Category: Recruiting

We know Talent Acquisition. We can help create strategic talent acquisition plans and processes to market, source, recruit, hire, and retain top talent. This category features insights specifically on Recruiting.

  • What is Diversity and Why Does it Matter?

    What is Diversity and Why Does it Matter?

    I distinctly remember the first time I knew I lived in a bubble.   I was 17- a junior in high school.  I had two elective slots open.  For one, I decided to be a science lab assistant that didn’t require much work.  This allowed me to walk across the street one day a week to spend time with an at-risk elementary student as her mentor.

    Up until that point in my life, I thought most people lived like me.  Some had more and some had less but I didn’t think there were drastic differences.  As I got to know this little girl and hear her story, I realized I was wrong.  Dead wrong.

    She and her brother had been shuffled from home to home, with no one really providing for them.   She didn’t know where her next meal would come from and who would (or wouldn’t) be picking her up from school and where she would sleep most nights.

    That same year, I also had a period of my schedule where I was an aide in the developmental wing of our high school.  I spent time with students around my age with varying degrees of cognitive and physical disabilities.

    This was the beginning of the realization that not everyone’s world, even if we were occupying the same physical space, was the same as the world I was in.

    With a large focus on diversity and inclusion in the workplace, my realization that I lived in a bubble helps to illustrate that diversity and inclusion aren’t just about your Title VII criteria and other subsequent legislative catagories- sex, race, color, national origin, religion,  age and sexual orientation.

    Diversity and inclusion aren’t about discrimination. It’s about creating an environment in work and in life that proves it is valuable to be around people who are different from us. This value is added through perspective and leads to business results.

    So when you think about your workplace (and life), do you have diversity and are you open to the perspectives around multiple criteria of diversity?

    Does it include diversity in:

    1. Demographics- Title IX criteria such as sex (and sexual orientation), race, color, national origin (I would also add geographic diversity- I’ve learned a lot from people who grew up in a different part of the United States than I have), and religion.
    2. Age
    3. Cognitive Diversity including things that many would label as “disabilities” like Autism, Asperger’s, etc.
    4. Physical Diversity including things that many would also label as “disabilities” tied to physical limitations- blind, deaf, paraplegic individuals, etc.
    5. Personality Diversity
    6. Socio-Economic Diversity
    7. Political Diversity
    8. Diversity of Experiences

    A lot of these areas of diversity can’t be seen.  They come with being heard.

    As a business leader, I’d encourage you to use the Privilege Walk  to begin the conversation of allowing a variety of areas of diversity to be seen (by the positions people end up in on the walk) and then be heard by facilitating a discussion around it.

    Because “companies with inclusive talent practices in hiring, promotion, development, leadership and team management generate up to 30% higher revenue per employee and greater profitability than their competitors.” Source here.

    I read To Kill A Mockingbird in High School too.  I was 15.  But it wasn’t until I was 17, walking into that little girl’s current front yard to take her to dinner that I realized I just learned what Atticus Finch meant, “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view- until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.”

    Climb into someone else’s shoes today.  You’ll add more value if you do.

     

    Interested in learning more about diversity and inclusion? Join Mary Ila at SHRM’s Diversity and Inclusion conference as she tackles the topic of hiring for fit AND diversity.

    See session information here.

  • We’re Only Human podcast – Calculating the Value of HR Programs

    We’re Only Human podcast – Calculating the Value of HR Programs

    Mary Ila had a chance to chat with Ben Eubanks on the We’re Only Human podcast about the importance of calculating the value that HR programs and efforts bring to business.  You can tune in below to learn more about how and why to calculate ROI and run statistical calculations to prove the value of your efforts.

    A big thanks to Ben and the HR Happy Hour Network for the chance to chat about this important topic!

    Listen to Mary Ila’s interview with Ben here.

  • The Experience Before the Experience:  3 Things Disney Can Teach Us About Worldclass Onboarding

    The Experience Before the Experience: 3 Things Disney Can Teach Us About Worldclass Onboarding

    You’ve drunk the Kool-Aid.  You put down your deposit, and you’re now trying to figure out how to schedule dining reservations 180 days out. And, despite how much everyone has told you about FastPasses, you are still a little confused about how and when you are supposed to book them, which ones are first tier and which ones are second tier, and really, which rides are worth getting a FastPast for. There are so many choices and decisions to navigate as you embark on your first trip to Disney World!

    Such was my experience as we spent the spring planning for our first trip since the late 80s when I was a kid, to take our six and three year old on the most magical trip to be taken at their age.

    I admit, I got so confused, I just turned all the planning over to my husband.

    And I realized, the experience of planning for a trip to Disney World is much like the experience of being hired for a job and waiting in anticipation- and sometimes utter confusion- about how it is all going to go down and play out for your new gig.

    But Disney has the experience before the experience figured out.  And with that, here are some tips I think we can all learn from Disney as we seek to create a world-class experience for our new hires before they even enter the park… I mean office.

    1. You gotta have an app. The My Disney Experience app helps you navigate and store all the decisions that need to be made for your trip.  Schedule dining, FastPasses and have the confirmation number to your hotel all in one place.  Confused about which FastPasses to get? Well take a look at the wait times on all rides at any given point in any day through the app.  Realize your kid is too short to ride Splash Mountain through the app?  No worries, ditch a FastPass for that ride in favor of another one.

    The tax paperwork, contact information and election options for benefits for a new hire are much like the choices for Disney World.  Plentiful and often overwhelming. To onboard a new hire effectively with all the choices this day in age, you’ve got to go digital with it and facilitate it through technology. Find the equivalent of the My Disney Experience app and allow your customer- aka your new hire- to get all the information needed to get all of the decisions out of the way.  Then it is all sent to you so that when they walk through the gates, they are ready for the magic.

    1. The magic band is a must. Magic bands, which are the ticket to everything in Disney World- your resort room key, your credit card, your ticket into the parks, etc.- arrives at your doorstep (customized to the color of your choice) about a month before your trip.

    To have seen my kids’ excitement over the arrival of those bands, you would have thought their arrival was the actual arrival at Disney World itself.

    Are you sending any unique and customized swag to your new hires before they start to get them excited about their experience with your company?  It doesn’t have to be expensive (the magic bands are just plastic), but it needs to be unique to your company and something that creates excitement.

    1. Pick up their bags for them. If you travel by plane to Disney, luggage tags will arrive for you in the mail before your trip.  You simply slip the luggage tags on before you check it with your airline, then you forget about the luggage.  Arrive at the airport, and there is no need to go to baggage claim.  Hop on the Disney Express bus that takes you in the comfort of air conditioning and TVs promoting the magic (and sales pitch) of Disney to your hotel, jet off to the parks, and when you return to your room, your luggage is waiting there for you.

    We often exhaust and or turn new hires off on day one because there isn’t a sense of ease taking place prior or during arrival.  Their computer isn’t set-up, the phone isn’t either, and neither is their email address.  Get the details set-up so that not a thought has to be given to them during arrival, so that people can be whisked off to the park- or to hitting the ground running on meaningful stuff, instead of their bags- day one.

    Disney was full of magic, and well, utter exhaustion.  But overall, Disney teaches us that is all about the customer experience. Your employees, old and new, are customers, are you creating experiences that treat them like one?

    What do you do to create a world-class new hire experience?

     

    Like this post?  You may also like:

    3 Tips for Successfully Onboarding New Hires

  • The Candidate Experience Influences The Brand

    The Candidate Experience Influences The Brand

    Branding is an important marketing topic. Some organizations invest heavily in a brand strategy that reaches many audiences, including the job seeker. A great brand attracts job candidates to an organization. As a marketer and HR professional, I have a unique perspective on this topic.  The marketer side understands the importance of brand equity and the HR side values the role it plays in talent acquisition.  Some organizations fail to make this connection. Other organizations offer poor candidate experiences, which cast a negative image. As a result, it harms the brand while turning away potential talent.

    Over the years, I have heard candidates’ horror stories of bad encounters, which diminish the job seekers value of an organization.  A few of these experiences were so negative that it impacted the candidate’s use of the products and services. Most job seekers desire an organization that aligns with their values and where a connection can be made to the culture. The candidate experience is an extension of the brand strategy. It expands beyond the talent acquisition strategy.  Recruiters are often the first human contact a job seeker has with the brand. Having a marketing orientation is vital to recruiting, since they are brand representatives.

    A negative candidate experience has a lasting impact. Talent acquisition influences brand equity.  Designing a marketing-focused talent strategy can create positive candidate experiences. Collaboration between marketing and talent acquisition is beneficial in driving the strategy.  Every encounter is exposure to the brand, so make it exceptional.

     

     

    About the author: Steve Graham serves as Vice President for Marketing, HR Business Partner, and college instructor. He holds graduate degrees in management and higher education. As a life-long learner, he has additional graduate and professional education in executive & professional coaching, health care administration, and strategic human resource management.

    He is a certified HR professional with The Society for Human Resource Management, certified coach with the International Coach Federation, and a Global Career Development Facilitator. His professional memberships include: The Society for Human Resource Management, the American Society for Healthcare Human Resources Administration, Association for Talent Development, and International Coach Federation. LinkedIn.com/in/hstevegraham

  • The name of the game is FREEDOM: How innovative companies motivate, get, and retain the best…

    The name of the game is FREEDOM: How innovative companies motivate, get, and retain the best…

    “The competition to hire the best will increase in the years ahead. Companies that give extra flexibility (freedom) to their employees will have the edge in this area.” Bill Gates

    I can’t neglect (since I missed the window over the 4th) to make sure to make a point about freedom during our nation’s birthday month. And as by coincidence or actually, by what really makes a whole lot of sense, you can’t talk about what drives innovation without talking about freedom. America is a country that was built around the concept of freedom.

    Despite a presidential campaign grounded on “Making America Great Again,” it is the most innovative country in the world as measured by producing goods and services that people value (as measured by GDP). It is also still a country where many desire to immigrate, and though I’m not citing fact now, I will venture to say that many of them desire to come here precisely because they will have freedom, including the freedom to innovate.

    And, since I can’t resist the urge to make a slight political commentary here, a country grounded in freedom is what gives Mr. Trump the freedom to say that America needs to be great again and gives citizens the right to show their support of this by their vote. This is precisely what makes America great. Not the idea of building a wall.

    And freedom is what grounds innovative organizations.

    Why? Because giving people freedom leads to this cycle:

    1. Trust. Freedom is the way you behaviorally demonstrate to people that you trust them.  When people are trusted, they feel free to:
    2. Experiment. A/B or split testing is something the most innovative companies do all the time.  Because everything can’t be known, trying it more than one way and seeing what works better- what the customer prefers- leads to better results.
    3. Fail (more often than not). If I saw anything across the literature that was vital to innovation it was room to fail because it leads people to:
    4. Learn. As the Innovator’s Dilemma emphasizes over and over again –  “The strategies and plans that managers formulate for confronting disruptive technological change, therefore, should be plans for learning and discovery rather than plans for execution.” Learning can also come from getting it right instead of failing, but often the biggest breakthroughs come through some kind of failure in the beginning.
    5. Grow. Growth occurs at the individual level and then collectively at the organizational level in terms of profits.

     

    Freedom1

    Much of the literature uses the word “autonomy” or “flexibility” for “freedom” and this autonomy, as you see in Drive couples with finding mastery and purpose in the workplace to create motivation.

    So how do we create this freedom in the workplace that allows for this cycle to take place, leading to innovation?

    Here are some ideas to create freedom from some of the best innovation hubs:

     

    How do you allow for freedom in the workplace?  What results have you seen?

    What scares you about giving people freedom in the workplace?  Why?