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Posts Tagged ‘recruiting’
Wednesday, April 18th, 2012
 The Hiring Process 101: The Legwork of Recruiting: Job Details, Selection Team and Planning
PART 2 of a three-part series
Want to find out how and where to begin your hiring and recruitment process to achieve better results?
We’ve summarized some key points on planning here. Watch for additional tactics to come in Part 3.
At Centennial, Inc., we align ourselves with good business partners to round out our expertise. Here, Centennial’s Mike Sipple, Jr. and Stratum U.S.A.’s Jerry Howard have co-authored a three-part series on the ins and outs of hiring, from the planning stage to the start date.
Read Part 2 below.
Read Part 1
The Legwork of Recruiting: Job Details, Selection Team and Planning
Following the right process is essential to helping you make the best hiring decisions possible.
First comes a little legwork. This crucial planning phase involves preparing the necessary background information pertaining to the job and how it fits into your organization.
At the outset, you will need to:
1. Create a clear and compelling job description.
- Make the job description attractive and give it some personality — one that aligns with your company’s culture.
- Define the reporting relationships and the nature of the business, as well as how the job fits into achieving your organization’s mission and vision.
- Describe the challenges and opportunities of the position — and make sure it meets your business needs (especially if you feel missteps have been made before).
- Ask yourself “What are the must-haves?” and “What are the nice-to-haves?” for the ideal candidate’s experience and skill sets.
- Know you’ll need to give and take on the must-haves due to market conditions. Be prepared and stay realistic. You are seeking real talent with real experiences.
- Set out to find someone who has most, if not all of the key attributes to be successful. Find a mix of the right skill set, behaviors and abilities. Look for the unique behaviors that can drive the success.
- Bear in mind that behaviors can be staged to match what the clever recruit thinks you are looking for at that time.
- Talent, passion and energy should never be underestimated.
Remember, hiring is not always perfect. It’s not an exact science.
2. Assemble an experienced and informed selection team.
We recommend limiting the selection team to as few people as possible to streamline the process. Include only the key decision makers for the hiring process, and those who will influence the hiring — call it the “true selection team.”
When working with a recruiting firm, make sure they have direct access to the entire selection team including the chief decision maker. Include them early and often.
Why use a search firm?
A search firm can help the selection team align on goals and establish priorities for candidates and their experience. This is an imperative part of the search process. Experts who specialize in hiring help you determine the right blend of your desired criteria. We are experts at aligning leadership and talent with your current culture, or your desired culture.
3. Define and align on clear goals for determining the ideal hire.
The selection team should think through and agree upon ahead of time what is acceptable for the desired skill set and ability areas.
For example, is 7 out of 10, or 8 out of 10 skills enough to hire? In many cases, the answer is “absolutely.” But all too often, these conversations or debates take place late in the game, while the best candidate sits and awaits your feedback.
A candidate’s talent, experience, leadership and culture fit might align so well that you might decide that you can teach the technical. However, for technical, project-specific or industry-specific functional positions, you may also have to identify two or three key focus areas where you have to bring that key person up to speed.
What’s most critical in a candidate is to find a track record of successful behaviors and skills that can accomplish your goals and objectives.
4. Planning and timing
The more upfront planning you can do, the better.
When it comes to identifying people, timing for your business is critical — but know that the timetable for identifying the right person might not align with your business timing. Selecting and hiring the best candidate is not as simple as purchasing a new piece of software or hiring a new service provider, for instance.
Consider hiring a recruitment firm to act as an expert resource and “buffer” to follow up and report back across the team. We understand that everyone is always busy with other priorities, so having an expert on board can bring alignment and keep your process moving.
Key points on timing:
- Think through when you need the person to start — and always start the process and communications several months before you need the talent on-board.
- Work with your team to set the timetable and determine availability — because everyone has professional and personal agendas to manage.
- Give yourself an extra two to four weeks to compensate for the unexpected, if at all possible.
- Keep in mind that the more adjustments or changes you make along the way, the more time the process could take. However, using the process to help you align and make adjustments is critical to getting the right hire.
- Try not to get frustrated during the first few weeks of the process. Trust that your clarity and upfront planning will pay off.
- Make timely decisions so the “A” candidate is still available.
In short, the more clearly defined planning and priorities you establish up front, the more streamlined the process is likely to be. Clarity counts!
COMING UP NEXT IN PART 3:
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Tags: attracting talent, centennial, Centennial Inc, executive recruiting, Hartman Values Assessment, hiring, hiring process, Inc., Jerry Howard, Mike Sipple Jr., mike sipple sr, randy pound, recruiting, selection team, Stratum, talent management, talent pipeline, talent planning, talent selection, tj bugg
Posted in Communication, Corporate Culture, Hiring & Recruiting, Interviewing, Recruiting & Executive Search, Succession Planning | No Comments »
Thursday, March 29th, 2012
The Benefits of Having an Executive Search and Recruiting Partner
How many times over the last 12 months have you either said or heard one of the following statements voiced during a hiring process?
- Everyone is underemployed or unemployed; so we should be able to hire talent quickly at all levels of the organization and within any function.
- Candidates are ready to jump for any new opportunity presented to them, according to recent polls, articles and news feeds.
- In this economy, we should be able to hire whomever we want.
- People should want to jump at the opportunity to work for us.
You can quote me on this: The comments above are all outdated and uninformed perspectives.
We maintain that our clients must be better prepared—now more than ever—to attract, sell and engage the right talent in the recruiting pipeline to fulfill the needs of the organization.
Having a recruiting & search expert on your team will help you:
- Get started
- Build a plan and process
- Create a clear strategy
- Foster alignment among the team
- Ensure you are not over-screening or screening out the best suited talent
- Enable you to tap into the “Right” candidate pool versus those who apply for your opportunity.
A talent and recruitment expert will ask the tough questions, not only of your leadership team and hiring authorities, but also of the selected candidates. We take down the proverbial elephants in the room.
Recruiting and Executive Search experts will also take the appropriate steps to ensure your team understands where your hiring successes and missteps are, or have been.
In short, an expert can help you align your overall business objectives with your talent strategies and plans.
We understand that your time, efforts and strengths need to stay focused on where you can make the greatest impact for your business. Our time, efforts and strengths will be focused on where we can make the greatest impact for your business: helping you find and hire the “Right” talent for your needs.
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Tags: attracting talent, becky scheeler, business adviser, Centennial Inc, executive recruiting, executive search, Mike Sipple Jr., mike sipple sr, randy pound, ranny muasher, recruiting, talent management, talent partner, talent planning, tj bugg
Posted in Communication, Corporate Culture, Hiring & Recruiting, Recruiting & Executive Search, Succession Planning | No Comments »
Tuesday, December 20th, 2011
It’s that time of year! Organizations are involved and engaging executive search & talent strategy firms in conversations on how to make ‘Next Year’ the best year ever as it relates to attracting and hiring the right people! How do we take our key learning’s and challenges of this year and substantially enhance our recruiting and talent acquisition efforts? While this is a great time of the year to plan…let’s TRULY strive to make next year long-lasting by hiring the right people in the right seats who will be encouraged and engaged to utilize their strengths each and every day.
This is the year where your employment brand and recruiting efforts will mean more than ever as the talent war continues to intensify. [Check out Part 1 and Part 2 of The Talent War Has Begun!] Finding the “A” talent will never be more difficult and more rewarding – together let’s make sure we are victorious!
Many of our clients are experiencing the impact of thinking outside the box once again…it is not a matter of having a great post on CareerBuilder or Monster and the hundreds of resumes that come with it. It is about finding the right talent who will be the top performers your organization deserves.
I have been sharing all year that we are in an employee’s market vs. an employer’s market. “A” talent is simply more difficult today to attract, recruit and retain than ever before. This year will be a year where this is amplified as talent becomes more scarce and companies do more to engage their talent. What would you expect if you were being recruited to a new opportunity?
- You would expect to be attracted to an organization and culture where your values and their values align.
- You would seek an opportunity where your goals, personally and professionally, align with the organizations goals.
- You would most likely seek an organization who truly values and lives out community engagement. Why? Because this is what employees value…and this has been proven to improve employee moral & employee engagement.
It’s up to you so let’s think through some questions to ask ourselves to ensure we are recruiting and attracting the best talent for our companies! If your hiring managers and people leaders have the answers to the questions below you are FAR AHEAD of the Competition. If you don’t have answers let’s start working on them!
- What is your strategy to find great people that your competitors can’t and don’t find?
- What does the marketplace think of when they think of your employment brand?
- Are the people you find the best people you can find, or the first people you could find, or the easiest people for you to find?
- Did last years strategies attract many eagles or too many turkeys?
What are your responses to this initial list of questions….share it with us and let’s create conversation to assist each other in our efforts!
Mike Sipple Jr. is Vice President of Centennial, Inc., an executive recruiting, talent strategy and career coaching firm. Mike is passionate about attracting, recruiting, developing, engaging and retaining top talent for changing and growing organizations.
Learn more about Mike and his organization by visiting visit www.centennialinc.com.
Connect with Mike on Twitter / LinkedIn / Facebook
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Tags: annual planning, annual talent plan, attracting talent, branding, corporate branding, employee retention, employment brand, hiring talent, recruiting, recruiting best practices, recruiting strategy, setting a talent plan, strengths based leadership, talent acquisition, talent engagement, talent planning, talent strategy, world class recruiting strategy
Posted in Employee Engagement, Employment Brand, Hiring & Recruiting, Recruiting & Executive Search, Succession Planning | 2 Comments »
Tuesday, July 19th, 2011
Depending on the size of your organization you may spend thousands or even millions of dollars managing the brand of your products and services.
Managing a brand is the effort of managing your unique product or service offerings, why customers should buy from you and why your consumers should trust your product to meet or exceed their expectations.
Employment branding is the perception and reality of what it is like to work and do business with your organization.
Who defines your employment brand?
Your current employees, passive and active candidates, suppliers, vendors, clients, prospects, past employees and your key stakeholders.
Your employment brand is the most critical brand you should be investing in – it is critical to winning the war on talent. We encourage you to continue investing in your employment branding if you are currently. If you are not, it is time to step up your game. What if you do not? Your competitors will be happy to attract the ‘top talent’ to their organization…
An effective employment brand will make an impact on your entire talent management process. It will assist you in attracting and recruiting key leaders to your organization. It will enable you to develop and engage your talent. It will make a significant impact on your retention efforts of the best and brightest.
“The art and science of employer branding is therefore concerned with the attraction, engagement and retention initiatives targeted at enhancing your company’s employer brand.” Brett Minchington
Just as you invest money to attract, recruit, engage and retain your key clients, customers and consumers you should be investing in your current and future employees.
Take the lead! Create short-and-long-term dividends by investing upfront in your employment value proposition, marketplace perceptions, and employee realities.
Is it an investment?
Absolutely – it will take time and extensive effort but it will be worth the investment! Engage your executive team, leadership team, people managers and everyone else in the organization and start leading your employment brand today.
During the journey ask great questions, be authentic and care about each and every last individual who has come in contact with your organization.
~Your Executive Search & Recruiting Adviser
Mike Sipple Jr, Vice President – Executive Recruiter / Talent Aquisition Expert / Business Advisor
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Tags: attracting talent, employer brand, employment brand, employment branding, engaging talent, executive recruiting, executive search, recruiting, retaining talent, talent value proposition
Posted in Communication, Corporate Culture, Employee Engagement, Employment Brand, Hiring & Recruiting, Leadership, Motivation & Inspiration, Recruiting & Executive Search | 2 Comments »
Tuesday, July 12th, 2011
“When does our organization’s executive search & recruiting process start?”
It’s an active process that is developing every moment of every day, as your employment brand perpetually communicates the value you are placing on:
- The values your organization lives out – not simply what is written in the lobby
- The true ‘culture fit’ of your company
- The chemistry dynamics of individuals and teams within your organization
- The probability of success
- The scope of developing, engaging and retaining the ‘best’ talent to hit your goals and objectives
- The impact an employee will experience if they accept an opportunity with your organization
- The short and long-term challenges a hired candidate will have if they accept the position
- Growth and succession planning
- Professional and personal time
- The truth – what it is really like to work at your company
- Authenticity – never before has authentic leadership and authentic culture been more important to leaders
- Passion – every “A” player wants to join a passionate team that has a consistent and constant desire to succeed!
If you believe the recruiting process starts when you or your HR department ‘finally’ get around to posting a position externally, it is time to have a crucial conversation with your leadership team, people managers and key stakeholders to discuss how you can best position your employment brand and proactively attract the right candidates to your organization.
What question should we ask to start this meeting?
Watch this video and ask your leadership team to be critical of your recruiting and hiring processes. If you want to recruit the best talent you must have a culture that attracts the best!
To Recruit Top Talent You Must Have A Culture That Attracts Leaders
~Your Executive Search & Recruiting Advisor
Mike Sipple Jr, Vice President – Executive Recruiter / Talent Acquisition Expert / Business Advisor
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Tags: best places to work, centennial, company culture, company values, employee engagement, employment brand, executive recruiting, executive search, Inc., Leadership, mike sipple, recruiting, retention, succession, succession planning
Posted in Corporate Culture, Employee Engagement, Employee Retention, Employment Brand, Hiring & Recruiting, Leadership, Motivation & Inspiration, Recruiting & Executive Search, Succession Planning | No Comments »
Thursday, December 9th, 2010
Generated by: Facebook Members
I was recently asked to share what defines “A” players in the marketplace when recruiting leadership and key talent. The client asked, “what characteristics and traits should we be seeking if we truly want to recruit “A” talent to join our organization – executive leadership, management team and key people leader positions”. Although I could speak about this topic all day long, and technically do, I thought this would make for a great conversation with our blog readers!
First, let me share that this mindset in and of itself is unique. Too many organizations get comfortable in what has been successful and never move the needle beyond the point of yesterday’s success. This client, however, saw an opportunity to capitalize on what success looks like for the future. It’s exciting to partner with companies that are action and results-oriented!
They wanted to complement what has made them successful in the past decades with what will make them successful in the future! They truly do want to soar beyond where they are today…and
Second, I proceeded to share with them that an “A” candidate for one client does not equal an “A” candidate for another. However, after thinking through this organization’s request, I realized there are certainly traits that are consistent of top talent today.
Below is an initial list of traits that I believe define “A” candidates and top talent in today’s ever-changing environment. This list constantly evolves based on key learning’s from our client engagements and the dynamic definition of ideal talent in today’s marketplace. That said, here is my perspective today on what defines “A” talent:
Top 10 Attributes That Identifies “A” Talent
The executive and human resource team that asked this question is leading a growing organization in the consumer package goods and distribution industries and has been wildly successful over many decades. They are reaching for a new level of success and being challenged by the ever changing customer demands and the consumer/customer centric movement. During our engagement together we have been focusing on their identified strengths while recruiting leadership and talent that will stretch their minds and business beyond where they are today as they seek the desired next level of success.
What would you add to this list? What traits do you seek in top candidates and “A” leadership? What traits do you see as the ‘driving motivators’ of selecting the right candidates? How do you benchmark these traits among candidates?
Mike Sipple Jr. is Vice President of Centennial, Inc., an executive recruiting, talent strategy and career coaching firm. Mike is passionate about attracting, recruiting, developing, engaging and retaining top talent for changing and growing organizations. As a second generation recruiting executive this business is thought to be a calling!
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Tags: attracting talent, centennial, employment brand, executive leadership, executive search, hiring, Interviewing, Leadership, leadership characteristics, recruiting, talent acquisition, talent assessment, talent succession
Posted in Employee Engagement, Employment Brand, Hiring & Recruiting, Interviewing, Leadership, Motivation & Inspiration, Recruiting & Executive Search, Succession Planning | No Comments »
Monday, June 14th, 2010
When asked about leadership challenges in today’s ever-changing marketplace, Mike Sipple Jr’s first comment is, “CHANGE is the new NORMAL!”
During a recent discussion about leadership and talent challenges, Jr. shared his perspective…
- Employee engagement. Everyone is talking about it…very few are taking action. Leaders need to ensure their best people are highly engaged and have a sense of security, ownership, camaraderie and excitement for what their organization is about and the impact they are making. Today too many leaders have one foot in and one foot out of the proverbial revolving door. If leaders can get their employees truly engaged and ignite passion by involving them in the business and nurturing relationships both professionally and personally, it will help minimize disengagement and the revolving door syndrome.
- Dealing with the uncertainty and communication. Leaders need to have clear and concise communication to build trust and engage and motivate their employees, yet so few do this as they may not be 100% certain about the details. We encourage our clients to communicate versus leaving their leaders in the blind. By maintaining a high level of commitment to communicate, they create more security, resulting in higher levels of trust for employees. As Stephen M.R. Covey states in his book Speed of Trust: ”…trust is the one thing that changes everything. You want to make an impact on your organization and the leaders who run it….focus on building trust.”
- Leaders need to look at and consider new ways of doing things. They should ask, Who are we? Who do we sell to? What should we focus on? They may need to look at distribution channels, sales channels, client diversification and more. It’s possible that changes need to be made – perhaps changing the mix of product/service offerings, remaining with core expertise, forming alliances with other companies to outsource/partner to deliver the best quality and value to clients. Strengths should be considered and creatively leverage.
What do you see as the major challenges facing leaders today?
I invite you to share your thoughts and comments with us…
Mike Sipple Jr. is Vice President of Centennial, Inc., an executive recruiting, talent strategy and career coaching firm. Mike is passionate about attracting, recruiting, developing, engaging and retaining top talent for changing and growing organizations. As a second generation recruiting executive this business is thought to be a calling!
Learn more about Mike and his organization by visiting visit www.centennialinc.com.
Connect with Mike on Twitter / LinkedIn / Facebook
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Tags: employee engagement, employment brand, innovation, Leadership, recruiting, talent engagement
Posted in Employee Engagement, Employee Retention, Employment Brand, Hiring & Recruiting, Leadership, Social Media, Succession Planning | 1 Comment »
Friday, May 21st, 2010
 We get asked this question all the time…Mike Sipple Jr. weighs in to share his thoughts and opinions!
“The first step is to be sure you truly know what you’re looking for. Who are the decision-makers in the process? Have you all met around a table to agree upon what the ideal candidate profile looks like?
Have you agreed upon the benchmarks for the candidate evaluation? What do you want to be different than the last leader who held the position? What similarities and differences do you want in the next candidate compared to the past individual and others on the leadership team?
What behaviors should you be looking for in candidates? What are the behaviors needed today, and what’s needed to get your company where it needs to be in the future?
Once these questions (and more!) have been answered and agreed upon, we suggest you start by looking to an outside advisor who specializes in the process of recruiting and attracting talent. Also, look to people in your network who know you and what you are about. Who do you know and trust? Who understands and appreciates your business and culture? Who can identify and refer you the leadership and talent that will fit your organization?
This is where Centennial is especially strong, because we’re constantly out meeting people and networking. We are regularly communicating with the top leaders, whether they’re currently looking for opportunities or waiting for the “right time.” We invest the time with our clients to understand goals & objectives, challenges, opportunities and “fit” and match this to the leaders who can meet and/or exceed expectations.
If your preference is to use the job board process, that’s ok too, as long as you have the proper expectations. In this scenario, you’re really only looking at the best of who applied. There’s a difference between this approach, versus proactively communicating a message, networking and searching for candidates. You may be able to find an “A” player on a job board, but how can you be sure? How could you benchmark that?
It’s critical to understand and clearly communicate not only “what” you’re looking for, but also “who” you’re looking for. The “what” is defined by the role, responsibilities, and critical success factors to meet goals and objectives. The “who,” which is equally as important, is defined by the intangibles – chemistry, culture and character. They key is knowing both “who” and “what” you want, so you’re able to hit the target on the first round and the bulls-eye on the second round!”
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Tags: candidate engagement, employment brand, recruiting, recruiting process, recruiting talent, talent acquisition, talent engagement, talent retention
Posted in Employee Engagement, Employee Retention, Employment Brand, Hiring & Recruiting, Leadership, Recruiting & Executive Search | 1 Comment »
Friday, May 21st, 2010
When asked, “What should be included in a job description to ensure highly qualified candidates?”, Mike Sipple Sr. shares the following with his clients and relationships.
You should create the job requisition, which typically includes a list of criteria. You should then sit down with the decision maker and the people who will be influential to this role – ideally in a group meeting. Ask for feedback; ask for what’s missing; ask for what’s really needed to be successful in this role. This process tends to get more into the culture, character and chemistry fit. The experience and skills are a given today. You have to be able to do the job, but you must also be a fit with the ‘intangibles.’
As you gather this information from the influencers and decision-makers, you must be able to get consistent feedback and a consensus on what the ideal candidate needs to possess. If you don’t have a group discussion and clear consensus of what you are and are not seeking, it will only cause disagreement regarding potential candidates later. It’s critical to get consistent feedback from the whole team – it can’t be just one person’s input. Typically more than one individual will be involved in the final decision as you hire a new executive and leader.
You should also consider what the role will be six months to two years from now. Consider what will be needed and recruit accordingly today for what’s required in the future. Part of the candidate assessment should determine if the person has the ability and/or interest to grow into that bigger role as they progress in that career position.
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Tags: executive search, hiring, Interviewing, job descriptions, Leadership, qualified candidates, recruiting
Posted in Employee Retention, Employment Brand, Hiring & Recruiting, Leadership, Recruiting & Executive Search, Succession Planning | 3 Comments »
Friday, May 21st, 2010
T.J. Bugg’s thoughts on how to attract the ‘right’ talent to your organization:
“You have to create a work environment where people want to be. This doesn’t mean you work thirty hours a week and make better money than anyone. What is does mean is that you understand who you are and what kind of people will be successful there.
Each company is unique and sometimes they’re even unique down to the department-level of the company. You must understand what that culture is and why someone would value working within that culture. Different people value different things. You have to find out what they enjoy and what they can tolerate to be sure there’s a good fit.”
Check out more thoughts and advice from T.J. Bugg
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Tags: attracting talent, company culture, Corporate Culture, employment brand, hiring, recruiting, talent
Posted in Corporate Culture, Employee Engagement, Employment Brand, Hiring & Recruiting, Recruiting & Executive Search | No Comments »
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