People Positive Culture

I approach a lot of agency principals to discuss their approach to their company cultures, personnel and the benefits of sound talent management policies on their staffs and their businesses. I ask questions like, “does your staff have clear expectations in their roles and do you provide on –going performance management and development to help them achieve those goals? “Are their goals in alignment with your business goals?” A get a lot of blank stares, nods to let me know they realize I’ve stopped talking and a lot of “oh yeah, we do that” responses when in reality I know they don’t do that. Many of these responses, or similar ones, come from men.

But I started to notice something interesting when I brought up the same questions with female agency principals. A lot of them said that they do in fact have performance management systems, that they have someone on staff who guides and nurtures their staff and the culture of the agency, or they have consulted with someone like me in the past. They tell me they talk about this stuff internally all the time. That it’s a big part of their business.

Do women get the concept of culture and sound talent management driving business success better than men? Are women more in tune to the needs of their employees? Is their inherent nurturing behavior creating more nurturing places to work? As a guy I understand the typical responses of male business owners. “they’re lucky they get a paycheck.” “I pay them for their work, and pay them well. What more do they need?” Men aren’t always as interested in the “soft” sides of their business. Bad mistake.

Employees want to feel like they are taken care of. That they are appreciated. Women might naturally do this better than men. Of course, I’ve seen women who were terrible managers and those who don’t pay much attention to the happiness of their employees. And I’ve seen men who were great at people skills, and great at supporting and empowering employees to succeed through sound management and growth. Some of them are clients and they get it.

It just seems to me in my current travels that I’ve seen more agencies run by women that had a better handle on their people issues than agencies run by men. Sorry guys, you’ve got some work to do.

Oh boy this is gonna be a good one! ‘Cause no one knows what they are doing!

Social media kind of just went splat on our windows and everyone is trying to figure out what to do with it. It gets really complicated when you mix employers with employees and a level of communication that makes things really transparent. And social media negatively or positively affects your personal brand and your company brand. And you have little control over certain aspects of social media. Uh oh.

So what to do?

Employers listen up. You need to establish social media guidelines as company policy. Think common sense. Don’t think George Orwell. I’ve seen some really heavy-handed policies and some really unrealistic expectations of your employees.

It’s OK to tell employees they cannot trash the company, clients, staff, etc. on social media. You have your business to protect and are allowed to do it. No divulging of trade secrets and any confidential information. Be respectful. Be judicious. Common sense stuff. Fine.

It’s not OK to dictate to them what they can post unless it has to do with your company. For example, an employee’s LinkedIn profile is their profile. Don’t tell them what to put on their profile about your company. You can provide suggestions, or marketing-speak to help them represent you well, but they own their profile. They don’t have to do what you say. It’s about them, not you. Unless of course, they are managing your Company’s page or a Group if you have one. Then they are acting as an agent of your firm on social media and you can have more control over that. Telling employees that they have to follow a company-crafted description of the company in their profile is heavy-handed and not fair.

Facebook. Don’t go there. Unless it’s your company’s FB page. Do not friend your employees. Or if you do, don’t follow their feeds. This may sound harsh, but think about it. You see a post from an employee to another employee that seems inappropriate. Maybe harassment. What do you do? You can’t ignore it. You have to address it as if it happened in the office right in front of you. It is best to not expose yourself to this stuff in the first place. Not acting could mean that you condone the behavior.

Is the mobile device that your employee uses for personal social media something you provided them in their job? If so, you own the messages sent through that device. Their work computer is an obvious but people don’t always think of their mobile devices as company property. Twitter posts and Facebook posts done through those devices are under stricter rules than messages sent on personal computers. Hmmm, that poses some issues for both the employer and the….

Employee. Next up: How employees should manage their social media profiles and posts as it relates to their professional brand and their job.

John Lennon once sang…. All I want is the truth now
Just gimme some truth now
All I want is the truth
Just gimme some truth

What I hear from most job seekers is gimme some closure.

The number one complaint candidates for jobs relate to me is that they never hear back from the companies where they interviewed. Had interviews, never heard anything. Sent my resume, never heard anything.

For employers, here is why you should acknowledge people who send resumes and call back people who have interviewed but you did not hire: people talk.

And they are talking in new ways. According to Fast Company, not only are they talking, they are taking it to social media.

http://tinyurl.com/3z2np5y

But, the reasons to reply to people are not to only protect your brand and your reputation. For one, it’s the right thing to do. Second, while the candidate may not be right for your current opening, they may be right in the future for something else with your organization. And, this is not only your brand; this is your recruitment brand. People talk and their network has heard that you, as an employer, do not treat job candidates with respect.

That network may include people you may want to hire. The candidate you did not call back may be a friend to the candidate you do want to hire. Think of the message you are giving both.

Your brand is damaged. Your ability to hire is damaged.

Do they right thing.

Give some closure.

The basics of Recruitment Branding

Reading a recent eye-opening article in Ad Age: Left to Fend for Themselves, Employees Feel No Loyalty to Agencies.

I was reminded that agencies still don’t understand the power of their own staff, and why they should closely manage and grow this asset. It reminded me that I should dust off a whitepaper I wrote on recruitment branding. Recruitment branding is a misnomer; it’s really about retention. Smart agencies know that talent wins the game and they work hard to attract and retain employees. Retention is really the best recruiting strategy. But to grow, you need to attract. When I managed culture and HR for an agency, we had a reputation as one of the best agencies to work for in town. We had people pounding down our doors to work for us. That is the goal in the war for talent and the result of sound recruitment branding.

Benefits of an effective recruitment brand (as listed by idealpeople ltd.)

• Motivates ‘target’ candidates to choose you as an employer

When you are “chosen” you are positioned well in salary negotiations. You do not have to throw money at people to join your organization. They want to join already.

• Promotes strong external Public Relations through ‘word of mouth’.
• Allows for greater consistency of message when ‘selling’ to applicants during the hiring process.
• Enables external recruiters to accurately explain your mission, culture, ethics and goals to potential candidates without direct experience of having worked as an employee of the business.
• Strengthens internal philosophy in what teams of individuals are trying to achieve as a whole and improves retention.

As your recruitment brand is strengthened and you begin to successfully attract the best and most talented candidates, you evolve into an Employer of Choice.

The rules of recruitment branding:

1. Know your company’s compelling story – why should someone want to work for you? The compelling story also becomes part of the culture.
2. Know what former employees say about your company – make sure you conduct honest, exploratory exit interviews.
3. Realize hiring is a 2-way street – have open dialogue during the interview process. It’s not just about you the employer.
4. Don’t have a candidate be grilled by potential future peers in a group interview. The peer interview should only support the hiring managers and company executive interviews…the decision makers.
5. Respond to every applicant that contacts you.
6. Personally call anyone who has interviewed that did not get hired.
7. Hire attitude over skill if possible. Skills can be learned, attitude is ingrained.
8. Realize your brand starts before they send their resume.
9. Have a hiring process and stick to it. “Post job” is not a process.
10. Be honest.
11. On boarding does not mean filling out paperwork. Be prepared and ready for someone to start his or her first day. Have a plan for them. Welcome them.
12. Have growth plans in place for the whole organization. These are “living” documents that constantly change but establish this structure early.
13. Understand that people will leave your company. This can be a positive thing. But will they come back if you want them to?
14. Keep a pool of future hires that fit your company culture and have the right attitude. Realize that sometimes the candidate may be right for your company but the timing or current opportunity is wrong. Be able to find this candidate in the future by staying engaged with them.

Recruitment branding takes work and it takes ownership. It could be one reason why so many agencies don’t pay attention to it. But putting the process in place and instilling it into the way you conduct business will change your recruiting cycles and make you more nimble and successful in growth.