“More workers will be defined as disabled,” says Myra Creighton, partner in the Atlanta office of labor firm Fisher & Phillips. That will almost undoubtedly mean that more workers will be requesting some form of accommodation for their disability.

Where previously a diabetic or someone with ADD whose condition is controlled by medication was probably not disabled under the prevailing court decisions, now the amendments make clear that they probably are. The amendments loosen up the definition of disability and eliminate consideration of the effect of medication, prosthetics, hearing aids, and the like. That means a person is to be considered disabled whether or not any form of treatment or corrective device (with the exception of glasses and contacts) is used to control or ameliorate the condition.

However, for recruiters and hiring managers, the impact is likely to be more subtle.

Changes may need to be made to job descriptions and in the application and interview environment. There is some thinking that the nature of the post-offer, pre-employment physical will have to be altered to disregard the effect of medical mitigation.

“People ought to have better job descriptions,” counsels Creighton. Most descriptions already take into account the physical requirements of a job, such as the ability to lift certain weights. But too few, says Creighton, take into account the mental and emotional requirements.

“A lot leave out the mental demands that some jobs make,” she says, pointing to supervisory positions where a manager has to relate to employees. Certain types of mental conditions can negatively affect the performance of a supervisor.

She also suggested that more job candidates may now be eligible to request an accommodation in the interview process. Those employment kiosks so popular in home improvement centers, large retailers, and others might have to be modified or alternatives offered to accommodate candidates who request them.

In fact, in a December webcast, the Association of Corporate Counsel used the example of a candidate with ADD requesting a quiet place to fill out a job application. “Do you have to accommodate?” the presenters asked. The answer is yes.

But how many on-site managers know that — or how — an accommodation is to be made?

Creighton says all the old rules about what questions can and can’t be asked during the hiring process still apply. “Those haven’t changed.”

Now, because more candidates can be considered disabled and partially because jobs are tight, Creighton urges recruiters to be especially vigilant about ensuring every question they ask and every requirement in the job description is directly related to business necessity.

While there “aren’t a ton of failure-to-hire cases,” Creighton says, “Some people may view this (the ADA amendments) as an opportunity.”

This is not up for discussion. We sometimes dance around the premise, but recruiting is essentially the selling of a company on a candidate and a candidate on a company. Those who choose not to engage in selling can pretend to be noble, but they’re doing a disservice to their clients and employers. It’s engraved on stone tablets for every third-party recruiter who makes it longer than three months, and even the most sales-averse HR generalist has to admit that at one time or another, they’ve tried to talk a manager into meeting with a candidate based on their internal interview. It’s the nature of our business.

Where we sometimes butt heads is in the implementation of a sales mentality versus that of a process-oriented human resources approach. I have good news: The sales mentality is remarkably effective for finding high-quality candidates or hiring large numbers of people quickly. Unfortunately, no company needs that kind of structure forever, and the friction caused by a sales mentality in hiring can lead to management, administrative, and even legal obstacles. The human resources approach of a kindler, gentler HR works when you don’t have urgency, and when you have an enlightened HR/executive management relationship, but process-oriented hiring turns off the top creatives and results in the hiring of a stable, but less aggressive workforce. That’s no way to run a company in uncertain times.

These are uncertain times, but also exciting ones. Jobseekers, through social media, now have access to information on their would-be employers that is truly revolutionary. In addition to being connected through social networks to hiring managers and other employees, candidates can gather information on individual recruiters, staffing firms, referral programs, and even interview questions. They can do so while they are sitting in an interview room waiting for that manager to arrive. The imbalance of information has been a strength of companies, who can set wages, benefits, and generally control the employment process. Today’s job-seeker has access — and is learning the skill — necessary to balance that information. The result is smarter, better-prepared candidates with wider options as to where they work and what’s acceptable in the employment process (such as whether someone will put up with multiple interviews and long assessments).

This trend may not yet have affected your open requirements, but the strategies employed by the very top candidates are spreading to other high-quality candidates. I know this because I, and others like me are helping train them. Every time I write about a tool on a blog or a social network, candidates have every bit as much incentive to read as do recruiters. And from my website stats, those kinds of readers are growing in droves.

A declining economy, high unemployment, and an increasing need for knowledge workers is running up against demographics, increased specialization, and social media. Recessions are supposed to be times when companies get lean and mean. They cut benefits, reduce or eliminate raises, and often use layoffs to restructure the business. All of that is happening, but the ease of finding candidates hasn’t changed. Companies sometimes get hundreds of resumes per open position, and with the implementation of ATS and database search technology, one would assume that companies could afford to sit idly by and let job-seekers come to them. Companies adopting that attitude are already hurting, and have been for years.

The Answer: Become A Marketer

You don’t have to buy non-prescription lenses and large amounts of hair gel, but will have to adjust to a world where employment branding is not a buzzword, but something that defines what kind of candidates come knocking on your electronic door. Those companies that brag of hundreds, or even thousands of resumes per position aren’t happy with their results. Candidates looking for work blast off resumes hoping for a lucky hit, which ultimately clogs up the recruiting system, especially when you’re in an industry required to log what you’ve received and why you accepted or rejected the resume.

Recruitment marketing used to mean writing job ads and placing them in newspapers. Today, it covers a wide range of disciplines that includes creative, copywriting, SEO, web analytics, pay per click, video, blogging, and social media marketing. The new goal is getting in front of the right people at the right time, and that’s a marketing function. To be successful, it requires that every touchpoint (another marketing term) within your company be aware of how you hire and the best way to apply. Providing accurate information to channel candidates into the correct funnel is the most efficient use of your recruiting time, freeing your employees up to interview and match, rather than sort and sift.

Let’s be honest. Even with massive databases and an influx of resumes, most recruiters still spend over half their time on the job boards searching for new resumes. The reason is simple. Resumes are old the second they hit your database, while resumes posted on job boards (particularly if you search by “last posted”) show an interest in getting hired right now. The advantage of a marketing mentality, especially one of pull-marketing, is a value to all activities taken. Searches for a position today can be magnified by social media to create a long-term search engine value and online profile for your company. Unlike job boards and company websites where information appears and disappears, online marketing creates relationships that continue to bring value after a search is completed. It’s not easy, and much of this work is in its infancy, but companies that embrace online marketing through the prism of social media are finding that recruiting gets easier, and more efficient.

It’s no panacea. Marketing requires a lot of retraining and a sympathetic management who puts a priority on hiring. Marketing requires a commitment to long-term employees and long-term strategies, but the benefits of an enhanced company profile are easy to measure using onboarding surveys. Rather than simply asking where the candidate heard about the position, questions should focus on what worked to influence the candidate during the employment process. Where did they get information? What information was helpful? Who was helpful? Companies who embrace a thorough strategy of recruitment marketing will find it easier and easier to hire the best employees. Those who focus on short-term sales or long-term process-oriented hiring will find it easier to hire those who are left.

Greg Scott, co-founder and CEO, harbors no illusions about the challenge he and his partner, Stephen Race, have set for themselves. “Well,” he said, explaining his vision, “it takes some companies a while to understand the value of being entirely open. It’s still a small percentage, but I was quite surprised (at how many do).”

What he’s talking about is Diialog, a sort of company-wide 360 assessment that takes the measure of company culture. It’s designed to reveal the culture as it is and compare it to the culture employees — and company leadership — desire it to be. In its purest form, the results would be reported to the entire company and made available on Jiibe.com, a site that matches jobseekers to companies based on “fit.”

There are categories for management style, vision, and social consciousness; 10 factors in all. When enough employees complete the assessment, the results can be revelatory, showing the gaps, as well as the company strengths.

“I kind of think of this like management by wandering around,” says Scott, referring to the communications that open up when executives hit the plant floor and talk with the troops.

Founded in 2007, Jiibe Solutions (a takeoff on jibe, meaning to be in harmony or agreement) has two products:

• Diialog is the flagship product. It’s a proprietary corporate assessment survey completed by a company’s employees. It produces a profile of the culture and environment its employees experience as well as producing a composite portrait of the workplace they desire. The tool is intended to be a continuous sort of self-assessment that shows where the gaps are and helps company leaders address them.
• Jiibe.com is the completely free self-assessment tool that helps individuals discover the kind of culture and work environment that best fits them and then matches them against suitable companies. It is essentially a generic version of Diialog.

Jiibe’s data comes from surveys completed by users of the site and, in some instances. from the internal Diialog surveys undertaken by Jiibe Solutions’ clients. Most of the companies on the Jiibe site have only one or two survey respondents; too few, Scott acknowledges, to provide any statistically reliable data. “These are interesting,” he says, “not scientifically valid, but a point of discussion.”

His hope is that as more companies participate (in a Diialog survey) they will be as open as Quicken Loans to make the results available on Jiibe. “They have great openness,” Scott says.

The value for a company in performing this psychoanalysis, according to Jiibe Solutions, is that those “willing to be this open and engage their employees are the ones that are most able to quickly adapt to a very dynamic and competitive marketplace.”

The founders have years of experience in the recruitment field. Greg Scott founded an early online ATS company (Vision2Hire.com) which he sold in 2004 to Canadian IT staffing and recruiting firm Brainhunter Inc. A serial entrepreneur, he founded and ran a theatrical production company in Las Vegas, before launching Jiibe Solutions.

His partner, Stephen Race, is an occupational psychologist with a decade of experience working on recruiting assessments and issues of cultural “fit.”

The two worked together for a brief period at Talent Technology (profile; site), best known for its HireDesk ATS.

The challenge for Jiibe Solutions is the same every user-dependent Web 2.0 site has: Getting a large enough number of employees to participate to make the results statistically meaningful.

Thus, says Scott, a priority for the company is to “partner with other groups that have benchmark data.” observes Scott.

As Scott told one blogger, “The beauty of this is that we’re taking advantage of the crowd and turning the traditional job search on its ear.”

Originally published August 6, 2008.

Dating and recruiting have a lot in common. Learn how to improve your recruiting efforts by applying the most common dating rules.

Dating rule #1
First impressions are critical.

Recruiting application:
Differentiate yourself. Resist the “I have a great position for you” especially if you have never spoken to them.

Dating rule #2
Don’t believe everything you see. We have all heard stories from people that signed up for an online dating service and were shocked when their date was two feet shorter and 10 years older than the profile.

Recruiting application:
Candidates exaggerate their strengths and skills and down play their weaknesses. Do not assume anything. Prescreen, interview, administer assessments, and call the references before you present the candidate to your hiring manager.

Dating rule #3
Play hard to get. Desperation is the world’s worst perfume.

Recruiting application:
If you make a huge fuss over the candidate and beg them to interview, you will diminish your negotiating power.

Dating rule #4
Be selective. You can not change people.

Recruiting application:
Look for the red flags; don’t avoid them. It is better for you to uncover any candidate weaknesses or issues than your hiring manager discovering them. Your name and reputation is all you have in this business.

Dating rule #5
Prepare for the date.

Recruiting application:
If your candidate has spent 20 minutes on the phone with you and takes time off work to come to interview, and then you ask them “so, tell me what you want to do?” — you are wasting the candidate’s time. You should have notes on the candidate’s resume that you want to clarify, and if appropriate, the company profiles that best match what your candidate’s needs.

Dating rule #6
Don’t talk too much. People who express the “enough about me, what do you think about me?” attitude sit home alone, a lot.

Recruiting application:
The candidate should be doing most of the talking. Assess what the candidate has to offer, what they need, and then set expectations of how you will work together. Let the candidate talk about the interview before you disclose the hiring manager’s view. If you blurt out “they love you, you are the best candidate they have ever met!” — what do you think happens to the candidate’s salary requirements?

Dating rule #7
Follow up with your date.

Recruiting application:
As an industry, one of the biggest complaints we get from candidates and hiring managers is the lack of communication. No news is still considered news to the candidate; make sure you keep your candidate in the loop.

Dating rule #8
Don’t be afraid to end the date early.

Recruiting application:
Prescreen carefully, ask the hard questions, and always tell the candidate the truth. If they are not going to fit into your recruiting focus (skills, salary expectations, location, etc.), coach or make suggestions regarding who may be able to help them in the market.

Dating rule #9
Improve your odds by hanging out where (like) people hang out.

Recruiting application:
If you are recruiting technology talent, sign up and participate in technology activities in your market. Volunteer at association meetings to check members in: you will meet every attending member, every meeting.

Explain to people you meet that there are two types of people you would like to be introduced to: those who are leaders in their field and are looking for an opportunity and those who are leaders in their field and are not looking for an opportunity right now. You are an expert in your market, so people who are not looking now would still benefit from knowing you and the people in your network.

Dating Rule #10
They will not buy the cow if they are getting the milk for free.

Recruiting application:
When you agree to represent a candidate, you are entering into a business agreement. You need to set clear expectations of how the process must work. If the candidate will not agree to the terms, they are not committed to you, so turn them loose.

Meanwhile, the three companies I mentioned in greatest detail on that trip — Redmatch, CareerHarmony, and HRVision, are still kicking.

CareerHarmony

When Shanghai’s mayor went off to the pokey for embezzlement, it slowed things down for CareerHarmony, a company we mentioned back in 2006. Government contracts had to be reviewed, but all’s still well with the Shanghai contract for CareerHarmony. The Manpower company is doing about 15,000 assessments a year for would-be Chinese entrepreneurs who want loans or tax breaks from the government.

CareerHarmony has also finished a new product, called a Vocational Profiler, which it hopes to sell to local employment offices and outplacement companies worldwide to help students, people who are thinking of changing careers, and others decide what the best path is for them. The profiler measures cognitive ability (based upon verbal, numerical, and figural abilities); vocational interest (based on preferred activities, hobbies, and fields of interest); and biographical information (education, skills levels, experiences, etc.).

“It’s something I know will take off,” says CEO Stuart Marvin, talking to us from Geneva.

Redmatch

Redmatch has now split into two totally independent companies, one international and one North American, based in Potomac, Maryland and called RealMatch.

RealMatch now has what it claims is the “fastest growing recruitment advertising platform in the United States” for somewhere around 1,000 newspaper sites. It’s also powering Scientific American, Findlaw (where it says 10,000 legal professionals sign up monthly, and which came up first in Google when I searched “legal careers”), and Geek.com, among other sites.

For most sites, RealMatch uses a “pay for performance” model where the employer only pays to see candidates who seem like a match, based on a profile that’s graded, such as “87% match.” CEO Gal Almog says the company has spent a couple of million dollars improving its matching technology.

“We want to take over the market from Monster and CareerBuilder,” says the ambitious CEO. “Their business model model is obsolete. The current situation makes them very vulnerable. Craigslist doesn’t deliver a lot of value. I don’t believe in a free lunch in any business. A lot of the (posts on free sites) are giving you garbage; we give you exactly what you need.”

HRVision

HRVision closed a deal with Bezeq, the country’s biggest telecom company, and is making inroads in the financial sector.

It also sold to several government agencies (police and immigration) in Mexico, and to AXA, a large UK insurance company. Several banks and call centers in South Africa are now doing pilots with HRVision.

The company is going to release a 3.5 version with several enhancements. HRVision’s Sandy Erez says “the system also allows for a one-time testing of candidates and their subsequent comparison and ranking for suitability to all open jobs in the organization — which means that human capital management can be applied from the moment the recruiting process has begun. Candidates can be tested for their raw capability for higher-level managerial jobs at the initial testing.”

Erez says the slow global economy has worked in its favor. “Companies looking to economize and cut costs are looking into our program.”

Looks like 69 people have started or completed applications for the ERE Recruiting Excellence Awards, roughly double from this time last year.

We’re shaking things up this year to make this more of a community process. There are way more judges. And some tweaks to the categories and the rules, with the upshot being it’s way easier to apply and way cheaper (free).

The company names that are applying already are great (from India to Taiwan, from restaurants to credit unions). But this award is the industry’s standard-bearer and if you’re the best of the best, you should be applying. We want to make sure the most cutting-edge recruiting programs are considered, and the best of those are honored.

It’s OK to take an extra week beyond the January 9 deadline. Apply before the 16th. This award has vaulted recruiting departments at Aimco and Valero and elsewhere to prominence … and yours could be the next.

Cocq’s vision was to move IBM away from its collage of recruiting and hiring processes to a single global process, with only slight variations for each region’s culture. He also wanted to drive passive candidates and applicants toward the company’s recruiting Web site to reduce agency fees and print ad expenditures. But could a site that features one main recruiting message resonate with a globally diverse audience? Surprisingly, Cocq discovered that the answer to that question was yes.

“We found that universally, people are interested in social issues and career advancement; they want to know that their work matters and that it accomplishes something for society,” says Cocq.

In June, the company launched its new careers Web site which features this message: Come work for IBM and make a difference. But while the message may be universal, the way the message is communicated to each user is unique. The concept is to hook candidates and entice them to return to the site, by allowing each user to create their own Web 2.0 experience. Candidates are invited to join online communities or collaborate online with IBM employees after submitting an application. They can also share online content about IBM and comment about it through a link to an IBM page on the Digg Web site or receive an opt-in newsletter.

“Our new site features a single landing page and then redirects prospects to a number of subsites or micro sites based upon their interests and preferences,” says Cocq. “While the overall message is designed for universal appeal, we’ve adapted how we’re driving traffic to the site to meet each country’s Internet viewing habits.”

All floss aside, I wouldn’t know a lot things if it wasn’t for Facebook and Twitter. Like that Dennis Smith, a big name in wireless-industry recruiting, is in the job market. Or that Accenture has a new employee portal. Or about a new free corporate social network site. Or that Sodexo’s got a new careers page emphasizing networking.

Sometimes I even find something on Facebook that sends me to Twitter, where I find something that sends me to Facebook in order to find something on Twitter.

Social media is here to stay, and it’ll stay part of recruiting. A recent ERE article about it was one of the more highly trafficked in recent weeks.

Other popular articles this year: Ron Katz’s, on passive candidates. P-Trunk’s, on Gen Y. Lots of Sullivan pieces. Plus, the 10 rules for dating and recruiting, by Amy Kimmes, a new writer.

Speaking of new writers, if you’re interested, it’d be great. We want more people, more voices, more opinions, more insight. Here are some guidelines. Email me (first name at ere.net).

I’m also looking for writers for the Journal of Corporate Recruiting Leadership: mainly directors of recruiting.

Webinar speakers, conference presenters – we want that too. We’re full for the Spring conference (end of March, San Diego) but have a couple of spots open for the Fall (Hollywood, Florida, September 9-11). Contact me or the world’s greatest conference producer.

In 2008, ERE (Jim Dalton and others) redid and improved much of the home page and the web site (expect changes to the community section in 2009). We launched some subtle improvements like an archive by date as well as a tag search. Jim and his team just in the last few days added another little site feature, where you can have a URL (such as a blog of yours) show up when you post on ERE (if you’re logged in to ERE you can click on your profile to do this). We launched the “Vendor Watch” – online, and print, to provide a little scoop on recruiting vendors. I got an earful from some companies who weren’t thrilled with how we described them. Speaking of earfuls: I got one for publishing Corinne and Howard’s article which contained a little politics. We get a lot of notes about how valuable ERE is to you, so the earfuls help bring us down to earth.

Speaking of politics, remember during the campaign when Sen. McCain made the boneheaded comment that the American economy was fundamentally sound? Politically, it was unwise. But he was right. We’re a skilled, productive, people with a strong work ethic, great natural resources, and a strong higher education system.

Don’t surround yourself by doomsayers who claim the world is sicker, poorer, more dangerous, and so on, than ever before. All of those things, statistically, are false. Many neighborhoods are safer than ever, but people have somehow convinced themselves the world is really dangerous now. Poverty is way, way down from what it once was around the world. The economy will get better (and for top talent in many industries there’s still a gold rush for candidates). The baby boomers will be retiring (leaving big holes in the federal government, nursing, teaching, utilities, and elsewhere) and perhaps a year from now, talent again will be as hot as an Illinois senate seat.

I say “we” in the paragraph before last — but I don’t want to imply that everyone reading this is American. Sure, I loved that Washington Post article debunking the myth that America has lost its competitive edge. But I love corresponding with our readers in Australia, India, and the United Arab Emirates. When a recruiter in Turkey learns something on ERE that in the end helps them recruit better and helps their company become better – there’s nothing better. Let’s all keep networking and keeping in touch 2009. Amybeth Hale, a recruiting researcher in Cincinnati who is one of my favorites, just posted on Facebook to say, “let’s be thankful for life – it is so fragile.” I don’t know what exactly inspired her to say that, but without Facebook and Twitter and LinkedIn, such thoughts would spread less easily. Think about them while flossing, and keep them coming.

The forecast is from Manpower, which announced Monday it might be hitting the unemployment line soon. Well, not quite, but the Milwaukee-based staffing company did announce it is withdrawing its revenue and earnings guidance for the fourth quarter of 2008.

Executives have become “markedly more pessimistic” and Manpower chairman and CEO Jeffrey Joerres is no exception. He blames a deteriorating economic environment and anticipates “demand for our services will be especially weak in December as we are hearing that many of our light industrial clients are taking prolonged plant shut downs around the holidays compared to last year.”

He’s referring, of course, to the many companies planning longer-than-anticipated plant closings: General Motors, Chrysler, and Ford Motor Co, troubled automakers that are extending their holiday plant shutdowns; Caterpillar, Inc., the heavy equipment maker that is temporarily closing factories and cutting salaries; FedEx, which is delivering a 5% pay cut for salaried workers and stopping contributions to employee retirement accounts; and Newell Rubbermaid, Inc. the Atlanta-based maker of Rubbermaid containers, Calphalon pans, and Graco baby products, which is planning temporary shutdowns at its worldwide factories and cutting almost 1,000 jobs.

As fewer companies need temporary workers, Manpower may face internal layoffs and office closings. The $21-billion company, with 4,500 offices in 80 countries, estimates a fourth-quarter revenue decline of 9% to 11%.

It wasn’t a much better day for Gevity, whose stock was plunging about 29% mid-day. Stock prices of Volt, Spherion, and other staffing firms were behaving poorly. Salary.com, on the other hand, is up sharply. It’s buying back stock and has completed an acquisition of Genesys.

While external third party recruiters at least have a chance of making “big bucks,” corporate recruiters all-too-often can only be classified as under-paid and under-appreciated.

Given that it’s the holiday season, now would be the opportune time for recruiters to receive thank-you cards from the many people they’ve helped throughout the year. Unfortunately, the majority of recruiters won’t actually receive one, but if you did, here’s what I hope it would say.

A “Christmas card” from a grateful new hire…

I just wanted you to know that you are my hero!

The Christmas season is an ideal time for me to say thanks to the people who made a difference in my life. Specifically, I want to thank you, “my recruiter” for…

• My job. No need to be subtle here, I owe you big time. I have a great job and a paycheck because of you. Because you recognized my talent and guided me through the hiring process I am no longer under-appreciated by my former firm or worse, unemployed. Both my family and I are happier and more secure thanks to your hard work and trust in my ability.
• You were the face of the company. Applying for a job is a lonely task that is full of uncertainty, but you were my first and primary contact. Rather than being an adversary, you treated me like someone who was “special” (maybe you treat everyone that way but honestly, I felt like I was the only applicant for the job). You were always there when I had a question and you skillfully calmed me down so that I could perform at my best during the hiring process.
• Finding me. Thank you for finding my name in the boundless confines that make up the internet. Your ability to search out details about me and learn my interests from dozens of sources was exceptional. You found me for the perfect job when no other firm did.
• Encouraging me to apply. If it were not for your strong convincing skills, I’m not sure I would have ever taken the time to apply.
• Sorting. Your superior sorting skills found traits, experience, and potential that others might have overlooked.
• Coaching me. Thanks for helping me through the hiring and interview process so that my strongest attributes came through for all to see. Even though my interview skills were a little rusty, you were my champion and coach. Even when I got discouraged, your help and enthusiasm kept me going. Incidentally, even if I didn’t succeed in getting this position, I would have felt more confident looking for other positions because of the advice and guidance you gave me.
• Offer help. You probably knew that I was nervous and uncertain after the final interview. Your exceptional sales skills convinced me to accept your firm’s offer, even though I had others. I also felt that you acted as my “champion” and your honesty and openness convinced me that you did your best to ensure that the offer I received was highly competitive and fair.
• Onboarding. You could easily have moved on after I accepted your firm’s offer but instead, you are still available when I have questions. When you showed up and welcomed me on my first day and made sure that I got up to speed rapidly, you once again proved that you were more interested in my success than in just filling a job.

Because of your professionalism and caring, I now go out of my way to tell colleagues at other firms that this firm is a great place to work, in no small part because of you and the way you treat applicants and employees. Thanks again for all that you’ve done, I’m proud to be your co-worker.

Shifting to Hiring Managers

Hiring managers are notorious for treating recruiters and the hiring process with indifference. However, if a hiring manager were to express his or her appreciation to a recruiter in a thank-you card, here is what I hope it would look like.

A “Christmas card” from a grateful hiring manager…

I just wanted you to know how much you impact my success!

The Christmas season is an ideal time for me to say thanks to the people that allow both my team and I to be among the most productive and innovative within our organization. Specifically, I want to thank you, “my recruiter,” for all that you do to make me successful as a manager, including…

• My success. Although you might not realize it, I want to personally thank you for the recognition, bonuses, and promotions that I have received as a direct result of your excellent hiring. Your advice and occasional cajoling have resulted in enough great hires to almost guarantee the success of my team. The people you have identified and helped me hire have such exceptional capabilities that I routinely exceed my business goals with embarrassingly little effort.
• Understanding the processes. Thank you for helping me understand the complex requisition, recruiting, and hiring processes. With your coaching and guidance, I have successfully avoided hiring delays and legal issues without having to read endless recruiting policies and manuals.
• Responsiveness. Even though you have a huge requisition load and a dozen hiring managers to service, you consistently find a way to respond rapidly to my questions and calls.
• Tolerance. Thanks for your tolerance and understanding during the many times when I let you down. That includes when I wasn’t available for interviews and for the countless times that I took “forever” to sort through the resumes you sent me. I now know that you can’t do “your job” effectively unless I as a hiring manager do “my part.”
• Position descriptions. Thanks for your help in improving the position descriptions that I create. I realize that without your coaching and advice, many of these descriptions would be so dull and off the mark that I would have never attracted a single top candidate.
• Employment brand. Without the strong external image and employment brand that you and your colleagues have helped to build, that few top candidates would seek out our firm. I just wanted you to know that I am continually approached at conferences and events by top talent that are already excited about and sold on our firm. Our firm is a “talent magnet” as a result of your branding efforts.
• Innovators. My team is now one of the most innovative in the industry in no small part as a result of you. Many thanks for the numerous tips on how to successfully hire the hard-to-understand innovators I might have dismissed otherwise.
• Global capability. I found myself lost when it came to recruiting talent from around the world. I never would have understood the complexities and the keys to success without your guidance and advice. My team now has broad global capabilities as a result of your hiring expertise.
• Follow-up. You could have stopped helping immediately after they said yes to our offer, but fortunately for all, you didn’t.
• Curbing my enthusiasm. Thanks for subtly but effectively pointing out the weaknesses in many of the candidates that I was enamored with. Sometimes I got so emotionally involved with a candidate that I couldn’t see their weaknesses without your help.
• Metrics. You have successfully demonstrated to me the cost of a “bad hire” and the tremendous “value add” of a great hire. I am now no longer willing to settle for the mediocre level of talent I used to hire before you began helping me.
• Diversity. Without your help, my team could never be as diverse and inclusive as it is today. The high degree of diversity among my team allows it to be more creative and to identify problems and opportunities from multiple perspectives. This diversity also helps my team understand the needs of our diverse customers, which further improves our products and services.
• Help with the generations. Thanks for coaching me about the differences between the many different “generations” that candidates come from. You helped me understand their different needs and what was necessary in order to land and keep them on my team.
• Sourcing. Without your advice, I would probably still be running “newspaper want ads.” Thanks for educating me about the new approaches to recruiting, including social networks, blogs and direct sourcing using Boolean search strings. Without them, I would have missed most of the “best and brightest” candidates you sourced. The percentage of qualified candidates that you presented to me was so high that I could have picked up a resume when blindfolded and still ended up with a superstar.
• Closing. We have been able to land so many exceptional candidates that I could never have “sold” on my own with my limited sales knowledge and abilities.

I also wanted to apologize for all the times during the last year that I might not have taken hiring as seriously as I should have. Thanks to your efforts, I now realize that in business, just like in sports, even a mediocre manager can succeed when they are provided with a recruiter and a hiring process that continually provides exceptional talent. I now confidently enter into new business and product areas knowing you will somehow “magically” find and land the exceptional talent I require in that field. Thanks again for making me look good.

Final Thoughts

Even though you might never actually receive a single “thank you” card like the two illustrated here, it is still important for you to recognize the many positive impacts that recruiters can have on individuals and hiring managers.

Great recruiters somehow find a way to effectively communicate their many contributions, so that applicants, employees, and managers understand and appreciate each of the many ways in which recruiters can positively impact their lives and their jobs.

Happy Holidays!

To be held outside Dallas on June 10 and 11, 2009, the show used to be sponsored by the area chapter of the International Association for Human Resource Information Management. HRchitect helped organize it in years past, but is now sponsoring the conference itself.

Matt Lafata, show chair and VP of sales and marketing at HRchitect, promises theHRshow as it’s being called, will be the “largest HRM show in the Southwest and one of the biggest tech shows besides HR Tech.” He and Rick Fletcher, HRchitect CEO, insist they aren’t trying to compete with the HR Technology Conference and Exposition put on every year by the magazine HR Executive.

“Our show is regional,” Lafata told us, estimating that about 90 percent of the attendees will come from Texas and adjacent states. Added Fletcher: “We’re not trying to take away from HR Tech or any other show.”

It’s certainly getting to be a crowded show calendar. The national IHRIM conference is in San Diego, April 19-22. The annual SHRM conference is June 28-July 1 in New Orleans. HR Tech is in Chicago Sept. 30-Oct. 2. And this is hardly a complete list. Lafata said HRchitect has a list of something like 400 HR-related conferences, shows, and events.

“Our show is not in competition with anyone,” says Fletcher observing that the HR professionals surveyed at the previous shows strongly supported having a local event. Vendors, also, endorsed a regional show, especially since the cost of exhibiting ($795 for a booth) is less than a third — even a quarter — of what it might cost them to exhibit at a national event.

On the other side of the equation, attendees will find the cost of theHRShow significantly less than other shows. Conference fees are $335 for early-bird registrations. That makes it affordable for smaller companies with technology needs, but small travel budgets.

Right now the conference schedule is barren, bereft of keynoters and presenters. But Lafata and Fletcher say that when the lineup is released next month, “It will be as strong as any show. We’re just now making our big marketing push. We’ve got some great speakers already and we expect to have a really decent size show.”

by Dr. Charles Handler and Mark C. Healy, M.A.

We I/O psychologist-types tend to be real data hounds. Much of the work we do for our employers/clients involves the use of data to investigate specific hypotheses in order to illuminate the underlying truth in a situation. The outcome of this work often has tremendous value to organizations because it provides them with hard data on which strategic decisions can be based. Additionally, the collection and analyses of data often helps us to identify new trends that we haven’t yet thought about.

Many of you who follow our articles know that we have a keen interest in the pre-employment assessment industry, and write quite a bit about its trends and happenings within. Our interest in data and trends has led to an annual online screening and assessment usage survey.

The idea for this survey was born back in 2002, when we became frustrated over the lack of available information about the usage of pre-employment screening and assessment tools. This lack of information has been a challenge because though everyone seems to be saying that screening is becoming a hot area, there’s little actual data available to confirm this statement or to tell us how hot it really is. This lack of information also makes it hard for those of us who follow this industry closely to provide factual information about how companies are using online screening and assessment tools, and what the results of this usage have been. This year we have made a few changes to the survey questions to help us be sure we are staying up to date with some of the major trends and issues that pertain to assessment and the manner in which it is integrated into the hiring process.

At the end of this article, you’ll find a link to this year’s survey. Take a few minutes to help other members of our community by providing information about your company’s screening and assessment practices. The more data that’s collected, the clearer existing and emerging trends will become. Last year, we had a record number of responses, a fact that seems to indicate the increased interest level in screening and assessment. Given the steady increase in interest and the lack of information about this industry, we feel the results will continue to have value for the ERE community. We look forward to reporting our findings right here on ERE sometime this coming Spring.

In order to provide some extra motivation, here’s a quick summary of the trends identified in last year’s results.

Summary of Findings

One hundred and forty one professionals completed the survey, representing a very small increase of over the previous year. Respondents represented a wide range of company sizes. The results confirmed what most of our previous surveys have found:

• Having an ATS installed is now nothing particularly innovative, especially if you work in a medium or large organization. For some, it’s hard to even imagine the old stacks of resumes and bulging file folders of applicant information.
• Prescreening and assessment are continuing their gradual penetration into the mainstream of recruitment and hiring.
• Qualifications screening, personality inventories, and skill and technical certifications continue to be the most popular online assessment tools. Assessments of cognitive abilities as well as fit with the company culture have expanded their footprint as well.
• Respondents report a lack of understanding, weak budgets, or a general lack of support for online tools as their primary obstacles to adoption or greater use of modern prescreening and assessment technology.
• Those organizations that formally evaluate their hiring practices tend to support the use of prescreening and assessment, but a large number of organizations are still failing to evaluate the effectiveness of their screening and assessment tools.

There clearly is a growing interest in scientifically derived hiring tools. This trend is encouraging but not particularly surprising; these numbers will continue to grow as more organizations understand the value in properly evaluating the impact of screening and assessment tools, seeing for themselves how quality hiring tools can improve a workforce.

This Year’s Survey

The goal of this year’s survey is to continue building on the information gathered from past surveys and to verify the fact that usage rates for online screening and assessment are increasing.

In order to help provide the ability to track changes in usage rates, this year’s survey is similar to last year’s, with a few minor changes to help account for trends that have developed since last year. Specifically, this year we have reduced the focus on screening systems and added additional questions about the impact of the economy on assessment programs, legal issues related to assessment, and budgeting/ROI for the use of screening and assessment tools.

While this is hardly a scientific survey, and its length limits the depth of the information that we are able to collect, there is tremendous value in the information your survey responses will provide. For instance:

• This survey will help to provide some reality to speculation regarding increases in the use of both online screening tools and online assessment tools.
• Your survey responses will provide information that is extremely useful for gaining a broader perspective on the evolution of the entire staffing process.
• The results of this survey will help provide companies with some basic benchmark information about how online screening and assessment are being deployed.
• The data from this survey will confirm our speculation that while many companies are using online screening and assessment tools, few are collecting the metrics needed to help them understand the true value they are providing. This is a problem that must be addressed, and we hope that verifying its existence will help to serve as a wake-up call.

All survey responses are confidential and individual responses will not be shared with anyone. By participating, you will help provide yourself and other members of the ERE community with up-to-date, accurate information about trends in the use of online screening and assessment tools.

We are interested in collecting information from anyone who is involved in the staffing process for his or her organization. This includes recruiters, hiring managers, staffing and HR executives, consultants, etc. We welcome participants from companies of all locations, sizes, and industries. We are not able to use information from individual vendors of screening and assessment tools or persons who may consult to multiple organizations.

Just click here and you’ll be taken to the survey page. This page has all the information you will need to complete the survey. Please feel free to forward the survey to anyone you feel might be interested in participating. If you have any questions, just contact chandler@rocket-hire.com.

The results of the survey will be featured in an ERE article sometime this coming Spring. We look forward to sharing our results with you.

A comparable situation exists in how most corporations have designed their hiring processes.

In this analogy, this means the needs of top candidates must drive every aspect of a company’s hiring processes, not the ego of managers, nor the bureaucrats in legal and HR. Your company falls into this category if you worry more about preventing average people from applying instead of figuring out how to attract more top performers. You’re equally culpable if hiring managers won’t see someone without all of the skills listed on the job description, if these same managers think they’re great interviewers, if they won’t spend time discussing real job needs with their recruiting team, or if they expect candidates to be enthused during the first interview.

I neither like nor dislike unions, but I do believe that they can make companies uncompetitive if they restrict management’s hand in optimizing business performance. However, I also believe that employees, whether unionized or not, need to be given a certain set of rights to protect their collective interests. Too much power in the hands of anyone unlevels the playing field. As a result, some regulation is required to preserve an appropriate balance of power. Finding this equal balance is pretty tricky, and history doesn’t offer many good solutions.

Now what does this all have to do with sourcing and hiring more top performers?

The idea behind all of this is something called sub-optimization. Sub-optimization occurs when the rights of a sub-group override what’s best for the primary group. In essence, the sub-group can’t see beyond its own self-interests. I’d suggest lawyers, government regulators, corporate bureaucrats, and academicians prevent companies from hiring the best people because they don’t see the bigger picture. Include here untrained interviewers, managers who rely on the gut, and recruiters who act more like vendors and car salesmen, than consultants.

In sourcing, a top candidate perspective is necessary when designing hiring processes, not some power grabbing bureaucrat or unsophisticated neophyte. Some examples will help clarify this cynical viewpoint:

1. Requiring candidates to complete an application before they can search for jobs or be seriously considered. This scares the best people off who early in a search for a new job are just comparison shopping and have little time to complete an application.
2. Requiring excessive reporting because someone applied for a job. There are a number of better ways to ensure equal opportunity rather than adding burdensome reporting requirements to an already over-taxed system.
3. Including skills and experience requirements in a job posting. By default, job ads really describe average people, not the best people. The best performers by definition always have less than the requirements listed. That’s what makes them all top performers. (Here’s an article on banning job descriptions you’ll find uplifting.)
4. Using competency models to select candidates. Competencies are not transferrable to different jobs, so just because a person has them doesn’t mean the person will use them in a different job. For example, being an aggressive hunter doesn’t mean the person will be an aggressive farmer, even if the person is selling the exact same product.
5. Not using the latest advertising and marketing ideas to find and attract top performers. Since the purpose of a job posting is to attract the attention of a top person and compel the person to apply, it seems odd that most companies write boring ads that no one can find. (Here are some ideas on how to test this idea out.)
6. Managers who expect candidates to be excited about the job before they even know what it is. This is idiot-think. The only people who could be excited about a job without knowing much about it are those more interested in the paycheck than the work. (How to tame your hiring manager clients.)
7. Setting up processes to prevent unqualified people from being seen or applying. I’m still dumbfounded when people say they don’t want to post creative ads because they’ll attract too many unqualified people. Commonsense and technology can separate the good from the bad. Every aspect of the hiring process from A to Z needs to be examined from the perspective of attracting more top performers as the primary objective. A subset of this is how to separate the good from the bad.
8. The use of subjective data to screen candidates. When are skills, experiences, competencies, and behaviors objective? This is subjective data. The only objective data is a set of realistic performance objectives for the job with people being selected based on their demonstrated ability and desire to meet these objectives. As long as they can successfully do the work, this opens up the pool to anyone who is qualified regardless of their educational background, ethnicity, marital status, age, or physical capability.
9. The idea of building processes to hire average people, and being surprised that top performers are not applying. Collectively, this is the biggest bureaucratic puzzle of them all. In an attempt to abide by every legal pronouncement, to appease every ego, and to not rock the boat, companies have created hiring processes that don’t work. To be effective a hiring process needs to be designed based on the needs of the target audience — in this case, top performers. Balance of power can then be shared as long as no one loses sight of this primary objective.

An optimal hiring decision involves the hiring manager, the recruiter, and the candidate being in agreement with respect to current job needs and performance expectations. Based on this, candidates need a good understanding of growth opportunities based on them successfully achieving these targets. This discussion initially needs to take place with few restraints and preconditions. Unfortunately too many promising hiring opportunities never get to this point for the reasons cited above.

A strong recruiter can offset some of these problems by acting as a go-between in these early stages, but this is not a sustainable model in an environment where bureaucracy and ego prevails. This is comparable to Detroit’s problem with the UAW. The obvious solution to the hiring problem is similar to Detroit’s as well — a declaration of bankruptcy and a complete restructuring. This means that every process, from writing an ad to making an offer, is based on the idea the best people are different than the rest. It’s the same as designing cars that people want and letting them look at them without requiring a credit app first.

We rely more and more on pictures, graphics, and videos to display data, deliver the news, give us instructions, and keep us up-to-date with our families. The facts are amazing. Using Quantcast as my source, here is a rough idea of what’s going on. The online version of the New York Times, for example, has a monthly readership that averages about 14 million people in the United States. And that’s the largest readership of any print media I could find. The online Wall Street Journal does a paltry 4 million and even the prestigious Economist does only 3 million globally and most are seeing declining readership.

On the other hand, YouTube averages about 71 million viewers monthly — just in the U.S. And its rivals are also doing well and growing. Veoh does about 23 million, Hulu about 19 million, and Break about 15 million globally.

This indicates a decisive trend: more and more of us are getting information and education from video, rather than from words – whether in print or online.

We have already seen video slowly gaining in popularity and importance in recruiting. All top-tier career sites incorporate both pictures and video. Usually the videos are of employees talking about their jobs, but some include campus tours or chats with the CEO or a hiring manager. Many recruiters have received a video resume, and chat rooms have buzzed with concerns over the legality of such resumes and whether they should be accepted.

I don’t believe there is any serious legal issue in using video resumes, as long as your organization has a policy about how they are used. They are no more discriminatory than a face-to-face interview and may actually help to showcase communication skills and other positive traits. They can speed up the pre-screening process and may even eliminate the need for the number of interviews we subject candidates to.

Younger candidates, who are just entering the job market, may prefer to create a video resume as it reflects the media with which they are most comfortable. I can also easily imagine a time when the face-to-face interview is replaced with a live, virtual interview, perhaps with the hiring manger and several others also present virtually. The use of video lowers costs, expands the number of people who can participate in an interview, allows asynchronous viewing, and makes it more convenient for a candidate.

Here are just four of the ways organizations are using video.

1. Branding and position promotion. Many organizations are including videos that showcase the organization or promote a specific job or group of jobs to prospective candidates. For example, KPMG, Starbucks, and Nike all incorporate at least one video on their careers’ homepage. Many other organizations include clips of chats with employees or even take you on a guided tour of the company, as does Tivo. Just as the Internet allowed sites such as Amazon to provide more product information and user ratings, candidates are now starting to expect the same from career sites. The practice of incorporating videos about the organization and about available positions will expand over the next few years as candidates expect a much higher level of information and awareness than they did even two years ago. Several companies produce these types of videos. One is a Dutch company, C-Looks, which is able to provide videos for a variety of purposes, including promotion. Another is RecruiTV, which allows you to make and embed videos in your career site. Still another in this expanding arena is Vipe, an organization that serves both the corporate marketing effort as well as the candidate.
2. Screening or interviewing candidates. Another growing use of video is to screen candidates. Sites such as InterviewStudio and FaceHire allow a recruiter to set up an online interview easily. InterviewStudio was founded by Colleen Aylward who is the author of a fabulous white paper that I recommend you download a video called “Unmuddying the Waters.” Here is an example of a tool that allows a recruiter to video chat with a candidate. Candidate screening via Skype or other webcam service seems to be inevitable and a great way to expand the limited capabilities of a telephone.
3. Resumes. The practice of candidates submitting their resumes as video clips is just beginning. From as far back as the first CD/ROMS, candidates have been intrigued by the idea of submitting their resume in a video format. Video has advantages – it allows candidates to show their communication skills and it is often easier for a candidate to be expressive about past achievements when telling a story to a camera. Although these are not a substitute for an interview, they are a way to pre-screen candidates and develop a more complete picture than one gets from a written resume. If you are doing a lot of college hiring or are looking for entry-level people, the video resume may be a good way to differentiate candidates and a way to get more qualified people to apply. Many younger people who lack in-depth experience but feel they have other qualities might rather put together a short video than write a resume. The Dutch site C-Looks allows candidates to easily make their own short resume using a webcam. John Younger, President and Founder of Accolo, a San Francisco-Based RPO provider, says, “While I don’t think videos designed to replace a complete resume will ever take off, short videos where a candidate answers one or two particular questions will become very popular and useful.”
4. Outplacement. Videos are a wonderful gift to outgoing employees as part of their severance package. A creative organization could provide the tools and coaching to help each person create a video summary of their experience and capabilities that could be circulated to organizations that are hiring. A copy could be given to the employee to use on their website or as part of en email job-seeking campaign. Once again, C-Looks provides this service as well.

Over the next few years, all recruiters will come to embrace and more effectively use video to brand, inform candidates, receive resumes, provide information to candidates and hiring managers, and provide onboarding for new employees. Are you ready to join?

Bad luck for him that among his first official acts was to lay off workers and cancel the annual user’s conference.

“The economic times are threatening,” McDevitt observed during an interview the other day that was surprisingly optimistic. “I think the (HR) market is going to be OK,” he says. “We are pretty bullish about next year.”

The layoffs and other cost-cutting measures are a consequence of the U.S. recession and a prudent response to conditions, not a sign of problems at Authoria, McDevitt says as we discussed the layoffs and cutbacks other companies have gone through in the past few months. He wouldn’t give us any numbers, characterizing the Authoria reduction as “minimal” and affecting mostly project-based workers who had completed their tasks.

Authoria may be better positioned than some of its competitors, considering the infusion of $8 million it got in September when it was acquired by Bedford Funding, a private equity fund. The money is being used to expand the company’s sales force and especially to enhance its customer service.

McDevitt says that customer service is his priority, not only as a place to spend some of that capital, but for his legacy as CEO. Six months from now, he wants his imprint to be in two areas, “Industry leading products and service.” And that service will be “the highest quality industry service,” he adds.

While that’s the kind of comment expected of HR technology vendors, McDevitt’s background is in operations running a $360 million division of CDC Corp., where the company slogan is “The Customer Driven Company.” CDC Software is not only a global provider of enterprise software including ERP and HR resources and payroll, but it provides support in a variety of languages for its own and other integrated products.

Saying he’s “following in behind a real visionary,” referring to Authoria founder Tod Loofbourrow, McDevitt said his focus will be in growing the company and meeting customer expectations. He’ll be spending time out of the office meeting with customers one-on-one.

Asserting that Authoria already has “great relations with our customers,” McDevitt is clearly mindful of the demands of customers for talent management products that really do integrate with systems already in place. Throughout our conversation he returned time and again to the customer service theme, even as talked about growing the company.

The cancelled user conference will be replaced by other events, he pledged. There will be more regional roundtables for customers to share best practices. And the new release schedule will continue unimpeded, incorporating client suggestions and wants.

“This is a tremendous opportunity,” McDevitt said of his new job. “We are well positioned for growth.”

Listen here

To battle these issues, employers are exploring options such as: retaining retirees, immigration hiring, retention raises, talent increases from buyouts, the use of offshore workers, hiring displaced workers from other industries, and targeting competitors.

Brown Shoe has come up with another solution.

Our program identifies up-and coming talent by grooming them into a leadership path. Brown Shoe has been developing a program we call ACT (Accelerated Career Track), designed to attract top college graduates looking for an opportunity to prove themselves worthy to move up the corporate ladder. ACT pays for a remote MBA from the University of Florida and seeks to develop these individuals professionally, with an ultimate goal of movement toward management/director level positions. This innovative hiring method is designed for highly motivated and hard-working graduates who are willing to relocate multiple times, learning several areas of the Brown Shoe wholesale and retail business.

In this new program, as with our other programs for developing talent, our philosophy is one of investment. This strategy is not without risk, since not everyone will be able to fulfill our challenging requirements along the way.

This strategy is consistent with our overall objective to build a staff of high-potential employees who are planning for, and working toward, a future in the organization. We are attempting to grow our business by delivering an internal pipeline that includes a diverse mix of talent. We believe that by providing a variety of experiences in many areas of the company, these hires will have the opportunity to develop the skills necessary to become strong leaders. The ACT program is a tool we have created to fulfill business needs, but it may also reshape how we attract and use our talent pipeline in the future.

How ACT is Different

Many employers who provide traditional internships give students a corporate overview or temporary employment that supplies the employer coverage in an entry-level position in one department. While these programs give students an understanding of the corporate structure, most employers don’t look to these talented students beyond a summer. Although our program starts after graduation, employers can implement a program like this as the next step for a previous intern. The view a student gains into an organization can be taken to the next level by setting expectations and diversifying their experiences.

ACT participants receive real-world experience in a variety of skills so it is not about becoming an expert in any one area. These employees take the knowledge gained in one department and apply it in their next role. In this structure, they are allowed to make mistakes, grow from them, and apply those learnings in their next position. Because they learn the basics of how a product is sold on the front end, it will allow them to make knowledgeable decisions as they grow. Ultimately, they will comprehend all the areas they have worked in and understand the part they play in affecting the larger complexities of the business.

These individuals will work in areas they may not have considered previously as a career option for themselves. Some of the positions may be extremely difficult, and honestly, they may not even enjoy each one. When selecting the rotatation of roles for each participant, the positions are not determined solely by what the individual is best suited for long-term. As they face challenges in each role, they learn about themselves, and we learn where they can contribute most in the future.

How It Works

After first round interviews are conducted on campus at six schools, we select candidates to move forward. In the second round of interviews, Brown Shoe hosts an event where eligible students are brought into our office. The interviewing students meet each other, and they interact with our executives. They also complete individual interviews with teams of senior managers. Each team focuses their behavioral questions on one area. Unlike traditional interviews, where every aspect of the candidate’s fit is evaluated by each interviewer, the team gives feedback on just one success factor. From these interviews, finalists are chosen to complete a Psychological Associates assessment. This evaluates their current problem-solving skills, leadership style, and work-related characteristics, with subsequent evaluations to be performed to track their development. After a Psychological Associates professional gives us feedback on each assessed candidate, Brown Shoe uses all the gathered information to make final selection decisions.

Our program started three years ago, and we currently have 24 participants. To manage the program, we have a human resources ACT representative that works closely with everyone involved. They have regular conference calls with each participant to review how the current position is going, what they are learning, and to decide what should be considered as their next role. Those involved also complete and turn in monthly journals to assist in monitoring their progress. The supervisors provide performance reviews to further assist in determining areas of strength and opportunity.

To assist in determining what role they should be in next, we have them shadow employees in departments they may be interested in, and we discuss the benefits of working in the area. When a position is decided on, they are provided training as they transition out of their previous role.

ACT participants interact with each other within the initial interview process as well as attending training at our St. Louis corporate office twice a year. This training includes professional development, communication styles, coaching, supervisor skills, and others. The HR representative manages four conference calls a year with all ACT participants to touch base and discuss topics of interest. They also communicate with each other on Sharepoint. This allows them the opportunity to be involved with different discussions, turning to each other for feedback and support. We have found that many of them communicate offline with each other as well.

We provide each person an executive mentor whom they meet during onboarding. They complete a workshop allowing them to connect and they both sign a contract agreeing on how often they will talk, as well as setting expectations and determining how they can best work together. They are also allowed two trips a year to visit each other. Selection of the mentor/mentee is based on personality and areas for development, as this is also seen as a development opportunity for the mentor.

Brown Shoe covers the cost of a remote MBA from the University of Florida. Since we have a strong partnership with the University of Florida, we know exactly what is being taught to ensure our program compliments their education. Much of the training is online and it includes four trips to the school each year. Our initial interview and selection process involves students from six schools and we work closely with the Jackie Robinson Foundation. After working closely with each school to assist us in the promotion of ACT and by attending job fairs, we are now considered a sought after and competitive program.

The biggest challenges in getting a program like this running is in having all the moving pieces work together while getting buy-in from the rest of the company. The development of materials that support the program and allowing others to understand the process is critical to success. Being creative with your positions as they function within the organization is also a big challenge. As with any program, it has to come from the top with the expectation of acceptance. Over time, those involved will see the benefits and become the biggest advocates for the success of the program and for the people they have had a hand in developing.

By proactively using a combination of strategies, we are hiring those who represent the customers we serve to ensure future success. As the demographics of business change, we have to act now to attract and develop a diverse, skilled, and motivated workforce. With recruiting that focuses on succession planning and training, we believe this is a unique tactic for the battle ahead.

The Chinese can put up some amazing numbers — and not just those having to do with the ages of their gymnasts.

The Middle Kingdom produces over 2.5 million college graduates, including 30,000 Ph.D.s and 650,000 engineers, every year. But employers looking to fish in this ocean of talent will find that there’s a lot of cuttlefish along with the bass.

Graduates of the top schools compare with the best in the world, but wander a little further away and the quality of education becomes questionable — by one estimate over two-thirds of the engineers are no better than technicians. This is a particular concern with private schools, most of which haven’t yet established their credentials but often team up with top-flight state-run colleges to attract students. Despite rules enacted by the Education Ministry that require these schools to issue diplomas under their own names, instead of the name of the better-known institution, violations are rampant. When evaluating academic credentials it becomes critical to find out where a person actually studied.

China’s educational system relies heavily on “memorization,” meaning that skills such as creative writing, public speaking, teamwork, and leadership are not taught well in most of China’s universities. A study by The Conference Board concluded that the “learning by rote” culture of the Chinese education system means its graduates often lack the practical experiences and softer creative and leadership skills required in the modern business world.

The Legacy of Mao

A half-century of communism has had some effects on Chinese society that Marx (Karl, not Groucho) likely never imagined. With the state controlling every aspect of their lives, many people find it difficult to do anything that falls outside their defined responsibilities. Many managers find that employees never attempt to work on anything not directly concerned with their specific role. Recruiters must be extremely explicit in explaining a job description and attempt to cover all the tasks that the job could require. And jobs that require a lot of creativity may be difficult to staff.

Another legacy of communism is a generation of only-children. China introduced the one-child policy in 1979 in an attempt to control the population. A generation of children with two parents, four grandparents, and no siblings is now of working age. Never having interacted with siblings and studying in an education system that does not emphasize group activity, many cannot see themselves as others do and have a grossly inflated sense of self-worth. So jobs that depend on teamwork need to be very well-managed, since many employees are unaccustomed to working in groups.

While educated Chinese workers are generally, bright, urban, eager to work, ambitious, and dedicated, multinationals also report a range of common problems. These include poor foreign language skills (especially spoken English), education that was often too theoretical rather than practical, a lack of experience accompanied by an expectation of high salaries, rapid advancement, and frequent job-hopping.

Not Enough Chiefs

Despite the abundance of talent, leadership and managerial skills are in short supply. Mid- and senior-level talent often has to be brought in from the outside. Chris Gootherts — International Staffing Manager for Microsoft and an expert on recruiting in China (a source for some of the material in this article) — has built a process to recruit high-level talent to China, since local talent is unavailable. The Conference Board study mentioned above found that the number of people aged 40 and over was not generally well educated, and did not constitute an adequate pool of talent for companies. But, those in their 20s and 30s have high levels of educational attainment and are hungry for responsibility, position, and the trappings of success in order to support not only themselves but also their aging and large extended families. That’s both good and bad — while willing to take on challenges, they will also readily move between employers in order to get a bigger salary, more status, and more opportunities: in other words, high turnover.

China’s growth has been primarily built on manufacturing. Seasoned talent in other industries is hard to come by. For example, in software development, it’s difficult to find anyone with more than four to five years of experience. Unlike India, which has been an IT hub for over 20 years, the range of skills in China tends to be limited. There are some extremely bright and talented people working in R&D labs run by the likes of Microsoft, Cisco, HP, and others, but IT talent that has experience with the full-range of product development is limited.

Conclusion

China has a lot of talent to offer, but the market remains competitive, and recruiting requires a great deal of effort and preparedness. Microsoft needs to screen 25,000 college graduates to fill 200 jobs. Despite the economic slowdown, wages in China are predicted to rise by 9% in 2009 and even more in specialty areas. Another quote attributed to Sun-Tzu (or maybe it was Dustin Hoffman in Kung Fu Panda) is, “Substitute leisure for labor.” It means choose the time and place of battle, and be prepared.