SkyWater Blog

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.

It may be time to rethink your Executive Assistant Recruiting Strategy

According to a very recent Deloitte study, 57% of employees report that they want to quit their current jobs to find an employer that “better supports their well-being.”

That’s a staggering statistic, given that the Great Resignation has been going on for more than two years.

But check out this far more stunning – and sobering – finding: nearly 70% of C-suite leaders say that they, too, are actively considering leaving, for the same reason. As an executive recruiter, I’m not surprised by the number. Twin Cities organizations, like those throughout the country, are struggling to attract, hire, and retain talented senior leaders. (It’s a reality that keeps me incredibly busy.) But we should all be alarmed by the reasons for these vacancies.

6 Critical Competencies You Can’t Afford to Ignore

During a recent episode of NPR’s Marketplace, David Brancaccio had a fascinating conversation with Amy Domini. If you’re like most professionals in the finance and accounting realm these days, you’re likely aware of her work in socially responsible investing – what we now call Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG). As they discussed the growing importance of ESG, they also touched on the growing difficulty that organizations face in trying to competently manage and report against ESG standards. As Domini put it, “the whole goal… is to assure that investors work toward a livable planet, inhabited by people who lead lives worth living.”

3 ways to protect your unfilled roles

In spite of national and state-wide continued strong job reports, worries about a potential slowdown are starting to show in some employers’ budgeting decisions. If you have been struggling to fill empty but critical roles within your organization, you may have heard rumblings about potential hiring freezes or worse, open positions being eliminated altogether.  

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.

You may be asking yourself: Is it worth it to pay a headhunter? 

Working with a recruiter to fill your company’s key roles and source the best available talent is a benefit that many employers recognize in today’s competitive employment market. How can hiring managers ensure they fully benefit from working with a search company?