WorkPuzzle

Facebook Is Going Gray - Part 2

As the demographics of Facebook skew towards an older crowd, will the catalyst that allows businesses to better engage the Facebook masses change?  There are some people who think so.

Jefferson Graham wrote an article in USA Today last week that highlights two ways that businesses are now engaging customers via Facebook.

1.  Fan Pages - Fan pages are free Facebook sites that allow a Facebook user to “follow” a company.  Originally, these pages were created for celebrities (ex. You can identify yourself as a fan of Shaquille O'Neal), but companies soon joined suit and created their own fan pages. 

Some small businesses have had success with these pages.  Graham highlights a nightclub in Hermosa Beach, CA that has a “fan base” of 650 Facebook users.  The nightclub sends its fans frequent information regarding specials, discounts, and events.

However, while there are more than 100,000 small business fan pages on Facebook, not many companies are successful at using this method to promote business, (although the article does highlight several exceptions).  The common thread for success with this strategy is consistently offering something of value to the end user.  If you expect people to engage with your business out of goodwill or to gain a sense of community, you’ll be disappointed.  It’s like feeding a stray cat...If you continue to feed it, it’ll stick around. 

2.  Targeted Advertising - This is where it gets interesting.  Graham reports:

“Advertisers can now choose pay-per-click ads similar to Google's auction-based ad program, bidding on words and paying when someone clicks on their ad, or traditional ads based on 'impressions,' or the number of times an ad is presented.”

That’s not too exciting in and of itself, but think about the information Facebook has about its users—much more than Google could produce in a random internet search.  

“Marketers increasingly are gravitating to Facebook because they can advertise to a targeted audience, says Emily Riley, an analyst at Forrester Research.  She says marketers can pick and choose consumers based on public information they share on their Facebook profiles, such as the city they live in, the college they attended, their group affiliations and their fan pages.

‘You can literally find a book lover in New York who is a fan of Stephen King,’ says Riley. ‘That is gold for a local book seller.  Brides tell their friends they're engaged, and wedding vendors can run ads specifically targeted to them.’”

This type of targeting is remarkable (and a little scary), but must be applied correctly if it is going to benefit a given business.  The types of products and services that are easily promotable in Facebook are those which are transactional in nature.  More specifically...the things that you can buy over the internet after viewing an advertisement.

This is where the demographic changes will have the largest impact.  Older users are able to buy a much wider range of products and services, and they have more money to spend.  Also, they feel less awkward about buying things within the framework of a social network.  After all, they did not get involved in Facebook for the same reasons younger people got involved.  Therefore, they will not feel the same level of annoyance when someone tries to market to them.

Where does this leave the hiring manager or recruiter who is trying to leverage the power of Facebook in their business?  With regard to soliciting candidates, it would be difficult to apply either of the two previously mentioned methods of engaging Facebook users... However, social networks are a natural support to traditional word-of-mouth marketing.  This will continue.  But, unfortunately, marketing on a large scale basis to candidates via this channel will probably remain uncomfortable and expensive.

Facebook Is Going Gray

Over the last couple of years, there has been a large number of marketers, business owners, and even recruiting professionals, who have been trying to figure out how to leverage social networks to their advantage. 

It’s been an awkward exercise.  Business professionals are attempting to take a tool that was created (and became wildly popular) for a specific purpose, and manipulate it in a way that will produce a result that is much more self-serving.  The participants in these social networks sense this, and often turn a deaf ear to these sorts of efforts.

However, change may be on the horizon... Not because the young people in these social networks have suddenly become tolerant of marketing messages, but because the make-up of the networks is changing.  Take a look at what the San Francisco Chronicle reported last week:

“Long a hangout for college students, the social-networking giant has morphed into a virtual parlor for the middle-aged, according to a new study.

People 35 to 54 are now the biggest age group on the Web site, accounting for 28.2 percent of all U.S. users as of July, according to iStrategyLabs, an online marketing firm.  Following close behind are 24- to 34-year-olds, who represent 25.2 percent of users.

The 18-to-24 age group accounted for 25.1 percent of users, down from 40.8 percent in January, the study found.  Those 17 and under made up 9.8 percent of the Web site's users, down from 13.5 percent.”

The shift in populations using these networks is remarkable.  Notice the research documents this change has happened “since January.”  On the surface, it would appear that there has been a major exodus of young people from the network, but this is not the case.

“The findings reflect a major evolution at Facebook, which until January was dominated by young adults, some of whom famously festoon their profiles with photos of beer bashes and belly buttons.  Although their numbers continue to grow on the service, younger users have been overtaken by their seniors, who are joining at a faster rate.

Since January, the number of new users between ages 35 to 54 grew 190 percent, to 20.2 million, according to the study.  New users 55 and older grew 590 percent, to 5.9 million.”

Tomorrow, I’ll share some more regarding how businesses are already using this shift to their advantage... It doesn’t take long for people to innovate on these types of changes.  In the meantime, don’t be afraid to invite your parents to be your friend on Facebook - It may not be long until they’re showing you how this social networking thing is done!

The Best Laid Plans - Part 2

Hopefully, you’ve had some time to consider yesterday’s questions about the differential that sometime develops between the plans we make and the actual results that we achieve.  Picking up from where we left off yesterday... In her work, would it be better for my wife to lower her expectations to ensure she meets her objectives, or continue to set expectations that are high, with the knowledge that she may fall short?  Under which set of circumstances would she be farther ahead in the end?

Dave Mashburn and I spent some time on a plane yesterday traveling to the midwest for business meetings and had some time to discuss the topic.  Fortunately, there is quite a bit of research on the topic of expectations, so there are some principles that can be applied to this question.

Mikaly Csikszentmihaly, the researcher who discovered and writes extensively on the topic of psychological flow, has documented that humans experience a higher sense of engagement in their work when they push themselves to reach goals that are not easily attained.  Putting together a plan that can be quickly accomplished with 100% certainty will only produce boredom—psychological flow is not achieved in this state.

On the other hand, setting objectives that are so far above a person’s ability to achieve them, creates a sense of anxiety and despair.  We’ve all been put into “no-win” situations that quickly frustrate our sense of well-being and ability to achieve.  Without a way to work ourselves out of a situation, the only choice is to give up and succumb to "failure."
 
There is a balance that must be attained between these two options in order for my wife to consistently experience psychological flow in her work.  The best position for optimal accomplishment is right at the edge of anxiety.  Crossing over this mark by setting goals that are unattainable, would put her in a constant state of anxiety.  (As if having six kids around the house wasn't enough to do this!)  Consistently operating below the edge of anxiety would trap her in a state of boredom or complacency.  In addition to accomplishing much less, this level of effort will not lead to a sense of fulfillment.

Don't worry, you don't need to take up home schooling to apply these principles to your life!  In your work, attempt to set goals that force you to operate at the edge of anxiety.  These goals will stretch your abilities and cause you to make the greatest contribution possible.   

The Best Laid Plans

If you are a consistent WorkPuzzle reader, you know how passionate we feel about developing a plan, working that plan, and then measuring the results.  This simple formula is the basis for success and effectiveness in many realms of life and business.  Last weekend, my wife gave me some additional insight into this principle that is worth sharing.

About ten years ago, my wife and I made the decision to home school our children.  At the time, we committed to try home schooling my oldest son for a year, and see how it went.  Each year, we re-evaluated this decision in an attempt to determine if it was the best educational option for our children.  Maybe we became delusional along the way, but my oldest son is now a junior in high school, and my wife is home schooling five of our six kids!

One of the reasons that she has been successful at home schooling is because she develops a plan each semester and then does her best to follow the plan in her daily activities.  To help in this process, she takes a few days each summer and a few days each winter to develop her plan for the upcoming semester.

Last weekend, she locked herself in a hotel room for three days to develop her plan for this fall’s semester.  During these planning sessions, it is my job to watch our kids and make sure she has uninterrupted time to put her plan together.  No deaths or major injuries over the weekend, so I accomplished my part of the mission!

As we debriefed from the weekend’s activities on Sunday evening, my wife expressed a frustration that surprised me.  I always thought the difficult part of her job was conceptualizing the academic plans for a set of children at diverse ages and developmental levels.  Or, I thought perhaps her biggest frustration might be trying to figure out a daily schedule that allows her one-on-one time with each child to teach lessons.  I was wrong on both accounts.

The most frustrating part of her job is coming to terms with the differential that naturally develops between the plan that she puts together each year, and the actual results that she accomplishes.  I’m not trying to suggest that she does a poor job of executing her daily activities.  She is one of the most tenacious people I’ve ever met, and she does a wonderful job at following through.  However, she sets very high expectations and therefore does not always meet all the objectives in her plan.  This is, by far, her largest frustration.

As we talked through this issue, we wondered which was more effective: 

(1) Developing a plan with high expectations and then falling short during the execution phase of the plan. 

or...

(2) Developing a more reasonable plan and ensuring that every objective and task associated with the plan is accomplished. 

Which frame of reference would put her further ahead in the end?  Also, which philosophy is better for maintaining the long-term motivation required to be successful over time?

We’ll discuss this more tomorrow.  But, in the meantime, try to answer these questions for yourself.  As you put your plans together and attempt to execute successfully, are you falling short of your goals or consistently meeting/exceeding them?

Relationship Farming

Whether you manage, recruit, or sell, there is nothing more important than your ongoing task of building relationships. 

My 24 year-old son, who is a an account manager at a Seattle radio station, recently sent me a very  good article.  The article, Relationship Farming Starts With Creating A "Wow" Experience, helps remind us all of the importance of relationship building through the analogy of farming.

Terry Brock , president of Orlando, Florida based Achievement Systems says:

"Building quality, profitable relationships in business is much like farming, or what I call relationship farming.

Like the farmer who keeps us all alive, you have to study the soil (know what is happening in the world and environment of your customers), plant the seeds (send your message in a positive, respectful way), nurture the plants (provide continued benefits), allow for ample moisture and fertilizer (keep providing what the customer needs) and be around for harvest (have systems in place to process sales).

Then when all the work is finished, it is time to begin for next year.

But how do you keep those wonderful, delightful people who pay our bills (call them customers, clients, members, guests — whatever) happy?

Keep creating experiences that make customers say 'wow' when they deal with you.

See customers’ experiences from their point of view.  What do they have to deal with in your business?  In the market you serve, what are the major problems people encounter?  Why are they buying from you?  What problems are they seeking to solve?

Once you’ve nailed that very important first part, you want to sit down with your people and lay out your plans.

Find out where you can make experiences pleasant and easy for customers.  What can you do to ease their pain?  What can you do in your business to create that wow experience?  Here are a few ideas to get you started and to use as a check-up on what you’re doing now:

• See the world through your customers’ eyes.  What is causing them pain?  Where are they hurting?  What can you do to help relieve the pain?

Don’t just assume you know, talk with them and listen.  Find out from them what is going on and what they want solved.

• Do the hard work of thinking.  Yes, it is hard work as you struggle with options.

• Provide important extras.  Find key areas that add that wonderful new dimension that brings a smile.  Not so much huge, expensive additions but little, important-to-the-customer touches that keep bringing them back.

• Automate as much as possible.  Make the systems around your business fine-tuned and bullet-proof.  Yes, use technology but think in terms of systems and developing better systems all the time.

• Constantly review and revisit what you’re doing on how to tweak and make it even better.  Be so focused on their problems that they would complain if you weren’t around to help them!

Make it your goal to become indispensable in the minds of your customers.  That is what relationship farming requires and that is the benefit for your long-term business."

Have you ever noticed what the common denominator is with articles (like this one) that resonate with what we know to be important?  It's that they always represent the "right thing to do."

Finding Peace

As the saying goes... "If you don't stand for something you'll fall for anything."  If your position requires you to lead and coach others, I guarantee that those you mentor know whether you stand for something, and their willingness to follow your lead will be determined by this.  Here is one great example, with lessons you can build a life around: 

Northern State University men’s basketball coach, Don Meyer, was presented the ESPY Jimmy V Award 2009 for Perseverance.  You may not know him, but all the great coaches in College Basketball do.  He's been at it for 38 years.  His story is incredible, and his acceptance speech, impressive and memorable.

Meyer is the third recipient of the JIMMY V Award.  The honor is presented to a personality within the world of sports who, due to sheer zeal and perseverance, has achieved success in their respective field after having overcome immense obstacles.

The award was presented to Meyer in an effort to honor the determination he displayed after sustaining life-threatening injuries following a car crash last September.  The accident almost killed Meyer.  Somehow he survived, but was inflicted with critical injuries.  Amidst the numerous surgeries to revive him, doctors discovered that Meyer’s intestines and liver were infected with cancer.  This was another blow that he had to courageously face, while still recovering from the post accident trauma.

Meyer spent 55 days in the hospital, undergoing the recovery phase, and lost part of his leg as a result of the ordeal.  It was his sheer will that kept him going day after day.

In his acceptance speech, he described the long-standing foundational values that lead one to this kind of determination:

For example, he explained that from the very start, he instills in his team the following "F" words:  Faith.  Family.  Friends.  He went into how each one of these was a critical factor to his healing and fortitude.

He also teaches his players something that John Wooden taught him: 

"Don't whine.  Don't complain.  Don't make excuses."

And finally, he summed up his experience with these words: 

"I've learned from this Odyssey that peace is not the absence of troubles, trials and torment, but the calm in the midst of them."

This kind of living, remarkably, provided Coach Meyer with the resources and dedication to get back to work in time for basketball season.  He coached from a wheelchair.  Can you imagine how his players must have listened and followed his direction?  

A reminder to all of us:  Great Coaching takes living your values when it really counts...

Trusting Your Gut

Over the last couple of days, I’ve been relaying some of the lessons learned from the aftermath of the financial crisis last fall, as reported in a series of articles published in Harvard Business Review this month.  When a plane crashes, people want to know what went wrong... The same is true with the economy. 

One of the primary causes of the financial crisis was an over-confidence in financial models that did not prove reliable.  Surprisingly, these models were built on data and rational thought. 

For example, if no more than 2% of the population has ever defaulted on their mortgage in any given year for the past 30 years, it is rational to conclude that no more than 2% will default in the years to come as well, right?  However, this pattern did not hold true...the models were wrong.  The HBR article puts it this way:

“Data, computing power, and mathematical models have been transforming many realms of management from art to science.  But, the crisis exposed the limitations of certain tools.  In particular, the world saw the folly of the reliance by banks, insurance companies, and others on financial models that assume economic rationality, linearity, equilibrium, and bell-curve distributions.  As the recession unfolded, it became clear that the models had badly failed.”

So, is it time to pitch the idea of using data to solve problems and manage more effectively?  Probably not.  It makes sense to utilize data when making a decision, but realize an over-reliance on information alone, may lead you astray.

This balance reminds me of the equilibrium that Captain Kirk and Spock discovered in the legendary Star Trek series.  While Spock’s cold, hard facts were important, the Vulcan logic alone was not sufficient to arrive at the right decision.  Additionally, Kirk would consult his gut-level intuition before pulling the trigger.  The combination was effective.

If you’re a hiring manager, you need to find this balance as well.  It is important that a person “look good on paper,” but that is never the whole story.  Without  verifiable competencies, work history, and education, it is foolish to move someone forward in the hiring process.  From a data perspective, it is also important to verify additional sources of information, such as assessment data, via factual questions during an interview.

Once you have supporting data, trust your gut to make the right decision.  Your intuition can tell you things that the data will never tell you.  When you “feel” a red flag, listen to your instinct and pull back.  When the data looks good and your gut is confirming the data, make the decision with confidence.

In the financial world, it should have “felt” wrong to close a mortgage for someone with no income and no assets (this is a called a NINA loan), but that is exactly what many financial institutions did because they trusted their financial models.  Hopefully, you won’t make the same mistake with your candidates.

Tapping the Passion of a New Hire

Many believe that there is a major shift happening in the business landscape.  There are significant, long-term forces that are shaping the way businesses are able to produce returns.  As the recession lingers on, there is a growing consensus that “business as usual” may never return.

Does that mean that the recession will last forever?  Of course not.  But it does mean that the way businesses bounced back after a recession in the past will not likely repeat itself.  More specifically, the previous employment options enjoyed by many may be gone for good.

Last week, I alerted you to a series of articles (1, 2) that Harvard Business Review recently published on leadership in the workforce following the September 2008 financial crisis and ensuing recession.  In an article titled, The Big Shift, the authors make the point that traditional business measurements no longer capture the challenges and opportunities for companies.  This is occuring due to fundamental shifts in how businesses contribute to the economy. 

This is all pretty heady stuff, and some of it is quite interesting.  I’m not sure anyone can fully understand or predict what is going to happen, but it is fascinating to pour through all the ideas and theories.

What does all of this have to do with you?  If you’re a recruiter or hiring manager, you’re going to see the effects of this shift in your candidates, new hires, and existing employees.  Individuals may not have a full understanding of what is happening, but they can sense changes in the air, and that will impact their behavior.

As individuals attempt to process these changes, one of the early symptoms to look for is passion.  There are two important trends in this area worth noting:

1.  Talented workers are passionate about control:

“Self-employed people are more than twice as likely to be passionate about their work as those who work for firms, according to a survey we conducted.  This suggests a potential red flag for institutional leaders—companies appear to have difficulty holding on to passionate workers.”

If you’re not able to offer candidates at least some level of autonomy in their new position, you’re at a disadvantage.  It is difficult for people to concentrate on the grand vision of the company when the ground is shifting under their feet.  Giving them something small and contained that they can control may be much more appealing. 

2.  Talented workers are passionate about working with other high-quality people:

“The initial findings from our research indicate a correlation between the rapidly growing use of social media and the increasing knowledge that flows between organizations.  Worker passion also appears to be an important amplifier:  When people are engaged in their work and pushing the performance envelope, they seek ways to connect with others who share their passion and who can help them get better faster.”

The principle here is pretty simple:  If you want to tap the passion of a talented new hire, put them around the highest quality people possible.  Shielding your existing best performers from involvement with newly hired employees is a mistake.  You’ll not only fail to engage the passion of the new employee, but you’ll miss an opportunity to rekindle the passion of your top performers.

Making an effort to tap the passion of your candidates and employees will always produce a return, regardless of which direction the business landscape shifts...

Bustin' Down The Door

Over the weekend, I viewed an interesting documentary that I highly recommend to anyone fascinated by true stories of innovation and excellence.  What might surprise you is that I've just recommended a movie about surfing.  Bustin' Down The Door is a 2008 documentary film chronicling the rise of professional surfing in the early '70s, and the vision these surfers shared of what surfing could become.

The road to that vision takes far too many interesting turns for me to give away, so I'll keep my comments restricted to what fascinated me most.  Take a look at this youtube video to get an idea of what ensues in this movie:

In order to become the best in the world, surfers from all over the globe began migrating to the north shore of Hawaii to hone and perfect their skills.  They realized that in order to become great, they had to face the most consistently tough waves in the world.

The Australian and South African surfers of the time (1974-76) began to win competitions at a much greater frequency than surfers from anywhere else, including Hawaii.  How could this be?

The answer to this question lies in the principles laid out in my articles about "The Talent Code" (1, 2, 3, 4, 5).  These surfers had moments of "ignition" and incredible examples of "deep practice."

I won't spoil the moments of ignition that motivated each of these individuals to excel at their sport, and to "invent" professional surfing.  But as far as deep practice goes, without realizing it at the time, they became great due to the way they practiced.

Unlike the Hawaiians and those from the States, Aussie and South African surfers didn't waste valuable time waiting for the perfect wave (which is the habit of most other surfers).  They jumped on any wave, no matter how "narley" (surfer word) or imperfect the wave was.  They were up and down waves at a much higher rate and frequency than any other surfers.  By the way, this was frowned upon by other surfers who had to constantly dodge these obnoxious rebels.

Although the movie doesn't mention this, anyone who has read my blogs referencing The Talent Code knows, that by practicing in this way, they were able to experience the process of "failure-correction, failure-correction" exponentially, more than any other surfers on the planet.  And because of this, they built layer upon layer of myelin at far greater rates.  As we know, the more myelin one produces, the greater their performance.  So, as a result they became the greatest surfers in the world. 

The reminder for all of us, is this:  If you want people to succeed, then they must practice often...and experience failure.  To avoid failure when attempting to learn something, is a sign that someone hasn't really experienced that moment of ignition, where they think:  "I want to do this...and do it well!"

Finding Sources For New Thought

As a recruiter or hiring manager, it’s easy to get stuck or stagnant.  We read the same material, hear about the same best practices, and try—maybe with more effort and resolve, to implement the same strategies.  After awhile, it can all feel a bit stale.

When this happens to me, one of the things I do is seek out information in different industries and different mediums than I normally frequent.  I discovered such an area last week and thought it would be helpful to share what I learned.

The medium I learned about was a site called Marketing Sherpa.  Marketing Sherpa is a direct marketing consulting company that specializes in online tactics.  It was recommended to me by one of our company’s advisory board members.

As we’ve discussed in the past, “recruiting is marketing” in many ways, so it may not be too much of a stretch to draw applications from this environment.  But still, this site often looks at things from a high-volume, consumer perspective, rather than the one-on-one nature of recruiting.

The topic that caught my eye was a case study about Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.  The case study was three pages long and went into a great amount of detail concerning the process of converting website inquiries to full-fledged applications.

I loved all the numbers and the testing that the marketers employed to optimize their results.  There was one or two things that may apply in some remote way to the way we run our business.

But, the thing that hit me right between the eyes was the work the University did to discover how a person makes a significant decision in their life.  This was interesting stuff.  For example, if a person is considering making a decision about furthering their education, you only have about 60 days to get him to act upon the initial interest.  Once this window elapses, you’ve most likely lost the individual.

There were several more insights such as these.  If you care to read more, you can take a look at:  https://www.marketingsherpa.com/barrier.html?ident=31291 (it is a subscription site, but you can sign up for a free trial).  

Are there some news areas you could investigate to get some new ideas for your recruiting efforts?  You might find some gems you’re not expecting.  Can someone pass me the sports page?