Category Archives: Diversity

The Rules About Hugging At Work

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Hello. My name is Tim Sackett, and I’m a hugger.   Being a hugger can make for some awkward moments – what if the other person isn’t expecting a, or doesn’t want to, hug and you’re coming in arms-wide-open!?

Fast Company has an article recently titled: To Hug Or Not To Hug At Work? by Drake Baer, that delved into this subject.  Here’s a piece from the article:

“the uncomfortable feeling you get when you realize that your concept of your relationship with someone else doesn’t match their concept. The intensity of awkwardness roughly corresponds to the magnitude of difference in relationship concepts.”

I consider myself to have a number of roles: Husband, Dad, Coach, Boss, Friend, Coworker, etc.  In each of those roles I’ve hugged and will continue to hug.  Sometimes, though rarely, I’ll find someone who isn’t a hugger.  The first time I ever met Kris Dunn face-to-face, we’ve had known each other and talked frequently by phone for a year, at the HR Tech Conference – he was coming out of a session, I recognized him, he recognized me, and I went full ‘bro-hug’ (sideways handshake, other arm hug-back slap combo) on him, and I’m pretty sure he was caught off guard – but played along.  Kris is a closet hugger.  Jason Seiden, he’s a hugger.  So are Laurie Ruettimann and Dawn Burke.  I find Southern folks are huggers, more than Northern.  Western more than Eastern.  Canadians more than Americans.  Men feel much more comfortable hugging women than other men. Women will hug anything.

I thought it was about time we had some hugging rules for the office, so here goes:

The Hugging Rules

1. Don’t Hug those you supervise. (The caveats: You can hug a subordinate if: it’s being supportive in a non-creepy way (major family or personal loss – sideways, kind of arm around the shoulder, you care about them hug);  it’s at a wedding and you are congratulating them; it’s a hug for a professional win (promotion, giant sale, big project completion, etc.) and it’s with a group, not alone in your office with the lights off; you would feel comfortable with your spouse standing next you and watching that specific hug.)

2. Hug your external customers or clients when they initiate hugging sequence.  (The caveats: Don’t hug if: it is required to get business – that’s not hugging, that harassment. Don’t let hug last more than a second or two, or it gets creepy; Don’t mention the hug afterwards, that makes you seem creepy!)

3. Don’t Hug the office person you’re having an affair with in the office.  (no explanation needed)

4. Hug peers, not just every day. (It’s alright to hug, but you don’t need to do it everyday for people you see everyday. Save some up and make it special!)

5. When you Hug, hug for real. (Nothing worse than the ‘fake hug’!  A fake hug is worse than a non-Hug.)

6. Don’t whisper – ‘You smell good’ – when hugging someone professionally. (That’s creepy – in fact don’t whisper anything while hugging!)

7. Don’t close your eyes while hugging professionally.  (That’s weird and a bit stalkerish)

8.  It is alright to announce a Hug is coming. (Some people will appreciate a – ‘Hey! Come here I’m giving you a hug – it’s been a long time!’)

9. It’s never alright to Hug from behind.  (Creepier!)

10.  Never Hug in the restroom. (Make for awkward moment when other employees walk in and see that.)

11.  If you’re questioning yourself whether it will be alright to Hug someone professionally – that is your cue that it probably isn’t.

 Do you have any hugging rules for the office?

You Might Like Candidates With Hickeys

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I was sitting in my living room this past Mother’s Day watching the final moments of the PGA Player’s Championship which was won by Tiger Woods and thought to myself how much America loves stories about people who fall and get back up.  My teenage son was watching and cheering on Tiger, even though he is aware of Tigers many transgressions.  My wife, of course, refuses to cheer Tiger on and I look on with interest – as I’m sure many sports fans do.  My interest is to see how someone claws back to the top.  I not a Tiger hater or a Tiger lover – I consider myself an observer of a gigantic societal experiment.  How many people can one person offend, and then see how many he can win back – by winning.

I wonder if Tiger was not a Nike poster child and start athlete, if he was just your ordinary every day accountant, how we might treat him differently?  If Tiger, the CPA, came into your office and you knew of his past behavior, would you ever give him a chance to work at your company?  My guess is, the majority of HR pros would say – “No!”   “We don’t want that ‘kind’ of person working in our company.”  “He made personal choices, and now he should pay for them professionally.”

These are the same HR pros that when a talented employees comes to them, whose performance has recently slipped, and tells the HR pro, “I’ve got a drinking problem” – that HR pros will go to great lengths to help that employee find help.  To get them back on the ‘right’ path, and welcome them back to their workforce with open arms.  “But, Tim, Tiger didn’t ask for help, he got caught!  There’s a difference!”  Yes, you are correct – one sought help, one got caught.  That seems to be the fine line to whether we will give people a second chance in our country.

Come forward and admit your sins – and all if forgiven.   Don’t come forward and get caught – and live for eternity paying for your sins.  Both sinned.  Maybe the person who got caught was one day way from finally realizing it was their time to come forward, maybe they were two days away, who knows.  Such unequal treatment to some very similar end results of behavior.

Think about that when you interview your next candidate who has a hickey on their resume.  Tiger was the best ‘talent’ in the entire world at his profession.  Did something horrible.  Now is again the best ‘talent’ in the entire world at his profession.  We are smarter about who he is now – a highly talented golfer with flaws as a man.  We don’t look at him as a ‘role model’ or a ‘hero’ – and we probably never should have.

I think a lot of companies are probably missing out and some great ‘talent’ – that only needs a second chance.  Eyes wide open.  That recovery addict might be your next most talented employee you’ve ever hired.  She might also be a total bust.  I can live with a total bust – I’ve hired busts before.  I have a hard time walking away from truly talented folks because they have a hickey!

 

Exclusively Inclusive

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The CEO of clothier Abercrombie and Fitch, Mike Jeffries, made some comments in an article that have set off women across the world!  Here are some of the comments from the original article in Salon (By the way – the article is from January 2006! – but were brought to light by a local CBS news show looking to get reaction from women):

“In every school there are the cool and popular kids, and then there are the not-so-cool kids,” he says. “Candidly, we go after the cool kids. We go after the attractive all-American kid with a great attitude and a lot of friends. A lot of people don’t belong [in our clothes], and they can’t belong. Are we exclusionary? Absolutely. Those companies that are in trouble are trying to target everybody: young, old, fat, skinny. But then you become totally vanilla. You don’t alienate anybody, but you don’t excite anybody, either.”

To keep this going Huffington Post Blogger, Sara Taney Humphreys, wrote an open letter to Jeffries last week on their website – A message to Abercrombie’s CEO from a former Fat Girl (remember this was response to an article from 7 years ago!):

“My first thought was… Is this for real? Am I reading an article in The Onion or something? No. Sadly, this quote was actually uttered by a supposedly educated and successful adult.

My second thought was… Does this guy have kids? By all accounts, the answer is no. Thank God. Can you imagine having this insensitive man as your father? Clearly, he doesn’t have children because if he did, I can’t fathom that he would do what he’s doing….Shame on you for perpetuating the bully on the playground mentality, in the online community and with our youth. The message you are sending is reprehensible and an appalling waste of an opportunity. You could have chosen to use your power and position to promote tolerance and love. Instead, you chose to promote and validate bullies. Your campaign is telling our young people that it’s perfectly acceptable to exclude someone because of the size of their body.”

Thousands of women responded to the comments the same way as Ms. Humphreys.  I’ll paraphrase the majority: “This guy is a jerk”, “He doesn’t get it”, “This is what’s wrong with America”.

I’ve never been able to wear A&F clothing – it’s not designed for me – short white guy, built like a fire hydrant.  I get it.   I wish I was a little bit taller, a bit skinner – but alas I’m comfortable with who I am and I’ve found stuff to wear.  I have 3 sons – not all of whom fit the body type of an A&F shopper – but they to have made it through life alright not wearing overpriced A&F stuff.  Because myself and my boys can’t fit into A&F clothing – I don’t think Mr. Jeffries is a monster.  I think he’s an opportunist, who saw a segment and filled it.  He wanted to attract a certain person to his establishment.  He did this knowing it might fail miserably – those cool kids with the skinny bodies – might have hated A&F clothes.  He took the risk of becoming exclusive and it paid off.  Capitalism.

Think about this example as an employment brand (and certainly A&F is an employment brand).  Do you want to be ‘Inclusive’ or ‘Exclusive’ in your Employment Brand?  I know the majority of you will say “Inclusive, of course!”  But a few will see the benefit of being ‘Exclusive’.  Being an exclusive employer will definitely shrink your candidate pool, but it will shrink your pool to your target market (Enterprise Rent-a-car goes after college athletes and has found great success in that pool).  If you like and have success with your target market – maybe an exclusive strategy is for you.  It’s too easy to say “Inclusion” is the answer to everything.  It’s not.

Not Everyone Is Created ‘Professional’

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My friend and HR Pro, Kris Dunn, is fond of saying – “The world needs ditch diggers to”.

I got into a conversation with a couple HR pros recently regarding helping them find ways to find ‘unskilled’ talent for their company.  Today’s ‘unskilled’ doesn’t really mean having no skills – it means the person didn’t have to go to a four year college and get a degree to do the job!  What they need, also, wasn’t professional skilled trades – people who have to go through a certification process – plumbers, electricians, pipe-fitters, toolmakers, CNC machinists, etc.  We talked about a number of various marketing and employment branding things they could do to steal people from their competitors, etc., but the conversation for me always goes back to root cause.

Why?  Why can’t a company find semi-skilled labor when we have millions of unemployed people in this country?  Why?

Root cause?  Our society makes kids believe they only have two options when coming out of high school!

1. College/University route

2. Prison

I’m not joking!  If you look at what our country is doing to public education it’s completely insane.  A kid, who obviously doesn’t want to go the college route, has very little opportunity to learn a skill, or begin to learn a skill, before he or she graduates.  When I was in school, I was college bound from the start (underlying meaning – Timmy didn’t like manual labor!).  Still I was ‘forced’ to take multiple classes in my middle and high school around the skill trades.  I took wood shop and some basic auto repair class – but I had friends that spent most of their time learning how to weld, electrical work, rebuilding engines, etc.  None of these people are unemployed now!  The schools started early to identify kids who had the ‘knack’ for these skilled professions.

I have two high school boys right now.  Great students – neither of which have ever really lifted a tool, used a saw, a drill, changed oil in a machine, etc.  They have almost zero opportunity to do this in their school setting.  So, is public education the problem?  No.  We are the problem.  We equate success with college graduation.  We equate ‘doing better’ with a white collar job.  We equate importance to society by having a title and a desk.  I feel lucky my boys are good students.  I should feel lucky if my kids are passionate about learning a trade – professional or skilled!  Something has to change and it’s not our schools – it’s our mentality to what success looks like in our society.  I find myself envious of my auto mechanic, of my electrician and my plumber – I wish I had half their skills!  I would be proud if my son came and said he wanted to be a toolmaker.  Those are great jobs and skills to have, and as the baby boom generation continues to leave the workforce – more and more of those ‘skilled’ professionals are going to be needed.

As Aristotle said, “Where the needs of the world and your talents cross, there lies your vocation.”

A Diversity Plan Even White People Can Live With!

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When was the last time you went to a crowded beach or park, or even went to an outdoor concert where you had to sit on the grass?  I can bet you did something – because everyone does this.  You set up a perimeter didn’t you? A what?! A perimeter. You put down your blanket, maybe an umbrella, some chairs, etc.  You made sure you carved out ‘your’ space, in a public space that is open to everyone.  Hell, let’s face it – if you would have had portable fencing you would have put that up as well.  Humans like to collect, build and attempt to keep all of it.  It’s why the Great Wall of China was built.  It’s why we have a silly fence up between the U.S. and Mexico.  It’s why you have a 6 foot high fence up around your 40 foot by 40 foot backyard in the suburbs.  You’re protecting ‘your’ space.

Diversity is about breaking down those walls, those barriers, so it stands to reason that those barriers that are being broken down are going to cause some folks to be uncomfortable.  In 99.9% of the cases in today’s work world – those folks are white people – and to slice it even further – white men.  Let me give you an example so we can discuss:

Let’s say you work in a company with 100 employees and 88% of those employees are white.  Now HR comes out and says “we value Diversity” (not sure who the ‘we’ is, but we’ll assume our white leadership team who live in the $750K homes and their kids go to schools with zero diversity), and we are going to do a bunch of ‘stuff’ to increase the diversity of our workforce.  Here’s what the 88% hear.  “You 88 white people aren’t good enough.  We need to get rid of some of you and bring in minorities because they can do it better.”  Which might be true.

Remember your blanket in the park?  Someone just sat their chair down in the middle of your white work forces blanket. That isn’t a good feeling.  (It’s uncomfortable for you to hear/read ‘white work force’ isn’t it? Most people who write about diversity/inclusion will use ‘majority’ and ‘minority’ because it puts it in less black and white terms – makes it easier to accept.)

Most organizations and HR shops struggle to do Diversity and Inclusion successfully in their organizations because they are unwilling to recognize this simple reality and address it.   Oh, believe me I hear you right now!  “Tim – diversity and inclusion isn’t about color – it’s about thoughts and ideas!” Then you my friend don’t get the reality of 90% of the organizations out there today.  For most it is still about faces – shouldn’t be – but it is.  To be successful – we have to move beyond that.  So, how do you do that?

There isn’t a perfect solution.  A silver bullet.  But I do know one way that has helped some organizations – but it might give you (HR and leadership) some answers that will be hard for to live with!  Data.  Data doesn’t lie.  It just gives you the truth.  If you ‘truly’ want better performance – through data, find the exact makeup of the highest performing groups and teams in your organization, industry, competitors, etc.  Here’s the catch – data might show you that your 100% all white guy sales team isn’t the most effective.  You might find that the makeup should be 90% 24 year old Asian females and 10% middle age Hispanic males.  You also might find that 100% white guy is the best.  Data will give you truth – most organizations don’t want the truth.  Most HR shops don’t want the truth.  They want to take your 88% white and turn it into 75% white because ‘feels’ better.

I’m not saying your white employees will like to hear that they are all getting let go so you can bring in your all female Asian team, but at least there is a reason based on data – not feelings.  HR and leadership have been sold a false premise that Diversity and Inclusion is good for all.  It makes you better.  And so we march forward like lemmings off a cliff, not questioning the truth.  The truth is – diversity and inclusion might be great for your organization.  The truth is – it also might be disastrous for your organization.  Do the research.  Stop reading USA Today articles.  Figure out what is actually best for your organization.  Don’t blindly follow anything, just because everyone else is doing it.  There is a ‘right’ answer out their for your organization, and you might be surprised at what that answer is.

Are You Getting Knocked Up or What?

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I have to stand up and applaud Sheryl Sandberg today.  Not for leaning in.  For finally saying what every HR and Operations person in history has always thought, but every lawyer who works for our organizations would never allow us to do.  Ask a simple question that has huge aspects to how we run our businesses.  “So, what’s the deal?  You knocked up or what? What’s the plan?”  It’s not discriminatory. It’s not biased.  It’s a reality of our workforce.  Women get pregnant and have to take time away to have the child.  Organizations need to plan effectively for this.  To do that the leadership team needs some time to plan.  Seems like a very simple concept to grasp. Yet, most in HR, to this day, advise their leadership teams to never have this conversation with a female employee.

From the Wall Street Journal – Sheryl Sandberg: It’s OK to talk about babies:

“People genuinely want to handle gender issues in the workplace well, but it’s a topic that makes everyone uncomfortable,” says Sandberg. “No one wants to be insensitive, so often they say nothing at all.” One male manager told Sandberg he would rather talk about his sex life in public than take up gender issues with his staff.

Many managers, especially men, may shy away from such discussions because they fear saying anything inappropriate, or worse, illegal. For lots of managers, even mentioning pregnancy and child-rearing is off limits. “The easy and often reflexive recommendation from counsel is often to stay away from any conversation or discussion,” say Joseph Yaffe and Karen Corman, employment lawyers at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom.

That’s a “very bad interpretation” of gender discrimination laws, Sandberg says. While rules to protect against gender discrimination are necessary, she says they shouldn’t be used to stifle important workplace conversations. “The path of not talking about it is not working,” she says.

So, should you do a 180 and now tell all of your leaders to start asking their female workforce if they’re actively engaged in trying to make babies? No, slow down cowboy!  Here’s some talking points to help move your organization towards having business necessity conversations about potential work disruptions due to pregnancy:

1. Let it be known publicly within your organization how you want to work and communicate with expectant ‘parents’ – both parents need to know, since many families are now deciding to use FMLA time to help care for their spouse/partner and baby.  This just isn’t a Mom issue any more.  Communicate that you expect that parents will miss time for the birth or adoption of a child.  The intent of communicating open and honestly with leadership to help plan your absence so there is as little disruption as possible to organization and for the individual employee.

2. Coach your leaders to never imply or pry about an individuals desires for family.  If your culture is open, your employees will come to your leaders when the time is right.  Be very clear with your leaders – an employees pregnancy is something very personal – some will want to celebrate, some will want to keep if very quiet – don’t treat everyone the same.  Always be supportive of how you as a leader and organization will continue to support them in their career development – in what ever way they decide they want this to go.

3. Acknowledge the realities of what is ahead.  I love having a sit down with HR, the group leader and the employee to have one big open discussion, having everyone on the same page in developing the transition plan.  This includes scheduling a return, which will have some flexibility to it.  The worst thing you can do to a new Mom is to have her go from maternity leave to full work week right away!  Start with partial week or days during the first week.  Talk with the leader about allowing for some additional flexibility during those first days. Be empathetic.  If you feel someone is taking advantage of your flexible policy – address that individually – don’t manage the entire organization like everyone will take advantage – most will not.

I go into each expectant mother conversation planning and expecting 100% will return to work. Period.  I know the reality is, 100% will not return.  I never ask, “So, are you coming back?”  The reality is most will never know until that baby is in their arms.  Those who know for sure, will tell you.  Either way, I don’t need to ask that question, my plan stays the same – how do we support the employee and support the organization will as little disruption to both as possible.

The worst thing we can do as leaders and HR Pros is act like everything is the same and not talk about it.  It’s not.  There will be change and great organizations plan for change, and make the best of the situation at hand.

Recruiting, Reenvisioned

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What is the worst buying experience you’ve ever had?  For most people, it’s buying a car.  New or Used, it doesn’t matter – buying a car, sucks.  It starts with the sales person.  You go onto a lot, you see a car you like and you want to take it for a test drive.  The last thing you want is to have someone you don’t know, ride a long with you and make small talk when you’re trying to decide if the car if right for you.  It starts the entire experience off on the wrong foot.  Then you finally decide and you have to sit through a minimum of an hour while you do this stupid dance between the sales person and their ‘sales manager’ as you negotiate the car.  From top to bottom, most people would rate – buying a car – as the single worst buying experience they’ll ever experience.  The entire process is set up for the car dealers, not for the buyers.

From a recent article in Time on re-envisioning the car buying experience:

…“I wish the Apple store was more like an auto dealership.” Or even something like: “My check engine light comes on and I smile.”…When asked what car shopping should be like, Michael Accavitti, vice president of marketing at American Honda, and one of the judges at the challenge, offered the following description:

“It should be like when you go to an ice cream store. Everybody is happy at the ice cream store. They are laughing, smiling and joking. When you buy a car, it should be the same.”

Recruiting is a little like buying a car for a company/hiring manager/candidates.  It’s uncomfortable. Both sides want to ask things, but they don’t. Both sides want information, but it’s not shared.  In the end, one side usually feels like they’ve won, and one side feels like they ‘left something on the table.’

How do we change that?

That is a really difficult question.  Like the car buying experience, dealers and auto companies would have changed it decades ago if they would have a better answer.  The problem comes down to the company not believing the buyer is smart enough to understand their position and need for a profit.  “Hey, look, the car cost us $15K, we need to make $2K, the taxes will be $1K – it’s going to cost you $18K” Instead they they list it $25K, and let us feel like we are ‘getting a deal’ when they negotiate it down to a purchase prices of $21K – then we find out a neighbor down the street got his for $19K and we lose our minds.  Trust broken – you made one sale, you won’t make another.

I think, like the article explains, recruiting functions need to become more match making services versus we’re going to sell you what we have!  Ultimately, I’m not looking for the best talent. I’m not.  I’m looking for the best talent that matches my culture and can work effectively within our organization and those already in it. Those could be very different people.  Recruiting tends to only look, or mostly only look, for skill match.  Hiring manager needs Java Developer, Recruiting delivers Java Developer, one or both are miserable because they didn’t really match to begin with.  The problem with why we don’t do this now, is that it frankly takes to long and is too subjective.  Subjectivity causes HR heartburn.

I don’t have an exact answer, but I wonder what recruiting would look like if we went more match.com vs. monster.com?

 

My Dongle is Bigger Than Your Dongle

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In case you missed it last week, a couple people got fired for joking about the size of their dongles at a conference. Here’s the article from Tech Crunch — A Dongle Joke That Spiraled Way Out of Control.  Long story short — two guys make a sexually suggestive joke about a Dongle to no one in particular, but it’s at a conference and they’re in mixed company.  A lady overhears them and doesn’t like it. She takes a quick picture of them with her phone and tweets out the pic and the comment about how crude they are.  This gets the jokester fired, and, after the fallout, gets the lady who posted the picture fired!

To get reaction – I went to my buddy with the biggest dongle I know – Laurie Ruettimann!

(Tim) Laurie – you know the deal, you’ve been in HR, a couple of idiot guys saying inappropriate stuff – it’s HR 101 and an easy termination!  The backlash on the female who posted the original comment and pic, Adria Richards, I thought was a bit crazy.  It almost screams retaliation termination.  What is your take on this?  How would you have handled it as the HR leader?

(Laurie) If there is one thing like I like more than Human Resources, it’s dongles. I love them.

You know what I really hate? Public shaming. Adria Richards was well within her rights to be offended by a joke. I think using a #hashtag to talk about the joke, and gain the attention of the conference organizers, was okay. But when she took it upon herself to take a picture of the guys who made the dongle joke and publicly shame them, she went too far and exercised poor judgment.

Who wants to employ a person like that?

She was also fired because the hacker group Anonymous caught wind of her actions and went after her employer. Adria posed a risk to her organization. It was time for her to go.

There’s a lesson in this, Tim. Nothing good comes from industry conferences. Stop pretending like innovation and thought leadership happen at these stupid events. No matter what your industry, it’s mostly a bunch of nerdy dudes trying to hook up with hypersensitive chicks.  Get back to work.

(Tim)  LFR — Public Shaming?  You’re against Public Shaming!  Do you know Stephen Covey, Jack Welch and Mahatma Gandhi all call ‘Public Shaming’ one of the most underutilized management tools of the 21st century!  In fact, I think I taught a leadership development class on Public Shaming and Driving for Results back in the day.  

I’ll admit the Adria picture was a low blow — especially since in the photo it looks like there is one main dude she is pointing out, and that guy didn’t even do it.  Not only did she post the pic, she made it look like the wrong guy was the Neanderthal!  I’m still sitting here in shock you’re against public shaming, it’s the basis of every great HR Pro I know — and the entire liberal movement since the 1960’s!

(Laurie) My Dearest Timmy, I stand corrected. I am actually okay with public shaming when I do it, which is the hallmark of every great leader.

When I shame you, you deserve it. When someone shames me, they should get fired.

But the HR lady in me wonders why Adria didn’t have a crucial conversation with the guys who made the dongle joke. Right there. Adria wasn’t standing up for reproductive rights or fair wages. She wasn’t walking a picket line. Her safety and security weren’t being threatened. She heard a joke that bugged her. And if she can’t pony up the courage and tell two stupid dudes at an event to STFU, maybe she doesn’t deserve her job.

Leadership is all about small, subtle decisions. She made a big, dumb decision. So she’s out.

But you know my management motto: Do as I say, not as I do.

(Tim) I’m sure there’s some kind of poetic justice in all of this — but I’m an HR Pro and now have two positions to fill because people couldn’t act like adults.  Another day in HR!

So, what do you think? Would you have fired either, both or what? Hit us up in the comments.

3 Things You Can Do To Increase Your Female Engineering Hires

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I run a small technical recruiting company.  We hire mostly engineers and IT professionals.  It’s a good group to go after – they’re educated and higher level wage earners which typically cascades itself into other traits that are nice to work with – career focused, courteous, responsible, etc.  Because the technical demographic we go after – to be fair – it’s mostly men we have to deal with.  As any company who is trying to hire technical professionals can attest it is really difficult to hire minorities and/or females in the technical disciplines. Tough, but not impossible!

The one thing we hear all the time from almost every company we work with is, “Hey, if you ever come across any female or minority engineers let us know – we would be interested.”  Which begs the question – “Do you want me to find you a female or minority engineer?”  Of course they do!  But these good respecting HR Pros we work with will never say that because they think it’s against the law to say that.  Which it isn’t. But they assume it is, because saying the opposite would be!  (I.E., “Please don’t give us any female or minority engineers!”)  I won’t say the name of our client, but one Fortune 500 manufacturer we work with does actually use us for minority hiring and will say very specifically what they want.  Like they’re ordering a pizza!  It doesn’t bother me, because I know what they are trying to do is ‘right’ – they are attempting to have a positive impact on their diversity – I can support that!

I saw this from Etsy recently on how they increased their female engineering hires by 500%! Don’t go crazy – it was 20 hires – but still impressive.  Again, they’re a female dominated company, so as you can imagine that having female engineers was important to them, and you could probably also imagine females would be attracted to a female oriented company. From the article:

“Most technical interviews suck – fundamentally interviewers ask the question, “Quick, prove to me how smart you are!” “Smart” is not optional. “Quick” and “prove to me” are very rarely actually part of the job and you’re interviewing for the wrong thing – which generally sets up women for failure in the process…after two years, female engineers at Etsy are nearly 20% of the team, four and a half times what they numbered at the start of the initiative. When reached for comment, Etsy’s corporate communications would not comment on the current number of female engineering staffers, but told FORBES that the coming months would see the company making women a even bigger priority, particularly in the wake of the media coverage sparked by Elliott-McCrae’s presentation. After all, roughly 80% of the over 800,000 shops on the site are owned and operated by women. At a certain point, they should be represented from within the company’s ranks.”

So, how did Esty do it?  How did they increase their female engineering hires?  I’ll give you 3 things they did:

Step 1   Make it known publicly you want to hire women!  Too many companies decide behind closed doors this is something they want to do in their organization, but then never go the next step and let their staff know, let their industry know, etc.!  And not only that, but let your staff know why this is important!

Step 2  Don’t lower the hiring standard.  The first thing most companies do when an initiative like this becomes hot, is lower the standard. “Oh, you want more women. Ok, you need to allow us to hire entry levels and from ‘B’ level schools!” Don’t do that, you’ll marginalize the entire program and your people and your candidates will know it!

Step 3  Put women in charge of hiring women.  It’s Ok to have different hiring processes if they are both getting you, in the end, what you want as an organization.  You can make two interview decks, one for woman and one for men, that are both still valid and reliable.  It’s just hard, so 99.9% of you won’t do it. Have your female leaders interview your female candidates – they will do a better job at selecting female talent, especially if this is a huge organizational weakness you’re trying to correct!

The more you hire of any kind of person, they more your organization will start to take on those traits.  The more women you hire, the easier it will be to hire more.  It doesn’t happen overnight – but you can do it!

It’s Time To Change Your Employee Referral Program!

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The really cool thing about superheroes is that they are superheroes for a reason – they have someone who is their equal to compete against them. These competitors are the villains, and in the movies they’re doing bad things – but in real life these “villains” are only the bad guys and girls because they work for the competition.

So, how do you get your competitors talent to come over to your side and put on your company’s cape?  A great employee referral program is the key.

FOT is back at it with the March installment of our monthly webinar series. This month, with the help from the heroes at Zao, HR SuperFriends Kris Dunn and Tim Sackett will be laying down seven strategies that are guaranteed to put your employee referral program on another planet.  Join us Wednesday March 27 at 1pm ET and we’ll hit you with the following:

  • Seven surefire ways to engage your best employees and increase referrals (while ensuring your employees don’t refer SuperDuds!)
  • How to develop an internal communication strategy for your employee referral program.
  • The keys to sustaining your program long-term.
  • How and why trends like gamification can lead to better employee referral results.
  • The top three reasons 99% of employee referral programs fail and how you can make sure your employee referral program is delivering the goods all year long.

Don’t let your employee referral program fall to the Legion of Doom.

Register now for The SuperFriends: 7 Strategies to Get Your Superhero Employees to refer Their Arch Nemesis!