KeenHire Blog by Margaret Graziano

Recruitment: Why Change is Good

Global employment is changing rapidly. Within the last 20 years, we've witnessed highs and lows that have redefined the way talent is acquired, assessed, and implemented into the various business environments of the modern world. This change has been a result of global events, government regulations, and a changing economic climate that has demanded efficiency. Not only is this change revolutionizing the recruitment and hiring process, but is benefiting both recruiters and growing companies alike.

Market Manager -Chicago

Market Manager

You enjoy selling and business development, creating strategic solutions that meet your customers’ needs as well as becoming an integral part of your customers strategic advisory counsel.  An ideal opportunity for you is one that affords you an opportunity to sell a unique service offering, provides residual income, a sales process that knocks out the competition and gives you the freedom to uncap your income.

You are looking for a high impact business-to-business sales and market manager role. You are inspired about selling customer centric, high value, customizable HR and Talent Management solutions. You pride yourself on your ability to establish and build long-term business relationships, open up new accounts, cross sell multiple service lines and continually grow your customer base. You are looking for the right company to join forces with, one that rewards your tenacity and drive and that affords you the opportunity for growth, development, advancement and a potential equity stake. 

Choosing To Win During A War For Talent

By: John Kurzatkowski.

I currently work with Margaret at KeenHire as a Sr. Recruitment Consultant, and wanted to share with you a bit more about how to win in the midst of a war for talent. 

As the business-news media competes for our attention by flashing information on the impending talent shortage, some of us listen with a keen ear while others turn to more urgent, pressing issues. After 22+ years in the human resources business, I don’t need the media to tell me there is going to be a problem; I already feel it in my bones, similar to how my grandfather used to know it was going to rain by his knees aching. When your business is the business of finding talent you are the first to feel ANY inkling of change in the marketplace. Although I may feel like I run a best-in-class business, and I may have evidence that I know how to skin the cat better than the competitor, KeenHire is all the more faced with the challenge of locating new talent for myself and my clients in a diminishing talent pool marketplace. 

KeenAds: An Account Executive In Silcon Valley

Account Executive/ New Business

Change the Game in Recruitment & Talent Management! 

You pride yourself your ability to build and maintain relationships and bring leading edge solutions to your customer base. You enjoy the selling and business development process and prefer for someone else to manage the details of fulfillment, service delivery and day-to-day administration. An ideal situation for you is one that provides residual income opportunity and gives you the freedom to go get new business while your account base and bank account grows.

You are an innovative, driven, successful professional with strong business–to-business sales experience and a deep Silicon Valley decision maker contact list. Your tenacity and drive rewards you with a strong income and a steady stream of new customers.  Your strategic selling ability makes you well poised to sell to the C suite and deliver high impact business solutions.

We are KeenHire Talent Management; we provide the next generation of recruitment and retention solutions to growing organizations where hiring the RIGHT mission critical, key contributor and leadership talent for the right roles for the right price is imperative to their success.

You are looking for a high impact sales role. You are keen on selling customer centric, high value, customizable solutions. You chose to utilize your natural talents and play to your strengths while generating a long-term residual revenue stream.

You are well aware that the game of business is forever changed. You are very clear that when you do not offer a differentiated value proposition, a deeper level of service, and a more effective solution that is strategically priced; then someone else will.

In the next 5 years 90% of companies report they need to improve and expand their recruitment and retention programs to compete for the best talent. Many companies state they are ill equipped to manage their expected growth, mitigate their risk in hiring, reduce unwanted turnover and compete for the best U.S. talent for key contributor, mission critical and leadership talent.

KeenHire Talent Management is Growing and needs the right person in Silicon Valley to open doors and close deals. We provide recruitment & talent management process in-sourcing (the people, systems & tools) for companies expanding or shifting their workforce; where making & keeping the right hire effects profitability, customer engagement and retention. Our customers currently do not have the internal capacity or desire to implement or manage effective spike hiring, selection, on-boarding & retention programs.

If you are called to respond to this opportunity, please check out our web site – www.keenhire.com, and the keenhire blog – blog.keenhire.com and let us know in your phone interview why you believe we are a good match for one another.

To Apply click here

 

Applying the Win/Win principle to the “War” for Talent

As the business-news media competes for our attention by flashing information on the impending talent shortage, some of us listen with a keen ear while others turn to more urgent, pressing issues. After 22+ years in the human resources business, I don’t need the media to tell me there is going to be a problem; I already feel it in my bones, similar to how my grandfather used to know it was going to rain by his knees aching. When your business is the business of finding talent you are the first to feel ANY inkling of change in the marketplace. Although I may feel like I run a best-in-class business, and I may have evidence that I know how to skin the cat better than the competitor, KeenHire is all the more faced with the challenge of locating new talent for myself and my clients in a diminishing talent pool marketplace.

The looming & ‘impending’ talent shortage seems to be creeping up right from under us. KeenHire has more specified search requests than we have had in 5 years. As companies proactively deal with succession planning and building bench strength, we are seeing salaries going up, qualifications becoming more stringent, and expected outcomes for the candidates showing up as more measurable as well as difference making. All this with less people to chose from makes for a very competitive market place for employers and candidates alike.

So how does a company who has ambitious goals compete for talent in the midst of a WAR for it?

You could outsource. You could offshore. You could take on employing the at-home passive work force, like Jet Blue and Southwest. You could take on hiring the flexible work force, students, retirees and parents. You could home grow your talent, become a farm club of sorts, which many of my clients are doing very successfully. You could pay large retainers and then wait while the search firm does the searching. You could develop your company as an employer of choice where 'win/win' is the norm; where people feel they are not just serving your corporation's needs, but their needs are getting fulfilled as well.

We Are Hiring Top Notch Recruiters-Sales, Engineering, Management

Align with a fast growing, innovative, high quality Recruitment Insourcing Services Firm. Take your talent and mastery to the next level with KeenHire Talent Management.

You are a high achieving self-starter with exceptional people skills and a strong desire to work side by side with top tier professionals.  You have recruited and placed over 500 people in full time roles throughout your career. You pride yourself on making high quality hires that exceed performance metrics and advance your customer’s retention goals.

We are KeenHire. We provide contract InSourced HR, Recruitment Services and Talent Management solutions for strategic-minded Business leaders committed to building with the best.

You are a persuasive communicator who connects and builds rapport with new people easily. You have a keen ability to read, evaluate and glean people’s competencies, talents, passions and goals with grace and ease.

You are creative and intuitive.  You appreciate proven systematic processes that aid you in delivering results.  Your drive, passion and intelligence facilitate you in learning new systems quickly, training others and efficiently managing growth.   Upload your resume now.

We partner with top executives and international business leaders to build In Sourced recruitment and Talent Management programs while maximizing our customer’s returns on their people investments.  We deliver the highest quality results in cost effective manner and create long-term impact.

You are highly motivated to become part of a 21^st century consulting firm and catapult your career!

Requirements 5 years of recruiting for high touch (sales, management, service) roles

Expert at Internet and live candidate sourcing, i.e. name generation

System and Process orientation - quality and efficiency driven

Strong integrity

Management potential

To Apply-Click the link below

http://keenhire.sayhired.com/ci/apply.shp?which=837-1001-1241

KeenHire Recruiter Certification Training - November 11, 2010

Performance Based Hiring Model Certification Training Agenda 11.11.10-11.13.10

THURSDAY AFTERNOON – Margaret Graziano

1:00-1:40         Montage, KeenHire Story, Charter  

1:40-2:10         Business Case

2:10-3:15         KeenHire Business Model Presentation

3:15-4:30         Conscious Hiring Presentation

4:30-5:00         Download 26step Conscious Hiring Process

5:00-6:00         Keen Case Studies (Duncan, Discovery, Clark, Les Mills)

6:00                  Social

7:00                  Dinner – Thea, San Jose  

FRIDAY MORNING – Margaret Graziano

8:00-9:30          Benchmarking/Role Analysis Overview

9:45-10:45        KPI Role Play

10:45-11:15      Task Analysis

11:15-11:45      Cluster Tasks

11:45-12:30      Selection Criteria (working lunch)

FRIDAY AFTERNOON -  Dr. Stephanie Marberry

1:00-2:15         Assessments & Behavioral Interviews - Why are they keys to hiring success?

2:30-4:00         Assessment Presentation

4:00-6:00         Introduction to Behavioral Interviewing Presentation and Software

6:00                  Social

7:00                  Dinner – Maggianos, San Jose  

SATURDAY MORNING – Dr. Stephanie Marberry

8:00-9:30         Behavioral Movies

9:30-10:00       Matrix Ranking

10:00-10:30     Pick Questions & Overview of Keentip and scoring (recruiter)

10:30-11:00     Mock Interview Role Play I

11:00-11:30     Mock Interview Role Play II

11:30-12:00     Rapid Recall

MANUALS & RESOURCE MATERIAL

• 26 Step Process
• Behavioral Interview

SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS

• 26 step overview (in manual)
• Sample Assessments (KeenClues, TriMetrix, Achiever)
• Behavioral Scan
• Training documents for sending and pulling assessments

 

 

Choose Your Executive Search Firm Wisely

In Today’s competitive climate for talent many companies are counting on

HR Executive Search professionals to be their field talent scouts. It makes perfect sense that progressive talent minded organizations would require a top notch Executive HR Search partner to augment their internal Corporate Talent Acquisition team.

 

Whether you are building your Internal Talent Acquisition team or hunting for the right Executive Search partner it is important that you ask some fundamental talent acquisition questions; such as:

 

1.     What is your Role Analysis process?

2.     What is your talent mining process?

3.     Where do you find your candidates?

4.     What percentages of hires are generated from which sources; job boards, social media, corporate talent mining and existing databases?  

5.     What is your hiring process?

6.     How do you validate the candidates you recommend are the right candidates for our roles?

7.     What is your on boarding program? 

 

At KeenHire, our teams of tenured Executive Search, HR and Recruitment partners are each skilled in segmented niches and stages of Executive Recruitment and Employee Selection.  Every Keen partner has been working in the HR, Executive Search, Talent Mining and Employee Selection field for a minimum of a decade and has a long list of successful projects, programs and customer references. Segmenting the Executive Search process allows for highly skilled people to focus on their areas of proficiency increases our throughput and effectiveness which brings you highly qualified candidates who match your criteria, faster.

 

We approach building your team strategically and deploy expert level Talent Mining and a Conscious Hiring process in every HR Executive Search project we accept. 

At KeenHire Talent Management, our Executive Search model begins with a complete Organizational Culture and Role Analysis.  We diligently follow Stephen Covey’s philosophy of begin with the end in mind.  We work with your organization to understand your Organization’s direction, values, competitive advantages, objectives and challenges.

 

Once we know who you are, where you are going and what your barriers are to getting there, we help you discern what competencies, behaviors, beliefs, values and emotional intelligence levels your leadership team must possess walking in the door.  Our proprietary Role Analysis process has been utilized in over 100 companies and is the foundation of all of our Executive HR Search projects. This process has successfully led our founders in placing over 2500 business leaders.

 

KeenHire’s team of highly skilled Talent Acquisition, HR and Executive Search professionals are certified in our Conscious Hiring process, the benefit to you is that each and every candidate presented to your company is fully vetted and benchmarked against the Role Analysis.  We only present candidate with the right behaviors, competencies, values and emotional ability to do the job, in the right way for the right period of time.

 

In most Executive Search operations the founders have deep domain expertise in the firms area of specialty. At KeenHire, we too have deep domain expertise in our field of Human Resources, Talent Acquisition, Talent Management, Executive Search and Organizational Development.  We have worked in these areas for over a quarter of a century.  What makes us different is our commitment.  Keen’s brand, unique selling proposition and core differentiators are all driven from our founders expertise with Top Grading principles and building Good to Great companies.  We built our business with outside in strategic thinking. We built our business to help you scale your organization and achieve your goals. 

 

 

Hiring 1099 Contract Recruiters IS Dangerous Business!

I hear a lot of buzz from frustrated 1099 independent contractors about how they are sick and tired of being told how to do their job, what tools to use as well as when and how to report results; they believe because they are not earning benefits, are not an 'employee' of the company that no one has the right to "tell them what to do".  I find this interesting because at the same time I am hearing the complaints from the field, I am eliciting similar yet different feedback and concerns on the side of the companies using independent contract recruiters in the bay area.

Many companies have told me they need to use the services of three to five, or more 1099 contract recruiters to find one that produces high quality candidates in the desired time frame.

These companies tell me they install measures and accountability structures because without a system in place they feel like they are throwing their recruitment budget down the drain.

The way my colleague Diana Maier, Labor Attorney sees it both parties have a right to their opinions however companies MUST take note of their 1099 practices and if they are unwilling to give up control they need to seek an alternative solution; for example KeenHire's Recruitment Process In Souring model where every consultant is our employee, and we are accountable for managing the results. The customer still saves on insurance and other "employee" related costs, however they do not have to worry about the impact of an IRS violation.  For detailed information on 1099 versus Employee - read on!

One of the biggest challenges facing employers today is something that most people know nothing about.  Specifically, is the person who provides you a service at work or in the home a contractor or an employee?  That is, do you need to take responsibility for the person, file taxes, get worker’s compensation insurance, withhold earnings, etc, for her, or do you simply pay her what she charges and move on? So often people do the latter when they should be doing the former. The government, of course, knows this and profits heartily from it. As an employment attorney I see so many small or budding businesses ruined over this mistake.

So what can you do about it?  A few things.  First, educate yourself on the differences. If someone has a specialized skill over which you exert very little control (for most people a good example would be a carpenter, a computer guru, an accountant, etc.) they are likely a contractor.  Consider whether this individual works in a specialized field that is not your area of expertise.  If he does, it becomes difficult to exercise control over how he does his job.  Since most state and federal agencies hold that the payer’s ability to control the work done for him is the single biggest factor in determining whether someone is a contractor or an employee, answering the above question allows you to discern a contractor from an employee.

Another factor to consider is whether the person’s expertise is something that operates as a support to your home or office, or entirely independent of your home or office.  For example, the person who comes to paint your law office is performing a duty totally unrelated to your area of expertise, supporting contractor status.  While you might be able to pick up a paintbrush and help (i.e. the work is arguably not as skilled as a computer guru), you most likely could not effectively micromanage the painting project.  Contrast this with the person who comes in to offer secretarial support in your law office.  The secretary’s work is an integral part of your operations and also something over which you can exert a large amount of control.  The average lawyer, for example, often proofs the work of her secretary and might make all kinds of changes to it.  These kinds of actions show an employer-employee relationship.

How you pay someone, whether by the job or by the hour, is another crucial difference between contractors and employees.  Using the above example, you are paying a secretary for his time (supporting employee status), while you are paying a painter for his completed work (supporting contactor status).  In addition, the longer the relationship between payer and payee, the more likely courts or administrative agencies are to find employee status.

Finally, consider whether your service provider has many clients or just a few.  If the person works just for you, she is more likely to be your employee.  If she has many clients and holds herself out as a business, she is likely a contractor.  If, for example, your housekeeper comes to your house 4 days a week, you pay her hourly, and she has very few clients, she is likely an employee.  If she holds herself out as a business, advertises, solicits new clients, and works for many people, she is likely a contractor.

What else can you to avoid being penalized for misclassifying a service provider?

-Draw up a document that supports contractor status if that’s the way you choose to go.

-Keep a vendor file indicating contractor status (include ads place by the contractor, proof of her insurance, and other indicia of the individual holding herself out as a business)

-Consider asking for an advisory opinion from the Labor Commissioner or another administrative agency.  Be aware, however, that the government errs on the side of finding employer-employee status 9/10 times

-Play it safe and treat everyone who provides you a service as an employee.  While you’ll pay more at the outset, you can calculate and pay a fixed and knowable cost rather than subject yourself to untold but always heavy-duty penalties.

Recruitment Process In Sourcing versus Outsourcing – What is the difference?

The focus of this article is about Recruitment Process Outsourcing versus Recruitment Process In Sourcing.

Many companies are looking for alternative solutions to getting work done for less money.  When I first read the book the World is Flat, I was freaked out to say the least. If Thomas Friedman is accurate, I thought, the business that provided me a healthy income for almost 23 years would soon become a thing of the past.   I needed to shift my focus and I needed to do it before the change was upon me.  Since 2005, when my book group of recruiters and technology professionals gathered to discuss the potentials impacts that the world being flat on the recruiting and staffing industry much has changed.  Between Off Shoring, Outsourcing and Technology companies have plenty of options and resources to increase their output while being much more operationally efficient and profitable.

As far as Outsourcing, Hundreds of name brand corporations that I know of have set up offices off shore in Costa Rica, Thailand, India and the Philippines.  Other companies are taking advantage of outsourcing and utilizing lower cost resource centers in the U.S. such as El Paso and Detroit; as well as several cities in Utah, Iowa and Nebraska.  Progressive and responsive companies are outsourcing everything from general accounting functions, interpreting & analyzing reports, data management, routine call center & data processing operations, architectural design, elements of software support and development as well as elements of the recruitment process.  Furthermore, there are entire businesses (BPO) set up to completely outsource non core business functions such as recruiting, data processing, software development, network administration and accounting. The theory is, when a company capitalizes on their core functions and stays focused on delivering excellence in their area of specialty they dominate the competition. 

In the recruitment industry one of the big industry game changers is RPO, Recruitment Process Outsourcing.  This type business process outsourcing completely removes the recruitment function from the corporation and gives 100% of the accountability to an outside resource. Companies are offered better, faster and less expensive recruiting on a mass scale.  While old school staffers say this is not working, the black box report on RPO informs us that 90% of all companies using the services of an RPO are very happy to extremely happy.  The deal with RPO is for it to be cost effective and efficient there needs to be a certain amount of openings and the company must be committed to outsourcing and to let the RPO lead the way in best practices.

Technology progress has brought many savings that we experience daily to state organizations, banking, the entertainment industry, and in my world recruitment. It started with ATMs, Tollbooths and Movie theaters and then before I knew what was happening there the progress was in my front yard, impacting my industry and my business. Some people complain about technology stealing jobs and replacing humans, as a business owner, and a 25-year veteran in the recruitment industry I say hurrah!  If technology can replace menial tasks, can make our teams more productive and aid us to deliver service better, faster and cheaper then bring it on.

In my business, my team used to scour the internet looking for resumes, hour upon hours of time, high value time, searching for qualified resumes; now I can chose to utilize a technology or off shore resource to accomplish this and when I am working with the right recruitment professional, they relish in the opportunity to spend their time on higher level impact recruitment functions.

So what about In Sourcing?

Many companies have established recruitment as a strategic function and a core component of their business strategy. They have fundamentally linked the quality and effectiveness of their talent pool to their ability to progress faster than the competition and deliver a higher level of service to their valuable customer base.  In these cases these companies do not believe that outsourcing such a crucial function is a sensible way to achieve their goals.  They prefer to bring best practices and leading experts in the recruitment and talent management field into their company on an as needed basis. They utilize these experts to train, coach and direct their internal human capital efforts when they need and how they need it.  In my experience companies that have hired KeenHire Talent Management as their (RPI) Recruitment Process In Sourcing and Talent Management In Sourcing (TMPI) provider choose us because we bring the expertise in the areas recruitment technology and assessment selection, candidate sourcing and recruitment functions as well as programming and resources for employee retention and next level & emerging leader development.

The type of companies most likely to utilize recruitment in sourcing are companies that are on their way up; they could be in an emerging market, a start up or a company whose corporate headquarters are located in another country.  One thing these companies have in common is they have specific growth plans and are committed to building their organization with the best talent they can secure.

 

Let’s face it whether you are a commercial staffing or recruitment firm, a single recruitment provider or a recruitment department it makes sense to outsource, off shore or bring systems and technology to specific aspects of your recruitment process as anything you can do to maximize your efficiency and profitability is a mandatory business requirement. Similarly a business leader of a company on your way up, the right answer for you might be to bring the best possible resources inside on an as needed basis and only pay for what you need, when you need it.