The Great Attrition is making hiring harder. Are you searching the right talent pools?

Recruitment has taken on a slightly different dimension over the past year or so. While it was never easy, it seemed as if we knew who to focus our hiring efforts on.

Here's a detailed article on the changing characteristics of the #talentpool of #candidates given the post pandemic environment, and what organizations could possibly do to hire people.

From the article: " if the economic picture worsens, many companies are likely to find that job openings will persist in crucial positions, a problem they can’t fix by simply reshuffling their current workforces."

Read the rest of the article here.

#hiringstrategy #employeevalueproposition #selectiondiscussion #culturematters #organizationculture #strengthsdecoder #strengthscoaching #performancecoach #performancecoaching #talentacquisition #talentattraction #employeeengagement

Are you searching the Right Talent Pool?

An absorbing, data-filled article about the current #hiring scenario, given the #greatresignation . There's data about India too. From the article - "the voluntary #quit rate is 25 percent higher than prepandemic levels." "There is less of a stigma attached to job hopping or gaps in a résumé, and joining companies in other geographies without relocating has become easier than ever, making it possible for people to jump from one employer to another. "

Read the article here.

#talentmanagement #employeeengagement #employeevalueproposition #employeeexperience #strengthsdecoder #attrition #flexibility

Manager's role in DEI & Retention

Interesting read on the connection between #DEI and #retention

From the article: "many organizations are implementing a range of DEI practices, but few are “assessing the extent to which these practices were driving workplace outcomes.”

Read the rest here.

Employer Branding and the war for Talent.

A super read on the escalating need for #employerbranding in today's ever increasing #warfortalent

For me, #employerbrand is something that I spend time on during my #behaviouralinterviewing Workshop #selectiondiscussion

I cannot emphasize it's importance for short-term and long-term #hiring needs.

Click here to read the article.

Write to me on ryanbbarretto@hotmail.com or call me on +919820155778 to know how to do this for your organization.

#hiringstrategy #recruitment #strengthsdecoder

And I am NOT! - How to Leverage Your Strengths for Resilience

And I am NOT!

 A seemingly innocuous line, isn't it?

 

This happens to be the last line in the graphic novel, 'Small Gods' by Sir Terry Pratchett. So let's have a little more context.

 

The line is said by the hero to (the character) Death, when he's helping the villain to cross limbo. Death is reminding the hero that the villain was an extremely bad person who hurt and tortured many people, implying that he's undeserving of such assistance. The hero acknowledges this by saying yes the villain did do all those things, and is a bad person, and I am NOT.  And the hero continues to help the villain go across limbo.

 

Since you are human and probably with access to the internet,  it's likely that you have been in a situation where someone at work or home has wronged you (in reality or as perceived by you). You probably had some strong thoughts, particularly about how to get back.  Sometimes, you actually searched and waited for the opportune moment.  Perhaps you made a comment, or refused a request, or just shared the incident with other people.  If you got sympathy from others, you felt vindicated.  As you vented, you probably felt some release and relief.

 

The problem here is that we become comfortable with this state of being because our ego is fed and happy.  It doesn’t really solve the problem, take the relationship forward or help you grow.  The ability to recover quickly from such challenges is going to be stunted.  This, after all, is not what being resilient is about.

 

Now, what if you were to say this line to yourself “And I am NOT!” during or immediately after these times of tense interactions where the need to get back at the other person in a nasty, perhaps damaging way, is particularly strong?

"And I am NOT" reminds me of who I have become, my strengths and weaknesses (and both are ok to have – which makes me OK).  It also empowers me to remember what I have given up in terms of negative behavior, and what I can do with my strengths to be resilient and thrive. 

 

What can you do to build your resilience with your strengths?

1. Know yourself completely. It's hard to attempt anything if you don't know yourself.
2. Accept yourself – the good and bad.  This is called confident vulnerability by DeAnna Murphy, my teacher and strengths mentor from Strengths Strategy Inc /People Acuity Inc.
3. Identify your emotions in the moment.
4. WAIT. Put off any reaction that may be bursting out of your mind and mouth.
5. Understand through some introspection why you are feeling this emotion.  Look for what you can learn from the incident.
6. Leveraging your strengths by strategically choosing to apply them, and deciding on a course of action.
7. Be willing to let go of the need to show yourself as better than the other.
8. Do the action in the most respectful manner you can manage.
9. Be accountable to yourself throughout this process.

Using your strengths is the best way to deal with this situation.  Here's how some of my top 10 strengths (from the CliftonStrengths assessment) work in this tense situation - 

• Intellection to reflect on my actions and the events leading up to the situation
• Analytical to make sense of the different variables that come up.
• Learner to see what I can learn from what has happened so far.
• Ideation, Relator and Individualization to look for ways to rebuild the bridge
• Self Assurance to remind me that I can control myself only and not the other person, and that it's ok if my action plan doesn't give me results.

All these strengths have to work together to give me the outcome that I desire. Yes, this isn't easy, and takes #deliberatepractice. If you are wondering why you should go through all this trouble of using your strengths to build resilience, then think of how such a course of action would positively impact your:

• Relationships (at home and the office)
• Interpersonal Effectiveness
• Decision Making
• Conflict Resolution
• Managing and guiding your team
• Employer Brand
• Personal Brand

 

If all this makes sense to you, then constantly remind yourself of who you are and Who You Are NOT!

Complete the sentence as you see fit - And I am NOT ________________

Want to know more about strategically leveraging your strengths?  Write to me for a discussion on ryanbbarretto@hotmail.com or call me at +919820155778.

Your Career Path

It's important to find your own path, or how will you know what your capable of? You will never discover your strengths and limits if you walk someone else's road.  So if you need help defining your career path, write to me on ryanbbarretto@hotmail.com or call +919820155778 for an appointment.  Both Domestic and international inquiries are welcome.  Sessions conducted in person and on Zoom / Skype / Gtalk.

Pics from The Selection Discussion- Behavioral Event Interviewing Skills Sep 2019

Here are some images from my recent workshop on Behavioural Event Interviewing Skills - The Selection Discussion held at Mumbai on 21 Sept 2019

Participants were walked through the entire recruitment process, and underwent discussions / activities on building job descriptions, the importance of Employer Branding and Employee Value Proposition, how to construct BEI questions, how to interpret their responses, and of course, the Reference Check.

Hiring and the Employer Brand Experience

Hiring has been either the responsibility of HR or the line manager (where the HR department was either absent or may not be allowed to lead the hiring effort).  This is still prevalent in a lot of organizations. We are now reaching the stage where hiring is becoming a proper partnership between the HR and the other Functions. It is also the most critical role in the organization, on par with sales and marketing.

Let's understand that an organization's ability to hire talent depends on a few factors within it's control, and many factors that aren't.

Factors within it's control are:

• Job descriptions
• Goals
• Ability to assess talent in candidates
• Company culture
• Compensation (including bonus)
• Rewards
• Growth opportunities within the organization
• The Employer Brand

Factors outside it's control are:

• Availability of talent
• Candidate's motivation to work
• Candidate's ability to work
• Market compensation rate for the talent sought.
• Market / Economic conditions
• Government Policies
• Acts of Nature/God

The hiring situation was manageable when the job requirement required more manual than mental capability to meet performance goals.  The jobs were few and the candidates were many; job security was a key requirement of the employee / job seeker.  In the new economy (gig?), we have a situation where the talented candidates are actually not that many (in the way you as a recruiter might want).  These talented candidates are not really concerned with being loyal, as they are witnessing organizations layoff large numbers of people due to a variety of reasons, including a slowdown, AI, IOT, AR.  Businesses shutting shop have also been frequent enough to make startups a big question (risk) on starting your career.

Now, organizations are increasingly acknowledging that the Fredrick Taylor style of management doesn't help with hiring people in today's VUCA world, where change being a constant theme, that requires a different mindset, approach & performance from the employee. And most especially if you want your employees to join, perform, enjoy the job and stay AND grow with the organization.  This is actually the true impact of the hiring process.  The hiring process is the one HR process which critically impacts the bottom line of the organization.

Since it's that serious, and these outcomes (join, perform, enjoy the job and stay AND grow with the organization) are crucial to the growth and survival of the organization, I think we as Hiring Professionals have to approach differently.  We can no longer be "hiring in isolation". HR folks cannot have the task of interviewing for culture fit alone.  Every interviewer must take that responsibility.  The candidates of today will not have as much patience as those of say 5-8 years ago.  That means that we respect the candidate by:

1. Having clear job descriptions instead of wish lists
2. Spending sufficient time in advance to understand the candidate's profile instead of reading the resume during the interview while you have asked him/her to "Tell me about yourself".
3. Spending sufficient time to explain the role to the candidate instead of asking if they have read the job description
4. Selling the role AND the organization to the candidate once you are sure that he/she can be moved to the next round / hired, instead of "We'll discuss that later" or "That will be clarified in the next round".  
5. Being honest and upfront with the candidate as soon as possible, whether it's about the waiting time for the interview, scope of the role or whether or not he/she is being considered for further rounds instead of "We'll meet you in 15 minutes" that turns into an hour or three.
6. Being respectful to all employees at all times, because both the other employees and the candidates and other visitors are watching and listening, instead of being biased.

Points 1 to 5 are critical to the Behavioural Event Interview process, and together with point 6, work towards building the "Employer Brand".  According to Wikipedia "Employer brand describes an employer's reputation as a place to work, and their employee value proposition".

Why is Employer Brand important?  
All the experiences that an employee has from the time they apply on your website, or step in for an interview, to the time they collect their final settlement, contribute towards creating that Employer Brand Experience.  So not just how you treat current employees, but also the ones who are to join and the ones who have left (whatever the reason). They're gonna tell the outside world (family and friends) about their experience with your organization.  Don't forget, bad news travels real fast within a candidate's circle.  So, the more positive their experiences are, the more top talent gets interested to explore working with you versus your competition.

We will be discussing all of this and working on strengthening the Hiring (recruitment) process in my upcoming workshop "The Selection Discussion" on 21 Sept 2019. Click here or copy paste the link below in your browser, to avail early bird pricing (Ends 15 Sept 2019) and group discounts.

https://www.townscript.com/e/the-selection-discussion-behavioural-interviewing-skills-044202

Do contact me on +919820155778 or ryanbbarretto@hotmail.com if you would like to have a customized BEI workshop or design the Hiring and Behavioural Interviewing process for your organization.