#1 Thing Job Seekers Do Wrong

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I was asked recently by a job seeker: “How do I zero in positions that I’m qualified for and, those that I will be challenged by?” (shout out to Michael Kubica, MBA for the question)  After going back and forth with Mike I think the question is really: “How do I get a job that will use my skills and that I will actually find interesting?”   Most people don’t really want to be ‘challenged’ – they use the word ‘challenged’ or ‘challenging’, but when push comes to shove what most people want is a job where they feel like their contributions are valuable to the organization and their using the skills they are best at.  People want to feel successful – not challenged.  Many times when you’re challenged, you fail – most people don’t like to fail – and will quit.  But job seekers know that hiring managers and HR folks to hear the “challenge” word!

It boils down to what are failed job seekers doing wrong?

The #1 thing that job seekers are doing wrong is only looking for jobs, of jobs that are posted!

I hear it constantly. “I’ve been applying to jobs constantly”, “I’m on the job boards, Indeed, directly to company pages, etc. There isn’t a job posted that I haven’t applied to – there’s nothing left I can do…”  The reality is, HR and Talent Pros know this, most jobs that you want never really get posted.  Here’s how a vast majority of jobs get filled today:

Step 1: Need for a position is Identified in an organization. This might be for a new position being created, a person who resigned, termination, etc. – but now we know we need a body.

Step 2:  The hiring manager, or person who knows of the need first, has one thought – “who do I know, right now, that would fit this position?”

Step 3: If there is an answer to the question in Step 2 – that person is contacted.

(Realize – never in the first 3 steps was there any mention of “Oh, we better post that position quickly!” This all happens before any of that talk)

Step 4:  If there is a viable candidate to fill the need of the organization – that position is filled with that need – the position is never posted.

I say ‘it’s never posted’, but we all know that’s not true – it gets ‘posted’ but it really doesn’t get posted.  It only gets posted to close the loop on the recruiting process – but the resource to fill the need has already been identified – so you applying to that posting is an exercise futility. So many of the positions that get filled in our organizations, are filled like this. Who do you know?  I know someone. Bam! Filled. Job seeker – you’ve got know shot at these ‘prime’ positions.  That’s something behind the curtain that HR/Talent Pros don’t want you to know.

So, what can Job Seekers do to combat this?

Simple.  Network.  Connect with people in your expertise in the companies you want to work. With the people at companies in the area you want to work.  As a job seeker you want to put yourself into the minds of those individuals who when they find out they’re going to have a need – your name comes up in that conversation.  Keep posting – but spend at least double the time you do posting – networking and meeting those who will be in those conversations.  You’ll open yourself up to an entire other bucket of potential openings!

 

Ridiculous Terminations

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Once in a while in HR we have to make ridiculous decisions to terminate an employee.   Maybe it’s a well liked, popular employee, an employee with long tenure close to retirement, an employee who did something supporting their beliefs but still wrong, etc.  Those kinds of decisions come in all shapes and sizes.

What about firing an employee who was abused by a spouse, and because the company feared the spouse might come to the placement of employment, HR terminated the employee to protect all the rest of the employees?

What do you think about that call HR friends?

I have had to fire some employees for reasons I did not support in the least, but I was directed by a senior executive to do it.  Period.  I had two choices – 1. Fire the employee, or 2. Lose my own job and someone else would fire the employee.  While those few and far times don’t sit well with any HR Pro, most of us are put in that type of situation at least a few times in our career.  Do I become a martyr and quit to show my support for this employee, or save myself?  I’ve always decided to save myself.  Family to feed, mortgage to pay – does it really matter the reasons – either way I’ve had to compromise my true beliefs and do something I didn’t believe in.

As Paul Smith says – “Welcome to the Occupation!” (Great HR blogger, BTW, Check him out)

So, what about our example above with your employee who is being abused and you fire her because you don’t want her crazy husband showing up at your office with a gun?! What did you decide?  Let this poor woman fend for herself, or are you going to help her and put all of your employees at risk?  I bet a fair amount of you are not going to fire her!! What if I told you she was an elementary school teacher and her place of employment was surrounding 400 children. Now what do you do?!?!

From Gawker and a real-life example from San Diego, CA:

Earlier this year, Carie Charlesworth and her four children were removed from Holy Trinity School after she gathered up the courage to disclosed her struggles with domestic violence to the school’s principal.  After what the second-grade teacher’s called “a very bad weekend with [her ex-husband],” the unidentified man arrived outside the school, prompting a lockdown.

She was subsequently put on “an indefinite leave,” and then formally terminated three months later.”

Of course the employer wouldn’t comment on publicly about personnel issues. (I love that HR statement!)

Want to know why women don’t come forward about domestic violence issues? It only takes a few examples like this.  This is one HR firing I don’t think I could have done – losing my job or not – I’m positive my wife and kids would have understood. I understand you need to protect all of those children – but you need to try some other things before throwing out an employee and 4 of those kids onto the street to fend for themselves.

The Myth of Being a Highly Selective Employer

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We all think it, don’t we?  We all want to believe in this notion that we only hire the best and brightest – we only hire quality.  We are ‘highly’ selective.

We’ll show our executives really cool data that shows how ‘highly’ selective we are.  Number of applicants per hire – 25,000 people applied for this position and we only took the best 1!

I read something interesting recently from Time magazine and college admissions at highly selective colleges – think Harvard, Yale, MIT, etc.  Schools that are super hard to get into because of how selective they are – much like your hiring process of your organization. From the Time’s article:

“What many parents and students don’t realize is that increasing numbers of applications isn’t necessarily a sign that it’s harder to get into a selective school; rather, it’s a sign of changes in behavior among high school seniors. More and more people who aren’t necessarily qualified are applying to top schools, inflating the application numbers while not seriously impacting admissions. In fact, it has arguably become easier to get into a selective school, though it may be harder to get into a particular selective school…

The most recent study available from the National Association for College Admission Counseling shows that between 2010 and 2011 (the most recent years available), the percentage of students applying to at least three colleges rose from 77% to 79% and the percentage of students applying to at least seven colleges rose from 25% to 29%. In 2000, only 67% of students applied to three or more colleges, while 12% applied to seven or more.

The net effect of this behavior is to create an illusion of increased selectivity. Especially at the most selective schools, an increase in applications generally leads to the acceptance of a smaller percentage of the students who apply. However, students who meet the academic and extracurricular thresholds to qualify for competitive schools will still get into a selective college; it’s just less likely that they’ll get into a specific competitive college. These schools work hard to not admit students who won’t attend;  the acceptance rate and the matriculation rate (the percentage of accepted students who attend) are key measures in many college ranking methodologies, so both admitting too many students and admitting students who don’t attend can hurt a college’s ranking.”

An illusion of increased selectivity…You see, just because you turn down a high number of candidates doesn’t make you more selective – it makes you popular.  Too many organizations, and HR departments, are marketing that they are highly selective based on some simple numbers that give an illusion of being highly selective, when in reality, they’re just good at processing a high number of applicants – but not really being ‘more’ selective.  Just because you turn down 24,999 candidates doesn’t make you selective – it just means you have a high number of applicants.

So what does make you selective?  Quality of hire – which I can argue is another very subjective metric in most organizations – but at least it’s a start.  Can you demonstrate with real measurable items that the applicants you’re hiring are better or getting better than those previously?  This creates a real evidence that you’re becoming ‘more’ selective and on your way to becoming ‘highly’ selective.

3 Giant Misnomers of HR Technology

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One of the big things that hits you right across the face when attending SHRM’s national conference is all the technology that is being peddled at the conference. Hundreds of companies are all there competing for your HR dollar on how they are going to make your HR life easier.  The problem is  – I don’t really get what of these companies really do!  There’s no real differentiation amongst any of them – and I actually follow the industry!   It seems like the current popular ones like Ultimate Software,  Silkroad  and Halogen can do everything!  I mean everything but actually ‘do’ HR! That’s the trick right?!  You get sold on the fact that ‘this’ software is going to change how you ‘do’ HR forever – but you still have to ‘do’ HR.  It will definitely change how you do HR – no doubt.

The problem is, of the thousands of HR Pros who are attending SHRM this week – 99.9% couldn’t tell you what one of these company does from the next.  They all claim to be able to solve an HR issue that ails you.  That’s one of the biggest issues I see with most of the all-in-one suites – if you have one problem – let’s say it’s succession – you really have to convert everything over to their entire platform – because they have workflow that integrated.  That isn’t a bad thing – but put on your work boots – because you’re about to take on a gigantic project and change your entire way of doing HR – to solve that one problem you were facing!

The 3 Giant Misnomers of HR Technology:

1. HR Technology Makes HR Easier. HR Technology doesn’t make HR ‘easier’.  It makes HR faster.  The technology allows you to do things at a higher rate, gives you more capacity – but not easier.

2. HR Technology Will Make You Better at HR.  Again – it’s a piece of software.  If you’re a crappy HR Pro – You’ll now be a crappy HR Pro with an expensive piece of technology!  Way too many company executives fall into this trap.  We’re bad at HR – let’s go spend a boat load of money on technology and then we’ll be good at HR! No you won’t.

3. HR Technology Will Save You Money. The one thing you’ll find when looking into purchasing HR technology is that tech sales pros are exceptional at delivering to you a ROI model so it seems like HR all of a sudden went from cost-center to profit-center over night!  It won’t.  Good HR Tech costs money. Implementation, upkeep, training, etc.  The savings are ‘soft’ dollars and hard to sell to a finance person who gets reality.

Sounds like a I hate HR Tech, doesn’t it?!  I don’t – I love it!

I just see the blank stares and confusion on the face of my fellow HR pros when the walk the expo floor.  Do you need HR Technology to be good at HR?  Yes.  Competency in HR Technology is probably one key ingredient to being a ‘great’ HR Pro – that so very few of us actually have!  How do you get it?  Free Demos baby!  All of these companies give free demos – use them!  Teach yourself.  Make a friend in IT and ask questions when you don’t get it.  If you went through one demo per month on a piece of HR Technology, you would be amazed at how much you would actually learn about HR, your own HR shop and things you can do to improve yourself and your organization!

Live at SHRM 2013 – Don’t Rob My House

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Hey, I’m live today at the national SHRM 2013 conference in Chicago – please don’t rob my house while I’m gone!

This hit me this morning as I woke up in Chicago and thinking about the 15,000 plus participants here at SHRM with me, who’s watching their stuff while they’re out!?  Do you think there is a business opportunity here? House sitting for SHRM could be big business – for watchers or robbers! 😉

Here’s what I’m doing today –

– Meeting with Glassdoor and ADP – two companies that I think most people don’t really understand what they actually do now, compared to what we think they do.  (Check out Fistful for live interviews!)

– Live at The Hive at 2:30pm with the entire Fistful of Talent crew.

– Pimping the Expo floor to see what is new and innovative for HR and Recruiting.

– Hugs.

– DJ Jazzy Jeff cocktail party at the house of blues.

Initial perception – most companies are trying to be everything for everyone in HR.  We do talent management, we do payroll, we do succession, we do all HR all the time.  The problem is – they don’t.  Sure the software systems are probably much better than what you have currently – but it’s still a piece of software.  HR is ‘done’ by technology it’s done by people having conversations with other people, and solving problems.  The tech helps you do all of that faster – but you still have to do the heavy lifting and difficult conversations.

Don’t think you have to have the next big fancy thing to do great HR – you don’t.  If you have money and work in an environment that needs to move fast – there is some great systems available.  If you don’t have money – don’t use a tech excuse of they you can’t do great HR! The SHRM Expo has so many great things for HR and Talent Pros to buy, but all of them are nice to haves, not must haves.

One last thing – apparently at SHRM I’m a blogger – I’m not press. I’m cool with that, I don’t want to be considered press – to me ‘press’ is real writing – my writing is more graffiti than real writing.  But (there’s always a but!) – if you want me to ‘interview’ and meet with your vendors get the ‘press room Nazi’ off my back when I want to do that in quiet in the press room!  I was actually told today “You’re not press! You have to do that in the bloggers lounge!”, in front of the executive I was bringing in to interview!  Nothing like traditional SHRM making you feel like a second class citizen!

FOT and Me at SHRM National 2013

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I only have one goal when I attend the annual SHRM National Conference:  Make Friends!

Yep – I want to meet HR Pros from all over the world and connect.  I’ll be in Chicago this year from Saturday (leading a panel at the SHRM National Student conference Saturday afternoon) thru Tuesday.

Monday June 17th will be the big Fistful of Talent event – at 2:30pm at The Hive – which is SHRM’s social media breakout area.  The FOT crew will be presenting “The 3 Best Things You’ll Bring Back from SHRM – FOT’s Gift to HR Pros” – in typical FOT fashion the gang will be giving you low-cost/no cost ideas that you can take back to your HR shop and put into immediate use.  They’ll be out of the box – they’ll be fresh – they’ll be entertaining.  Come see the Fistful team, and yes I’ll be giving out hugs!

What’s the best time to connect with me? 

Sunday afternoon and evening.  Monday any time except at 2:30pm – which I’ll see you at The Hive!

What’s the best way to ensure you get time with me?

I like Diet Mt. Dew.  I go on long searches to find Diet Mt. Dew through giant conference halls all over the world.  I’ll come visit your booth if you have Diet Mt. Dew.  (I also like Sprinkles Cupcakes, long walks on the beach, Gin and Tonic with a lime, Nike gear and sweet potato fries)

How can you find me?

@TimSackett on the Twitters.  Sackett.tim@hru-tech.com on the emails.

What’s going to happen when we meet?

A hug. If you having hugging issues we can shake hands and when you leave I’ll hug you then.

See you in Chicago!

 

 

2013 – Smoking In the Office

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I’ve decided I’m going to start allowing my employees to smoke in the office.  Maybe it’s watching too many episodes of Madmen, or maybe it’s just some psychological phenomenon about growing up with parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc. who all smoked that I weirdly like  hanging out with smokers – but I don’t smoke.  Don’t get me wrong – I’m not allowing traditional lighting up – this is 2013 – we’re going Electronic!  E-Cigarettes are all the rage and I can’t think of a better way to cure my mental cravings about hanging out at smoke breaks than to just allow my staff to start lighting up – alright I don’t know if you call it lighting up maybe it’s powering up those E-Cigs and getting their E-Smoke on!

E-Cigarettes are coming big business because of the assumption they’re safer. From BusinessWeek:

“The electronic cigarette is about to have its turn in the spotlight. The battery-powered gadgets transform nicotine and other substances into an inhaled vapor and have been marketed as a safer alternative to tobacco smoke, which is drawn into the lungs and increases cancer risks. The rapidly growing e-cigarette business—expected to top $1 billion in annual sales in the next few years—is racing to command a bigger share of spending among smokers and potential smokers ahead of possible regulations from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.”

This brings in all that was good about 1970’s business and modernizes it! (did you catch that the only thing I think about a ‘good’ 1970’s business was their ability to smoke in the office!) I can’t wait until my next big conference room meeting with 20+ employees all smoking away on their E-Cigs, talking sales, talking red meat they’ll grill that night – if that isn’t quintessential Americana I don’t know what is!  Sure its a little more metro-sexual America, but it’s 2013, let’s face it – so few of us can pull off the Marlboro Man look anymore!

I know most of you think I’m joking but wait and see HR Pros.  E-Cigarettes are not considered ‘cigarettes’ by the FDA.  If you have an employee come in and want to suck on a battery powered device at their desk that emits water vapor – are you going to tell them ‘No’!  Especially when that same employee could chose to take an hour+ per day off to stand outside and fire up for real?!  Doesn’t productivity and health demand you allow your employees to E-Light-Up at their desk or workstation?

What do you think HR Pros?  Will you join me in allowing your employees to E-Light Up in the office?  Do any of you allow this now?  Has any employee approached you and asked to do this?  Will you shoot the first employee who is standing outside taking a 10 minute smoke break who is puffing on a E-Cigarette?

93% Employment!

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I don’t know about you, but I think having a 93% employment rate is pretty damn good!

Take this little test:

1. Pick any profession or trade – even unskilled positions.

2. Bring in 100 currently employed people within your specific position you chose.

3. Interview all 100.

4. Now – tell me out of the 100 you interviewed – would you offer a position to 93 of them!?

No way, ever, in any position!

Let’s break down the 100 interviews:

– 3 – you’ll have 3 candidates that won’t even show up – car trouble, emergency, alarm clock didn’t go off, etc. (these are automatic ‘No’s’)

– 4 – you’ll have 4 candidates that will show and you will wish they hadn’t for a number of reason – most dealing with hygiene and/or obnoxious laughing or talking.

– 2 – you’ll have 2 candidates that will be completely arrogant and won’t fit your culture – no offer.

– 5 – you’ll have 5 candidates that you’ll like, but they won’t like you.

The reality is your pool is about 85 of 100 on your very best, most lucky day.  You’re not really selecting from 100 ever.  So now you have 85 candidates of which you’ll find some too light or too heavy on experience,  you’ll hate the school they graduated from, you’ll get bad references on a half dozen, etc.

93%!

I’m telling you right now – at 93%, America is fully employed!  I’m always amazed to hear people in business talk about high unemployment.  I don’t think they really understand what that number represents.  When you talk to HR people, 100%, they’ll be able to give you a list of people who are working for them, that they wish weren’t working for them, but they can’t find anyone better!

93%!

 

 

Brains Before Bros

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True or False: My existing talent pool is always my first line of defense in filling key roles that become available in my organization.

If the first statement is true, shouldn’t the second one be too? In a perfect world, yes. But we know that isn’t always the case, and unfortunately employee development is often overlooked when organizations are forming their talent strategies.

Join hiring smart (people) experts Kris Dunn and Kelly Dingee for Brains Before Bros: Why Hiring Smart People over Experienced People is a Winning Talent Strategy, sponsored by our friends at SumTotal, on Tuesday June 12 at 1pm EST and they’ll hit you with the following:

1.    A rundown of the factors driving talent scarcity in today’s workforce and why it’s better to hire smart people and train for success.

2.    FOT’s definition of “smart” and common false positives you need to consider when defining what smart looks like for your organization.

3.    Three signs that your top talent may be looking to jump ship and how to reel them back in by providing the incentives they really want. (Hint: It’s not always monetary).

4.    Five ways to keep training and development programs aligned with evolving expectations from top applicants and your existing talent – without breaking your budget.

5.    We’ll close this webinar by bringing in Steve Parker from SumTotal to help you ensure your leadership team is creating the right environment to get the most out of your existing talent.

 Your traditional approach to talent isn’t working—start putting brains before bros and maximize your talent strategy today.

REGISTER HERE

Knowing What You Want To Do

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Like most of my posts, this post just came to me as a thought and will probably take me about 5 minutes to write (alright grammar Nazi’s I hear you – maybe I should spend more than 5 minutes writing…). I was driving home the other day and had this thought about my kids – I tend to do my best thinking when I’m alone in the car signing.  I was thinking for how much I want my kids to be successful, it might be more important for me to wish them this one seemingly simple thing:

“The ability to know what you want to do in life.”

Simple, right?  Simple, but it seems like so many people I meet in life don’t know this and really struggle most of their life because of this one little concept.  Yeah, we know all the statistics – you’ll change jobs 132 times during your career, blah, blah, blah.  This is something you can’t give to someone -it’s truly their journey.  People go to college and can’t make this decision. They decide not to go to college and can’t make this decision.  They go and do and try and try again – and still don’t know what it is that they want to do in life.

I don’t take this concept lightly, and I don’t think most others do as well.  That is probably why it becomes just an overwhelming process.  “What is it that I want to do for the ‘rest’ of my life?”  There in lies the problem with this concept – ‘rest’ – to try and make someone chose what they want to do for the ‘rest’ of their life is almost impossible.  I think it’s great when I meet someone and they have this desire and passion of knowing what it is they want to do with their life.  It’s such a great energy to be around.  I’ve seen it in teachers, clergy, doctors, etc. – it feels like a calling to them.

But I can’t get over the majority – the majority of folks who don’t have this ‘calling’ and yet still feel like they are waiting for something to do for the ‘rest’ of their life.

Here’s what I will tell my sons when they feel this pressure put upon them by society, by me, by whomever feels it’s their right to place burden:

“Do it all.”

“Try everything. Then try it again if you want.” 

“Never feel like you have to do any one thing for the ‘rest’ of your life.”

G*d, I hope I have the foresight and courage to say this to them!  Knowing what you want to do in life, really at any given time, might be the greatest single gift you could have.