Bring the heart back to Staffing
So “The heart of Rock and Roll” as Huey Lewis sang, is still beating. The question is how is the heart of staffing? From the things I have seen, and heard I seriously question if the “heart of staffing” even exists anymore. What I mean by the “heart of Staffing” is the reason we do it, the way we do it, the way we handle ourselves with people etc. I sometime think because of email, ATS, HRIS, and metrics, etc. we forgot what it is like to be …human, what it is like to be a candidate, and hiring manager, heck I think some forget what it is like to be a staffing professional. What brought this up was listening to the way a recruiter I meant was talking to a perspective candidate for the first time. They were quick, cold, callous, uncaring, and basically acted like the candidate was wasting their time. The interesting part was the candidate was perfect for the position. It made me start listening, and watching what other staffing professionals do and say, not to just applicants but other recruiters and hiring managers. While they were for the most part cordial, and polite, there was no zest, no sense of caring. They were almost robotic, there were “PC” but nothing else, there was no heart. One thing I have learned in my years in staffing is you have to have heart, you have to want to do this because you love it, you have to want to talk to candidates to not just see if they have the skills you need but to see what they are all about, what kind of person are they, what is in their hearts. You need to talk with hiring managers like they are more than just an annoying person who wants something, but more as a person who need your help. We are in the time of “Social Media” trust me everyone knows when you treated someone bad, when you stopped caring, when you stopped having heart. What I am saying is start acting human, start using your heart. Start remembering what it is like in the other person shoes, start remembering the way you want to be treated and remember the way you treat someone now will come back to you, the only question is will it be for the good or bad. Remember we are in the age of “Social Media” so having a heart is important.
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Company Fit?
So we all know what it is, we all know what is really means, but how often do we use it correctly and how often do we use it to make things easier for us. The term “company Fit” really stands for the way in which your personality, work style and ethics, and over all demeanor fits within a given company or even group. However in talking to numerous candidates it appears the term has been used as a catch all or as the easy way out when a recruiter or hiring manger just does not want a given candidate but cannot tell us why or the reason is not something that is, shall we say ethical. It is important that we as staffing professional understand the culture of our company and groups so that when we say a candidate is not a fit we can explain what that means. It is a legitimate reason, I mean someone use to working in a fact, upbeat, go getter type of environment would not work well in a laid back, slow paced environment, that is an example of not being a goof “Company fit”. However it is equally as important that we as staffing professional do not allow the term to be used as a catch all when no real or ethical reason can be given. We must hold ourselves and our hiring manager’s feet to the fire and ensure that the reason is ethical, legal and morale, and the term not a “Company Fit” is not a catch all to hide behind. If we do not then we put our reputations, the reputation of the hiring manger and company in jeopardy, not to mention at risk for legal action. Trust me word will get out and eventually something will happen. So in the end, let’s remember the term “Company Fit” rally means something and is not a catch all or something to hide behind. Can you look at yourself in the mirror?
Long ago I made a promise to myself. I promised myself I would live by 4 simple rules.
As long as I do not do or say anything I would be ashamed to tell my kids I know I am doing the right thing, treating others well, and setting a good example. It also means I am being honest, and ethical in my work. I am treating others the way I want to be treated and in the end that is what matters most. Treating those around you well. Treat others well and they will treat you well, in you work and personal life. Why do I Love being a Staffing Professional!!
So I have been in staffing for over 20 years. In fact it was 20 years last week. It started me thinking why did I get involved in staffing, why do I love it so much. Now some who are in staffing will say it is the money, some the freedom, especially if you are a consultant. Other might say the hunt, others the challenge. In thinking long and hard about it I came to the conclusion that while all those reasons I pointed out above are legitimate, they are not the main reason why I love staffing. For me it came down to the feeling you get when you find a great candidate and you get them hired into a great company that is needing them. That perfect marriage that “win win” is why I love staffing. All the rest the money, the hunt, the challenge etc. they are all a part of it, but the feeling I get from them pales compared to the “win win”. In fact if you get the “win win” you get all the rest. Remember the “win win” if you got that everything else falls into place. Converting a Military job to the Civilian World and more!!
So one of the most difficult things to do is convert a military occupational classification (MOC) or job to a civilian job. It is hard because the MOC’s typically do not carry standard titles, and the verbiage used to describe it is military talk. The problem is without this ability you cannot help a veteran get a job, write a resume or anything. However below is a list of links to sites that can help you do this exact thing. http://www.careerinfonet.org/moc/default.aspx?audience=WP http://www.military.com/veteran-jobs/skills-translator/ Now prior to looking up their MOC you should also get their dd214, which is their separation paperwork and will have training and education they have received on it, also get their ACE Transcript or verification of military experience and training which will tell you even more about their education, training etc and also get their DA form 2-1 which will have even more information about their training, assignments, and education. Remember that in the military soldiers get a primary job and also secondary jobs and sometimes these secondary jobs are better than the primary and can open up the doors to better civilian jobs. If you get all this it will be very easy to see what they did, how it translates to the civilian work force and makes it much easier to help them get employment. The moving target that is the job Description!!
We have all seen it and dealt with it. A job Description (JD) not written with us being involved, that says almost nothing, and when you speak to the hiring manager (HM) and ask question they give you almost nothing. Part of the problem is the HMs may not even know what they what. The other problem might be the questions you are asking. So given that here are some great ideas of question to ask when speaking to the HM about their opening.
However if you ask these 5 questions, and listen careful and ask follow on, next step and clarifying questions based on the answer you get, you will end up getting everything you need. It’s just like interviewing a candidate each answer leads to another question until you get the information you needed. Constructive versus Destructive!!
So over the last few months, I have read allot of posts, replies to posts, etc that have been made in various social media sites, from Twitter, ere, facebook and more. Over that time I have come to realize there are basically 3 types of responses; One that is truly social with no real intent of any kind other than to converse, One that is constructive providing excellent feedback and sparking a great back and forth debate, and One that is destructive, providing no real value, but only meant to be smug, glib, or belittling. I myself have a rule if I do not have anything constructive to say, I will not say anything at all. Others however do not. Some call people alcoholics or other names, even though they do not even know the person, because they do not like something that is said. Others make smart remarks, and others say nothing I care to repeat. In some cases it is simply they do not read the whole post or reply. In other cases it is just because that is all they do, they feel it is their role in life to belittle others in order to make themselves feel good. When it happens to me sometimes I delete the post, if you are not going to add something then why have the post there at all. Other times I try to further explain myself hoping that they just misunderstood something or did not read the whole thing. In most cases I ignore it. It is really funny because every time it has happened to me I have received a huge amount of private mail telling me to ignore the people doing it. That it is all they do, reply to posts belittling others and calling them names etc. To me it is just a waste. Saying anything destructive only makes you look bad. The morale is if you have nothing constructive to say do not say anything. The other thing to remember is this philosophy can be used with regards to any interaction. The link takes you to my You Tube Video on ZipWhip
The 3 leadership styles all successful leaders use!!
All successful leaders, from Eisenhower to Patton, all understood the three primary leadership styles. They all knew how to use them, and when to use them. The three primary leadership style are; participative, delegative and authoritarian. Participative - is where you allow your subordinates to have a say in what happens. This works well, in promoting a sense of team, and helping give confidence in your employees that you value their opinion. Of course while you do ask for their input, you reserve the right of final decision for yourself. Delegative - is where you delegate or put someone else in charge of a particular project or task. This instills confidence in that employee, and allows them to learn how to be a leader themselves. Authoritarian - this is the simplest. You make the decisions, it's your way or the high way end of discussion. There are allot of leaders who tend to fit into and follow one of the styles above. Now for the big revelation, a good leader uses all three approaches, depending on the situation. A successful leader does it all. |
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