GOD is DOG Spelled Backward

This is a “what if” blog post. For the next 600 words/4 minutes, we’re going to suspend reality and imagine a different world, a different workplace and a different HR leadership environment. In particular, we’re going to imagine a world where religion was NOT taboo at work. Be it in the hiring practices, promotion pathways, terminating offenses, etc. Blank slate… we evolved differently through the years whereas work and religion are totally cool with one another. For the sake of this post, I’m broadening the definition of religion to include all organized religions, atheists, agnostics, scientologists, indigenous religions, etc., etc., etc. Meaning, for anyone who believes in GOD in whatever way and all those that who don’t in whatever way. So, pretty much all human beings. And all workplaces… from SMB, to Federal to publicly traded to non-profits, etc. All! Ready, Set, GO! What if… What if atheists would only employ other atheists? What if Jewish folks could screen out Muslim folks solely based on religious preference? What if Mormons would only promote other Mormons? Because they were Mormons. What if your Catholic boss only gave raises to folks who sported a cross in their cube? What if performance reviews also included knowledge of The Bible? What if to be considered for the leadership team of your organization, you had to be a “Born Again” Christian? What if compensation was tied to volunteerism with your church? What if you could bonus employees based on religious recruitment efforts? What if you could ask a candidate to prove how much they believe during interviews? What if you could fire someone for being an agnostic? And so on, and so on, and so on… you get the idea of the scenarios… religion, in whatever form, is: noticed, appreciated, incentivized, etc. In this new world, work and religion are one. How weird would that be? Let’s go further… Would “similar” religious beliefs at work be a good thing? What would our HR world look like if we could hire similar people? Imagine an entire workplace of Methodist employees. The values of the Methodist religion deeply woven in to the values of the firm, into each and every hiring decision, every HR process, everything HR related touched by the Methodist faith. Methodist, Methodist, Methodist. Would that organization have more HR problems or less HR problems? Would that organization outperform competitors? Make more profit, etc? Conversely, what if “dissimilar” religious preference was valued? Meaning, everyone comes to the table with whatever they believe in (or not) and the organization celebrates said differences. Opposite to the imaginary Methodist workplace above. This organization would hire folks based on religion but from a portfolio perspective. They would want as many differing views as possible. Think: strength in diversity. Same questions as above… Would that organization have more HR problems or less HR problems? Would that organization outperform competitors? Make more profit, etc? Again, this is a “what if” article… Can we imagine a world so different from our day to day? Lastly, would you like leading / managing HR in a decidedly more religious work environment?

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Tags: audacious ideas, Industry Chat, religion, william tincup

Kris Dunn says Having People Hate What You Do Means… You’re Getting at Least Part of it Right.

We did a  webinar over at Fistful of Talent on Facebook recruiting  last week.  By all accounts, it was a big success, with positive feedback flowing to the primaries that were involved from FOT – KD and Tim Sackett presenting and Holland Dombeck running the technical side. But there’s one thing that would cause a lot of people to blink.  For every 10 people who took the time to comment that they loved it, there were at least two that didn’t care for the style at all. Read the whole post over at Kris Dunn’s The HR Capitalist (an FOT contributor blog)

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Tags: featured, Industry Chat, positive, Primaries, result, webinar, worldwide fot

Global Management opportunity; office politics, loads of pressure, operational crap, unhappy customers. But the money’s great!

OK there's no job; or is there? Imagine if all jobs stated the reality of the position! Would anyone take a look? You did. Can't see it happening any day soon but imagine it did.

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Global Management opportunity; office politics, loads of pressure, operational crap, unhappy customers. But the money’s great!

Tags: attraction, Fun, hmmm, Industry Chat, Talent Acquisition

Gettin’ Amish With ‘Em

Did you hear about Jake Reilly?  He’s a 24-year old college student who did the impossible.  He cut himself off from all social media and his cell phone for 90 days and chronicled his experience. The “ Amish Project ” went from a hassle to changing how he viewed his life and relationships. I know I’ve said many times I’m not sure what I’d do without my iPhone…the reality is I used to live and work without a smartphone, email, Facebook, etc…because I’m OLD. As I read about Jake’s experience I remembered how much I used to write letters.  When I was in college my boyfriend (and now husband) graduated and went to work in a different city.  We didn’t have the money for daily phone calls, so instead we wrote daily letters to each other.  I’ve kept all those letters, as did he, and someday I’m sure we’ll enjoy looking back at our lives during that period of time.  Posts and tweets perhaps will live on forever as well, but I bet they won’t be as fun to go back and read. Is there a lesson in Jake’s experiment for HR pros?  Would I be writing this if there weren’t? Corporate HR folks have a tough job but sometimes I think we make it tougher because of email, texts and social media overkill.  I’ve sent the emotional response via email and wished I could pull it back after all hell broke loose.  What about the candidate who is overexposed and therefore not employable due to his social media presence?  When’s the last time you got up and went to have a tough conversation vs. sending an email or worse yet, a text? I met with a VP of HR recently and was supposed to spend 30 minutes with him.  After an hour and a half I told him I knew he had work to do as did I.  We were talking about the outside perception of his company, how he almost lost a star employee and the ongoing development of his HR team.  This wasn’t a planned conversation – but it happened because we were face-to-face and really talking.  When I was leaving he said, “You’re not what I expected”, meaning I wasn’t a typical recruiter or HR consultant.  I took the compliment and smiled.  He has since scheduled lunch to talk more in depth about his ideas around developing his HR team. In our current reality of 140 characters, responding to texts quickly and the expectation of being reachable 24/7, are you REALLY connecting with your employees and customers? It’s tough – because if you’re not in the virtual and social space you’re not “with it”…but don’t forget how to write a letter or have a face-to-face conversation.  Having the ability to connect in our virtual world AND keep grounded in the real world may just bring comments like, “Wow – you’re so much more than I expected”.  Isn’t that what every HR pro would love to hear?

Tags: communication, culture, good hr, Industry Chat, kathy rapp

The 10 Biggest Culture Killers in Recruitment Companies

This is an edited version of an article that originally appeared in recruitment extra (March 2005 issue). The culture of a company is created, enhanced and also destroyed primarily by the quality of communication (both verbal and non-verbal) that occurs every day in the office. High quality communication is direct, face-to-face, customer oriented, and present or future

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The 10 Biggest Culture Killers in Recruitment Companies

Tags: behaviour/communication, communication, culture, edited, high performance, Industry Chat, leadership, quality, result

1.00 FTE: Decor is not your issue.

FOT’s Kris Dunn wrote a post last week, titled “ Face it: We Build Cool Space Because We Don’t Know How to Build Great Manager’s… “, which sparked the inspiration for this  illustration: “ Decor is Not Your Issue ,” from Stuart, at onefte.com. We’d like to  give a special FOT shout out to Stuart,  for taking the time to riff on KD’s post. Check out the strip and subscribe to 1.00 FTE  to receive other hilarious impressions of corporate life, daily. Do it.

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Tags: featured, Industry Chat, worldwide fot

Forget the gym! Are you ‘client-fit’?

Subscribe to The Savage Truth, ‘Like’ our Facebook page, and connect with Greg on LinkedIn to ensure you get your recruiting brain-food fix. ***************************************************************** Recruiters often complain about the fickleness of clients. Clients don’t return our calls, they don’t give commitment, and they don’t follow through. Often true. But, is it always the client’s fault? Does the relationship flounder because you don’t put in the effort you should? Indeed, do you commit the cardinal sin of slipping into ‘chronic client complacency’? Honestly, I have done it myself, and paid the price. I see it happening all around me too. Bet you see, and hear, it too. “That’s my client” “Oh don’t worry about that client, she only uses me” “I get all their work” “I don’t need to take this job in person, I know this client so well and he is 100% loyal to me” Sound familiar? And what’s more, it’s often the very best clients we take for granted, lose focus on, and spend less time nurturing. Which is mega-crazy when you realise how much time we spend on new business development, with prospects who have never spent a single $ with us! 2012 is the time to get ‘client fit’. That means honing up every aspect of the client relationship. Keeping it oiled and supple and vigorous and healthy. Take this little quiz to check your ‘client fitness’ (Good, regular clients I am talking about, not one-hit wonders or prospects). Have you seen your client contact, face to face, in the last 3 months? Do you see that person at least 4 times a year? Do you take every permanent or search order, in person, if at all possible? Have you met every line manager in the client business who could potentially be a hiring manager for you? Have you met your client’s boss? If your client is a line manager, have you asked to meet the HR team, and gone to see them, and asked “What can I do to make your job easier” Have you studied your clients website, closely, recently? Do you subscribe to your client’s blog, newsletters, Twitter feed and Facebook page? Have you tried, and do you try to use, your client’s products and services? Are you connected to your client on LinkedIn? Do you massage you clients’ ‘social ego’ by re-tweeting his tweets, commenting on his blog and “Liking” his Facebook page? Have you asked, “What is there about my service that I could do better, or what could I add”? Have you found a good reason to get your client into your office? (A quick sandwich lunch in the Board Room, to meet your CEO… whatever!) Have you followed up with every placement you have ever made at your client company, and do so every 6 months? If you have temps on long-term contracts at your client’s site, do you ‘make yourself big’ by going to see them, handing out Easter Eggs, running on-site training, bringing in morning tea, and generally making sure you are ‘visible’? Do you know who your clients’ clients are? And do you know lots about them? Do you keep up to speed with your clients’ industry, and especially their competitors, and know what the key issues and trends are? Have you done an annual or bi-annual ‘Business Review’ with your client which is like a mini performance review, where your work is summarised, assessed and communication both ways occurs to make the relationship better? Do you know what the 3 biggest staffing/HR issues are for your client, and do you discuss them often, with a view to assist? Do you keep up to date with your clients’ benefits structure, vacation allowance, their social media policy, and any other factors that could influence the interest of a future hire? Do you regularly provide your clients with value-adds that you don’t charge for, like salary surveys and market updates? Have you agreed ‘standing briefs’ with your client? Clearly mapped out skill-sets that your client is always interested in – even if they have no specific role for you? Most companies are open to hearing about ‘that special someone’. You need to know who that is, and float them in. Are your most current terms of business up to date and signed off by the client? Or are you still operating off the terms they signed in 1999? Have you introduced your clients to another recruiter on your team, or your manager, so that client ‘feels the love’ and knows they can call on someone else if you are out or away? Have you specifically thanked your client for their business, maybe over lunch or with a small gift, or even just a visit where thanking them was the sole purpose? OK, feeling exhausted with your fitness test? Score yourself now; 0 -10: You are a slob. Totally out of shape and unworthy of keeping your clients. Commit to get fit! Or accept you will die a young recruiting death . 11-15: Come on mate! Lift your game. You have some things right, but a long way to go. 16-20: You are a ‘client-fit’ amateur athlete. Working hard, looking pretty good, but still carrying a bit of flab. 21-25: You are a superbly honed, ‘client fit’, Olympic-level superstar. Nice job! ***************************************************************************************************** Subscribe to The Savage Truth, ‘Like’ our Facebook page, and connect with Greg on LinkedIn to ensure you get your recruiting brain-food fix. ******************************************************************************************************

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Forget the gym! Are you ‘client-fit’?

Tags: Client Relationships, client skills, Industry Chat, recruiter coaching, Recruitment Agencies, relationship building

An Adult Film Star Wants to Work Here

It’s funny that this is really happening to me right now, especially since I have been asked this question before. Would I ever hire an adult film  star? I have always told people I would never hire someone from that industry. And now, here we are. An adult film star wants to work here. A very attractive and intelligent woman came in for an interview. She aced it. I would totally buy a car from this woman.  I was ready to make her an offer when a Salesman stopped by my office to talk to me.   Meredith, is her dad a lawyer or something in town?   Yes, he actually sent me her resume. Why?   Just Google her name. It’s important you do this before you make a hiring decision about her. And there she was. Her huge personalities were glaring back at me. I was absolutely entranced by the whole thing. I had never spoken to an adult film star before this point. I had always assumed you would know if someone had a past like this by the way they talk, but I couldn’t tell at all.  And now I was faced with a decision. Could I really hire someone who has flashed her personalities to millions? Nope. I cannot hire her. How can I hire her after she was recognized by a Salesman? How will her quality of life be working here with everyone Googling her name non-stop? The IT Manager will go out of his mind trying to block it all. And what sort of legal problems are going to arise from this hire with my current employees? What if a customer acts inappropriately to her? I understand that I work at a car dealership, and we’re not hiring altar boys. But that’s exactly the point. These are fun-loving car salesmen. I don’t need to confuse them by hiring someone who puts us at risk for a lawsuit. I know what you’re going to tell me: I should trust my employees to act like professionals around her.  I don’t. I should give someone a second chance at decent employment. I won’t. It’s illegal not to hire her. It’s not. I am going to stand by my decision to not hire her. I plan to tell her father that I found someone else, and I’ll thank him for sending her my way. I will not hire a former adult film star.  Her assets put our assets at risk.

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Tags: Harassment, hiring a porn star, Industry Chat, meredith soleau

Is Facebook a B2B channel (yet)?

You can dress SPAM up anyway you like, but SPAM is SPAM is SPAM. Or is it? When I was thinking about this post, it was in response to accepting a friend request from someone I had actually met (albeit in a business context so not a “real” friend). I did hesitate in accepting their request but then decided it could do no harm. I could always unfriend him which I did within 15 minutes. Why? Because he seemed to think it was OK to fill my wall with advice on how to use social media for business! Obviously it wasn't just me seeing this but personally, I didn't want it thank you. I considered it SPAM. Yes, I had accepted his request so therefore I had given him tacit approval to send me his drivel but as with e-mail, I could unsubscribe at anytime; which I did. I accept this may sound a little hypocritical of me, as I also give advice on how to use social media for recruitment but my point of this post is to ask if Facebook is really suitable for B2B marketing. B2C I am totally comfortable with (and that includes recruitment) but I'm not sure about B2B. I do of course have other “friends” who do the same as my unfriend but some are more subtle and less frequent although it still bothers me slightly. Some posts I just hide so I never see them as they are from people I like but I just don't want their business messages. Of course some friends talk a load of nonsense on Facebook (I know I do) but I don't mind that as that is what Facebook is for if they choose.

Tags: business, context, facebook, friend, Industry Chat, minutes, real, result, social media, social recruiting

The 5 Reasons Why Most RECRUITERS Hate HR

A couple months ago I wrote a post on Why I Hate (Most) Recruiters which put me squarely in the cross-hairs of pretty much every recruiter out there, and I took a bit of a beating.  I did learn, however, that recruiters are able to learn – 90% of the wrath happened over email.  Thanks guys, it’s much easier for me to take it on the chin that way!  A funny thing happened as I was sifting through insults and F bombs – some of you had an important point:  HR is just as much to blame for failed company/recruiter relationships and does a lot of stupid things that undermine the relationship.  Let me give you my favorite examples: We Expect You To Be A Magician:   We call you up, give you the jobs specs (which by the way is usually one of our toughest jobs to fill), and as soon as you start telling us how long it will take to find candidates, we stop listening.  Why?  Because we think you have this secret crystal ball that you look into to magically conjure up candidates or that you’ve got a bunch of candidates sitting right there with you in your office just waiting to take the job.  You tell us it will take 2 weeks?  We hear 2 days. We Show Off:   Let’s face it – most HR Pros think that bringing in a recruiter somehow reflects poorly on them and they want to prove otherwise.  So we show off.  You think you know the market, Mr. Recruiter?  Ha, let me tell you how WE find candidates.  Or we say things like “we have some great candidates already, we’re just looking for you to help us round out the field and give us some good comparators.”  Or we try to prove just how good we really are by listing off our staffing fills from the last 10 years.  Also, did I tell you,  I once scored 4 touchdowns in a single game? We Nickel and Dime You:  This is my favorite (and I have to admit, I’ve done it myself).  Clearly we’re calling you because we have a hole that we’re not capable of filling ourselves.  So once we’ve told you we expect you to pull a rabbit out of a hat and have wowed you with stories of our recruiting prowess, we go after your fee.  25% fee?  How about 20%?  20% fee?  How about 15%?  The number doesn’t really matter when we’re negotiating with you – we’re just looking for a “win” so we can go back and tell our HR pals that we knocked down the agency fee by X%.  Meanwhile, what we don’t know is that 5% fee knockdown is probably the difference between having an experienced recruiter work on your opening instead of the new grad we’re going to get now! We Use You As A Scapegoat:  Yes, you sent us 5 really qualified candidates, fully vetted them and gave us the full rundown on the timing of their other job prospects.  But we took 2 weeks to get them in for an interview and surprise, surprise, we lost them.  Rather than telling our internal stakeholders that we dropped the ball we take the easy road and blame the recruiter.  Doesn’t matter really what we say you did or didn’t do, we just say “the recruiter messed up.” We Never Call You Back:  I’m sure this has to be the personal favorite of every recruiter out there.  After putting in hours of hard work sourcing, prepping and debriefing candidates, we give you the ol’ high school break-up move.  We avoid your calls until you get the picture.  No explanation, no discussion, we just fade away into the sunset leaving you to figure out what to tell your candidates. That is, until we have another tough job to fill and we call you up and start the whole process over again.

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Tags: bad hr, cross, hairs, Industry Chat, recruiter, recruiters, recruiting, result, working with recruiters

For bonus points, apply using the API

I nearly wet myself seeing this innovative way of applying for a job. For those IT professionals, this will interest you. Well done Parse.

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Tags: applying, directory, Industry Chat, job, result

Personal Branding in Recruitment (and why it matters)

The time has long gone when a recruiter of dubious moral and ethical standing can hide behind the glossy corporate image of their particular employer of choice.  In the age of advanced recruitment technology, social media, digital content sharing and mobilised networks, a recruiter’s own personal brand has taken on far greater importance and prominence. For

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Personal Branding in Recruitment (and why it matters)

Tags: choice, content, corporate, digital, employer, image, Industry Chat, media, recruiter, result, technology

Tim Sackett on 7 Secrets Only HR Pros Know

I was reading an article the other evening over at Huffington Post,  Welcome to the Club: What only Moms know  (Why was I reading this, I hear some of my dude HR guy pros asking themselves? Let’s face it I’m 40ish and women are still mostly a mystery to me, so I try and find out their secrets! Plus I hate being left in the dark on this parenting thing, so “I need the info” as Dr. Evil would say.)  I don’t want to spoil the article, but suffice it to say, either I’m very in touch with the feminine side of parenting, or what they were sharing really wasn’t the “real” secrets Moms know! Read the whole post over at The Tim Sackett Project (an FOT contributor blog).

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Tags: club, Contributor, evil, featured, feminine, Industry Chat, mystery, Parenting, result, Sackett, worldwide fot

Kris Dunn on Never Put Your CEO In Line to Be Embarrassed Publicly By a Wildcard

Look at this photo.  This is a CEO being embarrassed in a very public way by a loose cannon that could have been avoided, if only the CEO’s handlers had cared enough to determine the probability (hint – it was waaay too high) that the person in question would try to show up the CEO.  Which in this case is the President of the United States. Read the whole post at Kris Dunn’s The HR Capitalist (an FOT contributor blog)

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Tags: ceo, featured, Industry Chat, photo, result, worldwide fot

TRU London 2012: Should the online job application be mobile? #in

Click the TRU image to buy a ticket I didn't attend the first TRU London but have attended them ever since and this year will be my third. TRU events have been memorable for me and I am hoping this year will be even better again; two years on there has been a lot of change! I also intend to turn up this time to run my track on the second day! So if you have some views on mobile job applications be there on Thursday 23rd February 2012. In usual TRU style no one knows what time the track will be! Should the online job application be mobile? I chose this subject for my track for a few reasons. There has been quite a bit of debate online already. I do some consulting for Lumesse so have an insight into the world of being an ATS vendor. I have built an ATS so have additional views of my own. In anticipation of my track I started a Linkedin poll

Tags: attraction, hirepad, image, Industry Chat, mobile, result, Talent Acquisition, tru

TRU London 2012: Should the online job application be mobile?

Click the TRU image to buy a ticket I didn't attend the first TRU London but have attended them ever since and this year will be my third. TRU events have been memorable for me and I am hoping this year will be even better again; two years on there has been a lot of change! I also intend to turn up this time to run my track on the second day! So if you have some views on mobile job applications be there on Thursday 23rd February 2012. In usual TRU style no one knows what time the track will be! Should the online job application be mobile? I chose this subject for my track for a few reasons. There has been quite a bit of debate online already. I do some consulting for Lumesse so have an insight into the world of being an ATS vendor. I have built an ATS so have additional views of my own. In anticipation of my track I started a Linkedin poll

Tags: attraction, hirepad, image, Industry Chat, mobile, result, Talent Acquisition, tru

The Microsoft Interview Process

Tags: Industry Chat

The Right Talent Acquisition Pros for a Changing Market

Most reports peg the end of the recession as 2009, but recruiting pros were slow long after that, as job losses outpaced job additions for too long.  Talent acquisition naturally took a back seat to other business concerns.  When companies struggled, talent acquisition played a lower profile role.  (When it really struggles, talent acquisition gets fired, but that’s a really depressing post.)  Recruiting guys and gals understandably don’t take center stage when employees are getting pink slipped.   I totally get it. But it seems to be changing, doesn’t it?   Business is improving in talent acquisition shops across the country.  Thank goodness. It’s time.  We got a little tired of being in the shadows. Companies are now making aggressive talent adds as markets move, but many will need a different recruiting person than the sorta professional-but-passive recruiting guy who screened his way through the recession.  You know the guy I’m talking about—for the last four years, he managed small requisition loads, screened hundreds of active candidates, and worked with managers who had time to fill positions because they were still a little scared to add headcount.  Lots of “process enhancement work.”  That recruiting guy might not make it now. How do you know if you have the right recruiting talent?  Let me help draw the picture.  Remember the scene from The Godfather when Michael Corleone plans the move to Vegas?  He meets with his senior team, including Tom Hagen, the family consigliere during the peacetime years. Michael: … Carlo, you grew up in Nevada. When we make our move there you’re going to be my right hand man. Tom Hagen is no longer Consigliere.  He’s going to be our lawyer in Vegas. That’s no reflection on Tom it’s just the way I want it. … [Everyone except Hagen leaves] Tom Hagen: Mike, why am I out? Michael: You’re not a wartime Consigliere, Tom. Things could get rough with the move we’re making. Corleone needs a “wartime consigliere,” someone who knows how to operate in a rough environment.  Tom was all right in soft times, but not in hard times.  The famous Ben Horowtiz similarly compared wartime and peacetime CEOs in a blog post last year and noted these differences, all of which apply to recruiters: Peacetime CEO knows that proper protocol leads to winning. Wartime CEO violates protocol in order to win. Peacetime CEO focuses on the big picture and empowers her people to make detailed decisions. Wartime CEO cares about a speck of dust on a gnat’s ass if it interferes with the prime directive. Peacetime CEO always has a contingency plan. Wartime CEO knows that sometimes you gotta roll a hard six. Peacetime CEO thinks of the competition as other ships in a big ocean that may never engage. Wartime CEO thinks the competition is sneaking into her house and trying to kidnap her children. And I get it—the analogy breaks down if I advocate recruiting pros killing people, and I do not want to imply recruiters go to war each day…they don’t.  Soldiers do.  Still, I like the concept—I want  competitive, aggressive, driven, (a little) paranoid and intense people when it comes to talent acquisition in tight markets.  Recruiters might have sat in the back row of the company meeting from 2007-2011, but that’s changing.  You don’t need someone to cut off a horse’s head, but you need someone who aggressively protects your interests, gives great counsel and is ready when, as Michael Corleone says, “things could get rough.”

Tags: concerns, consigliere, corleone, enhancement, hagen, Industry Chat, michael, peacetime, rj morris

Steve Boese on The Best Worst Recruiting Video…

This funny recruiting video from Twitter was posted on YouTube on Friday and made the rounds pretty quickly across the web over the weekend, so chances are you may have seen it already. The embed is below in case you missed it, or wanted to have a second look… View the video and read the whole post at Steve Boese’s HR Technology  (an FOT contributor blog)

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Tags: featured, Industry Chat, result, worldwide fot, Youtube

Why job SEO is not enough

So we are starting to see various vendors claim their stake in the career site SEO (search engine optimisation) game. But just because you optimise your jobs, it does not mean you have found the golden nugget.

Tags: attraction, engines, hirepad, Industry Chat, jobs, nugget, optimisation, result, seo, Stake