Category Archives: General

Rural Recruiting-The World You Don’t See

Me: So I have this great position that you are perfect for. The pay is solid, benefits are outstanding, and we think you’re the right guy for the job.

Anonymous candidate: Sounds great! Where is the job located? I’d definitely be interested.

rural corporate recruitingMe: It’s actually in [remote location near a small Army base].

Candidate: Oh, well, I don’t know that I want to move out that far. There’s really nothing to do out there, and it doesn’t appeal to me.

Me: Oh, okay. Well, you know how to reach me if you change your mind. [hangs up wondering when this train of rejections is going to end]

In case you can’t tell from the above exchange, I thought today would be an opportune time to look at rural recruiting. It’s something I’ve had a bit of experience with (and will have more of in the near future), and it’s an area of recruiting that can be incredibly frustrating.

I spoke with a SHRM chapter earlier this year in a rural area, and the local companies basically share the same talent pool. Bob the employee might work for Company A for a few years, move to Company B for the variety, and end up at Company A again after that. With a small pool of candidates, filling each job is a monumental task.

Here’s a short list of common problems with rural recruiting, just to get you thinking:

  • Limited size of talent pool
  • Stronger than normal “that’s how we’ve always done it” syndrome
  • Difficult to sell for relocating new staff
  • More often blue collar-type work
  • More employee relations issues due to the fact that employees know it’s hard to replace them

What’s the answer to the rural recruiting challenge?

Here are a handful of actions to consider. Not all will work, but as difficult as it is there is no reason not to try some or all of them! And please, by all means, add some of your own suggestions and comments below.

Short term

  1. Work with your staff to recruit/refer good candidates. If you don’t have an employee referral program, start one.
  2. Seek out candidates who are more interested in small town life vs. that of a big city. Plenty of us prefer that, but you need to ensure you’re targeting that by asking good interview questions.
  3. Develop retention tools that encourage your workforce to remain with your company, whether it’s professional development opportunities, family outreach, etc.

Long term

  1. If your organization is large enough with multiple locations, develop a good job rotation program where key players get to experience all areas and locations of the business, thus providing a built in pipeline of future talent.
  2. Take number 3 above even further by connecting with a local daycare to subsidize employee childcare costs, offering sabbaticals or other unusual benefits, or helping employees to reach lifelong goals. I once worked with a company with a lady who wanted to ride a hot air balloon before she died. After a particularly good year, the company rented a hot air balloon and operator and let the woman have a paid day off to enjoy the experience. The more care you put into these custom benefits/perks, the more successful they will be!
  3. This one is long term. Seriously. But if future growth and success is the plan, then it makes sense to explore this option fully. Work to team with the local chamber of commerce or business-centric organization. Find out what your small town lacks (according to the candidates who reject the job due to the location) and see if you can fix those. Here’s a great local example. Huntsville is not a huge city by any means, but we have people wanting to relocate here from other places. Companies kept hearing that we didn’t have a good enough downtown area for family, recreation, etc., so now the local Chamber has started helping to develop the area to suit those needs. It’s already impacted the area, and there’s no telling how many people will now consider the city based on its new facets.

In many instances, I hear a variation of this from my recruiting brethren facing these challenges:

Forget social recruiting or talent communities. I just want someone to come to work sober.

Your turn

I’d love to hear from someone with rural recruiting experience. What has worked for you when recruiting in rural areas? What are your tips?

Happy Workers: Perception, Psychology, and Reality

I know, many of you are thinking, “Happy workers? I just want them to come to work and be productive!” Don’t worry, I think today’s discussion will be helpful for you as well.

happy workersI spend an inordinate amount of time trying to determine how to make our people happier. Sometimes that comes in the form of removing obstacles, but it can also come in the form of ensuring that they know what they’re getting. Equity theory is a tool that plays into that. For instance, helping to educate employees on how your benefits or work environment transcend the market average can help them to feel better/happier, despite there being no real change made. A large part of this is simply how well you communicate things.

To keep the conversation targeted today, we’re going to look exclusively at the benefits realm. Even if that’s not your idea of fun, stick with me and we’ll see if we can learn something new.

What the data says

I received a news piece recently that focused on several topics surrounding employee satisfaction and happy workers, but one in particular caught my eye.

1 in 3 (31%) employees report that they do not believe their benefits are better than those offered at competitor companies

Wow.

And as far as which benefits are most important to the employees surveyed, here’s the list:

  • 76% – medical plan/coverage
  • 72% – holidays/vacation/sick time
  • 62% – 401K/retirement/pension
  • 60% – dental plan/coverage
  • 27% – employee development/training
  • 26% – wellness programs e.g., health screening programs, exercise/physical fitness programs, or health insurance education
  • 26% – employee discounts e.g., commuter subsidies, gym membership discount, discounts on company products/services
  • 23% – tuition reimbursement
  • 21% – office perks e.g., free food and drink, casual dress, or a pet friendly office

Your job

In case you didn’t realize it already, your employer thinks it’s your job to 1) help people understand their benefits and 2) provide benefits that your employees care about. If you don’t know what your people want, definitely take some time to learn more about that.

That 31% of people who think benefits are better at other companies? That’s your target audience for these kinds of communications. How you communicate your response is key, because you want to avoid being condescending, but you also want to give solid information that allows them to judge the situation with all the facts at hand.

My experiences

This year I have a goal (not just a “that would be nice if…” but an actual performance-related metric!) relating to employee benefits. It’s my objective to do a better job of communicating our offerings, sharing some of the market averages, and educating our employees on how to make use of what we do provide.

  • Lifetime financial planning articles and lunch-and-learns
  • What disability coverage is, how it’s used, and how it impacts their family
  • What are the key impacts of the PPACA for individuals and how to prepare
  • How and why to use the employee assistance program

These are a few ideas, but you can see how they’re oriented: education. The better I can teach our people, the better equipped they will be to make sound decisions regarding the benefits we offer. It’s not cash wrapped in bacon, but it will do in a pinch.

Have you ever stopped to find out how your people feel about the benefits they receive? Do you offer any different/unusual benefits to your employees that might differentiate you from other employers?

Kids These Days

I recently had a conversation with a friend about some of our employees. The employees are high school students working as summer interns, and the things they do are pretty wacky by our standards.

  • One spends all her lunch-with-the-boss-as-a-new-hire time texting on her phone. No eye contact. 
  • One wears shorts so short you don’t even know if there’s anything under the blouse.
  • One keeps posting Facebook photos and messages about how great it is to work there, even though they are doing no work due to the Facebook use.

One key thing I had to do quickly was establish something: this isn’t a generational issue. It’s an age/maturity issue. These “kids” have never been taught or told what is acceptable, for the most part, so they are relying on what they know.

I’ll be speaking at HRevolution and possibly some other events this fall, and at least two of them will be focused on how to get past the generation/age thing and look at what really matters in the workplace. I’m looking forward to bringing the conversation to where it needs to be instead of the “You know those crazy Gen Y kids and their lousy work ethic” conversation/commiseration that seems to be all too common.

Any other crazy stories about young/inexperienced employees you’d like to share? Come on, it’s Friday! :-)

Are You Proud of Your Work?

Recently I heard a story on the How to Do Everything podcast that I thoroughly enjoyed. The hosts of the show have a funny award they present occasionally to businesses and people for having unique or interesting restrooms. On this particular episode, they interviewed a convenience store manager about his restrooms. The unique quality?

Cleanliness.

pride workThe restrooms were cleaned numerous times a day enthusiastically and completely. It might sound like such a simple thing, but if you’ve ever experienced a restroom in need of some cleanliness, you know how special this small touch can make customers feel.

The thing that struck me was the intense pride in the voice of the manager. He was excited about providing a healthy and hospitable location to his customers, whether it be friendly service at the counter or a fanatically clean restroom.

Making the transition

That leads me to the topic for today. In the past few years that I’ve worked at my current employer, I have made numerous attempts to qualify and quantify a characteristic that influences the workplace: pride.

The majority of our staff are incredibly proud to work at Pinnacle, but I can’t figure out the exact root cause.

  • Maybe it’s because of the leadership team.
  • Maybe it’s because we’re serving the military through our products/services.
  • Maybe it’s because we’re performing solid, ethical work.

Whatever the case, it’s evident that they are incredibly proud to say they work here. That comes in handy numerous ways. I tell every new hire that we are too small to have a public relations/marketing team, so each person has to be trusted to represent us well in whatever they pursue at work or at home. When I meet an employee’s spouse or family for the first time, one of the first reactions is how much they appreciate the work environment, because that contributes to our employees being happier at home.

This video I shot several years ago captures this conversation well. It focuses on how each person should look to tie their daily work into the ultimate goals of the organization and how that can impact the business in a far greater way than if each person is unable to understand the bigger picture.

What about you?

Let’s look at two key questions to wrap up for today.

  1. Are your people proud of what they do and where they work? 
  2. Do each and every one of your people understand where they tie into the business’ overall goals and direction?

If you can’t answer “yes” to both of those, then it sounds like you have some homework to do. :-)

Partnership and Service-The New HR Model

Some of these people have never had a good experience with an HR person. They are wary and a little cynical of the whole idea. A few of them have been burned and won’t be quick to trust someone.

I've had a variation of that conversation with three people in the past week. I don't know why it's suddenly become a hot topic, but I definitely understand where the sentiment comes from. For many people the whole idea of HR is a “no” function.

noNo, you can't do this. No, you can't do that. No, that would make us liable. No, we don't want to hurt anyone's feelings. No, let's try to avoid that conflict. No, let's just put in a policy.

Really? Who goes into a career looking forward to being a master of disappointment and let-downs?

Let’s diverge

When I'm not reading fiction and other fun stuff, I like picking up books focused on service. Customer service, stewardship, etc.

Speaking of which, the book Stewardship is phenomenal. Some of the things I'm talking about today are discussed there in more detail, so feel free to check that out if you're looking for some ideas on how to serve others well.

If I had to boil what I do down to two words, those would be partnership and service. Probably not what most would expect, but they are mine nonetheless. What I do for my staff is partner with them in any way possible—career planning, compensation review, handling benefits for their family, etc. And the back end of that is serving them as well as I am able. This isn't about me—it's a reminder for everyone of what this position has the potential to be.

If you are spending your time saying “no” to everything that is asked and looking for ways to reduce freedom within the organization (how many of us would put it in those terms?), then it's time to shape up. Make a change. Look for ways to partner with your people as a trusted, valuable resource. Find out how you can best serve each person to enable them to do their jobs better.

Beware the but

One final comment for today. Some of us are quick to say, “I do serve my employees well, but… [blah blah blah].” Beware the “but.” If you believe strongly enough in something, there are no exceptions, special rules, or alternatives.

It will be different, strange, and possibly even painful the first few times you remove the “but” from your vocabulary and move forward with your plan. But in the end, it will be worth it in the respect you earn.

Two Biggest CEO Concerns? Talent and… Talent

I’ve long believed that recruiting and talent management is one of the fastest and most direct ways to prove and enhance the value proposition for HR. The tweet below was brought to my attention during a session at the SHRM conference, and I can completely understand the truth behind it.

What I can’t understand is the lack of desire for HR pros to change it. The reality is we are not doing all we can in this area, and it really boils down to two pretty simple concepts that I outline in the video below. Check it out and let me know in the comments if you’re doing this well (or not) and how you plan to adjust fire to ensure you are taking full advantage of the available opportunities.

(subscribers click here to view the video 1:43)

So, what do you think? Are you getting the right talent, or enough of it? Are you helping to deliver enough leadership talent, either through hiring externally or growth and professional development opportunities internally? 

Managing Glassdoor Reviews and Employer Branding

As a guy working in a small HR shop, I am subscribed to multiple forums, blogs, and websites. I like having a lot of information at my fingertips, and recently I ran across a great question I thought would be worth sharing.

I would also be interested in what others are doing. We have been monitoring the [Glassdoor] reviews but recently received a less than positive review and are looking for advice on the best way to respond. It seems to me like it’s more of a communications issue from an external perspective, but I would like to know what others are doing.

For those of you who are not familiar, Glassdoor.com is a site where employees can go to post reviews of the company, share anonymous pay data, etc. Applicants can also share questions asked, what the interview/candidate experience was like, and other details that might be helpful to the public.

The HR professional who presented the question above did it very well. Many companies are completely unaware of the Glassdoor site, and even those that are don’t make a habit of regularly monitoring the discussions around their brand. This is a key area for recruiters and HR professionals to keep tabs on the employer brand, since many of the topics discussed on the site (pay, benefits, recruiting…) all touch the HR profession.

I’ve talked about employer branding previously (Psst–Your Greatness is Showing), and while it’s not on the top of my mind every day, I still think about it often. We’re marketing our organizations every time we choose to respond to candidates in a timely manner (or not).

Many companies talk about their brand without regard for what the rest of the world thinks. And some HR pros even think that they can make up some pretty words to get their point across. Not going to happen. 

Cliff’s Notes on how to manage Glassdoor reviews

If you want to manage your reviews on Glassdoor, start by treating employees and candidates well. Then if anything ends up getting posted on the site, you can respond accordingly with nothing to hide.

Will you sometimes get a nasty review, whether warranted or not? Sure! But then you respond to it publicly, tell your side of the story, and don’t shove your head in the sand and act like it never happened.

We want to be treated like big boys and girls. Let’s act like it! :-)