Roberta's Blog | Creating Exceptional Workplaces & Extraordinary Results

It’s Raining Jobs!

By Roberta Matuson | Published January 21, 2013

Is it just me, or have you also noticed the dramatic increase in the number of jobs being posted? It’s as if the floodgates have been opened. If it’s overwhelming to people like me, you can bet those you are trying to attract are feeling the same way. Here are some facts that you may not know about today’s job seeker.

Job Seekers Today are Fairly Lazy. Now before you go sending me hate mail, here’s what I mean. In the old days (three or four years ago), job seekers would be actively pursing their next opportunity. Today (thanks to the Internet) job seekers are sitting back waiting for their morning mail to come in, telling them about new openings.

If you truly want to reach these people, then you need to pull them into your organization and make them take notice. Start with your website. Upon first look, does a job seeker say, “Hey, I could see myself working here!” Or are they clicking right on by without a second look? If you don’t know the answer to this, then simply ask those you are trying to attract for their honest opinion. For example, suppose you are looking for entry-level personnel and you happen to have children or neighbors who might fit the bill. Ask them to take a look at your website as if they were seeking a new opportunity. How long did it take them to find your career page? Were they able to easily submit their resume? Be prepared to make some changes based on the feedback you receive.

Job seekers value specificity. If you try to attract everyone, no one will apply. Sometimes companies post very generic job postings thinking that this will attract a larger pool of candidates when in fact the opposite often happens. Few, if any apply. Stating that you are looking for a candidate with five to 15 years of experience indicates that you most likely don’t have a clue what you are seeking. There may be of course times when you have both a junior level and a senior level position open. In these situations, it’s best to say this in your posting so that job seekers understand you have more than one position available.

Time is a precious commodity to most job seekers. You may think that job seekers have nothing better to do than go online and research exactly where your offices are located or what your company does. And perhaps for some job seekers this is true. However, many of the people you are trying to attract to your firm are currently employed. They are checking job postings in between putting the final touches on a report and eating a sandwich at their desk. Many are time starved and will pass on opportunities that fail to indicate where the position is located or what the company does. Entice job seekers by doing whatever you can to make it easy for them to move to the next step.

As jobs continue to pour in, companies interested in hiring the best will need to do a better job of forecasting what needs to be done in order to make sure the grass looks greener on their side of the lawn.

Posted in Hiring and Recruitment, Talent Acquisition and Retention, Talent Maximization

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Five questions on recruiting talent for your business, with expert Roberta Matuson

By Roberta Matuson | Published January 3, 2013

This interview with me was recently published on Skype’s Workspace Blog. I trust you’ll find the information to be of value.

I spent a lot of time talking with business owners at the Inc. 500 conference in October, and one topic came up continually: how can I recruit more successfully? It was clear to me that many entrepreneurs struggle to get the right people to join their companies.

To provide some solutions, we turned to Roberta Matuson, president of Matuson Consulting. Roberta writes frequently about small businesses’ human resources challenges, including in her blog for Forbes, and for Fast Company and Monster.com. She answered some of our biggest questions.

Where should a small business owner look to find quality job candidates?

First, look from within. Identify your most successful workers’ traits and characteristics. Ask those people “who do you know who’s like you and might be interested in working for us?” You may want to offer a referral bonus.

After that, cast a wider net. Work your network. Make calls and contact other business owners for referrals. Ask at your church, synagogue, the soccer field. Use your LinkedIn network.

If you’re looking for people with very specialized skills, you may need to hire a search firm. I suggest trying through your own network first, however.

Finally, employers often miss their own website. Job aggregators like Simply Hired and Indeed pull from job boards and websites. Make sure your job opening is posted there. It won’t cost you anything.

The bottom line: I suggest less worrying and more action. There’s a good chance you already know of people you’d like to join your company. If you know who you want, reach out to them. Take the time to go out and get them. Be proactive.

What are some ways to keep the time involved in recruiting to a minimum without compromising on quality?

If a business owner is interested in saving time recruiting, I suggest they do a 180 in their mindset. Nothing is more important than getting the right people in your company.

That said, you can make recruiting easier by making your organization “magnetic;” you can create buzz, get good PR, make people know you’re doing great work, and that will help attract the right people.

Make your website appealing to the types of people you want to bring in. If you want to be a “cool company,” your website can’t look like it’s from 1995. You also need to make contact information easy to find. Job seekers in hot industries will move on if it’s not easy for them to contact you.

What advice can you give for conducting a successful interview?

You need to focus on how people say things rather than what they say. Watch their body language and facial expressions. Did they look panicked when you asked what their former boss would say about them? If someone says they are the quickest delivery guy in a lethargic way, be wary.

Also, worry less about your list of questions and engage more in a dialogue. Slow down. Probe the candidate: ask them to give examples, expand on answers. Don’t worry about checking questions off your list.

Finally, if it’s clear the candidate’s not right, end the interview early. That’s fair for both of you.

How can a small business owner convince top talent to join his or her company over larger, more established companies?

It’s actually not about convincing people. If you’re talking to the right people in the first place, it’s because they believe in you.

For that to happen, you need to identify reasons why you’re a better option than a more established company. For example, do your employees work directly with the CEO? Do they have their hands in many different areas? Those things won’t necessarily happen at a bigger company. You need selling points. You won’t necessarily pay what a bigger company will, but people may be drawn to the possibility of being genuinely happy at work every day.

You also need to be willing to do things other CEOs won’t. If you have a great candidate, for example, say “I’d like to take you and your partner out to dinner and you can both ask me any questions you want.” You need to be personal.

How are you seeing Skype used in the recruitment process?

Interviewing on a video call is definitely the next best thing if an in-person interview is not possible. This is particularly the case if companies are recruiting candidates from other cities. I also suggest that you always screen a candidate on a call before meeting in person.

Roberta Chinsky Matuson, who is known globally as The Talent Maximizer, is the President of Matuson Consulting and author of the forthcoming, The Magnetic Workplace (Nicholas Brealey, 2013), Selecting for Success: The Complete Guide to Hiring Top Talent, and Suddenly in Charge: Managing Up, Managing Down, Succeeding All Around, a Washington Post Top-5 Leadership pick. Sign up to receive a complimentary subscription to Roberta’s monthly newsletter, Talent Maximizer.

Posted in Hiring and Recruitment

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Are you Tangled by the Bureaucracy You Created?

By Roberta Matuson | Published December 27, 2012

Your intentions might be good, but in the end has your bureaucracy made it impossible for your managers to swiftly bring in talent? Job Requisitions used to be as popular as shoulder pads in women’s clothing. Thankfully most people have removed the pads and streamlined the hiring process that was weighing them down. Have you done the same in your organization?

Project your hiring needs at the beginning of the year and review your plan quarterly with the understanding that adjustments will be necessary as the needs of the business change. Make this process as simple as possible to avoid having to call a costly all staff meeting for approvals.

Are people in the hiring process that shouldn’t be? It may be nice to have every employee interview every perspective employee but is this really necessary? Decide who should absolutely be involved in this process and give everyone else permission to carry on with their jobs.

Does it take an act of God to have a salary offer approved? Set a salary range and allow the hiring manager to negotiate the details with his or her new hire. There is no need for you to see the offer before it’s given, unless of course you don’t believe your manager is capable of doing his or her job.

A smooth hiring process will accelerate your ability to quickly bring in the talent you need. To do this you must remove the barriers that are preventing you from getting out of your own way.

Make 2013 the year you get yourself untangled.

Posted in Hiring and Recruitment, Management, Talent Acquisition and Retention, Talent Maximization

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Why Your Customer Service Will Never Improve

By Roberta Matuson | Published December 20, 2012

Customer surveys are a joke when they are only meant to tick off boxes. Here’s an example of what I mean by this. I received a call recently from a national hardware and department-store chain asking me to complete a survey on the recent repair of my air conditioner. There were two problems with this request. First, we had a service call (actually, it was three calls) on a dehumidifier and not an air conditioner and second, there was no human on the other end.

But I figured a call was a call, right? So I began to answer the questions. That was until it dawned upon me that if I answered the questions as asked, the repairman would be the one who would suffer. He would receive a dreadfully low score because of my unhappiness, which by the way wasn’t his fault. I gave him all average scores on questions regarding his appearance, politeness, and general demeanor. But here’s the thing. None of this matters because we still do not have a working dehumidifier in our basement and the company has absolutely no information that could help them improve their service.

You would think if the company were so concerned about their levels customer satisfaction, they would have a real person doing the calling, instead of an automated system. Then perhaps I could have provided this person with useful information.

If you’re downright serious about your service levels, then I suggest you do the following:

Empower your customer service people to make decisions. The company in question lost a valuable customer and perhaps many more through people who will hear about my experience. Had they rectified the situation quickly, we wouldn’t even be having this conversation. We are talking about a $199 piece of warrentied equipment that could have easily been replaced.

Stop hiding behind your website. I would have personally contacted the CEO if I was able to locate his e-mail address on the website. I think it’s intentionally hidden, which is a big mistake. Wouldn’t you rather know about a problem so that you could fix it before it goes public?

Ask survey questions that matter. The only question that matters is how satisfied is your customer with the repair or the service they received. The company never asked me this question. They are obviously more concerned with the appearance of reps when in fact they should be more concerned with how the customer is actually feeling.

If you really don’t want to know, don’t ask. I honestly forgot how ticked off I was until I received the call this evening from an automated attendant. I now know why they say you should let sleeping dogs lie.

In this day and age, customers truly do have choices. You may think you are the only game in town, but all one has to do is go online and they can find dozens of providers in dozens of other towns. Now is the time to get serious about high levels of service. As for me, I’m heading to my local hardware store, where at least there will be a human there who is willing to speak directly with customers.

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Live Strong Leadership Lessons-Guest Posting

By Roberta Matuson | Published December 11, 2012

The following is a guest blog post written by Shawn Casemore, who works with businesses to improve operational performance.

The continuing allegations against Lance Armstrong have reached the point of near damning, tarnishing the once spotless reputation of someone who was deemed a true hero by the world. Regardless of whether the allegations are true, Lance and his empire of Nike sponsorship, as well as the Livestrong brand, are diminishing rapidly.

Armstrong’s career has had a variety of ups and downs, the most recent of which will provide the greatest challenge yet for him to overcome. Fortunately, there are some lessons that business leaders can derive from Armstrong’s mistakes to avoid the collapse of their empire:

1. There are no shortcuts.

In his book “Outliers,” Malcolm Gladwell speaks of mastery requiring 10,000 hours of practice to reach, which he connects with business leaders like Bill Gates, who started programming during his early teenage years. There is rarely a shortcut worth taking; rather, greater value is in accelerating results. Business growth requires investment in marketing; employee development requires training and mentoring; customer relationships require effort to nurture and grow. There is no shortcut, but through a regimented and targeted focus, you can accelerate results.

2. Better to say something than nothing.

Steve Jobs was known for his over-the-top responses when an employee presented him with a new idea. The idea was either (insert profanity here), or it was the best idea ever. As a leader, how do you respond to new ideas from employees, customers, or suppliers? Think about the last time an idea you had was shot down quickly by someone. It was clear the idea wasn’t considered for its merit, and in effect it wasn’t appreciated. Consider the means by which you solicit and respond to ideas from those around you. Are you reacting without consideration, or simply not responding at all? In business, silence doesn’t necessarily suggest guilt, as in the case of Armstrong, but it does suggest lack of interest. How motivating is that?

3. Endurance is as important as speed.

In business, speed is often said to be everything. Mere survival is often pegged to being the first; the first to reach a new market; the first to launch a new product; the first to hire skilled employees. But endurance, the ability to sustain a fast pace, is just as important as speed. Remember the United States Football League (USFL)? Trump launched the organization in 1983 as a football league that would operate during the spring and pre-fall seasons so as not to complete with the NFL. Despite the early success of the league, a series of poor franchising decisions and ultimately the decision to compete directly with the NFL resulted in the league ceasing play in 1987. If you’re going to come out of the gate running, be it with an idea, new product, or business investment, you had better be sure the pace is something that you can sustain over the long-term.

I would suspect that the challenges you deal with, and their impact on your reputation and ability to engage with others, is not to the same degree as those of Lance Armstrong. But the fact remains that if you are a business owner or leader, your staff, peers, customers and suppliers all regard you as a professional, with character and strength.

And what do I think will become of Lance Armstrong? He will come clean, write a book, and promote the banning of performance enhancing drugs in sports, of course!

For more information on improving operational performance, visit our website at www.casemoreandco.com.

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Three Reasons Why The Holidays Are a Great Time to Hire Talent

By Roberta Matuson | Published December 5, 2012

In preparation for my forthcoming book, The Magnetic Workplace: How to Attract Top Talent That Will Stick Around (Nicholas Brealey, 2013), I’ve been conducting research with magnetic CEOs to learn how they go about securing top talent, when others are struggling to do so. Here is a sneak peek of what I learned. Great CEOs are always on the lookout for talent, regardless of the month on the calendar. Follow their lead and you too will see some great results.

Here’s why the holidays are a great time to hire talent:

1. Networking opportunities are in full bloom. During the holidays, you are bound to attend a networking event or two or perhaps your spouse is dragging you to yet another holiday party. You’re going to be there, so you may as well make the best of it. Try to find out ahead of time who will be attending the event and see if the host is willing to make an introduction on your behalf. Say hello to the people you’d like to meet and then ask for permission to call them next week to discuss a business matter.

2. Better access to candidates. It’s easier for candidates to slip out the back door without others noticing during the holiday season. Most will assume this person is sneaking out the door to do some Christmas shopping. It’s also not uncommon to come to work dressed in more formal garb, especially since many attend holiday functions that begin right after work. This allows job hunters to come to work dressed as they would for an interview, which makes it easier for you to convince them to come by for an interview.

3. Less competition. Companies tend to focus more on tying up lose ends during the month of December and to many that means finalizing their hiring plans, instead of putting them into action. Smart employers recognize this is the perfect opportunity to get a jump start on the competition. If you know what you are looking for, then stop planning and go out and get these people.

Case Study: Taking Action and Getting Results:

Here’s a recent case study (and a true story) about a CEO who was having an extremely difficult time finding technical sales people with industry specific experience. This CEO had placed his job openings with a number of highly regarded placement agencies, but was still unable to find the people he needed. At lunch, just prior to Thanksgiving, he shared his frustration with me. I told him about one of my clients who had flown across the country to have dinner with a candidate he knew he had to have. It was at that moment, that he realized that he knew exactly who he wanted to hire and these people all knew him. In spite of the fact that it wasn’t exactly the best time to try and convince people to leave their organizations to come work for him, that’s exactly what he did. And you know what? Within a few week’s time, he was fully staffed.

So this holiday season, give yourself permission to do whatever is necessary over the next month to bring in the talent that you need. This will guarantee you’ll be starting off the New Year fully staffed and ready to do business.

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This is How You Get Great Hiring Results

By Roberta Matuson | Published November 20, 2012

A few weeks ago, I had lunch with the CEO of a technology company. During our conversation, he shared with me his challenges around hiring the right sales people for his organization. You see, his business requires some very specific experience that isn’t easy to find. He told me that he had placed these jobs with headhunters and was still unable to find the right people.

Here’s the funny thing, he knew exactly who he wanted to hire and these people all knew him. By the end of lunch, I convinced him to go out get these people. And you know what? He actually did. Today I received the news that he had hired 3 sales people, by simply deciding who he wanted and “going out and getting them.”

This is how you get results people. You work with an expert who can swiftly guide you and then you go into action.

I’ll be revealing more about this CEO in my forthcoming book, The Magnetic Workplace: How to Attract Top Talent That Will Stick Around. But if you can’t wait, give me a call and I’ll be glad to answer your questions and help you put a plan into place so you can do the same.

Posted in Hiring and Recruitment, Talent Acquisition and Retention, Talent Maximization

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Good to Great

By Roberta Matuson | Published November 18, 2012

Thanks to Jim Collins, everyone wants to go from good to great. Ask they why and they’ll tell you they don’t know; they just have to go from good to great. When I hear this, I always think this will be another flavor of the month program, unless of course Collins releases a new book. Then the mantra will change.

If you want to go from good to great, you have to be able to define what great looks like for your organization. Then you have to be willing to take a look at where you really are so you can make a realistic plan to get to where you want to go. As you prepare for business success in 2013, consider implementing one or two programs that will move your company forward a mile, rather than an inch. Be willing to accept that 2013 may be the year you go from okay to good. But hey, that sure beats going in the opposite direction.

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Clearing Your Airways So Everyone Can Breathe

By Roberta Matuson | Published November 16, 2012

Quick, how many people are sitting in your office right now who shouldn’t be? These are the people who are clogging the airways of your organization and making it difficult for your company to breathe. You must let go so you can move forward. I understand that many of you may be thinking that the holiday season isn’t a good time to deliver bad news. I can tell you from personal experience that there is never a good time to deliver bad news. That doesn’t mean you have to be heartless. Put together a package that will ease the transition.

Sometimes maximizing talent requires making tough decisions. Clearing your company’s airways will provide room for you to breathe and grow your business. Now take a deep breathe and move forward.

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Increasing Profitability by Giving Your Managers An Extra 8 Hours a Week

By Roberta Matuson | Published November 12, 2012

In a recent survey developed by Robert Half and conducted by an independent research firm it was discovered that on average, supervisors spend 17 percent of their time — nearly one day per week — overseeing poorly performing employees. However, managers aren’t the only ones to suffer the effects of a bad hire. Ninety-five percent of respondents said a poor hiring decision at least somewhat impacts the morale of the team, with more than one-third (35 percent) saying morale is greatly affected.

“Bad hires are costly, not just for the drain they place on the budget but also in terms of lost morale, productivity and time,” said Max Messmer, chairman and CEO of Robert Half International. “Underperforming employees also require significant attention from employers, distracting managers from business-critical initiatives and causing other team members to pick up the slack. Bad personnel decisions rarely happen by chance. In retrospect, managers usually discover they failed to give proper attention to the hiring process.”

How much more profitable would your company be if you could give your managers back almost 8 hours a week? You can, and I’m here to help. Employee selection is the most important responsibility a manager has, yet many don’t have a clue on how to do this. It’s a heck of a lot easier to get it right when you know what you are doing. I’ve put together Selecting for Success: The Complete Guide to Hiring Top Talent for those who do best with a road map. I invite you to download a copy by clicking here. I guarantee you won’t be disappointed. Don’t waste another 8 hours, as time is quickly passing you by.

Posted in Hiring and Recruitment, Performance Management, Productivity, Talent Maximization

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