SkyWater Blog

Reveal a Job Candidate’s True Capabilities

Today, as we celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day, we would like to pause and consider the opportunity this day holds for each of us. One way we can honor Dr. King is by asking ourselves what we can do now, going forward, that is better than what we have done so far.

 As more employers lift the veil of secrecy surrounding compensation, they’re discovering that the new openness benefits all, (including themselves).

You’ve read the headlines. If you’re like most employers, you’ve probably read them with some level of trepidation, if not outright fear. More states and cities are responding to workforce demands for pay transparency with new legislation that delivers just that. So far, the list includes California, Colorado, Connecticut, Nevada, Washington state, and New York City.

Finding and hiring the best talent is a high-stakes challenge for every organization. Whether you’re running a start-up, making your first serious management hire, or you’re a corporate recruiter, working on multiple open positions every week, filling an open job is not only time-consuming. It can be expensive, frustrating, and unpredictable.

Yet, every open job represents the future of your organization. Will this new person add long-term value – without too much short-term upheaval? Do they have the aptitude, attitude, and work style to gel with the rest of your team? By adding them now, do you move your organization closer to your vision?

Rest, Reflect, and Recognize

Sure, your calendar says that the last day of summer is September 22nd. But if you’re like most of us in the United States, you know when summer really ends: Labor Day.  For most American workers – and their school-age children – the first Monday in September is a moment of transition. Monday is our last full day of the summertime slow, lazy mornings, and reduced pressures. Come Tuesday, it’s back to the business of higher expectations and a markedly faster pace.

Learning, Understanding, and Driving Real Change

This year, as we recognize Juneteenth, we’re also reflecting on the fundamental human right to freedom itself. It’s not true freedom without truly equal access to education, rewarding work, and the opportunity to earn personal income and assets that can lead to generational wealth and security.

Yet right here, in spite of all the national attention on the Twin Cities’ woeful racial disparities in employment and income, those gaps still exist. According to the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED), unemployment rates are an impressively low 3.3%... until you look at the numbers by race.  As of April 2022, Black unemployment in Minnesota was 6.7%, more than twice the state’s average – and 2.4 times the rate for white Minnesotans.

Permanent Placement and Contract recruiting both serve important functions. But beware of the firm that tells you they can do both.

Is it just me, or have you been sensing a little pessimism creeping into the “talent wars” conversation lately? For some hiring managers, the goal seems to be shifting away from building organizational bench strength, toward something that might appear more achievable: just fill the empty seat, asap.

It's a tempting pivot, particularly within the engineering, accounting and finance, and IT fields, where hiring battles run especially hot right now. I get the argument. If you give up on your hiring goal and engage a “contract recruiter” instead, you stand a good chance of having a temporary professional in that seat within a few weeks or even days.

But is switching to a contract approach a good idea? Sometimes. Before going there, though, consider the differences between a permanent recruiting firm and a contract one. Then ask yourself the 3 key questions I outline below.

Yes, greener employers do attract more talent!

To be honest, when I started writing this April’s SkyWater blog in honor of Earth Day, I wasn’t planning to talk about recruiting. Every April, we write an Earth Day blog, and this year, I’d been inspired by an MPR podcast hosted by Angela Davis, about the growing landfill crisis in the Twin Cities. Here in the metro area, we produce 3.3 tons of trash each year, roughly one ton per Twin Cities family – so much waste that our local landfills have become overwhelmed.

The role of self-awareness in making the career move that’s right for you.

A few weeks ago, my good friend and long-time colleague, Melissa Albers invited me to be a guest on The Self-Awareness Journey, the podcast she hosts with JJ Parker. She wanted to talk about The Great Resignation and how pandemic-inspired job decisions can affect our careers and, more importantly, our lives.

In late June of 2020, the editors at Twin Cities Business Magazine published a brief but poignant piece titled The Long Road Ahead: Business Leaders on Addressing Racial Disparities. It was a simple collection of quotes from local leaders, including Tawanna Black, the founder and CEO of Minneapolis-based Center for Economic Inclusion, and R.T. Rybak, former Minneapolis mayor.