The Legacy Series Podcast
On the Legacy Series podcast, we explore the world of funeral services with trailblazers in the industry. Through in-depth conversations and interviews, we gain insights into both the modern and traditional practices of this field. By studying the leadership, experiences, and effective strategies of our guests, we can inspire progress and innovation in funeral services. Let's learn from these game-changers to push the funeral profession forward.
The Legacy Series Podcast
Transformative Leadership and the Art of Everboarding with Jason Buchbinder.
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Embark on a transformative journey with Jason Buchbinder, Service Corporation International's Talent and Strategy Director, as he unveils the power of social media in revolutionizing the funeral profession's approach to talent recruitment. Discover the cutting-edge strategies that are attracting top talent and learn how weaving personal branding into your career narrative can be a game-changer. Jason's story will inspire you to consider the untapped potential of platforms like LinkedIn for growing your team.
During this episode, Jason turns the spotlight on 'everboarding,' a dynamic twist on traditional onboarding that underscores the importance of continuous mentorship and personal development within the workplace. Listen as we uncover the transformative effects of aligning personal aspirations with the organizational mission and how this approach can light a fire within your team. We share anecdotes that demonstrate the moment a manager evolves into a leader, highlighting the profound impact of fostering a workplace culture rooted in respect and recognition of every team member's pivotal role.
We also discuss the strategic innovations that are reshaping Service Corporation International's talent acquisition and engagement. Jason delves into how leveraging the legacy of our local firms has sparked a surge in applicant interest and why embracing a leadership mindset is more crucial than ever in the modern workforce. As we explore the emerging focus on entrepreneurship within the profession, you'll see firsthand how these changes are not only generating excitement but also nurturing a culture of appreciation and innovation.
Welcome back to the Legacy Series podcast brought to you by John Gildy, david Lugenbuehl and Mila Menotti, where we have conversations and interviews with game changers in the funeral profession about the funeral methods of today and yesterday. My name is Mila Menotti, and joining us today is Jason Bookbinder, director of Talent and Strategy with SCI.
Speaker 1Mila, good morning, thank you.
Speaker 2Thank you so much for being here Good morning. How are you? I'm doing well. Thank you for having me. I appreciate you traveling all the way from Houston, texas, to join us today.
Speaker 1Certainly a pleasure.
Speaker 2Thank you, and so for those listening, welcome back. This is officially Season 2 of our Legacy Series podcast, and what better way to kick it off than with Jason Bookbinder, talent Strategy Director and, beyond that, I think, social media guru for sure. I've been following you on both LinkedIn and Facebook for a little bit now and I've got to say your social media presence is very large and you are very much present on there, and I'm very excited to hear a little bit more about your background and how you've gotten to where you are today. So, with that, can you tell us a little bit about how you joined SCI?
Speaker 1I certainly can. However, before I begin, I want to say congratulations to you on all of your success with this podcast. It's very exciting to see and hear everything that you've been doing here in South Florida for not only the folks here but also for the organization. So thank you so very much.
Speaker 2Thank you Much appreciated.
Speaker 1You know, as it relates to my career, I actually started out as a contractor back in 2006 in Southern California supporting the SCI locations with staffing needs, and in 2008, I was invited to join the organization full-time at a small property there in Whittier, california, called Rose Hills Memorial Park and Funeral Home, who runs about 8,000 internments per year, and I really had four jobs that I was asked to do back in 2008. I was asked to begin a recruiting program, I was asked to begin a HR onboarding program and I was also asked to begin a learning or training program. But I was also asked to begin something that was really very important to leadership there and that was number four. They said concentrate on number four and you'll be successful. And they said, jason, make us look good. And so I've been focused on making the men and women I support look good now for the last 16 years.
Speaker 2And I think you certainly have been doing an amazing job at that, for sure, it's no surprise to me. So, on LinkedIn alone, you currently have and of course, by the time this airs, I'm sure the numbers are going to be incredibly higher, but as it stands this morning and doing a little bit of research, you have 20,986 LinkedIn followers, and that's just LinkedIn alone, of course. And so can you tell me the importance really of using social media for networking and communicating with others, beyond just sharing a post, but really connecting with people to make them want to come back, to make them believe what you're saying?
Speaker 1Sure, absolutely Well. First and foremost, we didn't start with 20,000 folks here in our connection network. It took some time to get there. However, I will tell you, when you represent an incredible organization, when you represent the number one world-class sales organization or industry, it becomes easier by the day. What we learn is more and more professionals are going to sites like LinkedIn, going to sites like Facebook, to determine what else might be out there, what other career opportunities are there.
Speaker 1And because we're a very unique business, most men and women do not know that there's extra careers to be had in our industry. I certainly didn't know that myself 17, 18 years ago, until I received the call. So social media has allowed us to the biggest audience in the world, tell people who we are and we are 25,000 amazing human beings that support families on a day-to-day basis, and it has been incredible not only how many folks have decided to connect with us, but learn about us and then, more importantly, want to come into our organization. So it has been really a blessing that we've been able to see individuals have the opportunity to be educated about a business that they've never seen or heard about before, and it's been a blessing not just to SCI our organization but really to the industry as well. So I see that it's incumbent upon me now, as an ambassador, to show others in our industry that, with the 200 plus million people on LinkedIn, they need to know who we are and what we do and give them an opportunity to join us.
Speaker 2You know that you bring up a good point. So oftentimes if we are going to meet someone new whether it be a date, or you're looking to bring on new talent, it isn't uncommon to look and see if they have social media. If that isn't the original point of contact right and so why is it, in your opinion, that people are using that as a medium, now more than ever, to be able to broadcast and and really show those out there? What service corporation international provides?
Speaker 1Absolutely, and that's a great question. What a Platform like LinkedIn effectively does is it allows an individual let's say myself or any member of our operation or sales leadership team really market their own Individual brand and the business in which they represent. So if I'm a candidate, I like to look and learn a little more about a company. I can find out through LinkedIn about that individual that I have the propensity to potentially go to work for. So what we've done basically in our marketing is not only have we marketed, of course, the organization, but we've marketed the individual as well.
Speaker 1We realized today that the candidate is looking for so much more than just a company, and so LinkedIn provides us the opportunity to brand the leader in that market, and an individual can go and learn about that Individual, that leader, their background, and so when it comes to relationship building, it's a faster point from a to b than it is, let's say, applying to a job just on a normal posting.
Speaker 1An individual can make and determine a lot of their early initial Education about a position, an organization and a potential mentor by going to the LinkedIn site. So what is now very, very exciting is SCI really has become the leader now in platforms like LinkedIn, so I may have 20,000 connections, but when you take a look at the 25,000 members of our organization, we have individuals all over the country, in North America, here in Puerto Rico, that are branding in the same way, so it's been very exciting to see what's happened here just in the last couple years you know, what I find interesting too is Seeing both your post on Facebook in LinkedIn is that you're you go above and beyond just Sharing different positions that are available within our organization.
Speaker 2You take the time to make videos as well and and really encourage those to To look beyond what they had planned. I know I saw one that you had I posted for the previous month and you shared how, just going to our company site and just Finding kind of what calls out to you and it's not just about a specific role in a specific title, but take a look and see what's out there, what's available, so that you're able to determine what's calling you. So how do you sort of, how do you find inspiration to be able to keep these videos different and Also to really get the attention of the, the viewer?
Speaker 1Absolutely well. First and foremost, we have to recognize there's six different Generations in the workforce today, and so, really, what we need to do is focus on each Generation and find what appeals directly to them. First and foremost, which is always consistent, is Kenneds are looking for culture, they're looking for environment and they're looking for leadership. In fact, a mentor of mine who has been with the organization His entire life told me once that people are silently begging to be led, and I absolutely agree. So when I go about, when I look at my marketing, when I talk to individuals on a daily basis, I think it, but from a global perspective as opposed to a localized Meaning. When an individual typically applies for a job, they apply for one job and they're interviewed for one job.
Speaker 1My goal is to bring individuals into the organization, allow them the opportunity to view the organization and Determine what might match their heart and their head. Let them fall in love with a potential opportunity. That being said, the questions that we ask them are more global in nature. We want to find out what will be the best fit for them, because oftentimes, when they apply for that job, that might be the only one that they're aware of. But when we ask the right questions and they do their own education and we perform our own Education about them. We learn oftentimes there's many, many more facets to that person, which then opens the door to many, many roles across the country, and that's what candidates want to hear, that's what they want to be a part of. They want to have that opportunity to know that we're thinking bigger and better, and it starts with them being provided a Full education on us as an organization and as an industry.
Speaker 2Absolutely agree with that. Actually, um, I guess I know I've I've experienced that as well in my role, having a previous background specifically in the area of the PCC. For the longest time I that was like this is it, this is what's for me and this is what I want to do. And then sometimes you need that little push to say what else do you want to learn? You know what else? What other interests do you have? Because I think that's what's one of the greatest things about our organization is people want you to grow. They they actually really encourage it, and Many, many years ago I was told a long time that With SCI, that the the ceiling is not very high and you're you can end up stuck in a certain position.
Speaker 2And I'm living proof that that is not the case at all, because if you raise your hand and Sometimes in cases of what you're saying, you know there are people that can see that that's, there's something special in you you can really change it and grow so much and learn more than you ever thought you would, and I think that's Such an amazing experience to be able to have, and I certainly feel like that is something you share in your communications for sure. So, um, really, once you are able to bring on that talent, what do you suggest that people should do? The you know, the communications have been made and that person you find the right person for that right position. What do you do to encourage them to be able to grow within that position too?
Speaker 1You know there's several different ways that we can. We can look at that. First and foremost. Expectations are wildly important in your initial conversations. Anytime you want to look at an organization, it's really incumbent on both parties to determine what those expectations are. You know, we have a business and a business model that really drives growth and Opportunity, and that's why I joined this company so many years ago and I've had several roles within it over the last 16 years.
Speaker 1However, as we continue to learn and ask the right questions, you will find that there are those candidates that maybe growth and development is not really their focus, and so it's establishing alignment and expectations from the very beginning and determining what that individual wants. So we're not surprised at the end of the day when we want to promote an individual, and that's not something, of course, that they might be Seeking. So it's about alignment and that's really key. Another area to is ever-boarding.
Speaker 1When you're meeting an individual, relationships and partnership is Absolutely crucial to the success, and we want to make sure that, as we're secure in alignment in the interview process, that they Understand that we're taking them by the hand in a brand new industry, mm-hmm, and we're going to teach them.
Speaker 1We're going to train them as long as they're coachable, and we're going to provide them every opportunity to be successful, if that's what they're looking for.
Leadership Through Everboarding and Mentoring
Speaker 1So we want to make sure, though, that the conversations don't start and stop in the interview process. But one of the things that makes our organization so unique and why I'm so proud of our leadership out in the field, is they do a very good job making sure it would be it through the technology that we have to make them better, or just sit down one-on-ones to just make sure we're always in front of their goals, always in front of their expectations, so that no one's ever surprised as things come down the pipeline life changes, etc. That we are making sure that we're doing everything we can for the individual to be successful. And successful doesn't always mean financially successful. Sure, you know, it could be a different degree of happiness, and that is incredibly important to us that, whether it's a balance, a happiness time with family, financial outcomes, things of that nature that they achieve, whatever those goals are and that's really the focus conversation points all the way through.
Speaker 2If you wouldn't mind me kind of going back, can you tell me more about everboarding?
Speaker 1Sure, I can certainly speak to that. So in the HR world and as a leader, you'll hear the term onboarding quite often and most look at onboarding as the process of paperwork, new hire paperwork.
Speaker 1There has been a term that we've been using for years called everboarding and what that basically means, and it really goes back to the concept of building vision boards, and you'll hear speakers today, some of the greatest speakers on the circuit talk about vision boards, and I certainly don't want to age myself, but let's just say about 25 or so years ago I learned what a vision board was. At first I didn't think it really held a lot of water. We were providing construction paper and we were given magazines and we were told to cut out things and pictures of those in magazines that would ultimately be a motivator for us and put those pictures onto that construction paper and put it on our desks or our cubes, and that was our motivation for the day. We'd look at those pictures and that would drive our success. Now, in the beginning I didn't see a lot of excitement. Very quickly, however, I realized just how important that was. I knew what motivated me and I've always been self-watered. But, the same token, once you have that visual and it's being represented, just like you have your family picture or the kids on your desk, it helps drive you and it helps drive you every day. But then, through the wisdom of an incredible mentor, I learned probably the best, I would say, advice that I was ever given as a new manager, as a new leader in the business.
Speaker 1So many years ago, I was told to take down their vision boards from their desks. I was told to take down those vision boards from their cubes. What I was told to do was put their vision boards in my office and put it on the wall that my desk faced. So it took down the art from the wall and put all those vision boards on that wall and I faced those vision boards every day.
Speaker 1I realized that day I was no longer a manager but I was a leader.
Speaker 1I knew it was my role and my responsibility to make sure that I did everything I could to drive those men and women to achieve the goals that they wanted for themselves.
Speaker 1So those goals are also the same goals they told me about in the interview process, and so whatever boarding basically is from a leadership perspective is making sure that you stay committed to what you told them you would do first time you speak with them, the first time you learn about what's important to them and if they tell you what's important to them and their goals and they align with yours and what your business is trying to do, then you stick with that communication. So when someone was having a bad day, I would pull down their vision board and I would take them by the hand and I'd say how close are we getting from that Toyota to the BMW? And it was always amazing how someone would strike, stand up and say let's go, let's get this done. Not because it were less motivated, but they were really excited by the fact that it was important to me and I made it my number one priority.
Speaker 2That's amazing.
Speaker 1So everboarding is relationships. Everboarding is staying true to that relationship through the life of your career.
Speaker 2What that does too just showing that commitment that you have to others and not only believing in them, but saying I'm here with you and I want to see this. I want you to get to where you need to be. I think sometimes that's something we're lacking in leadership is someone who is able to do that and commit to it throughout someone's career. So thank you for sharing that.
Speaker 1Well, leadership is something that, over the years, I've learned is this I don't manage these people. I work for these people. Sometimes I realized at the end of the day that I'm there for mentorship, of course, and guidance, but really I'm responsible to them, and that's one of the areas, too, that I would say is a differentiator for Service Corporation International. Those folks like myself. I'm a support person. My job is to build better and help individuals become more successful. 25,000 people are the folks that I am responsible for supporting, and it's a blessing that I'm allowed to do that.
Speaker 2You've mentioned it a couple of times now and some of the mentorship that you've had. Would you like to share some of the leaders and mentors that you've had throughout your professional career that have really made an impact in your life, both personally and mentally, if you wouldn't mind sharing that with some of our listeners?
Leadership and Respect in the Workplace
Speaker 1Oh, absolutely, and I don't know if there's enough time to provide you the list. However, what I will tell you there's a reason why we have the number one world-class sales organization in the country. There's a reason why we are the bellwether of the industry. These things do not happen by accident. Looking back, I will say a big influence in my career probably starts with George Hubbard, who is a Managing Sales Director in the state of California. His persona, his intelligence, his strength is not only is it so humbling, because you have an individual who is so well and successful, but you don't see it, you don't feel it. There's no ego. When he comes in, he gives you a big hug and he gives you all of this space to make mistakes and comes back in and says do it again, let's try it. When you have folks like a George, or you have individuals like a Jerry Hurd or VP of Sales, or you have a Steve Tidwell or Senior VP of Sales and Marketing, or you have a Jerry Wheron who's our COO, call you after you've been here for a couple of weeks to say I'm glad that you're here. We're talking about leadership that have thousands upon thousands of people that they support, but they know you by name, they know your history, they give you the room and space to be successful, they thank you, they say please. You do not see that in corporate America today. In fact, if you watch and listen to a lot of social media, you hear just the opposite. So those are just a few.
Speaker 1But I'm always inspired out in the field by the folks that are funeral assistants, by the folks that are funeral directors, the folks that are basically carrying and handling our grounds. They're the greatest heroes that we basically have. Nothing take away from our leadership. Operational sales they're wonderful, but really it's the frontline associates that really are influenced me on a daily basis. I'm so proud to represent them and, as an individual who lost both parents at an early age, to be able to see the operations manager, the sales manager, the funeral director, the location manager take care of my family the way that they did to the grounds, people doing what they do in 100 degree heat or in snow. Those are the folks that I have such a blessing to be able to represent and support. So I've had incredible mentorship from the very beginning. But if there's one thing that I want to highlight today is our unsung heroes. They're the folks that I go to battle and work for every single day, and it's again such an honor to be a part of their lives.
Speaker 2That's what you're saying there is completely correct, because oftentimes the first point of contact with a family that's going to be those associates. They're truly the people representing us for the internal and external customer. It's that first person that they see in the first representation of our organization and oftentimes I think people do forget how important their roles really are in representing us.
Speaker 1Absolutely, and that's why I appreciate our leaders and their humility. They're individuals that are really pillars of our industry, but they're the first ones to say thank you to those individuals out in the grounds department, those folks that are opening the doors, those folks that are taking those first calls. That's what pushes me. When I see that type of respect, I want to share it out into the world and that's why, from a social media perspective, I think that's why we're being and we've been so successful is because there's integrity behind it and folks want to be a part of an organization that has integrity and sees that their leaders respect and trust them and women that support the business.
Speaker 2You just mentioned something, too, regarding some people within our corporate office that carry some very heavy titles. I spent a couple of days at our corporate office for a training recently, and something that I found to be just so different than what I had envisioned it to be was that in walking through the lobby and even through the parking lot there, you see some really big names walking through people that you've seen through corporate communications and our emails and through our insight channel, and I was a little shocked and taken aback that in crossing paths that they will wave and say hello and it truly is a community that these people they care because we are all one and you mentioning how they truly just want to be able to engage with you. I think that's important all the way from the top, because that carries down to every single associate.
Speaker 1Absolutely. Our business is incredibly unique and there is a, I would say, a population of men and women who don't know who we are yet, that have the heart of Texas, that want to help and support the families of the communities, but just not aware of who we are. And so we use that in media and then I supply the opportunity to those folks and tell them you don't have to necessarily just take my word for it Go ahead and reach out to a few individuals. Reach out to our local funeral director, reach out to our local sales manager, speak to any of my partners. We are here for one common goal, and today there's a big drive.
Speaker 1There are folks out in social media that don't like to hear the word work, family. However, I work with a group of individuals each day where they will tell you their one and only job is to take care of their internal customer, and that is a belief system and that's what we follow. So, as I highlighted earlier, when you get a call from the COO of a $10 billion organization saying thank you, I appreciate what you're doing, keep doing it. First of all, I would not have expected that call to ever come through, but it did, and that then tells me, first of all, I'm on the right page, I'm going the right direction, but now it tells me I need to fuel myself a little bit more to make sure I give my internal customer everything I've got, and that's very, very exciting.
Speaker 2So if we, if you're to mind, if we can get a little more personal into who you are really, I'm curious. I'm pretty sure that you are very much a morning person, am I correct?
Speaker 1I'm a morning person.
Speaker 2yes, Okay, and I'm basing that simply on your posts and how I mean, it really seems like you're the type of person to wake up and you know, let's get the day started, let's reach those goals and let's, you know, make this happen. So, with that, how do you ensure success in your role? What do you do to continue to develop and grow?
Continuous Learning and Success Measurement
Speaker 1So great question. First thing is I'm never, never, not learning. I'm never, never not absorbing. I learn from everyone around me. I find inspiration from all around. I open my eyes, I open up my ears and I listen. I have the ability to work with a lot of smart people Most of them are two, three degrees smarter than I am and I sit and I listen and I determine wait a minute, I can repackage that for talent acquisition. There's something I can do.
Speaker 1So when folks say to me where does all that come from? And that media and that marketing? Oftentimes it's meeting with folks like yourself, well being conversation, having a bite to eat, and there's something that you said that now I can now drive out. And so my success, if I have any at all, is recognizing I'm still a student, and so being a student and learning has probably driven my success the last 20 years and hopefully will drive the next 20 years as well. So my advice to others is never stop learning, never stop listening.
Speaker 1And it is amazing what this organization does. This organization is all about growth, all about making sure that folks have the opportunity to learn, making sure that folks have the opportunity to drive themselves better. We have the strongest internal training program as an organization I've ever seen, for both the sales and the operational side. We have some incredible people just creating these programs to make others better, so it's always my hope that everyone is taking advantage of them.
Speaker 1I most certainly do myself, and so when I do speak to folks externally that are not aware of our organization from a differential perspective I speak to that often, and especially in the sales business folks don't know our business until they come in. So if they're willing to open their hearts and open their minds, we can help them to be wildly successful, and so I think that's really the key is the open, being open and being open to learning and remembering. I only know a short amount, and so I do tease folks in our business when they tell me they've been here for 30 years and say, oh, so you're still a rookie. So even after 16 years I'm still a rookie. I have a lot to learn, and I think if I continue to think that way, with that type of mindset, I can only get better.
Speaker 2That's a really good mentality to have for sure. So really, you've mentioned a little bit before on what you find success and what you do. But really how do you measure that in your role, if you know it's not necessarily a number you can really put together and measure? But how do you find that in all the work that you do day in and day out, and especially with your social media platforms, what do you consider, at the end of the day, success?
Speaker 1Absolutely. So I try to look at it from a data set, if you would. Right now I'm receiving about 67 to 72% response rate for the communications that I do have through social media. You have to remember the content is really the smallest piece. The most important aspect of what I'm doing is reaching out to people in different subset categories and skill sets and experience with the goal of driving them to our business. So right now, as an example, I send out about 200 private emails every Monday morning from 7 to 7.30. And typically that's specific to a certain skill set and a part of the country, because I'm attracting a certain talent to maybe a certain role or a group of roles. And out of every 200, I receive about 120 responses, which is above the norm, above the average Absolutely, and that is something obviously that you know takes a lot of obviously careful strategy making sure you have the right language, having the right people that you're sending out to and from that I'm receiving from about 120, 40 responses.
Speaker 1For can we chat a little bit more?
Speaker 1Can you tell me where to go and so that I see as a measure has been wildly successful from a statistical perspective? Number two you know the world has evolved quite a bit and every candidate in their mind is a hypo candidate, and you know we have a great amount of technology but we also have, you know, a process in which folks go through an application process for employment, and so where I see a great level of success through what we're doing in social media is oftentimes just like this morning I received two more. I'll have individuals that might have had a challenging day or a challenging week or something has changed in their life that we've not been able to communicate with for three, four years, because we see them perfect for our organization that will respond to me through these social media means and send me a note and ask for a confidential conversation. So we talked earlier about the type of media that I do and you'll see a lot of it is also media regarding feelings. Have a great day, have a wonderful weekend.
Speaker 2Enjoy your set.
Speaker 1Have a wonderful weekend, enjoy yourself, have a great holiday, whatever it might be. I'm sending messages to remind people that I'm here and let's chat. So what's interesting is we might have an individual that does not respond to us for whatever the reason or won't apply through the application process, but will directly send me a note and say, jason, can we chat? And thankfully that happens on a daily basis. So I spent a lot of my time talking to some of the leading hypo candidates across the country, bringing them into the business through that means.
Speaker 2You know, staying on the topic really here of LinkedIn, I believe I created my account. I was, I think I was still just wrapping up mortuary school and it really someone just said you should create an account. It's a great way to network and you can find. You know, we weren't even calling it careers at that point, it was really we can find a job so that you can get your foot in the door and complete your internship and and all the necessary steps. And so I did and, not really understanding what that platform was truly for, I just pretty much went on connect, connect, clicking, you know, connect to pretty much every person that I could find on there, and occasionally there would be some communications in between through messages. But for someone who's really just trying to start out and create a proper account so that they can utilize it the best way possible, what are some suggestions you have?
Speaker 1Absolutely. You know, there's two people that are basically on LinkedIn there's the candidate and then there's the individual trying to locate the candidate. So the decision has to be to begin with, what are you trying to achieve? Funny enough, your story really mimics a lot of folks in our industry, especially on the operational side.
Speaker 2At some point.
Speaker 1Someone said open up a LinkedIn profile and you completely forgot about it. It's been sitting still for seven years. That happens much more frequently than the not. So the decision has to be what do you wanna do with this particular tool? Now, if an individual is on LinkedIn in a place their resume they're basically sending a message to me that they want someone like Jason to reach out to them. And so that's why I have such a great statistical story to tell you, because human ego being the way that it is, everyone loves to have someone like myself reached out to them with a private message and says let's chat, whether they're happy, satisfied or otherwise. And so we look at not just LinkedIn but Facebook, instagram, tiktok. It really works the same way. We're using that human ego, obviously, to create that connection and that relationship. So it really kinda starts with expectations. Really, what is your goal? Now?
Speaker 1In our profession we have a lot of phenodirectors who choose not to be on that platform for a variety of reasons. So from a talent acquisition perspective, we may not be so wildly successful in that recruitment process. We use other means to find those particular professionals. But, like I said, if an individual just makes the decision to put their contact information. They make the decision to put their resume on there. They're sending to the world that they're waiting for their coffee chat, and that's, of course, really what we're trying to do in media On Monday morning, when I send out those 200 emails, I'm strategically specifically going after certain people.
Speaker 1They have a certain, I would say, profile that we're looking for and when they go back to connect because we know that's what's gonna happen as a next step they now have the ability to see who I am and what I'm doing and what my goal is, along with content that is specific to that email that they just received. So for me, it's incredibly valuable that everyone has a chance to see that I am an ambassador for this organization. That's my key, that's my focus For a candidate coming in. This is what I would tell them Always, always. Create the level of openness, whether you're happy or satisfied or otherwise. Create a LinkedIn account. Let people know who you are, take that call, take that email for coffee, because you just don't know how great things are around the corner. So that would be. My encouragement is for each person to have a profile online.
Speaker 2Now. Thank you for sharing that, of course, because I think many people are a little confused, and especially in a day like today where we have I mean you have Twitter, which is essentially created to express your opinions, and Facebook. Everyone uses it for a different reason, I know personally. For me, it's more of hey, look at pictures of my daughter for the distant relatives that aren't able to be present.
Speaker 2I think that gets lost a lot on what the real purpose of LinkedIn is, because just so many people say exactly that Join and then hope that something happens. And it's exactly what you're saying. There's truly two purposes, and if you put in a little bit of time and make it more than just presentable, but really just something that attracts someone there, I think that really does go a long way. And I think over some time I've learned and I was one of those people as well that just kind of had a profile that was more or less just, it was just there, it existed Because I also have no idea at the time when I created it, really the purpose of it and the potential beyond that that it has.
Speaker 1Well, I would say this LinkedIn is today's business card. It is Is really what it is right. It gives you the opportunity to stand out and tell the world who you are, and there's a lot of instruction within LinkedIn. It takes just a couple of moments, obviously, to create the profile itself. However, I would imagine that there's probably a strong percentage of folks like yourself who just went ahead created it. It could be 10, 15% of the millions and millions of people that forgot that it's out there. But that tells me, too, that they didn't have really the intent of really creating that business card.
Speaker 1And so when an individual comes to me and says how can I market myself, that's the first direction that I go. How can I market myself? How can I market my business? Linkedin has really become the de facto platform for employment. In fact, I myself wouldn't necessarily apply to a job, but I would make sure. On my LinkedIn profile folks knew that I was looking for employment and that I'm open, and so things have changed over the last number of years, and now I'm starting to see more folks, especially in the funeral director side of the business, start to recognize that even again, they're happy where they are. They still love to get that email or that phone call, and so I just encourage individuals to consider doing that, because we never know what's gonna happen around that corner, and we want them to be open to discussion.
Speaker 2Absolutely Now, jason, with all of the work you do and all of the effort that you put into everything, I needed to know. Are there any special projects that you currently have coming up that you're working on that you'd like to share with us?
Speaker 1Absolutely so. We talked earlier about our training programs and they are absolutely world-class.
Speaker 1So there's been several steps in the last year that we have done to really market ourselves in a way that ultimately gets our name and our brands out to the community, and so I'll go backwards a little bit and tell you some of the things that we've done that have been absolute game changers.
Speaker 1We are, of course, we are owned by SCI. Dignity is our major brand. However, we realized when we were marketing our positions out across the country, we were marketing our positions under the SCI name and although it, of course, is the biggest brand, naturally in our industry, the community were not aware of that brand. It wasn't as well known as, let's say, pepsi right or Amazon. So what we decided to do this last year is all of our postings now have the localized names of our funeral homes and cemeteries attached to those jobs, and we saw a four-fold increase in candidates coming through because now they've recognized wait a minute, that's the funeral home in my own hometown. I drive by that twice a day. I had no idea that they were even hiring, and so that's been a big, big game changer for us, which has been really exciting. Couple other things that we started to do, of course, is naturally our media marketing, which has exploded over the last year. We're seeing a lot of talent now coming through. We're linked in now as our number two driver of talent. We did not have that even on the screen a couple years ago, so we know that it's driving people and it's working correctly.
Speaker 1Now what we're looking at doing and we call this the season of the sales manager it's always about building better. So one of the biggest projects I'm working on right now is actually reimagining our talent acquisition training curriculum for a leadership out in the field. We recognize, post COVID, the world has completely changed, and because we have multi generations, of course in the public, we recognize that you can't necessarily interview everyone the same way, and so part of my role and responsibility as kind of a thought leader and a transformational architect is basically creating a dialogue with men and women across the nation and say you know, if we're going down this direction and not getting the success that we're looking for, why don't we try a couple of different options? And so that's led now to ultimately changing our talent acquisition sales manager training protocols. You know we recognize the definition of insanity right, doing the same things, expecting different results and so it had been a while since we really evolved the way we train our leadership on what is happening in our current marketplace and because we tend to be a conservative business, we've been doing some of the same things for a long time. We realize, like after a recession or the stock market crash at the end of OA or now after COVID the world has changed so much and the candidate thinking has changed so much, that now we have to it's not have to, we must train our leaders in that process of bringing now new candidates into the business, teaching them concepts of everboarding as an example, being wildly important to the success of these individuals learning about who we are, why they wanna join us, why they wanna stay with us and, to your point earlier, more importantly, find new veins of opportunity as they stay with us for 20, 30, 40 years.
Speaker 1And that's really what we're looking at doing is no longer are we, or should any organization for that matter focus on hiring people with a job in mind? I don't like the word job. I see that everywhere I go, and what that basically means is we are turning the chapter. We are leaving what's called generalized recruiting fill a seat to making sure that we're using talent acquisition methods, which basically is acquiring the right talent for the future. So there's an art and science naturally to that, and so I liken it to, let's say, m&a.
Speaker 1Merger is an acquisition. When we make a determination that we want to bring in a business into the SCI and dignity family, there's a tremendous amount of due diligence that happens on the front end as we bring people in. So that's very akin to the concepts of talent acquisition asking the right questions, getting the right information, creating an ever-boarding relationship and partnership with today's candidate really wants and seeing their success not in the year or two, but 10, 15, 20, 30 years down the road. So we are ushering in a new world. We're ushering in the concepts of talent acquisition, moving away from concepts of general recruiting, and that is a project that is now, it's being conceptualized.
Speaker 1We're going to go to the boards here in the next couple weeks and really very excited about this because what it really does is it changes the mindset of individuals and success is all about mindset.
Speaker 1And in my trainings my hope is that when I'm speaking to people they understand that no longer should they consider themselves a manager because today's candidate doesn't want to be managed. The word managed typically speaks to process, and so what we are looking for is making sure each of us are all leaders and entrepreneurs of our business, because, as we speak to candidates today, especially the 59 million millennials that are really going to lead our legacy in the next couple years, they're looking for leadership, they're not looking for management, and so that is a big driver for us for not just this year, but really for the future. I'm really very excited about that, because we have tremendous leaders out in the field that have been looking for this type of thought process as well. So, with our folks out in the field going through focus groups, having conversations, listening and learning from them, have come to this point to create this major project. I'm very, very excited about rolling this out very soon.
Speaker 2That sounds really, really exciting actually, and I'm curious when do you think that we could be hearing a little more about that?
Speaker 1Absolutely Well. It starts today. We're having conversations in major cities across the nation and we're starting to not only solicit the ideas and thoughts so we can incorporate into this new program from the leaders out in the field, but we're speaking about the mindset changes and we're getting great feedback, understanding and appreciation that this is a direction that we want to go. So we're putting pen to paper here in the next couple weeks because, of course, when you have a world-class training organization, there's a lot of work that goes into it. So I made no promises to our teams. However, really the goal is by the end of the third quarter is an attempt to pilot in a couple markets as new individuals join our organization. That would be our goal and I think, with the folks that we have working with us on our teams, I think we're gonna. We'll be successful by the third quarter.
Speaker 2We'll be looking forward to it, for sure. Now, jason, I'm gonna ask you something that I'd like to ask a lot of our guests, and that is what legacy do you want to leave in the funeral profession?
Speaker 1Wow. So it really comes from my mother. So I'm 27 years in to the town acquisition game and I never knew this would be a life for me. I never knew this industry would be something I would fall in love with. A legacy for me really comes down to really what I was taught as a child, and my mom really was the driver behind always being right to help other people, to support other people, to help other folks stand up. And so I found a career that allowed me to not only support myself, support my family, but had the opportunity to stand up individuals around me, and it has been a blessing for 27 years Now. This business has taken it to a whole new level because I get to live vicariously through the men and women that support the families, sometimes at the worst time of their lives, right. So that's become wildly important for me. But I will tell you that I've been either directly or indirectly involved in the higher upright thousands of people throughout those years, and when you watch an individual become successful, it's the best feeling on the planet. It really is.
Speaker 1And when I say successful again, it could be a variety of aspects of success, but my legacy is to be able to be a part of others growth. I've said that for years and I've been blessed to allow the opportunity to do that, and so I've said to others in our profession your job, if this is their goals, take them from a Toyota to a BMW. Your job, if it's their goals, go from an apartment to a house. Your job is to help them put their retirement together. Now you're not going to get all the thank yous and the high fives, but the end of the day, just like any leader in our business here at SCI, we're a part of their life and so that gives me great satisfaction. At the end of the day, and from a legacy perspective, that's really what it comes down to. I want to be known as the person that helped others achieve what it is that they were looking to achieve. Whatever those goals are, I want to help them get there.
Speaker 1And after 27 years in town acquisition, 16 years in this business, my integrity is still intact and folks understand and acknowledge that I'm a part of the business and acknowledge that that's who I am and that's what I do.
Speaker 1And so I'm willing at four o'clock in the morning when I get a call from, let's say, a John Gildy out of you know South Florida that says, hey, I need your help. I take that call Because not only is he my internal customer, but I want to see to it that whatever he needs is done so that family that comes in that door has everything that they need to make sure that they are taken care of. And that is something that, when I speak to folks externally that are not in the industry, I let them know your heart comes first, your head comes second. If you can connect and you could be a part of something that big and want to be a part of something that big, let's talk. And so that's my legacy is bringing people into the industry that knowingly and willingly want to help others, and that's what helps me sleep at night.
Speaker 2Well, I have no doubt that you are certainly on the path of creating that legacy, for sure, and I thank you again for being able to join us today.
Speaker 2Thank you, definitely a lot of things to think about after our conversation today, and especially for all of those listening in as well. I thank you for joining us once again for our debut of season two. That's going to do it for us today. I'd like to thank our very special guest, mr Jason Bookbinder, for joining us, and we will see everyone next week. Be sure to subscribe to our channel on Apple Spotify and Buzzsprout Search Legacy Series. We'll see you next week.