There he was. A nicely dressed man in a necktie on the main corner in town. I couldn't tell the color of his suit because he was wearing a sandwich board that was almost as tall as he was, saying "Hire ME!" He had his profession and his phone number on the sign, and he was waving at me with a hopeful sign as I drove by.
Wow. I realized that these are strange times. Even stranger, less than a day later, I got a call from a local journalist, doing a story about hiring in general, and about the guy in the sandwich board in particular. "Had I seen him? " Yes. "What did I think?" Hmm.
I said that I had two opinions. First, he would probably be successful for a variety of reasons - that nobody else was doing it so he would stand out, that he was showing determination and a willingness to try new ideas, even if the concept of holding a sign in public is certainly 100 years older than the Internet.
Then, I said he was a shining example of how flawed and overloaded the current job search process is. Organizations are overwhelmed by the sheer volume of applicants, and job seekers are willing to do WHATEVER it takes to get past the screening and get a job. Any job. He was certainly giving up on the Internet.
Savvy organizations are using this time to redo their core processes, putting in assessments and applicant tracking, using human resources software and talent management concepts to predict good job fit.
If not, when the economy turns (and it will) the organizations that did not focus on job fit will have their high performers leave and their mediocre people stay. What you want is to have the high performers stay. That requires good talent management.
I hope your filters and systems are in place, and that you will be rewarded by a sustainable culture of high performance. And, if the guy in the sandwich board is reading this, call me. I would be happy to help with your search.
New data and projections are in from all points - we're looking at a year at least of bumpy roads and grumpy people and the new reality is firmly here. Widespread layoffs will include a continuation of reductions in our staffs - by that I mean HR - at the same time that needs and issues are climbing. With stressed employees come higher employee relations demands, heavier use of EAP services, and (probably) higher medical utilization. In all of this, we've got to stay productive.
There is no graceful way to automate the face to face part of HR. We've got to be able to make more time to BE THERE for our people. We can either stop doing background things (not likely) or better use technology to do the background work.
If you have technology that you have not implemented fully (and you probably do) now is the time. If you have "grandfathered" processes, retire them. Simpler is better.
Simply put, now is the time for LEAN Human Resources. Now is the time for assessments as a tool for productivity and management development. Now is the time for human resource planning to guide the future.
Now is the time. What will you do to get ahead of the curve?
Stop making problems biggger than they have to be. As we work our way out of this economic wiredness, we are watching the complexity of the economy and organizations play out. Who knew it was all connected? Yikes.
Keep it simple as we fix it. As I work with applicant tracking and assessments, I find that the processes that fail are the ones that are too complex and/or don't have a dose of common sense. It is human nature to try to fix a problem by making lots of little changes and building in checks and balances that get very complex over time. As the layers pile up, there is a tendency for the system to fail in new and more clever ways. I am reminded of this by NASA. It is very difficult to get a rocket into space, and the simpler ones have a better history than the fancy, gizmo-laden space shuttle.
Here is proof...
www.youtube.com/watch
True story - when NASA first started sending up astronauts, they quickly discovered that ballpoint pens would not work in zero gravity. To combat the problem, NASA scientists spent a decade to develop a pen that writes in zero gravity, upside down, underwater, on almost any surface.
The Russians used a pencil. The human resources software that I install is often not as complex (or costly) as the huge enterprise sytems that are out there. But, as we know, simple is good...
Change is the mother of invention. In my work on changing how HR Services are delivered and how assessments are used, I have found some secret methods for making change happen.
There are a lot of self-help books out there with all sorts of advice, and more motivational speakers with messages of treating each other nice and getting things done. I have a better idea.
Move your office. All of it. Get some boxes, and take all of the stuff that is in your desk and on your desk and so on and get busy. Mark the "keep" and "pitch" boxes and start sorting. If you don't have a different space to move to, just haul everything out into the hall and only move back in that which is useful.
Do the same with your processes. Find ways to simplify, find ways to use technology better, and even find ways to stop doing things altogether if they are not aligned with your strategic goals. This, in a real sense, is how you apply Lean Theory to HR, and make Lean HR. Eliminate Waste, and rethink the processes at the core of your work.
By taking all of the flotsam and jetsam of your office and sifting through it, boxes and boxes of waste will be generated. This is good - you will be amazed at how liberating it feels to have a new, clean focus. Now, do the same with your Human Capital Management processes. All of the talent management ideas, all of the job fit efforts, everything.
If you need some help after you get everything out in the hall - give me a call. I'm happy to be that ruthless, objective friend that can help clean out the closets...and, also, I have just moved my office, so I'm an expert.
My question is this: if you could change one part of the hiring process, what would it be?
I knew she was going to make the top 5. I just knew it. The selection of a Hoosier as Miss America came a surprise to many, but I was an early predictor. With all of the work I do in assessments and applicant tracking, I have a more than passing acquaintance with how to pick a winner.
The importance is gaining family bragging rights. I have a daughter and sister-in-law that are big into watching the pageants and guessing the outcomes, and I have gained quite a bit of street credibility in the family by doing very well at their game. The rules are simple - at the start of the telecast, all contestants make a brief statement and wave. At the end of this, each family member text messages the others their top choices, and these are compared to the top 5 and, of course, the winner. No formal scoring is done, but bragging rights are big around here.
So I take this seriously, and use my Human Resources and Selection skills for an important purpose. Since I can't use recruiting software and get each applicant to fill out assessments, I work with what I have. I pay attention to the last few winners, and project from that what the "job fit" issues are. What is important? Athleticism? Volunteerism? Diversity? I listen to the interviews and promotions leading up to the event, and try to figure out the "job fit" model that the judges will be working toward.
The big clue was a news story on how the contestants were a more toned and athletic group than previous years. I saw this as a message that the swimsuit portion of the contest would have more importance than the evening gown or the talent portions. I then noted in a press release that the winner of the preliminary swimsuit competition, announced a week early, was Miss Indiana. Hmmm.
So we popped a bowl of popcorn, and I entered my choices early - Indiana, Hawaii and Tennessee. While I was lukewarm about her chances after the evening gown moment (Looked like a tablecloth to me) and the talent portion (OK but classical music is often lost on younger judges) I was proud of the selection. Happy that Indiana finally got out of the "never won" column, and even happier that my ability to predict job fit has a payoff in bragging rights within my family.
The pageant has updated the selection process to include 10 choices from viewers, with an on line survey. I propose that next year they have all contestants fill out a thorough application form using applicant tracking software, and have the results on-line for all to see. Then I can really make some predictions based on solid data. In HR, that's what we need these days...
I wish you could have been with me at the store last night. I was picking up some essentials for dinner and making a dash in a hurry. With the grey skies and grey parking lots and foggy complexions of my fellow shoppers, I was a grouchy as I shopped. That ended when I hit checkout.
"How are you?" A simple question - but with the power and inflection behind it, I stopped and told the clerk the truth.
I'm cranky.
She made strong eye contact and said "You are choosing your mood. Everyone here is choosing to be cheerful, and you should join us."
Really. I looked around and she was right - there was perkiness and a happy vibe everywhere. It was in the air. I was irritated because I don't get grouchy often and I kind of enjoy it when I do. My irritation at the world was falling away. Grr. Hm. Hah.
Then I went into HR mode, trying to figure out how they did it. Did they use career personality tests? Did they interview for job fit? Did they train their managers in Employee Engagement techniques?
I sought out the manager and asked how he staffed. "I make sure my best people bring their friends in for an interview. That, and we subscribe to fish philosophy, where we encourage fun and "being in the moment". If we do that, the success of the store will follow."
Well said. If the store's customer service levels are important, then a happy shopping experience will surely follow...
Your organization's survival hinges on keeping your top performers.
Whether you are selecting the team that will remain or hiring for growth or attrition, if you have a group of top performers and you add anything but a top performer to join their group, bad things happen. Within days, if not hours, everyone understands their level of performance. The top producers then compare their compensation package and output with the new arrival, and are upset. Ask top producers how they feel in a situation like this, they will say “insulted, angry, and that they are hoping for management to step in and correct the error.” If nothing is done, the top producers know that, even in tough economic times they can be quickly reemployed, and they leave.
Simply put, to not focus on top producers results in a retention problem of the worst kind - the average producers stay. The poor producers stay. The superior producers find places where they are welcome. This kind of retention problem may not show up on normal retention statistics, because many organizations do not have a performance management system that allows tracking of the retention of superior producers. As top producers are less than 20 percent of the overall organization, high turnover in their segment may not show up as an alarm in the overall retention numbers.
What can be done? Manage the talent pipeline as if your organization's life depended on it. Use assessments, applicant tracking, and talent management to keep your organization's efficiency high, and getting higher.
Definition of Core Values: Operating philosophies or
principles that guide an organization's internal
conduct as well as its
relationship with the external world.
You think you are too young or too small to need and establish core values? Think again! Bring your core values to life. This is a valuable process needed for your company's strong cultural foundation. Strong culture leads to superior performance, higher employee retention and a better aligned organization.
A strong organization driven by core values sets a benchmark to lead people, gives a foundation to make tough decisions, and will bring simplicity and clarity to the "people" side of the company.
There is nothing magical about these concepts. You know that your company's core values are taking hold when you hear your employees restating and using them in their daily interactions.
It is the discipline of execution that distinguishes great companies. This is about building an organization that has purpose, focus and alignment, that lives its values every day and that creates an environment that allows employees to grow and to produce superior results.
This core ideology - our vision, purpose and values - is the heart and soul of ExactHire. We believe that adhering to this core ideology will help us become a strong, sustainable organization - a leader in an evolving business world.
Your core values will be used in talent acquisition, performance management, employee assessments, interviewing, orientations and human resource planning.
Keep in mind: The key is not what core values an organization has, but that is has core values at all!
Well, the whole issue of the different generations has just shifted. As I have presented over the last 5 years, I have predicted that all of the boomers would retire within months of each other when the stock market climbed above some arbitrary point - my guess was 13,500 on the Dow.
Well, with the economic meltdown, all bets are off. Talking with several senior HR people today (all of whom were boomers) they both report that retirements are certainly off for their "on the cusp" employees, who have watched their 401k plans divide by half. That means that all of the generational issues we have been watching are suddenly becoming bigger, with cranky boomers who wanted to retire rubbing up against Gen X'ers who are hoping that the boomer's retirement would create some promotion and growth opportunities. Space to grow? Not so much.
In all of this, HR is an important tool. If you can, build HR Services that use assessments and career personality tests to predict job fit and succession planning. Recognize that the generations see the economic meltdown differently, as seen in
this news story.
We've all got to get along, and good talent management will go a long way...
So there I was, driving to work in the early dawn and thinking about applicant tracking or assessments or something. As the sun rose, the sky lit the clouds from below and filled my windshield with a carpet of orange and salmon clouds, a backdrop for the street signs and landing airplanes and all the normal interstate claptrap.
Moving with the morning rush hour, I fished the camera out of the back seat, rolled down the window and used one hand to wave my camera in the (cold) wind and fired off a dozen shots. I always have my camera with me, and so I thought nothing of it.
An hour ago, I was on the phone with a client. We had just set up a new assessment system that will help them screen for job fit, and I was checking in. After we had done our business, he asked if I had seen the sunrise this morning.
"Why, yes."
He said he was very frustrated. He felt it was one of the more beautiful ones he had seen, and that he had pulled off the interstate, gotten out of his car, and thought he had taken a photo of it to remember it by. He had just tried to show the photo to his staff, and the cell phone had not worked. Grr.
I smiled. "Would you like me to email some of mine?"
I could tell it made his day.
As HR professionals, we are always expected to anticipate needs and have everything that our staffs and employees and bosses want. It always feels good to have exactly what a client wants, when they want it - be they internal clients or external. Even if it's just a photo of a sunrise.
In these stressful economic times, good customer service and high performance is everything. Enjoy the pictures. Maybe it's what you need right now...
"There is something rare, something finer far, something much more scarce than ability. It's the ability to recognize ability."
Writer Elbert Hubbard penned those words to live by many years ago, but they still have legs today. Consider organizations facing tough business decisions. They need the most competent people they can find to help them survive. It is all about "the ability to recognize ability," and what to do about it once you discern it.
It is important to ask every worker to give his or her all on the job. That means all of their creativity, innovation, inspiration and energy. Of course asking them to give 150 percent every day comes after finding, developing and retaining the people who can roll with the bumps. One crucial piece of advice is to count your blessings if you are not operating under a hiring freeze. But don't stop with hiring well!
In our next blog will supply suggestions on applicant tracking, employee assessments, how to survive tough times with lean HR, Pre Employment testing and applying best practices in talent acquisition.
In today’s economy, surviving the storm has become an organization’s main priority. The uncertainty that makes quick changes necessary means organizations must rely on their well-trained employees to carry them through. Strong workers who come to work each day with enthusiasm, focus and creativity make for trusty copilots during times of economic turbulence. They can help navigate above, below or around obstacles while offering solutions that no one else has thought of to help calm everyone aboard.
Remember, nothing is more crucial than hiring competent people and helping them develop the skills necessary to help pilot the plane. Making sure your employees have the talent, skill and knowledge to make it through the storm is more important than ever.
The distractions of the stock market are keeping the headlines off of the real news - the unemployment rates. As the ranks of job seekers swell, the arms race of polishing resumes and practicing interview questions is on. Think you have a good screening method? think you can compare resumes and get an "apples to apples" comparison? Think you have "radar" that is good at picking up false answers? Think again.
There are some great resources on the applicant's side. On-line research about your industry in general and you, the employer, in specific. Software to craft a very impressive resume. Videos and podcasts to guide the "soft skills" part of the interview. All of this produces a predictable result - erratic job fit and poor job performance.
Want to see what the applicants are using? Try
this link for some interview advice. Try
this link to review a blog that is intended to help applicants get by your pre-employment testing. Or even read
this website that is intended to help applicants fool drug testing.
My point is simple. As the employment pressure climbs, raise your standards and get pre-employment assessments into the mix. As applicants are preparing their answers, you should be preparing your questions...and building them into your talent management system.
Is it just me, or is this ironic? A cell phone photo from a client office....
Have you ever seen a room of high quality, desperate people, all trying to fool applicant tracking systems and pre employment assessment? I did - I was recently asked to present to a local job search group, so I was the expert from HR.
It is always interesting to get a view from the other side of the desk...especially if you interview applicants in these modern times. I was impressed with how much they knew of two things - the power of the internet to find out A LOT about the organizations that they were interviewing with, and that current trends in interviewing questions were favoring a lot of behavioral questions. Therefore, they were well-rehearsed in their answers to any interview questions that began with "Give me an example of a time when..."
They are using new tools to outflank you - try this link -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYqI0mAp2AY
Straightforward advice, right? Generic, right?
Well, they have done specific training videos for most positions. Here is one for pharmaceutical sales representative -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qR-IhZJOq3U
When I say that the "arms race" is on for the upper hand in hiring, these are the tools that I see applicants using. Savvy organizations are moving to screening methods that are not as easily fooled - Applicant tracking software aimed at producing job fit, employee assessments used as a part of hiring, and good human capital management policies are the best weapons...
Alright, we’ve spent a lot of time discussing assessment tools, talent acquisition & management, lean HR, human resource planning, how to find the right people for the right job fit and ultimately how to hire talent to achieve success. All of this is for the purpose of getting the business, keeping the business, and growing profits!
Now the question becomes:
·
How do we deliver World Class Service to keep customers coming back and telling their friends?
·
Who are your customers?
·
Are there others who should get great service—i.e vendors, employees, shareholders, etc?
Let’s talk about what "World Class Service" is!! First, it isn’t really YOU that sets that definition. The best way to find out is to:
·
Ask questions of those you respect and who will be the target of your service—your customers.
·
Research companies who demonstrate use of "best practices". What do they do and how do they do it? What traits do their representatives have that make them so successful?
Three things will be accomplished. 1) The answers you harvest will aid you in creating the blueprint you need to deliver a desired work environment to attract and retain the best talent. 2) It will also deliver the info required to set policy, process, and procedures. 3) It sets the environmental stage on which you will build your assessment tests and on-line application process to hire the right individuals for that all important JobFit.
For all the above to be successful…you MUST bring on-board the Customer Service Manager who understands the environment, benchmarking, training and service!!
As I listen to the automated voice outlining my customer service options (I think she was on number 8, so I had plenty of time to contemplate), I ponder business articles I’ve studied with advice on customer service being the key to distinguish your business as one of the best. Success = Profit. Okay, then why do we so often find ourselves trapped on the phone with a telephone tree more often than not?
If you would ask these companies why they do customer service this way, they would probably tell you the reason is cost savings. But, how do they assess the losses from customers leaving their company and going to a competitor because of the personal one-on-one service they get from the competitor?
Consider this—if your customer is welcomed and supported by an engaged, committed customer service representative who makes that customer feel a part of the “family,” it just makes sense that a new customer becomes a loyal customer.
Now, you know a great customer service representative when they serve you. BUT, how do we define those successful traits and bring them through the hiring process for a perfect job fit? Good news! Through preemployment testing, applicant management, human resource planning, successful talent acquisition can be achieved through thought-provoking pre-interview questions created through Pre Employment testing. Thus, change the nature of your hiring process! How do you do this? ExactHire can teach you how to do this. Now that’s cost savings!
At ExactHire, we believe through preemployment testing, applicant management you can acquire the talent who will deliver world class customer service. Through human resource planning, you can differentiate your company. Too many companies try to streamline customer service with telephone trees and automated push buttons. That may be fine if all that is needed is to check balances and change profile data. But, if you have a business that needs to help clients implement new systems or you provide products that require service, then the telephone tree doesn’t work as well. You need outstanding job performance from your customer service department! Job fit is paramount and equals success!
To acquire the ideal talent, management must have the right definition of "world class customer service" and manage applicant flow to produce the right fit. With the availability of reliable and valid employee assessment tests, you can discover who those people are. And, by asking some key questions right on an on-line application, through an on-line tracking system, you can get a higher quality, pre-screened applicant pool from which to draw.
Consider this—If you eliminate that time consuming stack of resumes, ask key questions on an application, test your candidates against a valid benchmark created for your own environment, you can guarantee that your turnover rate in customer service will go down. Results: Turnover rates go down, training costs go down, customers feel cared for and appreciated, you get their return business, they tell their friends, employees will feel engaged, and profits will rise. Isn’t it worth a try? What have you got to lose? Start thinking how to achieve your ideal talent acquisition needs!
My final employee engagement recommendations revolve around creating employee satisfaction, by creating a future and perfect job fit. Human resource planning should include the following steps.
FIFTH: Make your on-boarding process of new employees unique. Your goal should be to have the employee go home at the end of the first day and tell those closest to them that their first day with your company was the best first day they ever had. There are many ways to make your employee engagement special.
SIXTH: Develop a mentoring process in your company to make sure your new employee is immersed into your company as efficiently as possible. This is especially important when you consider the generational diversity we are all facing in the workplace and the timeline that younger employees use to judge whether they have made the right decision.
SEVENTH: Communicate the career path options that employees have and be clear as to the expectations you have for them to be considered for these other assignments.
EIGHTH: Talent management also involves employees in decision making and open communication with them. The more knowledge they have, the more they can offer your company. The more they feel part of the company and the process the better the results they’ll produce.
LAST: Warehouse the candidate data and new employee information you have obtained in a secure website. This allows you to develop analytics, feedback loops and meaningful metrics. Then evaluate your processes for higher performance payback. This will help as you search for new candidates as well as manage those you have hired. This information can also be used to show candidates that you understand how to manage the human capital component of your business.
I do not have to tell you that the competition for top talent is getting more intense. Furthermore, we all are noticing that the younger generations entering the workforce are not as patient as the baby boomers that are retiring. As business owners, we do not have as long to "get it right". The generation X and Y employees are quicker to judge and to correct a decision they feel is not a good fit for them.
By implementing these processes, you can leapfrog your company right over best practices to NEXT PRACTICES. You will improve how your organization manages talent acquisition and develops human capital; the capital that delivers the world class customer service that truly differentiates your company from the rest.
Because as I always say "it's all about people"!!
I wish you could have been there yesterday - I was finishing a meeting with the CFO of an organization that is struggling in the current economic downturn. As we parted, he shook my hand and made strong eye contact and said "I'm concerned about the economy, but not overly worried about us. We're going to make it because of our people."
Hm. This, from a CFO. I had come to make a sales call offering assessments and applicant tracking and hiring process improvements, and had thought that it would take some persuading for him to "get it." It didn't take any. He already understood. "Our strength is our people. We have to be very careful with who we hire or our team will not be as strong."
A quick summary - his organization is doing four basic things right:
* Automated online application with values-based screening questions. They get good information early in the process.
* Assessments that predict whether candidates are "hard wired" in a way that fits the job and culture.
* Job interviews in which candidates are asked to describe specific examples of their skills
* Simulations that gauge specific job-related abilities
The current news of layoffs may be creating the illusion that it will be easier to hire good people, but that's a mistake. It may be easier to get a mound of resumes, but it will just make it more difficult to find the right people for the right job. That's where good talent management comes in...
Want more solid HR insights from CFOs? I have found a wonderful (free) resource that is worth sharing. CFO Magazine has an excellent web site
(click here - CFO.com) with a summary of their HR articles
(click here). Enjoy!
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