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Employer Insight

Retained Is The New Predictable

Career Insight, Employer Insight, Leadership, Recruitment /

There are a lot of trust issues in the current marketplace. Much of it is justified… There’s also A LOT of information from experts and people who are well-intentioned circulating… Poor experiences, coupled with advice from every angle have made the current marketplace stressful to navigate through. I’ve been privileged to work in a profession that I love for 15 years… As such, there are best practices that I try to disclose to anyone who will listen. Key word being “listen.” It’s ultimately your decision, but as someone once said, “knowing is half the battle.” Whether you’re a job seeker, employed, unemployed, or underemployed, there is a standard that you should expect from everyone in the Talent Acquisition business… Cue the typical email from a Recruiter: Hello – our client, a global entity and leader in the pharmaceutical sector, is looking to hire a new Director of People. We have an older resume of yours in our database, and I was wondering if you would be interested in hearing about this exciting opportunity. Please respond to this email with an updated resume. There are many things wrong with this email, but my primary concern is the lack of trust that it conveys to a top prospect. Who is your client, and why is that a secret? I’m amazed that this approach worked for as long as it did. Why would anyone take a call from a recruiter who they don’t know, listen to what they have to say, share personal things about their background & personal life, disclose what they are earning and would like to make, and agree to update a resume that they haven’t touched in 10 years, all without knowing who your customer is? Many recruiters do not have legitimate contracts or relationships with these companies and therefore can offer little to no direction or insight into the opportunity. Hence the reason why you often don’t hear from them after you’ve submitted your resume. These companies are not getting back to them, so how can they get back to you? Without a real relationship, expect to be ghosted. Your question to that recruiter before you agree to do anything should be: “Can you please describe the nature of your relationship with the company you are representing? Have you been contractually retained to handle this search?” Side bar – being retained doesn’t necessarily mean that a recruiter won’t operate transactionally, but if their customer is treating them seriously, then it’s predictable that they will treat you in the same manner… Qualify that recruiter before they qualify you. Call me crazy, but I’d only entertain an introduction that sounded similar to the following: Hello, Jane – under my current contract with XYZ Plastics, I’ve been asked by the President of the company to identify a new Director of People to help them bolster their HR division. You’ve been identified as a person of interest by the President, and he is interested in speaking with you. I’m here to mediate those discussions. Is this worth a closer look? Or Hello, Jane – you’ve been identified as a top prospect by our organization. Confidentially, we are handling XYZ Plastics’ search spearheaded by the CEO for a new HR executive. I’m here to mediate those discussions. Is this worth a closer look? I hope this tip helps you to weed through the noise in the marketplace and positions you closer to your next opportunity.

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How Could He Resign With Our Company Swag?!

Employer Insight, Human Resources, Leadership, Recruitment /

A good onboarding experience is vital to ensuring that a new hire stays beyond their first year. Too many relationships have failed within the first 365 days post hire due to a bad first impression. Let me first state that everyone is well-intentioned. It is not my thesis that a leader within an organization sets out to create a negative experience for a new employee. The reality is that too many new hires are left with more questions than clarity after their onboarding/orientation period. Despite the excitement communicated about the role during the interviews, chemistry, & position fit, none of that matters if the welcome committee is not in one accord, moving with purpose to create a clear, and pleasant experience for their newest hire. When a new hire’s onboarding experience feels more like a “by the way” task or a checklist item, they may not physically quit in the moment, but they’ll remember how they felt. It will also speak volumes to them about the quality of the company. “I wonder how they treat their tenured employees?” Now, empathy dictates that those who are responsible for the onboarding activities (HR/Hiring Manager) are busy with equally important tasks that require their immediate and focused attention. Empathy dictates that people get sick, teams are understaffed, members are going through personal circumstances outside of work or are juggling too many tasks at once. These are realities that we all face. Too things are important to winning the war for talent: People want to feel prioritized. They want validation that everything they heard in the interview process is true. They want to be assured that they made the right decision by taking your offer and not a competing organization’s offer. They want to know that they are not walking into a dysfunctional environment with no clear direction. Here are the priorities (by priority): A supported and collective onboarding experience is a great way to strengthen retention. It also creates a referral funnel for people who that employee knows (word of mouth still exists). Let’s stop dropping the ball – the experience still matters.

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What Do You Need To Earn? (Lessons From Lacrosse)

Career Preparation, Compensation, Employer Insight, Inspiration, Leadership, Recruitment /

The Premier Lacrosse League (PLL) is a privately held sports league started by Paul Rabil (former player) and his Brother, Mike Rabil. It’s a fascinating story about Paul’s rise through the sport to league founder/owner. Mike is featured in this interview and provided an interesting answer to a question about recruitment. You can play the clip below, but it got me thinking about the simplicity of the answer and why more business owners don’t come up with competitive and creative ways of compensating their best people. They’re a growing league looking to increase viewership & revenue, so recruitment & retention are everything. To summarize, Michael describes a situation where any additional revenue that is pumped into the league by way of sponsors would be then allocated to the players (who by the way also have equity in the league), thereby increasing their annual salaries across the league. As a business leader, having a strong brand in your market adds credibility to your pitch, but it doesn’t stop there. You’re competing for talent in your market, yet there’s a significant wage gap across the board, and I learned quickly that people change careers for 2 reasons: meaningful work and compensation (sometimes there’s a trade off, but in a perfect world, there shouldn’t be). I like to take a compassionate approach to compensation, and I think we should reframe how we tackle the “money conversation”. It’s transactional at best and entirely skewed towards the employer with interests in keeping salaries offered as low as possible. Asking a prospect ‘what they need to earn’ conveys a degree of empathy that will change the dynamic of these discussions. Again, the more money flowing into the league, the more available capital to pay their players. Not the board or the stakeholders, the players. Paul & Mike don’t have a league without players, and they have figured out what seasoned executives have failed to accept. If you’re a company that has just secured a new project that is approved to add $350 million to your bottom-line once completed, then compassion dictates that there is additional cashflow that can be distributed to those within the company who helped to win and execute the project. Why aren’t salaries increased at that point? Profit sharing is one way of sharing the wealth, but that is only a fraction of earnings that the average employee sees. The majority stays at the top of the funnel. New projects drive market awareness. Market awareness drives new business opportunities. New business opportunities drive earning potential. Additional earnings should drive up employee wealth, ownership, and intellectual property. Kudos to the Rabil brother’s and the PLL for redefining the employee (athlete) / employer (owner) relationship. View the clip here – https://lnkd.in/gcSNS2C6

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The Issue Is Trust

Career Preparation, Employer Insight, Recruitment /

Recruiters don’t trust Candidates, Candidates don’t trust Recruiters, Hiring Authorities don’t trust Recruiters, & Recruiters don’t trust Hiring Authorities. Confusing, but the illustration above is simple enough to understand… So, how is this distrust manifested… Cue the typical email from a Recruiter to a Candidate: Hello, Candidate – our client in the pharmaceutical sector, a global entity and leader in their space is looking to hire a new Director of Something…to hear more about this exciting opportunity, please reach out to me. Everyone is familiar with this sort of email. Here’s the explanation and much needed context… The average Recruiter receives a job assignment from a Hiring Authority alongside 3-4 other Recruiters who have been put on the same assignment. Cue the rat race! When I was introduced to this industry, I was told that you should never disclose the name of the hiring company to Candidates because of fear that they would go behind your back, reach out to the company directly, and thereby eliminate you from the process entirely. What a terrible way to establish any relationship! Recruiter to Candidate Distrust: From the perspective of the Recruiter, I expect you to take my calls during your work day, listen to what I have to say about this great opportunity, take time off your job to meet with me and interview with my client, leave your comfortable position, and move to a company that you know little about, all while I keep the company’s identity from you until it’s convenient for me to share it with you. This is essentially what we do as Recruiters, and we gripe when candidates don’t call us back, ghost the process when it’s no longer convenient for them, or take a counter-offer after you’ve spent 3 months working with them to get them to the finish line. Candidate to Recruiter Distrust: Candidate: So, who is your client? Recruiter: I’m sorry, but I cannot disclose that for confidentiality purposes. Candidate: So, you expect me to commit to this process without knowing the company? Recruiter: Yes Candidate: Can I at least know what the salary range is? Recruiter: How much are you looking for? Candidate: Not interested. Thanks. Hiring Authority to Recruiter Distrust: From the Hiring Authority’s perspective, you’ve dealt with enough Recruiters in your lifetime to know that they surface only when they want something and fling resumes that they haven’t properly qualified. The conversations are generally centred around what is best for them with little to no effort to get to know your company, your team, the position, or the culture. Why would I trust a professional who operates in this manner? Mindset: I’ll force recruiters to work against themselves since they clearly don’t know their own value. Recruiter to Hiring Authority Distrust: You know that Hiring Authority is flirting with other Recruiters which automatically diminishes the relationship and causes that Recruiter to keep their options open as well. That’s why it’s easy to ghost their clients. “You haven’t committed to me, so I won’t commit to you.” If this works out, great, but if not, we’re not married to each other. Again, hardly the foundation for anything good to come from this. Yet, we continue to engage in this sort of transactional behaviour. This is precisely why Recruiters must change the way they see themselves. If you don’t respect what you do, then how can you expect others to take you seriously. Takeaway: For Recruiters to remain relevant in their marketspace and be seen as a solution, and not a thorn, they need to change the way they operate. Admittedly, that change has to start at the leadership levels within our own ranks. AI will never become a threat to the profession if we position ourselves as value-adds that give more than we take.

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Choose Your Next Window Contractor Wisely

Career Insight, Employer Insight, Human Resources, Recruitment /

Why should it matter to you whether that recruiter is retained, contained, or contingent? To many people, recruiters are all cut from the same bad cloth. When you sense that it’s another recruiter on the line with the same self-serving pitch, you likely tense up, rush them off the phone, or hang up before they can complete their sentence (hopefully you don’t do the latter too often. There is something humane about letting another human finish what they have to say, even if you’re completely disinterested). I digress… Retained, or not to be retained. That is the question! Let’s first dissect this misunderstood word. In simple terms, it means working exclusively with a service provider with a monetary deposit to ensure the commitment to & integrity of the relationship (I did not use Google for that). Let’s employ an everyday scenario… You’re looking to get your windows done and you hire a contractor to do the work. The contractor comes over to assess the job, provides a selection of window options, and offers a quote for the job along with a timeframe for completion. You agree to use that contractor, at which point, the contractor requests a deposit to solidify commitment from you, the customer. That deposit is then subtracted from the final cost of the job once completed. Simple enough and agreeable as a practical way of doing business. Let’s now take a look at the recruitment industry… When I broke into this field almost 15 years ago, I was trained in a purely contingent environment. The normal way of doing business under this model was to solicit business from a company to fill one of their vacancies, take the request, create a stealth job description, reach out to prospects, facilitate interviews and final offer, & close the deal. Rinse & repeat. Pretty standard to the industry, but in all of this is an open-ended, commitment-less relationship with zero accountability to the other party. What do you mean Troy? Do tell… Let’s go back to the window contractor example… You hire that contractor to do the job, but this time, there is no deposit made to the contractor. They agree solely based on a signed contract. They start the work, and everything is progressing well enough. All of a sudden, the contractor shows up late for the job. The day after, they’re a no show. Your calls go unreturned for the next 3 days and you’re left wondering if the job will get done. Friday afternoon, you receive a call from the contractor, and they agree to complete the job the following Monday. On Monday, they’re a no show and you’re left with an unfinished job, money in your pocket, but now you begin the process with another window contractor hoping for a better experience. This is what we commonly refer to now as ghosting. That contractor abandoned the job, likely for another customer who paid a deposit. So, why are hiring executives disagreeable to paying a retainer for exclusive recruitment services? It stems entirely from how recruiters have positioned themselves in the marketplace. For years, they’ve worked for free and hiring authorities have lived with the poor results associated with “free” If you’ve been getting a free service for years, why would you one day want to start paying for that service, even if the facts declare that free hasn’t resulted in positive outcomes for you? Recruitment is no different from any other service and we need to start seeing ourselves as organizational difference makers, change agents, & facilitators of growth. If we don’t value what we do, then how dare we get upset when others don’t. The issue is internal. Once we start respecting what we bring to organizations’ and peoples’ lives, then we will see real change and lasting relationships with decision makers. Google defines retained recruitment as a search process that focuses on quality and long-term value over speed, leading to a lower risk of bad hires and a more thorough search process (with more transparency). In essence, retained recruitment is better because it prioritizes finding the right person for the role, reduces the risk of bad hires, and fosters a strong partnership between the recruiter and the hiring company, leading to more successful hiring outcomes. Wouldn’t you consider this to be more desirable than what I described above? The onus lies entirely within the recruitment industry to redefine its image and start positioning itself as a service that allows executives to sleep better at night. The days of recruiters competing against themselves, chasing candidates in a reckless manner, candidate redundancy, and a poor brand image are the past. Welcome to the future of the candidate/recruiter/customer relationship, and only those willing to do something different will reap the benefits.

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Progress Is A Collection Of Small Steps

Employer Insight, Inspiration, Leadership, Recruitment /

✅ We want to be a market leader by 2040… ✅ We want to increase our revenue by 50% in 3 years… ✅ We want to surpass our competitor in the development of… Goals are great, but they are only achieved by focusing on the details. These are the seemingly insignificant tasks that we take for granted. We all like to put “excellent attention to detail” in our resumes, but how many of us actually pay attention to the details that matter the most? We’ve become so fixated on distant goals, that we’ve forgotten about the process. Tucked away within the process is how you treat your most valuable asset, your people. We’ve forgotten that people achieve goals, not numbers in an excel sheet, not investing in automation, or buying your competitors. If motivated and treated correctly, your people can become the engine behind attaining market leadership by 2040 or increased cash flow by 2028. It’s interesting when I hear business leaders talk about their goals. Take me inside your company and let me see how you treat your people. I’ll tell you whether you’ll attain your goals or not. Even if you do, it won’t be sustainable. You’ll spend all of your profits filling holes along the way. So, what are “the details” that are often overlooked by business leaders… 1️⃣ “Good morning, Team!” 2️⃣ “Take the afternoon off to spend with your kids” 3️⃣ “Let’s talk about equity in this company that you’ve served faithfully for years” 4️⃣ “Thank you for a job well done on this project. Without your contributions, it wouldn’t have been possible” 5️⃣ “Thank you for cleaning the restroom, Steve” (Comment to Janitor) 6️⃣ “Tell me how I can serve you better” 7️⃣ “What are your financial goals and what do you need to make to achieve that?” We’ve spent years focusing on the wrong things. Let’s start bridging the disconnect by doing the little things well & consistently.

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Business Lessons From The Basketball Court

Career Insight, Employer Insight, Inspiration, Leadership, Recruitment /

I love basketball banter! As I’ve aged, I have come to appreciate the pre & post game analysis more than game action. The news that still has the basketball world buzzing and the Dallas community in fury, is the trade that happened behind closed doors, finalized in the wee hours of the night to avoid public scrutiny & backlash. Coined the most shocking trade in NBA history, the move of one of basketball’s rising legends is still mind-boggling to many. How could a franchise with playoff aspirations at the beginning of the season now be facing a missed opportunity to make the postseason? I’ll leave the conspiracy theories to the experts, but there are important lessons to takeaway for the business world: Whatever you are trying to accomplish as a business leader should be clearly communicated. It’s unrealistic and counterproductive to reach a consensus on every decision, but leaving your team in the dark is certainly not the way to build a winning organization. Hidden agendas provide a smooth runway for your best people to take their talents elsewhere.

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What Do You Need To Earn?

Employer Insight, Leadership /

What are your salary expectations? What are you presently making?? I’d like to see business leaders take a different approach to the topic of compensation. Disclaimer: The following only applies to top performers in their industry – opening this question & train of thought to any and everyone does not work. I am directing this to those top-tier candidates who operate from a place of professionalism, integrity, and who can deliver on what they’ve communicated. My recommendation… Rather than asking for a prospects salary expectations which is really only used one dimensionally to rule someone in or out, I’d like to hear business leaders ask the question this way – “what do you need to earn?” This question has a degree of empathy that I think has been lacking from a lot of conversations surrounding money. For years, we’ve heard executives talk about what their budget is, what they’d prefer to pay, and what they think a person is worth. This is not considering what someone is presently making and what they need in order to maintain (& improve) their standard of life. I’m challenging business leaders to shift their focus, their language, and their mindset surrounding money and to start making real investments that will pay dividends in the long-run. Salary negotiations don’t need to be contentious if we can get back to what intrinsically motivates people to change careers. Only those who are bold enough to change will reap the benefits that come with it.

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The Secret To A More Productive Workforce

Career Insight, Employee Retention, Employer Insight, Inspiration, Recruitment /

It’s amazing when you think about the correlation between encouragement and labour… I don’t quite understand how this behavioural phenomenon works, but the results are always the same… A person who feels appreciated, will always do more – this is true 100% of the time. My Mother would often say to me as a child that a little encouragement sweetens labour. Wise words from a woman who understood that the real intrinsic motivator lies in appreciating the effort of others… This often came in the form of cooking lunch for a general contractor who was doing work around the house for us in addition to their regular monetary payment. She always went above and beyond, and some how that encouraged the people around her to do the same… Business Leader – try recognizing the contributions of that employee with a lunch or a gift card for Amazon. If a gift card is not your thing, then a verbal acknowledgement has an equally positive impact on behaviour – “I saw the work you did for this project, and you did an excellent job – thank you!” (followed up with an Amazon gift card 😉)… We’ve done a great job of normalizing excellence – let’s get back to openly recognizing the contributions of our employees and loved ones… Leadership does not need to be treated like a mathematical equation…..this will challenge a lot of engineers!

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We Want You In The Office 5 Days A Week, Or Else!

Career Insight, Career Preparation, Employee Retention, Employer Insight, Recruitment /

Talent retention remains a trending topic as we approach a new year. With over 14 years in recruitment, I’ve facilitated career moves at all levels. The common denominator in all of those encounters is a motivator. Motivators in this context are underlying reasons behind a prospects willingness to listen to what I have to offer and ultimately engage in the hiring process. The motivators expressed normally stem from a form of dissatisfaction with their current employer – dissatisfaction can take many forms and varies from person to person. As a Recruiter, understanding a candidate’s motivator is vital to a successful Candidate / Recruiter / Company courtship (yes, in many respects, it is a courtship or voyage to a long-term relationship). Any company can post a job advertisement, screen candidates, and onboard new talent. This process is pretty straightforward. Check out an earlier article I wrote titled, Thanks For Another Great Hire, Troy! So, How Do I Retain This Talent? In it, I tackle the inability of business leaders to cultivate a culture that grooms talent and promotes career path options for their top performers. Most say they have such a career path program in place, but it is seldom monitored and fine-tuned to keep up with market trends and the ever-changing needs of their people. While the motivator is important to my business, it is also a pain point for me as a professional who understands that people are an organizations greatest assets. I’ve seen my fair share of top performers and quality human beings leave companies for reasons that could have been remediated or altogether avoided if leaders cared enough about their people. If a better job was being done in this area, admittedly, I would need to find another day job. Thankfully for me, there will always be a disgruntled employee who wants nothing more than to change companies. Talent retention is just as important to me as talent extraction. My success as a Recruiter is measured against 2 metrics – fill rate and employment past a year. I had a conversation this afternoon with an exceptional candidate who I placed a few years ago who he told me that his employment with the company ended recently because of an internal struggle over them wanting him to be in the office 5 days a week, a condition that was not a requirement when he was originally hired. At the heart of this story and what is most disheartening is an organization’s callous parting with a good technical and character employee for something that could have remained a point of ongoing communication & negotiation. When it comes to working from home requests, I believe in a balance when it makes sense for the parties involved, especially when the performance of that employee warrants it. The point to leaders is for them to remain communicative with their people encouraging open dialogue about their career goals, and making sure that they are aligned with the resources, tools, and training to get to where they need and deserve to be. It is also important not to make all of your policies one-size fits all as it relates to retention. If you decide not to put your employees first, then I can assure you that your competitors will. Related Article – The Great Departure – A Recruiter’s Guide To Retaining Your Best Talent

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