CMYK
market and reveals how your organization can adapt in order to
recruit, retain, and develop your employees. Starting with creating
a sales-minded HR team, Czarnik lays out the foundation for making your company the one people want to work for. He then identifies the primary reasons great employees leave and how
you can prevent that from happening at your company. Finally, you’ll get an actionable plan to keep your employees invested in their growth.
From small business owners to global corporations, Winning the
War for Talent is a step-by-step guide for building and keeping the best team possible!
Business • August 2020 • Hardcover • 152 pages • 5 x 7 • $16.99 U.S. • 978-1-7282-1380-4 marketing@sourcebooks.com • sales@sourcebooks.com • sourcebooks.com • (630) 961-3900
simpletruths.com
WinningTheWarForTalent_CVR.indd 1
CHRIS CZARNIK
ADVANCE READER’S COPY • NOT FOR SALE
WINNING THE WAR FOR TALENT
Winning the War for Talent addresses the challenges of today’s job
ON SALE AUGUST 2020
COMPETITION FOR TOP TALENT IS A BATTLE. WIN THE WAR.
CHRIS CZARNIK
WINNING TALENT THE WAR FOR
R ECRUI T, R E TA IN, A ND DE V EL OP THE TALENT YOUR BUSINESS NEEDS TO SURVIVE AND THRIVE ON SALE
AUGUST 2020
A D VA N C E R E A D E R ’ S C O P Y • N OT F O R S A L E
2/28/20 9:15 AM
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No work of this magnitude is achieved alone. Thanks go out to the many people in my life who have contributed their wisdom and experience to this book: Copyright © 2020 by Chris Czarnik Cover and internal design © 2020 by Sourcebooks Cover design by Ploy Siripant Cover/internal images © XX Sourcebooks, the colophon, and Simple Truths are registered trademarks of Sourcebooks. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems—except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews—w ithout permission in writing from its publisher, Sourcebooks. This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional service. If legal advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought.—From a Declaration of Principles Jointly Adopted by a Committee of the American Bar Association and a Committee of Publishers and Associations All brand names and product names used in this book are trademarks, registered trademarks, or trade names of their respective holders. Sourcebooks is not associated with any product or vendor in this book. Published by Simple Truths, an imprint of Sourcebooks P.O. Box 4410, Naperville, Illinois 60567-4410 (630) 961-3900 sourcebooks.com Originally published as Winning the War for Talent in 2018 in the United States by Career [RE]Search Group. This edition issued based on the paperback edition published in 2019 in the United States by Simple Truths, an imprint of Sourcebooks.
★★★ To Dr. Susan May, president of Fox Valley Technical College, who believed in my work before anyone knew I existed.
★★★ To the best managers I have ever had in my career. You all showed me what real leadership looks like: Tim Allen, Patti Jorgensen, Bruce Weiland, Bill Guilbeault, and Roger Johnson.
★★★ To the thousands of job seekers who have trusted me with their search. Your stories are the true authors of this work.
Printed and bound in China. OGP 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
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CONTENTS INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER 4
Where Did All the People Go, and When
Change What You Are Interviewing For
Are They Coming Back?
65
vii
CHAPTER 5 CHAPTER 1 Farmers and Hunters of Talent
Engage and Retain Great Talent
79
1
CHAPTER 6 CHAPTER 2 Create a Sales-Minded HR Department
From What to Why: Creating SMEs
97
21
CHAPTER 7 CHAPTER 3
Developing the Next Generation of Leaders
111
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
125
Why Aren’t Your Employees Recruiting for You?
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• INTRODUCTION • Where Did All the People Go, and When Are They Coming Back? The shortage of workers in the United States is being treated like some type of surprise. However, anybody paying attention wouldn’t be surprised. This shortage has been a mathematical certainty for more than three decades. While there have been fluctuations in employment over that period, this “silver tsunami” was always coming. Most companies and organizations didn’t plan for this changing demographic because they chose not to look. In many cases, the focus
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on the next quarter’s profits overshadowed the looming
activities and retirement), whole industries were born
hiring crisis that has been inevitable since the 1960s.
to service them.
The math works like this.
In terms of employees, this group created an almost endless supply of labor. For the better part
The Baby Boomers
of the last forty years, there was no question about having people available to fill positions. “If you post
There are somewhere around 74.9 million people in
the job, they will come” was the battle cry of HR man-
the generation referred to as the baby boomers. This
agers. The trouble is that not many organizations
generation consists of people who were born between
planned on what to do when the baby boomers moved
1945 and 1964. Much discussion has been made about
into retirement and left the market.
the economic impact of this generation, as their movement through every phase of life has shaped the economy of this country. Whether it was the sale of diapers
Generation X
(which led to the creation of disposable diapers,
The generation that came immediately following the
thank goodness), the proliferation of automobiles (in
baby boomers is referred to as Generation X. This typ-
their teens), the housing boom (as new parents), the
ically refers to those born between 1965 and 1982.
unprecedented growth of the workforce (including
For many social and economic reasons, this genera-
many women joining the workforce for the first time),
tion is a good deal smaller than the baby boomers. With
and even the explosion of the motor home industry
approximately sixty- five million people in Generation
(as this giant generation headed toward more leisure
X, there were ten million fewer people born during the
viii
ix
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The Millennial Generation The generation after Generation X is referred to as the millennials, which describes those born between 1982 and 1996. This generation is actually slightly larger than the baby boomer generation and has approximately seventy-six million people in it. While this generation has been much maligned in the media, it is actually the most tech-savvy and forward-thinking generation to date. The size of this generation can fill the shoes left open by the baby boomers in time, but they require a much different workplace than their forefathers. same number of years as during the baby boom. Let’s just sit with that for a moment. There are ten million
immediately preceding it. So as wonderful as it is that the
The False Hope of the Great Recession
labor market and number of jobs in America expanded
If you do the math with the overlay of these genera-
dramatically during the baby boomer years, the sucking
tions, you might come up with an interesting question.
sound that you hear every time you post a new job today
“Shouldn’t this shortage have started to show itself a
is the vacuum created by sixty-five million people trying
decade ago?” Why, yes. Yes, it should have.
fewer people in Generation X than in the generation
to fill the jobs of seventy-five million people. x
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Except for the one event that could have hidden xi
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it from those who were actually looking—the Great
Between 2007 and 2012, not only wasn’t there a
Recession. The math (when these population differ-
labor shortage, there were more people looking for
ences should have started showing up in the labor
work than jobs needing to be filled. Each job opening
market) says that we should have begun to see these
was met with literally hundreds of applicants. HR man-
changes sometime around 2007, sixty-t wo years (the
agers were blessed with their choice of the best and
normal retirement age of the oldest baby boomers)
brightest for each opening.
after 1945. People who study demographics were already shouting from the rooftops in the early 2000s that the shortage was coming. Until the world econ-
Someone Needs to Pay the Piper
omy fell off a cliff.
In response to the Great Recession, a college’s vision-
The Great Recession artificially decreased the
ary president hired me to create a program to teach
number of jobs needed in America at almost the
proactive job searching to displaced midcareer pro-
exact same time the demographers were having U.S.
fessionals who were affected by the economic down-
businesses bracing for impact. The shortage never
turn. Over the next ten years, I trained more than two
materialized. In fact, due to the massive tempo-
thousand of these people to do a research-based job
rary decrease in the number of jobs in America, it
search I created called Human Search Engine. During
appeared to business leaders that this shortage was
this time, I spent every day in the middle of the battle
really a hoax that was never going to come to frui-
for employment with people who had lost their family-
tion. Many of them decried the warnings that were
sustaining jobs through no fault of their own. My job
being sent out as false fear.
day and night for a decade was to help those who
xii
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Where Did All the People Go, and When Are They Coming Back?
had lost their jobs and were now in fear of losing their
get back to applicants a year earlier were now literally
houses. I became one of the nation’s experts on the job
receiving no applicants for their job postings.
search, even to the point of my process being adopted by the Employee Assistance program in Congress.
The shortage of workers that had been predicted for so many years was finally a reality. Most employ-
Somewhere around 2012, a funny thing happened.
ers had no idea how to react to this because they had
The number of people coming to my classes started
never experienced it before. That is the purpose of this
to go down. At one point in 2009, I had two full classes
book—to bring you new ideas of how to recruit, retain,
of forty desperate job seekers, each hoping for a new
and develop talent in your organization. To show you
opportunity. By 2011, I had to cut the number of classes
new ways to engage potential employees and to
down to one, as there just weren’t that many people
become an employer of choice. To demonstrate that
looking anymore. The number of people coming to the
finding and retaining talent requires many of the same
class gradually declined over the next three years.
skills and actions that you already do in your organiza-
In 2015, I had the opportunity to become the man-
tion to market your products and services. To give you
ager of the Employment Connections department that
a head start over every other employer in your area.
served our college’s graduates in finding employment.
To ensure that your organization will have all of the
By the end of 2015, a shift was absolutely noticeable.
talent it needs to grow and thrive in the next decade
No longer were we besieged by job seekers looking
and beyond.
for work. Now almost every call I received was from an employer who was having trouble finding people for their jobs! The same employers who would not xiv
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1 Farmers and Hunters of Talent If you are struggling to find enough people or the right people to staff your organization, your initial response might be to walk down to your HR area and give them a nudge. Some of the worst business managers and owners will pressure their HR staff to “do better, whatever it takes.” These businesses are going to struggle for the next decade. Why? Because almost everyone in the business world has grown up in a world where finding talent was as easy as posting a job. “If you post it, they will come” has been the answer.
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When that doesn’t work, some managers will go
Farmers and Hunters of Talent
▶ UNABLE: Lacks the physical or mental capacity to
immediately to offering more money to attract talent.
achieve the desired outcome. They want to complete
That lever has worked for them in the past. However,
the task but physically cannot without additional
when that doesn’t work either, most business owners
resources. The needed resources may be training,
have fired every bullet in their clip and are out of ideas.
tools, or technical knowledge.
This leads to additional stated or implied pressure on
▶ UNWILLING: Physically and mentally capable of
HR to “step it up or else.” The fact is if HR knew what to
completing the task but lacks the proper motiva-
do, they would have done it already. These HR people
tion. Pushback or lack of understanding of the task’s
have no more idea of how to find talent than the boss
importance is the limiting factor.
who is pressuring them. What then? Consider the ramifications of classifying every task that is not completed into one of these two catego-
Willing and Able
ries. Whether it is a child not cleaning their room or a
In every book I write, I capitalize two words every
scientist not curing the common cold, this clarification
time I use them: WILLING and ABLE. The reason is
simplifies every issue of this type. The way I see it,
that I believe that anytime someone does not achieve
anytime someone says they can’t do anything (includ-
what you ask of them, you have to ask them and your-
ing yourself), figuring out if they are UNWILLING
self if they were UNWILLING or UNABLE to accom-
or UNABLE to complete the task is the critical first
plish the task.
step. The reason is that once you have this answer, you can determine how to proceed. Does the person 2
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Farmers and Hunters of Talent
(again, look in the mirror, my friend) lack resources or
applications is that the people looking for jobs have no
motivation?
idea that you have jobs available. There are really two
This is critical for managers, as we often mistake
separate problems here.
UNABLE for UNWILLING and think that people are testing our authority. As my good friend and mentor
1. The people you are trying to reach have no idea that
once mused, “Almost never does someone do some-
your company exists.
thing to purposely challenge your authority. It is either
If you are an HR manager or business owner, you are
that they didn’t understand you, don’t know how, or
likely completely consumed by your organization. You
thought they had a better way. Your job as a manager
spend most of your waking moments thinking about
is to find out which of these is true.” Those words have
your business. That focus is exactly why you might be
stayed with me for almost thirty years.
making the mistake of thinking that people know your
The central question to this entire concept is this:
business exists. The idea that people don’t know that
Are people UNWILLING or UNABLE to come to
your business exists is an affront to the thousands of
work for your organization?
hours that you have spent building and growing your organization. Because you know it so well, everyone
UNABLE vs. UNWILLING
must know it that well. That is just not true. Unless you are an employer of five hundred people or more, 90
After working with more than three thousand job
percent of the people in your geographic area have
seekers over the past fifteen years, I can say that the
never heard of your organization, let alone what you
number one reason why your company is not receiving
stand for.
4
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In my town, there are about 80,000 people. Add in the surrounding communities, and the population grows
Farmers and Hunters of Talent
realize that, according to Reference USA, there are 34,588 hiring organizations within thirty miles of Appleton.
to about 250,000. I have lived in this community my
Despite it being my job to know what’s out there, I
entire life (fifty-five years). My work both as a job search
could only name about one in one hundred of the orga-
expert and as the career services manager of the largest
nizations in my city. If that is true for me, what do you
technical college in the area makes me one of the area’s
think is true for the average job seeker? If they do not
experts on what companies exist in our region.
see your company name in the newspaper, in online
If you gave me a pen and paper, I could write the
ads, or on a hiring site, they very likely have no idea
names of about two hundred businesses in our area with-
that you exist. And there is no way that they can come
out using online resources. That’s not too bad until you
to work for your organization unless they know it exists.
6
7
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CMYK
market and reveals how your organization can adapt in order to
recruit, retain, and develop your employees. Starting with creating
a sales-minded HR team, Czarnik lays out the foundation for making your company the one people want to work for. He then identifies the primary reasons great employees leave and how
you can prevent that from happening at your company. Finally, you’ll get an actionable plan to keep your employees invested in their growth.
From small business owners to global corporations, Winning the
War for Talent is a step-by-step guide for building and keeping the best team possible!
Business • August 2020 • Hardcover • 152 pages • 5 x 7 • $16.99 U.S. • 978-1-7282-1380-4 marketing@sourcebooks.com • sales@sourcebooks.com • sourcebooks.com • (630) 961-3900
simpletruths.com
WinningTheWarForTalent_CVR.indd 1
CHRIS CZARNIK
ADVANCE READER’S COPY • NOT FOR SALE
WINNING THE WAR FOR TALENT
Winning the War for Talent addresses the challenges of today’s job
ON SALE AUGUST 2020
COMPETITION FOR TOP TALENT IS A BATTLE. WIN THE WAR.
CHRIS CZARNIK
WINNING TALENT THE WAR FOR
R ECRUI T, R E TA IN, A ND DE V EL OP THE TALENT YOUR BUSINESS NEEDS TO SURVIVE AND THRIVE ON SALE
AUGUST 2020
A D VA N C E R E A D E R ’ S C O P Y • N OT F O R S A L E
2/28/20 9:15 AM