Talent Acquisition HR The Odd Couple

Talent Acquisition HR The Odd Couple In the wake of another Valentine’s Day  I thought it poignant to reflect on the often exciting, mostly tumultuous relationship that Talent Acquisition shares with HR. Drawn from various backgrounds, these two conflicting personalities are often thrown together in a passionate embrace and expected to keep the flame of HR service delivery burning. There is no escaping the fact that HR and TA are linked. Modern texts offer reasons why TA should report into the business or operations but the reality is that our TA remains part of the same HR employee life-cycle, works with precisely the same leaders and ultimately should have the best interests of the business at heart. HR professionals that become disillusioned with a metric free existence and frustrated that their hard work falls within a ‘gray area’, see the beaming, proud smiles of their senior stakeholders turn towards TA as new talent is interviewed, offered and hired into their teams. Both functions are critical to the leaders success but tangible results can predominantly only be provided by one of those functions; Talent Acquisition. Sadly, it often takes only a few months for cracks to start appearing between HR teams that include TA or HR teams that are supported by Shared Services. What follows are five relationship pointers on typical areas of conflict and how to deal with these challenges without disrupting the gentle balance between your teams.  In it, I’ll reflect on personal experience with inter-function conflict and what has previously worked or failed abysmally. Importantly, you’ll also learn whether your significant other is worth fighting to the bitter end or whether its more appropriate to give ground and move on: 1)  Hiring leaders: If you’ve been in talent acquisition long enough, you can pick a good HR practitioner.  They have common sense, they ‘get’ people and they know where and when to draw the line with leaders.  This final quality is exceptionally rare and comes with time however once learned, this will often mean the difference between a submissive/administrative relationship or true business partnering. TA does not differ greatly. Experienced TA staff know when to push back, challenge and ask questions. If the skill-sets from both functions are equal, the relationship will be off to a great start, however this rarely happens. In reality, one or the other will carry the relationship power, which depending on the character of the individual often leads to a double reporting line, usually for TA. With HR firmly entrenched next to the hiring manager, they’ll demand reports and updates on a regular basis allowing them to start making decisions regarding TA on behalf of hiring managers. For TA, this is your hill to die on. If you don’t understand your hiring manager and build a strong working relationship, you will fail. Not only that, your reputation is at stake with HR driving your daily activities and in particularly poisonous relationships, taking credit for your hard work. What now?  The reason your HR practitioner is over-involved is usually down to two items: Lack of understanding of what their real jobs are. They see a major gap in TA performance and you have not been providing regular business updates to the hiring leader. Organize a meeting with your colleague in HR and get this sorted. HR can be involved at certain stages but ensure that TA performance remains TA’s accountability. Get close to your hiring leaders and work directly with them. Offer predictable and accurate updates, establish regular meetings and own the process. Without that relationship you’ll be directed by HR for the rest of your days. You are a specialist and you need to present yourself as such. 2) Projects and function ramp-ups: These two items are often key endeavors by businesses to attract attention and status within corporates. You’re pulled away from the banal rigors of day to day business and have the opportunity to be involved in something ‘special’. Unfortunately, TA are not at the forefront of leaders thoughts at kick-off meetings. Its HR that discovers these initiatives, first followed by hurried scribbling in excel spreadsheets and a vague ‘plan’ issued to Talent Acquisition. HR drive the set-up and too often end up leading recruitment efforts acting as coordinators to the business, slowing the process unnecessarily and managing all communications with project members. TA lose out in this process every time. Not only does the function lack context but they are blocked from learning more by not being able to attend key business meetings. What now? Get involved. Work with HR and outline the benefits of working directly with project leaders and importantly, never go into a project or ramp-up alone. You are one cog in the watch of delivery. Ensure the compensation team is involved, learning and development have a seat at the table and push the business leaders to think ahead about their new team’s development retention plans. Don’t forget that without you and the talent that you bring, the project is not going anywhere. You should have front and center in every single meeting with the business and drive close collaboration with the business and HR. 3) Process: This item alone can bring adults to tears and a services function to a grinding halt.  If you don’t know what part you play in the machine, you are inviting old school territorial battles and endless sniping from the dark corners of the HR function.  I’m routinely surprised by the variety of approaches companies take to get the same result so if you’re the new kid on the block, take your time to understand who does what, in what amount of time and when.  Importantly, don’t start to ask ‘why’ until your relationships are well established and you have an emotional bank account that’s in credit with other functions. Processes often overlap, go back on themselves or are introduced through new system rollouts to make the process more efficient, but instead overcomplicate matters exponentially. What doesn’t help is that the process version on the Intranet is almost always at least five to ten years out of date so you are likely walking into a minefield. What now? Lifeless forms from previous attempts are often scattered across this no man’s land so you’ll need to work out very quickly where to cede territory and where not to.  My recommendation is a good old fashioned workshop. Take out your coloring pencils, pick up a few post it notes from the stationery cupboard and get decision makers into the same room. Not too many though. If you fall into this trap you’ll be fielding ‘what-if’ scenarios for many moons, so instead, focus on specific items such as: How do we hire external candidates, step by step How do we hire internal candidates, step by step How do handle transfers/promotions and secondments, step by step, etc. Business moves at such speed these days that only the end result really matters. That does not mean, however, that its not worth spending time to work out the part that everyone plays to reduce areas of unnecessary friction. 4) Metrics: We already know that TA is ahead in this area. We can produce slick reports with time to hire, cost to hire, step change speed, ramp-ups, hires and open roles and more whilst our colleague’s in HR are often left with having to rely on engagement survey results, customer satisfaction and turnover. They are merely scratching at the surface of what they are capable of discovering simply by partnering more closely with Talent Acquisition. What now? This is your chance to provide support to HR to help them quantify the work we know they do. Get next to them and focus on what information you can derive from your existing data i.e. Quality of hire, performance review data, departure habits, divisional growth, speed of response from leaders etc. You are already producing this data, so it will stand you in good stead to offer your support and provide a strong people support service in your organization. 5) Attitude: TA and HR often attract dramatically different personality types, which can affect how they work together and how the HR function is perceived by the business. As an indirect cost (something that doesn’t bring in the cash) and we all walk a fine line ensuring that business needs are met but at the same time offering the best service possible. With that in mind, notice your attitude when next faced by a fastidious HR practitioner requesting your interview notes, they have their reasons; also put yourself in their shoes as the bastions of policy and directly in the sights of auditors come review time. What now?  If your interest stems from a misunderstanding of exactly what HR does, take the time to understand the part they play and how working together can make your working life infinitely more tolerable. Its your attitude that’s usually letting you down. Get rid of the smirk during meetings, listen intently  to their objectives and use your natural flair to help them to achieve their goals. You’ll find that territory won’t matter after a while, information that you didn’t even know was available will make its way to you and the part of your process they are responsible for shall no longer be blocked.

You Have a Great Resume....Now What

You Have a Great Resume....Now What So you got yourself a great resume which has been carefully crafted to sell your related skill sets to employers. Now what? If you are not targeting a specific job posting, you want to get your resume into the hands of the right recruiters. Sure, you can post your resume on all sorts of job boards, but did you know that almost 80% of jobs are found by directly connecting with the right people… and only 20% are secured using traditional job search methods? Yup, if you really want a job, you are going to have to spend some time outside of your house, away from your computer, getting your resume into the hands of the recruiters yourself! Don’t be passive with your job search. Instead, network. Join a professional association or go to seminars, workshops or conferences where there is a good chance you can connect with members within your job community. Spread the word that you are seeking a certain role and associate with the people who can aid you. On the other side of the spectrum, consider using social media to assist with your job search. If you have been shying away from getting involved with social media, you have been missing out on a tonne of job opportunities. To start, get yourself a LinkedIn profile! This profile acts as your online resume that thousands and thousands of recruiters have access to. Further utilize the site to make personal connections with employers, participate in discussions, join groups, and follow companies you are interested in pursuing opportunities with. Finally, get on board with Twitter and Facebook and learn how to make valuable (and professional!) interactions with people in your industry. Recruiters are using social media sites more and more to support their recruitment processes, so make yourself visible online and learn how to utilize these resources to speed your job search. For more tips on how to effectively network, visit Dr. Randall S. Hansen’s article “Networking Your Way to a New Job”. And for more on utilizing social media as part of your job search, I recommend the article “7 Secrets to Getting Your Next Job Using Social Media” by Dan Schawbel.

Regular exercise is no longer optional

Regular exercise is no longer optional Exercise is an essential part of a successful career. Its an essential part of a good life. I think one problem a lot of us face is that we approach exercise like its a choice. When email first became widely used, I worked for a guy who thought it was optional. At some point, it truly was optional. High-level executives used to be able to say, Call my secretary. I dont have email. I remember thinking that my boss did not understand reality. That times had changed and his career was going to end if he couldnt manage to take a look at his in box once a day. Today I am thinking the same thing about exercise. We used to think that it was optional. But today, it is so overwhelmingly clear that regular exercise changes your life and makes you perform better at work, that it is absolutely absurd to think that you can function optimally in your life without regular exercise. This is not just about good-looking people doing better in life (which is true). It runs deeper than that. Mary Carmichael wrote in Newsweek about the research that shows exercise boosts our IQ. And exercise increases our resilience to difficult times, which is often the difference between success and failure in getting what we want. I told myself all of this stuff last month when I started going to the gym again. Last year, a few months after I started blogging, I was so totally overwhelmed by the amount of work it took, that I told myself there was nothing to do but stop going to the gym until I caught up with my work. It took me four months to realize that the extra hour a day that I was able to work because I wasnt at the gym was not changing my life. Being overwhelmed by the demands of blogging was not about one hour. It was about that I had made a career change and didnt even realize it. But going to the gym for an hour does change my life. Regular exercise requires a careful mental shift. First you clearly prioritize whats important to you, and why. Then you pick a specific time and specific place, and then you convince yourself that going is not negotiable. There is clear evidence to show that people who make one conscious change such as going to the gym every day unconsciously change many other positive changes in their life. Making one decision to live consciously has a ripple affect throughout your life. In an interview with Harvard Magazine, psychology professor Ellen Langer says, More than 30 years of research has shown that mindfulness is figuratively and literally enlivening. And while we all say we want to live in the present, Langer points out, If youre not in the present, youre not there to know youre not there. I remind myself of this when I start thinking of exercise as negotiable. And for all the ten million pieces of advice on how to make exercise regular in ones life, the best advice, I have found, is to realize that I will not get the life I want if I dont go to the gym when I plan to go to the gym. When I interviewed positive psychologist Senia Maymin, she convinced me that the key to regular exercise is to tell myself that it is not a choice, and to also tell myself stories that encourage me to go to the gym. One of my stories is the one I told you about how working that extra hour did not help me catch up at work. So tell me, what stories do you tell yourself to exercise regularly? Do stories work for you?

Evil Does Exist. It May be One of Your Coworkers. - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

Evil Does Exist. It May be One of Your Coworkers. - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career Narcissists are among the most interesting coworkers. They are also repugnant, disruptive and poisonous to a business, and potentially to your career. That is, if your narcissist sees you as anything except a reflection of his or her greatness. So, you must interact with your narcissist as if everything she does deserves nothing but positive regard and appreciation. Otherwise, expect that your narcissist will attempt to destroy you. Actually, no matter what you do: your narcissist will attempt to destroy you. Our office narcissist has picked on everyone except me. That is, until Friday. Then, she pointed her ugly, crazy, manic, depressed, stressed-out-because-I-don’t-have-enough-work-to-do-but-I-have-too-much-work-to-do tantrum in front of me. This came right after it took me 30 seconds to find an important corporate contract that an investor said he needed. It had been created long before I arrived. Our narcissist said the document didnt exist. After all, she had spent 5 days looking for it. So there I was holding it in my hand after near-zero effort to get it. And my ease of finding it tripped the venom in her mouth to spew. At one point there were words like you never had a friend and you think you know everything coming like projectile vomit at me. Stop, I said. Go away. I have to get this document to the investor. Ten minutes later, she walked by my office and stopped in the doorway. Oh, she said. Youre still working? Its after hours do you want me to stay and help you? A dead calm hit me. And in that moment of pure serenity, I had the epiphany. OMG. She’s a malignant narcissist! A rare breed. These are people who work to make trouble and cause distress, then reverse on you to suddenly become helpful and appear goodnatured. M. Scott Peck does a great job of describing malignant narcissists in his book, People of the Lie. The thesis of Peck’s monumental work is this. These people are the evil in the human race. They have a self-image of perfection. Excessive intolerance of criticism. Scapegoating. Disguise and pretense. Intellectual deviousness. Greed. Coercion and control of others. Symbiotic relationships. Lack of empathy. So it took two months to actually “diagnose” her, just in time for our malignant narcissist to give her 30 days notice. When we gratefully accepted? She changed her mind. After all, as a malignant narcissist: you believe giving and taking back your resignation would be your right. This will be an eventful week. We anticipate lots of (false) accusations, blaming, crying, sick days, and precision attacks on the character of others. That is, after all, how we went from “Isn’t she amazing?” to “What’s wrong with her?” At least now we are over the confusion â€" which is the first sign that you have an malignant narcissist. She’s not crazy. She’s not suffered any misfortune. She is simply a bad apple, as organizational psychologist Adam Grant calls these folks. Or evil, as the renowned psychiatrist Peck calls them. For the rest of us good eggs, it’s been a startling realization. So, if you have been confused, aggravated and disrupted by a co-worker, subordinate or superior: wow! Isn’t it nice to know there’s a diagnosis for these folks? And, as a boss I find it reassuring to learn there is no amount of training, no amount of support and even no magnitude of praise that I could muster to help her. I had a plant like this in the outer reaches of my property at home. The plant is called poison ivy. It makes you itch, blister and scar. It looks benign, even nice. But, its poisonous. Just have to cut it out. Then the rest of the plants can blossom. And so we will.

3 Ways To Make Your Social Networking Count - Executive Career Brandâ„¢

3 Ways To Make Your Social Networking Count

Serving your employees - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog

Serving your employees - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog This is a fantastic video of Colleen Barret talking about leadership and service at Southwest Airlines: Southwest Airlines gets it. Their priority is: Employees Customers Shareholders. This is the way it has to be. My favorite quote from her talk: The most important priority that we have is our employees I spend 85% of my time on employees and on delievering proactive customer service to our employees They in turn spend their life trying to assure that the secondmost important customer to us, ie. the passenger feels good. Thanks for visiting my blog. If you're new here, you should check out this list of my 10 most popular articles. And if you want more great tips and ideas you should check out our newsletter about happiness at work. It's great and it's free :-)Share this:LinkedInFacebookTwitterRedditPinterest Related

How Resume Writing Services For School Work

How Resume Writing Services For School WorkResume writing services for school are a great way to get your foot in the door. What can you do with a resume that has all of your previous education listed on it? In some cases, it's worth the hassle just to get you an interview.Of course, not all schools will accept resumes, but sometimes, the actual school will have a screening process. If they do, it may be as simple as putting it through the computer. The more on-campus interviews you have, the better. It also helps if you have volunteered or done some type of work experience before you came to school.Remember, the more you apply for jobs, the more you're going to get called back for a second interview. You don't want to appear lazy. Even if you just need the time away from school to finish a project or learn something new, you still should keep your skills up to date.After you've gotten your old resume out, make sure it's current. This means it's got everything from majors and extracu rricular activities to hobbies. It's usually not easy to tell when a resume is written too many years ago.If you received an offer or interview, save your old resume. You want to go over it a couple of times to make sure you can read it properly. Sometimes, employers will ask for the same skills you listed in your first resume, so double check to make sure you've listed the right skills.Remember, these services are there to help you, so be honest and direct. Don't feel like you need to follow the standards of a certain kind of college. If you're applying to an Ivy League school, don't feel like you need to tailor your resume for a community college. There are people that specialize in all types of schools, and there's no reason why you can't have someone write a resume for you that focuses on what you want.Just remember, you're going to have to put a lot of work into this. Because resume writing services for school are going to be working with you for a while, you should expect them to spend time helping you. In turn, you'll have a resume that is going to represent you well in the interview process.So, now that you know how resume writing services for school work, get the best one for you. The process can be a little involved, but you can save a lot of time if you know where to start. It's always best to take your time and work with a professional, especially if you have a specific goal in mind.