LEAN, Just-in-Time Recruiting!



Archive for April, 2011

Lean, JIT Transformation – Simply Brilliant ideas!

Wednesday, April 27th, 2011

If you missed NAHCR’s webinar last week, Miranda Maynard (Employment Supervisor for EMH Healthcare) updated us on their Lean, JIT transformation initiative of 2011. 

It was an excellent ‘case study’ of what a continuous improvement journey is all about.

  • Incremental improvement over time can provide exponential returns.
  • Innovation doesn’t have to be rocket science. The best solutions are often simple which make them brilliant.

Some of the Simply Brilliant solutions EMH is implementing include:  

Capturing accurate Metrics – To migrate to a Management by Fact/Data Culture:

  • Eliminating “Other” and “EMH Career Site” as options for a candidate to choose for source of hire.  This has helped identify where top candidates are coming from to further develop cost effective sourcing strategies.
  • Recognizing that a sharp increase in TTF was a result of closing requisitions that have been open for a long period (a positive thing)!

Eliminating unqualified applicant flow – To spend Quality time with Quality Candidates:

  • Implemented pre-screen “Knock-out” questions prior to candidates applying for a particular position (most organizations implement these questions as part of the application process).
  • Implemented a behavioral-based online assessment (HealthcareSource’s Test source).

Make Time to Fill Service Level Agreements public and hold Managers accountable for achieving them:

  • Holding managers accountable for a 40-day Time to Fill metric ensures they are engaged in process. Currently evaluating  adding this SLA to their performance evaluation in 2011. 

Define/separate processes for ‘Business as Usual’ vs. ‘Critical/Difficult/Visible’ positions:

  • Immediate recognition of CDV positions and elimination of the time and cost associated with the “wait & see”/”post & pray” process.

We are excited to have Miranda participate in our Advanced Metrics pre-conference workshop on Tuesday July 12th at NACHR’s Annual Image conference!  If you would like more information about this workshop, please contact us.

I hope you’re having a great week!

Posted in David, David Szary, Elite Recruiters, Just-In-Time hiring, LEAN recruitment, Lean Human Capital, Recruiter, Recruiter Academy, Recruiter Training, Retention Rates, Talent Aquisition, Time to Fill, Uncategorized | No Comments »

‘Two cents’ from the road

Wednesday, April 20th, 2011

As I have mentioned in the past, I am one lucky “recruiting guy” because I get to interact with talented recruitment professionals throughout the world on a daily basis. 

With our Solution engagement, I also get to become a ‘teammate’ of many recruitment organizations!  With our Benchmark Study, I have intimate interaction with many, many more!

This unique opportunity always provides me with many thoughts/observations/insights! 

Some  recent “Lean, JIT ‘Elite’ Recruitment Thoughts” from the road:

Discipline, sense of urgency, and self-direction are a few of the most important ELITE recruiter competencies you can possess.

  • The busier you get, the more time you need to plan your perfect day. If you are not planning at least 30 minutes a day . . . I bet you are 10-50% less productive than those that do!
  • You can plan all you want but . . . if you are not “true to your schedule”, if you do not commit to crossing off your TO DOs (ETFs, MTNs), starting/stopping meetings ON TIME, etc., IT IS WORTHLESS!

Trust is also very important.  If your hiring managers don’t TRUST that:

  • You understand their business
  • You have an eye for the talent they want/need
  • You know how to find top talent
  • They will continue to:
    • Ask to see all resumes before setting up interviews
    • Always want to “see more”
    • Not listen to your salary/offer recommendations, etc.
  • To earn trust, you must learn their business by attending staff meetings, learning from employees/candidates AND become an expert at performing intake sessions and setting SLAs

A strong ability to solicit interest is equally important.  With technology, social media, it is much easier to FIND passive candidates . . . but still very difficult to SOLICIT THEIR INTEREST.

While there are many facets to recruiting, if you:

  • Are able to plan for, and execute more Perfect Days (with passion :) )
  • Have earned the trust of your hiring managers via knowledge and engaging/executing flawless intake/SLA sessions.
  • Have mastered the ability to engage and recruit top talent.

You are pretty darn ‘elite’ in my book!

My ‘two cents’ from the road . . . Please share any of your ‘two cents’ from the field!  :)

I hope you have (or had) a good spring break!

Posted in David, David Szary, Elite Recruiters, Just-In-Time hiring, LEAN recruitment, Lean Human Capital, Recruiter, Recruiter Academy, Recruiter Boot Camp, Recruiter Sales, Recruiter Top Gun, Recruiter Training, Recruiting Buzz, Recruiting Trends, Time Management, Time to Fill, Uncategorized | No Comments »

The 80/20 Rule

Wednesday, April 13th, 2011

Author: Karen Antrim – Lean Human Capital  

Years ago, my boss said to me “this place has too much of the 80/20 rule.”  “80/20 rule?” I asked.  “It’s when 80 percent of the work gets done by 20 percent of the people.” he answered.

In my real life, when I’m not sourcing or teaching sourcing, I’m a mom.  I volunteer at my kids school, at our church, and for little league.   I often observe the 80/20 there.  You’ve probably noticed this in your real life too.  80 percent of the work is done by 20 percent of the parents.

Weekly, I read about a new tool, technique or process that is going to change the way we source.  Or, I get an email for a class on how to improve and write better Boolean strings to find resumes or lists on the net.  I’m all for constant learning and constant improvement.  It’s the mantra our firm is based on.  However, I work for recruiters who have very little time and a mountain of openings to fill.  So my ability to get them accurate prospective candidates in a short time is a priority.  My sourcing techniques must provide the biggest return for the effort.  They must adhere to the “80/20 rule”.

The principle applies to recruiters who do their own sourcing. They have even less time for each activity in the recruitment process without a sourcing staff to assist them.  The “80/20 rule” should become a guiding principle.

Simply put, the 80/20 rule is how to get 80% of your candidates with 20% of the tools and processes of sourcing.

Let’s take some specific examples.  We all know that Linkedin.com has the largest community of profiles of any social professional network.  If you have time constraints on your recruitment process, why use any other network?  Get 80% of your prospects, build 80% of your network, start 80% of your conversations in LinkedIn.

Here is an inverse example.  I understand the appeal of long and sexy Boolean search strings.  As a Boolean geek, I dig‘em.  But as a person who must be pragmatic in her practices, they do not return enough bang for the buck.  They don’t adhere to the 80/20 rule.  For example, the popular string (Intitle:resume OR inurl:resume OR intitle:cv OR inurl:CV  OR etc..) generally finds resumes that have been posted on a personal website or perhaps a university faculty bio. There just isn’t a large population of these out there.  One can spend a great deal of time playing with keywords in this string and not get a large return for their time investment.  This is an example of the 20/80 rule.  20% return on 80% of the investment.

Pick your top 3-5 successful sourcing activities, and stick with those.  Mine are:

  1. Site command to harvest linkedin.com
  2. Subscription resume database such as Monster
  3. My ATS
  4. Finding associations and membership lists
  5. Target companies to raid with call campaign

As a recruiter, you may change out #4 for working your own existing network.

Regardless of whether you’re a recruiter doing your own sourcing, or a sourcer supporting recruiters, putting 20% of your time in these activities will produce 80% of your prospect list.  That leaves a whole lot of time for other tasks, such as candidate interaction, building your network, or branding yourself and your organization.

Happy Sourcing!

Posted in Karin Antrim, LEAN recruitment, Lean Human Capital, LinkedIn, Recruiter, Recruiter Academy, Recruiter Boot Camp, Recruiter Sales, Recruiter Top Gun, Recruiter Training, Recruiting Buzz, Sourcing, Uncategorized | No Comments »

Mindful Recruiting/5 Simple Ways to Reduce Your Recruiting Stress

Thursday, April 7th, 2011

My wife and I just completed a course on Mindfulness.  Yes like most husbands I didn’t go willingly, as it was her idea!  But, by the end of the class I learned quite a few tips that I thought I would share with all of you.

Now you should know that I am the king of multi-tasking and a type “A” personality.  I’ve tried these techniques myself and many of them have worked for me.  I believe that if applied consistently these techniques will help many of you in your stressed recruiting lives. 

The idea of mindfulness began at U Mass under Jon Kabat-Zinn.  He sums the concept in this way.  “Mindfulness is about being fully awake in our lives.  It is about perceiving the exquisite vividness of each moment.  We gain immediate access to our own powerful inner resources for insight, transformation, and healing.”   

  1. Do one thing at a time.  Single tasking may sound archaic in our multi-tasking world, but it can be quite powerful and can renew your focus.  The concept comes from the Zen proverb “When walking walk, when eating, eat.”  If you’re on the phone with a candidate or hiring manager, focus on the phone call.  Don’t try to juggle your emails, IM, or other distractions.  Just focus on the phone call.  Simple focus on the one task at hand leads to better focus on your objective, and better service to your customer!
  2. Put space between things.  Putting space between calls and meetings throughout the day, even if it’s only 10 minutes, will give you a more relaxed schedule, and leaves space in case one task runs longer than another.  It can also give you a chance to take a mini-break (note the next tip).
  3. Spend at least 5 minutes a day doing nothing.  I know you’re thinking “Oh No!  But what will my boss, or partner, or kids say!” Yet sitting in silence, and simply breathing (yes breathing) can give you renewed focus for the next task, or the remainder of the day!
  4. Stop worrying about the past or the future. Just focus on the present.  We all do it, we spend an inordinate amount of time thinking about the last call or meeting, or thinking about the one you have next week or in an hour, during the call or meeting you’re currently in!  How many times have you missed an important point from your customer (candidate, hiring manager) or your family member, because you weren’t focused on the here and now?  If you shift your focus to the present, you’ll see your stress drop, and your satisfaction with key relationships improve.
  5. Enjoy the silence.  On your next commute, when you come to a red light, try to just sit back for those 30 seconds and relax.  Don’t pick up the phone and check email or voice mail.  Just sit quietly.  Another technique to try is to not use your commute time for phone calls, but as time for you to reconnect with yourself.

Keep practicing.  When you feel yourself frustrated or stressed with your day try one of these tips.  Or simply close your eyes for 10 seconds and breath.  For home practice there’s a website called www.emindful.com that has online classes.  Also if you’re an iPhone user a good app to try is SimplyBeing! 

Finally I’ll leave you with this brief saying from Saki Santorelli, a mindfulness teacher.  Try repeating this to yourself sometime.

May I be safe and protected from all inner and outer harm.

May I be happy, peaceful, and calm.

May I be as healthy and strong as possible for me.

May I care for myself with joy and ease.

Have a great week!

Posted in Bradley Savoy, LEAN recruitment, Lean Human Capital, Recruiter, Recruiter Academy, Uncategorized | No Comments »