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Over the next few blogs I am going to cover some HR recruiting successes at Fellowship Technologies and give you some practical tips for recruiting successfully…

Who knew you would have to do research and development in HR?  To find successful candidates you must first and foremost know and understand the hiring manager.  What are his/her likes and dislikes in an employee, what job skills are most important to him? What personality traits and personal characteristics will make this new employee successful under this leadership? What are the manager’s weakness’ that might require refinement?  What would threaten this manager? How patience is this manager? 

All of these things matter in the life cycle of the recruiting process. Research shows, on average it takes 90-120 days to fill a position from ad posting to person in the chair.  That is just unacceptable to me, because when a department needs a person, they needed them 2 days ago.  It has always been my goal to achieve 30-45 days cycle but that requires a tremendous amount of follow up and tenacity to stay after the task.  Organizing the process ahead of time and getting the hiring manager on the same page as you is critical to making the recruiting life cycle short and concise. Interview the hiring manager first, helping him refine the advertisement, the job description and his expectations of the process. It eliminates the desire for the hiring manager to quickly blame HR when the resumes coming in are less than stellar. I have done both, flying solo writing my own ads and job descriptions and involving the hiring manager in the process up front, please learn from my mistakes, when I say it is a much stronger process when you involve the person who is doing the hiring.  Think of yourself like Eve, as a helpmate rather than Adam as the head (this might be a bit harder if you are a male in the HR role J)

Second, select your methods of advertisement wisely, it will save you time and money.  Always offer supervisor and below positions to the current employees first, with an internal posting.  You never know who has a passion for a particular area until a position opens up.  An employee referral program is also a fun way to general excitement around hiring! The current employees might know someone that has the skill set and the personality to fit into the culture of your organization. Networking yourself and other’s networks are a great starting point to finding and retaining employees. Posting externally can be tricky & costly for the return, depending on the position but our favorite places to post are; internet, blogs, industry websites, associations, colleges, our own website and with our customer base.

So here is a quick reference list, more to come on the next blog!

Recruiting Best Practices

1.     Know and Understand your Hiring Manager 

2.     Involve the Hiring Manager deep into the process

3.     Post internally for supervisor and below positions

4.     Offer an Employee Referral Program, network

5.     Select your advertisement wisely with the intentional purpose for the candidates you want to select, if you don’t know ask around

6.     Enjoy the process! And remember you are a helpmate!

In Him, Tammy

Today, while reading an article on creative struggle this quote caught my eye “When one can control things, one is limited to one’s own vision” for whatever reason, that quote hit me hard! I have such a need to control things that I am not only doing myself a disservice; by limiting myself to only what I see, but I am also not trusting God enough to allow others the opportunity to shine. How sad is that?  70% of my self-talk is trying to figure out how I can gain control of my environment, not seeking other’s approval, but controlling everything around me so I can get my way.  How selfish! 

With this newfound knowledge, I took it straight to my best friend of 20 years, and that is when it happened…she challenged me to go on a “Tammy Fast” where I am actually fasting from my selfishness and my need to control. Just when I thought that was enough, she added a twist…I have to serve others without an agenda.  Quite a concept for me and what an internal spiritual challenge!  Now, one thing you can glean about me is, I am always up for a double dog dare like this, especially when it comes from a woman who has spoken truth into my life for the last 20 years. She understands me and my goals and she does everything she can to help me achieve them. 

I imagine this one challenge is going to stretch me in ways I cannot even fathom, but I know I will grow from mediocrity to greatness and it will result in inexhaustible joy in my Father's eyes. This may just be a defining moment that changes the course of my life forever, I am actually allowing my flesh to be caught and taught by the Holy Spirit!

So here is your “Double Dog Dare Y’all”

1.     Find that person who is willing to speak truth into your life and who will help you achieve your goals

2.     Learn to say “yes” to “whatever it takes,” so you can create that defining moment; one that will give you passion in the present moment to carry out your life vision.

Make it so, in Him! Tam

Do you ever feel like you are on “autopilot” through life sometimes? Your car just automatically drives to your office on Monday, you just breeze through your emails with little thought; you hear your spouse, but while having 500 other things on your mind, you don’t really listen.

What would your life be like if you never lose the wonder…the wonder of how God created the world, or how a He has each of us in the palm of His hand at this very moment, or can you get excited about the plans He has for you? What if you allowed Him to use you in the way He created you? What if…you allow God to delight you in the little things of life? Like slowing down enough to intently listen to your family and friends, to hear the birds sing or watch a child play, to spot a shooting star or see the trees blow in the wind? What if you heard God and what He has to tell you through His Word and then you acted on His direction? What if you give His plan a chance? 

I hope you give God a chance to delight you today, enjoy the dance through life with Him!  Tam  

I’ve heard it many times coming from people sitting on the other side of my desk… “I’ve just lost my passion.” Really, lost your passion, huh? Nope, you haven’t lost your passion. You just redirected it to something else. You have made a choice to either not make use of it or you intentionally let it die so you no longer possess it. Sometimes God redirects our passion for us when he is getting ready to move us to a new level in our relationship with Him. Paul is the prime example of a man who had his passion redirected by God, he listened and went to a new level. I have seen many people being redirected by God only to fight it every step of the way and miss out on what God was asking them to do because they would not change.  Pharaoh refused to listen as God was redirecting his passion (yep, 10+ times, God is way more patient than me!) 

Passion is a tricky emotion because it is just that, it’s an emotion. You can have the intensity one day and not the next. Passion is a deceiving little bugger, it makes you think you need to have that overmastering, reckless feeling, the one that drives you away from any amount of reason and sense to think you have it, but it's not true. You can have a consistent drive and love for God’s will everyday without the emotional highs and lows associated with the worldly view of passion.

I have had people in my office telling me all the reasons they should quit their job because they lost their passion but then they never quit.  God has a way of making us discontent and disconnected with where we are so we will move, but some people just stay and become negative and miserable. If only they would have just listened to God and moved they may not have wasted their talents and made so many other people around them miserable by staying put. You’ve seen it too, the lifer at a company or a church who just does enough to get by, sits in his cube not making a difference, has a negative attitude and management does nothing about it because he has been “loyal” for 20 years.  A no win situation. He has not contributed in years and his bad attitude is contagious, in fact it even runs off the contributors because they don’t understand why he is still around.

In my wisdom (not age, mind you J), now when people come to my office and confess all the reasons they should leave their job because they lost their passion, I ask them… “Do you want me to talk you into it or talk you out of it?” I also forewarn them, that if I talk them out of leaving then I will not allow them to have a negative attitude, they are to serve with all their heart, with all their soul, with all their mind and with all their strength.

So why do we think we lose our passion, could it be because it is not in line with God’s will? As they say in Texas, “might could!” If that is the case do you just wake up one day and your passion has changed? Might could, ask Paul.  Or a scarier thought, you have total control over the passion God has placed in your heart and you have the choice to redirect it. Ouch, that means you might actually have to be accountable for your choices.   

So how do you get your passion back in line with God's will? Simple, well, simply said, much harder to apply! Matthew 22:37 says it all…“Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind.” Give God your “everything.”  (I love blogging while listening to Lincoln Brewster, thanks for the line Lincoln!) God is a jealous God and he wants our “everything.”  Once He has it, He can direct our passion. When He is in control of our passion, it will certainly line up with His will (might, could!) and it will be pretty hard to lose. Now, He might redirect it but then at least we know we are still walking in His passion.   

Redirect your passion today to the true One and Only and then enjoy the passion He has in store for you!  Givin' my all to Jesus! Tam

Some days I just feel like running away from my life! Ever felt that way? Well then, just add your name to that blank in the title. Sometimes, I feel it and I know you do too, the pressures, the failures, the needs of others, the demands we put on ourselves and then there are all the bills from the last time I needed to run away and went to the mall instead! J But God did not design me to run away and escape, he trained me to walk through the fire with Him, so He chases me down, steals my heart, wipes away my tears, breaks the chains and says to me in his fatherly voice, “no one can take your place, I designed this all for you…for you to do my work, plant my seeds and water what I want watered, it’s not about you!”

He has called me into this exact place and time for His purpose to work out His will in my life and the people’s lives around me, HIS PLAN, not mine.  All He wants from me is for me to say “yes” and be willing to walk in His will. He calls me to be balanced in how I act because I am representing Him. He does not want the reckless girl I can be in my natural state. He calls me higher to have self control, set boundaries, to be kind, gentle and joyful in all circumstances. But I say “it’s too hard, I can’t do it!” So then He calls me to say “no,” sometimes, even to good things.  He says my love for you never fails, Tammy, it is inexhaustible so find peace and safety in me. Let me be your sanctuary. Come to me and wait patiently because my kindness will make you tender. He remindes me that He can melt my cold, hard heart.  Other days he calls me to fight, because faith fights.  It fights against wrongs toward others, it fights against doubt, it fights against injustice, faith fights for those who cannot fight for themselves.  Moment by moment, faith fights Satan because God knows character matters.

I am not sure where he has called you today but I pray that you know His love for you is inexhaustible! Don’t try to run from Him, because He will always find you and ask you to work out His will. Instead run to Him, the rewards and the blessings far out way the attitudes we sometimes have. Let Him change your attitude and become joyful about walking in His will even when it may be the hardest thing you have ever done.  You are not lost and you are not alone, He has you cradled in His arms. Rest in Him and keep fighting the good fight to advance His Kingdom.

Let Him capture your heart today and put you back in the spot He designed you to be in. 

In Him, Tammy

Full-On. A term I learned this weekend at church…meaning you are fully connected to whatever you are doing; sports, church, a friendship, being a mom or dad or your relationship with God.  I thought about the intensity in which I get fully focused on things and this term clicked for me.  I can be so focused on being the best wife, the best mom, the best HR Director or a best friend that I forget to be “full-on” with God.

I am giving everyone else what I think is my best and leaving the left-over’s for God. And I would have to say what I am giving them is ugly at best because I am doing it on my own. The demands of the world tend to change my priorities, how about yours? Oh don’t get me wrong, I start my day out right by walking in obedience; I pray, I study God’s Word and I ask God to fill me up.  But by about 9:00, I let everyday life consume me and I go about things on my own, there’s the key phrase again, on my own. 

So, I have started doing something new each day, I simply try to please God. I seek only His favor and follow His precept. In doing this I am a good wife, a good mom, a good HR Director and a good friend. It takes the focus off of me and puts it where it was designed to be, full-on with God.

I challenge you today to simply try to please God and watch as all the other stuff just fall in place.

Enjoy being Full-On with God! Tammy

People look at me in amazement when I tell them about what I learned at my dinner table when I was young.  You see, my mother made 4 different meals every night so that each one of us would eat what was served.  My sister Dawn would not eat dairy except ice cream, so she got ice cream every night.  Debbie would not eat any food that touched some other food so her food was always carefully placed to ensure she would eat.  My Dad would not eat “rabbit food” so he had meat and potatoes.  And me…I would not eat peas, Yuk! And my mom, bless her heart, she ate a combination of the 4 other meals she prepared. Oh, and the rule in our house was you never had to eat everything on your plate, just eat what you wanted and leave the rest.

I never dreaded coming to the table, I never tried to feed my dog under the table.  Dinner time was a time of nourishment that was catered specifically to me, great conversation, (a little teasing Debbie, who I could make run from the table crying by opening my mouth with chewed food) and a life lesson Dad would teach. Dinner time was 5:00, Mom was consistent, all 5 of us, every day.

The Christian Band, Leeland has a great song called “Carried to the Table.”  As a child of God,  I have a choice to take my seat at the Table of the Lord, but how many times do I stay outside to play or throw what He has for me to the dog under the table or I slip out of my seat and hide under the table in shame.   

When I think about it I don’t belong at His table, but everyday he sweeps me away and carries me to His table, consistent, just like my Mom.  He chooses me, He asks me to sit with Him, He prepares a meal specifically for me.  When I look at the other people sitting at the table with me their plates don’t look anything like mine. My plate is bright pylon orange with hot pink poke a dots, but the man sitting next to me, his plate is just plain light blue and the girl across from me has light pink flowers all over her plate. The funny thing is they are all excited by the decorated plate they have, just like I am. It was catered to our personality. And our cups, they each have a different measure in them, some are barely filled, others are filled to the brim, yet as I look around, others have half full/half empty cups depending on my perspective that meal. 

But what I do notice, that is different than my childhood dinner table, is that we all have the same food on the plate. We are all learning the same biblical principals just in different quantities. My plate has a large helping of submission and self control while I see others with large helpings of letting go of fear, or learning to have confidence or learning to be honest, or being less prideful.  All plates that would be easier for me to swallow but God know’s I don’t need that nourishment right now.  He knows I must eat of submission and self control.

He has catered to me so why is it so hard to accept the food on my plate?  Why are His life lessons harder to take than my Dad’s? Maybe, because it is fun to stay outside and play? Or what if He asks me to try the mushy peas of self control or submit everything on my plate? Fear strikes that I am not good enough, I am weak, I am broken, I am lost and alone so I slip off my chair and sit under the table with the dog.

He says “No, get back in your seat.” Choose me, I chose you! He shows me biblical hope that He has the master plan and I just have to eat what He has set before me. It may be mushy but He will be there sitting next to me encouraging me to do what’s right. He will cradle me with His Love, His Grace and His Mercy.  In my weakness under the table, I realize I am still sitting in His Holy presence, I am healed and unashamed. I don’t see my brokenness anymore so I climb back up and take my rightful seat at His Table.  Prepared for what He has to give me, the nourishment I need, the life lessons and even a little teasing!   

What is on your decorated plate today? And what does your plate look like?

God does not need your capabilities, He just needs your availability!

Come sit at the Table of the Lord with me. Dinner time is 5:00, sharp!  Tammy

What are you pursing today?  It is that time of year to re-evaluate what we want to change in life, I see it all around Fellowship Technologies, some people are in search of career advancements or to be more organized, to get in shape or to be more loving and forgiving or to show more respect.  All worthy and noble goals but really the only goal to pursue in 2008 is to grow deeper in your relationship with Jesus Christ, the One and Only. To be called His loved one is more than enough. You will never find a love like His! He calls us to be better than we are, to die to self and fill up with the Holy Spirit for His glory. Just so others will want to know and be loved by Him, like you. 

I have found that all the goals I set are really all about what I think will bring me more significance, which is all together wrong and sinful.  I know I am not alone in this goal setting style but it always amazes me how many people want power without reason, want control so they can be at the center of attention, want instant wealth and want glory and praise from others.  Why, like me, are so many people stuck in the rut of “I can do it, myself!” Why is it so hard to say “I can’t? But God can!” maybe because we might actually have to surrender our all to Jesus and sacrifice to self.  Isn’t it true that the only genuine happiness comes from living in the will of God and obeying Him? Let’s do just that this year, let’s pursue God with that same intoxicating passion that we pursue all of our other goals. But let’s make sure this is one goal we follow through on!

Pursue with Passion, Tammy     

My determined purpose is that I may know Him, that I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him, perceiving and recognizing and understanding the wonders of His person. Phil 3:10