Recruitment Analytics: A Simple Classification System

How do you classify the applicants in your pipe line? There are hundreds of ways to separate resumes at the first point of contact by potential job fit. Most Applicant Tracking Tools have this built in and really smart ones will auto separate and classify based on keyword searches.

If you can afford an ATS or have veteran recruiters and/or an optimized process you are probably already doing this. But you would also be shocked to know how many companies are not doing this.

To get started just create 3-4 piles to put resumes in. Its as simple as this:

  • Pool A is for candidates who have most if not all of the qualifications you are looking for.
  • Pool B is for applicants who have some of the qualities.
  • Pool C is for applicants who really don’t have any of the things you are looking for and/or have some fatal flaws that you believe are incompatible with the job.
  • Pool D can be for resumes who currently don fit, but might in the future.

If you are just using Excel to track your applicant pipe line, it is easy to add a column for general classification. Through in some weighted scoring to rank within each category and you are actually doing better than a lot of small and medium sized companies.

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Just as an example, In each pool, you can add a rank of High, Medium and Low. High being they should be ready to start day one, medium meaning the will need some training time if they are hired and low meaning they will need some extensive training.

It is really that simple. Starting adding structure to your recruiting so you can focus your time and energy on those who have the most potential to help you right now, but also keep track of those who might be able to help you down the road.

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If you don’t have a good ATS, then doing something like this will make a huge difference. You will soon be able to start making more strategic choices on who you spend your time, focus and money on.

HR & Recruitment Analytics – The recruitment and retention of top talent is the biggest challenge facing just about every organization. DMAIPH is a leading expert in empowering HR & Recruitment teams with analytics techniques to optimize their talent acquisition and management processes. Contact DMAIPH now at analytics@dmaiph.com or connect with me directly to learn how to get more analytics in your HR & Recruitment process so you can rise to the top in the ever quickening demand for top talent.

Measuring You Marketing Opportunity

Came across this really cool, yet super simple visual illustrating how to frame your market opportunity for start-ups and entrepreneurs.

http://steveblank.com/2011/03/08/a-new-way-to-teach-entrepreneurship-the-lean-launchpad-at-stanford-class-1/

Start with the total available market.

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How many people would want/need your product or service?

How large would the market be in $ if every demand was met. What would that look like in terms of total number of product bought or services rendered?

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Next determine your maximum market share.

market 2

How many customers can use the product or service?

How many have the money to buy it?

How much can I possible produce?

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Now you can build a target market.

market 3

Who am I going to sell to first?

How will I let them know about me?

If I see everything possible to my target market how much would that be?

Sometimes it is the simplest visuals that mean the most.

Five Things That I Ask My Leadership Team To Do

As our team continues to grow and the type of work continues to diversify, I have been reflecting a lot on the way we approach things. The way we influence those we work with, the words we choose to motivate each other and the commitment we demonstrate to ourselves, each other and our clients all have a huge impact on our success.

Leaders do more than manage. They inspire and empower. They also hold people accountable. Having worked with and for some great leaders over my career, these are the top five things I ask my leadership team to do.

  1. Do The Work. Nothing inspires others more than seeing a person in a position of authority work hard. Putting in the extra effort, making sacrifices and going above on beyond to bet things done. Excelling at what you do is the best way to get others to do the same.
  2. Sharing The Vision. I use the term sound like a broken record a lot… meaning you should share and share and share stories and ideas and dreams that give people a vision of where things are going. In this fractured world, so full of distractions, it’s really not possible overshare your vision.
  3. Carrot And Stick. I use this metaphor a lot to remind my team that we have to be equally well versed in both discipline and praise. That we need to balance being a good cop and a bad cop. Being fair and just, is in the end what all employees want from their leaders.
  4. Don’t just give directions. Explain why things are important. Looks for root causes and not just the symptoms. Take the extra time to write a more comprehensive email, or sit down and explain something a second time, or use visuals to re-enforce why we do what we do.
  5. No excuses. True leaders accept responsibility, hold themselves accountable for failures and offer up solutions to problems. Unsuccessful leaders offer explanations and excuses.

So as we kick into high gear with expansion plans, these are the things I will be doing, sharing, reminding, and educating my team about.

Analytics Leadership – DMAIPH specializes in arming the Data-Driven Leader with the tools and techniques they need to build and empower an analytics centric organization. Analytics leadership requires a mastery of not just analytics skill, but also of nurturing an analytics culture. We have guided thousands of Filipino professionals to become better analytics leaders. Contact DMAIPH now at analytics@dmaiph.com or connect with me directly to discuss a uniquely tailored strategy to ensure you are the top of your game when it comes to Analytics Leadership.

Every Conflict Is An Opportunity

There is a truth in the workplace that many of us spend a lot of time and energy trying to overlook. That truth is Conflict and while you can try to avoid conflict for a while, you cannot escape it.

This is especially true if you are in a leadership position in the workplace. Conflict — and, more specifically, conflict resolution — is your job. The more you are able to recognize it, understand it, and ultimately resolve it, the more successful you will be. Being a good communicator is a key way to be successful in managing conflict.

LinkedIn Blogger, Bernard Marr, recently posted, “The first step you can take is to prevent conflicts that are preventable — not all of them are, but by actually seeking out a potential conflict and taking steps to mitigate it, you’ll make your job ultimately much easier. For example, if someone on your team sends out a vague email that could easily be misunderstood, asking for clarification upfront could head off future conflict.”

Marr points out that “as a leader, you also need to be proactive in defining what is and isn’t acceptable and helpful in a given situation.” A great example is when team members in leadership positions send vague emails or do not include all the relevant information. This can quickly lead to confusion and poor performance. Many time the root cause of poor performance, bad decision-making and low morale can stem directly from lack of proactive communication.

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Back when I was a teacher, we would often talk about “teachable moments,” and every conflict is a strong teachable moment. When there are two sides, two opposing viewpoints, there is a remarkable opportunity for learning, innovation, and even team building. Getting the two sides to communicate and acknowledge room to grow on both sides is paramount.

According to Marr, “Great leaders don’t shy away from conflict or avoid it, but rather see it as a tool for bringing a team closer together. When there is a desire to resolve a conflict, it can be resolved — every time — and usually to the benefit of both parties.”

True leaders know how to use conflict to bring about positive and necessary change. They recognize that conflict is essential for an organization to evolve. With ever conflict we either have a crisis or an opportunity… I try hard to be proactive, to communicate and to always turn a conflict into an opportunity.

Analytics Leadership – DMAIPH specializes in arming the Data-Driven Leader with the tools and techniques they need to build and empower an analytics centric organization. Analytics leadership requires a mastery of not just analytics skill, but also of nurturing an analytics culture. We have guided thousands of Filipino professionals to become better analytics leaders. Contact DMAIPH now at analytics@dmaiph.com or connect with me directly to discuss a uniquely tailored strategy to ensure you are the top of your game when it comes to Analytics Leadership. 

Introduction To “Data-Driven Decision-Making”

Far better is it to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure… than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much, because they live in a gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat.  – Theodore Roosevelt 

Making Data-Driven Decisions is one of the mottos I live by. It simply and powerfully sums up what I believe in as an analyst. In order to make intelligent decisions in all aspects of a business, you need to have the right data at the right time. That is what analytics is all about.

Whether you dream of being an analyst, aspire to be a better analyst or hope to surround yourself with people skilled in analytics, you have to strive to be different. You have to look at data as having the answers and analytics as the key to determining which answers are the ones you need.

My love for analytics comes from many places. When I was a kid I used to collect baseball cards and memorize all the statistics on the back of the cards. When I got into college I took a lot of courses on student developmental theory and learned a lot about why people are the way there are.

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I combined that passion with classroom teaching experience and then corporate training experience. During my time with Wells Fargo I was always the data guy or the reports guy, long before I had even heard of the term analytics.

All of these experiences have prepared me for what I do today; teach people about analytics and how to use analysis to make data-driven decisions.

My book, “Data-Driven Decision-Making”, is in it final stages and will be ready for publishing within a matter of weeks.

Doing My Own Market Assessment > Setting Up A Manpower Business

When I first moved here to the Philippines, the business model I set in motion was to set up a recruitment, training and placement business for analysts.

The concept was simple, recruit fresh grads, give them 2-4 weeks of analytics training and place them primarily in the BPO industry.

Three years and a lot of interesting adventures later, I am kind of back where I started when it comes to this idea of upscaling young talent and helping them get their foot in the door as their careers begin.

With that in mind, I am once again doing my own market assessment for the new business venture.

Last time I looked, I saw that the no one else doing analytics themed training and certainly not for the youth. I also saw over 1,000 analyst job posted in jobstreet.com and thought it was a no brainer to get into the business of helping fill those slots. So it looked like the competitive landscape was wide open. Three years later there are a handful of schools and private companies offering analytics-themed training. The pie has gotten bigger even though there are more people cooking the same pie.

College and Universities continue to churn out hundreds of thousands of graduates every year. And a nearly equal number of students leave school early because of financial challenges. However, there is a ever widening skills gap between the skill set of these students and the hiring requirements of the BPOs. There is a huge talent pool out there to be tapped.

The BPO industry continue to grow at double digit pace, with more and more requirements for new hires to not only start at entry level, but further up the food chain. Today I just did a search on jobstreet.com and there are 1,500 analyst jobs posted in jobstreet.com

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So, there is still a huge need for a manpower business that supplied an upscale level of analytics talent that higher education and private enterprise has not been able to meet.

This analysis is based on not just my assumption and my experience, but also lots and lots of cold, hard data.

2015 = Game On

So Many Marketing Plans, So Few Successful Ones…

http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2015/01/question-checklist-for-reviewing-your-new-marketing-materials.html

Sharing Another of Seth’s Awesome Blog Posts >

For that new video, or that new brochure, or anything you create that you’re hoping will change minds (and spread):

What’s it for?
When it works, will we be able to tell? What’s it supposed to do?

Who is it for?
What specific group or tribe or worldview is this designed to resonate with?

What does this remind you of?
Who has used this vernacular before? Is it as well done as the previous one was?

What’s the call to action?
Is there a moment when you are clearly asking people to do something?

Show this to ten strangers. Don’t say anything. What do they ask you?
Now, ask them what the material is asking them to do.

What is the urgency?
Why now?

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Your job is not to answer every question, your job is not to close the sale. The purpose of this work is to amplify interest, generate interaction and spread your idea to the people who need to hear it, at the same time that you build trust.

You will rarely achieve this with one fell swoop, so be prepared to drip your way through countless swoops until you’ve earned the privilege of engaging with the audience you seek.

And that is the point we need to keep in mind with our marketing efforts… it will take many, many posts and shares and engaged convos to get us to where we need to be!

When I Put My Mind To Something…

Before anything else, I always remind myself to be thankful for my blessings. It has been a long and challenging journey to get to where I am today. More blood, sweat and tears than anyone would believe.

All the hard work, doing the right thing and being prayerful has however, put me in a position to be pretty successful at what I do. And what I do best is empower people to achieve their dreams the same way I have seen my dreams come true.

When I put my mind to something, I have a laser like focus. That focus drives me through difficult times and keeps me moving forward. For a lot of people, I know they have trouble dealing with someone who has such a powerful focus on his goals.

But that is what I look for in people to surround myself with, to add to my team and to be partners in opportunities. The ability to focus to me is a primary key to being successful.

On Friday I, as I was working diligently on a plan of adding as many as 12 new employees in the next few weeks. My focus on the challenge at hand, certainly ruffled some feathers and made a few people uncomfortable.

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Out of that focus came three action items that I could accomplish over the weekend that would do a lot to help our recruitment efforts.

In the short term, we need to augment our recruiting team. So I sent 200 LinkedIn emails to recruiters I am connected with to see if I can pirate one way from someone. I have an interview today with one and several others I’ve had convos with.

In the near term, we need to continue to diversify our marketing efforts. One of my goals has been to write a couple of business books. Two of them I have near completion, but I have been to swamped to finish them. So I blogged about needing a co-writer to finish them. I got several applicants and think I have already identified the one I want to partner with.

And in the long term, I want to get on the calendar of a couple schools to keep the pipeline of future analysts and DMAI employees going. I have one locked up at Jose Rizal University and  another in the works based on some FB conversations.

Some blessinga from above, a supportive family and a great team all help… but in the end my success is all a product of my ability to focus on a goal and just work harder at it than anyone else.

So there you go, the secret of my success is that I just flat out work my ass off and enjoy doing it.

Breaking Bad Data Habits

It’s a common mistake to get creative with your data in excel to such an extent that its next to impossible to use that data effectively.

The concept of keep it simple stupid is hard to follow as once a person has some data they tend to spend far more time formatting and decorating it then they do analyzing it. Its just human nature.

However when we don’t keep data in clean and easy to access formats, we pretty much make that data useless to anyone else who really wants to play with it.

The best and really only way to keep data useful is to have it in a simple column with 1 header row format. From that we can use numerous tools to both format and analyze the data like pivot tables and Tableau.

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