Attracting Diverse Candidates

Do you have your ear to the ground?

Jean-Paul Renard — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 15:40:46 -0400

One of the reason's I have always limited the amount of times I spend blogging or getting involved in social internet services is to avoid not having "my ear to the ground". I can certainly understand the valuable tool that the internet social networks provides. Moreover, the valuable information that is available to all of us using such sites as ERE and etc. However, I cannot express to you how important it is to remember that today�??s world of technology cannot substitute for the ability to pick up the phone and make a call.

To many times I find recruiters and sourcing professionals alike using the internet and social networking in order to avoid the "pain" of the phone call. No matter how you slice it, making personal connections is the key to finding and cultivating real business opportunities. In order to make these connections, one must PICK UP THE PHONE AND MAKE A CALL.

So, when I ask, "Do you have your ear to the ground", I am referring to the understanding that you must "speak to your customers and your candidates" in order to truly understand the void you are attempting to fill. Emails rarely have personality; social networking can only connect you through technology not personally. However, if used wisely, the phone can be your best friend.

It is a human rule that in general, people work with people they like and connect to. Do yourself a favor, pick up the phone and make a connection with someone. Make it about trying to understand their needs and less about the financial outcome. Keep your "ear to the ground" by reading your daily ERE but relaying heavily on your ability to connect with another human using the phone.

Recruiting is Not The Answer To Finding Talent !!!

Jean-Paul Renard — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 21:56:55 -0400

The world of corporate recruiting and agency recruiting has become a secretarial task. Retrieve resumes that fit the qualifications, forward to hiring managers, set up interviews?yada?yada..yada. Is this really recruiting? Do you really need a special talent to do that? Sounds like a secretarial job to me.

What are we really looking for? Are we really looking for talent? Are recruiters and hiring managers even equipped to make hiring decisions? How can we stop finding resumes and start finding talent?!!

It is true that recruiters are spending more time reading about their profession, getting continual education about hiring and interviewing processes and contributing within social circles such as Linkedin and ERE and others. All this education, all this reading, only to here from your hiring manager, who has no formal or informal training, say, ?No, I did not like this candidate?

And you say, ?Well, okay, why Bob? What is it that you did not like about him/her?

?I don?t know, just a feeling I have?.

I wonder if that feeling came from something Bob ate for lunch, or the phone call he just got from his spouse yelling at him because he forgot about Billy?s recital, or, that he just got a tongue lashing from his boss for missing a deadline. Or, better yet, Bob thinks, ?hmm, this person is too good, he could do my job, HELL NO!?

Here are the questions that come up in my mind,

1. Should organizations leave it up to hiring managers to make final hiring decisions? Or, should it be a collective decision within the organization?

2. Shouldn?t hiring managers receive some formal training for interviewing and selection processes?

3. Why don?t more organizations train hiring managers on how to interview which would enable them to make better selections?

4. Are we hiring Resume?s or People?

5. Are we really searching for talent or are we just looking for resumes?

Let me go back to the beginning so I could try to make my point. Let?s go way back. I come from a poor background, child of immigrant parents that had no formal education or profession. In high school I was not a particularly good student. I did not do particularly well on my SAT?s and no college in their right mind would give me a second look, except of course community college. I spent my first year in college basically majoring in ?Space?, and I do not mean astronomy, I mean ?taking up space?. But something happened. I met a man who told me that I had a special gift. That gift was in recruiting and sourcing. He believed that if I applied myself, that I could be one of the best, ever!! To tell you the truth, I did not believe him at first, but it was great to have a fan, especially, when you spent your life in mediocrity. I still remember his words, ?Kid, I am a head hunter, and you may not have much of a resume, but I know talent when I see it!!?

Well, in the hopes of not sounding like I am tooting my own horn, he was right. I went into business with him and have billed millions upon millions of dollars. Together, we will able to build a double digit multi- million dollar corporation and today we are a bi-costal organization, with over 40 recruiters and 400 contractors. Today I can testify to you that it would have never happened if this man judged me based on my resume and did not care enough to see my talent.

In my years of experience, I have come to realize that ?Recruiters? really fall into two catagories:

1. Recruiters (people who can find resumes)

2. Talent Identifier

I truly believe that most people, who are hard working, can communicate well and willing to be creative in their searching methodologies, can be good recruiters. However, I also believe that not everyone can be a good ?Talent Identifier?. Identifying talent is a unique skill. Could you train someone to be a good Talent Identifier? Maybe. But I can tell you that this skill is drastically overlooked and tremendously underestimated. There is so much emphasis placed on the ?perfect resume?, that the point of finding talented people to join your organization is lost. Moreover, organizations are allowing hiring managers to make hiring decisions without any training or support. The results are usually hiring decisions based on ?feelings? and other bias?s that they may have. The skill of finding talent is rarely seen during interviewing by even skilled recruiters and even less by hiring managers.

Caring enough about people is the main ingredient in identifying talent and it is rarely practiced. As if interviewing with caring creates poor judgment. Well, this is not entirely false, if you are only hiring because you feel ?sorry? for someone. However, this is not what I am suggesting. I argue that if you cared enough about people and who they are, you would be able to identify talent.

I do have clients that are good hiring decision makers and more that are just really bad at it. The good ones are usually excellent communicators that work closely with their team, hiring managers, collectively discuss candidates and care enough about people to attempt to identify talent during the interview process. The less successful hiring practices are usually organizations that rely on one hiring manager, who hires solely based on feelings and resume. Now, I do understand the relevance of a resume and interviewing. I even understand the human nature of making decisions based on feelings. But, is this really the best methodology for identifying talent. As far as I am concerned, NO!!

Please don?t throw a stone at me after you read the next statement, but, if you ask me, anyone can be a recruiter. It is no wonder that many recruiters fall into the profession by default. To exacerbate this point, (again, please don?t send me any hate mail), there are only few recruiters around the country that are really good. Most are not. Some, because it is not their talent, but mostly because they fail to understand that the only way you can find talent is by truly caring about people. Anyone can find resume?s. The questions is can you challenge yourself to find killer talent for your company. If you think you can, then it requires some major changes to company hiring philosophies and your resolve to really look for talented individuals based on a different measuring stick. I continue to read many articles on this board that speak about the dysfunctional methodology of using resumes as a way to make hiring decisions. In my opinion, most of the articles are pretty accurate. However, I have yet to read an article regarding how corporate America is re-evaluating hiring strategies and how they intend to revolutionize the practice of recruitment and talent search.

I do understand that I have not provided you with all of the practical solutions for Talent finding, other than caring, but don?t despair, I will write again. Then again, why wait for me? Why not be a pioneer!!! Every industry evolves. Isn?t it time for Corporate Recruiting to evolve. I Challenge you to stop recruiting and start searching for talent!!! But first you must understand the basic principle of talent finding. Talent Identifying 101 - Searching for talent starts with caring about people.

Do you really care enough to find them?

Sorry for the extended time off.

Jean-Paul Renard — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 18:47:04 -0400

I am finally back in the saddle and writing once again. Running a business, traveling and being a family man is quite a challenge. Nevertheless, I have stayed in tune with the daily writings of my collegues and remain amazed on how talented some of you are. I am not sure if I have ever made any new years resolution in the past, however, I did promise myself that in 2008 I would share more of myself than ever before. Being brutally honest can sometimes be misconstrued as aggressive, nevertheless, honesty and being direct can only lead to resolution and bring success.

Happy New Year To All of you here in the ERE Family.

I look forward to sharing my insights with all of you throughout the entire year.

Jean-Paul

Recruiting 101.. The Road To Success Begins in Your Heart.

Jean-Paul Renard — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 17:12:51 -0400

In being a successful sourcer for almost 20 years now, I can truly appreciate an article that I read today by Maureen Sharib. Although I would have loved to read a more in depth article as I am always intrigued with brilliant people such as Maureen, I am reminded that the principle's of sourcing and recruiting are very basic. Honesty, directly asking for what you want and confidence are the foundation to sourcing. However, I would like to add something that is rarely spoken about, attitude or for lack of a better term"how you are feeling before you make that call".

Although, it is important to work through the times you do not "feel like working", it is equally important to monitor when your mood is not in the right place to make those calls. If you are truly disciplined with your work habits, in my opinion it is important to monitor your mood before making your calls. A positive, confident, firm and friendly state of mind will overcome any objections, mis-steps or poor choose of words you may have created. Stay positive, believe you can and you will find that the person on the other line will reflect the light you are sending.

I have come to realize that physics is life absolute. Just like gravity dictates what happens to you if you leap off a higher point to get to a lower point, it also tells me that like attracts like.

If you are in search of new clients, "passive" candidates or a company directory, your attitude will dictate your results no matter what methodology you choose to imploy. The road to success begins in your heart.

Stay Positive and Believe so that people can believe in you.

Thanks for reading.

Does Size Matter??

Jean-Paul Renard — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 15:17:36 -0400

I know what you?re thinking. Oh no, try to get your head out of the gutter. I am alluding to agencies. Does size really matter when it comes to staffing agencies in today's world?

Size, what an interesting word. Depending on topic and relevance, size (or lack of) can be critical. In an age of ?Super Size Me!!!? it is no wonder why most fortune 500 companies believe that their staffing agency must be of equal size in order to service their account. Coverage and leverage on pricing are valid points. But in today?s world are those points as valid as they once were? Moreover, is this philosophy of "bigger is better" actually hurting companies today?

I recently moved to a new home and transferred my phone line to my new residence. This simple transaction was a real commitment of time as I was prompted several times and finally serviced by a very nice customer service person. After about 35 minutes of my time, this huge telephone company was able to make the necessary arrangements and my transaction was complete. Or, so I thought. Several weeks later I received a collections bill in the mail for the amount of $26.15 from my current telephone company. How could this be? I contacted the company and they insisted that I owed the money. I was baffled considering that this company, who I am still doing business with, had waited 8 months before notifying me and assured me that when I transferred my account, the old account would be settled. Nevertheless after a short debate and another 20 minutes of my time, I paid the bill. Only one week later, I receive a $26.15 check in the mail from the telephone company. I am afraid to cash it for obvious reasons, but I put it up on my wall today to remind myself that bigger is not always better.

More and more I hear from my fortune 500 HR executive colleagues on why the "bigger is better" philosophy is failing regional recruitment efforts. Long delays on request, sub-par quality of personnel and a lack of flexibility are all the common gripes regarding larger national staffing firms. The assumption is made that because a staffing company has national coverage it can provide a higher quality service. Does that hold true in staffing? I contend, that unless the larger staffing companies become entrepreneurial regional settings with a global yet flexible model, eventually they will fail.

There is no substitute for the quality service that regional, local companies provide. The advantage local regional staffing firms hold over their national large rivals is the true entrenchment within their perspective market. Local firms have a true understanding of their perspective demographics, and if they are good, a tremendous candidate following and loyalty they have established from servicing their community for many years. This advantage results in expedient responses and a higher quality of personnel.

I know what you are thinking. A national staffing company may say, ?Well, if I hire local recruiters, then I have a local presence?. Good argument, but here is where the ?bigger is better? theory may fail. Those same local talented recruiters have to follow national company policy which may not hold as effective in their local market. Thus, handicapping even the most talented recruiter because they may not be able to have the flexibility they need to service their client effectively. For example, does the New York market hold the same challenges as Montana?s market? Should recruitment strategies be the same? Should servicing strategies be the same? Would it be fair to say no?

This argument also holds true with the policies of fortune 500 diversity supplier strategies. Diversity suppliers are asked by large corporations to fill out an application, prove your minority status (certification), and ask the same old question: ?Are you ?BIG? enough to service our needs?? Most minority owned firms would be viewed as ?to small? by the same companies that are ?supposedly? seeking out to improve their diversity supplier spending. This is most evident for staffing firms. In essence, these Fortune 500 companies are doing themselves a dis-service by basing their decisions on size.

I am not contesting that there can be some true advantages to being bigger, just ask Shaquille O?Neal. What I am debating is whether it holds true in staffing. In today?s technological world of the internet, teleconference technology and video conferencing, the playing field between large and small has evened out. The bottom line for large corporations regarding their staffing solutions should not only be quality, expedience, and flexibility, but additionally, identifying a firm that has a true understanding of their company?s unique culture. This can only be found within Staffing companies that have a fundamental understanding of their clients local demographics, flexibility of policy based on the clients unique environment and a true entrepreneurial spirit that is committed to their client?s success.

Well then, maybe size does matter. Maybe ?smaller? is better. Maybe Fortune 500 should look for diamonds in their own backyard.

Diversity - Quota verses Caring

Jean-Paul Renard — Tue, 20 Feb 2007 17:24:41 -0400

During the many years I have spent working with candidates and assisting companies with hiring needs it has always amazed me on how very intelligent people create complications to such uncomplicated problems.

As the Vice President of The Largest Hispanic Owned Staffing Agency in New York and a Chilean American, I have been constantly looked upon by both clients and candidates as a diversity supplier of jobs and candidates. Although there are many complicated social issues regarding race, attracting diverse candidates to your company is not as complicated as you may think. The real question is: Are you looking to satisfy quota or do you really care about diversity?

Caring ? a; to feel interest or concern (verb).

If the true nature and culture of your company is to care about diversity, than the resolve to attract talented diverse candidates will far exceed any "quota" your company has established.

I was once visiting a client who is the Vice President of a very large Fortune 500 company in New York City. One part of his many responsibilities was employee diversity within his company. Upon first working with him, he constantly questioned my ethnicity and frequently asked me "where is Chile?" and "Am I sure that Chile is a Latin American country?" He had thought Chile was in Europe somewhere. What I found amazing was not that my client was geographically challenged, but, his lack of caring for the very responsibility he was charged with. How can you set appropriate strategies and build the important cultural mindset for your recruiters to create a diverse work force without learning and caring enough about the very groups you are trying to attract.

Caring enough about diversity and how important it is for a successful company will translate into better sourcing strategies, creative solutions and build talented diverse candidate allegiances. Simply creating quota's and hiring diverse employees to head up your diversity efforts is not enough if you do not believe and really care about diversity.

Minority groups make up for about 30% of our countries population. That third is rapidly moving towards becoming 50% and Caucasians will soon move from majority to plurality. Is your company preparing for this massive cultural shift? I would venture to tell you that if caring is not involved in your strategy, than you will fail in attracting truly talented diverse candidates. As recruiting tools (i.e. internet, networking, new websites, etc.) become more accessible to everyone, true talent is more difficult to attract and retain. Competition is stiff.

It is a company?s ability to communicate their true caring for a diverse workforce that will build an allegiance from talented candidates who are looking to join a company with a reputation for caring for diversity.

I am a new proud Blogger to ERE. I do hope to exchange ideas and share my experiences with you. It is my goal to help you find effective ways to attract diverse candidates using creative methods. Nevertheless, I can assure you that there is no methodology that can replace Caring.