How To Find Employees For Your Contracting Company (ft. Erin Longmoon)

Logan Shinholser
Hey, everyone. Welcome back to Contractor Growth Network. I’m Logan Shinholser and today I have a recruiting expert. I have Erin Longmoon from Zephyr Connects. Erin specializes in recruiting services tailored for small businesses with a focus on aligning company culture with employee values. Her approach is personalized, addressing the unique hiring challenges and opportunities in small business and contracting company environments. Erin advises on employee retention, positive workplace culture and strategies to attract top talent. She’s also a speaker and writer on human resources, small business growth and employee engagement. She’s even worked with some of our top clients over here at CGM. Erin will be speaking at the new era of contracting virtual summit on January 24 and 25th. Enjoy this awesome conversation with Erin Longmoon. Let’s get into it. Erin is big on the separation between recruiting and hiring.

Logan Shinholser
So we asked her what the differences between the two are.

Erin Longmoon
For us at Zephyr, we believe that the recruiting is the prehire process. It’s what you do to market your job, find job seekers that are interested in your role. You know, basically you’re trying to get people to apply, interviewing, vetting, that whole process is recruiting. Once you actually make an offer, someone becomes an employee. That’s like hiring. And there’s a small little window in which you’re actually hiring, which could be the negotiations of the job offer. You might be checking some references, there’s some back and forth. Maybe there’s an employment agreement. That’s like a little hiring window. That’s when you’re actively hiring someone. So for us, that’s the big key difference.

Logan Shinholser
Why have a difference? Like, why did you actually separate the two versus just putting it all under this one blanket, which is either recruiting or hiring.

Erin Longmoon
Right. Well, and that’s like industry terminology, really, you know, and what we’re trying to do is educate people so that when they’re having conversations with people like us, for example, or HR professionals or even just within their team, they’re making a distinction because the recruiting process is a really key component, obviously, of finding the right people. So you want to use the right terminology, the right definition, so that you can understand what it is you’re actually talking about when you’re talking to people about the whole process from start to finish and finish, if that makes sense. So for us, we want to distinguish. We are a recruiting company, for example, we do the recruiting piece. The hiring is what the client does. And that distinction is very important.

Logan Shinholser
I see. So in the marketing world, it’s like we can bring you the lead, but the actual sale is what you would consider to be the hiring. So it kind of separates the two, because I know I hear a lot of contractors say things like, well, I can’t hire anyone good. And I guess when you give a blanket statement like that, it’s kind of hard to understand where their problem is. Is it a recruiting problem? Is it an actual, like, process of the hiring problem? Can you talk a little bit more about how they kind of feed into each other?

Erin Longmoon
Yeah, sure. So they’re. Exactly what you’re saying is true. So you have a recruiting process, and in that process, there’s many facets that go into that. And if something about your for, we’ll just say in the large scope of like, finding and hiring employees, if something isn’t working right, it is very important to narrow that down to a more micro level to figure out what might either be broken or the approach you’re taking just isn’t really effective. So is that a recruiting piece or is it once it rolls into the hiring piece, or is it even the post hire? Maybe those are fine. And it’s the post hire piece that’s really the challenge. Now you’re talking about onboarding and training and all sorts of big things that happen after the hire as well.

Erin Longmoon
So they just, they all kind of have to coalesce together in order to be successful.

Logan Shinholser
Everyone talks about company culture, but how does that actually impact your recruiting and hiring processes?

Erin Longmoon
I’m really glad you’re asking about that. So company culture, they’re buzzwords, I know right now, but it’s because there’s a lot of truth behind why they’re becoming so focused right now. Company culture is pivotal. It’s critical in order to really have a thriving company so you can hire people, you can serve your clients, but if you really don’t focus on company culture, it becomes very challenging to grow your business to serve more people. You’ll have obviously, a lot of higher, what we call attrition rate or like turnover rate. You’ll have higher turnover rate if you don’t focus on company culture. Ultimately, we see a significant difference between our clients that have put time and intention into their company culture and so many components all the way down to their profit margins than the clients that we have who really haven’t spent any time there.

Erin Longmoon
And they’re kind of just hiring warm bodies, so to speak. You want to know your company culture, and I think, you know, it’s going to be worth us talking about what that looks like in a minute, but. Or like what that means, really. But it informs who you’re looking for. It’s going to inform the kind of messaging you need to put out there to hire or to attract the right kinds of people. That company culture is really like your foundation. And I know a lot of people, this podcast who are listening are in the contractor world, obviously. So I think that analogy really fits well. Here is the culture is going to be your foundation for everything else to get built upon. And it’s going to, you know, help you, like I said, identify the right people.

Erin Longmoon
It’s going to help you make the right kind offers. It’s going to help you with onboarding, it’s going to help you with retention. It’s just culture is just so critical to the whole picture of all of it.

Logan Shinholser
So what are some things, if somebody is in this stage where they’re wanting to hire, but maybe they haven’t quite defined a company culture, or maybe they have one and they don’t even know that it exists, what are some things that companies can be doing to actually, I guess, drive their company towards their desired culture?

Erin Longmoon
First off, let’s back up a little bit. You are totally right. Every, so every company has a culture. We just do. Just like everybody has core values, which, by the way, is one of the foundational pieces of what culture is about, is your core values. It’s just, can you articulate it? Can you describe it? Is it something that you built intentionally, or is it just sort of been reactive to maybe as you layered on more and more people, for example, in the kind of culture that they brought in to your company? So is it like a modge podge or a mishmash? Or is it a truly intentional, focused culture? And there’s a big difference in those two things, and the effects of those two things are really important.

Logan Shinholser
Talk to me about the difference of a company culture where it’s very intentional versus the reactional company culture.

Erin Longmoon
So intentional culture is going to be a company. And we’ve got, most of our clients are like this, as is our company, where we’re going to take time and make effort into thinking about and designing, you know, intentionally designing what our culture is going to be. So part of that is identifying those core values. I mentioned that is truly at the heart. The other piece that’s at the heart is why? Why do you exist at all? You know, what is it that your company is about? And I think it’s easy to answer the question of, well, I’m a design build company. We help people build beautiful homes or things like that. But why? Why does that matter? And you kind of have to keep peeling away these layers of why.

Erin Longmoon
Until you get to this really core piece of the why, that’s going to be a huge part of the culture that should drive the culture forward. Then those core values are there. Every company also has sort of like a personality, we call it at Zephyr. And you think about, like, the adjectives that describe your company. You know, are you a very fun company? Are you silly? Are you highly professional? Are you very serious? Are you by the book? Are you like, there’s just so many different adjectives, right. To be able to articulate what those things are. And if you have a company culture where you’re like, I don’t. This doesn’t resonate.

Erin Longmoon
This doesn’t feel like it is true to who I am, especially as a founder, for example, or maybe your leadership team, you know, the core foundation group of people in your team, then that’s when you want to start figuring out, how do we pivot this? Because it is very common for the first few years of a business, even sometimes the first ten of creating a very, as you said, reactive culture. You just don’t even think about it. You just kind of, like, are going through the motions, trying to build a business, trying to get clients do all the things you do as a business owner. And then you wake up one day and you’re like, okay, this is, this. This company doesn’t even feel like it’s something I recognize or that resonates.

Erin Longmoon
So that’s when, you know, you got to stop, do the exercises, take the time to think it through, talk it out. There’s lots of different ways to do it, lots of different strategies and tactics, and then. And then start to figure out how to pivot to something that’s more authentic.

Logan Shinholser
What are some of the strategies look like to pivot from? If somebody sits down and they look at their culture and they go, this is just not what I want. We have kind of stumbled upon this, but I really, I want to take this thing in this other direction. How does somebody start to go from point a to point b as far as shifting and pivoting that company culture?

Erin Longmoon
Right. Well, okay, so if there is the assumption that they’ve not only figured out that the company culture isn’t what they want, but they also have a clear vision of what they do want, because that’s number one. You got to have a clear vision. Then you want to start figuring out, there’s many different ways. Right? Like, oftentimes cultures are surrounded by people, policies, procedures, we call them guiding principles. Like, there’s all different components of where you need your culture to kind of be infused within. So, you know, you kind of have to decide for your own company what’s going to make the most sense. But it might be that you need to start with your people.

Erin Longmoon
Maybe there are some core people on your team that you need to try to coach and work with to see if you can get them to sort of pivot closer to what you’re looking for. And if nothing, then it might be time to change them out and to start hiring people who really do fit that ultimate vision of what you’re trying to go for. There’s a ton of other. Like I said, changing processes sometimes can help even your clients. Sometimes you need to even pivot who you’re serving in order to really align with your culture.

Logan Shinholser
Next, I asked Erin how to identify who your ideal employee is and how do you take that information and evaluate your current employees?

Erin Longmoon
Yeah, that’s a. Yeah, big question there. I think we have to kind of step back a little bit. Again, going to the idea of clarity. We’ve got to have a lot of clarity around who is going to be the right kind of person for your company. We, at Zephyr, we call them your employee Persona. And so. And because you’re a marketing firm, hopefully, you know, this will resonate with your listeners, too. But, you know, in the marketing world, you think of your, you know, target client, right? And you kind of create this sort of Persona or profile for them. You want to do the same thing for your employee as well. So take a step back and kind of paint the picture of who your ideal employee is and think about the culture.

Erin Longmoon
As a matter of fact, don’t even start with the job itself. It doesn’t matter what the role is. Just think about the kind of people that are going to fit well with your company culture, whether it’s already established, strong culture, or whether it’s a culture you want to pivot to, the same holds true. You want to have a clear vision, and you want to create a true Persona profile for them. And it could be everything from. And one of the most important things is core values. Going back to that core values thing, you don’t have to have employees have the exact same core values as your company’s core values, but you want to make sure they’re aligned. You want to make sure that they’re not in opposition. And so when you’re thinking about your employee Persona, start with those core values.

Erin Longmoon
You know, think about all the ways that, like, you need to make sure that all your new hires or your existing people on your team need to align with the core values of the company, for example. And so as you get more clarity on who you’re looking for, it’s going to be easier to know to, if someone on your team is really, is it that they really don’t fit. They’re just, they don’t fit that Persona anymore. Maybe they, maybe they were a great fit for your company, even for a few years. But something has grown you. Your company has grown, right? Maybe you’ve outgrown that. Maybe they’ve outgrown you. Maybe they want something more than you can offer. And that is all. Okay? Like, nobody should really believe this idea that employees should be with us forever because that’s just not true.

Erin Longmoon
And so, but again, going back to the clearer you have that Persona, the easier it’ll be to figure out who’s going to be the right fit, who isn’t. And then if you can’t, you might have some people who teeter. You’re like, well, I think the core values are great, but there’s some other cultural pieces that don’t seem to fit. And see if you can coach, you know, see if you can train them, coach them, and then if you just cannot, then it is time to part ways. And then when you go into the next recruiting cycle, when you try to find the next person to replace them, that’s where you really want to up level and start truly only hiring for culture. Fitzgerald.

Logan Shinholser
Love it. And I like the tie into, like, the idea of marketing where you have your employee Persona, but you also have, like, your ideal client Persona. And I know I’ve heard you talk in the past a bit about how recruiting is a lot like marketing. So can you talk to me a bit about, I guess, the similarities of recruiting and marketing in the business realm?

Erin Longmoon
Yeah, absolutely. And it’s like marketing and sales. I’ll talk about the marketing first, and then it just naturally pivots into sales. But so today’s recruiting world is different than it was when at least I first joined the job market, which was a long time ago. And it’s going to continue to shift and modernize. And one of the ways that it needs to modernize is being seen not as an HR function, in my opinion. This is my own opinion. I get a lot of pushback sometimes on this, but I really, truly believe that the recruiting process is a sales and marketing, and then it becomes HR. The moment you’re in that hiring discussion, when you get to that hiring piece of then it becomes about HR. And sales is in there too, to be honest.

Erin Longmoon
But when you look at the recruiting piece, you’re trying to attract the right people. So again, you’re trying to attract not just a number, quantity of job applicants, but the right applicants. That is marketing. You use marketing strategies, marketing techniques to do that. You need to stand out. You know, you need, there’s, we’re in the swiping and scrolling world and that is no different anymore in the job. You know, like in the recruiting space, most job seekers now look at jobs on their mobile phones and they’re teeny tiny screens and they’re just scrolling and scrolling. So you have to get them to notice you fast enough that they stop and they read your job posts. Because if you just look like everybody else, they’re just going to keep going by.

Erin Longmoon
So you need to think of it as that marketing of how do I attract, get noticed and attract the right people. So that’s the big piece. And then it pivots into sales. Once you actually are in a dialogue now with someone, right now you’re having a sales conversation and they’re trying to sell you on them, but you are also trying to sell them on your organization and what you have to offer. So you need to think of that conversation as kind of a little bit more sales, like showing all of your benefits, showing how you can help them solve problems, reach their goals, all the ways that you can help serve their needs. And that’s going to be a pivotal point in the conversation as well.

Logan Shinholser
Recruiting is not just a one sided conversation. So I asked Erin, how do you actually sell your company to prospective employees?

Erin Longmoon
If you want to be able to find the right people and really build the company the way that you want, then you need the right people. And that right people, that relationship needs to be more of a partnership. And so when you’re really looking at it that way, it’s like I can’t grow my company’s ever connects to where I want to be without the right people. So I need to sell these amazing people who walk through my door when I’m recruiting on our vision, on our mission. I need to sell them on where we’re going and how we can support their own personal growth goals, their own personal career goals.

Erin Longmoon
What a great place to work is the kind of leadership that they’re going to benefit from because I want them to stick around, you know, and I want them to be a pivotal part of me achieving those goals. I don’t want just one warm bodies that are punching a clock. And so if you’re just focusing on the paycheck and that’s all you’re trying to sell, is like, hey, I’ll pay you another dollar an hour than the guy down the street, you’re really just going to get people who aren’t going to give it their all. They’re not going to stay, they’re going to leave for another $0.50 that the next person’s going to offer them down the street, you know, and so again, it depends on where you’re at in your growth. It depends on your ultimate goals.

Erin Longmoon
But if you really, truly want a strong team, then you have to sell them that you’re the right company. The other piece is we’re in a very competitive job market, especially in construction. You know, it’s, there’s not as many construction people in the contractor world as there are jobs and as there are companies. So you want them to pick you over your competitor down the street, you know, and so if you want that and you get someone amazing, you’re going to have to sell them. You’re going to sell them on the culture and all those pieces, not just the paycheck.

Logan Shinholser
And on that idea back to the sell them on the culture. There’s this notion in the trades that it’s just, you show up, you work hard, you go home, and that’s about it. How important is showing and selling the culture when it comes to the recruiting process, specifically in the trades where it feels like more of this gristly, salt of the earth people that you’re going.

Erin Longmoon
After for whatever reason. And I think it’s because of our own core values and who we attract. We attract a lot of clients who are actually trying to disrupt this aspect of the industry. They are trying to offer a different kind of place to work than that ubiquitous, you know, kind of just salt of the earth. And, you know, it’s even, I’ll be honest, I’m going to go so far as, say, somewhat unhealthy. You know, there tends to be higher rates of smoking, higher rates of drinking in this industry, higher rates of injury. I mean, it is a very physical job. It can be a very stressful job. Right. And so it depends on the role you’re in. But, you know, it’s pretty steeped in that kind of reputation, I guess you could say.

Erin Longmoon
And so we’ve got a lot of clients who are trying to disrupt that by creating healthier places to work, creating really great places to work. They are learning how to be really terrific leaders. They’re trying to develop their people, not just the skill of, you know, hanging a cabinet or refinishing wood or whatever it is, but also being, you know, people with emotional intelligence, people who can communicate well, and they’re investing in that. And then how that’s playing out is their attrition. Again, those turnover rates are much lower. The people are staying longer. They have lower injury rates, they have higher productivity. And at the bottom line, I mean, they’re. They’ve better profits, you know, then, like I said, even some of our clients who aren’t investing that much into the culture.

Erin Longmoon
So I think it’s, like, such an exciting time for the industry, because the other thing that we’re looking at is, you know, there’s a lot of people aging out of that industry who maybe were a part of that and that kind of ubiquitous culture reputation that the industry has. And you’ve got new people coming in. Not enough, but we do. We’ve got new people coming in who want something different than that, you know, and they’re excited about being a part of the change. So it’s a really exciting time, too.

Logan Shinholser
If all this sounds like a lot, we get it. We’ve been there. So I asked Erin, how do you actually know when it’s time to hire an outsourced recruiting firm versus just doing it all in house yourself?

Erin Longmoon
Yeah, that’s a really good question, and I wish I could say there’s a black and white answer. There kind of isn’t. It depends. I think that, you know, when you’re a newer company, for example, it’s not necessarily a great time. You don’t even really know exactly who your Persona is yet. You kind of have to date people for a while to figure out who your ideal employee is. And that’s true for all businesses. So there’s going to be a period of trial and error where it probably isn’t worth the investment. But then you get to a place like most of our clients, for example, have been in business for at least ten years, and they’re at the time now where they’re allowing people on their team to be able to hone in on their strengths.

Erin Longmoon
So the leader is focusing on their best and highest use, as we would say, and their leadership team is doing the same. And everybody on their team has a very strong role. It’s full time. They have no more hours to give to another project like recruiting, and no one on the team really has the skillset. You know, it’s, again, going back to that. When you pivot where the hiring you do is critical to the growth and the trajectory of your business. That is where I think it’s a really good time to start looking at the idea of outsourcing the service.

Logan Shinholser
And can you talk a little bit about when you’re saying a specific role is pivotal to the growth of the company? What does that mean?

Erin Longmoon
Sometimes you, again, going back to the warm body idea, right? Like sometimes you just need to get the job done and you just need people who are skilled enough to help you get through. But then you get to a point, I just, I remember this point for Zephyr even. It’s like I woke up one day and I was like, okay, I’m no longer just this, like, business. I’m trying to get off the ground. I’m now truly an employer and I now truly have, like, a solid enough of a company. I know what we’re doing. I know what we’re about that now it’s time for me to scale and grow it. Now, the people I have in my team. Team are critical.

Erin Longmoon
It doesn’t matter their role, whether they’re a recruiter or they’re on my leadership team or it’s my office manager, they all need to be able to hundred percent own their own, you know, role, carry their own bags, as you might say. You know, they can come up with their own ideas, their own solutions. They can, you know, like, I need the kind of people who don’t need to rely on me for the answer to every single question in order to move forward. That is a different kind of person, you know. And so that to me, is like, where it gets really pivotal, where you want to invest the right people. That’s when it becomes very important.

Logan Shinholser
If you decide to take this on yourself. Erin shared some really good insights into the overall recruiting process.

Erin Longmoon
So the things that you have to do, it’s like the process, by the way, is, you know, probably 20 steps. That’s a whole other podcast, and I’d be happy to do it with you. But there are some core things, you know, going back to that. Start with the Persona. Who are you truly looking for? Don’t just think, oh, I just need somebody who knows how to swing a hammer. Well, you know, going a little bit deeper than that. You want to write, this is one that’s really important. You want to write a really compelling job post. We talked a little bit earlier about how you’ve got to get attention. Even if you’re looking for carpenters, you need to get them to pay attention to your job post.

Erin Longmoon
There are so many carpenter job posts out there, so why should they stop and look at yours? Why should they, you know, apply to your position, for example. So you want it to be compelling, you want it to be eye catching. You want it to be, you know, enticing. But the other thing that I seed so many companies getting wrong on that is they’re not thinking about it from the perspective of the job seeker. So we think of it as, oh, I’ve got this great company, I’m just going to go sell it. But what if what I talk about doesn’t matter to the job seeker? So you got to stop for a minute and put yourself in their shoes and what really matters to them about their next job that they’re going to take. And that’s how you want to write your job post.

Erin Longmoon
You want to write it from that perspective. And later in your job post, you can start selling your company and talking about what you need. But first you want to address needs, and that’s really important as well. And that can make a huge difference in getting the right kind of candidates.

Logan Shinholser
So you talked a lot about just the job post. And it’s funny because I would say most contracting company owners either don’t have a job post or they created it on the back of a napkin in the span of five minutes. So when it comes to crafting and creating a job post, what are some things or elements of the job post that need to be in there for it to be effective?

Erin Longmoon
Okay, so there’s a number of things. I mean, the first thing we do at Zephyr is that first piece needs to be this, like, cat, you know, like this very compelling, quick message that grabs attention. We do it a couple different ways. We do it with what we call catch questions, which could be the very, very first thing on your job post. It might ask a question like, are you looking for, like, a healthier construction company? I’m making that up. That’s terrible. It’s not creative, but you get the idea right and you start painting this picture using these questions. And the reason why you do that is because people automatically answer questions when they’re asked in their head. And even if the question is not really one that they’ve thought about, and they’ll start answering it going, yes, no, yes.

Erin Longmoon
They’ll just automatically do it. And if you can get them to say yeses to your questions, they’re more likely to continue on and read. Right. So that’s why catch questions are super effective the other way we do it, which is also very effective. And these could be, they’re for specific kinds of positions and I can talk about if you’d like, but it’s like a story approach. So that’s where you’re actually, instead of asking these questions, you’re painting a picture of like the day in the life, for example. And these are really important approach when you are truly offering something quite different than the status quo, for example. Or it might be when, you know, the job seeker that you’re trying to attract is different than the typical job seeker, you know.

Erin Longmoon
And so for an example, we have a client who does design build and they wanted a designer, an interior designer, and they really attract their co client Persona. Their whole client demographic that they serve are the people who want really innovative design. They don’t want to look like Pottery Barn. They don’t want the late, you know, what everybody else is doing. They want things that are truly unique and different and have an impact and speak to that client’s personality. You know, all the things, they’re the kinds of people who you’re hoping to maybe get published in a dwell magazine or something, right? So that’s a different kind of designer. And that’s going to be super exciting to a designer who probably has been in a job where it’s like just pick the same tile everybody else has. Right.

Erin Longmoon
Or design the same space everybody else has. So you might want to use a story approach for that because you’re going to paint the picture of how different that job is than what they’re reading everywhere else. So hopefully that’s a little helpful. Then you definitely want to get into other components. Like once you kind of grab their attention, you’re selling them a little bit on the story. Then you want to start getting into things about your company and why. Why our company’s so awesome. So focus on culture. So the next paragraph might be about your culture. Another really effective thing to do, excuse me, is to add in quotes from your employees, like, just do a couple little testimonials of what it’s like to work there. Throw those in.

Erin Longmoon
Then below that is where you want to start getting into what you would see on a typical industry standard job post, where you’re going to be like, you know, here’s the role, here’s the responsibilities, here’s all the things you need to know, here’s the degree you need to have, like all the must haves and then the pay and all those details down below. So that’s sort of a basic structure.

Logan Shinholser
When you’re going through all this. I mean, this sounds like it’s going to be a longer job description. Is it meant to be a little bit longer than most? Or are you doing all that in the typical, you know, framework that most job descriptions are? And you’re just very, you know, it’s a very truncated story, a very truncated set of testimonials. Like, what does that look like?

Erin Longmoon
Like, well, if I understand your question, it depends. I mean, it is good to be, to take the time to write a longer one. You will have a better chance of attracting the right people if you’re truly painting the whole picture and saying the whole story. You know, we have some job posts that, you know, if you print it out, a piece of paper would be two pages long. Sounds like a lot. And I get that. And no, I can hear people saying, no one’s going to read all that. You’re right, a lot of people won’t read that, but those aren’t your people. Right? Like you don’t get, we got to get away from this idea of you want quantity and you want a ton of people to apply to your job. You actually don’t. You want quality.

Erin Longmoon
You want people who get excited about what you’re offering and what this job, you know, and what they can offer you too. Right? So the longer the job posts, the more likely you are to get people who are really sold on your job before they even apply. Sometimes, you know, which is really great, because then what they’ll do is they’re less likely to ghost you. They are less likely to drop out partway through like, they will. They will hang tight as you go through whatever vetting process you’ve decided. How many ever interviews, things like that. Now, I have to preface all of that with one thing, which is carpenters, laborers. Little different story with laborers.

Erin Longmoon
And we all know that laborers are used to walking on a job site saying, hey, I know how to do the work, and you hire them right on the spot. Right. And I cannot say, I wish I could say that, you know, everything’s changing and that doesn’t work anymore. That isn’t true. I mean, carpenters are really hard to find. They’re not going to sit through five interviews. You know, they don’t want to get on a Zoom call. They don’t want to go sit through a group interview, all those things. So you do have to shorten the process of vetting them and the thing about going back to the job post piece, I still would advise you to do a longer job post, but just make sure you’re getting the most important pieces covered early for those who do scan.

Erin Longmoon
And that’s the only job, I will say, in all the construction design build realm where I would say tolerate that. Otherwise, to all the listeners, I would say, you got it. That’s a clean line where you do it a little differently. But everybody else, you need to be very thorough and intentional and, you know, vet them very deeply.

Logan Shinholser
And when you’re trying to appeal to different roles when we’re talking about different things here, but how about different mindsets of employees? Meaning baby boomers have a very different, you know, mindset of how they approach work compared to, you know, millennials. And as a millennial, you know, we always hear it’s the laziest group out there. But then now we have Gen Z coming out and they’re all about social. So, like, I guess what is important for people that are trying to hire, maybe generations that don’t naturally align with how they think and how they approach their own business.

Erin Longmoon
Yeah, that’s interesting. That’s a longer conversation, too. And I’m going to admit I’m not the biggest expert on this topic, Logan, because a lot of that ends up being more on the leadership side of things like once they’re hired. But I do still fundamentally believe and have seen and in my own company and in clients who have multiple generations that going back to aligning them all together on that core value piece, the mission, the vision, like when you get everyone who can buy in to that core, right, all those differences still are going to come out in the way that they want to be communicated with, led, how they want to manage their own time, all those things. But you can unify them together, having this common kind of mission, right, or this common core piece.

Erin Longmoon
So going back to the recruiting, then if you again hire for that, if you can hire for that core fit, hire for those core values, then you can span the generations, but you can still build yourself a team that’s going to be very aligned. Then you have to start thinking about leadership and how do you lead these different generations and how do you tap into what is truly important to them? And, you know, there is an element there, too with your job post. You know, it’s, we got to be careful. There’s a lot of compliance around recruiting, just like there’s a lot of compliance around being an employer. So you don’t, you know, we got to be very cognizant of those things. But you also can think about that in your job post. You might even want to do a couple different ones.

Erin Longmoon
One that’s going to speak to, you know, more like Gen zs or millennials, and one that might want to speak to a more mature Gen X and maybe baby boomer or something like that. And that’s okay to do that. And then you’re pulling in people from different generations, different experiences, but there’s, again, all aligned on those same core pieces, and then you can create a pretty diverse team that way.

Logan Shinholser
Erin is speaking at the new era of contracting virtual summit. So I asked Erin, what does the new era of recruiting look like to her?

Erin Longmoon
Yeah, okay. So truly in my own words, and I alluded to it earlier, but it’s this idea of we are partners, we need to pivot. In my opinion, we need to significantly shift this relationship that employees and employers have. And it’s both recruiting, hiring, and once someone becomes an employee, it spans all of those phases, and it’s been an us versus them for over hundred plus, almost 200 years. It has a whole history with the industrial revolution. It is rooted in very old mindset, very old way of thinking, and an older way of working. And it is time to pivot that in a big way. So I believe we need to start thinking of our employees and employers together as partners. And we’re trying to achieve something together, you know, and it’s not all about the company.

Erin Longmoon
We’re trying to achieve things that also truly benefit the employees as well, sometimes way far beyond a paycheck, you know. And so we need to get away from that idea of us versus them and become a we.

Logan Shinholser
If you want to learn more from Erin and other industry experts, be sure to join us at the new era of contracting virtual summit on January 24 and 25th. The link is in the description. To learn more about the event, the other speakers get your ticket there and we’ll see you at the event.