Recruitpon

Posted on by
4

I ran into something last week – a Staffing firm – calling a current client we do business with – offering to do what we do for half the cost.

“Sounds great! Half price recruiting services – sign me up!”

At least, that’s what I told our client.  I told them to go for it, do it – how could you turn down such a great “Recruitpon” – you have to buy!

The client was “ahh, Tim, you want us to go and use another firm?”  and I was like “ahh, no – but if you can get what I’m giving you for half price, don’t you from a business standpoint, have to do it!”  and the client was like “well, I was just hoping we could keep you guys, but get it cheaper.”  So, I was like “sure we can do it cheaper, which parts do you want me to cut out?” 

You see where this is going.

We aren’t the highest price recruiting company around and we aren’t the cheapest – I feel you get what you pay for.  When you hire HRU – you get me (and a bunch of talented pros that get it, that I have the pleasure of having on my team).  I’m a lot of things – but I’m not normally half off. 

I bet that would work though – a “Recruitpon” – let’s face it 97% of the recruiting companies out there will do just about anything to get a shot at your business.  Maybe your first question should be: Why?  Don’t you wonder as a corporate HR Pro – why does this company want to work with us – I mean really?  Why?  They’ll be able to tell you why “you” should work with “them” – but I bet they’ll stumble a bit at telling you “why we want to work with you” – and don’t let them off the hook on how they are the “solution” to all of your problems – really – all of my problems? Great  – come rub my feet…

It’s the single hardest thing I have to get across to my team – there are many companies we don’t want to work with – and only a few that we really want to work with.  I want to work with companies where I like and respect the people we have to work with – I will enjoy making those calls, having those meetings, etc.  If I don’t like working with you – that’s a misearable relationship – at any price – or even with a Recruitpon.

BTW – don’t run out and try to buy www.Recruitpon.com it’s already gone – it’s hard to stay ahead of a headhunter…

Where to find the Best Recruiters

Posted on by
Reply

Logical Argument (that I had with someone recently):

Best Recruiters = Best Companies to Work For

Rationale: The best recruiters bring in the best talent, the best talent make the best companies.

Illogical Argument (but factual):

Worst Companies to Work For = Best Recruiters

Rationale: If your company is the worst company to work for – meaning – you have bad environment, and a bunch of other negative stuff, it’s going to be very hard to recruit top talent to your organization.

———————————————————————————————-

I was having this conversation with an HR executive that I highly respect – but he can be a major idiot (i.e., he use to be my boss – which in itself doesn’t make him an idiot – that he does on his own).   Here’s my point.  Working at a bad company, makes it extremely hard to recruit.  This type of environment breeds recruiters who either fail (and usually very quickly) or through tremendous odds succeed in finding talent to little by little make their organizations better.  His point is easy: Great company, everybody wants to work for you, recruiter cherry picks best talent and then calls them to tell them they’ve won the Job Lottery (my explanation – not his!).

I’m not sure this is the chicken and egg scenario. Does the company make the recruiter great, or does the recruiter make the company great.  I really believe great recruiting can turn around a company that isn’t so great. But, average or even sub-average recruiters many times won’t pull down a great company.  At the same token – I do believe the Best Companies to Work For – have more average recruiters than great recruiters – (oh boy, I said it) – why?  Because working in recruiting for a Best Company, makes you lazy – you know longer are the hunter – you become the farmer.

Before you blow a gasket – I’ve worked in both environments – crappy going out of business company where nobody wanted the job you were offering – to – industry leading best company to work for everyone wanted your job, even the crappy jobs.  It was easier working for the latter.  Did the best company still have challenges, you bet – but it was still easier.  We had high class problems at the best companies (oh no! how do we properly select from all these great candidates) – compared to the bad company (oh no! how do we keep the doors open next week if we can’t hire enough people).

So, what’s my point?  If you are looking to hire a great, top performing recruiter – don’t believe the hype – that they need to come from a “Top” company.  Where they need to come from is a company that has faced major recruiting challenges, and they’ve found ways to be successful in-spite of those challenges. If you find a recruiter who has always live in fairy’s world their entire career – you throwing them into your nightmare might cause their halo to fall off.

What’s Your Job Legacy?

Posted on by
Reply

Have you ever wondered what people are saying about you at your last job?  No, not what your contacts say they are saying about you – but waht is really being said.  Think about it, what did you do, or didn’t do, that would lead people to bring up your name.  In a nutshell, that’s your Job Legacy. 

I like to think I’ve left a legacy at each job I’ve been at, some probably more positive than others, but a legacy none-the-less.  To leave a legacy you have do something that is lasting and memorable – something where people will go – “Remember when Tim…”   In the end why do you work?  I know it’s because you need money and benefits and blah, blah, blah…but really if you knew you had to leave your current employer in 24 months – what would you do differently to leave a legacy?

Oh, boy, that changes perspective a little doesn’t it.   If you’re in HR like me – please don’t believe that developing a process, or making a process better, or launching a new system, is going to have you leave a legacy.  People will remember the process or the system – but they won’t remember You.  Also, don’t think making a “big change” like instituting casual friday, or changing your compensation philosophy will work either – the leaders get credit for those things.  Wow – now it becomes a little harder, right?

So, how do you leave a legacy at your job?

Here’s what I think – there are a few ways:

1. Be so damn good – that it causes people pain or fear when you leave.  If a year after you left, people are still calling you for help from your old organization, you left a legacy.  If you think the company can’t go on without you, then you leave and you never hear from them again – you didn’t leave a legacy.

2. Build such strong relationships, that they become life-long professional relationships.  I get calls at least once per year to come work for someone I worked with perviously – not to go back to a company – but to come to a new company a peer or leader I worked with, is now working at.

3. Do something so stupid, it becomes part of the company culture.  I ran a department at one company and had 5 people report to me.  It was a department I started from the ground up, and we ended up saving a very large amount of money for the company.  I told my SVP that my 5 reports all needed more money, or I was going to look for another position.  He said thank you, I’ll take that as your resignation.  I don’t think he really got how negotiating worked! But I’m sure no one at that company has ever pulled that tactic again.

In the end we all choose whether or not to leave a legacy.  I’ve worked with thousands of people who were content not to leave a legacy – but I always tend to be pulled towards those who do want to leave a legacy.  There’s something about people who want to be great at what they do – there like magnets – they pull others to them that also want to be great – and pretty soon you have a pretty great team. 

So, you have a choice – what is your legacy going to be?

Unionize Everyone!

Posted on by
9

Like most HR folks I’ve been keeping a close eye on Wisconsin’s budget issues and their battles with state employee unions.  Here in Michigan, and really every state in America, is facing almost the exact same issue.  Public employee unions have done so well in negotiating over the years (or I could say, the state HR folks and our elected politicians have done such a bad job manging to the “business” of running our states), that they’ve bankrupt most states.  From a recent article on this issue: “Public Unions: A Bad Deal for the Public“:

“Wisconsin is nearly bankrupt. There is a $137 million shortfall in the fiscal year that ends June 30 and a projected deficit of $3.6 billion for the two years after that.

The deficit cannot be closed without trimming the pay and benefits of public employees. In 2008, these accounted for half of all state and local government spending, according to the federal Bureau of Economic Analysis. If government workers were paid the same as equivalent private sector workers, no state would have a budget deficit, calculated blogger George Noga, a certified public accountant.

Gov. Walker wants public employees in Wisconsin to contribute roughly half as much, proportionately, to their health plans and pensions as do workers in the private sector. The governor also wants to restrict public employee unions to bargaining for wages only, leaving the health and benefit packages and work rules up to elected officials to decide. And he wants the state to stop collecting dues for the unions, and to require them to win recertification elections each year.”

I guess as an HR Pro, I’m looking for someone to blame – so here it is – I blame my Grandparents.  You should to – what the heck, their old or dead, they can take the blame.  Plus, it’s really their fault – they were the one’s who made us believe – you can work 30 years (sometimes with little or no education) can paid a good enough wage to have a 3 bedroom/2 bath house, a summer cottage on Lake Unionskilledusslowly, then upon retirement at that old age of 50 – the company or public organization you worked for would keep paying you a pension for the next 30 years – or maybe even longer with that great medical insurance they were paying for as well.  Damn you Grandma!

So clearly, we are collectively, as a society too stupid, to understand this issue.  But I think I can help educate everyone with one simple solution – let’s Unionize everyone – I mean everyone – every single occupation from CEO to the Janitor – every single person will get a great wage, great benefits and full retirement after 30 years.  Sounds great doesn’t it!  Oh, you know the UAW, et al. are ready to make me President right now (wait a minute – no I’ll answer that call later).  One Question, I have – how long until we go bankrupt as a society?  What do you think?  I’ll give it 13 seconds.  We can all enjoy the same pay benefits and pensions as the unions for 13 seconds – hope you liked it!

I know how we got here – I’ve gone though my labor relations courses, I know the history – the issue is that what we faced 50, 60, 70 years ago, is not what we face now.  We created a system that is unsustainable, not only in the private sector (hello GM), but also in the public sector (hello Teachers, government workers, guys making $42K a year holding the sign on the highway to “Slow Down”).  We’re done.   And Damn It Grandma it’s your fault!

Should HR Be The Volunteer Police?

Posted on by
5

So, here’s the number – 2.7* – an employee is 2.7 times more likely to volunteer (for charitable missions) if their boss volunteers as well.  That number presented to me at a conference recently, from a study Blue Cross/Blue Shield did in one of it’s larger organizations.  Also, an employee is 2 times more likely to volunteer if their bosses, boss volunteers. 

So, what?

At first glance it might seem like an irrelavant number – one study, about 6,000 employees – not really comprehensive enough to prove anything. You maybe right.  But as I thought about it – it seems to pass my “feel” test – it just feels right.  You know when you hear a number sometimes and it just seems valid, that what this seems like – so, I tend to believe in what the presenter was saying based on her statistics.  Here’s what else the study found:

  • Those employees who volunteer, on behalf of the company, have less atrrition (again, seems to make sense)
  • Also, those who volunteer have higher engagement scores
  • Finally, those who volunteer, have higher performance.

It’s the Hat Trick of Good Employee Metrics right? Low Turnover, High Engagement, High Performance – it’s the employees we all want.  So, how do we get them?!?!? Oh, yeah, that’s what the study was all about – Get you Leadership (managers, directors and VP’s) to volunteer – and have them invite their staff. 

So, what does this have to do with HR?

Oh, yeah – sorry, I forgot you dont’ plan holiday parties.  Pull yourself away from that fancy dashboard for a minute – I going to make you strategic.  Find a leader who already likes to volunteer or would have interest in doing it – with a little help.  Work with one or two of the countless organizations in your community right now that need volunteer help and set up the first time, be the organizer – use your “leader” sponsor to rally the troops – and just allow your employees to go an volunteer for this one thing.  Then sit back and see what happens.  It’s pretty cool.  People are talking with each other, laughing, feeling good about themselves and their company. They come back to work and the conversation will continue – the leader that was there getting dirty will be viewed differently by those attend – he or she will view those workers who attended with a new found respect.

You can be in HR, be a planner and be strategic – you have a the secret formula – you know how to lower turnover, higher engagement and higher performance – don’t you think your executives will find that strategic?

HR Self Service Isn’t For Everyone

Posted on by
3

Last week I got the opportunity to speak at the 2011 HR Metrics Summit in Chicago.  Interesting group of HR folks that attend Metrics seminars – combination of HRIS, large shop analytics folks, some talent pros, etc. – all with one common denominator – they like numbers, gathering numbers, reporting numbers, talking about numbers – mostly I sat in the corner, quietly and watched.  One theme, that came up time and time again, was the concept of manager self-service – since building dashboards and integrating self service modules tend to go hand-in-hand with metrics – if you want the mangers to do stuff on their own – you better give them the data, right?

As I was listening to a presentation of one major Fortune 500 HR Pro who was going through a case study of how they were going through the process of moving to Manager Self Service for HR administration (think your normal daily HR admin stuff – new hire paperwork, address changes, compensation data, benefits info, etc.).  On there manager self service dashboard, this HR Shop decided to not give the HR Generalists access to the same information that the managers had.  The theory behind this was, if HR still has access, the managers will continue to call and get the information, rather than look it up themselves through the dashboard.  The HR Generalists were trained, as well as the managers, on how to find the information, so if a manager was struggling to find something, the HR Generalist could walk them through it.  This process probably sounds similar in many ways to many HR folks who have gone through this – minus the HR folks not having access.

Here’s what was really interesting about the case study to me – even after they went forward 100% with the self service dashboard, the managers still called HR.  The HR Generalist, being savvy, discovered if the manager would give them their user-name and password, could go in and do what the manager needed, faster than just telling them how to do it (kind of goes against the concept of “Teach a man to fish…”) – but again not unlike probably what many HR folks have seen in their careers.  It got so bad, they actually ended up setting up a “HR Call Center” for managers to call into for these types of needs. Overall result? HR Administrative work, in HR, was reduced by 40%. Really!  Hey, sounds great right?! 

Wrong! Here’s the deal.  The HR Shop reduced it’s “admin” work by 40% – but it didn’t decrease the Orgs “admin” work by 40% – it just moved it around.  Also, the concept of  “Manager/Employee Self Service” is built on an assumption, a huge assumption, managers want to do this stuff themselves, rather than call HR to have it done.  While that may be the case for many managers and employees – it might not be the case for many others, and in many cases the majority of others.  Manager/Employee Self Service dashboards/portals are a favorite project for HR Shops – big and small – because we get to use technology and the hope is it will take mundane admin work out of HR, and let us do the real cool strategic stuff.  But that is a dream sold to you by the software shops selling you the “solution”.  One problem – what about the managers and employees who don’t want Self Service?

You know – I’ve been in a lot of HR Shops – and no one has ever brought up that question when we were all running down the Self Service path. Not one.  So, you want to be a business partner and be more strategic?  Maybe, just maybe, stop thinking about how something helps you, and start thinking about how the changes you make, impact the groups you support.  Self Service can be great for many managers and employees who want it – but it’s not a 100% solution.  So, people, maybe some very high performers in your organization, want you to help them – they want and need to focus on their operation and making it better, and guess what – performing their own new hire paperwork, isn’t helping.

Mailbox Question!

Posted on by
Reply

From one of the Sackett Nation followers (thx Mom!) –

Tim:

I’m a young HR Pro with some great experience and education – 1 company for 8 years – but recently I’ve been contacted by our main competition about a position that would be a step up.  Better title, more money – but I would feel like a total sell-out if I went over there.  What should I do?

Loyal Beyond My Years

***************************************************************

Dear Loyal,

Here’s what I know –

1. Those who stay with one company – make more money over the long run – assuming you stay the professional route and don’t go all consultant on me.

2. Going to the competition doesn’t make you evil, it makes you human – but don’t assume you will like it more.

3. I’ve left really good companies, with really good people – for better position and money – and it didn’t improve the quality of my life.

4. Within an industry, having perspective of multiple players (i.e., working at the competition, or two) makes you more valuable.

First, consider the fact, if one company is interested in you, maybe there are others. Why do you really want to leave your current position? If your current position matched pay and title, would you stay? If it’s about growth, what are the next 2-3 moves after this one, at the new company?  I know this will surprise some people but I’m super conservative when it comes to career advice to others – especially so, when someone tells me they really like their current position and company (but are attracted to more money and title).

So, what should you do?  I’d go through the process if you feel it’s a company you would like to work for, and if it’s not the right company, I’d go speak to your boss and tell them the competition contacted me about a job and I turned them down.  I turned them down because I really like my job here and the company – I also would like more money and a better title!  I understand you might not be able to give me all that, so I’ll settle for the money part.  Then shut up and make your boss say the next words.

Two things might happen: 1. You’re good – you’ll get some more money (maybe not as much as if you’d made a move) and maybe a “Sr.” prefix to your title.  2. You’re not that good – you won’t get anything, and maybe shown the door.  That’s why I don’t like giving people advice of what I would do – I have had both scenarios happen to me – they are very real outcomes.

Good Luck!

Winning the HR Lottery

Posted on by
4

You know what’s funny (well, I think it’s funny anway) – I refuse to play the Lotto. Any of the games – PowerBall, MegaMillions, etc. Until – they get above $100 Million!  Once they get above $100 Million – I’m all in.  Here’s the funny part – I get it – I get how stupid the whole thing is.  I know I’m more likely to get hit by lightening, while running with siccors, next to Kevin Bacon – I get the odds.  I get that I’m actually making my chances of winning even less, by only playing when the numbers are higher.  To me – That’s funny… why in the world do I still do it, when I understand the odds I’m facing?

First – the Lotto is really the last American Dream.  It use to be get a great job, marry, buy house, etc.  Not anymore – all we have left is the Lotto baby.  So, if I’m really going to live the American Dream – I don’t want to “just” win $5, 10 or even 50 Million – I mean, can you imagine actually winning the Lotto and only winning $1 Million!  You can’t retire and quit your job on $1 Million after taxes – you would still have to work – but not only that – you would probably have to work even harder because you would be all ghetto rich and go buy a house and other stuff you can’t afford.  So, if I’m winning – I’m winning the Big One -or nothing.  It’s my dream – go get your own.

So, what does the Lottery have to do with HR?  It’s the concept that a very small number are going to win, and most are going to be living the “real” American Dream of living check to check, average work environment, average leadership, just plain average.  But! for a slight few – they win the job lottery – even some in HR win the job lottery.  I use to think, there was no such thing as the job lottery – the people working for those “Great” companies, getting those “crazy” benefits, and “outstanding” quality of life – well, they were just the tops in their field and the recruiting departments of those teams searched the entire universe to find the best.  Right!? I mean don’t tell me it could be right place, right time – I stumbled into a 7/11 looking for a roller hot dog and Slurpee and the clerk talked me into spending $1 more dollar on a ticket and now I’m the richest guy in my trailer park…it couldn’t be that…could it?

I believe in every great company, they are great people employed, doing great things to keep their companies on top.  I also believe, in the worst companies, you will find great people, doing great things, just trying to keep their companies afloat.  In fact, those great ones, at the worst companies, might be even a little better than their counterparts at the best companies.  I also believe that every company, even the great ones, have “pretenders” – people who live off the reputation of the company they work for – and try and pin their company’s reputation on their chest as their own.  I know this because I run into many of the “pretenders” professionally, and within minutes of having a real conversation with them, it’s painfully obvious, they are not their companies.  That’s how the Lottery works – it doesn’t discriminate, it doesn’t show favorites, it doesn’t force you play – it just does.

Don’t believe me? You are at a great company – and I must be wrong!  Check out your demographics.  I’ll bet 75%+ of your workforce comes from within 50 miles of your location.  So, what you’re telling me, is you live in some “freak” community where 75%+ of the people just happen to be the top in their field!  No you don’t – you just happen to have one very common trait with many of your co-workers – you all were in the right place, at the right time.  You all one the job lottery!  Don’t be defensive – there isn’t any need – I’m not going to be defensive when I win the $100M and someone says, “you’re only rich and powerful and where polka-dot shoes because you won the lottery!” For which I’ll say – “Yes, yes I did. No get back to work, ironing my underwear.”

Embrace you good fortune my HR brethren, I’ll even celebrate your good fortune with you – but please don’t act like your G*d’s gift to HR because you were lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time.

5 Minutes is Changing the World

Posted on by
3

I went to a really cool event this past Friday – called Ignite Lansing 4.0.   Ignite is like a local TED event – except that made some small changes to move it along – since locally you probably aren’t going to have the same talent level as you would see at TED.   Ignite isn’t special to Lansing, although Lansing does have one of the bigger events in the world, there are Ignite events happening in hundreds of communities all over the world.

So, what is it? (that’s what my wife kept asking me, when I told her we were going)

  • 5 minute presentation on anything you want. This event had preso’s on The Lost Art of Mac & Cheese, Roller Derby, hiring individuals with Disabilities, 52 Cups of Coffee (about meeting a new person each week for a year), From Daily Chai to Apple Pies: The Immigrant Experience, Failing, etc.
  • 20 PowerPoint slides, that automatically change every 20 seconds – lose your place – too bad – it’s moving forward without you!  
  • A rock star like stage  and atomosphere (lights, music and fake smoke), this one was held in an Airport Hanger, just a few yards from the actual runway – including an audience with access to alcohol, and a live twitter stream on the screen – so don’t suck!
  • A very supporting audience – because at the heart of it all, it was about community – it was about a group of people coming together to say “hey, this is why I think it’s cool to be in Lansing, MI.” This is why it’s cool to be a part of a dynamic community – and how can we all connect.

Not everyone who came up wanted to change the world – but when I left Ignite – I got the impression that many around me felt like this was certainly a step towards changing our environment, changing perceptions of those from the outside of Lansing and Michigan.  I coupled this with the recentChrysler SuperBowl Emeniem commercial about Detroit and really for the first time in a long time – I get the sense that Michigan reached it’s bottom and we got our legs under us again, a sense that we are slowly but surely coming out of a recession that arguably hit Michigan harder than any other state by far.

Will 5 minute presentations change our world?  Every change needs a fire-starter, and I think events like Ignite, like TED, are really just that. They plant ideas, not everyone will go away with the same ideas – but someone will take an idea and run with it, and just maybe one of those ideas changes our world a little, or a lot.  The whole thing reminded me of an idea I heard about Detroit – about why Detroit/Michigan is probably considered one of the best places to start a new business right now – why you ask? The reality that the recession has put us in: super low commercial real estate prices, high unemployment = low wages, local and state governments giving away crazy tax incentives, new Republican governor, etc.  Right environment, Right Time, Right Energy…

5 minutes might not change the world – but I sure think it’s helping to change my world.

Who’s Better – Big HR or Small HR?

Posted on by
3

This isn’t really a fair question – but someone asked me this recently.  What they were trying to get at, was are HR Pros in very large Fortune 500 companies, better than the HR Pros you find in small to medium sized companies.   It’s not a question with a simple answer, because you find great HR Pros in both areas, and you find horrible HR Pros in both areas.   But here’s what I think you find more of in each:

Large HR Shop:

  • HR Pros skilled in very specific segments – think 10 feet wide and a mile deep
  • HR Pros that have a better understanding of technology (since they have the resources and need to use large scale systems)
  • HR Pros who have a higher level of what I call “Political Savvy” – they know how to CYA!
  • A larger percentage of HR Pros who fail to connect with business outcomes (calm down big shop HR Pros!) – with larger numbers and specialization, it’s more difficult to really connect your outcomes to the organizations bottom line.  Tell me what percent of revenue increase do you get by increasing marketing’s group overall diversity by 3%?  See – it’s difficult – the pie gets cut into too many slices to be noticeable.
  • HR Pros that have a better sense of programs that have broad reach (diversity/inclusion, OD, succession, etc.)
  • Big HR shops tend to have some bottom-feeders, which is more about the nature of large organizations, than large HR (it’s easier to hide, and large orgs are more willing to give people too many chances).

Small HR Shop:

  • HR Pros skilled in a variety of HR functions – think a mile wide and 10 feet deep
  • HR Pros who are more creative (no money, forces the creativity process – don’t argue with me until you have no money and still have a CEO yelling for results)
  • HR Pros who are skilled at telling executives – “No, you can’t do that.” (as in no, you can’t hit employees no matter how much they frustrate you)
  • HR Pros who are forced to show exactly how much money will be “saved” or “made” for each decision they make – direct bottom line impact
  • HR Pros who are real good fire fighters, and rarely have time to focus on the long term objective of moving the organizational people practices forward

So, who’s better?   Depends on the needs of the organization you are working with.  But, here’s what I know – if you are a HR Pro in a small shop, and you’re good, and you like it, and you have aspirations of moving up in HR into a big shop – there is a very good chance you will not like it.  It’s just not for everyone.  Big HR shops get involved with some extremely cool projects, cutting edge HR stuff, which are great. Small HR shops really get an up-close and personal view of how their decision making impacts the business, which can be extremely satisfying for those looking for that impact. 

I know great people in both small and big HR shops – I tend to see the big guys not respecting the small guys as much as they should – but that’s life – buy a helmet and deal with it (if you’re from a small shop you probably already know your helmet size).   I also tend to see small HR making the bigger legal snafu’s – primarily because they tend to be moving so fast, things get missed.   Who’s better – the HR Pro that can see the benefits of both, make relationships with both and learn from both – those are rare indeed.