Perspectives from the Kinetix team on HR, Talent Acquisition & Management, life lessons and whatever else we want.
Energizing the Workplace
"If you don't read the newspaper you are uninformed, if you do read the newspaper you are misinformed." -Mark Twain
Kinetix CEO to Present at 2010 Georgia CPA Conference
ATLANTA, Aug. 17, 2010 – Kinetix, the RPO for growth companies, is pleased to announce that CEO Shannon Russo will be offering attendees at the upcoming 2010 Southeastern Accounting Show (SEAS) keen insight into the differences among the generations in today’s workforce and how those differences affect a wide range of workforce management decisions.
In “Understanding the Generations at Work,” Russo, a nationally recognized speaker and writer, will give perspectives on:
· Enhancing comprehension of how generational differences affect people in the workplace,
· Promoting skills to foster intergenerational communication, and
· Developing abilities to manage diverse working styles across generations in the same office.
“For the first time in history, we have four generations at work in the U.S. workplace at one time, and there’s a great competitive advantage to having an appreciation for the differences in the events and experiences that have shaped them and how those differences affect their attitudes and beliefs in the workplace, and how that can affect everything from an organization’s planning for job training to succession planning,” Russo says.
Click here to read more about the 4 generations.
Tags: career, HR, press release
Welcome to the Real World: Part 2
There will always be things in life that make you go “hmmm….” As I’ve said before, in Welcome to the Real World, the client/recruiter/candidate relationship is one of those things. This recent exchange between one of our recruiters and a candidate illustrates the misunderstanding about the role recruiters play:
| Recruiter: | “I’m sorry, but the client has stopped reviewing candidates at this time.” |
| Candidate: | “That’s disappointing to hear… I feel as though my loyalty to you was misguided. Another recruiter approached me about this company, but I told them I was already working with you. “ |
| Recruiter: | “I did present your resume to the client, but this is all he shared with me.” |
| Candidate: | “I am really disappointed in you.” |
Our job as recruiters is to nurture the relationship between candidate and client. We don’t make the decision about who’s hired. In a perfect world, we would know exactly what the client is looking for. . Most times, we are only privy to the basics of the position. Clients may keep information from us, for their own agendas or because they just don’t feel the need to share. We aren’t out to mislead candidates. Finding the best fit for our client is how recruiters get paid in most cases. However, helping you find the job that fits your background and your ambitions is also part of our reward. We have no reason to blow you off because we don’t hold all the cards.
Say for instance, you audition for a role in a Hollywood film. After hearing from the casting director that you did not get the part, would you speak to the producer of the film saying, “I’m disappointed to hear that I didn’t get the part. I feel like my loyalty was misguided.”? Do you see how that puts the producer in an impossible situation? Chances are good that the producer will never call you to audition for another film. Bridge burned.
Any ideas on different ways the recruiter or the candidate could’ve handled this situation?
Tags: career, job hunt, job seekers, life lessons, professional, truth
Do I remember you?
The challenge that job seekers face in today’s world is very similar to that of most sales/marketing types, namely:
- It can be very difficult for you to differentiate yourself
- You often have 30 seconds or less to make that first impression
- Invariably these and other reasons make it relatively difficult for the person you meet to truly remember you
Now if you meet someone in an interview process, that percentage should go up – but if you are not successful for that specific job…..regardless of the reason……..your impression is not likely to stick. That is unfortunate, given that most companies end up hiring similar or the same positions regularly or with some regularity and that everyone knows someone……
Most job search advice includes some component related to dealing with this: the need to STAND OUT
What’s a person to do?
4 things you can do to make yourself more “rememberable”. Ironically, the good news is this is really not hard…principally due to the incredibly low levels of consistent delivery on the following items.
- “Flawless execution” => sweat the small stuff, no typos, be on time, bring a copy of your resume with you, etc. All the stuff you have heard a million times….with good reason! Fail on these and you may not have to worry about being remembered. I would call this the entry ticket. If I had a dollar every time candidates at every level were unsuccessful at achieving this….I would be long retired.
- “Remember the ***** people” => in this process, there are countless numbers of people that will touch you and perhaps help you: from the receptionist, to the recruiter (internal or external or both) to the managers assistant, et cetera. Sad that I need to say this – pay attention…..your interaction with them could spell the difference between your getting any job or not…..act accordingly and treat any and all of them with the appreciation and respect you would expect if you are helping someone — because in a variety of ways that is what they are doing for you, and they are not “little”.
- Follow through. Notice that I did not say follow up. While follow up is critical and should be done with what we like to call polite persistence. Begin by doing your research/homework: on the company, your interviewers, the industry; be prepared. And keep the energy afterwards — what I mean here is: if you offered/discussed anything during your interactions that you can send along to one of the players, do so. Even better if there is something interesting or helpful that you can email/send that was discussed or interesting to your interviewer.
The Biggie – to put you over the Top: Give them a reason to “talk about you”….in a good way. In a way this is an extension of the point above but take it a step further. Put your thinking cap on here – it does not have to cost money or if it does, very much but the key is in context and..you..got..it……memorable.
An example is in the picture here: from a candidate that got networked to me…for no particular job. She actually hit a double header in my book – a cute, memorable comment on the gift card (although the card not needed) and a hand written note – mailed to me. Because of the ease and ubiquity of email, the handwritten anything is memorable. Also, the relevant note, in context (since we did not discuss any specific jobs) and cute correlation to the gift card. I kept it, showed it to my colleagues…and am talking about it again, here. You don’t think out of the scores of people I meet with – you can see I remember her?
So, think about what you feel comfortable doing, get out your pen and make it happen. You can relate your effort to the person you are sending to, but doing anything like this – including sending an article or making an unsolicited introduction based on your conversations – will serve to differentiate you. Good luck.
Tags: career, career search, interview, interviewing, job hunt, job search, Job Seeker, job seekers, thank you note, unemployed
Personal vs Work…you in or out?
I sit here on the plane, contemplating what is important in life and how so many things can get lost in the day-to-day. Conversely, there is so much to add to your life if you take the time to experience and appreciate as it happens. Platitudes, I know…..Yesterday a colleague and I got to spend time with some new friends, learn a tremendous amount, share experiences and begin to build a relationship. I am at once overwhelmed and energized by the trip. Further, the time and the learning have begun to give me a target, focus and framework for one of our main BHAGs this year. Since I am an incredibly goal oriented person, this has been cathartic as for me, not having clear direction on an objective is both agonizing and distracting for me. At the same time, I realize how much I miss my children and my husband and how special they are. It could be the great conversations we had about our host’s families and kids in addition to the work talk; it could be that I got to spend time this morning with a friend I have not seen in many years and rekindle our relationship, or as I learned yesterday, perhaps it is altitude sensitivity (?)……but think there is more at play here. Simply, this is a preferred way to do business. Or, this is the way that I want to do business, anyway.
My career began a very “traditional” model, climbing the corporate ladder, working hard, and playing hard too, but usually not too much together. That is to say that I, like most corporate denizens, had my work life and relationships, and for the most part – separately – my personal relationships and life. A great example of this early on was when a friend came to visit at my office and was chatting, congratulating me on being inducted to my University’s Athletic Hall of Fame (which completely floored and shocked my assistant). Now it could have been that she was the prototype Staten Island working girl and thus made a huge play of this news and how shocking it was to her……but the reality is, she never saw me that way because I did not think my historical or personal stuff is what they were paying me for. Now that is NOT to say that I did not foster personal relationships with work colleagues both inside and outside my firm, I simply did not believe my personal life and activities were important to my work life.
I never looked at these relationships as a holistic part of the right way to DO business. I always looked at it as who I was, and that building relationships as something I liked to do. I understand there has been tremendous dialog, certainly within social media on the need for “authenticity” and how the walls must and will be transparent or broken down between these distinct areas of our lives. What I am getting at is slightly different – not just that you need to do this to be “real” and successful in social media, but more that you should view this melding as a key part of how you will be successful in your job or business going forward.
I for one have a new year’s resolution to actively pay attention to these relationships – both traditional “home” type and business. I now believe that we can be tremendously more successful and importantly have more fun if we do this purposefully (thanks William for articulating this better, and how timely). You have so many more opportunities to help another, the more touch points you have – and vice versa. I could go on, but you get the point and my flight is landing.
So, what about you?
Tags: BHAGS, career, HR, human resources, life lessons, Social Media, truth
Here’s to 2010 and Beyond!
Thanks to Bill Boorman for sponsoring the HRCarnival video blog asking for quick comments on ourthoughts for the coming year. Bill is a great guy with a 
passion for the HR/recruiting world and seems to never sleep even with the time zone differences (he is in the UK). I also wanted to thank Bill because this forced me to do my first ever video blog post….from my home office mess in my weekend attire complete with baseball hat. Well – here’s to embracing all that is and moving forward even with things that terrify you….i am sharing my first with you.
Thanks for indulging me – and let me know if you think this is a decent way to deliver messages (snickering aside) and for which kinds of stories.
Shannon
Tags: career, career search, changing industry, HR, HR consulting, human resources, job search, LinkedIn, LinkedIn network, Social Media, Twitter
Talent Acquisition Triple Play
Congratulations to Sodexo on winning the 2009 Workforce Optimas Award for Vision
The company was able to improve hiring speed and quality even as it cut its annual recruiting advertising budget in North America by $300,000. The effort also has corresponded with better business outcomes. Customer satisfaction ratings have risen 0.3 points to 4.5 on a five-point scale since the strategy’s inception. The firm’s global revenue rose 7.9 percent for the year ended in August, and its net income increased 4.5 percent.
I am a fan of Sodexo’s talent acquisition approach from afar and I am excited to see their social media “investments” paying off so quickly. I also love the better business outcome proof. By thinking more broadly they are spending less on recruitment advertising, but gaining a broader reach while hiring apparently better candidates. Talk about a triple play! And I am impressed because they really seem to walk the talk (from what I can see). I truly believe that they are improving their company brand by the clearly improved employer brand they are building. To me they are proof of the shift happening away from traditional job boards and advertising as how the majority of companies find talent…..–toward social media as how smart companies will find their preferred talent pools. Now, you should know - I am biased as the hair on my neck is always raised when I hear the “post & wait” mantra of some of our clients – it makes me crazy!
Companies are missing the boat by not using their website to attract the best and brightest for their needs now and in the future. Sodexo is ahead of the curve regarding a focus on driving traffic to their website vs paying to improve the latest job board’s site . What doesn’t anyone get about the fact that at its best talent acquisition is a sales function? Meaning you want to pull in those that are a fit for your company: while (in the perfect world) helping those that are not a fit, see that early.
Just wondering if I am alone in being so passionate about focusing social media efforts on capturing passive job seekers - the future of our talent pipelines. Some cool : MLB triple plays
Tags: career, career search, FaceBook, HR, human resources, LinkedIn, LinkedIn network, Recruitment Process Outsourcing, Social Media, Twitter
How not to get help….
I was getting gas for my truck the other night. A pretty simple activity today with pay at the pump and fast passes, and something that is relatively solitary – many times happily so. As I was about half way done, a young boy, about 10 or 11 years old, approached my car. I did not see him until he was standing about 3 feet from me along side my truck. I was surprised, but looked at him, smiled and said hi. He said hi and then took a step closer – he could have been in my kids’ grade school class – clean clothes, hooded sweatshirt, sneakers.
The next moment shocked me……”can I have some money?….my dad lost his job and we need help….” at which point I looked up to see his dad at the door of his truck, about 30 feet away, in the next bank of pumps. Dad did not wave, or smile, or indicate anything, except that he was paying attention.
I said no, uncomfortably…… and he turned and walked away. The dad went back to getting gas. I got back in my truck, started it up….my mind was racing. I was shook up from the event, not sure if I should be or not. I went thru a whole range of emotions – from anger, shock, frustration, fear, distress, concern (for the boy and the dad) and frustration (at them and me).
- Once I got my wits about me I realized I could have given him my card, since we do recruiting…duh – if he really needed a job….
- Anger over the dad doing that to the kid – irrespective of the true issue….
- Distress over not helping them or seeing what I could do……
- A bizarre frustration that he did not start the conversation with please or say thank you at the end….
- Sadness over the situation, but also a tinge of anger wondering if the requests was a lie…..
Am I alone here – I still am not sure if I would react differently if this happened again, but not sure if or what I should consider. Would love some input.
Shannon
Tags: background check, bio, career, HR, life lessons, truth, unemployed
Be Thankful for your Problems
In my “book” the holidays (and not simply the one we most recently 
celebrated) are a time for reflection and giving thanks in more ways than one. I try every year to take time alone and with my family (especially with my children) to reflect on how blessed we are. This can be challenging during the rush of the season and the many “priorities” imposed as a result of expectations we generally put on ourselves. Add to that my children, who essentially live in a lake wobegon world, and invariably we have conversations about why they cannot have everything they want, and why we are giving things to other children (‘why don’t their parents just get it for them….?”) etc.
As well its is time for my favorite Kinetix holiday tradition of sharing a special book that inspires us as a team of people to feel better and do better. The cornerstone of this tradition is the participation of our clients and friends in making suggestions for each year’s book. Today, I wanted to share it with you as well. After carefully considering a large number of special and intriguing books, we selected “Embrace the Struggle” as one most fitting in relationship to the challenging year that has been 2009 for so many. The Author and I are convinced that in the last year the overwhelming majority of people have struggled with some kind of concern – personal, family, business, health, job, relationships – you name it.
In “Embrace the Struggle, Living Life on Life’s Terms”by Zig Ziglar and Julie Ziglar Norman, Zig posits that “it seems that struggles just happen over the course of time…the [key] question is how do you handle them?” In it, Zig is moving in his willingness to be transparent and open about how he is embracing his struggles with a brain injury and positional vertigo, the results of a fall down the stairs in his home. The remainder is a collection of inspiring stories of others who faced struggles and not only survived, but amazingly live lives more 
fulfilling than they experienced before their struggles began. The book will challenge those who might be tempted to hide behind the frailties of their health or challenges of their circumstances to take positive steps toward living life fully and gracefully.
There are many good stories and messages, but my favorite was Fred Smith, for his attitude on life and this life view: “A problem is something you can do something about. If you can’t do anything about it, it’s a fact of life, and so we accept facts: we solve problems.” For me, this encapsulates the challenges and opportunities with living life on life’s terms: understanding what you cannot change and endeavouring to take something good out of every bad experience. If you are currently struggling, I hope you can take some solace and direction by accepting the “facts” of your circumstance, and focus instead on solving the problems. As hard as this may be, it will help you to move forward positively.
As hard as 2009 has been, I know that I have much to be thankful for: family and friends, including many new ones thanks to social media; the growth of our firm in such a difficult time, our clients and partners; my wonderful team and their daily contributions to name a few. I am grateful for the ability to help others and for the many people who help and support me. As we go into the holidays, this is a gentle reminder to accept the facts, solve the problems and live life with an expecation of what is to come. As Zig says: “where there is a struggle, there is life. For that we can be grateful!”
Tags: career, career search, Embrace the Struggle, HR, Inspiration, life lessons, Live life to the fullest, truth, Zig Ziglar
Make the most of your new Full time Job (getting a job)
This week I was talking with some of our Jumpstart my job search participants, and realized that there are some themes to the challenges and opportunities that they found, which are consistent whether they were just beginning their job search or had been at it for quite a while. So I decided to summarize 5 keys they found most impactful in getting their job search off the ground.
- Treat it like a full time job
- Organize yourself
- Be Accountable
- Network every day
- Pay it forward
If you have been at your job search for a little while, or longer than you would like – revisit these 5 key aspects and ask yourself if you are working hard on each – if you are not, take the Thanksgiving holiday to rest up and hit the ground running next week. I can assure you, not focusing on these is part of what is slowing you down.
- This is a full time job – In today’s environment, looking for a new opportunity takes a full 40-50 hours per week. Less than this will only extend your search. Look at this as a job, in as much as you know that it generally takes more work than the next guy to get ahead understand that this is no different and there are plenty of others competing with you right now. We even recommend getting up an hour earlier every day.
- Organize yourself – As with any project, it is key to be organized and have your work segmented to maximize efficiency. Take a certain amount of time each day for your research, working on your resume or networking plan, going to networking meetings or coffee and doing the significant amount of follow up required to keep yourself top of mind with the network you are building.
- Accountability – This is likely to be the most significant aspect between successfully shortening your job search and fumbling along thinking you are doing things right and not seeing progress. They say that what you want to monitor must be measured, the same could not be more true in job search. Everyone in career transition should have a job search accountability buddy or buddies that they meet with each week to review metrics related to successful job search: the number of calls, meetings and the like. In addition you should discuss what you are struggling with and what new goals you have set. By far this is the most critical requirement of a successful job search – if you are not doing this, change today!
- Network – This should become part of your daily routine, and
should not change even when you land. Besides meeting with new and current contacts in the networking sense, make sure you are open to new connections wherever they may be. After all, everyone is somebody’s somebody – so bring your cards with you everywhere and remember that the person serving you your latte, may have a contact that is important to you, get to know them. - Pay it forward – This can take many forms, but all have the same result – you will feel better about your self. Whether you contribute to a local food-bank, build a house with Habitat, or just share some of your newly discovered job search tips – this activity is important for a number of reasons. First, it takes the focus off you in this “all about me” time. Second, it helps you reaffirm your value and also helps you see in many cases how lucky you are. This is especially important in networking – I recommend that you attempt to give back to your community (networks) in equal or better proportion to what you get. So if you get 2 new contacts this week from your networking – make at least 2-3 introductions to those in your network in return.
For some these may seem basic, and they are, however – I have seen time and time again where job seekers only go part way, and fail to do all the work required to be successful. So be honest as you review these and make whatever small or large changes you need to get on track. Best of Luck & Happy Thanksgiving!
Tags: career, career search, FaceBook, HR, HR consulting, human resources, interview, job hunt, job search, Job Seeker, job seekers, Jumpstart, LinkedIn, LinkedIn network, Outplacement, Resume, Social Media, Twitter, unemployed
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