Recruiting Perspective

Recent SUV manufacturing plant closings have some people talking about a slowdown in auto manufacturing overall, a real bad sign for business conditions. Or is it a shift?  SUV’s are still popular, but maybe not as popular as we tend to think.  If small SUV’s and other choices are becoming more popular, we may see plenty of business from auto manufacturing that is just shifting away from the bigger SUV’s. We want the employment and business impact, so I’m hoping for shift instead of slowdown. todd@toddkmiec.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/toddkmiec/

Hard to work with is a business killer.  If you’re a pain, or inefficient, you make things hard on the person you work with, client you work for, candidate you network with etc…..then you will methodically kill business. Easy to work with is a business builder, network extender, relationship strengthener.  A little empathy goes a long way.  Put yourself in the other person’s shoes and then make yourself easy to work with.  This will cement relationships, bring in business, extend networks, and expand reach. todd@toddkmiec.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/toddkmiec/

Want to build a great team?  Many consultants will suggest that you should model successful companies. That’s a great strategy.  Find a company, division, or operation that you truly admire.  But build it with better parts.  Recruit talent in every spot that you can that is better than the model and you’ll build a truly great operation. todd@toddkmiec.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/toddkmiec/

Underperformers are a drag.  You can’t have a great team with an underperformer.  But some underperformers are in the wrong role and may not underperform in another role. Good managers will see potential moves for underperformers that may motivate and improve their performance.  The biggest benefit of a move like this is the opening that you can now fill with an elite performer.  Move underperformers one way or another to open up gaps that you can fill with impact players. todd@toddkmiec.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/toddkmiec/

Recent reports say that employers expect very low pay raises next year including the lowest level spent on incentive pay since 2013. We haven’t had real wage growth since the Great Recession and without wage growth the economy can’t get going in a meaningful way.  If the reports are correct and we see low pay raises next year it means more of the same for the economy and business conditions. Sluggish. todd@toddkmiec.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/toddkmiec/

Talking with candidates about new opportunities, we look at things like pay, the manager, the team, the location, company stability.  Advancement is often overlooked. Is it a wide open road with lots of room to grow or not?  A few dollars less today for several additional jumps in advancement over the next 5 or 10 years can be well worth it.  A few dollars more with no room to grow can be a real bad deal. It’s not about the job.  It’s about the career. todd@toddkmiec.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/toddkmiec/

It’s not like nobody saw this coming.  Bankruptcy this year for Toys R Us, Gander Mountain, Radio Shack, The Limited, HH Gregg and many others.  For years we’ve all known that retail was changing in a big way and that the change was going to be permanent.  If retail is or was your specialty then you should have made an adjustment a long time ago.  New specialty or a change in strategy within that specialty. If retail is your career, same thing.  The time to adjust was a while back.  Better late than never but a change in focus or strategy is necessary.  All industries change.  You don’t have to predict these things way ahead of time, but you have to pay attention and be open minded so you can see what is happening and adjust. todd@toddkmiec.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/toddkmiec/

Everybody wants to know what the metrics say.  I’m a big fan of big data.  Metrics can play a big part in strategic decisions, but when the rubber meets the road you’re going to use that strategic decision to go accomplish something. Recruiting strategy involves metrics.  Recruiting is about the part where the rubber meets the road.  What you’re building. todd@toddkmiec.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/toddkmiec/

One step at a time doesn’t necessarily mean one candidate at a time.  A step can be building a team or a part of a team. The key is to focus on the business, not a particular hire.  What are you trying to accomplish?  What you are you trying to build?  Work from that perspective and the steps will become clear.  They’ll involve hires.  Maybe one.  Maybe many. todd@toddkmiec.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/toddkmiec/

….is a myth.  It’s not the one that got away.  It’s the one that wasn’t a fit, even if you thought it was a fit.  Recruiting is about the one that you are searching for and trying to attract.  When the one in your sites gets away, it’s not the one you are searching for any more. Don’t waste time on the one that got away.  You need to be focused on the one you are searching for. todd@toddkmiec.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/toddkmiec/

Netflix built a culture over the years based on the idea that they are not a family, but more of a team.  Like a professional sports team.  The basics are, we are focused solely on results. You can take time off when you want or work when you want, but you have to produce.  If you produce, great.  If you don’t, we don’t need you.  You could be great at what you do, but if it doesn’t produce what the team needs then we have to move on.  So you’re not really fired.  It’s more like getting cut.  If you’ve got good skills, some other team will pick you up because they’ll need what you can do.  It’s not a warm and fuzzy concept that promotes loyalty, but it does generate great results. Here’s the thing.  You may or may not like the concept, but in the end every person is responsible for their skills and their work ethic and what they can do.  Most of the business world dances around this, but that doesn’t change the fact that results are what make an employee valuable. todd@toddkmiec.

My son, who is in middle school, was telling me about his day the other night.  He said, “so we’re in class, Technology and Innovation a.k.a. Wood Shop.”  I asked him what he meant by a.k.a. Wood Shop.  He said that’s what it is.  They basically take blocks of wood and use tools to make things.  Technology and Innovation Class. Wood Shop has value, but calling it Technology and Innovation Class is sending the wrong message.  We’ve got a real skills gap in this country.  It’s closing, but you can’t promote the idea that technology and innovation is the same as good woodworking skills.  Middle school kids are smarter than you think.  Teach them PLC programming and call it Technology and Innovation Class.  Or how about Java? todd@toddkmiec.comi https://www.linkedin.com/in/toddkmiec/

The JOLTS Data is out and shows that job openings have reached a new high.  Not just a blip up, but a new high with a new average high for the trailing 12 months.  In other words, the trend is up.  6.17 million job listings in the US.  That’s a big number. We also have a record low labor participation rate currently.  Some believe that this indicates that the job openings in general don’t pay enough to lure workers back to work.  If businesses in general are going to have to increase salaries significantly to fill their needs that’s going to be a serious challenge. todd@toddkmiec.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/toddkmiec/

Making mistakes on your resume is a sure way to get you overlooked.  Presenting yourself in a less than favorable light will do that as well, but not just on the resume. Jobvite’s 2016 survey of 1,600 recruiters and HR professional found that 72% of respondents had a negative reaction to typos. Other social media sins include sharing photos of marijuana use (which 71% of respondents couldn’t stand), oversharing in general (60% of respondents weren’t fans), and posting pics of alcohol use (which ticked off 47% of respondents). If your image is out there where it can be found, it better be solid. todd@toddkmiec.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/toddkmiec/

Airlines are complaining about a pilot shortage.  A recent article stated that the shortage is best understood as an obvious manifestation-and perhaps the nadir-of a long-term deprofessionalization of what was once a solidly middle-class career: We made the pilot occupation so unattractive, so tenuous and poorly paid, that people stopped wanting to do it. That’s how you shrink a candidate pool. todd@toddkmiec.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/toddkmiec/

It’s that time of year again.  Fantasy Football.  Seems like it is everywhere.  The popularity of fantasy football shows how fun it is to put together an unrealistic team and to go compete with it. Falling into that mode in your recruiting program can be a big mistake.  Fantasy teams aren’t real, but great teams are.  You can’t build a dream fantasy team in your business, but you can build a great team that is incredibly productive.  Trying to build a fantasy team in business diverts attention and effort way from the real work of building a great business.  Focus on building a great team, like the greatest real sports teams, not a fantasy team. todd@toddkmiec.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/toddkmiec/

John Wooden, famous UCLA basketball coach and one of the greatest coaches in any sport ever used to preach that you must focus only on the things that you can control. Great advice for hiring managers and recruiters.  You can’t control a turn down.  You can impact it by providing an attractive opportunity and offer, but you still can’t control it.  You can’t control a crazy salary demand and you definitely can’t control the size of the candidate pool for a certain skill set. What you can control is how hard you look.  How deeply you penetrate that candidate pool. todd@toddkmiec.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/toddkmiec/

Lost productivity due to eclipse watching was reportedly over 700 million dollars.  That’s a day off or two for a bunch of people.  Not everyone, but that’s a lot of productivity out the door.  With the recent hurricanes we have a bunch of days off for fewer people, but still a lot of lost productivity. These numbers are minor compared with the lost productivity that we see every day from poor effort, lack of effort, and wasted time.  Employees who are dedicated and work hard are worth a lot more money than average or below average employees who don’t really work full time. todd@toddkmiec.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/toddkmiec/

Inflation is now running around 1%.  That’s really low.  There are financial benefits to low inflation, but low inflation generally doesn’t help businesses grow. We know that salaries have not been growing for quite some time and until they do start to grow, it’s better to have low inflation.  A better scenario would be a little more inflation and equivalent salary growth. todd@toddkmiec.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/toddkmiec/

Recent reports of ageism in Silicon Valley and and other places bring attention back to the subject.  This is a tough topic because there are valuable workers on the wrong end of it. Older workers have more experience and there is a lot of value in that.  However, younger workers bring new skills, motivation, and a desire to work hard.  They tend to be willing to work long hours and they cost less in salary. In some cases the experience is more valuable.  In some cases it’s not.  It would be better if nobody danced around the subject and just focused on fitting experienced candidates where they are needed and younger, less experienced, candidates in the spots where they are more valuable. todd@toddkmiec.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/toddkmiec/

The state of Maine is making a concerted effort to bring candidates back home.  Companies in the state are targeting candidates that grew up there, went to college there, or have a significant history there. It’s a good strategy for stability.  People who have experienced life in a certain part of the country and want to come back are more likely to stay for the long haul.  Creating opportunities for candidates like this makes sense for businesses that will benefit from stable employment and company structure. todd@toddkmiec.com LinkedIn

Average productivity per worker has been declining while automation is increasing.  Why?  There’s a disconnect there.  Automation should make us more productive. Lack of productivity is a big part of the drag on profits and growth.  The economy is growing, but very slowly.  Fostering an environment of increasing productivity will make the tool of automation a lot more effective.  Companies that focus on increasing productivity are going to thrive going forward competing with others who don’t work to become more productive. todd@toddkmiec.com LinkedIn

Americans starting new businesses is at a 40 year low.  The biggest factor is the maturity of the nation and economy.  Everything seems covered.  It used to be that you could look around and see what the area needs and start a business with little or no competition.  Now they don’t need another dry cleaner in town, or another Thai restaurant. There are, of course, lots of opportunities in new technologies and holes to fill there, but even those are getting filled up pretty quickly.  New businesses create jobs and business for other businesses and for an economy to be strong we need a healthy number of new business startups.  Start a business, support a new business, eliminate a regulation if you can.  Every little bit helps. todd@toddkmiec.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/toddkmiec/

The number of Americans relocating peaked in……….ready for this………1985.  Last year only 10% of people in the US moved. The problem with this is that people are not getting to where the jobs are.  It’s not just that companies don’t want to pay for relo.  That is certainly true and is a factor, but candidates don’t want to move.  The average time spent in a given job has been getting shorter and candidates know this.  So uprooting the family and moving away from the place that you’ve made home is not worth it to many people. Even if you are open to relocating candidates, the fact that many of them don’t want to move still limits the candidate pool. todd@toddkmiec.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/toddkmiec/