I’ve worked hard to develop a professional network of people connections. Cultivating such a network is a relationship-based effort akin to business development. Many of the most valued relationships in such a network are not visible from the start. The high value relationships grow from the edges and are organic. They are not transactional. There is no “right time” to cultivate these relationships, they happen in the normal course of life IF you are open to them and on the lookout for them.
I find personal and business value in finding ways to help out others and to connect people in this type of network. It’s the tag line on my website, on my Facebook profile, and my LinkedIn page. I practice what I preach and make sure I always try to help others in their journey.
That’s why I think corporate recruiting models are doomed to fail. Corporate recruiters are tasked with finding people and bringing them into organizations. Not just any people though, they need the right people. They need the people who match the corporate culture and have the apptitude to do the job at hand. The problem is, corporate recruiters operate in a transactional model. They have openings to fill and they are looking for the people to fill those openings. They really aren’t interested in people who might be the perfect fit for an opening that will happen 6 months from now.
There are a lot of reasons for why this is true, but the end result is a recruiting system that will not result in the best outcomes for the corporation or the people looking for those openings. It is extremely unlikely that the perfect candidate for the position is available at the same time that the position is on the desk of that recruiter. The window of opportunity is simply too small. The result is that adequate candidates are chosen. Not the best candidate. Not almost the best candidate. The best candidate available to the recruiter at a specific time is chosen.
I’m interested in how we might fix this model. How can businesses change the way they acquire new people so that it more closely resembles relationship-based networking? How can a company cultivate a network of likeminded people who are ready to help out when the opening happens?
What are your thoughts?
I’ve worked hard to develop a professional network of people connections. Cultivating such a network is a relationship-based effort akin to business development. Many of the most valued relationships in such a network are not visible from the start. The high value relationships grow from the edges and are organic. They are not transactional. There is no “right time” to cultivate these relationships, they happen in the normal course of life IF you are open to them and IF you are on the lookout for them.
I find personal and business value in finding ways to help out others and to connect to people in this type of network. It’s the tag line on my website, on my Facebook profile, and my LinkedIn page. I practice what I preach and make sure I always try to help others in their journey.
That’s why I think corporate recruiting models are doomed to fail. Continue reading »
There is a meme developing in my online tribe where people engaged in selling social media services are calling out other practitioners of social media who are making claims to be social media “experts”. The caution seems to be against some un-named other social media helper-person out there preying on businesses by claiming unearned expertise.
Let’s get this straight – if you made it to this post and you are reading these words, pat yourself on the back and give yourself a fancy gold star because you are now a social media expert. Anyone with the ability to get to this paragraph has all the qualifications to claim expertise in social media: You can read, you have some interface to read these words, and I assume you can type with your interface to leave a comment below (very subtle hint, huh). The entire premise behind social media is that the threshold for entry has been driven so low that everyone can play. It is exactly because everyone can Tweet, blog, comment, text, and in general get connected that this whole thing works. I’ve been throwing crap against the Internet wall to see what sticks for over 12 years. My mom just got her Facebook account about 3 months ago as an initial foray into social media. We are both experts at what we are doing online because we all create our own social media universe. No one can be me within my world better than me. Continue reading »
I am very likely to get some flak for what I’m about to say but I think elevator speeches are bullshit. Everyone even remotely engaged in networking will profess the absolute need for a canned and short verbal snippet that you can whip out at a moment’s notice to wow some prospective client. The theory is that everyone is sooooo damn busy and in such a hurry that you only have 30 seconds tops to hook them and make them beg to know more about how your product/service will rock their world. Anyone not able to master this artful verbal pitch is doomed to fail in the lightning quick business world we inhabit. Once again, I’m calling bullshit.
A recent situation has me pondering the idea of question asking. As I see it, there are three reasons to ask questions:
Seek knowledge: This is the most basic and obvious reason to ask a question. I might ask a plumber how to repair a toilet or I might ask a friend to explain how to get their house.
Stimulate thought: What’s the best way for us to develop our brand? & How can we best use our resources to accomplish our goals? are examples of this type of question. The goal of this type of question is to open up dialog and solicit conversation.
Show off: ”What is the best way to develop a brand?” & “What are 5 ways to eliminate inefficiency” This type of question is asked for the purpose of showcasing the asker’s knowledge. The asker of this type of question has a specific answer in mind and they are challenging the askee to come up with that one specific answer. It is also used to prove to the askee that they just don’t get it. Continue reading »
The Des Moines Business Record recently featured me in an article about people starting new ventures since the US economic situation took a turn for the worse. I was one of three folks profiled in the peice and I was very pleased with their portrayl of my efforts. Thanks Sarah Bzdega!
It isn’t too expensive or complicated to improve your company’s employer brand. Here are 5 inexpensive/free ways to make your company stand apart in the eyes of current and potential employees:
Improve Communication
The communication received by most applicants is atrocious. If you can treat applications more like requests for product information, you will win the employment brand war hands down. This is the first impression of your company for many people. These people work in your industry and are likely to become a part of your network in some way. Just a quick note saying their application was received and another note when the position gets filled will go a long way towards satiating their hunger for any morsel of news. A phone call is even better. A handshake and a smile is the best. Aretha Franklin had it right R – E – S – P – E – C – T!
Current employees need to know the state of the company. A consistent amount of communication from leadership letting everyone know what’s going on now (and what’s just ahead) would do wonders to the impression current employees have of your company. Both Gen X and Gen Y workers want to feel ownership when it comes to their job. Information sharing builds up that feeling. More importantly, lack of information destroys the impression of ownership. Even a newsletter would suffice as long as the content was meaningful and from the top. Continue reading »
I had a conversation with a smart guy today and he mentioned the long held adage that the purpose of an HR department was to keep a company out of court. This person didn’t subscribe to this belief but it raises an interesting point: What exactly should be the core purpose of an HR department? If there were an HR mission statement, what would it look like? Let’s try.
Here’s an example I found in a Google search for HR Mission statements that includes some good ideas but they seem very vague and sorta feel-good . Here are the key excerpts:
… promoting the concept that our employees are our most valuable resource and will be treated as such.
… act as catalysts enabling all employees to contribute at optimum levels towards the success of the college.
That same institution has an overall mission that promotes the following ambitions towards it’s students in their general Mission Statement (I’ve made some additions to make a point):
… affords opportunities for individual growth and expression and promotes the development of the total person through scholarly and creative activity and the application of knowledge for the good of society.
… lay a foundation for lifelong learning and involved citizenship and encourage the pursuit of knowledge, innovation, experimentation, and excellence in human endeavor.
…It prepares students [employees] for entry-level positions, for advancement in various occupations and professions, for a broad understanding of the liberal arts and sciences, and for transfer to baccalaureate- granting institutions.
…emphasizes personal attention to students [employees], innovation and flexibility in its credit and noncredit offerings, and responsiveness to the diversity of communities it serves.
…dedicated to providing an educational [work] environment that recognizes individuality, stresses the importance of human relationships, and reflects the democratic values of our society.
Here’s a bit of research that seems to be pertinent to our times (this is a link to a pdf file). The time period for the study was 1974 – 1994 but after looking it over I think that dissatisfaction is still correlated with entrepreneurship in more modern times. Here’s the money quote:
The conclusion to be drawn is that if more people in a country feel dissatisfied with their life and with the way democracy works, this increases the chance that they will seek self-employment. Those who do so improve their life and job satisfaction over those who do not.
As a person starting my own company, this research resonates with me, but is this an answer for our economic troubles? Can we all just work for ourselves to make a living off of other people working for themselves in a sort of absolute outsourced economic model? Continue reading »
Flickr Photo by MyDigitalSLR
Let’s get this straight – if you made it to this post and you are reading these words, pat yourself on the back and give yourself a fancy gold star because you are now a social media expert. Anyone with the ability to get to this paragraph has all the qualifications to claim expertise in social media: You can read, you have some interface to read these words, and I assume you can type with your interface to leave a comment below (very subtle hint, huh). The entire premise behind social media is that the threshold for entry has been driven so low that everyone can play. It is exactly because 