Workforce Insights

Meet The Founder

Margaret Graziano, CPC, CTS

 

• Named “Chicago Woman Business Owner of the Year”
• National Association of Women Business Owners, 2004
• Named “Influential Woman in Business”
• The DuPage Business Ledger, 2003

Margaret Graziano is the CEO and Sr. Managing partner of Keen Talent Management, a recruitment & talent management solutions firm that partners with growth bound companies to maximize their people ROI.

Ms. Graziano has worked in the human capital industry since 1983, and has been coaching business leaders in implementing a conscious-hiring process and high performing recruitment and talent acquisition, retention and talent management strategies since 1999.

She has long-term successful partnerships with international and emerging, mission driven companies with commitments to hiring philosophically aligned stakeholders. Companies attracted to adopting Margo’s best practices are firms who know that the life of their company depends on the people inside. Keen has successfully served business leaders in the medical education, training & education, customer centric software, consumer goods, foods, health & fitness, high touch, professional services, association and healthcare industries.

 

Keen Coaching

Part of becoming recruitment and hiring experts is sharing our wealth of knowledge with hiring authorities in growing organizations. Our experts are available for coaching, mentoring, and consulting in all aspects of our expertise. Whether you need your sales team to operate more effectively or you’re looking to implement Conscious Hiring™ into your existing hiring practices, we can help.

Performance Management

Within an organization, making certain each role is producing at or above expectations can be extremely time-consuming and frustrating, especially for new managers. We have developed a systematic process for putting the right people in the right jobs, improving overall performance and reducing management inefficiencies. Our philosophy on performance management is this:  hire right, clearly communicate the expectations, train where training is needed, establish accountability check-ins and then get out of the way. Our performance management consultants are experts in the distinctions that will yield the top performance from your people. Our consultants are trained to identify performance gaps and challenges, and to implement systematic performance management tools, methodologies and training programs that elevate your people’s ability to drive and sustain performance.

Talent Strategy or Competition? How to make all your people feel like they’ve been promoted

I recently read an article for employees about how to position themselves for a promotion.  In a corporate culture where the path to the goods is getting on top, getting that promotion is the key to nirvana.  The next step up the corporate ladder means more money, more respect, more job satisfaction, and perhaps a sense of job security, if anyone has that these days!  What if all those things could occur for everyone who works for your business? 

You can reference the entire article here.  For our purposes, I’ll give you the tip for getting that promotion, followed by deeper look at how you can optimize your employee engagement strategy.

1.  Know your job.  The advice for promotion seekers is to do a good job with the one they have.  This is easy to do if the job is a good fit.  Your job as a manager is to hire right in the first place.  Keenhire’s Conscious Hiring process ensures precious time and resources are not used placing a square peg in a round hole.
2. Volunteer.  People who want to be made use of make themselves useful.  Your job is to have a great talent strategy so that the gifts and talents in your talent pool are contributing.  This is how everybody wins!  You get the best results, and your people get to do what they’re good at. 
3. Create your own position.  When people are stepping into a need, new job descriptions get created.  Your job is to develop your people so they can step into the new opportunities that your company’s growth will provide.  A comprehensive employee development strategy is a must.
4. Let your boss know.  Your job is not to wait for an employee to tell you they are interested in contributing.  Make sure your employees know that you know who they are, and are paying attention.  This is a key component to employee engagement, which I discussed in last week’s blog. 
5. Get more education.  Your job is to add value to your workplace by providing ongoing training and development within your organization that helps people do what they do even better.
6. Don’t create drama.  It is difficult for your employees to create drama if you have crafted your company culture to reflect the ideals that everyone wants to participate in.  Company culture starts from the top down, and congruence throughout the organization will make drama a waste of time for all concerned.  Keenhire’s organizational assessment tools will help you understand what’s going on at every level of your organization.
7. Network.  The promotion seeker networks.  The productive organization encourages collaboration.  Cooperation rather than competition is something that you can create, if you’ve hired right, provided a dynamic, creative, high performance company culture, and set up an ongoing employee development strategy. 

Today’s economic climate requires that people at every level of your business are engaged and happy.  A promotion is a great thing, and you can ensure that everyone who works for you is happy without one.  To make sure you're creating the company culture you want, talk to a Keenhire consultant today at 888-533-6447.

 

Written by Elizabeth Danu

 

Boost Corporate Performance With KeenHire

In the News  HR Retreat Maximize your personal effectiveness. Influence people for organizational alignment. Impact a culture centered on people, purpose & profit. Build alliances with like-minded professionals. Join us August 27th in Palo Alto from 7:30am-5:00pm! Cost: $395 Click here to register.

Boost Performance with KeenHire Labor Problem: Labor data from the US Bureau of Labor Services indicates that 600,000 to 900,000 career vacancies are attributed to the greater-than-average mismatch between the skills employers seek and those that are available in the market. This startling data, coupled with the growing concern for the cost of a mishire is enough to cause a business leader to initiate damage control. Another key factor affecting the employment life cycle is the latest data released from Towers Watson - less than 30% of employees are actually engaged in their work. If these statistics are real, this means 70% of employees are just going through the motions and doing the bare minimum to get by; for a growing organization committed to expanding this simply wont work. Labor Solution: If you want engaged, happy employees you must attract & hire people for jobs that are a good match for their motivations, values, behaviors, and competencies. While you can teach certain competencies to a person capable of learning, you cannot force an outcome with someone who is not interested in producing it. Hire people who are driven internally to do the work you need them to do, in the time frame you need it done, for the type of customers you serve. At KeenHire we call our hiring process Conscious Hiring because it causes both the candidate and the employer to be conscious to what they need and want out of a role.   Labor Problem: A 51,000,000 and growing deficit of available & qualified labor shortage. As more cutting edge opportunities are arising every day, and less people who are qualified and interested in doing the work the opportunities require, companies are scrambling to attract the best and brightest. Many companies are resorting to hefty sign on bonuses or retention packages for the highly skilled, top performing employees. However, many of these same employees who accept the benefits report they are not engaged or excited about the company and the services they provide. They sign up for the role only for the money, and when more money shows up elsewhere with a better platform to display their talents, they are gone. Labor Solution: Know why people come to work for your company and why they stay. Learn about what makes the younger high tech, millennial generation tick, put yourself in the shoes of a Gen Xer and figure out what matters to them, because often what matters to you is quite different. Once you are clear who your ideal employees are and which generation they fall into, craft a Retention Strategy and Employee Value Proposition that attracts and retains the people you need.   Next Step: If you are compelled to position your company as a leading employer. If you are in a highly competitive industry, seeking highly skilled people for customer centric roles and the life of your company depends on the people inside, schedule a Talent Strategy review with one of our Consultants. In 30 minutes, you will identify the biggest areas of concern and be advised on potential solutions.

Role Analysis: The Key to Performance Management and Leadership Success

Performance management success and the key to effective leadership lies in the development and strengthening of KPI’s (key performance indicators) so that every single member of your workforce is clearly aware of their role within the team, what is expected of them in that role and what they need to do to meet expectations that are clearly outlined.

The leadership and management experts at KeenHire know from experience and training that clear roles need to be defined by the leadership team for every single internal position in the company. This includes when you are advertising and interviewing someone for a role and when you are managing the employee you have selected in that role too.

Unless this is done, the strong workforce that you are looking for is never going to be within your grasp.

What are key performance indicators?
Key performance indicators are specific targets, qualities, responsibilities or requirements that a leadership team MUST set out.

Too much of the time, the management experts at KeenHire come into contact with companies in which every single manager or executive leader has a different notion of what is expected from any given employee: what their role is and what the company is looking for when hiring someone for that role.

Employee Motivation: How to Nurture it...

Even if you have a team of brilliant, devoted and effective employees who love to work and live for every second of it, you still need to invest time and knowledge in the development of employee motivation to ensure that your workforce remains happy and focused.

The management and leadership experts at KeenHire see it as a high priority to develop ways in which to help you nurture your employee motivation. For this reason, we spend a great deal of our time looking for different kinds of employee management tools for you to use with your team.

Contact the management and leadership experts at KeenHire at any time to find out about the hottest employee motivation tools are the market. Employee motivation tools that we find sometimes come in the form of employee evaluation systems, employee reward ideas or even webinars and conferences which recognized specialists are scheduled to give on the subject of employee motivation throughout the year.

All employees need to receive help in terms of motivation. At KeenHire, we help you to see that huge variety of ways in which this motivation can be supplied on a regular basis to ensure that you develop a strong work force for your business full of employees in whom you can trust to get the job done well.

Examples of employee motivation ideas
One of the most important things to bear in mind is that every single employee from your company is liable to find motivation for their work in different ways and therefore you need to supply employee motivation in different ways too.

Conscious Hiring: An Operationally Efficient Sales Hiring Process That Gleans World-Class Results

As business leaders of scaling organizations you know that the success of your organization  depends on the quality of the people inside. KeenHire Talent Management’s Conscious-Hiring webinar enables you to learn how to identify the right people for the right roles directly impacting your ability to achieve corporate sales objectives.

Registration for Conscious Hiring Webinar is FREE

Date: August 2, 2011

Time: 10:30 - 12:00 PST

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER NOW!

During this high-powered webinar you change the way you think about your employees' impact on your business while raising your level of expertise and control in choosing your sales team wisely.

By engaging in this Conscious Hiring process you hone in on the key elements it takes to produce consistent sales results in your sales organization and you learn to identify the core sales behaviors, values and competencies needed to achieve those results reliably over time.

You walk away with:
1. A blueprint for creating a highly effective Conscious-Hiring process
2. Insight into Role Analysis, and why it is the key to effective sales hiring
4. Understand how & why to use psychometric assessment tools
5. Review Behavioral Interviewing techniques; the when, why and how

 

The Expert

Margaret Graziano is a torch bearer in the Staffing and Recruitment industry. Her visionary ability, astute knowledge of full life cycle Talent Management and her tenure in the field, positions her far ahead of the Human Capital innovation curve. In the early 2000's Graziano shifted her mindset from recruiter working to make a placements to consultant committed to building extraordinary workforces. She added a talent management division to her staffing operation, adopted a world-class conscious hiring and placement process and significantly invested in her own personal and professional development. She utilizes her certifications in Organizational Development, Behavioral Interviewing, Psychometric Assessment usage, Role Analysis and Employee Retention to create curriculum and programs that elevate KeenHire's customers' ability to hire and retain the right people.

REGISTER NOW!

Can't make the webinar, visit the KeenHire on line store and purchase tools, workbooks, scripts, manuals, assessments, CD's, DVD's, books and more!

New Exceptional College Graduate Finance Opportunity! Chicago

You are a recent college graduate with a degree in Finance or Entrepreneurialism. You are a highly motivated, driven sales professional-at the core. You have already made up your mind to establish yourself as a financial services career professional. You are thrilled with the idea of having control over your own destiny and experiencing an unlimited earning potential. You are one of the well connected recent graduates, and you are an excellent communicator with a plethora of contacts. Fundamentally, you believe in providing high value consultative services that generate security and financial stability for your customers.

We are representing GCG Financial. GCG has been built on principals that create success for their Advisors and customers. As the 8th largest Financial Services firm in Chicago, they have been led by the Levitz family and leadership team, instilling ethics and morals, as the cornerstone of their business.  The end result is a culture of respect and a team environment where Advisors enjoy both working and representing GCG Financial to their prospects and clients.

As a full-service firm offering one-stop shopping to their customers GCG Financial presents a healthy portfolio of unlimited products.  This permits Advisors an opportunity to become an expert in Insurance, Assets under Management, or Benefits. With a team of nearly 100, the Advisors are fully supported and therefore have more time, to focus on developing their business and portfolio.

You want to bring your personality, tenacity and creativity along with your relationships to an environment that supports your ambitions and mentors you to master the field.
    
GCG Financial believes there is no greater reward than making an impact on other peoples’ lives.  Rewards are prominent at GCG Financial. Monetarily, Advisors experience unlimited income potential and when Advisors are at the upper echelon of productivity, they become eligible for club recognition in the Leader’s Club, Master’s Club, the Circle of Excellence, or for the elite Advisor, the prestigious Black Tie Club. 

Job Requirements 

• 2 years sales and heavy networking during college
• Strong relationship builder 
• Concern and care for your customer's best interest
• Willingness to make outbound sales calls
• Ability to grasp financial concepts, insurance terminology and investment language

Take control over your own destiny and experiencing an unlimited earning potential, apply now!

Propelling Sr. Accounting Associate Position Now Open! Queens

You are an accounting professional who thrives in a fast paced environment where you have the core responsibility for documenting and processing accounting transactions. You are a self-starter who appreciates working independently to complete day-to-day functions like invoicing, journal & general ledger entries and cash receipts as well as working as part of the team to close the books monthly, including the P & L and the Balance Sheet.

You thrive in an environment where clients and business leaders expect invoices to be completed accurately and on time.You enjoy a key contributor role that combines your Accounting education and variety of accounting experience such as, processing high volume complex and routine monthly invoices, accounts payable, applying and entering cash as well as producing month end reports. You have Bachelors degree in Accounting and 2-3 years of practical accounting experience working in small office with company revenues ranging from $8,000,000- $15,000,000. You enjoy being part of a team made up of responsible, hardworking and dedicated people.

We are mid-sized regional office of a Global corporation offering parking solutions to municipal entities throughout the United States. We are seeking a dedicated team player that is comfortable working with a variety of bookkeeping responsibilities, ranging from preparing invoices to assisting with closing the month. We often work on tight deadlines and all need to pitch in to close the books accurately and on time. 

Your experience with full life cycle accounting, creating monthly invoices, processing daily cash receipts, and compiling month-end close reports using Microsoft Dynamics (Great Plains) moves you to the front of the candidate pool.

Duncan Solutions offers more than 70 years of industry leadership serving government clients throughout the US.  With intelligent, integrated products and services, Duncan Solutions is propelling the entire parking/toll way enforcement and collection industry into the future.  We offer great benefits, a very stable business offering and a convenient Queens’ location. 

Job Requirements 

• 2-3 years recent full charge bookkeeper
• heavy invoicing full life-cycle month-end close
• BS Accounting or Finance
• Great Plains

If you are ready for great benefits, and a very stable business offering,

apply now!