Category Archives: Employers

Adjusting Your Hiring Process Amidst COVID-19

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The global outbreak of COVID-19 has brought business challenges unlike any we’ve ever seen. Many companies—and even entire industries—have been temporarily put on the back burner, while others have been asked to do everything they can to meet demand.

While there is much uncertainty in the world right now, one thing is certain: business must go on—and that includes the hiring process. In order to avoid losing your employment momentum, you need to make certain adjustments. Here are some tips for how to prepare your hiring process during a dramatic change in the business landscape.

Keep your candidates engaged

People are more unsure about the future now than ever before. Don’t give your candidates any reason to doubt the fate of your business or the position they’re applying for. Reassure them by remaining in frequent contact—even if you don’t have any significant updates to report.

Some topics to consider:

  • Hiring status and timelines to let the candidates know where you’re at in the process.
  • Company updates that showcase your current successes in difficult times.
  • COVID-19 precautions your company is taking.

In a time of limited social interaction, it’s far better to err on the side of over-communication and transparency than to allow your top prospects to lose interest and walk away.

Continue to move the pipeline forward

No doubt you have countless other pressing things to attend to, but you can’t let your hiring process become a casualty of this pandemic. Many companies—big and small—have already put their talent acquisition operations on hold. Don’t make this same mistake.

Keep your pipeline moving forward by continuing to look for qualified candidates, conducting video calls with various members of the interview team, and negotiating terms with frontrunners. By doing as much as you can at this stage, you will be in a better position to make an offer when the time is right.

Make sure your video conference technology is in order

With social distancing being strongly encouraged, you’re going to need to find a good alternative to your in-person meetings. Phone interviews might still be your first point of contact, but virtual face-to-face interviews are going to be the next best option. With a video call, you’ll be able to pick up on many of the same social skills, confidence levels, and overall chemistry that an in-person interview provides.

If you haven’t ventured into this realm before, here are some of the most popular video conferencing services:

Whatever service you end up using, make sure that you test it thoroughly before your first scheduled interview.

Be patient and flexible

As a large portion of the population adjusts to working remotely from home, there are naturally going to be some complications. You may not get responses as quickly as you’re used to, and that’s okay. It may also be more difficult to find a good time for a quiet, uninterrupted interview as families are forced to balance the demands of young kids, pets, and shared internet bandwidth.

The key takeaway here is that if you’re understanding of their situation, they are far more likely to be understanding of yours. This will reflect well on your company and make them more likely to want to continue with the hiring process.

Find a search partner you can trust

We are all under greater strain than ever before. Partnering with an executive search firm can ease your hiring burden. They can do the work that you are unable to, usually in a fraction of the time as they have a direct line to the top talent your organization needs. Recruiters are still working hard every day to guide their clients through this challenging situation.

Remember, even though the hiring process itself may feel different at this time, the outcome should still be the same: finding a highly skilled employee and a valuable addition to your team.

For over a decade, Curtis Food Recruiters has been matching food and beverage professionals with prominent, rewarding career opportunities. As a full-service executive search firm specializing in the food manufacturing and grocery retail industries, we  partner with our clients to find top talent and fill critical roles. Contact us today so we can do the same for you.

Eight Questions To Consider Before Selecting An Executive Search Firm -Karen Greenbaum

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Karen Greenbaum CommunityVoice Forbes Human Resources Council

POST WRITTEN BY

Karen Greenbaum

Karen Greenbaum is President and CEO of the global Association of Executive Search and Leadership Consultants (AESC).

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CEOs and C-suite executives often identify failure to attract and retain top talent as their No. 1 business issue. The key to success is having the right leaders leading in the right way. Aiding in this are executive talent search and assessment providers, who can profoundly impact businesses. As President and CEO of AESC, the global association that represents best practices in the executive search and leadership consulting profession, I am often asked about what to look for before signing an agreement with an executive search firm. How do CEOs, boards of directors and the broader C-suite know if they are dealing with a quality and ethical executive search firm?

Here I share with you what to look for before signing an agreement:

1. How deep is their access? Core to the value of executive search firms is their ability to interest and engage top candidates who are successful and satisfied in their current roles. Experienced executive search advisors will have access to the highest-performing leaders within an industry. These candidates are concerned about confidentiality, and trust is essential. They are not willing to risk a leak that could negatively impact their current role or the firm they lead. These candidates are typically more comfortable with an outside advisor who is not part of the hiring organization, providing the executive candidate a more comfortable relationship to explore a potential new opportunity on a discreet basis.

2. Will they ensure confidentiality? Trust is not only critical to the candidate, but it is also critical to the client organization. High-performing organizations cannot afford to risk either internal or external uncertainty about a CEO or highly influential executive’s standing or tenure within a company. Any perceived uncertainty can have a profound negative impact on the internal organizational culture and the external brand, and can reduce confidence among customers, shareholders and other stakeholders. An ethical search firm will ensure that a search will be held in the most confidential and discreet manner.

3. Will they be objective? Business leaders seek external counsel and strategic advice often because they are too close to the action themselves and seek other angles. A quality executive search consultant will bring depth and breadth of experience — beyond one firm, one industry, one market and even one position. This experience can be invaluable in terms of providing objectivity and bringing strategic expertise about the marketplace to the table. They understand talent availability, trends in terms of new requirements of functional leaders, the qualities required when transformation is essential and so much more. The right firm will help clients envision new possibilities and uncover pain points, with empathy and from the perspective of experience.

4. Can they help you attract the best? With a quest for innovation, there is an increased demand to attract a diverse slate of top executive candidates who can deliver fresh perspectives to the hiring organization. Quality executive search firms understand this priority and have focused on expanding their own networks beyond the “usual suspects” to identify top talent. Quality advisors will be able to have direct and sometimes difficult conversations with their clients about their own employer brand and desirability as a destination for leaders. Today, high-potential, high-demand talent have many options and are highly selective. They want to be sure they are making a move to an organization where there is a strong culture fit and where they are most likely to succeed.

5. Do they have the expertise? A quality executive search consultant will have an experience-backed understanding of the market, the industry and the evolution of key functional leadership roles. These trends are critical in the search for not only the leaders of today, but those who can lead an organization through transformation for the future. With changing requirements, often it is essential to not only look for talent within an industry, but outside the industry. This is where years of experience and understanding how to assess for learning agility become critical.

6. What are their assessment capabilities? As a trusted advisor, a quality executive search consultant will take their deep knowledge of the industry, the organization and the role and assess candidates against these requirements to ensure that a candidate not only looks good on paper, but will be the right leader for the organization and its strategic focus. The unique advantage an outside trusted advisor can bring to this process are the years of experience across markets, industries and functions, combining the art and the science of assessment to this critical process — beginning with a preliminary assessment and then getting much more in depth with the finalist candidates.

7. Will they help you prepare for succession? Organizations that think beyond “today” also understand the critical need to think about the leaders for tomorrow, both internally and externally. This is the time when organizations take a hard look at the next generation of leaders and ensure that they are developing a diverse group of leaders for the future. Quality executive search firms will bring their talent assessment and marketplace expertise to this critical process to help CEOs, boards and the broader C-suite build a high-performance leadership team both for today and tomorrow.

8. Can they minimize risk? Highly qualified executive search consultants reduce the risk of making the wrong hire. The risks associated with an unsuccessful hire can be catastrophic. The selection of the right trusted advisor ensures that the entire process is a success.

Karen Greenbaum is President and CEO of the global Association of Executive Search and Leadership Consultants (AESC).

How grocers can retain quality employees -Torrey Kim

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Torrey Kim 

January 24, 2018

One of the best ways that grocers can keep customers coming back is to give them an excellent shopping experience, and that often starts with a high-quality grocery staff. But finding top-notch talent can be a challenge for retailers. Grocers can counter those challenges by looking for a few telltale traits up front, which can help solidify the odds of finding and keeping excellent staff.

Seek high-level customer service

Although some grocers consider scheduling flexibility the top trait they seek when recruiting retail staff, it’s actually not the best way to find talent that will last, says Mike Hamaker, director of grocery recruiting with iRiS Recruiting Solutions. Instead, he advises, look for applicants with excellent customer service skills.

“This stands the test of time,” Hamaker said. “Grocery stores are currently in a state of change. Customer service is one aspect of each grocery store that must remain present and strong. Without strong customer service, the experience in the store will diminish and so will the customers.”

In other words, Hamaker stresses, grocers should look at interviewees as a shopper would — not as the store manager would. “Flexibility is nice, but not really a trait that makes a grocer who they are. When we go shop a store, we don’t go there for flexibility of the associates, we go there because of price, convenience, service or selection,” he said. “The one thing that remains after everything else is how we are treated and felt about our service, that is what brings customers back time and time again.”

Look for willingness, drive

In addition to seeking interviewees with strong customer service skills, you should also look for applicants who have a strong work ethic, says Julie Curtis of Curtis Food Recruiters, which places executive-level leaders within grocery retail, wholesale and food manufacturing.

“Candidates that have a proven track record of a good work ethic will move your business forward much more than someone that can work the late shift,” Curtis says. “People that have a willingness and drive to learn your business will be the best hires. The retailer must them give them opportunities to take on cross-functional roles and more responsibility. Most people want an opportunity to grow their career, so give them a road map.”

Once hired, hold employees accountable

After a store hires staff members, management should both nurture them and hold them accountable, Hamaker says. “Store-level associates are the first line of defense against the competition. The reality for many retailers/grocers who don’t differentiate themselves will be extinction. There isn’t room for average retailers with the level of competition continuing to increase.”
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grocery staff, retail staff, hiring grocery staff, Mike Hamaker, Curtis Food Recruiters

Six Things to Consider About Job References

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reference-check

We are all familiar with the famous tagline that is often used at the bottom of resumes “references provided upon request.”  But, what happens when they are actually requested?  Often times, we find ourselves scrambling to put a list of people together and send it off as quickly as possible to the interested employer.  It’s just a formality right?  That’s not often the case says Julie Curtis, Owner and Executive Recruiter at Curtis Food Recruiters.  According to Julie, “a great reference can provide a significant amount of insight into a person’s background that the candidate is not always able to articulate.”  Often, references are considered as one more way to evaluate a candidate, and a great reference can be the deciding factor between two otherwise equal candidates.  As a regular reference checker, in my experience, the candidates that are the most prepared with their references, also tend to be some of our best hires.  Here are six tips on how to be one of those people:

Ensure the person knows that you are using them as a reference.  When an employer asks you to provide your references, let them know that they may be getting a phone call.  I can tell when I have called a reference that is caught off-guard either because they weren’t expecting my call, or they may not have been aware that the person was using them as a reference.  The person may have given you permission to use their name in the past, but it is important to always keep them updated on your job search, so they are prepared.  If they are expecting the call, they will be more able to provide clear and concise answers, which will reflect more favorably on you.

Make sure that you are being equally represented.  Highlight your skills and strengths from all angles, by having various references and keeping ties with them.  According to Julie, “We typically ask candidates to provide a reference from a former boss, a peer and a direct report.  Each year, make sure that you can identify one person from these groups that will be able to give specific examples of your contributions, strengths, and leadership style.”   If you find yourself in a situation where you need to ask your estranged boss from five years ago for a reference, it will be more difficult.  Stay connected to your references on LinkedIn, so even though you may not have regular contact, that person will be aware of your activity and you will be in the fore-front of their mind.  Send a quick email, or have a cup of coffee periodically, just to stay in touch.

Properly prep your reference.  Keep your references updated on your current work situation.  Make sure they have a current copy of your resume or ensure your Linked In profile is up to date.  Provide information about the job you are interviewing for and let them know why you’re looking to make a change.  It addition, it is important to give them an idea of some of the questions they will be asked.  To make the reference interview go smoothly, make sure they can talk to your overall performance and impact on the company.  Also share with them how you have improved your performance, leadership, education or skills since you two worked together.  Areas for professional development are often much harder to articulate.

 

Know that your reference will say good things about you.  Make sure that your reference knows you well enough to be able to make you shine.  If you did not have a good working relationship with your former boss and you don’t think they will be able to provide a good reference, consider other senior people you may have worked with in the organization.  It’s ok to ask the person what they will say about you.  If the person seems reluctant, they may not be your best choice.

Make sure you have correct contact information and provide reference details.  Your role at this point, is to do what you can to make the reference process go as smoothly and quickly as possible.  Provide your title and the reference’s title at the time when you were working together, your working relationship and the company you were both working for.  Include your reference’s current title and company as well.  Provide current and accurate work and personal emails, work phone, cell phone and home number, if possible.  I once spent several days trying to track down someone at a job they no longer worked at, but their voicemail was still connected.  This definitely slowed the hiring process.  Also, to help speed up the process, let the potential employer or executive recruiter know the best way to contact your reference.

Let your references know that you appreciate them.  Even though the person may be happy to speak on your behalf, it does take time out of their busy day.  It’s important to let them know that you appreciate them.  A card, a little gift or even a quick email to say thank you and update them on the outcome can go a long way.  This person may have been the reason why you got the job, and it is important to keep them in you corner!

 

-Marianne Lenz

Curtis Food Recruiters

 

 

Mentoring

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We at Curtis Food Recruiters would like to share with you a very talented Chef and wonderful mentor, Shari Lynne Robins.

She will be working as a mentor for the Supermarket Chef Showdown in June.  The Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary defines a mentor as “a trusted counselor or guide.” We feel that sharing your knowledge and mentoring others is a wonderful experience for both parties. Giving your wisdom and guidance can result in both personal and professional growth. Mentoring helps both the mentee and the mentor recognize their abilities and limitations, thus highlighting areas for future development.

We applaud Shari for giving her time and sharing her expertise with Supermarket Chef Showdown finalists.

The Supermarket Chef Showdown program is managed and produced for the FMI by Consumer Insight, Inc., Phil Lempert is the Executive Producer of the program.

http://www.supermarketchefshowdown.com/articles/scs-gets-a-chef-mentor-and-kitchen-director-chef-shari-lynne-robins/

 

For more information on how to get a mentor or become one here are a few sites that offer connections:

http://www.ift.org/careercenter/ementoring/benefits-of-mentoring.aspx

http://www.mentoring.org/get_involved/become_a_mentor?gclid=CO7A9dTC77wCFe87MgodwGUAuQ