January 31, 2003

Recommended Reading
Posted by at 10:18 AM

Barbara Ehrenreich, author of Nickel and Dimed takes you on a journey as she lives as an hourly/non-exempt worker. Ehrenreich lives in several states working several hourly low wage jobs such as, Walmart clerk, waitress, and cleaning woman. Ehrenreich "was inspired ( to go on this journey ) in part by the rhetoric surrounding welfare reform, which promised that a job -- any job -- could be the ticket to a better life." The perspective from some one at the bottom looking up is powerful and moving. As the editor promises after reading this book, you never look at a hourly/non-exempt job and the person who is working it the same way again.
--------

...

 

January 30, 2003

Internal Recruiting Methodology
Posted by at 11:22 AM

In the 80's, Motorola developed the Six Sigma Principles to Internal Recruiting. This methodology uses "data and statiscal analysis to measure business processes and their outcomes". An article in this month's Talent Economy discusses defects, talent definition, sourcing strategy, job description, pre-screening, and case study.
--------

...

 

January 29, 2003

Simple Steps to Becoming a Great Recruiter
Posted by at 11:33 AM

Want to be a better recruiter? Here is a good article on the 8 simple steps to help you get there. Check out step #6, "Recognize that you are in Sales". It is a key step. I spoke about the importance of this step in a previous blog (See Jan 28th, Worst Practices in Recruiting).

Write these down and keep them near you. As, Dr. Sullivan writes, "Follow each of these rules religiously and you will be a top recruiter. I guarantee it!"

--------

...

 

January 28, 2003

Worst Practices in Recruiting
Posted by at 3:57 PM

I attended a career fair recently and was surprised at what I saw. Some recruiters, who are the first face forward for their companies, were not making the most of their time or efforts. Some of these recruiters were rude, unapproachable, unhelpful, and haughty. These are the worst practices in recruiting.

Career fairs are gruelling for recruiters. The day is long and taxing. In fact, ask this recruiter and she will tell you that it is the worst part of her job. But for all the cons there are more pros. Career fairs are the chance for recruiters to meet and woo qualified candidates. A well marketed career fair will give you a targeted qualified audience. It could take weeks of advertising, sourcing, and bad interviews to find a qualified candidate. The career fair dynamic compresses several steps into one nifty little step. All in one shot, we can meet the candidate and review their resume, interview, and hire them. Consider the time that is saved. For recruiters not to engage every candidate, to be unhelpful, and in some cases, to be rude is bad for business and for their career. Companies in industries such as education, biotech, and healthcare, have critical needs to fill. Recruiters should be bending over backwards to engage, encourage, envelop, and embrace the qualified candidates that walk through those ballroom doors. Recruiters must remain professional even though the last place you may want to be is at that career fair.

We all know to some degree we are sales people. For those of you who are in industries with critical needs, make the most of your time at the fair and put those sales skills to use. Sell candidates on company benefits over the competition and sell the candidate on the specific opening that meets their qualifications. Would you buy a product or service from someone who was obviously unhappy to see you or gave you the impression that you were not good enough? Job fairs are hard enough to work. Make job fairs successful for you and your company. Stand up, shake hands, smile, engage, ask questions, be helpful, get excited.

I feel bad for some of those companies that I saw at that job fair. I cannot imagine with attitudes and practices like that that the fair would have been successful for them. Make your money and your time count.

Here are some tools to help get you motivated.
Brainware Media's Customer Service
Brainware Media's Improving Your Attitude
Amazon's Ten Sales Books You Must Have

--------

...

 

January 27, 2003

Diversity and performance management
Posted by Douglas Eisenhart at 2:54 PM

Two new articles in this Sunday's Boston Globe BostonWorks:

> Mary Helen Gillespie, BostonWorks' "Savvy Manager" columnist, explores how diversity has changed in the workplace post-9/11, requiring more and different employee programs on issues relating to culture and ethnicity

> Also our weekly pulse-taker of economic and workplace news, "Out in the Field", reports on a new Mercer Consulting survey that reveals little follow-up in firms' performance evaluations, to the detriment of such other critical performance components as planning, feedback and development.

--------

...

Learning Spanish
Posted by at 11:46 AM

As a recruiter and HR professional, I always have been looking for ways to grow professionally. Whether taking sourcing seminars, HR certification courses, or diversity training, I am always looking for ways to improve my skills for my profession. It is not that I never thought I would have to take a language course, I just never thought about taking it for work. But it makes sense. Hearing about the 2000 US Census reports, reading the news, and from what I see and hear in my daily activities, it is obvious that learning Spanish is becoming necessary in order to do business.

The 2000 US Census gave all us of incredible insight into who represents our markets. Did you know that 1 in 9 Americans is Latino? According to the US Census Bureau, there will be 50 Million Latinos in the US in 2015. Everywhere I go, I hear people speaking spanish, the grocery store, on the T, at family gatherings. My 10 year old cousin is fluent in Spanish. Her school has been teaching her spanish since 1st grade. 28 million Americans speak Spanish. Our customers, our managers, our candidates are speaking spanish and that is only going to grow. So to be prepared for the natural evolution of our country, I am learning Spanish so that I can better communicate with everyone I work with. At the rate I absorb languages, I need as much prep time as I can get. 12 years should do it.

For more information check out the Globe's January 27th article "Language of Choice"
US Census Bureau
HablEspana Language Center

--------

...

Making a plus of downsizing
Posted by Jason Butler at 10:41 AM

Layoffs are never easy, but you should make sure you avoid the worst pitfalls.
--------

...

 

January 17, 2003

Tech agency scouts for "Talent"
Posted by Jason Butler at 1:01 PM

I almost expect this to be a story from 1999.

A consultant is setting up a staffing firm based on the movie star model.

The longtime consultant is building a tech staffing company based on the Hollywood talent model. Unlike traditional staffing firms, which match people to specific job openings, the Carrera Agency scouts hotshot tech jocks with the idea of developing a long-lasting relationship during a string of consulting jobs.

After applicants are invited to participate in the plan, the company puts them through a series of tests, background checks and interviews. It turns away those who won't command top jobs. People who make the cut will get job placement, concierge services and opportunities for speaking engagements.

Believe it or not, I don't think this is as crazy as it sounds. An outstanding developer is easily 10-50 times more productive (in the sense of delivering real value) than a good one. A good one is similarly more valuable than an average one. This isn't surprising--when you are on the far right-hand tail of the bell curve of any skillset, you'll see this

If your computer systems are critical to your business, you are almost always better off hiring one rock star developer, and paying her what she's worth, than hiring 10 average ones.
--------

...

A square peg in a square hole
Posted by Douglas Eisenhart at 11:49 AM

General managers of sports teams do it all the time: assess the apppropriateness of their talent for a given position. Second baseman are usually short and quick, center fielders taller and rangier, catchers solid. The same is true of all "players" in all positions: the better suited they are for the role, the better they will perform, and the better the overall results for the team (organization).

In a piece entitled Firms must mine workers' strengths, BostonWorks' Savvy Manager column addresses this very issue - and it's a big one. A real challenge to HR managers. If all organizations were able to do this for all those in their employ, what a wonderful world it would be.

--------

...

 

January 14, 2003

Expense Options?
Posted by Jason Butler at 12:43 PM

Here is an excerpt from an HBR article weighing the pros and cons of expensing options. Especially in a tech-heavy market like Boston, how a company handles options will be critical in how it can attract and retain the top talent.

Adam Medros (former Amazon colleague and current HBS student) wrote about expensing options a couple months ago.
--------

...

The flood of applicants makes hiring tougher
Posted by Jason Butler at 12:32 PM

CareerJournal talks about how the flood of applicants makes hiring in this environment almost as hard as hiring in a boom.

Why? People looking for work are being less selective, applying for positions for which they aren't necessarily well-suited. That makes the task of sifting through applicants more difficult.

"In good times people use the rifle approach for their job search. When people are skittish, they tend to use the shotgun," says Joe Eulberg, 7-Eleven's vice president of human resources.

--------

...

 

January 13, 2003

(Top) Pay for (Best) Performance
Posted by Jason Butler at 5:38 PM

HR Magazine's cover story this month investigates whether it's better to reward all employees evenly (albeit meagerly) or only give bonuses to the stars, but make those bonuses meaningful.

In fact, compensation experts argue that paying for performance is more important in a down economy than in boom times. The reason is that companies typically have a smaller pot of money to allocate for compensation during a slowdown. So, instead of giving everyone an equal but minimal increase to their base pay, some organizations are dishing out salary increases, bonuses or both in varying amounts, with the most going to the best performers or to the most essential employees. In some cases, poor performers get little or nothing above their base pay.

--------

...