Search Results - functions

Blog Post: Recruiting Metrics and Its Importance

Rich Peterson insists recruiting metrics are important.

The quantity of recruiter activity and quality of hires produced by a recruiting team are important figures to understand. Metrics…

Added by Richard Peterson at 12:11am on September 25, 2013

Blog Post: Boolean Operators and More Updated!!

Boolean Operators and More…

Added by Dean Da Costa at 3:08pm on September 30, 2013

Blog Post: Finding Your Niche - 6 Years Later On The Staffing Career Journey

On a bright morning in Lake Tahoe I reached a moment of inward reflection thinking about what I personally needed to do to get to the next level in my career - and on Tuesday…

Added by Mike Rasmussen at 12:56am on July 2, 2014

Blog Post: Top 25 SAP Interview Questions: Added by Anjali Dixit at 10:11am on April 26, 2017

Blog Post: Diversity Recruitment Strategy Guides - Workplace Diversity: What, Why, and How?: Contents…; Added by Ngan Pham at 11:12pm on May 9, 2021

Blog Post: RESUME WRITING TIPS AND SAMPLES: Added by Mandy Fard - CPRW, CMRW at 8:11pm on July 7, 2022

Blog Post: HCM Software: Definition, Benefits, Examples, and Features [2023]: Human Capital Management (HCM) started as a theory to capture the nebulous equations of how to value the people, e.g. human capital, that make up an organization. Human Capital Management…; Added by Phil Strazzulla at 1:35pm on April 16, 2023

Blog Post: Workplace Culture, Religious Diversity, and Celebrating It All with Floating Holidays: Watching a football game and contemplating my Halloween costume earlier this year, I was astounded by the (very early) commercial reminders that a slew of traditions and observed holidays were…; Added by Phil Strazzulla at 7:32am on April 8, 2023

Topic: Meet Susan Burns, Industry Thought Leader at Talent Synchronicity: to her presentations, or heard of fellow colleagues speak glowingly of her capabilities – needless to say I have been impressed consistently with her public figure. I can also say with pleasure that we all share our admiration for Susan’s consistent weekly live chat contributions to RecruitingBlogs.com, the Recruiting Roadshow and her upcoming session at RecruitFest in Toronto. It must be said, that having walked the streets of Amsterdam past midnight or dined, commiserated, and having corresponded with Susan Burns, “the person,” that my admiration is far more substantial in the compelling impact she makes as both a colleague and a dear friend. Her multi-faceted personality, conviction, and brilliance as a candid, thought-provoking, socially conscious friend and colleague are ever present. She is passionate in all things in life, and it is omnipresent when she evangelizes architecture aspects of Strategic Talent Planning, employment branding, and metrics that we as an industry excel through her contributions and it is in her valued friendship, that her gifts never cease to bring value. I applaud all her contributions in our industry – she lives and breathes “pay it forward” and it is a pleasure to know that the RecruitingBlogs Community have an opportunity to share the many value propositions Susan offers so selflessly and with such passion that Jason Davis and I so often witness on a personal level. Susan Burns is the “real deal” – and the community is richer for all she contributes. Susan, today as a friend, an advisor to SixDegreesfromDave.com, a personal mentor, and a thought leader we salute you, and it is ever so well deserved. Q&A with Susan Burns Six Degrees: Tell us of your Home World Susan Susan: I find a nice balance between taking on challenging physical activities and challenging career endeavors. Yoga, hiking and travel are among my deepest passions outside of work and when I can bring them all together its ideal. Two of my favorite hikes included a 100-mile trek through Torres Del Paine National Park in Southern Chile and a trip to Peru that included hiking the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. I’ve traveled to Mexico, Costa Rica and British Columbia for yoga retreats and find the week long immersions an incredible rebalancing to the stresses of life – even though the retreats often include 5 to 6 hours of physical yoga each day. Yoga is also part of my everyday life and an area of growing interest and commitment. In fact, I’m about to undertake a 200-hour, 3 week teacher training in the Berkshires this July. There are also many areas in which yoga philosophy and practice can carry over into enhancing business practices. The very act of being “present”, focusing on the mind-body connection, and building a sense of community are just a few areas that could add value to the business world. I’m planning on exploring these further through my yoga studies and practice. Six Degrees: How did you get started in talent management? Susan: When I began my career I was in general management. I managed specialty stores and then made the transition into department stores. I loved the hum and buzz of the business and, over time, as I took on assignments of increasing volume and scope the challenges of creating community within a store environment were quite enticing. In my last store manager assignment I was responsible for over $40 million in annual revenue, an employee population of over 350 and a management team of about 16. But, one thing was missing – the company invested little in development efforts and I was intellectually bored. So, I decided to take a bit of a sabbatical and go to graduate school. I actually thought I would leave retail but found I liked the interconnectedness of strategy, product and tangible results. There is something very unique about this within a retail environment and when you’re playing in high volume you can see these three come together quite quickly. After graduate school I joined Federated Department Stores (now Macy’s Inc.). At the time Federated owned Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s and generated about $15 billion in annual sales. Initially, my role was to lead the development of a centralized college recruitment and relations strategy. Federated hired about 550 college graduates each year and another 300 as summer interns. The year was 1998 and there was a lot of change occurring because of the Internet. One of the first things I had the opportunity to do was secure support to develop a website. I think there were about 6 people on the original development team and together we mapped out the strategy for what was to become Retailology.com. The timing was right and I was fortunate to have a really talented group to work with. We saw the impact and growing value of the site in a relatively short period of time, and could demonstrate to the organization the value of being online. One of the coolest things about Retailology is that it not only benefited Federated but it also became a tool to teach students about the retail industry. A couple of years later as Internet recruiting was growing quickly in popularity and the task of sourcing/hiring via the job boards was overwhelming, I had the opportunity to present Retailology as a strategic solution for hiring across Federated – which included hourly, management positions across every function, and college recruiting. We won the support of the divisions and quickly undertook the challenge of building 12 recruitment sites on the Retailology platform. The company had an autonomous culture and the structure and branding strategy at the time required individual branded sites. As a whole, the company hired about 110,000 people annually so this was a very cool opportunity. The change implications for this were huge – we would be moving from 100% paper-based processes to taking everything online. There were several key events that created tipping points along this journey and by the time I left Federated in January, 2006, the Retailology corporate strategy had generated over 38% of the company’s total hires and touched just about every functional area and position up to director/VP. Taking on a broader role also advanced my position with the company and allowed me to take on a greater scope of work that included employment initiatives, employment branding, recruitment technology – both selection and development, change management initiatives, recruiter education and development. The role became that of an internal consultant and over the 7+ years I was with Federated I had the opportunity to work with a number of very talented and committed colleagues. While it was a difficult decision to leave Federated I was at a point in my career where I wanted to take on a broader challenge. I had a hunger to experience another industry, immerse myself in a global business and take on a more holistic role in talent management. I was recruited to head up global staffing for Waggener Edstrom Worldwide (WE). WE is the second largest independent PR agency. They are the PR agency of record for Microsoft and also have growing practice areas in public affairs, healthcare, and consumer. Once again, I was fortunate to work with a very talented team of recruiters. While I only stayed with WE for about 18 months, great headway was made with advising the Board on workforce/talent planning initiatives, sourcing strategies, recruiting structure and processes, and introducing CRM technology. Do you have a mentor to whom you attribute your overall outlook on recruitment, capabilities, and/or model your career after? Susan: There wasn’t a single event or mentor but a string of events and experiences that have influenced how I think about talent management. First, my role in store management. In retail you are uniquely dependent on talent. Whether it be the product design, assortment selection by the buyer, distribution by the planner, merchandising in-store, leading a department/selling team, or the last “12 inches” between the sales associate and the customer – its talent that makes the ultimate difference. Retail is also a business environment where you can see people’s careers move quickly. Seeing a sales associate promoted to sales manager or an assistant buyer promoted to divisional merchandise manager and eventually on to roles of increasing scope and responsibility is very rewarding! Second, coming out of graduate school I heard the same thing time and time again from my classmates – getting through to anyone in recruiting/hr was incredibly frustrating - whether callbacks, email responses, or just answering their phones. Many of my classmates were looking to make a career transition and getting a recruiter to look at their past experience and future potential was insanely challenging. The same thing would happen on informational interviews – hiring managers only wanted people who had done the job. Well, there’s evidence that indicates taking people with the potential and placing them in new environments leads to more creative thinking, innovation, personal growth and……better business results. And, while I couldn’t impact thinking across every aspect of an organization I could make a difference in how job seekers felt about their experience. I’ve been fortunate to have several mentors during my career. Mostly in the earlier days but that’s when I also think its most important. As I was “growing up” in retail it was at a time when mentor relationships developed more naturally. They not only helped me to understand the business at a more strategic level but to think broadly and creatively about building partnerships and getting results. Both of them were also terrific leaders and had their own unique way of building teams and camaraderie. Two of these mentors are still my closest friends today and are still the first people I turn to for guidance. THOUGHT LEADERSHIP RECOMMENDATIONS “Susan is smart, analytical and a great client. She knew what she wanted and was able to communicate that in an effective way. She brings original thinking and a wide network of information to any project she is part of. I have worked with Susan for several years including when she was at Macy's, Waggner and now at Talent Synchronicity. We have worked together on projects that involved selling concepts to senior management that were forward looking and not necessarily easy to get approved. Her combination of influencing skill, persistence and intelligence have led each project to a successful conclusion. She gets things done efficiently and effectively and is a good partner.” March 26, 2008 Kevin Wheeler, President/Founder, Global Learning Resources, Inc. “Susan puts recruitment process vision to work with quantifiable results. She tackled workforce planning, recruitment process and brand issues at Federated Department Stores by developing and implementing one of the first uniquely branded recruitment websites for the retail industry which resulted in tens of thousands of hires. Susan is top notch and I would use her to handle any workforce opportunity." February 22, 2008 Hank Stringer, Principal, QTalent Partners “Susan is a professional with a deep understanding of all three legs of the corporate HR platform: business strategy, HR process and leading-edge technology. Her depth of insight into ways to make HR a strategic business asset are both unique and extraordinary. It has been a real pleasure working with (and learning from) her.” January 7, 2005 Jeff Hunter, Senior Director, EA University at Electronic Arts “I've worked with Susan Burns for a little over a year now and I can say that she has the most strategic, forward-thinking and fresh approach to talent acquisition out of any leader that I've worked with in the industry. I've always said that I wanted to work with someone who I could learn from, who wasn't just pushing old ideas and who would challenge me in new ways. Susan has always managed to challenge me. She has a unique way of getting you to think about things differently. Susan is also amazingly connected in the industry and the relationships she has helped me form with thought leaders has been invaluable. She is an avid reader and spots trends and innovations before most people have adopted the known innovations. The talent acquisition community has mostly agreed that finding people with passion for their field is a key performance indicator. I've met few people with as much passion for our industry as Susan. She thinks way outside the box, outside the organization and outside the industry to come up with advances in our field that are truly innovating the way organizations acquire talent. Most notable is her work with retailology.com prior to joining Waggener Edstrom and the workforce planning work she is currently designing at our organization. If you work in our industry I hope you have an opportunity to meet Susan, collaborate with her, brainstorm, have her tell you to put on your kid glasses or just have a quick brainstorm with her. I think you will find that you walk away feeling like you have learned something new.” May 16, 2007 Steve Fogarty, Talent Manager, Adidas "Susan is a talented staffing and recruiting professional who brings a wealth of experience and expertise in the acquisition of talent and workforce planning. In her role with Waggener Edstrom, she was responsible for the global acquisition of talent and her work had a significant impact. Her passion and commitment were clearly evident and the results she guided were notable. A reduction in time-to-fill, a broad portfolio of sourcing vehicles, and several new creative staffing strategies and initiatives were all part of what Susan contributed to. Additionally, her leadership in guiding the Agency's Advisory Board through a workforce planning strategy advanced our staffing capability to positively impact the business. As a staffing industry leader she is broadly recognized for leading edge thinking and the perspective she offers to organizations and clients. Susan is smart, strategic and results-oriented. I see her as flourishing in an environment that has the management of talent as a critical business priority and where Susan can freely demonstrate her entrepreneurial and results-oriented talent." Daniele Joudene, SVP, People Services, Waggener Edstrom “Susan Burns is one of the most talented leaders in the talent management industry today -- smart, innovative, passionate, dedicated, and able to see and create solutions where most people can only identify challenges. Quite simply, she helped to make us better and more innovative as a company/partner, every step of the way. Our partnership in developing WetFeet Recruiter's Enterprise Interview Scheduling system, which delivered industry-first innovations in many areas, is just one example of one of her strongest personal assets: Susan gets results. The passion, energy, focus and commitment she brings to her work is simply extraordinary. What a joy to recommend her!” October 11, 2007 Gary Alpert, CEO, WetFeet Inc.…; Added by Dave Mendoza at 2:05am on September 8, 2008

Topic: Meet Robert Gray, Executive Search: Youth & High school Football Coach at www.o-d.com Personal Causes: Breast Cancer fundraising/awareness Office/Cell Number: 978-474-8055 Personal Email: rob@hireimage.net Q&A with Robert Gray Six Degrees: Tell us of your home world. Rob: I married my college girlfriend (university of New Hampshire at Durham) after a 8 year courtship, not sure why she “hung in” there, but I’m glad she did. We have two beautiful kids, Jackson age 13 and Michaela age 10. We do have a family pet, Henry, a lively 6 year old jack Russell terrier. I would highly suggested doing research before buying one, they require a ton of attention, long walks at night and plenty of love…wait, that’s me…Henry is low maintenance, really. He runs the house with an iron paw. People who want to capitalize on Relationship Capital as a popular measure of networking success are the people I want to connect with. Consequently, web 2.0/networking is a passion. I run my Prep School (Bridgton Academy) Alumni networking group and love social networking for business and new connections. I am very active in my community as a youth sports leader and mentor. My real passion is coaching Life, I mean Football. Well, you get it. It’s one in the same. Having played Division 1 college football and now being able to pass along my “hard earned knowledge” to young men is a self-fulfilling prophecy “you get what you give”. My young players are all going to be great teammates, students, citizens, husbands, fathers and above all leaders. I am honored every single day I get to be around such motivated and inspiring young athletes. Having some part in their personal development makes it all so rewarding. 100 % of the kids we coach will play sports for a living! That’s right, 100%.... can someone challenge me that life, in and of itself is not a sport? That in America we reward the focused, driven and committed individuals. What adult that makes a living in this country, doesn’t have to compete in some way or another for either their livelihood, or to keep their job? What youth football coach in America (that’s worth his salt- thanks Vince), isn’t preparing your young men for their future & building a solid foundation for success in any endeavor that life has to offer. Football is a metaphor for life. Anyone that has played this game to the high school level knows this to be true. The top sales rep at the office, the focused & committed surgeon that operates on you, the person that tunes your car engine up and checks your brakes, the person that builds your home, they are all striving to earn your business. This is America, we welcome competition for EVERYTHING! It’s the fabric of our society. What makes you successful is your desire, commitment and dedication to be the best at what you do. Hmmmm, where have I heard that before? Harvard business school’s first rule of business is: If you don’t have a competitive edge, don’t compete! Maybe that’s just something we should wait to tell our kids when they are in….say…. college. Yeah, sounds about right. They’ll be much more mature at that point and better prepared to handle it. Hello! “Yes, Mrs. Jones, we are running sprints at the end of practice and painful as they might be for you to watch, your son will make it”. Football more than any other sport relates to how “working hard tends to make good things happen” and how being part of a team leads to a deep sense of pride and self-respect. Football coaches have a responsibility to help create a foundation in their players that teaches: Hard work will be rewarded! Preparation is key to success and Team comes first.....we were taught these things by our coaches at the exact same age as our players are now. We have an obligation to give back what we got. No? I have no complaints at all, I am coaching my son and his friends and we get so much out of the total experience that I am glowing with pride both as a father and a coach! I am helping in some small way; positively shape the lives of these kids. And, what I get back from this experience makes the 25 plus hours per week I volunteer pale by comparison. My advice to business leaders and former athletes is to “get involved” you can’t put a price on what you get back. Six Degrees: How many years have you been in the staffing industry? Rob: 2009 marks my 12th year in the Executive search industry. Hire Image is the third company I have built and branded. My firm has satisfied clients all over the world and has built outstanding best of breed sales forces for some of the best Hi-tech firms in the world. Six Degrees: How did you get started as a recruiter? Rob: I spent my first 9 years out of college with E & J Gallo Winery. The best sales training program in the US. Consumer goods is a great place to start your career, box seats to all the games, dinner out three nights a week, but that gets real old at 30. I got out to chase the money in hi-tech, period. Living in Boston in the late 90’s and not being in Hi-tech recruiting was a sin. Six Degrees: What single event had the most impact on your sourcing/recruiting career? Great question. I started my Career at a F500 agency, sat next to several million dollar a year billers and was floored by the money they made. I knew I was in the right Industry, same deer different forest thing, just a learning curve to get past. Do you have a mentor to whom you attribute your overall outlook on recruitment, capabilities, and/or model your career after? Rob: Absolutely, one of my oldest friends and former business partner mentored me for my first few years in the industry. “Stay on the phone, good things will happen” is what he told me a dozen times a day. Its so true, you want to reward yourself then pick up the phone and make another call. No victory laps here kid. Six Degrees: Tell us about "Hire Image" Rob: I have run my own firm since 2000. My world is “kill what you eat” period. I have never not run both sides of a desk. I have a partner in Amsterdam that runs EMEA and I run North America. I can and have managed up to 20 clients at once, but that’s about the maximum. I run a strict recruiting life cycle process and never manage the pipeline, just steer it. Six Degrees: (A) What other companies' recruiting operations do you admire or have heard are best-practice examples? Rob: I’ve always admired the retained search groups for the attention to detail and candidate control they have. After the white-hot dot com era, I developed the Hire Image software sales candidate evaluation best practice. Here is the quick version: Enterprise Sales Ability Strong Revenue achievement selling Enterprise applications... We look at the last 5 year W-2 history. Acceptable low end average is $200,000, (We prefer to see $250,000 average) with an average quota of ~$2,000,000. We also would like to see that the candidate has closed 6 or more deals over ~$500,000 and 2 or more deal over $1,000,000 in the last 5 years. If the above criterion is met, then the hard assumptions we must make are: A) This candidate can get in the door (fortune 500- CXO level) for first meeting and set the tone. Additionally, this candidate is a businessperson that can relate to the needs of CXO’s from a strategic view. They understand the business drivers as well as integration issues. Measurable components: W-2 Stream over last 5 years; Large deal history over last 5 years; Ability to articulate solutions sales skills; Demonstrate a consultative sales style; and Demonstrated stability – has stayed with previous employers long enough to generate customer loyalty B) This candidate has proven experience selling enterprise applications where they have taken a business solution and built strategic thrust with value. Then, have the ability to navigate the strategic initiative through a complex sales cycle to closure. Bottom line: This Candidate knows how to explore and develop business issues and objectives, create a mutually shared vision of the solution, match those visions with the capabilities and technology, and keep control of the buy cycle. (Solution Selling 101) Typical enterprise solution sales cycle includes: Identify CXO (sales, marketing and CIO) critical business issues (pain) and who in the organization is impacted. Provide capabilities that map to the CXO resolving these issues. Document sales process and plan the sales cycle for the CXO to agree upon. This lets us know if the CXO is serious about continuing this business relationship and it identifies the next steps in closing the sale. Provide a compelling accurate business case (value proposition, cost justification and confirmed agreed return on investment Vertical Expertise Measurable components: Number of deals sold into desired vertical Previously worked directly in the vertical (hands-on at potential customer target account) This candidate has sold multiple $500,000+ licensed software deals into Major clients within your targeted verticals. (Major defined as +$3B total revenue) Or, the candidate has worked for 5+ years in a hands-on capacity within the target industry. If the above criterion is met, then the hard assumptions we must make are: A) This candidate understands the buying criteria, business drivers, and influencers within this particular Industry. This candidate also comes to the table with a Rolodex of CXO’s that should facilitate first meetings based upon candidate’s business relationships (reputation). B) This candidate has sat on the other side of the table and understands the business issues that the buyer is facing – can relate to those issues from personal experience. Domain Expertise Measurable components: Experience selling for direct competitor or competitive product Experience selling complimentary or other desired application/technology Advanced technical aptitude (previous experience as an S/E or similar experience) This candidate has sold multiple $500,000+ license software deals in your specific domain. If the above criterion is met, then the hard assumptions we must make are: A) This candidate has the ability to sell a business solution (vision). This candidate can quantify a value proposition and translate that into real time return on investment. This candidate has very strong upfront communication of Economic Impact. Pluses: Start up experience- We like candidates that can “evangelize”, that have “missionary mode experience” and have scaled out net new business with few pre-existing customers. Six Degrees: How do you get to the C-level and what do you do once you get there? Rob: Most candidates are good at getting to "ground swell" - functional people. These people will give you the answer to "where is the pain" and plenty of soft assumptions... but they are not the C-level decision makers. (B) Six Degrees: In what aspects are they superior? Rob: This best of breed evaluation practice offers all interviewers a guideline to evaluate candidates against. It serves to keep your hiring manages focused on what’s important. Once you can get a client to agree on evaluation criteria, you have a much better shot at getting your candidates through the “gauntlet” Six Degrees: What recent general news story or industry trend do you feel will have an impact on your work in the future? Why? Rob: Web 2.0 is has changed the game to a large degree, however our services as executive search recruiters will never be replaced. Sourcing elite candidates and selling them on your client’s value as an employer will always require the skilled hand of a seasoned recruiter. “A players” always have employment choices, selling them on making a move requires a consultative relationship that is built over years. Additionally, I see more RPO (recruiting process outsourcing) firms in the market. Six Degrees: Tell us about your broader involvement within the staffing industry: Rob: I am a regular at Mass Hi-tech, ERE and Boston area networking functions. I attend Fordyce annually and participate with LION, Jobmachine.net, Recruitingblogs.com, SourceCon, Cybersleuths, Networked Recruiter and of course the number one recruiting blog “six degree’s from dave” Six Degrees: Can you detail how the recession has affected your particular industry niche? Rob: Enterprise software sales recruiting is slow, period. In the late fall 2008, I thought this was another “Top Grading” market. However, the pain runs deeper and longer. The good news is that top candidates are still being placed and recruiters are still being paid. My suggestion is to find your niche and work it. Sales engineers that have strong technical backgrounds are always in demand. Top enterprise sales athletes are still coveted, no one is open for business without an elite sales force. Find those industries that have organic growth. Greentech, Solar (PV), and Carbon emission management systems are right on the horizon. This world still runs on software, that’s not changing, stick to the basics. Software and platform as a service in Healthcare IT is a good place to start. Six Degrees: Aside from simply the generic term “Networking” what specific efforts have you made on your own behalf, or on behalf of colleagues to broaden your opportunities. Rob: I currently sit on Advisory boards for some of the fastest growing technology companies in Cambridge/Metro Boston, Ma area. The 128-technology belt is my “backyard” and home to hundreds of Software/Venture Capital firms and Business Incubators. I am truly blessed to be recruiting/living in such a fertile technology rich area. In fact, many of my neighbors are Software executives. My advice is to “get smart” on Healthcare IT, specifically voice recognition software. Target the competitive landscape and subscribe to a sales intelligence service. I use Zoominfo ( HYPERLINK "http://www.zoominfo.com" www.zoominfo.com) I think it’s the best product on the market Six Degrees: Given your own Trial and Error experiences as a Networker, what advice do you have for your peers on what NOT to do? Be specific Rob: Networking is a function of making connects, period. The more connects you make on a daily basis the better your OBP (on base percentage). However, don’t be fooled in thinking you don’t need to pick up the phone. Nothing will replace talking to your clients/candidates. Don’t try to be the expert on all verticals and domains. Pick several that you have an affinity for and become a subject matter expert. Six Degrees: What is your next career goal? What do you need to do to get there? Rob: My next career goal is to transition my business into a pure retained search model. This is easier said than done, work in progress. Stay tuned world.…; Added by Dave Mendoza at 2:37am on May 18, 2009