When Clay Mills looks out at the job market today, he sees a new frontier.

Make no mistake, COVID changed everything. But he doesn’t brood over what’s transpired. Everything evolves for a reason. The labor market has evolved for a reason. One reason? There aren’t enough cultures like Datamax.

“Everyone wants to be appreciated, respected, developed skill-wise, and able to see a path to a brighter future. If you’re not offering someone that, how could you blame them for leaving,” Clay said. “We can’t talk often enough about our company and our culture here at Datamax.”

What’s changed, what’s ahead, and how do we adapt to a new frontier in recruiting and hiring? We learn more from Clay Mills, Vice President of Sales in Texas, and Little Rock Area Sales Manager Ken Allison.

All’s Fair in Recruiting.

Before and certainly after “The Great Resignation,” Clay’s had great success recruiting at job fairs (at the time of this interview, he’d just returned from the University of North Texas job fair). He and a couple of sales reps will routinely walk the floor engaging soon-to-be college graduates, asking about their interests and passions. He even pulls out the Little Blue Book.

“When they ask ‘what’s this,’ I’m proud to tell them, this is the basis of our culture at Datamax. We eat, sleep, and breathe it. A lot of people really get into that.”

The team also visits the University of Dallas Job Fair, the Coppell City Job Fair, and he, Koko Sou, and Linda Narcho will attend a job fair/networking event in nearby Grapevine soon.

“Everybody there is looking for a job,’ he says. “But at a college fair, it’s important to weed out the majors that wouldn’t apply to your specific area. I think it’s important that you’re honest with them, rather than waste five minutes of yours and their time.”

Clay stresses this: We can’t talk to others enough about our company, our culture, and the great opportunities that exist with Datamax. Just as Alec Baldwin famously says “Always. Be. Closing.” in the classic film Glengarry Glen Ross, Clay reminds us: “Always. Be. Recruiting.”

Sales Prospecting "Sea Change."

A Sea Change is defined as a profound or notable transformation. COVID has created a profound shift in how Clay personally views job candidates. He’s not always looking for what he calls “proven professionals.” He’s looking for “proven profiles.”

“I’m seeking out people who are outgoing, people who don’t want to sit behind a desk all day. They want to earn what they earn. Often, I’m looking for younger people whom we can work with and mold into the Datamax Way in skills and culture…. It may be a longer learning curve, but judging by the two and three-year people we have now, it’s a very, very wise move.”

Ken Allison is admittedly bewildered by today’s recruiting frontier, but that’s only half the equation. What happens after a recruit signs on with Datamax?

Over the past several weeks, Ken has been training/onboarding new account representative Marti West. The process she’s gone through is a great example of the care Ken takes in making sure the Right Person, Right Job, Right Relationship formula is a winning one.

Ken’s Best Hiring Practices: 3 Hiring/Onboarding Essentials.

1. Slow things down.

“I think it takes about 90 days to get someone properly onboarded. And it takes them really a year for them to reach the success they are going to see,” Ken said. His new hire Marti has spent the last week in the conference room with Ken training throughout the day.

The current week, she’s doing ride-alongs with other sales reps to learn and absorb the different sale types. Next week, she’s headed down to delivery and installation. She’ll see how a machine is put together, how billing works, and how dispatch works.

And the process continues.

“At the end of each week, we turn in a “What You Learned” sheet,” Ken said. “This is essentially a report card on how I’m doing, and lets me know how I need to focus my efforts going forward.”

2. Ensure the Right Fit.

Team Fit is huge for Ken and other managers at Datamax.

Marti’s IA exam looked great, but Ken wanted to know more – how will Marti mesh with his team? So he sent Marti out to lunch with veteran Account Representative Kristina Prichard.

“My thought was, she’ll ask questions to Kristina that she won’t with me. They were gone to lunch for 3.5 hours, and it’s amazing what came out of that. Marti felt a sense of peace because everything Kristina was saying was what I was saying. She could see that we were really taking the time to get to know her.”

3. Get to really know the person.

It’s not just “can you do the job?” It’s “Who are you? What makes you tick?”

“What gets you excited? What’s on your bucket list? Tell me something about you I don’t know?” Ken elaborates. “You start to build a relationship to build the employee/employer role. You want them to be comfortable; you want to be comfortable with them.”

Ken isn’t at all interested in a recruit telling him what he wants to hear. He’s more likely to check out your social media, and see if there are any friends in common on your LinkedIn account.

Often after a second interview, he takes his interviewee around the office, and introduces them to President Barry Simon, to other sales reps, and to people in the service department. The more information he has on a recruit’s true interests and passions, the better.

“Too often we fill an empty position because we think it has to be filled immediately,” Ken said. “If you fall into that, you’ll make some bad decisions really quickly. I’d rather make sure we have the right fit. Someone who will stand the test of time.”