Talent Search Partners, Inc.

TALENT SEARCH PARTNERS, INC.

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Recruitment

The Meeting

Inspiration, Leadership, Recruitment /

How many of you have hired a general contractor to do major repair work on your home without meeting them first? That would be a recipe for disaster, yet, many decision makers within organizations are consistently enlisting the services of recruiters under such circumstances and wonder why the results are what they are… You are handing positions that can change the trajectory of your organization over to partners you’ve never met. They’ve never walked through your office or plant, and they don’t know the key stakeholders involved in the hiring process… You are speed dating through talent acquisition, and you’ve normalized this behaviour. How can any recruiter truly act as an extension of the company they are representing if they haven’t spent time getting to know the problems, preferences, culture, and context related to that position… So, why would a recruiter avoid such an important aspect of the hiring process? And why would a decision maker engage without insisting that both sides meet? Accountability. …neither side wants to be accountable to the other. It’s easy to walk away from (ghost) you if we don’t have a real relationship that was established through a formal meeting at your facility… Logistics is often a barrier to such in-person meetings, and reasonable accommodations can be made in those cases. A virtual call for instance can bridge the gap, but should never replace the authenticity of sitting across from a future client or candidate… Recruiters have designed and promoted their own irrelevancy… Having an “out” in case things don’t materialize favourably with a client or candidate is now the secret sauce driving the industry… Let’s get back to the grassroots of what made recruitment a viable service and respected by organizations. Like a General Contractor, a Recruiter takes your vision and brings it to life.

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A Remix To The Traditional Job Description

Career Insight, Human Resources, Inspiration, Leadership, Recruitment /

Conventional job descriptions don’t work, yet we keep branding them in the marketplace. Your positions go unfilled for months and the quality of candidates is far below your expectations. We’ve been marketing the wrong information. A Project Manager knows what they do. They do not need to be reminded with a list of responsibilities. We follow this up by telling them that they must have 5-10 years of experience, thereby excluding those who have 4 or 11 years of experience. We are creating a robotic marketplace of prospects who think in terms of requirements and tasks. We’re selling the position and this has not worked in an evolving marketplace that values more than what they will be doing from 8 to 4. You have failed to capture the intrinsic motivators that would compel a top performer to leave their current position and join yours. Instead of describing the perfect candidate, companies should be focused on clearly outlining what makes them an ideal destination for a top performer. It’s a shift from “what you can do for us” to “what we can do for you.” Let’s explore this deeper… The Career Brochure (Sample Profile Below) Building vehicles is what we do. Cultivating high performing professionals in a friendly environment is our passion and vision. Over the last 20 years, we’ve gone through a major organizational shift by making tangible investments in our greatest assets. We shut our doors the last Friday of every month to give our staff a well-deserved opportunity to rest and spend time with their families. Our last 17 hires have been promoted over the last 5 years which has allowed us to stay competitive and keep them motivated. We host our very own awards ceremony to honor our people with recent winners being awarded the following: “Comeback Employee Of the Year”, It’s Not My Job, But I did It Anyway”, & “Leader Of The Year.” One of the prizes was an all-inclusive trip to a resort of their choice for 5 days. We’ve established our own University to make sure our employees receive proper training and ongoing support. This is a fully paid for benefit and offered to everyone. Through this program, we’ve seen a 50% increase in productivity & retention, and a 70% reduction in product defects, representing a major increase in quality & turnaround time across our fleet. We offer “Mental Wellness Days” instead of “Sick Days”. Meaning, you are allotted (3) days a month for the entire year to take care of yourself. We want you to enjoy time away from the office while you’re healthy, not sick (this is in addition to your vacation time) Oh yeah, we also build cool vehicles! As part of that mandate, you’ll work individually and collectively with your team to accomplish the following goals over the next 2 years: Wrap Up Note that there is no mention of requirements or duties, and the goals were mentioned after conveying major company milestones & perks. Let’s stop promoting what the person will do and let’s create profiles that convey an understanding of the needs of the marketplace. This is the only way to create a winning organization that is a talent magnet. If you disagree or if you’re already doing something similar, please let me know below.

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Many Executives Are Playing Jenga With Their Talent

Inspiration, Leadership, Recruitment /

Executive leaders are crying out for predictability and structure, yet they continue to engage in the same risky behaviour that has driven them to frustration. Our approach to talent acquisition is structurally weak, and one bad decision can bring down everything you’ve worked hard to build. Now is not the time to cut corners when it comes to the most important function of your business, talent. Given the tightness of the marketplace & resistance from top talent to engage in the career exploration, finding the right people and keeping them beyond a year is proving to be a challenge. We are okay to have multiple recruiters working on a given search at the same time, yet we employ the services of one mechanic if our car needs an oil change or one law firm if we are being sued. I’ve never heard anyone say that they were going to use multiple surgeons to remove an organ to increase the chances of a successful operation. Despite the poor results and longer wait times to fill positions, decision makers are okay to stick with the status quo, and this has somehow translated to be what’s best for business. It’s like repeatedly hitting your head against the wall and complaining about your headache. What’s worse is that recruiters are complicit in this tragedy of a recruitment process. We’ve done a poor job of communicating our value proposition, partly because most recruiters don’t know what that value proposition really is beyond just supplying resumes. When you understand your value, you don’t need to negotiate, and you can comfortably walk away from something with no regrets.

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The Question That Has Confused Humanity Since The Dawn Of Time

Compensation, Inspiration, Recruitment /

The compensation topic has been a point of contention between recruiters/HR and candidates since the dawn of civilization. The compensation conversation typically plays out like this: Recruiter: How much are you presently making? Candidate: How much can your client pay? Recruiter: It’s flexible depending on… Recruiter: What are your salary expectations? Candidate: How much can they pay? Recruiter: Can you provide a range? Candidate: $100,000 to – $200,000 annually Recruiter: Would you take $100,000? Candidate: No …and the game of ‘show me your hand’ continues until both sides are worn out and frustrated with each other… The foundation of this conversation is a lack of trust. Recruiters want the best available talent at the cheapest cost; candidates want the highest number from the available range; hiring managers want to pay the lowest salary and expect candidates to produce to the level of the top end of the range. My approach to this topic is evolving and will continue to evolve until I officially retire. It’s for certain that compensation continues to be the primary motivator for a career change. Instead of haggling and wasting precious time, wouldn’t it be far better for candidates to disclose what they need in order to make the career move? NEED and WANT are distinct and should be treated as such in this context. Hiring managers would be far more receptive if they were told what a candidate NEEDS to earn versus what they WANT to earn. When a company hears “want”, they associate that with greed or an unrealistic demand, and that typically creates unnecessary hurdles to the end goal. “What do you need to earn” bleeds empathy & compassion. For years, we’ve heard executives talk about their budgets, what they’d prefer to pay, or what they think a person is worth, and recruiters often manipulate this to their own advantage. Let’s replay the same scenario above, this time framing the question a new way: Recruiter: What do you need to earn? Candidate: What? Recruiter: What do you need to earn to make this career move? Candidate: Well, I’m currently making…(Recruiter Interrupts)… Recruiter: Irrelevant. You’re not looking for something new. You’re a high performer in your current role, and I contacted you about this opportunity. What do you need to earn to justify the move to yourself and your family; leave the seniority that you’ve built up with your present company; drive an extra 25 minutes which will make you 25 minutes late for dinner time every night & start over with a new company in a role that could be considered a gamble? What do you need to earn? Candidate: I never thought of it like that. Recruiter: Think about it and get back to me. The result of this is a sober & honest answer to this question that a recruiter would then communicate to their client with all the relevant context. Approaching the salary question in this way will eliminate negotiations, put the onus on the customer to meet the expectations, and put pressure on the candidate to deliver. Try this and let me know if it works for you.

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Accountability

Career Insight, Inspiration, Leadership, Recruitment /

Good leaders hold themselves accountable. Sweeping things under the rug does not magically make issues go away, and moving dirt to another location is not real cleaning… Thankfully, I have a Wife who will call me out if I’m wrong, and I appreciate her for that… The problem can’t always be your followers… If they’re leaving, it could be that you failed to provide the direction and safety they needed… Rather than directly addressing their concerns, they were villainized for raising their concerns to begin with… This is hardly the foundation for sustainable growth that can foster future leadership… People should be taken care of at all times and your message should align to your behaviour… Any misalignment will jeopardize the integrity of your stance as a leader and create more confusion in the environment… This is precisely why recruitment cannot afford to operate transactionally… Its purpose is too important to the health of the corporation… Too many in the profession see turnover as an opportunity to backfill and cash a cheque, reducing themselves to scavengers who prey on dead corporations with terrible cultures… Recruiting for a good leader is far better than recruiting for a bad leader… I owe it to the people’s lives that I’m temporarily disrupting, and leading to what I’m selling as a “land flowing with milk & honey”, to make sure that the environment is one where they can see a progression of their career… This all starts with good leaders who create the policies, systems, and culture that facilitates career development… Anything less than this means that we’ve missed the mark and have done those in our care a disservice.

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Recruitment Was Not Designed To Help People

Career Insight, Inspiration, Leadership, Recruitment /

My understanding of the recruitment industry has evolved… There is a lot circulating in the marketplace about the state of recruitment… A common misconception being that recruiters help people – WRONG! Recruiters serve the corporate entity by finding talent for them. Recruiters have confused these two things, have sold this message to the marketplace, and are getting exposed when their actions don’t align with “helping people”… People are hurting and rightfully so… As noble as helping people is, and this is certainly a people driven business, there is more to this… It’s in every recruiter’s best interest to treat people well, but stop lying to yourself and misleading people in the process… Physicians help people. Recruiters help the corporation and drive economic growth… The disconnect started when recruiters thought they had a runway to success that absolved them of their humanity. We forgot that people respond favourably when they are treated with respect… Historical thought dictates that once you get the business, the candidates will come! No. Secure the business, treat people well, and you’ll enjoy success and longevity in this industry… Recruiters for years have built with one hand and torn down with the other… There is a trail of scarred job seekers and passive candidates along the way, yet we have the nerve to boast about advancements in technology and how that will improve our service… We’ve made the service offering more sophisticated without addressing the character flaws within our ranks… The key question that every recruiter must answer is, how do you want to be remembered? If your aim is to be successful in this industry, then you cannot build sustainability on the backs of the most vulnerable in the market… Recruitments value is far greater and has global impact… Matching talent to great companies is how you get paid; treating people well is how your legacy is created.

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Dominion

Inspiration, Leadership, Recruitment /

When you master something, you dominate in that area and conveniently woven into dominion is effective leadership. Amazon dominates e-commerce… Chick-fil-A dominates fast food… Starbucks dominates beverage… When you think of these brands, you think of market mastery… What you personally feel about these brands is irrelevant; they dominate their industries and the quality they provide is second to none… They dominate because they serve the needs of their marketplace better than their competitors… When you dominate, you don’t need to advertise or compromise. Mastery Precedes Dominion Amazon does not need to offer discounts or special offers, yet retailers are doing everything possible to get consumers back into their stores… They’re offering you something more valuable that consumers are willing to pay for… Time & convenience. That’s the mark of a good product or service – it’s ability to give you a return on your time. This is how you dominate and become a staple in many people’s minds. Consistency Precedes Mastery You cannot master something until you’re consistent… Chick-Fil-A is consistent across all of their chains. You get the same level of service no matter the location or time of day. They are faithful to delivering a superior service and they’ve also remained closed on Sunday’s since their inception. Mission Precedes Consistency Starbuck’s mission is to inspire and nurture the human spirit—one person, one cup and one neighbourhood at a time. Consistency is the product of knowing the mission and working towards it in one accord. Once you know where you are going and you’re convicted, you will then work consistently towards achieving that goal… So, how do you experience dominion? Every company wants to dominate, but the average company doesn’t know what they stand for, they don’t know where they are going, and they haven’t done it consistently over an extended period of time to master it… The goal is not money. It’s dominion over your marketplace. Dominion attracts money.

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Come in…

Career Insight, Human Resources, Inspiration, Leadership, Recruitment /

Troy, another member of my team has resigned. What’s going on with the market? The market is fine. You’re the problem. When you hired all of these great people, you were the prize in their minds. They wanted to work for you and with you because of your passion and compassionate approach to leadership. You were promoted, and that’s great, but while you were evolving and moving up in the company, the people who were attracted to you are no longer exposed to you. That dotted line into you and your knowledge, no longer exists. If they hear from you, it’s the occasional staff meeting or company outing. Don’t feel guilty for your ascension, but you underestimated the positive impact you had on those who worked for you. The appeal of the company was strengthened by the prospect of working for you. How do I keep my best people, while still pursuing my own personal ambitions within the company? Well, make yourself accessible through your direct reports who directly manage those who once reported to you. Your mindset, character, passion, & spirit must be replicated and felt by your direct reports and conveyed to their reports. They must never lose sight of you. You will lose your best people if they continue to feel disconnected from you, the asset.

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Morally Deficient Leaders

Inspiration, Leadership, Recruitment /

The Foundation is Cracked Interests are selfish, meanwhile pockets are growing bigger. We spend so much time discussing the financial deficit and we’ve neglected our growing leadership deficit… Some advocate for increased spending to eradicate the debt. Some are lobbying for more frugal tactics; yet hidden in all of this is a growing marketplace of morally deficient leaders… People are hurting, and the scars run deep… Our employees have been reduced to convenient resources that we bait with incentives, and callously let go of when they no longer fit the long-term agenda… This has created a marketplace rooted in distrust, which has produced widespread paranoia… We boast of advancements in technology and all of the possibilities that come with that, mean while our people are looking over their shoulders, wondering if they’ll be employed 6 months from now… That is no way to live, and this explains the decrease in productivity. Recruitment Has Been Compromised On a talent level, I’ve heard the grievances, and the cries are unanimous – we need better leadership. This is why the world needs external recruitment. If we only knew the power we possess and the influence we can have on organizations and the global economy… We’ve been distracted due to the carrot that’s been dangling in front of the industry for years – the money carrot that is predicated on “earn today at any cost.” Even if that means engaging in behaviour that you fundamentally don’t believe in. Pressures from our leadership have forced many to compromise… This is why we need good leadership… Bad leadership bleeds through organizational hierarchy, into our society, penetrating our homes, with many in the household wondering what version of their family member will be coming home that day (…stay tuned for more on that). My Heart’s Condition I care. My tone is one of frustration, but also deep care for people who deserve a better experience that leads to better outcomes… I am highlighting what is, while challenging us to strive for what can be. If not me, then who? If not now, then when?

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The Haircutting Experience

Career Insight, Inspiration, Leadership, Recruitment /

I learned over the weekend that my Cousin who is a Barber by trade, has mobilized his business. He invested in a mini truck that he converted into a barbershop and drives around to various locations, parks, and cuts hair (see pictures below). Traditionally, you had to visit a salon and Barbershop to get a fresh cut. Now, the cut comes to you… The Pain Point Barbershop’s historically have always had retention issues. The path towards being a shop owner typically starts with finding a physical location (usually in a densely populated strip mall). From there, you’d recruit other barbers to work in your shop and rent out your chairs to them (typically 3-4 chairs in a standard barbershop). Each barber is essentially operating as a solopreneur under the banner. The Idea He was inspired by a tattoo company that is entirely mobile. His vision was to mimic the tattoo model by mobilizing the haircutting experience. With the proof of concept already in place, it was full steam ahead from there… Talk about addressing the needs within your market segment in a simple and elegant manner. Naturally, I thought about recruitment… Recruitment On Wheels? “Recruitment on wheels” sounds catchy, but doesn’t have the same degree of credibility… Firstly, we’re already a ubiquitous service…perhaps to a fault (maybe some scarcity would improve our public perception)… Secondly, the issue is not our mobility or availability. The elephant in the room when I talk to decision makers is entirely tied to trust… Can I trust you to do what you’re saying you can do? What makes you different from everyone else? Recruitment is not suffering from poor technology integration or lack thereof… Dressing a pig in a tuxedo does not change its nature. It’s still a pig… Similarly, technology won’t magically transform a poor recruiter into a good one… Decision makers don’t care about your tech stack. They care about their time not being wasted and you delivering the right people who can move the needle for the organization… How you get that talent over the finish line is a cherry on top. Some of the best recruiters I’ve witnessed were not tech savvy. In fact, their submissions to clients were anything but aesthetically pleasing… The resumes were not properly formatted, and emails were poorly written or lacked depth… Yet, what they did very well and what made them successful was their ability to address the needs of their clients… Their relationships were built on them keeping their word and delivery within hours (not days or months)… They did not waste time… That’s what recruitment must return back to, and automation should only facilitate what’s already working well. Summary My Cousin found a gap in the industry, met the need, and carved out a place for himself in a crowded marketplace… …he addressed some of the primary struggles that are prevalent in the barbering industry (owning a shop/renting out chairs/retention), and his future goal is to have a fleet of trucks that can be deployed to different locations. He’s definitely on his way.

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