Tag Archives: Talent Management

Human Resource Management Planning-The Micro Level

hr management planShortly into my lunch meeting, I realized it was a human resource management planning exercise in disguise. And it was so much fun.

I talk often about what it’s like working for Pinnacle. A sizable portion of what makes it a great working environment is having a manager who truly spends their time looking for ways to make your life and career a priority.

I highly encourage you to have a similar meeting if you’re managing someone. They want that attention and expertise that only you can give, even if you feel like you don’t have anything to offer.

Topics to cover

Not sure where to start? Try to touch on these areas and pick at least one to hone in on:

  • The employee’s career goals (no limits!)
  • Have an honest discussion of where you have enhanced their career (and in some cases, where you might have limited its growth)
  • How the employee fits into the organizational plan in the 1-5 years to come

Yes, it’s a short list, because what follows is dependent on the responses. For instance, if the employee wants to eventually become a benefits specialist, but your company doesn’t have any openings for that area, you can help them start preparing by giving them more responsibility in that area. If your employee wants to manage people, start shaping them to be the best manager they can be.

If, in the scope of the discussion, you find out that some of your actions have been interpreted as limiting career growth for the employee, then work with them to come to a resolution.

Finally, in the “big picture,” talk about what the company’s future looks like (as best you can describe it, anyway). Discuss what that means for your department and the person’s position in particular. Be honest. You’d want someone to be honest with you!

A few more details

If you’d like your miniature human resource management planning session to be successful, here are a few more tips:

  • Get away from the office for 1-2 hours (a long lunch works well for this)
  • Spend some time talking non-work stuff, because that’s what matters to the employee most (and could uncover some idea of future hopes/ideas)
  • Be sure to get their input on what they see going on with regard to the team/department level; they’re usually closer to the action than you are

Make it so

While HR management planning is a large-scale activity in most cases, for our purposes today we’re looking at how it affects a team, one person at a time. I don’t know about you, but I’ve seen organizations be damaged by the actions of one reckless, irresponsible person.

What about the other side? How much positive change and influence could one open, honest person create? Anyone at Pinnacle could tell you that my manager does it on a daily basis, one small action at a time. I only hope I can be that inspirational and supportive when I have my own employees reporting to me. Let’s just say I’m taking good notes!

Do you ever have meetings like this with your staff? What do you discuss? 

How to Develop Managers-Get Them Involved

Get them involvedIn my first post on how to develop managers, I talked about uncovering manager development opportunities. Today we’ll talk about how to structure your organization so the managers want to get involved with their own development.

Hire right

It starts with the hire. If you hire someone who is comfortable with what they can already do and isn’t interested in doing anything more, then you’re probably going to have difficulty working with them. One of my favorite songs uses this lyric, and I repeat it to myself often when things start to get a little out of my comfort zone:

Somewhere in the grand design, it’s good to be unsatisfied. It keeps the faith and hope a little more alive.

There’s nothing wrong with finding someone who is not satisfied with where they are currently Continue reading

How to Write Job Postings That Don’t Suck

how to write job postingsLet’s face it, most job postings suck. Learning how to write job postings isn’t difficult. Typically, job postings are MBA-speak nightmares that give little insight into the day-to-day goings on of a given role. Here are a few tips for creating engaging job posts that actually do their job of attracting great talent and weeding out those that are a poor fit.

How to write job postings (Create Obstacles)

Is it strange to begin a discussion on bringing people in with advice creating obstacles? Influence expert Robert Cialdini confirms a truth that savvy daters have leveraged since time immemorial, “playing hard to get works.” The simple truth is, people want what they can\’t (easily) have and as Groucho Marx put it, the teams we most want to be a part of would scarcely have us as members. So what does all of this mean for job postings? Creating reasonable barriers to entry has two important benefits, it weeds out the unmotivated and ill-fitting, and it increases the perceived cache of the role.

There are a number of ways to create barriers to entry that inform the hiring process. Request a cover letter addressing specific competencies, require a questionnaire comprised of questions that measure cultural fit, and vet potential hires using an organizational psychologist (ahem!!!), to name but a few ideas. Only candidates that pass these initial screenings will move on to in-person interviews, and you can bet that they will arrive with a sense of accomplishment and honor at being considered for employment. What’s more, this process allows you to measure motivation, communication skills, and cultural fit, all while increasing the perceived value of your organization.

How to write job postings (Advertise Culture)

The preponderance of job postings follow the same boring formula: ambiguous job title, bland description of duties, and a vague recounting of qualifications. Ideally, a candidate should be able to look at a job posting and work backwards to make inferences about organizational culture. Further, this culture should appeal greatly to some applicants and cause others to run for the hills, thereby saving you the time of interviewing those who are not well-positioned to succeed. You need to define corporate culture for candidates.

Appleton Learning, a client of mine, has recently taken to including a “Meet an Employee” section on all of their employment ads. These short vignettes provide a window into the personal and professional life of an Appleton team member, and all team members are given the opportunity to enjoy their 15 minutes of fame on a job posting. This change gives the posting an added dimension of personality and warmth that reflects Appleton\’s corporate values of personal development and almost familial support. It also sends the message that applicants will be appreciated holistically and allowed to shine once coming aboard. This specific approach is not indicated for all businesses and is likely too saccharine for some grizzled pragmatists. But inasmuch as grizzled pragmatists are a poor fit for this education startup, mission accomplished. And if all else fails, you need to know how to read a resume for culture fit.

How to write job postings (Get Behavioral)

Raise your hand if you have poor attention to detail, don\’t “play well with others”, and lack initiative. Stupid questions, right? Your applicants think so too. That being the case, why are we including vague aspirational qualities with “Sunday School answers” that do not improve the predictive power of our selection process? Everything you hope to determine lives behaviorally in your applicants in a way that is measurable.  It is your job to determine what it looks like in the professional lives of those you recruit.

Take initiative for example;  no job applicant in their right mind is going to admit to lacking drive. So, what does drive look like for your purposes? Is drive a history of organizational ascension? Is drive a track record of measurable innovation? Determine the specific, measurable evidences of the attributes you seek and exclude those who do not stack up. Do not ask about things that are better experienced! Talking about drive does not measure drive, it measures ability to talk. As you look for ways to construct job postings that are measurable behaviorally, you will improve your ability to avoid slick con-(wo)men who talk a good game but have little actual substance. Learn more about SmartRecruiters, the tool I use for recruiting and applicant tracking.

Today’s guest post is by my new buddy and all-around great guy Dr. Daniel Crosby (@incblot on Twitter). Feel free to check out his business where he does performance consulting.

We all have something to offer

What do you have to offer the world?

A week or so ago, I was doing some research for a leadership project I’m working on. I came across a moving video that I really think you should check out. It’s longer than most, but the message is worth the wait. Check out The Butterfly Circus video below. (Email/RSS subscribers may need to click through to view.)

Here’s the original link to the video.

My thoughts

What does this mean for your employees?
What does it mean for you as an HR pro?
Are you aligning your staff’s talent with the organization’s needs and motivating them to be the best they can be?