Getting ahead at work is not complicated, but it does require effort. In this Tough Things First podcast, Ray Zinn discusses the concept of hiring from within a company, and how to be the person who moves up.
Rob Artigo: Good to be back. So let’s talk about promoting from within a company instead of seeking talent from elsewhere. Micrel, which you ran for 37 years, had a reputation for people wanting to stay and then anybody who left tended to want to come back at very high, what you called the boomerang rate. So people coming back to the company because they enjoyed the environment where they worked. That means that people are looking potentially for advancement within the company and they would like to be considered.
Are you a guy who preferred to promote from within or seek fresh talent from outside?
Ray Zinn: Well, again, it depends upon what the requirement is. If we’re in a new product line, a new area, and I don’t have that talent within the company, certainly I’ll look outside. Or if somebody leaves the company and there’s talent within the company, I would definitely promote within. I always look for within before I look for without, as you would. And so, the key here is letting people know within the company that they have a chance to advance themselves and that would promote their wanting to work harder or change their emphasis and scope of knowledge and industry as you would by knowing that the company promotes and fosters within the company as opposed to without.
Rob Artigo: Yeah, and what I think about is if I’m an employee for a company and I see an announcement that a position is opening up, happened to me once in radio where I was looking for specific responsibilities on a full-time basis. I went over and visited at a time when a person was retiring, and what it did was it moved the chessboard around a little bit and it opened up a spot. Turned out I was the first choice for the position, which was great and flattering because I was there. But I was also engaged and made myself visible and had expressed for a long period of time my desire and commitment and as well as my feelings about the company, which was that I really wanted to work in this role and they came right to me.
So in talking to people who see an announcement at the company, how do they stand out and let people know that they are interested, that they should be considered for that position in that promotion?
Ray Zinn: That’s easy. I mean, by letting people know how much you want to stay at the company and that’s the key is that-
Rob Artigo: Like loyalty? I mean, would you say in a word, loyalty?
Ray Zinn: Or, finishing your projects on time, acting happy, smiling, using positive vibes, as you would, circulating around the company, letting people know who you are. Just being a good person. I mean, that’s what companies want. Companies want good people, and so you just got to be a good person. We talked earlier in another podcast about on integrity, you want to have that. You want to be known as being honest and have integrity. Also that you’re a person who wants to help and contribute. When you greet somebody, say, “How can I help you?” Just be friendly. Be a very friendly, open, happy person.
Rob Artigo: And if you’re real serious, Ray, I imagine that it would be a good idea to be able to occasionally show somebody that you’ve done some professional development. Say, hey, I took this class. I mean, look, in some places where you’re very publicly forward in the positions, in sales for example, maybe having… You’re bilingual, you’re multilingual, you have a couple of languages. But I know you are fluent in Spanish. That if you went out and you said, “Hey, look, I’ve been studying Spanish for a while.” That’s an asset maybe that you weren’t hired with but you developed over time and now you can tell them, “Hey, look, I’ve been working on this and I got the certification of four years or whatever of training in Spanish and I just completed that. I wanted to let you know that this is beneficial for that.” But I mean, professional development I imagine would be helpful in letting people know that you’re serious.
Ray Zinn: Well, most companies offer a advanced course compensation. And so if you can see those individuals who are taking advantage of that, providing it’s a course and a study that will help them within the company, that should be a good indicator also that this individual is looking for advancement and be promoted from within. So again, there’s another source of finding out who’s willing to go the extra mile by those who are trying to advance their knowledge and education.
Rob Artigo: Well, Ray, great conversation. We’ve had a real good session and I do appreciate it. Join the conversation at ToughThingsFirst.com. If you have questions for Ray Zinn, you can provide them over at ToughThingsFirst.com. Your questions and comments are always welcome. Follow Ray Zinn on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, and of course pick up Ray’s books, Tough Things First and the Zen of Zinn series and then coming soon, Essential Leadership.
Thanks, Ray.
Ray Zinn: Thanks, Rob.
