4 Ways to Attract Outstanding Talent

Having just made a well-educated and difficult career transition, I had a chance to experience the job seekers world in 2012. I met corporate recruiters who asked qualifying questions irrelevant to my skill set, was thrown large cash bonus offers, and received the "why our company is the best" speech from CEOs. None of it mattered!

In the HR blogosphere, job seekers are advised how to market themselves. Companies are aflood with resumes. The inundation of potential hires has created space for under-qualified gatekeepers to ask stupid questions that scare away talent. The strategy for attracting talent is a major focus for every company, many of them are doing it wrong, and that is why their turnover is higher than their hire rate.

The best talent are those who have options, may be satisfied with their current employment, and have a history of business results that speak volumes.

Advice: if you are hiring someone for a six figure salary don't make the first point of contact a college intern. Hiring is a two way street and first impressions are important on both sides of the street.

There are 4 things that attract outstanding talent:
1. Leadership
2. Company Culture
3. Go-to-Market Strategy
4. Products and Services

This is Not a Test
I sat down with a CEO who rushed into a high rise building, drilled me with challenging questions, and proceeded to tell me that I was too tame. Leaders at the highest level should not assume that they have the right to dictate what job seekers want. Arrogance is the least form of leadership.

People want leaders who are accessible. We want to see an uncompromising vision, a passion for their company, and the consistent adaptation to change (which means you may have to admit your company is not perfect).

Leaders have to walk the walk! The vision laid out from the stage at the international company meeting will be exposed as executive bravado if you are faking it. If you exist in an ivory tower the folks in the trenches will know it. Don't ask for bottoms up feedback if you are not planning to take action on employee feedback.

How Does It Feel
I remember sitting in an orientation at a company I had joined when one employee told another that their idea for program improvement was stupid. I knew at that moment that I was in a bad environment. Great companies will expose you to a variety of employees in the hiring process. Of course, no company is perfect and some employees are more candid than others. Wouldn't you rather know in advance how people treat one another than to sign a contract and then find out the real story.

Progress is made through collaborative, progressive thought leadership. Titles are not protected in great companies. Internal competition is merely a way for individuals to get over on one another. It serves no relevance to organizational progress.

Newsflash: it is OK to be nice!

Sales People Must Be Lead By Sales People
If I am working as a sales executive leading a team in a 7 figure deal, I need to be assured that the leadership in my organization understands every element of getting that done. This means the VP of Sales better have carried a bag longer than I have been alive. You cannot pretend to know the roller coaster of sales if you have never sold. Operational and Administrative mind frames are budget aware, Sales is a strategic revenue producing game! You cannot be a dog if you are a cat - stop pretending!

"You can fool some people, some time, but you can't fool all the people all the time" - Bob Marley

Bottom Line Capabilities
I hearken back to Simon Sinek and the golden circle: people don't buy what you do they buy why you do it. With this in mind, products cannot be the driving force in your go-to-market strategy. There are, however, minimum qualifications. If your product doesn't work, I cannot sell it. If you tell me your product can do something it cannot, I will not buy it.


Innovate or Perish!
The adaptation to change speaks to all of the aforementioned characteristics of what makes a company great! Every day is a new opportunity to experience something new, there is no finish line, and highly engaged people appreciate a challenge. Those who wish to stand still will be run over.

If you are an outstanding company you live every day with the motivation of what can be done not what has been done.

Don't Forget to Remember!

Dave

Getting to Know You

I remember a VP once told me not to get too close to my team. This way, it would be easier to discipline those who were not achieving. Just yesterday, my son asked me if I ever had to fire anyone. I told him I do not believe in firing people. As he persisted, I told him that when people seek direction it is the leaders job to help them. If you give up on those who most desire your expertise, you are not a leader.

So the story goes...great leaders are willing to dispel formality in the interest of genuinely engaging their employees. Performance reviews may be a legal necessity, but no one ever gained a thing from discussing their inabilities. You can heap gift cards on any employee but it will not effect their ability to achieve. Days off are nice for some, but if you love your work, time off can actually be a motivational detractor. People want to be part of something bigger than themselves. They want to wake up every day and dive into something that they believe in. Employees want to be assured that their ideas matter and that their effort is making a difference. People want to work in a place where they feel comfortable expressing themselves. Money is less important to people who are genuinely fulfilled on the job.

If we allow access to the control room, we build trust. With trust in place employees realize their worth instead of asking for validation. If you are an accessible leader unforeseen problems do not exist and everything is fixable. If your organization is transparent people are not forced to guess their value.

It takes courage to get to know your employees. Managing by the numbers is an act of cowardice.

Empower Change
We are in an interesting time of organizational development. The ivory tower is being replaced by bottoms up collaboration. People are the differentiator of any great organization: give them enough freedom to produce, show you care about their intentions, and your organizational will flourish.

Ask & Listen
How do you check the pulse of your organization? Survey, focus group, enterprise application suggestion box...?

There are 3 simple ways to understand what is going on in the trenches:
1. Ask Often
2. Make the results metric
3. Take action

The easiest way to discourage engagement in your organizational culture is to ask for input but take no action.

Encourage the Bold
In some organizations participation is suggested but not encouraged. A forum for idea sharing is set up but those who speak up are put on the "people to fire" list.

The door to the board room must be open: transparency builds trust.

The cause that you represent as an organization is far more important than numbers or graphs. The people who perform the work are not assets or capital...they are human beings who choose to make your company better. Respect for sweat equity should be a pillar of any leadership style!

The formula is simple:
- Listen and take action!
- Let culture lead!   
- Show you care by empowering those willing to help!

Don't Forget to Remember!

Dave

The Less Simple Path

The legend of Zappos continues. Barbara Walters recently did a 20/20 piece on Tony Hsieh and his roving band of costume wearing customer service advocates. Astonishment crosses the face of the corporate accountant who tours the Zappos facility to find young people doing aerobics to start their work day. While Tony Hsieh seems to have mastered the ability to build culture, his real strength lies in his ability to convince us that the job is all fun....

Zappos (like every other company) has inter-personal disputes and customer service issues. The difference is that problems are much easier to dispel when collaborative culture leads. By Tony's own admission, if you are passionate about your purpose; the profits come naturally. Which leads us to Simon Sinek....

In his book, Start With Why, Simon Sinek mirrors Tony Hsieh's sentiment by letting culture lead. His contention is that "people don't buy what you do, they buy why you do it".

Both leaders have allowed transparency as a guiding light in their organizational strategy:
- People have been conditioned to believe that their "work self" is not their true self.
- The things we hide are easy to discover.
- Open and Honest are cross streets on the road to progress.

You are the only YOU...
I am convinced that self-empowerment is the single most important element of success. Unfortunately, most people would rather listen to others than to trust themselves.

- There is too much information to disprove any motivation you may have to try something new!
- There are too many people who will tell you that you cannot do that thing you may wish to!
- Facts and figures couldn't be wrong, could they?

There is a jumbled grab bag of excuses at your disposal. It is extraordinarily easy to not do something, no one will fault you for playing it safe, and when you don't try you can always pretend to possess a certain ability.

You CAN pretend to be who you are not!
I would agree that one should concentrate on what they are good at and let it drive. But, I would not rule out someone who wanted to step out of their comfort zone. Too often, I hear leaders tell employees that they are not a fit for a certain role. This is a simple way for a person to manage talent instead of challenging people to expand their skill set.

Make it harder!
Don't play it safe. Don't accept the norm. Don't pretend you are happy if you are not. Don't listen to people that wish not to inspire you. Don't allow people to tell you that you are not talented.

Set your own rules. Push yourself. Create opportunity. Stop listening to criticism and put on your i-pod.

There are no set rules. There are no limits. Only you can determine how this story will end.

Don't Forget to Remember!

Dave

A Call to Action

I am a person who has never been afraid to put myself out there. When it came time to volunteer, I was there! Volunteering takes courage, a willingness to fail, and the ability to laugh at yourself. Today, we are talking about volunteering to support a cause - the cause of YOU!

"If not me, then who?" - Jesse Ventura

I am a sales professional, a keynote speaker, and a youth soccer coach. The similarity in these occupations is the subjection to criticism. Sales people are forced live a life of aggressive uncertainty. The highs are joyous and short-lived, the lows are lonely and seemingly eternal. There is nothing glamorous about being in sales.

Such is our plight......

You will discover that only those who walk the tight rope know the joy of reaching the platform. There are those who are content to sit arms folded while the world takes shape around them...I am not one of those people.

Be Bold!
It is difficult to get in front of a group of people to present an unproven idea. To stand up for that which you believe in seems simple; it is not! In retrospect, there are billions of people who dare not try and are the first to judge.....this is why there are 100,000 people in the stands and 22 on the field.

Fear Nothing.....
In his book, "How to Stop Worrying and Start Living", the great Dale Carnegie urges us to start with the end in mind. The aforementioned practice depletes worry by dispelling consequences. Think about it...of everything you have stressed over, what evil undoing actually resulted? None to the extent your worry might intend....!

Some of us got tired of waiting for things to happen and took action. We couldn't sit around and watch the conclusion unfold without having a say in it. We got up, fell down, and put effort into that thing in which we believed in....because we didn't believe the assumptions. We saw that which had been achieved and honored our obligation to make it better. 'Tis better to give than to take!

Numbers lie, people protect what they cannot replicate, and the easiest thing in life is to proclaim how would things would be if you were in charge. If you wanted to be in charge, you would be!

Don't Forget to Remember!

Dave

The Unbreakable Spirit

I had heard an educator say that discipline was necessary, but that she did not want to break her pupils spirit. As is often the case, the things we teach our children are directly applicable to those who dare to teach.

Our economic climate has been 'questionable at best' for the past several years. The uncertainty of business challenges can often evoke reactionary tones. In reality there is no challenge too great and only greater opportunity. Those bold enough to fight back almost always find a way to win.

You can walk out of your door today and find a thousand people that will give you a thousand excuses for what cannot be done. This is why we are so surprised when someone actually empowers us to do things assumed out of our reach.

This is the part of the movie, where I look you in the eye and tell you that you can do anything...because you can.

Your spirit is unbreakable....here's why:

The future is not determined!
Possibility bases assumptions in the past. Those who have "been there and done that" believe that they hold the flame. It has been proven, however, that those who tout former achievements only do so because they cannot repeat them. Progress cannot be protected.

Negativity is a virus..positivity is infectious!
In the world of Employee Engagement we talk about the ripple effect. How the spirit of recognizing achievement is contagious. When we allow one another to celebrate, we focus on winning

To the contrary, if you let little things derail you they seem to ruin your entire day. Bad days are often an affect of a few annoying incidents that snowball. If you think today will suck, it will!

Dare them to knock you down..and watch them run when you get up!
No matter what you do there are 2 traits that will guarantee success: hard work & perseverance.

If you don't have enough time in your day, wake up earlier and/or stay up later. If you lose a deal and you have 20 others pending, the loss hurts less. Accountability is only a bad word if you did not recognize your commitment. Hindsight is a mofo!

Losing is difficult to accept. No matter what you do in life, losing is inevitable. To learn from one's mistakes and grow is the only option.

Be Humble is Victory and Accountability in Defeat!

Don't Forget to Remember,

Dave

Positive Change

For a the last few years we have been inundated with information about the changing generations in the workplace. Countless technologies are emerging. With every day, new techniques for engaging the workforce are being presented as "game changers". Change is inevitable, but there will always be those apprehensive to strap on the jet pack and fly into the future.

Throughout this year, I have had conversations with HR Professionals in an effort to empower strategic relevance within their organizations. Often, I hear that the Executives in many companies are those most reluctant to change...?

We fear change because we feel threatened. With the right strategy in place, a threat becomes an opportunity!

Open Spaces
The process of change is less about organizational overhaul and more often a call to influence behavior. Employee Engagement is the process of transparent culture creating avenues for mutually beneficial goal setting. The process of opening doors once closed leaves nothing to hide. Middle managers can no longer minimize the motivation of their more ambitious talent, nor can employees highlight only their wins. Everyone sees everything....and that's a good thing.

Risk management is an unavoidable HR characteristic. But, covering up mistakes is a reaction not a strategy. We cannot pretend to be good at what we are not. We cannot be afraid to share our secrets of success.

We should applaud our willingness to expose our weaknesses in an effort to fix them. We should encourage the employee who is willing to take risks to evolve the company. Innovation is the result of challenging one another...but you have to be willing to ask for help once in a while.

Performance Without a Minimum
I remember the first day of wrestling practice in high school. I was in the weight room working my tail off. An upperclassman told me to slow down....I knew instantly that I would be taking his position on the starting squad. The practice of minimizing talent to harmonize culture happens everywhere. We don't want to rock the boat so we step back and blend into the wall paper. That is nonsense!

We should meet the new guy/girl with open arms; ready to accept the new ideas that they bring into our organization. We should not protect the company shield by accepting mediocrity as a guiding principle. When someone tells you "how things are done around here", that person should be the last person who you turn to for advice.

Everyone is a change agent. Anyone who seeks to corral talent is holding back the entire organization.

Hope as a Strategy
Change is not about minimizing budget it is about improving revenue. Numbers are driven by people and people need a reason to change. Improving production in a struggling economy is not an effect of reducing spend or headcount...production is guided by a series of business critical behaviors. You must discover the path to the basket before you can score. The numbers do not tell the whole story...perfecting small strides along the way is what makes up long term success.

That which we fear is what will make us better. We cannot pretend to be good at everything. We cannot hide our recipe for success. We must improve and evolve....every single day!

It (is not) what it is: If you have come to accept mediocrity, you have given up! Our time here is far too precious to pretend our human existence is a commodity!

Don't Forget to Remember!

Dave

Advocates

First there was Maslow who created an avenue to employee benefits, then Employee Rewards, and more recently Employee Engagement. Today, Culture seems to be the buzz word.

We are consistently evolving employee rights into human improvement strategy. The fluff is gone and even kindness has an ROI metric:
~ Does a rewards strategy cheapen the process of recognition?
~ If we build metrics of profitability to drive our Employee Rewards strategy, have we turned the
process of saying thank you into a commoditized system?

Human effort cannot be commoditized, nor can we simply hug someone and expect to retain them as an employee.

Creating an engaged company culture is extremely difficult because it takes thought, the formulation of relevant initiatives, and an ability to drive results through employee adoption.

When the aforementioned are aligned - 3 things happen:

• Organizational transparency creates engaged company culture
• One's participation in building an engaged culture creates personal empowerment
• Organizational engagement permeates beyond the four walls of any company

The Key to Organizational Engagement
I have conducted a forum on Cultivating Employee Engagement throughout 2012. While the preferred methods for cultivating employee engagement vary, we have all agreed that creating transparency is necessary:
~ Enterprise applications are replacing performance reviews.
~ Executives are polling employees for thought leadership from the trenches.
~ Core Values and departmental objectives are aligned to create mutually beneficial success.

The silos are being removed, the executives are listening, and programs once viewed as fluff are driving revenue production.

How Does It Feel?
All corporations have a commitment to community service because we all come to realize that it is better to give than receive. Perks that were used as recruitment bargaining tools are being replaced with a need for purpose. We are discovering what Tony Hsieh knew long ago: when you put purpose and passion together, the profits come naturally. It's about people not numbers!

HR is no longer an administrative department. Employee performance evaluations are being replaced by people empowerment initiatives. Leaders in HR are taking bold strides to
change organizational cultures through programs that challenge convention. We are disrupting the accepted norm for the sake of open and honest company goals!

I'm Out of Here!
~ How does it effect your company culture when an employee leaves?
~ Does leadership shun the departed individual as a "bad egg"?
~ Are customer's upset by losing a valued partner?
~ Do you pretend your former comrade no longer exists?

Your internal culture feeds everything. The way you treat your employees is transparent to your customers and competitors. If an employee has no faith in your company culture, she will be afraid to wear your logo at the local coffee shop. If an employee doesn't believe in your products and services, he will have trouble selling them. If leaders treat us like numbers on a spreadsheet, we will commoditize ourselves into obscurity.

This is the ripple effect of company culture. The things we discuss when the door is shut reveal themselves despite our intention to mask them. Our employees wear their joy (or discontent) on their faces. If we dislike our work...life sucks....if we love what we do, we share it with the world.

It is time to tear down the silos, open the door, acknowledge our strengths (as well as our faults), and to strive every day to do things the right way!

Don't Forget to Remember!

Dave

More Lessons From The Avett Brothers

I have always been a salesman (though I dislike that title). 5 years ago, I began selling solutions to HR Professionals. I was told I had to be "very cautious" in how I approached people in HR because they were intolerant of non-sense. Bummer...!

As I searched the social enterprise for HR knowledge I stumbled upon Punk Rock HR. The site's proprietor at the time was a young lady known as Laurie Ruettimann. Mrs. R was a former HR pro who got fed up with the formality of it all and used her blog to voice her real opinions. She was (and still is) a breath of fresh air in the reserved business world.

I identified with Punk Rock HR and I wanted to be part of it. So, I asked Laurie if I could write a guest post for her blog. She actually wrote me back asking what I was interested in writing about. I told her, Human Relations Lessons from The Avett Brothers. She promptly replied that she would publish it the next day!

Three years have gone by since my first post on Punk Rock HR, a few things remain stable in this ever-changing world: I can always count on Laurie Ruettimann for great content, the blogosphere (for lack of a better term) remains a safe haven for kindred spirits, and HR is continually growing fonder of candor (albeit, in its most polite form). On September 11th, The Avett Brothers released their new album The Carpenter. I thought it only fitting to revisit the band and their continued lessons in human relations:

"If I live the life I'm given, I won't be scared to die"
Before leaving for a recent business trip I told my son that he needed to be the man of the house when I was gone. My daughter (4 years old) over-heard the conversation and in terror asked me if I was going to die. While the end of the road is never expected, it is inevitable (let's keep that from the aforementioned 4 year old for now). In awareness of our fleeting time on earth, I am continually reminding myself of two things:

• Always be mindful of the legacy you will leave behind...
• Never take anything too seriously!

"You and I know all too well about the hell and paradise right here on earth"
In the movie "down by law" a man learning English through random human experiences shares the term, "its a sad and beautiful world"...that one always stuck with me. We live in contradictions. Each day is met with wins and losses. Managing the ups and downs is the art of our existence. I had also heard it said that things are never as good or bad as they originally seem. While the Avett Brothers songs are filled with emotion, the workplace is not an opera hall in North Carolina....I know you try hard and take pride in your work, but try not to get emotional in the workplace!

"I have some better words now but its too late to say them to you"
One of life's great misfortunes is losing people in our journey through time. Friends do things to you that cannot be fixed, a boss may have to fire you, and people die. We always envision our final conversation but it seldom plays out in reality as it did in our mind...such is life!

Our professional existence is run amok with goodbyes: we lose a deal, a workplace friend moves on to another job, and sometimes a co-worker dies. When an employee quits on you the initial reaction is denial...eventually we come to understand their reason for departure. People don't leave jobs, they leave bosses, and often two very compatible people are held apart by an inability to communicate.

The blogosphere has been a safe haven for me. I don't need anyone to tell me I am an author. All I need is for a friend to call me and say my writing made their day.

So I will conclude by saying Thank You....to the Avett Brothers, my friend Laurie Ruettimann, and those who gain something from my need to share what's on my mind.

Don't Forget to Remember!

Dave

Character is not a Cartoon

I am honored to have received the Faculty MVP award at the 2012 Kleberg Emerging Leaders Institute! My vision going into the event was to give back to the Phi Delta Theta fraternity. Admittedly, I had not participated in fraternity activity for a long while. Knowing only the benefit that fraternity life has had on my career, I left Silicon Valley and ventured to Ohio. Instead of talking to HR Professionals about employee engagement, I would be talking to college men about the benefits on their fraternal experience. I dove in and am humbled to understand that my effort was appreciated!

With every day I become more a parent than a participant. I find myself helping young people channel their energy for good. Beautifully boring, perfectly present!

Fraternities were drinking clubs in 1992 when I joined...things have changed. Character building through philanthropy and education have become the name of the game. The fraternity is now a moral foundation instead of a risk-riddled social club. Within a few hours of being in Oxford Ohio, I knew I would be learning as much as I taught.

I have always been an independent spirit. With every instruction, a question. With every conveyed virtue, an eyebrow raised. Yet, in all I have done my intent was never to hurt anyone (least of all myself). As we grow, we reflect. In our limited time we have less tolerance for tom foolery and more direct focus on producing meaningful effort.

Character is essential in finding true meaning!

 

There are no short cuts

The world is full of liars and cheaters...and many of them have large bank accounts. Money is just paper! I work very hard and take pride in my professional achievement but I know better than to let my career engulf me. At the moment I see disappointment in my son's face, I know it is time to shut down the lap top and give him attention. No one ever wishes they spent more time at work when on their death bed.

They are laughing at you...
I have a storied past of being a show off. I was loud and ever-active. Always willing to participate, often over-opinionated. People were always willing to cheer me on from the side lines...they were applauding my willingness to try more than the results that my effort produced. While it is honorable to be known as a person who always tried hard, I would rather do good things for the right reasons.

What will your gravestone say?
The days are long but the year's go by quickly...

We spend certain afternoons stressing over deadlines. We toss and turn at night debating our ability to put bread on the table...and none of it really matters!

All the money in the world will not replace a walk in the park with your child's tiny hand in yours. There has never been a meeting that has produced better dialog than the after-school commute. We all have a job to do, but the content matters less than the intent of your professional mission.

Are you doing the right things with the right people?
Are you honest in your approach to success?
Would your son be honored to sit at your desk?

Understand what is genuinely important and allow that intent to guide your every decision. To achieve something of true meaning is difficult! Pursue the difficult!

Don't Forget to Remember!

Dave    

Motivation Inventory

Everyone loves a comeback story. The person who has been beaten down, persevered, and has overcome adversity. Some have great expectations put upon them and fail to instantly exercise their full potential, others are simply written off from the get-go.

Lebron James recently won an NBA championship. He had received great criticism for exuding too much confidence in his ability without producing the requisite results. Tony Romo won the first NFL game of the season, a man who has been labeled as under-confident. We often do not choose the labels put upon us or the expectations they manifest.
Ultimately, Lebron James stopped watching TV and played basketball. Tony Romo ignored an off-season full of talk radio doubters and went out and played football. Actions speak louder than words, expectations are often deflections, and when the work call sounds we have to get the job done.

Others will always find a way to doubt you. They perceive a weakness and use a single instance to assault your character. As an individual, you can allow others to commoditize your human character or you can prove them wrong through your ability. Indeed, your future has no greater compass than your birthright to take the wheel and drive.

Your degree of success can be measured by asking yourself 3 questions at day's end:
1. Have I done everything I was supposed to do today?
2. Am I motivated by facts or opinions?
3. What do I really want out of life?

Checklist
No one is with you every minute of every day. Only you know how hard you have tried or if you chose to do less than you are capable of. Be realistic with yourself. If you have done everything in your power to succeed you know you are a success. If you have pulled back your effort you cannot deny that you could have done more.

Degree of Influence
There are people who you fly across the country to have dinner with and those who you ignore at the local market. The people who inspire us are those we should try to emulate. The best employees have the best bosses. Great bosses inspire greatness instead of demanding results. Take inventory of the people with whom you interact on a daily basis. Give the greatest degree of attention to those who show you the most respect. Achievement is the result of doing things for the right reason with the right people.

Get Busy Livin'
If you dislike your job it is nobodies fault but your own. You have the power to navigate your motivation, alter your perception, and change your attitude. On any given day you can make a commitment to change your life. All you have to do is question the things that are consuming your motivation and assess if they are worth your time.

Do you do things because you want to or because you have to...?

You should be doing the things you want to be doing!

Don't Forget to Remember!

Dave