it's ALL about the experience

Shift Happens

Some very interesting conversations have been taking place here, here and here recently about technology, globalization, and their forecasted impact on companies and job seekers around the world.  But I stumbled across this tonight, and began to grasp the gravity of the situation from a big-picture view.  My grandchildren truly will join the workforce on a much different playing field.

Produced by Karl Fisch and Scott McLeod, this video takes about 8 minutes to watch -- and is definitely worth the time.  Put nicely, recruiters should expect to be working hard for decades to come, and companies might consider adding "virtual office" to the list of reasons why qualified candidates find them more attractive than the competition.

Tags: Recruiting, Hiring, Technology, Globalization

A Perfect Hiring Storm: Scarce talent and Bad Press

If the lack of skilled workers is creating a hiring void in your neck of the woods, brace yourself as poor employer brand begins to create the Perfect Storm. 

I read a great article today by career and business coach Debbie Benami-Rahm, who has lots to say about employee engagement -- and the earlier, the better.  Check this out:

The way your organization handles the interview and hiring process either brings you the talent you want or scares your talent away.

Bingo. And when it comes to onboarding new employees, Debbie adds:

Research shows it takes nearly 90 days of employment for new employees to really evaluate the information they receive during the recruiting and onboarding process. After 90 days, they step back and look at their experiences with the culture of the company, their peers and managers, and their training. Those experiences tell them whether they and their jobs are a good fit and whether they see themselves building a career within the organization. Those experiences dictate whether they stay with the company. This is one of the first solution keys to your employee retention challenge.

Debbie, I couldn't agree with you more that workforce engagement begins from the moment of initial contact with potential employees. Ten years ago recruiting leaders thought in terms of an "employer driven" or "candidate driven" marketplace, but no longer; in today's increasingly global and competitive landscape for talent, the rules change while we sleep.  Employers that are slow to incorporate critical elements of early candidate engagement are already beginning to discover that retention is only the tip of the iceberg: the challenge of competing for a scarce, electronically connected talent pool has the potential to devastate a bottom line with longterm vacancies.

Something to think about while global internet usage grows annually in triple digits, US jobs continue to move overseas by the millions, baby boomers slip off into the sunset wearing Hawaiian shirts and flip flops, and slumbering economies in other parts of the world wake up with a vengeance.

War for talent, anyone?

Technorati tags: Recruiting, Hiring, Employer Brand, Employee Engagement

Do You Trust Me? Yeah, Right.

Depending on your perspective of the political scene, this has either been a very bad week or a very entertaining one in Washington DC.  What is it about election season that consistently brings out the dirty laundry?  I'm bracing for a long, strange road to the White House next year.

All of this moral high ground really highlights for me one of the biggest differences between mediocrity and  excellence in business: the subtle art of credibility.  It's the great equalizer in the talent game, this balance between what you say and what you do: companies struggle with it in the never ending competition for that next great hire...and so do job seekers, in the never ending quest to find the perfect job.

It turns out that the more things change, the more they stay the same:

1. Deliver results.
2. Speak the truth.
3. Be consistent.

Oh yeah, and when all else fails, it doesn't hurt to take a breath and look around.  There's bound to be somebody else nearby on their own quest to build credibility.  Celebrate the moment before you go back to yours.

Technorati tags: Politics, Credibility, Recruiting, Hiring, Retention

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