If you’re one of the many recruiters or sourcers that do not have a LinkedIn Talent Finder or Recruiter account, you’ve likely noticed that viewing “full” 3rd degree connections has become more of a challenge recently. Below, you’ll find several solutions that will allow you to view full 3rd degree and Out of Network connections on LinkedIn, with little effort. [...]

No doubt, if you’ve worked as a sourcer for any amount of time, you’ve heard what you consider to be some ridiculous comments from the recruiters you support. Here are some of my favorites that I collected from sourcers this week. 1) “Great! Can you go ahead and submit them to the hiring manager and get [...]

I have managed to survive my first three days as Editor of SourceCon!   My primary focus this week (apart from learning to use a Mac again) has centered on two themes: One of the first things I jumped in to was preparing the agenda for SourceCon Seattle  - I need your help on this…  If you know [...]

Many organizations do a good job of diversity recruiting at the college and mid-management level, but often fall short when it comes to the senior management ranks. It is well-recognized that having women and people of color in the top spots will assist in your overall diversity sourcing efforts as well as in retention of [...]

More tech startups than at any time in the last four years will be looking to hire this year, says Silicon Valley Bank, but they worry they won’t be able to find the talent they need. Even as most leaders and founders of the firms surveyed by the bank for its annual Startup Outlook say [...]

Here is our weekly feature in which we share the top articles we enjoyed from the past week about recruitment marketing, social recruiting and anything else in the recruiting space. In this article, we’ll be talking about recruiter / candidate relationship, candidate experience, job fit, getting a job and sourcing on LinkedIn.

Before we get to the articles, I have a quick reminder.  The Candidate Experience Awards have…

Here is our weekly feature in which we share the top articles we enjoyed from the past week about recruitment marketing, social recruiting and anything else in the recruiting space. In this article, we’ll be talking about recruiter / candidate relationship, candidate experience, job fit, getting a job and sourcing on LinkedIn.

Before we get to the articles, I have a quick reminder.  The Candidate Experience Awards have started accepting applications for this year’s awards and is a great way to benchmark your candidate experience against some of the industry’s best recruiting organizations.   To get further details on how to participate as a recruiting organization, please see the “How to Apply?” page on the website.

Now on to the articles.  Here are the articles that interested us this week (in no particular order), enjoy!:

 

Setting Expectations: Recruiters as Constant Career Companions by Tom Bolt (@TomBolt)

Great post by Tom on what the relationship between a recruiter and candidate should be.

 

Positive Candidate Experience is a Competitive Advantage by Elaine Orler (@ElaineOrler)

Nice piece on the importance of the candidate experience and it’s business impact.

 

Why You Can’t Get a Job…Recruiting Explained by the Numbers by Dr. John Sullivan (@DrJohnSullivan)

Comprehensive post on what candidates should do to improve their chances of getting an interview and a job.  Definitely worth sharing with candidates.

 

The #1 Cause of Bad Hires by Tim Sackett (@TimSackett)

Tim thoughts on the importance of job fit when hiring the right candidate.

 

Sourcing Hacks to View 3rd Degree and Out of Network Profiles on LinkedIn by Shane Bowen (@ShaneABowen)

I love to include functional posts when I can and here is a really useful walk-through for recruiters that utilize LinkedIn to source.

 

Hope you enjoy the list and see you on Twitter @smashfly.

There are many good reasons to reject Contingency Search in any form, but for today’s post, I’ll deal with only one reason.  Quantity vs Quality. In most cases, by no fault of their own, recruiters are forced to produce poor quality work or get left in the dust by other recruiters with a quicker trigger finger. The inherent weakness of Contingency Search lies in this conundrum: The more you endeavor to vet and qualify your candidates, the less likely you…

There are many good reasons to reject Contingency Search in any form, but for today’s post, I’ll deal with only one reason.  Quantity vs Quality. In most cases, by no fault of their own, recruiters are forced to produce poor quality work or get left in the dust by other recruiters with a quicker trigger finger. The inherent weakness of Contingency Search lies in this conundrum: The more you endeavor to vet and qualify your candidates, the less likely you are to get paid for your work.  The take home is that if you want to get paid, you had better not take too long in skimming those online resumes and be late to the party.

A basic rule of Contingency is: If the same candidate is referred to a client by multiple recruiters, only the recruiter who FIRST  sent the resume to the client gets paid for the referral. Therefore, the most conscientious recruiter will far too often lose out and not get paid for their referral. Why? Because they were too thorough in doing the job of a recruiter. Even if you want to do well on behalf of your clients, you are put in the position to have to race to the resume submission before you should. I am convinced that this is the reason that the best recruiters don’t stay in Contingency Search for long.  They either convert their business to a Retained model or leave the business altogether.

Why would a client want a flurry of resumes filling their inbox only to have to spend time sorting them to determine who sourced them only to then begin the arduous task of vetting and qualifying the new resumes?  Furthermore, because of the race to the bottom, they have been flooded with all the “low hanging fruit.”  These are essentially two kinds of candidates; Physically Unemployed or Emotionally Unemployed. In either case, they are motivated to escape a bad situation giving them an impure motive in many cases.  That severe motive can compel such people to embellish their experience and worse, misrepresent who they are in order to meet a basic need they have. If you’ve hired much, you know who this is.  Its the guy who once he's hired, turns out to be a very different person than the one you interviewed.

I’ve spoken to many different recruiters who suffer burnout and mental and emotional fatigue from trying to balance doing the right thing on behalf of their clients and getting paid. Okay, money isn’t everything, but its right up there with air. So the problem for many is that they desperately desire to be a good recruiter who does excellent vetting of the people they present to their clients yet they simply cannot accomplish this and thrive or in many cases survive.

The irony in all of this is that usually the FEE  for contingency is the same or close to what it would be on retainer. The main difference is the terms of payment. Yet the key benefit to working on retainer is the ability to gain a commitment from one firm with a good reputation that you believe understands your company's needs and what it takes to be successful in the position. In doing this, the company will have a slate of qualified, vetted and interested people with the right motivation that ensures the best possible outcome.  This is why it is still a mystery to me that companies think that they are better off working on contingency.  What a gross miscalculation!

For those recruiters who work contingency but "exclusively" with their clients, and want to argue this point, I would ask you this question: What happens if you vet a potential candidate and determine that they are not a good fit and do not present them to your client only to find out that the candidate contacts the client directly and becomes a candidate for the position you are "exclusive" on?  Do you get paid regardless of the source of the hire?  Or do you only receive your fee IF the hired candidate came through you?

There are so many additional reasons to avoid contingency search that it could fill volumes of books.  But I have to get back to search work. Thanks for reading.

I suppose it started almost 10 years ago - when the economy was coming out of another flat line scenario - indeed when the Rome of the Innovation World - Silicon Valley even had economic troubles and when I needed to know that I personally could make a difference.  I had through High School and now through the beginning years of college wondered what it took to succeed in life, and how to get myself hired. 

So there I was working in my first HR job at ADT and…

I suppose it started almost 10 years ago - when the economy was coming out of another flat line scenario - indeed when the Rome of the Innovation World - Silicon Valley even had economic troubles and when I needed to know that I personally could make a difference.  I had through High School and now through the beginning years of college wondered what it took to succeed in life, and how to get myself hired. 

So there I was working in my first HR job at ADT and wondering how I could apply my first real experience and knowledge into real life.  A text book I was discovering only got one so far.  Up until that year in 2003 I had worked retail jobs - and knew that I couldn't do a role all my life where I could earn at maximum $10-$11/hr.  So like any starving college student - I took a risk, joined an ADP Dealership and found some initial success in real world hiring.

No one could prepare me for the journey of recruiting 100% commission sales folks for door to door selling.  Little did I know there was more to it that met the eye.  But forge ahead I did and made some hires on 1099 contract basis to enlist the help of folks whom wanted a chance to earn some extra money.  As my career progressed into HR - into a wide variety of environments and stakes I came to realize how much I loved staffing and the thrill of finding the elusive perfect candidate, purple squirrel, or key skill sets. 

I found myself in a couple of internships - ADT & Applied Materials, and then ventured into a Staffing Role at Venturi Staffing Partners.  It was here that everything came forward and ahead that a staffing career can truly be one that helps you, and in turn opens doors for others.  I suppose now having lost count of the number of folks I have placed, and the rewarding circumstances that come with that, as well as inspiring moments along the way that have truly opened vast doors and helped me to be the means to helping others achieve, and at the same time please multiple client hiring groups - I have come to really rely upon my staffing skill set as a true definer of my character.

I look back on an amazing career journey with many more years to come and many more doors, and hires to achieve.  There is so much one can celebrate in a 10 year HR/Staffing/Hiring journey.  Truly nothing is more powerful than closing a candidate, making an offer, and achieving staffing's ultimate success.  There are moments where one can get weary but a staffing fill makes it all worth it.  Whether you do it for a fee or for a direct salary, the most amazing moment is the achievement of staffing's highest pinnacle - the fill.

On a subsequent review of the past 4 years since I ventured back into staffing after a 3 year hiatus from it (when I had been doing pure HR Generalist work), I came to realize staffing was in my blood and where I belonged.  Perhaps it was helping a friend achieve an offer after helping him revamp a resume, or the moments when others benefited from sincere career advice.  Whichever moment one reviews staffing trully is the place to be.  I estimate that I have helped in the past 4 years hire well over 250 folks.  It truly is an amazing thought. At Solutions Partners I ventured back into staffing and found a true love for it as I took on consulting projects filling well over 30+ roles.  In consulting engagements for start-ups, I learned a great deal about how critical some positions can be helping hire about 15-20 folks in a 3 month time span.  Then I wound up at NetPolarity where I was instrumental in well over 145 hires in a 2 and half year time frame.  Now - at ADP where I work helping to staff our services, technology, Finance, Marketing, and other key roles I have found a presence covering the Western States for ADP - in my 10 months I sat back amazed as I pondered the fact that over 75+ hires had been achieved.  Add it together with the 60+ hires from my time at Venturi/Staffmark, and the time at my two internships where I had assisted in well over another 45-50 hires I ponder how very rewarding it has all been.  Even at my time at a non-profit where I helped staff another 20+ roles in about a 6 month time-frame - I can't help but sit back and be grateful for what I have.  In my time in staffing I have perhaps been instrumental in some 400+ hires internal & external roles.  A truly amazing thought.  One hire at a time - chipping away at the economy.

Which leads me to what inspired me to write tonight - about a week ago I received the news of an 8 hire day.  Previously I have been blessed to have a 4 hire day but receiving word of 8 offers and presenting them and closing them in due order was as rewarding as it comes.  These days we have the opportunity as staffing professionals to help others, and as this economy improves - is it no wonder that we will be helping to rev the economy back to where it belongs?

There are still shaky moments for sure along such a storied career path - but there is nothing more rewarding or satisfying then opening doors for others and especially opening the doors for passive and active candidates to get a better opportunity.  There is nothing more wonderful then being able to target a competitor's folks and offer them a better opportunity and in turn strengthen your organization.

And there is nothing more powerful than opening staffing doors for many and networking onward to better heights.

I have to say the best thing about staffing is the power we have to bring in fresh ideas, fresh perspective, new blood, and new ways of doing things.  It is this that pushes me as a staffing professional to strive and achieve my greatest outcomes.  I don't know any other way then to say - if you are a recruiter you are trully in a blessed position to be able to help others, strengthen your organization and make a tremendous difference.  In doing so - powerful outcomes come to the forefront.

One of the most amazing things about being a recruiter is hearing from current and past hires, especially in your current organization where the new employees sing your praises and always remember the special bond they have with "their recruiter".  If there is any one thing I can say is that if one pays it forward on the staffing path - there is no job that a staffing professional cannot fill, for candidates will reward the recruiter who treated them with respect, and opened the economic door for betterment.  Now that the economy is more stable the question remains - what will we do as recruiters to make a difference in our communities, homes, workplace, and sphere of influence that can add value to our talent acquisition efforts?  The answer is be honest, straight forward and allow candidates to show you what they bring to the table.  I am sure that one hire at a time, one placement at a time this negative economy of the past few years can be turned around by the movers and shakers of the career world - the staffing/recruiting professionals who find the talent that is the engine of our economy.

If we have hope in this and open the doors with a positive approach - forever will a candidate be grateful that you helped them find a career difference.  And nothing is more rewarding than that staffing knowledge.

Disclaimer - This blog is my own creation and does not represent the views and opinions of ADP, it's subsidiaries, or customers - it is my own content and I solely am responsible for it's publication.  The views expressed here-in are my own.

Beauty is Inner Beauty

 

Yes, true. The most beautiful people means based on the behaviors and approach. Some people may not be beautiful outside,

but, they will behave very decently.

Some others will be outstandingly beautiful outside, but will have ugly narrow heart. So,real beauty is inner beauty.

How can we develop our inner beauty? It can not be developed overnight. It comes due to…

Beauty is Inner Beauty

 

Yes, true. The most beautiful people means based on the behaviors and approach. Some people may not be beautiful outside,
but, they will behave very decently.

Some others will be outstandingly beautiful outside, but will have ugly narrow heart. So,real beauty is inner beauty.

How can we develop our inner beauty? It can not be developed overnight. It comes due to experience with so many trouble shootings in our life

Hello again, everyone! Since the last discusson was very informative, I want to pick the brains of corporate recruiters now. Since I am an agency recruiter and new to client development, I want to know the opinions of recruiters on "the other side" of the game. I know HR and corporate recruiters are tired of being approached by one agency after another saying that they are "different" and can provide some sort of magical recruiting service that the rest cannot. When I call HR and corporate…

Hello again, everyone! Since the last discusson was very informative, I want to pick the brains of corporate recruiters now. Since I am an agency recruiter and new to client development, I want to know the opinions of recruiters on "the other side" of the game. I know HR and corporate recruiters are tired of being approached by one agency after another saying that they are "different" and can provide some sort of magical recruiting service that the rest cannot. When I call HR and corporate recruiters, they shrug me off as "just like everyone else" or "they are happy with the agencies they use." It's a lot harder than I thought. How can I get someone to see the value of giving me a try? Despite what a lot of agency recruiters say, I really do screen all of my candidates, am NOT a resume pusher, love my job as a recruiter, and would work hard to make my clients happy.

Any feedback would help. Thank you!

Old people are special. They require special treatment. You should treat them differently than the rest of your employees. They need extra care so they don’t leave. If you don’t cater to them, then you are missing out. Let me list all the ways they are different from the “rest of us” and how you [...]

The post How to Manage Old People appeared first on upstartHR.

Okay, so I had to eat my words last week. It actually wasn’t bad, and I am hoping the result was worth the effort. One session I attended during the 2013 Alabama SHRM Conference was focused on using keywords in job ads to find more applicants. I was interested in learning 2-3 new tips, because [...]

The post Job Search, Recruiting with Keywords, and #ALSHRM appeared first on upstartHR.

The local Best Place to Work event was held recently, and I’ve been thinking a lot about the companies that everyone see as attractive to work for. For example, Google is often discussed as a company with a great culture. In many of the “top ten best practices for business” articles, you’ll find a mention [...]

The post Best Place to Work? You Still Have to Do the Work appeared first on upstartHR.

Yesterday I attended day one of the Alabama SHRM Conference. The pre-con session on employee leave management was an interesting one for me, and I quickly saw three key areas where many companies can trip up if managers are not properly prepared. Just a word of warning–none of them are a quick fix. They require [...]

The post Employee Leave Management-It’s a Manager’s Game appeared first on upstartHR.

Business communication writing skills are incredibly powerful and effective, if used correctly. I’ve talked previously about my communication style at the office (Better Communication at Work). I think that only scratched the surface of my thoughts about the importance of written communication in the workplace, and I’d like to delve deeper into that today. Over [...]

The post Business Communication Writing Skills appeared first on upstartHR.

U.S. Cellular is helping employees losing jobs in the sale of some segments of its business to Sprint by setting up a transition portal. A recruitment advertising/communications agency called Shaker helped develop the portal, aimed at 765 “associates” impacted; Kensington International, an outplacement firm, also partnered. U.S. Cellular is also working with a group called [...]

Remember George Costanza from the old Seinfeld show? He had problems with jobs and women, which makes sense to anyone who believes job seeking is like dating, which is pretty much most everyone who has done both. For you doubters and naysayers, proof is on the way from none other than eHarmony. Late next year, [...]

That marriage of employee referrals with social media first mentioned on these pages three years ago and chronicled with new launches and updates many times since continues, as SuccessFactors works on a social-media/employee referral tool as part of its recruiting product. This system suggests people who your employees might know — using their Facebook and [...]

The fastest way to succeed is to look as if you’re playing by somebody else’s rules, while quietly playing by your own. –Michael Korda Losing a great candidate is a painful and disheartening experience. I for one, beat myself and wonder what I could have done differently as I do a cerebral post mortem. Sadly, [...]

There are many strategies to build a healthy employment brand: promoting jobs with social media such as your Facebook page; LinkedIn ad impressions; hiring events; recruitment videos of your CEO, and so on. Celebrities have not really been part of employment branding strategies. That changed with Google as is showcased in the new Vince Vaughn [...]

I’ve attended quite a few HR and talent management-related conferences this spring, but the one that really got my brain going came wrapped up in the wonderfully warm, dry Arizona desert right before the heat of the summer kicks …

Imagine a leader going up a mountain and staying there for a long time, only to reappear with a vision for the future. CEOs and senior leadership teams have historically done something similar. They go on retreat, set the …

Summertime is the season of box office blockbusters, when theaters abandon more intimate fare for movie spectacles. Just because these sunny summer films contain fast cars and big explosions, however, doesn’t mean they don’t also include lessons you can …

The fastest way to succeed is to look as if you’re playing by somebody else’s rules, while quietly playing by your own. – Michael Korda Losing a great candidate is a painful and disheartening experience. I for one, beat …

Employer liability for violating the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) is no longer theoretical. The EEOC has announced its first-ever GINA settlement. A large fabric distributor agreed to pay $50,000 and provide other relief to resolve alleged violations of …

Old people are special. They require special treatment. You should treat them differently than the rest of your employees. They need extra care so they don’t leave. If you don’t cater to them, then you are missing out. Let me list all the ways they are different from the “rest of us” and how you [...]

The post How to Manage Old People appeared first on upstartHR.

Okay, so I had to eat my words last week. It actually wasn’t bad, and I am hoping the result was worth the effort. One session I attended during the 2013 Alabama SHRM Conference was focused on using keywords in job ads to find more applicants. I was interested in learning 2-3 new tips, because [...]

The post Job Search, Recruiting with Keywords, and #ALSHRM appeared first on upstartHR.

The local Best Place to Work event was held recently, and I’ve been thinking a lot about the companies that everyone see as attractive to work for. For example, Google is often discussed as a company with a great culture. In many of the “top ten best practices for business” articles, you’ll find a mention [...]

The post Best Place to Work? You Still Have to Do the Work appeared first on upstartHR.

Yesterday I attended day one of the Alabama SHRM Conference. The pre-con session on employee leave management was an interesting one for me, and I quickly saw three key areas where many companies can trip up if managers are not properly prepared. Just a word of warning–none of them are a quick fix. They require [...]

The post Employee Leave Management-It’s a Manager’s Game appeared first on upstartHR.

Business communication writing skills are incredibly powerful and effective, if used correctly. I’ve talked previously about my communication style at the office (Better Communication at Work). I think that only scratched the surface of my thoughts about the importance of written communication in the workplace, and I’d like to delve deeper into that today. Over [...]

The post Business Communication Writing Skills appeared first on upstartHR.

This is a rock-solid communication pro tip: design, then edit copy. Graphic design and layout change the essence and emphasis of words. Let the writer write. Let the designer design. Then edit the copy. You’ll end up with a more impactful communication piece.

Your younger employees will give you 10 seconds to get to the point. And if you send it in email, they won’t read it. They’re from the Text Generation. Write short.

Profits up; wages down; employment down. Getting more for less might be a rational business strategy, but it doesn’t necessarily reconcile with employee engagement.

Here’s a Communication Pro Tip: Don’t edit your first paragraph. Your first instinct when you write is to keep going back over your first paragraph. Don’t do it. It contains the essence of what you want to say. Once you’ve made multiple edits, that thread of your original idea is gone.

I’m waiting for the typewriter repairman to make a house call. If I had a nickel for every time I typed that line…I’d have a nickel. The repairman is making a house call. Let that sink in for a minute. I’m going to write a novel on the machine he repairs. The working title is [...]

 

  A lot of the Economist's Talent Management conference did focus on changes in the world of work.  Dean Royles even nicked Peter Cheese's phrase about work, the workforce and the workplace.  Here are my highlights:

 

Firstly, Will Hutton provided en excellent context for this change.  The great reset is being caused by the depth and length of the current recessionary period.  This of course varies by country - Will is upbeat about the Eurozone but pretty pessimistic about China.

In the UK, we've got to deal with ineffective innovation, the dysfunctionality about our approaches to ownership (I think Will was talking about housing but I'd put the stock market in the same category).

There are big shifts in technology underway as well.  The last century has seen 9 general purpose technologies - technologies which impact other technologies - the internal combustion engine, electricity, motor vehicles, aeroplanes, mass production, the computer, lean production, the internet and biotechnology.  But the next generation will see about 20 - the mobile phone, nanotechnologies, fusion energy, advanced materials, carbon sequestration, space, managing the nitrogen cycle, water, health informatics, durable customised infrastructure, customised medicine, the brain, cyberspace security, enhanced virtual reality, personalised learning, new manufacturing methods eg 3D printing, and the internet of things.  Oh and big data? - eg the driverless car and pilotless airplane are dependent on sensors and communication networks - transport as big data (so car manufacturers are having to learn from Google about the next generation of cars!)

In her later session on how HR is impacted by all of this, Naomi Stanford mentioned Anybots too.  Well, their impact may be less profound than most of the above but they're a great example of how technologies can be humanised too:

 

 

We need to get serious about innovation - no company is smart enough alone to navigate this new world.  So we need to be open to outside influences, ideas, people and agencies.  Firms need to be really clear about what they think is their core business and hence which ecosystem they need to join.  Then open up - co-invent, co-create and co-produce, eg P&G and Unilever with their 'open innovation' orchestrators.  Develop absorptive capacity.  Organise open innovation calls, exploratory 'dates' and open contracts.   Change behaviours (and change rewards - especially of top executives who Will thinks are well over-paid):

 

 

(The point about unknown unknowns is why I'm down on big data in HR - at least in aspects of this which are strategically important.)

 

All of this, and other factors, are causing big changes in the nature of employment and hence talent management.  One of these shifts is the move to knowledge based roles which are driving improvements in the economy.

 

 

According to some economists, this is leading to the people-less economy, a world in which 50% do not work.

The remaining jobs are moving into things like micro-production, human well-being, 'wicked' issues and the digital world itself, from cyber security to digital clutter management!

We're also seeing labour market flexibility morphing into indentured labour.

More in part 2...

 

• Consulting - Research - Speaking  - Training -  Writing
• Strategy  -  Talent  -  Engagement  -  Change and OD
• Contact  me to  create more  value for  your business
• jon  [dot] ingham [at] strategic [dash] hcm [dot] com

. 

Technorati Tags: Economist, talent management, Will Hutton

  I'm at the Economist's Talent Management Summit today.  It's been trailed, and I've trailed it, as being focused on the mobile, agile workforce.  I have to say that I've not seen much about this far (and it's now lunch time).

We did have an absolutely great kick off from Will Hutton, but that was about the new mobile, agile business - not the workforce.  And after that, most of the focus has actually been pretty transactional.  We need to engage our people, yes, but we need to go beyond this too.

So I was pleased to listen to a short input from the Economist's Kenneth Cukier on big data.  And that's without being a huge fan of big data, but I certainly accept it's part of the move to a mobile and agile future, whereas I think most of the rest of this morning has been mainly about what's already been going on today.

Kenneth started by supporting Andy Albon's message that big data analytics are about knowing which way to jump when our assumptions provide wrong.  He then provided a summary of some of the emerging big data practices:

 1.   In the US, 60% of employees are hourly wage (call centre) workers.  50% of these will change jobs over the course of a year.  So it's a big problem.  One organisation looked at 3m data points based on 30,000 employees and found that when people apply for these jobs, if they apply using a browser they have installed (eg Firefox or Chrome) they are 15% more likely to stay longer than if they apply from a browser that came bundled in with a computer (Explorer / Safari).  You can't use this as the only signal but it's still interesting.

2.   Another organisation found that selecting people with a criminal record can lead to improved performance and likelihood to stay.  But the best predictor of whether they stay in a job is if their friends work there, or better, if they like their supervisor .  So it's more valuable to ensure that supervisors are better trained and give better reviews that paying the employees more money.

3.  A large international brokerage pays £10m to a couple of thousand highly paid employees.  Everything these employees do is measured and they're fine with this.  The company scores each research report whether it's opened, printed out etc.  And it turns out there's a correlation between if this is not a solo report but has ben co-authored with someone from a different area and whether it is likely to be seen as more valuable. Employees are now measured and rewarded on this.  It may not be the way for all employees as it's too intrusive? 

4.   Finding diamonds in the rough through social media, eg using git hub (a repository of software networkers) - spying on them - finding out who are the developers who contribute most, who's code is downloaded most.

 

Kenneth and the organisation have no idea why these things works like this - perhaps something about the gumption of those who take an extra effort to improve their computers being the same sort who take a bit extra care in selecting their next role.

But does that mean you can then recruit on these measures?  Kenneth seems to think it does.  Eg if you could use credit score to raise the quality of your recruit wouldn't you do it?   Well, I wouldn't, no.  That's not a moral issue but a business performance and effectiveness one.  Even if there is a real and meaningful correlation here, it's not a causation.  Changing your browser does not make you a better employee and neither does a higher credit score.  Something else is causing both factors.  Find out what that something else is and then recruit for that.

That's my first worry about big data.  No matter how large the data set there'll always be other stuff outside it.  And if it's that other stuff that's truly causal, not just predictive or correlated then you're not going to know and you're likely to be led towards recruiting for completely random reasons.  Especially as the more important aspects of HR are often the hardest to capture in quantitive data form.  And are therefore less likely to be included in your data set.

My second worry is about how much all of this is being over-hyped.  Yes, data, big and small, and analytical insight into this data is important.  But does it deserve to be on every conference, every magazine issue, ever blog?  For me, the answer's no.  This isn't the future (thought it is probably a part of the future) of our profession.

Actually I thought it was interesting that most of Kenneth's examples were from the Economist's recent article on robot recruiters.  Is this the extent of the interesting case studies?  And OK, this could just be because it's early days on the journey to a more mobile and agile workforce.  But I still suspect it's something else.

 

• Consulting - Research - Speaking  - Training -  Writing
• Strategy  -  Talent  -  Engagement  -  Change and OD
• Contact  me to  create more  value for  your business
• jon  [dot] ingham [at] strategic [dash] hcm [dot] com

. 

Technorati Tags: big data, Economist, talent management, Kenneth Cukier, summit, robot recruiters

  I'm also going to be doing my Dave Ulrich support act once again at Seminarium's annual HR conference in Chile and Colombia next month.

This promises to be a great event:

"Today the HR function is evolving and expanding their responsibilities to provide a skilled workforce to improve communication, attraction and retention of customers, increase the value of the company and create a sustainable business leadership through people.

Seminarium presents The Annual HR Conference 2013. Three international experts presenting the keys for Human Resource Management, along with their teams, build organizational changes affecting business growth."

I'm certainly looking forward to the conference, and more generally to the trip.  I'll be talking about social capital - more here on that shortly...

However if you're in Bogota, Colombia or Santiago, Chile, do try to come long.  Or if you're a regular reader, do at least let me know you're there and perhaps we can get a chance for a quick face-to-face '¡hola'?

 

• Consulting - Research - Speaking  - Training -  Writing
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• Contact  me to  create more  value for  your business
• jon  [dot] ingham [at] strategic [dash] hcm [dot] com

 

Technorati Tags: conference, Dave Ulrich, HR, Seminarium, Bogota, Colombia, Santiago, Chile, social capital, South America

  I'm back in Asia at the end of June delivering this programme on effective use of social media.  It's being held in Singapore on 24th and 25th June.

If you'd like to know more about how social media can support HR, effective management and business operations too, do come along (book at enquiry [at] long [dash] trends [dot] com).

Or if you're a reader of this blog and would like to meet up whilst I'm in Singapore, or just want to say hello, do get in touch with me (at info [at] strategic [dash] hcm [dot] com)!

 

 

• Consulting - Research - Speaking  - Training -  Writing
• Strategy  -  Talent  -  Engagement  -  Change and OD
• Contact  me to  create more  value for  your business
• jon  [dot] ingham [at] strategic [dash] hcm [dot] com

 

.

Technorati Tags: collaboration, customer service, HR, innovation, Long Trends, marketing, media, social, Singapore, Asia

  I had thought I was going to be in China straight after my session in Malaysia, but that trip has been delayed to August so I am going to be at the Economist's Talent Management Summit on Tuesday 21 May now.  Woohoo!  (not Wuhou :-( ).

This year's event focuses on 'creating a mobile, agile workforce'.  So the Economist has clearly selected a very important, and increasingly topical, theme again.  I'll be blogging from the conference as I have done for the last couple of years but here are my top three high level thoughts on what I think should be some of the key issues to come up:

1.   Neither mobile nor agile are about technology or infrastructure but attitude and behaviour.

2.   The behaviour change isn't about replacing one set of best practice behaviours with another set of better practices, it's about clearly understanding what needs to be different and then making a small but important set of changes to align around this.

3.   Generating the desired behaviour change isn't easy.  Old traditions and ways of working are hard to change.

 

I've already posted on this last point in connection to a couple of things I'm involved in or paying attention to - eg the CIPD / MIX's hackathon, the CIPD's 100 thoughts and the Engage for Success movement.  However I've criticised the way these are being implemented* (suggesting that this is being done in a non-agile / adaptable sort of way) and I haven't spelled out how I think they should be executed differently - which obviously has a link to how mobile, agile businesses need to run as well.  So here are my suggestions:

1.   Leaders need to get out of way.  They don't need to do everything themselves, and in fact doing this detracts from the ability of followers to do things for themselves - it makes the entity (hackthon, movement, community, organisation…) less adaptable, not more.  It's not you - it's us.

• Peter Cheese / Gary Hamel - let us do the hangouts, or at least let us hangout with you and stop hogging the front page.
• Peter / your CIPD colleagues - stop making special invitations.  It makes the other contributors seem / feel less valued.  If special people can't be bothered to contribute off their own backs they're maybe not so special after all.
• David McLeod / Nita Clarke - let the movement do the presentations.  I mean give us the slides if you must, though perhaps we can all co-create them.  But let us take the movement forward.  You're over exposed, and whilst the movement's all about you, it's not able to grow.  You've already earned your OBEs - get off the stage.
• Business leaders - ask your staff about what your organisation needs, listen to them and try to do what they suggest.  And as much as possible, let them take things forward.

 

2.   When leaders intervene they need to do so in an enabling sort of way.  The role of leaders isn't to provide expert insight, it's to facilitate and encourage others to provide theirs - shaping, building on or challenging these if they need.  Their focus needs to be managing the community not providing all the content.  Wait, back off and comment when you think someone's missed a point - and nobody else is stepping in.  Or come in to recognise those you think are contributing great insights.

Now I will admit that David and Nita do some of this rather well.  Though you probably don't need to be on so many of the movement's podcasts - so spend the time helping find other members of, or people associated with, the movement to be guests, or to co-host some of the shows too.

Peter, Gary (and most of the other hackathon coaches and guides) - we see nothing.  If you can't be bothered commenting on other people's suggestions, even when they directly ask you for yours, you've missed the point I'm afraid.  Well, you both clearly understand the future of management - time to start acting like it too!

 

3.   This one is a smaller point but when you do ask for opinions, ask about what's important, and what you want really want to know.  Don't ask dumb questions! (and don't provide the answer when you do):

Eg: "Is your organisation changing as fast as the world around it?

Let's face it, for most organisations, the answer is no."

  

Err, right.  Like that's going to generate a lot of comments then!

 

4.   This one is more of a personal reflection but think carefully about who you include / exclude.  As someone who has participated in a few hackathons previously and is deeply involved in this agenda I was bound to get involved.  If I'd be invited to be a coach / guide I'd have been more likely to have got on board.

This isn't an issue for me (really - I've got lots of other things to do) but since I haven't been involved it's much easier to snark from the sidelines.  Both the MIX and the CIPD know that I'm a trouble maker (ahem!) so it shouldn't have been that hard.

That's the problem with hierarchy really - not that it naturally constrains adaptability (and implemented well, I don't think it does.)  But that as soon as you put people at the top, you place others at the bottom, and the people at the bottom are never going to feel the same way about the initiative / organisation as people at the top.

(It also makes it more important that the people at the top exhibit the very best behaviours whether that's not cheating their expenses or not abusing their status as a guide.)

 

* Note I'm a big supporter of all these things (the Engage for Success movement, the CIPD / MIX's hackathon and the CIPD's 100 thoughts) - I just think they could have been done better if they were being done in more agile / adaptable way.  And these are current initiatives focusing on creating agility and adaptability.  If they can't rise to the opportunity, what hope do our organisations have?

Well quite a lot hopefully - but I think the above illustrates how hard generating more adaptable behaviours can be.

Anyway, more on this probably from the Economist Talent Management Summit next week!

 

• Consulting - Research - Speaking  - Training -  Writing
• Strategy  -  Talent  -  Engagement  -  Change and OD
• Contact  me to  create more  value for  your business
• jon  [dot] ingham [at] strategic [dash] hcm [dot] com

.

Technorati Tags: agile, conference, Economist, mobile, Talent Management

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