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All good. Thanks for commenting. I believe recruiters can help employers realise the negative aspects of their culture. I think it's our job to raise them and

All good. Thanks for commenting. I believe recruiters can help employers realise the negative aspects of their culture. I think it's our job to raise them and help employers understand why people will/won't join them. After all, we used to have the title 'consultant' after recruitment.

chrisbennet 9y ago
I hear you but (sadly) I just don't think it is possible to change an organization's culture with external input. For example; if the company views software developers as "code monkeys" their culture is going to reflect that. To really change the culture you would need to change the way they view developers and that seems like a tough nut to crack. Here is something that can tell you without giving away the "tells" that developers use to sense a company would be bad to work for: Convince your clients what the actual marker rate is for developers vs. what they wish it was. If you are paying the true market rate, you can hire developers without much trouble. As Joel Spolsky put it: "Now, let’s review some microeconomics. In a free market, it is almost axiomatic that the market always clears. That’s a technical term that means that when somebody tries to sell something, if they are willing to accept the market price, they will be able to sell it, and when somebody wants to buy something, if they are willing to pay the market price, they will be able to buy it. It’s just a matter of both sides accepting the market price." https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2000/06/15/whaddaya-mean-you-cant-find-programmers/ https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2000/06/15/whaddaya-mean-you-... Here's another way to convince your clients that the market rate is somewhere higher than what they are offering: Would you still have trouble finding developers if you paid $1 million dollars a year? No? Than the true market rate is somewhere between what the company is offering now and $1 million dollars.
- MarkPearce 9y ago
  I see your point. I think the culture is set by those leading a business. Then again, those leading should listen to both internal and external factors that drive culture. In recruitment, I regularly hear 'they're too old for this position' or 'they're too experienced.' In 2017. I challenge thinking like this by trying to find out the real objection. 90% of the time it's a different objection that's normally easy to overcome. The remaining 10% can't be helped. The last example was a 63-year-old engineer who started for us last week - deemed too old and past it by an employer. It won't change overnight, but it can change gradually. Thanks for your comments and for sharing that link. A good read.

chrisbennet 9y ago

I hear you but (sadly) I just don't think it is possible to change an organization's culture with external input. For example; if the company views software developers as "code monkeys" their culture is going to reflect that. To really change the culture you would need to change the way they view developers and that seems like a tough nut to crack. Here is something that can tell you without giving away the "tells" that developers use to sense a company would be bad to work for: Convince your clients what the actual marker rate is for developers vs. what they wish it was. If you are paying the true market rate, you can hire developers without much trouble. As Joel Spolsky put it: "Now, let’s review some microeconomics. In a free market, it is almost axiomatic that the market always clears. That’s a technical term that means that when somebody tries to sell something, if they are willing to accept the market price, they will be able to sell it, and when somebody wants to buy something, if they are willing to pay the market price, they will be able to buy it. It’s just a matter of both sides accepting the market price." https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2000/06/15/whaddaya-mean-you-cant-find-programmers/ https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2000/06/15/whaddaya-mean-you-... Here's another way to convince your clients that the market rate is somewhere higher than what they are offering: Would you still have trouble finding developers if you paid $1 million dollars a year? No? Than the true market rate is somewhere between what the company is offering now and $1 million dollars.

MarkPearce 9y ago
I see your point. I think the culture is set by those leading a business. Then again, those leading should listen to both internal and external factors that drive culture. In recruitment, I regularly hear 'they're too old for this position' or 'they're too experienced.' In 2017. I challenge thinking like this by trying to find out the real objection. 90% of the time it's a different objection that's normally easy to overcome. The remaining 10% can't be helped. The last example was a 63-year-old engineer who started for us last week - deemed too old and past it by an employer. It won't change overnight, but it can change gradually. Thanks for your comments and for sharing that link. A good read.