation for the work the person does for you every day while asking for better performance in certain areas. Don’t make performance review time something to be dreaded, but rather something the employee looks forward to. Make the employee newsletter a chance to praise and highlight high performing, rank and file employees. Institute “Employee of the Month” or even week programs. Rewards can be as simple as a preferred parking spot, but it’s the recognition that will gain you loyal employees. Talk to Your Employees Something as small as time spent with company management can help motivate employees. Have a weekly brown bag session with randomly selected employees. Allow them to give feedback and feel like their voices are heard. Let them ask questions, and answer those questions seriously. Take time to walk through your production areas, greeting employees and chatting for a moment. If your production is industrial, then do this in the lunchroom. Better yet, eat in the lunch room once or twice a week. Be present to your employees. The more you show that you care for your employees, the more your employees will care about you and your bottom line. Invest Employees in the Bottom Line Many companies have a performance bonus plan, but it’s often limited to management. Why not provide performance bonuses to all employees, at least at some level. Employees will be more conscious of the bottom line if they have some stake in the company’s quarterly and annual outcome. Watching waste in the little things can add up to big numbers at the end of the year. Finding ways to streamline production, save steps, or use less can have a big impact. If every employee is invested in finding ways to make the company more profitable, instead of just management, your company can make a big turnaround. Provide Careers, Not Just a Job Providing opportunities to grow in their career is a great motivation for many employees. Have plans in place for a career path for your employees. Talk to them about what is required to grow from one level to the next. Help provide training for those who with to move up in the company. Whether it’s sending your assistant to a yearly professional conference or having a tuition reimbursement plan, helping your employees’ careers helps you in the long run. Remember, employees are not just motivated by money. They spend almost half of their waking time working for you. They want to feel like that time is an investment, not just a necessary evil needed to pay the rent. Employees want to enjoy their work and their work environment. They want to feel good about their work and the company they work for. Filling these needs can go a long way to motivating long term, loyal, and productive employees. Melissa Tamura is Editor at Large for the Zen College Life directory of online degrees . She most recently wrote about the best online colleges .

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Tags: behavior, employee engagement, engagement, Industry Chat, Leverage, melissa, money, performance management, Tamura, times, Turnover

Taleo Talent Management

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Tags: employee engagement, Enterprise Software, Fortune 100, Investment Management, Management Companies, Management Software, people, Return Investment, return-on-investment, Software Companies, talent-management, taleo, Top Performers

Tips on managing social media in the workplace

Last week I did a short podcast with Nick McCormick, author of Lead Well and Prosper , looking at tips for managing social media in the workplace. We spoke about implementing guidelines/policies within the workplace along with some of the potential issues and how to manage them.  However given the short format of the  podcast , it is only 8 minutes,  it is hard to cover everything but makes the podcast very easy to listen too. I thought it would be good to also cover some of the tips for creating guidelines/policies here to help you out. The resulting document, in whatever format, needs to achieve five major things: Have people stop and think before posting, both professionally and personally. Focus people on thinking about what they are doing and the implications. Highlight that while disclaimers are good, you cannot hide behind them. Remind people to keep their online interactions real and authentic. Ensure people respect the culture of the tools and services you are using. If you want to learn more about social media in the workplace you can watch my presentation from RecruitTECH 2009 over on Inspecht TV or contact me for more information. Given the press coverage we have had in Australia, and overseas , this week I would suggest everyone needs to implement these five tips when online.

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Tips on managing social media in the workplace

Tags: culture, employee engagement, given-the-short, implications, management, podcast, potential, tools, workplace

Building a community – you get out what you put in – yes it takes time!

The next time a recruiter complains they do not have time to use social media to build a community of great candidates remind them why vegetables are often tasteless these days; a bit much like most of their (candidate) relationships. You can force nature but you ultimately pay the price! What is the point of spending all of your time doing indiscriminate job advertising across job boards/channels that don’t work and more importantly, not bothering to measure any of it and just doing more. Farmers rotate their crops for good reason. But the other issue is that these busy recruiters…

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Building a community – you get out what you put in – yes it takes time!

Tags: across-job, Advertising, crops, employee engagement, job-advertising, not-bothering, point, price, social media, social recruiting, talent cloud, time, use-social, web 2.0