Don’t Read This Article and Get Back to Work!
When we began 2021 with another stay-at-home order here in Ontario, our office had begun to work remotely once again and we were intrigued by Robin Hardman’s article “Don’t Read This Article and Get Back to Work!” that she recently published
Your Best Candidates Will Cheat on Pre-Hire Assessments
We came across this article; Your Best Candidates Will Cheat on Pre-Hire Assessments. Written by Vadim Liberman for ERE.net that caught our attention and led to some internal discussions about the value of pre-hire assessment resources.
Attracting Gen Z Will Be Like Recruiting Millennials Only Different
We found this article Attracting Gen Z Will Be Like Recruiting Millennials Only Different by Ms. Osnat Shostak on TLNT Daily which caught my attention as it introduced me to what she’s calling “Generation Z”. And, frankly, my first thought was “what’s Gen Z?” She explains that this a generation born on or around 1996 that is entering the workforce with expectations different than other generations. Ms. Shostak quotes statistics that suggest that this Gen Z will comprise 24% of the global workforce by 2020 – that’s next year!
Seven Tips to Retain Tribal Knowledge
We came across this article; Seven Tips To Retain Tribal Knowledge by Oliver Sturrock in IndustryWeek. It struck a nerve with us because so many companies we work with are struggling to develop effective methods of replacing soon-to-retire employees. To be more specific, while it’s hard enough these days to effectively replace people. More importantly the challenge is to replace the tribal knowledge that walks out the door with the retiree. From the client who faces losing 25% of its employees to retirement within the next 5 years. To another that’s retiring 10-15 employees yearly, companies are threatened by the loss of critical technical knowledge that’s been learned and honed by employees over the decades.
Six Motivational Drivers, and How to Unleash Them
We came across this interesting article in IndustryWeek. Written by Kerry Goyette, that takes a look at six drivers of intrinsic motivation. As Kerry shares, “If people know they are part of the team and their work is valued, then they become more loyal and committed.” Each of the core motivators that Kerry references (Theoretical, Utilitarian, Aesthetic, Individualistic, Social, and Traditional). Can be used to help understand what makes each team member tick. As well as understand why an employee does what they do. As a result, perhaps utilizing one (or all) of the suggested motivational drivers can lead to greater commitment levels and an increase in overall employee engagement.
Five Lessons from High- Performing Lean Teams
We came across this article by Jon Terry published in IndustryWeek on August 1st and, to be frank, our first reaction was to pass it by. We’ve all read SO many articles about Lean that they begin to look and read the same. And then we engaged with a manufacturing company that hasn’t yet begun the “Lean Journey”. And, if the advice in this article made sense to them, then maybe there are others out there that can also get value from Mr. Terry’s observations.
You Have the Wrong Idea about Corporate Culture
This article by Rick Bohan in IndustryWeek caught our attention with its bold title “You Have the Wrong Idea about Corporate Culture”. Since we speak with Client Companies and Candidates all the time about the cultures of their workplaces, we were naturally motivated to read on. At its core, Mr. Bohan’s article doesn’t want us to confuse culture with employee satisfaction / morale. Such as “free snacks and ping-pong tables”. Such benefits and modern amenities are a result of success and success is a result of a positive workplace culture. He suggests – you can’t have one or sustain it without the other.
Slow Hiring Is Damaging Your Firm and Here are 20 Reasons Why
We found this article by Dr. John Sullivan published at www.ere.net that addresses “damages” resulting from slow hiring processes. Now, we normally are engaged to help companies fill empty jobs ASAP, therefore slow hiring processes are not common to us. Certainly, we do have Search Projects that get delayed pending another event, the end of vacation periods, or the results of a business quarter.
Changing Company Culture: It’s a Matter of Principles
We came across this article “Changing Company Culture: It’s a Matter of Principles” by Paul Borders published in IndustryWeek. The article seeks to “roadmap” a process leading to culture change. Mr. Borders uses charts to summarize the values, behaviours and results of reactive company cultures versus reliability-focused cultures. Certainly, the changes in employees’ forward-thinking values and behaviour can be applied to any department and process in a company, not just Maintenance & Reliability Engineering. Mr. Borders clearly outlines that management must lead change by example.
Promoting Process Over Value and Management Over Leadership – Do You Want a Seat at the Table?
We found this article by Toby Culshaw at SOURCECON. It caught our attention as Toby addresses the challenges of identifying effective Managers from Impactful Leaders. Toby in turn refers us to an article written by John Kotter back in 1996. Which is as accurate and relevant today as it was 22 years ago. In our practice, almost every Search Project’s selection criteria addresses a need for Leadership of Change in any of or all of its operating results, methods, or company culture. Never are we tasked with recruiting talent who will keep things as they are. While this is easily understandable in today’s ultra-competitive business climate.