Digital Recruiting is Not Mission Impossible

A few months back I read an HBR Blog called Digital Staffing: The Future of recruitment-by-Algorithm by Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic where he started out by mentioning that “Americans are now spending more time on social networking sites than on all other sites combined” and that “As a consequence of spending so much time online, we now leave traces of our personality everywhere (and that) these online behaviors are of increasing interest to recruiters and employers, who are desperately trying to translate them into "digital reputations" and use them to find talent online.”

Dr Chamorro-Premuzic felt there were three primary reasons that employers are likely to find their future leaders in cyberspace.

• First, the web makes recruiting easier for employers and would-be employees. 
• Second, the web makes recruiting less biased and less clubby. 
• Third, web analytics can help recruiters become more efficient. 

I could not agree more. About 8 months ago I partnered with a colleague of mine who is a PhD in artificial intelligence to begin building a data access and retrieval solution to help recruiters. Our first product is going to focus on leveraging internal referral networks. But we have several more ideas planned. The information available in public and private networks – our electronic footprint – is exploding, and while there are still several important issues to resolve around privacy, data miss-use, data ownership, etc. the growth of social data mining for recruiting, employee engagement, employee development, contract staffing, you name it, is going to explode in the next 2 to 3 years.

In his HBR Blog, Dr Chamorro-Premuzic predicts that “We will soon witness the proliferation of machine learning systems that automatically match candidates to specific jobs and organizations. Imagine that instead of receiving movie recommendations from Netflix or holiday recommendations from Expedia, you receive daily job offers from Monster or LinkedIn — and that those jobs are actually right for you.” LinkedIn, of course is already doing this – just not very well yet. But it will get better, and companies like mine will be layering new products on top of these networks to improve these data services even further.

I look forward to the day when I can wake up in the morning, choose the “job” I want to do for that day, and head to sleep knowing I will have new options again the following day.

Good morning, Mr. Hunt. Your mission, should you choose to accept it….

Recruiting Technology Can Be Les Misérables

With apologies for my miss-use of the French word form, a lot of the recruiting technology that is out there today really is “Les Misérables”. If Fantine was a recruiter and left alone, unemployed and destitute – I could hear her sing:


I dreamed a dream in times gone by
And hope was high
Recruiting software was worth the buy
I had a dream my life would be
So different from this hell I’m living
So different now from what it seemed
Now recruiting tech has killed
The dream I dream!



The problem has really been that most of the products on the market out there today take a broken process that was developed 20 years ago and try to make it more automated. The only thing you get from automating junk is faster junk. There have been some attempts to get at the heart of the problem (getting the best candidates to want to apply for your job) but little innovation has really helped much. The standard recruiting organization uses a tool to manage the requisition, create a job post, shove it out to irrelevant job boards, and pray for a good outcome. When that fails they call a headhunter. Ugh.

Maybe there is more help to come. Recruiting is going to change because job seekers (both passive and active) are going to change. The target audience for recruiting is more online today than ever before. They like hearing about opportunities – as long as they don’t get spammed. And they like to move around a bit to find the best job fit.

One area for hope is with referrals. Our employees are connected to huge numbers of people. But we don’t know how to tap the reservoir. Opportunity knocks.
 
So in spite of Javert  trying to thwart the best efforts of change, perhaps there is hope for the dream over this next decade.

(Photo curtesy of iStockphoto)

MY HR Avatar

HR may one day just be an Avatar named Jane (or John if you prefer).

The confluence of technology that makes smart interaction between machine and human more effective, coupled with the increasingly “dummied down” model of HR that some companies think is all they need, could lead to a future where there are no humans who do HR, just machines. (Who will also be very good at telling you which form you have to use for this year’s “up to” 2.2% merit raises, but will probably dress nicer than your current HR rep does.)

About five years ago I had an extremely effective interaction with an Avatar that helped me rent some furniture while I was on temporary assignment in Atlanta. I don’t remember her name, but she will long be with me. I asked what furniture she would recommend for my 1 bedroom apartment that would fit within my budget and not look too much like faux early American press-board. She had a hard time with that last part – but quickly gave me a design that suited my needs. We talked some, adjusted the design a bit and three days later it arrived. I was in love.

Huge parts of HR can (and in many cases [almost] already do) work like this. Benefits, HR policy, payroll and a host of other frequent interactions with HR can all be done better by a well designed self help system. This You Tube video by Guile 3D shows a fascinating example of how interactive this stuff can be. The problem is, some companies act like that is all there is to HR and, unfortunately, some HR departments are too complacent in this view.

There are glimmers of sunshine in HR thinking, but too much of HR has been marginalized by the drive to cut spending and increase automation for pure efficiency sake without much thought going into how to improve performance and not just cost ratios. How many companies have the HR department report to the CFO! Way too many.

Really good HR people in really forward looking companies realize HR is like the line coach on a championship football team – they don’t just relay the coach’s messages, they make sure that everyone is ready, motivated and able to play to the best of their potential. (Sorry for the sports analogy – but you get the point).

HR should not be about efficiency – it should be about effectiveness. If we don’t get the dialog back on track, Jane (or John) will be the only love of our HR lives.

Dear Facebook I Burned Down A Garage

When I was about 6 years old, my best friend and I almost burned down his garage. Back then the biggest long term repercussion I had to worry about was what would happen when dad got home. (He was a volunteer fireman and boy was he going to be pissed!)

My friend lived across the street and we were playing one summer afternoon in Oregon. My memory is that it was a sunny day – but this was Oregon – so I doubt it. We found some matches and thought it would be fun to start a little fire. Fire was cool. We had a whole empty garage to work with (for that matter we could have done this outside) but for some reason we thought setting up our little fire in the corner of the garage would be best. We piled up some papers and a few other things that would burn and lit it on fire. One of those other things turned out to be a kerosene soaked rag and that fire took off. It was really cool for about 5 seconds, and then we realized something was wrong. Fortunately mothers, and fire trucks, got there pretty quickly and we just ruined one side of a wall. (And the backsides of our butts).

What if my mom would have thought this was a cute story to post on her Facebook account. My little imp, she might say. All my mom’s close friends would get a kick out of it. But then, so would all their close friends. Before you know it, maybe about a 1000 close and not so close friends would know about it. Would everyone think I was a cute little imp? Would everyone think my mom was a good mom? Could this have hurt her career?

My wife works in early childhood development. If this were our son, would this reflect on her?

I love social media and I am even an advocate of using social media in the hiring process, but the one big problem we have to solve before any of us can be comfortable with it is PRIVACY. We have to let people live their lives. It is a lot of fun to keep up with family and friends. Social Media is an easy way to have an extended family even if that family extends around the globe. But not everything that happens in social media is job relevant. If companies are going to start using social media in their hiring process they have to first get that distinction right. My electronic footprint says a lot about me. I like that. But stay away from my personal life – you don’t need to know about that.

To paraphrase an old saying: “What happens in Facebook Stays in Facebook.”

Now, if you will excuse me – I have a neighbor’s garage I need to go to.

6 Things In For 2012, Out For 2013.

I predict that 2012/2013 will be seen as the death of an old paradigm in human resources and the beginning of the new paradigm: The New Employee Economy. As with most major shifts, this won’t happen overnight (and many will think it didn't happen at all) but it will. While there are many changes that will happen, here is my list of 6 Things that were (still) in during 2012, but will be on their way out in 2013:

Things that are out	Things that will be in
Monster.com and all the other monstrous big job boards and sourcing behemoths who can’t see the change coming	Hire Rabbit and all the other furry creatures who are leading the way to a more clever way to map resources to jobs
Labor Acceptance of things being the way they are.	Labor Activism to lead the change for a more open market for resource exchange. We don’t need jobs; we need places to ply our trades. If we can’t find them, we’ll start our own company!
ATS Systems and all the complexity they have built in to manage a job force that doesn't want to work that way.	Virtual Resourcing where employees can decide each morning where they want to work.
Background Screening and all the fear based, overly conservative, “who done it” mentality	Culture Fit and the idea that screening people into the right job is more critical to success than screening people out.
Social Media which is a lot of fun but has nothing to do with your job performance. Leave Facebook posts alone. What the heck, we all like to get a little crazy after work sometime.	Professional Media and the multiple environments that let you speak for yourself. There will be even more growth of places where professionals interact, share ideas and grow their value by growing their network.
Management Driven Product Design: Closed door meetings where managers discuss customer needs, commission lengthy studies and decide what is best for the customer.	Crowd Source Driven Product Design where people decide what they want and let you know by the way they are using it.

This New Employee Economy is going to be characterized by a less hierarchical mindset and a more open flow of resources. Sounds like fun.

See you in 2013.

I'm Dreaming of a Lean Start Up Christmas

OK, I have been buried up to (and over) my head for the last couple of months getting our new product ready for development. I finally looked up from my desk and realized it was almost Christmas and I am way behind. Since we have been following the basic principles of the Lean Start Up I have visions of MVP’s dancing through my head, so what choice do I have but to try and see if I can accelerate my “Presents To Market” strategy this Christmas. So here is how I am applying the Lean Start Up to Christmas this year:

Test My Fundamental Hypothesis: Giving is better than receiving.

To test this hypothesis I quickly headed down to the local stores and bought 4 presents: 2 for me and 2 for my friend. So far I really like my two presents.Hum, make a note, hypothesis may be faulty.

Develop My MVP (in this case, it means Minimum Viable Present):

I have designed a strategy that allows me to buy some lumber, some bolts, nails, paint and a few decorative glue-on pieces. I am going to give one each to my two sons and observe what they do with them. Once I see what it is they really want, I’ll give them a gift card.

Assess My Leap Of Faith Assumption: That my wife will let me play with the iPad I am giving her (otherwise – why give it to her!)

I am worried about this key assumption. If I give it to her and she doesn't let me play with it, my whole plan for the week is ruined. I wonder if I should just keep it for myself.

Pivot or Persevere: If my Xmas plans seem to be failing, can I quickly adjust?

I have looked at the possibilities of a mid-course correction. They are limited. I suppose if the presents fail, I could offer to cook (and clean) all the holiday meals.

Now with a solid plan in place, I can confidently go forward with my holidays!

Best wishes to all for a great holiday season!

Can HR Thrive in “Generation Flux”

In Robert Safian’s words, “Generation Flux" is a term he coined several months ago, in a Fast Company cover story that explained "how the velocity of change in our economy has made chaos the defining feature of modern business.” He mentions examples of Apple, Facebook, and Amazon as fast risers and Research in Motion, Blockbuster, and MySpace and rapid fallers. He goes on to say that “accepted models for success are proving vulnerable, and pressure is building on giants like GE and Nokia, as their historic advantages of scale and efficiency run up against the benefits of agility and quick course corrections. Meanwhile, the bonds between employer and employee, and between brands and their customers, are more tenuous than ever.”

In a more recent article from Fast Company entitled  How To Lead In a Time of Chaos, Safian describes “Fluxers” as people who thrive best in these rapidly changing environments. He says it is “a psychographic, not a demographic--you can be any age and be GenFlux. Their characteristics are clear: an embrace of adaptability and flexibility; an openness to learning from anywhere; decisiveness tempered by the knowledge that business life today can shift radically every three months or so.”

Yet most of HR’s structures and processes support predictability, consistency; everything and everyone the same. In traditional human resources we are concerned about the legal and regulatory implications of everything from calling the Christmas Party the Holiday Party to worrying that job descriptions are written for every single position. How do you have a job description for a true GenFlux position? Do we understand that employees won't stand for traditional models in the future? And that traditional models won't support the company mission any more?

Will HR be able to change as rapidly as the world is changing around them, or will HR be this generation's elevator operator (that guy in the 1900’s that became irrelevant when changes in technology made it so anybody could operate an elevator)?

What are your thoughts? How will HR change to support this new employee economy?

One final quote from that same Fast Company article to leave you with:

• “We’re in a new era, and that better get you excited. Being scared by change doesn't help” says Troy Carter, CEO of Atom Factory 

May the Change Be With You.