2 APA cited sources for each question. Attracting and selecting the right talent

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2 APA cited sources for each question.

Attracting and selecting the right talent is critical to a company’s success. For tech companies, the process is even more critical since it’s the knowledge, skills, and abilities of their employees that determines these companies’ efficiency, innovation, and ultimately, financial achievements.125So, how do companies like Google and Facebook and even IBM and Microsoft attract the talent they need? As you’ll see, these companies use some unique approaches.

In trying to attract qualified candidates with technical skills and knowledge to consider a career at IBM, the mature tech company brought its Watson computer that beat two former Jeopardy champions in a televised match to Carnegie Mellon’s campus where students got a chance to challenge the computer during a symposium on Watson Modis, a global provider of IT staffing and recruiting, has an interesting philosophy about searching for talented tech types. As pressure has mounted on businesses to find qualified employees, the search for the “perfect” candidate has become increasingly competitive. This company calls this “search for perfection the quest for the ‘purple squirrel.’” Sometimes you just have to realize that, like the purple squirrel, the “perfect” candidate isn’t available or doesn’t exist. But that doesn’t mean you don’t try to find the best available talent. How do some of the big tech names spot talent?

For “mature” tech companies like IBM, Microsoft, and Hewlett-Packard (H-P), the challenge can be especially difficult since they don’t have the allure of start-ups or the younger, “sexier” tech companies. So these businesses have to “pour on the charm.” Take IBM, for instance. After its Watson computer beat two former Jeopardy champions in a televised match, the company hauled the machine to Carnegie Mellon, a top school, where students got a chance to challenge the computer. IBM’s goal: lure some of those students to consider a career at IBM. H-P is using the pizza party/tech talk approach at various schools trying to lure younger students before they get “snatched away by other tech companies and start-ups.” Microsoft, which was once one of those start-ups, has sent alumni back to schools to promote why Microsoft is a great place to take their talents. And it also hosts game nights, final-exam study parties, and appbuilding sessions and other events to try to lure students.

For companies like Facebook and Google, the search for talent is still challenging because of the increasing demand for and limited supply of potential employees. So even these companies have to be creative in spotting talent. Google, for instance, found they had been looking at resumes too narrowly by focusing (as expected) on education, GPA, and even SAT scores trying to find those candidates with the highest IQs. But they found that some of those so-called geniuses weren’t as effective on the job as expected. So, they began to “take a wider view.” Rather than looking at resumes the “traditional way, from top to bottom,” it began to look “upside down” at resumes, trying to find some “rare, special attribute that could point the way to greatness.” Facebook found that old-fashioned hiring channels weren’t getting the talent it needed fast enough. So it tried online puzzles and programming challenges to attract and spot talent. It was an easy, fast, and cheap approach to get submissions from potential candidates. Despite these unique approaches, it’s also true that younger tech companies, like these and many others, have a built-in appeal for candidates primarily because they’re what’s “in” and what’s “hot” right now. Also, in many of the younger tech companies, there’s no entrenched bureaucracy or cultural restrictions. If an employee wants to come to work in cargo shorts, t-shirts, and flip-flops, they do. In fact, 409410what attracts many talented employees to companies like these is the fact that they can set their own hours, bring their pets to work, have access to free food and drinks, and a variety of other perks.

1.

What does this case imply about the supply of and demand for employees and the implications for businesses?

2.

What’s the meaning behind the “search for the purple squirrel” in relation to spotting talent? Is this relevant to non-tech companies, as well? Discuss.

3.

Do you think “mature” tech companies are always going to have a more difficult time attracting tech talent? Discuss.

4.

What do you think of the approaches that Google and Facebook have tried? Explain.

5.

Put on your “creative” hat. You’re in charge of HR at a tech start-up. What suggestions can you come up with for “spotting talent?”

Explanation / Answer

balancing the supply an demand

If a business is short of employees to achieve the business objectives, effective recruitment strategies will need to be devised. Considerations will then relate to job design, career development, flexible work options, remuneration and reward programmes.

If a business has too many employees, effective strategies will need to be created to manage retirements, redundancies and if appropriate, dismissals.

2.)it relates to recruitment

Recruiters (internal and external) and hiring manager can afford to be very selective in their screening and interviewing process. Recruiters may receive hundreds and sometimes thousands of resumes for only one job opening.

Statistically, recruiters are receiving anywhere from four to nine times the number of resumes they received for open positions prior to two years ago. However, even with that large number of potential candidates, they are not receiving resumes from highly qualified candidates who meet the skills sets required of the open requisitions. Here are some reasons:

it is not related to non-tech companies

5.)

Personnel Fit: Fiegel said Wooga factors in personal relationships into the recruiting process, often placing personality fit over skills. If a personality doesnt fit, we dont hire, he said.

2) Referrals: Despite all the HR efforts, roughly 45% of new hires still came from referrals by current Wooga employees according to Fiegel. A players like to work with A players, he said. Another 35% come from direct applications via Woogas web site. The remaining 30% come from headhunters.

3) Gifts. Not Cash Bonuses. To retain employees, Wooga gives presents, not bonuses. I dont believe in them, Begemann has said of cash bonuses. The presents might be suitcases for travel, a high-end bicycle or a musical instrument. They are meant to be thoughtful expressions of appreciation by team leaders and company leaders to key employees. Fiegel said Wooga sees employees are not motivated by money but by support. It encourages Facebook groups, where employees pursue interest in food, families, video games or other hobbies.

4) Pro Development. The company offers a $1,500 professional development budget for workers sending them to conferences, classes or courses. It has brown bag lunches, where they eat with others and have a chance to share.

A Sane Schedule & Work/Life Balance. German startups are known to cultivate a better work-life balance than US startups. Instead of working around the clock and pulling all-nighters, for example, Wooga promotes a 9-6 or 10-7 kind of schedule.

6) Onboarding with Love. Fiegel also touted onboarding with love, meaning the company focused on integrating new employees into teams thoroughly, helping them through the Visa process and finding a home. Woogas workforce includes more than 40 nationalities and 55% coming from outside of Germany. The company grew to more 250 people last Summer, up from 120 during in 2011. Instead of a relocation package, Wooga offers new employees six weeks of apartment lodging and help from a staff-member to find an apartment, obtain a bank account, necessary insurances and other requirements when you move to Germany.

7) Dont Follow The Hippo. The company has programmers, designers and artists working in small, independent teams that have authority over their projects. A company motto is, Dont follow the Hippo: the highest paid persons opinion, Fiegel said. Its not about someones title, the rules. The creativity flow is what makes someone successful.

8) A Fun Office. Plants abound throughout the three spacious, loft-like floors at Wooga, creating a jungle effect. Animated characters from the games populate the office in the form of cardboard cutouts, large wall paintings and stickers. A kitchen offers the typical tech worker perks of coffee, beer and other goodies. Electronic boards show a meter that ticks higher as more uses play games, make downloads and buy extra tools within the games. Part of why we invest so much money into the new office is to make people comfortable and happy, he said.

Fiegel moved to the UK in September to work as a lead recruiter for NaturalMotion, another startup backed by one of the venture capital firms that backs Wooga, Balderton Capital. Meanwhile, Wooga celebrated its 5thanniversary this month and touted its 220 million players since 2009. The office grew 10-fold to 3,900 square meters in 2014, up from 390 square meters in 2009. It estimates each of its roughly 250 employees drank an average 400 cups of coffee per year.

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