As many of you know, our company often consults with our
clients on the metrics of the recruiting process.   We find that metrics are the most reliable
way to diagnose problems and shine light on areas that need improvement.

In some cases, the metrics also point directly to solutions.   For example, if a company is not doing
enough interviews to meet their hiring goals, there are very specific and measureable things that can be done to fix the problem.

In other cases, the solutions are less tangible and easy to
quantify.  For example, some of our
clients are reliably able to convert “interviews to hires” at a much higher
rate than other companies.   Why?  That’s a complex question.

As we collect data and try to find an answer to this problem,
the path to the solution gets cloudy.  
There are many intangible factors that play into the “interview to hire”
metric.  It has more to do with the “art
of recruiting” than hard metrics and simple tactics.

To illustrate this point, I ran across an article earlier
this week written by Tod Sacerdoti, the CEO of a BrightRoll, a video
advertising company based in San Francisco. 
You may have read this article already—it was widely distributed because
of the great content and insight it offered.

Tod correctly identifies the importance recruiting plays in
the success of all companies (his examples are from the technology world), but
also documents the “secret sauce” he commonly sees high-performing recruiting
companies possess.  I think you'll enjoy his insight:

“Recruiters generally get little public
credit because the naive observer assumes that good companies get talent for
free. That is simply not true.

If you look behind
the curtain at many of Silicon Valley's greatest tech companies (Google,
Facebook, DropBox, etc) you will find great recruiters. In fact, those
recruiters tend to be leaders of large internal recruiting teams and many have
materially changed the trajectory of their company's growth, particularly in
the formative years.

Great recruiters
are different in the way great engineers, great salespeople and great leaders
are different — they have a secret sauce. This secret sauce applies to all
roles and levels of recruitment, whether a recruiter is attracting interns,
managers or executives.

So, what is the
secret sauce of a great recruiter?

Authentic Compassion. The best recruiters are often labeled as a
"people person" but what that really means is that they are
incredible listeners and they truly care about the people they interact with.
Compassion is even more powerful in the long term as people build a
relationship and interact across multiple roles and/or companies.

Agile Builders. The best recruiters are data driven and iterate with
the same discipline and frequency as the best software developments teams.
Understanding a problem (such as sourcing, interview process, closing a
candidate), measuring performance and using a sprint process to optimize
results on a regular basis are fundamentally agile development skills and
requirements for top recruiters.

Positive Marketers. Every interaction an external person has with your
company is a marketing impression. This includes every email, phone call or
news article, and every person they talk to including a recruiter, front desk
admin, interviewer or executive. The best recruiters know this and use every
impression as an opportunity to have a positive impact. People often forget
that 99% of the time you make an impression on an external person you will not
ever hire them so the risk of that impression being negative is high. If every
interaction is positive, you will impact not only those individuals but a broad
network of potential future hires.

Communication Artists. In today's electronic and busy workplace,
communication is an often overlooked art. The best recruiters are able to
handle three widely varying communication requirements — sourcing new
candidates, rejecting existing candidates and internal process alignment —
with the same level of empathy, positivity and discipline. Each of these communications
is an art in its own right and the best recruiters manage all three such that
every interaction leads to positive momentum.

How would you grade yourself on Tod’s “secret sauce”
metrics?  In essence, measuring yourself on these ideas is a way you
can start to make the recruiting intangibles….tangible. 
If you master the issues outlined above, you’re recruitng metrics will
not only improve, but you’ll also hire higher-quality agents.   You too could “materially change the trajectory” of
your office’s growth through recruiting.

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Editor's Note: This article was written by Ben Hess. Ben is the Founding Partner and Managing Director of Tidemark, Inc. and a regular contributor to WorkPuzzle. 

If you’re looking for a new blog to add to your daily reading, I’d like to suggest Eric Barker’s, Barking Up the Wrong Tree. Besides being listed on both the New York Times and Wall Street Journal blog roles, he has 45,000 email subscribers (it is very difficult to get to this subscription level) and his columns regularly appear in Wired magazine.

In addition to being a great writer, Eric collects and presents research-based content in a way that is easy to digest. He generally does this by picking a topic of interest and then summarizing the research on the issue with short, pithy paragraphs that make the case for his point of view. 

He recently published a blog on the character trait of conscientiousness that I found both interesting and compelling. Upon reading his insight, I immediately copied the content and sent it to all four of my teenage sons! I challenged them to start asking themselves, “How conscientious am I being as I do __________?”

While this information was helpful to my children, it is also a key trait that should be part of every hiring decision you make. Why? Because conscientiousness is highly correlated to success in all parts of life. Eric explains:

"Conscientiousness is the fundamental personality trait most closely tied to self control and it tracks with nearly every type of success across your lifespan.

It’s pretty crazy really:

Money and job satisfaction? – Check.

“Measured concurrently, emotionally stable and conscientious participants reported higher incomes and job satisfaction.“

Finding a job? – Check.

“…the personality traits Conscientiousness and Neuroticism have a strong impact on the instantaneous probability of finding a job, where the former has a positive effect and the latter has a negative effect.”

Long marriage? – Check.

“…our findings suggest that conscientiousness is the trait most broadly associated with marital satisfaction in this sample of long-wed couples.”

Healthier life? – Check.

“Among adults over age 45 (n = 2,419), Neuroticism and low Agreeableness were associated with metabolic syndrome, whereas high Conscientiousness was protective. Individuals who scored in the top 10% on Conscientiousness were approximately 40% less likely to have metabolic syndrome…“

Long life? – Check.

“Conscientiousness, which was the best predictor of longevity when measured in childhood, also turned out to be the best personality predictor of long life when measured in adulthood.“

And let’s not forget good grades and staying out of jail.

Via How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of Character:

…conscientiousness was the trait that best predicted workplace success. What intrigues Roberts about conscientiousness is that it predicts so many outcomes that go far beyond the workplace. People high in conscientiousness get better grades in school and college; they commit fewer crimes; and they stay married longer. They live longer – and not just because they smoke and drink less. They have fewer strokes, lower blood pressure, and a lower incidence of Alzheimer’s disease."

So, since conscientiousness is such an important trait, it might be helpful to know what it is! Here is the definition I sent my kids:

Conscientiousness is the trait that denotes being thorough, careful, or vigilant; it implies a desire to do a task well. It is manifested in characteristic behaviors such as being efficient, organized, neat, and systematic, also including such elements as self-discipline, carefulness, thoroughness, self-organization, deliberation (the tendency to think carefully before acting), and need for achievement. Conscientious individuals are generally hard working and reliable.

With this research as a backdrop, it only makse sense that you'd want to hire conscientious people. In fact, if you were to rank the importance of other traits, this may be the most important characteristic that leads to successful hiring outcomes.

Here is a quick application for this information: Ask some open-ended questions about conscientiousness during your upcoming interviews. For example:

Was your manager in your last job a conscientious person? How did that make you feel?

In your previous position, were your co-workers conscientious in accomplishment of their work?

Are there situations in the past where you were rewarded for your being conscientious?

These questions should spur some discussion and hopefully give you some insight into your candidate’s perspective on this important character trait.
In our next WorkPuzzle, we’ll discuss the capacity a person has for improving his/her level of conscientiousness. I know I could use some improvement!

Join the WorkPuzzle Discussion at the Tidemark Online Community (TMOC)

Engage in the WorkPuzzle discussion by joining the TMOC private social network.  Commenting on a public blog like WorkPuzzle can be a little intimidating, so why not join the discussion inside the privacy of the TMOC discussion group?  

By joining TMOC, you'll get to see who else is in the group and your comments will only be seen by those whom you trust.   Joining TMOC is quick, easy, and free (no kidding…this takes less than 2 minutes).   To get started, click here.

Already of a member of TMOC?  If so, join the WorkPuzzle Dialog Group by clicking on the WorkPuzzle Group icon on the left side of your TMOC homepage.  Questions?   Email the WorkPuzzle editor (workpuzzle@hiringcenter.net) and we'll walk through the process.

Editor's Note: This article was written by Ben Hess. Ben is the Founding Partner and Managing Director of Tidemark, Inc. and a regular contributor to WorkPuzzle. 

If you’re a Tidemark client, you’ve heard Dave Mashburn frequently
talk about workers “languishing” in the their jobs.   His observations have produced one of
the maxims we use to source candidates for our clients:

The individuals most likely to consider career change are
those who are languishing in their current jobs.

This observation is based upon research conducted by the
Gallup Organization.  The initial study
(conducted in 2000) painted a depressing picture of life in the American workforce.  Unfortunately, things are not getting
much better.  The Silicon Valley Mercury
News recently reported,  

“Seven out of 10
workers have ‘checked out’ at work or are ‘actively disengaged,’ according to a
recent Gallup survey.

In its ongoing survey of the American workplace, Gallup
found that only 30 percent of workers ‘were engaged, or involved in,
enthusiastic about, and committed to their workplace.’ Although that equals the
high in engagement since Gallup began studying the issue in 2000, it is
overshadowed by the number of workers who aren't committed to  performing at a
high level….

The poll, released last week, examined worker engagement
beginning in 2010 and ending in 2012. The previous poll period covered 2008
through 2010.

The survey classifies three types of employees among the 100
million people in America who hold full-time jobs. The first is actively
engaged, which represents about 30 million workers.  The second type of worker is "not
engaged," which accounts for 50 million. These employees are going through
the motions at work.

The third type, labeled "actively disengaged,"
hates going to work. These workers — about 20 million — undermine their
companies with their attitude, according to the report.

The general consciousness about the importance of employee
engagement seems to have increased in the past decade, but there is a gap
between knowing about engagement and doing something about it in most American
workplaces… 

The level of employee engagement over the past decade has
been largely stagnant, according to researchers.”

How can a hiring manager use this information to be more
successful at recruiting? 

First, recognize that almost all of the candidates you interview
or otherwise engage in the hiring process are languishing in their current
careers.

Secondly, use this information wisely.  We have written frequently in previous
WorkPuzzles about every person’s need to be “heard” before he/she will be able
to “hear” (i.e.. accept and internalize information) about any solutions you
may offer.

Of course, you can talk about a number of topics during an
interview (work history, career goals, strengths/weaknesses, etc.), but the one
you’ll get the most mileage from is languishing. 

If you’re able to quickly steer a recruiting conversation to
what’s going wrong in their current career (this typically take 20 to 30
minutes during an interview), you’ll earn the right to thoughtfully craft a
solution that is tailored to their unique needs.

A final thing to consider as you contemplate the role of
languishing in the hiring process: 

Some
of the most talented and desirable people you could ever hope to hire are
currently languishing in their careers.

The Gallup researchers went on to report:

“… different age groups and those with higher education
levels reported more discontent with their workplace. Millennials…, for
instance, are more likely to be 'actively disengaged' than other age
groups. Employees with college degrees are also more likely to be running on
auto pilot at work.”

This research is a goldmine for the real estate
industry.  Most real estate companies
know they must hire young, educated new agents to replace their aging
workforces who will retire over the next decade.  

The top end of the Millennial generation will turn 31 years old
this year.   Don’t miss the opportunity
to engage and hire these individuals.  An
understanding of languishing is a key building block to making that happen.

Join the WorkPuzzle Discussion at the Tidemark Online Community (TMOC)

Engage in the WorkPuzzle discussion by joining the TMOC private social network.  Commenting on a public blog like WorkPuzzle can be a little intimidating, so why not join the discussion inside the privacy of the TMOC discussion group?  

By joining TMOC, you'll get to see who else is in the group and your comments will only be seen by those whom you trust.   Joining TMOC is quick, easy, and free (no kidding…this takes less than 2 minutes).   To get started, click here.

Already of a member of TMOC?  If so, join the WorkPuzzle Dialog Group by clicking on the WorkPuzzle Group icon on the left side of your TMOC homepage.  Questions?   Email the WorkPuzzle editor (workpuzzle@hiringcenter.net) and we'll walk through the process.

Editor's Note: This article was written by Ben Hess. Ben is the Founding Partner and Managing Director of Tidemark, Inc. and a regular contributor to WorkPuzzle.