Author Archives: Tim Sackett

10 Words to Ditch on Your LinkedIn Profile

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It’s Re-run Friday! Here’s a throwback from August 2015.

The Top 10 Words You Should Never Use in Your LinkedIn Profile

I love Fast Company magazines from about five years ago. Their writers pushed the envelope and challenged me in almost every article to rethink business and leadership. I couldn’t wait for the next copy to come out.

Recently, they’ve fallen off a ton on the quality side.  I blame their need to deliver daily content versus month content. When you have thirty days to put out limited content, you can make it really good. When you do daily content, some will be good, some will be complete crap.

Case in point, Fast Company recently posted an article titled “The 10 Words You Should Never Use In Your LinkedIn Profile” written by Stephanie Vozza.  It’s not really Fast Companies best work. It’s boring. It’s vanilla. They could have done so much better with this!

Here are the ten words Fast Company says you shouldn’t use on your LinkedIn profile:

LinkedIn Top Ten Global Buzzwords for 2014

  1. Motivated
  2. Passionate
  3. Creative
  4. Driven
  5. Extensive experience
  6. Responsible
  7. Strategic
  8. Track record
  9. Organizational
  10. Expert

These are all based on Vozza’s assumption that you shouldn’t use the same words as everyone else if you want your profile to standout. Not bad advice, but it’s not classic Fast Company advice.  It’s not edgy, or snarky, or fun.  It didn’t challenge me to think differently!

The “real” list of 10 Words You Should Never Use in Your LinkedIn Profile:

  1. Parole
  2. Moist
  3. Gingivitis
  4. Erection
  5. Maverick
  6. Disgruntled
  7. Horney
  8. Manscaping
  9. Purge
  10. Juicy

Honorable Mentions:  Any gross medical type terms – pus, mucous, ooze, cyst.  Ginormous. Retarded.  Nugget.

See!  My list is much better!  That is the list that Fast Company would have put out five years ago!

If you use Fast Company’s list, sure no one will notice your profile, but you can still get a job, and people will want to connect with you.  If you use words on my list, there’s not a chance you’ll get a job or connections.  Well, you might get connections, but probably not the ones you really want!

So, how do you make your LinkedIn profile stand out?

  • Have a pretty/handsome picture of yourself.
  • Don’t write your profile like you’re a used car salesman.
  • Tell people about yourself in real terms.
  • Let your personality come through, but make it the best side of your personality.

Here’s the deal. There is no secret sauce in building your profile because LinkedIn has become so diverse in its user base.  You need to write your profile for the type of person and company you want to connect with.  If you want to work for a big traditional, conservative company, you might want to tone down the profile to fit.  If you want to work for some cool, hip, new startup, you better not sound like your want to work for IBM.

Organizations tend to hire what they see in the mirror.  You need to look like they look. Not physically, but in your words and actions.

5 Ways to Highlight Your Culture When Hiring

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We all know that company culture is important. Duh. You’ve probably heard it 5x this week.

It shapes the way things work, guiding how employees make decisions, interact with clients, and feel about their jobs. But beyond just good vibes, culture has a real impact on the success of a business. Studies have shown that poor company culture can cost companies millions each year.

On the flip side, a strong and positive culture can boost financial performance, reduce turnover, and improve customer satisfaction.

Given how crucial culture is, it’s important to show it off during the hiring process to attract the right people. Here are my five simple ways to do that:

1. Keep an Eye on Your Glassdoor Reviews

Glassdoor is one of the first places job seekers go to learn about a company. People want to know what it’s really like to work somewhere, and they trust reviews from current and former employees. Make sure you’re paying attention to your Glassdoor page. Respond to reviews, whether they’re positive or negative. Showing that you care about feedback and are working to improve goes a long way in making a good impression on potential hires.

2. Be Active on LinkedIn

LinkedIn is another key place where candidates will check you out. Keep your company page active by posting regularly about your industry, team accomplishments, and company updates. This shows that your company is engaged and thriving. When candidates see that you’re active on LinkedIn, it helps them get a better feel for what it’s like to work at your company.

3. Make an Employee Video

A video featuring your employees can really bring your culture to life. It doesn’t have to be super fancy or expensive. Even a simple video showing your team at work, having fun at events, or volunteering can be powerful. Let your employees share their experiences in their own words, and include clips that show off what makes your workplace unique.

4. Create a “Life at Our Company” Page

Instead of just having a plain careers page, create a section on your website that really shows what it’s like to work at your company. Include photos from events, quotes from employees, and anything else that gives a peek into your day-to-day culture. You can even add your job openings right there so candidates can apply easily after getting a sense of your company.

5. Try Peer Interviews

Peer interviews are a great way to give candidates a true look at your company culture. Let them meet and chat with the people they’d be working with. It helps them see what the team is like and gives them a feel for the job. Plus, it gives your current employees a say in who joins the team, which can help maintain a strong culture.

Sharing your company culture during the hiring process is super important for getting the right people on board. By staying active on places like Glassdoor and LinkedIn, posting cool content, and getting your team involved, you can really show candidates what makes your company a great place to work.

A strong company culture isn’t just nice to have—it’s a smart business move that can lead to long-term success.

What happened to the pioneers?

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I speak at over 25 conferences a year, mostly about HR, talent acquisition, and leadership. In every single talk, I always touch on the need for innovation.

Pioneers are often seen as heroes, but history shows a tougher reality. What happened to the pioneers? The original pioneers faced many dangers and often didn’t survive. In the corporate world, especially in HR and TA, being the first to try something new can be risky. The truth is, those who take the first steps in innovation often face big challenges and consequences.

Being an early adopter means dealing with many unknowns. In HR and TA, this often leads to failed projects and even job loss. Sorry folks, you might be fired! It’s no surprise that executives are cautious about pushing for new ideas—they understand the risks. While companies claim to support innovation, do they really? The pressure for quick results, especially from top executives, kills true innovation. There’s a strong fear of failure, creating a culture where the first to mess up are quickly let go.

Many HR and TA leaders want to innovate but end up doing the same things year after year after year. The high cost of new systems and the fear of unchanged results make them hesitate.

You can either be a pioneer or stick to the safe path. Many choose safety over the risks that come with being innovative. But for those willing to take the risk, being a pioneer can lead to real progress and personal growth.

I encourage you to be a pioneer!

Drive innovation in your organization and aim for a better career and life.

This path has risks, and it’s okay if you’re not ready to take them. The life of a pioneer is tough, but for those who seek a better world, it’s worth it.

Remember, not everyone is cut out to be a pioneer. It takes courage and resilience. But for those who go for it, the rewards can be huge.

The Dirty Little Truth About Employee Experience

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Another oldie but goodie! This Re-Run Friday originally ran in August 2018.

Is employee experience really all about your manager? #Maslow #Drink!

So, I’m sharing a post I wrote over at EXJournal.org (EX = Employee Experience). It’s site started by some brilliant people from all over the world and they invited me to write to bring down the overall quality of the site! I wrote this post and immediately thought, “Hey, I just leveled-up from my normal poorly written stuff!”.

I thought this because it’s an idea I’m passionate about and truly believe. I think we get lied to a bunch by HR vendors who are just trying to sell their shit. We’ve been lied to for a long time on the concept – “People leave managers, not companies” – that’s actually not true…enjoy the post and check out the new EXJournal site!

“Employees don’t leave companies. Employees leave managers.” 

How often have you heard this over the past decade? A hundred times? A thousand times?

We love saying this in the HR, management consulting, leadership training world. We use it for employee engagement and employee experience, to almost anything where we want to blame bad managers and take the focus off all the other crap we get wrong in our companies.

The fact is, the quote above is mostly bullshit.

Employees actually care about other things more

The truth is, employees actually leave organizations more often over money than anything else. We don’t want to believe it because that means as leaders we have to dig into our budgets, make less profit, and pay our employees true market value if we want them to stay.

Managers might be the issue if you’re getting everything else right. So, if you pay your employees at the market rate. Ifyou offer market-level benefits. If you give them a normal work environment, then yes, maybe employees don’t leave your company, they leave their managers.

But you forgot all that other stuff? Maybe the ‘real’ reason an employee left your company wasn’t the fact their manager wasn’t a rock star. Maybe it was the fact you paid them below market, gave them a crappy benefits package, and made them work in the basement?!

The dirty little truth about Employee Experience is that managers are just one component of the overall experience, and we give them way too much weight when looking at EX in totality. We do this because we feel we don’t have control over all of the other stuff, but it’s easy to push managers around and ‘train’ them up to be better than they actually are.

Rethinking Maslow for EX

There is a new Maslow‘s Hierarchy of Employee Needs when it comes to Employee Experience and it goes like this:

Level I – Money – cash!

Level II – Benefits – health, fringes, etc.

Level III – Flexibility of Schedule – work/life balance

Level IV – Work Environment – short commute, great design, supportive co-workers

Level V – The Actual Job/Position – am I doing something that utilizes my best skills?

Level VI – Your Manager – do I have a manager who supports my career & life goals?

We all immediately jump to Level VI when it comes to EX because that’s what we’ve been told is the real reason people leave organizations. Which actually might be the case if all of the other five levels above are being met. What I find is that rarely are the first five levels met, and then it becomes really easy to blame managers for why their people leave.

Managers aren’t the difference maker

When I take a look at organizations with super low turnover, what I find are that they do a great job at the first five levels, and they do what everyone else does at level six. The managers at low turnover organizations are virtually the same as all other organizations. There is no ‘real’ difference in skill sets and attitudes; those managers are just managing employees who are pretty satisfied because most of their basic needs are met pretty well.

I think the new quote should be this:

“Good employees leave companies that give them average pay, benefits, and work environment, that don’t utilize the employee’s skill set, and that make them work for a crappy boss.” 

(Tim note – Why the #Drink? It’s a game that my fellow HR/TA speakers and I play. We hate when someone uses the Maslow pyramid in a slide, so we make fun of it by claiming every time a speaker mentions “Maslow” or shows the pyramid the entire audience should have to take a drink – like a drinking game for bad speakers! The more you know…) 

Military Recruitment is a Nightmare Worldwide!

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As a recruiter, I’m always interested in stories about industries struggling to recruit. I find that industries that struggle all have the same issues:

  • Low wages for market skill
  • Unable or unwilling to build their talent
  • Not enough available talent within the market
  • The industry has a negative perception
  • Not enough benefits for the work required

There are other minor issues, but it’s a universal issue that almost always exists.

I read recently that militaries worldwide, in rich countries like Germany, the UK, France, Italy, and the US, are massively struggling to hit recruitment targets for their militaries.

Every one of these countries is focusing on GenZ and the incoming generation, GenAlpha, and “what’s wrong with them.” Why do these generations have low interest in joining the military of their country? Have we lost pride in our country? Etc.

In every industry, we tend to believe we have unique issues that no one else has. Maybe the military does have some. It’s fairly rare that you take a job with the understanding you could actually be killed doing this job! I mean, anyone can get killed doing any job, but this job is purposely going to put you in dangerous positions. That being said, past generations were able to fill their ranks with a higher degree of death. The reality is that militaries around the world, in rich countries, have never had better training, equipment, and support not to die or get injured.

So, why is recruiting someone to the armed forces so tricky?

There are some issues:

  • Demographics in rich countries are declining when you take away immigration growth. We. Do. Not. Make. Enough. Babies! Also, in America specifically, we suck at converting immigrants to citizens who might want to work in our military. We do it, but we really don’t market this avenue to citizenship very well.
  • The government and taxpayers haven’t figured out that Americans aren’t in desperate need of dangerous, low-paying jobs.
  • We stopped selling heroes.

Recruiting is easy if you can meet three things: at market compensation for the level of skill you desire, a job where someone feels there’s a future, and you can look into the eyes of those you care about and be proud of what you do.

The military today only gets one of those right – you can move up in your career, and there’s a clear pathway forward for most recruits who want it. They fail the other two. Pay is crappy for that job, and too many Americans do not treat those who protect them as heroes.

Another issue is this is really a recruitment marketing issue. The armed forces do a decent job at recruitment marketing. They are innovative, they are modern, and they are consistent in their approach. A lot of corporations should take note of their efforts. This is a foundational failure of our culture. Too many Americans look down on military members as low-educated, gun-loving hillbillies. They don’t respect the difficult work they do in protecting our country and our interests. Politicians want to use them for votes but then throw them away once they get that vote. Both parties do this.

How do we change this?

We have to realize we do not have enough American citizens to fill the jobs we have, especially those jobs in the military. There are two ways to change that:

  1. You overpay or lead the market in pay for the work. You steal workers from other employers.
  2. You create an immigration policy specifically designed for military recruitment that works quickly.

Simultaneously, you have to change the culture of our country in how they see those who work in the military as “the” frontline workers. The front of the front line workers. This is Maslow-level stuff! If you’re not safe, it doesn’t matter where your next meal is coming from! Right now, in America, we are too comfortable. We believe we are too safe. This allows some to look down on those who provide that safety.

Only 6% of Americans have or will serve in the military, while more Americans have worked for Walmart and Amazon. So, it’s easy for people not to know, understand, or even think about the military, and it’s easy for them to disregard its importance. The military complex has been well aware of this for years and still they haven’t been able to turn it around. That’s worrisome. We should all be concerned and want to help. This is foundational to who we are as Americans.

Why I Love Being a Recruiter

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Re-run Friday time! This post originally ran in July 2013.

Why ‘Recruiter’ is the best job in HR.

I grew up and lived most of my life in Michigan.  There are so many things I love about living in Michigan and most of those things have to deal with water and the 3 months that temperatures allow you to enjoy said water (Jun – Aug).  There is one major thing that completely drives me insane about Michigan.  Michigan is at its core an automotive manufacturing state which conjures up visions of massive assembly plants and union workers.  To say that the majority of Michigan workers feel entitled would be the largest understatement ever made.  We have grown up with our parents and grandparents telling us stories of how their overtime and bonus checks bought the family cottage, up north, and how they spent more time on their ‘pension’ than they actually spent in the plant (think about that! if you started in a union job at 18, put in your 30 years, retired at 48, on your 79 birthday you actually have had a company pay for you longer than you worked for them – at the core of the Michigan economy this is happening right now – and it’s disastrous!  Pensions weren’t created to sustain that many years, and quite frankly they aren’t sustainable under those circumstances).  Seniority, entitlement, I’ve been here longer than you, so wait your turn – are all the things I hate about my great state!

There is a saying in professional sports – “If you can play, you can play”.  Simply, this means that it doesn’t matter who you are, where you come from, how much your contract is worth – if you’re the best player, you will be playing.  We see examples of this in every sport, every year.  The kid was bagging groceries last month, now he’s start quarterback in the NFL!  You came from a rich family, poor family, no family – doesn’t matter – if you can play, you can play.  Short, tall, skinny, fat, pretty, ugly, smart, no-so smart – if you can play, you can play.  Performance on your specific field of play – is all that matters.  BTW – NHL released this video last year supporting the LGBT community (if you can play…) –

This is why I love being a recruiter!  I can play.

Doesn’t matter how long I’ve been doing it.  Doesn’t matter what education/school I came from.  Doesn’t matter what company I work for.  If you can recruit – you can recruit.  You can recruit in any industry, at any level, anywhere in the world.  Recruiting at its core is a perfect storm of showing us how accountability and performance in our profession works.  You have an opening – and either you find the person you need (success), or you don’t find the person (failure).  It’s the only position within the HR industry that is that clear cut.

I have a team of recruiters who work with me. Some have 20 years of experience, some have a few months – the thing that they all know – if you can recruit, you can recruit.  No one can take it away from you, no one can stop you from being a great recruiter.  There’s no entitlement or seniority – ‘Well, I’ve been here longer, I should be the best recruiter!’ If you want to be the best, if you have to go out and prove you’re the best.  The scorecard is your placements.  Your finds.  Can you find talent and deliver, or can’t you.  Black and white.

I love recruiting because all of us (recruiters) have the exact same opportunity.  Sure some will have more tools than others – but the reality is – if you’re a good recruiter – you need a phone and an ability to connect with people.  Tools will make you faster – not better.  A great recruiter can play.  Every day, every industry.  This is why I love recruiting.

HR Advice Gone Bad

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Yesterday I found myself wondering, “What’s the worst advice I’ve ever given someone?” The answer popped into my head pretty fast. I remembered a few times when my advice, looking back, was more about making fun of so-called ‘good’ advice than actually helping anyone.

Here are a few examples:

  1. Don’t be afraid to fail.
  2. Follow your passion!
  3. Don’t play office politics.
  4. Pursue that Master’s degree in HR!
  5. Just keep it to yourself, no one will find out.

See what I’m talking about?!  All of the above statements have been shared as good advice, but I tend to think of them as terrible advice.

However, one piece of advice stands out as the worst I’ve ever given:

“Just wait and see what happens…”

I gave this advice to an employee who really wanted a different position within our company. We all knew the current person in that role was about to get promoted. I was new to my HR career and trusted our company’s process, so I told the employee to wait and apply when the position opened up. How naive I was.

The promoted person had his own plan, which didn’t involve our process or the employee I advised. Instead, he planned to put one of his friends in his old position, and everyone seemed to know about this plan—except me. This taught me a big lesson: in HR, you need to know what’s going on behind the scenes and manage expectations early on.

The employee I told to wait felt betrayed and lost trust in me. I couldn’t blame them—I should have known better.

This experience taught me more about HR than almost anything else. As soon as you hear about possible changes, you need to get involved. Waiting to see what happens usually means things will happen without you knowing!

In the end, my bad advice taught me a lot. Being proactive and staying ahead of potential changes is crucial in HR. Waiting to see what happens usually ends up with stuff happening, without you knowing!

Join Me at DisruptHR Lansing 4.0!

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Tickets for DisruptHR Lansing 4.0 On Sale Now!

If you’ve been to a DisruptHR event before, you know how awesome they are. So you gotta grab your tickets now before they sell out! It’s happening at 6:30 PM on Thursday, September 5, 2024, at The View at Jackson Field in Lansing, MI. It’s going to be a great time!

Buy DisruptHR Lansing Tickets!

New to DisruptHR? Here’s the scoop:

-5-minute HR-inspired talks by people like us – nerdy HR pros who love what we do! We’ll do 12-14 talks, so it’s a quick two-hour evening. It can be longer if you come to the after-party!

-The talks are fast and fun. Some will make you laugh. Some make you cry. Some will inspire you. We support every brave soul who comes to the stage!

-Each talk has a slide deck of 20 slides that auto-move every 15 seconds. So, there’s always a chance for a train wreck!

-It’s a free open bar! What could go wrong? HR pros. Unlimited drinks. Fast presentations.

I genuinely believe it might be the best HR team-building activity out there. You learn something. You have fun. You can network with a fantastic community of HR professionals in the Greater Lansing Area.

Want to see what it’s like? Check out thousands of DisruptHR Talks from around the world!

DisruptHR hosts events in over 150 cities worldwide. This is our fourth event in Lansing, and we think ours is the best!

Visit the DisruptHR Lansing Site to Learn More!

Email Hero or Email Slave?

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This Re-Run Friday is from July 2017 – Email Heroes – Are you one?

For most of their careers, my parents could never check their work email at home.  It did mean that they probably stopped working when they got home, unlike most professional employees today.  My parents also rarely made it home at 5 pm and worked in the office many Saturdays and Sundays when the work needed to get done. The world changed, we can now get work done almost anywhere.

When did we start defining work as sitting in the bathroom at home and replying to emails in five minutes as work?

Let’s face it, most people aren’t really working when they are home if they don’t normally work at home.  They like to believe that what they’re doing is real work, but if can also wait to be done the next morning when you arrive at the office, you’re not doing real work, you’re just narcissistic.  Oh, I better immediately get back to John and tell him I can definitely do that interview at 8 am, next week Friday…

We act like checking work email at home is the same as donating a kidney or something.

Studies show that 59% of males and 42% of females respond to emails when out of the office.  Those numbers actually sound low to me. The survey also shows that younger workers are more likely to think about work when going to bed and when waking. Just wait! Pretty soon thinking about work will be the same as work!

Are we losing our f’ing minds!?

Seriously! I want to know.  Having the ability to check and respond to emails outside of the office increase your work-life flexibility, but we talk about it like it’s an anchor.  That iPhone is only an anchor if you make it an anchor!  I have a son who plays baseball and I watch as many of his games as I can.  In between innings I always check my email and respond to work if necessary. I do not consider that work. I consider that watching my son play baseball!

Making the decision to take a half a day to watch my son play baseball is easy, because I know I can balance both jobs I have, running a company and being a Dad.  Does my son care that I’m checking email while he’s warming up in between innings?  No. He doesn’t even notice.  It’s not like I’m behind the backstop giving a performance review over the phone while he’s up to bat! I’m just checking and following up on some emails.

If you decide you want to stay connected to your job and organization while you are out of the office, that is a personal decision. Don’t act like you’re a hero going above and beyond by keeping up on your emails. You’re not, everyone does that.

If keeping up with your emails is the real work you’re doing, you’re highly overpaid and easily replaceable. If telling your coworkers you checked emails while out of the office on some personal time to show how dedicated and better you are than them, you need to get a life, email hero.

Is the Grass Really Greener?

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If you’ve handed in a two-week notice, you’ve probably heard:

“Just remember! The grass isn’t always greener!”

They’re mostly right. Here’s what “greener grass” really means when you’re thinking about a new job:

  • 50%: Same Shade of Green – Half the time, the new job is pretty much the same as the old one. The work, the people, the pay—it’s all about the same. The only changes are the company’s name and maybe the location.
  • 30%: Light Brown – In 30% of cases, the new job is worse, like dead grass. HR might think this happens more often, but it’s still enough to make you think twice.
  • 10%: Bright Green – There’s a 10% chance the new job is fantastic, like a dream come true. Everything is better, and you’re super happy with your decision.
  • 10%: Artificial Turf – For the remaining 10%, the new job isn’t what you expected at all. It’s like moving to a place where grass doesn’t grow, and they’ve put in fake grass or rocks instead. It’s not worse, but it’s definitely different from what you thought it would be.

Why Do We Think Moving is Better?

  1. Recruiters who are good at their jobs – Recruiters and hiring managers often make the new job sound amazing, like you’re moving from a boring place to somewhere incredible. It’s easy to believe their pitch.
  2. The unknown seems better – We often think the unknown is better than what we have. This happens with jobs, relationships, and even choosing a table at a restaurant.
  3. Grass is Always Greener Syndrome – We tend to think others have it better. If you’re eager to leave your job, yet others are eager to get it, what does that mean? It’s unlikely that you’re the only one who’s right. The truth is usually somewhere in the middle.

People often say young workers like to change jobs a lot and don’t have loyalty. The truth is they might just not know the realities of job changes. Everyone likes switching jobs until it goes wrong, and they end up leaving something good for something bad.

Once you’ve experienced a bad job change, you’re less likely to switch jobs again, even if your current one isn’t great. Don’t underestimate your current job. It’s probably better than you think, and the new one might not be as good as it sounds. It’s not exciting, but it’s reality.