[Daily post from itzbig] Newest TV series: When jobs go bad!

You can show candidates there’s a way out of the soap opera of their current situation. Make sure you’ve got something better lined up for them, and you’re going to be able to attract the best and brightest every time.

Human Resources Blog:: Generational Workplace Woes: Geezers vs. Geeks

“Today, we have four distinct generations sharing the workplace: the “Traditional” older workers, the Baby Boomers, Generation X, and Generation Y (also called the “Millennials” or the “Net” generation.) This means that the workplace will be increasingly characterized not just by an aging workforce, but also by increased age diversity.

The Sourcing Corner: Follow that link…

“With the Internet’s potential as a sourcing tool, sourcers/recruiters need to learn and manage strategies for sorting through the abundance of information.”

WSJ.com: Teen Behavior Offers Clue To Why Jobless Rate Stays Low Despite Slowing Growth [subscription]

“Teenagers have been falling out of the nation’s labor force for years. Now, a particularly sharp drop in the number of teenage job hunters may help explain an economic mystery: why the U.S. unemployment rate has remained so low despite a sharp slowdown in growth.”

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A few days ago, The New York Times had this great article essentially about how bad waitresses’ jobs are. The short point is that their jobs - in a word - suck. The long point is that in an industry where 50% of the employees think their customers are just OK (not great or even good) and 25% are “awful,” it’s easy to imagine things like low job satisfaction and high turnover. Paradoxically, the article reports that

“American waitresses take pride in doing work that they realize many people, including some they serve so diligently, put them down for doing at all.”

“What’s this got to do with recruiting?” you ask, angrily? Only everything. It’s an example of the attitudes many talented employees have about their jobs. Many have the notion that a workplace is to be tolerated, and they still have great pride in their job and their abilities. To HR professionals, those employees are among the most wanted candidates: they’ve got talent, ability and dedication, but they’re probably interested in a way out - it you can give it to them.

To get them interested, you’ve got to be able to offer them “the whole package,” which is something we’ve written about repeatedly. Here, for example. Think about these figures: Google got 1.1 million resumes last year alone, according to Chris Russell (among others). Guess why. The salaries they offer are essentially in line with similar salaries, but the perks of working for Google are legendary. Those perks are often enough to make a candidate say, “Hmm, maybe I don’t have to tolerate this job. Maybe I should call that recruiter back.”

That’s why people like Toby Lucich recommends candidates “find that organization that operates like an Alma Pater [nutures growth and development, essentially] - this could be invaluable in your future career cycles.” Similarly, a study by the Chartered Management Institute argues that employees are less and less interested in playing office politics, in “playing dirty” to get ahead. You can show them there’s a way out of the soap opera of their current situation. Make sure you’ve got something better lined up for them, and you’re going to be able to attract the best and brightest every time.

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[Daily post from itzbig] Quiet Working Professionals and passive candidates - Redux!

We’ve talked before not only about what a Quiet Working Professional is but, even more importantly, why they’re so desirable. It’s an increasingly important topic as the war on talent continues to lumber ahead, so we thought we’d revisit some of our best QWP posts today.

Recruitment Rap: Targeting Baby Boomers…

“Targeted recruiting strategies - As with any hiring plan, employers should consider how to reach people in the demographics that meet their needs, and older workers are no exception. Look to professional organizations, company-sponsored alumni groups and online communities for possible candidates.”

StanleyBing.com: Crazy Bosses Quiz

“Is your boss a crazy boss? Take this simple (if slightly painful) quiz and find out.”

Workforce.com: Business Leaders Don’t See HR as Key to People Strategies

“While 60 percent of senior business executives consider people issues to be a significant factor in corporate strategy, relatively few of them look to their human resources teams for help on those issues, according to a study released Tuesday, May 29, by consulting firm Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu and The Economist Intelligence Unit.”

My Global Career: Trudging Off To The Talent Factory

“A Talent Factory implements ‘rigorous talent processes that support strategic and cultural objectives.’ The good news for global careerists is that these objectives won’t simply mirror your career goals they might pave the way for you. For instance at HSBC, a Brazilian manager is currently on loan to China and an Armenian citizen is in India, the article states.”

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We’ve talked before not only about what a Quiet Working Professional is but, even more importantly, why they’re so desirable. It’s an increasingly important topic as the war on talent continues to lumber ahead, so we thought we’d revisit some of our best QWP posts today.

Say goodbye to the passive candidate. Say hello to the Quiet Working Professional.

In this information age, recruiting a Quiet Working Professional differs from going after a passive candidate because of the “arrogance of supply.” In their book Talent Force: A New Manifesto for the Human Side of Business, Rusty Rueff and itzbig’s Hank Stringer argue that this arrogance of supply is a “disregard for the importance of great talent that some companies have grown accustomed to through decades of labor abundance.” The Quiet Working Professional is empowered by the Internet, and recruiting them means you have to “drive the process and actively go after the best people, the majority of whom most likely work for your competitors” (in the words of Krista Bradford). As Howard Adamsky pointed out some time back, they don’t need your job, your company, your opportunity, or you.

What puts the “Quiet” in Quiet Working Professionals

The difference is in a QWP’s latent desire for “something more” out of a job. A passive candidate is satisfied with their job and unwilling to participate in the very real stress of a placement process. However, a QWP, while not actively looking for another job, longs to be challenged in ways that their current employer doesn’t offer. A post on Sytematic HR claims that this underlying sense that a job is just OK or mediocre is why the best HR departments develop multiple career ladders. The post explains that many professionals who like their jobs aren’t necessarily interested in traditional advancement within their organization. They aren’t “on the market,” but they’re quiet (internally and externally) about their advancement needs.

Recruit Quiet Working Professionals by giving them a better work culture

A truly “Quiet” QWP may not have even considered how their work-culture could be improved, but opening that door for them can make them more receptive to the great opportunity you have lined up for them. Of course, as Barb points out, if their answers are simply money or advancement, you better be able to offer them those simple improvements too. However, it’s more likely that they’re going to want to be accurately matched with an opportunity that meets the broader spectrum of their work-culture needs. That means that you better have those kinds of opportunities lined up if you want to attract the QWPs in your network.

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[Daily post from itzbig] A hiring culture beats a hiring strategy any day of the week

That means that merely going through the motions of talent acquisition without considering how you are contributing to the your organization’s HR culture means your HR department will suffer. Guess what happens if HR suffers? Bye-bye, bottom line.

More than a living: Still Training?

“Each career cycle is getting shorter, which means that you need to be thinking about how you are expanding your bases of professional expertise. Being a niche specialist isn’t a long term strategy, and the days of broad generalist are over.”

Distinctive Career Services: Top Tips For Incorporating Your Personal Brand In Your Job Search

“It is not difficult to be convinced that personal branding is the wave of the future when it comes to the professional job search. But once you are convinced, and once you have put the effort into clarifying YOUR personal brand, how do you make that leap to incorporating that brand into your job search?”

The Sourcing Corner: What tools do we need?

“Anyone can get on the internet, choose a few keywords, click on a few of the results and stumble across some interesting resumes. But finding candidates on the internet is not nor should it be a matter of luck.”

HRmarketer.com Blog : Well, only if you’re really interested in buying our stuff…

“Listen, if you’re in the business of lead generation – which you are if you’re a marketer, PR professional or salesperson at an HR supplier or any firm in any vertical charged with helping your company grow – then make sure everyone in your company who ‘touches’ prospects understands that you never tell them: ‘Well, only if you’re really interested in buying our stuff…’”

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In an interview a little while back, Merck CEO Dick Clark (not that one; the other one) said that “‘culture eats strategy for lunch’ if a firm does not possess the ‘enabling systems and structures’ that support and co-ordinate with a desired strategic direction” (from a post on Consulting Times).

The post goes on the describe how few managers (around 20%) devote any real resources to the development of a hiring culture or even a work culture. But the kinds of “people problems” created by that lack of HR attention can have a disastrous effect on the bottom line and make it difficult to acquire quality talent down the road.

Referring to Clark’s statements, Gautam Ghosh points asks readers to

“guess which is the only function which impacts organisational culture everyday [sic]? Yes, our humble friendly HR function. Every person hired, every compensation cycle changed, every performance management change impacts the overall organizational culture.”

That means that merely going through the motions of talent acquisition without considering how you are contributing to the your organization’s HR culture means your HR department will suffer. Guess what happens if HR suffers? Bye-bye, bottom line.

We’ve written about how creating and maintaining a better hiring culture here, here and here, just to link a few. As we’ve said, a better hiring culture, which leads to better recruiting results, comes from a better overall work culture, if only because that’s going to make your organization more attractive to those hard-to-get candidates. Take a good look at your hiring/recruiting system, at the networking you do, at the online solutions you have in place for reaching that talent. Are you going forward with a culture or just a strategy? Which one do you think will attract top talent?

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[Daily post from itzbig] Recruit well by selling well (and have a long-term vision)

In general, finding and placing candidates is a time-consuming process.To be any good at it, you’ve got to have a long-term plan for going forward, and given the opportunity you’ve got to sell your own talents as much as you sell those of your candidates.

The Adler Group: In the War for Talent, the Biggest Talent Pool Wins

“In the two decades between 1980 and 2000, the U.S. workforce grew by 54%. From 2000 to 2020, it is predicted to grow by only 3%, due primarily to the retiring of the baby boom generation. “

FayObserver.com: Employers can benefit from hiring older workers

“Eighty-four percent of baby boomers (ages 37 to 55) currently participate in the labor market, and baby boomers make up nearly 50 percent of the work force. As the baby boomer population ages, the growth rate of the workforce between ages 55 to 64 will be the highest in the United States.”

HeraldNet: Guard your privacy when job hunting on the Internet

“While Internet career tools may enhance the job seeking process, they don’t always protect the privacy of their users. It’s up to you to manage your exposure and confidentiality on the Web. Here are a few ideas to help you achieve this goal:”

Workforce.com: When Temp Jobs Tumble, the Economy Stumbles?

“The number of temporary jobs in the U.S. declined during the first four months of 2007, the first sign of a possible slowdown in a sector that often serves as an early predictor of the overall health of domestic employment. “

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It’s easy to think, because of the speed of information on The Interwebs, that searching, sourcing and recruiting can be a fast market. And, honestly, sometimes it can. However, in general, finding and placing candidates is a time-consuming process.To be any good at it, you’ve got to have a long-term plan for going forward, and given the opportunity you’ve got to sell your own talents as much as you sell those of your candidates.

A long-term plan means that, even in this information age, you can’t have any real success with a get-noticed-quick attitude. Whether you’re growing organically and by spending money, it takes time to build your online network, create and grow your presence and get your SEO ducks in a row.

For instance, John Parker recommends on Search Engine Optimization Strategies that we should think of SEO like we think about weight loss. He points out that pre-packaged SEO deals (he calls them “Value meal SEO”), especially the kind that seem “filling” and quick, rarely have any real “nutritional” value. He also says that any changes you make have to be long term. Like a weight-loss pill or fad diet

“Quick tricks and algorithm loopholes might get you results in the short term, but you’ll be right back where you started (or worse) as soon as the search engines discover them.”

He also recommends against spam. Sorry, Hawaii.

In that long-term strategy, you’ve also got to be a heck of salesperson. You’ve got to let people know why your recruiting works (and it helps to be able to back up our claims), and you have to be able to sell your candidates. The organizations with whom you’re working have to be able to see why Candidate A is a better match for their needs than Candidate B, and they rely on you for that information.

Jason Gorham tells this familiar story over on Recruiting Trends.

“I can’t even begin to count the number of times I have found a good resume, called the candidate, and spent the next fifteen minutes explaining my company and what we do simply to get the candidate interested in listening to what I had to said.”

He says that the sales side of recruiting should leverage the technology at our disposal (but remember the above paragraphs about long-term SEO). Still, that technology definitely makes it easier to get your own message out there and keep it fresh. Then, when you have an opportunity to really pitch that message, try to target in on your audience’s hot-button topics. What are their needs as a candidate or organization? How can you meet those needs better than anyone else? Convince them, and you’re selling. Succeed, and you’re really recruiting.

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[Daily post from itzbig] Why candidates can’t find the jobs they want

Sourcers and recruiters are experienced HR professionals whose only job is to find and place talent. If their job is made difficult because of volume, imagine how hard it must seem to candidates who are essentially amateur job seekers.

Human Resources Blog:: Generational Workplace Woes: Geezers vs. Geeks

“Common conversation between ’seasoned’ workers is that ‘I can’t find young people to put in a good week’s work anymore’ (aka - 60-hour work week). To that young Millenials reply: ‘I will work 60 hours if I have too!’ What Gen Ys are really saying is ‘I’m sorry it takes you 60 hours to complete in what takes me only 40 hours.’”

Web Worker Daily: How to Expand Your Network Beyond Your Work Group

“But if you are not just a contractor, but a real employee, it can be just as important to expand your online social circle to your colleagues outside your immediate work group. How can you transcend the miles to reach out to people with whom you don’t necessarily work every day?”

RecruiterMagazine.co.uk: IT Recruitment

“The survey found that 67% of respondents felt it is more difficult getting into the industry as a woman than it is progressing up through the ranks. Once there, 52% said they felt they could move up the career ladder quickly compared to other industry sectors.”

My Global Career: Emotions Are Like a Virus

“‘Emotions travel from person to person like a virus.’ Can your bad day - or bad attitude -psychologically infect your co-workers? In turn, can a co-worker’s bad vibes negatively affect your productivity?”

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You’d think that with all the talk about a Talent War, about the shortage of incoming workers and Boomers suddenly becoming even more desirable, it’d be easy for candidates to find great jobs. Figure out what you can do; find an opening - BANG! Job.

But what if there are so many jobs (or at least advertisements for jobs) out there that candidates spend all their time wading through nonsensical offers to “Work From Home!” and “Be YoUr own BosS.” What if, in the War on Talent, job seekers aren’t even sure where to send their resumes? It’s no wonder so many talented candidates tell us they’ve had difficulty finding worthwhile opportunities.

A post today on The Hire Sense offers some interesting (or terrifying, if you’re a candidate) information about the sheer volume of online job ads. Citing a recent study by The Conference Board, the post claims that “the total online job ads were 4,374,400 in May,” up 9,000 from a month ago and a whopping 29% from the same time last year. California led the pack with 705,200 job ads, and our own Texas came in at around 368,400. The report itself (PDF) states that around 412,500 ads were for healthcare and over 1/3 were for Management and Business/Financial positions.

Not so long ago, tzbig’s Jim Hammock wrote here that the volume of resumes and contacts sourcers and recruiters receive often makes it difficult to do their best work. Those sourcers and recruiters are experienced HR professionals whose main job is to find and place talent. If their job is made difficult by volume, imagine how insurmountable that volume must seem to candidates who are essentially amateur job seekers.

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