IN THIS WHITEPAPER

Recruiting Candidates Who Seek Meaning and Balance 2

IN THIS WHITEPAPER The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) released a report in October of 2012 regarding Employee Job Satisfaction and Engagement. The report shows employees’ overall satisfaction with their jobs is down five percentage points from its peak of 86% in 2009. SHRM suggests the attributing the fluctuation to changes in the workplace, social trends, and demographics. HRSM suggests potential solutions to raising the bar on employee satisfaction, such as communication about the total rewards and building a bridge between employee and senior management. But there’s another solution – and a potentially untapped pipeline of talent – that can be addressed and utilized: Those who seek a higher quality of life. This includes meaningful work, viability, overall meaning and value, and balancing career with a happy home. This whitepaper will explore ways to find passive candidates looking to get more out of their career path while balancing it with their personal life, including What Defines Meaningful Work, How to Utilize Emotionally Driven Conversation with Candidates, and How Different Demographical Sectors Value Meaningful Work (and Using this to Your Advantage).


MEANING AND FULFILLMENT: WHY IS THERE A NEED FOR IT? To understand the pull for more meaning in life, one must first understand exactly what meaning entails. Meaning, and Meaningful Work, contributes to overall well-being. Meaning leads to personal satisfaction. Philosopher Immanual Kant answered the question “What is Enlightenment?” in 1784 in a way that stands true today in relation to finding meaning in life and work. “Sapere Aude! [dare to know]! Have courage to use your own understanding!"

– Immanual Kant Kant recognized that getting over the fear of thinking for ourselves will lead to overall satisfaction. Acknowledgement of dissatisfaction can give way to finding meaning. John Jantsch, author of “The Commitment Engine,” says it is necessary to decipher whether the work you do is truly worthwhile. In his findings, Jantsch notes that a fundamental problem area in finding meaning is falling prey to loss of focus. Once focus is lost, so is passion and motivation to do good work. Jantsch’s “Foundational Planks” help uncover how to find meaningful work for each person:

• Clarity – What are you (the Candidate) passionate about, what is the higher purpose you serve, and how can you turn that into something people are willing to pay for?

• Control – Control what you get to work on. Find things you find rewarding and stick to them

• Community – Surround yourself by a shared higher sense of purpose to build a platform of success


BOREDOM AT WORK: GIVING THE CANDIDATE A CHANGE OF PACE Mark De Rond, an associate professor of Strategy and Organization at the University of Cambridge, recently posed a question in the Harvard Business Review: Are You Busy at Work, But Still Bored? De Rond admitted that he found himself falling victim to this common problem. After taking a yearlong sabbatical from work, he dug deep at the root of the issue and came up with some questions to ask to enhance understanding of dissatisfaction at work. These strategies can be used to engage passive candidates who are restless in their current position (but might not even realize it).

• Are you (the Candidate) in need of something new to do – has the novelty worn off?

• Are you unsure of who would be affected if your position did not exist tomorrow?

• Do you wake up feeling like what you do on a daily basis matters?

• Would you like an opportunity to make progress, something to feel good about? A challenge?

Acknowledging that there is unrest can be a key trigger in realizing it’s time for change. Recruiting someone who is satisfied monetarily but dissatisfied with their accomplishments can be a balancing act. But the rewards that come with moving on to a position in which they feel satisfaction and fulfillment can far outweigh other factors if given the right opportunity. By allowing employees to engage in meaningful work, they in turn produce a greater product for the company.


DEMOGRAPHICS & WORK/HOME BALANCE: WHO IT AFFECTS AND WHY On Mother’s Day this year, CEO of Palo Alto Software Sabrina Parsons contributed to Forbes about flexibility and advancement in the workplace for women, specifically mothers. She stressed the importance of flexible hours and taking one’s own path to find balance. “If all working moms had the option for flexible working hours I think productivity would soar. If only corporate America would see the value that flexibility could bring to their bottom line – I think working moms would have a different situation, and we would also see more women achieving leadership roles.”

– Sabrina Parsons, CEO, Palo Alto The Pew Center for Research (in association with TIME) conducted a nationwide survey regarding working moms and time management in 2010. According to the survey, 40% of working moms said they always felt rushed.


FINDING CANDIDATES WHO SEEK FLEXIBILITY CAN BE A MAJOR RESOURCE. Example Passive Candidate Scenario: A woman in her early 30s is a successful lawyer at a large firm, where she works grueling hours but is compensated generously. The woman, after being in the field 6-7 years, is burnt out, seeking balance, hoping to start a family. A successful corporation has asked you, the Recruiter, to find potential candidates who have a law degree and experience with copyright law who would be willing to make the switch into their company. Their pay would decrease, but the candidate would have much more flexible hours, work/home life balance, and overall job satisfaction. Seeking potential candidates who fit these criteria would be beneficial to you but, most importantly, beneficial to the candidates’ general well-being. The conversation would be rewarding for both parties.


THE MILLENNIALS: TURNING MASLOW’S PYRAMID ON ITS HEAD Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs says, in essence, to choose lower needs over higher wants to survive in life. This life won’t necessarily be emotionally satisfying, but “meaning,” is, in essence, a luxury. But times have changed. Meaning has become more of a necessity than a luxury, says Umair Haque, author of “Betterness: Economics for Humans.” We now need to strive to better ourselves in order to be truly fulfilled.


“While it's true that we must fill our bellies, and our minds, it's equally — if not more — vital that we should fill, to the very brim, our lives.”

– Umair Haque, Author Betterness: Economics for Humans Such is the viewpoint of Generation Y, or the Millennials. This new generation of employees seeks a strong sense of meaningful work. This need pairs with many assets GenY has to offer: technical skills, networking solutions, and global thinking. But GenY needs to feel needed. Tuning in to the needs of Millenials can be beneficial in helping them find balance and meaning in their career. They are more likely to ask “what’s next?” and see work as a means to an end. Understanding these wants will be valuable when speaking to a passive Millenial candidate. Perhaps the position for which you are speaking to them would give them a higher sense of purpose and allow them to be more participative. These key ideas can align with their career aspirations and aid in successfully filling positions. But make sure to connect to the Millenial as an individual, and not simply a generational representative.


EMOTIONAL CONNECTION WITH RECRUITER AND CANDIDATE: HUMAN FEELING LEADS TO REWARD The passive candidate isn’t the only one going through a roller coaster of emotion when considering a position pitched to them by a Recruiter. The Recruiter, too, can be emotionally drained, stressed and conflicted about the potential change for the candidate. Speaking to the candidate in a humanizing way can ease awkwardness and further reiterate to the candidate that value and purpose in their life is of importance to you. Don’t dismiss feelings. Sociologist Arlie Hochschild coined the term “Emotional Labor,” defined by the effort to actually feel the ‘right’ feeling for the job, and to try to induce the ‘right’ feeling in others.” The workforce has come a long way from the industrial sense of the word, in which work was primarily physical. Now, acknowledging authentic feelings can lead to job satisfaction for the employee and employer. This need not be a “touchy-feely” tactic, but rather one that simply acknowledges it’s OK to align wants and needs with feeling “right” for a position.


Using Emotional Intelligence, that is, the ability to perceive and evaluate emotions, can be crucial in speaking with passive candidates who value meaning and purpose. Trust your instincts with the candidate and allow them to build up a rapport of trust with you. Listen to their wants, needs and concerns and follow through with these necessities to yield positive results. All of these key components to recruiting a passive candidate who seeks work/life balance and meaning can work together to benefit yourself and the candidate. Be patient: Many individuals in a newer generation of workers feel a sense of entitlement that can be difficult to satiate. But this does not need to be perceived as a negative. Use these tools to your advantage to help the candidate find meaning, purpose and viability.


About Qualigence

Qualigence International is the largest Recruitment Research and professional search firm in the United States, and proudly serves as a unique alternative to traditional retained or contingent recruiting models. www.qualigence.com

Documents

IN THIS WHITEPAPER