Employer Branding – Alice’s view in the Reverse Looking Glass

So you are a smart recruiter or Human Resources person, right? You have all the tools and tricks to recruit and check out candidates on Linked In, Twitter, MySpace, and the social networking site de jour. You have a candidate fully vetted prior to picking up the phone for the first screen. Perhaps, you have already done confidential reference from a shared connection. BUT … Have you looked to see what candidates are seeing about you as an employer? What have your staffing decisions done to your employee brand? How will they affect your company's ability to hire quality talent? What if they did a reference on you with your former employees that held the same position?

My past experience in both social technology and recruiting leaves some very interesting stories at my door often. I am going to share one I learned about this week in my travels. I sat next to this woman on the train named Alice. We had a quick chat about the new movie "Alice in Wonderland" that I had seen and loved! In the hour long trip, we covered a variety of topics but after hearing about my professional background she shared the following story….

Alice had received an email from a stranger asking about their experience working a past company. This stranger had been contacted by a recruiter looking for him to explore leaving a solid job at solid company to seek out greener pastures. This candidate did his homework and found Alice on LinkedIn. The opportunity sounded exciting. Prior to risking his current job, he wanted inside information no recruiter or hiring manager was going to share. In the stranger's research, it was discovered a ton of people had worked in the same capacity as he was being asked to interview. All of the people had short tenures (averaging 6 months to two years). Bravely, this stranger started reaching out to these former employees to discover inquiry why? Alice was one of the individuals the stranger reached out to contact.

Alice told me about her mixed feelings about telling this stranger the truth. On the one hand, she had enjoyed working for the company. She had friends that still worked there. However, she wished she had been smart enough to push this fact herself. She had seen it prior to accepting the position. Alice had accepted their story and didn't double check the facts. The company in question had a history of hiring a new VP and people to do this task only to lay them all off within six months to year. Then in about another 6 months go through the hiring process and pay recruiters to do it all over again. This stranger deserved the benefit of the doubt she felt. Alice shared the following dialog with me:

Alice: I also looked at your LinkedIn profile. Are you still working at Company X?

Stranger: Yes, I am still employed there.

Alice: Are you happy?

Stranger: Yes, the only reason he was interested was the new skill set and potential larger to make an impact on this new company.

Alice:
(hmmm sounds familiar she said to herself) Is there any pressing reason you need to make a change? More potential earnings for College tuition, moving closer to family, a burning desire to live where the company was etc.

Stranger: No

Alice: Then why on God's green Earth are you even entertaining this interview given the information you believe to have uncovered? You know the phrase "Where there is smoke there is fire" Honestly, I would tell anyone regardless of the company this if they had asked me. In this economy, why would you ever risk the happiness you told me about? Want a new adventure….try rock climbing! Listen to your gut, man!

The Stranger thanked her for opening his eyes and confirming without bashing the company his suspicions. He would be canceling the interview.

Alice told me had some of the answers been different about his employment status or happiness or compensation she may have encouraged him to take the interview. Alice just couldn't let someone else make the same error in judgment that had left her in a financial crisis. The lay-off had forced her to have to give up her independence. at close to 30 years old, Alice had to move back in with her parents for six month while she found another job and got back on her feet. It had not only impacted her career, her independence but had done a number on her relationship with her family not to mention her self-esteem and finances. Why people open up to me about these things? I have no clue. I guess I have a trusting face.

Here is the morale for employers… Remember, your previous actions on hiring, lay-offs, and serial turnover will have a huge impact on your ability to hire the best talent out there given the ease of connection with social networking and search. What will they see when they load in "YOUR COMPANY NAME" "KEYWORD = POSITION TITLE" and select past employees in LinkedIn. Will they see a pattern of serial turnover? Remember, your brand isn't only the company's product or service. It is your people and the people that have worked for you. They also continue to be a conduit of your brand. What will candidates discover by referencing you? Every employer that has been around a while has previous employees with an axe to grind. I am not talking about this one off wild chance. It is the patterns you need to be aware of creating and the poor messaging you create with potential hires. I have seen this myself with companies I recruited for in the temporary staffing market.

Here is a possible solution… Create your own reference list. Have past employees your candidates can speak with that will provide a good reference. It won't prevent them from doing what this savvy stranger did but it may help.

Happy Recruiting Everyone!  

Giving a Java Jump to your Motivation

Although my job has changed from proactively selling a product or service for a company back to selling people (me, myself and I), I have found many of the techniques which make me a successful sales professional have helped me to stay motivated in my career search. Everyone has down times and days. The call or email letting you know you were second choice at a position you were dying to get. The day you have to put your dog to sleep. Finding out yet another position has been put on hold. These have all happened in the past month. Yet, I need to stay motivated. Here are some of the tricks I use:

1) Daily goals: If you read this blog, you know my annual effort to establish and revisit goals for my professional and personal life. Most of those have gone firmly out the window this year. However, I am having success with the daily goals. Don't make your list too long but have a variety on there. Here are some of mine for today.

• Take Fiona for a Walk (done)
  
• Send Thank you notes for sympathy gift & yesterday's phone interview (done)
  
• Review job postings on Linked In (done - nothing interesting errr)
  
• Send out a tweet promoting myself and my skills (done and thank you to @mwalsh for the RT)
  
• Write a blog post (completing)
  

2) Have a Feel Good Play List: I have created a couple of play lists in iTunes that have music that make me feel great. I love Irish bar music for example. How can you be not motivated by a good jig like the Irish Rover? Another feel good selection for me is the soundtrack from Cocktail. The Hippy Hippy Shake, Kokomo, etc... love it.

3) Get some exercise: I like to go in the morning for a quick walk. Others might hit the gym or go for a bike ride... or simply dance to that play list like a fool in your living room.

4) Have a Work buddy: For the past five years, I have loved working from home. One of my key things I do when I feel like I can't possibly leave one more voicemail message is call my work buddy. We worked together ten years ago. We both have separate careers now but both work from a home environment. We use each other to motivate ourselves to make one more call or to read an email for tone etc. After five minutes on the phone with her, I am built up to attack the prospect mountain yet again!

5) Breathe and dial: Some of my best success has come after a huge rejection. I will say it is important to breathe first and put it behind you. Then make the next call or send the next email. Remember sales and job hunting is really about the numbers. If only 5% are buying or hiring in this economy, you may need to hear ninety-five rejections prior to the first yes.

6) Have a focal point: I have a picture in my office I took from the middle of the lake my Grandparents had a camp on in New Hampshire. I know every inch of the shore. The picture somehow centers me. For you, this might be a picture of your kids, pets or spouse.

7) Create a Motivational folder: Mine contains motivational quotes that were under the glass on my grandfather's desk (It is actually the same folder he had in his desk. Looking at the writing on it in his hand makes me smile and motivates me without opening it) , recommendations, emails from bosses that were complimentary, reviews, notes from friends and pictures of stuff I want.

8) Use your CRM System: This is something I am lost with out currently. I firmly believe that inputs equal outputs. I have always set up my CRM system to help me achieve my daily, weekly, monthly contact goals. I suggest talking to the most successful person that is in your profession and ask about their daily or weekly activity. For example, my VP when I started at DCI said that to be successful I needed to make 100 outbound attempts a week or 20 a day. Email didn't count back then. It worked. Today, I still use it as a measuring stick for throttling up or down my sales activity. A wise fisherman once told me the fish typically don't dump into the boat without being reeled in first.

9) Use a Notebook: Okay... huh... you just said to lean on your CRM System. Yes, I did. However, I also use a notebook to jot down notes from a meeting or call. Write down information when prospecting. It is sometimes helpful to flip back through to see someone you might have over looked, brainstorming new ideas, or just remembering past successful calls and meetings.

10) I am leaving this one blank... As I would like to learn from you. Please let me know what the tenth thing should be in your opinion.

The Difference Between Social Networking & Social Media 101

Understandably, this Web 2.0 World is moving very fast. There is a host of acronyms, applications, and terminology that can’t be found in a dictionary just five to ten years old. It is with that in mind, I have chosen to compose this post. Suddenly, there is a huge gap in whether companies are engaged in Social Media or Social Networking. The forward thinking company is doing both.

Social Media is how companies are managing their brands and persona in the marketplace. Corporations are joining the revolution by evoking a multi channel communication with their clients, consumers, and nay sayers via Web 2.0 technology (Blogs, MySpace, FaceBook, Twitter, White label communities, etc.) They mine the data for product enhancements, new ideas, and support information. We all benefit from this. Companies that engage in this behavior range vastly span the gambit of stogie brands to the hip youth seeking ones you would expect. Some examples are Comcast, Proctor & Gamble, Starbucks, Dell, Tyson Foods, and Grey Goose Vodka.

Social Networking is different. This is entities engaging in connections to provide and share information to be able to perform a task faster, cheaper, and better. They may also be connecting for the purposes of simple social interaction. This still can be seen as building that “circle of influence”. The entities are typically individuals but corporations are increasing particpating.

This is all great. Why do you need to care? How will Social Networking make the HR professional’s life easier? How is it going to change the way you do your job each day and the lives of your clients, your employees? There are many reasons. They may all boil down to the simple need to connect with people that hold information critical to your success. Businesses today are more spread out than ever before. Regardless, if you are a multi national company like IBM or a small 50 person company with a host of remote employees, you can benefit from social networking.

As a Human Resources professional, it may be scary at first glance to embrace the world of Web 2.0. My advice is to take a deep breathe and relax. Many people felt the same way about corporate email and websites in the 1990’s. You are going to have some new challenges with the new web applications. In my opinion, the positives greatly out weigh the challenges.

Here are a couple of examples on how your employees can use the tools and applications to benefit their business. They can use their Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter accounts to announce openings your company has putting that referral program on steroids. They can use the same tools to help announce new products, press releases, marketing events, sales, and more. Guess what, that effort cost your company the fraction of the total cost of the employee’s time and they may have done it off the clock. Think about the difference in cost between a referral bonus vs. a recruiting company or an internet ad post. Which candidate is more valuable typically, the employee referral or the blind resume? Booz Allen has stated referrals are the number one best source for high quality new hires.

Smart employees are already use RSS feeders and a well defined Twitter stream to have a daily access to articles their peers inside and outside your company have seen as great content. This equates to daily motivation for professional development.

Let’s take this one step further. Companies like Dow Chemical, IBM, Deloitte, Eli Lily and more have created private corporate social networks to allow by invite only their employees, retirees, and alumni (former employees) to connect, share knowledge, and have access to pertinent information through their networks. You, as a company, own all the data on who is connected to whom. What are their skills, hobbies, and who do they related to within your company.

How do you use this information? Please consider a mid to senior level accounting job that is open. Today, posting this to an internet job site will flood your inbox with possible candidates. It will cost you time to sift through the applications and respond to the vast follow up calls. This will also spur on the calls from the recruiters wanting to do it for you at a 20-30% fee.

By first going to your corporate social network, a simple query might return John Smith. He left your organization five years ago now has the skills and experience to fill your position. John has indicated on his profile an interest in returning. Bingo! John is your proverbial “low hanging fruit”. You can also post this job to your CSN (Corporate Social Network) to have additional candidates and referrals.

Beyond this, statistics prove these “Boomerang employees” are more valuable than new hires as they understand the corporate culture, have connections within the company, and take less time to train. These Boomerang employees are 50% less expensive to rehire, 40% more productive in their first three months, stay twice as long, and have proven to be top performers. Now, think of an employee that has been kept in touch with in their absence… what will those statistics be? Hmmm… (By the way, I have “boomeranged” twice in my career. Both times, I was promoted and considered a top performer.)

If you are doing the reverse of hiring at this point, corporate social networks can help soften the blow by allowing your former employees to connect with each other and help each other find a new career. This allows you also to stay connected with them. It provides an easy access to the knowledge that they leave with as well. In the long term, you will want to be able to rehire possibly these same people or people from their network. Remember, there have been approximately thirteen recessions since the Great Depression.
The simple point is employees, customers, partners, clients, retirees, and alumni are engaging in conversations, connecting and discussing your company. How long are you going to let the conversation go on without you?