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Invested, innovative, brilliant: Improving the recruiting experience |
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Friday August 20th, 2010 A 'Mystery Candidate' could be the missing link in your Candidate Relationship Management implementation. In the past couple of weeks, I've spoken to a number of Canadian corporate recruiting managers, from different organizations, who've said the same thing: "Our candidate flow is pretty strong, and we seem to be able to get A-list candidates in for an interview - but our closing rates are low and I don't know why." My suggestion: Maybe it's time to use a couple of Mystery Candidates.
Because let's face it: The courtship rituals between candidates and employers tend to be formal, complex, and guarded. The best candidates - the ones who are highly professional, polished, and have a keen awareness that it's a small world - aren't going to give you helpful feedback when they decline your job offer. Quite the reverse, in fact: They're going to say how much they "...appreciated the opportunity and really loved meeting you," but that they needed to take a position "closer to home" or "with a once-in-a-lifetime oportunity" or some other innocuous-sounding reason. They're not going to tell you that your recruiter was late for the interview and left them waiting in the lobby for 30 minutes, during which time not one single employee greeted them or even made eye contact; that being interviewed in the highly-trafficked, open-concept office kitchenette made them feel like their interview had an audience of 43 people; or that your recruiter's blase attitude about being late and not booking a private interview room made them think, "I can't imagine anything worse than having to spend 40+ hours a week with a whole office full of people like this." (Possible additional thought: "If this is an indication of how they treat their clients/customers, then I can't see this organization/brand being successful in the long-term. And I definitely don't want to work for a company that's in a downward spiral.")
Your CRM strategy may be fantastic. You may have a terrific CRM strategy and a well-documented CRM process, including everything from friendly job ads to consistent branding messages. But a great strategy is nothing without great implementation. If you're a senior recruiting manager (i.e. the person who creates your company's candidate relationship management strategy, but relies on a recruiting team to implement it), it may have been a while since you were on the interviewing front lines. If you're a recruiter who's worked at the same place for a year or two, you may not be seeing your interviewing process quite as objectively as you used to. Either way, a fresh perspective can be helpful.
Using Mystery Candidates is easy. Retailers pay their mystery shoppers a nominal fee for their time and feedback; you can do the same. Your mystery candidates don't need to be senior-level people, so a $50 honorarium or Starbucks gift card will probably be sufficient incentive for your mystery candidate. Here's all you need to do:
And voila! For the first time, you have a totally unbiased report about how well your team is implementing CRM around interviews! Monday August 16th, 2010
A couple of days ago we posted an article on how every candidate interaction is a marketing opportunity, and how important it is to take advantage of those opportunities, for a whole lot of reasons. Today, Kelly Blokdijk commented on the piece, citing this job ad she found online: HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGER About the Job Human Resources Managers: MA/MS in Human Resources, Psychology or related field. Will oversee HR Dept. Job site: City, ST. Send cover ltr, resume & salary rqts/hist to: First Initial Last Name (no link or email)/ Company Name, Inc., Street Address, City, ST Zip Code. That was the entire ad!
Do you really think your ideal candidate is going to respond to that? I know the job market in the US is less competitive than the job market here in Canada right now, and I know that received wisdom says that there are lots and lots of really fantastically qualified people just desperate for jobs, but - really? Can you think of a single A-list HR manager with a graduate degree of any kind responding to this ad? Just for starters:
In other words, the only people this ad is going to attract are the unemployed and unemployable - the ones so desperate they've lost all their critical thinking skills and apply to anything. (If you've seen this ad in context, or have seen a similar one recently, let me know - I'm dying to get in touch with the person who posted this and ask them what their thought process was here. The more I think about it, the more I'm convinced it's some kind of scam. But if it's not, wouldn't you love to know the rationale behind this?) Friday August 13th, 2010 Hard to believe it's been 10 years since we first brought 'recruiting recruiters' to the Canadian marketplace. As you probably know, 2010 marks Head2Head's 10th anniversary. We've accomplished a lot over the past 10 years, and we owe our success to the fantastic clients, consultants, employees and 'champions', many of whom have been working with us almost since we first opened our doors. In May we hosted an anniversary party at Lobby Bar in Toronto, and we asked people: "What made you choose to work with Head2Head? What makes Head2Head so different?" If you've ever wondered what it's like to work with Head2Head, take a look at the video - doesn't it make you want to be part of the Head2Head family?
Friday August 6th, 2010 Let's say you've got two candidates, Bob and Doug. Basically, they look the same. Both have:
But then I tell you that Bob spent all 4 weeks of his vacation last year training for a triathlon, where he came in 4th place in his division, while Doug likes work so much that it's also his 'hobby' and he's always writing blogs or speaking at industry events.
The same. But different. Which one do you want to hire? More importantly, which one will perform better in your organization? If you knew more about your current and past top performers, you wouldn't have to guess.
Your organization knows exactly what your ideal customers look like. Most successful organizations spend a lot of time profiling their ideal customers: They identify demographics, hobbies, political and spiritual views, education, occupation, the cars they drive, spending habits - heck, they can even give you an hour-by-hour breakdown of what their target market groups do on a daily basis. So when they need to expand (i.e. 'sell more stuff'), they know exactly where to find their audience, how to reach them, and what message(s) will be most successful. For example, let's say they know that 45% of their most lucrative customer group are 30-something women in urban areas who work out at a gym at least twice a week. Armed with that knowledge, they can spend $50k handing out samples of their product in health clubs in downtown areas - and end up with better results (increased sales, awareness and 'buzz') than if they'd spent $1 million on some big television ad campaign. Why aren't we doing this in recruiting? (Or even HR, since they're the ones in the best position to collect data on predictors of long-term success in a particular role, department or organization.)
Education, skills and experience aren't enough You may know some basics about your top performers in a given role (i.e. that people with at least 2 years' experience in your industry will do better, in the first 12 months, than people who don't). But do you know whether Bob (as a triathlete, he's going to be driven, energetic and detail-oriented; but his commitment to triathlon training means that he rarely stays past 5pm and he always uses his full vacation/lieu time) or Doug (as a type-A overachiever, driven and willing to work 12-hour days; but he gets a little over-invested sometimes and works harder, not smarter) will perform best in the long term?
The commonalities may not be work-related We recently worked with a software company who conducted an in-depth analysis of their top performers across several high-volume roles at the intermediate (5-10 years' experience) level. They mapped usual metrics (education, skills, experience, etc.) but then went into hobbies, lifestyle, interests and activities. Their insight? The majority of their top performers in these roles shared a love of jazz music and tended to live in higher-density urban areas (Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver). So they started recruiting at jazz festivals, by sponsoring and running refreshment tents and booths. They were able to cut through the clutter (as the only 'recruiting sponsor' there, there was no competition for candidates as there would be at a career fair); they were interacting with people in a positive context; and they were sending a powerful message about their employment brand ("Everyone at our company loves jazz as much as you do - wouldn't it be fun to work with us?"). Time-to-hire was cut dramatically (less time wasted on unsuitable candidates); cost-per-hire was cut by 50% - and two years after they started recruiting at jazz festivals, they saw a decrease in turnover for those high-volume roles.
Start profiling star performers Creating a profile of your top performers doesn't have to turn into an expensive, 6-month enterprise-wide odyssey. Start by choosing one of your most common roles, and map it out (it's helpful to make a one-page template with the appropriate sections):
Create your 'Ideal Candidate' profile Look at the one-page summaries you've just filled out. What are the commonalities? Using a blank template, fill in the information based on the majority of the top performers' profiles: If, say, 4 out of 5 top performers are gregarious morning people, then you know these are traits of your ideal candidate. And there you are: You have a one-page summary of the ideal candidate! Now that you know what your ideal candidate looks like, you won't have to guess whether you should hire Bob or Doug - you'll know which one is more likely to become a top-performer in your organization.
Monday August 2nd, 2010 If you've been following Head2Head over the past 10 years or so, you know that when we launched, our specialty was 'recruiting recruiters', and we were the only ones doing it in Canada. Even though we've grown a lot since then, and now deliver a wide range of recruiting 'solutions', we're still known as the 'epicenter' of recruiters in Canada. In other words: We talk to hundreds of recruiting professionals, from agency and corporate environments, across the country, every week - and we've had 10 years to watch recruiters' career paths. Here's something we've noticed: The recruiters who make an effort to keep their skills sharp, stay up-to-date on recruiting industry trends and approach recruiting as a profession which requires regular care and feeding are more successful than those who don't. In other words: Recruiters who make time for professional development almost always make more money, have better titles, work for more prestigious organizations, and are more in-demand than those who don't.
When it comes to professional development, think long-term Recruiters, by their very nature, tend to like activities which deliver immediate results. Professional development, however, doesn't deliver that instant gratification: It requires a steady, sustained effort over the long-term before it starts paying dividends, so it's easy to let it slide. But it's sort of like regular exercise: Sure, it's going to take you a couple of months to lose that 15lbs, but in the meantime you're going to feel better, and pretty soon you'll wonder why you were ever reluctant to do it.
Haven't got the time or money for conferences or courses? Remember all those essays you had to write in high school and university? That's because the best way to really learn about and understand a subject is by having to explain it to someone else. The same is true for your professional development as a recruiter: Writing a blog post (and including facts and links) forces you to do a little research, acquire some insights, and 'internalize' the subject in a way that just reading an article online can't do. What's more, writing something that will end up in a public forum - where, presumably, you don't want to look like an idiot - gives you more motivation to actually check your facts and understand different points of view.
"But I don't have a blog!" You don't need your own blog - you can be a 'guest blogger' on someone else's. Your company may have a blog on their website (ask your marketing department if they'd like a blog post about what it's like to work at your company); you can post it as a note or document on your Facebook or LinkedIn profile (even if no one reads it, they'll be impressed that you wrote an 'article'); you can send it to your candidate database; or you can approach someone who does have a recruiting or HR-related blog and ask to be a 'guest blogger'. The internet is voracious when it comes to new content - I promise it won't be difficult to find a home for whatever you write.
Yes, you DO have time to write 250 words. The great thing about blog posts is that they don't have to be huge long essays - in fact, 250 words (about 1/3 the length of this blog post) is fine. The extra-great thing about blog posts is that they don't have to be literary masterpieces: Just use the casual-but-not-sloppy style that you'd use in day-to-day emails to clients. Even if you're not a 'natural' writer, a 250-word blog post shouldn't take you more than 6 hours over the course of a week: 2 hours to 'research' (Google your topic and read what other people are saying about it); 2 hours to write a rough draft; and 2 hours a day or two later to edit. Do this once a month for a year, and you'll be surprised at how much you've learned.
Step-by-step guide to professional development via blog posts I promise this will be less painful than you think.
That blog post has just helped your career in 2 ways During step #3 (research), you've learned some new stuff that you wouldn't otherwise have known (and if you're like most people, you will have followed links to other, related topics, so you probably learned even more than you thought you would). Plus, by putting it online with your name attached, you've improved your Google rankings and your personal brand!
Saturday July 31st, 2010 Your consumer brand is all about being friendly, smart and helpful, and your internal culture is all about teamwork and work/life balance and supporting career growth, and you're growing fast and need to maintain a healthy candidate flow of the best and brightest. Great! So how come you're still ending all your job postings with "We thank all applicants, but only those selected for an interview will be contacted?" Recruiters talk about talent shortages, how hard it is to attract top talent, and how job postings have to be creative, clear and compelling, ad nauseum. But if you're an A-list candidate, and the last message you get from a potential employer is essentially "Don't call us, we'll call you", are you really going to be in a hurry to spend hours refining your resume and writing a cover letter, probably for nothing? Lines like "Only those selected for an interview will be contacted..." send several messages, and none of them are good:
Yes, applicant volume has increased in the past year or two because of the economy. But is that really any excuse to turn off potential candidates before they even get started? Especially when the solution is so simple (and not time-consuming):
Remember: Today's cheesed-off junior candidate is tomorrow's senior decision-maker. And we all have long memories when it comes to this stuff... Monday July 26th, 2010 We've just launched our second annual Social Media for Recruiting survey! It'll only take 4 minutes, and you could win a $50 VISA gift card (more importantly, it's the only comprehensive survey of social media for recruiting use in Canada - and we all need those statistics!). Just click here to get started! Monday July 19th, 2010
Want to build a big personal brand or just raise your profile among recruiters in your field? Start by taking a lesson from candy bar brands.
Four basic ingredients. No industry has done a better job of branding a commoditized product than what the North American confectionery industry has done with chocolate bars (or 'candy bar', if you're in certain parts of the USA). Fundamentally, 99.9% chocolate bars are exactly the same: 50g of the same four basic ingredients (chocolate, sugar, caramel and peanuts), combined in different ways. And yet somehow we know that
It's time to start thinking of yourself as a chocolate bar These days, anyone who takes their career seriously and is even moderately ambitious knows they need to have some kind of personal brand, even if it's just something they use to position themselves in the job market or workforce. So what's stopping them? Most of the time, it's that they don't really believe they're all that different or special than everyone else. "I mean, I'm good at my job and I know I've learned a lot over the years, but I'm not exactly a visionary," they say. "There are lots of other people doing what I do, and I'm not kidding myself that I'm some kind of genius. So what would my brand be about?" While that thought is admirable - the people most likely to think they're geniuses (and aren't shy about it) are the ones least likely to be geniuses - it misses the point. Branding is all about turning a commodity product into a special, premium or beloved one. Sure, there may be 6 billion people on the planet, and quite a number of them may be smarter, harder-working, or just plain better-looking than you are. That doesn't mean you can't stand out from the crowd. It's just a matter of positioning your professional equivalent of 50g of chocolate, peanuts, sugar and caramel in a way that makes people think: "Whenever I need to solve a [insert business challenge here], I always think of [insert your name here] because s/he is an expert on [insert solution to previous business challenge here]." For example: "Whenever I need to find top talent in the oil and gas industry, I call Bob Smith because he knows the oil and gas talent marketplace better than anyone else."
It's all about how you combine your 50g of basic ingredients Whenever I'm looking for insights into interviewing, resume writing, or long-term career management for recruiting professionals, Maureen Carroll is the first person I call. Is she the only person in North America who knows this stuff? No. Heck, Googling 'resume expert toronto' gets 2.8 million search returns alone. But that doesn't mean Maureen doesn't have a terrific USP (Unique Selling Proposition). Her recruiting knowledge and experience is her 50g of basic ingredients - in other words, she's not unique. But her USP lies in the fact that she's the only recruiting professional I know who not only enjoys doing media interviews, but is great at doing them. She can churn out the kind of pithy soundbites mainstream media producers love, with less than 10 minutes lead time. In other words, she's taken her 50g worth of basic ingredients and combined/packaged them in a unique way. More importantly, that combination is one that solves a business challenge: "Whenever the media calls me looking for a resume/interviewing expert, I think of Maureen because she not only knows her stuff but comes across really well on radio and on-camera."
You do have a great USP. Here's the thing: If you really are (a) good at what you do; (b) trying to be a little bit smarter today than you were yesterday; (c) looking to be better than just 'average'; and (d) genuinely passionate about your career and your profession, chances are you're already combining your 50g of basic ingredients in some kind of unique way - you just don't realize it. So ask 5 colleagues for their input:
...and prepare to be surprised by the answers. Once you know whether you're a moment of bliss or a nice light snack, coming up with your personal brand 'angle' will suddenly get a lot easier. Really.
Sunday July 18th, 2010 You may be getting lots of candidates - from your recruiting agency, recruiting team, or company website - who look great on paper, but if they just aren't a good fit for your company, you're not attracting the right people.
A hamster may fit in the shoes of the previous person in the role, but ultimately he's not going to be able to walk in them very effectively.
Anyone who's worked in recruiting for more than 5 minutes is familiar with the problem: The client - internal or external - gives you a set of criteria for a role (skills, experience, education, etc.); you find candidates who fit the criteria to a tee and send them on interviews, only to have them rejected one after the other. You ask the client for feedback, and all they can say is "He wasn't a good fit." After Rejected Candidate #10, you try to pin the client down, but the client's still talking vaguely about 'fit'. RECRUITER: "But, Ms Client, he had all the criteria you asked for, and I know he presents well in interviews. So can you give me some more specific feedback?" CLIENT: "I just think we're kind of a dynamic environment here, and he seemed too conservative or something." RECRUITER: (sigh)
Clients understand about brand personality and how it's expressed through employees. Recently, American Apparel generated a lot of negative buzz in the blogosphere when their recruiting and hiring practices were made public. Former employees say that American Apparel only recruits/hires good-looking people, even if they're incompetent; American Apparel says they hire people with a good fashion 'style', and that it's perfectly reasonable to want employees in a retail clothing chain to reflect the spirit of the brand. Both groups have a point: No one should be rejected out-of-hand simply because they don't conform to some perceived stereotype of 'beauty'; at the same time, we all know that employees are the most effective marketing tools organizations have - so they need to reflect the brand just as consistently and positively as other marketing efforts. But 95% of clients aren't marketing professionals themselves, so they don't always know how to articulate feedback beyond talking about "fit". And of course most employers are petrified that if they talk about a candidate's appearance or personality or style, it'll come across as discrimination and they'll be in big trouble. But saying "Our brand is all about being unobtrusive, serious and discreet; an employee with a green mohawk doesn't reflect our corporate values" is the same as "Our brand is all about being unobtrusive, serious and discreet, which is why we require all our client-facing staff to wear suits and ties at all times."
5 questions to help you identify the candidates with the 'fit' the client is looking for Asking these 5 questions before the sourcing starts will help reduce the amount of candidates rejected on the basis of 'fit'.
These questions not only ensure the client rejects fewer candidates on 'fit' - they'll generate better feedback when they do.
Sunday July 11th, 2010
WORKIDEX (noun; fr. 'humidex'): How much work you aren't getting done because it's too bloody hot
Now that we're into the second week of this brutal heatwave in Toronto, I often find myself wondering: How the heck does anyone in Florida, Louisiana or even South Carolina ever get any work done, especially in the summers? Or maybe it'd be more accurate to ask: "How the heck does anyone without air conditioning get any work done in these places?" Turns out someone has done a little research on the connection between temperature and productivity. A recent study by Alan Hedge, a human ergonomics researcher at Cornell University, says that once the office temperature dips below 23 degrees Celsius, productivity declines. Unfortunately, this seems to be another one of those pseudo-scientific 'studies' which end up 'revealing' what we knew already: When workers are comfortable (not too hot, not too cold), they stay at their desks longer, take fewer breaks and are more focused on their work and are therefore, unsurprisingly, more productive. But this doesn't really address my question, which was more about the effects of weather/climate on the productivity of workers overall.
Do workers in 'extreme' climates work less (and less productively) than workers in more temperate climates?
Now, I'm no statistician, but looking at the productivity indices across 50 countries, here's what I see: The majority of the top-performing countries are 'cold' ones (Iceland, Poland, Finland, etc.); the majority of the less productive countries are 'warm', I'd-like-to-vacation-there ones (Italy, Portugal, Spain). ['Productivity' here is defined as GDP per hours worked.] Looks like the hot countries work a little less, too. Hours worked per person per week (average): Iceland 35 Italy 35 AVERAGES:
My admittedly unscientific conclusion? You now have the data you need to ensure you get more vacation time this summer: "The thing is, Mr Manager, studies have shown that when it's hot like this, my individual contribution to GDP plummets, and that's not good for the business - or the country! So it's better if I take 2 or 3 weeks off now, and just make up the time in January/February when I can be more productive."
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About the Authors Paul Dodd
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Paul has one simple goal: To help companies hire great people - and get the most out of every recruiting dollar they spend. That's why he's recognized as one of the best recruitment-industry thinkers in Canada.