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Make All Your Employees Talent Scouts

Sunday, July 17th, 2011

Today’s intellectual (thinking) workplace has redefined what we need from our employees. Employees no longer complete rote tasks; today’s service workplace now requires employees to think their way through constantly changing customer situations to provide responses that are customized and personalized. This means today’s employees must think in particular ways to be consistently effective, to inspire customer loyalty, and to drive profitability.

An organization’s most significant asset is the intellectual capital of their employees – how they think, invent, create and respond. Therefore, every organization needs employees who are the right fit for the job – employees who have the right talents, skills and experience – they connect to customers and drive results. This makes the sourcing and selection process both more critical and more difficult.

No longer will most any employee be able to do any job. Fit matters. And to find employees who fit the role, the organization now needs a greater list of candidates to select from – to ensure the attributes needed to drive performance exist within the candidate. This focus on fit now requires a fuller pipeline of viable candidates. And one of the greatest ways to fill the talent pipeline is to use your workforce’s connections and sourcing ability.

Consider the following ways to use your workforce to identify, find and recruit A-level (the right fit) employees:

1. Clearly identify the talent profile of for each role (this should identify the talents, skills and experience needed to be effective in the role). Share this information with all employees. Now employees know the attributes needed to be effective in each role.

2. Have all employees take a talent assessment, to be better aware of their natural abilities (talents and strengths) and to become familiar with the nomenclature of talents. Having a common language of talents allows the organization to better define, discuss and understand what attributes are key for each role, and what attributes must be sourced.

3. Provide talent scout business cards to all employees; these cards have the employees’ name and “Talent Scout” as their role. Coach employees to give cards to those people they see in their normal day who exhibit the talents and attitudes needed in company roles. Invite these people to find out more about the company. This starts to fill the talent pipeline so that when openings do happen, the organization has already started to source good fit candidates.

4. Have employees talk about open company roles to their (social and professional) networks.

No longer can management be solely responsible for sourcing all talent. Employees see and talk to (talented) people all day. They are connected to personal and professional networks. Be sure they know what attributes encourage great “fit” in each role and send them out to the world to scout for (the right) talent.

Tags: A-level talent, find the right employee, Hiring employees, hiring the right employees, job fit, manager, social networks, talent
Posted in For Managers | No Comments »

Facebook: Embarrassing Photos or Contacts to Get Hired

Tuesday, March 30th, 2010

Social networks are not unusual anymore. We all know about Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and MySpace. More will be coming along anytime. But for now, Facebook seems to rule the roost.

If this technology has the ability of connecting you to so many others, why not use the technology to get yourself known. Create a “get hired” Facebook site.

Set up your “get hired” page to have the following:
o Your core talents, interests, strengths and passions as part of your bio. Click here to access my talent assessment.
o Pictures of you in the workplace, in the community and copies of letters of recommendation and commendations.
o Scan the talent-based resume as an image and add it to your albums.
o Create an album for each role you are looking for such as retail, healthcare, law enforcement, regulation or some other focus. Create a specific photo album that profiles you, your resume, your attributes, your interests, and your impact.
o Identify companies you wish to work for. Join their fan pages. Become friends with their employees and management.
o Join other fan clubs related to job seeking, talent, performance or related to the industries or jobs you are seeking. Know the industries’ associations and annual meetings.
o Maintain the integrity of your job-seeking site to ensure you are perceived as professional and a good fit for the job. Disable the ability of others to tag you in pictures. This puts your reputation in your control.
o Share this address with your serious job prospects and colleagues who can share your information with their networks.

Remember: This is NOT your social site. This site’s only focus is to present your employability, fit and value to the workplace.

So, now how do you use Facebook – to show embarrassing pictures or to create new contacts to get hired?

Tags: apply for jobs, employee performance, Facebook, get hired, social networks, stand out and get hired, use facebook to get hired
Posted in For Employees, For Individuals, For Managers | No Comments »

Get Hired in 2010 – Step 6 of the Plan

Wednesday, March 10th, 2010

Use social media to get hired.

Technology is a great new tool in the job hunting process. Our social networks put us in touch with so many more people – those who are hiring and may be interested in our unique combination of talents, strengths, skills and passions. Getting the word out is key. Use your social networks to get noticed.

Facebook:
Create a “get hired” Facebook page (not your social site – a true “qualifications-focused and get hired” site). Include:
o Core talents, interests and values as part of your bio.
o Pictures of you in the workplace, in the community and copies of letters of recommendation and commendations.
o Scan your talent-based resume as an image and add it to your photo album.

Twitter:
Use Twitter to share key aspects of your talents and aptitudes with your Twitter audience.
o Create a Twitter account for your job seeking. Name it appropriately.
o Search for and add hiring managers, HR professionals, entrepreneurs, roles that match roles you are looking for (nurses, health care, engineer, retail associate, accountant), associations, managers, etc.
o Send out a daily talent comment. Example: seeking accounting role; detail-focused; strong performer; value-focused.
o Develop a weekly series of 4 or 5 tweets that show off your talents and your ability to add value.

For more comments on each and for other social media ideas click here.

In the age of technology, use your connections wisely to let the world know your talents, interests and the jobs that are a good fit for you. Many people get hired this way.

Tags: Facebook, get hired, get noticed, social media, social networks, talents, Twitter
Posted in For Employees | No Comments »

Get Connected to Your Employees

Tuesday, December 15th, 2009

I refuse to use standard employee surveys to gather feedback about how I manage and what employees need to be great in the workplace mostly because I don’t think the standard answers of “agree,” “strongly agree,” or “strongly disagree,” really tell anything.

Today’s managers need information to help them engage and inspire employee performance, but the survey process used by many companies rarely generates meaningful information. Don’t do without this critical information – instead change how you gather it from your employees. You need to know what they know.

In today’s intellectual world, it is important for managers to create a strong working and personal relationship (contact) with each employee. This personal connection allows them to solicit information, share feedback, and help in development; this personal connection is key to inventing a new “share information” process. Try this new approach to gather the information you need to help your employees perform at their best:

Weekly, ask all employees one question – a question that will give you feedback about their attitude, the workplace, their engagement level, their skill level, your effectiveness as a manager, etc.

Then consider the following ways to ask the question:
• E-mail it to the team.
• Post it prior to a staff meeting and ask for responses at the meeting.
• Ask it personally to each employee during the week.
• Post it on the company or department intranet – and ask for responses by a particular date.

Take Action: Each week, ask a new, meaningful question; ask it in a different way. This helps you connect in a more meaningful and personal way with your employees and gather critical information to help them maximize their performance.

Tags: employee feedback, Gather information, get connected, great management, listen to employees, social networks, survey
Posted in For Managers | No Comments »