AI Recruiting ~ For The Lotus Root

To date, the Lotus root cannot be holistically cultivated by a machine. It is true that at some point in time, machines will be able to replace humans but at this time, it is not possible. The root cannot be broken or damaged as it is extracted from the field. If it breaks it becomes contaminated.

Recruiting in concept should be similar to gathering the delicate Lotus root. They should

Have a clear idea of what they need
Have identified resources and complex networks to use
Understand how to talk to people
Understand how to work with others
Understand ecosystems and nature

In reality, recruiting today is more like robotic fishing.

High usage of automation
Filtering through technical netting
Lack of understanding of the environment and impact on harvesting
Lack of sensitivity to the larger ecosystem
Lack of common respect for the environment

War for Talent is a War on Talent

24. WAR IS A MERE CONTINUATION OF POLICY BY OTHER MEANS.

We see, therefore, that War is not merely a political act, but also a real political instrument, a continuation of political commerce, a carrying out of the same by other means. All beyond this which is strictly peculiar to War relates merely to the peculiar nature of the means which it uses. That the tendencies and views of policy shall not be incompatible with these means, the Art of War in general and the Commander in each particular case may demand, and this claim is truly not a trifling one. But however powerfully this may react on political views in particular cases, still it must always be regarded as only a modification of them; for the political view is the object, War is the means, and the means must always include the object in our conception. – Source: Carl von Clausewitz, On War, trans. Col. J.J. Graham. New and Revised edition with Introduction and Notes by Col. F.N. Maude, in Three Volumes (London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & C., 1918). Vol. 1. Chapter: CHAPTER I: WHAT IS WAR?

Topping the list of concerns of CIO’s is this idea that they can’t find the people they need to work on complex tasks.

Why can’t they find the people they need?

The reason they can’t find talent is because they

don’t know what they need
don’t know what they are looking for
tracking a moving target
are transforming
are busy
believe they they know and don’t like the choices or answers provided

Subscription Workforce

This idea of war is interesting. Leaders are often driven to war and fighting concepts as opposed to peace and unification. A large contingent of these leaders have no understanding of war. The lifetime of a war-fighter is not shaped only by her knowledge or experience; it is shaped by her drive, motivation, curiosity, passion and underlying commitment to the cause. This is true but it is also true that war and war-fighters are driven by contract and cash flow “In all countries engaged in war, experience has sooner or later pointed out that contracts with private men of substance and understanding are necessary for the subsistence, covering, clothing, and moving of any Army.” ¾ Robert Morris, Superintendent of Finance, 1781

It is a subscription model of man, material and machine that has perpetuated and supported the mechanism of war for many in human history. The relationship is complex, dynamic and fluid.

The government understands this model and has used and applied it for many years. Many government civilians exchanged their military uniforms for government jobs in order to continue their service. Many contractors or consultants are also from the ranks but there were opportunities for those who could not serve or who chose not to serve. The complicated nature of this model is a high transaction expert workforce with continuity of mission, vision, purpose, scope and objective as executed by the demands of policy extended though defense and war activities. The catch? It costs a lot of money.

A subscription workforce model in the civilian world is also not a new concept. The technologies are newer along with global reach, virtual workforce and demand management exponentially.

The subscription workforce model is moving towards fast micro-transactions with a floating contingent workforce. This introduces a lack of certainty but with the demands on CIO’s to lower cost of delivery and support, this is the price companies are willing to pay.

The Grid ~ Network, Relationships and War

The “War for Talent” is a “War on Talent.”

Companies can’t find the talent they need to get the job done.

Imagine you are a chef, the phone rings and you are asked if you know how to make soup. Let us assume you have 20 years of experience including many years of soup making. You tell the recruiter that you are an experienced person and you have the ability to “hit the ground running.” The recruiter takes a 5.5 second look at your resume and determines you would be a good candidate for the job. She passes your name to the hiring manager or corporate HR person for consideration. The hiring manager looks at your resume and without discussion makes a determination that you can’t make the soup they are looking for. End of story.

In another scenario, the hiring manager says they will “talk to the person” and through discussion never asks about what the person (you) “can do” only asks what the person “does or did.” End of story.

The hiring manager or representative from the company may not even understand what the person should do. They don’t know.

The focus is on experience as listed on a resume, a lack of understanding around what is actually needed, a lack of understanding of human factors and the idea that people only matter at the particular moment that they individually represent the “most value.”

The basic foundation of success in war is “clarity.” Even the bad guys in history were consistent in their vision.

Today, it is more likely that a person will get a job through a relationship. This relationship is a token of trust that is passed on from a person to another. The burden of building trust through a document or LinkedIn or an electronic system is so high, that the likelihood of success in gaining a great resource or employment is low. Yet, companies are spending more dollars on technological systems in order to pipeline more options and perform analysis on these. All in order to find the “right fit.” What that means is an enigma. If you break the code or understand it, you could get in and/or be accepted. The result is a breakdown of trust in the market. To compensate for lack of trust, companies have to entice people with benefits or money. This has created a break down in communication and results in increased risk on delivery.

Companies can’t deliver on promises. They have to buy solutions to deliver. What they lose in consolidated cookie cutter solutions is differentiation, diversity and market position. In fact, the more companies look like one another because of these behaviors, the less attractive they become to the workforce and consumers.

The reason why companies can’t deliver or find the talent is their lost motivation to focus on trust, integrity, respect and clarity of concern for the people they are looking to serve in all directions. An H-1B visa won’t fix that and Watson, Alexa or OK Google won’t fix it. It is a core value that when damaged, creates a vacuum.

Seven Months

For these seven months a year men and women go to harvest the Lotus root.

The Lotus root is valued at about $3.80 USD per pound. The per dollar cost of a consumers food dollar is close to

If this were a technology market, we would automatically look to disrupt labor, after all it is the highest cost. The problem for US based companies is they have very little time to understand what is happening in this band of labor, they are just under pressure to reduce.

The outcome is simple; damage the root as it comes from the earth and the product is devalued. As you push harder to introduce new ways to extract the root, you damage the ecosystem and your brand. All this starts to feel hard and confusing, you seek easy answers. Easy is lazy and less thoughtful, it makes things worse. It starts to feel like pain. Pain turns into need and need turns to knee jerk. This continues and creates an illusion of market scarcity. Market scarcity in required labor to support and deliver creates a real need to leverage consolidated services. Brand is diminished and… you know the rest.

Let us start with honesty, build trust, show integrity and respect. Let us work on the fundamentals of basic humanity. Real change and real disruption starts with a clear effort to focus on workforce engagement. If companies are know to love, honor and respect talent, they will never have a problem finding it.

Howie, I agree, that basic humanity requires that we know that we don’t fill the human heart with things but with love and if we know this than there is no scarcity because that is the flip side of love (lost of love) which produces fear. Abundances only can come from loving each other and this planet and by so doing we can create the right environment of respect and shared humility with each and every human in our workforce, in our industry and industry support lanes as well as all the constructiveness of human transformation to eternal life.

Reducing labor cost is something of a small view of the world because with labor costs also comes a growing economy and with a growing economy comes more products and services. When Henry Ford made a plan to sell his cars at a price that the common man could afford, he was’t thinking of lowering labor costs but he did introduce product line assemblies which improved performance and probably cut labor costs but he knew that his workers had to have enough income to afford a car. The goal of a product manager or any business manager has to take into account many issues and labor costs are only one. Every cost item on the list of production has labor, for example there is labor to create energy or to transport products, etc. The problems come into our humanity when our leadership gets small minded about short term gains and not the overriding purpose of the organization or business venture. Keeping the overall intent moves us not to isolate costs but to look at the bigger picture. And when we see the bigger picture we can see more clearly that performance is a better judge of improvement than cutting costs.

I think the real dilemma for mankind will be how we use artificial intelligence and automation in the future. It will require us to rethink our exchange of wealth for goods and services in a way that at this time we are struggling to see. Maybe a plumber or roofer will make more than a doctor some day… unless we can automate theses services. The problem will always be when only a few kids have all the marbles, then only they can play the game. But when our college educated folks cannot find a job because they don’t have skills to do the labor that we now look at as menial then how will they contribute to the economy and be satisfied with they lives?

LikeLike

One thought on “War for Talent #Perspective”

batdorfr says:

March 8, 2017 at 5:04 am

Howie, I agree, that basic humanity requires that we know that we don’t fill the human heart with things but with love and if we know this than there is no scarcity because that is the flip side of love (lost of love) which produces fear. Abundances only can come from loving each other and this planet and by so doing we can create the right environment of respect and shared humility with each and every human in our workforce, in our industry and industry support lanes as well as all the constructiveness of human transformation to eternal life.

Reducing labor cost is something of a small view of the world because with labor costs also comes a growing economy and with a growing economy comes more products and services. When Henry Ford made a plan to sell his cars at a price that the common man could afford, he was’t thinking of lowering labor costs but he did introduce product line assemblies which improved performance and probably cut labor costs but he knew that his workers had to have enough income to afford a car. The goal of a product manager or any business manager has to take into account many issues and labor costs are only one. Every cost item on the list of production has labor, for example there is labor to create energy or to transport products, etc. The problems come into our humanity when our leadership gets small minded about short term gains and not the overriding purpose of the organization or business venture. Keeping the overall intent moves us not to isolate costs but to look at the bigger picture. And when we see the bigger picture we can see more clearly that performance is a better judge of improvement than cutting costs.

I think the real dilemma for mankind will be how we use artificial intelligence and automation in the future. It will require us to rethink our exchange of wealth for goods and services in a way that at this time we are struggling to see. Maybe a plumber or roofer will make more than a doctor some day… unless we can automate theses services. The problem will always be when only a few kids have all the marbles, then only they can play the game. But when our college educated folks cannot find a job because they don’t have skills to do the labor that we now look at as menial then how will they contribute to the economy and be satisfied with they lives?

LikeLike

Comments are closed.