Culture

I recently attended two large regional Job Fairs and was fascinated by what I observed.  I had some scheduled appointments and meetings, but I also took the time to wander the vendor booths and talk to company leaders, recruiters, and HR representatives.  It was amazing to see different approaches and varying thoughts about how this event should play out.

The attendance from a candidate standpoint at both events was good, but I would not say great.  The candidates and curious seekers amounted to a percentage of the total jobs open that were being filled.  There were large numbers of hiring team crews and support in attendance – probably outranking candidates by 2 or 3 to 1.

I looked for the employers that displayed a different kind of look and feel at their booths, and not just the same old thing.  I pressed them for insights into not only what types of roles they were filling, but how they were addressing their internal company culture as part of their hiring process.  What would candidates experience if they were to walk inside the Company facilities?  How would they feel like they could fit in?

Many people understood that as a challenge and listed specific, tangible things that they have done as a company to create a more welcoming culture.  Listening to employees, showing empathy and compassion to employees, flexibility, formalized onboarding processes, and other progressive approaches to having the chance for a new employee to fit in were mentioned by some.

Others said the words and talked about resource groups and other things that they had implemented as organizations, but made it quite clear with their body language and job requirements that they really did not truly embrace the change and were struggling to really display a more welcoming culture to potential applicants.  And the numbers at their tables seemed to prove that out.

More amazingly, there were still some employers that said some version of “we are who we are, take us or leave us” which totally stunned me.  Some employers were referencing hiring practices and, on the job, training practices that are decades old, and they showed no sign of backing off of them.  Their answer to what will happen if they do not fill their open roles, was all about current employees carrying more of a burden.  It is no wonder that one of these employers had 25% more vacancies this year than last!

Culture is often a difficult concept to detail out in words and explain to a candidate or even a coach.  It is built up of practices, actions, and words, that come together to present a story.  It was my observation in this job fair that employers who could share that story clearly, received more interest.  It opened up doors.  Those that did not really practice what they preached shined through transparently as well, and traffic was lighter there.  And those that shut the door completely – you could see they were struggling and actually getting a bit frustrated and angry.

Employees right now want to feel like they fit it, and like they have influence in their roles.  They want to get training and have someone help them learn how to succeed.  They want to know they are valued and valuable.  Body language and words at events like this can mean the difference between onboarding effective talent and raising your vacancies by 25%.