Barefoot Lunch

I'm proud to interview my Aunt Doreen Ainslie. She has been teaching in Lincoln Public Schools in Lincoln, Nebraska USA for over 40 years. She teaches Middle School social studies, special education and also summer school High School. She's been the awarded as Educator of the Year for the State of Nebraska and most recently recognized with the prestigious California Casualty National Teacher of Excellence Award. 

In this episode we'll chat about

• How teaching has changed over the last 40 years in the U.S.
• What does it take to build a community when you can’t meet in person?
• Teaching during COVID-19 in the U.S. 
• Single parents and education 
• Recommendation for busy parents to help them flourish 
• Why reading the side of the cereal box is important
• Concentrating on the messages you send by as a parent
• And maybe a bit about the family who grew up in Franklin, Nebraska

I'm super excited to share with you an interview I had with my 7th grade English teacher Mr. Craig Bowman. This was recorded in during the 2020 lockdown, and unfortunately, I found out that in late October 2020, Craig had passed away from a stroke in Denver, Colorado.  He also inspired me in a chapter of "Sweet Success". 

Mr. Bowman shares with us his growing up as an orphan raised by Catholic nuns who gave him an appreciation for classical learning, an old-time respect for others, a belief in living your potential, a love of the Catholic faith, and a foundation of the teacher as servant. 

In the classroom, he made middle-class suburban kids stand when an adult entered the classroom, we had to diagram sentences and memorize lists of prepositions. We stood in front of the classroom and recited from memory Shakespeare, T.S. Eliot, Abraham Lincoln’s “Gettysburg Address,” and even selections from the King James Bible. Though the public school would never agree to teaching the Bible, Mr. Bowman sneered at this because the King James was some of the greatest English literature, regardless of anyone’s religious beliefs—good writing trumped dogma. 

Long before Black Lives Matter, Mr. Bowman  was teaching us the importance of meritocracy and reaching our potential regardless of race, creed, color, religion, or sexual persuasion--you were born with a gift to give to the world and you need to live up to that gift.  

On the first day of class, Mr. Bowman wrote his home phone number on the board and encouraged us to call him if we needed to talk. Not only me, but also several students used his phone number over the years if there were problems or challenges. We had three suicides in our school that year, but as a teacher as servant, he was there for us and told us, “He loved us.” 

Mr. Bowman related to us, but never stopped being  what he proudly called, a "teacher servant." He loved the children and wanted us to learn and challenged us to grow. He believed that the teacher as servant served the children and parents and probably, for him, it also served God. 

All this he taught, but also he was a model of the proper behavior, responsibility, and duty of an adult. 

Mr. Bowman was a humanist who embodied the importance of the human and shared that with his students and it became something that we could incorporate into our entire lives. He has had a great impact on many people's lives and I'm glad to celebrate him here with you. Enjoy. 

Have you wondered if paying for LinkedIn will help your company or your human resources department hire? In this episode, we'll review LinkedIn and answer if it is right for to pay for it to attract the best talent in the market. 

Do you want a better way to hire employees with less mistakes? Then listen to this podcast where we discuss a simple 5 step strategy to hire the best.
In this episode, you'll be introduced to Top Grading: a recruitment methodology proven effective by some of the best companies in the world. 

• Engage your HR and executives to hire A-Players.
• How to document or create scorecards. If you would like samples, please feel free to email me: [email protected]
• Learn the easy, time-saving technique of screening,
• Why are reference checks so important?
• The simple process and the questions to ask.

 When discrepancies appear, then you have an opportunity pass up a B or C Player before they are hired, and in the long run, saving you and your company much time, energy, and money. 

These 5 steps are the bare bones of creating a recruitment process for your organization that our clients say attracts and retains the top talent.   

In this episode, we interview Anthony Head, Business Director of Tamago-DB.
Anthony is passionate about digital strategy and employer branding. He explains why it's imperative to build your company brand and have your employees be brand ambassadors.

With over 20 years of consulting expertise in the APAC & Japanese markets, Anthony knows this field. He has supported a variety of clients in building and implementing effective and sustainable digital engagement strategies in the pursuit of a stronger employer brand and overall business growth. If you need support with developing digital communications, employer branding strategies and or recruitment marketing programs that will drive business outcomes, then push "play" and start listening.

Short & Sweet: How to Hire Effectively
Short & Sweet: Get a Database

Don’t Make Me Think: Steve Krug

How do you get candidates when you're a SME in Japan? Well, one of the ways you can do it is to look at job boards. One of the most common is BizReach. 

In this episode you'll learn:

• Why would I use BizReach instead of LinkedIn, Recruit, Recruitnavi, etc.?
• What's the upside/downsides to using the BizReach job board?
• What candidates can I find on the site?

After 20 years of recruitment in Japan, I've used several job boards and spoken to thousands of managers and human resource professionals and asked them what sites they use, what they like, what they don't like. I'm happy to share that information with you here. 

Barefoot Lunch theme music was composed and performed by Sweeny Davis 

In this episode you'll be guided on

• researching a company
• knowing why you're applying for a position
• the best way to ask questions about Work-Life balance
• how to best close a meeting

For more information on interviews, see "Short & Sweet"  on YouTube
Episode 10 - preparing
Episode 11 - doing a great interview
Episode 12- telephone interviews

Barefoot Lunch theme music was composed and performed by Sweeny Davis 

Naomi Takase is one of the rare, wonderful people in the world that makes this planet a more rich place to live. I'm so pleased to have known her over the last 17 years and to share this interview with you today. In this episode:  

• What happens when Dr. Sweet gives you a call
• Talent Acquisition in the biggest luxury group in the world
• How to work with 17 different companies at once
• How to brand your recruitment…and who to market to…the answer isn’t what you think. 
• Who is your brand ambassadors? 
• Why do you need a resume for interviews?
• And….how you can get into LVMH. 
• Everyone should read: Good to Great, Jim Collins
• Why is topping up your tea is important to Naomi?
• When you are as stylish as Naomi, who would you invite to lunch?

Born and raised in New Zealand, Naomi is a Kiwi at heart making Japan her home. She's been in Japan recruiting for 17 years-- agency side and in corporate talent acquisition functions. At LVMH Japan, she is the go-to person for all things recruitment for 17 different companies. Why is 17 so important to Naomi? 

A big thank you to Sweeny Davis, who composed and performed the Barefoot Lunch theme music. 
 

If you have a business and hire more than 5 people a year, then your HR team needs an applicant tracking system (ATS). If you're still using Excel or folders on your desktop, then you need to move yoru recruitment into the 21st Century.

If you're shopping for an ATS, there are plenty to chose from. Today we review, HirePlanner--an ATS developed and built in Japan.  

In this episode we'll cover: 

• Why you an ATS helps everyone know what's going on in the recruitment process. 
•  Understand if a bilingual system is important or not. 
• Understand if SEO is important to you. 
• Know the advantages of having a Japanese ATS. 
• Understand the positives and negatives of the system.

SPONSORS

• Barefoot Lunch episode sponsor, Tamago-DB https://www.tamago-db.com/en/
• Barefoot Lunch theme music was composed and performed by Sweeny Davis 

Mis-hires are expensive. For that reason, it's imperative to hone in on your skills to really learn about the person your interviewing. If you are a hiring manager or in human resources, this episode is for you. 

We'll cover: 

• Why it's important to build rapport and explain the interview process
• The focus on the interview is the candidate
• The importance of observing body language
• Listen for video cues
• Probe behind fluff and useless information
• Understand the candidate's weaknesses
• Don't criticize
• How to stop a candidate from rambling. 

• Barefoot Lunch episode sponsor, Tamago-DB https://www.tamago-db.com/en/
• Barefoot Lunch theme music was composed and performed by Sweeny Davis