LEAN, Just-in-time recruiting!



Archive for the ‘Elite Recruiters’ Category

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »

Leveraging the Power of Your Network

Thursday, May 20th, 2010

David released some of the initial results of our elite recruiter study a couple of weeks back . 

One of the areas that was ranked as an area for improvement was Leveraging Networks.  It just came up again the other day during an intriguing conversation with a client and I thought it was a topic that warrants further discussion.

We discussed that while 70% of people still find jobs through networking (according to Bureau of Labor), people spend less than 20% of their time “networking” to find a job. And if this is true, how much of a recruiter’s time should be spent developing relationships and networking to find quality candidates?

The point was well taken.   

To level set the discussion – The definition from our competency/skill model is as follows:

Leveraging Networks: Draws upon a wide range of professional and/or business relationships for help and support in achieving individual and organizational goals.

After I thought more about this topic, it’s not surprising that recruiters rank themselves low here.  Let’s face it.  It takes work to maintain an internal and external network that can assist you in performing your work more effectively.  This alone takes more time than most of us have in a day. 

So if you think this is an area for improvement for you, following are a few techniques to consider:

  • The Lost Art of Investigative Questioning – Of course you need to have a robust network to leverage it.  Most struggle to develop a network of professionals they can leverage for sourcing talent, etc. Using specific, probing questions with your Centers of Influence can exponentially improve your ability to build a strong network.
  • How Many Friends do you have  – If you don’t invest time in maintaining the relationships and helping out your “friends” in your network, don’t expect them to be responsive to your request!  Invest time in identifying how many true “friends” you have within your network and building upon this list over time.
  • Growing your friends network  – Check out this post to discuss some simple tactics to grow your friends network!  Some things to consider:
    • Prioritize the relationships – Focus your networking and energy on those that can help you with both your current and long-term problems.  For work-related problems, this might be a peer or someone who is a level above you.  For industry-related issues, this might be a peer at another company.  Whoever it is, block time to spend with that person consistently, and stay connected! 
    • Don’t waste your time on the wrong people - Stop spending energy on a relationship that’s not giving something back to you.  Don’t keep helping others out if you realize they really aren’t helping you.

While all these tactics will help you create and grow a powerful network, probably the single biggest deterrent from you having a robust, interactive network of friends is having the DISCIPLINE to carve out the time to develop it!

Building your network needs to become part of your daily/weekly routine.  I personally have developed the good habit of blocking off 30 minutes a day (I plan it into my Perfect Day Routine  to develop my network and hit all of my news, websites, and blogs for industry information.

I know.  This is easier said than done.  And by no means can I say I do this 5 days a week/52 weeks a year!

Some behavior modification tips/techniques to help you build this “good habit”:

  • Post a note on your screen – - Am I building my Friends Network today?
  • Have a list of your “friends” network. Set a goal each quarter to grow this list.  Make this goal “public” and post it in your office (i.e., – I will have 350 friends in my network by June 30, 2010. Review every month for growth. ).
  • Try to carve out 30 minutes of time when you are least likely to be interrupted.  First thing in morning before you leave your house for work? End of day? Lunch? Friday afternoon? 
  • Hold a contest with your fellow recruiters. Who can develop the most amount of new friends in the next 90 days?

With the instant access we have to millions of people, we often forget to develop lasting relationships that will and can benefit us in so many ways.  INVEST in your network and it will provide dividends along the way.

Posted in Bradley Savoy, Deadly Sins of Waste in Recruiting, Elite Recruiters, Just-In-Time hiring, LEAN recruitment, Lean Human Capital, Recruiter, Recruiter Academy, Recruiter Sales, Recruiter Top Gun, Recruiter Training, Social Media, Uncategorized | No Comments »

Announcing Release of New Book: Best (and worse) Advice for Job Seekers!

Wednesday, May 12th, 2010

In developing our Elite Recruiter competency/skill model and collaborating on our ERE post – “You know you’re an Elite Recruiter if . . . “ I have been equally inspired and frustrated!

The one “attribute” causing me the most angst is:

  • “You know you are an elite recruiter if . . . You spend time each week helping those less fortunate to find employment, craft a better resume, prepare for an interview, etc.”

Of course I am inspired by this statement because I know it is the right thing to do. We as recruiters have so much knowledge to help job seekers at all levels. But do we on a regular basis?  Probably like many of you, the day-to-day grind of work/life does not leave as much time as we would like.  I know I would like to participate in these activities more but time contraints often leave me frustrated – specially when I read statements like the one above!

So I am proud that over the last year, I have been working on a project that I believe will benefit job seekers in this uncertain job market with unemployment still at 9.9%!

I am excited to announce that I have finished our book – “Best (and Worst) Advice for Job Seekers” that I believe will help job seekers across the nation!

I say “our” book because countless people and hundreds of hours have gone into the development of this book.  It has been a collaborative effort that I think will provide insight/knowledge that will help others.

As I started to devise a plan for marketing, I was inspired by another post by Chuck Clevenger on our ERE blog.

  •  “An Elite recruiter gives back to the community by volunteering to freely help people in their job searches. An elite recruiter is known for his/her pro bono work.”

With that said, a wonderful idea popped in my head.  What if I was able to help job seekers (via the content in the book) but was also able to take the royalties and give back to others!

What if I could inspire folks to purchase the book for themselves (or their loved ones) recognizing the proceeds would go towards helping others!?

What a win-win! 

I am excited to announce that all proceeds of the book sales will be donated to an amazing organization close to our hearts – St. Jude Children’s Hospital.   

I’m asking for your assistance in helping job seekers and the children of St. Judes!

Please spread the word on the book. Please share this message via Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, etc. to all your friends, co-workers, associates, etc. 

To the job seekers out there, recognize that purchasing www.bestjobadvice.net might be the best money you might invest in your career and . . . you can feel good knowing your money will actually benefit the children of St. Jude’s.

For those of you who know job seekers, what if you bought the book for them allowing you to help two parties for the price of one!?

For your HR/Recruiting professionals, maybe you can purchase it and use the material to help candidates that need coaching/mentoring!?!?

If you have ideas of how I can market this book, I would appreciate your input .

Thank you to all of the individuals that contributed to this endeavor. I am also asking your assistance in helping others!

I hope you have a Perfect Week!

Posted in David, David Szary, Elite Recruiters, Just-In-Time hiring, LEAN recruitment, Lean Human Capital, Recruiter, Recruiter Academy, Uncategorized | No Comments »

Benefits of Technology Going Down

Friday, May 7th, 2010

So as I tried to get online this morning, I quickly realized our network was down.  And because we moved to the snazzy VOIP, that meant our phone system was down too :) .   While my first reaction was OMG . . . I quickly diverted my attention to miscellaneous projects that I have had on my Perfect Week/Day plan.

Without the constant interruptions of voice mail/email, I have been laser focused and have knocked off many “to-do’s” that I have “started and stopped” many times because of pesky CIE’s (calls, interruptions and emails for those that haven’t been through our Perfect Week/Perfect Day training program).

While I strive to get into “work flow zones” when doing project related work, I have to admit it is a very tough to discipline myself to halt email and put the phone on silent when attacking these projects. 

Like you, I have people I am waiting to hear from!

But lacking that ability to be “connected” this morning quickly demonstrated how powerful and productive you can be when laser focused with no (or fewer) interruptions!

So on this Friday afternoon, if you have some projects that need “quiet, focused time”, halt your email, put your phone on silent and get into a “workflow zone”.

The results will be priceless!

Have a perfect day and a great weekend!

Posted in David, David Szary, Elite Recruiters, Recruiter, Recruiter Academy, Recruiter Sales, Uncategorized | No Comments »

Expectation versus Reality – Deliver on your promises, consistently

Thursday, April 29th, 2010

Companies who are serious about their talent need to deliver on their promises consistently.  When a candidate goes to your careers website, it’s the first step they take in their research of your company. They are looking for information, drivers, and attractors that make your company a more intriguing proposition than others.  Let’s say they decide to apply and they’re invited in for the interview. 

From the moment they arrive at your office they are gauging if the company they saw online is reflective of what they see in reality.  As you go further down the path of hiring someone, expectations continue to develop based on the information you portray to the candidate. 

If the recruiter or hiring manager driving the interview process makes statements such as:  “We have a strong work/life balance at our company” or “We believe in learning and development”, or “We have an open door policy in which management is readily acceptable,” then the organization better be prepared to deliver on those statements consistently.

Take the Gen X group and the Millenials.  Both of these groups are getting a lot of focus from companies right now to ensure they fill talent gaps as boomers reach retirement.  From our research, one of the key areas of attraction for both of these groups is learning and development.  Another dynamic of these groups is a lack of long-term company loyalty.  If your company states a strong position on learning and development online during the interview process and on-boarding, and then you don’t deliver on that promise; then these groups will leave quickly.

Some best practices to address this are:

  • Make sure that the messages you state on your website, during the interview process, and beyond are consistent and truthful. 
  • Ask the employees what they think about their experience on a frequent basis through focus groups or employee satisfaction surveys. 
  • Use realistic job previews on the careers website.
  • Make sure the candidate has a chance to see the work environment and talk with prospective peers as part of the interview process
  • Train recruiters and hiring managers on interview practices 

By following some of these steps and others you’ll experience higher retention rates and employee loyalty as the key results!  Contact me with any questions or to discuss how we have worked with clients to bridge this gap.

Posted in Bradley Savoy, Candidate Pipeline, Elite Recruiters, Employer Brand, LEAN recruitment, Lean Human Capital, Recruiter, Recruiter Academy, Talent Aquisition, Uncategorized | No Comments »

The Most Important Service Level Agreement

Wednesday, April 21st, 2010

Of the 1000 recruiters who have participated in our Elite Recruiter self assessment benchmark study, they rate themselves a 3.29 on the skill:

  • Sets Service Level Agreements with Hiring Managers to define roles/responsibilities and control the hiring process

Having talked to countless hiring managers, I am not surprised at this response. 

One of their biggest frustrations is not knowing what is going on with a particular search. They post a position, talk to their recruiter, and then . . . wait for candidates to come their way.

I thought I would share a post we published that received a ton of positive attention and discussion!

______________________________________________________________________________________________________ 

The Most Important Service Level Agreement

While many recruitment organizations have created Service Level Agreements that define the recruitment/hiring process and each parties’ (hiring manager and recruiter) responsibilities (NOTE- if you want a Best Practice example SLA document – please email us), many do not define and establish a “time to first submittal” SLA. This SLA is (what I believe to be the most important) the one we can control the most.

We call this SLA: Requisition Received to “First Submittal.”…. to read more please follow this link

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

Initial Results of our ‘Elite Recruiter’ Competency/Skills — Self Assessment

Thursday, April 8th, 2010

The response to our ‘Elite Recruiter’ Self Assessment has been great!  To date, over 600 folks have participated! 

If you have not participated yet, please do (see below).  Our goal is to have 2500 recruiters participate by July of this year! 

Some initial interesting findings ……

Recruiter Competencies:

High self-assessment rating (4.0 of 5.0):

  • Interpersonal Skills (4.21): Treats others with respect and dignity.  Promotes a productive culture by valuing individuals and their contributions.

We are not surprised; I think most recruiters feel they have good interpersonal skills. :o ) 

Areas for improvement (3.5 or below):

  • Customer/Client Focus (3.49): Maintains unwavering focus on delighting the customer/client.
  • Leveraging Networks (3.44): Draws upon a wide range of professional and/or business relationships for help and support in achieving individual and organizational goals.
  • Staffing Lifecycle Management (3.24): Plans and successfully executes a recruiting, selection and hiring process that results in top talent for the organization.

These numbers are consistent to many of our clients’ Voice of the Customer surveys.  The clients (hiring managers, key stakeholders, etc.) still see these as areas of improvement as well, particularly Customer/Client Focus and Staffing Lifecycle Management.

Recruiter Skills:

High self-assessment rating (4.0 of 5.0):

  • Build relationships with peers, hiring managers and executives (4.09)
  • Remain upbeat, positive and energetic about opportunities with your organization(4.18)

Again, we are not surprised at these results. I think most recruiters believe they can build relationships and are upbeat, positive and energetic.  In a 360 evaluation, do others believe the same? :o )

Areas for improvement (3.5 or below):

  • Posses the ability to create a compelling value proposition statement(s) to engage and recruit passive, top talent for critical-to-fill positions (3.38)
  • Use technology to manage data, candidate relationships, etc. (3.33)
  • Set Service Level Agreements with Hiring Managers to define roles/responsibilities and control the hiring process. (3.29)
  • Provide timely constructive feedback to candidates not selected for hire after interview. (3.29) 

These numbers are again consistent with many of our clients’ Voice of the Customer survey results.  All four of these areas are critical to the success of a recruiter, BUT . . . often not areas that recruiters (or teams) focus on for improvement.  Too often, the focus is on ‘finding the passive candidate’ or lately – social networking and/or SEO – - rather than tactical skills that are critical to customer satisfaction!  I’m not saying these other areas don’t deserve our attention (passive candidates, Social media, etc.) but – - sometimes I believe we lose the forest through the trees and lose sight of what the customer wants! 

 If you are interested in the complete results of the self assessment surveys to date, you must:

  1. Participate in the assessment!
  2. Email us at info@leanhumancapital.com.  In the subject line put:  Please send ‘Elite Recruiter’ results!

If you want your team to participate and have us tabulate your team’s results, please email us at info@leanhumancapital.com!

Have a Perfect Day!

 

Competency/Skills of an Elite Recruiter – Healthcare

Competency/Skills of an Elite Recruiter – Financial Services

Competency/Skills of an Elite Recruiter – Retail

Competency/Skills of an Elite Recruiter – Technology

Competency/Skills of an Elite Recruiter – Third Party

Competency/Skills of an Elite Recruiter – Manufacturing/Engineering

Competency/Skills of an Elite Recruiter – Other

Posted in Changing Role of the Recruiter, David, David Szary, Elite Recruiters, Just-In-Time hiring, LEAN recruitment, Lean Human Capital, Recruiter, Recruiter Academy, Recruiter Training, Strategic Business Partner, Talent Aquisition, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

The “Elite” Employer Brand

Thursday, April 1st, 2010

A couple of weeks ago I teed up this concept of an employer brand .  Here are some key areas to consider when measuring your employer brand.

First, you must measure it.  You can’t manage what you can’t measure, and you can’t improve what you can’t measure.  If an organization wants to maintain and consistently improve on the performance of its employer brand it must have a meaningful analytical philosophy that seeks to apply a quantitative and objective view to its brand.  Without this, there can be no analysis and comparison for improvement. 

Source effectiveness – The lifecycle of your employer brand begins with the first contact, which is typically an organization’s careers web site and subsequent sourcing stage.  At this stage an organization should measure the effectiveness of the methods they have relied upon to attract candidates.  This can allow the organization to view the most effective sources of attraction and consistently return to those sources based on the ROI achieved.  We capture this in our current benchmarking study and what we find is people may be measuring it but they’re not taking action.   If they see overspending in a certain area, they don’t adjust their spend in time and often wait until the year has passed. What should take place is that there should be an immediate shifting of the spend to the most effective sources as quickly as possible.

The recruiting process – This is a series of measurements at each stage in the life-cycle of the candidate’s experience during the entire recruiting process.  The recruiting process is one of the most critical aspects in making the decision to join an organization, and often the most overlooked.  An organization should measure the effectiveness of every single step a candidate attains in the recruiting process.  Each touch point the candidate makes with your organization should be considered beginning with the online application, assessment, interviews, the offer, and orientation.  If there is a negative impression that occurs during the initial online application stage of the recruiting process, then there may be a dramatic decrease in the candidate pool.  In the initial discussion with a candidate, another negative impression may cause a candidate to withdraw from the process, and tell others about their negative experiences.  Negative impressions at any stage of the recruiting process can dramatically reduce the candidate pool, and may provide fuel to create a significant gap for an organization that must meet their hiring needs. 

Recruiter Effectiveness – In our elite recruiter benchmarking study  we’re taking a groundbreaking look at the competencies and skills of elite recruiters.  What we’ve found is that effective recruiters engage candidates with the promise of the brand experience (EVP) and continually deliver on the promise.  The elite recruiters even check in with their hires to make sure promises are being kept, and the expectations delivered when someone was hired match the reality of their experience. 

Fit – How a candidate perceives their fit within your organization, the culture, and the position you are offering are critical elements in the messaging of your employer brand.  Organizations should measure the effectiveness of the messaging in all elements of the employment brand through various media channels.  These channels could be print or interactive media marketing and can also extend to the communication with the candidates recruited and interviewed by your company.  Analyze the effectiveness of the messaging communicated about the culture within your company to improve the long term impact that fit can have on the attraction of your needed talent.

So the key takeaways here are that the brand is pervasive, and all encompassing across someone’s life-cycle of experiences with your company.  It must be measured through the sourcing, recruiting process, and fit of a candidate and then through the employee with your company.  Finally, you as the recruiter, play a critical role in the portrayal of the brand promise, and should act as an ambassador to ensure its delivered!

Posted in Bradley Savoy, Changing Role of the Recruiter, Elite Recruiters, Employer Brand, Just-In-Time hiring, LEAN recruitment, Lean Human Capital, Recruiter, Recruiter Academy, Recruiter Training, Talent Aquisition, Time Management, Uncategorized | No Comments »

You know You are an Elite Recruiter if…..

Wednesday, March 10th, 2010

For those that attended the ERE webinar – Going from Good to ‘Elite’  – - I hope I inspired you to take action J!

For those that missed it we discussed the competencies/skills of Elite Recruiters.  I have also started work on another fun project related to this subject… 

Shamelessly stealing from Jeff Foxworthy – - “You know you are a redneck if . . . “comedy routine, I am trying to develop a LONG list of “You know you are an Elite Recruiter if . . . “.

This fun exercise has also been inspiring me to reflect on what it is to be an Elite Recruiter and what I need to do to be one!  Performing at an elite level doing anything is very difficult.  Recruiting is no different. 

Documenting these attributes in a fun way helps keep this passion burning and top of mind.

So OK – - You know you are an ‘Elite Recruiter’ if . . .

  1. You get referrals from candidates you turn down for a position. 
  2. Your hiring managers ask you who they “should hire” . . . And listen to your advice.
  3. Candidates seek your input on preparing for the interview with the hiring manager, making a decision on an offer, etc. 
  4. You keep track of all the people you have hired and have kept up an ongoing relationship with 90% of them. 
  5. You track your performance (quality, efficiency, responsiveness/ delivery) on a quarterly basis. 
  6. You quantify the ROI of your services to your key stakeholders.
  7. You have clearly written quarterly Performance Improvement goals.  
  8. You spend time each week helping those less fortunate find employment, craft a better resume, prepare for an interview, etc.
  9. You invest at least 15 minutes to ½ hour developing a written – hour by hour – daily plan of action that you deploy before each day.
  10. You have received gifts from candidates/hiring managers for “changing their life” for the better.

PLEASE – WE ARE LOOKING FOR MORE ADDITIONS TO THIS LIST!  Can you please email us at info@leanhumancapital.com with your ideas!  

 _______________________________________________________________________________

‘Elite’ Recruiter Benchmark study!

Our goal is to get 2500 recruiters to participate in our free self-assessment benchmark study!  To provide more granularity, we have decided to categorize ‘recruiters’ as outlined below.

To participate, just find the link that best describes you and . . . sign in!  It will take you about 15 minutes to complete.

NOTE: This is for your OWN self-improvement!  With that said, for us to have fair and accurate benchmarks, please take this seriously and respond with honestly. 

We will publish the results at a later date to use as a benchmark!

Competency/Skills of an Elite Recruiter – Healthcare

Competency/Skills of an Elite Recruiter – Financial Services

Competency/Skills of an Elite Recruiter – Retail

Competency/Skills of an Elite Recruiter – Technology

Competency/Skills of an Elite Recruiter – Third Party

Competency/Skills of an Elite Recruiter – Manufacturing/Engineering

Competency/Skills of an Elite Recruiter – Other

Posted in Changing Role of the Recruiter, David, David Szary, Elite Recruiters, Just-In-Time hiring, LEAN recruitment, Lean Human Capital, Recruiter, Recruiter Academy, Recruiter Sales, Relationship Recruiter, Sourcing, Strategic Business Partner, Uncategorized | No Comments »

Measuring Your Employer Brand

Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010

I can only go a few days without having an insatiable craving for Starbucks or Caribou Coffee.  Sure I can make coffee at home, but it’s just never seems as good.  In addition, there’s the great atmosphere when I enter the coffee shop. The wonderful, helpful staff that remembers my name when they greet me. 

And to top it all off – - for only four dollars – - I walk away with beautiful drink in a cup with cool logo and colors!  

Okay I may be taking that a little too far, but as a consumer I have that passionate and long standing relationship with these brands.  These consumer brands conjure up indelible images that resonate and remain with me.  These are brands I will consistently use and recommend to others based on my experience and the feelings I get from patronizing their organizations.

So how do you define an employer brand?

Quality candidates – - whether they say so or not – - are looking for the same experience with an organization’s employer brand as a consumer would.  The messages, images, and feelings presented shape the candidate experience they will receive. The “feeling” they get as they move through the recruitment process will not only be pivotal in their employment decision but in their recommendation of your organization to others!

Simply put, an employer brand is a long-standing relationship cycle of experiences between the employee and employer. 

Your employer brand should resonate like a consumer brand with a distinct difference in the messaging.  The messaging should be tailored to the future employee, and should be understood by all stakeholders – both current or future employees, and even customers.  Having an effective employment brand means providing an enticing proposition for one to seek the opportunities at an organization.  It begins at the sourcing stage and carries through the entire life cycle of the recruiting process, and continues throughout an employee’s tenure with the organization.

While most employers understand the value of an effective employer brand, they struggle with how to measure its’ effectiveness to ensure that their branding efforts are achieving the necessary ROI. 

Some brief questions to ponder for next week’s post:

  • How do you measure your Employer Brand?
  • How do you know if you have an effective Employer Brand? 
  • Do you have a gauge on how your sources tie into your employer brand?
  • How are you measuring your customers’ recruiting experience?
  • Do you have a sense of why people join, stay, or leave your company?

In my next post we’ll begin to discuss these questions in more detail.  Also look for us at ERE San Diego where we’ll be talking about this during our session.

Posted in Bradley Savoy, Changing Role of the Recruiter, Elite Recruiters, Employer Brand, LEAN recruitment, Lean Human Capital, Recruiter, Recruiter Academy, Recruiter Boot Camp, Recruiter Sales, Talent Aquisition | No Comments »

Good To Elite

Wednesday, February 24th, 2010

For those folks that know us, we are passionate about the pursuit of being “Elite” recruiters.  Over the years, we have written about it on numerous occasions. 

 Some posts that have received chatter include:

Success Attributes of World-Class Recruiters

The Changing Role of the Recruiter

On March 10th, we will be facilitating a webinar with ERE entitled “Going from Good to Elite – Becoming an Elite Recruiter”.  In preparation for this event, I have been collaborating with colleagues in the industry discussing this topic and getting their opinions on: 

  • Skills/competencies of Elite Recruiters
  • What Elite Recruiters do that average recruiters don’t.
  • How to go from average or good to elite.

If you have thoughts/opinions on this topic, I would love your input. Just drop me a note (email)! 

Over the last year we have been working on a competency/skill model for recruiters.

If you are interested in taking a self-assessment, just click on the links below!

Recruiter Skills Assessment

Staffing Competency Assessment

I hope you all can join us for the webinar on the 10th! 

Just as important, I would love your input on this topic!

Posted in Changing Role of the Recruiter, David, David Szary, Elite Recruiters, LEAN recruitment, Lean Human Capital, Recruiter, Recruiter Academy, Recruiter Training, Talent Aquisition, Uncategorized | No Comments »

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »