I don't know about you, but I'm getting tired of hearing about how bad the economy is doing these days. But, until it improves a great deal, we all will have to continue to deal with it. Having read several articles about this, it made me think (scary, I know!).
All of the experts advise us to do some key things related to talent management with this economy. Incorporate Lean HR practices wherever possible, focus on talent acquisition to upgrade your staff, etc. Great ideas, but in a practical sense, how do you do those things? Especially if you are a small or mid-sized organization?
I'm seeing more companies turn to technology to accomplish these tasks. Using applicant tracking software and automated onboarding solutions can really help to incorporate those Lean HR principles into most any mid-sized organization. Likewise, using employee assessments or career personality tests that can be administered online can really augment any talent acquisition process by helping to ensure JobFit is present for both the new hire and the organization.
These human capital management systems are becoming more affordable and can really improve the overall talent management function within most organizations. More to come, but if you haven't investigated these solutions, I would encourage you to begin.
There is a higher chance that your competition can replicate your product easier than they can replicate your human capital.So why not invest in the best human resource tools?This does not mean large dollar amounts.What it does mean is investing in highly effective applicant tracking software and career personality tests that can make you the best in human resource planning and management.
The key to staying ahead of the competition is managing your human resource tools to create better employees. If you use effective applicant tracking software that asks applicants for key, job related, information you will increase your ability to create a world class team that can build, market and sell your product far better than your competition.
You spend money and time to protect your product or service secrets, why not find out what little it takes to create the best human resource tools? Even if you have the same product, you’ll win every time with an applicant tracking system that increases the quality of your talent acquisition.
Don’t risk losing your best human capital to your competition.ExactHire can help you.Go to www.exacthire.com.
If there was ever a time to underscore the importance of Human Resources, it has arrived. In these days of economic woes--phrases that ring loud and clear are; Lean HR, Human Resource Planning, Job Fit, Talent Management & Talent Acquisition. The importance of using hiring assessments and human resource planning when adding colleagues to the team is more critial than ever. Maybe you don't know where to start nor do you have the tools? Visit our site for more info www.exacthire.com
Companies need to take a rigorous and progressive approach to the hiring process by determining what it is they're really looking for and how to assess it. Who are the "right" people to hire? Members of successful teams differ in complementary ways. If you've ever worked for someone who only hires people like themselves, you know why this is true. Diversity needs to be a part of an office's unique environment. Differing perspectives will keep your company from seeming similar, regardless of the client or the services you deliver. It also helps you round out your team. A team made up of just quarterbacks would not be very successful.
A progressive approach to successful hiring is needed to achieve diversity and success. Do you have a human resource management system securely in place? Have you looked to an outside specialist who can assist your human resources team by using an applicant management & tracking software to help you build a model for successful job fit? The time to invesigate an applicant tracking software systesm is now when you have the time. When the markekt recovers and we return to "green flag racing" we will all be to busy.
Every now and then, a conference turns out to be special – both good content and a good audience coming together to make the time worthwhile. That was certainly true at the recent IAHSA conference. We had a great standing-room-only session, with great, thoughtful remarks with ideas both from me and from the audience.
There were several requests for copies of my presentation, and you can click here for the download. While you’re here on my blog, go ahead and subscribe for more updates!
Again, thank you for your interest, and as an audience, you were the best I've had as a presenter. You made my work easy. I appreciated the open discussion around challenges in using assessments, applicant tracking, and how to build a high performing culture.
These are times that get irritating when all of the pressures start to mount. Our personal reserves vanish when we are under stress, and now we are all poster children for acting snippy and crabby.
We all need to get the answer, and fast. That's where Lean comes in. The whole point with Lean is making things simple, eliminating waste and getting better results, fast. That is exactly what we all want, yet we often just add another layer of stuff on the top of a pile of earlier stuff. Over time, it all just collapses from it's own weight.
In all of the work I do, I seldom see people who are willing to go back to a clean sheet of paper and start fresh. The joy of Lean is looking at the pile of stuff that has built up over the years, and getting rid of the pile and doing it right for right now.
Let me repeat that - doing it right, for right now.
We need new answers and the questions are getting tricky.
My vision of the future is simple - back to basics in our organizations and families, our diets, and our life. In the work I do in assessments and applicant tracking, I get a chance to change the world of the organizations in my life, which is truly wonderful.
Beyond my family, my other passion is getting a new way of thinking into the organizations on this world. If we make things simpler and better, good will come from it.
So, a question. What will you change first? I will be keeping you in the loop...
It's all in the packaging. We are very sensitive to the words behind a concept. Would you go to a marketing firm named "Red F"? Ick. Yet, they exist. Click here to see how proud they are of their name.
Years ago, RCA came up with a very expensive set of component electronics they named (at great expense) Dimensia. It failed to get market share - somehow sounding like a psychological diagnosis was not helpful.
Which brings me back to Lean HR. In the work that I do simplifying the hiring process, I am often frustrated by the concern that flickers across employee faces when the term Lean is mentioned. This has gotten worse as the employment marketplace has gotten worse.
If I'm working on job fit or pre-hire assessments, fine. But if I start talking Lean Theory, their imaginations jump into the "worry about my job" column and the project gets slowed down. Making matters worse, there are times that when Lean works and the process becomes more efficient, there are extra workers that can be reassigned.
Anyway, the purpose of my rant is to ask the community for a better term for Lean HR...what do YOU use? What should we use?
In the work I do with Applicant Tracking and Assessments, I am in the front lines of Human Resources.
Sometimes it takes a surprise to cut through the fog. Rather than words, a plant can speak volumes. A dead plant can be better.
I am in a borrowed office. Rummaging for copier paper, I found a mummified office plant that had died of thirst years ago. It was big. It was brown. It was very dead.
Just as I found it, one of our clients was on the phone talking about how her employees were griping about the reduction in benefits that was happening because of the economy. She loves our assessments and our applicant system, but has to cut back on some of the "perks" that people have grown accustomed to.
Rather than giving logical answers to the employees, I reccomend that she replace all of the greenery and cheerful flowers in her office with dessicated, dusty relics of plants that have met an untimely end.
That way, when someone comes to complain, they can be met with a shrug and a gesture to a very tangible reminder that things are different, and could be far worse...
I am not a very cynical person. I really have a green thumb. Just let me know if you would like my plant. I'd be happy to deliver....
or, buy an applicant management system or some assessment tools, and I'll throw the plant in for free!
Though many of us are energy conscious when home, we are less likely to take measures to cut down on wasteful practices as the office unless we are small business owners.
One way to "go green" at the office is to incorporate the services of a company offering applicant management, personnel management, on-boarding, talent management and HR services on-line. This also cuts cost when an employee is able to multi-task and engage in employee assessments on-line which reduces paper, time and lessens the human footprint we are leaving behind.
Before interviewing, you researched the company, donned your best clothes and practical shoes the day of the appointment, planned your route to be early, tucked your updated resume in your portfolio and left for your interview with Human Resources.
In the next hour, you do everything in your power to acquaint them with your skills, explain why you fit the job and why they should hire YOU!
But then, the regret letter arrives saying although they were impressed with your credentials, they have decided to go with another candidate.
You think, what could have I done better in the interview and why wasn't I hired?!!
Well if the company did its job right, it used applicant tracking software system to better refine candidiates and subjected you to taking some employee assessments so they knew more about you before the interview. So if they didn't pick you, maybe they did you a favor? If there was no job fit, how long would you have lasted. Companies need to spend more time focusing on talent acquisition.
On your next job interview if a company using applicant management and pre-employment testing make sure you ask them how they define job fit. It will give you better insight into whether this is a good decision for both of you.
I'm personally sick and tired of headlines bemoaning the general gloomy economic outlook. What to do? Simple. Get back to basics.
We need to adhere to the fundamentals of life/business/etc. Fundamentals begin with values (i.e. what is important to us?). Values are the core of our being. They are what drives our behavior. If we don't know what is important to us and/or our business, then how are we going to survive?
The challenge is to identify our values (i.e. integrity, service, passion, harmony) and live by them. Look for new employees that are in alignment with them. Build an applicant tracking system that asks about values and attitudes. Have pre-hire assessments measure values, not just skills and behaviors. Have a Lean HR focus, so that high performers see a performance management system that works, and is fair and consistent.
Doing so will allow us to thrive in good times and bad. And that will make all the difference.
First, let me stress that the more than 90 out of 100 people who want to work in this country are working. Second, most organizations are surviving, and will make it into 2010 with their businesses intact.
That said, the flood is coming. I just read the Bureau of Labor Statistics report on the subject, and it isn't pretty. You can read it here.
"Among the unemployed, the number of job losers and persons who completed tem-
porary jobs increased by 547,000 to 8.2 million in March. This group has nearly
doubled in size over the past 12 months." Yikes.
So...what? It means that the businesses that are hiring are going to get flooded with applicants, and at a time when HR departments are slammed with too much compliance, employee relations and harassment stuff. It means the hiring processes will be quickly overwhelmed, and two things will probably happen.
1 - The best candidates will be drowned in the clutter of all of the volume. Lots of lost opportunities from hiring the first one that fits, rather than the best.
2 - The ability for people who are not a fit to sneak through and get hired is up - because the time to do a good screening job just isn't there. If HR is overwhelmed and understaffed, then bad decisions can sneak through.
What to do? Leverage your technology and raise the standards. Implement a well-thought out talent acquisition strategy, use pre-employment assessments, and focus on metrics that indicate job fit. Then you will have a process that supports good HR and can drive employee engagement.
Then you have a swimming chance against the coming flood...
I met with some Lean consultants this morning over coffee and eggs. I opened my half of the conversation with the thought that, if a Lean initiative fails, the blame generally falls on the Human Resources. They both blinked, thought, and agreed. Conversely, HR can make a significant contribution to lean success. Lean works if the people are aligned with the processes.
So, which HR practices are helpers of lean success?
First is how performance is calculated, communicated and tied to incentives. Too often, staff go home not knowing (or caring) whether or not they accomplished their goals.
Next is team development. An organization that is based on individual performance will struggle to get the team behaviors needed for lean success.
Then, clarify roles and responsibilities. The job description for a supervisor are different than those of an engineer.
Then, communicate. A lean communication plan must go beyond posters and newsletters into walking the talk and reminding everyone of their success. When you feel you are over communicating, you have it about right.
Finally, celebrate success. A lot of repetitive hard work follows. Before enlightenment, there is chopping wood and carrying water. After enlightenment, there is still chopping wood and carrying water. It's an old saying, but it applies.
Over communicate, celebrate, and clarify roles. Get Human Resources on board, using assessment tools, good HR Management, Human Resources software and a focus on job fit.
Then, and only then, will your Lean initiative survive over time.
I presented this morning on Employee Engagement to a great group of HR professionals. The coffee was fresh, the coffee cake was tasty, and the issues were predictable.
"What metrics really work in today's business environment?"
We worked through what metrics they were using, and got into what metrics they SHOULD be using, and ended on how to measure and project the impact of good employee engagement. We talked about Lean HR, about applicant tracking, and HR services that are aligned with the organization's vision. All good.
As I drove away, I reflected on the wish of everyone in the room for a "silver bullet" that would fix tough employee relations issues and solve the talent management problems of the future.
There is a great first step. Train all of your managers in the skill of active listening. If the managers start to listen better to their staff (or at least appear to) and if they can know more about their staff through the use of valid assessment tools, then the staff will feel well-managed and deliver the goods. Whatever the goods are.
So, there you have it. As an extrovert who does not like to listen, this is tough advice. Just listen to it...the answer is out there.
Just saw some scary data from a global Engagement consultant. There were several data points that predict either pain or opportunity, depending on your actions during the slowdown.
Scary things -
The percentage of highly disengaged employees has increased by more than 25% since 2007. These are "hostile passengers" that are actively hurting you in productivity levels and quality, all of which translate to numbers that matter.
The decline in overall productivity is huge - 3 to 5 percent.
There is a second "time bomb" with this. The disengaged are itching to leave - and will leave when the economy starts picking up...which is exactly when you will want them as high performing employees.
The moral is simple. Get your talent acquisition in place before the green flag is waved. Use employee assessments to better manage the staff, and use fair and consistent methods, as a part of a Lean HR system, to keep the good ones engaged.
Then, engagement will work for you...and be a competitive advantage.
Picking the right people is never easy. You would think that years of experience would bring you closer to a hiring expert but it does not.
Your candidates can present an eye appealing resume, have great presence and charm, or communicate like a scholar but that doesn't mean they are right for the job or your company's culture! Remember, if they look too good to be true, than they probably are.
Don't flip the coin in hiring. Don't rush headlong to fill an open position. Pedigree can be less important than experience, entrepreneurial nerve and commitment.
Build a hiring science to your company through the use of hiring assessments and applicant tracking software. Help your company be successful by developing a culture that attracts high performers and allows for employee engagement.
Working on a Applicant Tracking site this morning for a client, I realized how much I dislike job descriptions. If the goal of a hiring system is to source and select high performers, job descriptions can work against you.
Top people don't need or want a job description to begin exploring an opportunity with an organization. With good candidates going online, the objective of a job description should not be to pre-qualify the person, but rather to generate interest in the position and company.
A job description seldom does this. It's the "buzz" that does - the marketing, the branding, the word on the street. An opening page summarizing a group of jobs with some facts about the company values and attitudes is a good start. These pages should describe the company culture, the importance of high performing talent in the company, something about career opportunities and a few reasons why these open jobs are important to the company's future. By the way, these statements need to be true.
Once you interest a candidate in a class of jobs and the company, then you can begin a the dance of selecting and screening. This is where good career personality tests and job performance metrics can come in - and pay off.
On job descriptions - less in the way of task and responsibility lists can produce better hires. That is, after all, our goal, right?
A call center announced that the planned closing of it's operation in Lafayette, Indiana was NOT going to happen, months after the first announcement. They were able to make some budget changes and survive with the smaller crew, as 80 of the employees had resigned due to the coming closure.
The chatter at the end of the article was cynical - that this had always been planned, and that the move saved the organization from paying for severance for those 80 that quit.
I take a different view. My experience has it that the high performers are the first to leave (because they CAN) and that the remaining employees are the mediocre and below, the ones that do not feel that they can get employment elsewhere.
All of these turnover statistics are misleading at a time of great stress (where we are now...) and most employees are hunkered down and biding their time. When the turnaround comes (which it will) there will be a whole bunch of high quality people moving around. Will the come to you, or move away? Will they join you, or leave just when you need them?
That is what you should be working on - an inclusive culture that promotes high performance...
There seems to be a lot of fear in the workplace lately. From the adult perspective, we know that crises happen, markets go up and down, people get laid off. But that used to happen to someone else, not us. That is no longer the case.
What do we do? Paul H. Sutherland of Zenvesting teaches: establish a habit of doing more than you're paid for. Do everything you can to keep your employer profitable.
Help keep your employer's core values in the vision. Don't let panic overtake reasonability. Keep connection to ethics, virtue and common sense.
As an employer, when hiring new employees what steps are you taking when hiring new employees to find the people who embody your culture through pre-employment testing & assessments? Do you assess what you need for job performance, think lean HR, or make use of applicant tracking and use human resource management systems available on the market to access for job fit? These steps will help set your employees up for success, not failure. After all, it is all about the people.
What are you doing as an employer or employee to insure your success?
"The future is already here. It's just applied unevenly"
Want a competitive advantage in HR? Categorize your current recruiting efforts into one of these three groups to see your strategic progress versus your competition:
1. Doing what everyone else is doing. Safe, incremental changes. These types of changes are not significant enough to allow an organization to keep up with the rapid changes taking place in the global employment marketplace. If you’re doing what everyone else is doing, you’re falling behind.
2. Big steps. Significant changes that take months to implement, such as a major ATS upgrade, rebuilding your career website, adding assessments or systemic training for managers. These are essential if you want to maintain your current position in the marketplace.
3. Bigger steps. These are changes and opportunities designed to increase an organization’s market share of top talent. This requires a rethinking of everything currently being done, including an employer re-branding effort and a reorganization of recruiting.
My advice? While you need to be implementing lots of level 1 changes, you’re not going to see significant improvements unless you move to level 2 and 3, the major steps. This is where you get real traction. Staying busy in level 1 might seem satisfying, but it won’t get you the competitive edge needed for 2010 and beyond.
Kick it up a notch and get ready for the future. What are you doing to get ready?
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