Tell Me Why
At the heart of it, a Job Posting is a Sales Letter. It has to change minds.
You may think I have that backwards. After all, it’s the employer who’s paying the money. The employer is the purchaser.
Historically, you would be correct. Once upon a time, the job post was an offer to buy.
When I was growing up in Michigan, you could sign on with General Motors for cash, benefits, and a career. Between the union, and GM, you and your family were going to be taken care of.
Not Today
In a Socialist world, the government provides everything. Your education. Your work. Your pay. Your health care. Your benefits.
To the traditional American mind, that is outrageous.
But, just for perspective, ask yourself some questions.
Did your government…
– Tell you IF and when you can work?
– Tell you what work you can do, and how are you are to do it?
– Tell you what pay is acceptable?
– Send you a government check when the pay was unacceptable?
– Forbid insurance plans that were too good?
– Provide healthcare instead of your doctor?
Why do we need employers?
And That Is The Problem
As an employer, you may have noticed a certain shortage of qualified applicants.
In addition, your current employees may be invisible or on leave.
Work From Home doesn’t validate who your employee is actually working for.
Just a Heads Up, here. If the government really does pay illegal immigrants $400,000, plus housing and healthcare, I’ll be taking a leave of absence. Just a quick run for the border. I’ll be back in touch later.
Bottom line, employers are either contracting to the government or slowly vanishing, altogether. The reduction of a qualified workforce helps speed that along.
If you question that, let’s discuss it over dinner, at your favorite restaurant that doesn’t exist anymore.
Finding The Solution
Dust off your W. Edward Deming training. This will be easy.
Deming, as you recall, was the Quality guy. Famous for teaching Japanese industrial leaders how to move from bombed-out ruins to international excellence.
“Built in Japan” was once the punchline for jokes about shoddy production.
Today, it implies precision and quality.
After Deming’s influence, we learned slogans like…
Toyota: The best built cars in the world.
Lexus: The relentless pursuit of perfection.
Who can go to work at a company like that and do crap work?
In fact, who wouldn’t want to work for a company like that?
I was at the Georgetown, KY Toyota plant when it was first under construction.
If there was any question how serious these people were, it was only necessary to make a pre-dawn visit to the project. Rows and rows of shirt-and-tie engineers sat at folding tables, designing the future.
Where does that come from?
Deming: constancy of purpose.
You must be able to state why you exist.
What you do.
And why it matters.
This is more than just good marketing.
It’s the mission.
To hold a team together, and then to grow it, you must have a mission.
Not a slogan.
An actual purpose.
Deming: A system must have an aim. Without an aim, there is no system.
Absent that, if your competition doesn’t take you out,
Your government might.
What We’re Up Against
Fear and confusion.
It’s deliberate.
Discussing COVID-19, Yale epidemiologist Dr. Harvey Risch describes, “A Pandemic of Fear.”
The CDC publishes the COVID Data Tracker, essentially saying, “We have the numbers.”
I offer Deming: Where there is fear you do not get honest figures.
Jack that up with…
– Riots
– Flash-mob looting
– Defund The Police
– Record illegal immigration.
– Homeless tent towns
– Escalating murder rates
– Drug death
You know, stuff like that.
Now, as an employer, how are you going to make…
Your message.
Your vision.
Your offer.
… rise above this commotion?
You have to live it.
Attracting Strong Candidates
Do we actually believe that anyone is seeking a job to achieve…
– more diversity,
– vaccine requirements, and
– social distancing?
Deming: All that people need to know is why their work is important.
Answer that, and you begin to resolve…
– Employee turnover
– Staffing shortages
Deming: Pay is not a motivator.
From a candidate’s point of view, committing to anything is not a popular idea.
Trust is a memory.
The founder of your company — whoever that is — had a vision that was more inspirational than, “Do you want a job?”
It might be worth reaching back to the skills that built your company. Not to be too dramatic, but you are under assault. This is foundational.
Right now, you might as well be creating your teams from scratch. Your message has to cut through the noise. And it has to stick.
Reconfirm your values. Rebuild the trust. Firm up the relationships.
Deming: When [I understand] who depends on me, then I may take joy in my work.
It’s why I’m picky about who I work with.
Not everybody wants to reveal structure and relationships.
Root-cause anything seems like a bit much.
That’s OK, but today, your price for that decision may be high turnover.
As a recruiter, I need your story. What’s your message?
Perhaps you’ve never had to explain why working at your company matters.
From the Candidate’s point of view, it means everything…
Tell Me Why I should care.
I might commit.
And I have friends.
Deming: It is not necessary to change. Survival is not mandatory.
-TD