Maren Hogan's Page

Being the perennially disorganized person that I am, I recently found myself in the position of looking for my passport (for the reason why I need my passport, see here). I looked everywhere it was SUPPOSED to be: the "family docs" baggie (no silly firesafe for us, our birth certificates, marriage licences, adoption papers, SSN cards, all in the trusty Ziploc bag), the bottom of the purse I took to Italy, my old wallet, my prototype of the travel book I meant to write, EVERYWHERE. It was in none of those places. I was flummoxed.

As I looked in old nightstands and moving boxes, I came across some neat stuff though. I found the "dating journal" that my hubby and I made with all the goofy junk you give each other when you're young and poor, I found pictures and writing from the orphans in Albania I had kissed and cuddled nearly four years ago, I found old travel stubs and boarding passes and even a list I wrote in Spanish class about "stuff I want to do before I die". It felt like a treasure hunt.

So I tossed all that stuff back in a box and didn't care what happened to it. . . What? No I didn't,
BUT

Sometimes we do that with candidates, um I should say PEOPLE. While on a search for something very specific, we overlook, press over, ignore and forget about the treasures we literally stumble upon. I'm not saying to let every resume grab your eye until you wind up chasing your tail. I am saying, carefully set those treasures aside with the respect they deserve for future examination. Ways to do this:

- Lend support. Not all job seekers need you to find them a job. But letting them know you're keeping your eyes open and giving them specific insight into their market is invaluable.

- Evaluate their resume. It takes about five minutes for a great recruiter to give preliminary advice on how a resume could look better, read better, hone in on specific skills. Take those five minutes for those treasures. It's worth it.

- Relo help. Your job isn't over when they get a job (whether through you or someone else). Do they have questions about your town? Can you reccommend a great condo or neighborhood? Do it? It doesn't cost you a thing!

I found my passport and the doozy is that it didn't take me any more time to find it and still treat those other treasures to a little extra attention as well. Now I have a box full of memories to go through and I know just where that comic strip my hubby gave me in the 90s is!

Ive noticed in the last few weeks, disturbing trends that can catch you unaware if you don't tread carefully where social media is concerned.

Today, I'd like to turn the spotlight on someone else. (Shocking, I know). Yesterday, I had the opportunity to attend a Talent Anarchy seminar given by Joe Gerstandt and Jason Lauritsen. I went with the intention of supporting them and maybe to learn a thing or two. I was shocked at the quality of their presentation.

I don't mean fancy powerpoints, amazing statistics and funny stories (although their presentation contained all of these things). What I was shocked at was the sheer volume of information and research that went into their talk (just one of a lineup BTW). Normally, with that much information, very little that comes out is enjoyable or easily put into practice.

The presentation was on "Generational Diversity", oft discussed ad nauseum in these hallowed halls. But this was a fresh take with new insight that I'd never heard before. Now many of you are thinking, well yeah, of course Maren has never heard of it before. But there were HR Pros from some of the biggest cos. in Omaha seated around the table and they were duly impressed as well.

Why am I waxing on and on about these fellas? Because they take the responsibility of education seriously. It's not really about promoting themselves, although they wouldn't mind that. The research, the well rehearsed presentations, the interactive way with the crowd, it's about ensuring that people not only get what they paid for but get what they HOPED for.

And in that room, looking around at some of the women and men, genuinely seeking greater understanding of the different generations and how they could help make that happen in their companies, I was greatly encouraged at the state of HR. Someone called me an idealist today. I'm okay with that. Omaha is in good hands!

There are a lot of jobs you can get in this world. And there are a lot of ways to automate processes so you need fewer employees, there are also open source programs that eliminate the need for high-cost tech. But my particular soapbox is talent and technology (in that order), so I am going to say it.

You can't keep eliminating people. There's a company in Omaha who in an astonishingly dunderheaded move, is reducing its workforce very systematically (in an almost Nazi-like way). They let departments know that the later they get called in, the more likely they are to get cut, leaving entire groups of people fearful, uncertain and certainly unproductive. This company goes through this process nearly every quarter. ( I am not opposed to firing or even layoffs but this process is ridiculous).

Beyond the obvious, no wait, staying IN the land of the obvious, this will eventually kill a company and is extremely short sighted. While it's possible that the company will never need to re-staff (doubtful but whatever), their reputation is so tarnished that the quality of hire will be very low. If they were to contract with an RPO or third party recruiter like myself, they would have to hand over the control of their entire recruiting (and some HR functions) dept. just in order to be taken seriously.

I suppose there's a chance that some hotshot amazing HR pro will move to Omaha to provide a resurgence in Employer Brand but it's pretty slim.

As repetitive as the "seat at the table" discussion has been, it's obvious to me that now HR Pro worth his or her salt was present here. What a legacy. What a shame.