by Beth | Feb 17, 2021 | Employee Hiring, Selecting Good Candidates
I love Grape Nuts. I mean, I LOVE them! I have been eating them for over half my life. They are so VERSATILE! I eat them with fruit, with yogurt, with fruit and yogurt, with a little milk at night before bed. Swipe some almond butter on a banana and dip it into a bowl of Grape Nuts and eat it. YUM!
In early December, I noticed that I was getting low. When I went to Safeway to buy some more, they didn’t have any. They didn’t have any the next week either. Sprouts didn’t have any, nor do they carry them at all. When I asked the woman at the counter, she said haughtily “That is a POST product. We don’t carry any of Post products.” Ok then.
By January, I was getting really desperate, so I visited my trusted friend, Amazon. They had some. 2 boxes for $20.00 and an extra $10.00 for shipping. I am not doing that. The next week, no Grape Nuts at Safeway, and the online price was now $60.00!!! Are you KIDDING me? And I am not the only one to notice: read here.
The problem was that at this point, I was actually considering it! I told myself that I would skip Happy Hour that week and buy the damn Grape Nuts.
UGH…
On Monday, I sashayed into Safeway, and there on the shelf like a beacon of light was 2 boxes of Grape Nuts. The angels wept and the choir sang. I bought both of those bad boys for a whopping $4.99 a box, saved myself $50.00 and I didn’t have to skip Happy Hour.
SCORE!
When you are searching for your right candidate, you have felt like I did about my Grape Nuts. You look and look. You “post” your job ad on Indeed.com, on Linked In, on Monster… anywhere that you think might have your person. You are desperate. You start to get a tightness in your chest. Did they quit making my beloved Grape Nuts? Is there a WAR on Talent??
And then, when you least expect it, your prayers are answered… a gift from the Hiring Gods… or in my case, the cereal makers.
Power thought: I want you to be a “cereal” interviewer, not a “cereal” hirer. Hold out! Be patient. Your dream hire is coming!
by Beth | Oct 7, 2020 | Employee Hiring, Selecting Good Candidates
Last week, Katy and I were watching the Broncos game against The Jets. (The Broncos won!) In the
middle of the game, we watched a wide receiver make a very difficult catch and drag his toes to make
sure that he stayed inbounds. If he hadn’t dragged his toes, the catch would have been incomplete.
“He has GREAT foot awareness!” Katy exclaimed.
That comment got me thinking… How would you recruit for a wide receiver with great foot awareness?
First of all, just being aware that you must have great foot awareness in your new and improved wide
receiver is imperative. You can’t have what you want unless you know what it is. If you don’t know what
you want, you can easily drop the ball when hiring.
Second, make sure that you add foot awareness to your Ideal List of things that you must have in your
new hire. You don’t want another incomplete pass! Coming up with a solid play book that is written
down is essential to your success.
Finally, clearly communicate what you are looking for to as many people as you possibly can. Get the
message out there, so that your fans can fully support you in your efforts and cheer you on.
Please keep in mind that solid foot awareness is important, but it is equally important that you find
someone who fits in with the team culture. At Boise State, they look for “OKG’s” which stands for: our
kind of guys. The culture fit increases your wide receiver’s chance of success on your team.
When you combine skills and culture fit into your hiring strategy, you are guaranteed a winner.
And everyone wants to be a member of a winning team.
Go team go!
by Beth | Jul 15, 2020 | Employee Hiring, Selecting Good Candidates
When my daughter, Katy was looking for colleges, she started out with one college in mind, and she didn’t want to apply to any others. She was convinced that The University of Texas was the only school for her, and it didn’t help that I am a fourth generation University of Texas graduate. I had been indoctrinating her with Longhorn ideas, spirit and paraphernalia since before she was born. Even though I would have LOVED for her to go to UT, I still thought that applying to just one school seemed very restrictive and short-sighted. She and I fought bitterly, until the day we met Ms. Shelly.
Shelly Humbach of Humbach Education Consulting is a college consultant who helps families like ours; Shelly speaks “teen” and she bridges the gap between Teen Wants and Parent Expectations. She agreed with me that applying to one school was restrictive, but she didn’t agree that the University of Texas was all that wonderful. “They are very stingy with their money!” she said.
Shelly led Katy through a Discovery Process that included an ideal list; what did Katy want from her college experience, what did she want to study and what kind of climate did Katy like (she is cold when it is 70 degrees out!). The two of them created a vision for her ideal college experience, narrowed the list down to the top 5, and sent us off the visit the campuses. Wouldn’t you know? UT did not make the cut.
Does this process sound familiar to you, my loyal readers? It should!
I have many times been brought into a company where the C-suite is arguing bitterly over a potential hire; they all have great ideas, but they can’t agree on how that vision should play out. I always begin with a Discovery Meeting about what they want and need, the vision for the role, and how that role will contribute to the goals of the organization. And often, I am the one that helps bridge the gap for the interview team; after all, I have a 91% retention rate for employees after a year.
Katy will be a sophomore at the University of Miami in Miami, Florida, and that school is perfect for her! She loves the size, the location, the climate, the people, the curriculum. It had direct entry nursing, small classes, and she can converse in Spanish with her Uber drivers! The University President is an expert in infectious diseases, and they rolled out their Pandemic plan for this fall in April. The plan has been a template for other colleges to implement, just another sign that we chose the right place for us. And yet, Katy would never have looked at this school if it hadn’t been for Ms. Shelly.
We held out until we found the right fit. We never settled for second choice, and the outcome was beyond awesome. I advise my clients to do just the same; finding the right employee for the right position saves everyone involved a lot of time, heartache and headaches too. The right fit will change your life.
As for Shelly? She has forever earned a spot on my team of colleagues.
by Beth | Jan 29, 2020 | Employee Hiring, Recruiting, Selecting Good Candidates
A few weeks ago, I attended the Indeed.com Academy to become a better recruiter, and boy, did I learn a ton!
First the basics – there are two different types of recruiting; inbound and outbound. Inbound is when an employer places an ad on Indeed.com and the applications start coming in. Outbound is when an internal recruiter sifts through resumes, picks up the phone and calls the candidate to invite them to interview for a position.
While this concept isn’t new, the research behind it is. If a recruiter calls a candidate who didn’t submit a resume for the job, it costs the employer significantly more money, more time and results in less success. A person who submits a resume of their own volition is infinitely better every time.
The question is why?
Here is the bottom line: there is a mental process that a candidate must go through in order to begin looking for a job. They must come to the realization that their current job isn’t going to work out, they must realize that things aren’t going to get any better, and, most importantly, that they must make a change to a different company. If your candidate hasn’t made that mental shift, your recruiting efforts cost more time, effort, and money.
Instead of focusing on outbound recruiting, focus your efforts on your inbound recruiting. Spend time to key word your ad properly, create your Ideal list and don’t forget to listen, listen, listen. In the long run, you’ll be glad that you did.
by Beth | Sep 11, 2019 | Employee Hiring, Leadership, Selecting Good Candidates, Uncategorized
One of the most common problems that my clients have when they are interviewing people for a job is that they “feel sorry” for the candidates. “I just want to offer the job to all of them!”
I often ask, “Do you know why you want to offer the job to all the people?”
Most people have no idea why they struggle, but the answer is simple: we are biologically wired to include others. We are biologically wired for connection. So, when someone comes in for an interview, and they are nervous, anxious, worried and scared, we want to make it better. We want to help them feel better, and help them succeed in the interview
Here is the disconnect. When you have 300 applicants and 1 job, you will reject at least 299 of your candidates. You may reject all 300, re-post the ad, and keep going. And it is difficult, because we aren’t wired to reject people. You have to be exclusionary when you are hiring, which goes against our humanity and our most basic instincts as humans.
So next time that you are hiring someone, remind yourself of this: instead of “rejecting” someone, you are releasing them into the universe so that they can find their dream job and you can find your dream candidate. It’s a win/win.
Everyone deserves to be happy, especially you. Don’t forget that next time you endeavor to hire someone.
by Beth | Aug 28, 2019 | Employee Hiring, Selecting Good Candidates
Last week I had a client call me in a panic. He was about to lose a large government contract, because he hadn’t hired a much-needed engineer. We were in the process of filling the position, but we weren’t moving fast enough for the government. Now I have heard it all!
If you know me and my hiring philosophy at ALL, you know that I am not an advocate for fast hires. I believe very strongly that hiring fast means you will hire wrong. It is so easy to make mistakes when you move too quickly, and as Robert Plotkin states in his book Preventing Internal Theft, “It’s better to operate short-staffed for a period of time and rely on your existing staff than hiring someone unqualified or inappropriate for the establishment.”
However, no rule is correct or applicable 100% of the time. When you are in the situation my client found himself in, and you are faced with losing a few million dollars in government contracts, you need to hire fast. My advice for this situation was hire someone quickly, get the position filled, AND continue to look for the right fit. If the quick-hire person works out, (and it does about 1/3 of the time) then wonderful. Everyone is happy. If they don’t work out, remember this was a short-term solution, and be grateful for that.
Hire fast when absolutely necessary. Hire right for long-term success.
