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Managing Your Talent Pipeline: Are You Really Going Anywhere?

We’ll wrap up our series on Managing Your Talent Pipeline (1,2,3,4) today by covering the important concept of vision.  Here is an important universal truth that you can apply to your recruiting efforts: 
 
Every human being wants to be part of something that’s going somewhere. 

This is a basic human reality that can be tapped for the mutual benefit of both an organization and an individual. 

Sure, many companies have vision statements that hang on a wall somewhere.  But no one could tell you what they say, and it doesn’t answer the candidate’s question… "Are you really going anywhere?" 

One of the biggest mistakes that we see hiring managers make is trying to convince someone to leave their existing organization, with little emotion or excitement over the possibilities in the new position.  If I don’t feel inspired when I talk with you about your company, my emotions will tell me to stay in my existing job, no matter how many facts the hiring manager can produce to show me I’m misguided.

How do you stir up this emotion in a conversation?  Here are some ideas:

1.  Develop a concise statement (vision) of what your organization is trying to accomplish.  Boil this down into something that is easy to say and remember.  Practice it with people in close network.  Do they feel inspired when they hear it?  If not, rework it and try again.  For an example of this, look at what Gore Technologies (makers of Gore-Tex) has done. 

2.  Formulate two or three stories of people who are flourishing in your organization.  Stories inspire people and they tap the emotions much better than facts and figures.  You can start a conversation by saying something like, “Let me tell you a quick story about someone who joined our group about six months ago…” 

3.  Help the candidate envision themselves working in your environment.  Once you start to understand a person’s strengths, help the candidate make the connection of how those strengths could be both optimized and valued in your environment.  Candidates not only want to know they’re part of something going somewhere, but they also need to see that their talents are an important and necessary component to reaching the destination.

A well-established vision, coupled with some specific examples of people who are thriving under that vision will, in itself, help your candidates to feel excited about your organization.  Build on that with a clear statement of how your candidate's strengths compliment your company's vision, and you have a great chance of generating an positive emotional response from your candidate. 

Until the candidate says, "I want to go where you're going!" in their mind, you have no chance of getting them to move thier feet. 

Managing Your Talent Pipeline: Direct Follow-Up

In the last few articles (1,2,3), we discussed the importance of proactively executing a series of indirect contacts with candidates in your talent pipeline.  It’s a challenge to consistently make these “small contributions” to your contacts, but perseverance pays off. 

We all know that seeds grow in soil that is well-prepared by the gardener, but the seeds still have to be planted.  Likewise, there is a time for more direct recruiting contact with a candidate.  Here are some principles that will help you more successfully connect with potential candidates:

1.  Get face-to-face with the candidate.  As you know, a lot of communication happens in the non-verbal realm.  Contacting a candidate via phone and email has limitations that are difficult to overcome. 
 
Think of ways you can spend time with the candidate in a natural setting.  Are there professional activities that you can attend where you’ll likely cross paths?  Are there mutual clients, acquaintances, or business scenarios where face-to-face connections are likely?  Are there non-work-related restaurants, clubs, charitable activities that a candidate is known to frequent?  I’m not talking about stalking a person—certainly this could be pushed too far.  But, if you’re sitting behind your desk, and have no face-to-face contact with any candidates, you’re at a disadvantage.

2.  Identify a crisis/problem that you can actively help solve.  Everyone has problems and difficulties in their professional lives.  During a discussion, try to discover a specific issue with which a person is struggling and then deploy your own personal efforts, or the resources of those in your network, to help alleviate the pain.

This can be very simple... For example, I have a friend who works in the building supply industry for a company that supplies windows to commercial buildings.  During a discussion last week, I mentioned that we were thinking about updating some of the interior doors in our house.  He was quick to provide me some information on how doors are made, distributed, and sold to end-users.  He also introduced me to a contact who would be willing to sell low-cost “seconds” (doors that had small flaws).

If you are the person who consistently provides timely answers and solutions, it becomes both natural and desirable for a candidate to envision working on a team with you.

3.  Pop the question:  “Are you really getting what you need?”  You may remember from science class in high school what Sir Isaac Newton taught us about motion:  A body at rest tends to stay at rest unless acted upon by an outside force.  While Newton was describing the nature of physical motion, the same principle applies to recruiting - People will tend to stay in their existing jobs unless they are dislodged by some external force.

Most of these external forces (they have a fight with their boss, they get their benefits cut back, they lose a sale because of an incompetent co-worker, etc.) you cannot control.  But, you can help a person identify a potential escape hatch.  When you ask a person to consider joining your organization, this may be the last bit of dislodging they needed in order to make a move. 

Even if it’s not quite the right timing yet for your candidate, you’ve made your intentions clear and the candidate will store this away (along with your other positive interactions) for possible use in the future...

Managing Your Talent Pipeline: Important Don'ts

Last week, we talked about the importance of making small contributions to those in your talent pipeline.  We’ll provide some more ideas in future articles, but I wanted to cover a few important “don’ts” as you start to think about ways you can better engage those you are hoping to recruit.

1.  Don’t underestimate the effectiveness of consistent follow-up.  Anyone who is successful in a sales position knows that persistence is a prerequisite to success.  One of our clients, the general manager of a large services company, once told us that he never calls a vendor back until after he gets the 3rd call from the sales person.   Why?  In his own words... “That’s the only way I can know that the person is serious.”

Recruiting is sales, and consistent follow-up with your candidates is the only way you’ll be able to produce long-term, across-the-board success.  There are very few exceptions to this rule.  The good news is that persistence does work, and almost anyone can be successful at it.

2.  Don’t get discouraged when candidates don’t respond. The difficulty with persistence is that it often does not offer very much positive feedback.  During an initial meeting it is common to make a good emotional connection with a candidate.  The natural expectation is that the positive experience will carry over into the follow-up phase of the recruiting process, but this is often not the case.  What’s more typical is that you send several emails and don’t hear back... You leave voice mails, but don’t get your calls returned... You may even send hand-written notes, but there is still no reciprocation.

Don’t give up!  Instead, adjust your expectations.  You’re not this person’s personal friend or relative, so don’t expect to be treated like one.  You’re a professional acquaintance who has something to sell (an opportunity).  People can realize and respect that you’re doing your job, and they can even envision themselves working for someone who executes their business duties with professionalism.  But, that is where the emotional connection ends.  If you expect more, you’re ego is in the way.

3.  Don’t expect technology to replace personal attention and effort.  Because recruiting is a process that involves so much repetition, there is a temptation to automate as much of the process as possible.  While there are tools that allow you to be more effective, it is a mistake to over-rely on technological solutions that minimize human connections.

If you set up a candidate on a drip email system that automatically generates canned emails, your efforts will have some potential impact on the candidate.  But, don’t expect it to have the same impact as a personal note or phone call.  Human beings respond to personal connections— this is not going to change.

The bottom line…recruiting is hard work.  If you’re willing to do the work, you’ll be successful.  If you’re constantly looking for a short-cut, you’ll likely continue to experience frustration.

Managing Your Talent Pipeline: Making Small Contributions

Once you have permission to follow-up with someone (see yesterday’s article), it then becomes important to make some sort of small contribution to the candidate’s life in subsequent conversations.

When you contemplate how to make one of these contributions, think of things that are small and thoughtful rather than large and flashy.  Here are three ideas that I’ve seen used effectively:

1.  Recognize an accomplishment.  Our world is more transparent than ever before.  With various websites, online social networks, blogs, and other venues, there is a lot of information available about people.  It is not uncommon for people to publish both their personal and professional accomplishments in some kind of online environment.  It’s also easy to search and find such information.

For example, your candidate might be part of a large company that recently won a large contract from the government.  A quick email letting the candidate know that you noticed the accomplishment is a natural way to make a connection.  If the person had direct involvement in the deal, of course it would be appropriate to congratulate that involvement specifically - If not, the general congrats is still worth the effort.  Good news is good news, and people like to talk about it.

2.  Recognize an accomplishment of someone close to the candidate.  All of us have relationships and we care about what happens to the people in those relationships.  It’s quite natural to strike up a conversation with a person and talk about their spouse, their kids, their activities, etc.  During an initial conversation, take some mental notes on these relationships and activities, and then keep your ears open for things that naturally take place around you.

When you find some tidbit of information, let the person know that you noticed their accomplishment.  This can be a simple email that says something like, “Bill, I noticed that your son’s football team made it to the district tournament.  You must be really proud.  We’ll be pulling for the team—I hope they make it to state!”

3.  Recognize a mutual contact.  Psychologist Stanley Milgram is commonly credited for conceptualizing the six degrees of separation theory.  Milgram (and now many others since then) has shown us that we're surprisingly connected to those around us through a web of relationships.  When this web is discovered, people naturally find it interesting.
 
When you find out that there is a common contact between you and the candidate you’re trying to recruit, make a point to acknowledge it.  This too, can be a short email that says something like, “Bill I ran into Paul Graham last night at Costco.  He mentioned that he did some work with you a couple of years back and had some nice things to say.  Hopefully, you two will connect again soon.”

As you make these contributions, remember the objective—keep the balance of value in the relationship tipped towards your candidate by making multiple deposits.  If the person always gets something good from you (such as kind words and attention), or hears something positive (such as remembrance of an accomplishment or relationship), or just feels some encouragement, then good things are more likely to result on the recruiting front.

Managing Your Talent Pipeline

Here is a question we often receive from hiring managers:

“I’ve identified someone who I think would be a great addition to my team, made initial contact with that person, but realize that the timing is not quite right for them to leave their current job.  Now what?  How do I stay in contact with this person over time in a way that will eventually result in a hire?”

This is where a lot of people get stuck.  They make the initial contact with enthusiasm, but there is not enough substance in the relationship to initiate further contact without feeling awkward.

Over the next couple of days, I’m going to share some things that we’ve learned on this topic from some of the best recruiting companies in the country.  Hopefully, you’ll be able to take some of these ideas and apply them to your talent pipeline.

There are two basic rules that I recommend you follow when working with your candidates:

1.  Ask for permission.  Seth Godin made his debut into the consulting/marketing world by figuring  out that people like to be respected in the marketing process.  In fact, they respond much better when they are treated with respect.  In his bestselling book Permission Marketing, Godin makes the point that respect is shown by asking a person if it is OK if you market to them.  By the way, this is where the concept of the “opt-in” email originated.

Recruiting is marketing.  When you make initial contact with a candidate and you believe there is some potential for the future, ask a simple question:  “Would it be OK if I followed-up with you occasionally?”  It is a natural question to ask, and most people will say yes.  By dong this, you show respect and you set an expectation for future contact.

2.  Add value with each subsequent conversation.  John Sumser, a recruiting expert and author, often makes the point that any communication with a candidate must provide the candidate with something of value.  More specifically, the value of what you provide in the conversation must exceed the value of the candidate’s time and attention to take the call or answer an email.  If this does not happen during each conversation, the candidate will no longer want to talk with you.

Think of it like a scale that rests on a center fulcrum - If you’re extracting value from the candidate (you want their time and attention), the scale tips towards you.  You’re getting something, but not giving something in return.  Only dysfunctional people put up with this type of imbalance.  Good hiring managers make sure the scale is always tipped toward the candidate, and not just a little bit--a lot.

In the upcoming articles, we’ll offer some ideas to help you get the scale to tip in your candidates' favor...

The Benefits of Success

Over the past several days, Dave has been teaching about the benefits of failure.  This is an important topic because it is so counter-intuitive to how we naturally think.  I hope you had the opportunity to read and digest this important information.

Dave’s last point in Friday’s article struck a chord with me due to some personal events in my life over the weekend.  My family and I attended the memorial service of a dear friend, Roger Shaeffer.  Roger passed way at the age of 88, after a short bout with cancer.

What struck me about Roger’s life was not his failures, rather his successes.  He was one of the most successful people I’ve ever known—not in the terms that we normally ascribe to success, such as personal finances, assets, etc. (although he was successful in these areas as well), but in terms of the positive impact he had on other people.

There is no way I could possibly capture the significance of Roger’s life in a short article - one of his sons wrote a letter that took 15 minutes to read during the memorial service, and he admittedly just scratched the service!  But, I can share a few things that I learned about success from Roger.

1.  Success means making those around you better individuals.  During a time of sharing memories, about 25 people recalled a happy memory of Roger.  Most of these people started the story with, “Roger made me a better person by….” 

2.  Success means encouraging those around you.  Roger loved to sing.  I knew this from being around him, but I was surprised how many others also had this memory of Roger.  He would burst into song on almost any occasion.  How can you not be happy when someone around you is singing?  What I learned last night was that he did that more for the benefit of those around him, than for himself.

3.  Success means being generous and thankful.  I don’t believe there was a person at the memorial service (and there were hundreds there) who had not received something from Roger.  For my two-year-old daughter, it was a pinch on the cheek and a bright smile.  For my sons, it was the Seattle Mariners tickets every year.  For me, it was the World War II combat stories and the encouragement to be a faithful Dad.  Everyone else had their memories as well, but the common thread was that he always gave with a belief that he had been blessed with so much.

The lesson here is that we’re all going to face failures and setbacks—especially when it comes to careers, jobs, finances, personal goals, and maybe even relationships....it's part of life.  However, Roger has reminded me (and I'm reminding you) to take the time to invest in the people/relationships that ultimately result in a truly successful life—even when you are going through difficult times.  This type of investment doesn't take a lot of money--it's more about having a warm heart and a willing spirit. 

The Benefits of Failure - Part 3

The last two days, and particularly Friday, I discussed failure as an integral part of learning.  You now understand that the brain grows best by experiencing multiple failures.

Today, I'll focus specifically on the big failures in life... You know, the ones where you feel like the sky is falling, you're an idiot for making that decision, how could you let this happen, life will never be the same....those kind of failures.

In a recent Psychology Today article, I found a helpful list to consider in those darkest days of (what seems like horrible) failure.  Here are nine ways to fail better:

"1.  Lighten up - Most people who bounce back from setbacks have a sense of humor.  They know when they're taking things—and themselves—too seriously... It's hard to find the funny in the fine grain.  Humor is about stepping back for fresh perspective.  We assume that's something we're born with, but we can become better at seeing the lighter side by sheer exposure to that way of thinking.  And it does take the edge off of failure.  After all, an embarrassment today makes for an entertaining story tomorrow.

2.  Join the club - Misery loves company.  Just look at the growth of Web-based support groups like '15,000,000 Recession-Touched People' (on Facebook) and Global Depression Support Group (on meetup.com).

There's real value in commiseration.  When Montrealer Sylvain Henry started a Facebook support group called 'Recession Survivors' after being laid off from a software company, the group became a lightning rod for pain and blame.  'You've gotta blame someone, right?'  Henry says.  'Whose fault is this?'  People vented about the lost house, the failed marriage.  It was cathartic.

Then something happened.  'People vented themselves out,' Henry says.  'After that came another impulse:  Let's do something about this.'  The members began posting productive hints, little money-saving tips about budget-friendly cookie recipes or how to throw a good garage sale.  The site transformed into a clearinghouse of resourceful coping strategies for hard times.  Call it Failing Better:  the Open-Source Edition.

3.  Feel guilt, not shame - The difference between guilt and shame is the reason we assign as to why failure occurs, notes Richard Robins, a psychologist at the University of California at Davis.  Guilt says it's 'something I did.'  But shame means feeling failure occurred because of 'something I am'—in which case, you expect failure and don't act to avoid it.

But the cycle of learned helplessness can be broken.  Instead of thinking 'I'm a failure,' think 'I'm a good person who made a mistake I can learn from.'  If your story about failure is, 'It's all my fault,' you might need to practice looking outward and ask yourself, 'What other things—things that aren't about me—might have caused this negative event?'

On the other hand, if your story is, 'It's never about me,' you may need to seek out some aspects of the problem you can do something about.  Because let's face it, you do mess up—everyone does.  In which case you need to own the failure, see what you can learn from it, and move on.

4.  Cultivate optimism - Of the seven learnable skills of resilience—emotion awareness, impulse control, multiperspective thinking, empathy, the belief that you can solve your own problems, taking appropriate risks, and optimism—the most important is optimism, says Karen Reivich, a psychologist at the University of Pennsylvania.  'There is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so,' said Hamlet, and indeed, paying attention to the positive infuses the world with hope—and creates a climate in which failure loses its sting.

The key to resilience is thinking more flexibly and learning to increase your array of options.  The psychologist Martin Seligman advocates disputation, in which you think of your mind as a courtroom where negative thoughts are instantly put on trial.

You can rebut these thoughts, and you should.  Now you're acting as your own defense counsel, throwing at the court every bit of evidence you can think of to prove the belief is flawed.  The bad thought is no longer a lock, and it dies amid the doubt.

5.  Ask not what the world can do for you... - Getting fired and left without savings or health-care coverage is rough, but for some, it carries an unexpected message:  'Now you are free.'  Free to do something more meaningful with your life—like volunteering overseas.  If you don't have to earn money right away, ask yourself:  How can you be of service to others?

6.  Scale down your expectations for yourself - When we succeed, we tend to just ratchet up our expectations for ourselves and not get a lot of pleasure out of it.  But when we fail, it's much harder to ratchet down our expectations for ourselves.  'That might be what failing well is,' says psychologist Jonathan Haidt.  'A willingness to lower our sights when that's realistically required.'

7.  Harness the Bridget Jones Effect - Keeping a journal can help you cope with failure.  Jamie Pennebaker, a psychologist at the University of Texas, studied middle-aged engineers who'd lost their jobs.  Those who wrestled with their feelings about the trauma through journaling were far more likely to find reemployment.  It wasn't simply the tension-relieving 'catharsis' of getting their feelings out.  Nor was it that they were more motivated to get out there and pound the pavement—they didn't receive more phone calls, make more contacts, or send out more letters.

Rather, writing helps create meaning — finding coherence and building a personal story that lassos all the question marks hanging in the air and making sense of them.  Writing about their feelings forced them to come to terms with getting laid off.  It also boosted their social skills—making them more likeable, less vindictive, and better able to get on with things.  They were less wrapped up in their past.  They could listen better and were more optimistic and less hostile.

8.  Act! - Failure is an opportunity to change course.  Seize it."

And I'm going to provide one of my own:

9.  Use major failures as a reminder to return to the things you value most in this world - These things are less transient: Your faith, your family, building community, etc...

Research has found quite clearly that the values listed above are associated with much higher levels of well-being than are the values of materialism, physical attractiveness, and financial success.  Know where you can bank on the deepest satisfaction... 

The Benefits of Failure - Part 2

In yesterday’s post I introduced some of the newer thinking around the concept of failure.  Specifically, I revealed that failure is a fairly important ingredient for future success.

As promised, today I am going to update you on what the brain does with failure.  It’s actually quite fascinating to learn that how you handle failure either gives, or takes away, your brain’s ability to grow and learn.

Your brain is made up of millions of neurons and synapses, all with the ability to build super highways of super speed.  All that is needed to build these connections is a substance called Myelin.  Myelin, it’s recently been found, has the ability to grease the skids between neurons so that large pathways are formed to create mega bandwidth learning and growth, if given the opportunity.  And guess what gives your brain the greatest opportunity for Myelin production?... Failure!  Not just failure, but lots of failure…the more the better!  And not just large doses of failure, but failure and correction, failure and correction, failure and correction…

Here’s an example:

In 1997, Soccer Coach, Simon Clifford, was so curious about what caused Brazilian Soccer to be so successful, that he temporarily moved to Brazil and lived in a dimly lit dorm-like setting to find out first-hand.  What he found has changed the way many elite youth soccer teams practice, and has made Simon Clifford a very wealthy man, given that he has founded worldwide “Brazilian Soccer Schools” all over the globe.

What he found was that everyone, except the professionals, were playing a much smaller game of soccer on a small, hard court, with a heavier ball.  Given the small space, the game moved quickly and frantically, with split-seconds to decide where to pass, to whom, and how.  In other words, unlike American Soccer, Brazilian Soccer offers many more chances to fail and succeed in each minute of play, for each player – Every player touches the ball six times more per minute, to be exact.

When the brain experiences this incredible frequency of failure and correction, it grows Myelin like mad!  Super highways are formed that can ultimately lead to amazing talent.

So what does all of this have to do with us?

I’d love some comments about how you believe this can be applied…but here is one broad idea:

As you coach or mentor others, encourage them (and place them in positions) to fail.  Then have feedback sessions, then allow them to fail some more, then more feedback, etc, until they get it.  And when they do, more than likely, they will thank you for the growth you enabled them…

Reference:  The Talent Code, by Daniel Coyle

"Me...Me...Me... I Think I'm Really Close On This One!"

As we discuss some of the best practices of working a talent pipeline, I’d like to address one major pitfall that many recruiters fall into....the oh-so-tempting art of manipulation.

When you’re working with a candidate in your talent pipeline, there is a temptation to manipulate events and circumstances in an attempt to create a short-cut to the end result of the recruiting process.  Remember, in the recruiting process, timing is everything, and it is controlled by the candidate, not you!  If the process is forced, talented candidates will quickly sense the manipulation and shy away, irritated with your brash approach.

I’ll illustrate how this can play out with a short clip from one my favorite movies, Groundhog Day.  In this movie, Phil (played by Bill Murray) is an arrogant newscaster who is trying to win the affection of Rita, an attractive co-worker (played by Andie MacDowell).   

The conversations between Phil and Rita always circle back to how Phil is the perfect fit for everything Rita is looking for in a man.  Take a look at the following clip and you’ll see what I mean:

(If you’re an email subscriber to WorkPuzzle, please visit WorkPuzzle online to see the video clip)

Of course this exchange is exaggerated for comic effect, but it’s not far from how your candidates feel when you’re attempting to manipulate them.  When every frustration or obstacle can be magically solved by coming to work for you, the candidate has every right to roll his/her eyes and feel appalled by your self-centered approach. 

While it seems more efficient to push a candidate along the hiring path, you will earn the respect of your candidates if you refrain from manipulating them, and instead allow them to process their options at their own pace.  Of course, diligent follow up is still crucial, just avoid promising them the world or solutions to all their woes.   

Interestingly, the movie teaches an important lesson.  Phil is constantly rebuffed when he pursues Rita from a framework of manipulation and self-interest.  Eventually, he resigns himself to working on his own character and truly becoming the type of guy that Rita would be naturally attracted to.

I won’t spoil the movie by giving away the ending, but I will say that Phil found a lot more success in his venture to win Rita when he stopped attempting to manipulate her and started to look out for her best interests instead.  You too, will have better success with your candidates if you follow Phil's lead - that is, do less talking and more listening..

Following Up With Candidates in Your Talent Pipeline

One of the most common questions we get from our clients is:

“What do I say to the candidates who are in my talent pipeline?  I know I need to follow-up with them consistently, but how do I keep a person engaged and interested over a long period of time?”

This is a great question and one that we’re going to attempt to answer in this week's discussions.  We’ll start with a simple principle that Dale Carnegie once recognized:

"You can make more friends in two months by becoming really interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you."

The natural way to approach a talent pipeline (our term for the pool of candidates you are most interested in recruiting) is from a perspective of “What can these people do for me?”  After all, you are recruiting them for the contribution they can make to your organization, not the other way around, right?

In the recruiting process, however, you’ll find more success by operating under the opposite perspective.  You must legitimately put yourself in a mindset where you’re asking, “How can I help this person accomplish both their personal and career goals?”  This is what makes a lasting impression in the minds of your candidates.

This may sound oversimplified, but the human spirit has a way of drifting back to self-interest unless we continually prod it to take an interest in others.

The first step in this process is to focus your conversations with candidates on what the candidate is trying to accomplish in their life.  We already know that people like to talk about themselves, so ask questions that allow a person to talk about their accomplishments, what they’re proud of doing, and how they do their best work. 

During these conversations, listen for frustrations and obstacles that keep the individual from being more successful.  Don’t act on this information at this point—just listen and catalog the information for later use.

Next, find ways to address or solve one or two of these frustrations.  These solutions will carry more impact if they come from outside your organization and have nothing to do with the recruiting process.  In fact, the most thoughtful and empathetic people are able to pick up on the smallest cues during a conversation and turn them into action. 

I’ll give you an example from my personal life: 

I was at dinner with a group of guys last week.  During the conversation, the topic of youth baseball came up.  One of the guys in the group had some apprehension about his son leaving the Little League environment (only for 12 years and younger), unaware of what options are available at the next level.  Because I have sons who have played at various levels and in various leagues, I was able to answer some questions and refer him to a couple of websites and individuals who may be able to help him make a good decision.   

While my example doesn't pose a huge dilemma of sorts, it does illustrate how you can listen for a small frustration/concern and then act upon this information to help alleviate the frustration. 

If you can integrate these types of interactions into the conversations you have with those in your talent pipeline, it won’t be long before those with whom you interact see you as a resource.  It becomes natural (and comforting) to them to imagine themselves working with people who are helpful and insightful, like you.