Want to Attract Quality Candidates? Here’s the Ugly Truth....

Tue, 10 Apr 2012 01:09:00 GMT

Don’t tell them how good the company is; tell them how bad it is!!!!

High calibre executive candidates want to make a difference. High achievers are looking for a challenge in which they can use their strengths to make a big impact. Candidates that are ambitious, take pride in their work and see themselves as making a difference are not nearly as interested as you might think in hearing how swimmingly things are going in your company. They want to hear that things are broken, that systems are breaking down, morale is low and the company is underperforming.

The key is to make sure that the Ugly Truths you disclose are in areas that play to their strengths and that they can directly impact and influence. For example you should tell candidates that are interested in your CFO role about how the finance system has been outgrown by the company, which has meant the accounts team is stressed and struggles to meet reporting deadlines. This gets a big tick as it points to where things can be improved and is directly in the sphere of influence of the candidate’s future role. Don’t make the mistake of bringing up issues that they cannot affect.

Here’s the (4) principles for handling the Ugly Truth in an interview:

1. A ‘broken’ company attracts candidates who want to make an impact. So don’t be frightened to point them out.
2. Make sure your Ugly Truths are aligned directly with the candidate’s strengths.
3. Your Ugly truths need to sit squarely in the candidate’s sphere of influence.
4. When describing your Ugly truths be frank and hard on the business issues. Don’t attack individuals, just the problems.

What is most important is that executive candidates are given an absolutely authentic picture as to why the company or department is positioned where it is and how the key stakeholders are 100% behind the change programme that is required.

Historically Companies have been reluctant to be candid and transparent with candidates about what doesn’t work and what’s broken in the organisation. The Ugly Truth avoidance is often perpetuated by HR which produces copious amounts of material relating to being an employer of choice and brochures on employee benefits. I am not saying that these activities are not noble pursuits worthy of HR’s attention, however I am saying that they are counterintuitive in relation to what elite candidates actually find motivating and attractive.

So it’s time to give an airing to the setbacks and weak points you usually leave hidden in the corporate closet. Start discussing them with the quality candidates you are trying to attract and watch how their interest and enthusiasm grows in the role. The” Turn Off” is the new “Turn On” in the recruitment game for elite Executives.

About Author
Simon Stibbs is a Recruitment Strategist and Managing Director of Edward George, one of Australia’s most innovative Executive Recruitment and HR Services companies. For speaking engagements, media requests and or Executive Recruitment advice and assistance email Simon at sstibbs@edwardgeorge.com.au.

Social Media Recruitment for the Little Guy

Fri, 04 Nov 2011 02:08:00 GMT

LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube…. You are familiar with all of them, yes, but have you applied them to your business’s recruitment strategy? Accessing, attracting and securing potential employees through each of these mediums works on so many levels. The best news is that getting started doesn’t cost a cent!

Five Top Tips to Recruiting on the World Wide Web
LinkedIn - Set up your personal and Company profile on LinkedIn. Think about the image you want to create about yourself and your Company. Spend a little time looking at different profiles and work out what you find works best. When wording your “Company Overview” and “Products and Services Section” think about the ‘Keywords’ which not only attract clients, increase your SEO and describe your business but also position you as an “employer of choice”

Video - Create your own You-tube channel and start getting your Company live on air. Start with a short video of employees in the work place, talking about what they do, and how they enjoy the culture. Get your video to reflect real people with the real culture of the workplace. Embed this video into your Company web site.
Job Boards - Job boards such as SEEK.com still play a vital role is accessing talent – however, you need to link these advertisements with every social media forum you utilise also.
Facebook – Set up a Company Page. Use your Facebook page to reveal the people behind the brand.
Twitter – Don’t only use your brand to attract business and stay in touch with your industry community. Use your brand to follow the type of people you are interested in recruiting. Most of them will follow you in return, so when you are interested in hiring you will have a captured audience who you can directly feed information to. Link Job advertisements to your tweets.
Social media has turned Recruitment on its head – it has taken away the power of large recruitment agency databases and given Companies direct access to the largest corporate database on the planet. Now you need to harness this power in a systematic and structured way to improve the quality of applicant lists you are attracting.

Our key tip for social media recruitment on the cheap is you must take the time to understand the prospective and new employee’s motivational drivers i.e. find out what is important to them. For student graduates it may be time to do internships and projects that will fuel their career development. For working parents, the job flexibility to work close to home and be available for school drop off and pick up can be a key driver. For others, the support and or flexibility you may be able to offer to them to pursue other life interests outside of work may be an important factor. The point is taking the time to find out what motivates people and being flexible enough to cater for these needs will pay dividends. Four “No cost” HR techniques to ensure your employees are engaged and motivated in your workplace.

Sit down with each employee and work out what interests they have and what their priorities are, what motivates them, what their long term goals are. Make sure that there is a strong alignment with their personal career aspirations and the role they are performing in the company.
Think about how working for your Company can help them achieve in other areas of their life that may be important to them. This maybe through supporting the volunteer organisations they work for, enabling them to exercise during their lunch break, negotiating flexible work arrangements. Focus on the whole person not just the business stuff!!!
How you value your employees can create a bond that will positively impact your retention of great people. Some people appreciate private recognition through a pat on the back, an e-mail or a surprise thankyou card. Others prefer public recognition around their peers, whilst some people prefer reward based recognition such as a team lunch, tickets, food etc. Understanding these individual drivers can make a big difference to an employee and their motivation and productivity at work.
Provide regular feedback on performance and keep lines of communication open. Taking an active interest in the person and their career demonstrates that you care. When employees see that you genuinely care they are much more likely to be open with you if they feel things are not going well for them at work.

The bottom line of retention and engagement is that although social media is changing the way we interact and work, at the core of every workplace is people and relationships – which need respect, trust and the investment of time.

To improve your recruitment results dramatically or if you want to quickly get a handle on social media like LinkedIn then email us now on enquiries@edwardgeorge.com.au or call on 08 9457 4566. In the meantime find out more about us on our website www.edwardgeorge.com.au. You can also follow us on LinkedIn and @EdwardGeorgeHR on Twitter and “Like” us on Facebook to keep up to date with the latest industry news.

Are Employees the new Pop Stars? Why Recruitment Just Went Ga Ga.

Fri, 09 Sep 2011 07:46:00 GMT

What does a Pop stars life entail? From an outsiders perspective it would appear some things are certainly homogenous. They are popular and unique, record labels want to sign them, other artists want to collaborate with them and groupies want to hang out with them. Their label/brand is in demand and ultimately promoters want to book them into the best venues the world’s greatest cities have to offer. Certainly in the past the corporate employee’s life had very little in common to Lady Ga Ga, Beyonce and Bono. That is until now!!!

LinkedIn just made the employee the new ‘Pop Star,’ but simultaneously gave everyone else a back stage pass to access them directly. A LinkedIn profile is a forum on which potential employees can broadcast themselves, perform if you like. It is the tool which has given the humble worker in every organisation a stage presence which they can use to attract what ever audience they like. And attract an audience is exactly what LinkedIn does, 43 million unique views per month is a pretty impressive crowd size.

LinkedIn is a global professional database with more than 120 million individual profiles on it, with one million new people uploading their profiles every week. It spans across 50 countries and a diverse range of industries. From the perspective of an employer looking to recruit new talent into the organisation, LinkedIn has created absolute transparency across both large corporate and SME’s alike. Every employer has direct access to searching and contacting potential job candidates across a range of skill levels, localities and industries. This shift, what I call the “Big Shift” has made the employee the new “Pop Star.” Everyone is competing for their time and attention, they are in demand, recruitment agents want to befriend them, companies want to offer them more money and it’s happened in a click beat.

Today, most professionals create a LinkedIn profile for themselves. They are typically perfectly happy in their current position, but are open to hearing from employers should an opportunity arise that represents an obvious step up for them. A Pop Star does not scour a job board and looking at employment pages in newspapers is old school. A Pop Star just needs to check the inbox each morning to see who wants to talk with them. The onus is now on the employer to chase, swoon, wine and dine; just as any fan base would treat their would be Pop star.

Our new Pop Star employees may not be standing on their desks belting out a tune but make no mistake they are in demand, are not limited by geography, and are choosy about which requests for a ‘coffee’ or ‘lunch’ they choose to respond to. It is certainly absolutely feasible that at some point our new Pop Stars may appoint agents to field out inquiries on their behalf. After all a Pop Star’s time is precious!!!!

At Edward George we really enjoy educating our clients on LinkedIn and helping them to identify the best talent the market place has to offer. If you want to stay ahead of competitors and get on top of this LinkedIn stuff then email me today(Simon Stibbs- Director Operations) at Edward George on sstibbs@edwardgeorge.com.au and book me in for a “free no obligation” 30 min discussion/presentation at your offices. Look forward to hearing from you.

Simon Stibbs

Social Media Culpable for Murder

Thu, 25 Aug 2011 02:11:00 GMT

Book in a "free no obligation" discussion/ presentation at your offices on the "Big Shift" taking place in employment markets today!

LinkedIn is reinventing the recruitment industry while simultaneously drawing the chalk outline of the crime scene, which old school recruitment giants will fall into.

Big recruitment agencies build expansive data bases of talent with depth and breadth. This intelligence becomes their bread and butter, what they rely on to be successful. When a client is targeting talent in a niche area the most effective way to access it has been through approaching a recruitment agency and seeing what they have to offer or who they can source.

LinkedIn has inverted the recruitment game. Changing the rules and the roles of prominent players -either leaving large recruiting companies for dead, or scrambling to work out what they have left which falls outside the chalk fate marked out for them on the footpath.

Corporate executives, subject matter experts and university graduates alike can all be found on the most diversified and up to date corporate database in the world by anyone – for free. In the past job searchers could be found flicking through the news paper or trailing through web job boards. Today someone can be sitting at their desk, perfectly satisfied with their current position and be inundated with job interview offers directly from companies from all over the globe. Recruitment companies have been caught in the cross-fire. Their marketing spiel used to be how big and impressive their candidate database was. The mystique built around these “cash cow” databases had talent thirsty employers signing up to what was perceived as the back stage pass to accessing talent. Without any malevolent intention LinkedIn has traversed the gap between candidate and employer. Now everyone has the back stage pass. The cash cow is no longer. Linkedin has accidently inflicted a fatal blow to the agency candidate database – the heartbeat of their existence.

This overnight power shift is only the first strike. The final blow is really in the transparency LinkedIn creates in organisations. Within a few minutes you can see what role people play in an organisation, how they fit into the big picture and get a feel for their background even before speaking with them. When a company can directly approach anyone they are interested in, what value do old school recruitment agencies really add? What can they offer which falls outside the chalk outlining their fate on the footpath? Time will tell, but I suspect that the old school recruitment companies that are currently being fitted for their pavement chalk outline have two clear options – work on the obituary or start planning a re-invention!!!

Industry transformation is exciting and presents an incredible array of opportunity. At Edward George we love working with our clients in navigating these new opportunities that are emerging in the market place. Accessing Talent has changed in a click-beat and the beat is changing every day. If you want to stay ahead of competitors, or simply have an interest in the “Big Shift” taking place in employment markets then email me today(Simon Stibbs- Director Operations) at Edward George on sstibbs@edwardgeorge.com.au and book me in for a “free no obligation” 30 min discussion/presentation at your offices. Look forward to hearing from you.

Simon Stibbs

365 Days of Grateful

Tue, 05 Jul 2011 03:28:00 GMT

"Whatever we think about and thank about, we bring about" ~ John DeMartini

A new financial year is not only an opportunity to set new business goals, but also look at how your business and life are working together. I have taken this opportunity to start my own 365 Days of Grateful journey – but one with a difference. First my scrapbooking friends decided it would be a great way to take a snap shot of a year of our life. The idea grew and developed during a social media meeting in my office I decided to create a Facebook group which is interactive and inclusive, engaging with the community which surrounds us. (http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_213303225371619)

I started my journey on the 1st of July, and a few people have joined me along the way. One week on, I feel it is time to look at the impact it has had so far. From the seed of an idea between my scrapbooking friends, it has blossomed into more then I could have imagined. My children are participating, taking pictures and writing a sentence each day of something they are grateful for. The Edward George team have got on board and we are sharing our lives with each other a little more, adding to the unique culture which makes our team such a pleasure to be a part of. We are communicating on a daily basis with our entire support network - friends and business community, sharing with one another what we are thinking about. Reading the positive, life-giving posts of this group of people which I have subsequently surrounded myself has created a new energy which I am bringing into my day.

These outcomes were never something I anticipated when I undertook the challenge to make a daily post. I set myself this task for me. To force myself to stand back from my life once a day and reflect on what I enjoyed most, what I am proud of, what I may be not so proud of and what I have learnt. I wanted to bring more gratitude into my life, so I am thinking about it, at least once a day for an entire year. I will keep you posted on the journey!

Mel Stibbs

Work-life Balance: Communication Complementing Policy

Fri, 01 Jul 2011 07:56:00 GMT

How many recruiting campaigns advertise work life balance? What is the reality?

According to the Australian Work and Life Index in August 2010:
• 25% of women and 20% of men working full time were unhappy with their work-life balance
• The percentage of employees who claim that work often or always interferes with activities outside work has increased from 19.8 per cent in 2007 to 24.2 per cent in 2010.

Clearly, recruitment marketing strategies are not transcending into the workforce. As the report states the fact that more than half of workers are not working the hours they would prefer suggests that despite flexibility changes over the past twenty years many workplaces are far from flexible on terms that suit the workers’ needs. (1) Workers who have more say over when, where and how much they work, have better work- life outcomes. The negative repercussions of poor work life arrangements go beyond the individual and the workplace, also affecting the larger economy.

An avenue of improvement is through implementing policy reflecting the need for flexible work hours. The Fair Work Act of 2009 is a step in the right direction. The solution really lies in candid two way communication between employer and employees, realistic expectations and an understanding around business drivers and outcomes. Improved rights for employees to request for flexibility are important, but only if these rights have real operational meaning in workplaces where reasonable workloads, supervision and cultures support their realisation. (2)

Edward George believes that business success and life balance need not be mutually exclusive. Employees satisfied with their work- life balance contribute positively to the culture of the workplace which in turn improves the quality and productivity of all workers. The best way as employers to understand the impression people have of their role, expectations and workload is to speak to them… So arrange some time to open up the lines of communication and see what your employees views are on their current work life balance.

Shannon Ziegelaar

1. Pocock, B. Skinner and N. Pisaniello, The Australian Work and Life Index 2010, Centre for Work and Life, University of South Australia, August 2010, p. 13
2. Ibid.

Social Media: Strategy in Competitive Recruiting

Thu, 18 Aug 2011 08:54:00 GMT

“Good Recruiting has always been social” as Chris Hoyt, PepsiCo’s global talent engagement and marketing leader stated at the ATC Social Media Conference in December 2010. However, the increasing use of social media in recruiting talent and portraying a particular public image requires strategy and resources.

The Randstad Work monitor for the first quarter, published in March 2011 conveyed the following information:

69% of the Australian employees have a social media profile.
Of the people with Social Media 31% said they used it for more the just staying connected with family and friends.
66% are aware that employers can view their personal profile on social media
Around 45% believe social media can help find another job or to find information about an employer.

These statistics clearly demonstrate that social media is beginning to have a significant impact on recruitment practices in Australia. So, it is vitally important that HR departments have begun to form clear strategies around how they engage social media to attract talent to their business.
Chris Hoyt outlined some focus areas in formulating your strategy -
You need to find out what is being said about your company on social networking sites and understand why it is being said.

Talk and listen to your human resources department who will be implementing your new social media strategy. Everyone needs to feel comfortable making posts about your organisation.
Set goals about the aim of using social media – do you want to generate more ‘buzz’? More awareness?
Guidelines need to be developed around engaging with the social media. What culture and image is going to be presented?
Track results to optimise performance. How many visitors are you attracting? How many subscribe? How many applications does it generate?

Edward George believes utilising social media effectively not only helps attract the best talent for your organisation, but also portrays the public image and culture of your organisation to a wide and geographically dispersed audience.

Shannon Ziegelaar

Dismal Failure is the new Competitive Advantage for Western Society

Thu, 18 Aug 2011 01:26:00 GMT

One of the reoccurring themes I took away from attending the AHRI 2011 National Convention held in Sydney early this month was the change in mindset required by company’s competing for market share and growth in western economies. It became very clear that those leading companies that are able to create “temporary monopolies” within markets, have the luxury of operating in a less price sensitive environment, but most interestingly they tend to have a healthier view of failure.

It is very clear that strategically the US, Europe and Australia will largely be unable to compete with countries such as China and India in commodity production. Our cost inputs such as labor simply render us commercially unviable. So if production is out, what’s in? Business strategy for Western Society has to involve taking the lead in markets and in some instances like Google creating markets that did not previously exist 10 years ago. The joy of being innovative in today’s information age buys your company the privilege of a short term monopoly in your market. The monopoly will last as long as it takes for your innovation to become main stream and competition strips the value out of the new market, driving prices down. Not withstanding this, there is the obvious commercial and branding benefit of leading the pack. The benefit is twofold – not only will the monopoly give you greater price flexibility, but will also attract the most switched on and brightest talent from around the world. Countries that are seen as leading in innovation benefit from this as a whole. An example of this is Silicon Valley in Northern California which is world-renowned as the leading hub for high-tech innovation and development, attracting the best software technology professionals from around the world. This congregation of talent feeds on a culture of entrepreneurship, risk taking and risk–funding.

The key drivers around innovative economies are that Risk/Reward/ Success and Failure are all key portfolios in the innovators quiver. When failure is feared and reinforced as a negative outcome within company cultures the organisation will build a strong resistance to innovation. It is the mindset that many corporations attach to failure which needs to change. Rather than referring to failure in the context of poor performance, failure needs to be embraced and accepted, even celebrated when companies are striving to be better, faster and more innovative. After all, the gap between glory and mediocrity can in most instances be distilled down to merely a reflection on how an individual and or organisation view its failures. Publicly listed companies typically as a rule tend to have a low tolerance for risk and failure. Large shareholding groups want certainty and low risk to their investment, not a great foundation for inspiring entrepreneurship and innovation. Which is why if you look at a majority of the truly most innovative products and services that have come to the fore in the last decade a large majority have been birthed in University dorms (Napster/Facebook) or in the garage – at least at the beginning.

Retaining the best employees is all about providing positive, encouraging and innovative environments for them to work in. Being at the forefront of innovation can give organizations the pick of the talent pool from both the local and global market place. So perhaps the question we need to all be asking is not - How do we celebrate our successes? Perhaps the real question we should all be asking in how do we celebrate our failures? Thomas Edison, the inventor of the light bulb amongst other things, was quoted as saying “I failed my way to success.” Perhaps success may be the desired outcome, but only a road called failure will get you there.

At Edward George we love working with companies which think outside the box, are innovative, and supply a positive, encouraging work culture for new employees.

Simon Stibbs

All Aboard!

Fri, 01 Jul 2011 08:16:00 GMT

A recent study, Make Every Hire Count, conducted by Professionals International brought to my attention the issue surrounding ‘on boarding’ – ensuring that your organisations orientation process helps redeployed people become productive faster. The American study used a large sample to identify discrepancies between and perceptions of employees regarding the company orientation process.

Surprisingly, the discrepancy in the tenth question, “Our orientation process for newly hired people helps them become productive faster” conveys that approximately 50% of both executive and non-executives were ‘uncertain’ about the effectiveness of their orientation process.

Making sure new employees are ‘on-board’ is a process just like any other. It should be well –documented, strictly followed and redefined for continuous improvement. This experience is the first an employee has at a company, and will empower them to make a more significant contribution to the organisation faster.

Starting in a new position is daunting. Generally new employees want to meet and exceed expectations, but don’t want to be a drain by asking colleagues with large workloads mundane questions about where stationary is kept and how the filing system works. A structured and monitored orientation not only addresses the logistical aspects but also displays to the new employee the culture embodied in the work place.

At Edward George we work closely with our clients to ensure that new staff members experience a smooth and productive transition into their organisation.

Shannon Ziegelaar

Cultural Fit - The Language at the Table

Tue, 11 Oct 2011 01:53:00 GMT

The culture of an organisation is owned and intensified by the employees, simultaneously fluid and static. Dependant on the values and attitudes of all involved it can be developed and shaped over time through attracting and employing the right people. However, in the present moment it is impossible to change an organisations culture through implementing a new policy.

Obviously, an organisations culture can not be put on the table; however, it can be brought to the table. Culture can not be pointed out, only inferred and therefore created through the language and thoughts at the table. Language and thoughts, assuming integrity underlies them, transcend into the behaviour of everyone involved in the organisation.

Therefore, effectively employing with cultural fit is of paramount importance. The costs of getting it wrong manifest in individual performance, morale and overall productivity. On the upside employing ‘in the fit’ gives sound returns and generates savings in business continuity. These concepts were identified in human capital analysis in Australia’s Most Productive Companies, 2010 from Profiles international. The report identified that Australia’s most productive companies were “more likely to say ‘no’ to a highly qualified candidate who does not fit into the company culture.”

Prior to employing for culture fit an organisation has to define its current culture and envision it’s future culture. A strategy to understand the current situation is creating a company profile of current employees through a survey of their personal beliefs, values and impression of the company. A comparison, through interview questions, pre-employment dinners, on-site visits, trial work periods or a ‘motivational-fit’ question survey, can be made and alignments and mismatches identified.

Correctly employing with regard to cultural fit is extremely important. At Edward George we aim to understand the culture of your company, your vision for the future and find candidates who embody those values.

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