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Hiring An Alice

Can We Find An Alice?

Can you image the Brady Bunch without Alice?  Seriously, those people would completely fall apart without her.  The parents depend on her to feed them, wash their clothes, raise their children, and represent them to the neighbors and community.  She might as well skip the Housekeeper title altogether and just be the Vice-Parent in Charge of Domestic Operations.

The point I’m making is that Alice was more than an employee.  She was an integral part of the Brady Family. She genuinely cared about Brady success and actively took personal ownership of Brady values.  That woman gave her absolute best every single day and inspired the family members around her to do the same.

She was the hire we’re all looking for.

So, let’s do a little exercise.  How would the Bradys advertise for someone like Alice?  What would that job ad look like?  Would it resemble job ads the way we write them in our companies today?

I was curious, so I found an ad for an IT Manager on indeed.  I don’t know this company.  I have no affiliation with the person who wrote the ad.  I simply searched for IT Manager and chose the first ad listed.  Then I modified it slightly into an ad for a housekeeper.  I only changed a few words.

IT = Housekeeping
business = family
customer = neighbor
supplier = merchant (you know, like the butcher)
The Company Name = The Brady Family
Electronic, Technical, etc. = domestic

Now let’s read this job ad and see if it’s likely to bring us an Alice.

The Advertisement

The Brady Family has an expansive North American network with more than 180 locations, and we do business with more than half of the Fortune 500. We’re a big family, but we’re also a new family, shaping our systems and processes to support a successful and sustainable future. We don’t just encourage family spirit, we embody it.  Are you looking to join a family where you feel empowered in your work and your job is not just a job, but a path toward a rewarding and successful career? Do you want to be part of a family that neighbors and merchants not only want to do business with but need to do business with? If you answered yes, then The Brady Family might be the place for you. We encourage you to learn about and apply to The Brady Family if you seek a unique work experience, where diverse ideas are met with enthusiasm, and where you can realize your full potential.

Position Description

Job Summary and Scope:

The Housekeeper, Community Integrations manages activities of the team and is responsible for performance and results. This position will provide leadership to Housekeeping partner integrations teams, focused on family member and service provider electronic enablement, National Account family imperatives and will assist the Director, eFamily and Community Integrations in developing Housekeeping strategies and solutions that enable strategic initiatives across all functional areas of the Family. The person holding this position will be responsible for the overall consulting, planning, coordination, and delivery of complex Housekeeping organizational solutions in support of application initiatives aligned with family priorities. This position will provide domestic leadership and guidance to the family Domestic Governance owner.

Job Responsibilities:

  • Leads engagement initiatives
  • Manages activities through direct staff, team leads, professional staff, or operation staff; may manage indirect staff
  • Manages family member performance through planning, establishing expectations, encouraging, promoting quality and continuous improvement and providing performance feedback
  • May be responsible for analyzing roll-up results
  • May execute performance roll-up
  • Responsible for the performance and results of a team
  • Provides coaching and mentoring to family members
  • Responsible for the performance and results of a team  (yes, that was actually in here twice)
  • Collaborates with leadership in Brady Family Housekeeping and external vendors to plan and execute housekeeping solutions in cost effective and timely manner
  • May manage cost center spending, to include external spend with outside vendors (this will make Sam, the butcher happy)

Required Skills and Knowledge:

  • Plan, organize, and initiate advanced applications/systems/technologies and defines approaches. Skilled in obtaining important results within a specific function
  • Exercises judgment within defined parameters determining approaches and plans to attain goals and objectives
  • Provides solutions to complex projects or tasks
  • Working knowledge of or experience in eFamily, domestic data interchange (EDI), PTA, IEP, PIE, ECT. (Ok, I changed these too)
  • Working knowledge of community business and associated applications, preferably of one or more of the primary systems within The Brady Family.
  • Personal drive and energy level to achieve superior results individually and through others.
  • Resolves problems of high complexity applying strong analytical and problem solving skills.
  • Excellent verbal and written communication skills. (she helped with a lot of homework)

Required Experience/Education:

  • Bachelor degree in Home Economics, Family Science or other related discipline required or equivalent work experience
  • Typically has 15 years of Housekeeping work experience.
  • 8 – 10 years of experience in a leadership role.
  • Demonstrated experience in managing Housekeeping teams delivering and supporting complex projects and applications.
  • Demonstrated experience in planning and managing Housekeeping neighbor and supplier focused projects.
  • Demonstrated ability to bring forth customer and supplier domestic solutions, based upon an understanding of the family, to meet or exceed family needs.
  • 10 years Housekeeping project management and family analysis experience

The Brady Family is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer. Individuals seeking employment are considered without regards to race, ethnicity, color, creed, religion, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, age, disability, gender identity or expression, genetic information, national origin, protected veteran status or any other classification protected by law. Additionally,The Brady Family will not discharge or in any other manner discriminate against employees or applicants because they have inquired about, discussed, or disclosed their own pay or the pay of another employee or applicant. However, employees who have access to the compensation information of other employees or applicants as part of their essential job functions cannot disclose the pay of other employees or applicants to individuals who do not otherwise have access to compensation information, unless the disclosure is (a) in response to a formal complaint or charge, (b) in furtherance of an investigation, proceeding, hearing, or action, including an investigation conducted by the employer, or (c) consistent withThe Brady Family’s legal duty to furnish information. If you would like more information about your EEO rights as an applicant, please click here:http://www.eeoc.gov/employers/upload/poster_screen_reader_optimized.pdf

http://www.dol.gov/ofccp/regs/compliance/posters/pdf/OFCCP_EEO_Supplement_Final_JRF_QA_508c.pdf

(yes, whoever wrote this ad actually included these links and they weren’t clickable)

How Did We Do?

Alright, evaluation time.  Let’s run this ad through a series of questions and see if we nailed it.

Company Description

Does the ad clearly describe the Brady Family as we know them to be?
When she reads the ad, will Alice have an accurate picture in her mind that matches the environment and people she will encounter at her interview?

Responsibilities

Does the ad clearly communicate Alice’s daily responsibilities?

Does it say specifically that she will clean a giant house with at least 5 downstairs rooms, 3 bedrooms, a detached garage, and who knows how many bathrooms?

Does it say that she will buy groceries, cook meals, wash laundry, help with homework, practically raise the children, and be the face of the Brady Family to their neighbors, school teachers, and millions of television viewers?

Requirements

Does the ad clearly communicate the qualifications that the Brady Family expects Alice to have?

Are those qualifications accurate to the job that Alice performed?

What Else?

What else is in the ad?  Was there any talk of benefits?

Does the ad clearly communicate how being a part of the Brady Family will make Alice’s life better?

Does the ad discuss how much Alice will be paid or what opportunities she will have for advancement?

Does the ad speak to any specific aspects of Alice’s personality?

Is it written in a way that will attract specifically the type of person that Alice is?

 

Well, if you’ve asked even half of those questions, you know that this ad leaves much to be desired.  It’s easy to get lost in all of the corporate language and process.  We can forget that we’re actually trying to hire people – living breathing people with personalities, talents, and lots of intangibles to bring with them.

I’ll bet that if you take a moment to think of the rock star employees of your company,  you’ll realize that they contribute so much more than skills and experience.  In fact, I’ll bet the things you appreciate most about them are those very intangibles.  So why not advertise for them?

The next time you write a job ad, do it like you’re hiring an Alice.  You may be surprised at what you find.