Way back when I ran a newspaper news desk (yes, it was THAT long ago), I was looking to hire a Copy Desk Chief.  It was a critical role because the Copy Chief reviewed the work of the copy editors, and more importantly, made sure that bad stuff didn’t get into the daily paper.  Everybody in the newsroom knew I was interviewing outside candidates, but in the middle of the hiring process, one of my copy editors popped her head into my office and said, “I’d like to throw my hat in the ring for the Copy Chief job.”  I was flabbergasted; this w ..read more

The BLS labor stats came out recently, and it’s a bit perplexing for even us industry folks of what is happening to workers. The labor participation rate prior to the pandemic was around 63.3% and in the most recent month, it fell another .1% to 61.6%. Also, most experts predicted that job growth would be robust around 500K additional jobs, but in fact, we only got an additional 190K. The current unemployment rate has dropped to 4.8% from over 5%. Most pundits would call us fully employed around 4%, and most folks hiring know it’s super hard to hire once unemployment gets under 5%. Okay, but w ..read more

I’m Gen X. I’ve seen some things. Live long enough in the recruiting game, and you’ll have stories to tell. AWOL Candidates. Hiring Managers under the influence. Ghosting at a level that would make The Blair Witch Project seem like a cartoon. Do this job long enough, and you’ll become jaded, hardened, free of emotion about the process. Expecting the worse, surprised by nothing. Until something you haven’t seen before emerges. What could make say, “I’ve never seen that before?” For me, it was an interview request of massive scale. Delivered without shame. “Did that hiring manager just ask for t ..read more

Here’s a truism you can take to the bank: Bad ideas never seem to go away. How do I know? Well, it’s because with all the big workplace issues that are front and center today — like should you bring people back to the office, the remote vs. hybrid debate, or where to find workers for jobs you can’t fill — The Wall Street Journal last week decided to write about … exit interviews??? You just can’t make this stuff up. In How Honest Should You Be in Your Exit Interview?, America’s pre-eminent business publication, jumped into the topic like this: “Millions of people have quit their jobs thi ..read more

Hey – it’s 2021. When’s the party getting started again? I kid, but not really. First, talent was slow to come back as the world recovered from COVID-19. Whether you believe that was a byproduct of government subsidies, fear of the workplace, childcare issues, or other factors, it’s clear that many formerly employed workers didn’t return to the workplace, at all levels. But wait! There’s more. Next, pent-up demand for quitting also happened as COVID lapsed in the early summer months. A seller’s market (that’s the candidate in this equation, folks) meant that people who needed a change were mak ..read more

“OMG! Tim is so sexist!” Actually, I just give you the facts and data, you decide if it’s sexiest or not! I tend to think, with almost three decades of marriage under my belt that women, in my experience, tend to be way more selective than men. The women I know would say that’s a positive, not a negative! Also, social media data proves out this point! In a recent study, it was found that women actually see fewer STEM ads than men, and it’s more expensive to get views from women than men! Recruitment Marketing Pro Tip – you will pay more to recruit talented women than similarly skilled men! Her ..read more

Hiring Recruiters is Hard – This Makes it Easier When it comes to Talent Acquisition, there’s one thing that can sneak up on TA and HR leaders – hiring recruiters for your own team. As good as you are at serving the needs of the businesses you support, having a strategy to land the best recruiting talent can be challenging. I’ve always used an assessment layer when we hire recruiters at our firm, so this Kinetix Labs paper, The Assessment Profile of a High-Performing Recruiter, outlines everything we’ve learned about using an assessment to hire the best recruiters and prevent false p ..read more

I’m writing this post in the aftermath of COVID-19, as masks come off, people think about shaking hands again, and companies ramp up hiring post-recession. But this post is relevant anytime your company is coming off a long hiring freeze or downturn and starts hiring at warp speed again in a frothy economy. So, see you again in 2027, I guess. History has a way of repeating itself. So you’re back at it. Hundreds, if not thousands, of open jobs. You’re hiring in a very competitive environment where candidates have options. It took you a couple of months, but the hiring machine is tuned up and hu ..read more

When I first started blogging I would get messages from family and friends believing what I wrote was about them. It rarely was, but projection is a very strong feeling to overcome! Once in a while, it was, and I would chalk that up to strong personal insight for that person! Good for you! So, why am I talking about projecting in a post about why employees are leaving? Because I’m seeing this in my personal life constantly right now! I’m having daily conversations with friends and family who are leaving jobs, and their employers have no idea! I think that’s a big problem! Why are your employee ..read more

On episode 67 of The HR Famous Podcast, long-time HR leaders (and friends) Tim Sackett, Kris Dunn and Jessica Lee  come together to discuss Zoom backgrounds, Naomi Osaka and mental health, and LinkedIn’s acquisition of the platform Hopin.  Listen below (click this link if you don’t see the player) and be sure to subscribe, rate, and review (Apple Podcasts) and follow (Spotify)! SHOW HIGHLIGHTS: 3:15 – Tim has read that it is healthier to not make your bed. What do we think? It sounds pretty gross… 4:00 – Are we sick of virtual Zoom backgrounds? Tim was bambo ..read more