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When HR is About the Biz and Embraced by It: #TChat Recap

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When HR is truly about the business, embraced by the business, then they should manage all of people management, from beginning to end.

And it’s getting there for many HR executives. Yet still for others, not so much. No matter the title you give Human Resources, those “business partners” I know in the space are the ones who manage the internal talent economy.

That doesn’t mean that the HR executive does the day to day tactical of recruiting, training, reviewing and all the minutia of compliance and administrative tasks. However, to all my recruiter friends out there, no need to throw rocks; I’m not discounting recruiting to basic tactical work. But I am saying that whether you call it VP of HR, VP of Talent, Chief Human Resource Officer, Chief Talent Officer, Chief People Officer, you name it, and you work for a company of any significant size, usually over 2,500 employees, you more than likely have a specialized team working for you.

Again, when HR is truly about the business, embraced by the business, then they should manage all of people management, from beginning to end.

But as I’ve written before, if someone says “seat at the table” one more time, I’m gonna blow (and many others along with me). I’ve talked with many HR practitioners of late who are part of their company’s executive business strategy, but unfortunately the dissing “buzz” of disservice continues. The good news is that smart CEOs who want growth have strong talent management, which means they have smart people management who understand the business, what drives growth and how to keep the workforce in order to get there.

And what better way to check on the business of HR than to take the shuttle bus at SHRM 2011. On one such ride I struck up a conversation with the nice woman next to me and find out she’s VP of personnel and talent acquisition at a large company in the Midwest back from the brink of death (and yes, she used the word personnel — add that to the VP list above).

So I start asking her questions, and she tells me things like:

  • We have no mainstream HR or talent management software deployed. Our systems are home grown, tedious and temperamental. But, we have no plans to dump them any time soon because we’re just getting our life back. (But that will be on the priority list soon…)
  • We still had net employee losses last year, but this year we plan on hiring a few thousand before the end of 2011.
  • We’re in the midst of developing a broader scope succession plan that includes not only upper management but middle management and line managers as well.
  • We’re going to be cross-training management across lines of business, including those of us in personnel and HR.
  • We’re in the midst of developing a social media strategy that includes establishing employee guidelines (meaning loose ones — we want folks to participate now), employment branding, recruiting, marketing, you name it. That’s a far cry from the traditionally conservative world we’ve been living in for a long time.
  • In fact, when I came across Glassdoor.com for the first time recently I was horrified of what I saw written about us and other companies. It’s time to participate in the conversation and rebuild our brand.

Human resources and workforce management is maturing and businesses along with it. The above example is just one of many stories I’ve heard recently. Remember, we may still be on the front end of “the business of HR” mainstream, but the next 5-10 years I believe will be amazing.

You can read the #TChat preview here and here are the questions from this the big #SHRM11 #TChat:

  • Q1: What does HR do? Is that different from what they’re supposed to do?
  • Q2: Why should HR be responsible for all talent management and recruiting? Why not?
  • Q3: What are the common misperceptions other departments have about HR and why?
  • Q4: What’s HR getting right in today’s world of work and business?
  • Q5: HR pros: What can employees do differently to better partner with HR?
  • Q6: What does the future of HR look like? Does it have one?

A very special thank you @mattcharney @Monster_WORKS and @MonsterWW for all you did at #SHRM11 for #TChat. We do appreciate it!

Happy 4th of July everyone! We’ll be back on July 12 with an all new #TChat — Employer branding, Talent Acquisition and Company Culture.

And don’t forget — #TChat Radio starts on July 26! Details soon…

What Your Workers Really Think About HR: #TChat Preview

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Originally posted by Charles Purdy on MonsterThinking Blog

If you’re in an HR or recruiting position, you likely interact with a lot of job seekers and employees, and  you may believe that you already know everything you need to know about their mindsets and attitudes.  After all, you’re in the people business.

Plus, you’re busy! You’ve got an inbox full of resumes and a calendar full of meetings and interviews, and you think you’re making things easier by applying an unchanging checklist to the job seekers you have to sort through.

It’s time to think again. Preconceived notions can hurt you and your business, because they may be leading you to reject top talent before you can discover it.

At Monster, we talk to job seekers every day; like with #TChat, we know conversation counts.  Because, after all, that’s the ultimate goal of connecting.  And here are just a few of the commonly held recruiting notions that today’s worker – who, statistically speaking, is likely also a job seeker – want HR pros to know:

5 Job Search Myths and The New Recruiting Realities

MYTH #1: Currently employed candidates are preferable

You don’t still ignore “active” candidates in favor of “passive” ones, do you? The line between people who are actively looking for a career change and people who aren’t has blurred — Monster polls have found that a considerable majority of employed people would jump ship for the right opportunity. (As a side note, this makes employee engagement very important right now — what are you doing to keep your current employees engaged?)

MYTH #2: Gaps in employment make a candidate undesirable

Times have been tough, right? Great workers have been laid off and had a hard time finding new employment. Rejecting candidates for gaps in employment means you reject a lot of great talent out of hand. Look into “gaps,” and you’ll see that many candidates have been filling downtime with personal-development activities that make them better hires, not worse.

MYTH #3: It’s all about salary

This just isn’t true for today’s workers. It’s no longer about throwing money at great candidates — especially for younger workers, quality-of-life issues can trump monetary compensation. Want to make your company more attractive to talented people? Look into adopting flex-time and flex-space policies. Provide on-the-job learning opportunities (and make sure that all employees, even “entry-level” ones, are treated with respect and shown how they contribute to company success). And think about how your company can promote its green and social-good efforts — corporate responsibility is becoming more and more important to workers.

MYTH #4: “Overqualified” people are unacceptably risky hires

That “overqualified” worker has the expertise your company needs. Instead of rejecting him or her outright, find out why he or she wants to head in a new career direction. As with salary, many great candidates are now less interested in titles and more motivated by other concerns.

MYTH #5: Over 50 means over the hill

Now more than ever, age is just a number. People are living longer and putting retirement off for later — not only because they need income, but also because they want to stay engaged with their careers (or begin a new one). Like “overqualified” workers, Baby Boomers are a great untapped employment-market and expertise resource.

#TCHAT Questions (06.28.11)

What recruiting myths are you challenging? Have you uncovered any other outdated recruiting mindsets? What can HR do about it?  Tonight’s special #TChat Live! from SHRM 11 will focus on the current state of affairs with regard to talent management and HR leadership.

If you’re at SHRM 11 this week, stop by ARIA Resort & Casino’s Bluethorn Meeting Room #3 for our meet-up today. Food and drinks will be available. You don’t have to be in Vegas to follow the action. Search for hashtag #TChat on Twitter or your favorite Twitter client and join the conversation.

It’s sure to be a lively discussion, so we hope you can join us at 8 PM ET/5 PM ET on Twitter for #TChat!

Q1: What does HR do? Is that different from what they’re supposed to do?

Q2: Why should HR be responsible for all talent management and recruiting? Why not?

Q3: What are the common misperceptions other departments have about HR and why?

Q4: What’s HR getting right in today’s world of work and business?

Q5: HR pros: What can employees do differently to better partner with HR?

Q6: What does the future of HR look like? Does it have one?

Visit www.talentculture.com for more great information on #TChat, as well as other great resources on careers and hiring.

Monster’s social media team supports #TChat’s mission of sharing “ideas to help your business and your career accelerate — the right people, the right ideas, at the right time.”

We’ll be joining the conversation this Tuesday night as co-hosts with Meghan M. Biro and Kevin W. Grossman from 8-9 p.m. (Eastern) via @MonsterCareers and @Monster_Works.

Monster's BeKnown Disrupts: Meet New School Social Networking

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Weekends aren’t the usual time for companies to drop market-making news, but it happened this weekend, when Monster announced the launch of BeKnown, a networking application which marries the social-media savvy and vast audience of Facebook (more than 750 million users) with the track record and recruiting muscle of Monster

I was prepared in briefings last week so it was not a complete surprise to me. I’m still pondering the ramifications of this shiny tool. But it happened, and in the reporting that accompanied the announcement, one observation went unsaid.

Old School, Meet New School

For recruiters and talent management pros everywhere, it’s an announcement that’s been a long time coming. I’ve known the team at Monster for many years and through many of it’s revisions. As one of our #TChat media partners I offer Monster a huge congratulations and am very pleased about the news. And while some companies may feel a bit threatened or fear disintermediation, it is a good thing for our industry. Time will tell how quickly people and companies can adopt the new technology in a way that is useful.

For job seekers, it’s a revolution that continues to unfold. Revolutions change things, and people have to figure out how to use the change to their advantage – and do it quickly. Does this mean no more need for recruiters? Absolutely not, and more on that later too.

With BeKnown, job searchers – passive or active – have a new tool with which to create professional networks. Users can construct an old-school presentation of their accomplishments – a social resume – and float it out, while keeping their personal and professional networks separate, into the powerful, new school Facebook stream.

There are other real contenders in this game – LinkedIn, with ~100 million users, and an early innovator giant kudos goes to BranchOut, a Facebook application created by a bunch of smart, Silicon Valley VC-backed entrepreneurs. There is zero question they are early adopters in this space. Both are excellent tools, but neither has the recruiting backbone of Monster. I wonder how this will play out in the marketplace. Will be interesting to watch the developments.

What does this mean for recruiters?

We will have to be smarter and work harder for clients to prove our value. But I’d argue that the vastness that is Facebook will turn out to be a great thing for recruiters who continue to pivot quickly to offer services to help clients bridge the worlds of social interaction and job search. I’ve been to Leadership and HR conferences and talked to lots of recruiters in the past few years, and most of them have been looking for something like BeKnown. Why? Because most recruiters are already social media-savvy, but most companies don’t have the bandwidth to construct social communities to attract prime recruits. BeKnown could be a/the invaluable bridge.

What does it mean for job seekers?

More access. A new channel, in a familiar Facebook form. More than 700 million other users, loosely-connected into a huge job-sharing and job-hunting network. What BeKnown doesn’t have that recruiters offer: a tight, focused relationship, built on trust, with a professional who knows the ins and outs of job hunting, personal branding, talent management and career-building.

BeKnown will create disruption, but it also will create opportunity for job seekers and recruiters. What it won’t do? Replace relationships.

The loose bonds many of us have with Facebook friends are fragile, transient things, made more transient by frequent, subtle tweaks to Facebook’s algorithms which create a social filter many users barely notice. Facebook’s privacy issues and lack of transparency are real concerns that will continue to be managed. Nevertheless, BeKnown is a step forward for job seekers at a time when many need the extra help and visibility. And for recruiters, it’s a missing piece – a social edge, a new channel, a new way to add and prove the value of relationships.

Please see more thoughtful analysis of this news from Josh Bersin.

It’s old school meets new school. And I could not be happier.

New Technology Changing The Future of Resumes

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Written by Kevin Wang

There are core values and ideas that will remain eternal. However, the shape and form in which they manifest themselves constantly changes through time due to improved technology or cultural shifts. Think of what marriage, transportation, or news outlets looked like or meant to people in different periods, and you’ll see what I mean.

I believe the resume will never die. As long as a majority of companies hire their employees based on knowledge, resources, and experience, the resume’s purpose will remain vital in the process. I do believe, however, that the form in which a resume manifests itself is slowly growing outdated. Just as the email attachment replaced the mailed print copy, one of the following below could easily replace the email attachment as the next standard resume.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn, a social networking website for professionals, has rapidly taken off since its founding in 2003, with the company now boasting over 100 million users and over $160 million in annual revenues. Just as Facebook became the platform on which we interact with our friends, LinkedIn is becoming the platform on which we interact with contacts and companies. People of all ages are realizing the wealth of potential and opportunity awaiting them on the website, and flocking to start their own accounts.

With one’s experience, education, recommendations, contact information, and just about everything else conveniently listed on one’s page, it only takes a quick profile look-up from HR to find everything they need to know about an applicant. Perhaps in the future, LinkedIn may even go beyond allowing users to simply submit applications to posted jobs, building tools and services (like video chat, applicant evaluation software, etc) onto its platform to allow for the entire hiring process to take place on its website. With the company’s continued sustained growth and innovation, it is likely that this will usurp the traditional resume.

Video

It has become relatively easy in this day and age to create high-quality homemade videos. Video cameras (or phones) and simple-to-use editing software are everywhere, and uploading content to the web is a breeze. A video resume allows an applicant to present himself or herself in more dimensions to a recruiter by showcasing creativity, personality, and interests while still communicating qualifications and experience

Additionally, the visual presence of the applicant allows him or her to speak more directly to a recruiter than any cover letter could ever allow, making for a more compelling personal pitch. This format has already started to become more prevalent: for example, Cambridge-based tech start-up SCVNGR now accepts videos in lieu of a cover letter. There are even companies, like TalentRooster, which specialize in producing such videos for hopeful hires who would otherwise produce something laughable, like this. Or awesomely ambiguous, like this.

Personal Pages

With more people embracing personal branding and establishing their presence on the web, it becomes important to tie all their outlets together. Recruiters don’t just want to see a resume anymore; they want to learn about your opinions, values, and personality, which they can extract from your online activity.

Whether it’s a WordPress blog, YouTube account, or a Twitter handle, every digital footprint left generates exposure and adds value to an individual’s personal brand. A personal page aggregates everything into one convenient location for a recruiter to look through. Additionally, like video resumes, a personal page allows you to add creativity and a visual presence in a way a traditional resume cannot. Such sites are quite easy to set up: building a solid fan page on Facebook or a splash page on About.Me or Flavors.Me can be completed in less than half an hour. For those willing to go the extra mile and spend a little cash, purchasing themes, domain names, and outside help can help add a little flair.

The death of the email attachment resume is fast approaching. Thanks to the web, applicants no longer have to submit anything beyond their basic information, for a plethora of information about them is already readily available online and Google-able. It’s not hard to imagine a future job application reduced simply to this:

IMAGE VIA L Hollis Photography

The HR Technology Disconnect…Not What You Think

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Last week on May 25th and 26th, Las Vegas hosted the 2011 HR Demo Show in conjunction with the HRO Today Forum, including the RPO Summit. The point of the demo show was to showcase the best and latest HR and talent management technologies. Organizations that presented were Kenexa, Guidant Group, Epicor, CareerBuilder, Taleo, iCIMS, RECSOLU, JSTN, OneWire and many more. Throughout the two days, I closely followed the main hashtags for the event, which were #HRDemo and #HRTech. I also paid close attention to the Blog Squad, particularly the ones I personally knew—Geoff Webb, Meghan M. Biro and Jessica Merrill.

During the event, the weekly #TChat that I am religiously a part of focused on “Innovation Gap Realities Workforce Technology.” From my perspective it was probably one of the most active #TChat’s that I have ever participated in because the focus was on innovation, or lack of innovation when it comes to HR technology. Here is the high level “Jeff Waldman Brain-Dump Summary” of what I discovered during this chat, which is also inspired by the #TChat Recap: “HR tech innovation should keep us all in business.”

  1. Most HR technology is focused on recruitment and talent management.
  2. People think that innovation must be something new or a re-imagining of how technology can drive efficiencies in HR, and contribute to the business.
  3. HR practitioners need to better educate themselves on the use of technology in the workplace.
  4. Technology “users” think that existing HR technology is NOT innovative but “providers” think otherwise.  As Meghan M. Biro of TalentCulture stated, “HR and recruiters just are not perceiving what’s out there as innovative, perhaps because most of what we’re seeing isn’t screaming cloud, mobile application.”
  5. There is huge disconnect between technology providers and technology users regarding their perception of how valuable technology is in completing work.
  6. Technology cannot replace the human element.

What’s the main point in all of this?
The one thing that I heard consistently was that a huge gap exists between HR technology providers and HR technology users (a.k.a. HR practitioners). I could not agree more with this. But… yes, there’s always a “but!”  But, I strongly believe that the reasons that were discussed for this disconnect missed the boat.

The Technology IS There!
There are so many phenomenal platforms that HR practitioners can strategically leverage to help them add more value to their clients. Off the top of my head, awesome platforms that come to mind that I have used include Rypple, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, ZuzuHire, SurgeHire, StickyHQ, Yammer, ClearFit, FreshTransition and BranchOut.

Now, I want to note that I bring a unique perspective to TalentCulture because I work in Canada, and the majority of my professional experience is with Canadian organizations. Here is the problem… the HR community in Canada does NOT possess the knowledge and understanding of HR technology, the necessary technological skills or the ability to evaluate the strategic impact of HR technologies. They inadvertently avoid the conversation about HR technology because they have not a clue where to begin.

So, it does not matter how good the technology is, the Canadian HR community as it currently exists will never get to the point where they will be on the same page with technology providers.

Change is Change… “We” Don’t Like Change!
Technology is a tool. It is not meant to replace the human element or the responsibility of performing the activities that impact “brand building”—e.g. talent attraction, employer branding, employee engagement and the overall employee experience. Integrating new technology into the workplace represents a change.  It could be a huge change, or it could be a small one. It doesn’t matter; people naturally are not very good at coping with change.  So let me ask you this question. If the majority of HR practitioners are unable to even begin the technology conversation, do you think HR technology providers are able to lead and manage change?  Hmmmm…. I don’t think so.

Case in Point…
A couple of years ago I was brought into a very entrepreneurial, yet small organization that possessed an extremely strong corporate brand. They sold really cool things, and employed some really neat product marketing and promotional tactics. This company was really just starting to build its HR infrastructure, and they were in the process of implementing a technology to help them with the full recruitment cycle, all the way to on-boarding.

They retained a PMP (Project Management Specialist) to lead and manage this project. He did an absolutely stellar job of identifying business needs, potential technology platforms, engaging most of the right internal players to select the platform, all the way to “flipping the go-live switch” on the new platform. Sounds great doesn’t it? Well… the execution failed miserably for one simple reason. He completely ignored the end-user. To add fuel to the fire, the technology providers were completely hands-off with the people change management components of the execution; they just focused on the technical aspect (of course, this is where their expertise lies). The failure basically boiled down to a couple of things:

  1. The end-users (HR practitioners) were technologically illiterate.
  2. The end-user was never engaged during the technology selection and implementing process.
  3. The end-user was never trained on the new technology.
  4. No platform testing was performed with the end-user group during the project phase.
  5. The end-user was simply directed to “just do it”.


Conclusion…
Technological innovation is NOT the problem right now. The problem is a severe lack of technological competence within the HR practitioner community and a complete disregard for change management being fully embedded in the technology integration process. If you can resolve these two fundamental problems, the perceptions of providers and users regarding technology innovation and work-related value will be pretty close, and the result will be favorable.

Preventing Unforced Social Recruiting Errors

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Written by Omowale Casselle

Usually, one of the key characteristics of champions is that they have an amazing ability to prevent themselves from making unforced errors. Opponents will often try to force you into situations that they can utilize to their advantage. But, if you can do those things that you do well on a consistent basis without making mistakes, you will often come out ahead. As we know, nothing is more important for the sustainable competitive advantage of employers than the ability to continually attract, recruit, and retain top employees.

As we move further and further into the emerging territory of socialization and online recruiting there is an increased opportunity to make unforced errors. The primary reason is that the rules aren’t well defined so both candidates and employers are as awkward as two teenagers on a first date. Each wants to impress the other, yet neither knows exactly what to do or how to do it. This uncertainty is combined with the fact that there are some people who would be totally happy to see you fail.  The key is to stay focused on your employer value proposition and effectively communicate that with candidates.

If not, you’ll find yourself making unforced errors which will compound the already difficult challenges of recruiting in an emerging environment.

So, what are the unforced errors that you should be on the lookout for?

Instigators

As long as people have been interacting in the online environment, there have been a small group of people who are interested in stirring the pot for no other reason than to make others angry. These people who have far too much time on their hands will attempt to take advantage of the increased access to employees to engage in anti-social behavior.  Without discipline, your company can easily end up making an unforced error. This can happen by either engaging in unprofessional back/forth discussions or circular arguments.

To prevent this, you must remember the purpose of your online activity. Your #1 goal is to attract, recruit, and retain the top talent that will increase the competitive advantage of your organization. Anything that is counter to that purpose should be ignored. The immediacy of social media and social networking makes it more likely that instigators will try to bait you into arguments. But, you should take steps to ensure that ambassadors for your organization have the discipline to maintain their composure when engaged by instigators.

Disgruntled Candidates

After going through perhaps a phone screen or an in-person interview, this person has not advanced to the next stage in the process. Unfortunately, they don’t agree with your rationale. So, their goal is to create a scorched earth policy within your current social recruiting efforts. This person will not make it clear that they are a candidate that wasn’t selected. Instead, they will try to use social discussions to highlight perceived flaws within your company that they feel will make your opportunity less attractive to prospective candidates.

It is important to diplomatically take these discussions offline. Not because you are trying to create the impression that your company is without flaws, but instead these people are presenting information about your company without the proper context (rejected candidate who has a score to settle). These discussions can be extremely confusing to prospective candidates and can do significant damage if your employees engage publicly.

Competitors

As we’ve seen from the different anti-poaching agreements that have recently come to light, most employers recognize the need to win the war for talent. Competitors have an opportunity to create unforced errors by using their industry knowledge as well as their understanding of your competitive advantage.

Often, competitors will not have deep insights about what exactly it is like to work at your company. But, their knowledge is dangerous enough to create challenges with your social recruiting efforts. If you are in a discussion with someone who appears to have the level/quality of information as a competitor, it is important to reinforce your unique value proposition. Remember, your competitor is just as convinced that their value proposition is superior to theirs as you are. This is a great opportunity to communicate exactly what your advantages are for prospective candidates. Don’t be tricked into argue your value proposition on their terms.

As an increasing number of employer and candidate interactions happen within the online environment, it is extremely important not to make unforced errors. We see that there can be a variety of different scenarios that might lead you in this direction. What other unforced errors have you seen employers make and what advice do you have for preventing it?

IMAGE VIA chascow

About the Author: Omowale Casselle (@mySenSay) is the co-founder and CEO of mySenSay. We help top companies and future leaders make better employment decisions.

HR Innovation Should Keep us All In Business: #TChat Recap

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“Gadgets be gone.”

Ah, no truer words have ever been spoken. That was one of my lighter “tweetable” sentiments from yesterday’s HRO Today Forum analyst panel where we discussed the process of innovation between HR technology suppliers and practitioner buyers, and more specifically the lack thereof. A recent HRO Today survey of over 100 buyers and providers of HR technology revealed quite a disparity, more so than I would’ve guessed.

The analyst panel was a great group that included Madeline Laurano, Talent Systems Analyst of The Newman Group; Mark McMillan, co-founder of Talent Function Group; Katherine Jones, Principal Analyst of Bersin & Associates; Jayson Saba, Senior Research Associate of Aberdeen Group; and myself. Look for collaborative content to come from this group and HRO Today about the state of innovation in HR technology.

The survey itself revealed that while providers for the most part feel they are highly innovative, the practitioners disagree. This is contradictory of where many vendors are with their customer service and user adoption, because time and again late vendors will tell you that besides customer advisory councils, focus groups and user group gatherings, some SaaS deployed products have created the “sandbox” approach.

This is where customers can play with features and enhancements before they’re live. They’ve also created online care/idea centers where customers can suggest, vent and collaborate. However, the democratization of customer product development hasn’t quite closed the gap yet.

My fellow analysts and I agreed that innovation must be something new, or a re-imagining, of how technology can drive efficiencies in HR/recruitment processes and activities as well as contribute to overall business growth. It must take into consideration the how and why of the workplace today — the best practices in acquiring, empowering and retaining talent. It can’t be a gadget for gadget’s sake just so the vendor can say, “Hey, you can log in to our system on your smart phones now.”

“To do what exactly?”

“To do…cool stuff. You know.”

“No, I don’t. Can I download your system information to a spreadsheet?”

“Why would you want to do that when you’ve got our perfectly good system to work within?”

“To do…cool stuff. You know.”

Maybe you’ve heard some of that kind of conversation. But, HR practitioners need to also better educate themselves on the use of technology in the workplace and even take business “tours of duty” in finance, operations, IT, customer service and more to understand what it means to run and grow a business, not just keep it in compliance and be risk-averse.

We posed similar survey questions to #TChat-land last night (questions below), and there was a resounding agreement on one thing:

Tech and innovation is great to a point, as long as it helps to humanize acquiring, empowering and retaining the workforce.

And keep us all in business.

Read Meghan’s great preview here as well as the questions from last night:

  • Q1: How important is technology innovation in acquiring, empowering and retaining a workforce today?
  • Q2: Are HR and recruitment technology providers truly “innovative” today? Why or why not?
  • Q3: Are HR and recruitment practitioners truly “innovative” today? Why or why not?
  • Q4: How have technology innovations impacted end users’ experiences? Using it or not?
  • Q5:How do you use technology to support business strategies and objectives?
  • Q6: Do HR and recruitment technology innovations support the work, or are they just gadgets? Why?
  • Q7: What can practitioners and providers do to facilitate and improve technology innovation?
  • Q8: In summary, what do you think it means to be innovative in the HR and recruiting business today?

Thank you all who participated last night! We’re taking an extended Memorial Day weekend break from #TChat next week, but we’ll resume on Tuesday, June 7

Innovation Gap Realities Workforce Technology: #TChat Preview

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We’ve talked before about how hot the theme of ‘innovation’ is. In the technology world, much of what’s filed under ‘innovation’ is related to cloud technology, or mobile, or ‘apps’. What isn’t so hot, in my observation, is technology that links innovations to people. And so it is here at the HRToday conference in shiny Las Vegas, where technology is everywhere, but the links to employees and workforces are not so clear.

I’m looking forward to visiting the technology demos, and especially speaking with today’s analyst panel, which is bringing a group together to discuss the ‘innovation gap’ in HR technology. As I wear my “everyday practitioner” hat it is apparent to me that we still have some major holes to contend with. Reality Check!

At today’s panel, our hosts for this event, HRO Today, have brought together a great group including Kevin W. Grossman of Ventana Research; Madeline Laurano, Talent Systems Analyst of The Newman Group; Mark McMillan, co-founder of Talent Function Group; Katherine Jones, Principal Analyst of Bersin & Associates, and Jayson Saba, Senior Research Associate of Aberdeen Group. This group of analysts – many with a focus on talent management – are discussing a survey HRO Today ran earlier this year of over 100 buyers and providers of HR technology. The survey’s goal was to get a better pulse on the pace of technology innovation.

So while there’s plenty of HR technology out there, much of it is focused on talent management and recruitment. HR just isn’t perceiving what’s out there as innovative, perhaps because most of what we’re seeing isn’t screaming cloud, mobile or app. Very interesting.

So, what should the role of the buyer and the technology provider be in pushing innovation? My take:

Collaborate to innovate, but do it differently, depending on which side of the table you sit on. If you’re an HR tech buyer, make your technology recommendations based on how, say, innovative recruiting technology can help you build an innovative company. Don’t worry about the technology being innovative per se; that’s the role of the provider.

Providers of technology, listen to your customers. Ask about their recruiting and retention challenges, and think about how to use social media technologies to enhance the technology suites you’ve already built.

With smart solutions like these available, could there be a disconnect between technology innovation and HR?  I say a big yes, and the survey seems to have found the same scenarios unfolding with their samples.

I base my observation both on what I see here in Vegas, and more on what I’ve been experiencing in the market for the past three years. Sure, there’s lots of HR technology. Solutions that target enterprises are probably doing fairly well. But the real struggle is in the SMB, where most people look for and find work.

Workforce technology, perhaps more than other technology solutions, needs to scale. It needs to be useful for the 10 person company and the 10,000 person company. And when we talk about tech innovation in HR and recruiting, please hold the spreadsheets and go long on social media. That’s the edge case.

SharedXpertise and the HR Demo Show just completed a survey on what industry stakeholders, both practitioners and providers, think about innovation in HR technology.

Based on that premise, we want our #TChat community to chime in on the subject later today. Tonight’s #TChat questions are:

Q1: How important is technology innovation in acquiring, empowering and retaining a workforce today?

Q2: Are HR and recruitment practitioners truly “innovative” today? Why or why not?

Q3: How have technology innovations impacted end users’ experiences? Using it or not?

Q4:How do you use technology to support business strategies and objectives?

Q5: Do HR and recruitment technology innovations support the work, or are they just gadgets? Why?

Q6: What can practitioners and providers do to facilitate and improve technology innovation?

Q7: In summary, what do you think it means to be innovative in the HR and recruiting business today?

Back to the conference floor. More thoughts from me soon. Cheers to Vegas!

How to Evaluate Your Current Company Culture

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Many job seekers are now evaluating prospective employers based on company culture. Candidates want to determine how they will fit in and if the environment is right for them before they’re hired.

As you may know, company culture varies based on several factors. Although some companies don’t focus on the culture within the organization, every company has a culture whether they like it or not. Take a look at the following—each is part of the company culture at your organization:

  • Employees
  • Company size
  • Environment
  • Policies
  • Procedures
  • Mission
  • Values
  • Attitudes
  • Employee commitment
  • Communication
  • Common behaviors
  • Relationships
  • Leadership
  • Recruiting
  • Support

In order to determine whether your culture is working at your organization, you need to first evaluate the current culture. Ask yourself the following:

  • How do employees within the organization handle conflict?
  • How well do employees work together?
  • Are workers encouraged to speak up and identify problems?
  • Does the company address problems head on?
  • How do the company values play into the culture?
  • Are employees rewarded for performance? How?
  • What does the company, as a whole, value?
  • How does the company deal with new ideas?
  • Does the organization encourage employees
  • What are the company hiring and firing processes? How do these affect the culture?

Is the culture in at your organization less than satisfactory? There are ways to improve upon it—here’s how:

Decide how you want it to look in the future

What needs to be changed? How do you want your ideal culture to look after these changes occur? Keep in mind that every company will not (and should not) have the same company culture, although you can certainly be inspired by another company’s culture in some ways.

Review the organization’s mission, vision and values

Is the culture aligned with the overall mission? Are company values mirrored in the culture? If not, how can you integrate company mission, vision and values better?

What else can employers do to evaluate (and improve upon) company culture at their organization?

IMAGE VIA Davide Boyle in DC

HR + Leaders: Don't Overlook the Outlier Employees

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Just having returned from HRevolution, I was filled with tons of ideas, approaches and philosophies. My head was swimming with where to go next. I was trying to land on what aspect of HR resonated with me coming out of this UnConference. Then I remembered . . .

I had a conversation with Dwane Lay and William Tincup about the state of HR and what we all thought, and one term kept coming up . . . outliers. Now, this isn’t the same as the recent Malcolm Gladwell book – Outliers. (I’m a huge Gladwell fan!!) What we were talking about was the tendency for HR to manage to the exception.

I agreed with this wholeheartedly! I know that it’s difficult to work with people, but that’s why we chose HR. There are so many amazing people who work in and around us every day. However, companies tend to focus on people who are exceptions, who underperform, degrade and possibly detract from moving the company forward. Instead of focusing on the mass of talent that rocks it everyday, we follow the outliers. If the entire company was made up of people like the outliers, there would be a lot of trouble. So why should HR mainly focus on a group that is not the driving force of the company? Yes, they are a portion of the company that is important and should be acknowledged, but to base everything around them is taking it too far.

You can look at policies, handbooks and procedures that are written by companies in HR every day that focus on such a small percentage of people. This hurts the majority of employees who are doing their jobs each and every day. While the outliers shouldn’t go unnoticed, the average employees are the ones who account for most of the population.

So, what can we do?

HR needs to understand and own that one thing we have to our advantage is the ability to be consistent.  This is different than being “fair.” It really is. If we are consistent in how we engage, deal with and lead people, we add incredible value!! If people in HR would take this approach and practice consistency, the outliers would take care of themselves. With a consistent HR, variability is decreased between their actions and the actions of the employees, making everything much more stable.

Take a look around, HR. Where is your focus? If your systems give employees the ability to thrive, contribute and develop – you’re doing well. If your systems look to constrict, deter and confine – you’re following outliers.

Now, some may say that the group that gathered at HRevolution are “outliers” to the norm of the HR community. I’d beg to differ. You see in Gladwell’s book he talks about outliers that are successful, move things forward and also lie outside the norm.

Outliers are not always a bad thing; although they should not be the basis of HR’s views on a company, often times they can produce something great. The group I was running with is pushing the boundaries of HR to open up new frontiers in order to set new norms.  Why don’t you join us?

IMAGE VIA CarbonNYC

Candidate Experience: Internship Applicants Are People Too

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Written by Kevin Wang

As college students are finally starting to understand the long-term value of internships and actively pursuing them, it has subsequently become more difficult for them to successfully secure one. For example, in 2009, advertising agency Mullen received almost 600 summer internship applications from all over the United States for only 24 slots in their Boston office. The rise in internship applicants has kept Recruiting and Human Resource departments busy, burdening them with a flood of cover letters and resumes to review.

There are many great articles scattered across blogs on the Internet, focusing on what proper etiquette for internship applicants should be. Students are reminded to always send thank-you notes, maintain a professional tone in the cover letter, and research companies before interviews, along with many other bits of valuable and timeless career advice.

However, I’ve rarely seen anyone discuss what proper candidate experience etiquette should be when handling and communicating with internship applicants from the workplace perspective. With record numbers of applicants and applications, it’s very easy for hiring departments to forget that each individual application was painstakingly filled out by an actual human being, and carries the hopes and dreams of that individual. It’s also carelessly easy to view individual applicants as one of many and disregard them. By doing so, businesses are permanently damaging their relationships with their biggest fans and alienating their most enthusiastic advocates. Prospective interns, while at the bottom of the hierarchy at any organization, still deserve to be treated fairly.

Here’s how leaders can improve their workplace culture branding experience and better handle the internship applicant communication:

  • Be clear up front about the details of the program. That includes properly communicating the expected hours, responsibilities, pay, and other elements. If students aren’t eligible, straight up tell them! Email the applicants if any significant changes occur to the program.
  • Send a decision, regardless of whether it’s positive or not. It may sting for them to be told that they didn’t make it, but they’ll respect you for it.
  • Complete the review process in a timely manner. Students don’t have all the time in the world to finalize their plans for the upcoming semester or summer. Let them know as early as possible so they can assess their options well before crunch time.
  • Leave the door open. Don’t kick your rejected applicants to the curb. Let them know that they’re just unfortunately part of of an extremely competitive pool, and encourage them to apply again in the future.
  • Don’t make promises you can’t keep. Stress to all your employees that internal referrals for an applicant does NOT guarantee them a position. Also, don’t mislead applicants or hint at anything with correspondence. It’s better to be tight-lipped about the whole affair until you’re ready to make announcements.

Finally, the Golden Rule: treat others the way you would want to be treated.

We may be interns, and maybe that’s not much, but remember, we’re people too.

IMAGE VIA Flickr

Some of My Best Friends are in HR, Back Off: #TChat Recap

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It’s as if HR became a simultaneous cliche and pariah that’s at least earned a seat at the kiddie table. Like geeks that keep stuff glued together and in working order so the company doesn’t get sued or lose too many good employees or has to lose employees the right way because of a downsizing.

But hey, those are my friends you’re talking about, those fine people in human resources and talent management, so back off.

About 150 of them will be gathered in Atlanta for HRevolution — the progressive people management event for human resources professionals, recruiters, and business leaders to come together and talk about the problems facing businesses today.

“This is where thought leadership and action meet. The format for HRevolution encourages interaction and every participant has the opportunity share ideas and opinions in an open manner.”

I can’t wait to go!

But if someone says “seat at the table” one more time, I’m gonna blow. I’ve talked with many HR practitioners of late who are part of their company’s executive business strategy, but unfortunately the dissing “buzz” of disservice continues. The good news is that smart CEOs who want growth have strong talent management, which means they have smart people management who understand the business, what drives growth and how to keep the workforce in order to get there.

Hey, maintaining and retaining the workforce in a complex global business world ain’t easy, but it’s being done. We’re also still on the front end of mainstream with technology, but exciting consumer-focused collaborative software abounds for HR/recruiting — and is getting better. This includes all things social, mobile, collaborative, cloud computing and analytics all baked into HR technology for the way we work today and the way we maintain the workforce. The drive to better manage across all lines of business is critical. Vacuum management silos will atrophy the business unless they’re collaborative and interconnected.

Human resources and workforce management is maturing and businesses along with it. Remember, front end of mainstream, but the next 5-10 years I believe will be amazing.

As Matt Charney so eloquently wrote in the #TChat pre-cap:

“While HR professionals are rarely understood, the truth of the matter is, they’re also not fully appreciated for doing the mission critical work they do.  It’s not an easy job, but it’s an important one, and one that touches the lives of every employee, every day. That goes for you, too.”

And you, and you, and you…

A seat at the table is poop (Thank you, Kimberly Roden). Now, get back to work. See some of you at #HRevolution this weekend.

Here were last night’s #TChat questions:

  • Q1: Employees: What does HR need to do differently to be an effective people manager and business partner?
  • Q2: HR Pros: What can employees do differently to be a better business partner and collaborator with HR?
  • Q3: Is HR finally seen as a strategic executive partner in business today?  Why or why not?
  • Q4: In your opinion, what is the biggest challenge facing HR today?  How can it be overcome?
  • Q5: How is technology today improving the HR and talent acquisition functions?
  • Q6: Is education and intellect enough to be a great people manager? What about emotional intelligence?
  • Q7: What’s your biggest HR pet peeve? What about your biggest HR thrill?

Thank you again everyone for joining us!

Only Time Will Tell Post-Interview: #TChat Recap

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Ah, the job interview. The all-important transaction between job candidate and potential employer. You’ve screened out and assessed in the most qualified top tier of applicants. Maybe out of 10 total, or maybe out of 10,000. Whatever the math, you’re both ready to sit and talk for the first time.

You invite the job applicant into your office, and after a little small talk, one of the first things the applicant asks is:

“So, what are the benefits you offer? I’ve got a wife and three kids, you know.”

Or maybe the interviews starts off on the other foot, in your mouth:

“Thanks for coming in today. We’re very interested in you for this job. Very interested. Wow — did anyone ever tell you how gorgeous you are?”

Or maybe the interviewee comes prepared and asks questions like:

“How do you see this position collaborating with product marketing to drive B2B channel growth?”

Okay, maybe all of these are a little contrived, but believe it or not they’re all not too far from the truth of what I’ve experienced. (No, I wasn’t the guy who told the candidate how gorgeous she was. I mean, she was, but that’s not the point.)

And no matter how good we get as the hiring entities and interviewers, no matter the intricate behavioral technique or casual and personable style, no matter how prepared the candidates are, we’re only human, and we do our best to ask the questions and answer them fully and read between the lines…

To trust our gut. Very scientific, you know. For example, I remember back in the day when I did source and recruit software developers for sourcing and recruiting’s sake, and not just on TV. Here’s how it went after an initial phone interview screening and then presenting the candidates to the hiring managers:

Recruiter: This candidate is great. You should interview her.

Hiring Manager: Try again.

Recruiter: Why?

Hiring Manager: I don’t know. Just try again.

*sigh*

You say po-tay-to and I say po-tah-to. Right?

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: every recruiting technology that I’ve ever seen has always been about getting to the short list of qualified applicants more quickly, accurately and efficiently. But interviewing and hiring remain highly subjective, sometimes messy human endeavors.

In fact, interviewing and reference checking are the last recruiting activities to innovate, but innovate they are. Interview management platforms form the likes of HireVue, ZuzuHire, GreenJobInterview and many others now allow for combinations of live 2-way video streaming and/or 1-way video recordings with embedded assessment/screening questions and are giving companies exciting new ways to interview from afar while saving tons of money. Yes, tons.

The final interviewing stages prior to hiring are critical, with emotional connectivity being of the utmost importance in my playbook, to go from acquisition to retention. The best advice I was ever given on both sides of the hiring equation is to come well prepared for the interview, so you can be yourself and sell yourself as yourself (and your firm). Because what’s more important to assess in an interview: skills, grit or culture fit? What about emotional intelligence? You know me — I’m all about being a self-aware, emotionally focused decision maker (with a lil’ passion sprinkled in). Queue the EQ music…

However, don’t forget that folks can prep for tests and interviews, and only time will tell if they make the gritty fit. How can we get better at the know of fit?

That is the million dollar question that’s way above my pay grade. Thankfully there were folks much smarter than me participating last night.

Here’s our current reach and here are the questions from last night:

  • Q1: What are some of the ways in which interviews have changed the most for job seekers?  For employers?
  • Q2: What strategies can candidates use to influence the outcome of an interview before or after the interview itself?
  • Q3: What’s more important to assess in an interview: skills, grit or culture fit? Why? What about Emotional Intelligence?
  • Q4: How do interviewing best practices change for an interview with HR/recruiting vs. hiring manager?
  • Q5: What can candidates do in an interview to better assess the company/opportunity as well?
  • Q6: What’s the most valuable piece of interview advice you’ve ever been given?
  • Q7: How can technology help companies and candidates improve their interview and selection process?

Thank you for joining us last night! And a special thanks to Meghan M. Biro for moderating and Matt Charney and Monster Thinking for the pre-cap post.

#TChat Next Week – Trench HR: Trends on the Front Lines from HRevolution coming April 29-30. Join us!

Consider Culture Before Leaving Your Job: #TChat

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Originally posted by Matt Charney, one of #TChat’s moderators, on MonsterThinking Blog

A lot of companies, through recruiting advertising, corporate mission statements, employee communications or any other aphorism-friendly medium, proudly proclaim some variation on the theme, “Our people are our greatest assets.”

As the economy slowly rebounds, however, there’s a pretty good paper trail showing that, in fact, many of these assets were treated, essentially, like a cost center, at least when it comes to the old p&l.   Shedding the fixed costs of human capital might make sense on a balance sheet, and has, over the short term, created both shareholder value and historic levels of employee productivity.

For the overwhelming majority of workers, there’s nothing fixed about human capital.  And they’re about to prove it; with the expected mass exodus of talent  in the wake of the rebounding economy, many companies and talent organizations are about to discover, in fact, that “our people are our greatest assets” is more than a corporate catch-phrase.

Because a lot of those assets are about to walk out the door, taking with them, in many cases to competitors, a level of institutional and internal knowledge whose value on the balance sheet might be hard to calculate, but whose bottom  line effect will be felt by many organizations for years to come.

The upcoming seismic spike in employee turnover will look different than any we’ve seen in the past.   A recent Monster.com survey showed that fully 82% of fully employed workers have updated their resumes in the past 6 months, and a whopping 96% of employees with tenures of over 5 years are openly exploring opportunities.

Any recruiter can tell you, candidates with up-to-date resumes and job longevity are pretty much the Holy Grail of talent acquisition.  And the crusade for your organization’s employees is about to begin.

Join #TChat tonight as we discuss what employers and job seekers alike can do to take advantage of this historic confluence of trends that stand poised to redefine the status quo of workforce and talent management.

#TChat Questions and Recommended Reading (4.5.11)

Whether you’re a recruiter, job seeker, or employer, the ‘perfect storm’ of accelerated attrition and acquisition will change the way you work, and who you work with, and we want to hear from you tonight from  8-9 PM ET.

Here are the questions we’re going to be discussing tonight, along with some recommended reading to help inform, and  inspire, tonight’s #TChat conversation:

Should I Stay Or Should I Go?  Workplace Culture Factors to Consider Before Leaving Your Job

Q1: Almost 90% of workers report being “open” to looking for new jobs.  Why is this number so high?

Read: Another Workplace Survey Shows Workers Are Fed up And Ready to Bolt by John Hollon

Q2: How can employers take advantage of these trends to recruit and hire top talent?

Read: How To Capitalize on the Post-Recession Resume Turnover Tsunami by Jon Picoult

Q3: What factors should employees consider when looking for a new job opportunity?

Read: What To Know Before You Quit by Roberta Matuson

Q4: What can business leaders do to improve retention  rates and morale among top talent?

Read: Rules for Retention: The Big 6 Motivators by Dr. John L. Sullivan

Q5: What’s the difference between an active and a passive candidate, if any?  Does it matter?

Read: The Darwinian Evolution of the Recruiter by Mark McMillian

Q6: What are the most significant factors employees look at when deciding to stay or leave?

Read: The Grass is Not Always Greener by Dr. Caela Farren

Q7: What are some ways employers and companies can help turn the tide?  Or is it too late?

Read: Top 2011 Employee Engagement Trends by Kevin Sheridan

——————-

Visit www.talentculture.com for more great information on #TChat and resources on culture fatigue and how to overcome it!

Our Monster social media team supports the effort behind #TChat and its mission of sharing “ideas to help your business and your career accelerate – the right people, the right ideas, at the right time.”

We’ll be joining the conversation live every Tuesday night as co-hosts with Kevin Grossman and Meghan M. Biro from 8-9 PM E.T. via @monster_works and @MonsterWW.  Hope to see you tonight at 8 PM ET for #TChat!

5 Steps for Career Branding: Make Employers Come to You

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In your job search, you, the job seeker, seek out the employer, but that doesn’t have to be the case throughout your entire career.  There are many ways that you can brand yourself to stand out, increase your visibility in front of career stakeholders and inevitably make employers come to you.

Here are just 5 ways you can change the game and get employers to come to you:

1. Start Blogging: Starting and maintaining your own blog requires investment and commitment of your time, energy and creativity.  While you can choose to blog on any topic you desire, focusing your blog’s theme and content to better serve your industry can be an outstanding way to show off your personal brand and demonstrate your unique value to potential employers and career stakeholders.  Not only can this blog be a great entrepreneurial venture to include on your resume and online profiles, but it shows your hiring managers and interviewers industry involvement and contribution outside of your full-time experience.  Blogs are very easy to get started.  There are both free and self-hosted platforms to choose from, including WordPress, Blogger and Typepad.

2. Get Quoted: Whether or not you start your own blog or contribute guest posts regularly to industry-related blogs, getting quoted online in blogs and other online magazines or offline in books or other periodicals on a topic relevant and valuable to your industry and target employers adds a new credential for you to taut in your job search, but also really boosts your personal brand for your long-term career.  HelpaReporter.com (HARO) is a FREE service that links reporters, journalists, bloggers and authors with experts and experts-to-be to get quoted in print or online media.  Sign-up to receive daily queries from HARO and respond as often as possible and appropriate to any related to your field or areas of interest.  Before long, you may be quoted in the Wall Street Journal, a published book or interviewed for leading blog, which will increase your credibility  across your network and beyond.

3. Get to the People Behind the Postings: Most job seekers and professionals neglect informational interviews, likely because they sound boring, hard to get, ineffective and/or all of the above.  Informational interviews are actually powerfully effective both in your job search and in your career networking.  By reaching out and asking for a few minutes to learn about a fellow professional’s career, experience and advice (Note: this does not mean asking for a job), you get a chance to introduce yourself and your brand, share your value and make a stronger connection with someone new.  While this person may not be in the position to hire or ready to hire at the time of your interview, you are now on that individual’s radar and maybe a first go-to candidate for the next opportunity that comes up.

4. Offer Your Ideas: If you’re willing to put a little work into targeted job searches and take a small, calculated risk, you might consider doing a little research for your chosen company, identify the right contacts within and offer them a free proposal of fresh ideas related to trends and opportunities in the industry or functional area.  Consider sharing some relevant case studies that support your suggestions and spark more thought.  It will be essential that you really think these through in putting them together and that they be grammatically correct etc., as these may be someone’s first or last impression of you.  Offering your ideas or suggestions is risky in the sense that it opens the door for rejection or no response; however, it immediately shows the recipient your investment, your creativity 7and ultimately the value you offer the organization.

5. Step Up to the Podium: If you like the opportunity to speak publically and have something relevant to share with your peers, whether it be advice, experience or case studies, consider developing a presentation or presentations that you can pitch to present for various industry associations, alumni groups and other organizations.  Whether they are webinars or in-person events, presenting to an audience sets you apart as a confident thought leader who has true value to share with others, whether it be an audience or an employer.  Do a little background research on both what organizations and associations are out there and exactly what topics and events are currently being offered so to determine how you could offer something to serve unmet needs or compliment their current event programing.

Chris Perry, MBA is a Gen Y brand and marketing generator, a career search and personal branding expert and the founder of Career Rocketeer, Launchpad, Blogaristo and more.

Should Colleges Add Recruiting Major? #TChat Recap

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I’m pretty sure the overall consensus was:  “Yes, we should offer college degrees in recruiting and talent acquisition.” And yes social media is driving the future of recruiting and many other industries.

But how to get there, well, that’s where the beauty of diverse opinion spread its colorful wings.  What was clear in my analysis of the smart and savvy Twitter steam last night was the fact that this kind of a degree should be graduate level and culminate in an MBA of sorts like HR programs that exist today — i.e., a six-year program with lots of educated bells and whistles taught by those with real-world recruiting and talent strategy experience twining reality with theory.

On the same educational track, there were those last night who had advanced degrees in human resources actually working in HR today (very exciting), and then there those of us who did the psych/anthro combo in college and who played HR/recruiting on various 1970’s cop TV shows (kind of exciting).

Don’t look at me that way.

Then there were those last night who just wrote something to the effect of, “Go to work in talent acquisition and recruiting and do it.  That’s the best educational experience you’re ever going to get.”

The best way to know and grow is to do; teachers, mentors and those training newbies should definitely d0-do.  I made a similar tongue-in-cheek remark last night, but I really meant it, the fact formal and informal knowledge sharing must originate from those who already do.  Experience doesn’t appear in a magical well we drink from.

Although I’ve been told about some ancient artesian well high up in the Sierra Nevada mountains…

An alternative to the college degree route would be industry certification, most of which HR owns in global organizations such as SHRM as well as others.  In recruiting, there really aren’t any certifications being offered.  There is AIRS and there’s also a new certification program called Black Belt Recruiter, but otherwise not as well known.

Would college degrees and certifications add validity and credibility to the recruiting and talent acquisition profession?  Does it in HR?  I guess that depends on who you’re talking with, but in the corporate world I’d say a qualified yes.

Again, either way, the best way to know is to d0-do.  And I truly mean that.

You can find last night’s transcript here and here.   We didn’t ask all the questions below, but only because a couple were answered within ones previous to them:

  • Q1: New territory. Let’s define what a recruiting/career/talent acquisition strategy college minor/major should be.
  • Q2: Are these separate majors/college degrees? Why or why not?
  • Q3: Compared to on the job experience, how would these college degrees improve the profession?
  • Q4: What would you consider to be the 3 most important pillars of this college curriculum and why?
  • Q5: Should it be a 2-year degree or 4-year, or options for both?  Why?
  • Q6: Who should teach these college classes and why?
  • Q7: You can get college degrees in HR/biz mgmnt, but should there be one for the recruiting/talent/business of careers?
  • Q8: And what about certification?  HR has them but should careers/recruiting/talent strategy as well?  Why?

Thank you all for joining us last night!  Next week’s topic is “For fear of firing– reconciling being a good leader/boss with being a good person” and will be moderated by TalentCulture’s very own Meghan M. Biro.

Tweet you next time.  I’ll see some of you at the ERE Expo tonight in sunny rainy San Diego.

Best Practices: HR/Recruiting Tech & Software: #TChat Recap

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A funny thing happened on the way to the #TChat:  I found a new career and home at Ventana Research.

The irony is that on the night that we discuss best practices in evaluating, purchasing & implementing HR/Recruiting technology & software, I had a business dinner to attend.

(wink)

But hey, you had one of the sharpest HR/Recruiting technology & software analysts with you last night in Sarah White.  And since I can’t get to the transcript at the moment, from what I can see at least,  it looks like there was some great recruiter counterpoint from our friend Glen Cathey and several other key players. Thanks as always for sharing your time with us.

Three key pointers from last night’s #TChat:

  • Develop business rules, employee workflow processes, employee skill matrices, etc., before you automate your talent management
  • Build a business case of needs for HR tech that reach across other lines of business in your organization – work with the COO, CFO and IT to get it done
  • Get tons of customer references and call every one of them
  • Make sure the IT manager assists with the implementation process and becomes the vendor liaison

Sadly, according to Ventana benchmark research on workforce automation and analytics:

  • As for talent management technology, nearly 2/3 of organizations are less than satisfied with what they have
  • While only 9 percent of organizations are very satisfied
  • Spreadsheets are the technology most commonly used for workforce analytics in 62 percent of organizations
  • Nearly half of organizations (48%) are less than confident in the quality of information that is generated by their analytics

We hope our more intimate chat (Many of you have shared with us that you cannot get a word in on #TChat – last night was your chance- smiles) isn’t indicative of the state of HR/Recruiting technology per the above statistics, but with a little help from folks like Sarah, myself and the vendor community, and many other smart industry folks, we can make this HR/Recruiting technology thing work.

Next week’s topic: Developing a Recruiting/Talent Acquisition major at the college level. What would be in the curriculum, etc.? Should be interesting.

Join us every Tuesday night from 8-9 p.m. ET (5-6 p.m. PT) on Twitter via hashtag #TChat. Remember we welcome global input! Join in from wherever you might be. Our live chat is hosted by @KevinWGrossman @MeghanMBiro, @TalentCulture, and @Monster_WORKS. Please Tweet or DM us for more scoop!

  • Q1: Where do you go first when researching HR/recruitment tech & software and why?
  • Q2: What types of info help your quest for HR/recruitment tech & software and why?
  • Q3: What does your HR tech business case entail and who do you include in the planning?
  • Q4: How do you narrow the field of vendors? What are your selection criteria and why?
  • Q5: How do you decide on whether to select a SaaS solution, on-premise or a combination?
  • Q6: How do you manage the implementation process?  IT, consultant, vendor or a combination?
  • Q7: What kinds of training and support should you receive with the HR/recruitment tech & software?
  • Q8: How do you measure return and total cost of ownership on HR/recruitment tech & software?

 

 

Live from #TRULondon – Recruiting: Power of Global People Connectivity

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I’m at the TruLondon unconference this week, meeting with people from all over the world – from companies and people discussing the social aspects of leadership, recruiting and HR, we’re learning and sharing stories about using the power of social media to make connections with job seekers and recruiting companies.

London is a creative and vibrant city and the TruLondon unconference, hosted by my friend Bill Boorman and their sponsor JobSite is an amazing venue – no powerpoints, lots of Tweeting and more like a long coffee/wine break with friends than a sit-down-take-notes conference. My kind of conference for certain. It is here where innovation has room to breathe and develop into new ideas.

As I listen to Bill and the other conference friends and attendees one fact remains: We’ve been on a career/workplace/media innovation roller coaster these past several months. Job satisfaction started 2010 at 45 percent negative and plunged to 80+ percent negative by December.

The job market tried to pull out of its dive but failed, despite the government’s recent attempts to redefine the meaning of ‘long-term unemployed’. Companies that weren’t hanging by a thread were socking away cash, holding off on hiring and waiting for signals that the nation was on more certain economic footing. All of us here are ready to say ‘done with that’ and are hoping – and talking about -how to make these times truly count for our recruiting clients and social communities.

What has changed that we can take into the next few months with lighter hearts? I looked back at our recent TalentCulture TChat– my new tea-leaves – for cues, and have distilled my thoughts from TRULondon so far as well. Here’s what stood out to me:

  • The influence of social media on the workplace, hiring trends and corporate brands is huge and will continue to grow. Smart employer brands realized they needed to use social media as both a recruitment and retention tool, as well as a way to take the temperature of the workplace and the larger market. Cheers to social media.
  • Innovation is en vogue again. You know I love hearing affirmation of this. It’s early days yet but I predict that workplaces that invested in developing an authentic culture brand and employee experience will start to see the payoff in innovation.
  • Risk is still significant that ‘stuck’ workplaces will lose their star team players, and maybe even the B team as well. By ‘stuck’ I mean the companies lead by the out-of-touch – the people who are afraid to clue into their emotional intelligence, afraid to change and ease up a bit on employees. The change here is that emotional intelligence is on the rise, and companies that invest in building it into the workplace will come out of the gate in better shape than competitors.
  • More companies will go virtual (and we will be recruiting for these skills) as a way to lighten the load on stressed employees, worn down from years of no raises or pay cuts or layoffs. Managing these highly-mobile, virtual workplaces takes a sure hand and a light touch. Finding ways to be successful with mobile, virtual workforces will be a key leadership/recruiting/HR skill. Note: Our next #TChat topic is Managing virtual teams and dispersed global organizations while maintaining workplace culture.  Is it possible?
  • It’s a new world of recruiting indeed, thanks to Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook et al. Today’s recruiters work mainly in 140-character bursts, and resumes are distilled into keywords and links. I’m spending time reviewing innovation in this space and it’s really very cool and exciting. It’s safe to say that LinkedIn remains the most widely utilized sourcing tool for recruiters to date from this list.
  • The notion of leadership is re-emerging. Too many erstwhile leaders have been hunkered down behind closed doors. It’s time to re-invest in building a culture of leadership, one that is inclusive and broad.
  • Culture is the new workplace must-have. Go figure. Cultures of Talent loom large. Authenticity, brand, stickiness, innovation and inspiration must come through in your workplace culture. Connect and humanize your employees with your brand and watch culture bloom.

What say you? Are you expecting more of the same or actively engaged with companies and job seekers bubbling with innovation, workplace culture and passion for doing a great job now? Love to hear your thoughts.

Employer Black Holes & the Candidate Experience: #TChat Preview

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Originally posted by Matt Charney, one of #TChat’s moderators, on MonsterThinking Blog

With the way employers and job seekers alike refer to the “black hole” of online job search, you’d think it’s some sort of industry wide conspiracy, given its endemic proportions.

The candidate experience, writes #TChat co-host Kevin Grossman, is almost always negative or non-existent, regardless of the job title, function or level:

“There’s only one job per multiple candidates, so what has their experience been with American corporations and SMB and startups alike?

Overall, pretty crappy. I mean, it’s not news to know how poor the applicant experience is and has been for a long, long time.

Case in point — I recently went through a fairly high-level job search with a well-known firm in the HR marketplace. Considering that they should know better the best practices of recruiting and hiring, I was left with inconsistent acknowledgement and no closure. Still. Even thought I didn’t get the job, of which the other primary candidate definitely had the edge on me, I was led to believe that there were other opportunities.

And then nothing. Crickets chirping in the night.”

Grossman’s experience, and frustration, echoes the experience of countless others, but he points to two of the almost universal expectations candidates have when applying for a position: acknowledgment and closure.

These are pretty reasonable demands, and the fact that most employers aren’t meeting even this basic baseline defies reasonable explanation.  The truth is, employers have gotten pretty good about the acknowledgment part; most applicant tracking systems have been programmed to automatically e-mail a confirmation directly to the job seeker for their records, and it’s sent out the moment they apply to an open requisition.

It’s the closure part organizations seem to be having problems with, to the frustration of candidates and to the detriment of their employment and consumer brands alike.  But the thing is, it’s just as easy to notify applicants that they haven’t been selected via e-mail, instantaneously, as it is to notify them when their application is received.

But no one likes to be the bearer of bad news, least of all recruiters.  Most seem to feel that letting people know they’re no longer under consideration opens a door that they’re trying to close, and that, in effect, no news is good news.  But it’s not.

In fact, for employers and job seekers alike, it’s very bad news indeed.  At Monster, we’re committed to advancing the conversation, and searching for the solution, for an improved candidate experience and to help employers transform the “black hole” into a brand-building talent pipeline.

That’s why we’re excited to be participating in tonight’s #TChat, Workplace Culture Branding – Employer Black Holes and the Candidate Experience. Join @kevinwgrossman @meghanmbiro and @talentculture at 8 PM ET tonight as we tackle this very important issue.

We might not come up with all the answers, but we hope these questions, and these related articles, help inform, inspire and impact your perspective on improving the candidate experience:

#TChat Questions and Recommended Reading: 2.15.11

Q1. Is the applicant ‘black hole’ experience real when applying for a job?  If so, why does it exist?

Read: Candidate Experience Isn’t About Pleasing Everyone by Claudia Faust

Q2. How does candidate/applicant experience impact employment brand or company culture?

Read: When Potential New Hires Are Searching for YOU by Emily Bennington

Q3: At a minimum, what should job seekers expect from employers to which they apply?

Read: Candidate Experience and Common Sense by Tim Sackett

Q4: What do employers owe to applicants?

Read: Candidate Experience: A Question of Values by Howard Adamsky

Q5: Should the candidate experience apply to applicants?  When does an applicant become a ‘candidate?’

Read: Candidate vs. Customer Experience by Gerry Crispin

Q6: What are some creative ways job seekers can get through the black hole or recruiters can handle the applicant tsunami?

Read: How to Get An Employer’s Attention in 20 Seconds by Jessica Holbrook Hernandez

Q7: Job seekers: What has your candidate experience been like during your most recent job hunt?

The Employment/Applicant Transaction: Acknowledgment and Closure by Kevin W. Grossman

Q8: Employers: what are you doing to improve candidate experience?

Read: Eliminate the Black Hole by Colin Kingsbury

Visit www.talentculture.com for more great information on #TChat and resources on culture fatigue and how to overcome it!

Our Monster social media team supports the effort behind #TChat and its mission of sharing “ideas to help your business and your career accelerate – the right people, the right ideas, at the right time.”

We’ll be joining the conversation live every Tuesday night as co-hosts with Kevin Grossman, Meghan M. Biro and Steve Levy from 8-9 PM E.T. via @monster_works and @MonsterWW.  Hope to see you tonight at 8 PM ET for #TChat!

HOW TO: Build & Maintain A Talent Community

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What is a talent community?

According to Wikipedia:

A talent community is a collection of social cliques (or talent networks) of people that are part of the job seeking process. These people may be seeking a job themselves, offering career advice to others, recruitment professionals, college campus recruiters, sourcers, and friends seeking jobs or advice. Talent communities inherently provide 2-way interaction between the individuals.

A talent community is not a list of candidates on a web page or in a spreadsheet; it is an environment consisting of people who can share ideas for the purpose of career networking or social recruiting of candidates.

Employers can interact and communicate with prospective employees as well as inform candidates about employment opportunities, receive referrals, and handpick qualified individuals from inside the group. A talent community can include prospective candidates, past applicants, current employees, and past employees. Talent Communities are managed by recruiters and/or hiring managers.

The benefits of building a talent community

  • Qualified candidates at your fingertips
  • Less dependence on expensive, ineffective job boards
  • Less money spent on job advertisements
  • Increased interaction with potential candidates in order to help them understand what your organization does
  • Better quality of applicants to job openings
  • Creates a talent pipeline for future job openings
  • Attracts passive candidates

How to build your talent community

Turn your “careers” page into a central hub for past (“alumni”) employees, interested candidates, recruiters, hiring managers and current employees. Incorporate tools for communication and interaction to drive conversations in your talent community. Provide an exclusive look into your organization, its employees and the culture behind the company. Use video, multimedia, photos, testimonials, etc.

Create smaller talent “networks” within your talent community to target specific audiences.

Social recruiting solutions (such as Cachinko) provide separate plugins or an overall solution for managing talent.

Maintaining your talent community

When you start engaging candidates through a talent community, it’s important to continue to provide value on a regular basis. There are a variety of ways to do so, such as sending updates or an e-newsletter, providing additional information on new job openings and internship programs, creating contests, writing blog posts, or connecting via social media.

ERE.net author Kevin Wheeler said in an article about talent communities, “Communities of candidates are powerful and reduce the need for special sourcing or the use of outside recruiters. They can increase the number of positions a single recruiter can handle and provide higher quality candidates in a shorter time. They always trump databases.”

What do you think? Ready to start building your talent community today?

What Social Recruiting IS and IS NOT: Welcome to TC, Jeff!

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Hello all,  Jeff Waldman here.  As my first post, I am sharing the latest article from my blog. I look forward to becoming the newest contributer to Talent Culture and hope you all enjoy my writing!

I’ve been itching to write something about social recruiting… why? Because people who should be all over social recruiting and leveraging it as a strategic practice to build kick-ass organizations just don’t get it.

Hmmm… “the Jeff Waldman brainstorm session”…

I took a blank piece of paper and jotted down any idea that came to mind when I asked myself why people don’t really get it. I wrote a few things down, then put the piece of paper away and did some other work, came back to it a few hours later and wrote a few more things. Here’s a bit of a summary of what I came up with.

  1. HR, who supposedly is responsible for attracting and recruiting new talent has absofrickinglutely no clue how to utilize social recruiting. And…. they should.
  2. Forget about technology for a second, it’s been my experience that HR is not very good at being proactive with building talent pools and pipelines, and integrating workforce planning, succession planning and talent management functions into the day to day business. Note: if you’re not strategic then spending any amount of time using social recruiting is a complete waste of time!!!  In fact, it’ll more of a detriment to what you’re trying to do, building and developing a recognizable and solid employer brand.
  3. The role of HR in most organizations, regardless of what HR people say their role is, is really nothing more than reactive, administrative in nature, and frankly viewed as a cost centre. No wonder why I cringe when I see the way over-priced Masters in HR program that York University recently started offering… I still haven’t seen anything in their course curricula that has anything to do with real business.
  4. There are obvious demographic characteristics associated with using technology —- e.g. “I’m 50 years old, I don’t want to touch social media….. it’s a foreign world to me so I’ll let one of our junior 20 something year olds figure it out… let me just continue doing my thing as I’ve always done it”!!

These were the common themes, and there are many other points that came to mind but the key thought is this:

All social recruiting really is, is a highly effective tool to proactively and strategically support the business attract and hire the best talent out there…. simple as this! The principle of talent attraction is not new one bit, but HOW someone does it is new….. TECHNOLOGY.  By the way, in addition to social recruiting being highly effective it is extremely cost effective, which in this day and age, never hurts the bottom line of your organization.

What Social Recruiting is Not…

Don’t forget that the core purpose of social media is engagement… conversation, interaction, consistent and constant dialogue, finding common interests globally, sharing, collaborating, caring and relationship building. However, I see on a daily basis people/companies that I am following “pushing” content out without really caring about the conversation and dialogue.  They are missing out on a huge opportunity that is literally served up to them on a silver platter. Why would I care what a company says if they have never shown any interest in what others are saying and doing? I value reciprocity, and pushing 100% of the time does not demonstrate reciprocity whatsoever.

Here’s an example that I think you’ll recognize. You’re following company X and you see a tweet on Twitter from this company that they are hiring a Marketing Manager… they include the link to the job posting that takes you to their website. That’s it… they may tweet about this job more than once. You then take a look at the history of this organizations’ tweets and you notice they are of the same variety, and they have only tweeted 15 times during the past year. Everything is pushed content. What’s different about how this company is using Twitter versus putting a job ad in Craigslist or Workopolis? You guessed it….. NOT A FRICKING THING… This is NOT social recruiting!!

The Point…

Social recruiting is not rocket science. It’s just a really effective way to proactively and strategically build the most talented and best organization possible. However, and I hate to break this to you but hard work is required on an ongoing basis in order to reap the benefits that social recruiting has to offer. All of those descriptive words that I used earlier to describe what social media should be are things you need to employ when using social recruiting.

The principle of building relationships have never changed, and never will. The tactics you use to do this though have changed, and technology is that change. If you want to compete with companies that “get it” then you better start fully embedding social recruiting into your day to day activities.

Be proactive, be strategic, be smart and help your company achieve their business objectives. Technology is not a scary beast that can never be mastered and learned. Find someone in your organization that understands the finer points of social media who can give you a demo of each of the primary social media tools (e.g. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn).

Then leverage the desired technological platform(s) to engage, converse, talk to, share with and reciprocate with other people…. you’ll be amazed how quickly and effectively you’ll meet and connect with people you would never have met otherwise. The senior executives of your organization will hail you as a hero to being “the one” who single handily increased the level of your workforce talent while reducing real costs associated with HR. They will LOOOOOOVE YOOOUUUU!!

The New Old World is the Power of Network: #TChat Recap

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This is personal.

As it is for anyone right now looking for work.

A recent Monster+HotJobs poll found that 98% of American workers are “primed and ready” to look for a new job in 2011, their optimism buoyed by a recovering employment and economic picture.  (Read the entire pre-TChat post from @MattCharney at Monster Thinking here. Kudos to Matt and his moderation last night!)

And anecdotally speaking, one of my old background screening clients told me yesterday that business has spiked dramatically the past 3-4 months.  It’s across the board of industry and positions, but it’s primarily churn hiring — a musical chairs if you will — which validates the exodus chanting of late.

Combine that with the folks who have been out of work looking for work and you’ve got one heck of a job hunting mob.

Torches lit, walking arm in arm, resumes spellchecked (well, some spellchecked), outfits dry cleaned and pressed, breath mints in mouths, smart phones in hand ready to taser their respective employees and references alike…

This is the new old world of job hunting and hiring, and its landscape is familiar yet radically stranger than it’s ever been.

Here were the questions from last night’s #TChat:

  • Q1 – Jobseekers: What do you think of when you hear about “old world” job hunting?
  • Q2 – Jobseekers: What is the freshest new idea that you’ve used in your job search and has it worked for you?
  • Q3 – Jobseekers: From your experiences, how would you describe how companies are hiring today?
  • Q4 – Recruiters: What are some of the most egregious “mistakes” jobseekers are making?
  • Q5 – Talent Managers: What can jobseekers and employees do to better manage their careers?
  • Q6 – All – Which matters more to candidates and recruiters: the job or the possibilities of what the job might lead to?

You can read the transcript here from the many fine folk who participated last night.  Lots of great recommendations, many tried and true, and many more that were kind of new.

But for me, new old world is all about the power of “network” — and not just the online connections either.  You have to get on the phone, on the Webcam, and meet in person as much as possible.  This goes for both job seekers and employers.

You must maximize your network investment. Meaning, invest in building one out first. Then pay it forward and pay it back.  We are all informal mentors to each other.

Great question from last night:  Doesn’t anyone do informational interviews anymore?  That’s a great way to network as well.

Here are the top contributors from last night:

  1. @talentculture – 263
  2. @HRMargo – 92
  3. @dawnrasmussen – 91
  4. @meghanmbiro – 86
  5. @jillianwalker – 84
  6. @JeffWaldmanHR – 80
  7. @IanMondrow – 77
  8. @KevinWGrossman – 76
  9. @juliaerickson – 52
  10. @levyrecruits – 46

The greatest single predictor of one’s success and happiness during a time of challenge, every single time, is one’s social support network.

Torches lit, walking arm in arm.  It’s time to light up the business world, kids.



The New (Old) World of Job Hunting & Hiring: #TChat Recommended Reading

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Originally posted by Matt Charney, one of #TChat’s moderators, on MonsterThinking Blog

A recent Monster+HotJobs poll found that 98% of American workers are “primed and ready” to look for a new job in 2011, their optimism buoyed by a recovering employment and economic picture.

The war for talent is on — and the rules of engagement have changed. Job seekers are mobilizing, and employers are fighting to hire and retain the best employees, in a new and fast-changing landscape.

But what does it take to succeed in this new world of job hunting and hiring?  With the rise of emerging technologies such as mobile job search platforms, more powerful search engines, and the new ubiquity of social media in talent identification and acquisition, it’s clear the tools of the job hunt game have changed.  But have the rules changed?

It’s easier now than ever before for job seekers to position themselves, and their “personal brands,” so employers can find them. Employers can also target and connect with top talent at the speed of the Tweet.  However, the most important elements of the hiring process remain, for all intents and purposes, unchanged.

“Old school” job hunting and hiring hallmarks such as a well formatted traditional resume, a firmly established (offline) professional network and the ability to sell skills and experience in an interviewremain the most important considerations in the job hunt process, and the most powerful tools in the job seekers’ arsenal.

Join #TChat tonight, brought to you by @TalentCulture, @MeghanMBiro, @KevinWGrossman, @monster_works, and @MonsterWW – They will be joining the #TChat conversation live every Tuesday night with from 8-9 PM ET, 7-8 PM CT, 6-7 PM MT, and 5-6 PM PT as we explore what’s changed, what’s stayed the same and how job hunters, and the companies looking to hire them, can not only survive, but thrive, in the new (old) world of job search.

#TChat Recommended Reading: 1.11.11

This background reading isn’t mandatory to get in on tonight’s #TChat action, but we suggest checking out these articles by top career advice and talent management thought leaders and explore the possibilities (and pitfalls) of the evolving world of the job hunt and hiring:

5. How Technology is Changing the Recruiting Landscape by John Rossheim

4. The Rules of the Game Have Changed: Insights into Today’s Jobseekers by Nicole Williams

3. 11 Smart Career Tips for 2011 by Kathryn Ullrich

2. Recruit from the Inside Out: Establish A Relationship with a Talent Acquisition Partnerby Meghan M. Biro

1. Job Searching in a Coffee Shop by Peter Gibbons

Our Monster social media team supports the effort behind #TChat and its mission of sharing “ideas to help your business and your career accelerate – the right people, the right ideas, at the right time.”

Hope to see you tonight @ #TChat!

To read more, please visit www.monsterthinking.com/

The Impact of Social, Mobile & Video on Workplace Culture: #TChat Recommended Reading

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I thought it would be useful to our readers to include weekly recommended readings in preparation for #TChat.

We will give this format a whirl from now into 2011. Wow, did I just say that? 2010 has been such an interesting year for workplace culture innovation. As you may know, I’m in love with ideas. It’s no big secret after all. Technologies like Skype and trendy cool mobile applications are revolutionizing the ways we connect at the office and virtual environments. So much fun.

Our “greatest hits” reading list for tonight’s #TChat is brought to you by our collaborators at @monster_works and @MonsterWW – They will be joining the #TChat conversation live every Tuesday night with from 8-9 PM ET, 7-8 PM CT, 6-7 PM MT, and 5-6 PM PT.

We also welcome global input and hope you can join from wherever you might be. We certainly want to hear from you. We are committed to creating educational content and social community here at the Culture of Talent. Learning is continuous here and we are nothing without people. People (AKA: human capital) are the most valuable asset to any organization or community.

Read more from MonsterThinking (originally posted by Matt Charney) on tonight’s #TChat topic. The Impact of Social, Mobile and Video on Workplace Culture.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We will see you tonight and look forward! Thank you for engaging with us on this channel.

Happy Holidays from our Community! Cheers.

Cultivating Diversity: A New Way to Network

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Jon Lovitz did a routine on Saturday Night Live about how to be more successful. The answer to success was always the catch phrase, “Get to know me!”

Looking back on my first year of leaving the corporate world for entrepreneurship in the world of strategy and innovation, the success we’ve had has been linked in every instance to getting to know OTHER people over the past few years. This effort was coupled with trying to deliver a valuable experience to others through a presentation they attended, assisting them with networking, or somehow trying to help them whenever we interacted.

Another important element of my “getting to know people “strategy is embracing a concept vital to successful innovation: cultivating diversity.

Too often, I see people networking very narrowly, trying to meet people similar to them. Yet when all your networking effort goes toward people in the same company, industry, or geographic location, you wind up tremendously limiting your options.

As you look toward the coming year, here are 6 strategies to enhance the diversity of your networking efforts and ensure you get the greatest benefit from investing time to meet new people:

  1. Expertise Diversity: Network by topic, not by group – Rather than sticking to the same association networking events you always attend, review the list of educational events in your area and target your networking participation by topic, not group. For me, going to new marketing-related meetings and even to a lunch sponsored by a largely female-oriented organization led to re-establishing contacts with people I hadn’t seen for years and who now had very different careers and networks.
  2. Time Diversity: Allow yourself to network at multiple times of the day – It’s easy for your schedule to dictate networking only at certain times of the day, i.e. typical work requirements make lunches difficult so you attend happy hours. Figure out how to vary that pattern and go to events at a new time of the day. You’ll run into different types of people, creating new opportunities.
  3. Age Diversity: Attend events with someone of a different generation – If you’re going to the right types of diverse events, people from three or four generations should be present. To help in meeting people across the greatest age range, ask friends in generations preceding and following yours to join you at events. They can help attract and make introductions with a broader mix of attendees than you might ever pursue on your own.
  4. Profile Diversity: Be inefficient in meeting new people – Sometimes when you meet a new person, you feel like you’re being put through a standard set of qualifying questions to see if you warrant more time and follow-up. Efficient, yes. But I rarely want to invest time with those people. Put away the efficient qualifying-speak and ask questions which make sense for the person you’re talking with right now. Invest more time in hearing what they have to say instead of only listening for keywords important to you.
  5. Channel Diversity: Live tweet an event you’re attending and blog about it afterward – Sharing a speaker’s content through tweeting at an event is a great way to meet and interact with new people both at the venue and those following it remotely. Turning your tweets into a subsequent blog post (either for your own blog or perhaps the association’s blog) provides yet another way to meet others interested in the speaker, the topic, or the sponsoring group.
  6. Audience Diversity: Speak at an event, especially if you never have before – If you’ve not been a public speaker previously, make this the year to prepare content, rehearse, and break into the ranks of people sharing their knowledge at public events. You’ll meet multiple people and be in the wonderful position of having offered something of value to them before even getting to know them.
  7. Atmosphere Diversity: Throw a party and invite too many people – Hosting a party is a great way to get to know people you already know in new ways. Since only a certain percent of people you invite will actually attend, play the percentages and invite a bunch of new people – more than you can accommodate – and discover new attendees who will become your great party guests of the future.

With these diversity-building efforts incorporated into your efforts, you’ll get to know a whole new group of people and have a much stronger network to show for it.