Recruiting Accessory & Handbag Designers- A Guide, Part 2
** This post is part 2 of a series**
WHY YOU'RE NOT GETTING & RETAINING FASHION ACCESSORIES & HANDBAG TALENT?
Last post I discussed various aspects of what fashion accessories candidates are looking for when recruiters and HR professionals first engage them. This post is continues that conversation with the question: Why are you not finding an retaining fashion handbag & accessories talent? If you are not in the fashion accessories industry, much of this discussion can still apply to fashion professionals in general.
Search Criteria
"It doesn't make sense to hire smart people and tell them what to do; we hire smart people so they can tell us what to do."-Steve Jobs
Why hire people who know what you know, and have similar style tastes, or similar interests? Why hire candidates that only know how to do what you need them to do, instead of someone with knowledge doing all kinds of things? In my last post I discussed how using specific keywords in your job post title can help attract the right candidates to your listing. You should still be specific in your job descriptions, as to the function of design you are wanting to hire. However, when it comes to interviewing and selecting a candidate, being flexible is key. Keep in mind, also, that the paradigm of the interview favors a certain personality type: extroverted people who fit the societal ideals. When hiring creative types, one is more likely to deal more with introverts, 'originals' , and non-conformists. How can hiring professionals acclimate themselves to this brilliant demographic in order to attract the best talent for their needs?
If you're worried that you need a designer that understands a certain aesthetic or market, think again! A good designer will be able to work on many different brand aesthetics at many different retail price points. For example, a company may want a senior handbag designer that has experience doing luxury leather bags and will not consider one who has not had much experience working in luxury leather bags. This is a big mistake! What you should be concentrating on is- does this designer have experience designing bags overall? Can they CAD? Can they interpret the brand aesthetics? If yes, your on your way! If you are interviewing designers and looking for one with a portfolio that more or less matches your brand aesthetic already, your logic is flawed. I hear about great candidates getting passed over all the time because the clients was looking for the same 'type' of person they had before instead of a person who could do the job. You want designers that can draw, use computers, and creatively problem solve. The kind or product and market they are designing for can and will change. Just think about the decades men spent designing dresses for women, when it was not acceptable for women to hold jobs. No one said to men,"You are men so therefore, you cannot design for women!"
One example I can give from my own life: I once got turned down for a job at the interview, despite having the right qualifications. The person hiring me was the designer for her eponymous label. She told me I didn't look like the girl who would wear her bags. I couldn't believe it! I knew I could do the job well, even help her cut down on the work load. It made no sense to me not to hire me because I didn't have' her girl's' look. Most young professionals don't have the financial means to be buying bags in her products price range and my 'look' has zero to do with my ability to do the job, in this case. I was also in between jobs, at the time, and desperate for income to pay my loans. I would have worked very hard to make her proud and keep my job!
Bad Reviews
This advice is specifically for companies with various bad reviews. Everyone I know checks out prospective employers online. In 2019, we have many options: company websites, Linkedin profiles, glassdoor.com. Fashion industry companies must have good street credit. The fastest way to keep candidates from applying to your job listing is to have bad reviews. Do no try to put doctored reviews up- you can always tell. Do not worry that a couple bad reviews will ruin your companies reputation. If you do have bad reviews (because companies are not perfect and go through bad times), make sure your HR department is responding and spreading that work on whatever it is that is causing the reviews. Is your company going through a transition? Were you made aware of issues that you have recently addressed? Let prospective candidates know by address their reviews or via a company blog or career section on your website. Communication is key to instilling confidence in current and prospective talent.
If your company isn't reviewed anywhere, it's a clear sign to prospective candidates that you are either very small or very old school and have not yet evaluated your online presence. It could also mean your employee pool is full of too many people from older generations who have held their jobs at your company for a very long time. From that we can deduce that your not hiring young people, not innovating, not diverse, and not keeping up with technology.
Word of mouth is also important. I have noticed more people reaching out to me on Linkedin when they are applying to companies I worked at previously or am at currently. It's a great strategy for candidates to get accurate and recent temperature reads of a company culture.
Online Presence
I don't think I need say much about having a company website, but you would be surprised at how many companies have really poorly designed websites. It is a company's first impression on a candidate and a red flag if you don't have one at all. If you are having trouble recruiting talent, check and see how you are looking online. Make candidates will feel confident in your abilities by providing as much information as you can about your business, company culture, benefits, and any community service. I love to see social media profiles especially. I want to know my employer is moving with the times and not afraid to be transparent.
Company Culture
Perhaps most importantly, if your are having a hard time retaining fashion talent, take a good look at your company culture. I like to think of creatives as the canaries in coal mines. If your fashion talent is leaving in droves, there is a good chance you have a toxic work environment and no company culture to protect your creatives from it. Toxic work environments are ones where management is mismanaging- company resources and team members. They set poor examples by making it impossible to complete work within business hours or they make it taboo to leave 'on time'. These companies are the first to complain if your not at your desk by 9am, but not a word will be heard about extra compensation when you need to stay late to finish a project. Companies with toxic work cultures are not transparent with their employees about what is going on with the business an their employees prospects within it. They often try to get as much as they can out every employee by being unclear about their title, job duties, and paths to development within the company. Someone might be fired one day and you don't hear about it until a new person is hired. You won't find companies with toxic work cultures focused on innovation or promoting from within their ranks. There is often yelling, anger, and a tense environment in the office- it can be like dealing with an unstable parent- are you getting happy dad or angry dad today? No one wants to deal with that at work, especially creatives, whose job depends on having a safe, flexible environment to be creative.
We are already in a time where we don't need to follow past traditions if they no longer suit our needs in many areas of our lives. The same goes for business. If your the leader of the company you can make changes to creative the culture you want. Take some leadership courses. Poll your employees. Hire professionals if this is an area you are struggling in. There is no reason to keep treating employees like they are in a high-school for adults!
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In my next article I will continue this discussion- WHAT FASHION & ACCESSORY DESIGNERS CANDIDATES ARE LOOKING FOR? Stay tuned!
