Archive for the ‘Human Resources’ Category
A Talent Strategy Conversation with Susan Burns - Part 2
Posted by Jason
Part one of my conversation with Susan Burns focused on opportunities and trends within talent management. Part 2, posted here focuses on social media and social networking, metrics, and the candidate experience from a recruiting perspective.
Jason:
There continues to be an emphasis and talk about the use of social media and social networking in recruitment. Keeping in mind some are leading the way, while others are skeptical, what advice do you have for those that are taking the wait-and-see approach?
Susan:
As you know I’m an advocate of social media and quite passionate about the use of it for talent attraction and engagement. In a way it’s good that some recruitment leaders are still skeptical. There are several aspects of social media that should be thoroughly considered before moving forward with a visible online network presence. Diving into social media too quickly can cause a lot of harm to a brand. Recruiting leaders can benefit by taking the time to not only understand the nuances of social media but, more importantly, frame what it means for their brand –
- What are they trying to accomplish?
- What does it take to build, nurture and engage an active community, or communities?
- How will the recruitment function manage active communities to keep content fresh and interact with talent?
- Which communities are a fit for the brand and the type of talent they want to attract?
- How will the social media presence integrate with the employment brand strategy?
This is just a sampling of the questions that should be considered and explored before moving forward with a social media strategy. Taking the time to observe communities, talk to people, and play in the environment will help recruiters get a feel for what works and what doesn’t before exposing the brand. Too often I see recruiters entering social media environments and immediately pushing job listings out before taking the time to build social equity. It’s easy to get caught up in the growing wave of hype but it’s more important to take the time and shape a strategic vision and implementation plan. If you’d like to read more on this topic here’s a link to an article I posted earlier in the year.
Jason:
Another topic that continues to receive a lot of press in human resources – and recruiting is metrics. How do you advise leaders on building a case for ROI in the talent space?
Susan:Starting from a point of alignment with core business strategies is a good place to begin so recruiting strategies and results are linked to the business. Measuring what’s important to the business, identifying data that is accessible and consistently available, and sharing the information on a regular basis will help the recruiting function further its credibility. If you’re measuring something that doesn’t add value by supporting the business objectives its simply additional noise in a crowded space – and potentially dilutes the value of the total story your trying to tell. For example, if you’re in a billable business environment time-to-fill is a very important metric because you can use the data to tell a story from various perspectives. By taking the number of days-to-fill times the average billing revenue the data can tell a compelling story and support building a case for change – like establishing an opportunity cost of talent. Maybe your trying to get additional resources or build a case for a new recruitment structure, whatever the objective you can use the data to tell a compelling story. By measuring data that’s important to the business it’s easier to get attention because your focusing on value-added actions.
Making sure the desired data is accessible and it can be collected on a consistent basis will ensure that progress can be measured and shared. Think about how you want to tell the initial story but also how you want to build on that story by communicating progress to further engage stakeholders, which builds personal and functional equity.
Jason:
From a candidates point of view, the “black hole” of HR / Recruiting still exists, even though the candidate experience is important for recruiters. What are your thoughts on the gaps that exist today?
Susan:I think this is a very important issue for recruiting functions to address. There are generally a couple of persistent reasons for the “black hole” and gaps between what’s wanted and what actually happens. It usually stems from the talent philosophy, recruiting process, or recruiting technology. It’s easy to say that a good candidate experience is important but what does that actually mean? What does it look like for the candidate? What type of behavior and actions need to be embraced by the recruiting function for the statement to be more than a statement? Taking a look at the company’s talent philosophy is the first place to begin. What does the company value and what is manageable? While I was with Federated Department Stores / Macy’s Inc. we framed our strategy with a “candidate as customer” motto. We knew that there was considerable overlap between our candidate marketplace and our customer base and taking this approach helped make it clear how candidates should be treated and informed the strategy and process. It also helped to ensure that the recruitment function was linked to the business purpose and that by taking good care of our candidates we were adding value to the company’s primary business purpose. Each company can establish a baseline to their desired candidate experience and build from there to further differentiate the brand.
Technology plays a big role as well. If the technology doesn’t support the objectives, is too complex, or isn’t aligned with the process then the strategy can’t be executed. The ATS or candidate management technology must make it easy for recruiters to communicate to applicants individually and in bulk, and many don’t. If recruiters have good technology and have bought into the strategy then the problems of the black hole should diminish over time.
One additional note on the “black hole” challenge. Third-party recruiters face the same challenge and too often take a “stalk and abandon” approach when working a search. They should be expected to deliver the same candidate experience when representing the company’s brand to ensure a positive experience.
Jason:
Closing thoughts?
Susan:
We’re currently in a time of tremendous uncertainty, change and transformation. While this can be unsettling its also an incredible learning opportunity. Where do you have opportunities to reflect, renew and reinvent or reinvigorate your strategy?
Connect with Susan:
Don’t forget you can chat with Susan each week on Talent Talk Cafe - on RecruitingBlogs.com. Just click on the cup for details!
A Talent Strategy Conversation with Susan Burns - Part 1
Posted by Jason
One of the great outcomes of spending time on social networking sites like twitter is the opportunity to engage with and meet people worldwide. Earlier this year I met Susan Burns - first online, and then a few months later in-person at a Conference. Since then, I’ve grown a tremendous amount of respect for her thoughts, views, and strategies around talent. I recently had the opportunity to catch up with Susan to discuss Talent Strategies.
Jason:
Focusing on talent, what do you see as the biggest opportunity (or opportunities) for organizations to consider as we plan for 2009 and beyond?
Susan:
Alignment, structure and clarity of the company’s talent philosophy are three opportunity areas for companies to address that will strengthen the overall talent foundation and support increased agility and speed – which are increasingly important for success, competitiveness and sustainability. At first, it may sound like a lot to address but these opportunity areas are closely related, complimentary, and play off each other to strengthen the talent function and drive overall momentum.
Alignment frames how the talent function intersects with the organization’s business strategy and planning process. Intersection with the strategic planning process should be a high priority for the staffing function since it provides insight into how to plan for the future and informs key decisions. Alignment between staffing and the business strategy process influences where and how recruiting resources are allocated and how growth and investments, or contraction, are prioritized. The information derived also informs workforce planning, which is obviously critical for the recruitment function. Whether it sits in the recruitment function or not there needs to be purposeful overlap and a continuous, two-way open information loop so recruitment can be proactive. I personally believe that workforce planning should sit within recruitment, if not be led by the recruitment function, for simplicity, efficiency and for the greatest value to be delivered to the organization’s business objectives.
While this may all seem straightforward there are still too many indications that active discussions between staffing leaders and business leaders are not happening, leaving staffing in a reactive position. When the staffing function is in a reactive position it is not as well-equipped to contribute strategic value, experiences increased costs, and also results in recruiter stress and burnout – besides a lack of time for recruiters to pursue personal development opportunitites. One more important point about intersecting with the organization’s business strategy and planning process - learn the language of your company’s business! Understand the important components and metrics that guide and measure the business and the related decisions. How do your decisions, actions and metrics tell a compatible and supportive story?
Periodically looking at the design and structure of the recruitment function ensures it’s agile, efficient, aligned with the company’s talent philosophy, and producing results that deliver a competitive and sustainable strategy. We continue to see an increasing number of channels, tools and technologies emerging that can benefit talent attraction and acquisition strategies. However, unless you can smartly organize around these to improve the value-add of recruiters, process efficiency and results, they potentially become more problematic, add complexity and dilute the existing strategy. As you breakdown the drivers for your overarching strategy do you assess whether what you want to get done can be supported by the existing structure? Here’s an example - Social Media! Not only is it increasingly important for the organization to have a presence on social networking sites and incorporate social media into their attraction strategy but to derive value from these channels there needs to be a dedicated resource to make the strategy sustainable. It is simply not possible for a full-cycle recruiter to allocate sufficient time to build and nurture an online community presence. Revisiting the structure to see where budget and/or roles could be reallocated to support a community manager role would support a successful strategy.
Alignment and structure work together to address one of the biggest challenges for a talent function – increased complexity. The amount of complexity is significant, primarily because of the disparate number of tools and technology used within the talent function, but that problem isn’t going to be solved any time soon and it’s much more difficult to address. But, complexity can be addressed by looking at those things that are controllable, and should be, if the function evolves, keeps pace with business and becomes a value-added partner. The more that can be done to reduce complexity the more time there is to invest in truly value-added activities like candidate attraction, engagement and selection.
Clarity around the company’s talent philosophy is often taken for granted, and the absence of clarity is a significant contributor to inefficiency and turnover. Being intentional and purposeful in communicating what the company is trying to accomplish streamlines efforts, increases momentum and strengthens the employment brand and value proposition. Are candidates receiving the same message from recruiters? From hiring managers? Is a new hires experience consistent with what they learned on your website and through the interview process? What happens when they want to take advantage of development programs? When their ready to pursue another opportunity in the company are they supported? These are just a few areas for Recruiting to assess, clarify and develop in partnership with their HR peers and design a persistent communication plan to cascade through the organization.
Jason:
As you have had the opportunity to consult, network, and meet with hundreds of recruiting and talent management professionals what are 2 or 3 common trends you notice in today’s climate?
Susan:
The most common trends are incorporating social media and networks to attract and engage talent and expanding their company’s view of “right fit” talent and to broaden their talent reach and candidate pool.
The majority of recruiting leaders realize that social media is an important component to integrate into their talent strategy, although there are still some that question the viability for recruitment. Of those that do want to incorporate social media the most common challenges are developing an understanding of the nuances of community to design an approach and establish a sustainable strategy. Allocating time to invest in learning about social media and then implementing a strategy to engage and manage communities is often daunting. Sustainability requires considerable care for nurturing community, which is an important component of a social media strategy, in addition to learning about the various platforms and supporting technologies. I’m a firm believer in establishing a foundation for understanding the tenets of community and then building an approach to recruitment. In most cases it may even require rethinking the current recruitment team function and processes, as mentioned above, with inclusion of a community manager role.
The real value of social networks comes when you can transform transactional actions to relationship interactions. Developing and nurturing communities takes time and if recruiters have full-cycle responsibility they don’t have the bandwidth to learn the numerous technologies and platforms and effectively engage in community relationship building and interaction. The role of a community manager, which is borrowed from the consumer space, is a position that should be established when developing a social media strategy to ensure it’s a sustainable and successful investment. Depending on the size and complexity of the organization this role could be a hybrid of a sourcing strategist role. The community manager / sourcing strategist should be tightly integrated into the recruitment team so the focus and purpose of the role is intentional and information flows openly and is shared efficiently. I’d also recommend developing an incremental approach that allows the company to define success milestones by moving slowly into the social media space, focus on building a strong foundation, and address specific talent needs that will be recognized as a big win for the talent function and company.
Expanding the company’s talent view to broaden reach and attract a more skillfully diverse candidate pool has many benefits. Hiring managers often apply a narrow view to “right fit” talent because that is what they know and there is not always supporting learning and development programs to acclimate new talent. Additionally, the way talent is brought onboard doesn’t support a planned learning curve. Companies could expand their talent pool by expanding their view and focusing on individual potential and talent adjacencies - a concentric approach that looks expands the skills and experiences to be considered. This type of strategy does require a mindshift and supporting programs to on-board talent. Additionally, taking an approach that aligns with succession planning targets and places new talent prior to the incumbent vacating their position could help hiring managers become more comfortable with the approach. The benefits – a broader talent pool from which to recruit, increased diversity of the company’s talent, reduced time-to-hire, and the ability to anticipate the future and focus on progressive needs as the company’s business evolves over time.
Connect with Susan:
You can also chat with Susan each week on Talent Talk Cafe - on RecruitingBlogs.com. Just click on the cup for details!
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Why are Employees Considered an Organization’s Greatest Asset?
Posted by JasonHow many times have you heard the gut wrenching phrase “Our Employees are our Greatest Asset”? From annual all employee meetings, to company-wide memos, the over-used phrase is out of touch.
While you could split hairs between the definitions of the two, here are a few key differences:
- Asset: An item that is owned, the items detailed on a balance sheet, an item of ownership having exchange value, and all property available for the payment of debts.
- Investment: Devoting, giving time, emotional energy, and talent for the purpose of achieving something. Investing in to gain a profitable return.
While there is some meaningful recognition behind employees being referred to as “our greatest asset”, the bottom line is most assets on a balance sheet depreciate over time, and investments will grow over time.
What other phrases are over-used?
5 EASY Ways to Optimize your 2009 Recruiting Budget
Posted by JasonBy Jason Buss.
Amidst rising unemployment, and what some call a recession - or even financial crisis, it’s that time of year to finalize your plans for 2009 recruiting budgets. This post contains ideas on things you can do to cut (if needed) - or optimize your spending.
Once you know anticipated volumes and skills you will be responsible for finding, here are 5 EASY ways to optimize your recruiting budget:
- Job Boards. Take a good, in-depth look at your job board spend, and overall results. Besides the crappy candidate experience, it should come as no surprise job board traffic continues on a multi-year decline. Use this to your advantage - and negotiate. You should be paying a substantially less amount per posting than in previous years. Most of the big boards continue to add new services to offset posting and resume database access. For more ideas on job boards, you can read an earlier post, “What Would Happen if Job Boards Became Obsolete“?
- Campus Recruiting. Most students I’ve talked to this fall have noticed a big decline in on-campus spending, presence, and the number of jobs available. Most recruiters have been talking about a decrease in full-time opportunities, but a significant increase in interns for 2009. Be thoughtful about your approach to campus recruiting, advertising, events, and sponsorships. You can also reference “Approach to College Recruiting Planning and Strategy” and “Tips on Better Preparing Yourself for the Upcoming College Recruiting Season“.
- Use SEO, SEM, Social Media, and Blogs. As the traffic declines with the boards, use search engine optimization, search engine marketing, and social media tools to recruit. These have been a hot topic for a couple of years already, and there is enough proof, case studies, and white papers highlighting success - especially with SEO. No, I’m not talking about a .jobs domain that re-directs to your careers site… On the Social Media front, focus on networking and hiring from sites like Facebook, Twitter, Plurk, Plaxo, LinkedIn and others.
- Recruiting Events. Carefully assess your attendance at recruiting events. When you make one-off decisions throughout the year you can typically justify attendance. There are some industries and jobs where an event (such as a career fair) might make sense. The truth (for most) is events have never made the top of the list for sourcing effectiveness. There may be reasons to attend (branding as an example). If that’s the case, your Marketing group can fund the event. Be clear about why you want to be there, and what results you are striving to achieve.
- Get aggressive with sourcing. Reduce your reliance on external providers where it makes sense. Don’t wait for the talent to find you. Sounds easy - it starts with equipping recruiters with the right tools and training.
While there is no “one size fits all” approach, take a leadership approach and maximize recruiting and the value it brings to your organization while not jeopardizing quality.
Is it Time for Back to School for Your Organization?
Posted by JasonAs a child, September is a time for a fresh start as you enter a new grade with a new teacher, possibly make new friends or maybe even start at a new school. It is ingrained in us to see September as the “beginning of the year” from the time we are four years old, but along the way, we get caught up in New Year’s resolutions and fiscal year ends and all the fun they can bring.
As the summer winds down, I’ve been thinking a lot about how September is really the perfect time for HR to get back in touch with what’s important for their organization and that we should all consider treating September as time for a fresh start. If your organization runs on the calendar year – you have four months to check back on how your “plan” for the year is coming along. From a retention and talent management strategy standpoint it’s a good time to look at where the organization is with yearly appraisals, or succession plans as a whole group of workers gets one step closer to retiring. If you’ve not been doing these things, it isn’t too late to start now! You just have to tackle it one step at a time.
Speaking of schools, what about the classroom? What training do you need as an HR professional to continue to grow and achieve? If you haven’t already, maybe you need to sit down and set some professional development goals for yourself. Also, this would also be a great time to check with managers and employees to see what their development needs are through the end of the year and get everything on the calendar.
And finally, the next four months is apt to whiz by just like the rest of the year, so why not start thinking now about your organization’s requirements and needs for 2009? Do you have a recruiting, retention or another HR program that needs work or extra time to get to the next level? Now is the time to lay the groundwork for new programs and secure buy-in from your team and executives.
Let’s all take a few minutes and set at least one back to school goal for our organization this “school” year and work towards getting a good grade.
Submitted by Sean Conrad for the August 2008 Talent Buzz blog contest. Sean is a senior product analyst at Halogen Software. He is a frequent blogger, author and speaker on talent management trends, issues and technology. He can be reached at sconrad@halogensoftware.com.
Diversity Recruiting and Workforce Trends. Are you Prepared?
Posted by JasonDiversity, collaboration, and your workforce impact the success of business. The press about the workforce, aging demographics, and talent shortages is everywhere. Consider the following:
- Gen X and Gen Y make up the core demographic of social networking sites [i.e. Facebook and MySpace]. Generating an estimated 90 million viewers every month, between business, industry, professional, and internet groups.
- According to the bureau of labor statistics the United States will face an overall labor shortage, continuing for decades. In 2 years, the shortage of skilled workers is expected to hit 10 million. By
- 2030, the estimated shortage is projected to hit 35 million.
- By 2015: Hispanics will make up an estimated 15.9% of the labor force, up from 13.7% in 2006. African Americans will make up 12% of the labor force, up from 11.4% in 2006. Asians will make up 5.1% of the labor force, up from 4.4% in 2006.
- By 2012 people of color will make up 35% of the workforce, and by 2015 students of color will make up 47% of college enrollment.
- An estimated 3.3 million white collar jobs and $136 billion in wages will shift from the United States to low-cost countries by 2015.
- People with disabilities aggregate income tops $1 trillion; they are the largest minority population in the United States that spans all other minority groups.
Integrating an overall workforce and diversity plan - as well as aligning it to your business strategy is critical. While “planning” alone is not enough, questions you should integrate include:
- How will we successfully compete for our unfair share of future talent?
- What is our value proposition?
- Are we prepared and equipped to attract, hire, develop, and retain the talent needed to meet our business and member objectives?
- What sets us apart?
- What are the implications for our business?
Remember the buzz years ago about “the war for talent”? While there are arguments on both sides of the table about the shortage - some argue - “it’s a shortage of talent” vs. a “shortage of people“. Both present real challenges. Are you prepared?
By Jason Buss.
Recruiters want strong relationships with their hiring managers. It’s one thing to want, and another to deliver and earn. Strong relationships are not granted - they are earned by producing results. One sign you have work to do is when a new position is opened, he/she contacts an external provider before talking to you. As the late Rodney Dangerfield used to say, “I don’t get no respect”. Start now. Own it, and make it mutual.
Here are 5 things you can do now to increase the trust, respect, and appreciation with your hiring leaders:
- Know your competitors better than your Hiring Manager. It’s one thing to know the list of companies you are competing against, but it’s another to know what positions they have open, who their “A” players are, who’s looking, and who would consider the right opportunity. Do you read their press releases, are you signed up for e-mail alerts, RSS feeds, watch their stock (if applicable), or follow their employees on social networking sites?
- Set expectations up front, and drive accountability. Not just what you will do, but what you expect of them throughout the recruiting and hiring process. Do you use service level agreements? Read more about the purpose and benefits of using SLA’s for recruiting, or key steps in establishing SLA’s for recruiting. A blast from the past - people have been talking about the use of SLA’s in HR overall for years but very few organizations do it effectively.
- Source talent. Sounds easy, right? Most hiring managers do not want a bunch of Resume’s forwarded to them from you. They are looking for pre-screened, assessed talent, based on the position priorities and competencies he/she described when the requisition was opened. If you have a conversation in your initial meeting - or ask - about what job boards, niche sites, or associations he/she thinks you should post on, you have work to do.
- Have a 95%+ acceptance rate. Sure, candidates turn down opportunities for a variety of reasons, but the best recruiters anticipate needs or objections throughout the process prior to the offer stage.
- Deliver on every commitment. Provide the right number of updates, with the right content, in the right way. Don’t be a high maintenance recruiter. If you say you are going to do something, do it ahead of time, or on time.
While Hiring Managers absolutely own part of the process, recruiters facilitate a majority of it. Recruiters that are influential with the interpersonal skills, confident, and competent will win every time.
HR Blog: BuzzLinks 08-18-08 SHRM, 4-day Work Week, HR Woes
Posted by JasonCongratulations to Laurence “Lon” G. O’Neil, for being named new president and CEO of SHRM, effective October 1, 2008.
4-day week is catching on nationwide.
In a web 2.0 world and in a competitive market, we all know engaging leads and potential candidates is key. Having a job title of “Manager Human Resources - Pest Control” maybe OK for the business card, but probably not necessary for the online posting.
Guess what, boomers? Generation Y thinks you’re kinda inept. At tech-related things, that is. Check out Gen Y to boomers: You stink at Interweb
Yes you can – Join the Web 2.0 revolution – Twelve steps to get up to speed with Web 2.0
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