Trying to automate the recruitment process

A company recently tried to implement an automated recruitment process to try to reduce or eliminate the vast amounts of wasted time going through CV’s and interviews. It seems like a good idea and as a 3rd party to the process I have watched the results with interest.

They have developed the software themselves and seem to have had reasonable success. As a 3rd party watching the process I have noticed a couple of things.

1) There were a number of emails to the info @ email account indicating that the software didn’t work.

2) The process of applying was very stringent, with only one correct pathway to completion.

This automated application process did indeed reduce the number of valid applications from 700 to 100. That of course was the general idea. For many internal, simple roles that are infact automated themselves, this may actually be a good thing.

The question I raised though was this: Would the automation process actually drive away the kind of candidates that you may actually want?

To explain, take sales for example. If I were a sales executive applying for a job, I would want to be able to sell myself in some way. To be channeled down a pathway would put me off, as I would feel that they were looking for a “me too” person. Not someone with unique skills.

Another example, A network engineer, If I were an engineer, I would want to show case my skills. Especially if I knew I was good. Would it annoy me to be lead down a path? Would I pre judge what kind of person they were looking for? Would I feel that they were after a “me too” engineer?

Automation is great, it provides great efficiency’s in running business. Is recruitment a place you can automate? Can you cut corners carefully enough to make gains in the process?

Annual Chill out day

I have just made a call to a company today during the normal calling that I do every day. Here is the message on the phone.

“No one is available to take your call as today is our annual chill out day, please call us back on Monday”

What a bold and courageous move. Imagine the brownie points you would get from your staff. And how big an impact would it have on your customers? I am sure if you gave them notice, they would be fine or in fact be quite impressed.

This is the first time I have come across such a great idea implemented in action. In these challenging times, it does good to be creative.

Balancing environment and personality

I have spent a bit more time thinking about this after the move of a social person into the nether regions of a company I work with. There must be a balance between the environment and culture a company wants to create and the personalities within it.

Everyone is different. One of the easiest ways around clashing personalities and environment is to only employ people with like minds. So each person is comfortable within the created environment. Of course this is not easy to do, especially within a tight labour market where you take the best you can find.

Some people thrive from an open plan office environment, others find it too distracting. Maybe there is a way to mix it up. Other times some personalities can become overpowering for others and stifle their ability to be highly productive.

One of the best ways to ensure the balance between personality and environment is right is to meet with your people often, informally to see how they are finding things. Also get management to have the personality and environment balance on their agenda’s. Watch how relationships are going between staff.

Creating the right kind of environment is a key element to creating a happy workplace for your staff.

Moving a social person to the back office

What happens when you move a social person into their own remote office? Give it 2 months and they will leave. Part of a socialites worklife involves talking and being around collegues. I get a chance to see this theory in action.

A company that I work with has just moved their socialite into an area all by herself. So in 2 months from this date we will see if she is still around. It is a hard balance when it comes to social people. Obviously being social carries a risk of being less productive than someone that is a bit more reserved and quiet.

However if someone is very good at their job and a social person too what do you do? One thing you don’t do is isolate them. It is important to find ways that can cater to their need to socialise, while still maintaining the high work standards.

I will give you an update in 2 months time.

Record low unemployment in New Zealand

The pinch for employers is growing by the month or so it appears. With record unemployment levels hitting 3.4% in the month of December. Why is this happening? Why is it that so many employers from every industry finding the employee resource so thin?

The answer I believe is simple. Because many families can no longer survive on a single income, the mother also has to go out to work. This is substantially increasing the number of people in the workforce. Wages no longer cover standard living in New Zealand. This is also why so many New Zealander’s are heading across to Australia.

Further proof of the idea that wages are no longer matching costs is a rare comment by the Finance Minister Michael Cullen. Stating to the effect that employers should review wages. Along with talks of tax cuts (No surprises why that is being discussed).

Anyway the guts of all this is that …
1) More people are going to continue to move to Australia (the grass is always greener on the other side right).

2) Wages will go up as the high skilled demand more from their employers or leave for better conditions (supply and demand).

3) As a result of higher wages, prices will rise (got to cover the costs of delivering the product or service)

4) Inflation will go up and hopefully tax will come down (if we are lucky).

5) More families will feel the pinch and the need to send the “Mum” out to work just to make ends meet (this is the saddest part of the whole scenario)

Even some of the big companies are struggling

This article may be the beginning of the end for Yahoo. It is definitely not winning against the giant google. You have to wonder what the loss of 1000 jobs will do to the remaining employee’s morale.

And it may be my brain but with such a dramatic cut in resourcing you have to wonder what on earth were the 1000 employees doing that doesn’t need to be done now? Either they have been wasting space for along time, or Yahoo’s productivity will slow.

How not to deliver the”you are now redundant” message

This article in computerworld I think is a good example on how not to manage the whole process of outsourcing and the following redundancy that will inevitably take place. Apparently these people were told by video link even though senior management staff were in the building. The story portrays a really badly managed process.

It isn’t just the final video link announcement that was off colour, but also the lies and sneaky back handling that appears to have gone on well before the final blow. There are obviously things that are sensitive to an industry or company that cannot be talked about. But in general even if outsourcing is seriously on the cards you still want to maintain a good will with your employees.

This article highlights very clearly the delicate nature of the outsourcing beast. All care should be taken. You never know what can happen if you manage the transition badly. Someone may blog or write about you.

A bad rap for the company Humanware. And good luck to their employees.

What makes an industry popular?

There has been talk over the last 6 months that IT just isn’t attracting enough graduates through the university to fill the gaps that are going to appear more and more over the next few years. I spend all my time in this industry so I can see that.

But other industries are also finding it hard to find new recruits. The main ones that come to mind are nursing & teaching. I am of the opinion (even though my wife is a teacher) that anyone going into these careers these days is either crazy or extremely compassionate.

So the big question is raised. Why is it getting harder to recruit in these areas? My first thought is $$DOLLARS$$. They don’t pay enough. This is probably only partly true. IT if you are good pays relatively well as an employee.

I think the guts of the matter for all three industries (IT, Nursing & Teaching) is quality of life. In each of these industries you are driven to work all sorts of hours, don’t get to see your family, and are expected to do all sorts of add-ons to your standard job, because it is well just expected.

I was talking to a couple of IT guys yesterday and they love their jobs, however they don’t love the hours. One was saying his shortest day last week was 9 hours long. I was tempted to ask what his longest was, but I am sure it wouldn’t be good.

Anyway the guts of this is that all the extra stress, work & duties comes at no additional rewards. Teachers spend huge chunks of their so called holiday’s preparing for the next term. Nurses (so I am told) have drastically changing shifts. IT guys get given a task list and they can go when it is done no exception.

Of course I generalise. However these industries and others like it are loosing out because the candidates and employees of the future have one thing that previous generations didn’t have. That is information, They can be choosy because the can research and match their talents to positions that deliver more quality of life.

The importance of listening to your sales staff

I feel that this topic fits because as an employer it is important to listen to several people. The first people you need to listen to are your customers. A person can get some great feed back from their customers. I think for most people this is obvious.

The second set of people to listen to would be experts from within your industry. This is also obvious I would think as you need to keep abreast of what is happening and developments in the industry and competition. A third but maybe not so obvious set of people you should be talking to are the employees that make the product or deliver the service. They are the people that know how the product works and often how it can be improved.

The last set of people you should be talking to and possibly one of the most important is your prospects. And as you know the people that talk to the prospects are your sales staff.

I think that many employers and managers do relatively well at keeping up with the first three sets of people. What I do find is that many managers do not take full advantage of listening to their sales staff. I have spent years in sales and with almost every organisation that I have worked with, the ears are completely turned off.

“Why is it important to listen to your sales staff?” And “why don’t people?” These are the questions I want to try and answer.

1) They can tell you what the prospects actually want!
It is important to listen to the sales people because the prospect tells them what they want. They hear day in and day out what is missing in their current delivery, what can be improved and what they want sold to them. Although this does sound obvious it is a skill of a good sales person to pick this up and they have a “gut feeling” about the market place.

This information is extremely valuable to companies, it can help them develop products or services better. It also helps them find out what can make them stand out over the competition. You will be surprised how effective listening to the sales people can tap into the real concerns of future customers.

And you can’t get this information from your current customers. Why? because they are familiar with what you offer. The relationship as a supplier changes the way they express their needs. They are also used to the way you do things, and that is more than likely all they know if they have been with you for years.

2) They can tell you what the prospects actually want!
This scares many managers which is why they avoid (often with vengeance) having the discussion with sales people. It is hard when you find out consistently that what you offer doesn’t cut it in the market place any more. It is also hard if you identify something that can improve service levels that doesn’t actually make you money.

I call it turning the halving effect. Keeping things the way they are might produce a 1in6 closing rate. Changing the way you do things may cost a bit more, but increases the closing rate to a 1in3 rate.

Even if ultimately you don’t change the way you do business from conversations with sales people at least you get to know the market place better. No one knows the front line of a battle better than the soldier that has to live there.

In conclusion let me state, I am not suggesting that Sales people know everything. In fact the are often very light on the ins and outs of running a business. But listening to their battles, their wins their loses and thoughts on where the market sits and what they want.

Personality Employment

One thing that many employers are caught by is what I call personality employment. This is where an employee looks good on paper and do fantastically in the interview. They come across as charming and onto it and willing to learn.

Yet when they arrive and settle into the job the employer goes “Woops that was a mistake” they may be lazy or not up to the job. Maybe they just don’t have a personality that gets on well with the rest of the team or just don’t fit the company environment well.

Unfortunately it is pretty hard to remove these personality employees. It isn’t even a great thing for them and I often wonder what drives people to apply for and smooth talk themselves into positions they just can’t handle.

The bigger question (and I don’t have an answer) is how do you identify these clowns before they become a part of your show. Lots of recruitment agency’s provide you with personality profiles, and say they can’t be faked. Well I am afraid while you may not be able to be the reverse of your personality, you can sku the results in your favour for particular positions.

One of the things I can suggest is gut instinct. Everyone you meet over the first 30 minutes you get an impression of that person. This impression may not be 100% accurate, but it is a good judgement system you can rely on. It is almost like a fight or flight impulse that is programmed in from birth.

If your instinct has warning signals popping up, even if the person appears great. It is worth a bit of exploration.