Recruiting Qualified Employees with Modern Corporate Culture

00:07 Now we come to the most serious problem: a shortage of skilled workers.

00:12 Martin Gaedt wrote the book The Skilled Worker Shortage Myth, in which he says that there is no scarcity of qualified people and that if you believe there is, it is your own fault - at least, that is his claim.

00:24 I agree with this idea, and I believe it immediately takes us to the company culture.

00:29 You get what you are. That example, if your organization is entirely focused on profit, with the motto "more, more, more," you will attract exactly this type of person.

00:42 However, if your goal is to save the planet and build a sustainable, eco-friendly company, you will attract these types of people.

00:52 That is, you are what you are, and if we want to take this further, we must go deeper than simply posting the next great job ad on some recruitment portal.

01:03 What is the culture of my company? What am I doing right now? Where would I like to go? To back up this point, I'd want to bring up McGregor.

01:14 He is the inventor of the Theory XY, which has been around for decades, and he claims that the way you view other people determines the type of people you will attract, and the Theory XY is really straightforward.

01:28 Theory X is about how we perceive humans.

01:31 If an employee is lazy or unmotivated, I must set boundaries, penalize or push them, and I will end up with a passive employee.

01:39 Theory Y, on the other hand, is about trusting the person to produce something wonderful. I offer them autonomy and self-determination, and they will take the initiative and accept responsibility.

01:50 What do you think of your company's culture? Is it more X, more Y, or somewhere in between? A decent place to start would be to define this.

02:00 Nonetheless, this is your company's business card to the outside world, and it must be shared. It is not enough for someone from the IT department to carry it around and say, "Whoo-hoo, we have a great Culture." Instead, it should be desired and demonstrated at the highest levels.

02:17 This brings us to management, specifically the executive board.

02:21 They, in my opinion, have the most potential to enhance the company culture.

02:28 You decide whether something is modern or not.

02:32 Do you know what the Patagonia brand is? That is what I mean when I say the company makes outdoor clothes and has a clear company aim. "We are in business to, get this, save our home planet," they stated at one point.

02:50 So the planet comes first, and we come second.

02:54 That is insane.

02:56 That has an impact, energy, but they also defined four values.

03:00 The goals are to provide the best product possible while avoiding harm to the planet - they want to protect the environment and aren't limited by any conventions.

03:09 So the home planet is the main focus, and obviously, this will attract a certain type of person, those who have a similar life goal, who care about the planet in the same way, and I would suggest that Patagonia will have no trouble finding people who think that Earth is really cool, whether they're looking for an IT specialist, someone for finance, HR, or sales.

03:35 That is why I believe you will not find anyone at Patagonia who says, "Hmm, I don’t feel at home here. I will become a hedge fund manager for now." That is basically ruled out right away.

03:46 Another possibility is a hedge fund manager who notices, "Hmm, that wasn't that cool." You might come across someone like that at Patagonia.

03:55 The Upstalsboom method is distinct but similar.

03:58 Upstalsboom provides hotels and vacation apartments, as well as a generational transformation, in which the son took over and created a cultural shift.

04:08 They now have twelve core values, one of which is responsibility.

04:13 The motto is "You decide, but you have to stand up for it." That is a completely different approach than attempting to remove responsibility from individuals.

04:25 Another value is loyalty.

04:28 We talk to each other instead of about others, which quickly rendered politics and strategic networking obsolete.

04:40 Another value is a zest for life.

04:42 When a customer enters the hotel from the outside, where the temperature is 35 degrees Celsius or 95 degrees Fahrenheit, they immediately feel it: "Cool down first; settle down and relax." That is pure life zeal.

04:58 There are other examples of this strategy at Upstalsboom, and if you don't believe me, just watch the movie.

05:04 This strategy is the subject of a documentary titled The Silent Revolution.

05:09 I only have positive things to say about this film.

05:12 Go watch it because it goes very deep and is proof that things get emotional, but be warned: some tears may flow.

05:20 If I were to offer you three recommendations on how to avoid feeling like there's a scarcity of talented personnel, I'd probably start with the first and say, first, you need to take inventory, so what is the current scenario in our company? What are our strong points? In what ways are we appealing to folks on the outside? Why are individuals interested in working for us? Or, perhaps, why not? Are we not being seen? Is something wrong with us? Is there anything cultural that we have shown the outer world that may not be true? So we're finally getting a handle on the here and now.

05:56 The second tip is to look ahead a little and decide where you want to go.

06:00 What do we want to be in the next two, three, four, or five years? What exactly is the vision? What is the overarching goal? Why are we then getting so popular? I'd like to have an explanation for this, and the third step would be to try it out, because we don't know what will happen in the coming years; we also don't know why people apply for positions in our firm, why we're so appealing, so we need to test it out. We need to have a discourse with talented people; we need to develop new ways to engage in this conversation.

06:34 We can use platforms, then positions, possibly only based on a project, and then hire someone. So we can test out a lot of things here - we just need to be more open.

06:47 There are models such as reverse recruiting, in which a corporation can market itself to 150 developers.

06:55 And it's extremely difficult to argue, "We are paying the highest salaries, but we can go higher." And that's what I was talking about with the culture - and now I've just thought of a fourth thing - that would then basically be a kind of bonus, because if we have managers, we need to keep them, which is where you come in.

07:16 I believe that in the coming years, it will become absolutely necessary to get really near to the employee, truly close, to understand what they want.

07:29 There are life cycles, and needs are continuously changing.

07:33 You have different demands in life or job at 25 than persons your age, 30, 35, or 40.

07:40 The same person's requirements are constantly changing, and we must adapt to satisfy them. That is your task, and I believe it will be very rewarding.

07:50 I hope you have a lot of fun with it.