How Do You Attract the Best Talent? Five Companies Exemplify Recruiting Innovation

“We have seen the emergence of the Human Age, where talent is the new differentiator,” writes Jonas Prising, CEO of Manpower Group. Yet organizations around the world struggle to find the talent they need. This is especially problematic, because 75 million Baby Boomers will retire within the next 10 to 15 years. Between now and then, there will be a lot of jobs to fill, and if finding great talent is difficult now, organizations are going to have to up their recruiting game, or suffer the consequences of being understaffed.

Manpower Group surveyed more than 41,700 hiring managers in 42 countries in order to get a clear view of how many employers are having difficulty filling positions. They also assessed which jobs are the most difficult to fill and why. We’re going to look at the findings in their corresponding report, 10th Annual Talent Shortage Survey, and then take talk about five companies who are facing the talent shortage in inspiring and innovative ways.

The Facts About the Talent Shortage

How challenging is it to fill jobs?

In 2015, 38% of employers were having difficulty filling jobs, which is the highest number since 2007. That number is a global average, with 32% of employers reporting difficulty in the United States.

In 2015, 38% of employers were having difficulty filling jobs, which is the highest number since 2007. That number is a global average, with 32% of employers reporting difficulty in the United States.

Why is it difficult to fill jobs?

35% of employers surveyed in the 2015 Talent Shortage Survey reported that the top reason they have difficulty filling jobs is a lack of available applicants. 34% of respondents said they can’t fill positions because their talent pool has a lack of technical skills (hard skills). The other three of the top five reasons it’s difficult to fill positions is due to lack of experience (22%), lack of workplace competencies, or soft skills (17%), and encountering candidates looking for more compensation than is offered.

What jobs are the most difficult to fill?

For four years straight, skilled trade jobs are the most difficult to fill, especially chefs, bakers, butchers, mechanics, and electricians. Sales representatives, engineers, technicians, and drivers make up the remaining of the top five most difficult jobs to fill. Now we can see why a lack of technical skills contributes heavily to the lack of candidates—those skills are needed in four of the top five most difficult jobs to fill.

However, there may be light at the end of the tunnel. In October of 2015, Bloomberg reported a decline of college degrees and falling enrollment for the third year in a row. This may indicate resurgence in trade-school enrollment, creating a new generation of workers who have the hard skills companies need globally.

But until those numbers are official, what are employers doing about this talent gap? Unfortunately, not enough.

Employers are not doing enough to address talent shortages.

Despite their admitted challenges in filling positions, more than one in five employers are not pursuing any strategies to address their talent shortages. In fact, only one in ten is adopting recruitment strategies to access untapped talent pools.

When faced with talent shortages, hiring managers have the opportunity to be creative. With a little out-of-the-box thinking, they may be able to attract the candidates they want. Here are five excellent examples of companies using innovative hiring practices.

How Do You Attract the Best Talent? Five Companies Exemplify Recruiting Innovation

1. Go Big

FormaShape, a Canadian manufacturing company, placed a single billboard outside their plant that read, “Trespassers Will Be Hired!” They received 100’s of applications and great publicity.

2. Host an Open House

I Love Rewards Inc. (now Achievers), a global employee rewards and social recognition company based in San Francisco, decided to turn to self-selection as a strategy and hosted an open house. Rather than going through 1200 resumes, I Love Rewards invited all applicants to an open house. Candidates were narrowed down automatically, as those who were less serious about the job chose not to attend the event.

At the open house there were two distinct areas on two floors of the building. One was for mingling with current employees, and the other was set up as speed dating for quick five-minute interviews. This method helped see a potential candidate’s level of interest, communication skills and working knowledge.

3. Hit the Pavement

Quicken Loans, a home loans expert based in Detroit, MI, turned to their current employees to attract talent. They sent out current employees to local retail stores and restaurants to interact with workers and offer interviews to those who stood out. This was a big help in looking for candidates in unexpected places! Current employees often have the best understanding of the soft and hard skills needed to succeed at their company. This is also a great tactic when searching for a cultural fit.

4. Design an Activity

H-E-B Central Market, one of the largest independent food retailers in the nation, started in Austin, TX. Their innovative recruiting approach involved inviting candidates to a three-hour activity (which in itself is a screening activity). First, applicants sampled store products. This showed H-E-B the candidate’s willingness to try new things, and their general love of food, both representing the values of H-E-B.

Next, applicants created their own application with art supplies, a testament to their creative thinking, and a look at what they feel is important for their potential employers to know about them. The last activity involved role-playing activities to create product displays in teams. This final activity shows who is creative, who is a leader, who works well in teams, and who is or is not assertive. After this process, candidates are invited in for one-on-one interviews.

5. Send Surprises

Red 5 Studios, an online games developer headquartered in Cork, Ireland and Irvine, CA, did a bit of handpicking to find their talent. They searched for passive candidates (candidates not currently looking for a job) via social media research. They picked the top 100 they were interested in and reached out to them in a very creative way. Each candidate was sent a personalized iPod, with a loaded audio message from the CEO inviting them to consider working for the company. More than 90 candidates responded to the pitch.

Feeling inspired yet? As you can see, there are many ways to get the talent you need. Be willing to experiment. If you are in a leadership role, let hiring managers know they can be creative when recruiting and support their efforts. If you’re having difficulty attracting talent now, start experimenting as soon as possible. That way you can get the ideas worked out before the real talent shortage sets in, after Baby Boomers bid their last farewell.

Have you ever recruited or been recruited in a unique way? I’d love to hear about it.

Let’s share experiences. Leave a comment below, send me an email, or find me on Twitter.

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Diversity in the Workforce: Summer Roundup

 

The U.S. has always been known as a melting pot; diversity is its strong suit. However, when it comes to the workforce and corporate America, diversity has been lacking. No longer. Minorities are becoming the majority and that means the majority of consumers, clients, employees, and leaders in the workforce.
The good news is diversity is great for business. Let’s take a look at how organizations can best prepare for the diverse workforce of tomorrow.

1. Diversity Officers Must Have These Four Qualities

Google, known for having its finger on the pulse of the future, has an employee base that is only 2% black and 3% Hispanic. Yet 85% of the net workforce growth over the next two decades will come from immigrants and their children. Can organizations really survive without employing large swaths of the population? Future-focused leaders know the answer is no.

Many are tackling this priority by adding a diversity officer to their leadership teams. This type of position is relatively new, and leaves some organizations confused. What does a person in this role actually do? What kind of candidate is the best fit? Where does this role fit in the organizational structure?

2 . Why Attracting and Retaining Diverse Talent is a Strategic Priority

If organizations want the best talent, they need address any issues that are keeping diverse talent out of their ranks and out of their boardrooms. Beyond talent on an individual level, a diverse workforce as a whole is important for the bottom line. In fact, 96% of executives polled in a Korn/Ferry Institute study believe diversity can boost the bottom line. The truth is in the numbers.

3.  Seven Tips for Managing Unconscious Bias

Even those with the best intentions behave in biased ways and simply have no idea they’re doing it. Most of us use biased language without giving it a second thought. But how can you manage something you can’t even tell exists? The good news is, it’s possible with these seven tips.

4. Can Eliminating Workplace Bias Be as Simple as Interrupting It?

Joan C. Williams writes, “When an organization lacks diversity, it’s not the employees who need fixing. It’s the business systems.”

There are many emerging strategies to increase diversity and eliminate bias in organizations. Some are even using big data to tackle the problem. Let’s take a look at one of those strategies known as The Interruption Strategy.

Are you aware of any cutting edge initiatives used to eliminate workplace bias?

Let’s share experiences. Leave a comment below, send me an email, or find me on Twitter.

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Want To Build Excellent Teams? Try This Efficient Model

Working as a team is how the best organizations operate, yet it can be challenging, especially without a roadmap. The Drexler-Sibbet Team Performance Model provides a step-by-step framework for understanding team development. It’s one of the most efficient models I’ve seen, and I’m happy to share how it works.

First, take a look at the following graphic. It shows you the basic model structure. 

As you can see, there are 7 sequential steps in this model, represented by circles.

1.    Orientation

2.    Trust Building

3.    Goal Clarification

4.    Commitment

5.    Implementation

6.    High Performance

7.    Renewal

Each step has:

·         A question in the circle, which is the question someone on the team is likely to ask.

·         Resolved and Unresolved Traits on either side of the circle. If the resolved traits are demonstrated by the team, then the team can move to the next step. If the unresolved traits are demonstrated, it’s not yet time to move to the next step.

·         Arrows that point to other steps. If a team is facing challenges on a certain step, the arrows will tell the team which step to move to. For example, if a team is challenged on step 4, they would go back to step 3. However, if a team is challenged on step 5, they would go back to step 3, because the arrow from step 5 points to step 3.

A Diagnostic Tool

It’s important to note that while this model is sequential from steps 1-7, building teams is rarely a linear process. So teams may go back and forth through the steps, as the team matures. That’s why this model can be used as a diagnostic tool. For example, if a team is facing challenges, anyone on the team can look at the model to see where the team is stuck, and then know what to do.

A Way To Build Teams From Scratch

In addition, the model can be used as a way to build teams, giving the team lead and the team members a path to building a sustainable team. Steps 1-4 build the team; steps 5-7 maintain the team. Step 4 is known as the crux of the team’s success.

While this looks like a complex process, it is possible to move through these steps quickly. However, if steps are deemed unimportant and skipped, the team will progress more slowly.

I am going to review the entire Drexler-Sibbet model (DS model) over the course of two weeks. In the end, you will be able to use the model on a daily basis on your various teams. This week, we will focus on steps one, two and three.

STEP 1

Orientation – Why am I here?

Orientation is about understanding the purpose of a team and assessing what it will mean to be a member. Team members will need to understand three things:

1.    The reason the team exists

2.    What will be expected of them

3.    How they will benefit from team membership

In a new team, these are individual concerns, because the group is only potentially a team. Often, these concerns are felt at an intuitive level; rarely will a team member ask these three questions. That’s why it’s important to provide time and space to address these questions in the first meeting and repeat the answers in each meeting to reinforce the message. Once the members know the answers to these questions, they will feel more connected and are more likely to participate in achieving the group’s goals.

How do you know when Orientation challenges are resolved? You will see:

·         Purpose

·         Team Identity

·         Membership (What are the rules/agreements we play by)

How do you know when the team is blocked at Orientation? You will see:

·         Uncertainty

·         Disorientation

·         Fear

Remember – repetition is key to saturation and understanding. So keep repeating what you want understood. Say it again and again, to those in the team, and with those you serve.

STEP 2

Trust Building – Who are you?

Trust is a measure of your willingness to work together with others for something important. Teams that know they can depend on the others to work together and accomplish the team’s purpose far exceed teams that do not have this understanding and appreciation of other team members. Because team members have to depend on each other to be successful, trust is essential in direct relation to how much cooperation is needed to get the job done.

In the beginning of a new team, trust involves some risk and uncertainty about dealing with strangers. This is why the key question is “Who are you?” An unstated aspect of this question is wondering, “What will you expect from me?”

So how do you quickly build trust? It depends and it doesn’t have to include trust falls or outdoor ropes courses!

As we evaluate the trustworthiness of potential team members, we generally look at two things about the person: integrity and competency. Most of us start our team building by granting members a moderate to significant amount of trust (depending on our comfort level) from the moment the individual becomes part of the team. As the author Ernest Hemingway reminds us, “The best way to find out if you can trust somebody is to trust them.” Then we increase or decrease that trust based on our continuing experiences with that individual, hopefully achieving consistency and reciprocal trust.

How do you know when Trust Building challenges are resolved? You will see:

·         Mutual regard

·         Forthrightness

·         Reliability

How do you know when the team is blocked at Trust Building? You will see:

·         Caution

·         Facade

·         Mistrust

STEP 3

Goal Clarification – What are we doing?

“What are we doing?” is a more specific question than the larger question of purpose asked during Orientation. During this stage of a team’s life, it will need to develop clear understanding of the job that is required, as well as generate agreements about goals and specific deliverables. Sometimes teams have precise charters that specify what they are responsible for accomplishing. More often, they are given a broad mandate and need to make choices about how they will pursue that mandate and translate it into goals.

There is an expression in the Navy that says, “If you are just one degree off, you end up in Madagascar instead of Kenya.” One degree is not a big number, yet the result is vastly off course. How many teams are exactly on the same page about goals? Usually the team roughly knows where to go, yet is fuzzy on the specifics. For example, what is the specific metric being used? When is the deliverable due? How does it align with the bigger purpose?

General, unclear goals are demotivating; clear specific goals are motivating. So how do you set clear goals and metrics? Here are three steps to do so:

·         Ask the team lead and team: What are the meaningful results the team is trying to achieve?

·         Develop clear guidelines on the performance required that will help to deliver meaningful results.

·         Confirm the goals and intended results with others in the organization.

·         Bonus question to ask: What would you have to do differently if you were trying to improve by ten times instead of by ten percent?

Involve your team in adding the detail to these steps. The more they’re involved, the greater their sense of ownership and commitment will be. As a side note, goals shouldn’t be so specific that they don’t allow flexibility to achieve things differently; the context and situation may change over time so be nimble and adaptable.

How do you know when Goal Clarification challenges are resolved? You will see:

·         Explicit assumptions

·         Clear integrated goals

·         Shared vision

How do you know when the team is blocked at Goal Clarification? You will see:

·         Apathy

·         Skepticism

·         Irreverent competition

I hope you’re finding value in the DS model so far. There’s more to come! Next week I’ll cover the remaining steps:

·         STEP 4: Commitment – How will we do it?

·         STEP 5: Implementation – Who does what, when, where?

·         STEP 6: High Performance – WOW!

·         STEP 7: Renewal – Why continue?

Then you’ll have a complete system to use to build amazing teams or diagnose teams that are struggling. Stay tuned!

Have you used a team-building model before? I’d love to hear about your experience with it.

share experiences. Leave a comment below, send us an email, or find us on Twitter.

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