Corporate culture is a funny topic…  everyone in the HR industry seems to be talking about it, but few have defined what it means for their organizations.  Instead, we are given example after example of what good looks like.  But, is that “good” the same for your company or your culture?

What is corporate culture anyway and why does it matter?

Who creates it and who is responsible for it?

Why is it so hard to explain?

Why do we try?

The truth is, corporate culture is a hard thing to nail down.  It changes quickly.  By the time you get to some sort of definition, something changes and you are forced to redefine.  How can you possibly present an authentic picture of what it means to be a part of an organization when elements of the group change daily?

At Rackspace, our culture is constantly changing.  Since our inception, growth, technology, economic circumstances and Racker personalities have all played a part in evolving the essence of what it means to be a Racker and our overall esprit de corps.  If I could bottle up the near palpable culture and share it, I would… but I can’t.  So, in an effort to be real and real-time, I depend on our people to share the culture they are experiencing on our career site Racker Talent.  To date, we’ve added 40 bloggers from 4 continents with an average of 2 new posts a week.  It’s been an adventure!

In my mind, culture is about today.  The events of yesterday and the prior years represent our historical context.  For the Rackers who were a part of the entire series of events, this historical context is vivid and real.  For those just joining the company, their context starts the moment they walk through the door.  Both groups make up and influence our true culture.

The more I contemplate this topic, the more I lean towards the perspective that culture is not meant to be bottled up or defined.  It’s meant to live and breath.

So, how does that work?

How can a company have a “good” corporate culture?

It’s about connectedness and organizations accepting their employees for who they are.  Quit hiring people for skill sets alone.  Start placing values above all else.  Are they a good person?  Are they ambitious?  Do they live by the values of your company?  Then, let them be.  Trust them.  Let them shape the culture that makes your place of work different and special.

You can teach people skills, but training values is near impossible.  When was the last time you witnessed someone transform from an egotistical, self-centered, mean personality to a group-oriented all around happy person?

When I roam our offices meeting Rackers and hearing their stories, I see a trend.  People here care.  They care about their co-workers, they care about their customers and they accept the calling to help build one of the worlds’ best service companies.  Mediocrity with these values is not an option.

We hire passionate people who want to make a difference.  And guess what, they bring that passion to work every day.  They help their colleagues and they go above and beyond for our customers.

Want a great corporate culture?  Quit defining it and start hiring the type of people who care about the mission.  The culture will figure itself out.

The question is not “if” it’s “what” – talent exists in everyone.

Have you ever walked away from an interaction with someone thinking “I bet they would be great at (fill in the blank)!”?  Did you walk away with mixed emotions between being impressed and thinking “If they were only given a shot, perhaps they would really make something out of themselves.”  Instead, this said “hidden talent” remains in a job that less than capitalizes on their natural talents.  It’s really a shame.

So, what’s the solution?  How can we actually open doors for people in such a way that they are able to utilize their natural talents/strengths as opposed to wasting away in careers that miss the mark.  Is there a solution?

Before writing this, I tried to think about some of the objections:

• It takes more than talent to succeed.
• Perhaps they are good at something, but maybe they don’t want to do it.
• They don’t have the formal education to perform the role that coincides with their talent.

To these and the fifty other objections that can surely be created, I agree.  Talent is not the have-all-end-all of success – that’s true, but, it doesn’t hurt… and, if someone is going to reach their fullest potential, it would more than likely be a requisite.

While the person may not want to do the job that coincides with their talent, it’s also very possible that they lack awareness.  I find it hard to imagine that someone who aligns their talents with their job would be unhappy performing the role.

As for the education, that’s a matter of benchmarks set by an old system.  More than likely, the people previously evaluated for the role were trained to have the skills necessary to perform the role.  In that case, formal education would be extremely helpful – probably an absolute necessity!

I’m referring to the natural talents… the people who don’t require four to six years of education in order to do well performing a function.  It’s just who they are!

Unleash The Monster

I consider my career thus far and a few things are blatantly apparent.

1. I always performed better in roles that were more closely aligned with my natural talents.
2. When pushed into directions that didn’t take advantage of these natural abilities, I would grow unhappy and perform at lower-than-optimal levels.
3. The people I’ve managed along the way have always done better when aligned with tasks that took the most advantage of their natural abilities.
4. My most successful recruiting engagements were always due to placing a person who had the natural talents for the role… experience has played a much lesser role.

The recruiting industry and hiring norms of Corporate America will not change overnight.  However, it doesn’t mean that they shouldn’t.  It doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t be pushing to shift our hiring cultures – a shift from experience and longevity to that of talent.

So, think back to your work heroes.

Who were they and why were they successful?  Discipline, responsibility… or, is it possible that they were great at what they did because of how well their talents aligned with their chosen paths.

Are you taking advantage of your talents?  Are you helping others to do the same?

Photo Credit, Bex.Walton

This is more of a question than an opinion…

How many organizations are currently living in a false reality when it comes to talent?

Sure… they may currently have access to stellar talent due to the economic climate… but have they prepared for recovery.  Have they prepared for a potential talent exodus?  What happens when the talent pool realizes that they have spent the past 2-3 years underpaid and under appreciated?  What happens then?

I would normally recommend the use of agencies to help fill the gaps… but, there are two problems with this…

First, a whole lot of third-party and corporate recruiters left the industry during the downturn.  They’ve moved on.  Perhaps they can be attracted back… but, it will take time.  The second question is expense.  Reactive recruiting (often the type of recruiting agencies get called to help with) gets very expensive.  With higher demand and fewer third party providers, that will drive prices up.  This isn’t going to be cheap.

So, what’s the solution?

I don’t know how to fix this issue overnight, but if I were a betting man, I would put my money on paying close attention to your current employees’ needs, wants and desires.  There may still be a chance to make things right.

Oh, and if you are the type that sits back and says “Well… I gave them a job!” – you’ve lost your mind.  You are probably the same person that thinks it’s okay to treat employees as numbers instead of as human beings.  Good luck to you when the economy recovers… your people will be more than willing to speak with recruiters about how green the grass really is on the other side.

So… who knows?  What’s the solution?  What steps should employers be taking now to improve their internal employement branding?  What would you like to see more of?  Less of?

Your thoughts are valuable!  Thanks for sharing

Photo Credit, Scumfrog

The right place at the right time…

Can you imagine how your life would change if you could solve that riddle?  Where is this “place” and what “time” has everyone been referring to?

After a day of way too much brainstorming and a few too many philosophical wanderings, my conclusion is that the time is always and the place is everywhere.

Consider this:

1. Opportunity never stops, it just evolves. Our job is to see it and pursue it.
2. No matter where you live, what you do or who you want to be… your chances are greater when you focus on and pursue your desires.  The alternative is to sit idle… become stagnant.
3. Opportunities present themselves in many forms. When we are open to those many forms, it is easier to recognize them when they come our way.  Leave the preconceived notions of a “perfect opportunity” behind.
4. Disappointment is your friend… it forces you to move on. These moments of truth can become your best chances to recognize and embrace a new opportunity… so stay open!  The more time you dedicate to focusing on the bad – the less time you focus on point #2.

Strengths and Clarity

I’ve been exploring some concepts lately around career development and potential as they correspond to a person embracing their strengths.  For reasons that I will eventually discuss, the topic is at the center of a pretty exciting project that I’ve been engaged with.

As someone who has dedicated their professional career to talent acquisition, the concept of strength alignment definitely perks my interest.  It makes me consider a few things:

• How many people who are outwardly miserable dedicate to professions that fall outside of their passions/strengths?
• How could a person’s life improve if they were given a path to capitalize on their main strengths?
• How many high achievers have you met who did not fully embrace their inner talents?

Whether you are hiring someone or advancing your own career… exploring how long-term success and personal strengths operate together seems like an important topic to consider – really important!

It might seem all fluffy and idealistic to think that we can all achieve more and accomplish our dreams… but is it?  Perhaps our reluctance has everything to do with our inner fear of rejection – the risk of striving for something and falling short… the potential embarrassment we will face by failing to accomplish our dreams.  Perhaps it has to do with the perceived complexity of identifying what we are good at and figuring out how we can funnel those talents in a constructive direction.

Just remember, dreams are like Play-Doh – they can morph and change as much as you want them to.  Natural talents, on the other hand, are a part of who we are… starting with these key elements, we are able to build a huge array of potential dreams and desires.

Build a dream, pursue that dream, fail, build another dream, add water, repeat.  The likelihood of you living in a van down by the river is pretty low… so, take some risks.

Talent Meets Opportunity

I had a point… so, let me get back to it.

Timing is one part, but talent/strength alignment is the other.  The likelihood of a person recognizing an opportunity goes way up when they are dedicating to something that they are skilled at or passionate about.  I’ve seen this in my own life and I see it in the careers of the many people I encounter.

I don’t know what the true answers or conclusions are to all of these mental wanderings… I suppose that it’s just some food for thought.  Perhaps it will spur something that leads you to something greater – perhaps it won’t.

I’d love to know what you think about the topic.

How do you see talent manifest itself… cause major change… impact a person’s life?  Do you think that people tend to do what they are good at or what they find a job in?  How can we change all this and open doors?

Photo Credit, Michel Filion

It’s the topic that never gets old.  The topic that constantly racks the brain of any dedicated recruiter.

How d0 I develop the best talent pipeline?

To answer a question so broad, there is no simple answer.  In fact, one could probably spend a career dedicated to answering this one question alone, only to find out that the right response had changed.

The strategy of recruiting evolves.  It evolves faster every single day.  Since I started in this profession, I’ve heard hundreds of logical ways for identifying and connecting with top-tier folks.  Most of them made sense, some of them did not.

I guess if I had to boil it down, there are some “back-to-the-basics” approaches that have always worked well.  Will they blow the roof off of your talent pipeline… maybe.  More than likely, they will simply serve as good common sense approaches in developing the types of relationships that render quality talent.

You probably have more ideas, so feel free to help build the list.  These are a few things that I’m always thinking about when developing the recruitment relationship.

10 Best Practices For Recruiting Top Talent

1.  Leave the BS behind – Top candidates are serious about their careers.  They are also usually very quick to smell a raw deal.  If the opportunity is less than stellar, don’t try to recruit someone away from a great position.  If you manage to attract them into the role, your reputation will suffer later when they figure out that you fooled them into something less than stellar.

2.  Ask for more questions – As a recruiter, one of our main responsibilities is to clear up ambiguities.  Sometimes candidates don’t know what to ask.  You must plant the appropriate seeds so that they don’t wake up in the middle of the night wondering.  Push the candidate to ask more and more questions… until the point that you have exhausted all possible angles.  This just creates a healthier dialogue.

3.  Put them two steps ahead – When possible, you should always career map a candidate.  Forget about this job… what about the next two steps.  Is the opportunity apparent?  Can you articulate it?  If you are on the agency side of things, be sure to gain clarification from your client around the career trajectory of an “A” player.  Any true top-tier candidate is going to want this.  If they don’t… well, are you really chatting with the best?

4.  Let them walk away – Convincing a candidate to take a job should never enter the picture.  If the two sides want eachother, then it will be.  Your job is to clarify and facilitate a smooth process.  To build strong relationships, your best candidates must know that they can walk away at any time.  You should never strive to place them in the wrong position.

5.  Answer the spouse’s questions – This only has to happen once for you to understand how influential the spouse is.  While you can’t ask if a candidate is married… you can ask if anyone else will influence the candidate’s decision.  Once the door is opened, ask if the other party has concerns or questions that they would like addressed.  I can’t stress enough how important this is.

6.  Network – If you establish a strong relationship with one “A” player, it’s very likely that you will build upon that over time with others.  The crazy part… you don’t even have to place the first person.  That’s right, if you treat them with dignity and respect… answer their questions and stick up for their best interests, they will refer great people to you.

7.  Be honest – This should go without saying, but it’s important to reinforce.  You are a professional recruiter.  You know how to persuade people – you do it for a living.  Bending the truth is not a complex task for you.  When you are working on deals that are worth 30k, 40k, 50k+, it’s easy for the little dishonest voice on your shoulder to prod you into bending the truth.  Beware, it only takes one time for your reputation to be forever tarnished.  Why give up years of hard work at establishing your reputation for one placement?  It’s silly… be careful.

8.  Coaching – You may be dealing with the most talent and educated candidate of your career.  Don’t assume that they know what to ask.  Your time recruiting counts for something and you need to flex that muscle when it matters most.  Make sure your candidate is prepared with questions.  Not just the ones they have, but the ones that they should have.  Never assume that they know what to ask.  Your job is to coach them through the process and help them make an educated decision.

9.  Feedback – Every great candidate I’ve worked with wants feedback.  It doesn’t matter whether it’s good or bad… they still want something.  If you are on the agency side and your client won’t give it to you… ditch the client, keep the candidate.  If you are on the corporate recruiting side, have a sit down “Come To Jesus” conversation with your hiring manager.  You can’t attract the best unless you are equiped to do so… hiring manager feedback is an essential tool for doing a great job at recruiting.

10. Did I hear singing? – You must stay in contact with your candidate even after they start in the role.  The “two week notice” period is critical.  The “two week honeymoon” is critical.  The first month is critical… first quarter, etc…  Get feedback.  Stay in touch.  Make sure that you are learning from the process.  What ended up as it was described?  What is different from how it was described?  You are partially responsible for this great candidate taking this new position.  Make sure that you stay with them and learn as much as possible.  Oh yeah… and don’t forget about referrals.

There are a multitude of excellent recruiting trainers around the globe.  Every single one of them has a unique spin on how to accomplish the same tasks.  We all want the best talent for our clients, so we must dedicate to learning how others do it and, ultimately, coming to terms with a style that suits our personalities.

The lesson is simple.  Be good to your candidates.  Help as much as you can (even if that means saying “no”).  You are a source and guide for them, so take that role seriously.

What else would you consider to be of the utmost importance in recruiting top talent?  Have you found anything that serves as a best practice?  Share your thoughts… I’m sure I’m missing about 30+ points here.

Photo Credit, PShutterbug