SkyWater Blog

Far from being the buzzword du jour, empathy is the transformative – but often undervalued - force that influences your ability to recruit, retain, and yes, revolutionize talented teams.

When Star Tribune business reporter, Catherine Roberts recently wrote about the Star Tribune’s 2023 Top Workplaces, she mentioned the dramatic challenges and changes that employers have undergone since the pandemic. She then noted that, based on the survey answers received this year, the companies on the 2023 list “are likely to be more successful adapting to the new reality...”

And How to Make Sure Never Make Them

Let’s face it. Rock-star employees are always tough to find. But in a candidate’s market (like the one we’re in right now), a superior candidate pool can seem as elusive as a herd of unicorns. At times like these, hiring managers often ask me for tips and tactics that can help them compete in a battleground market like this one.

My answer: keep the employees you have – and keep them happy.

Companies often turn to recruiters when looking to find the top talent in their market. However, choosing the best executive recruiter to work with can often prove to be a challenge. There is undoubtedly a wide choice of good recruiters, but today’s employers have high expectations. How exactly can an under-pressure hiring manager differentiate between ‘good’ and ‘great’?

Reveal a Job Candidate’s True Capabilities

The answer is in the consultative approach.

Have you ever wondered what an executive recruiting firm is for, or why a company would choose to engage with an external firm to conduct its search? Growing numbers of organizations are turning to executive recruiters to help them source the best available talent rather than advertise their vacancies on job boards. It's true that working with a specialist recruiter can help you gain access to that hidden candidate (meaning, gainfully employed people who may be open to a change, but haven't started looking yet) and save you a LOT of time (most clients say their recruiter saved them several weeks of time in sourcing, screening, and interviewing candidates for important roles). In this article, we will review our advice for hiring managers working with a recruiter, and some ways to tell the difference between a good recruiter and a great recruiter.

Have You Checked Your Own Perceptions of “Military Skills” Lately?

In a recent report for CBS News, Norah O’Donnell and Olivia Rinaldi highlighted an issue that has confounded me for years: the underemployment of our nation’s military veterans.  Even as employers struggle to attract and hire talent, these extraordinarily qualified individuals continue to be overlooked.

For years, the military, veteran organizations, and multiple large employers have invested in veteran employment programming. These are important and helpful programs.

“The biggest challenge businesses face in their adoption of digital technologies is lack of capable talent…” KPMG Global Tech, September 2022  

If you're a tech employer – and today, just about every company is a tech employer - you know the drill: you pour countless hours and endless effort into recruiting and onboarding the best and brightest talent, only to watch them exit through a revolving door that seems to be spinning out of control. It's a vicious cycle, one that's becoming difficult to break. Yet, the stakes couldn’t be higher for organizations coming off a two-year big spend on new technology and infrastructure. Intended to improve agility, security, collaboration, and market growth, these investments now sit largely underused, their potential not nearly actualized, simply due to a dearth of skilled talent.

What if the scariest thing spooking your candidates is you?

Welcome to every job candidate’s nightmare.

For most hiring managers, filling an open role has become a frightening proposition. Finding, vetting, and interviewing candidates can feel like you’re trapped in a house of mirrors, filled with illusions, distortions, and endless dead ends. Why do the best candidates keep disappearing, just when you thought you were closing in on them?   

You’re right to feel frustrated and very, very afraid. But before you blame it all on today’s horrifying market or flighty talent, consider this:

It might be you.

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.