I am an unabashed follower of the HR philosophy of Jack Welch, former CEO of GE. He is a proponent of a “business-like” approach to HR that emphasizes its critical role in impacting organizational results. Welch is certainly controversial in HR circles because he advocates many things that “softies” in …

Most of us have read about upcoming workforce trends like decreasing employee loyalty, differing generational expectations, and the impending retirement of the baby boom generation, but surprisingly few organizational leaders are fully aware of how those issues will impact them. Several of the organizations I have worked with in recent …

Recruiting Rule #1: You must declare war and act like warriors in order to win. It takes an aggressive approach to get the best talent. Aggressive recruiting starts with competitive intelligence and a strong desire to win. It ends with the goal of continually improving everything you do so that …

Are you facing talent shortages? Do you need more help but have no headcount for more recruiters? Are you working in an industry where talent isn’t that visible? If you answered yes, you are not alone. Despite legislation that makes the recruiting process more laborious, an increase in the complexity …

Things to Do During the Offer Stage The way you design the offer stage of the recruiting process can have a dramatic effect on offer acceptance. Some things to consider include: Offer them a salary re-opener. A salary re-opener three or six months after they start is a powerful tool. …

Why Utilize Metrics? While researching my book "HR Metrics, The World-Class Way," I found that many HR professionals realized a need for more metrics, but lacked the vision to create them. They didn’t have criteria for where to apply metrics or a methodology to figure out which activities it even …

As recruiting continues to become more difficult, more and more companies are looking to reinvigorate their college recruiting programs and concentrate a greater percentage of external hiring efforts on entry-level professionals. If you are preparing to go that route, I suggest you look at some of the new approaches that …

In the high stakes game of procuring the world’s best talent, organizations are increasingly realizing that positioning one’s self correctly in the labor market is essential to even being considered as a viable employer. While 10 years ago candidates may have trusted what employers had to say, today top talent …

If you want to avoid many of the interview errors that have been outlined in the previous three installments in this series, it’s important that you take the time to educate managers about interviewing. I’m not talking about a day-long training session; instead, use a reminder sheet, e-mail, or website …

In previous articles, I highlighted what’s wrong with interviews, some alternatives to supplement interviews, and pre-planning steps to improve the customer experience. In this part, I’ll provide some suggestions on changing the timing and the content of interviews, both of which can increase the number of top performers who will …