5 Tips to Attract Your Ideal Candidate and Reduce Resume Spam

“I love spam,” said no one ever. We use spam filters to keep unwanted messages out of our inbox. However, we fail to keep those unqualified resumes from appearing in our inbox by using effective spam filters. (Even if you use an automated system, you are still getting spammed.) Imagine how much easier finding your[…]

How You Can Avoid My Ten Rookie Hiring Mistakes

Although it’s been a couple of decades, I still remember my first hire. In those days, I was definitely not an expert. When I think back to those days, I have to smile because I was so naïve about the hiring process. Fortunately, I had a mentor who patiently taught me, and I learned the[…]

Why You Need to Wear Your Bathrobe in Public

My bathrobe is soft, warm, and best suited for a cold winter day and a hot cup of coffee. Yet it was over 90 degrees, and I wore my bathrobe in public. Not Walmart-public, but more public than the privacy of my home. You’re probably thinking I’ve gone off the deep end, but I assure[…]

HIRING LESSONS FROM THE GAMBLER

“If you’re going to play the game, boy you gotta learn to play it right,” sang Kenny Rogers in his song The Gambler. This song popped into my head as I ate lunch in a restaurant while observing two families with small children who had very different definitions of good behavior for their children. In[…]

Fast-Track your Recruiting in Three Easy Steps

  Every day I hear business owners lament the fact that they can’t find good employees. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we had hundreds of qualified applicants to choose from? That sure sounds awesome, but when it comes to recruiting, you can have too much of a good thing and that creates a daunting and[…]

10 Ways to Engage Your New Hires and Get Them Productive Fast

  DON’T LET GREAT CANDIDATES EXIT BEFORE THEY START You’ve done the hard work of recruiting and found the perfect employee. Now you can relax and wait for them to arrive on their first day of work. Pat yourself on the back and congratulate yourself on a job well done. Stop right there! Don’t be[…]

It’s Not Every Day You Turn 150 Years Old

  A few weeks ago, I spent a weekend celebrating the 150th birthday of Renovo, a small town in Pennsylvania. I visited the town’s historical museum and their town hall, both filled with the history and memorabilia documenting the community’s legacy. I talked with the people who call the town home, attended the parade, and[…]

The Lost Art of Listening

You’re not listening. How many times do we hear that phrase every day? We think we’re listening, but what we’re really doing is trying to solve the problem, fix the person, or move on to the next thing on our long list of things to do. I participated in a leadership challenge last week and[…]

Discover the Reality of Working with Millennials

Running a business is a lot like a reality TV show. You have an ultimate goal or mission and a time frame in which to achieve it. A group of people are thrown together and the fun ─ or chaos ─ begins. In business, you hope for the fun and do your best to prevent[…]

It’s Time for a Recruiting Makeover – Your recruiting process might be as bad as your 80s hairstyle

The most important thing I’ve learned in my career as a human resources expert and recruiting strategist (both in corporate America and as a small business owner), is when I don’t like the results I’m getting, I almost always should have changed what I was doing much faster than I actually did — like my[…]