Let’s face it. Technology is changing at a faster pace than we humans can comprehend. It’s going to keep changing and continue to frustrate the heck out of you-unless you step out of your comfort zone and embrace it. I’m not saying out with the old and in with the new, I’m saying, make room [...]
Today marks my last day at Climber.com. It was a good run. I’m thankful for the experience as I learned a TON of information about Search Engine Optimization and how it works, working for a start-up and seeing the pains and pleasures and lastly meeting and learning from the people that I worked with for [...]
According to Quantcast, almost half of the Twitterers are between the ages of 18-34. That’s a whole lot of Gen Y’s…waiting to “Follow” you.
So, if you’re trying to source college educated Passive Talent via a free, non-invasive and informal channel, then you best get Twittering.
Here are 5 Best Practices for using Twitter for Recruitment:
1. Dedicate [...]
This week marks my favorite week and it only comes every four years, thankfully. It’s the week before all of the annoying bickering ends. The week before all of the dueling ad campaigns will cease. The week before people stop being divided just because of their political views.
Every American who will vote has been conducting [...]
If I’m selling peaches on the side of the road, I’m appealing to the masses. I’m hoping and praying that someone will need my peaches for baking, an afternoon snack or because they want fresh peaches. Even more, I’m hoping that someone driving along is in need of peaches and sees my stand. I am [...]
It’s funny to me how over the years I’ve noticed when something in the industry becomes a buzzword or hot topic, there seems to be a whole lot of talking and not a lot of doing. For example, Employment Branding took about 5 years for the majority of organizations to get on board with the [...]
Thought you may all want to know that Climber.com has re-launched one of our Recruiter Solutions, Catalyst. With a new name, new landing page, features and pricing model, Catalyst has gained steam rapidly in the marketplace! Check it out and let me know what you think!
I apologize for not posting in a few weeks, but I’ve been busy moving across the country from Jacksonville, FL to San Diego, CA and getting settled in.
As some of you may know, my day job is working as the Director, National Sales for a very progressive and industry leading company named Climber.com. I [...]
I was instantly alarmed when I read an article featured on Workforce.com, titled Many U.S. Firms Lack Long-Term Talent Strategy. So I really wasn’t alarmed, I was royally PO’d. This just proves that the shift of going from a reactive recruitment world to a proactive world is just an eight-month-old New Year’s resolution. The article states that most companies have no contingency plan in place and the ones that do, center around layoffs. Companies aren’t thinking of their current precious, and may I remind you, expensive talent (we all know how disgustingly expensive turnover costs can be). Further, they’re not even thinking about how they will recruit moving forward. UGH! Have I not taught you anything?
There is no excuse for organizations to still have a reactive recruiting plan, this day in age. When I was in the agency world, I wanted to slit my wrists every time an HR person or Recruiter said:
“Oh, we’re really not hiring right now”,
then I would politely say, “Well then it’s a great time for us to meet and get you prepared for when you do,”
and they would say, “No thanks but I’ll keep your information on file”.
Yeah, ok lady….don’t come crying to me when you have to hire 30 people in two weeks cuz I’m going to tell you to…well you know…
What I really wanted to say back to her was, “are you slightly retarded? Do you understand that if you aren’t hiring currently then now IS the time to develop your Talent Strategy? No, didn’t think so, that’s why you need me you idiot!”
It never failed, within a month or so, I’d get a call begging for my assistance. Except at that point, even I, as talented as I think I am, couldn’t help this poor soul because IT WAS TOO LATE! Yes, I could help her carry out her boring reactive recruitment initiative, but I wasn’t able to really show my stuff which pissed me off even more. Now because she was operating in reactive mode, I had to as well. This limited our options of media to utilize, lead time on creating a great message and of course my patience. So, unless I worked feverishly around the clock for two weeks inhaling coffee and brushing off sleep, I would fail. I hated clients like these, especially because they would end up spending three times as much to fill the positions than they would have if they had prepared and spent the necessary time creating their “employment brand footprint”. (thanks NAS Recruitment Communciations)
When I would jokingly (really serious though) tell the client, “Wow, you want a miracle here, don’t you” and they would say “well, I just learned of this, they gave me no warning-” and I would stop them and say, “well, if we had prepared all of this stuff beforehand, all we’d have to do is put the wheels in motion, but now you know for next time”. Then they would chuckle, embarrassed because they know I’m right.
It doesn’t matter if you are recruiting now or not. In fact, if you aren’t hiring new people at the current time, hello genius? take the down time to get to know your company’s corporate culture, poll existing employees about why they like working there and yes, you the recruiter should be conducting these audits. You’re a salesperson of sorts, shouldn’t you know your product through and through and not to mention, often? Corporate cultures are constantly evolving, especially as people leave the company and new ones join. With such a culmination of differing personalities working together for the common goal, it is inevitably going to change little by little each day.
Recruiters need to unite and start pressing the powers that be to allow them the budget and go-ahead to dig further into the organization to obtain this information. Recruiters need to unite and demand the powers that be to allow them to utilize different media channels, develop their branding and expand recruitment budgets. Recruiters need to unite and TELL, not ask, the powers that be that you are going to create a Talent Strategy. (If you get canned, I am not responsible, it just means you made a crappy case for yourself.)
If you know your organization, conduct regular employee audits (and please, no rhetorical questions or boring surveys with multiple choice), research the media channels that are available to you and truly devise a plan that will keep you on a proactive recruiting track, one that brands your organization and conveys compelling points about the careers your company provides, you will love your job. You will know that you have made a difference in the organization, saved company funds and maybe even get the Employee of the Month designation complete with a front row parking spot and personalized parking sign.
Now most of you will whine to me, “oh, well they just don’t listen to me.” Well, have you spoken in a way that they will listen? I bet if you tell them that careful planning=cost savings, they will listen. Set up a meeting and only write that on the white board. It’s no secret that there is a huge disconnect between what company execs think needs to happen in recruiting and what actually needs to happen. This is where you come in. You need to tell them. They won’t know unless you plead your case and present evidence.
It is sad that still to this day, HR/Recruiting does not have a seat at the executive table. And if they do, they are most likely on the VP level and have no idea what goes into the daily recruiting efforts. When and if I ever own a company, I will be inviting the people who are my “messengers” to try to bring more people to my company, to sit at my large, mahogany, executive table. (ok, so maybe it’ll be oak until I get enough money to afford a mahogany table). I digress.
If you are going to buy a house, wouldn’t you get pre-approved, figure out financing, select a Realtor, zero in on a general area, pick a type of house and nail down a price range? So…if you’re going to invest in “talent”, a real tangible thing, why wouldn’t you prepare?
My sincere thanks go to the folks at Fistful of Talent for ranking my blog in their top 25 industry blogs. Even better, this list was picked up by US News World & Report!
NOTE: I am not drunk or high…just a realist with an addiction to silver linings.
Although Tropical Storm Fay was really more of a pain in the rear for me personally, (tree falling in my back yard, flooding, etc.), I realized how she represents more than just a weather phenomenon.
After this realization, I started thinking about how it related to our industry. From this thought came “The Fay Approach”.
With so much talk about Recruitment 2.0 and 3.0 strategies, I think companies have skipped right over an essential piece that belongs in their recruitment toolbox, The Recruitment Video. Don’t disregard this important piece of communication.
In a world of instant communication and news, the smut magazine’s tagline says it all, “Inquiring minds want to know”. Whether you are an internal employee or a job seeker qualifying your future employers, people want to know as much as they can about the company.
If you are already in the organization, you want to be kept up to speed on company news, who’s joining the company, peer accomplishments, etc. If you are a job seeker, you must know what a day in the life of an employee will be like before taking the risk.
Every Human Resource professional understands the importance of communicating with an employee base. Unfortunately, this is often overlooked. Companies don’t look at is as a priority or allocate a budget to it and why should they, can they really see a return on their investment? If they don’t, they’re missing the point altogether. There is a huge return on investment from just simply sharing information. It’s a commitment that companies must make to their current and future employees. 
Clear and effective employee communication is essential to keep employees engaged. But, what is it that HR is communicating? If the only time an employee hears from HR and it’s about open enrollment or a new dress code, chances are HR is not sending information, they’re fueling resentment. Make sure the information you are providing your employees makes them want to stay and doesn’t repel.
Every employee should be in the know. Employees should be receiving communication from their company on recent new business wins, births of coworkers children, marriage announcements, company accomplishments, pre-released press releases and so on. The most important piece of information that should be communicated is the announcement of a new employee. This should encourage current employees to welcome this new individual. This type of employee communication isn’t just sending information and it’s definitely not fueling resentment, it’s actually building camaraderie.
Taking it one step further, this type of communication and camaraderie shouldn’t be kept inside the organization. It should be effectively communicated to the outside world. Typically, organizations are already sharing their “insider information” with the outside world, in the form of employee testimonials. Unfortunately, every testimonial is the same no matter what company you view. I have yet to be riveted by an employee testimonial that makes me want to become obsessed with working there. The reason? Poor external employee communication.
Employee testimonials can be a secret weapon for attracting top talent. They must be raw, engaging and speak directly to the individual contemplating a career move. Whether in the form of a video or print communication, the testimonial has to be compelling. It has to make the future employee jealous that they don’t already work there. It has to make them want to be part of the organization so badly they can taste it.
When you look at Employee Communications, think of it as a four pronged approach. First, you have the current employee and what they have to say about the organization to their friends and family. Second, you have a job seeker who has a preconceived notion about the organization but wants to know more. Third, you have the company’s employment brand and what it is selling about the employer. Lastly, you have the Communication Outlet which enables the public to see what the company is about in the form of raw material. All of these things must work in harmony and be talking the same talk. Without one of them, effective external communication will fail.
Communication outlets could be in the form of Employee Blogs hosted on your Careers page, live instant messaging chat session, newsletters that job seekers can subscribe to and be kept up to date on how much fun employees have and what they can accomplish all hosted on your Gen Y’ified Career Site.
Companies should dedicate one individual whose sole purpose or maybe half of their job is dedicated to directing what I call ‘employee information traffic”. This person receives updates, sends out updates, oversees the external employee communications’ outlet and any other communications that could help retain staff or be used to recruit new employees.
I would love to see a company have an Instant Messaging Program, where during a one hour time frame, one day per week, future employees could ask questions and get feedback from current employees through an instant messaging format. The company would advertise it on their career site kind of like this:
“Want to know what it’s like to work for XYZ Company? Join our LIVE chat session every Tuesday from 11am-12pm and ask questions about what it’s like to be a XYZ employee. You’ll be speaking with an actual employee about their day to day experience working for XYZ Company. Sign up here to receive the IM name and download the IM Software”.
Now, the employee that volunteers for this should be screened to make sure they aren’t a disgruntled individual and people will have to earn the right to be nominated for this important position. You should also buy the individual lunch or supply them with a gift card or t-shirt that proudly displays the honor.
Remember that not every individual that joins the chat is going to be wowed because your organization isn’t for everyone. The live chat (or another form of a communication outlet), together with your employment brand, current employee ambassadors and job seekers will create a buzz about your organization and build a reputation for your organization that your competitors will be trying to duplicate. Source
So I inadvertently bought some patio furniture the other day. I went to Target for a water hose. One hour and one confrontation later, I walked out with a gorgeous patio set, but I had to fight to get it when it was mine to begin with.
I spotted the furniture from a mile away and the impulse shopper in me said ‘buy it’. I went over to it, looked it over, saw the great discounted price, realized it was the only one left and told the man I’ll take it. I sent my husband home to get the SUV, since it wouldn’t fit in the car we brought with us, and I went inside the store to look for some matching accessories.
The purpose of a Career Site is to put your best foot forward and make a great first impression on talent. So why are so many companies throwing up a page that makes most of us want to scratch out our eyes because it’s so lame? Let’s discuss.
You have a career site that you direct candidates to “check out your jobs”, right? WRONG. What you have is a boring spot on the Internet that spews fluff and boilerplate language in the face of top talent. Not only is it boring, but it’s not appealing, engaging, attractive or fun. Sorry, but I need to see some fun before I decide to spend most of my days at your company. So, attention all in charge of Recruitment Budgets: LOOSEN YOUR NECK TIES OR PANTY HOSE AND GEN Y-IFY YOUR CAREER SITE
(C) 2008 Ulrich Kerler & Marcus Schiesser Report an issue | Feedback | Privacy Policy | TOS