Do Employers Use Bait And Switch Tactics With Potential Employees?

I Was Asked This Question From an HR Director:

"It is my opinion that the "bait and switch" tactics used by employers and their hired employment agencies is consistently used to screen the undesirable "minority" and/or “disabled” candidates from the better "match" non-minority, non-disabled candidates.  Yet, in the face of the various adversities that prevents highly qualified candidates from becoming gainfully employed, what can a candidate do without playing the race, age or disability card?"
Harold R., HR Director, Omaha, NE

A:  To begin with I am NOT an expert on racism.  I am however a 69 year business professional with a disability and have experienced discrimination from both of these arenas.  Even though I am consider an “expert” in retention and other people issues, I was told recently that although I am filled with energy, the President of a particular company was reluctant to hire me to facilitate a management strategy seminar to improve employee retention, he wanted somebody that “looked whole.” 

Considering I fly airplanes, walk, talk, dress, swim, manage a business, have an exercise regime, play catch with my grandson, facilitate a dozen seminars a year, am happily married and have spent a lifetime learning my trade, I was a bit irritated to say the least.  So irritated in fact, that I cancelled the recruiting contract I had with them, even though it was lucrative and they “claimed” I was one of the few recruiters that every really performed for them.

My advice to you is the same as it is to all of my potential candidates.  In order for me to present you as the “most place-able candidate” or better said……in order for YOU to prepare yourself to become the most place-able candidate it all comes down to the following; SKILLS, STABILITY, EXPERIENCE AND ATTITUDE 

A.      All companies ask me for the “skill set” first.  If you don’t match the qualifications, why would you try to force a square peg into a round hole?  All it does is offer frustration and a set up for a failure

B.      Job hopping is a no-no.  I recently read an article that says the Generation X & Y employees will change jobs 26 times in their career path.  This is an atrocious goal in life. I hear from hiring managers, “why doesn’t he/she stay any longer than 2 years at any given job?”  And I rhetorically respond, “Good question, why don’t they?”

C.      You must learn your trade and then relearn your trade every day.  Our world moves fast and change is a common word in most growing business environments.  If you don’t have the skill sets required by an employer it probably won’t be a match, no matter how hard you try. What did you do in the last 12 months to improve yourself?  Remember that YOUR resume is only a job description of who you were.  You must be prepared to demonstrate to a prospective hiring manager what you plan to be and how your presence can impact their company in a positive way!

D.     There are no longer any “give-me’s” in this world.  Having an attitude that the new employer or current employer “owes you” is a destination to nowhere.  It all begins with you the employee.  Why fall into an impossible stereotype?  Why not demonstrate your qualifications by example?  My grandmother used to tell me, “deeds not words!”

When I speak with employers about employees they have terminated I hear, “they just acted like they didn’t want to be here; or he/she stood around with his/her hands in their pockets waiting for ME to do it; or He/she never contributed to the conversation, never offer good solutions to problems; or when the five o’clock buzzer rang, they were out the door like a shot.” 

All these actions demonstrate why an employer wouldn’t want to keep an employee.  And if you fit into these categories, change or the results will be the same in the future for you.

Now from the management or hiring side of these issues I suggest the following;

1.      Start looking at candidates from what assets and value that they bring to the organization.

2.      Look at candidates with this thought, “if he/she has only five years left to work, how can I empower them to allow me to tap into their knowledge to grow the people in this department or company?”

3.      Become known as a company that is a champion of PEOPLE. This will probably include soul searching and making decisions that you have probably not made in your “job hiring” past.

4.      The results will be that you will have a work place that people will WANT to work and the word will spread and it will positively affect your sales and bottom line.

5.      If one of your friends or parent was noticeably older than you or walked with a disability or had a different color of skin, would you tell him/her not to come to your house because you didn’t want the neighbors to know that you associate with “those types” of HUMAN BEINGS?  I think not, so why do it in your business life?

6.      QUALIFIED candidates will reward you, the company and their co-workers once given the opportunity to shine.

Go forth and make this a tremendous week for you and everyone around you.!

Regards,

George F. Mancuso

George F. Mancuso, CPC 

Magical Suggestions To Be A Better Leader?

Q:  I am the president of a 100 employee manufacturing plant in the Midwest. I feel like I must always be a strong leader that cares about and deals affectively with people at all times.  Can you offer any “magical” guidelines for me personally and that I can share with all of my employees at all levels?
Marvin L., Des Moines, IA

A:  I love your term, “magical.”  I really do wish I could waive the magic wand and poof…. all will be beautiful.  LOL.

Let me offer you a few considerations that might help guide you in your work environment to recognize, understand, value and apply emotions effectively.

1.     AWARENESS:  You must be confident in knowing who you are and understand the impact on others of your strengths and weaknesses.

2.     REGULATION:  You must have the responsibility to manage your own feelings, thoughts and actions in a positive way that allows you to maintain an intrinsic and high standard of integrity.

3.     MOTIVATION:  As a leader or a member of a team, you have an obligation to develop continuously, your personal resources to the ever-changing, increasing demands of your profession.

4.     AWARENESS: You must understand and be sensitive to the feelings, needs and concerns of the people around you that you “serve.”

5.     RELATIONSHIPS:  You bear the greatest responsibility for establishing, nurturing and where necessary, resolving differences with your interpersonal relationships with colleagues and again, the people you “serve.”

6.     INFLUENCE:  You have an obligation to foster desirable responses in others by serving as a role model as well as challenging, inspiring, enabling and encouraging everyone to work together toward mutual goals.  In part, you achieve this by not being a micro-manager.

While these suggestions may not always be successfully applied, I hope they will be helpful reminders to you to always strive to be the highest quality of professional at all times.

Regards,

George F. Mancuso, CPC, CEO

Client Growth Consultants, Inc.

What role can YOU as a business professional play in creating leaders within your organization?

"The job of leaders is not to create followers; it is to create more leaders." 

I subscribe to you that this is not outside the scope of most business professionals. You, as the patriarch/matriarch of your company, present an interesting opportunity to provide extra value in the growth of your employees. 

If your goal is to improve the lot of your organization, this logically extends to creating in staff, the ability to develop leadership skills. In most organizations, leaders come in all flavors, not just the one at the top of the organizational chart. So, how does a confident (non-threatened) business professional provide those skills and experiences that foster leadership?

I would like to offer only three ways to do this via this correspondence:

1.    The first is by setting an example of a person who diagnoses, explores, challenges, and pushes the boundaries of what is possible in the organization. This is usually what you are asked to do in an organization, but you develop leaders by sharing your process and including staff in your deliberations. 

2.    Second, what if you formally "assign" one or more staff to shadow you on an engagement or process? This allows you to delegate some responsibility for project outcomes.

3.    Third, offer to train staff not participating in the project in some basic skills in organizational assessment, diagnostics, selected aspects of your technical disciplines and your philosophy about organizational change. Who says that class is no longer is session just because they have graduated from high school or college?

Beyond just delivering a better path forward, much of your value comes from sustained implementation of that improvement. This is best carried on by staff after you have concluded the training. Make development of technical and leadership skills a part of your engagement, and the time you spend working with staff as a value add event. Broadening your contribution to trainer as well as mentor, may be in the best interests of everyone.

As always, please accept my wishes for a tremendous week.  And if I or any of my staff can assist you or your organization, please call or write and we will respond immediately!

Regards,

George F. Mancuso

George F. Mancuso, CPC 

Working In A Family Owned Business Can Be A Challenge

Q

uestion For The Gman:    I am the new director of sales for a 95 employee manufacturing firm that is family owned.  The patriarch still runs the business with three of his children as department heads.  When the sales team brings new ideas to the table, the other department heads will not commit or respond in a timely manner or sometimes no response at all with ANY type of commitment.  What suggestion do you have for overcoming this? 

A

nswer From The Gman:  I must tell you that my experience in working with family owned and operated businesses have presented the identical problem time and time again, so you are not in a club by yourself.  However in most cases, you can overcome the problem IF the owner, patriarch/matriarch if truly ready for change and has confidence in you.  The commitment MUST come from the top and be passed down through empowerment.

What typically happens is the “kids” are accustomed to waiting for mommy or daddy to tell them it IS okay to make decisions on their own.  This scenario is ALSO commonplace when you have a senior tenured employee who is accustom to always going to the boss for answers and/or validation.

But the real problem lies with you not getting the person at the top to agree in advance that you have the authority to act in accordance with your defined authority and/or agreement upon being hired.  That acknowledgment of authority must be conveyed to the “kids” and once that is done, you should act within your scope without further interference.  If they choose not to contribute ideas then they should be allowed to voice complaints.  

We are all creatures of habit and change comes with truckloads of trepidation and anxiety.  Your owner must have the confidence in you and must convey that confidence level to the balance of the staff.

Or in the alternative, after time proven decisions have been effective, they give you a carte blanche and you can roll right on through with the roadblock the kids are putting up. But in reality, by-passing the kids can easily be the kiss of death for your career within that organization.  Getting the kids on your side as well as you on theirs is paramount to developing a successful team environment.  After all, you said you ARE sales, so make your case like any other presentation and sell the concept and you will make it happen!

My guess is you are about to ask the question, “HOW DO I make that happen?”

1.     Meet with the boss and explain the situation without being condescending

2.     Ask the boss how he/she would suggest “you” handle this

3.     Ask if he/she feels there is something they can do for or with the kids to better define your role and authority within the organization

4.     Confirm what he or she would like to see you get accomplished and in what time period

5.     Validate his/her confidence in you and your decision making process

6.     Validate that you have the authority to act

7.     Get a verbal commitment from the boss

8.     Follow that meeting up with a writing confirmation and understanding, again without being condescending.

9.     Meet with the kids one on one or as a group and explain the roadblocks and how you view this as an impediment to achieving mutual goals

10.  Ask them if they see it the same way

11.  Ask if they understand your concerns

12.  Ask them what they suggest you can do as a team to work more effectively

13.  Validate their confidence level in you

14.  Validate that you are acting within your authority

15.  Do not be condescending, argumentative or overbearing

16.  Follow up conversation with confirmation in writing.

17.  Get a commitment from them verbally and follow it up your understanding in writing.

If you have followed my newsletters or attended one of my seminars you will remember that according to “Gman” the definition of a commitment is an agreement to do something…..anything…but an agreement just the same!

What you should hope to accomplish is the opportunity to gather a barrel full of information that can help you plan, execute and/or include them so that they feel warm and cozy as well.  The goal is to uncover why they choose to put up a wall when no wall is needed.  Then develop a plan you can all live with and work it to the max.  This issue is huge and all scenarios can’t possibly be covered in a few short paragraphs, but I certainly hope this helps.

As always, please accept my wish for a tremendous week.  If I can ever be of assistance to you or your organization, please call or write and I will respond immediately!  Your suggestions and questions for future newsletters are always welcome.

Regards,

George F. Mancuso, CPC, CEO
Client Growth Consultants, Inc.
Grinnell, IA 50112