‘winning’ at talent acquisition

What’s the secret to ‘winning’ at talent acquisition?  Do the corporate recruiters in your organization know what success looks like in their roles?  Is it even possible for them to get to the point where they are knocking it out of the park with each hire?

The answer to this question is dependent on several factors.

Size Matters – The amount of job openings a recruiter has on his talent workbench at any given time is a large factor in determining what success means to that recruiter and how he is going to get there.  For example, a recruiter whose bench exceeds 20 jobs is going to measure success more by how effective they are at meeting the workflow deadlines and keeping on top of where each candidate is in the process rather than by how sexy their talent pipeline is.

It’s All About Control – What metrics are in place by which the talent acquisition team is to be measured?  Does the recruiter have full control over all areas that can be affected by these metrics?  As an example, if the business has a pre-existing relationship with a 3rd party talent provider and the recruiter has a strict scorecard measuring performance that requires justification for every agency fill, it can set her up for failure when an agency candidate makes it through to the last round because she wasn’t involved in the discussions about this candidate that likely took place on the golf course.

Reactive vs. Proactive – We all want the same thing: the best possible talent that is fully-engaged on the job at all times, and we want them to know exactly how to do the job from Day One with almost no guidance.  Hiring managers and HR leaders should stop and ask themselves if this expectation is sane and reasonable.  With the constantly evolving technological and global business landscape new jobs are popping up every day.  Just ten years ago there was no such thing as a Content Manager, yet this is one good example of a position I would struggle to fill right now because the business is seeking ‘experienced’ individuals.  Wouldn’t it instead make more sense to engage the talent acquisition team in the succession planning and talent review meetings to discuss future needs for which a pipeline can be prepared rather than waiting until the need arises and the urgency gets in the way of finding the best possible candidates for the role?

Hiring ‘Soft’ and Managing ‘Hard’ – Hands up if you agree with this statement: ‘It’s much easier to teach someone to do the job than to teach them to care about the job’.  We are programmed to focus our time and energy searching for that ideal candidate with all the right ingredients in their work history, and to fast track them through the process when we do find them.  Subsequently we are shocked when they don’t work out because the ‘fit’ wasn’t there.  Isn’t a candidate with the right fit and determination to succeed in the job who has a track record of easily adapting to new roles going to be a better long-term pick even if they have never done the job before?

Differentiation – More than ever talent acquisition professionals need to think differently about their craft and empower themselves to challenge the ways they manage their workbenches.  If you have the advantage of working for an innovative organization that espouses new ideas and encourages its workforce to buck the norm, you should remind your talent acquisition team to leverage this freedom to find unique ways to drive success in their roles.

Timing – Sometimes it just comes down to fate, and you are fortunate enough to find the perfect candidate right at that golden moment when the ideal job presents itself.  While we do have some control over this if we are highly organized, well-connected and responsive, most of the time it is an outlier situation that we thank our lucky stars for when it happens…after which we go out and buy a lottery ticket.

It’s obvious that success at the recruiting game is largely driven by the organization and the recruitment model it has chosen to execute.  However there is certainly room for the recruiter to influence their own success in many situations that can improve their chances at meeting all expectations set out for them, if not exceeding them.  Along with ensuring that your talent acquisition strategy is structured effectively, being willing and able to work with your talent acquisition team to define the vision of success is an excellent place to start.

job candidates: to google, or not to google?

At a networking event I attended recently with some of my industry peers this topic came up, and everyone had the opportunity to weigh in with their opinions.  Not surprisingly, the room was somewhat divided as to whether or not it is appropriate and/or helpful to run an internet search on a prospective job applicant as a way to learn more about them prior to making a hiring decision.

Some felt that doing so could result in revealing information about the candidate that not only has nothing to do with their ability to do the job in question, but could taint your view of the applicant before even meeting them.  An example might be coming across their Facebook page and finding questionable photos of their last vacation at a lively singles resort.  Others felt that it was up to the candidates to keep their online presence professional as possible in anticipation that their cyber world would be under investigation at any time during the job seeking phase.

I put the suggestion to the crowd that everyone should go home after the event and Google themselves to see how their online persona might appear to a prospective employer and take steps immediately to repair any potential damage.  If you haven’t done so yourself, dear reader, I urge you to do so sooner rather than later, especially if you are working in a field such as Marketing or Communications where the impression you give of yourself on the internet is likely to be very important to how you are perceived as a job seeker, or incumbent employee looking to be taken seriously in consideration for a promotion.

We all want to avoid this dreaded social media snafu.  An extreme case perhaps, (possibly even a planned publicity stunt), but still a good example of how a simple error online can go viral and ruin your reputation permanently.

2010 in review

The stats helper monkeys at WordPress.com mulled over how this blog did in 2010, and here’s a high level summary of its overall blog health:

The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads This blog is doing awesome!.

Crunchy numbers

A Boeing 747-400 passenger jet can hold 416 passengers. This blog was viewed about 2,900 times in 2010. That’s about 7 full 747s.

In 2010, there were 2 new posts, growing the total archive of this blog to 23 posts. There were 2 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 201kb.

The busiest day of the year was April 30th with 81 views. The most popular post that day was NKE prep time!!!.

Where did they come from?

The top referring sites in 2010 were linkedin.com, morpheus.calm.unimas.my, ca.linkedin.com, facebook.com, and twitter.com.

Some visitors came searching, mostly for nke sample questions, nke exam questions, nke prep course, nke prep, and hr rockstar.

Attractions in 2010

These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.

1

NKE prep time!!! March 2009
5 comments

2

my NKE strategy April 2009
2 comments

3

seniority vs. merit: the age-old HR conundrum June 2009

4

author bio January 2009
1 comment

5

hr advisor January 2009

the evolution of the job description

While engaged in my Compensation course (one of the 10 required courses toward HR certification in Canada), I came across an antiquated job description for a Nurse in the chapter on Job Analysis.  It described how the information on the duties involved in a job on which the salary is determined (compensable factors) is extracted.  It gave an illustration on the current standard job description for a Registered Nurse, and then a typical job description of this same job 100 years ago.

Having known many nurses and nursing students in my time, I got a real kick out of how the changes to the job itself have mirrored those of our society.  Thinking of all the things we know that nurses do (i.e. everything and more than the average doctor does), it is fascinating how much the occupation has evolved.  Here is a 100-year-old job description for a Nurse:

In addition to caring for your 50 patients, each nurse will follow these regulations:

1. Daily sweep and mop the floors of your ward, dust the patient’s furniture and window sills.
2. Maintain an even temperature in your ward by bringing in a scuttle of coal for the day’s business.
3. Light is important to observe the patient’s condition. Therefore, each day, fill kerosene lamps, clean chimneys, and trim wicks. Wash the windows once a week.
4. The nurse’s notes are important in aiding the physician’s work. Make your pens carefully; you may whittle nibs to your individual taste.
5. Each nurse on the day duty will report every day at 7am and leave at 8pm except on the Sabbath, on which day you will be off from 12 noon to 2pm.
6. Graduate nurses in good standing with the director of nurses will be given an evening off each week for courting purposes, or two evenings a week if you go regularly to church.
7. Each nurse should lay aside from each pay day a goodly sum of her earnings for her benefits during her declining years, so that she will not become a burden. For example, if you earn $30 a month you should set aside $15.
8. Any nurse who smokes, uses liquor in any form, gets her hair done at a beauty shop, or frequents dance halls will give the director good reason to suspect her worth, intentions, and integrity.
9. The nurse who performs her labours and serves her patients and doctors faithfully and without fault for a period of five years will be given an increase by the hospital administration of five cents a day, provided there are no hospital debts that are outstanding.

Although the Florence Nightingales of the past are now extinct, there is still such high demand for the bedside nurses that the supply of jobs is highly exceeding the demand (in the GTA anyway). While the RN’s job duties, regulations and expectations have evolved significantly, there is still the same unwritten necessity for the nurse to be caring, compassionate and ubiquitous while his/her patients are convalescing – to be the main source of respite and support.

Some of us have had terrible experiences with an ill-mannered health care professional.  Imagine how things could change if it were possible to make ‘bedside manner’ a compensable factor!

Photo courtesy Vernon Dutton

will Toronto employers survive the recovery?

With the country coming out of the recession faster than originally anticipated, some unprepared employers could be facing a significant talent shortage, especially in Toronto.

Generally, the more skilled the talent, the higher their flight risk. With the workforce aging (currently the median worker in Canada is 43 years) and fewer new workforce entrants coming in behind them, the ability to amass the talent required to keep an employer at the top of its game is becoming more and more difficult.

I see two areas of concern for Human Resources in Toronto at this time: employee retention and the integration of internationally educated professionals (IEPs). The latter of which is costing the city of Toronto over $2 billion annually because it is not leveraging the talent of its newcomers. Considering the fact that Toronto is generally the first choice of relocation for immigrants, this is extremely disappointing and embarrassing for us.

Serious HR leaders are making management and leadership development and succession planning priorities as well so as to leverage their bench strength. They recognize that the use of ‘home grown’ talent over that found outside the organization has some strong benefits. It serves to reduce recruiting and training costs significantly, as well as make them a more attractive employer because they can offer more progression and growth opportunities to their workforce.

However, here in Toronto, a city renowned for its cultural diversity where almost 50% of the population is foreign-born, employers are failing miserably at integrating IEPs into their workforces. The sad reality is that the skills and qualifications of most IEPs often exceed those of their better-paid local counterparts. Newcomers to Canada have little choice but to accept that a career regression is necessary in order for them to obtain employment.

Employers can align themselves with organizations such as TRIEC, who provide skills bridging programs to help newcomers attain Canadian education thresholds, however many employers still view IEPs as obstacles to be overcome rather than the assets they are. More education for employers is needed before these programs can be truly effective. Further, an initiative like this must be executed from the top down and woven into the company’s culture and mission to ensure that its initiatives are espoused by all levels of management.

If Toronto employers can address these issues and execute plans to overcome them, they will emerge from the economic recovery stronger and better equipped to take their organizations through to the next decade, reinforcing this city as the economic epicentre of Canada. Otherwise they will continue playing not to lose instead of playing to win.

strikers and skill shortages

It’s been a busy week for Human Resources in Canada with two groundbreaking moves made by the feds.

Labour Minister Rona Ambrose stepped between warring parties the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference union and Canadian National Railways tabling a Bill that would have striking CN workers ordered back to their posts as soon as it is passed.  The federal government only invokes this right to interfere in the private matters between union and employer in instances such as this, when ‘the right to strike’ poses a significant threat to the national economy.

Ever wondered just how important the efficient operations of our rail lines are?  Wonder no more.

Rail Strikers: don’t sweat it…you could be working for an employer like this.

In the second event, Diane Finley, our Human Resources Minister together with Immigration Minister Jason Kenney, have announced that they will be expediting the skills assessments of foreign workers looking to relocate to Canada for work.  Currently foreign workers entering the country must put their skills and training aside upon arrival in Canada to take lower paying jobs so they can build Canadian work experience.

The objective of addressing the shortage of skills in Canada to further stimulate our economic position dovetails beautifully with our directive to maintain a highly diverse national workforce and stay competitive in the global marketplace.

outlook on offshoring

Indeed by some accounts the outlook for human resources outsourcing services seems to reveal that the trend for offshoring to India is in an upswing.  So what does this mean for those of us back in job-starved North America?

The recent economic devastation has caused many companies to rethink their HR strategies and restructure how they are handled, as Deloitte did recently in the UK.  Many organizations opted to start sending work overseas where administration costs are cheaper, as some argue that offshoring allows companies to tap into a highly skilled labour pool that they normally wouldn’t have access to domestically.  Thus a significant downside to globalization is that now job seekers are not only having to compete with all the other candidates in their city, but now they are up against their counterparts in APAC, of which many are unemployed as well.

In the U.S. it is estimated that approximately 30 million jobs amounting to one-fifth of the country’s workforce are in jeopardy of being offshored.  A listing of the highest risk jobs can be found here.

So it would seem that employees in high-risk jobs should either make sure their passports are up-to-date, or consider expanding their skills to make them more versatile to take on other roles within their companies should their employer adopt an offshoring strategy.

HR professionals wishing to be true strategic partners to the executives and C-suite folks who make these tough decisions will be required to champion change management throughout their organizations and focus keenly on organizational training and development if they are going to do their part to maintain an engaged and loyal workforce as we move out of the recession and negotiate these new offshoring initiatives as we move into 2010.

PHOTO: thetwam

seniority vs. merit: the age-old HR conundrum

As we all know, the organized labour movement was born out of deplorable working conditions that saw many workers die on the job, or contract severe illnesses that greatly decreased their quality of life, as well as unfair conditions that found people working 16-hour days sometimes seven days a week.  The compensation would often be barely enough to support oneself let alone a family.

Nowadays people don’t have to fear for their lives at work, and have rights surrounding how many hours they can work each day or each week before they must take time off.  Minimum ages were established so that children could spend their time in school rather than working to help support the family, thus ensuring that a solid education was available to all…not just the wealthy.  To ensure that everyone would have the ability to support themselves, minimum wage levels were also set.

In 1982 the Trudeau government passed the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which included the Employment Standards Act.  This act would dramatically change the landscape of the workplace for all.  Together with the implementation of the Worker’s Compensation Act that was put into place in each province to ensure that injured workers would not be left without the ability to support themselves, making it unnecessary to sue the employer, all of the worker’s best interests were now accounted for.

Some may wonder why unions still exist.

Through the numerous employment and human rights Acts, the Federal and Provincial governments have taken the job of monitoring employer actions off the hands of the unions.  Today the labour movement has evolved, and while unions are still concerned with the health and safety of the workers in their bargaining units, the main focus has now become getting their members top wages and benefits, among other perks.

The upside to union-negotiated wages and benefits is that they are standardized across the organization, widely publicized and secrecy-free, and reward employees for their loyalty to the organization.  The downside is that it makes it very difficult for an employer to recognize an employee for doing an outstanding job, or penalizing an employee whose performance is so poor they are putting the organization’s reputation at risk.

This is why many organizations, including the Obama administration, continue to struggle with the decision to compensate its workforce for merely sticking it out, or for doing a good job.  In light of the recent bailout initiatives the President would like to gain taxpayers’ confidence that he is putting their tax dollars to good use by compensating his administration fairly according to their performance on the job.  However it is expected to receive significant backlash from federal unions.

Those of us who are in non-union jobs often feel as if we are taken advantage of by our employers, and not paid fairly.  There are often significant wage differentials between employees with the same skill and tenure, and were based on the result of individual salary negotiations or budgets rather than the employee’s contribution to the organization.

Will we ever be able to have it both ways?

PHOTO: lazylikewally

where will you be when the music stops?

Imagine five people circling a single chair in a game of musical chairs.  What do you suppose would happen once the music stops?  Crazed mayhem, that’s what.

A recent U.S. study shows that for every job vacancy right now there are no less than five candidates vying for the role.  Job vacancies are rare as many employers find it hard to justify hiring in one area while in the midst of layoffs in another.  When they are able to hire employers are taking advantage of the generous supply of candidates that they are dropping starting salaries to an all-time low to try to save a few bucks.  The labour market has loosened up so much to the point that it truly is a ‘seller’s market’.

While layoffs continue and more and more people are losing their jobs, panicked employees endeavouring to avoid the same fate are doing whatever it takes to not rock the boat and remain gainfully employed…let alone well-paid.  It truly is a sign of the times when candidates’ wage expectations bottom out and they become reticent to enter into any kind of negotiating over salary.

What this means for candidates now is you have to be sharper than ever.  Do whatever it takes to be different…to stand out from the other four people you are up against.  Be early for that interview…wear a brand new suit that fits you well and makes you feel like a million bucks…tidy up that resume to highlight all of the accomplishments you’ve achieved in your career…write that handwritten thank you note after the interview and follow up impeccably…network, network, network!

Be prepared and do your homework and I guarantee you it’ll your butt in that seat when the music stops.

PHOTO: Fokket

president taylor: got HR?

For anyone who follows the nighttime drama ’24′, I’m sure you’ll agree wholeheartedly that the fictional Head of State, President Allison Taylor, has an epic nepotism fail on her hands.

In a reactive move following her Chief of Staff’s voluntary resignation, President Taylor, guided only by her biased, warm-and-fuzzy gut feelings toward her previously estranged daughter, Olivia (and only remaining offspring following the assassination of her son, Roger), promoted her to the vacant position.  Shortly thereafter, and to no one’s surprise, Olivia set about circumventing her mother’s administration in a bull-in-a-china-shop meets high-school drama queen approach, combined with the simple fact that the woman has no relevant experience or qualifications for such a high profile position, that is soon to bring everything down like a house of cards.

How could this have been prevented?  I have a few educated theories.

By engaging the Office of Personnel Management in advance of the catastrophic events of this particular day to establish a replacement chart outlining all the possible replacements for key roles within the administration that could become vacant through attrition (read: assassination or resignation), she would have had an automatic successor trained, briefed and ready to step into the role of Chief of Staff and pick up where Ethan left off.

It has been proven that the worst hiring decisions are almost always made when managers are faced with time constraints or where there are criterion-deficiencies present that prevent the job candidate from being appropriately assessed for a role.  Where there is no policy in place for how and when a candidate can be hired or promoted, and judgments can be based on minimal or contaminated evidence, you are almost guaranteed to offer the job to the wrong person.  Inevitably this leads to significantly high direct and indirect costs to the organization, that include the cost of having to replace the individual, fix their errors, and manage the reduced departmental and/or organizational morale and public relations damage that would result.

And I think we can all agree, this gross error in succession planning is one problem that even Jack Bauer can’t solve.