I have been involved in hiring new employees for four companies over a 40-year span. Never did I consider hiring a person for what they cannot do. It seems such an obvious statement that you are probably wondering where I am going with this thought. Every person has things they cannot do. For example, I… Continue reading Hiring Candidates for what they Can Do
Category: Recruiting, Hiring, On-Boarding, Internships
The Lack of Candidates
I have discovered there is a name for the candidate shortage phenomena we are all going through, Sansdemic. A sansdemic is the lack of people, or the lack of enough people, to fulfill the work force openings that exist. For the last year, people have been trying to blame the COVID Pandemic, but the signs… Continue reading The Lack of Candidates
Candidate Crisis – Do You Believe Me Now?
I saw this coming years ago and have been writing about this crisis for years. (See other blogs on http://www.stanfieldassociates.com). It is now in full force. “We are hiring” signs are everywhere. I actually saw a sign on a Burger King front door that said, “Lobby closed do to lack of staff. Please go through… Continue reading Candidate Crisis – Do You Believe Me Now?
We Need a Bridge from Academia to the Work Place
A generation has been told by their parents and their teachers that a college education is the only answer to a “good life”. “Manufacturing is dead” was a common statement. Young people from their mid-twenties to their mid-thirties now have student loan payments than are as large as a mortgage payment. However, because of the… Continue reading We Need a Bridge from Academia to the Work Place
Building Bench Strength
How is your bench strength? When your key performers are sidelined, do you have others following in their steps that can step in and “carry the ball” in your key performers’ absence? Everyone has key performers, but the long-term winners focus on the next level to ensure success now and in the future. Some call… Continue reading Building Bench Strength
The Strategic Importance of Trust
I heard this phrase recently and it has echoed in my head ever since. As I pondered the statement, I realized that trust, or the lack of it, is the foundation that all relationships are built on, including business relationships. Who wants to do business with, work for or employee people you do not trust?… Continue reading The Strategic Importance of Trust
To Change Your Culture, You Must First Change Your Paradigms
“The culture of any organization is shaped by the behavior the leaders are willing to tolerate.” Gruenter and Whitaker As a leader of an organization, our organization’s culture is what we have allowed it to become; either proactively or inactively. What leaders seeking a culture change need to understand is they need a paradigm shift.… Continue reading To Change Your Culture, You Must First Change Your Paradigms
Barriers to Leadership
We all can recognize obvious barriers, like road closed signs, caution tape, etc. However, do we realize we can create barriers between ourselves and others by the way we dress, they way we talk and even the way we react to them? I have been around manufacturing management for over 40 years. I have found… Continue reading Barriers to Leadership
Lack of Available People Forces “Customer of Choice”
We are starting to see signs of something I have not witnessed in my working career. Do to the short-fall of people with employable talents, companies are starting to have problems keeping up their production schedules and therefore have to decide which customers get left behind. I have been promoting the concept of being and… Continue reading Lack of Available People Forces “Customer of Choice”
Work-Life Balance or a Balanced Life
We have all heard the phrase work-life balance used for years. It was a well-meaning phrase trying to help busy people ensure they spend sometime with their families, friends and other interests. The problem with that word picture is it creates an imaginary scale that you put your work on one side and your life… Continue reading Work-Life Balance or a Balanced Life
Employees are Whole People
My desire is to help leaders recognize the value of their employees and to develop them into the person they were created to be. Sometimes this takes a paradigm shift. Paradigm Your paradigm, or the filter you see the world through, is the sum total of what you have learned and observed up to this… Continue reading Employees are Whole People
Next Economic Hurdle, Supply Shortage
We are entering a business cycle I have never seen in my 50+ years in the business arena. Multiple factors are creating a “perfect storm”. I am concerned if the business world doesn’t address this issue now, in the next few years we will slide into a recession because of supply shortages. The intersecting issues… Continue reading Next Economic Hurdle, Supply Shortage
Employment – Buyer’s Market to a Seller’s Market
Are you struggling to find qualified candidates for your open positions? Do you know anyone else with the same problem? Have you noticed everywhere you look you see “Help Wanted” or “We Are Hiring” signs? The employment world has changed from a “Buyer’s Market” to a “Seller’s Market”. Candidates can find opportunities much easier today… Continue reading Employment – Buyer’s Market to a Seller’s Market
Building a Bridge to Our Future Workforce
I am seeing a new warning sign in finding candidates for employment in our organizations’ in the near future. There is a widening gap between the knowledge and skills of people that are looking for work have compared to the knowledge and skills needed in our workforce of the future. I read a book a… Continue reading Building a Bridge to Our Future Workforce
The Value of Internships
There are multiple reasons why I believe every organization needs to have a thriving internship program. Here are a few. An internship program is the best interviewing program I have ever found. It is actually a four month interview. Using a designed internship development system, you can discover in the first few weeks if they… Continue reading The Value of Internships
Planning for Your Staff of the Future
I believe most organizations struggle in the area of staff planning because they look at the situations that effect staffing as static. They believe their business will keep doing the same things they are currently doing and in the same processes they do it, they are going to grow at a steady pace annually, therefore… Continue reading Planning for Your Staff of the Future
Being an Employer of Choice
I have been involved in the hiring process for over 30 years. I have managed small departments ranging from a staff of 2 or 3 to having been the Plant Manager of a company with 3 facilities and 150 employees. I have managed in union and non-union environments. In all that time and experience I… Continue reading Being an Employer of Choice
Hiring and Keeping Great Employees
Remember- Employees are the only asset a company has that appreciates; all other assets depreciate. Your people are worth the effort up front. Below are questions you should answer before you start looking for candidates. How do you attract candidates? Candidate attraction demands a strategy. Do you have one? Have you done a SWOT analysis… Continue reading Hiring and Keeping Great Employees
Why Would They Work for You?
This is a key question you need to answer during this next decade. Every organization I know is struggling to find qualified help. I hear people say, “There just aren’t any Engineers in West Michigan” or “All the Tool & Die Journeymen have left the trade during the recession”. The fact is there are thousands… Continue reading Why Would They Work for You?
We are Leaving Talent on the Bench
Multiple times a week I find myself in conversation with talented people who cannot find their way through the maze of today’s employment process. They are eager to put what they know to work for an employer, but the “system” does not let them in. Let me give you a couple of personal examples. Those… Continue reading We are Leaving Talent on the Bench
M Live Article- The Jobs Dilemma
I read an article by Melissa Anders from M Live The headline is “The Jobs Dilemma”. I must say it was a great job of reporting differing opinions without trying to drive the readers to her conclusion. Nice job Melissa Anders. There are two sub-headlines. “If Michigan graduates so many skilled students, why can’t they find… Continue reading M Live Article- The Jobs Dilemma
Should Interviewing be Interrogation or Conversation?
I have been trying to figure out why so many people find interviewing a stressful process. Having been a recruiter for over 15 years, I have been in hundreds of interviews. The vast majority of the time I find myself trying to help the interviewees relax enough that we could have a good enough conversation… Continue reading Should Interviewing be Interrogation or Conversation?
Changing Employment Strategy; Becoming an Employer of Choice
I have been involved in the hiring process for over 30 years. I have managed small departments ranging from a staff of 2 or 3 to having been the Plant Manager of a 3 facility, 150 employee company. I have worked for companies from as small as 4 employees to as large as 200+ employees.… Continue reading Changing Employment Strategy; Becoming an Employer of Choice
A Candidate is More than a Resume
In the recruiting and interviewing process, why is a resume considered to be so important? Can you possibly understand if a candidate would be a great fit for your organization and for the position you are trying to fill from their resume? Most resumes are not written solely by the candidate. They have been “coach”… Continue reading A Candidate is More than a Resume
Cooperative Collaborations
Company, university and student – what if there was a way you could all win in the game of business? What if a common denominator allowed companies to reduce cost and add creativity, while simultaneously helping universities move students into great careers where these students could thrive? Welcome to the world of Cooperative Collaborations. Cooperative… Continue reading Cooperative Collaborations
Christian Life Coach 