Professor, Corporate Speaker and Advisor Contact: JohnS@DrJohnSullivan.com
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Articles by John Sullivan
Recruit Those That Can Start Work Immediately – With “Start Next Week Hiring” - Dr John Sullivan
I’ve been called the father of speed hiring, perhaps because my first article on it appeared nearly 25 years ago. And today, I’m outlining a version of speed hiring that I call “Start Next Week Hiring” (or SNWH). This program’s primary goal is to first make a hiring decision within seven days, but then only hire candidates who can literally start work immediately.
Mark Merric | WealthManagement.com
http://www.internationalcounselor.com/ Mr. Merric is the manager of the Merric Law Firm, LLC, a manager of the Alliance of International Legal Counselors, LLC, and a manager of China-U.S. Import Export Sourcing Company. He is active in the areas of domestic and offshore asset protection, domestic and international estate planning and international business transactions.
Reneging On Offers – A Growing Recruiting Nightmare - Dr John Sullivan
Imagine your anger when, after a 3-month search, a finalist who said yes accepts a last-minute competing offer. Ouch! But this type of nightmare shouldn’t be a surprise. Today, 47% of candidates report that after saying yes, they would remain open to a late arrival offer. You can blame this new reneging phenomenon on shifting values or the new generation. Sadly, you must realize that receiving “a yes” today from your top finalist may no longer mean the end of your recruiting effort.
The Next Recruiting Battleground – Quantum Computing (Move aside AI, as QC becomes the next dominant technology) - Dr John Sullivan
Quantum Computing (QC) is revolutionary because it can solve “unsolvable problems” and accurately forecast the future. Few corporate recruiting leaders realize that the demand for Quantum Computing (QC) talent already far exceeds the available supply. As a result, Quantum Computing will eventually become corporate recruiting’s #1 priority. I previously alerted you about “The War for AI Talent” in 2018. Today, I am alerting you that “The battle for Quantum Computing Talent” has already begun.
'The Brain Always Wins 2’ to be published by Chiselbury
'The Brain Always Wins 2’ to be published by Chiselbury Cover of The Brain Always Wins 2 Former US Navy Seal calls the book ‘a life saver’ The Brain Always Wins 2 is more than a book; it’s an investment in your life and everything you care about.
Inflation Created… A Hidden Recruiting Opportunity (And a “Beating Inflation Strategy” allows you to meet this opportunity) - Dr John Sullivan
Over the last few years, during the “great resignation,” recruiters have been blessed with the opportunity to pick from a large talent pool who were eager to quit for a better job after the frustrating Covid lockdown. However, over the last 2+ years, inflation has made it difficult for the average employee to pay their bills on their current salary.
Create “A Forever Impression” With A Memorable Welcoming Package (A powerful candidate experience and preboarding tool) - Dr John Sullivan
Before a new hire starts, prove that you really are different with a “Memorable Welcoming Package.” Article Descriptors| Preboarding/Welcoming New-Hires – Its Benefits – 4 Min. Read A “Memorable Welcoming Package” (a.k.a. MWP) is a physical package that is highly memorable because it surprises soon-to-be hires at home. The package contains all of the information and tools that a new hire will need to get started.
Peer Interviews – A Powerful “Must Try” Hiring Tool (For improving your assessment and candidate selling results overnight) - Dr John Sullivan
It’s the most powerful hiring tool because of its double impact on candidate assessment and selling. Peer interviews are also easy to implement because the concept is easy to understand and requires no approvals or out-of-pocket expenditures. Article Descriptors| Recruiting / Peer Interviews – It’s Many Advantages – 5 min read Peer interviews are where the team members, as a group, conduct a separate interview (without the manager present) with each of the top two finalists for a key job.
Shifting To A “What’s In It For Me” Recruiting Prospective (Spelling out what the new hire will experience) - Dr John Sullivan
Compared to just listing dry company benefits, seeing “what’s in it for me” is extremely powerful from a candidate’s perspective.
Need Amazing Employees? - Hire Those "Defined By Their Work" (Because commitment, work ethic, and mastery will produce amazing results) - Dr John Sullivan
Google found that 90% of a team’s value comes from the top 10%. So, recruit this amazing 10%. A Think Piece – encouraging you to hire those who are defined by their work. Reviewing my long talent management career, I quickly remember the handful of colleagues I could truly classify as “amazing.” Amazing is an accurate description of them because these team members not only completed an amazing amount of work on time. But they also served as a role model that improved others around them.
The World’s Best Guide… For Adding Powerful Resume Content (Ensuring that your resume will stand out in an AI world) - Dr John Sullivan
Move past keywords and add powerful content that both AI bots and recruiters will notice and remember. Start By Realizing That… AI Is Dramatically Changing Resume Screening Yes, job search has long been intensely competitive because an applicant may compete against 250 other resumes. However, having your resume successfully pass an initial screening is now getting much more complicated.
The 3 Powerful HR Metrics That Drive Action (That no one uses)
Most HR metrics are “so what metrics” because they don’t create a sense of urgency or drive action. In direct contrast, the metrics recommended here have been proven to spur action because they allow managers to easily see performance trendlines, what actions must be taken, and what problems are coming. A Think Piece – That’s designed to get you to demand HR metrics that drive action.
Hire Your Customers – The Top Recruiting Source In Retail (Target this often-ignored talent pool) - Dr John Sullivan
If you recruit in retail or service industries, a top source should be your customers (after employee referrals).
Cruise Ship Experience: A Likely Story
Boomer reader Roger Ryberg tells another “Likely Story,” this time about his experience on a Royal Caribbean cruise ship. I’m a big guy. I drive a big truck. I dream big dreams, and that’s a big deal, but some things can make me feel small in the blink of an eye. That would include the Northern Lights, red cliffs of Moab, and stars so close you could pluck them from the sky. (But don’t. They’re still hot!). Also high on that list is Royal Caribbean’s cruise ship “Independence of The Seas”.
Alert – Those Great Interview Answers May Be Generated By AI (Identifying “AI boosted” interview answers) - Dr John Sullivan
After hearing brilliant interview answer after answer, you might be shocked to learn that AI wrote those answers. Article Descriptors| Recruiting /Interviews – AI generated answers – How to – 6 min read Yes, it’s true that today, the great interview answers that you are hearing may not be genuine at all.
Sue Bird and Megan Rapinoe Present ‘Cleat Cute’
Sue Bird and Megan Rapinoe’s production company, A Touch More, is developing its first scripted series based on the soccer romance ‘Cleat Cute’ by Meryl Wilsner. Sports icons Sue Bird and Megan Rapinoe are getting in the game as TV producers. Bird and Rapinoe’s production banner, A Touch More, has teamed up with independent TV studio Future Shack Entertainment to develop “Cleat Cute,” the bestselling novel from author Meryl Wilsner.
David Selby: His Mom Was a Big Fan
Born and raised in West Virginia, David Selby had an extensive film, television, and stage career, including prominent roles in two very different TV shows in different generations: ABC’s gothic soap opera “Dark Shadows” in the ’60s and the prime-time soap “Falcon Crest” on CBS in the ’80s. “My mother (Sarah) loved that I was an actor,” said Selby from Los Angeles, but she had no background in the entertainment world.
Stop Painful New-Hire Turnover – By Identifying Candidates That Will Quit (A checklist for screening out flight-risks) - Dr John Sullivan
38% of new hires quit, yet no one attempts to identify the candidates that are likely to quit. Which is puzzling. Because I have found that you can predict (with up to 70% accuracy) which candidates will quit during their first year. Article Descriptors| Recruiting /Retention – A Checklist Of New-Hire Stay Factors – 4 Min. What Are “Stay Factors”? This prediction accuracy is possible because there are what I call “stay factors” (some call them “sticky factors” because an employee sticks to the job).
Hire The Not-Yet-Promotable… And Improve Internal Movement (Hiring for this and the next job)
The Concept In A Nutshell Recruiting can broaden its strategic impact by hiring not-yet-promotable candidates (i.e., those who already meet 50% of the promotion criteria). If those recent hires continue developing, they will strengthen your talent pipeline and speed up internal movement/promotions. The only recruiting process change that will be needed is to assess each finalist on their ability to do “both this job and their next job” (i.e., their promotability within 18 months).
The Dumbest Reasons For Rejecting Job Applicants (Questionable rejection factors that hurt hiring results)
How many of your qualified candidates are being rejected for these questionable reasons? Article Descriptors| Recruiting /rejection factors – How to – 4 min read It’s no secret that most hiring processes suffer because they are mostly intuitive and use assessment factors that don’t predict new hires’ on-the-job performance. As a result, new hire failure rates average 46%.
The Business Case For Hiring The Employed (That’s not a typo) - Dr John Sullivan
Which makes more sense, recruiting the unemployed 4% or the gigantic pool that already has a job (unfortunately, most get it bass-ackwards)? Fortunately, employed talent won’t be hard to recruit because today, an astounding 96% of all workers are looking for a new job. So, I promise that after closely examining its many benefits, you will change your opinion toward hiring the unemployed.
Hire More Employed Candidates… By Raising Doubts About Their Current Job (The power of “doubt raising”) - Dr John Sullivan
Employed candidates are gold but hard to sell unless you raise new doubts about their current job. Descriptors| Recruiting /Selling The Employed – Increasing Doubts – How To – 8 min Yes, Doubts Do Change Job Acceptance Decisions I hope that everyone realizes this. Among your currently employed candidates, doubts about both their current and your open job may literally be the most influential deciding factor in their final job choice.
Everyone Jokes About HR… These Fast-Acting Strategic Steps Will Change That
There are 20.5 million “jokes about HR,” double those in accounting and millions more than CEO’s. Don’t you wish HR could stop them? Article Descriptors| Strategic Steps/Fast-Acting – List Of Five – 5 Min Read Don’t Complain… Act Yes, since Dilbert began providing readers with jokes about HR, it has become a cottage industry. However, rather than complaining that this piling on of jokes is unfair, why not take actions that will quickly reduce these criticisms/jokes?
Bad HR Can Cost You Billions, Just Ask Apple (How ignored HR process vulnerabilities can lead to business catastrophes)
Retention and recruiting were factors in the downfall of Apple’s $10 billion EV car project! Boeing’s missing door catastrophe was also caused by overlooked HR vulnerabilities.
Improve Hiring… With These Top No-Cost, Offer Acceptance Boosters (The complete guide for getting your offers accepted)
The most damaging part is when, at the end of hiring, your top candidate surprises you with a no answer. Article descriptors| Recruiting /Offer acceptance – How to actions – 6 min scan Realize That… Offer Acceptance Is A High-Impact Step It’s no longer okay to just stand by. Today, it’s essential that you take proactive actions that boost the offer acceptance rates of your exceptional candidates.
Bad HR Can Cost You Billions, Just Ask Boeing – Why HR Needs To Embrace Risk Management - Dr John Sullivan
Boeing is suffering an estimated $45 billion loss from a single employee error. So, add reducing errors to HR’s responsibilities, or this could happen to you. A Think Piece – Urging HR to develop a risk management process that focuses on reducing employee errors. Before you assume that employee errors are an insignificant corporate cost factor. Realize that as a result of the recent “missing door” error. Boeing has already lost an astonishing $35 billion in market cap value.
This “Forever” Hiring Shortage… Will Forever Hurt Your Business Results (Shifting to Competitive Advantage Recruiting) - Dr John Sullivan
The recent Post-COVID hiring shortage wasn’t temporary, instead, it’s a permanent business condition. So why isn’t it a standard corporate practice to measure (and respond to) the current level of recruiting competition in your industry?
Discover Exceptional Candidates – Scan Resumes For These Talent Indicators - Dr John Sullivan
Most resume scans are shallow, so they pass over factors that reveal if a candidate is exceptional. Descriptors | Recruiting/Resume screening – Talent indicators – How-to – 5 min read Why Most Resume Scanning Approaches Fail To Identify Exceptional Candidates Most traditional resume-scanning processes come up short. They are designed primarily only to identify the job selection requirements that each candidate meets.
Competitive Retaliation – When They Recruit Your Talent… Strike Back Hard! (To boost your employee retention) - Dr John Sullivan
Why doesn’t recruiting retaliate? Because it is a common deterrent in business and the military. Descriptors: retention / retaliation recruiting strategy – how to – 3 min. read ———————————————————– In today’s competitive recruiting environment. Whenever your competitors face no negative consequences after they recruit a key employee. Their targeted recruiting against your company… will likely actually increase! “Competitive Retaliation” Is A Common Practice Today Just read the headlines.
A Fresh Eyes Review… The Key To Getting Any Business Proposal Approved (And a Promotion)
A second fresh perspective opinion is the key step in getting executive approval for any proposal. Descriptors – proposal approvals / a fresh eyes review – how to – <3 min. read Fresh Eye Reviews – Why They Work A Fresh Eyes Review (FER) is when a critical person from outside of a team is asked to review one of its new business proposals. The goal is to identify every major/minor error and omission in the proposal document (or PowerPoint presentation).
8 Ugly Numbers… That Highlight HR’s Failures - Dr John Sullivan
A Think Piece – Posing the question, “Is it time to take a closer look at failures in HR?” Understanding The Many Benefits Of Failure And Criticism With few exceptions, throughout my career, I found that HR professionals are positive individuals who don’t even want to talk about failure. That positivity also means they are uncomfortable with the criticism that comes along with failure. However, I find that perspective to be a serious miscalculation.
The Most Read Talent Management Articles (Dr. Sullivan highlights 6 simple recruiting tools)
Descriptors – recruiting/tools – how to – 3 m. read During tough times, a recruiter’s knowledge of best practices is the key to job security. As the most prolific author in the field of recruiting tools (I have written over 700 articles and a book on recruiting tools). To me, the beginning of the new year is the ideal time to update your current recruiting practices and add a few new simple tools that require little training and no budget.
A Decision Filter… A Simple Tool For Making Fast Objective Program Approval Decisions
Leaders often have difficulty saying no. But decision filters make rejecting weak proposals easier. Descriptors… Decision-making / the decision filter tool – how-to – criteria for rejecting weak projects – 4 min. scan. Yes, in today’s business environment, many leaders are under pressure from executives, customers, and employees to “do more with less” (often without significant new funding).
Connections That Last Should Be The Foundation Of Your Business
The verdict is in — the old way of doing business is over. Join us at Inman Connect New York Jan. 23-25, when together we’ll conquer today’s market challenges and prepare for tomorrow’s opportunities. Defy the market and bet big on your future. Throughout my real estate journey, I’ve discovered that building lasting client relationships is the most crucial aspect of leading a successful business. These connections are the foundation of our industry.
New Year’s Resolutions For Progressive Recruiters (Simple but effective recruiting tools) - Dr John Sullivan
The New Year is a great opportunity for progressive recruiters to tweak their TA approach by adding small things that will make a big difference. Descriptors… recruiting/tools – how to – simple but effective – 3 min. scan Simple High-Impact New Year Resolutions For Recruiters If you are seeking small changes that can significantly improve your recruiting outcomes, here are a handful of simple actions that have been proven to make an immediate difference.
All Turnover Isn’t Bad… Encouraging “Good Turnover” (The positive impacts of good turnover) - Dr John Sullivan
The silliest practice in retention is counting all quits equally in your turnover calculations. Descriptors… retention/good turnover – eye-opening – how to – data-rich – 4 min. scan Understanding The Different Amounts of Business Impact From Each Category Of Turnover It’s a common practice to lump all employee turnover into one basket. This practice is silly and naïve.
All Turnover Isn’t Equal… And “Devastating Turnover” Produces The Most Damage (Prioritizing devastating turnover) - Dr John Sullivan
The silliest practice in retention is counting all quits equally in your turnover calculations. So the purpose of this article is to “open your mind” about the problem of measuring only aggregate “total turnover. ” And why you must begin measuring, prioritizing, and focusing on the most damaging category of all turnover.
Having A Muslim Or Jewish Name… Might Trigger Hiring Bias During This Difficult Time (The name-blinding tool)
Just seeing/hearing a candidate’s name can cause them to be rejected because of unconscious biases. So, if you want to avoid religious discrimination, consider using one of the available name-blinding methods. It’s a mistake to assume that the current Middle East conflict isn’t having a negative impact on recruiting.
Time Your Hiring… To When Your Recruiting Competition Is Low (The Candidate Per Opening metric)
The amazing “right time” strategy advises managers when their recruiting competition is low. Then, they can focus their recruiting during the times when they have the greatest chance of placing a truly outstanding candidate in a priority job. This think piece… is designed to startle you… after you learn about the tremendous impact that the precise timing of hiring can have on your business and recruiting results.
Take Advantage Of… This Year’s Holiday Recruiting Pause (‘Tis the season” to be recruiting) - Dr John Sullivan
Holiday Hiring allows average organizations to land quality candidates that they normally couldn’t. Yes, it’s true. When most major corporations temporarily pause their hiring, even the underfunded recruiting efforts at an average organization can produce amazing results during Nov/Dec. Why can they succeed during this time period? Because this slack period dramatically reduces the corporate recruiting competition that average companies face.
Why Isn’t Your CEO… Also, Your Chief Recruiter? (Because The Changes Will Be Startling)
The most life-changing action in strategic TA… is to ask your CEO to become your Chief Recruiter. Yes, the results from this single bold strategic action will literally take your breath away. Your CEO as your Chief Recruiter (CR) may, just by itself, bring your recruiting department the recognition, support, cooperation, and resources that its leaders have historically only dreamed about having.
13 Emotions You Will Experience When Selling Your Advisory Business
Listen on iTunes | Listen on Spotify | Listen on Google Podcasts M&A expert Peter Campagna, Managing Partner at Wise Rhino Group, has a list of common emotions that advisors face when they decide to sell their business. “Fully 80% of M&A is managing emotions,” Campagna says. “The financial stuff is somewhat easy, but they’re selling their life’s work.
Instantly Improve Hiring Results Using “Solve This Problem” Interview Questions (The most impactful interview question) - Dr John Sullivan
As a hiring guru, I guarantee that this interview question will instantly raise your hiring results. Yes, having a candidate answer a “solve this problem” interview question may be the most impactful interview question of all. This may seem too good to be true, but trust me on this one. I’ve been helping managers at top corporations improve their hiring for over four decades.
Recruiting Ads In Podcasts – Hire The Most Impactful Candidates, Continuous Learners (The complete guide for recruiting in podcasts) - Dr John Sullivan
Learning ability is the #1 predictor of job success, and continuous learners listen to podcasts. Yes, Google, the world’s only data-driven recruiting machine, uses this learning ability criteria for every job. These hires are so impactful because continuous learners not only bring a great deal of knowledge to the job. However, sharing that learning also helps their team grow, and learning leads directly to innovation, the most valuable employee behavior.
Vote NOW on the 2024 NAPA Top Young Retirement Plan Advisor Nominees!
It’s that time of year! We proudly announce the nominees for our annual NAPA Top Young Retirement Plan Advisors award, a.k.a. “Aces.” Established in 2014, the list of “Aces” is drawn from nominations provided by NAPA Broker-Dealer/RIA Firm Partners and vetted by a blue-ribbon panel of senior advisor industry experts based on a combination of quantitative and qualitative data submitted by the nominees, as well as a broker-check review.
Power of partnerships advances business and mission goals
Effective partnerships between systems integrators and technology providers are paramount for both mutual business growth and to meet government mission needs. However, the power of industry partnerships goes well-beyond the prime and sub relationship to deliver capabilities that quickly and effectively address mission gaps for the government – particularly in areas where speed and innovation are critical.
Most Don’t Rate HR As Strategic – Here’s Why (Outside the box actions for making HR strategic) - Dr John Sullivan
Not once in our history has HR convinced a majority of our business leaders that we were strategic. Yes, despite the fact that I’ve never met an HR leader who didn’t continually talk about becoming strategic. New survey data reveals that all of that talk hasn’t translated into results. And our rating is, unfortunately, a full 21 points lower than finance. Sadly, we haven’t been able to make much progress lately because HR’s strategic rating has only risen 1% since 2018.
New-Hire Announcements – The Subtle Recruiting Tool That Gets Everyone Talking - Dr John Sullivan
Posting new-hire announcements lets potential recruits know that “something is happening here” (at your company). Yes, this inexpensive tool is guaranteed to get everyone talking about the success of your recruiting and the quality of your new hires. What Is A New-Hire Announcement? If you are not familiar with this traditional recruiting tool that has been around literally for decades. You should know that it now deserves a second look precisely because few are currently using them.
A Glimpse Into The Future – Automated Remote Video Interviews And Its Many Benefits(Understanding asynchronous interviews) - Dr John Sullivan
Improve your hiring results and save hours of valuable manager time with automated video interviews. This Emerging Interview Tool Is Right For Today’s Problems To start off, before you even begin thinking negatively about automating anything in HR. Realize that in today’s highly competitive world of recruiting. It is essential for TA to shorten its hiring process while at the same time improving its candidate experience.
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