REL Talk

In today’s episode of RelTalk, Michelle and Maria talk to special guest Valerie Bowden, who is originally from Indiana and has experience working in HR. She shares her insights on sourcing talent internationally and why outsourcing is a smart move for filling critical positions. She also discusses her experience living in Ethiopia and working to help make it an outsourcing hub. Valerie also talks about the benefits of remote work and how it can open up the talent pool to include international workers. She then joins our hosts in a discussion regarding the importance of getting out of your comfort zone and gaining new perspectives in order to better integrate diversity and inclusion policies in the workplace. The Finer Details of this Episode:

• Valerie’s experience living in Ethiopia
• Helping to establish Ethiopia as an outsourcing hub
• The benefits of remote work
• Hiring internationally
• The importance of getting out of your comfort zone 
• Gaining new perspectives for diversity and inclusion in the workplace

Quotes: "When you outsource internationally, you do have the opportunity to tap into a much larger talent pool and find people who have a different skill set or a different perspective." "Living in Ethiopia and being involved in the outsourcing industry there taught me a lot about the value of different perspectives and different ways of thinking." "Remote work can open up the talent pool to include people from all over the world, which is really exciting." "Getting out of your comfort zone and gaining new perspectives can help organizations better integrate diversity and inclusion policies." "Diversity and inclusion are important for so many reasons, but one of the key benefits is that it can lead to better decision-making and more creative solutions." Links: REL Talent: HR Consulting Email REL Talent REL Talent on LinkedIn

In this week’s episode of the RelTalk series, Maria and Michelle once again welcome AJ Vollmoeller. AJ is a tenured recruiter and current staffing agency owner. He’s also a resume writing and career services advisor and the author of ‘How To NOT Get Hired.’ If you’re looking for an insider perspective on recruiting, AJ is your go-to guy. First, AJ starts by shedding some light on what a job recruiter’s role actually is. As he nicely puts it, recruiters are on your side - they want the best possible outcome for both you and the company. So, don’t pretend to be someone you’re not during your first interview. Be yourself and show your personality. Next, AJ shares some valuable tips for acing any first job interview with a company. According to him, you shouldn’t lie to get in for one specific role because the recruiter may have something else that’s even a better fit for your actual skillset. Finally, Maria, Michelle, and AJ address the current market environment and the real reason why companies are losing employees at a rapid pace.

The Finer Details of This Episode:

• Recruiters are on your side
• The importance of showing your personality
• Tips for the first job interview
• Being honest
• Higher-level positions
• Discussing the new environment in tech

Quotes:

“You never know waking up what you're going to get, what market shift is going to happen, what the new headline or the new trend or the new TikTok trend is going to be.”

“Recruiters, whether they're internal at the company you're applying directly to, or on the staffing agency side, they're on your side.”

“Don't lie. Don't fabricate. Be honest and truthful, especially to the recruiter.”

“It's not polishing a lie at all. It is stating what you're comfortable telling.”

“Sometimes people just don't connect. As long as you connect with that recruiter, you feel they're doing good; you get the warm and fuzzies about them, work with that recruiter and see where it goes from there.”

“When you have a transition like that overnight, there's going to be 5% of your staff, 10% of your staff that is not well versed or just can't grasp working from home.”

“If you're losing workers because you're still what I would consider to be an old-school type of culture, that's on you. The writing has been on the wall.”

Show Links:

REL Talent: HR Consulting Email REL Talent REL Talent on LinkedIn AJ Vollmoeller on LinkedIn

In this week’s episode, Doug Levin joins Maria and Michelle on the RelTalk series. Doug is the Owner of JobStars, a platform dedicated to delivering top-notch career services for professionals of all industries and experience levels. He's also a certified professional resume writer and a career coach. Doug knows the ins and outs of resume writing, and he’s happy to share his wisdom with the world.  First, Doug talks about the most common mistake that people make when writing their resumes. They overstuff it with graphics and unnecessary content. This can cause issues with applicant tracking systems that companies use to manage the flow of applications - so, make your resume ATS-friendly. Then, Doug continues to unpack some of the key tips for making your resume stand out. As he points out, you shouldn’t neglect the importance of structure and formatting when creating your curriculum. Finally, Doug explains why you need to first reflect on who you are as a professional before finding suitable jobs to apply for. Once you know what you bring to the table, it’ll be much easier to find your ideal position. The Finer Details of This Episode:

• Doug’s introduction
• Making your resume ATS-friendly
• The importance of resume structure and formatting
• Knowing your values
• How to convey your values
• Getting your resume together

Quotes: “The important thing to think about as a job seeker to remember is that these systems automate the process oftentimes of evaluating your resume. So before your resume ever gets to the eyeballs of a human being, it’s going through this applicant tracking system.” “When you kind of try to pretty up the resume, it might look good to the human or viewer, but at the same time, it can cause issues with the applicant tracking system.” “You want to paint the picture for the reader of what was this person's scope of responsibility.” “Once you know those things, you know your seniority level, you know your functional role and you know the industry specialization. At that point, it's selecting the right keywords, the right core competencies, and the right kind of language to just align with those types of roles.” “Definitely, it takes some work to have a conversation, explore things, ask difficult challenging questions, and then once you do that, oftentimes the client provides all this really valuable information, and we can formulate it into a powerful message. ” Show Links: REL Talent: HR Consulting Email REL Talent REL Talent on LinkedIn JobStars Website Doug Levin on LinkedIn

Join Maria and Michelle for today’s short REL Talk episode, where they discuss how things have quickly shifted from an employee’s market to an employer’s market. Much of this is due to predictions of an impending recession, but the fourth quarter also plays into it a bit. Where applicants could, during and immediately following COVID, make more demands of potential employers and even had their pick of multiple options, this is no longer the case. Now applicants need to stand out.

Today’s episode is the first in a series, where our hosts plan to spend 20-30 minutes on each step of the recruiting process. So don’t miss today’s episode of this new series! In each episode, Michelle and Maria will offer three to four tips to help applicants find success.

The Finer Details of This Episode:

• Where demand is low, you must stand out
• Look attractive on paper
• Does your professional social media align?
• Get past the screener
• Should you hire a professional?

Quotes:

“Organizations are being overly cautious and we’re starting to see some layoffs.”

“This is a great time for everybody to get their resume in order.”

“You’re probably not going to get headhunted unless you are in a really critical position that’s hard to fill, or in senior leadership or executive positions, which are almost always hunted.”

“You have to look attractive on paper.”

“What are those key words you’re using to describe your experience and skill, and do they link back to the keywords that are part of the job description?”

“You also want to make sure that your professional social media… are aligned and have the same message that you are presenting through the applicant tracking system.”

“We highly recommend, if you’ve been searching aggressively for more than three months, that you seriously consider reaching out to a professional. Whether it is us at REL Talent, one of our partners, or people that we collaborate with, reach out to someone to get help either with your resume, the screening process, or the hiring process.”

“Find a way to talk to a recruiter to get feedback.”

“Even when…you’re not looking, this is a good time to sit with recruiters and get some insights.”

Show Links: REL Talent: HR Consulting Email REL Talent REL Talent on LinkedIn

In this week’s episode, Maria and Michelle continue their RelTalk series about the workplace buzzwords, such as quiet firing, quiet quitting, Great Resignation, etc. We’ve been hearing about these buzzwords everywhere lately, but what is really happening? What is changing the world of work? And how can companies discover the root of the problem and stack the odds in their favor? Tune into this episode to get some helpful insight from Maria and Michelle.

They open up the episode by addressing the impact of current world affairs on the working world. From the global pandemic to the unprecedented rise in social unrest, there are many reasons why workers around the globe are deciding to put their foot down and finally walk away from toxic jobs. But unfortunately, some employers haven’t been able to deal with these challenges adequately, and they’ve only managed to dig the hole deeper through unfair stay bonuses and ultimatums. To help out, Maria and Michelle share some proven tips for leaders who want to turn the situation around. So, if you’re looking for some advice on how to become a desirable employer that attracts employees instead of chasing them away, make sure you tune into this episode today.

The Finer Details of This Episode:

• The impact of current world events on the work environment
• The mixed feelings after quitting a job
• Why stay bonuses and employer traps are not a good idea
• Digging the hole deeper as an employer
• The purpose of unionization
• Discussing the roles of the HR department and the leaders

Quotes:

“People are living through some pretty extreme conditions. And because of that, it's forced people to have to be able to sit in their lives, and in some cases sit in their house by themselves and the lives that they've created.”

“It's exciting and scary. So it's exciting because opportunities are popping up around the world. It is scary because there are lots of really talented people looking for jobs right now.”

“You're digging the hole deeper; they're already disengaged. They're already frustrated at the belief that they can't change their environment. They are already stressed out because they don't see development opportunities in their near future.”

“If HR has brought these items as areas of opportunities and attention to you, as they've been coming up, or in surveys and assessments, and you select not to do anything because of the financial constraints or risks to your organization, you have created this problem for yourself. And now it's going to cost you more money.”

“People are willing to work in a way that works for their life; they are no longer willing to work in one way. ”

“Here's the problem - most companies don't want to say they have a problem.”

Show Links: REL Talent: HR Consulting Email REL Talent REL Talent on LinkedIn

Join Maria and Michelle today as they dive deep into another buzzword that has taken the business world by storm - quiet firing. If you haven’t been living under a rock lately, you’ve probably heard about the two popular workplace buzzwords: quiet quitting and quiet firing. But what do these two newly coined terms refer to? Today, we’re going to hear what Maria and Michelle have to say about quiet firing and what managers can do about it before it’s too late.

In this episode of the RELTalk, they start off by explaining these two concepts and where they came from. Next, Michelle explains why quiet firing is actually a sign of weak leadership and passive aggression. Instead of neglecting employees, managers need to find the confidence to have open and honest conversations with them. Michelle goes on to share a few useful tips for leaders who are struggling with disengaged employees. She recommends honest conversation as the number one strategy for tackling quiet firing. Let’s normalize open communication and get rid of toxic workplace cultures once and for all.

The Finer Details of This Episode:

• Quiet quitting vs. quiet firing
• Weak leadership
• Why HR often gets a bad reputation
• Common misconceptions about HR
• Advice for leaders
• The importance of open communication

Quotes:

“The idea of quite quitting is when someone gives the bare minimum, like, ‘I could do this much without getting in trouble, and that's how much I'm going to do when I come to work every day.’”

“The idea behind quiet firing is when you, as the leader, want someone gone, but you are not willing or able to actually terminate them. So instead, you create work situations that are so bad in their mind that they quit themselves.”

“Cutting someone's hours versus having a conversation, again, makes you a coward; suck it up and do your job.”

“That's the reason that HR gets a bad rap from employees is because in larger HR corporate environments, what they see is HR constantly supporting a manager in the company and not there to support the employee. It always feels like they are skewed to believe the boss versus what they're hearing from the employee.”

“We make recommendations on the fact that we see the big picture, and we have that knowledge. We don't tell people what to do.”

“If people would just have a conversation with someone about their performance, we wouldn't all be jumping to termination or quiet firing.”

Show Links: REL Talent: HR Consulting Email REL Talent REL Talent on LinkedIn

Join Michelle and Maria with their special guest, John, for today’s episode on “quiet quitting”. This phenomenon has been in the news quite a bit lately and it’s been gaining traction. While it is often framed as an employee problem, Michelle and John believe it can also be caused by the employer and the organization.

Since quiet quitting can really affect your business, REL Talk wants to address it, help you understand it, and provide suggestions and tips for how to proactively prevent quiet quitting from happening on your watch. They also recommend an invaluable book for more details about quiet quitting, that also includes more tips, tricks, and solutions than what can fit into a 30-minute podcast.

The Finer Details of This Episode:

• The definition of quiet quitting
• Who are the quiet quitters and what is their motivation?
• Baby boomers (and their work ethic) are no longer the majority in the workforce
• What is the job of the leader/supervisor?
• What causes the shift?
• How DE&I plays into quiet quitting
• Are all quiet quitters the same type of individual?

Quotes:

“Quiet quitting is the concept of doing the bare minimum that you need to do, in order to not get fired.”

“Baby boomers were like, all in. They were going to give 150%.”

“That’s not the case anymore. I think younger people have realized that. And especially through the pandemic and even inflation right now, when companies are boasting about record profits and saying they don’t have money for raises… like, you can’t do both.”

“Is it the fault of the company for not engaging the employee? Or should the employee be getting in trouble for doing exactly what their job description says they’re supposed to do?”

“Your job as a leader is to make sure your team is engaged and motivated in the right role.”

“I promise: people don’t go from trying to make you and your department look like a rock star to giving the bare minimum overnight, without having some element of frustration… you need to find out what is happening.”

“Here’s how you be proactive. Go look at those job descriptions and the expectations of the roles. Because I promise you, you’re asking for more than you’re paying them.”

“They’re okay with you paying them what their job is worth. They’re not okay with being asked to do more than you’re willing to pay.”

“So the reality is, as a leader…, you’re going to have to assess everyone individually, just like you would with any employee and address it based on where that person is.”

Show Links: REL Talent: HR Consulting Email REL Talent REL Talent on LinkedIn

Join Maria and Michelle today as they share some effective tips for building an effective onboarding process. Now you may be wondering where to start and what is the first thing you should do. Always ask yourself: what am I trying to achieve in this process? Then, consider the six Cs of a successful onboarding process which Michelle addresses in this episode:  culture, connection, clarification, compliance, competence, and confidence.

Next, they proceed to share the seven steps to building a better onboarding process. As Michelle nicely puts it, these steps are the building blocks of onboarding success. As you put your onboarding together, Michelle suggests you make sure you weave your culture into it instead of just stating your values in an opening document or statement. What’s also vital to understand is that you should always be open to making necessary adjustments as you go because the world is changing at a rapid pace - as the world changes, it’s inevitable that your employees will change with it. Michelle and Maria conclude the episode by encouraging you to reassess and revamp your onboarding process when needed. Establish your building blocks individually, and then weave them all together to set your new hires up for success. 

The Finer Details of This Episode:

• The importance of setting a clear onboarding goal
• The six Cs of a successful onboarding process
• The seven building blocks of onboarding success
• Making the pre-boarding process more engaging
• Weaving your culture into the onboarding process
• Adjusting your company to a new environment

Quotes:

“There are always commonalities in the world… one of those being that onboarding is seen as a checklist of activities that you are required to do by some internal or external deciding party.”

“Think about that as it relates to your compliance. Are you checking a box, or are you actually teaching your people to be better?”

“Two podcasts ago, we gave you tips on how to do some research to assess whether or not your onboarding was effective. That particular podcast… will now help you to write your business case for why you need to address onboarding.”

“You do need to shake things up just a little bit by including something that, instead of being a handbook with 20,000 words, is a really quick video with lots of employees, talking about how they see the organization.”

“Orientation is about nothing other than who we are and how we behave. That means it's your purpose, it's your vision, it's your mission, it's your values, it’s your organizational structure.”

“I think of it more as a thread that ties all of this together versus being a call out.”

“Onboarding is going to look different for every role.”

“A vision is irrelevant if the people that work for you do not live that vision.”

Show Links:

REL Talent: HR Consulting Email REL Talent REL Talent on LinkedIn

Join Maria and Michelle for today’s episode as they discuss some things to consider when onboarding, teaching, and training through your organization. Has what needs to be learned changed or is it the way adults learn that is different these days? You know our hosts have their trademark strong opinions on a topic such as this and are ready to share them with you here today.

They’ll go over a handful of principles, define what they are, why they’re important, and even offer some tips on how to prioritize things so that your organization and workforce avoid stagnation - more excellent information and advice from the wise professionals at REL Talent.

The Finer Details of This Episode:

• Hybrid workforce
• Build in DE&I from the very beginning
• Prioritize inclusion
• Consider long onboarding timeframes
• Make training curriculums self-paced

Quotes:

“The minute you can take learning and apply it the way they like it, they are more likely to participate.”

“Companies are either going to have to step it up or they’re going to lose it… If you haven’t figured out that remote or hybrid work is effective, you need to figure it out or you will start to lose potential talent.”

“What you need to consider with hybrid or remote work…: how are you fully integrating them to understand the culture of your company?”

“When you look at orientation and onboarding for new employees, you’ve got to come up with some creative ways to address those. One of the most common ones that we’re seeing right now is actual welcome kits.”

“DE&I should be a part of your mission and vision.”

“Current studies show that a 90-day onboarding program significantly lowers turnover rates.”

“We’re not talking about 90 days of training; we’re talking about 40 hours of training…spread throughout 90 days, with recurring check-ins where we can make sure they’re getting what they need.”

“When we say ‘self-paced’, …we’re saying that between the learner and the manager, in those recurring one-on-ones, that they can start making intelligent decisions about how quickly they go through stuff. Maybe there’s a quiz or test-out option.”

Show Links:

REL Talent: HR Consulting Email REL Talent REL Talent on LinkedIn

Keith joins Michelle and Maria in welcoming Heather Hansen to the show today to discuss authentic adaptability. Heather helps top global professionals show up, speak up and inspire action and change the world and is the author of the book Unmuted: How to Show Up, Speak Up, and Inspire Action. Today, Heather shares nuggets on how to foster effective communication between leaders and their teams.

Heather starts by sharing the purpose of her book, explaining that the book was written to understand and promote good communication, which is built on more listening, rather than speaking. She also reveals that there are dangerous effects of language bias as it is often a result of deeper discrimination and explains the meaning of authentic adaptability and how we can remain true to our values even if we seem different every day. Heather concludes by sharing insightful tips to help leaders and teams develop good communication and action.

The Finer Details of This Episode:

• Heather discusses her book, Unmuted
• The importance of listening rather than speaking
• What are the effects of language bias and linguistic discrimination?
• Exploring authentic adaptability
• How can leaders practice authentic adaptability?
• Making the change and growing
• Understanding your values
• Heather’s tips on developing teams and leaders

Quotes:

“My primary goal with the book was to inspire those who have not been speaking up in the world to begin sharing their brilliance. We've been listening to the same demographic for a long time, and as I look around the world today, I think this can't be it.”

“We're facing so many extreme crises all over the world in all different areas, from the environment to political conflict. I just refuse to believe this is the height of human potential - there has got to be more.”

“Unmuted is trying to give a toolkit or a skill set to leaders and everyone in the organization, to know when to press mute and listen, when to speak up, how to do so in a way that's respectful of our differences, how to become more self-aware in our leadership practices and how we are appearing before others.”

“The key is learning to listen so that people want to speak up. And that means as leaders, we have to give space for that. We have to build relationships, we have to create psychological safety in the organization so people feel comfortable coming to us with new ideas.” “It's about connection, not perfection.”

“Linguistic discrimination is the last acceptable form of discrimination in our society, people don't recognize it or realize it exists. And they don't realize how deep it runs, how it is connected to discrimination according to socio-economic status.”

“Authentic adaptability is the ability to show up and adapt to the surroundings, adapt and be flexible to others, other ideas, different ways of doing things, as long as we are remaining true to our values.”

“We have had it drummed into our heads that if you're showing up different, you're not being yourself, but I am.”

“Sometimes what you are told to believe and raised to believe and your entire culture and society believes is not something you necessarily have to embrace. And it's not something that necessarily has to define you or those around you.”

Show Links:

REL Talent: HR Consulting Email REL Talent REL Talent on LinkedIn

HeatherHansen.com Heather’s Linkedin Global Speech Academy