Recruiting Business Executives the Military Way!

The military has always fascinated me in terms of how they train leaders to make their way through challenging situations where most of us would not be able to follow. Both business and military leaders share similarities that can provide us with a better understanding of the skills needed to influence people. Marrying the two approaches creates a better executive selection process that can pay companies dividends when these leaders mature.

We must first accept that leadership is not for everyone and those who are sometimes seen as leaders are not always the best candidates. For example, self-interested personalities sometimes rise to the top but their level of leadership wanes when they seek supporters who will need to sacrifice. In my experience, the more demanding and pushy a person is, the less likely they will be able to manage large groups.

On the other hand, a follower could have innate leadership skills that come to the forefront only under certain circumstances. Seeing beyond the obvious by selecting those with leadership traits and abilities can create returns on executive development. Without humility, leaders won’t know when they are wrong, consider the needs of their followers, or think beyond themselves.

According to a study comparing leadership, it found that the military selected candidates based on traits while businesses focused on skills (Hussain and Hussan, 2015). Before moving people into intensive training programs, the military desired persons who had the innate traits to use as a platform for development. In contrast, the business world sought people who displayed high skill levels.

The same study found that successful leaders are separated from mediocre leaders by their relationship abilities. Those that have the capacity to develop working relationships with others, and rely on those relationships to achieve goals, are more successful than those than those who are only task oriented. Even though the study doesn’t mention this, it is entirely possible that task orientation has limited impact on the environment without the help of others.

Leaders set challenging goals, rally people behind those objectives, and can change their styles based on what others need. Adaptability is trait oriented but enhanced through growth in skills, knowledge and abilities. Bridging the gap between military and civilian leadership development relies on finding those with the right innate traits and helping them gain the knowledge needed to be effective.

Hussain, M. & Hassan, H. (2015). Military leadership and implication for business leaders in light of alternative theories. Pakistan Journal of Science, 67 (1).

The Benefits and Detractors of Working for a Temp Agency

Temporary agencies are an important part of gaining experience and provide opportunities for employment that may have not been available otherwise. Temporary agencies offer short-term and recruitment level staffing for organizations that are growing but do not want to hire permanent full-time employees. It offers organizations flexibility in ensuring the company has the necessary skills and abilities without making a long-term commitment. There are a few benefits and detractors job seekers should consider before joining a temp agency.

No Benefits 

Temporary work doesn’t come with the benefits you would find in full-time employment positions. With the advent of Obamacare such workers can opt to secure their own insurance but there is no obligation for the employer to offer such insurance as most assignments are under the required amount of hours that make them full-time. 

Gaining Needed Experience

Despite not having insurance employees that have minimal experience in a particular field may still want to find employment through a temp agency as the shorter assignments can offer a better opportunity to gain needed experience. Within a few short years you can be exposed to a wide variety of work environments and methodologies making it more likely to find full-time employment. 

Lack of Employer Investment

One of the reasons why agencies temporary agencies work for entry-level employees is because they offer a wide level of experience but not deeper levels of experience needed by seasoned professionals.  Companies are not going to spend much on training temporary workers on new software, systems, and skills making such positions limited beyond a few short years. If you want to progress in your career you will eventually need to find a permanent placement. 

Finding a Right Fit

At times employers may hire a temporary worker if they feel the employee matches the company’s needs. A temp position can act as a trial period for both the employee and the employer who want to determine whether or not a future match can be made. Such positions can be on trial for 6-12 months. 

Few Worker Rights

Even though every employer should follow certain moral and legal standards the use of temp agencies help to skirt some of those obligations.  Because employees are contract workers it is not necessary to inform the temp agency why you want someone removed from the workplace. A phone can is all that is needed to get a new worker and this opens employees up to a whole range of abuse from discrimination to retaliation. 

Working for a temp agency is a mixed bag but does offer some possibilities for entry-level employees to gain new experiences and basic industry skills to obtain more permanent employment.  Companies use such agencies to grow their business without having a long-term commitment and temp workers should understand that the majority of assignments will not lead to employment offers.  Such workers should be aware that temp work should be just that, temporary work, and offers short-term employment solutions.

Why are American’s Quitting Their Jobs?

According to a report by the Bureau of Labor Statistics 57.5% of people who left their jobs did so under their own free will. A total of 5.03 million employees were added which boosted the hiring rate to 3.6%. At the same time 2.75 million people resigned in September with a quit rate of 2%. Make no mistake, the job market is heating up and employees are finding options that were not available to them a few years ago.

When the economy is poor and employment prospects are low employees naturally stay in their jobs for fear that they will not be successful in securing new employment. Likewise, there may be an abundance of people seeking the same position which raises the stakes when attempting to jump ship. It is often wiser to stay where you are at until things get better.

At present the amount of people seeking the same position are 2 to 1. Those are pretty good odds for people who want to beat out the competition. When those odds are 3 or 4 to 1 that makes uncertainty higher. When unemployment declines and businesses start hiring it sucks some of the slack out of the workforce creating advantages for job seekers.

Consider the low unemployment rate of 5.8% there is growing competition among companies to retain top talent. In any recovering economy usually college educated and highly technical jobs are the first to come back. These are the positions employers need to fuel their growth and development.

The people who have fewer opportunities are those in traditional middle class jobs such as manufacturing. Without a reemergence of manufacturing within the country it can be difficult for a person with moderate education and an industry based skill set to obtain better employment unless the entire industry comes back.

Job hopping is one sign of an improving economy. This means there is some flexibility within the market and realignment going on. During the recession realignment is painfully based on lay-offs but in good times realignment is more voluntary based on the opportunities of workers that want to better their position. Work environment, compensation, culture, promotion, etc… all play a factor in a person’s decision to stay or move.

http://www.bls.gov/news.release/jolts.nr0.htm

Can Small Businesses Use Size as a Recruitment Strategy?

Recruitment and employee loyalty are an important functions in any business but can make or break a small businesses. For smaller firms a few bad hires can really cause financial havoc. Not only is there lost time and money expended on poor hiring practices but also the cost of training. A paper by Allen, Erickson and Collins (2013) delves into the importance of developing employee commitment as it relates to revenue growth and firm performance. 

One of the very first criteria is that leadership must have a solid vision of the organization. Without a solid vision the overall hiring processes and the type of recruit will naturally be misaligned. Recruitment starts with knowing the type of person needed, their skill set and how that position will help achieve the organizational vision. 

It is often assumed that prestige and money are the most important factor in recruiting high quality employees and helping ensure they are retained for a significant period of time. Sometimes, highly paid industries are able to recruit bright minded people but these same people bounce from employer to employer seeking higher levels of compensation. 

Small businesses are limited in resources and simply don’t have the ability to keep increasing the pay to recruit and retain employees. They will need to compete where their organization is most likely to be successful-and that has nothing to do with size. The interactivity and relationships built in a small business can have a more profound impact than pay and prestige. 

Firms that follow an employee commitment strategy create attachments based on relationships, company identity, coordination of autonomy and informal control, and selecting employees based upon firm values. Such organizations are not command and control structures and seek to improve upon the positive affectivity the employee has with the firm. 

This is different than what you might find in larger organization. Even though large organizations seek to create stronger cultures it is much more difficult than smaller firms. The sheer size and power-distance relationships can be difficult to overcome. Instead many firms focus on compensation and prestige as driving factors. 

Nearly 65% of all hiring is based in smaller businesses. It is important for such businesses to focus on using their core strengths where size can actually be a detriment. Hiring people based upon their value systems, encouraging them to be independent in their thinking, foster close relationships, and creating commitment to the firm are important for success. 

Relationships and sense of belongingness can go a long way in gaining commitment. People are social creatures by nature and will stay in organizations that they develop positive and meaningful relationships. Smaller businesses offer an opportunity to socialize employees to a smaller group of people they can develop deep relationships over time. A family like atmosphere can be a significant draw for talent.

Allen, M., Ericksen, J. & Collins, C. (2013). Human resource management, employee exchange relationships, and performance in small business. Human Resource Management, 52 (2).