"It takes many good deeds to build a good reputation, and only one bad one to lose it.”
Your organization has an employer reputation. Your employer reputation is not what you think it is. Your reputation is what THEY think it is. They may be wrong. It may be easily proven to be wrong. But until you start getting the facts out there and effectively communicate, it will not change.
Recruiting is hard even in the best of circumstances. Unfortunately, most organizations are not in the best of circumstances. They also don’t know what it is which attracts and keeps great people. So let’s start at the beginning and discuss eight issues which I hear the most from the candidates’ point of view.
The number one pain point I hear from clients is: “I can’t find good people!!” When I look into what they are doing to find people, the issues are all over the board. One of the biggest is they do not know where to look. They are doing what they know to do and are not being successful in meeting their desired goal.
“Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime”
- Chinese Proverb
A constant complaint I hear from business owners is they cannot afford recruiters and/or temporary agencies. Given what most recruiters and temporary agencies charge, I agree with my business owners. Would it not make more sense to find someone who can teach you how to find employees?
When you go fishing, there are certain things that are very important.
What kind of fish are you trying to catch?
Where are you going to be able to catch your type of fish?
What are the proper weather conditions and time of day?
What is the appropriate bait to catch your fish?
Let’s use the above and relate it to recruiting of employees. What I have found over the years, organizations do not know in detail what they are looking for. What skills, values and personality are the best fit for your particular job? Back to our analogy, many organizations decide any fish they can catch will do.
In every organization there is a difference between the reality of the organizations’ culture and the culture the leaders’ desire. The leaders then try to drive the culture in the direction they want to go. This is normal and expected. However, this creates an issue which needs to be addressed. How will the organization present the culture to the outside world? I have seen organizations who try to present where they are moving toward as their current culture. But, this culture does not yet exist.
We are finally at the point where more businesses are being reopened. More people are going back to work and resuming their previous activities. Some organizations are reopening from full or partial shutdowns. Others are simply bringing people back to the office from being at home. Whichever is your case, a question is begged.
