Labor Day – Service & Gratitude
“Far and away the best prize that life has to offer is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.” One of my favorite quotes from Teddy Roosevelt. How often do we reflect on how others providing excellent service positively impacts our lives? How important also that they follow the maxim I first heard from Grandma Dierker – “If you don’t have time to do it right when will you have time to do it over?” I had two such opportunities to reflect based on events that happened within 24 hours.
We left for the hospital as soon as my daughter was admitted expecting our now first grandchild – Woo Hoo! A healthy baby girl born July 8, 2022. It was supposed to be an uneventful 11 hour drive to North Carolina. That was before a right rear tire puncture on I-75 just north of Williamsburg, KY. AAA said it would be 90 minutes before help would arrive – did I mention it was pouring rain. Less than 10 minutes later the driver from Bolton’s Towing & Repair in Corbin, KY pulls up. An incredibly friendly gentleman, especially considering the weather, has the spare on and we’re driving again in less than 20 minutes. Sorry I didn’t get his name but that was incredible service when we needed it most.
We stayed overnight in Clinton, TN to be near the Walmart Auto Center when they opened the next morning. This one didn’t go our way – none of that tire in stock. After calling a number of shops I reach Jimmy of Matlock Tire Service & Auto Repair at their West Knoxville location. He assures me they have the tire in stock and he’ll keep a bay open and a tire technician at the ready so we can get on our way. We arrive a little more than 30 minutes later and I’m thinking – “oh sure they’ll have a bay ready!” I turn over the keys and settle into one of the nicest waiting areas (seriously well-appointed with free coffee, bottled water and a fast wi-fi connection) thinking this is going to be a while. I hadn’t finished my first coffee and my wife and younger daughter had only just returned from the coffee shop next door when I’m told the car is ready. What? They did exactly what they promised!
We arrived to meet our granddaughter on the day she was born and I have Bolton’s of Corbin and Matlock Tire of West Knoxville to thank for that. Their employees work hard at being their best every day and their service positively impacts people like our family every day. Remember to thank the person who helps you have a better day – even if it is “just their job.”
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Memorial Day and Benefits from Volunteering
Excerpt from Posthumous Award of Army Air Medal to First Lt. William C. Dierker, the older brother of my mom, Betty (Dierker) Hagerty: “Ordered to make an observation flight on 1st of November 1944, the plane piloted by Lt. Dierker, on taking off from the field, was attacked by Japanese “Tonys” and forced into a cocoanut grove, resulting in a crash where he was fatally injured.”
An article from the May 1945 issue of the Marine Corps magazine Leatherneck mentioned my Uncle Bill and this encounter in an article citing the bravery of the Marine observers and Army pilots of these flights over the front lines and often deep into enemy held territory. The mention closed with “Three Marines from a passing truck convoy braved a second strafing attack to cut the fliers from the wreckage, but death beat an ambulance to the side of the victims.”
The volunteering part you ask? I’ve had the pleasure of being a board member since 2004 at St. Margaret Hall, A Carmelite Sisters sponsored long term care facility. My father, Bob Hagerty (WWII veteran of the 712th Tank Battalion and Korean War veteran tank commander), was lovingly cared for by the Sisters and staff during the final months of his life prior to passing February 16, 2002. I’ve had the chance to meet so many wonderful residents and have so many meaningful encounters that convince me the rewards of volunteering far outweigh the “sacrifice.” I knew very few of my Mom’s childhood friends and she really never spoke at all about losing her beloved brother Bill. One afternoon at St. Margaret Hall I encountered a new resident Pat (Grannen) Jacobs and learned she had grown up across the street from my mother in Norwood. It still makes me shiver to recall her saying – “I hope you won’t mind me mentioning this, but I still remember looking out our front window when the sedan with the Army Officer and a Chaplain arrived to tell your grandparents that their son had been killed-in-action over the Philippine Islands. Your mother was several years older than me but always so kind to us younger girls and it hurt me to know how sad she must have been.”
I believe one of the best ways we can honor our veterans who made the ultimate sacrifice is to continue to give of ourselves to our own community in whatever way we find most meaningful.
Mom-isms
I recently had a great conversation with a new connection at an excellent client. Her LinkedIn profile mentioned she is a lover of great quotes. Interestingly enough, so am I. She asked me for a couple of favorites and I opened my Evernote app to share one from Teddy Roosevelt and one from Jeff Immelt. I then noticed on my desk the takeaway from my Mom’s funeral.
On the reverse of her photo were several classics we refer to as “Our Mom-isms.” Here are several that have definite business application:
* If you don’t listen you have to feel.
* If you don’t do it right the first time, when will you have time to do it over.
* If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.
Then there are some personal favorites:
About her never artificially colored hair – “It’s platinum blonde.”
And from the woman who usually had a cup of black coffee or an iced tea (heavy sugar and lemon) in her hand – “Water is for taking a bath, not drinking.”
A belated Happy Mother’s Day and here’s hoping you have as many fond memories and lessons learned from your mother as we have from ours!
The Great Resignation Is Over!
It is from where we sit! Great prospects have always been difficult to find and then difficult to connect with. Anyone who actively recruits talent can attest to the unanswered LinkedIn InMails and Connection Requests, the emails which show as opened in your statistics but never a response. Perhaps you even have a cell number but can’t get a text message response or a return call.
The real signal of The Great Resignation being over is the number of prospects who will listen to our great presentation (ours are always great of course) but decline to pursue it beyond that point. They highlight how well their current employer is taking care of them – hybrid work options, strong annual salary increase, better than average bonus and a genuine concern for their career development are just some of the specifics they mention.
Some are willing to sit down and talk with us and learn more about the opportunity with our client. If we’ve begun to build some reciprocal trust and can say there is the real potential for an excellent match many are willing to become a “candidate” and meet with our clients. If you’ve armed your recruiters (internal or external) with enough information about the role and trust they are effectively screening candidates then anyone involved in the interview has to be prepared to sell the opportunity and not just be another level of screening.
Build Loyalty, Early!
Concerned about turnover? Of course you are, just like everyone else. Three examples I’ve encountered in the last 90 days show how some companies build loyalty early, when it really matters.
1) A new employee wants to take a week off, without pay, between finishing with their current employer and starting with the new one. The following week is a short week due to a holiday so the new employer would prefer that not be the starting week. Two weeks off without pay wasn’t really in the new employee’s plans. The employer’s solution – the new employee can have off both weeks, with pay!
2) A new employee is several weeks into training with a new employer when they begin experiencing serious complications from a previous Covid 19 infection. 10+ weeks later they are cleared to return to work. Guess what – never missed a paycheck from the new employer.
3) First week in their new role and a financial executive collapses from an undiagnosed pulmonary condition and spends several days in the hospital. The call from the owner of the firm isn’t to ask when he can return, instead he assures the new employee his recovery is most important and assures him his paychecks will continue and his position will be there when he returns.
These individuals took my call about a new opportunity but made it clear (very quickly I might add) they were interested only in seeing if they could help me with a referral. You want to build loyalty and reduce the likelihood of turnover? The time is now, before it appears your concerns are motivated by a recent rash of resignations.
Not Ghosted!
Let’s begin the new year on a positive note! It is a candidate advantage market and we’ve all heard about employers, and worse yet us recruiters, being ghosted by candidates. Many, including me at times, are prone to hang it on any generation younger than us. Can’t you just hear your parents “I can’t believe they listen to that music!” I’m still listening to The Who but the line from “My Generation“ “Hope I die before I get old” means I’ll keep redefining “old.”
How about this thoughtful response from an early millennial?
Bill, This certainly sounds like a good opportunity, but I don’t think it is right for me. The compensation would not be a significant raise for me and the commute is also a negative. At this point in my career I have committed a significant amount of time at my current employer and gained a level of respect among management. For all these reasons I am going to pass on pursuing this opportunity. Thank you for thinking of me and reaching out.
An excerpt from my response:
Thanks for considering. While I’m disappointed we won’t be pursuing this together I appreciate the way you have considered this opportunity relative to your continued opportunity with your current employer.
Wow, common personal/professional courtesy between an early millennial and a late boomer. It just isn’t that hard. I’ll try and improve mine in 2022. How about you?
Been Ghosted Lately?
I used to think it was just recruiters who were “ghosted” on a regular basis but sadly, not so! Here was a response to my April 2021 post regarding employee referrals and the need to acknowledge them with the employee and the referred candidate: “communication of any sort to any candidate is becoming a rare thing these days… Blows me away…my employer (national company 60,000+ employees) is horrible about keeping any candidate informed about their progress (or lack thereof) in the hiring process. It gets worse all the time. What has happened to common courtesy?? Sad.”
It isn’t just employers who ghost either. Candidates do it also. Here was my recent experience (names changed to protect the guilty): John is insistent I must meet him before deciding whether to present him to Bill the hiring manager for an interview. I meet him and appreciate his enthusiasm for the role and agree to encourage Bill to interview him. After the Zoom interview Bill reports: “quite possibly the worst interview I’ve ever had, one and two word answers to questions meant to spark discussion. It continued even after I mentioned I really needed him to expand his answers a little more.” You guessed it, John hasn’t returned my three phone calls or two texts and an email. I’m pretty certain my client Bill will always remember the name and not ever interview John in the future. I am completely certain I’ll remember the name and won’t be representing John in the future.
Employers and candidates – I’d love to hear your experiences and especially what employers are doing to improve the candidate experience.
Employee Referrals – Really?
What an outstanding idea! Ask your current employees to share the openings you are trying to fill with their personal and professional network. Not just reposting on LinkedIn but sharing it with people they believe could be both interested in and qualified for the role. Have the candidate note the referral source when they apply and even agree to pay a referral bonus if they are hired!
Now to ensure it never works and you never pay a referral bonus – don’t acknowledge receipt of the application to the referring employee and by all means don’t follow up with the referred candidate!
Sounds crazy, right? I have had two business friends each working for a separate company say they couldn’t help a family friend because their referrals are never acknowledged. They said the resume’ would get just as much attention by coming in with every other blind application. You don’t have to hire the employee referral. You don’t even have to invite them for an interview if you don’t see the fit. Please have the common courtesy (certainly uncommon courtesy in application) to acknowledge and thank your employee and reply to the candidate.
New Year’s Resolutions – Lost 2020, How About 2021?
I don’t know about you but I lost track of my 2020 resolutions, personal and professional, in the midst of all things COVID. Now I need to get back in the habit of reviewing my 2021 resolutions more regularly to help me improve in keeping them!
One of my dual purpose resolutions was to write more – personal letters (yes handwritten, envelope with a stamp) and more professional publishing. The easy (or so I thought) way to publish more was to publish something to this blog once per month and here I am publishing the first of 2021 in March. The write more letters portion was always going to be harder. Like many I’ve gotten out of the habit by relying on texts, emails and family group WhatsApp entries. The most consistent letter writing I’ve done in the last few years has been to a young gentleman I coached in Knothole baseball who found himself on the business end of a wrongful conviction and is currently at Madison Correctional in London, Ohio. Visitation has been closed since March 2020 and calls are monitored and limited to 15 minutes so writing a letter is my chance to draw him into some real thought provoking discussion. Despite knowing that, I mailed my first letter of 2021 last week!
Now is always the right time to recommit to good habits. I’m recommitting to my New Years Resolutions. I hope your New Year’s Resolutions are still intact but if necessary I’m encouraging you to recommit to yours.
Cincinnati Reds and 4th Quarter Inspiration
Who in Major League Baseball, including many (maybe most) diehard Reds fans, didn’t leave them for dead the morning of 9-11-2020. Just one game short of completing three quarters of the shortened season they were at 19 wins and 25 losses. The hope of a long-awaited return to the playoffs seemed over. Nothing in their season long performance would have led you to believe they would finish 12 and 4 over the final 16 games, including series wins over four playoff bound teams. Now with three top of the rotation starters in Trevor Bauer (had to love his duck walk on 9-23-20), Luis Castillo and Sonny Gray all things are possible and hope springs eternal!
2020 has not been the year any business expected. The Reds have shown that with continued dedication to task, and maybe just a little luck, a season can turn around when you least expect it.
FYI – the 16 game turnaround started on the 35th anniversary of Pete Rose’s record breaking 4192!
#cincinnatireds #peterose #4192