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The Fordyce Letter

Straight Talk for the Recruiting Profession


Relationships

Relationships

Recruiter Chronicles: Five Years, Five Mistakes — Part 5

by on Sep. 8, 2011


frustrated-guy-by-zach-klein

To commemorate the fifth anniversary of my career in recruiting which recently passed, I have shared with you over the past several weeks the five biggest learning lessons I’ve experienced thus far during my time at the Aureus Group. Last week, I shared the story of how I forgot about the relationships that really matter, and how that cost me countless placements. This week, I bring you….

#1 – Story of Losing Faith in an Old Customer

It never fails. Every single time I talk to a prospective member of our esteemed recruitment team here at Aureus Group, I am asked the same question.

“What does it take to be successful at recruiting?”

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Relationships

Harper’s Rules: A Guide to Recruiting, Written for Candidates

by on Aug. 30, 2011


Harpers Rules cover

By Danny Cahill

Since my divorce two years ago, I have become good at resisting men, and I have always been good at resisting headhunters, so when you put the two together, a male headhunter has no chance with me. They want to know if I am happy. Would I like to hear about a dream job? I know why they call—I am a successful software sales rep with a massive network of clients, and I’m an attractive woman. I don’t think much about happiness anymore. And I don’t deal in dreams. So I don’t return their calls.

Except Harper.

Harper Scott gets to me. He placed me once eight years ago when I was first learning how to sell software, and then again years later when my boss at the time started taking clients away from me because I was out earning him. Harper has been a successful headhunter for a long time. He seems to know everyone in my market space, and everything that is going on. Harper is connected. But that’s not why he gets to me.

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Relationships

Recruiter Chronicles: Five Years, Five Mistakes -– Part 4

by on Aug. 19, 2011


burning-bridges

To commemorate the fifth anniversary of my career in recruiting which recently passed, I have been sharing the five biggest learning lessons I’ve experienced thus far during my time at the Aureus Group. Last week, I shared the story of botched salary negotiation that cost me a fee. This week, I bring you…

#2 – Story of Forgetting About the Relationships That Really Matter

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Business, Relationships

Our Clients Not Only Made Lemonade, They Served Jambalaya

by on Aug. 18, 2011


Mark Tyler, President of OEM Fabricators in Woodville, WI

Lemonade was the theme of our last Fordyce Letter article (Lemonade, Anyone? From the January 2011 issue). We were happy to share the three main strategies we implemented when a down economy really forced our hand, driving a change from a salesperson-driven culture to one more affordable and still focused on new business development, but sans salesperson. To recap, our three “Lemonade” initiatives were:

  1. No more salespeople. Our traditional staffing coordinators are now relationship experts — not only with applicants and contract employees, but also with prospects and customers. Their relationships, and strategic business development goals, drive new business development.
  2. A bigger, friendlier brand presence with customers. We continue to be the “little staffing company that helped.” We don’t want the lack of dedicated salespeople to create a vacuum, so we continue to stay very active in personal relationships, educational marketing initiatives, and social media, to stay top-of-mind in a truly helpful way.
  3. A more engaged, relationship-oriented presence continues to be our recruiting strength as well as a sales strategy. Since the Lemonade article in January, we have continued to avoid paid recruiting advertising and stayed focused on the more personal touch — including all forms social media, referral programs, job fairs, and other old-fashioned recruiting methods. We even resurrected the “Now Hiring” job flyers — they work in our market!

As we continue to make “lemonade” and improve and strengthen our relationship-based, social media-driven methodologies, we were delighted when one of our longtime clients asked us to bring those tools to the table when they threw a huge party — in honor of BURYING the recession. Here is a “When the economy throws you a curve ball, make Jambalaya” story that I hope makes you smile. Thanks to our client, OEM Fabricators in Wisconsin, for allowing us to be a part of this event and share the story.

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Relationships

The 6 Cs of Passive Candidate Recruiting Plus 1

by on Aug. 9, 2011


Tipping-point

As Malcolm Gladwell points out is his bestseller The Tipping Point, little things can make a big difference. The same is true when it comes to finding, recruiting, and hiring passive candidates. One big thing recruiters can do is tame their hiring manager clients. Taming your hiring managers is an essential first step if you want to recruit passive candidates.

As was pointed out in a major study we did last year with LinkedIn, 82% of LinkedIn’s fully employed members characterize themselves as passive candidates. While they’d be open to talk with a recruiter, they are not interested in a lateral transfer, applying through your ATS, or working for a company that doesn’t know how to hire and develop talent. To find and hire these people, especially the best of the group, recruiters need to not only tame their hiring managers, but also employ the 6 Cs for recruiting passive candidates. These represents the key tipping points involved in any passive candidate search effort.

Over many (many) years, I’ve worked on search assignments with more than 500 different hiring managers on positions ranging from staff accountants and senior engineers to functional VPs, COOs, and CEOs of all stripes and sizes. From these experiences I’ve discovered a bunch of challenges that need to be addressed before you start looking for candidates.

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Relationships

Recruiter Chronicles: Story of the Despicable Million-dollar Producer

by on Jun. 28, 2011


evil by L. Marie

“She said what!?” I heard the question fly from the other side of the room punctuated with disgust. Each one of my teammates’ ears were now perked with anticipation to hear what “she” said. We waited patiently for a minute, and up from her cube popped my teammate Chris. She exclaimed, holding her head in her hands and looking like she was in great pain, “I can’t believe it!”

“What?” about three of us asked at the same time.

“She did it again,” Chris said with a tone of resigned disbelief in her voice.

“Who?” we asked.

“You know who,” Chris answered. At that moment we all knew. “You-know-who” is a bit of a nemesis of ours. She is a million-dollar producer that none of us know personally, but deal with on a constant basis. If you just looked at her body of work in terms of numbers you would be infinitely impressed. She is known to be a consistent big biller, with the best contacts, and amazing work effort. Unfortunately, she also known to be somewhat morally and ethically challenged within the confines of recruitment.

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Relationships

Father’s Day Reflections: From Our Family to You

by on Jun. 17, 2011


Sipple Family Centennial Inc

For over three decades, Centennial, Inc. has served organizations in many business sectors and has carved out a niche with privately held companies and family businesses. In the last decade the ability to understand, connect, and internalize what our clients are experiencing has become our own reality, as we too are a family business experiencing ouritbut  own succession plan. My father, Mike Sipple Sr., and mother, Susan Sipple, both own and serve in critical leadership roles for our organization, and I have spent the last ten years growing personally and professionally to prepare for a passing of the baton under their leadership.

My mentor is a leader who puts trust and integrity above everything else and his reputation of 35 years has created a significant foundation for Centennial and me to stand on. Although he happens to be my father, I could ask for no better leader from whom to learn, change, and grow. Honestly, I do not know many men, let alone fellow family business colleagues, who can say the same. As a father, husband, son, and a service provider to my clients – this is what I strive to become and why, like every other Father’s Day before, this Father’s Day means so much to me.

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For Managers, Relationships

Client Relationships: Why Some Succeed and Others Don’t

by on May 18, 2011


DanErwin

In virtually all professional service organizations, clients are the key to success. More and more service professionals understand that  strong, face-to-face-client communication is the antidote to escalating commoditization pressures and the intense competition of the New Economy.

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How-To, Relationships

A Holistic Approach to Search

by on May 10, 2011


holistic

How phone research and Internet sourcing work together

Every now and then, a debate flares up in our business…or should I say, the embers smolder continuously. For example: What type is the best candidate: Active or Passive? What sourcing method is best: Phone versus Internet? So what’s the hoopla all about? Why the passionate arguments? In the squabble of one-upmanship we are forgetting the end destination. The goal is clear – get the best candidate for the position. Period. End of story. Yeah we all agree, nodding our wise heads. So if we agree on the final answer, let’s also agree to get there in the best possible way.

I am all about a balanced approach, a joint effort, a let’s-pull-out-all-the-stops tactic to “finding/looking for” (research & Internet sourcing) and “placing” (recruiting & candidate development) a candidate in their new, awesome opportunity.

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Editor's Corner, Relationships

All I Need To Know About Recruiting I Learned From My Mother

by on May 6, 2011


fordyce-default

It was two years ago in New Orleans during the Bayou Classic – Grambling University vs. Southern University, two historically black colleges. For years, my parents had attended this game and the festivities that go along with it. It gave them an opportunity to visit their home state of Louisiana, which they both left separately right after World War II. Both my parents settled in the San Francisco Bay area where they met, married, and raised my brother, my sister, and me. As one might imagine, coming to San Francisco during that time was far better than living and working under the conditions of Jim Crow. To a great extent, San Francisco was not much better, though on the surface and to the outside observer, California was a thousand times better than living in Louisiana.

I received an invitation to sponsor a cocktail kick-off party in New Orleans during the Bayou Classic. It had been a couple of years since my mom had attended, and my father had passed away about five years prior, so for her, it wasn’t the same going without him. I invited her out from California to visit with me, have Thanksgiving dinner, and attend the Classic. I travel considerably for work, and with that comes some perks within the Marriott Hotel chain. With my wife’s blessing, Mom and I met in New Orleans and, with my frequent traveler points, stayed at the Ritz-Carleton in a very nice suite. At the hotel, there was a constant and steady amount of food and beverage selections, which for my 86-year-old mother was a delight. Each night I would accompany her and we would get a bit to eat and mingle and talk with other guests. She would hold court and I would sit back and quietly observe, something that is a real joy in my life. 

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