Insight
Gaining insight into what truly energizes you is an important discovery. I had come to realize that what truly energizes me, where my strengths lie and where I possess authentic passion were all pointing in a similar direction – leading a talent acquisition function again. I missed being closer to the heart and soul of an organization’s business. Being directly at the business : talent intersection, tapped into the daily pulse of the business, and being in a leadership position to deliver direct value through the talent acquisition function. I missed the opportunity to work with a team and collectively experience the ebb and flow of navigating the inherent challenges of delivering on and / or advancing talent strategies.  And, celebrating success along the way.  The future was calling.  It was time to pursue an opportunity to broadly influence an organization’s talent acquisition orientation.  Build an outstanding experience for job seekers, recruiters and business leaders.  Support an organization’s strategic directives.  And, help enable the future through the talent acquisition capability.  Many of the same drivers that led me to transition from front-line business leadership to the HR function 12 years ago were pulling me back in. The opportunistic state of talent acquisition functions to deliver greater value to the business strategy. The candidate experience and void between recruiting and talent. And, the ability of technology to not only enable but also advance multi-dimensional relationships between organizations and talent.

The Search….in brief
I intentionally chose not to be fully public in my search. I chose to take a quieter search approach than many may agree with, especially in our connected, social environment. I reached out across my network and persistently scoured a number of sources, which probably resulted in a longer search. But I thought it was important to avoid unnecessary risk to existing and potential clients and to secure all possible revenue. I also wanted to fully absorb the job seeker experience.  No surprise that the job search itself was not only interesting and informative but disappointing, to say the least, during a time of great opportunity for organizations. From an analytical perspective, my search revealed the long-term vulnerabilities across organizations of various size, industry, and brand stature inherently tagged to the organization’s brand through poor recruiting practices. Yes, it continues to amaze me how companies can invest heavily in areas like marketing, R&D, and customer development only to allow the recruiting process to dilute those very same investments through the job seeker / candidate experiences. My friends say it shouldn’t continue to surprise me. But, until someone tells me that there is no connection between talent and “business success”, and that talent is not “our most important asset,” I’ll continue to be amazed. Executive search has its own challenges and there are but a few true gems within a sea of transactionally-driven, “close the deal”, recruiters.

Perspective and Framework
From the job seeker perspective, it’s quite challenging to balance a strong desire to move forward with the patience, resilience and gut instinct to stay focused on the right opportunity, which for me included role, company, geography, leadership and, most importantly, culture. Its probably the one thing I can’t emphasize enough to anyone I speak with who is in a job search or considering making a move. Trust your intuition. Know your self well enough to know what you value and where compromises can be made. Most of what is learned during the interview process is only going to reveal part of reality and that part better be strongly aligned with who you are and what you want. Reflect on past experiences to clarify what energizes you and what drains you. Define the environment in which you can thrive and create a guiding framework.  Then, be aware of what drains you to make smart compromises.  A few things that comprised my framework:

• Enterprise-wide leadership role with broad scope and responsibility encompassing all aspects of talent acquisition
• Reporting line directly to the head of HR / Talent, who is a progressive leader
• A culture of and commitment to progressive talent strategies across the HR organization
• Commitment to, and / or desire to achieve excellence in talent acquisition practices across the organization
• An HR organization that recognizes COE interdependencies and respects the inherent SME value.
• Owning my budget

Stepping Into the Future
Around the end of September, I accepted a new role and just finished my first month as Director of Talent Acquisition with the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA). BPA is a self-financed, federal agency based in Portland – which also means I get to stay in one of the greatest cities in the country! BPA generates and transmits emission-free power to support about 33% of the Northwest, as well as transmitting wind energy to California. I’m already fully immersed in the benefit and challenge of learning the energy industry along with government practices. In my new role, I’ll be leading talent acquisition, internal talent movement, university recruitment, and diversity. I’ll also have the opportunity to further develop and execute on the Obama Administration’s Hiring Reform Memorandum, which by design enables government agencies to compete more effectively with private industry for talent. My own experience in applying for the job – 8 hours to complete the application – responding to a series of essay questions and short answers, resulting in a 9-page document, was quite revealing. At the same time, there are a number of good, transparent touch points within federal hiring and workplace practices that are well aligned with job seeker and employee preferences.

This is one of those unique opportunities to design a holistic strategy, develop a high-performing talent acquisition function, and enable the function to thrive and align with a critical business mission, which in this case will literally help keep the lights on! I’ll also be continuing with some outside work that doesn’t present a direct conflict or interfere with my role. The Talent Synchronicity blog will stay active and as I get settled will allocate more time to write. Talent Camp is still a possibility for 2011 so stay tuned and cheers to Transitions!

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Having just wrapped my second Recruitfest experience I feel like this was another first.  Two years and the maturing of RecruitingBlogs has made a tremendous difference to the scope and format but the spirit was the same.  Perhaps two years ago Recruitfest was like a rebellious teenager and this year it was more like a spunky, young adult not content with the status quo and still pulsing with the persistent determination to make a difference and carve a new, experiential path to learning.  Jason’s team has grown to include Miles Jennings and Ashley Saddul – the genius behind the quality live stream.  Personally, I like events that push the talent agenda and serve as a format for discussion and learning, and Recruitfest 2010 certainly delivered.  In partnership with Monster and through the support of a number of sponsors, the Recruitfest live stream reached thousands of people globally – 38 countries, and every state in the U.S.

Eric Weingardner was invaluable as coordinator and host.  His passion and wit delivered engaging commentary throughout the day.  Eric’s and Jason’s onsite teams delivered a flawlessly executed event.  Is there room for more, sure!  Enhancing the virtual experience by making it more interactive or hosting simultaneous live stream events that bounce from geo to geo will come.  But, the value and meaning of Recruitfest cannot be underestimated.

Three areas that made a difference:

The people and the conversation. The mix of presenters brought a diverse, progressive and dynamic dialogue to life.  The panel discussions were some of the best I’ve seen and participated in.  They were unscripted, candid, authentic and dynamic.  Real and raw.  It was the fishbowl concept and it worked beautifully.

The reach. We are part of a global community.  Talent is increasingly a global marketplace.  Pushing the conversation globally to challenge the state of talent acquisition to share, learn and advance the practice is not only timely but necessary.  After all, our work is about people and business.  Its about the passion and ability to enable both to accomplish more together than is possibly otherwise.

Purpose. What was perhaps most energizing for me about Recruitfest 2010 was the raw authenticity.  There was a common thread of people and purpose, something that all too often gets lost in the crazy, day-to-day pressure of recruiting.  And, that is also the problem.  We cannot lose sight of people and the power of connecting people to purpose and business to people.  Yes, we have the persistent emergence of new tools and technology to manage.  But, when the focus on people is lost we dilute the value of our profession and dilute the value of our brand, whether it be the individuals or organizations.

The dialogue:
The event kicked off with Chris Hoyt of PepsiCo speaking about their glocal brand strategy and the power of a simple question – “Why do you do what you do?  The Candidate’s Bill of Rights Panel with Gerry Crispin, Chris Hoyt, Charlie Judy, Jason Lauritsen and Mike Ramer could have continued for days, which demonstrated the critical importance of getting refocused on the candidate experience.  I think too often the importance of the candidate experience gets overcomplicated.  My question – what’s getting in the way?  Is it the very essence of the talent philosophy, the technology and embedded functionality, or how the function is resourced?  If you want to get to the heart of what gets in the way start with these three areas.

Sarah White and John Nykolaiszyn led a discussion on the importance of blending and articulating personal and organizational brand, which has quickly become a topic worthy of more time, understanding and intention.  Tim Dineen’s quick hit preso on SEO to enable better search results demonstrated the continued importance of a topic and technique the industry has room to leverage further.

I was honored to participate in a discussion with Joe Gerstandt, China Gorman and Jason Lauritsen on the true value of social recruiting.  If you didn’t catch us live I’ll give you a hint – its not just about the technology.  In fact, the over emphasis on technology has resulted in minimizing the power of social recruiting to just another tactical tool – watch for the video archive to be released.  I also had the pleasure of presenting with Master Burnett on the future of the talent acquisition function.  Apparently my comment on just-in-time (JIT) recruiting too resulting in just-behind recruiting caused a few sparks.  I suppose that’s the risk of a 20 minute teaser conversation. With respect and admiration to Glenn, he is one of the few who frames JIT with specifics and intention so I can understand his response, although we definitely need to have a conversation on the value of talent communities! Well, let me clarify again the context of JIT during my preso.  When recruiting functions operate with an “in the moment” on demand philosophy or approach it has been called  JIT, absent of course a complete reference to the full significance of the model.  When recruiting operates as a reactive function JIT becomes just-behind  because its just that – reactive, and your behind by the time you begin given the process time and absence of an anticipatory approach and alignment with the business strategy and a workforce plan.  A proactive approach can also be framed as an adaptive strategy.

Oh, and my take on the future of the talent acquisition function? The Function is positioned to be the talent broker for the organization but only if its pursued with intention, strategic action and alignment with the business strategy – more to come!

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At the root of the irony is a serious issue that needs to be solved for the health of both individuals and business.  As I thought about the issues behind the irony, there are four that I feel capture the essence of what is going on.

The Issues:

• Talent Mobility
• The Engagement – Meaning gap
• Embracing an Anticipatory mindset
• Moving Beyond the Round-peg Syndrome

Talent Mobility
Talent mobility has been a mounting challenge.  People are particular about where they want to live and place a higher value on this choice than they have in the past.  Lifestyle is valued more than ever and people are willing to stand firm with their preferences.  While leading talent acquisition at Waggener Edstrom we encountered this scenario often.  The company had corporate offices in Seattle and Portland.  Both cities are in the Northwest but they offer very different styles of living.  It was a benefit to our recruitment strategy that, in most cases, we could present both cities as options.  People typically didn’t waiver and found that one city more than the other met their preferences.  I think Portland was winning, but maybe I’m biased.

Beyond choice, a significant mobility issue for people today is their housing situation.  The economics of the housing market make it very difficult for people to disengage from their investment.  Homeowners are looking at either reduced value or taking a sizeable loss on their investment.  While companies are not in a situation to cover losses many have chosen to do nothing at tall, except keep jobs open longer and longer trying to find a local candidate.  I have to wonder in this case how these companies value either time or the importance of the role itself. Part of a workforce planning strategy should be understanding which roles must sit in a specific geographical location.  If it isn’t a requirement, like retail sales or many manufacturing roles, then why let geography interfere with getting the best Talent?  Leverage technology and institute distributed workforce programs to close the distance gap.

The Engagement-Meaning Gap
Why are people willing to invest time in creating apps, blog content, videos and more with no direct return for their time.  Or potentially any return for their time.  Primarily because it provides them meaning and they get to do something they enjoy.  Companies spend millions trying to engage their workforce while the systemic forces inherent in the organization work against engagement.  And, high performing employees will tend to disengage more quickly. Which problems need to be solved in the organization and how can the company create a culture of collaboration and innovation that rewards people for great ideas and contributions?

People want to be engaged in their work.  They want their work to have meaning and their contribution to be valued.  They also want work that aligns with their skill-set and personal values.  This is no mystery.  We’ve created a societal culture of choice.  So, its no surprise that people are willing to hold out until they find a job that makes them feel good about the time they spend at work.  Or, find one that is “manageable” as they seek other avenues to fill the void.  Periods of great change present opportunities for exploration and we are experiencing significant shifts across the business landscape that are impacting the type of work available, career options and choice – all of which will take time to settle as people readjust.  The perceived loyalty gap, of companies towards employees, is perhaps deeper now than it every has been given the rise of transparency.  Because the loyalty gap has deepened, people are more particular about the risks they’ll assume with a company and ultimately the choices they’ll make about employment.  While it may be quite challenging to work through financial situations the emotional toll of a bad job fit is potentially worse. Needless to say, companies benefit from a strong cultural and job fit as well.

We know that there are plenty of jobs that will never return.  And, in some cases, people caught in the middle of the recession may never attain the status and income they had previously.  While that in and of itself is emotionally challenging, people are resilient and can adjust in amazing ways when faced with obstacles – and have more choices than ever to pursue.  Perhaps more important than the financial component though is the emotional need of finding meaningful work that is challenging and leverages their capabilities and potential.  Personally, I think this is one of the greatest obstacles to our recovery – as individuals, as a country and as contributors to global economic success.

Embracing an Anticipatory Mindset
While it’s clear that many jobs will not come back to pre-recession levels, new jobs are being created and other’s are being retooled that require new skills.  It’s true that in some instances these jobs require significant training and education.  However, in many jobs the skill gap can be closed through on-the-job training or short-term coursework if companies can get better at anticipating their needs and assessing the supply of talent where those skills exist.  If the nature of a business is changing and new tools, methods or processes are being developed and implemented to produce a product or service, chances are there will be a skills gap.  Our educational system is not designed to effectively reskill, although it could be.  Depending on the job level and skill need there could be a variety of options.  Ideally, an academic : business relationship would be most effective.  We saw this occur during the .com boom years when companies would do everything and anything to get the talent they needed.  Many companies established partnerships with universities to create intensive sessions designed to enhance skills and prepare new college graduates for a successful career with their company.  Programs were designed to help Liberal Arts students who needed to be taught business and computer skills but possessed other skills that would be valuable to their career success.  While this is still an important concept for new graduates it can and should be for experienced talent as well.

If someone with a bachelors degree or MBA wanted to update their skills and pursue a career in sustainable business practices what options are available?   Typically, for this and similar situations, the options are very short, 3 – 5 day intensives or full graduate programs.  What about a 3 or 6 month intensive?  Community colleges are also important avenues and they are working to meet demand.  However, without a coordinated and intentional effort between businesses and colleges / universities there is a risk of preparing people for the wrong types of work and / or not addressing the critical skill gaps.  Companies can, and are, taking on reskilling within their own environment.  But is this happening to the extent needed.  Businesses can’t wait for another talent crisis to pursue more creative partnerships and investments, even if they are pursued at a moderate level for now.

Moving Beyond the Round-peg Syndrome
Influenced in part by myth and in part by risk aversion, companies have adopted an even more conservative mentality to their hiring practices than usual.  Hiring managers believe there is plenty of talent available (the first myth) so recruiters should be able to match exact job requirements, most of which don’t take into consideration where the company is going – only where its been, and often lack a compelling reason to consider the role and join the company.  Too often, both hiring managers and recruiters believe that only those individuals currently employed are worth pursuing (the second myth).  While I agree with this mindset during normal times, this is not the case today.  Considering people who have been unemployed for longer durations does require a different approach, which could be quite revealing depending on the interview questions and answers, but can be quite valuable for the company.  Risk aversion, while understandable during difficult economic times, can also impede a company’s long-term success.  Risk aversion comes into play when companies fail to incorporate an “opportunistic” element into their recruitment strategy, especially during down-trending economic cycles, and perpetuates the problem.  Honoring the myths and assuming a risk averse mentality often means allocating more dollars to hire or keeping jobs open longer than necessary to find the round peg, both of which have an associated cost.

The real loss here is that companies are missing out on opportunities to further diversify their workforce and build loyalty.  Considering talent adjacencies or assessing for “potential” and cultural fit could deliver considerable value.  Pursuing an “opportunistic” approach provides companies with greater skill agility, which is important and valuable in uncertain business environments, which we’re sure to see for some time.  Applying the additional time and dollars spent on a candidate search to on-the-job development, where possible, also helps diversify the company’s workforce.  And, imagine what could be realized in employee loyalty! How much loyalty could employers gain if they invested in unemployed job seekers?  What’s the brand value of that move?  Additionally, in the time it may take a company to find their round peg they could have successfully on-boarded an opportunistic hire.

One way to think of this is like an apprentice or internship program.  A simple approach to opportunistic hiring can be accomplished through planning and a series of coordinated steps:

• determine which roles in the company are appropriate and could benefit from a mix of diverse skill sets and experiences
• reach agreement with hiring managers on a percentage of total roles / hires that could participate in opportunistic hiring and partner with your CFO
• partner with business unit leaders who will be champions of the program
• recognize and reward business partners who’s business units participate
• develop an ROI that demonstrates a reallocation of dollars and lost time to on-boarding, training and development – and ideally contribution and success
• partner with SME’s and the training group, in advance, to identify and/or develop a fast-track development curriculum, including experiential learning
• hire ahead of the curve so there’s time for the hiring manager to support a successful orientation.  This is critical to support success and why its important to partner with the CFO.  Hiring managers are less likely to be supportive if they’re under-resourced and scrambling to get work done because they have an open role.  Help make them successful so they can effectively support the new hire. You can recoup the cost of an early hire and demonstrate the value in your ROI.

Add all this up and incorporate the challenges recruiting departments are encountering as hiring picks up and you’ll see a perfect storm brewing.  How many good people are overlooked because recruiting teams are overwhelmed with applications and they lack the resources and/or tools to effectively cull through resumes to find the right-fit applicant?  How many people never hear back after applying for a job?  How will that impact the company’s hiring in the future?  Recruiting will always have structural issues and market inefficiencies.  The opportunity is to be creative and proactive to limit the issues outside of your control.

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The setting on the Oregon Coast was spectacular and a metaphor for our transformational work.  A wave is not independent from the ocean just as the organization cannot be separated from the talent that brings it to life each day to drive its success.  And, the Coast with all of its remarkable elements is in a state of perpetual change and interdependence. Our meeting place, a 4500 sq. ft. beach house, would serve as a place to open minds and facilitate discussion over the course of 2 ½ days.  It would also mean that each of us participating in Talent Camp, who in most cases didn’t know one another, would need to quickly establish a foundation for honest, challenging and meaningful dialogue. We devoted our first evening session to establishing group agreements.  What time would we begin each day? How much personal time was needed / desired?  What was important to each of us in providing an environment that nurtured productive dialogue? What values do we hold around collaboration and communication? And, what would be our comfort level with connecting to the outside world via social media while we were together?  This was not an easy conversation.  Not because the group was reluctant to discuss it but because their hunger to dive head first into our primary discussion was evident and bursting through, so we took a meandering path.  This was time well spent and provided an important foundation that would serve us well over the course of our time together.

What was remarkable was the ease with which the group came together.  Every aspect of what would be necessary to be together for this period of time was met with ease.  Everyone naturally assumed roles as needed to ensure our shared environment was conducive to being together and immersing ourselves in the work we had come together to explore. Our days were long and our formal conversations began at 9 or 10 am and went until 10 pm.  The group’s collective energy created a respectful environment for honest, tough dialogue yet work and play seemed to fuse together as one. We organically found a balance between structure and openness that allowed us to challenge assumptions, wrestle with paradigms, tear things down, and begin again – after all this was transformational work and the path is not linear but an iterative process that unfolds through a process of discovery. People stepped up to lead discussions and everyone stayed engaged and committed to crafting a vision for the future of the talent function, that ultimately led to more questions than answers. There was an ease and a comfort that each person helped to foster through their engagement and persistent commitment to the group dynamics.

Social media played a significant role in how this group came together.  With the exception of two people, who I knew, each connection to people attending Talent Camp began with a relationship that grew out of social networking.  I do believe that the insight we gain through social networking interactions are quite revealing and in this case helped to bring together a unique group who worked collaboratively to advance a critical conversation around the future of the talent function.

Part 2 of Talent Camp will get into our discoveries and outcomes.

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