Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Welcome to the Marketing Zone. I'm Marilyn Jenkins and today we unlock the marketing that actually works. You're watching now Media Television.
Welcome to the Marketing Zone. I'm Marilyn Jenkins. Today I want to start with a question every growing business eventually has to face. Why do some companies attract the right people while others keep struggling to fill the same roles over and over again?
My guest today is Kim diamond, founder of K Diamond Consulting. Kim is a trusted business advisor with more than 18 years of experience guiding leaders and hiring managers through today's complex recruiting landscape. Her work spans small business, medium sized business, Fortune 500 companies, startups and private equity ventures. Kim, welcome to the Marketing Zone.
[00:00:43] Speaker B: Thanks Marilyn. I'm happy to be here today. Thank you.
[00:00:46] Speaker A: Awesome. Tell us a little bit about your journey.
[00:00:49] Speaker B: Well, I started my career many years ago in a different industry.
I started in the mortgage industry and I did that for many years until of course about 2007 when we, everything just, you know, took a dive for a period of time. And I decided at that point I had been through the ups and downs for many different, different situations in mortgage. So I thought I want to try something different. So at that point I had an opportunity to get into recruiting. I started my venture in an agency with an agency in Dallas.
I started recruiting for engineers and tech and IT professionals. And then, you know, over my career I went through a couple of agencies and then I ended up in a corporate role. I was hired by a company to build a recruiting team. They did not have one and they had a very large recruiting initiative, an agreement with a vendor. And so I helped them build the team and build that process out. And then I worked for a couple of Fortune 500s as, as you mentioned. And then about two years ago I decided to out of corporate and, and provide my services to other businesses and help them with their recruiting efforts. So now I work with small companies, some larger companies, private equity companies. I, I do work nationwide.
My, my niche is pretty much wholesale distribution, all those components in supply chain, so sales, branch managers, operation leaders, even the corporate functions associated with that, you know, such as HR and accounting, finance, things of that nature. So that's, that's where I'm at now. So, so far so good. I'm enjoying it very much so glad to be here today.
[00:02:28] Speaker A: That's an incredibly important role. I appreciate that. So as we begin our conversation today, I want everyone watching to think about the way your company shows up to potential clients and potential talent. Are you communicating clearly why people should trust you, choose you and grow with you?
So Kimberly, Looking through, looking at marketing through a recruiting lens, that's an interesting way of looking at this because before a candidate ever applies, they are already forming an impression of your company. So in this segment, I want to explore how employer branding, clarity, credibility and communication shape the quality of talent that business attracts. So for business owners and marketing leaders, this is a powerful reminder that the way a company tells a story affects more than sales. It affects who wants to join your mission. So, Kim, when you look at companies that struggle to attract the right talent, what message are they often sending without realizing it?
[00:03:23] Speaker B: Oftentimes they're not clear on their culture. Cultures become a very key component to a lot of the, you know, what candidates look for.
They usually feel they understand the role, right? So they're looking at it from the other aspects of the organization. So I think that they miss the boat when they don't clarify their culture, share their culture, if that culture resonates, that they really don't invest in their people. Whether that's through testimonials that people can see or just through basic information on a website that shows that they're, you know, employee concentric, job descriptions, if they're inconsistent or vague, are also a challenge. So that's part of marketing. That's part of the information that's accessible to them as well as just, you know, how they conduct themselves.
Because if they take a long time to hire, if they don't have strong career paths that are visible, whether it's through a website information like they show that they provide, that they're asking questions or not getting clarity around that, that will, that can damage their reputation or make their reputation not clear, you know, like what their goal and their mission is. And when that's not clear, then the tendency to draw strong, capable talent, it can hinder that. I mean, it's commonly known that 60 to 75% of the candidates, when they don't see a posting that makes sense to them, like it's vague, it's very general in nature, that's going to slow responses to your posting, that's going to show signs of potentially poor organization, poor management.
And again, these can reduce the quality of your applications and even your conversion from application to an interview.
So those things are all very important and I think are sometimes overlooked. Not intentionally, but maybe just not considered a priority.
[00:05:32] Speaker A: So you're saying the brand reputation, the company's brand reputation is a massive influence on potential new hires?
[00:05:40] Speaker B: Yes, yes.
In this day and age, with all of the unfortunate situations, respectful to scamming people, getting Them to apply to fake jobs, just to build out their candidate pool or whatever their nature of that process is for them. People are more and more looking for the information. So they're not just looking at the job description and going with that. They're, they're going to go and look on LinkedIn or they're going to go and look for a valid website that provides information or Google them or, or AI, you know, this point. Right.
So people that will absolutely create the difference, especially as more and more people are feeling like they can't trust the posting.
Okay.
So I would say from a marketing standpoint, securing your brand and showing your valid is crucial right now for drawing, you know, the talent that you're looking for that you might be, you know, a lot of companies want the talent that's still in the marketplace working for another, say, competitor or someone similar to their industry.
People are a little bit skeptical about moving right now and especially if you don't have a really strong brand standing out because, you know, that could, that could kill them. I mean, they could move to you and you could be a terrible organization, not have anything. And now they've left something so, you know, there.
So that's very important, very important.
And they can do that without, they can do it without much. I mean, they can engage with a marketing group to help them just enhance their website. I mean.
[00:07:19] Speaker A: Right.
[00:07:19] Speaker B: You know, I know those can be expensive depending on the components associated in what they do, what they, what the action of the website is. But most of the times it's not going to break the bank for them just to have a good, valid, strong website.
[00:07:36] Speaker A: True, true. What do you think about the social media aspect of a brand?
[00:07:41] Speaker B: You mean like the Facebook?
[00:07:45] Speaker A: Yeah, I mean, obviously we talking about the way people are researching whether it's AI or whatever, but obviously LinkedIn, that's the first place people, people are going to look. Of course.
Do you find that any of your candidates have looked at other.
Like Facebook obviously, is the next, the next one, not necessarily Instagram. Is that coming into play?
[00:08:04] Speaker B: Yes, yes. People will, they'll Google, they'll research it. And of course, you know, before, before the challenges of the, you know, fake postings, I don't think people did as much research. I think, you know, certain, certain levels will do more research than others that they just say that. But there's some rules that, that they'll investigate deeper depending on the leadership level. But Yelp, Glass Door, some people went to those before. I probably think they probably go to them even more now.
[00:08:41] Speaker A: Okay, interesting. All right. So being aware of what you're, what you're putting online as well. So what should a company clarify before it goes into the market looking for talent?
[00:08:53] Speaker B: Well, they should clarify the job and get the posting synchronized like they need to, they need to be sure of what they're posting. There's nothing worse than you posting just picking one of your old or canned postings and just throwing it out there. And it's, you know, half of it's applicable to the actual responsibilities.
That's key.
Okay.
So, you know, utilizing AI to help a little bit with some of this is great, but it's not a people replacement.
Okay.
So when they're going out there to market, they just, they need to get the brand.
They need to, they need to stand behind their mission, their goals. They need to be able to.
Transparency, I think, is probably the biggest word right now. That's what it's called. It's called transparency. Sharing understanding so that people can see it and, and, you know, feel it. It's not necessarily touchable, but it's, they can feel it. It resonates. That is what they need to do when they're going out to job descriptions, having a process that's solidified for the recruiting side of it. So when the candidates are going through that experience of, of being screened, you know, all the things, this, expectations, you know, going to a candidate and saying this is what this process will entail, that should be outlined up front. The job search, like I said, should be solidified. You should be determining what's the best places to, to post your position. You know, not just a post and pray situation.
I mean, it's, you gotta, you need to go to the markets that make sense or to the sources that make sense. You know, if they, if they, if this source caters to this particular position in general, and that's the place you want to go, you know? Yes, indeed, is, is, you know, kind of the behemoth out there and it, you know, captures everything. But there are other resources that are niche, niche specific that you can go to and utilize as well.
[00:10:48] Speaker A: Right, right. Very important. So I think the being clear, the clarity.
So what really stands out here is that hiring doesn't begin with the job posting. It begins with clarity. When a business knows who it is, what it values, and what kind of people can help it grow, recruitment becomes more strategic. So we're going to take a short break and when we come back, I'm going to talk with Kim about the real cost of rushed hiring and why feeling A seat is not the same as building a strong team.
We'll be right back with more tools, tactics and truths to elevate your marketing. This is the marketing zone of NOW Media Television.
And we're back. I'm Marilyn Jenkins and you're watching the Marketing Zone on NOW Media Television. Let's dive into our next breakthrough.
Welcome back to the Marketing Zone. Stay connected to this show and every NOW Media TV favorite, live or on demand, anytime you like. Download the free Now Media TV app on Roku or iOS and unlock non stop bilingual programming in English and Spanish on the move. Catch the podcast version at www.nowmedia.tv. from business and news to lifestyle culture and beyond, Now Media TV is streaming around the clock. Ready whenever you are.
I'm here with Kim diamond, founder of K Diamond Consulting. And now I want to focus on what happens when companies treat hiring as an urgent task instead of a strategic business decision. A rushed hire may solve a short term problem, but it can create long term friction. It can affect productivity, morale, culture, customer service, customer experience, leadership, time, and ultimately revenue. This is where talent acquisition has to become more intentional.
Kim, when a company rushes to fill a role, what problems tend to show up later?
[00:12:36] Speaker B: Well, they, they realize they're not a fit and unfortunately that's a costly mistake.
So in what we see a lot of is they're being more reactive than proactive.
So, and understandably, sometimes they're caught off guard. Sometimes there is a gap that comes up that they weren't anticipating and it's something that might, might really impede their organization's process or productivity, whatever the case might be. Right. So understandably that tends to make people rush, but really that's when they really should evaluate, make sure that they are not just filling the gap like now what and, and what do we look for in the person that's coming into this role? Right. So that is, you know, so again, it becomes a short term hire.
They aren't able to scale like they thought if that's their, if that was their goal. It's just a strategy. Ms. Altogether truthfully, I agree.
[00:13:38] Speaker A: I agree, it never turns out really well if you do something quickly. But where do hiring managers often misdiagnose what they really need in a position?
[00:13:49] Speaker B: I think that's when they tend to confuse the skills they've outlined, you know, with what their potential is or what the potential of the role is and their capabilities with respect to that.
So they hire for the task. They don't really hire for the fit or the potential or the you Know, if this role was to, if they had a, if they have a path outlined, is that going to, are they going to be able to be coached, you know, coachability, all those things that we should be looking at and that comes through communication. When you're doing the initial process with them, you should be able to be covering that within your interview process. Is, is how, you know, as you look at what this role may potentially evolve to, is that capability there through training and coaching, can you see that?
You know, that type of thing. So they tend to look at just the skills like tick the box qualification. They have this, they have that, and that's a miss. I mean, if you focus on skills, you know, oftentimes, you know, up to 60% of your high, the manager will realize up to 60% of the hires, the manager is going to realize in four to six months that they probably made a mistake by not looking at the other aspects.
[00:15:06] Speaker A: Yeah, good, good point. I mean, I think we've all been in the position where I have a task I need to fill, you know, and then you jump the gun to fill that task so you don't slow down the whole team and then you regret it.
So how should leaders think about the difference between hiring for today's gap and hiring for tomorrow's growth?
[00:15:26] Speaker B: Well, for today's gap, they can look at a short term hire. They can look at something to fill the gap in the meantime, whether that's considered a fractional role or a contract role.
And then what they can do at that point is, you know, they can set the path to hire the person or the right person for the role. You know, if that person who is filling the gap happens just to, you know, be the match, then all the better. Right? It saves some more time. But Mo, you know, hire for growth, you know, you want to prioritize the characteristics of the individual, the adaptability, their learning capabilities, all of that. Some of that can be done in that gap window with that fractional person. And sometimes it's just not the intent. The intent is they're there to do the tasks that were, that need to be completed while they look for the person that has those other characteristics and more of a cultural fit.
It buys them time potentially, but they do it that way.
[00:16:21] Speaker A: I love that. Yeah. At least get, get the task back on track and then you can build to it. So what does a strong recruitment strategy include before the first interview ever happens?
[00:16:34] Speaker B: Well, it's what we call in this world and there's different, different descriptions. But you know, I most, I Most commonly use an intake meeting. You meet with the stakeholders and you really should meet with all stakeholders.
Oftentimes you'll meet with one particular stakeholder in representation of the rest. And I honestly think that you. Oftentimes there's a miss there because it's important that everybody's on the same page with respect to the job description, the responsibilities, the, the reporting order, you know, in other words, who they report to, who's in between all those things. And if everyone's involved and then, and then you get clarity around how the sourcing is going to happen, how the steps are going to transition, who will interview first, what's the timeline of this process? You know, you got to set, you need to set a timeline. Like you said, accountability. You need to understand and get clear feedback times. That's one of the biggest challenges right now. Managers do get busy. Everybody understands that. But that goes with is this a priority hire or is this a let's hire? We're looking now. We want them in three to six months. Whatever you need to set the priority of the hire. That in turn will set the timeline and then get, hold everyone accountable to, to those timelines.
Because if you don't, it happens all the time. I was saying this because this is about what I would see, my perfect world. But it happens where I'm at and I do the best I can to herd the cats. But you know, it's, it's. If everyone can get on that page, it definitely goes much smoother and you have much more of a positive experience for everyone involved. And, and then you, you know, obviously turning that process into a higher.
The success rates much better. When there's a clear, concise process and path that's designed up front.
[00:18:25] Speaker A: I love that you bring in the, all the stakeholders of that position because those people work closest with this new position or this new hire. And it's important if you want to. Like you talked about culture before, getting everybody on the same page and making sure they all get along.
[00:18:40] Speaker B: Absolutely. And you oftentimes will be in a. I've been on conversations with, with stakeholders and one has been, one has said, we're looking for this type of person. And I'll give you an example.
Sales positions. Sales people are often considered hunters or farmers. And that's a different, that's a different skill set. It's a different focus. You might have a manager talking about a candidate and I'm like, well, you sound like you want somebody who wants to be more like an account manager, like a farmer, somebody who really Keeps the customer moving forward and on or. And then over here, it sounds more like you would like the person that's going to go out and find new business and really bring in and close that business. Those are two different. So that helps you get those two together to make sure that you're not. You bring someone in, they interview. Excuse me, they bring someone in the interview and they go on to the next person. And then the next person's confused.
Right. They're interviewing for a different skill set, a different direction.
And that can happen. So stakeholders and especially the decision maker.
[00:19:43] Speaker A: Right.
[00:19:43] Speaker B: Because there's usually one decision maker. There may be three, four or five people in the process, but there's one person that's going to ultimately be the decision maker in most cases.
[00:19:57] Speaker A: Love that. So how, how can businesses create a process that protects both speed and quality?
[00:20:04] Speaker B: Like I said, just getting the map out there, you know, creating, having, you know, a template, a map. This is how we do our process.
And again, you prior, you, you scale the process according to what the pride, the priority of the need is.
So if it's something that we are desperately, we're behind, you know, the person left. We, we, we can't, you know, we need this person in 30 days. Okay. That's a really tight window between sourcing, screening, hiring, background checks and so forth. Right.
So that's a different process. That means that everybody needs to be able to respond quickly, provide feedback quickly, move every piece of that process efficiently and quickly. Not in a, not within a couple of weeks or 60 days where, you know, if the process is longer, you can set that tone with everyone, including the candidate.
So that is crucial. It's again, understanding what you're, what you're actually screening for, being very clear what you're looking for upfront before they go on to the next step. Combining steps, very, very important piece there and making sure that you have a very smooth, strong onboarding process.
A lot of times we lose candidates between the interview and the onboarding because that process is not strong and structured.
[00:21:24] Speaker A: Agreed, Agreed. So what are the financial and cultural costs of a bad hire that most business owners underestimate?
[00:21:36] Speaker B: Well, if you, you know, you can cut the time of higher by 25% or more just by having, just by having a process that's smooth and consistent right there. You can absolutely, you know, if you have a, if like we mentioned earlier, if you have the priorities set for growth, your mobility factor internally goes 20 to 30% of internal mobility is so much better. If you have a growth mindset incorporated into what you're doing with the candidate. Okay, so in other words, they have a path. Okay, that's another. So you're saving money there because then that keeps you from having to, you know, replace the position, lose them from quiet quitting because they don't have a path.
Okay. The numbers are, you know, well, depending on the hire. I mean, you know, obviously it's different for each level, but, you know, you're into the thousands of dollars every time you bring someone on for, you know, a short period of time and then they're gone again because there was no clear.
It was a mess, it was, it was mucky. They left. You didn't get clear understanding of their skill sets though the dollars there, what, you can sit down and just look at it based on the position, but you're in the thousands, you know, you know, hundred thousands depending on if it's a senior, you know, a high level senior role.
[00:22:57] Speaker A: Right.
So what, what becomes clear is that hiring is never just about solving a staffing problem. It's about protecting momentum. When companies slow down enough to define the real need, the right profile, and the right process, they make stronger decisions. We'll take a short break and when we return, I'll ask him how trust changes the recruitment process and why the best talent strategies are built on partnership, not pressure.
We'll be right back with more tools, tactics and truths to elevate your marketing. This is the marketing zone of NOW Media Television.
And we're back. I'm Marilyn Jenkins and you're watching the marketing zone of NOW Media Television. Let's dive into our next breakthrough.
Welcome back to the marketing zone. I'm here with Kim diamond, founder of K Diamond Consulting. And now I want to talk about one of the most important elements of both marketing and recruiting. Trust. In marketing, trust determines whether someone becomes a client. In recruitment, trust determines whether someone believes in the opportunity, the leadership, and the organization enough to take the next step. For companies that want to grow, the candidate experience is not a side detail. It's part of the brand.
So if you're a founder, executive, hiring manager, or marketing leader, this segment matters because every interaction your company has with the talent is also a brand experience.
I'm continuing with Kim diamond and we're looking at recruitment as a relationship driven process. The strongest hiring outcomes often happen when companies are honest about what they need, clear about what they offer, and committed to building real partnerships with candidates and hiring stakeholders. Kim, I appreciate you being on the show today. Tell us a little bit about where our audience can connect with you and learn more about your work with you.
[00:24:38] Speaker B: Great. Thank you, Marilla. Thank you. Yes, you can find me at kdiamondconsulting.com. so that's www.k diamond spelled d y m o n d consulting dot com. You can also find me on LinkedIn.
So those are the two best places to reach out to me that I'm, you know, consistently engaging in. So love to hear from you if you have any questions or have any needs.
[00:25:01] Speaker A: Fantastic. All right, great. In this segment. This segment should help viewers understand that trust is not soft, it's operational. It affects communication, expectation, decision making and long term retention. So, Kim, why is trust so central to effective talent acquisition?
[00:25:19] Speaker B: Well, trust builds it. It creates speed. So there's trust. Process is expeditious. Right. The decisions improve, the candidate acceptance rate is much higher. You also reduce turnover. When they, everyone feels, when the candidate and the organization are committed and everyone feels that commitment, that trust factor, then you know it will improve the hiring process exponentially. It's when there is some activities or things that they tend to do, maybe they will reschedule several times the interview for a candidate. Okay. And that can go either way. Right. So that trust breaks down when the process gets disrupted by people who just will look at it like, well, I'm busy right now, so you know what I mean? It deteriorates the, the importance of the person and the respect behind the process.
So then that trust can break down. So it's a poor hiring process. It's slow feedback.
Like I said, rescheduling or no showing. Managers just no showing. That happens. You know, it does happen.
Or pulling a position after people have been in an interview process and say, I'm sorry, no longer, we're no longer hiring for the role and they've gone through, you know, five or six interviews. Those are things that deteriorate trust. So when you're out there and you have these roles, you need to be confident what you're trying, what you're looking for, the process and be very transparent. Some things happen and it happens, but it will break the trust down if you don't communicate it. Okay. You know, if a candidate trusts an employer based on how they run the process, there's a 30 to 50% chance, higher acceptance rate and significantly lower turnover in general because they've built that trust factor on the front end through communication through that process.
[00:27:17] Speaker A: Very good. Yeah, you're right because rescheduling happens. It's just one of those things. But you wouldn't want to see that happen multiple Times with the same candidate. Because that, that no one likes that. But.
[00:27:29] Speaker B: Right, yeah.
[00:27:30] Speaker A: Well, how do companies create a better candidate experience from very first contact to final decision?
[00:27:38] Speaker B: I would say that, you know, clear, honest, like we talked about earlier. Right. We talked about the job descriptions being very clear.
Prompt communication, just another thing we were just discussing. Those things are key timelines, structured interviews, everything we've really kind of just, you know, touched on up to this point. You want to be able to make sure that, you know, you're creating that reasonable process for the candidate. Whether in a lot of times these days they people want to build in presentations.
You know, I think there's a time and a place that a person may need to do a presentation. Maybe someone who's in a marketing role, they might want to see how they would do a marketing presentation. I am not for it in every role for a person to have to go through that process.
I think sometimes it's either time consuming or disheartening to individuals. So again, clear process, clear job descriptions, transparent information about compensation. I know that that seems, that's one of the ones we tend to try to be a little vague about. But you need to be as clear as you can be. Right. Sometimes there is flex room in there and that's understandable. But you need to be able to provide them a range. You need to be able to provide them the components and, and sometimes they're very clear up front and sometimes there's still some areas that need to be worked out. That's a lot of times in the sales world those are some different metrics that sometimes you can't really outline into the just general public. Right. Those are things that, but you need to be prepared to answer the question of the candidate. So preparing for that creates, you know, that better candidate experience.
Just having as much information as they can as they can have.
I am that type of recruiter. I probably tell them more than they need to know.
Most recruiters really kind of tend to like screen for their capabilities and I really want to know if they're going to fit.
So I'm going to tell them all the good, the bad and the ugly that I know so well.
[00:29:49] Speaker A: I think that's important. The fit is, is that's going to give you a long term employee.
[00:29:54] Speaker B: Yep. And it really helps elevate the, I mean if they feel they have received a lot of really in depth good information, the acceptance rate is going to be two to four times higher.
You know. You know, because a lot of times you're, you're you're trying to pull or bring over a candidate from a different organization, they're established there.
Unless they're having some real trials and tribulations, some real challenges, or they foresee something changing their situation, they're not likely to just move.
So the more information they have and the more willing you are to share and provide that comfort level with them, the more, the better your opportunity is to be able to have them come over to your company, you know, and leave. Potentially an existing role gives you better,
[00:30:46] Speaker A: better team members, longer term employees, and saves you money in the long run.
[00:30:52] Speaker B: Absolutely.
[00:30:53] Speaker A: So think about the other side of that. What are the warning signs that a hiring process is damaging the company's reputation?
[00:31:02] Speaker B: Warning signs?
Well, they're not, there's not much activity.
They, you know, now I can't. I mean, the responsiveness of the, of the candidates can vary. It can vary on the role of the location and the compensation behind it. But if your hiring process is damaging your reputation, it's usually because, again, this lack of communication, lengthy feedback delays, what they call ghosting, right.
Changing the structure all of a sudden, those are all things that damage your reputation. Because then people start talking about, well, it took them forever to, I mean, in. LinkedIn is a board for it right now. Okay. It is where people will talk about a company and how long they took and what they put them through.
So that information is out there for others to see. And that can be very damaging to your reputation. When you are trying to recruit, you know, qualified candidates, if they see that other people have had a horrible experience, then they will not engage.
[00:32:12] Speaker A: I have seen stories on, on LinkedIn, as you say, of companies that want a free project done as a sample to show, you know, what you're doing. And that's, I think that's unrealistic to expect someone to do a big project for you just to show that they're capable.
[00:32:29] Speaker B: I have talked to people who have spent a full 40 hours doing that.
[00:32:33] Speaker A: Oh my gosh.
[00:32:34] Speaker B: And presented and then did not.
And you know, like you said, in, in, in the eyes of the candidate, you know, you just got 40 hours of free work.
[00:32:46] Speaker A: Exactly. I mean, that's completely unfair. So what do you think are the, some of the biggest mistakes that companies make that cause strong candidates to disengage before the offer is even made?
[00:32:59] Speaker B: Well, they, they don't respect their time and feedback. Just like I said, feedback is really key.
We're oftentimes hounding the hiring manager. We need the feedback. We need the feedback. You know, are we or they, or they'll say, well, we like them, but we want to see another or four or five.
Okay, I'm not saying that that's a bad thing. I'm just saying generally if they have a recruiting team or a recruiter like myself, I've probably already talked to 20something. But you're only getting one.
Right? I'm putting the best one in my opinion forward. Otherwise, you know, we can just give you, you know, five decent people, you know, versus one really strong person. Right.
So that is a problem.
Lengthy processes, you know, want to see a bunch of people, you know, I mean it, those things are all things that, that put them behind the eight ball and not the transparency.
And again, like you and I mentioned the marketing piece of IT branding, just, just, you know, look at your, look at your current investment doesn't mean you have to spend an enormous amount of money. But is it working for you?
You know, is what you're doing, is it, do you feel like it's attracting? And if you want to know that, you can ask the questions in your, in your screening process, you can say, how did you hear about us? Was, you know, is our website user friendly or whatever you would want to put into there? You could survey to find those things out. Just in, in the immediate preview with the candidate, you can gather some intelligence, you know, market intelligence about what you're doing to make, see if it's making sense. But those things are important. Like I said, caring about your reputation, showing testimonials from people within your organization, huge. These days people like to see people who have been successful and out there talking about their success and, or their experience for sure. So I think it's the branding, it's the communication, it's the transparency.
Those things are very important in today's candidate market.
[00:35:11] Speaker A: Exactly. I think the important takeaway here is that talent acquisition is not only a process, it's a relationship. Every message, every delay, every interview, every decision says something about the company. We're going to take a short break and when we come back, I'm going to talk with Tim about Kim, about how strong teams drive organizational growth and why recruitment should be connected to the bigger business strategy.
We'll be right back with more tools, tactics and truths to elevate your marketing. This is the marketing zone of NOW Media Television.
And we're back. I'm Marilyn Jenkins and you're watching the Marketing Zone on NOW Media Television. Let's dive into our next breakthrough.
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I'm with Kim diamond, founder of K Diamond Consulting. And as we close, I want to connect hiring back to growth. The right people do more than complete tasks. They strengthen culture, improve execution, support innovation, protect client experience and help leadership move the business forward. In this final segment, I want to explore how leaders can think about talent acquisition as a driver for organizational growth, not just an operational necessity.
Kim when you look at strong teams that drive growth, what do they usually have in common?
[00:36:48] Speaker B: They usually have shared goals.
They've come up with what those goals are.
They have psychological safety. They feel comfortable in expressing their views and sharing their, their ideas there. It's, you know, data driven environments that they work together, they work through whatever those metrics are together and they hold themselves accountable. Then they work cross functionally, they work strong. So that again, as we talked about from the beginning, I can't, I can't. We can't say it as many times we can. Communication, right? This is all about talking about communication and performance reviews. We tend to do performance reviews once a year and I think that we're truly missing the mark. You want to promote a growth mindset in an organization that doesn't happen once a year when you sit down and rehash, if you even remember what happened all year long. I think these things need to be repeated engagements with the leaders and their team. It promotes the growth mindset, it promotes the collaboration.
Everybody feels like they're part of this, part of the directive. They're part of, you know, the impact exclusively. Inclusivity is key, but it can't happen once a year.
[00:38:00] Speaker A: Right, right, I agree with that. I mean, I think once a year is not enough. But I also think it can be overdone. Like, you know, we, we do one on ones in my organization we do that once a week. But they're very short to, you know, stay on the same page, that sort of thing.
[00:38:17] Speaker B: Right. And that's perfect. It doesn't need to be lengthy. But you know, if you go weeks or months and on, all of a sudden you have a meeting about something and you, and you know, the person says, well, what about this? And it's like, well, why didn't we talk about this two months ago or you know, those types of things and it happens, you know, it's. I'm not looking at it. I don't think people it intentionally but I think they need to reassess when that engagement needs to happen. And like you said, I think it's great. You do it once a week.
[00:38:43] Speaker A: Yeah. Just a, just a touch base kind of thing. Make sure we're on the same page.
How can leaders align talent acquisition with long term vision for the business?
[00:38:54] Speaker B: Well, again, they can set the strategy map together. Okay. They can build out, you know, what that looks like. So whether you're, you know, going to be hiring, moving people internally to different roles and that's going to open up a space, you know, but you want to understand what you're hiring for. You're hiring for the potential and their learning ability.
You want to start building the pipelines. And pipelines they need to be embedded in the secession planning. Okay. That needs to be a very proactive space.
Pipelines people tend to confuse sometimes or bench, right. They're like, oh, we want to build the bench. I said, well, the bench needs to start internally.
That's how you get your long term vision in play. Right? This is the long term vision. So who in, you know, and people do them. They do, you know, 360. They do, you know, all the different ones that, that are out there that they can set up. But a lot of times they also say, well, we want to build a pipeline, an external pipeline. Well, in today's environment that's very tricky, okay. Because everybody who needs a job, you might have that person interested in the opportunity. But by the time the opportunity comes around, they're not there. So I don't, in my opinion, an external bench is a difficult one. It can depend on the role and the person's position. But internally is where I think you need to look at your bench and how does that align with the long term strategy of the organization?
[00:40:24] Speaker A: So when you're talking about pipeline and the bench, please go into a little bit of detail what that looks like from a leader standpoint.
So what are those processes? What is that that you're talking about?
[00:40:36] Speaker B: So what they do is the review. So they will potentially set up like a 360. They'll go through and the person will be assessed where they are, what they've been doing and their capabilities to make the next step. Okay. So if your vice president of marketing is getting ready to retire, okay.
Do you have an internal person that you've been mapping?
Right.
[00:41:01] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:41:02] Speaker B: Step into this role. Okay. Based on performance reviews, 360 reviews, that sort of thing.
So you want to look and see if you've been mapping that process and for each gap that that might create. So if that person moves into the VP role, is there a person behind that person that can move into there? Where does the gap come into play? Is there no one that can fill the space? Okay, then we. That's a. That's a. Obviously an external recruiting effort.
But, you know, if you know internally where you sit, then, you know, it's. It's. It's much more effective, much more efficient to know. Okay. And then you go in my person, you go internal, you open it up internally, and, you know, see how that rolls. And then if it doesn't. If it doesn't come out the way you had planned based on the process, then you can go external. But I always think you should take the internal path first, and that comes from that mapping and finding out who's aligned with the vision and going forward and pushing and growing the company.
[00:42:01] Speaker A: And I think that grows your culture as well. You're. You're showing that you do appreciate people inside and people that are a member of the team. And. And Absolutely. I agree with that.
[00:42:09] Speaker B: Oh, increases your retention tenfold.
[00:42:12] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:42:13] Speaker B: If people see that process. Absolutely. Absolutely.
[00:42:17] Speaker A: Well, how should companies think about talent when they're scaling, restructuring, and preparing for a new stage of growth? Not just replacing someone, but new stage of growth?
[00:42:27] Speaker B: Mm. Yeah. Well, that happens quite frequently these days. So really what we need to do is we need to look at what the restructuring involves. So do we have people that will be moving into new roles? Okay. Or if we're increasing that, what.
How do we go about increasing the scaling of the organization? Right. So there's. And the new growth side of it. Okay.
What you want to do is, like I said, you want to.
You want to be in alignment with whatever those critical roles are that are going to be affected. Okay. And. Or not. Or changed. Okay. So in that case, that puts you, you know, looking for, you know, people in your organization that have the capability to flex the versatility. A lot of people need to wear multiple hats sometimes in this restructuring environment or growth stage, they need to step in and take on more responsibility until a structure can be changed or put into place.
So reinforcing your culture, reinforcing, you know, people who are able to make those adjustments. That's what I would think about talent when they're scaling. People who can flex, who can move into roles, who can be capable of learning a new role very quickly if There needs to be a change and then how strong is your culture with those adjustments? You really need to, you know, get your culture in alignment. Whether it's a culture of, hey, we are a culture of change. These things are going to happen. You know, those things help the mindset of everyone. It versus just all of a sudden, oh, we've made a change now. Oh, okay. What does that mean? Okay, great.
[00:44:05] Speaker A: Well, what is the, what is a one recruitment mind shift mindset shift that every business owner should make if they want to build stronger teams?
[00:44:15] Speaker B: Well, like I talked about earlier in our conversation, and I like to reiterate, this is. You need to be proactive.
Reactive does not set the stage for the best results.
It happens. There are moments that. That's just the case of it. Right. But you know, if you have a strategy for your organization, there should be a way to create a proactive roadmap outside of some of those reactive situations. Okay. So you're not just constantly getting caught up in that reaction. Right. And you need to, to treat hiring as building long term capabilities, not just filling a gap. Right. You know, like I said, we talked about the bench again and you know, that comes from building your internal talent. Do you have growth and development, you know, opportunities for them, whether it's through courses or training or you know, doing shadowing or mentoring. Those things, I mean, those are the things that I think owners need to shift. They need to shift to be the proactive person with their organization and how it can help their internal talent with growth and mobility.
And they have to be prepared for the changes that could happen if someone was to depart the organization.
And then they're going to have those moments where they're just going to have to scramble because they have a gap that they weren't expecting and they don't have anybody to fill it internally. And we just got to speed that process up.
But I think if they adopt a proactive and not just wait to post a position, you know, and, and people don't try to do that. It's just nature of sometimes how it happens. So it's not, you know, but if they think more about it ahead of time, I think they set themselves up for a much better process, a much smoother process and a much earlier time to fill, as well as retention, all of this really helps. And retentions is key if, especially, you know, if it's a strong player on your team. Right. So.
[00:46:13] Speaker A: Right. This has been such a great conversation. Kim, I really appreciate you being here. If our audience wants to know a little bit more information about you and K. Diamond Consulting. Where can they find you and connect with you?
[00:46:24] Speaker B: Sure. My website is www.kdiamondconsulting.com and my last name is spelled D Y M O N D. I know that confuses people.
And then you can also find me on LinkedIn under Kimberly DiamondBalogue.
Please feel free to connect with me there and then if you need if you have any questions or just want to have a conversation about recruiting, or if you're a candidate and you need some support, I'm happy to have that conversation. I don't charge candidates for time, but anyway, I'm here to help and I enjoy this very much. So I look forward to meeting anyone who wants to connect.
[00:46:58] Speaker A: Fantastic.
So this is what we believe at the Marketing Zone, that growth is not built by the by marketing alone, sales alone, or hiring alone. It happens when the message, the strategy, the people and the execution all work together. We want to thank Kim diamond for joining us and sharing how Strategic talent acquisition helps companies move beyond simply filling roles and start building stronger teams that drive real business growth. And to everyone watching, we invite you to keep refining your strategy, strengthening your brand, and building the kind of business people want to work with and work for. Stay connected. For more on NOW Media TV.
