Keen Hire Blog

Being Service Centric In Hiring

As I continue to develop myself in my personal and professional life, and as I spend more time developing my leadership and talent evaluation competencies, I am always catching myself noticing and earmarking the differences in the level of service I receive from the people and places where I spend my money.

I am often delighted with the level of service I receive from the frequent flyer desk at American Air Lines, from the sales woman in Nordstroms women’s department, or from Laverne at the dentists office.  Then there are times that I can not imagine in my wildest dreams who would have employed such unfriendly folks at other service providers.  American Air certainly does not hold the award for having mastered the art of a service hire; but honestly my experience with them is 3:1 in their favor.

When we hear about offshoring of work, I wonder what kind of jobs were sent away.  It seems that some industries hire people who don't want to be there, and resent you for being there.  If we don’t want the work, someone, somewhere else certainly does and just might work harder to achieve & keep the work.

This is as true for recruiting as elsewhere.  We are in the service profession. For many of us, our job is to partner with our customers and help them win the war for talent; proactively. I know they frustrate you. I know they can’t make up their mind. I know they always think someone better is lurking around the corner (frankly, in my dating life so do I, don’t you?). So… Why settle?  Bad service isn't limited to fast food restaurants and mall workers.  What happens when a client is hiring workers that aren't interested in serving the customer?

Times are tough, life is short, why should anyone spend 80% of their waking hours managing  a half baked employee? Why spend hours on end trying to fix an employee's bad behavior or bad work habits? 

Management books and trainers everywhere are coaching corporate executive teams to “Choose Wisely” and build their succession plans around the right behaviors and the right leadership traits. Stephen Robbins “The truth about managing people & nothing but the truth” writes that management begins with hiring right; funny that is what Jim Collins says too; and Ken Blanchard, and Jack Canfield, oh and Patrick Lencioni; actually when I look at it, almost all the business management gurus are working on drilling down the importance of hiring right and then managing and leading right. Retention and Succession Planning begin with the hiring process.  And that my friends begin with us. We are the leaders in the game of talent and it is time that we take charge and behave that way!

Running With The Bulls Isn't A Speech I Gave

If you can challenge yourself in life, you can challenge yourself in business.

Working Smarter For Me

(a series of thoughts on how to organize my business for success.  This is a useful application of organizational principles I use to understand where I can improve.)

Achieving my goals also has a lot to do with working smarter.  Working smarter has everything to do with creating the plan of action early on, reviewing progress and then recalibrating as necessary.  It is in the reviewing of the progress that the breakthroughs occur. 

The Review:  What’s working?   What’s not working?  What do I need to do more of to move toward the progress of this goal? What do I need to do less of?  What is holding me back?

Am I using my strengths to my advantage, or wasting my time on things I cannot control.  Where can I delegate?

I start by isolating the areas that are not working and then reviewing why they are not working? If I don’t know, I ask my co- workers, my boss, my partner or (even better) my clients.  Once my goals are set, I need to make sure I create a clear pathway and stick to it. Time blitzes for marketing and times blitzes for recruiting. I want to schedule my day so my day does not schedule me.  If something is working really well, I need to document it, track my results and repeat it.

Working Smarter on a desk has everything to do with aligning myself with the right candidates and the right assignments. The biggest buzz kill of running a recruiting desk is being jerked around by a candidate or a client I should have never spent time on in the first place.  An effective recruiter can bill over $400k and work no more than 40 hours per week.  When I interviewed some big billers they told me; it is not about the endless hours on the desk that makes the desks bell ring it is about the quality of the time spent on a desk that makes the bell ring and then ring again and again.

Qualifying is one of the most if not the most crucial functions that I needed to master to make it for the long term in the recruiting industry.  Qualifying the client’s pain in the first place saved me countless hours of pain in the end. Why do they need me, rather than the hundreds of other service providers or alternatives they could use to solve their problems? Why do they even have problems? Are these problems really causing them real pain?   I typically take this approach for the company first and then for the actual job they are looking to fill. Once I know the clients REAL pain, I can determine if I am the best suited person to relieve them of that pain. If I am the best person, I need to make sure I deliver a solution and don’t become another ache in their cycle of pain.

Summing Up My Thoughts.

1.    Set Inspirational Goals
2.    Bring to the surface the things that might get in your way
3.    Modify the noise in your head. Adjust your attitude
4.    Intentionally create monthly, weekly, daily action plans that inspire and call you to action
5.    Master the Qualifying process

Fear And Coaching In Las Vegas

There I was 40 feet in the air, having just climbed the pirates net to the top of the high ropes course.  Sitting on the perch looking at where to go next, it occurred to me that I was scared x&*%less.

I called to “Big Dog,” the group leader, and asked what I do next. His response was to “follow your instinct”.  For 23 years in recruiting I followed my instinct and for the most part it led me the right way. Other times that old instinct got me in trouble. “What if my instinct is wrong” I called.

He looked back up and said “Margo, you are here for a reason, go for it”.  Then my coach called up to me, “Margo, get centered on where you want to go (the other side of the giant jungle gym) and then take a step and just do it”.  Okay well that advice is easy enough to give from the front of the room, but up here on the high ropes course with nothing but a helmet and some clips sheltering me is completely a different story.

I sat up there with the birds and pondered what they would think of me if I just climbed down.  My head was clouded with thoughts and clamoring with noise, and somewhere in between those clouds and the noise - I got it. I travel all around and lecture or motivate (depending on my mood) recruiting professionals about how they need to change, how they need to break through the barriers facing our industry and yet I could not break through my own fear of not knowing what the high rope, or tight rope would bring.   

The insight I had is that everyone has fears and those fears, whether people realize it or not, are paralyzing. They get in the way.  They block learning.  They block mastery and they inhibit taking risk.  No matter who we are, we have fear and our fears keep us all STUCK. Our fears keep us standing in the same place, or moving at the same rate.  Our fears keep us doing the same things, even when those things cause us pain. Take this one step further beyond us. If fear has this much impact, what about the candidate’s fear of moving forward or the client's fear of giving up control and how does that get in our way?

My Annual Goal this year is to have 100 KeenView certified users paving new paths for themselves in the recruiting industry and beyond.  Another goal of mine is to raise $10,000 for charity.  And in another area of my life my intention is to create a spectacular relationship with the man of my dreams.  Where am I not playing full out in the areas of achieving these goals? Where are my fears blocking my ability to learn and achieve these goals?   It’s April. What am I going to do to cause those goals being a reality by December 31, 2008? 

Implementing A System to Hire: Part VI And VII

The finale on our series on smart hiring.  Part I is here.

Step 6 –Choose Wisely

Matching is where the rubber meets the road in the recruiting & staffing industry.  Are you submitting the candidate because they are truly a match or are they the only one left who is breathing?  If you say to yourself, “Well they are all I have, " then pick up the phone and start making MPC calls. Just don’t make it a practice to shove a round peg into a square hole.

Step 7 – Briefing the Candidate

One can never under estimate the power of preparation, in your life or your candidate job search life.  The candidate who is prepared in mind, body and attitude is the candidate who puts their best foot forward and whether they land the offer or not; your wisdom, coaching and partnership is not soon forgotten. I recommend having the candidate research the company well beyond their products and services. I recommend the candidate call the customer service, sales or HR department and inquire about core differentiators, competitive advantages and strategic initiatives.  Additionally, I recommend the candidate take an inventory of what they have to offer and how it accomplishes the employers’ objectives for the position. I strongly believe that if the candidate prepares this in advance and brings a summarization of these matching parameters to the interview that the candidate will have everything they need both physically and mentally to close the hiring gap and nail the job offer.

As always try it on, see what fits, use it and throw away the rest!

Implementing A System to Hire: Part IV and V

This is part 4 and 5 on our series on smart hiring.

Step 4 – Candidate Pre-Selection

Choose a Quick and Clean Assessment: something that will highlight the candidates’ strengths, their weaknesses, their mental acuities, and their capacities to move forward. Make certain that the assessment is validated, cost effective, has a distortion scoring and is EEOC compliant. I recommend KeenClues™, and the market is flooded with potentials.  At this point, if someone looks strong, you might want to consider running a basic background scan before you invest too much time. 

Step 5 –Candidate Selection

Conduct comprehensivsive live (or phone) interview.  Uncover the where, whens, hows, and why of your candidates story; get a true sense of who they are, what they have accomplished, and why they are where with you right now.  Then ask them where they want to go.  It is your job to fully comprehend where they are, what they can do and where they want to go. If the deal breaks down, it is typically because you didn't cover these basics.

Once you have determined this candidate is acceptable and you are clear that that they are a key contributor for your market niche, it is a good idea to dig a little deeper and qualify them for your specific client need. Doing this means taking a look under the hood and further inquiring into their behaviors, values and capacities. 

Implementing A System to Hire: Part III

This is the third in our series on smart hiring.

Step 3 –Creating Buy In 

AFTER you know the candidate is a VIABLE target and they are WORTH your time; pull out their passions and their buying signs and create VISION for the candidates’ future well beyond the job, create a reason for them to CHOOSE you as their career partner.

*Keep in mind, if your opportunity is NOT something that is inspiring and worth your candidates’ time – NOW is the time to say so, and if your upfront – Your credibility will soar.

Great people want to know there is a selection process - just like athletes want to know they have to train to compete - don't listen to the story that great people are too great to test or follow an internal hiring process - that is an OLD worn out story - it is a tough business and if they can not make it through a stringent selection process they are doomed...watch for their energy level after each phase, and remember Always Be Selling the ones’ that are worth it.

It’s time to WEED and SEED. Save your voice, save your energy, save your tenacity for those who warrant your attention, your time and your gifts.

It is your job to INFLUENCE the STRONG ONES on the Opportunity, the Income potential, and the other things your ideal candidate will be turned on by; it is your job to INFLUENCE the candidate in partnering with you, in surrendering to your counsel and to follow your process (be enrolling –cause a new possibility for the candidate that moves touches and inspires them – a possibility bigger than the interview and bigger than the check).

Can you TELL that I'm EXCITED about this STEP?

Implementing A System to Hire: Part II

  This is part two in our series on smart hiring.

Step 2- Screening the Right Candidate In

• Phone Screen using 3-4 Deal Breakers (Knock out factors- Sales Volume, Quotas, Attitude, Goals, Type of Relative Experience, Education)
• Phone Screen for 2 NON Negotiable Sales Behaviors like Achiever or Competitor or Persuader or Miner.

Remember a candidate who does NOT shine in this part of the process means they DON'T move on. 

Find out where your candidate's head it at. What are their deal breakers? What opportunity is ideal to them?  What would really make them tick?

Complete a mini upfront contract "enrolling' them in the opportunity, the role itself, the company and THE PROCESS.

Implementing A System to Hire – Choose Wisely, Hire Slowly, Fire Quickly

This is the first of seven in a series on how to hire.

Your Goal:  Place Difference Makers and pave the way to your clients Succession Plan

Step 1 - Attract the Right Candidate

Rope them IN! (Short and sweet - remember you are always to be selling) - Whether you are or you are not advertising, pre-create your job pitch and have everyone on the team read and be able to recite it. As you create it - speak to the perfect listener; sell Jill Brown through Jill Brown's eyes. In the case of sales, if you want a high Dominant person, use dominant words (adventuresome, competitive, and decisive). If you want a person who is a natural influencer - then use those types of words (charming, confident, convincing) people will hear themselves and be attracted - as like attracts like. 

Don't under estimate how detrimental a mixed message can be to the right candidate. Sales people wont respond to an ad or a live 'pitch' that says - 'bring your detail skills and let them shine'.   No matter what we want to think, sales people are cut from a certain mold. Speak to the mold.

A good resource for this type of learning is Go Put Your Strengths to Work, By Marcus Buckingham
or Attracting Perfect Customers: The Power of Strategic Synchronicity by Stacey Hall and Jan Brogniez 

Working Smarter In the Second Quarter

April 15th is coming.  We all know the day.  For far too many Americans, April 15th is a stressful time where the reality of figuring out our taxes runs into our desire to procrastinate.  But April 15th is the beginning of the quarter.  If you're going to drive revenue this year to your business, you have to be hitting on full cylinders right now.  Work performed in the next sixty to ninety days will determine what you can accomplish in the 3rd quarter, and if you're aren't prepared the holidays will sneak up on you before you can make a significant impact on your earnings this year.

So it's time to make a plan.  What are you going to do right now, right this very instant, to make a difference in the 2nd quarter.  It's important to chart out long-term goals, but those are so easily set aside to accomplish in the future. If you don't give yourself something solid and concrete to do today, you have a exceedingly small chance of achieving your long-term plans. 

Get started now.  What one thing can you do today, to make your staffing firm better?

Stay The Course

(a version of the following was originally published in the recent Fordyce Letter)
March Forward. Stay the Course.

Recession... Election.. Slumping Job Index.. Increasing Unemployment Rate.. Diving Dow..

It is tough to stay the course when media messaging is telling us everything around our economy is calling for a slow down; and in reality the only real choice any of us have is... to stay the course. While the course might shift and change a bit, the course we know - the work hard, stay focused, make contacts course, remains the same. When the going gets tough, the real men and women of the staffing industry get tougher.  As in the past, a recession serves as a course correction, and as in the past the strong will get stronger, better, and faster; and the weak will go find something else to do.

The Strong Company, Recruiter, and Staffing Agent's job is to analyze their business.  Find out what is working and what is not. It is their job to analyze their clients businesses and fully understand what is happening with their end users, as it is the end user that provides all of us with work in the first place. It is the astute staffing and corporate recruiter's responsibility to look out to the future with a curious and open eye and accept the changes that are occurring in business. It is the discerning and strategic staffing industry thinkers’ job to deal with the reality of the changing FLAT world; from globalization, outsourcing and offshoring to RPO, Selection, HR Consulting and everything in between. When conditions for change are right, the astute staffing industry business person has a tremendous opportunity to make their stake and claim their market share; if they are indeed are as open, astute, innovative and grounded in the reality as we know you are.   

Building A High Performance Team

ON SITE 8 HOUR WORKSHOP

If you are the sum of the 5 people who spend the most time with…it is important to look at who you are spending your time with. Are the people in your organization flourishing?

Are they hitting the mark? Is the company hitting its performance measures? Is the environment synergistic, empowering and engaging?
If the answers to these questions made your squirm then it is time to reevaluate your new employee selection, intake and on boarding program.

By establishing specific set hiring procedures, your company will avoid stepping into common hiring traps. You will see & experience the impact of an effective hiring process within the first 30 days.

That's the purpose of our on-site class, Building A High Performance Team - available through KeenHire Training.

Choosing Assessments Wisely

You've seen it before. A candidate stands in front of you, with an impeccable resume and impressive interviewing skills. The client is prepped and ready, and the candidate seems perfect for the role. You send her on to the interview, confident in a fee. When the phone call comes, you're expecting a congratulations and a promise to send a check. But something goes wrong. The candidate, perfect in your interview and on paper, fails the interview so badly that the client may never work with you again. What happened?

Every top recruiter has had this happen to them early in their career. Relying on a "gut instinct" instead of a formal process, we let our desire to get the candidate hired prevent us from working through every detail of a professional interview.

Some candidates are great interviewers, but terrible workers. Our job is to be put a system for interviewing in place, and follow that system EVERY TIME.

Interview failures happen because we fail to ask the right questions. Often recruiters focus on the technical and practical aspects of the job, without delving into the behavioral questions like, "how do you like to work" or "how don't you like to work?"

An executive recruiter is only as good as their weakest link.  Do  you understand interviewing in a way that  will help you increase your book of business?

         

 

A Little Taste Of Our New KeenHire Store

This is for our product, the KeenView Behavioral Interviewing Software

Filtering candidates in live interviews is the core of every recruiting business. Using scientifically validated behavioral interviewing, KeenView software helps you filter candidates by motivation, work style, personality traits, and other characteristics that will predict how he/she will perform on the job in a specific position.

"Gut Instinct" is a poor tool to sell a candidate on a client. Using KeenView, your recruiters provide statistically valid results of candidate matches. The easy to use software guides the recruiter through the interview, providing questions, answers, notes and rankings.

Purchase KeenView separately or in an assessments package, and start selling to Human Resource executives in a language they want to hear.

This is more than just assessments. Our software uses thousands of interview questions and walks your recruiter through the interview process, saving searches and keeping you fully in EEOC compliance.  It also helps you make better hiring decisions.  More soon.

 

Keen Hire Site Launch Coming Soon

I'm working on it, and come heck or high water, this site is going to be out by the end of March. The new KeenHire site will be up, and you'll be able to browse to your heart's content.

At that time, this blog will be mapped to http://blog.keenhire.com, and we'll add some other things to it like the LinkedIn button and other widgets suggested by my social media guru, Jim Durbin.

Think of the last three months as our beta period.  KeenHire.com  - coming soon!