Many studies have identified the power of saying ‘thank you.’  When you say ‘thank you’ your customers they spend more, they return less, they tell their friends about you and your service delivery.  In the workplace employee productivity increases when a sign of appreciation is shown such as ‘thank you.’  Likewise vendors go the extra mile, provide deeper discounts, extend credit, deliver on time and increase consideration.  This drives profit, margin and success.

If this is the case…

I was recently reflecting on our “high fees” as commented by a client in a one-on-one interview.  I pulled out the 2011 research report put out by the Talent Board entitled the Candidate Experience.  In addressing the channel by which Candidate learn about job postings and companies it was clear that the following three avenues are most consistently used by companies to communicate with job seekers:

1. The Career Site is the most consistently used channel for publishing information…

One of the most important jobs of a recruiter when making a match between candidate and client is salary expectations…or is it?  Salary is one component but what should be considered is the total compensation package + non tangibles such as culture and advancement opportunity.  However I am sure we can all recount those who get stuck on salary and that is often because salary reflects status and an interpreted success (along with job title).  We are after all social creatures and what others…

The adage goes, “if you hire clowns, you will end up with a circus.” Not just a circus but a really expensive circus.  Let me start with the generalist statistic from PR News (2012).  Of new hires, 46% fail within 18 months.  Of new hires another 45% are only fair to marginal performers.  That means that 81% of new hires are a disappointment.  That is a really big number and comes at even bigger costs.  The cost of a minimum wage bad hire has been cited to be $4,500 and change.  Research in…

Social media and social recruiting are very busy words and phrases as many try to tame the savage beast. However, social recruiting has an appendage that is growing in strength and on the horizon.  In 2011, Potentialpark surveyed more than 30,000 job seekers and 350 employers worldwide.  19% of job seekers used their mobile devices (phones, pads) with a complementing but low 7% of employers having a mobile version of their career website and 3% with a mobile job…

Plato, a great philosopher, student of Socrates and teacher of Aristotle called the study of numbers the highest level of knowledge. Numbers can be divided into groups, demonstrate relationships and are used in religion, superstition and mythology.  Numbers have been identified as the purest form of communication that crosses the boundaries of languages, understanding and perception.  Numbers are woven into every aspect of humankind and critical to life on earth.  But have you ever been…

Post for those operating in Western Canada

April’s unemployment numbers came out today and there has been a flurry of activity as we see some giant gains in employment across most provinces.  British Columbia (BC) made a particularly strong leap forward moving from a 7.0% unemployment rate to 6.4%.  A six point jump is very strong and when looking at the sectors that gained, all most all sectors came out ahead.  The health occupations category was the only one to suffer…

Social media is no longer new news.  However, the dangers and benefits continue to reveal themselves as we learn how to operate in a world where the opportunities to connect seem limitless in opportunity and danger.  As business managers responsible for growth, relationships, brand strength, customer service and development or any other organizational purpose, social media provides an opportunity to connect.  While many personal reasons for mediums like Facebook and YouTube remain within the…

Eurocom released the results of their Worldwide annual survey in March revealing some interesting trends and thoughts in the world of social media.  The research identified that worldwide, one in five technology firms rejected a job applicant because of social media.  However, data made available by BullHorn Reach suggested that in North America 91% of hiring managers screen potential candidates, using a combination of LinkedIn (48%), Twitter (53%) and most commonly Facebook (76%) throughout…

Over the years much has been written on succession planning.  Even when I was a Gen X’er in school I was told at numerous times how I would be posed to replace retiring Baby Bommers.  Succession planning has been on the minds of many for many years. However, succession planning is one of those things that does not get done, despite the conversations.  Why?  The reasons are multiple ranging from activity that has no immediate payback to generational gaps to complete cluelessness as how to…

Do you engage in public sector recruiting?  If not you may be missing a very important and sizable opportunity.  Let’s start with the size of the pie – 24% is the average percentage of employees in the public sector in Canada (March 2012).  The USA tends to be in the high teens with developing country average around 23% (Bureau of Statistics).  This means that one in four or five positions in Canada/USA are a public job:  government, Crown Corporation, university,…

Whether in the Temporary or the Permanent search industry meeting a lot of candidates is a critical success factor.  Recruiters are sent hundreds of resumes weekly and dig into profiles on a regular basis.  The information provided may come in several avenues, both public and private and the information is protected by a legislated privacy act accordingly.  In Alberta and British Columbia this is often referred to as FOIPP Act (Freedom of Information and Privacy Protection Act), and is…

On March 24^th Bob McIntosh posted a blog titled “80% of today’s jobs are landed through networking.”  The article was well articulated and discussion ensued that pulled at the very fabric of what networking is, how to use it, how important it is, and how is it defined.  Some astute readers identified a lack of support for the statistics as a perpetuating concern (strong ideas Karen and Sandra); others identified the notion of causality (excellent point Kyle).  The question really…

Ms. Nonato reported in PostMedia news that a job candidate in Ontario was asked in an interview to provide his Facebook login and password so the employer to could investigate the interest, photos and people the candidate was involved with.  Most of us would readily question the privacy rights of that candidate and the levels of ethical consideration of the employer; however, the request in Ontario was neither illegal nor immoral.  In fact, temptation exists with the increase of social media…

Where hiring exists, usually you can find staffing services, however, some geographic area seem to use staffing services more than others.  Is there a business reason for this or perhaps a cultural propensity of the area to lean heavily on staffing services?  Time to find out!  While my data is Canadian, for our US recruiting colleagues, the same information may exist and may be a worthy exercise to determine the hot beds of staffing. 

Quick and Dirty Data…

Western Canada is about to brace itself for another labour market crunch.  Search assignments are up but candidates are not available to fill.  After a two-year run in an employee market, employees are back on top as the industry once again struggles to find the right people from a finite group.  The effects to hiring practise start to change again, taking new dynamics requiring that we clarify for our clients and potential clients the following changes to their recruiting…