Zero. Nada. Zip. In my decades of hiring experience, that’s the exact count of candidates willing to commit to a job without a phone call. Zero-point-zero! Chances are, your experience aligns closely with this. I swear it’s a universal benchmark across corporate, agency, and RPO sectors, spanning all job types—hourly, salaried, temporary, contract, and seasonal. The whole shabang. No one’s willing to just jump in. Let me ask you a couple of questions: Would you accept a job without talking with anyone from the company? Would you go for an interview without prior dialogue about the role? My g ..read more

I’ve been talking with a lot of C-suite leaders lately who are worried because they don’t see next-gen leaders on their teams. It’s not that they lack team members, but they don’t see these individuals as future leaders, or they feel they’re not close to being ready for leadership roles. The current team members mean well. They want to be leaders and often talk the talk, but just wanting to be a leader isn’t enough. This is a common sentiment among C-suite executives. Real leadership isn’t about making promises—it’s about taking action and producing results. Give me someone who can achieve goa ..read more

Consider this: If we’re lucky, each of us has around 30,000 days to live. (Go ahead, calculate it!) It’s a good guess. However, 30,000 days is an optimistic estimate. Many won’t reach that number, and even if we do, those 30,000+ days might not be our best days. So, what are you doing with your 30,000 days? Personally, I’ve already lived through a lot of days (please don’t do the math this time), and within those days, I’ve accomplished some remarkable things—building a loving family, nurturing a fulfilling career, and sharing my life with cherished companions (ahem including writing to all of ..read more

In HR and talent management discussions, I feel like I get asked two main questions: Which ATS do you recommend? How can we turn around our bad employment brand? Let’s save the first question for another blog. Now, addressing the second question—it’s not always easy, but it’s definitely doable with some effort. The first step is figuring out why your employer reputation is suffering. Sometimes, it’s a complex issue; other times, it’s more straightforward. For example, if your reputation took a hit due to how you treated employees in the past, rebuilding trust will take time. On the other han ..read more

The week of The Talent Fix, Volume 2! And SHRM Talent! Grab your copy today: https://www.amazon.com/Talent-Fix-Leaders-Guide-Recruiting/dp/158644638X ..read more

Should you know your manager’s salary? Should companies share this salary information internally? I get it – they’re common questions. In today’s push for transparency, this is a complex issue. Generally, higher-level employees (not in publicly traded companies) are less inclined to support sharing this information within the organization. On the flip side, lower-level employees often desire more transparency. Why is this? The desire to know colleagues’ salaries boils down to trust. Interestingly, the higher you climb within an organization, the less you tend to trust those below you. That suc ..read more

Welcome back to Re-Run Friday – this post originally ran in April 2022! The Big Regret! How’s that new job treating you? When 4-5 million people per month change jobs, mostly for more money, there are going to be some consequences! Turns out, the grass isn’t always greener when you get more green! A Muse survey, reported in the WSJ, recently found out that nearly 75% of workers who’ve changed jobs recently have regretted it, and 50% of those would try and get their old job back! That’s a lot! But it’s not surprising. The biggest stressors we have in life are having kids, buying a house, a ..read more

Has anyone thought about applying for a role like “Jr. Human Resource Manager”? Probably not, because let’s face it, job titles like that don’t exactly scream excitement or career advancement. Whoever decided to add “Jr.” to any job title ever – you’re killing me! Talk about taking the easy way out! I hate spending 3 seconds on job titles, because job titles just scream, “Personnel Department”, but I have to take a few minutes to help out some of my HR brothers and sisters. Recently, I came across a classic job title mistake when someone had posted an opening and then broadcasted it out to the ..read more

Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about what makes work truly meaningful. Many HR professionals believe that for employees to be truly engaged, they need to feel that their work is meaningful. I agree with this idea. However, some HR pros have misunderstood this concept. They’ve started pushing social causes onto employees, thinking that supporting these causes equals meaningful work. Tom’s shoes are the best example. Each pair costs around $45, but the materials and labor probably only amount to about $5. While Tom’s donates a pair to a child in need for each one sold, they’re essentially sacr ..read more

In our little world, being a “partner” carries weight, right? But, serious question. Does anyone really know what it means? I operate a staffing firm, where I end up working for free quite a bit. Staffing involves providing services up front, hoping to get paid when the right candidate is found. To succeed, you have to minimize the unpaid work as much as possible. I also speak and write in the TA and HR space, I do free work there too. A lot actually. Often, I’m asked for “favors” – which translates to free work. Despite being called a “partnership,” it’s usually one-sided—I give, they take. I ..read more