It’s a hot job market

It’s a hot job market so it’s tempting as a hiring manager to rush the let the important details slip. One of those details is the deep dive into making sure that the candidate and the organization are compatible. Be cautious. There’s a cost of going too fast – you’ve heard the saying, “Go slow to go fast”. It certainly applies here.

The workplace culture is made up of the values, beliefs and behaviors that influence everyday interactions. According to Peter Crist, Chairman of the executive recruitment firm, Crist – Kolder Associates, “About 30% of executives taking new jobs fail to figure out the company’s culture correctly and end up leaving relatively soon”. This means that 3 out of 10 hires leave the company within months of being hired. A negative impact on the business for sure. And this turnover contributes to a loss of productivity for the organization.

Job seekers say that culture is as, if not more, important than salary.  Hiring managers need to be prepared to speak to the culture of the organization and paint a realistic picture of the values and beliefs that drive the business. Help the candidate to make an informed decision is a responsibility not to be taken lightly.

Know what contributes to the success of team members

Be ready to answer the question about why others have left the organization or why the current job is open. How would you answer the question about the vision of the leaders?

Conducting useful and strong interviews includes giving a realistic picture of what it is like to work for your organization. Both you and the candidate have a responsibility to learn as much as possible about the “way things are done” so good hiring decisions are made.

Even if a candidate doesn’t ask the following specific questions, be prepared to answer them. It will help you to give a picture of the work environment.

• How long have you been with the company?
• What do you like most about working here?
• How does the person in this job contribute to the organization’s mission?
• How is the impact of work measured?
• Does the company promote from within?
• How do team members give feedback to one another?
• How does the company give back to the community?

Know that you are being interviewed by the candidates that you are interviewing. Are you listening to them when they answer your questions? Or are you distracted and not paying attention? That communicates something about your company’s culture that you might not intend.

Fitting in is as important for the job seeker as it is for the manager who is bringing on a new team member. No one wants to deal with a culture misfit.

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The post Culture Fit or Misfit first appeared on Lane Business Consulting.

When you know the key skills, qualifications, traits and experience that are critical, and the education requirements you are looking for, then the task of reviewing resumes will be decidedly easier and far more effective.

One sometimes overlooked part of a resume is the cover letter. A well-written cover letter will address the important points you’ve outlined in the job description. When I served as a recruiter for a high-tech company, there were many times when the cover letter was the clincher for adding an applicant to the list of candidates to be interviewed.

When a resume review is done well, you save valuable time

Some of the criteria that were used in the days before electronic application screening are no longer viable. For instance, the quality of the stationery, the document’s design and formatting. Some criteria are still in style including the spelling and grammar. These speak volumes about a candidate’s attention to detail and carefulness.

But be careful not to discard a resume just because there is no cover letter associated with it since some candidates are lately being advised to eliminate the cover letter. Still, those who do make the effort to write a cover letter see it as an opportunity to bring attention to the qualifications and experience they bring to your opening.

Once you’ve taken the time to develop a good job description and role profile, you will more easily scan a resume to determine if the applicant has the experience and skills that meet your requirements.

Look for a summary statement that is focused on the candidate’s experience as it applies to your opening. Big, generalized statements that say things like, ”looking for opportunities for growth,” or ”I am looking for a challenging opportunity,” are copied from resume sites. These statements are so general that they tell you nothing about the candidate.

Watch for red flags. The biggest ones are big gaps in employment with no explanation. There may be perfectly acceptable justification such as military service or care of a parent. Another red flag is a poorly written resume. With all the resources available for preparing a professional resume, there is no excuse. A very general resume indicates that the applicant is covering a wide area and did not take the time to focus on the job you posted. When you review resumes, look for the ones that are targeting your opening. These candidates are interested and took the time to personalize their resume and cover letter. Buzz words are another red flag, and these words are used to disguise a lack of experience or education or both!

Good potential candidates showcase their experience rather than simply offering a laundry list of duties. Don’t be fooled by the clever use of keywords. Rather look for how the candidate added value, got real results, initiated a process or provided customer service.

As you go through your resume review, remember that a team member who fits your culture may be a better fit than someone who is competent but is a square peg in a round hole. Professional training is easier to provide than a personality makeover.

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The post How To Conduct A Resume Review first appeared on Lane Business Consulting.

Preparation Takes Time, But It Pays Off

One of my observations when working with hiring managers was the tendency to wing it. The “it” was the interview process. But preparation is so important. Hiring managers expect candidates to have done their homework before coming to an interview, and it makes just as much sense for hiring managers to prepare.

To be sure, preparation takes time, but it pays off. You’ll gauge the candidate’s qualifications and skills more effectively if you are prepared, and the candidate will have a better experience too.

Here are some tips to prepare ahead of time for an interview.

Read The Resume

You’d be surprised how many hiring managers or members of an interview team don’t read their candidate’s resume before the meeting. Candidates have provided you lots of information in their resume, a pre-screen interview, a cover letter, an application (if the company still requires this), etc. If you and your interview team do not take advantage of all this information to know the candidate in advance, at a minimum you will waste time in the interview itself. Perhaps worse, I know candidates who were turned off because they felt that they were asked questions they had answered already and denied the chance to elaborate on their qualifications.

Prepare Your Interview Team

Meet with your interview team in advance. Most hiring managers select a few others to interview a candidate to provide additional input into the selection process. Meet with those who will serve as interviewers. The discussion should include a review of the resume and how the candidate’s experience appears to fit with the current opening. Prepare the interviewers with questions that need to be asked for an effective evaluation. Make sure not every interviewer asks the same questions. Discuss what skills are being assessed with each question. Keep in mind that generic and overused questions like, “what’s your greatest weakness?” have been studied in advance by candidates, and the answers will add nothing to your evaluation.

Some organizations conduct panel interviews. My preference is one-on-one interviews for the obvious reason that it can be stressful for a candidate to be looking at 4 or more interviewers across a table and answering a barrage of questions. Candidates have told me that they knew they didn’t have the job after the first couple of questions because a note taker stopped taking notes, or that a couple of interviewers were shaking their heads “no” while the candidate was speaking.

However your organization conducts interviews, be sure to gather the interview team very soon afterward. If days go by before this feedback session, the team will likely forget much of what they learned during the interview. What a waste of time!

Plan Your Time

It’s a good practice to clear your calendar and give yourself 15 minutes before an interview and 30 minutes after the interview. The pre-interview time will allow you to finish any business from the previous hour and still have a few minutes for a quick review of the candidate before the actual interview meeting. If you are doing a video interview, take the time to check your laptop, camera and microphone so you can correct any issues. The after-interview time gives you the flexibility to finish up the interview without rushing, and to take additional notes if needed.

Prepare An Agenda

Unstructured interviews are usually not effective. This is not a time for improv! With an agenda, you can guide the discussion more efficiently, and you won’t forget to cover important topics. Some interviewers make small talk at the beginning of an interview and this can derail the discussion unless you are very practiced. A more effective approach is to introduce yourself and set the expectations of the interview time. An agenda will help you do that well.

If you put these few guidelines into practice, you’ll find that your interviews will produce better results.

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The post Hiring Manager’s Guide: Preparing the Interview Team first appeared on Lane Business Consulting.

What is Prescreening?

Prescreening is a process that, when executed well, can save you hours of time and lots of headaches. It pays off because you’ll bring in only the qualified candidates for interviews, and your interview team will be grateful that they will be interviewing job seekers who have scored well in the prescreening process.

What Does Prescreening Include?

Prescreening includes an in-depth review of the candidate’s resume, cover letter and whatever social media is allowed by your company’s policies. This last element varies from company to company and can have legal implications, so commit yourself and your team to follow the guidelines. Even though you may think online postings are public and therefore allowable for prescreening, there may be legal reasons your company does not agree.

The Purpose

Some say that the purpose of prescreening is to eliminate applicants who are unqualified, but I prefer to view it as more of a selection of qualified candidates. Which of the applicants has presented a case for you to move to the next step, a screening interview? This interview gives both you and the candidate an opportunity to decide if a full interview with you and your team is warranted.

The prescreen interview can be a phone call, but now with our virtual world, most hiring managers arrange for a Zoom meeting which will give you even more information than a phone call. You will see body language, emotion, motivation, etc. You will also be evaluating professionalism and rapport. And a Zoom meeting allows the candidate a better opportunity to evaluate you as well.

“Maybe” – “Yes” – “No”

Prescreening lets you move “maybe” candidates to either “yes” or “no.” The prescreen interview, whether using phone or video, should be no longer than 15 – 30 minutes. Always have a plan for this interview and make sure you get the information needed to decide if someone should be brought to the next step, a formal meeting with your full interview team. For every prescreen call, prepare a list of questions you will ask, and please do take notes. Don’t try to squeeze these calls in between meetings or rush through them. Rather, set aside time for them. You won’t make good choices otherwise, and if you’re rushed and distracted you certainly won’t be giving the candidate the consideration and opportunity to present themselves.

Let the candidates know that this is a screening call and you have a few questions for them. Know that how you conduct the session can either build confidence with the candidate or diminish it.

We’ll cover more about the prescreening process in our next blog.

The post How to Get the Best Job Candidates By Using First Rate Prescreening Tactics first appeared on Lane Business Consulting.

As the economy is revving up, hiring qualified candidates to fill the inevitable job openings will renew the race for talent. The hiring process is time consuming, and hiring managers would do well to get it right, as we describe in our recently published book, Get It Right. Get It Here!

After the long and arduous process of writing a job description, sorting through resumes for qualified candidates, conducting pre-screening, and bringing in the top candidates for interviews, hiring managers are surprised when their job offered is declined.

Let’s look at some of the reasons that I’ve seen most often.

One of the important skills a hiring manager needs to develop is selling. Yes, selling the company and its benefits. The ability to paint a picture of the company and its vision and mission to a potential employee is important for satisfying curiosity and engaging a “yes” to your offer.

Certainly, another main reasons an offer is declined is compensation, which includes both salary and benefits. I encourage hiring managers to be prepared to talk about the company’s benefit package and not leave this question to HR. When hiring managers aren’t able to answer a candidate’s inquiry about benefits, it doesn’t speak well for the benefits or for the manager.

Pay careful attention to the candidate’s answers to your questions. If candidates indicate they are in the job market looking for a better workplace culture, make sure you speak to the inclusive and better culture in your company. Remember, it isn’t always the salary that motivates candidates to be searching for other employment.

Make sure that you provide a great experience for the candidates you selected to speak with, whether in a pre-screen conversation or a more formal interview. Prepare your interview team, too. Stress that being on time and ready for the meeting is important. You’ll be noticing if the candidate shows up on time, whether in person or virtual, and the candidate will notice the same about you. Know that you too are being interviewed! If you’re late or not prepared for the interview meeting, you are likely to communicate something you don’t intend. Job seekers are researching your company and noticing how you are treating them. If you ask obvious questions about their resume, or if every interviewer asks the same questions, your candidates won’t be impressed.

Take the time to prepare and plan. It will serve you and your potential candidates well. If your job offers gets turned down, ask why. Don’t assume you know why. The answers might surprise you. If your process isn’t working in your favor, it’s time to revise it so your offers get accepted.

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The post Are Candidates Turning Down Your Job Offers? first appeared on Lane Business Consulting.

The most important step for finding qualified candidates for your job opening is writing a good job description. Using a job description written 15 years ago may appear straightforward and easy, but in reality it will probably drive away the most qualified candidates. It only makes sense, doesn’t it?

A current and well-crafted job description provides enough information for candidates to understand the role and see themselves doing the job. When you include outdated information, candidates disqualify themselves.

A job description outlines the important responsibilities, activities, qualifications and skills. It should also include pertinent information about the company, its mission, culture, benefits, location and other important details so that candidates can determine if they are qualified and interested.

Use a strong and attention-getting hook in the opening summary and highlight the job’s day-to-day activities. This level of detail helps a candidate know if they and the company are a good fit. A good job description is a first and important step in attracting the best candidates.

When it comes to the qualifications and skills, specify the required education and experience as well as any required certifications and technical skills. Keep the list concise; it can be tempting to create a long list of desired qualifications, but this can lead candidates to disqualify themselves. Know clearly the difference between what you must have and what would be nice to have.

After writing your job description, pass it around to other staff members and departments who will be interacting with the person who fills this opening. Get feedback to see if you’ve hit all the important details and factors required for this job.

If you aren’t attracting qualified candidates after listing your opening for a couple of weeks, do another review of your job description. You might be too prescriptive or asking for too much in the way of skills, education and qualifications. If so, you will need to make adjustments so your job is more attractive.

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The post Job Description – Get It Right first appeared on Lane Business Consulting.

Millennials will make up 50% of the workforce within the next 2 years and 75% in the next 10 years

Make it a priority to get to know what Millennials consider important in the workplace. While no one likes to be put into a category with his or her individual characteristics dismissed, there are nonetheless some general considerations to take under advisement. Millennials are known to change jobs frequently so the natural loyalty of the Baby Boom generation isn’t to be expected from this generation. The resulting increased turnover is said to cost the US economy $30.5 billion annually. Who can afford this expense?

In addition to pay, the Millennial generation is looking for frequent meetings with managers, so be prepared to meet that need. And consider making it important because when managers meet frequently with Millennials, they are more apt to be engaged and stay with your company longer.

They expect integrity in dealings with employees and customers. A lack of honesty will send them out the door fast.

If you don’t have flexible working hours or some options that allow for diverse working conditions, it’s a good idea to start the conversation now because flex time is one of the top considerations of these potential employees.

The company culture and work environment must be one of trust and open communication. Be prepared with honest answers to describe the company culture. Candidates and new hires will surely ask, and they will have already done research on Glassdoor and other social media. Know what’s out there about the company culture and answer honestly.

It’s a different world and changing by the minute! As hiring managers it’s important to be prepared and ready to answer questions truthfully.

Next week our topic is: How to Prepare Talent Acquisition Managers

The post Recruiting with Retention in Mind first appeared on Lane Business Consulting.

What are you doing to fill these openings and protect your business from the loss of all that experience to retirement?

What recruiting efforts do you have in place?

How can you improve your talent acquisition quickly and strategically?

Workforce planning is one of those business requirements that we routinely push aside in the daily doing of things. But when your experienced managers and staff suddenly announce it’s time to retire, it dawns on you that workforce planning might have been a good thing to do.

Attracting talent is a critical part of every growing business, and to recruit top talent, you must pay attention to your brand. Don’t roll your eyes! Your brand is who you are as a business. It needs to communicate a clear message that tells prospective recruits what they can expect if they decide to join you.

Your brand tells the story of your company’s culture. Make no mistake: candidates will be looking at your website and social media to learn about your company, even before you bring them in for an interview.

Data shows that over 80% of candidates will check out a company or business to see what its current and past employees are saying. And if the messages are negative, finding talent to agree to interview with you or actually hire, will be a challenge.

It would be a good idea to ask your current employees to assist with the recruiting. Think of them as ambassadors for your company. Ask them to share on Glassdoor, Indeed and LinkedIn what they enjoy about working for your company or business.

Next week’s blog topic: Recruit with Retention in Mind

The post Talent Acquisition Process first appeared on Lane Business Consulting.