#152: Unlocking the Secrets of Talent Recruiting for Business Success with Kimone Napier, Founder of Hire Breakthrough
Are you looking to unlock the secrets to talent recruiting success and make sure your business stands out from the competition? Whether you're experienced in finding top talent or just starting out, you know it takes more than a bullet-list of job requirements. It takes strategic insight, resilience, and a commitment to tapping into diverse backgrounds and skillsets -- all within an ever-changing industry. As career women who’ve made our mark on the corporate world by honing our own recruitment strategies, we understand how difficult this process can be. But don’t worry: we have knowledge from across industries that will give you insights into maximizing competitive advantages when searching for new employees.
On this episode of the podcast, I was joined by Kimone Napier, Founder of Hire Breakthrough and in this blog post, I’ll share with you the tips and tricks for staying ahead of the competition when it comes to hiring top talent!
Unveiling the Role of Talent Recruiting for Your Business
As a woman in a professional world, I cannot stress enough the importance of talent recruiting for your business. You should never underestimate the power of a strong and diverse team. The competition is fierce out there, and it takes more than just a great product or service to stand out. Recruiting talented and passionate individuals who can bring unique perspectives and skills to your team is a game-changer. It's also important to remember that recruiting is an ongoing process, not just a one-time event. You must constantly seek out and engage top-tier candidates so that you never miss out on the opportunity to bring on board the best of the best. Whether you're just starting out or are well established, make recruiting a top priority for your business, and the results will speak for themselves.
Leveraging Social Media and Networking to Find Qualified Candidates
In today's job market, finding the perfect candidate can feel like searching for a needle in a haystack. However, social media and networking have made it possible to cast a wider net and connect with qualified candidates like never before. As a savvy professional woman, you already know that LinkedIn is a great place to start your search. But don't stop there! Branch out to Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to tap into different talent pools. And don't forget to leverage your personal and professional networks to spread the word and gather referrals. With a little bit of wit and determination, you'll be sure to find the right candidate for your organization in no time.
Crafting an Effective Job Description that Attracts the Right People
Crafting an effective job description is key to attracting the right people for the job. As women in the professional world, we know the importance of presenting ourselves in the best light possible. Consider the job description as your elevator pitch - it's your chance to showcase why your company is the best place to work and why someone should choose you over other employers. Use witty and engaging language to capture the reader's attention and make them excited about the opportunity. Remember to be specific about the job responsibilities, requirements, and company culture. When done right, your job description will not only attract the right candidates but also set the expectations for what it's like to work in your company.
Here are 5 key elements to include in your job description:
1. Essential job duties and qualifications: This should include a list of key skills, experience, and certifications required for the particular role.
2. Company culture and mission statement: This will give prospective candidates a better idea of what it's like to work at the organization, as well as how they might fit in with its values.
3. Desired outcomes and career path: Providing a clear understanding of the goals and expected results of the position will help potential employees decide if it's right for them, as well as how they can progress within the company.
4. Competitive salary and benefits package: A competitive pay rate along with an attractive benefits package will help attract the best candidates for the role.
5. Workplace environment and hours: Potential applicants should have an understanding of where they'll be working, what type of hours they can expect, and what kind of atmosphere they can expect to find in the workplace.
Examining Crucial Interview Questions to Ask Candidates
Hello there, fellow professionals! Let's talk about examination of crucial interview questions when it comes to hiring candidates. As a woman in the professional world, I have found that asking the right questions can make all the difference in finding the right fit for your team. It can be tempting to stick to the standard questions, but why not add a little wit and personality to the mix? By asking unexpected questions, you can truly see how a candidate thinks on their feet and uncover their true potential. So, let's put our heads together and come up with some creative questions that will make you stand out as a savvy and engaging interviewer.
Listen to the Show:
Laura 00:00
Hello, and welcome to the Next Level Leap podcast. My name is Laura Meyer. And I'm thrilled to be your guide on this journey. With over 20 years experience as an entrepreneur and growth strategist for some of the country's fastest growing nonprofit and for profit organizations, I'm passionate about the power of marketing, creating massive positive change in the world. In this podcast, we'll explore how you can use marketing to create a ripple effect of change that will impact lives and communities for years to come. I'm so excited to share my insights and strategies with you and to help you discover how you can use your talents and skills to make a difference in the world. So let's dive in together and create a marketing report that will change the world.
Laura 00:41
Everybody, I want to introduce you to somebody that I met last fall and I was super impressed by and I just wanted to share her wisdom and her expertise with all of you. So I want to welcome to the show Kimone Napier, and she is the founder of higher breakthrough. And thanks so much for joining us.
Kimone 00:58
Thank you so much for having me, Laura. I'm so excited.
Laura 01:02
Yeah, it was so fun. We had, I think lunch together in New York City. And we were bonding and getting to know each other. And I was like, I love everything you have to say what you stand for. And I'm just excited to have you here, you're a hiring expert, you have a lot of knowledge and background, you've held really high level positions at big companies when it comes to HR. And today, you're all about helping companies make sure that they find that right fit person. And I've talked to previous guests about why like hiring unicorns, people who can do everything in anything, can actually hurt your business in the long run. And like what's your what's your take on that? I think a lot of people are looking, especially in the beginning stages of entrepreneurship, they're looking for the one person that can like do everything.
Kimone 01:48
Yeah, I definitely find that and it's and you know, I've experienced that myself where you know, you start a small, especially small business, you start off, you might not necessarily have all the funding upfront, but you really need the help. And you only know so much of what you know, and you're like, I need help in all these different areas. So you say to yourself, I need to find somebody that can help me with marketing, lead gen sales, tech, automation, all these things. And so what you start to look for is a unicorn. But you know, on the backside, a unicorn is really just a it's like a phrase and something that we uphold amongst the people that we're
going to employ in our business contractors and things that they cannot live to forever. And I think that's the problem with using the word and trying to find a unicorn, you will find people who are multifaceted.
Kimone 02:38
So they have a lot of interests, they're good at a lot of things. But eventually, that person will either burn out, or eventually they'll discover what it is that they like to do specifically in their business, or in your business specifically. So let's say you might hire somebody, and like initially, they're just like, oh, I can do all these things for you. But eventually, what will end up happening is that that person might discover that, oh, I really like customer service, or I really like marketing, and it becomes too much. Because as your business is growing, the things that you need in your business are growing too. And what ends up happening is sometimes people are like, leaning on one specific type of person in their business. And that's not smart in business either. Because people leave, we went through a pandemic, so you never know what might happen. And it really isn't good business practice to just have basically all your eggs in one basket. So I always say it's good to hire people who are strategists or specialists in different areas to actually help you because you know, for sure this is the thing that they like to do. They're good at doing. And they can really help you grow and scale sustainability for the long term.
Laura 03:53
Yeah, okay. Good. Great advice. So let's say that you're growing a business, not that I know anybody like that. And let's say that she is trying to figure out how to staff the business. I'll be honest, with everybody listening, this is one of the hardest things I have found about growing an online business specifically because like when I had a brick and mortar, spend a lot easier to find local talent, or you'd meet somebody or like, honestly, sometimes when I was just trying to find a great person for the front desk, I would have a great waitress, and I would give her my card and it'd be like, let me know if you ever want to stop working evenings, you know, because my brick and mortar was during the day. So it's like, you're awesome, come with me. But I find it so hard in the online space just like you're not meeting these people in person. There's a lot of like fractional people out there that like talk a big game but don't necessarily want to do the doing when they get into your company. I found that, like how do we piece together a team as we're growing online?
Kimone 04:52
That's a good question. But I think when you are growing online, usually in a small business, if you're starting off, you're gonna hire a contractor because right, that's what you can afford at the moment. So you might look for that unicorn as I was mentioning at that specific time. But you know, that's not like a long term deal, at least that's what you should know. So I'm telling you that don't think that's like a long term thing, you want to grow sustainably. So you might
hire a contractor. And when you're doing that you want to hire, hire somebody that can implement for you. So this is not necessarily somebody that's going to be strategic. And I think that's where people get confused too, or you have unrealistic expectation. At that level, you're not hiring somebody to necessarily think for you or to almost like duplicate yourself, you're hiring somebody that is like a task doer or somebody that can implement things for you. So you can give them the strategy like this is what all the stuff that needs to be done, it needs to be done by X y&z deadline, and you want somebody that's able to do those things or execute on that stuff. So you have a couple of those people at first, as you're continuing to grow.
Kimone 05:59
And then when you really start to monetize your business, and you're looking to really grow and you know, use the word scale, that's when you're looking for more strategists to come in. So you might consider hiring somebody who's like a ops manager, or you might consider hiring a sales specialist. This depends on the type of business that you have. But some work someone who can help you to duplicate yourself. So for example, let's say if it was me, in my type of business, I might consider hiring somebody to help me with business development at that stage. Why? Because it's time consuming, and it's only me one person, and I might want to consider hire somebody to help me to do all of those things. It looks different from everybody. But I would say what I would caution everybody and urge everyone to do is really sit there and work on your org chart. And something that can support you for at least five years, five to 10 years, ideally. But you want to start to map out what it looks like. So you know, as you continue to grow and hit certain monetary milestones in your business that you can staff accordingly. Because I think that's, that's a big mistake some people make is that they don't hire enough. Or some people on the flip side, they hire way too many people up front and you know, worry about meeting payroll and things like that. So you definitely want to find common ground in between the two areas.
Laura 07:23
Yeah, that's such good advice. And I think that's hard, because you have some people saying hire for the future. Right. And I have done that before my business and it's worked out. And I've done that before my business and it hasn't worked out, or you have people marketing themselves as strategists, but then they don't want to touch implementation. And you're like, oh, wait a second. No, I don't want you telling me what to do. Like, I don't want you delegating things to me and Asana, you work for me, you know, so you end up kind of like sorting through all of that and not realizing if you're new to the online space or the language like you don't necessarily know what it is that you're hiring, I think sometimes until they're in it, yeah, sorry, to all that.
Kimone 08:02
It's a good point to make what I would say. So typically, in small business, specifically, most people hire an executive assistant first. Yeah, I was probably maybe one of the few that didn't do it that way. Why? Because I'm very good at execution. But social media was like my first thing because I was like, I this is too much And I'm like, I can't keep up with algorithms. So I decided, let me get somebody to help me with this. So I would say, If that's you, and you're in that situation, you're like, Okay, who should I hire next? Or who should I hire first, you should think about what's taking the most of your time that you really need help with and that you can get a return on? Yeah, that's the thing, you want to definitely see a return on investment. And I think when you hire people at first that you can't see that return yet. It makes it harder, because you're still trying to monetize and grow your business.
Laura 08:56
Yeah, you really summarized what I think is a common concern. And and for our consulting students, I always say who are solopreneurs I always say like, I agree, hire that executive assistant first. Because it's just it's the easiest thing to delegate. And there's a lot of them out there that are good, that are looking to work for good people, good bosses. And, and that's definitely I think such a such a strong piece of advice on your first hire. Yeah. So I know that you also specialize in diversity in the workforce, and how do you hire diverse talent without trying to like fill quotas?
Kimone 09:36
Another great question. So I have people come to me all the time. And they'll say like, I want like diversity on my team. And so that leads to a conversation like what does that necessarily mean? Because it means different things to different people. But I would say in in a nutshell, if you're trying to hire more diverse candidates, so that could mean candidates from all different types of backgrounds, maybe all different types of experience. It really has to start to with your company culture, and your values and your business. Because if it's not a business that supports diversity, people who are looking for like diverse places to work, there won't even think of your company. So it starts off with your company branding. I know that's probably surprising to most, but that's where it really starts, like, people want to know what you're about, especially in this day and age when it comes to recruitment. And just the same way that you're trying to vet, you know, candidates and talent, they're trying to vet you just the same. They want to be able to see like, okay, you know, what are you about? What is it that you value, where do you see yourself or your business going in the next couple of years, they want to know all that information.
Kimone 10:44
And it also goes next to the language that you're using, on your website, the language that you're using in your job description, too. So a lot of people don't realize sometimes this the language you use in your job description, to really turn off a diverse candidate, because
sometimes job descriptions are written with a very specific person in mind, might just turn off people who would possibly be great for the role. But just the language that you're using is not necessarily reflective of that. So like, one thing, you know, one example of that is that you, you could easily put that you're, you know, you're you, you want to find candidates that are bipoc. Right, so black indigenous people of color, you could talk about, like how your workforce supports that. That is something that might get people's attention. However, if you're lucky, if your job description is very kind of, I would say outdated. And it's just like, yeah, we want you to have 15 years of experience in this. And then of course, that the salary isn't reflective of the years of experience, you're not going to get diverse candidates to apply to that type of job. So it's a lot of things that has to do with branding and language, then it also has to look, it also depends on where you're looking for talent, you have to actually get pretty diverse and where you're looking for people so immediately, people think, Oh, I'll post on indeed. Or I'm, maybe I'll post something on LinkedIn. But and that's all great. But that's not necessarily that doesn't necessarily mean you're gonna find diversity, you have to find diverse groups of people like where are they hanging out that I can actually promote this, this job and get somebody maybe better than what I thought I might get for the role by promoting it there. So I would say also, your network is definitely important. You want to definitely promote it within your networks, but ask people to share it too. So like, for example, I had a client who, you know, then themselves did not necessarily their branding wasn't necessarily the most diverse, but the people that they knew, supported so much diversity. And I said, a great strategy would be to ask a lot of these people in these different networking groups to share that with their network, that's also a very great strategy. And it doesn't cost anything to do that. So especially for your first couple of hires, maybe if you're struggling when it comes to budget, and you're like, I don't have a large budget to like, advertise for this role. That's a great strategy to utilize, in order to get in front of more diverse talent. And I always say, if it's an entry level role, you could definitely promote it to some HBCUs, which are like historically black colleges and universities. They always have talent. And it's diverse. That's what those colleges and stuff for the people who are going to those colleges typically are. So you would want to promote it there as well. So those are just a couple of tips that would be helpful for you to get it in front of a more diverse audience.
Laura 13:49
Yeah, that's so interesting. It was interesting, because I have a diversity inclusion statement at the bottom of my job descriptions. And we post to LinkedIn, like, I never really thought of going outside of LinkedIn, because that's where a lot of people hang out with the skill sets that we're looking for. So that's a great suggestion. But I was surprised, like I would find, you know, I wouldn't necessarily know what somebody looked like, and I wouldn't be on Zoom doing our final interviews, and most of the candidates were diverse. And I didn't know that obviously, going into it. I was pleasantly surprised. But I was also curious, like, I was wondering if that statement isn't very common. And maybe that's why people who had a minority background felt comfortable applying. I wasn't sure you know, I was happy about it. It was what I want it to
take place or other than the diversity and inclusion statement that you can put on a on a job description or add. Is there anything else language wise that could be in a description like that, that would either turn off or attract minorities?
Kimone 14:55
Yeah, I think one thing that would definitely would say turn on minorities and really great talent, qualified talent, they want to know like your story, especially for small business. So like in this generation, this is what generation Z is Generation Z. Now they really want to know like, what it is that you're about. So a great way to do that is, especially in a small business is to talk about how you've been built the business to begin with, to because at the same time, people want to feel inspired about where they work. So I always say, like, Baby Boomers and Generation X, like they were very clear lines distinguish between like your personal life, and work, whereas millennials, and Gen, Z, the lines are very blurred. So people want to actually feel inspired when they come to work, they want to feel purpose. So I would say a good tip to use is to write your purpose, write your mission and your job description, and explain, you know, where your company is at what you're looking for. And be honest, I think that's one of the big things is because I see a lot of job descriptions that just look like somebody just threw, like spaghetti on it or something or like paint, and it's just a whole bunch of words that mean absolutely nothing. So you want to write it in a way. It's kind of like copywriting, like you're telling a story throughout the job description. And you want to be definitely inclusive in terms of responsibilities and honest about what it is that they're actually doing. Because I see a lot of job descriptions that paints a very bright picture. But when the person is actually in the role is something completely different. Yeah, it's like a waste of time for you and the candidates, I would say, Just be honest, and upfront. And I would say to your question about the diversity and inclusion statement, that definitely is going to make you stand out because most people that will consider themselves a small business are not using diversity and inclusion statements. And the companies that are doing it, you know, by law, they have to do those.
17:00
Oh, interesting. I didn't know that?
Kimone 17:03
Yeah. So if you're, if you're doing it as a small business, like in the brain of the candidate, like, wow, like they're thinking about diversity and inclusion at this level? And don't think because you know, you call yourself a small business that people don't want to work with you, I get that question a lot. People have a very tired the corporate churn and burn, and are looking for something very different and refreshing. And I think we have a really big competitive edge, honestly, since the pandemic and this transition to remote work. So I'd say that was the time to take advantage of that talent.
Laura 17:36
Would you say that most of us candidates have had microaggression. And they're just trying to figure out how to, like, not let that happen. They're like looking at these job descriptions. And, and they were looking for flags?
Kimone 17:46
looking for red flags, you know that they have impostor syndrome, and things like that. So they've been really gaslighted. In the corporate space. I mean, if you think about the big five, right people, like I remember, like coming out of college, and everybody's like, Oh, yeah, go work at Amazon, and Google and LinkedIn, and these big companies who are doing tons of layoffs right now, the work culture is not necessarily that inclusive, people are burnt out, and they're just looking for something refreshing and new. And then they get, you know, to work with some of these smaller companies and see the way that they're working. They're just like, wow, this is so different. This is what I've been looking for. And that's the thing, they don't know you exist. That's that's the thing. They don't know your companies exist. So when they see a job description in front of them, that is like a breath of fresh air, it will prompt them to apply.
Laura 18:40
Yeah, I love that. Okay, this is great. I think from my perspective, as a white leader, like I'm always, I'm always learning like, I'm always like, Tell me more, how can I? How can we create more of a diverse workforce? How can we be more inclusive? Like, I'm always happy to admit that I don't know what I don't know. So this is really helpful. And I'm sure that our listeners have the same. Because I think to be human, you care naturally about diversity and inclusion. But you don't always know like, the little details that come up when you're trying to implement it in your organization. Before we move on, is there anything else that you want to share? If there's other listeners like me that are like, tell me how to be better at this or tell me tell? Is there any other tips that come to mind?
Kimone 19:24
I would say one tip, and it's kind of like sidebar, but a question I always get asked a lot from people who are starting out or they've may have hired before and it just did not go well. They always ask about budgeting, like, how in the world do I even start like where do I get the money to do this if they're still, you know, growing and stuff, because you know, like a small business for the most part, you're not getting much funding. So you're bootstrapping the business. So one thing that I always encourage people to do is to start to set aside money from the very beginning and that was me. I remember when I started my business, as soon as I think I got my very first client I had, like, I think five accounts. And that one was like for taxes, what was like for operational expensive, but I had an account specifically, that was my recruiting recruitment budget for my own business, because you don't have any funding.
Kimone 20:20
So you have to actually, like have the money in order to do it. And the mistake a lot of people make is that they wait so long. And they have so many different expenses. And now they're in a situation where they need to hire, but they feel stressed, or they're in a situation that they have the money. So they'll like have maybe like, a month of this person's pay. And there's like stressing out the person that they're hired, because they need to see a return and make some money, and the relationship doesn't go very well. So I always encourage people to have three months, ideally, if you can have six, that will be even better. But three years, three to six months of like the salary, or you know, whatever, you're going to be paying this person, whether employee or contractor as like, a good net. So you can actually feel relaxed in that process, because it's gonna feel a little bit jarring, you're gonna say to yourself, oh, my gosh, like me. And now I'm, you know, I'm bringing on people to help me. And I'm responsible for like this person's livelihood to an extent. So if you have that set aside, it makes honestly the process a little bit easier. And you can start to see a return because this person can get trained. That's the thing to some people are just like, Okay, I hired you, and just go and support me, just go and do everything. And we know that's not realistic. But if you if you, if you think about it this way, and position your business like this, it makes it that much more worthwhile, where you can actually get some great results out of that. So that would be like a tip that I would share with everyone.
Laura 21:51
That's great advice. Thank you. That's, that's a lot of wisdom in there. So just as our final question, what is your favorite wildcard question to ask a candidate in an interview? What is it telling you about them?
Kimone 22:04
This is going to start off so generic, but I think my very favorite question is, where do you see yourself in the next five to 10 years? Yeah. And I love to ask that question. Because it always surprised me by what they say. Like I always say, somebody when they apply, you know, you have the application, you have their resume. And so for us in recruitment, it kinda is painting a story as to this person. And like, what it is that they're interested in. And then when I get to the point where I can ask them this question, I am surprised by all of the things that sometimes they tell me. So I remember like, recently, I had interviewed somebody, and this is for like, I think it was for like a Operations Manager position. And one of the things she talked about was like, in five to 10 years, she talked about, I want it to be a CEO of the company that I'm supporting. So I could support a CEO, and they don't necessarily have to worry about the day to day operations. Like I want to be able to run this on my own. And I was like, wow, like, first the confidence in that state? Yeah. Like, that's not something. I mean, for me, I don't hear that often. Some people talk about like, oh, yeah, I want to have kids and all that, like people will say those things, which is fine. But she was clear that she was like, this is exactly what I want.
Kind of the reason why I applied for the job, because I see myself like stepping up. And you know, employers are looking for that they want longevity with the people that they hire. And I was like, this is such a wonderful question. And then some people talk about like, things like, oh, I want to open up my, like a musical studio and things I hear all with that question. And so I always like to hear that, because you're so surprised by what people say. And you'll see a lot of similarities to like, oddly enough between that person and like the person that they're going to be supporting in the role. So is this a really nice question to ask just to like level set and get to know them as humans? Because at this point, you know, if they could do the job or not, but you want to get to know them on a more personal level to see what their actual goals are, and how you can support them?
Laura 24:13
Yeah, I was like, it gets that motivation, which I think is the one thing you can't train to train skill sets, but nor are they hungry, you know, do they want at least that's how I look at it and a business. Like the size of the businesses I've had over the last 20 years. I need people who are hungry, because I'm hungry, you know, and I want to grow my business, and I want them to be part of it and want to be part of it. So thank you so much for being here. It's great to chat with you as always, and if people are interested in learning more about you, they want to connect with you. Where's the best place for them to find you?
Kimone 24:46
Yeah, so you can find me in two places. Of course, you can go to my website, www.hirebreakthrough.com Or you could just find me on social media. I'm pretty active on Instagram. So my handle is simplykimone, and you can feel ready to connect with me there?
Laura 25:01
Okay, awesome, simply come on. So good to see you. Thank you so much for being here.
Kimone 25:07
Of course. Thank you, Laura, for having me.
Laura 25:09
Thank you so much for joining us today on the Next Level Leap podcast. I hope you enjoyed this episode as much as I did, and that you gained valuable insights from our time together. If you want to see any of the visuals I mentioned in this video, you might want to head on over to our YouTube channel where you can see a lot of the things that I'm explaining in a way that might be a little bit more applicable. And if you want to learn more about our consulting business, make sure to visit Joybrand creative.com. And finally, if you're enjoying this podcast and you want to support our mission of creating a ripple effect of change in the world, please subscribe and leave us a review on your favorite podcast platform. Your feedback means
everything to us and it helps us reach more people who can benefit from the power of positive marketing. So until next time, keep making waves and spreading joy. I'll see you soon!
Welcome to the Next Level Leap Podcast! Join our guide, Laura Meyer, a 20-year entrepreneur and growth strategist for some of the country's fastest-growing nonprofit and for-profit organizations, as she shares her insights and strategies for using marketing to make a difference in the world. In each episode, we explore how marketing can create a ripple effect of change that impacts lives and communities for years to come. From social media to branding to storytelling, we cover a range of topics to help you harness the power of marketing for good. So if you're ready to make waves and spread joy, tune in to the Next Level Leap Podcast podcast and let's create a marketing ripple effect that changes the world!