Building your company's dream team is a tug of war.
Talented people and employers have been in a perpetual conversation to find a workable middle ground – one that meets candidates' expectations about the role and the company's needs to reach its goals.
Bridging the gap between what job seekers want and what managers are able to offer is one item on a laundry list of recruiters' biggest challenges. Shifts in employees' behaviors and preferences can be seen in how frequently people are moving from job to job. There were 5.1 million job openings in February in the U.S. alone – that's the highest its been since January 2001. Frequent employee turnover becomes an inbred, expected element of the hiring process.
The good news? More employers are learning how to keep up with evolving working and hiring trends. We refuse to spoil what's to come in How Recruiters Can Use Turnover to Their Hiring Advantage, our joint webinar with the folks at The Resumator. But we did get a chance to speak with co-host and marketing director, Justin Keller, to understand why employees are quitting and to hash out potential solutions to the underlying, "Well, so what?"
Here's what he had to say.
Recruiters often (and rightfully so) see employee turnover as the end of the road, either for their department/team or the company, especially if that someone is part of the executive team. How do you respond to this? What are some tips you have to share with recruiters feeling uninspired/overwhelmed by their hiring goals?
They say life is not what happens to you but how you react, right? Every loss is an opportunity if you look at it the right way. Whether it’s a chance for members of the remaining team to step up and demonstrate they can fill in the gaps, or a chance to find a new teammate who brings something fresh and possibly better to the table.
Being able to roll with the punches and keep moving forward, regardless of the setbacks, is what makes teams and companies truly successful. More importantly than just rolling on is making sure you take every bump in the road as an opportunity to reevaluate and make improvements.
Could you share your hiring process and what you do to boost engagement and retention even before a new hire's first day on the job?
I remember when I was hired by The Resumator, I was forwarded an email where the team I was to join had all pasted animated .gifs – mostly dancing cats – expressing how excited they were to have me join. That was an hugely gratifying and reassuring sentiment. The Resumator also has a tradition of writing welcome messages on a new hire’s glass desk with dry erase markers so when the new hire sits down for the first time they get a bunch of friendly messages, which then get smeared all over their sleeves.
Those are great tactics to make someone feel welcome, but what’s really important is everyone is truly excited to welcome a new member to the family. Instilling a team with an enthusiasm for new blood make a new hire’s first days and weeks much more comfortable, and helps them start performing much faster.
What are some of your favorite books, blogs, or tools you'd recommend to hiring teams?
The Killer Angels, a novel about the Civil War, by Michael Shaara changed how I thought about team/leadership interactions. If you look at the story out of context, it’s about leaders and how their teams follow them under different many different circumstances- most notably certain doom.
I’d also suggest the Robert K. Greenleaf essay, The Servant as Leader. It’ll take you an hour to read and it will probably give you a pretty interesting perspective when observing today’s most prolific leaders. Love that essay.
What's wrong with hiring today? Where's the disconnect between qualified candidates and recruiters?
“Safe hires.” There’s that tired adage that, “nobody ever got fired for buying IBM,” and I think that bleeds over into the world of hiring. Just because someone has a proven track record doesn’t mean they’ll be able to replicate that success in a different environment with different dynamics. By the same token, just because someone doesn’t have professional bona fides on their resumé doesn’t mean they won’t be outrageously successful in your team and company. Look at the true “Performers” in your company and figure out what they have in common- I bet it won’t be that they’ve all done exceptionally well at that role before doing it where they are now. Cultural fit + drive to achieve = great hire.
I truly believe that a lot of what makes the difference between an average hire and an amazing hire is exogenous to them. Give me a small, diverse team that believes in each other over a large, well resourced team any day.
Who should check out our webinar and why is it a must-see for rookie and pro recruiters?
Recruiters that care deeply about their company’s DNA and want to make sure they’re only bringing in (and keeping) the right person should check this out. We at Resumator care very deeply about helping recruiters find what we call “Performers”– the kind of person that wants to do the best work of their life for you. Sometimes that person works at another company and you need to win their hearts over- this webinar sets out to explain how to do that.
Ready to join us? How Recruiters Can Use Turnover to Their Hiring Advantage is on Thursday, May 7 at 10:30 am PT/1:30 pm ET. Your team need some pep in their hiring step? Join us and save a spot here!
