This transformation is impactful for finance teams, who often bear a heavy burden of time-consuming, repetitive tasks. Laurent’s research quantifies this burden:

“Finance teams in SMBs often spend significant hours each week chasing down documents and invoice approvals–at least 4 hours per week for the majority of finance professionals, according to a recent Yooz survey, with nearly a quarter of respondents spending 7 or more hours per week on this task.

“Automation can cut down this time drastically, allowing teams to focus on strategic planning and decision-making.”

These statistics highlight the potential for a significant shift in how finance professionals spend their time. By automating these routine tasks, finance teams can redirect their efforts towards more strategic, value-added activities.

The analytical capabilities of AI also promise to revolutionize financial decision-making. As Laurent notes:

“AI algorithms can analyze large data sets, providing insights and predictions that enhance decision-making processes in just minutes.”

This rapid analysis can provide finance teams with deeper insights, enabling more informed and timely financial strategies.

Related: AI in HR can transform overload into meaningful impact

The strategic impact of AI in finance

While efficiency gains are impressive, Laurent points out that the benefits of automation extend far beyond mere time savings:

“Automation allows SMBs to grow sustainably and manage larger volumes of work with the same or even fewer resources.”

“As businesses grow, the volume of tasks increases. Automation provides the scalability needed to handle increased workloads without proportional increases in operational costs. This allows SMBs to grow sustainably and manage larger volumes of work with the same or even fewer resources.”

This scalability is crucial for finance departments, allowing them to handle increasing complexity and volume of financial data without a proportional increase in team size.

Accuracy is another critical benefit. Laurent emphasizes:

“Automation also improves accuracy by minimizing human intervention which reduces the likelihood of errors and enhances the accuracy of operations. This is especially beneficial in functions like finance, where timely and accurate data is crucial for decision-making and compliance.”

In finance, where precision is paramount, this improvement in accuracy can significantly reduce risks and enhance overall operational reliability.

Unlocking strategic potential in finance teams

Perhaps most excitingly, Laurent Charpentier shared insights into how automation can unlock strategic potential:

“We found that 77% of finance professionals report feeling that their potential to contribute strategically to business outcomes is significantly hindered by a lack of acknowledgment of the extensive operational pressures they face daily. 

“When asked about potential resolutions, automation was highlighted as critical, with 88% of finance teams emphasizing its importance for strategic engagement.”

These statistics underscore a crucial point: automation isn’t just about doing things faster or more accurately – it’s about elevating the role of finance professionals within the organization. 

By freeing up time and mental energy, automation allows finance teams to focus on more strategic, value-added work.

Laurent’s vision for the future of finance is clear:

“It’s encouraging to see automation amplified with artificial intelligence, resulting in improved productivity without the need for additional headcount.”

“It’s encouraging to see automation amplified with artificial intelligence, resulting in improved productivity without the need for additional headcount, which is particularly advantageous for SMBs operating with tight budgets.”

This perspective challenges finance departments to think creatively about how they can drive organizational growth and success through technological leverage.

Security considerations in financial automation

Laurent also highlights the importance of security in this new landscape:

“I think it’s also important for businesses to consider the security benefits and risks of AI tools. On one hand, AI-powered fraud is on the rise. However, AI is one of the most powerful tools to combat it. 

“Businesses can fight fire with fire by utilizing AI-enabled systems for anomaly detection, vendor risk assessment, advanced data analysis and predictive analytics, natural language processing (NLP), and more, to repel AI-powered attacks.”

This insight underscores the dual nature of AI in finance – while it presents new security challenges, it also offers powerful tools for protecting financial data and processes.

The human element in automated finance

Finally, Laurent emphasizes the enduring importance of human expertise in finance:

“Automation should augment job functions, not replace human workers.”

“Automation should augment job functions, not replace human workers. I believe automation unlocks the strategic potential of finance teams, enabling them to operate at a higher, more valuable level. 

“This shift allows teams to concentrate on business innovation and long-term planning rather than getting bogged down by repetitive, manual tasks. Humans are indispensable, and automation should be a powerful tool in their arsenal to enhance their roles and deliver greater value.”

This perspective highlights that the goal of automation in finance is not to replace humans, but to empower finance professionals to achieve more.

What does this mean for HR Professionals

As finance roles evolve, HR professionals will need to adapt their recruitment, training, and development strategies. 

The focus may shift towards hiring finance professionals with strong analytical and strategic skills, capable of leveraging AI tools effectively. 

Additionally, HR teams may need to facilitate upskilling programs to help existing finance staff transition into more strategic roles.

As we witness this revolution in finance, it’s clear that AI and automation are not just changing processes – they’re reshaping the very nature of financial work. 

By maximizing the use of these technologies, finance teams can elevate their role, providing more strategic value to their organizations and driving business success in new and exciting ways.

The post AI in finance could free up at least four hours per week appeared first on Recruiting Resources: How to Recruit and Hire Better.

Shannon shared a striking finding from McKinsey’s American Opportunity Survey that finds that 36% of employed US workers identify as independent workers (up from 27% in 2016).

This surge isn’t just impressive – it’s a call to action for HR departments everywhere. You need to rethink your talent strategies and workforce planning.

But it’s not just independent studies highlighting this trend. Shannon’s own company, Wripple, has uncovered similar patterns. 

Wripple’s 2024 TeamUp report highlighted the strategic significance and growth trajectory of the freelance workforce in corporate America. Shannon comments:

“Many companies are seeking to modernize their workforce standards and practices and 92% of them indicated that they plan to increase their use of freelancers in 2024 and beyond.”

What does this mean for the HR pros? We’re looking at a future where flexible work arrangements are the norm, not the exception. It’s time to start preparing for this shift.

Economic uncertainty: The freelance catalyst

Economic downturns often spark workplace innovation. The recent uncertainties have accelerated the freelance trend. Shannon confirmed this observation:

“The increasing use of freelancers is a macro-trend that was certainly accelerated by recent economic uncertainty.”

As HR professionals, you are often tasked with balancing budget constraints and staffing needs. Freelancers offer a solution. Shannon explains:

“Engaging freelancers for short or medium-term work assignments gives companies the ultimate in financial flexibility. Companies only pay for the work they want and need to get done and no additional employee salaries are added to the books.”

Shannon has noticed that many consumer-driven sectors such as banking, travel and consumer electronics “recently turn to freelancing in lieu of hiring full-time employees.”

The appeal of freelancing: a two-way street

Understanding why professionals choose freelancing is key to your talent acquisition and retention strategies. Shannon identifies the primary draw:

“The primary driver to turn to freelancing is certainly career flexibility – being able to work (a) when you want to and (b) on the specific types of job assignments that are interesting or desirable to you.”

But freelancing isn’t for everyone. Shannon points out:

“To be a successful freelancer, you need to be an expert at something because companies want proven results and they are increasingly looking for specialists who can work efficiently.”

Shannon suggests that freelancers need to have “at least 5+ years of work experience and have mastered at least one craft or skill.  And freelancers often need financial security to feel comfortable with a non-salaried, sometimes unpredictable income.  Therefore, individuals in a dual-income family or those in the mid to late stages of their career are often the ones that turn to freelancing.”  

The freelance economy isn’t just changing how we hire – it’s changing how we think about careers altogether.

Adapting HR strategies for the freelance era

As HR professionals, you are at the forefront of this workplace revolution. Our strategies need to evolve quickly to keep pace. Shannon shared some insights on how companies are adapting:

“Companies are adapting their talent acquisition and management strategies in several key areas.”

He outlined four main areas of focus:

• Focus on flexible hiring: Streamlining processes and using freelance platforms for quick on-boarding.
• Creating talent pools: Building a network of go-to freelancers for recurring projects.
• Adding tech: Using project management tools and AI for better freelancer-project matches.
• Policy updates: Adapting payment terms and work policies to suit freelance contracts.

These changes aren’t just surface-level tweaks. They represent a fundamental shift in how we approach talent management.

But with change comes challenges. Shannon highlighted a crucial point:

“Ensuring the engagement of freelancers is handled with the same level of professionalism as full-time employees.”

This ‘professionalism gap’ is something we in HR need to address head-on. How do we ensure freelancers feel as valued and integrated as full-time staff? It’s a question that requires innovative solutions.

Other challenges he noticed are: 

• Consistency: Ensuring quality and reliability from freelancers. Note:  freelance platforms can help with this
• Cultural fit: Integrating freelancers into the company’s culture and brand

Technology: the freelance enabler

It’s a fact. We’ve seen technology transform this field time and again. The freelance economy is no exception. Shannon emphasized the role of emerging technologies:

“Certainly, emerging technologies are already having a tremendous impact on the world of freelance work.”

He pointed out three key areas:

1. Freelance marketplaces and talent platforms. Advanced algorithms and AI help match freelancers with the most suitable projects based on skills, experience, and preferences.  They also offer resources, forums, and support services to help freelancers succeed and grow their businesses.
2. Generative AI. AI is certainly impacting how freelancers work.  Increasingly, all freelancers must have a set of ‘go to’ AI tools that they utilize every single day to get their work down more efficiently with higher quality.   
3. Virtual and Augmented Reality (VR/AR). VR/AR technologies offer immersive virtual meeting experiences, enabling more effective remote collaboration and interaction. VR/AR can create realistic training environments for freelancers, helping them acquire new skills and improve existing ones in a hands-on, engaging manner.

As HR professionals, you need to stay ahead of these technological curves. Shannon noted:

“Increasingly, all freelancers must have a set of ‘go to’ AI tools that they utilize every single day to get their work down more efficiently with higher quality.”

Shaping the future of work

Looking ahead, it’s clear that the freelance economy will continue to grow. As HR professionals, you’re not just observers of this trend – you’re active participants in shaping it.

Shannon’s insights have highlighted the opportunities and challenges ahead. But it’s up to us to turn these insights into action. We need to:

1. Rethink our talent acquisition strategies
2. Develop new approaches to workforce integration
3. Update our policies to accommodate flexible work arrangements
4. Embrace technology as a tool for managing a diverse workforce

The future of work is flexible, technology-driven, and increasingly freelance. As HR professionals, it’s your job to ensure that this future works for everyone – freelancers, full-time employees, and companies alike.

By staying informed, adaptable, and proactive, you can turn the freelance revolution into an opportunity for growth and innovation in your organizations.

The post Freelancers on the rise: adapting HR strategies for the new era appeared first on Recruiting Resources: How to Recruit and Hire Better.

We specialize in Human Capital, Talent Development, and Talent Acquisition, and as the only Italian partner of Talentor International, we provide daily support to organizations, both in Italy and abroad, looking to enrich their human resources with talents possessing specific and deeply rooted skills. 

We know well that executive search requires particular commitment, sometimes lengthy processes, and real challenges in finding the ideal talent.

Therefore, we take on this responsibility, dedicating hours to reviewing resumes and conducting interviews, often facing the difficulty of engaging even those talents who are not actively seeking employment.

In this regard, Workable has proven to be an excellent tool for us to simplify this process, allowing us to precisely identify candidates suitable for the specific needs of client companies, engaging both actively job-seeking talents and so-called passive candidates.

Reason why we shared our working methodology with Workable also with our international Partner during the Talentor Research Round Table.

Our unique methods and processes for attracting excellent talents

Our distinctive approach in the consulting and recruiting sector is based on a combination of innovative processes and unique methods that enable us to attract and select talent with specific and deeply rooted skills. Here are some key elements of which we are particularly proud:

1. In-depth competence analysis: We use advanced assessment tools to analyze candidates’ skills in detail. This allows us to identify not only technical skills but also, and especially, the soft skills that are essential for success in the specific role.
2. Artificial intelligence technologies: We implement AI algorithms to match candidate profiles with the specific needs of companies. This allows us to quickly filter a large number of candidates and select those with the most suitable skills.
3. Networking and industry community: We are actively involved in professional communities and industry networks. We participate in conferences, workshops, and networking events to identify and attract top talent, creating relationships that go beyond the simple recruiting process.
4. Training and development programs: We offer continuous training and professional development programs for our consultants, ensuring they have the most up-to-date and relevant skills. In addition to classic training, we also use edutainment techniques and role-playing games that stimulate creative thinking and innovative solutions through experiential learning. This allows us to provide our clients with talent that not only possesses current skills but can also adapt quickly to market changes.
5. Customized selection processes: We tailor our selection processes to the specific needs of each client. This includes structured interviews, assessment centers, and practical tests that simulate real working situations, ensuring that candidates are not only qualified but also culturally fit for the client’s organization.
6. Continuous feedback and improvement: We maintain a continuous feedback loop with our clients and candidates to constantly improve our processes. This allows us to quickly adapt to market changes and meet the emerging needs of our clients.

These methods and processes distinguish us in the consulting and recruiting market, and we are particularly proud of the results we achieve for our clients.

Our dedication to a personalized approach and the use of cutting-edge technologies allow us to attract and select high-level talent, always ensuring maximum client satisfaction.

Exploring the potential of using Workable

The first standout feature is undoubtedly Workable’s intuitive interface and customization options, which allow us to tailor the recruitment process to specific needs.

From simply inputting crucial role and requirement information, this cutting-edge online recruitment platform seamlessly manages the rest of the process. 

Through targeted distribution, it spreads our job postings across a wide range of online platforms, ensuring broad visibility and coverage.

Thanks to this effective distribution strategy, we reach a vast and diversified number of potential candidates, ensuring that no opportunity is left unexplored in our search for the ideal talent.

Keyword: perfect candidate

Thanks to Workable’s job post distribution feature, our advertisement is distributed across a series of online channels and social media, capturing the attention of a wide audience of potential talents actively seeking new job opportunities.

But it doesn’t end there. Workable offers another essential feature for executive search: keyword search.

With this option, we can identify a broad pool of passive talents, those who may not be actively seeking a job change. Identifying such profiles, characterized by exceptional skills and experiences, allows us to more effectively meet the needs of client companies, offering them a broader and more qualified selection of potential candidates.

The satisfaction of success

Our experience with Workable demonstrates that finding the perfect candidate doesn’t have to be an insurmountable task. With the right tools and approach, it’s possible to streamline the recruitment process and achieve extraordinary results.

Today at MCS, we are able to identify and engage the ideal talent for our executive searches, performing more efficiently, transparently, and rewarding. The experience with Workable has marked a turning point in our role as recruiters, and we couldn’t be more satisfied with the results achieved. Workable is exactly what we needed.

Elena Di Maio is currently the Communication Manager at MCS. She is a Marketing Executive Specialist with extensive experience in TTL Brand Communication, Digital Marketing Communication, and Press Office, primarily acquired at a multinational automotive company. In recent years, she has worked as a Web Master, Social/CRM Communicator, and Content Editor. Her specialization lies in designing and managing communication campaigns across OOH, ATL (press, TV, email, social media), and in Event/Exhibition Planning.

The post MCS utilizes HR technology to search for excellent talents appeared first on Recruiting Resources: How to Recruit and Hire Better.

Someone in the thread suggested it sounded like this influencer:

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Nicole Pellegrino (@nicolepellegrin0)

To which the original poster said, yes, just with shorts instead of a mini skirt.

Now, to defend the Instagrammer, she plays the role of a clueless person, but apparently, not everyone catches on to that.

It’s intern season, and this Redditor discovered that even though the company gave the interns a dress code, it didn’t stick in their heads.

If you have interns showing up to work, you could use more clarity around office rules than you need for more established employees.

If you have interns showing up to work, you could use more clarity around office rules than you need for more established employees.

Or, as one Redditor said,  “spell it out in crayons.”

Here is some help spelling things out so every employee–even your interns can understand.

Office etiquette: dress code 

Because dress code violations brought this all on, let’s start there. Things like “business casual” or “business attire” and, especially, “dress for the day you have” can work just fine with experienced professionals, but with people who are in their first professional environment, it’s not enough.

Be crystal clear with what you mean by your dress code. HR Director at LPS, Marie Lobbezoo, suggests wording such as:

• Backs and stomachs should be covered at all times. 
• Proper undergarments must be worn at all times. T-Shirts, Camisoles, and/or Bras are recommended for office wear under outer clothing.
• Underwear as outerwear is not permitted in the office.
• Bra straps and underwear should not be visible when you are fully dressed,
• Leggings should only be worn under a tunic or top layer that extends to mid-thigh.
• Strapless or spaghetti-strap tops should only be worn with a top layer over them.

You might find that ridiculously over the top, but you need to assume that interns (and some more experienced employees) will have no idea what is and is not appropriate.

Spelling it out makes it straightforward for everyone and removes discomfort from managers and HR. You don’t have to struggle with why their outfit is inappropriate; just point to the bullet point on the list.

Punctuality and breaks

Interns should understand the importance of punctuality, as school classes start at specific times, but office environments can feel different. Meetings with coworkers or clients can feel like get-togethers for group projects, but it’s not the same. It falls under the office etiquette.

Be specific about what you expect. If you need our interns to show up at 8:30, say so clearly and speak with someone the first time they arrive at 8:40. This may seem overly nitpicky, but the goal of an internship is to train people how to act in an office.

If your office is more casual about start times, that’s great! Just let your intern know precisely what you expect. And don’t demand that your intern be there at 8:30 when you aren’t going to stroll in until 9:45. If there is a reason for the difference in start times, also make that clear.

Breaks can be a weird concept for people in their first job. If they worked in food services or retail, they undoubtedly had breaks assigned by a shift leader and strictly timed. But white-collar breaks can be much more casual. Can your interns wander to the kitchen for coffee or a glass of water anytime? Probably. Do you want them to spend half the day there? Probably not.

What about lunch? How long is it? Do people generally eat at their desks, pack lunches, or go out? Remember that your interns probably can’t afford to eat out daily, so let them know where they can store their lunches and whether eating at their desks is acceptable.

What should they call people?

When I was in college, we called all the professors “Doctor” or “Professor.” Grad students who taught undergraduate classes were referred to by their first names. When I moved to graduate school, the professors introduced themselves to us by their first names.

I struggled with using their first names throughout grad school because it just seemed wrong to me.

It doesn’t matter what your standard is–just tell the interns. “We call everyone by their first name except for the CEO, whom we call Ms. Smith.”  Or, “Please call clients Mr. or Ms. Last Name until they ask you to use their first names.” 

Just make it very, very clear. That way, there is no awkwardness.

They know what to expect. Different cultures and different schools use very different naming standards. Don’t assume they will know your company practices. 

The first few days and weeks at a new job are stressful for seasoned professionals, triple that for interns.

Be incredibly clear about expectations and correct them promptly and politely. If you can do this, intern season will be great for you and your interns.

The post Decoding office etiquette: guiding interns effectively appeared first on Recruiting Resources: How to Recruit and Hire Better.

As it happens – salary negotiation goes far beyond one side offering X and the other side asking for Y, and then (hopefully) meeting in the middle.

It’s more nuanced than that. And it’s no longer just an HR task – it’s now a strategic element of overall employee satisfaction and company culture.

Trevor Bogan is regional director at the Top Employers Institute in North America, and he knows a fair bit about this. In an email Q&A, he emphasized practical strategies for handling salary negotiations, a process becoming increasingly complex in today’s workplace especially as salary transparency becomes more part of the norm than before.

Haggling is hotter than ever

First off – salary negotiations have become more common in recent years, Trevor says, pointing to “increased awareness around things like the impact of lifetime earnings, wage gaps, and economic factors like inflation and recessions.”

In other words, today’s workers are more market-aware and market-savvy. They’re not shy about their own self worth and what they feel they deserve to make for their work.

Related: 4 effective salary negotiation tips for employers

This shift presents distinct challenges for you as employers. Trevor points to three main ones:

1. Budgetary considerations – where you need to balance financial health and competitive offers
2. Fairness and equity considerations – where you need to ensure parity across roles
3. Competition considerations – where you need to match or outdo market rates to attract top talent

So, how do you, especially those in the SMB sector, navigate these challenges without compromising company stability?

Openness is key

Trevor emphasizes the importance of establishing open compensation policies, even and especially when handling delicate topics such as salary and how it’s determined.

Transparency in how salaries align with broader company parameters eases employees’ minds, he notes, ensuring they feel valued rather than just another budget line.

And don’t think of salary negotiations as a simple hiring-phase hurdle.

“[Salary negotiations] can happen in different scenarios, but the most common are during onboarding, when both applicant and employer are establishing the work relationship; during performance reviews where employees can go over their contributions to the company and their professional growth over the time being reviewed,” Trevor notes.

When you recognize these periods and you’re transparent about it, this helps you prepare and manage expectations on both sides.

Related: Salary transparency: Good thing for employees – and employers?

Strike that balance

Employees do expect higher salaries, which is normal, especially when they’ve looked at the market and they see that their experience or education level justifies higher pay, Trevor says.

Which brings to mind one negotiation delicacy: how do you maintain employee engagement when you can’t meet their salary expectations?

One word: communication.

“Listening and acknowledging concerns is important as is expressing appreciation for the contributions they have made to the team or company,” Trevor says. You can’t always meet salary expectations – and often, you can’t immediately do so – but it helps to ensure employees feel heard, respected, and confident that their contributions aren’t overlooked.

“Listening and acknowledging concerns is important as is expressing appreciation for the contributions they have made to the team or company.”

The present economic reality, however, is that many companies’ hands are tied financially. They just can’t afford to give out raises – in fact, a recent ResumeBuilder.com survey finds that one quarter of companies will not be giving out raises in 2024, and a full half say the cost-of-living adjustment will be less than 3%.

That’s a tough situation for many employers and employees alike. So how do you navigate that when you’re pulled into a conversation about salary? Trevor suggests being transparent about budgetary constraints and actively involving employees in career growth discussions.

“Scheduling regular check-ins will assure the employee that they are valued, and that the salary conversation will not be swept under the rug,” he explains. Such steps help in mitigating disappointment and potential disengagement.

You also must incorporate standard adjustments for inflation – and monitor the overall economic trends as you do it.

“Identifying an inflation index that is relevant to the location or industry the company sits in is also important in this determination,” Trevor states. This methodological approach ensures that your adjustments are justifiable and consistent, not arbitrary.

What about global and multinational companies? There’s an added layer of complexity here when looking to resolve salary disparities across regions. Trevor recommends looking for the balance between global consistency and local relevance – which requires a formal policy.

“The first step is to create a global compensation strategy that will consider the local markets, company budget, and equity across all regions,” Trevor says, highlighting the need for continuous local market research and regular policy reviews.

The diversity aspect, of course, cannot be overlooked.

“Employers must be diligent in collecting and analyzing salary, bonus, and benefits data in the categories of race, age, and gender, amongst other influencing data points to identify any disparities that might be present,” Trevor says. Proactive measures, including pay equity audits and promoting diverse leadership, reinforce a culture of fairness and inclusivity.

And finally, being open about salary across the company is becoming more and more standard, even if it’s controversial. Trevor notes that salary transparency is being adopted by more and more organizations regularly.

“This has proven to be effective in attracting and retaining top talent as it creates a culture of trust and equity between employers and employees,” he says.

However, he warns, salary transparency still comes with challenges, such as potential privacy concerns and internal discontent. The decision to embrace transparency should align with your organization’s culture and strategic goals.

Transparency, policy, and strategy are musts

All in all – be transparent and ensure you have a policy and clearly thought-out strategy when handling salary matters. It’s a nuanced art requiring balancing financial realities with employee expectations and market demands.

By embracing transparency, equitable practices, and open dialogue, you can turn these negotiations into opportunities for mutual growth and trust-building. After all, at the heart of every salary negotiation is a person seeking validation of their worth – an aspect every employer should recognize and respect. Trevor at Top Employers Institute would absolutely agree on this.

Need more? Our email template on salary can help: Salary negotiation with candidates email template

The post Navigating the nuances of salary negotiations – how to do it right appeared first on Recruiting Resources: How to Recruit and Hire Better.

Does it matter for employers? Absolutely. Your talent attraction and retention metrics will be impacted if you don’t plan for this.

Related: Salary transparency: Good thing for employees – and employers?

So, to help you get ahead of any potential issues around salary transparency, we talked with Amanda Augustine, a certified professional career coach and resume writer, and the resident career expert at ZipJob, a professional resume service.

Amanda had great insights to share. Let’s get into it.

Salaries are no longer taboo

Recent developments highlight a significant shift towards transparency in the workplace. A ZipJob survey shows that two-thirds (65%) of career-driven professionals are willing to reveal their salaries when asked by a colleague.

And 28% of professionals would not be offended if asked about their salary.

This highlights a destigmatization surrounding the topic.

“We are certainly moving more towards this workplace that requires [and] demands greater transparency, openness, even vulnerability across all aspects,” says Amanda.

Related: Pay transparency: the pros, the cons, and best practices

Amanda points out that this shift isn’t just happening in social circles. It’s increasingly underscored by legislation across the United States; as of January 2024, 30 states or localities have laws mandating employers to disclose pay ranges, with that number likely to keep growing.

And as of 2023, nearly 83.6 million workers in the United States may be covered by pay range transparency laws, according to the National Women’s Law Center.

Governments have their own pilot projects underway in this area. In March 2022, the UK government launched a pay transparency pilot scheme encouraging companies to disclose salaries in all of their job postings.

And in 2023, the EU Pay Transparency Directive was passed. Employers with 100 or more employees are required to publish information on the pay gap between female and male employees, as well as share information on how pay is set, progressed, and managed.

Suffice it to say – there’s a lot of ‘official’ movement in this area.

The shift in the zeitgeist

When asked why all this was happening, Amanda pointed to the increasing influence of younger generations on workplace expectations.

“Younger workers have grown up in the era of social media and sharing, value transparency in all aspects of their lives, including compensation,” Amanda says. “Their expectations are shifting workplace norms, compelling organizations to adapt.”

It’s part and parcel of a larger shift as well, she adds.

“The #MeToo, Black Lives Matter, all those things; we know that salary transparency also shines a spotlight on any major wage gaps that may occur across various sectors of your population, of your workforce, whether that’s ethnicity or race, whether that’s gender,” Amanda adds.

“Those things tend to be more apparent – and there’s a greater need to then address them,” she explains.

“So it’s not a surprise, at least in my opinion, that we’re seeing a lot more force or demand on this transparency because it intersects in so many different ways with what’s been going on in the workforce for the past three to four years.”

“We’re seeing a lot more force or demand on this transparency because it intersects in so many different ways with what’s been going on in the workforce for the past three to four years.”

The reprioritization of salary

With this comes a shift in job priorities – for example, Workable’s Great Discontent survey found that 69% of respondents would go to a new job if they had a better salary.

“For the longest time, company culture had overtaken and eclipsed compensation, but we have started seeing a shift back towards compensation in the last few years.” Amanda adds that it’s not a huge shock, nor is it about the actual monetary value of transparency. It’s a precursor to career paths and expectations.

“It’s an overall transparency. How are people being evaluated? And is it consistent across positions?“

The remote work factor

Amanda suggests that the increase in remote work may correlate with the increase in transparency around compensation. Previously, she says, companies were able to offer more in way of culture and community when workers traditionally worked on location – but that’s lacking in the remote sphere.

“Not every company’s figured out how to do that in a remote setting,” she notes. And the same applies for full-time remote workers as well – Amanda puts herself in the shoes of someone who works remotely:

“I don’t really care about the culture anymore. I’m not joining in on the activities. I’m not doing that sort of stuff. I don’t want to sit through another virtual happy hour.”

And that brings us back to salary: “I want to make sure I’m getting paid what I’m worth.”

A multifaceted challenge for employers

Even for those fully bought into the value of full salary transparency, the transition can be potentially challenging territory for employers accustomed to keeping salaries and compensation ranges in the back room.

Pay gaps, often unintentional yet still existent, will inevitably come to light. Uncomfortable disconnects will surface between a new hire commanding a higher salary than a veteran employee who’s been with the company for a long time.

The same discomfort applies for the lack of alignment in salaries across similar positions, which exposes potentially illegal bias across the company.

Amanda emphasizes that companies need to be thinking about this.

The power of knowledge

“Employers can no longer sustain substantial gaps in pay without repercussions,” Amanda says, highlighting the potential impact on recruitment as potential job candidates learn about these pay imbalances via employer review sites such as Glassdoor – again highlighting the transparency and sharing of information.

“Candidates and employees are becoming more informed, and these disparities can greatly affect an employer’s reputation and their ability to attract top talent.”

“Candidates and employees are becoming more informed, and these disparities can greatly affect an employer’s reputation and their ability to attract top talent.”

Also, companies can no longer control that narrative. Once it’s out there, it’s out there for the world to see.

“You see it with social media, right? Not that I’m condoning this, but people are willing to record any and everything that happens at work and share with whosoever eyeballs they can find online. We’re also seeing more of that. I just don’t think they’re going to be able to continue having substantial gaps in pay in the future,” she says.

Increased leverage for employees and candidates

Retention will be impacted since candidates and employees have greater leverage with this extra information on their hands.

“We’re going to see a lot of people trying to negotiate to close those gaps. And if they’re not finding an employer who’s willing to address that or make an effort to close that gap, people are going to start looking elsewhere.”

Even if a company is fully balanced in salary up the ladder and across positions, talent attraction will change – and a SHRM report shows this.

“[In the SHRM report], 82% of people said they are more willing to apply for a role if the pay range is listed. And 74% are less likely to apply for a job if it doesn’t list that information.”

So, what can employers do?

So, clearly, there are repercussions either way. If you open up the information coffers, pay gaps come to light and issues will inevitably arise. Keep it under wraps, and it’s a bad look for your employer brand.

So what do you do as an employer? You’ll have to power forward – but you can do it the right way. There are clear benefits to transparency – for employers, it’s about fostering a culture of openness not just in compensation but in career progression, which is also encouraging information for employees.

Companies can also procure salary benchmarking tools and softwares which will help them stay competitive when hiring and retaining top talent.

It’s all in your hands as an employer, Amanda says.

“It’s all about how you approach someone and how you pose these questions and how you conduct these conversations – that will decide if it’s a positive or a negative outcome for everyone involved.

“Because there certainly is power in knowing what everyone else is being paid or what they’ve been told and sharing that information.”

Rome wasn’t built in a day – but things are changing.

“I don’t think it’s going to happen overnight,” says Amanda. “I don’t think we’re going to have this magical change, but I do think it’s going to move more towards that transparency direction. And we’re going to continue to see a greater comfort level amongst employees talking about these issues.“

The post A chat about salary transparency: the shift towards open discussion appeared first on Recruiting Resources: How to Recruit and Hire Better.

Sam emphasizes the significance of a well-crafted candidate experience, stating, “For us it’s incredibly important, especially given the current climate within the UK in terms of talent acquisition. It’s very competitive so businesses need to ensure that their recruitment processes are smooth, consistent and with quick action for candidates.” 

To address this challenge, Casio overhauled their recruitment process, which “previously was very manual – from candidate shortlisting all the way through to facilitating communications between our hiring teams and candidates. Interview scheduling at times was tricky to coordinate, requiring multiple reminders, as we also had introduced hybrid working in our head office post-COVID”.

Sam further elaborates, “It’s important for that candidate to know where they stand, not just waiting a long time for their first interview and then the follow-up stages after that.

“So, having Workable really helped us with that communication and recruitment pipeline, making sure those touchpoints with the candidate were really easy to use and maintain; enhancing a more personal experience with automated communication templates that were easy to define and customize in the platform.” 

This proactive approach to communication has been key in keeping candidates engaged throughout the hiring process and boosting their efforts to attract top talent.

HR Technology can overcome hiring challenges 

Casio implemented Workable, our recruitment software, to enhance candidate communication and smooth the hiring process. 

This has been particularly beneficial for roles in high demand, such as customer service, marketing, and retail.

Sam notes the specific challenges in these industries, saying, “Recently the predominant roles we recruit for are customer service and marketing, which can be quite challenging due to their demand in the market.

“Additionally, retail positions pose a challenge since the pandemic, with experienced retail workers seeking opportunities that are more remote work or hybrid, so brands have to be able to emphasize their benefits clearly to attract quality candidates.”

“Brands have to be able to emphasize their benefits clearly to attract quality candidates.”

By leveraging technology, Casio has been able to navigate these challenges more effectively “by ensuring our adverts are optimized to reach the relevant talent we want to attract. Workable’s AI recruiter has also been helpful in sourcing potentially applicable matches.

“Furthermore, the collaboration with the hiring teams on our recruitment campaigns has improved and been made easy with the platform, centralizing our communications, feedback and evaluations in one place rather than just emails. Seamlessly managing campaigns via Desktop or App is made so easy.”

The value of unified reporting

As the self-proclaimed “data cruncher” of the team, Sam appreciates the value of a unified reporting system. 

“I’m probably the data cruncher on our team. Having HR technology that helps inform our strategic decisions was incredibly important for our team. Previously, I had to manually gather data from various sources, which was time-consuming.”

“Whether I was working with recruiters or analyzing data myself, everything was done manually, including generating reports.

With HR technology, “I can easily access information for how the campaigns are performing – reports like time to fill, recruiter productivity, performance of different recruitment sources are just some of the reports pre-built into the system and easy to use and export.”

“Having real-time data and robust filtering options is invaluable for our team’s efficiency and historical analysis.”

Embracing video interviews

One standout feature that has transformed Casio’s hiring process is the use of one-way video interviews. 

Sam shares, “The recorded one-way video interviews were a trial, but they really worked. Initially, I was hesitant because I knew this could be a drastic change for the business as we were used to always conducting interviews in person, which isn’t always feasible nowadays. It could also be argued as a potential barrier for some candidates.”

This shift has not only saved time but also received “really positive feedback from both candidates and hiring managers. Candidates are able to proceed in our selection process quickly and hiring managers are able to review candidates and evaluate them almost as soon as the candidate has submitted their interview, allowing us to move on to the next stages of the process more efficiently.

“It also allows us to consider how candidates present themselves in a remote environment which is a factor we consider now that remote meetings happen more often nowadays with hybrid working.”

“Being able to shortlist people who we might have otherwise taken longer to see has been a great benefit from the system.”

Prioritizing soft skills

Casio has shifted its focus to prioritize soft skills and cultural fit over strict qualifications. Sam explains:

“For some roles, yes we do still need some technical expertise, but our focus is about what else the candidate can bring? Are they organized? Are they more methodical in approach to problem solving or more creative? How do they tailor their communication?”

This approach aligns with Casio’s values. Sam elaborates, “values are really important to us, especially in the challenges of adapting to a hybrid work environment. Ensuring someone can engage with the rest of the team is part of our interview process.

“Also understanding the candidate’s needs and wants for their work environment is also crucial, these days it’s important to assess cultural fit from both employer and candidate perspectives. It’s a partnership at the end of the day. This is particularly emphasized in senior roles.” 

“These days it’s important to assess cultural fit from both employer and candidate perspectives. It’s a partnership at the end of the day.

“We’ve also used the system’s psychometric assessments, which have been very insightful during interviews encouraging productive conversation between us and the candidates.”

Workplace culture: a factor to attract top talent

Casio has noticed promising trends in employee satisfaction. Sam shares, “By focusing on that, you end up having people who are more invested in your workplace culture. This, in turn, hopefully leads to an upward trend in positive feedback from our employees.” 

“We do survey our employees as well, and we are not only scoring high, we are also seeing further increase in recommendations for Casio as a place to work and in people wanting to be part of our team.”

Sam acknowledges that while they are making progress, there is still room for growth. “Focusing more on those softer skills is actually crucial for us, ensuring that we have an engaging process. There’s always room for development and learning from our employees.”

Casio’s transformation of their hiring process demonstrates the impact of prioritizing candidate experience, utilizing HR technology, and focusing on soft skills. That was the best way for them attract top talent.

By implementing tools like Workable and embracing video interviews, Casio has streamlined its recruitment efforts while attracting high-quality talent that aligns with their culture.

As Sam notes, “it’s really important for us to get that right and make sure we have the right people in the right seats.” 

With a dedication to continuous improvement and a candidate-centric approach, Casio is well-positioned to build strong, engaged teams that drive the company’s success.

The post How Casio transformed its hiring process to attract top talent appeared first on Recruiting Resources: How to Recruit and Hire Better.

AI is reshaping talent attraction strategies

According to Jake Canull, “Talent leaders have been using AI-driven tools to help them hire the right people for the right roles and improve decision making since the early 2000s.” 

He notes that the technology has improved incrementally over the past 20 years, with a revitalized boom in the last two years following the emergence of ChatGPT and the potential of Generative AI.

“HR and Talent teams can gain and maintain a strategic advantage against competitors by employing the most balanced talent process that consists of improved work efficiencies, and enhanced human-decision making,” Jake explains.

Top Employers Institute’s World of Work Trends report for 2024, which surveyed and certified the people-practices of more than 2,400 large organizations globally, found that “84% of Top Employers are defining a strategic vision for how technology will contribute to the overall employee experience.” 

Jake Canull emphasizes that Generative AI is at the forefront of this conversation.

AI in talent acquisition transforms various aspects including candidate sourcing, resume screening, candidate matching, assessments, predictive analytics, and reporting. 

These tools enable HR teams to identify potential candidates more effectively, streamline processes, and make data-driven decisions.

Jake Canull elaborates on the specific areas where AI is making a difference: “AI-powered applicant tracking systems (ATS) and talent acquisition software (TAS) can analyze resumes and job descriptions to identify relevant skills, experiences, and qualifications. 

“By leveraging natural language processing algorithms, ATS platforms match candidates to job requirements, enabling recruiters to focus on the most suitable applicants.”

Enhancing accuracy and efficiency in skills evaluation

AI tools have empowered frontline people leaders and talent professionals with more accurate information at a more efficient rate than ever before. 

The World of Work Trends report for 2024 found that “employee engagement scores were statistically best when both strong organizational purpose and good leadership were present.”

Jake highlights several benefits of implementing AI in the talent acquisition process, such as improvement in the time needed to hire new employees, data-driven decision making, efficiency, competitive advantage, and enhanced candidate quality. 

“AI analytics tools offer hiring managers valuable insights into recruitment trends, candidate behaviors, and performance metrics, enabling them to make informed decisions, optimize recruitment strategies, and forecast future talent needs,” Jake adds.

“AI analytics tools offer hiring managers valuable insights into recruitment trends, candidate behaviors, and performance metrics, enabling them to make informed decisions, optimize recruitment strategies, and forecast future talent needs.”

The personal touch in candidate interactions

While AI in talent acquisition offers numerous advantages, maintaining a personal touch in the recruitment process can be challenging. 

Jake Canull emphasizes that “maintaining personal touch in processes can only come through human context of situational empathy and compassion based on experience.”

“Maintaining personal touch in processes can only come through human context of situational empathy and compassion based on experience.”

He further explains, “It can become painfully obvious when you receive a message about a work item that feels painfully out of context. Top employers of choice invest time and resources building the right context of messaging around the most relevant use-cases.”

Top employers invest time and resources in building the right context of messaging around the most relevant use-cases. 

He notes that certified Top Employers are extremely thorough when integrating AI into their talent recruitment processes, as they are accustomed to annual reviews and audits of every HR practice. 

“If the systems and controls are not in place to maximize the employee’s experience, the employer may not pass certification,” he adds.

However, overreliance on technology and candidate bias are potential issues that organizations must address. Jake warns that “AI algorithms may inadvertently perpetuate or even exacerbate biases in the data used for training the models.”

Emerging AI technologies and their future impact

Looking forward, Jake Canull identifies several emerging AI technologies that he believes will have a significant impact on talent attraction and evaluation over the next five years. 

These include technologies supporting neurodiversity in the workplace, AI-driven skill matching for jobs and career changes, personalized employee experiences, wellbeing management, and tying employee sentiment to organizational communication.

The World of Work Trends Report for 2024 found that “72% of Certified Top Employers expect the importance of Neurodiversity in people practices increasing by 2026.”

Jake also anticipates the rise of AI tools that tie soft skills to business outcomes.

“Hard skills help an individual get work done, and the soft-skills enable positive work environments, trust, and wellbeing. AI tools that tie soft skills to business outcomes will start appearing more too,” Jake predicts.

He also foresees the emergence of “AI-driven recommendation engines that prompt action at key moments to personalize a work experience for individual people and reinforce feelings of appreciation, support, and trust.”

Overcoming challenges in AI integration

Despite the benefits of AI in talent acquisition, organizations face challenges when integrating AI into their recruiting processes. Jake emphasizes the importance of ensuring that processes, technologies, and workflows are built with a diverse group of stakeholders to avoid bias.

“Top Employers are avoiding the negative outcomes from bias by ensuring processes, technologies, and workflows are built with a group of diverse stakeholders each step of the way,” he explains. 

“For example, a high performing group of individuals may be assigned to join a committee that contains generational diversity, neurodiversity, job-level diversity, gender/ethnicity diversity, and more. 

“Including differences throughout work we do is key to creating a psychologically safe space for stakeholders to mention concerns and in turn, help their employers avoid the costly mistakes that can originate from well-intended decision-makers that operate out of their own set of biases as well.”

Top Employers Institute captured an “18-percentage point increase in the prioritization of diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives globally from 2023 to 2024,” concurrent with the continued rise of AI technology in the workplace. 

Organizations must also navigate ethical considerations, data privacy, and security concerns when implementing AI recruitment platforms.

Jake Canull highlights two additional challenges: “AI raises ethical dilemmas related to using candidate data, algorithmic decision-making, and the potential impact on employment opportunities and socio-economic disparities. 

“Organizations must navigate ethical considerations, uphold principles of fairness and integrity, and prioritize ethical AI practices to build trust and credibility in their recruitment processes.”

“Organizations must navigate ethical considerations, uphold principles of fairness and integrity, and prioritize ethical AI practices to build trust and credibility in their recruitment processes.”

“AI recruitment platforms rely on vast amounts of candidate data, raising concerns about privacy and security. Organizations must ensure compliance with data protection regulations, implement robust security measures, and establish transparent data handling practices to safeguard candidate information from unauthorized access or misuse,” he adds.

New skills for HR professionals in the age of AI

To stay relevant and maximize the potential of AI in talent management, Jake Canull advises HR professionals to focus on three key skills: curiosity in asking the right questions, algorithmic literacy, and discernment in decision-making.

“As someone who champions growth-mindsets rooted in gratitude, my advice is to focus on three skills that I believe will future-proof every talent management team and professional,” Jake shares.

An article by Jessica Kim-Schmid and Roshni Raveendhran in Harvard Business Review  published in fall of 2022, stated, “One way to reduce algorithm aversion is to help users learn how to interact with AI tools.

“Talent management leaders who use AI tools for making decisions should receive statistical training, for instance, that can enable them to feel confident about interpreting algorithmic recommendations.”

Jake Canull wholeheartedly agrees with this statement. “There tends to be a delay between commercial ready items and Discernment in decision-making: this is learned through years of experience and this lesson never stops. 

“The Institute for Digital Transformation puts it this way: ‘Discernment involves the ability to make sound judgments and decisions by analyzing and understanding situations or information through a careful examination of the details. 

“It is a cognitive process that involves evaluating and differentiating information to make informed decisions.'”

AI is undeniably transforming the landscape of talent acquisition, offering organizations new ways to attract, evaluate, and retain top talent. 

As Jake Canull and the insights from Top Employers Institute demonstrate, embracing AI-driven tools can provide a competitive edge, streamline processes, and enhance decision-making.

However, the successful integration of AI requires a balanced approach that combines technology with human judgment, empathy, and a commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. 

As AI in talent acquisition continues to evolve, HR professionals must adapt and acquire new skills to harness its full potential in talent management.

The post Top Employers Institute on how AI is reshaping talent acquisition appeared first on Recruiting Resources: How to Recruit and Hire Better.

Our fully remote team, scattered across Canada, provides Canadians with accurate, honest, and helpful information about credit cards, spending money, and saving money.

As an organization that’s seen significant growth over the past few years, WeyMedia has experienced its fair share of recruitment headaches. We finally turned to Workable in August of 2021 as a solution to the hiring challenges we’ve faced and we’ve never looked back. 

Our hiring efforts have increased considerably over the past six months, and this wouldn’t be possible without the cohesion and simplicity that Workable provides.

Collaboration is key

Our company is organized into five teams—content, growth, development, marketing, and administration—that work very closely together. Each has a narrow focus but requires regular input from one or more of the other teams, creating a well-oiled, cohesive team out of the smaller groups. 

This kind of seamless integration of people means that members of various teams communicate regularly and form both professional and personal relationships as a result. 

Because of these interdepartmental working relationships, a new employee may be hired to work on a specific team but will still work closely with members of other teams. 

Hiring is a collective effort

Therefore, it’s important to consider the needs of related teams during the hiring process avoiding recruitment headaches.

To help with this, WeyMedia involves multiple team members in the interview process. It’s not just the hiring manager—other team members also participate in the interview panel.  

Things can get confusing when ambitious growth goals combine with a large hiring committee. 

WeyMedia has a fairly complex hiring process that involves multiple interviews, personality assessments, skills tests, reference checks, and more. 

WeyMedia’s HR toolkit

Workable has made it exponentially easier for every person on the hiring project to check who the candidates are, where they are in the process, what the results of their assessments were, and more. 

We’ve integrated our Gmail account with Workable, too, which creates a seamless line of communications. We can reply from within the Workable platform or directly from our shared inbox, and all correspondence is recorded.

The current WeyMedia team has reached 22 employees, but we intend to fill at least 10 more positions within the next 6 months. 

This an ambitious goal but we have full confidence that it will be reached, thanks in large part to the efficiency of Workable. 

Hiring challenges

Initially, application links could be found on the WeyMedia website and resumes were sent directly to the admin’s email account. 

This caused significant backlogs and made it tricky to find and sift through the applications. 

There was often confusion among staff members as to which stage a candidate was in and who still required a reply. Now that we use Workable, we receive applications directly in the platform and can easily move candidates from one stage to the next.

As our small but mighty recruitment team manages multiple roles at once, having everything in one place within Workable’s organized platform makes juggling these roles and candidates much easier. 

In fact, the numerous stages in Workable have been customized to our unique vetting process. 

Considering our bold goals for growth over the next few months, this kind of convenience and simplicity is necessary characteristics for a hiring platform.

Our hiring process is perhaps lengthier than some candidates are used to, but our thoroughness ensures that we hire the best possible candidate for the position avoiding recruitment headaches. 

Workable helps ensure that we choose someone with the skills we need, who can quickly make a notable impact, and who will enhance our workplace culture.

The post WeyMedia: insights on mitigating recruitment headaches appeared first on Recruiting Resources: How to Recruit and Hire Better.

“Teleteachers was founded by a female speech language pathologist who wanted to create a network of other SLPs that could provide services virtually,” Sarah McLaurin explained. 

This was especially crucial in areas “where kids live in rural areas where they might have a provider coming out to them once a month or once every few months.”

The initiative stemmed from sheer necessity, as McLaurin recounted, “She even worked in Alaska at one point, and in those villages out there, people had to take five planes and all kinds of transportation. So those kids were going without services.” 

The evolution of technology provided a timely solution: “As technology has advanced, there’s the opportunity to be able to provide those services virtually, so that kids can have consistent services that they are legally entitled to.”

Expansion in service offerings

As the demand for virtual educational services grew, so did MIYO health. “

We started with SLPs but quickly expanded to include special education, occupational therapy, physical therapy, and even general education. It’s pretty much anything that you can teach in a classroom, we could teach online,” McLaurin highlighted. 

This growth was organic but accelerated significantly with the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic, underscoring the crucial need for virtual platforms in education.

“The pandemic really pushed the importance and opportunity for virtual services to the forefront,” McLaurin noted. This period also marked a significant pivot for the organization, as they began to package their platform for broader use.

Optimizing the hiring process for education

MIYO health faced the dual challenge of rapidly scaling its workforce to meet burgeoning demand while ensuring that each hire meets stringent qualifications necessary for educational roles. 

Sarah McLaurin elaborates on how they’ve optimized their hiring process to address these challenges effectively.

“As we continue to grow it was like the previous tools weren’t fulfilling all of our needs. I think that really came to a head when we had to hire 30 to 40 speech language pathologists and at that time that seemed impossible for a lot of companies.

“So, being able to navigate over to workable, we were able to get the word out a lot farther.”

Workable helped streamline the hiring process by allowing MIYO Health to disseminate job postings widely and filter applications efficiently. 

“The challenge was to hire people and get them started as quickly as possible. It was really necessary for us to have somebody to apply today, possibly interview them tomorrow. Get another interview or another step by the end of the week and get them started next week.”

As a result, one of the things they really love at Workable is that “there are so many integrations into free job boards, and then other integrations as well, that we can do. It just automatically sends it out to all these different places.”

Educational background on MIYO Health’s HR approach

The significant impact of having a staff predominantly composed of former educators is evident in MIYO health’s HR strategies and operations. “What’s cool about our staff is that probably 90% of us are former teachers,” McLaurin proudly stated. 

This shared background in education provides an invaluable perspective in understanding and addressing the specific needs of schools and students.

McLaurin elaborated, “We were all involved in special education. I was in gifted education as a classroom teacher. It’s wonderful that we know firsthand the burden and the amount of work and pressure that is on teachers in the classroom.” 

This deep understanding directly influences how Teleteachers develop their products and services, ensuring they are empathetic to the educators’ daily challenges.

Commitment to educators and appreciation

During Teacher Appreciation Week, it’s especially pertinent to highlight how MIYO health supports and values educators, both in and out of the classroom. 

“Our Operations and Hiring Team do such a great job of ongoing support with our providers.” states McLaurin.

MIYO Health sets itself apart from other staffing companies by going beyond simply placing educators. 

They engage with them every step of the way and continue to support them in their assignments on an ongoing basis. 

This commitment fosters strong relationships with both providers and districts, ensuring a successful and enriching learning environment for all students.

It’s all about helping these kids

MIYO Health aims to reduce the burdens on educators while enhancing the services provided to students. 

“We don’t want to put something else on your plate, we want to take things off. We want to make things easier for you. At the end of the day, it’s all about helping these kids and making sure that they’re getting the help and the services that they desperately need,” McLaurin explains.

They also offer mental health services and technologies for schools to address the ongoing mental health crisis. Hence, their new name, MIYO Health, reflects their vision of solving the challenges in mental health and special education delivery.

As we celebrate Teacher Appreciation Week, our conversation with Sarah McLaurin reminds us of the critical role educators play in shaping future generations. 

It also highlights the innovative approaches companies like MIYO Health are taking to support these educators through thoughtful HR practices. Also, through commitment to providing valuable, often life-changing services to students across the globe.

Sarah’s journey began in education, fostering a deep understanding of student needs and the power of engaging learning experiences. As an award-winning gifted educator, she crafted innovative curriculum and embraced technology to empower both students and teachers. This passion for education, coupled with her strong analytical and creative skills, led Sarah to the exciting world of EdTech. Now, she leverages her background to develop and launch impactful educational technology solutions, ensuring they effectively address the needs of learners and educators alike.

The post MIYO Health: optimizing the hiring process for education appeared first on Recruiting Resources: How to Recruit and Hire Better.

Claire Vernié, Talent Acquisition Operations Project Manager at weight-loss company Allurion Technologies, and Sarah Wilson, Chief People Officer at the ecommerce tech firm Rokt, shared their experiences and strategies with us on how they’re navigating this rapidly evolving landscape especially in how the talent market is impacted.

Here, we share the questions that we asked them, and their responses.

1. The overview

Q: Can you provide a brief overview of your company’s journey, especially in terms of hiring AI talent, and share a pivotal lesson you’ve learned?

In her response, Claire emphasized the importance of cultural fit and diverse skill sets alongside technical expertise.

She also describes an enthusiastic and strategic embracement of AI tech – including developing the Coach Iris weight-loss app, its own in-house AI tool.

It’s not just tech though.

“We’ve recognized that … cultural fit is also pivotal in building a cohesive team by fostering a collaborative environment that celebrates diverse skill sets as well as encourages continuous learning and innovation,” says Claire.

Naturally, this all leads to an increased need for top AI talent

This, Claire tells us, “emphasized the necessity for competitive packages to ensure we attract and retain the best talent.”

Allurion, says Claire, has bigger plans ahead including new product development, which will only emphasize the crucial balance between tech, culture, and compensation in the AI landscape.

Meanwhile, Sarah says the rise of AI has opened up what she describes as a “great problem to have”.

“We have had a machine learning (ML) team for many years and so the rise of AI in popularity has created both challenges and opportunities for us,” says Sarah.

“There are now more people training in this space (increasing the candidate pool) but by equal or greater measure, there are more opportunities for these individuals to choose from.”

Related: The workplace of the future: How AI is evolving the working world

2. What’s evolved in hiring AI talent

Q: How have your challenges and strategies in hiring specialized AI professionals evolved throughout 2023, and what’s in store for 2024?

While Sarah pointed to an already-existing machine language team at Rokt, Claire noted that Allurion hired its first machine language engineer in 2023 – with the focus on cutting-edge projects.

And in 2024, Allurion’s talent team will strengthen its relationship with existing AI communities.

“This is key to establish a robust pipeline for skilled professionals,” Claire says, highlighting the importance of aligning hiring strategy with a commitment to embracing AI tech.

Meanwhile, Sarah says the shifting tech market has opened up access to talent that Rokt didn’t have access to previously.

“We have found that we are hiring more internationally than we have previously as well. We expect these trends to continue.”

3. The balance between AI upskilling and hiring

Q: When looking at your AI team’s capabilities, how do you balance between upskilling existing employees and hiring new talent, and what criteria guide your decisions?

Sarah described a prioritization of hiring highly educated professionals, while also empowering their staff with individual professional development budgets.

“We put the power to develop these skills into the hands of our people,” Sarah says.

“That said, we typically hire PhD level people into these roles – and so our current priority is in hiring into the group versus leveling up the people we have.”

Claire looks to strike a balance between the two.

“Upskilling will foster loyalty and internal expertise with our current employees, while new hires bring in diverse perspectives to our organization,” she says, adding that decisions are made after assessing current skills gaps, project needs, and long-term goals.

4. Identifying and attracting AI talent

Q: Where can you find AI talent, how do you attract them, and what soft skills are crucial for them to succeed?

Claire highlighted a multifaceted approach.

“We tap into online communities, conferences, specialized platforms, and strategically explore colleges renowned for top-tier AI programs. By spanning out regionally and pinpointing locations rich in talent, we are casting a wide net.”

She adds that a focus on tackling “interesting and meaningful problems” through innovation and an emphasis on growth opportunities, collaboration, and teamwork are key, as are the overall company mission and benefits.

As for soft skills: “We value adaptability, effective communication, and a passion for innovation.”

Similarly, Sarah also points to alignment with core values as a key measuring stick of new talent.

“We have found in particular that Smart with Humility, Conquer New Frontiers, and Communicate with Impact correlate closely to success in this part of our business.”

5. Finding and filling gaps without in-house AI experience

Q: How do you evaluate candidates for a brand-new AI role when you don’t have that experienced leader who knows what to look for in terms of talent?

First, when engaging with candidates, Claire looks at skills and abilities, a track record, and a drive to stay updated in the evolving AI landscape.

And then there’s the team approach.

“We also adopt a team-oriented strategy to collectively break down the responsibilities associated with the new AI role. This collaborative effort involves researching, accessing training resources in our network or through platforms like LinkedIn Learning,” Claire says.

“We proactively gather insights from various channels, including reviewing other job postings, articles, and engaging in discussions during the recruitment process.”

Claire notes how this helps in collectively establishing knowledge and understanding for new AI roles in the absence of an experienced leader.

AI grows as a mainstay in work

The insights from Sarah and Claire show an increased emphasis on AI knowledge and capabilities – and they’ve evolved their hiring and employment strategies at their respective companies in response.

As is the case for any new developments in the workplace, an agile and proactive mindset is crucial to stay ahead of the curve – and we’re seeing this at Allurion Technologies and Rokt, among many others.

If you’d like to share your own insights or story on how you’ve navigated the sudden entry of AI into your company, send us a note and let’s talk!

The post Navigating the AI talent landscape with Allurion and Rokt appeared first on Recruiting Resources: How to Recruit and Hire Better.

PaneraTech, known for its pioneering role in digitizing traditional manufacturing industries, has experienced rapid growth and change over the past several years, necessitating steep scaling of new hires. This meant a fourfold increase in employee numbers in less than a year and a half.

Nicole’s insights offer a window into how the company has navigated these changes, focusing on collaborative culture, innovative onboarding and mentorship programs, and leveraging technology in talent acquisition.

What is PaneraTech?

“We are pioneering the digital transformation for heavy manufacturing industries,” Nicole says of PaneraTech.

“So when you think of industries like glass, steel, aluminum – those are big, traditional industrial industries, and we are helping them digitalize, which can be a challenge because they’ve been around a long time.

“They’ve been doing things like this for centuries. And now we are introducing a better way to really manage your operations more efficiently with digital technology and solutions.”

That ‘better way’ is now in high demand in the manufacturing sector, which means Nicole’s talents in recruitment are in need.

Rapid company growth – and retention

First off, that growth has considerable. when Nicole joined the company in August 2022, PaneraTech had about 27 employees worldwide.

“We were expecting to grow … We always thought, we’re double in size and have about 50 employees at the end of the year. We have about 100 employees now.”

And what’s more, as of December 2023, PaneraTech has retained all those employees.

In order to meet those expectations of her role, Nicole spearheaded several initiatives. Among other things, she did the following.

1. Leverage technology for talent acquisition

When you work in a specialized industry, talent can be hard to come by.

“Sometimes like when we were finding field technicians, that was a big challenge because you want someone that has familiarity with furnaces, right? And unfortunately, they were working for our customers,” Nicole says, adding that she would have to be strategic about looking at past histories of potential candidates.

She’s quick to point out the benefits of technology especially in such a specialized sector where optimal talent is hard to find. For instance, she’ll actively seek out professionals on LinkedIn with outreach messaging.

Workable’s AI Recruiter feature also came into play here.

“Workable also identifies talent because they have … their own database too. You have candidates that might align that you can recommend. That’s very helpful as well,” Nicole says.

“And then when we open different jobs with candidates that have skills that might overlap from another one. We might not even be thinking about those candidates, but Workable always gives that reminder, like, ‘Hey, you want to check out some passive candidates?’, and it actually is helpful.”

Referrals also made a huge difference in essentially quadrupling her workforce in less than one and a half years.

“Workable Referrals was amazing because it’s digitalized. We have a lot of people making shares from Workable Referrals to share the jobs on their page on linkedin… We’ve had a third of our hires come from referrals.”

Nicole also was quick to point out some of the other things she liked about using Workable, including being able to customize each stage of the hiring process, keep notes in scorecards during interviews, and work across the hiring team.

2. Sustain a collaborative culture

When a company grows rapidly, there can often be challenges. But at PaneraTech, the outcome has been wholly positive.

“You have new leadership change management, all these different aspects occurring,” Nicole explains. “This is usually when people jump ship, right? They’re like, ‘it’s a little bit too crazy.’ Luckily, we have not had that occur.”

This is due to PaneraTech’s collaborative spirit.

“We’ve been able to focus on collaboration, collaborating with our existing team, helping them be involved with us – onboarding and bringing on our new team members so that everybody is working cohesively together and they’re familiar with one another.”

3. Establish a mentorship program

One method of collaboration was a ‘buddy system’ involving top talent in each of PaneraTech’s departments.

“When we onboarded a new hire, we would pair them with that individual,” Nicole explains.

“And then we would meet with that same buddy trainer… just make sure that they are covering the right aspects. Making sure that new hire really understands our culture that they can reach out and collaborate to whomever we have open doors.”

4. Ensure a smooth onboarding

Workable was also instrumental in onboarding new talent, Nicole says..

“The capabilities of being able to create the requisition so that you can manage each job, manage each hire, that just really helped us with the logistics of being successful with our onboarding,” she adds about the HR software.

“We were able to implement a new onboarding process and a new recruiting process – and having the recruiting process, the onboarding process in place helped us with being successful and bringing on so many people.”

5. Survey for continuous improvement

Employee surveys were crucial in ensuring a consistent loop of feedback that Nicole and her colleagues at PaneraTech could act on, including new hire experience.

“We asked: how was onboarding? How can we improve it? How were your connections with different team members? Were they helpful?

“And it just helps us give insight because if they say yes, then great. We know it works. But if they say no, then we can pinpoint and identify exactly what might have went wrong and see how we can improve it.”

6. Be flexible across time zones

Out of the 100-odd employees at PaneraTech, about 60 of them are in Turkey, Nicole tells us. There’s also 15 in the United States, plus team members in Germany, Italy,, Portugal, and India. There are plans in place to expand to Brazil.

So what does that mean for working across different time zones and cultures? Nicole responds that she loves the diversity of the company.

“I’ve always been a people person,” she says. “I love different people, diverse people, like I think mainly anybody that went to college, you deal with different backgrounds, diversity all the time. And I thrive in those types of environments.”

Overall, it’s been a positive learning experience.

“I like learning from other people,” she says. “This was my first time working at a global company, especially leading it as HR. So this was a big role for me and I feel like it’s been a great transition working with people in different cultures, understanding their thought process, seeing how they work differently because they are working heavy and hard.

“So it challenges you to be like, maybe I could do a few more hours. Feed off of each other, even though Turkey is like seven hours ahead of us.”

She adds that people might think collaboration would be by email in this situation, but it’s not like that at all.

“No, we make time,” she says. “When we have our company town halls, we have town halls every quarter. When we do that, it’s always at 8 in the morning, because we want to make sure that we’re not having them work super late and we can get up and start the meeting at 8.”

A digitized – and human – approach to hiring

Ultimately, Nicole’s strategies represent a modernized and proactive approach to hiring, particularly in a fast-evolving and technology-driven industry. The use of innovative methods like the buddy program and reliance on feedback through surveys demonstrate a commitment to continuous improvement and employee well-being.

As PaneraTech continues to expand its global footprint, Madden’s HR strategies offer valuable lessons in managing change, fostering a collaborative culture, and embracing technology to meet the challenges of a dynamic workforce.

And, she shares, “Workable definitely played a vital role in us being successful in identifying the talent, managing the talent, and also onboarding the talent … I would be lying if I said we could do all this without our ATS.”

The post PaneraTech: rapid scaling of hiring with digital savvy appeared first on Recruiting Resources: How to Recruit and Hire Better.

This growth wasn’t just about numbers, it was about continuously pushing the boundaries of creativity and technology. However, with growth comes the challenge of scaling our team effectively. 

The talent attraction challenge

Joining CTW in the midst of a boom was a wake-up call to the need for a structured hiring process. The transition from managing a few titles per year to handling an ambitious pipeline required a rapid scale-up in talent across various roles. 

The lack of structured hiring practices was a significant hurdle, leading to uncertainty and slow decision-making. As the company aimed for the stars, it was clear we needed a solid foundation from which to launch our talent acquisition efforts.

Adopting a strategic talent acquisition process

When I joined CTW, the recruitment process was intuitive but unsystematic, a reflection of our startup roots but inadequate for our expanding needs. 

1. Approaching the definition of talent in a new way

To address this, I proposed a holistic talent definition framework, emphasizing motivation, behavioral competencies, skill competencies, and cognitive abilities. 

This wasn’t just about identifying the right skills but also about understanding how a candidate’s motivation and cognitive style would fit within the fast-paced, innovative culture of CTW.

2. Implementing structured interviews

We transformed our interview process, incorporating structured techniques to assess candidates against these new, comprehensive criteria. 

Instead of generic interviews, we implemented scenario-based questions and practical tasks that provided insight into how candidates solved problems, adapted to new information, and worked within a team. 

This approach allowed us to gauge not just what they could do, but how they thought, collaborated, and could potentially innovate within their roles.

3. Making the right decisions, faster

Additionally, we recognized the importance of speed and agility in decision-making. 

We streamlined our approval process, enabling team leaders to make quicker, more autonomous hiring decisions aligned with the defined competencies. 

This shift significantly reduced our time-to-hire, a crucial factor in a competitive talent market.

4. Training our hiring managers

To ensure consistency and fairness, we also introduced regular calibration sessions where hiring managers could align on what excellence looked like for different roles. 

This practice helped in maintaining a high standard across the board and fostered a shared understanding of what success looked like at CTW.

This change in recruitment was not just about filling positions more efficiently; it was about building the foundation of a workforce that could carry CTW’s vision forward. 

It was a shift from a reactive hiring approach to a strategic talent acquisition process, one that aligned closely with our long-term goals and cultural values.

Engaging with tech and student communities

After establishing a completely new approach in our hiring process, we needed to enhance our initiatives to attract new talent from the tech and student communities. 

In our quest for talent, we recognized the importance of proactive engagement with the communities where potential candidates thrived. 

Our strategy was multifaceted, reaching out through various platforms tailored to different segments, from WeChat for Chinese-speaking candidates to LinkedIn for a global audience. 

We established a regular presence at webinars, offline meetups, and organized office tours to showcase our culture. 

These initiatives were not just about filling current vacancies but about building a pipeline of future talent by embedding ourselves in the ecosystems of potential hires.

Nurturing early-career talent

CTW has dedicated substantial efforts to nurturing early-career individuals, particularly those with a technical focus. 

We’ve established strong relationships with universities and educational institutions. This isn’t about one-off career fairs, it’s about sustained interaction through seminars, workshops, and guest lectures where we don’t just talk about CTW but engage in broader discussions about the tech industry, emerging trends, and real-world applications. 

We position ourselves as a source of knowledge and inspiration, not just potential employers.

In these sessions, I personally take time to focus on the nuances of tech roles and the job market, sharing insights that are valuable regardless of whether students choose to apply to CTW.

This approach has helped us build trust and rapport with the early-career community, positioning CTW as a company that truly cares about their development.

Our referral program is particularly innovative. It’s not just about incentivizing our employees to recommend potential candidates; it’s about creating a community of advocates for CTW.

We offer substantial rewards for successful placements, but it’s more than that – it’s about acknowledging the value of a strong internal network and the quality of hires it can bring. 

We’ve found that early-career individuals are more likely to trust and be attracted to companies recommended by their peers or mentors.

Moreover, I’ve made it a point to keep in touch with many individuals I’ve met, from interns to young professionals. 

These relationships often provide continuous feedback and insights, not just about CTW’s perception in the market but also about evolving expectations and desires of young talent. 

This has been invaluable in shaping not just our recruitment strategies but our broader company policies and culture.

Internally, we’ve fostered a culture where young talent is encouraged to take initiative and drive change. We don’t just provide a job; we offer a path to growth, learning, and impact. 

By involving them in significant projects and providing clear paths for advancement, we ensure that early-career professionals feel valued and invested in our mutual success.

Adopting cutting-edge technology in recruitment

Adopting Workable as our Applicant Tracking System (ATS) and Candidate Relationship Management (CRM) tool was a game-changer. 

This platform allowed us to streamline our entire recruitment process, from sourcing to offering. 

The integrated job boards brought a diverse array of candidates, while features like scheduler and communication tracking ensured that every stakeholder was informed and engaged throughout the hiring process. 

The ability to analyze candidate motivation, salary expectations, and interview feedback in one place significantly reduced our lead time for making offers. 

Moreover, Workable’s reporting and analytics capabilities provided us with valuable insights, helping us continually refine our strategies and improve outcomes.

Measuring success and continuous improvement

The impact of our recruitment strategy was measurable and significant. We saw a dynamic increase in the number and quality of candidates, a reduction in time-to-hire, and a boost in team satisfaction with the recruitment process. 

Our efforts paid off, with CTW outperforming external recruiters and becoming a recognized name among potential candidates. 

However, we didn’t stop there. We established a feedback loop, regularly reviewing our processes, and incorporating insights from candidates, new hires, and hiring managers. 

This culture of continuous improvement ensures that our recruitment strategies evolve in line with our growth and the changing dynamics of the job market.

Our commitment is to stay ahead, continuously seeking out and nurturing the brightest minds. 

Nobu Sato is an HR professional and recruitment expert in Japan. With over 10 years of experience in HR and project management, he has worked with multiple corporations across different industries and regions. In addition to the game industry, he also have experience in internet, logistics, and robotics. He is proud to lead the CTW Talent Acquisition team, which was a finalist for The Best Talent Acquisition Team in Japan 2022.

The post CTW: Attracting talent through tech and student communities appeared first on Recruiting Resources: How to Recruit and Hire Better.

In this blog post, I’ll share the journey of how I spearheaded a remarkable 685% growth in LYTT’s LinkedIn followers over the course of three years.

The secret? A strategic combination of personal updates, curated company content, and the powerful automation tools provided by Workable.

Building a foundation: personal updates

The journey began by recognizing the power of personal connection on LinkedIn. Instead of solely relying on corporate updates, I decided to infuse a personal touch into the content strategy.

Regular personal updates allowed me to humanize LYTT’s brand, making it relatable and approachable. By sharing my professional insights, industry experiences, and even behind-the-scenes glimpses of the LYTT team, I established a genuine connection with the audience.

Showcasing company culture: LYTT’s content

Consistent and relevant content is the backbone of any successful social media strategy. At LYTT, we recognized the importance of showcasing our company culture and values. Regularly posting content that highlighted our team’s achievements, workplace events, and industry expertise not only kept our current followers engaged but also attracted new ones.

This approach positioned LYTT as an industry thought leader and a desirable workplace, enticing professionals to become a part of our growing LinkedIn community.

Harnessing Workable’s automated emails

Workable’s suite of automated email tools became a game-changer in our pursuit of LinkedIn growth. After successfully attracting potential candidates through our job listings on Workable, we implemented automated email campaigns encouraging them to connect with LYTT on LinkedIn.

These personalized emails not only facilitated easy navigation to our LinkedIn page but also conveyed the value of staying updated on industry trends and career opportunities.

The seamless integration between Workable and LinkedIn streamlined our outreach efforts and maximized the chances of converting potential hires into engaged followers.

The results: A 685% growth in 3 years

The combined impact of personal updates, curated content, and Workable’s automated email campaigns resulted in an astounding 685% growth in LYTT’s LinkedIn followers over a span of three years.

Beyond the numerical success, this growth translated into tangible benefits for LYTT, including an expanded talent pool, increased brand awareness, and enhanced credibility in the industry.

Key takeaways

1. Personalization pays off

Humanizing your brand through personal updates fosters a deeper connection with your audience.

2. Content is king

Consistent and relevant content showcases your company culture, positioning your brand as a leader in the industry.

3. Automation amplifies results

Leveraging tools like Workable’s automated emails can significantly enhance your outreach efforts, turning potential hires into active followers.

Strategy leads to prominence

In conclusion, the journey of growing LYTT’s LinkedIn followers by 685% was a testament to the power of a well-rounded social media strategy.

By combining personalization, compelling content, and the efficiency of automation tools, we not only increased our follower count but also solidified LYTT’s position as a prominent player in the talent acquisition landscape.

Sam Merron is LYTT’s Talent Acquisition Manager. He has a proven track record of success managing end-to-end talent acquisition processes, fostering diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), and executing impactful HR projects, with 15 years experience in international hiring, project management, and building strong employer brands.

LYTT is a technology company transforming customer decision making by providing software to turn contextual sensing data into real-time insights, driving increased asset performance. LYTT’s new Industrial AI Platform is designed to help businesses in the energy and utilities sectors generate smarter insights, accelerate operational value, and monetize sensor data.

The post LYTT: A sevenfold increase in LinkedIn followers over 3 years appeared first on Recruiting Resources: How to Recruit and Hire Better.

We searched high and low for the right combination of platforms that would serve our workforce, as we were finding that some of the all-in-ones just weren’t quite right for us. We needed solutions that could scale with us at a fast rate, and that were friendly and engaging.

We have employees in a diverse array of roles – from wine educators in our tasting room, to our vineyard team, to our teams creating world class events and brand marketing – we needed solutions that could span time zones, operate in multiple languages, and that empowered employees, managers, and leadership to access information they needed easily.

We implemented a new HRIS (HiBob), new ATS (Workable), and new Payroll system (Paylocity) all at the same time. It was a heavy lift from the People & Culture team, but it has paid off in spades. 

Training teams to adapt new HR technologies

We first launched Workable with great success. We set up 1-1 training sessions for any hiring managers with open roles, providing a white glove service as they had to adopt the platform first. 

The 1-1 interactions were helpful to gain buy in and solicit feedback from some of our “influencer” hiring-managers, and as an added bonus, we had an excuse to connect in real time which is always so valuable in helping employees understand that the People & Culture team is their partner.

To ensure successful launches of each system, we did a variety of things – sent out teaser communications, created scavenger hunts within the systems to incentivize employees to become familiar, and set up both virtual and in-person trainings for the platforms.

For our onsite employees, we made sure to have open office hours for employees to pop in and ask questions about the new apps during the first few weeks.

Related: The most important HR skills and how to master them

Hiring times were reduced; candidate experience was enhanced

A big win that comes to mind when we reflect back on the transformation that these upgraded systems has provided, is the fact that while our employee base has grown 20% since January 2022, our P&C team has not needed to hire any additional resources.

The streamlined application process that we set up in Workable, not only enhances the candidate’s experience but also ensures that our hiring managers can identify and connect with the right talent swiftly, contributing to a more dynamic and competitive recruitment process. 

The added visibility with Outlook integration is a game-changer to keep all parties related to a hire on the same page.

We have also seen a drastic increase in hiring managers’ engagement in the recruiting process, which has sped up our time to hire and as a bonus, has made the process a lot more fun for managers and recruiters. 

We’d offer an exact statistic on how much time we have cut down on the typical time to hire, but the honest truth is that previously we didn’t even have that data in a lovely dashboard like we do now – helping us find our ground and now which way is up.

Bridging communication barriers 

The social platform aspect of Bob has helped bridge the gap between different departments, languages, and locations. It brings so much energy back to our culture when employee milestones or kudos can be offered in a public setting, and it helps keep everyone informed on happenings at the company. 

We included some key leaders in a few of the demos to create early buy-in, and it’s amazing what a public shout out from leadership can do to boost engagement on the platform.

The emphasis on a more dynamic and competitive recruitment process, streamlined application processes, and increased hiring manager engagement also suggests a commitment to inclusivity and ensuring that the hiring processes are fair and transparent, reducing biases.

Increasing transparency and scalability

The upgraded systems also forced us to get our act together in regards to job structure, levels, and compensation banding, which translates into just about everything we do as we scale, both in systems and as a company that values equity and transparency.

The Workable system encouraged us to launch a referral program which also helped user-adoption and has been very successful in bringing solid employees to some hard-to-fill roles.

Like pulling a thread on a sweater, our policy development has started to snowball in a positive direction as we discover all of the ways to optimize the system and continue increasing engagement. 

The policies that we developed as we implemented these new systems has made us overall more consistent, especially in regards to items like fair and consistent interview processes, internal vs external job postings, and has even helped us as we navigate improving salary transparency. 

As hard as we were trying previously, Workable has greatly reduced the room for biases in our hiring process.

As far as our People & Culture team’s daily work, the seamless integration between Bob and Workable has helped delineate workflow between our individual roles – making employee promotions, onboarding, and offboarding tasks trackable and measurable – leading to more achievable OKRs and far fewer items slipping through the cracks.

I’m Kelsey Turner. I grew up on the Central Coast of California. I have worked at DAOU Vineyards in People Ops for 2 years and have loved being part of “a people business in the wine industry” as we like to say. I help with employee systems and data, onboarding, DEIB initiatives, Training & Development, and many other items that can come up in any given day.

I love the variety! Previously I worked as a Global Scheduling manager for a travel company (Backroads); managing staffing and equipment needs for trips across 60+ countries. Prior to that I have been a bicycle and hiking guide in Peru & France, as well as an English Teacher in Ecuador and Spain, and have held many different jobs in restaurants (from a busser in a diner, to guacamole maker, to server at a fancy Relais & Chateaux restaurant in Montana).

I graduated Cal Poly San Luis Obispo with a BA in Spanish & French Literature; I have always loved languages and love getting to put my Spanish to good use at work with a lot of our Spanish-speaking employees. I love running, yoga, and all things food and wine (especially our Estate Cabernet Sauvignon).

I have always loved working with internal employees and finding efficiencies wherever possible and love being part of a team that knows how to have fun and work hard.

The post DAOU shares effective HR toolkit for inclusion and scalability appeared first on Recruiting Resources: How to Recruit and Hire Better.

Here at Linearity, we’ve always had a great intuitive product. It’s visually appealing and offers a good balance between being technically challenging and presenting the opportunity to grow.

In Q3 of 2022, when the market was very candidate-driven, we knew that we needed to improve our hiring process to acquire the best talent in the market. Being more data-driven and leveling up our candidate experience ensured this.

Why did we focus on candidate experience? Research shows that candidate experience has a huge impact on employer branding, the number of candidates that accept an offer, and referrals within the market. It can also influence revenue.

When you combine candidate experience with hiring data, you can identify trends, patterns, areas for improvements to improve your recruitment process.

When you combine candidate experience with hiring data, you can identify trends, patterns, areas for improvements to improve your recruitment process.

First, we identified that the time to offer / hire has a huge impact on results, as almost every company was hiring at that point. The speed of the hiring process – and how engaging it is – can make a huge difference for you versus your competitors.

So how exactly did we level up our recruitment process?

Related: Introduction to Recruiting Metrics FAQ

The challenges

First, we implemented a data-driven approach, tracking multiple metrics to see what areas we need to improve on the most.

This meant looking at different data points and identifying areas where we had an opportunity to improve:

• Speed: Time to offer, time to hire, time at each stage, time to deliver feedback, time to fill a role
• Funnel metrics / conversions: pass rate at each interview stage, withdrawal rate at each stage
• Bottom-of-funnel metrics: Offer / acceptance rate

We identified that the hiring process for some of our specific engineering roles were longer than the market average (close to 100 days).

We dove deeper into this one by looking at the following metrics:

Source for candidates we moved forward (whether they applied directly, were sourced via TA, came from employee referrals, or something else)

• Pass rate at each interview stage (%)
• Withdrawal rate at each stage (%)
• Time spent at each stage (which gives us a deeper look at time to offer/hire)

From the above, we identified that the number of candidates passing our “computer science fundamental stage” was very low.

This stage also saw the longest booking / wait time in the whole interview process – showing the bottleneck as a result of the number of interviewers we had.

We also saw that this stage had the highest withdrawal and lowest pass rates. This increased the time to hire and the time to offer, hurting candidate experience and engagement. All in all, this meant higher costs and more hiring team hours spent in the process.

The action items

Our first step to improving in this area was to understand why candidates were not passing this stage at the rate we’d like to see.

We looked at the feedback we received, which helped us see that we needed to focus more on a specific skill set when sourcing new candidates.

By sourcing & targeting a specific skill set of engineers resulted in less candidates identified (but more suitable), reducing the volume of interviews and the time candidates had to wait at this interview stage naturally decreased the time to offer and increased candidate experience.

We also implemented an interview preparation process designed to help candidates be better prepared for upcoming interviews at this stage.

The results

This led to an increase in the overall candidate experience as well as boosting the interview pass rate.

With all of the above, this resulted in an overall shorter time to offer / hire, lowered the withdrawal rate, increased candidate experience, and improved our offer acceptance rate.

When we grew the same team and role, our time to fill was halved based on the data we collected previously.

Our metrics now stand as follows:

• Time to offer: 19 days
• Time to hire: 26 days
• Time to fill: 54 days
• 90% offer / acceptance rate

Our lesson? Sometimes the solution isn’t in the big-picture fixes – it can also be found in the little details.

The post Linearity: finding the solution in the details of hiring data appeared first on Recruiting Resources: How to Recruit and Hire Better.

My collaborator, Karen Nell, has been in the Learning and Development industry for over 25 years and is the Learning and Development Manager at Methods. Karen oversees the GRAVITATE program and works with myself, and HR, who then team up with the respected Portfolios to help initiate and support the process end to end.

The power of collaboration

The path forward became clearer when I began working closely with Karen. Karen’s extensive experience in the field made her an invaluable ally. Our mutual dedication to our roles, complemented by our regular discussions strengthened our partnership – especially in pre-meetings around our much-loved coffee machine.

At the heart of our efforts is GRAVITATE, the brainchild of our Head of HR, Sarah-Jayne Smith.

This initiative, represented by the acronym for Graduates, Returners, Apprentices, Veterans, Interns, Into Tech, and Transformation Employment, outlines our dedicated approach to broadening our talent pool:

1. Graduates: Fresh faces from schools, colleges, and universities, eager to dive into the tech world
2. Returners: Those resuming work after taking a hiatus, bringing along a reservoir of skills and past experiences
3. Apprentices: Enthusiasts looking to learn while they work, building skills on the job
4. Veterans: Individuals with a history of service, offering unique perspectives and discipline
5. Interns: Early-career individuals seeking hands-on experience in the tech sector
6. Into Tech: Those transitioning from other sectors, keen to explore the world of technology
7. Transformation Employment: Professionals looking for a shift in their career trajectory, seeking roles that may differ from their previous experiences

The action items

Together, Karen and I embarked on refining every aspect of our strategy. We recognised that we had to revisit the whole process, including understanding business requirements at Methods, and revising our sourcing methods right through to tailor-made specific training for our cohorts.

Related: How to think about diversity recruiting strategies

We have been collaborating in gathering business requirements, sourcing methods, and attending events, and the entire recruitment process to the final stage of hiring before actual employment.

This then included the onboarding of a new employee, with an induction and a formal training plan in place.

This has given our stakeholders an effective solution to bringing the next generation of talent into the business.

The results

Since implementing GRAVITATE, we’ve seen a noticeable increase in the diversity of our recruits. There’s a marked shift in company culture that’s more welcoming and inclusive. The connection between our employee retention rates and the GRAVITATE initiative speaks to its effectiveness.

The initiative represents our ongoing effort to redefine talent acquisition. It’s a reflection of Methods’ spirit of diversity and inclusion, and recognition of the range of values that each individual can bring to the table.

Here’s to a future rich in varied talents, experiences, and perspectives.

It’s a reflection of Methods’ spirit of diversity and inclusion, and recognition of the range of values that each individual can bring to the table. Here’s to a future rich in varied talents, experiences, and perspectives.

Jordan Adams is a passionate, inclusive, and skilled talent acquisition professional with a track record of success across sectors over a number of years. He specializes in building, maintaining, and managing real talent through a coaching approach.

The post Methods: gravitating to success in diverse recruitment appeared first on Recruiting Resources: How to Recruit and Hire Better.

Is the AI hype for real?

First, we asked him what AI in the workplace looks like right now and whether it’s here to stay.

“While it seems overnight that AI became the hot topic – and is just now showing up in workplaces – it’s been around for a while,” Javed says.

And now it’s evolving.

“With advancements in LLMs and their ability to respond in more human ways, we’re seeing so much potential to reimagine work. AI in the workplace is here to stay and will eventually disrupt every profession.

“Moreover, AI will disrupt business operations, requiring business leaders to look at how people will operate, as well as how employees are trained and reskilled to best harness the rise of AI for optimal business outcomes.”

With advancements in LLMs and their ability to respond in more human ways, we’re seeing so much potential to reimagine work. AI in the workplace is here to stay and will eventually disrupt every profession.”

There’s a lot to say for AI’s positive benefits as well.

“We already know AI can scale the pace at which value is created – like building better products or delivering better customer outcomes. Beyond that, it has the ability to make employees better – removing mundane, time-consuming tasks and allowing a focus on activities that drive value. AI gives us the power to think deeper, broader, and more creatively than ever before.”

Workplace adjustments need to be considered right away, Javed adds, to future-proof against any potential problems.

“As the AI landscape continues to evolve, considerations for flexibility, privacy, and security need to be factored in from the get-go.”

What about the AI skeptics?

Naturally, there will be some skepticism and resistance from employees who may either not see the value of AI or consider it to be a threat to their work – including their jobs themselves. There are ways to ‘convert’ them to the value of AI, but this needs to be carried out in the right way and different employee personas need to be considered.

We asked Javed this as well.

“AI must be used ethically – and that can be done by establishing a responsible AI framework to be followed by the organization at large and every individual,” he says – emphasizing the importance of training. “Help employees understand and gain access to the benefits available to them.”

He adds that once employers start showing the benefits that AI can provide in day-to-day work, employees will be more receptive.

“Whether it’s summaries that enable quick, easily digestible information sharing or removing background noise to ensure everyone is heard, once the benefits of AI are apparent – and it’s clear how it makes work better – most employees will embrace AI.”

Hiring managers and recruiters are already using interview question generators and job description generators to enhance their recruitment process – and you can too.

How do we navigate without precedence?

AI is very much uncharted territory for many businesses. When there’s no real playbook to run business processes by, mistakes are bound to happen.

Since businesses don’t have the luxury to take a live-and-learn approach – we asked Javed what he thinks are the biggest mistakes business leaders could make when attempting to leverage AI in their organization.

The first one, Javed says, would be not having clear parameters for using AI or having clarity around its value proposition.

“AI, for the sake of AI, leads to confusion and, worse, potential security issues. Leaders should spend the necessary cycles on diligence before making vendor selections and architectural choices. It is paramount to establish responsible AI practices for its use.”

Related: Ethical AI: guidelines and best practices for HR pros

And don’t force it on employees – that would be a mistake as well. Give employees a choice in the matter, he says.

“There are some roles where AI can help employees be more productive and deliver better work products. But there are also roles where it’s not as critical; just like we give employees a choice over which tools they use, we need to do the same with AI.”

Don’t just buy the hype

It’s been discussed aplenty – when it comes to incorporating AI into regular workflows, it’s important to remember that with great power comes great responsibility. Cisco is already leveraging AI in their Webex portfolio, so Javed knows what he’s talking about.

The common theme throughout Javed’s insights is this: if you’re working AI into your day-to-day business (and you should), take a pragmatic approach. Think about security, data privacy, user buy-in, and other logistical elements of management. Go forward by all means, but go prepared.

The post Cisco exec says the AI hype is legit, but be pragmatic about it appeared first on Recruiting Resources: How to Recruit and Hire Better.

You can dive in and watch the hour-long presentation or listen to the podcast  – which is enrapturing, informative and refreshingly optimistic. But we know not everyone has that time on their hands (after all, HR pros and recruiters have a busy job!), so we’ve broken Josh’s presentation into a list of 10 major takeaways.

1. Lesson #1: The pandemic is just the latest in a series of developments
2. Lesson #2: It all comes back to the people
3. Lesson #3: Leadership styles are changing – and evolving
4. Lesson #4: Human skills are valued more than ever
5. Lesson #5: Employee morale is no longer just about benefits
6. Lesson #6: DEI is big – but action and accountability are needed
7. Lesson #7: A safe space is a decisive space
8. Lesson #8: Develop and grow your people
9. Lesson #9: The internal talent marketplace is growing
10. Lesson #10: HR is at the core of all these trends

Top 10 HR trends for 2021

Wherever you are in the world, your life is likely impacted to some degree by the spread of COVID-19. Under that pandemic umbrella is a smorgasbord of other developments that affect your day-to-day work in HR and recruiting.

This means numerous paradigm shifts and a new, exciting road ahead for those of you in human resources. Here are the top HR trends for 2021, according to Josh Bersin:

Lesson #1: The pandemic is just the latest in a series of developments

It’s easy to think that COVID-19 is the reason for everything we’re seeing in our new world of work. Not so, says Josh. What we’re seeing now dates back to the financial crisis of 2008.

“There’s been a pretty steady evolution of digital transformation, political change, income inequality and job change,” Josh says. “Re-skilling, up-skilling, new job models, new job architectures, new organization models, a focus on the environment, the global climate issues, diversity inclusion equity, Black Lives Matter. I mean, it’s been a ton of stuff.”

He adds: “The pandemic really just accelerated every one of those issues and added well-being and resilience and mental health to that.”

Further reading for you: The disproportionate impact of the pandemic on females compared with males is widely noted – and that’s due to endemic imbalances in the system that existed prior to COVID-19 and will continue to exist afterwards.

Lesson #2: It all comes back to the people

Noted businessman and philanthropist Marcus Lemonis puts it succinctly: “People are the core of every business. Businesses are based on relationships, and relationships are based on people. I would go to an average restaurant run by amazing people over an outstanding restaurant run by awful people.”

Josh emphasized that as another major HR trend for 2021.

“Everything that’s happened in business to make the company more competitive has impacted the people agenda,” says Josh, predicting that this human-centric spirit will become far more mainstream for businesses going forward.

“One way to think about the next year or two is shifting from a business-centered view of your company, where it’s all about the business strategy and the business goals and the business metrics and the business results to the human side of that.”

The same applies for challenges and problems that arise in every business.

“Where our revenue is low, our profits are low, we have an error, we lost an account, we lost a client, we’re not making enough money, there’s always people problems underneath it,” Josh says.

“This has been kind of an exciting year from that standpoint because we’ve been able to talk about the people side of business as really a part of survival.”

Further reading for you: Data shows employee well-being has tangible business benefits. Take care of your employees. Learn how you can do that in your own work.

Lesson #3: Leadership styles are changing – and evolving

Following up on the lesson above, if you’re putting people front and center when thinking about business and human resources, that ultimately means a change in leadership styles.

Josh points out that about a decade ago, one of the most popular topics in HR was to focus on the internal part of work as human performance.

“Well, that went mainstream last year,” he says.”CEOs, board rooms, CHROs have all been focused on mental, physical, financial, emotional health. And this is going to be part of the workforce going forward as is a different way of thinking about leadership.”

The pandemic has a significant role in that, due to the debilitating effects on the work-life balance among other things.

“We’ve learned now in this particular year, especially coming out of last year, that if we aren’t forgiving and kind, and flexible and empathetic, we’re not going to have a company. People aren’t going to come to work. They’re not going to be able to work. So this is a big change.”

Further reading for you: Learn more about what inclusive leadership means, how to identify leadership skills in candidates, and how leaders and managers can foster a more supportive work environment during these stressful times and beyond.

Lesson #4: Human skills are valued more than ever

It’s not just about leadership styles. Human skills are growing in value and coveted more now, says Josh.

“Regardless of the industry or the company you are in, the human skills, the human capabilities to lead, empathize, care for people, sell are organized, inspire are basically all you have,” says Josh. “That really is what your company is.”

He’s quick to point out that there’s an enduring aspect to focusing on human skills – which contributes to the overall sustainability of a business.

“You have intellectual property. Yes, you have software. Yes, you have a brand. Yes, you have products, all that. But those actually decay pretty quickly,” he says.

“If you look at the demand for skills among CEOs, CEOs want human skills. They want power skills, they want skills and the ability to prioritize, to lead, to work in a team, to be flexible, adaptable. Learning agility is a skill, ethics, integrity. These are the things that people really want.”

Josh also shows data that proves the value of those soft skills in terms of compensation – those with a good demonstration of skills in that area tend to earn more.

“If you look at the history of wages by different job categories, the jobs that have increased in demand and increased in wages are not engineering jobs per se. I mean, if you’re in the right engineering discipline, you’ve been doing fine.

“But really it’s what we call high social high math or high social low math management, leadership, project leadership, and people that can do both. People that have technical skills and good human skills.”

Further reading for you: Learn more about soft skills, how they differ from hard skills, and how you can assess soft skills in an interview.

Lesson #5: Employee morale is no longer just about benefits

Another major shift that will continue going forward is the evolution of employee well-being from health to what he terms as ‘total performance’. Josh says there’s been a lot of research on this topic and numerous vendors and services that help in that area – and he’s careful to point out that it’s not just about benefits.

“What really matters is things that help people do their jobs in more productive ways. […] Most people, the reason they enjoy work is they enjoy the work and they enjoy the people at work. And if they can’t get their job done because they’re tired or somebody is getting up in the middle of the night sending them emails, or they don’t have the right skills, they’re not happy.”

“So the well-being agenda is moving from one of cost reduction and insurance costs, which is where it started to focus on total performance. And that’s a really positive thing to me for business.”

He adds that it’s going beyond just work-focused initiatives. “It’s really also reaching into the ideas of citizenship and volunteerism and taking care of society.”

When you look at the data for people under 35, he points out that younger workers are very aware of social issues – and they want to be a part of the solution for that.

“And so, part of well-being at work is also giving people an opportunity to give back, giving people an opportunity to participate in local community events. And so there’s a sort of evolving growth of the well-being strategy and companies to cover all those topics.”

The traditional worker’s contract – i.e. an employee comes to work for a set number of hours in exchange for payment – is no longer sufficient. It goes far beyond that now.

“Purpose and mission really gives people inspiration and energy at work.”

Further reading for you: Learn how companies have built a sense of shared purpose and community during the pandemic.

Lesson #6: DEI is big – but action and accountability are needed

The evolution of diversity, equity and inclusion was a major paradigm shift in 2020, and that will continue in 2021 and beyond.

“The number-one driver of employee engagement is belonging. I feel that I belong at work. I feel comfortable with my team. I feel like people listen to me, that’s really about inclusion.”

Josh emphasizes the importance of taking action, listing five things you can do in HR to create that inclusive culture.

“You have to listen to people. You have to really strengthen HR capabilities. […] You need to make sure senior leadership are committed to a diverse and inclusive business, not just an HR program or a bunch of HR practices. You need to measure it and you need to hold yourself accountable.”

He also shared two examples of tangible action and accountability from the very top, the first being McDonald’s being fully transparent about their diversity metrics – and more so, holding their leaders accountable for diversity via their pay.

“This is what it takes, because this is a business strategy, not an HR strategy,” Josh points out.

He then referenced the Biden administration as an excellent example of what to think about in terms of DEI for the year ahead. He described how they didn’t simply create a program about equity in the United States, but that everything they do in their work is about equity.

Josh described how the administration deals with the transportation infrastructure, with unemployment, healthcare, the vaccines and their rollout, and so on.

“Everything has to be done in an inclusive way,” Josh says. “And we have to look for underrepresented or underprivileged people in an equal way to everyone else.”

He adds that this is what’s really going on in companies. “This is going to be a massive theme continuing through the next year.”

Further reading for you: Learn how to build a DEI strategy in your organization and popular DEI action items to get you started.

Lesson #7: A safe space is a decisive space

A crucial component of DEI – in this case, inclusion – is that of psychological safety. It’s a core element of employee experience (EX) and engagement, Josh says.

He refers to a book by Harvard scholar Amy Edmondson called The Fearless Organization: Creating Psychological Safety in the Workplace for Learning, Innovation, and Growth. Although a few years old now, Josh says it’s especially relevant right now. He refers specifically to a study of healthcare providers and teams, where Amy determined that the highest patient outcomes were the ones with the most number of problems.

On the surface, he says, that didn’t make sense.

“[But when Amy] got under the covers, she realized, they didn’t have more problems, but they talked about the problems. They expose the problems. They discuss them. They had a high degree of psychological safety. Psychological safety means you can speak up and people will listen.”

In short, psychological safety is described as “a belief that one will not be punished or humiliated for speaking up with ideas, questions, concerns, or mistakes.”

Josh then points to a quadrant graph from Amy’s book:

“Companies operate in different quadrants here. We have a client who’s in the upper left quadrant where they actually do not have a psychologically safe environment. Everybody is very nice, but you’re not allowed to speak up. And they’re really trying to change that because they have to move faster and they’re evolving into the cloud and some other things.”

This is a huge part of DEI in 2021, Josh says, adding that it “is not just creating a great diversity inclusion program, but making sure that you have a culture where people can speak up and you can get the information you need to make decisions more quickly.”

Further reading for you: Learn how you can build a psychologically safe workplace.

Lesson #8: Develop and grow your people

Again, in the same theme that your company is made up of humans – it’s crucial to ensure your employees and colleagues stay motivated and interested in contributing to your overall mission. Learning and development (L&D) is a key aspect of this, says Josh.

“This is one of the biggest investment areas of HR. Every year, there’s more research on why we have to do more re-skilling and up-skilling.

“Last year, most companies told me they consumed far more learning than they ever anticipated, and people are happier and more productive and more successful when they’re learning.”

He says the reason for this is purely human. People are learning animals. “And when you’re not learning, you’re not happy.”

“So think about learning as much more than a training problem. It’s really part of your entire employee experience.”

What’s exciting about this for HR practitioners is that you as an HR professional can play a larger role in your company’s growth.

“[You] need to decide what the critical business capabilities are for your company, especially if you’re doing recruiting.

“And from them, determine what skills you want to develop or source in people, and you get to decide what the business capabilities are.”

Further reading for you: A recent TalentLMS survey verifies that L&D is booming as a crucial tool in supporting employee experience. You can also kick things off by hiring a dedicated L&D leader for your organization.

Lesson #9: The internal talent marketplace is growing

In tandem with L&D as a surging trend in 2021 is the rise of the internal talent marketplace.

“We learned from the pandemic that we can move people around inside the company pretty quickly, and they adapt pretty fast,” Josh says. “Human beings are very, very adaptable animals. So I think we’ve really gotten sort of a dose of really awakening that the workforce is a lot more resilient than we maybe ever thought.”

Josh points to the growth of a management structure where many employees are actually in management and working at the same time – in effect, being a playing coach. The result is that companies are becoming more dynamic and simplifying their job architectures and job descriptions, making them less specific to accommodate the fluidly changing roles within a company.

“[What this] really turns companies into is an internal talent marketplace. And in a talent marketplace, you as a recruiter are recruiting inside as well as outside.”

Josh doubles down on the message that recruiters and HR practitioners can look inside the company as well as in the overall talent market for those eligible for a job opening. And the positions vacated by those people – those are opportunities for others within a company to move in as well.

Again, there’s value in L&D if you’re recruiting internally. You want to invest in your employees’ development and education. Not only does it strengthen employee loyalty and keeps turnover low, it also makes for a stronger, more resilient employee base that can fill gaps as quickly as they arise within a business.

“That’s really going mainstream,” Josh says.

Further reading for you: Check out our pros and cons of internal recruitment, as well as a tutorial on how to build a successful internal recruitment strategy.

Lesson #10: HR is at the core of all these trends

And you know what? Josh says HR is at the center of all of this. If you’re in HR, your role has become that much more important and will continue to be so going forward. And being relevant means being even more resilient that you ever have been.

“Everything in the area of talent and recruiting and learning and development and pay is changing. And you can’t just kind of go to a course and learn how to do it, and then do it,” he says.

“You need to learn the basics of it and then learn how other companies are doing it and learn about what’s unique inside your company and the culture and business strategies inside your company, and then design something.”

Your own development in HR

This essentially means a re-skilling of your role as an HR practitioner, Josh says, adding that the HR role is evolving to that of a full-stack professional.

“We need to understand the domains of HR. We need to understand how to be good consultants. We need to understand the business and the industry and the competitive drivers in our company. […] And we need to understand how to be leaders, how to interact with leaders and how to develop leaders. And that’s a lot.”

Technology is your friend

This means adding technology to your workflow in order to flourish, Josh says.

“Companies have spent a lot of time and will continue to spend a lot of time on HR tech. And more and more of the energy in the HR tech space is going into this red area, which I call the employee experience layer, making the systems easier to use, making them more intelligent, allowing you to interact with them on a chatbot or by voice, or more recommendations from the system on what you want to do.”

And you needn’t worry about tech taking over your job. Quite the opposite, especially in recruitment.

“You in recruiting are just like everybody else. You’re getting augmented; you’re not getting replaced.”

Josh lists three major areas where tech can be a significant asset.

“Sourcing – most of these platforms, like Workable, can find candidates more quickly and better qualified candidates. […] The second is screening, chatbots and intelligent screening tools can quickly weed out people that are just the wrong fit and they can self-select.

“And the third is in the area of assessments, which is massive.”

Listen to your colleagues

The growth of employee experience (EX) as a crucial element of HR work means establishing a two-way street of communication between yourself and your colleagues.

“We need to listen to people and let them tell us. So, open meetings, surveys, lots and lots of crowdsourcing activities. These are really part of the EX 2.0. […] The EX market has become a market of continuous listening.”

Josh adds that this is something we’ve already been doing with customers on a regular basis – so this practice of listening has grown to include your employees as well.

“I mean, you don’t survey the customers once every 10 years. You try to serve the customers maybe every quarter, if you can, or you ask the salespeople, what are people saying about our products? Or why are they returning them? Or why are they not buying them? We need that data, and we need it in HR too.”

Further reading for you: Well, Josh says it better in the next section, so we’ll let him take it from here on.

Your job is crucial to the company

Josh closes things out in his presentation on HR trends for 2021 by reaffirming the importance of a recruiter role in all this. Recruiting, he says, is the most important thing that happens in a company.

“If you don’t recruit the right people, forget everything else. You can’t just train people that are the wrong fit for your company, the wrong culture fit, the wrong skill set, the wrong background,” he stresses. “Your ability to understand the organization and operate in an empowered way to find the right people is critical.”

Josh shares an anecdote from his research on talent acquisition several years ago.

“I had talked to the head of recruiting at a large oil company. And I asked him just out of the blue; ‘Is there any one thing that you think is the most important characteristic of a high performer when you recruit them? Is it degree, experience, culture, age, personality, intelligence, what is it?’

“He said, ‘It’s the recruiter.’ I said, ‘Why, what are you talking about?’ He said, ‘Great recruiters hire great people.’ I thought, well, that’s actually a pretty good point.”

The post Josh Bersin’s recruiting and HR trends for the future appeared first on Recruiting Resources: How to Recruit and Hire Better.

Note: Workable’s Hiring Pulse also identifies a drop in candidates per hire:

Some companies and industries are certainly faring better than others, but the hundreds of customers and HR leaders I’ve talked to throughout this year all agree – this job market is unlike anything they’ve seen before.

Fortunately, after a year of this upturned hiring market, there may finally be some glimmers of hope. No, it’s not that employees aren’t going to stop quitting. The latest quit numbers are still at record highs and those types of numbers don’t just fall off overnight.

An opportunity for employers

There might just be something like a “Great Return” in our future. Meaning, the tide will turn – at least somewhat – back to employers’ favor and a portion of those millions of workers who quit are going to come back to their old jobs, industries, and careers.

That’s what I and other company leaders are thinking – and hoping for – right now. And while it’s too early to know for sure how it’ll happen, lots of employees who quit this year will return (or be willing to return) under the right conditions. Most of those conditions have to do with aspects of the employee experience that were already outdated or broken.

So, based on what I know about the employee experience and how it’s played a role this past year, these are the three conditions I can see bringing talent back after the Great Resignation:

1) Company culture issues are being addressed

First off, the company culture issues that drove employees away in the first place have been addressed.

Health concerns, toxic team members, poor management, low pay, employee burnout, lack of career growth, lack of diversity and inclusion – these are all top reasons workers have been quitting their jobs during the pandemic. Notice that these are all factors that companies can change and improve as long as they make a real effort.

Whether that means creating new systems and policies, investing in management and skills training, and/or letting go of toxic team members, now’s the time to face these issues head on or else continue to experience talent struggles.

For employees who were otherwise satisfied with their role but “rage-quit” due to one of these culture issues, you can likely lure them back by focusing on fixing what was broken and creating a positive culture where they can thrive. Employees who haven’t completely abandoned their careers might find their way back.

2) Work-life flexibility is now supported

Secondly, employees are getting the work-life flexibility they need in their lives, in location and schedule.

The shift to remote work last year turned out to be a really great setup for many workers and just as productive as in-office work. Employees got so accustomed to it that many decided to quit instead of give up working from home.

It’s important to note though, that it’s not that people wanted to trade in office life with working at home in their pajamas. What they really wanted was the flexibility and freedom that remote work affords them. No more long daily commutes, more opportunity to be with and care for loved ones, choice in where, when and how they work, all while saving money and escaping from office distractions and micromanagement.

Companies that give employees this freedom and flexibility (and set employees up for success through things like remote-friendly internal processes and a remote stipend) will definitely see more workers returning and staying than those that don’t. You can already see companies recognizing this by the uptick in remote jobs and companies going fully remote or hybrid.

3) Comp is now more attractive

And finally – compensation packages and perks are actually competitive and enticing for employees, as well as meaningful and inclusive.

Being underpaid and given odd random perks like ping pong tables and gift cards (or nothing at all) were sadly the norm before the pandemic. And since employers have long held bargaining power in the job market, workers had no choice but to accept it.

Well, the tables have completely turned and candidates now have the upperhand. Demand is so high for workers nowadays that there’s a growing trend of candidates ghosting companies because what companies are offering – in pay, benefits, hours, or other conditions of the job – simply isn’t competitive.

To get workers to return, it’s time to offer pay that actually goes above and beyond market rates and give personalized perks that employees would actually enjoy.

How to offer competitive pay doesn’t need explaining, but perks are more complicated since every employee has unique needs and preferences. A great solution is to offer one or more flexible stipends to help set your company’s compensation package apart.

For example, you can offer a monthly health & wellness stipend that employees can use however they want to support their own wellness journey from emotional, mental, physical, spiritual, etc. This variety of health support is crucial in times like these and leading companies like Microsoft, Webflow, EventBrite, and Investopedia all offer wellness stipends to their employees.

Another idea is to offer a remote stipend that covers employee costs for everything employees would get in an office such as food, internet, technology, productivity, and learning, where they get to choose everything themselves. With more employees working remotely and expecting the company they work for to be fair and inclusive, this would both surprise and entice workers who are searching for greener pastures.

Conclusion

There’s no denying that we’re in an era where employees are seeking change in their work lives and are more than willing to pursue it. For many employees who have decided to leave their jobs for different career paths or for early retirement, that’s exactly the right move for them.

However, I’m willing to bet that for the large number of workers who quit that don’t fall under those two categories, many will make a return to what they left behind under the right conditions.

If your company addresses these three conditions above, you’ll be a top contender in recruiting the talent that’s so difficult to hire these days and also be more successful at keeping the talent you already have.

Amy Spurling is the CEO of Compt.io, an employee stipends platform that offers flexibility in perks and benefits for employees.

The post A ‘Great Return’? 3 conditions that may bring talent back appeared first on Recruiting Resources: How to Recruit and Hire Better.

However, we can get a sense of where job markets are heading by considering how algorithms are being wielded to reshape the workplace.

Tech-supported remoteness

One of the most striking changes is the shift towards remote work. This was inspired initially by the COVID-19 pandemic, and the jury is still out about the extent to which the migration to home offices will become permanent.

But automation technologies and AI have played a key role in enabling individuals to work remotely, a trend that will likely continue.

The growing use of telecommunications, the internet, Internet of Things (IoT) sensing, and cloud services provide a robust infrastructure for heavily decentralized yet effectively coordinated human activity.

As a result, even the diversity of languages becomes less of a barrier to working together through automated language translation.

Technologies like these support almost all facets of remote work. For example:

• IoT sensors provide remote monitoring visibility
• Cloud apps provide remote access to data and functionality
• Robots offer remote control of physical systems
• Employee performance-monitoring systems ensure remote workers are working
• AR/VR systems could provide better telepresence regardless of where workers are physically located

Individuals adept at using these technologies are well-suited to remote environments and hence better able to compete for these jobs.

Digital natives seem very comfortable with online interactions and prefer texting over face-to-face meetings and telephone calls (although they say personal interactions are essential). They tend to be comfortable and productive in virtual digital environments like the Metaverse.

This enables and even improves the serendipity of chance encounters – the utility of which has been one of the main complaints against remote work – because the constraints the physical workspace places on interactions are significantly reduced in cyberspace. Such encounters can be programmed to be random.

Firms face a trade-off between hiring only from the limited population within the physical commuting distance of the physical workplace versus hiring the best talent from the vastly larger pool of people anywhere in the world and dealing with them primarily online.

Brick-and-mortar outcomes

But remote work will only account for a portion of the jobs available in an AI-driven world, so how will AI be used to rethink the traditional workplace?

Experts differ in their forecasts about the future of jobs. The Future of Jobs Report 2020 by the World Economic Forum identifies 10 positions with the sharpest decreases in demand.

Many involve simple, routine administrative or physical tasks that AI and robotics can automate. Examples are data entry clerks, assembly and factory workers, and customer service workers.

Despite expected job losses through automation, many people might remain in these categories of jobs for several reasons.

For example, some people will be retained to handle complex work that cannot be easily automated or to manage exceptional situations such as events that fall outside the range of an AI’s training data (the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on businesses being a standout example).

The people most likely to retain these jobs will be the most skilled employees. An example is individuals with the experience to spot when a machine’s output does not make sense and what should be done if it is making a mistake or cannot handle a particular situation.

Also, as noted above, AI will create new types of jobs, and a proportion of these could be low-skill positions because the technology will de-skill the more challenging parts of some job types rather than taking them over.

Also, as noted above, AI will create new types of jobs, and a proportion of these could be low-skill positions because the technology will de-skill the more challenging parts of some job types rather than taking them over.

The aforementioned Future of Jobs Report 2020 lists the top 10 jobs with the sharpest expected increase in demand. Examples are data analysts and scientists, digital market and strategy specialists, and IoT specialists.

Most positions arose from the recent development and adoption of internet technology; many are jobs that barely existed 20 years ago. Each job category represents more than just a new type of job title and new sub-industries and ecosystems of software, services, and consultants.

Thus, these technology-intensive jobs are only the tip of the future employment iceberg.

But such lists gloss over the many changes that will affect jobs. Most jobs will likely make more use of data, online communications, and technology to provide visibility, enable coordination, and track outcomes.

Many office workers will use AI-based services such as ChatGPT and Grammarly to augment their communication skills by allowing them to auto-adjust their emails and work-related writing for clarity, tone, and professionalism.

And many workers will interact more with technological platforms such as portals for suppliers, business customers, human resources, and other departments.

Related: Lead a team through AI: an inclusive approach to change

These changes will improve productivity and increase the value that workers help provide to customers.

It follows that individuals with the foresight to gain and update relevant skills will be the ones who can compete effectively for the new jobs on offer.

The human face of AI

As these examples show, when trying to discern the future shape of the employment landscape, it is helpful to focus on how individuals – whether senior managers or subordinates – will use algorithms to improve their capabilities and productivity.

The most significant utility of AI will be in augmenting and enhancing these human capabilities. One of the outcomes will, naturally, be a change in the way people perform their jobs.

Dr. Yossi Sheffi is the Elisha Gray II Professor of Engineering Systems at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Director of the MIT Center for Transportation and Logistics (MIT CTL). His recent book is The Magic Conveyor Belt: Supply Chains, A.I., and the Future of Work.

The post AI-human fusion: steering the job market renaissance appeared first on Recruiting Resources: How to Recruit and Hire Better.

Taking advantage of a larger talent pool

The COVID-19 pandemic ushered in a new era in terms of workplace norms. The pandemic proved, for the most part, that geography is irrelevant when it comes to hiring. The technology developed and deployed to allow employees to work from home during COVID now allows tech professionals to do their work from any location.

In short: Thanks to COVID and the changes it inspired, it doesn’t matter if your programmer lives in California, Cambodia, Chicago, the Cayman Islands, or Cameroon.

In addition to having more options available when it comes to prospective employees, the new landscape also allows employers to use labor arbitrage to build a more cost-efficient workforce. Hiring an engineer in the US may cost a company $200,000 a year, whereas an equally skilled engineer based in India can do the same work for $56,000 a year.

When adjusted for the cost of living in each engineer’s location, the compensation is equivalent and the company receives the same volume and quality of work. This represents an opportunity for significant savings for tech companies.

Salary based on location vs. salary based on value is a topic of debate. Read the Evil HR Lady’s take on this.

Identifying top talent released in layoffs

Layoffs are another development adding opportunities to the talent pool. Typically, big technology companies stack rank their employees on an annual basis, which involves rating employees based on their performance. When layoffs happen, it is most often those perceived to be the lowest performers or contributors who are let go. In recent years, however, tech companies have both overhired and held on to weaker talent due to labor shortages and lower employee productivity.

As 2022 came to a close, shifts in the US economy created an environment with high levels of inflation, high levels of interest rates, and a softening housing market. There has also been an inverted yield curve in the 10 year-3 month Treasury Yield Spread, which has historically signaled an impending recession. These developments have triggered major tech players like Microsoft, Amazon, and Google to launch layoffs.

While some of the technology professionals now available for hire were let go due to low performance in their past roles, others are out of work as a result of overhiring in the tech field in recent years. In some cases, tech companies closed entire divisions to trim their staff size, sending many seasons and highly capable professionals into the talent pool. This means companies have a phenomenal opportunity to hire top performers in 2023, provided they choose carefully.

Boosting productivity with new technology

Artificial intelligence (AI) is causing a huge stir in the tech space as we move into 2023. Microsoft, which laid off 10,000 workers to start the year, also invested $10 million in the ChatGPT AI platform in early 2023.

Why? Because the AI-based language model chatbot, which is still in its infancy in terms of development, can code, automate, configure tech, and find problems with software, among other things.

In some cases, AI-driven tools like ChatGPT can take the place of hands-on tech workers. In others, technology professionals equipped with AI-driven tools can deliver as much as 10 times the output of those working without AI. Employers who commit to leveraging AI tools stand to gain considerably in terms of increased productivity.

Targeting talent with business savvy

There was a time when those who could support technology were in high demand. That time has passed. Not only is today’s tech more reliable, but AI-driven solutions promise to provide the support that tech workers once delivered. As a result, the most valuable tech workers will be those like cloud architects and enterprise architects who understand how technology can be used to solve business problems.

Tech companies hiring in 2023 should be looking for employees who can provide more than technical expertise. Professionals who bring business acumen, leadership skills, sales skills, executive presence, and emotional intelligence will prove to be those who can thrive in their positions and add value to the company.

They have what it takes to go beyond working with technology to design solutions that can improve business performance and transform organizations.

The post Tech hiring: how it’s different now for employers in 2023 appeared first on Recruiting Resources: How to Recruit and Hire Better.

Here, in a nutshell, are the rulings on each case:

In Biden v Missouri, the Supreme Court held that the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) does have the authority to require all health care workers at institutions that receive Medicare and Medicaid funding to get COVID-19 vaccinations, unless they get medical or religious exemptions. If they fail to do either, then they could be fired.

Perhaps the more talked-about case, National Federation of Businesses et al v Department of Labor, Occupational, Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) et al, led to the opposite conclusion. The OSHA mandate required that employers with at least 100 employees had to require their employees to either receive COVID-19 vaccines or test weekly and wear masks.

Why such diametrically opposite rulings for such similar mandates? It all came down to whether the entity in question had the authority to mandate the vaccine. Regarding the OSHA mandate, the Court ruled OSHA did not have the authority, because, the Occupational Safety and Health Act (which created the OSH-Administration) “empowers the Secretary [of Labor] to set workplace safety standards, not broad public health measures.”

The Court further reasoned that “Although COVID-19 is a risk that occurs in many workplaces, it is not an occupational hazard in most … COVID–19 can and does spread at home, in schools, during sporting events, and everywhere else that people gather. That kind of universal risk is no different from the day-to-day dangers that all face from crime, air pollution, or any number of communicable diseases.”

Therefore, per the Court’s reasoning, the OSHA mandate would “significantly expand” OSHA’s authority beyond the limits set by Congress in the OSH-Act.

While multiple states argued that DHHS did not have the scope to issue such a mandate, the Court noted that “healthcare facilities that wish to participate in Medicare and Medicaid have always been obligated to satisfy a host of conditions that address the safe and effective provision of healthcare, not simply sound accounting.”

How then, does the US Department of Health and Human Services have the authority to issue and enforce a similar mandate? In this case, the Court cited funding requirements. The hospitals in question receive Medicare and/or Medicaid funding. The DHHS has always had authority to set conditions both for funding and for “the safe and effective provision of healthcare”.

So what do you do as an employer now?

What do these rulings mean for employers? Unless your business is a hospital receiving Medicare or Medicaid funding, the ruling in that case (Biden v Missouri) will have no impact.

Similarly, if your business has fewer than 100 employees, neither ruling impacts your business.

If you are an employer with more than 100 employees, then your business is no longer subject to the OSH-Admin mandate.

That does not mean that you do not have an obligation to take reasonable steps to protect your employees from COVID exposure. Vaccination or other safety protocols might well be necessary to achieve those ends, in which case you might still be obligated to take the same measures, but OSHA will have to jump through more hoops if it wants to take action against your company on that basis.

Need more support? Check out our mandatory vaccination and workplace safety policy template, which is free for you to use and customize for your own organization.

Janette S. Levey, ‘The Employer’s Lawyer’, has over 20 years of legal experience, more than 10 of which she has spent in Employment Law. She is licensed in NJ and NY and also works with employers anywhere in the country on any federal employment law issues to ensure that employers are in the best position possible to avoid litigation, audits, employee relations problems, and the attendant, often exorbitant costs. Feel free to visit Janette’s website or to contact Janette by email, janette@janetteleveylaw.com or phone, 732-902-0728. 

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And the Great Discontent survey carried out by Workable in June 2021 points to the disparity in current working situation between the genders, with those identifying as female far more likely to be not working (26% vs. 15.3%) or working part-time (17.7% vs. 8.6%) than males in the United States.

The World Economic Forum also reported similar data:

What does that say about how our workplaces are doing in supporting working mothers?

We’ll let TopResume’s report answer that:

“Women have had to navigate the stress and time-management challenges of taking on the role of teacher and child-care provider while attempting to work or find work during quarantine. All of these factors together have led to what economists are calling the world’s first ‘she-cession’ – a women-led economic downturn.”

To gain further insight, we sat down with TopResume’s career expert Amanda Augustine – herself a working mom – for a conversation about this. Clearly, employers need to up their game if they want to be part of changing things for the better.

The plight of the working mother

The mother of a five-year-old boy with special needs, Amanda’s own personal and professional load is further stressed by the fact that she has a husband who works long hours as an essential worker. And, she says, women feel they have to take all that on – more so than men.

“I think for the working mother in general, we’ve grown up hearing, ‘You can do anything’, and we’ve somehow translated that over time into ‘You should do everything,’” says Amanda. “And there’s a lot of extra responsibility and weight and stress we put on ourselves.”

And that commitment to a full-time workload also ate into Amanda’s daily schedule. Before the pandemic, she commuted into New York City for work three times a week, translating into three hours of commuting each day. This meant less time with her son all around.

“I only saw my son for two hours a day on the weekdays. I was gone well before he was awake. And I came home, picked him up from daycare and I got two hours before he had to be in bed.”

The sacrifice and the stigma

Work has long been an unmovable pillar around which we mold other parts of our lives. It’s created a situation where working mothers worry that if they make concessions in the workplace – such as arriving late or leaving early because they need to drop off or pick up their kids at school or the daycare, it impacts their career arc.

“[Those] suddenly become issues where they have to be navigated around fears that you’re not going to be put up for the promotion, or you’re not going to get the raise,” Amanda explains.

“And because whether, you know, whether [working mothers think] correctly or not, they’re going to assume that it’s either not feasible or that they’re concerned that other priorities will take over, which is just… it’s unfair.”

There’s also a proximity bias in the workplace that makes things even more difficult for working mothers forced to make amends in their schedule to accommodate demands on the home front.

“There’s this false assumption by managers that the people they see working in the office are more productive than the ones that they don’t see.”

It’s not COVID’s fault

These problems facing working mothers aren’t rooted in the pandemic. Rather, the pandemic simply exposed – and exacerbated – the problems that have long existed in the system.

“Many of us were already underwater before the pandemic and the pandemic was that last straw that broke the camel’s back,” says Amanda. “It pushed on all those little cracks and just made them that, that more obvious.”

That’s why working mothers are leaving the workforce in droves – if they can – because they’ve given up on the possibility of a much-needed balance between work and home life.

“Women aren’t going to just show up and sacrifice everything,” says Amanda, emphasizing that this is a situation faced by fathers as well.

“For some people, it’s a re-evaluation of their priorities. Many are assuming that they’re not going to find a job that’s going to allow them to still keep some of these things [remote work, etc.] that were actually the silver linings of the pandemic.”

That 69% statistic points to this new reality.

“What’s happening now is that people are [saying], ‘Do we really need that income? Can we get by without it? I’m going to hold out until there’s something that really makes sense and is a good fit. I’m not rushing back to the workplace, because I want to see what happens.’”

It’s a crisis, but it’s an opportunity

We’re already seeing a recruitment crisis – as indicated by the staggering numbers of job openings, higher than the number of unemployed, according to a report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This exodus of working mothers presents an added challenge for recruiters already facing depleted talent pools.

“[Many] recruiters I hear from and talk to are just saying, ‘We can’t fill these positions. We can’t get people in the door what’s going on here.’”

And it’s not that these are not good opportunities. These are “white collar, corporate, good paying jobs”, Amanda adds.

“A good portion of your normal labor force or, you know, is not looking right now. And so you’re missing out on a lot of that.”

But there’s good news. They’ll come back – if the conditions are right.

“Many of them would probably come back [if] they’d be able to still bring in that money or do what they love, but in a more balanced fashion where they don’t feel as though they’re slightly underperforming in every aspect of their lives.”

That’s where greater support of working mothers is needed in the workplace. Forcing your employees to find a balance between work and home actually hurts at both ends. Something always has to give.

“If you’re feeling really great as a mom, you feel like you’re probably not the star employee that day. And if you’re really rocking it at work, chances are, you’re not feeling like you’re getting a gold star from your kids that day.

“And you know, it’d be nice if that wasn’t necessarily the feeling all the time.”

The need for flexible schedules

So how do you build an environment that supports working mothers? Obviously not every company can do everything – but you can start by looking at the things you can do that don’t drastically impact your bottom line. The first objective is to build up your support system that you can offer to a potential employee. Have a strategy that enables mothers to thrive in every area – both at home and at work.

One way to do that is introduce greater flexibility in work – a lesson we all learned from the pandemic, as shown in our New World of Work survey report in August 2020 which found that 71.1% of respondents see remote work and distributed teams as one of the biggest paradigm shifts coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Amanda agrees.

“More jobs are becoming location agnostic. This giant work-from-home experiment has been successful for a lot of organizations,” she explains.

“There are a lot of employees that I know of while they were still working, moved across the country, just decided they’re like, ‘You know what? I don’t want this cost of living. And if I can work anywhere, I’m going to do it.’ A lot of people are relocating.”

She points to her own company as an example.

“That’s why we’re not really going back to one central office. [It’s] because they saw it worked and they started hiring people all across the country.”

Another thing Amanda’s employer is doing right in supporting working mothers is leaving the responsibility of scheduling to employees.

“Are you getting your work done? Then we don’t care when you’re logging in and logging out. Are you there when you need to be for a meeting? Great. As long as you’re producing, no one cares.

“If you have to run out in the middle of the day to grab your kid or, you know, take them to the appointment or pick them up from daycare, as long as you’re getting your work done and you’re on when you need to be on for the very important meetings, nobody’s going to look twice and think there’s anything wrong.”

Employers can step up their game

And that’s a mindset which needs to be adopted by employers if they want to attract – and retain – workers. That’s especially when it comes to working mothers, who benefit more from this than other professionals.

“Working mothers [see this] more as a necessity or a requirement as opposed to an extra benefit.”

You can step up your policies supporting working mothers if you’re looking to attract them to your company, especially if you don’t have the luxury of moving to a permanently remote or flexible working system.

Amanda suggests looking at your maternity leave policy, and looking at other ways you can help ease the demand that a working parent faces.

“Are you providing either stipends for daycare or are you providing onsite daycare or services? Do you have a service that you keep on retainer that your employees can call if they need help securing a last-minute babysitter because someone’s ill or something like that? Those services do exist.”

Be leaders by example

While these and other programs and policies are a great first step for employers, it’s not enough, says Amanda. It also comes down to the mentality of your organization – and from the very top.

“It also has to come through in your communication. [Are you] a company that truly values and embraces and supports the working parent or various different lifestyles and is able to adapt?”

Personal experience plays a factor as well, she adds, recalling an anecdote from a friend who expressed that she couldn’t wait for her CEO and his wife to have a kid because “he doesn’t get it today”.

Instead, get ahead of that situation, with executive leadership setting the tone for a truly inclusive working environment.

Amanda described an experience before our interview where she was in a meeting with one of her own executives.

“She was sitting on her patio and she goes, ‘This may be my only moment of vitamin D all day, because I don’t know when my son gets home from daycare, if it’s going to be an outside or inside day’.”

That was a strong message from leadership. The result was that Amanda – and likely her other colleagues – now felt empowered to be able to do the same.

“I would have never considered that before, until I saw somebody a couple of rungs up for me doing it and it being perfectly OK, and not making a big deal about it.”

So pay attention, managers, directors, and executives.

“If you’re going to offer those benefits to your team, take them. If you’re encouraging them to take time off, you have to take a few days off too.”

This is a wakeup call – will you answer?

“There were a lot of awful things that came [in the pandemic], but I have to say for me, there were some definite silver linings. It has a lot to do with getting a better sense of what is a healthy work-life balance and what I want. But […] for many people out there, I think it’s a wakeup call.”

You can answer that call by updating your policies and employee management strategy to accommodate and support working mothers, and you’ll find that you attract the very best candidates to your company.

“It would be really nice if, if we could change that narrative and put systems in place that helped to support a new narrative out there,” Amanda says.

Don’t wait for others to set the standard – you can lead the charge. Be part of the solution.

Amanda Augustine is a well-recognized expert in career advancement, ranging from developing one’s professional brand to acing that next interview. She’s the resident career expert for TopResume, the world’s largest resume-writing service, as well as a certified professional resume writer (CPRW) and certified professional career coach (CPCC).

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Recruitment marketing is how your company tells its culture story through content and messaging to reach top talent. It can include blogs, video messages, social media, images—any public-facing content that builds your brand among candidates.

In marketing, if you try to be all things to all people and you don’t know who your ideal customer is, you risk creating messaging that doesn’t resonate with anyone. The same is true for recruitment marketing. To do it effectively, think like a marketer and ask yourself: Who is my ideal candidate? What kind of content do they like? And how do I reach them?

About two years ago at HubSpot, we were growing quickly, and in new markets, so we realized we needed a more formal strategy around employer branding approach. That’s when we started the inbound recruiting team, a small team within our People Operations department that focuses solely on recruitment marketing.

I believe recruitment marketing is critical for any company of any size. Internally, you might know your company’s cultural values and what makes your employees great—but candidates don’t know that just by visiting your website. Here are ways you can create a recruitment marketing strategy that we’ve successfully tested and are using ourselves:

• Create a candidate persona. We took a look at our top performers and researched what made them choose to work at HubSpot. We asked questions like, what does this person need to do their job well? What motivates them? What makes them love work? What makes them frustrated at work? Using this information, we developed a persona of the ideal person who’d thrive at HubSpot. Not everyone will fit in that persona, but by doing this exercise, you’ll at least have some direction for the story you’re telling through your recruitment marketing content.
• Research, define and over-communicate your culture internally. Our founders say one thing they wish they had done even earlier was to think about culture. Culture doesn’t need to be defined from the top down, but it needs buy-in and feedback at all levels. Spend time researching your own culture. Your conversations with your top performers will help you figure out what makes them happy. Get a focus group of 10 or so people together, and get coffee with one person each week. Ask them:
  • Why did you choose to work here?
  • Why do you still work here?
  • What’s your favorite thing about working here?
  • What’s your favorite way to work?

Your best people are going to say two or three of the same things, and you can use these attributes to define your culture. This will help you talk about your culture when you interview candidates.

Once you’ve gotten it all down, make it a point to communicate your culture among your employees. Talk about what you value and the kind of people who work best with you. Make sure you ask for feedback. If you dive into the marketing side before you’ve really figured out your culture among your employees, you risk alienating your employees and creating a disjointed candidate experience.

• Make it easy for employees to be your brand ambassadors. Candidates trust employees more than they trust recruiters. So make it easy for employees to tell your story by providing them with examples of blog posts and videos that could inspire them to create content around their own jobs. Here are some examples of HubSpot’s recruitment marketing content:
  • HubSpot Careers
  • HubSpot Life
  • HubSpot Careers blog
  • Hubspot Culture Code

Our recruitment marketing is working. In the past year and a half, you can really see that candidates come into HubSpot much more familiar with our culture than they did a few years ago. Our content is reaching brand new talent who hadn’t considered HubSpot and helping interested candidates down the funnel. This is great, because it helps recruiters by making their jobs a little bit easier. When they’re talking to candidates, they don’t have to start from scratch.

Hannah Fleishman is the Inbound Recruiting Manager at HubSpot where she and her team use content, blogging, social media, events, and more to build HubSpot’s employer brand and attract top talent globally. Find her on Twitter at @hbfleishman and on LinkedIn.

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These companies don’t have an applicant tracking system, nor do they have a full scoring system or standard way of making decisions. Hiring is pretty much done by the founder who’s meeting people and going on gut instinct – which is great and will get you through 10 or 15 hires pretty easily. But when you’re trying to go from 20 to 60 to 70 to 80 people, you’ll need some very careful planning.

Start with the goals

One of the biggest factors in talent acquisition roles is managing requirements; expectations versus reality. So, the first thing I do is understand what the plans are. I’m interested in what the company is trying to achieve, its business objectives, and how hiring fits into that.

By understanding those, you’ll be able to spend your efforts in the right places. If, for example, the business is focused on delivering product and it needs to hire numerous engineers in the next three months, your focus will be on ensuring the engineering hiring process is really slick. It’s about building the right process for the business you’re in. Some businesses have a slower recruitment process and they need to make sure it’s sustainable. But if you’re looking at a very high-growth business, they may want to reduce their time to hire or their overall hiring cycle.

When you’ve just joined a new business and you’re learning its objectives, you may find that you’re behind schedule. You’re spinning the wheels very, very quickly just to catch up and get yourself some breathing space. Once you have that, you can start to put a more strategic plan in place.

Build the hiring plan

I think this is one of the most exciting parts of the job. You get to see everything that you’ll have to deliver for the year. Hiring plans ought to be running about three months ahead, so you can be really structured about how you’ll do things.

That’s when you start to look at processes. You’ve got to immerse yourself within the organization and understand how people work, what the existing hiring process is and where the strengths and weaknesses lie. You could have people that aren’t particularly competent in interviewing and you might need to train them. One department could have increased hiring needs while another might want to make just a couple of key hires. You need to learn what’s going on and tailor your plan based on the strengths and weaknesses you find.

Hiring isn’t a one-person job

While you’re doing all this – learning about the business objectives, crafting a plan, identifying weaknesses – you should remember: you’re not alone. Your job will be so much easier, and much more effective, if you involve other people in the organization.

I always involve those who’re actually doing the hiring. It’s not just the founder anymore, many team leaders will need to increase the time they spend in evaluating and selecting candidates. And while we, as talent acquisition professionals, have overall hiring accountability, the ownership of the process should be placed with the hiring managers. That’s because:

• They’re the people who’ll be reaping the results of what we do.
• They’ll be more engaged in the process if you involve them in the planning phase.

So, you should be there to guide and support hiring managers and help them in designing an effective hiring process. And, you shouldn’t stop there. It’s just not scalable for one person to own every single hiring process on a global scale. If the hiring manager is the only one who does the final stage interviews, then you’ve created an instant bottleneck for yourself. The wider you can make the team, the easier it’ll be to scale and the better your hiring decisions will be.

Be sure to involve team members in candidate assignments. Their work is highly relevant to what the new hire will be doing. If you’ve got engineering teams, for example, they should be involved in deciding what your coding tests should be, or how you’ll mark the tests.

And then, you need to make sure everyone on your team can hold an effective interview.

Everyone interviews

I train teams on how to run interviews and how to learn as much as possible about candidates. Interviews are normally only an hour long and you need to use that time wisely.

So when I talk to people about interviewing, I’m always quite keen to teach them to break down the qualities they’re looking for, so that their hiring process covers each individual element of the role. Rather than saying someone’s nice, you want interviewers to say “I’m satisfied this person really knows about product management.” Then another interviewer might say that the candidate knows a lot about the sector we’re working in. That’s how the team can evaluate candidates based on the sum of the parts.

Interviews should be positive experiences

Some companies can be quite combative in their interview styles, asking candidates to prove themselves. I think that needs to change because candidates have many options now. Why not build your interviews to be positive and find where that person shines instead?

Be flexible. Often, interviews are transactional: asking a question, getting an answer. That should definitely be part of the interview, because that’s how you get information, but if you only do that, there are other things you’re missing. You need to find questions that are interesting for candidates. You’ll get candidates to relax and drop their guard – and bring out the best in them, which, I would argue, is actually who they are day to day. That’s the real skill to being a great interviewer.

Culture is important

Everyone’s talking about doing culture interviews, but I actually think that a candidate’s personality will come across while they’re answering other, job-related questions. Hiring teams should be able to recognize culture fit when they see it. That’s why we need to be specific about what culture fit is and what qualities we’re looking for before we start interviewing.

Of course, asking some culture-related questions is useful too: for example, I always ask people what they’re passionate about. That’s really interesting because I often work at companies where people are incredibly passionate about things outside of work. They love their job, but they have lots of other things going on. You could learn a lot about someone by what they’re interested in, how they go about learning a skill, and if you’re actually looking at someone who has achieved something in their own time.

Tailor your methods

There isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach to recruitment. At SuperAwesome, my current company, we’re trying to make sure that we’ve done a thorough assessment of candidates. Our engineering hiring process has a specific number of steps that candidates go through. However, if we need to be more flexible around the more unique hires that we do, then we might have an additional stage or change a stage around.

I like to think about how are we going to see the best in candidates and if that means that we should change our interview process to understand them in more detail. Maybe we’ll decide to ask candidates to give us a presentation around a certain topic to assess their ability. Everyone is unique and, while we have a process that’s agreed upon from the start, if we need to change direction, we will.

Brace yourself for unforeseen change

If you work in recruitment and talent acquisition, you must be used to things changing on a daily basis. We should be the rock everyone else will depend on when they’re worried their plans have changed or their plans aren’t working.

That’s when you need to come up with solutions. And there are times when you’ll tell people that things can’t be done, but generally you need to look for ways that you can do something. And if fundamental things are changing, like the hiring plan, you should be in front of that and know that it’s going to change before it officially does.

Mingle and learn

You need to network through an organization and be really, really tuned into what’s going on. You should have a line of communication that says “listen, we can’t officially say this yet, but we think this might be happening.” Then, it’s your job to start making other plans. Because, normally, changes don’t happen overnight, they take weeks or months and you’ve plenty of time to catch up. But you won’t be able to do that if you sit in isolation.

What I do is actively speak to hiring managers in regular meetings. I also actively speak to our executive team. That’s how you have access to information that other people in the company might not have. There should be a high level of trust there.

Trust is key

Personally, I’ve already been a Head of Talent quite a few times. I’m standing from a point of experience and knowledge that I gathered over the years, so it’s easier for people to trust me in recruiting matters.

But when I first started, I found it was important to just give sensible advice. Listen and make sure you’re delivering what you’re promising. Make yourself a positive person to be around and showcase your competence by asking the right questions or making useful observations. You could say, for example, that you noticed the hiring plans tend to change halfway through the year so the company should anticipate that in the future. You’ll bring a lot of value, and earn trust, if you try to bring those conversations forward and get ahead of the curve.

Nick Yockney is currently the Head of Talent at SuperAwesome. He has lead the Recruiting and People function in tech startups for six years and has a 10-year background as an agency recruiter. He also runs DBR (the well-known community for In-house Recruiters and HR professionals).

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Jump straight into the podcast or check out the transcription here.

As a practiced expert in global talent management, Tony had a lot to say. Here are the top takeaways from our conversation:

Make the commitment, then make it work

Virgin mogul Richard Branson once said: ”If somebody offers you an amazing opportunity but you are not sure you can do it, say yes – then learn how to do it later!”

Tony would agree when it applies to the global talent market.

“My first tip here is to really focus on what’s really important, which is finding the best talent no matter where they are,” he says. “And worry later about these obstacles or these barriers that prevent you from hiring that talent.

Why? Because it makes sense

And forget whether your services are global or local. It makes a lot of sense to hire globally, because your talent market is much broader.

“If you were to say a startup in San Francisco or a startup in London, and you want to hire locally, what are the chances [that] the best talent will be in a 20-mile radius from your office? It’s like 0.1%,” Tony says.

“So how can you explain statistically that this is a good strategy for talent acquisition, where over 99% of the great talent is elsewhere?”

He points to hubs of engineering in areas such as Eastern Europe and Latin America that have a much higher representation of highly talented developers who specialize in specific coding languages – all of which presents an opportunity for smart companies who tap into the global hiring market.

Talent distribution aside, Tony points to other benefits:

1) Local connectivity makes better EX

There are huge benefits in the new reality of living where we work and working where we live – especially for the employee.

Tony shares his own example.

“Now my identity is work but it’s also family. I spend more time with my children, with my partner,” he says of his work-life integration. “It’s my community as well.”

He talks about an elderly neighbor in the small French village where he lives and works. “He can’t walk very well. And his chimney broke in the middle of the winter and he needed somebody to take him to the store, buy something to come and fix the chimney. So he called me at 2 in the afternoon, and I had a 45-minute gap in my schedule.

“So I was able to go and bring him to the store and build it. And I felt more connected to him.”

And what does that mean for the new working environment?

“If I was in the office,” Tony explains, ”I would have missed that opportunity to help him out. And so I feel much more connected to my local community. So that’s good news for the world. And that’s good news for people.”

And when employees feel more connected to their families and communities even when on the job, they’ll be happier. That speaks volumes for overall employee engagement (EX) and experience.

2) Remote can outperform office

Tony says that, if executed properly, a remote-work environment can actually be more productive and engaged than the alternative.

“For instance, a virtual environment requires you to share leadership more, so essentially because everybody is in different locations and the leader cannot do everything like they used to do in the office, then suddenly you have an opportunity for other leaders to come in and fill that gap. So it becomes a great place to grow leaders faster in the business.”

It’s not just about collective leadership. Remote also fosters a more equitable and democratic working environment that brings the best out of people.

“The best ideas win,” Tony says. ”[W]hen you used to work in an office and you go to a meeting room and usually the loudest person in the room monopolizes the discussion, but you have maybe this introverted, brilliant person on the side [and] they’re not sharing their ideas.”

And now, working online across locations, there’s a more collaborative spirit via a shared document where everyone is able to bring something to the proverbial table, and have a conversation, Tony says.

“The role of the leader is really to be aware of these superpowers and create an environment that actually facilitates and fosters these benefits.”

3) There are social and environmental benefits

There’s an added intangible that can speak volumes for your employer brand: the social impact that your organization has as a remote-first organization.

“If you remove the barriers to cross-border employment and enable companies to really tap into the global talent pool, you can reduce brain drain, which is really one of the major impacts of wealth distribution issues in the world.”

There’s also an environmental impact as well.

“Think about it; every year, we’re pouring the equivalent of four New York Cities in terms of concrete on planet Earth. And in many cities, it’s not a more livable condition.”

He notes the example of Delhi, where workers lose an average of seven hours of life expectancy due to the air pollution.

“I think the pandemic enabled us to realize that actually we are past that tipping point of sustainability of cities. And, I hope that the world will reverse that trend now that actually it’s not a necessity to be in the office to get the job done, at least for knowledge workers.”

Global talent market best practices

Convinced? Tony now has some best practices for you when executing on a global talent market strategy.

1) Ensure equal opportunity and experience

When you have a distributed team, you need to align your company success with your employee success, Tony says. This ties into employee experience, which can differ across locations.

Tony shares the example of a contact center in India that worked night shifts to accommodate the US market.

“There’s something we don’t really talk about … this lifestyle disparity when it comes to working from anywhere. [A]s a leader of an organization, my recommendation is to create an environment and a culture that gives everybody an equal opportunity, no matter where they are.”

Balance out the opportunities

Also, when hiring for more senior positions in tech, you’ll also find that talent is more concentrated to specific locations. For example, Tony says, senior talent has been focused in the Western world in the last 30 years.

And that can lead to further imbalances when it comes to opportunity within a company.

“[It’s important] that you think about how you develop the younger talent that come from emerging economies and giving them the opportunity to grow with your company and with the opportunity,” Tony says, “so we can start building the next generation of tech leaders from all over the world and not necessarily focused or centered around certain technology hubs in the world, such as the Silicon Valley, or London, or China.”

This also applies to the overall nature of remote work, where it comes naturally to some and more of a challenge to others – again a recipe for imbalance and unequal experiences across teams.

“There are certain trainings [where] you can upskill your talent force on remote work. You can teach your team how to behave, how to be productive, how to take care of themselves so that they don’t burn out.”

Focus on the results

To ensure equal opportunity and growth across locations, Tony also recommends shifting to a results-driven model.

“We’ve seen companies that have this obsession with output rather than input. Essentially we don’t care how [many] hours you put in to get the job done, as long as you have clear goals and you’re delivering on your goals,” he says.

“That goes a long way to create a culture where there’s a high degree of trust in order for anybody, anywhere they are, to grow in and develop in your company.”

2) Establish a strong company culture

The reality of working across locations – and especially, across cultures – is that there will be some inconsistencies as colleagues of different backgrounds collaborate on projects. There are ways around that, however – and the first big takeaway from Tony is that a strong company culture is essential if you want to overcome these challenges.

In short – the collective vision can be very powerful. But, Tony says, it doesn’t happen on its own.

“My experience having led two companies in the last 10, 12 years is that [there] are people from all over the world. Company culture definitely trumps country culture. … But you have to manage it. It’s not like by default this is going to happen.

“So you need to really be clear about how you create a strong company culture that actually is stronger than in local cultural specificities.”

Learn how Belgium-based startup ProxyClick built a great company culture that unifies and inspires its employees.

3) Standardize and prescribe a virtual working system

Working in a remote working environment means you need to actively build trust among colleagues. In a physical workplace, Tony says, trust grows naturally, but in a virtual environment, you have to work at it.

He shares the example of working with his product team. Syncing in real time is needed to align on ideas around product development, but an equally strong element of building a strong virtual work culture is in carrying out the actual work as a team.

“[At Oyster], we call them ‘tools and the rules’,” says Tony, adding that while you can get away with lack of clarity if you’re working together in the same office, that’s not the case when working across time zones, cultures and backgrounds.

“You have to be very prescriptive of how you work together. What tools do you use? When do you use them? What different meetings do you have?” Tony says.

And this system can’t be dictated top-down. It needs to be mutually built across the team.

“And you, as a team manager, have to be the best remote worker in your team to show the example for your team that this is something that everybody needs to buy into, and it gets reinforced.”

4) Know how job attractors differ across cultures

Building a strong employer brand is essential to candidate attraction, of course. But that becomes a unique challenge when sourcing and attracting talent in different locations.

Tony agrees, sharing a hypothetical example of a person named Mary in Nigeria, who has the option to work at a local bank for a contract and the best benefits in the area.

“You want to be able to match that, you want to be able to understand what ‘good’ looks like in country X, and then extend a generous offer to that employee,” Tony says.

He adds the value of job security for someone like Mary.

“That goes to first hiring them as a full-time employee rather than a contractor, so that you can reduce their anxiety and provide them with the ability of having a stable job and a stable income. And then supplement that with whatever local benefits Mary expects to see from a top employer in that country.”

Benefits will be different as well

Tony then talks about other countries that put more weight on certain benefits, such as the United States where health insurance is an absolute must-have. In France, on the other hand, the expectation is more about restaurant vouchers, with health insurance more complementary rather than a core benefit.

In other countries still, health benefits are a non-issue because of a universal health care system.

There are also other elements at play in a global talent market, Tony says.

“[Maybe] there is a fear of cultural differences. Maybe people in that country think differently than people in that country. There are administrative and legal and tax challenges that companies have to go through. […] So every country is different and you have to navigate that.”

Adapt and thrive in the global talent market

“The war on talent is going distributed,” Tony says. “The companies that have thought about how to enable a strong culture, how to enable a distributed workforce to grow and develop – they are the ones that are going to attract the best and the brightest talents in the world. And there’s no going back on this.”

Employees have that expectation as well, and Tony says employers need to pay close attention to that.

“Employees are asking for an extra degree of freedom, which is location. [They] want to be able to live wherever they want to live,” he says.

“That’s hard for companies to manage if they want to go back to an office-only culture, because talent will go to wherever they have more freedom and that’s assuming equal pay and equal benefits.”

Tony adds that 1.5 billion knowledge workers will be entering the workforce in the next 10 years. He says this is the biggest labor democratic shift since the Industrial Revolution.

“We have that opportunity now as a world to rethink what work is and make it more sustainable and more focused on bringing that opportunity to people no matter where they are.”

Ultimately, the global talent market is about people and quality of life.

“We want to have a future where people have a choice in where they want to live. And they don’t necessarily have to live in the city. It becomes a choice if they decide to want to live in a city, but if they decide not to, they shouldn’t be forced to be living in a crowded space. And that’s the world that we want to portray [at Oyster].”

The post The global talent market: the new land of opportunity is anywhere appeared first on Recruiting Resources: How to Recruit and Hire Better.

Table of Contents

1. Candidate experience

• On sidestepping “Where do you see yourself in X years?”
• On recruiting passive candidates

2. Lean recruiting

• On start-up recruiting without benefits and perks
• On sourcing diverse talent on a tight budget

3. DEI in the recruitment process

• On supporting DEI in hiring
• On the efficacy of Workable’s anonymized screening tool
• On hiring diverse candidates for a school district

4. Competing for talent

• On compensation in different markets
• On finding top talent when you’re not the ideal

5. And one more for the road… on hiring after COVID

Following are some exchanges from that Q&A session (with names of guests removed to preserve privacy):

1. Candidate experience

On sidestepping “Where do you see yourself in X years?”

Guest:
What is the best question to ask potential employees about retention in the office?

Melissa:
Hi, thank you for your question! To clarify, are you asking how to respond about retention at your company if the answer is not positive?

Guest:
Yes, we have a lot of longevity in our office. I have worked there for over 20 years. It takes about a year just to learn the job. I wanted to think beyond the “where do you see yourself in 5 years”. I know there are some gray areas to avoid, but any advice would be great!

Melissa: 
Assessing staying power can be hard to navigate, I would focus on sharing your company’s lengthy ramp time and the need for time commitment that employees need to invest in order to make an impact. For the right candidates, this transparency and approach will resonate.

However, we also have to recognize that workforce behaviors have evolved when it comes to tenure and the average time in a role is around 4.5 years and those aged between 24-34, it’s around 3 years, so employers have to adjust in order to maximize the impact employees can make in that timeframe.

Guest:
Great advice!! thank you so much!!!!

Melissa:
My pleasure!

On recruiting passive candidates

Guest:
Could you provide advice on best practices when it comes to sourcing passive candidates?

Melissa:
Hi again, of course! RESILIENCE. Candidates are cautious to leave jobs right now so don’t get offended if you don’t get responses to your reach out.

Personalization is key, show that you have a good understanding of their background and why you think making a move into your organization would be worthwhile. Projecting warmth and enthusiasm goes a long way and sharing as much about your company and why it’s a stellar place to work.

It’s difficult but you also have to do this as succinctly as possible. And don’t be afraid to use multiple methods of reaching out, direct email, LinkedIn or even a call.

Keith:
Think of it in terms of recruitment marketing. You are marketing yourself as an employer. You want to show your value as an employer to the candidate. Usually, it’s the other way around, in that candidates are trying to market themselves to you.

Show your value as an employer, in terms of what that candidate can gain from making such a move. As Melissa says, passive candidates aren’t just going to jump ship. You’re asking them to take a risk. You want to show them that you’re worth that risk.

Guest:
Thank you so much you two! I really appreciate it! I often do get discouraged when I don’t get a reply back. I will consider trying different approaches and watching which one works and have really been looking into recruitment marketing.

2. Lean recruiting

On start-up recruiting without benefits and perks

Guest:
What is the best way to recruit people into a start up that currently has no formal benefits and very few perks. It’s hard in the world of free lunch and a games room!

Keith:
Oh yeah, that is always tough. You’re in a very competitive space already. Workable CEO Nikos Moraitakis offered some great insights around that theme in an interview a few years ago:

To your point about free lunches and games rooms, he offered this: “No one ever came to work because of the ping pong tables. Even less so, stayed for them.”

He does have a point. It doesn’t necessarily have to be about benefits and perks – you can communicate the value of the work itself, which can be unique and interesting in so many ways compared with other startups.

You may also find this to be a good resource.

Melissa:
Hi! You have to capitalize on the things a startup does offer – a chance to be part of building and shaping structure, tech tools, teams and culture! Post your jobs in places that might draw in candidates that are inspired by that type of opportunity – AngelList, VentureFizz and Built In to name a few. At this stage of your growth, count on referrals too, they’ll have a better sense of what they’re walking into.

On sourcing diverse talent on a tight budget

Guest:
What are some strategies for sourcing diverse candidates when the organization doesn’t have the budget to invest in diverse platforms?

Melissa:
Hi … thanks for your question! To me, it’s about posting in multiple places to source from as many diverse job boards/candidate pools as possible. There are organizations who also focus and partner with companies to support diverse hiring. Also, using technology like anonymized screening will help.

Training hiring managers to identify biases is a crucial starting point when interviewing in order to to avoid unintentionally disqualifying candidates. Getting commitment from the hiring team will sometimes take longer than you wish, so patience is required.

Just so I can try to help further, what are the diverse platforms you’re referring to?

If you’d like to do some reading on the topic, here’s a great resource for you (and definitely, watch the video!).

Guest:
Melissa, thank you for the advice. This is very helpful. Currently we have looked in areas like Dice or POCIT. And I have been told we do not have a budget to post on paid platforms at the moment. Current postings are those provided via our current ATS. Thank you again for sharing this resource.

3. DEI in the recruitment process

On supporting DEI in hiring

Guest:
There are some new recruitment products, touting support of DE&I with this process, that is championing for even more increased “blind” selection criteria to go beyond hiding names, home addresses, school names, etc. which have been known to elicit hidden biases to not utilizing Zoom or video interviews to further cut down on unconscious biases from creeping into this process – ie. voice, dialect, dress, hairstyle, etc.

So these products are focused on the employer asking work-based questions for the candidate to submit in writing. Would be interested in hearing your thoughts on this new burgeoning recruitment strategy to further support DE&I efforts?

Melissa:
Hi … thank you for your question! This is a tough one, but definitely a good one. While there is research available that shows the positive impact of anonymized screening, it needs to be part of a wider DEI initiative to have an impact.

For example: According to a study completed by Harvard Business Review, “Before any anonymization, men outperformed women by about 5%. After just the removal of the names, that number dropped to less than 3%. When the applications were fully anonymized, women outperformed men by 1%.”

However, even if this method does improve your diverse hiring metrics, it does not guarantee the organization’s culture is inclusive. Anonymized screening is one piece of the puzzle – it’s a tool companies can utilize to meet their goals – but so much more needs to happen as well.

On the efficacy of Workable’s anonymized screening tool

Guest:
I also noted that you have anonymized the Workable ATS, could you please let me know to what extent this has reduced unconscious bias and how, in cases where the content of the CV or application either countries where one has worked, college or university can give an indication of nationality

Melissa:
Hi, great question! This article has a few screenshots that can help you visualize what our Anonymized Screening tool does. As you can see, college & country are considered identifying information, so these would be blocked out.

According to a study completed by Harvard Business Review, “Before any anonymization, men outperformed women by about 5%. After just the removal of the names, that number dropped to less than 3%. When the applications were fully anonymized, women outperformed men by 1%.”

Guest:
Great feedback, that’s good analytics. I noted that some panel members try as much as possible to have women in the shortlist and sometimes this can be at the expense of men.

This happened last time, I pointed this out to the team and they thought, it’s good to have an all-women shortlist. The results were anything but; we did go back to the longlist and selected the next group which was a mix and the second round was much better and men did better compared to the first group.

On hiring diverse candidates for a school district

Guest:
Hi! As a recruiter for a school district, my biggest challenge is to recruit diverse candidates for all positions. What suggestions or ideas do you have on how to do this?

Keith:
Hi – great question. We talk a lot about this in Workable’s own content. First things first, you want to diversify that initial candidate pool. In that, you’ll need to think about where you’re actually posting your job ads and where you’re announcing opportunities at your school district. The more diverse your outreach, the wider range of candidates you’ll attract, so to speak.

Another thing to think about is the overall messaging of your school district. An overt statement that shows you value diversity, equity and inclusion can do a lot in terms of candidate attraction.

If you’d like to do some reading on the topic, here’s a great resource for you.

If the challenge is about making a case for it with stakeholders, then this may be helpful.

Melissa:
Hi, thanks for your question!

I agree with Keith, you want to increase posting in multiple places to source from as many diverse job boards/candidate pools as possible. There are also many organizations focusing and partnering with companies in support of diverse hiring. Also, you’ll find using technology like anonymized screening will be helpful.

On the hiring manager side, training them to identify biases when interviewing to avoid unintentionally disqualifying candidates will get the ball rolling. When it comes to commitment from the hiring team, it will sometimes take longer than you wish, so patience is required.

4. Competing for talent

On compensation in different markets

Guest:
I recently joined a fully distributed company with employees all over the country. When it comes to hiring cross-country and compensation, what philosophy do you think makes the most sense? Different compensation for different markets? Same compensation regardless of market, which can mean you’re priced out of the most expensive markets?

What’s your advice when coming up with compensation recommendations knowing how much markets can vary?

Keith:
Hi! This is obviously a tough one, because there’s no “right” answer. It’s been debated widely, especially as more companies move to remote-first operations during the pandemic. There’s a great discussion from Forbes on it – highlighting Reddit and Zillow as companies that opted to pay the same regardless of location, and Facebook at the other end, preferring to pay based on location.

And if you wanted to go down the rabbit hole on the topic of distributed teams, we do have some great reading for you. First, an interview with SmartBug CEO Ryan Malone, whose company was fully remote way back before it was cool.

And another, on the topic of hiring in different countries.

Melissa:
Hi, thanks for your question. Definitely a hot topic right now. But really, it comes down to your company’s compensation philosophy. Do you want to lead the pack on comp or stay conservative or middle of the road?

It’s unrealistic to expect a company of a certain size and revenue located in one geography to compete with the likes of large enterprises in NY and San Fran.

So the best advice I can give is, make a fair and realistic budget for roles based on comparative comp data, budget approval and cast your net far and wide in your candidate search. You’ll soon get a pretty good picture from candidate feedback if any comp adjustments need to be reconsidered from there.

And sometimes, you have to accept, this is how much a role is going to cost to fill, and you gotta pay if that’s the position your company needs.

Guest:
Yeah, it’s interesting. We’re a small 30-person series A company so our resources are very different than many of the companies frequently mentioned in regards to this topic. I think the biggest challenge has been helping my hiring managers realize that our budget for a role is X.

We might find someone great in an expensive market, but there’s only so much flexibility we have in regards to compensation.

I think they are struggling to understand that there’s always going to be great talent out there that we simply can’t afford–and I know that’s not unique to just my company.

Melissa:
The way I look at it is, if budget is non-negotiable, then time and patience is required to advertise and source for this needle in a haystack. The other, less ideal option, a re-assessment of the job might be required and understand that you might have to get someone who checks 70% of the boxes or a more junior profile.

As much as we’d like to move mountains for our hiring teams, we’re also not miracle workers.

On finding top talent when you’re not the ideal

Guest:
Melissa, thank you for your time and expertise. I am at a small, regional, rural public university in the PNW and we are challenged finding qualified IT faculty to hire. Suggestions?

Our comp structure is “average”, benefits are very good, and livability is superb (if you don’t need a city to live in). Thanks again.

Melissa:
Hi, thanks for your question! Happy to help as best I can. IT / tech talent can notoriously be difficult to find. Do you find you’re not getting enough quality candidates to fill the pipeline? Or, are you getting candidates, but they fall off during the hiring process?

Guest:
Unfortunately – both. Lean applicant pool and quick bailouts when offers to our best candidates come in ahead of us. We cannot sponsor H1B visas and that portion of the labor market appears to be the applicants most available.

Melissa:
This is a tough one. Advertising and promoting those stellar benefits is key and the livability, it will help make your position stand out. Thank you for clarifying, if it’s a lack of qualified candidates, focusing your sourcing efforts on passive candidates at other educational institutions would be where I’d start first.

Keith:
Hi! Seconding Melissa’s comment that IT/tech talent is tough to find. We have written a lot about that in our website. You’ll probably find these articles particularly helpful, especially if you’re finding that talent attraction is a challenge:

• Office in an ‘unsexy’ area? Use these 5 talent attraction strategies
• Hiring tech workers when you’re not on their A-list

Guest:
Super! Thanks for the tips and online resources. We will move ahead optimistically!

Keith:
De nada! If you search “tech talent” in our site, you’ll find plenty of other helpful stuff as well.

Guest:
Thank you again. Your online availability is just great…

Melissa:
Our pleasure!

5. And one more for the road…

On hiring after COVID

Guest:
Any recruiting recommendations for hiring pre & post COVID?

Melissa:
Hi, thanks for your question!

In the past year, we opened our scope to other states offering greater flexibility on location, resulting in a larger pool of candidates. We’ve also focused on a higher utilization of video interviews. As we’re working remotely and will likely continue for the foreseeable future, that comfort with technology and video communication is key.

We’ve also been looking at our scorecards and how we assess candidates to evaluate autonomy and greater emphasis on communication skills. We’ve found by doing these activities, we’ve had greater success in securing hires that do well under our new ways of working.

Keith:
Melissa basically answered it… but thought you’d be interested to know that we surveyed our employees on the kinds of skills that are needed in a remote work world, with some great results.

We also sat down with a CEO of a company that has been fully remote for nearly a decade. He had some great tips on how to identify ideal candidates for that kind of environment.

Have more questions for us?

We are always here to support recruiters and HR professionals in doing what they do best. If you have any more questions that you wish you had the answer to, don’t hesitate to email us at content@workable.com with “Recruiting Q&A” in the subject headline. We’ll assemble your questions and have Melissa answer them for you in a future article!

The post Recruiting Q&As from Bamboo HR’s Employee Experience Week appeared first on Recruiting Resources: How to Recruit and Hire Better.

And there’s a lot of work to be done yet. One of Amy’s core objectives going into 2022 is to maintain employee retention and engagement while at the same time tripling the size of the business throughout the year.

In her words: “We’re going to have some enormous growth.”

In the midst of all of that is keeping her team members – both current and future – motivated.

This means, she says, “investing in all of our people to ensure that our culture is one that everybody’s super excited to be a part of and where they can grow their careers and do some of the best work of their lives, and have a lot of fun in the process.”

Doing that in a high-volume tech hiring space is a big undertaking – but she’s succeeding in the venture with a combination of expertise and street smarts.

On surviving the Big Quit

One of the significant developments of 2021 is, of course, the Great Resignation in the United States. Quit rates in the country are at an unprecedented high – reaching as high as 3% of the total working population with upwards of four million workers handing in their notice every month from July 2021 to November 2021.

Add to that an increasingly loud voice among younger workers about their disillusion with current work culture – so succinctly and blatantly on display in Reddit’s Antiwork community (which employers do need to pay attention to).

While obvious, this does signal a clear shift in the talent market. The onus is no longer on candidates to prove their worth to an employer; it’s now on the employer to position themselves as a place where people want to work. So, the question bears asking: what’s the employee value proposition that you can offer to make your job opportunity more attractive to a prospective employee?

For Amy, that value prop includes the working environment that you’re creating for them.

“I think the trend in 2022 is that people are going to look for companies that want to invest in them,” Amy says. “They’re going to look for companies that are flexible and aren’t going to require that they go into an office that they don’t want to go into, that will continue to afford them the flexibility that they’ve all grown to appreciate.”

And this isn’t going to end anytime soon. In fact, it marks a paradigm shift that employers need to adapt to. The Great Discontent report released in mid-2021 shows that flexible work options is high up the list of things that candidates value in a job, with 37.5% of US workers saying it’s one value proposition that would attract them to a new opportunity.

And SMBs that think about their employees first are the ones that’ll get ahead in the new talent game, says Amy.

“Companies are starting to realize how important engagement and investment is in their people,” she explains. “And those are the companies that are winning. And so if you were to talk to those companies, they would probably report lower than market averages in terms of loss. And the reason is because they have the formula. They understand what they need to do.”

Amy does offer a caveat – this needs to be done in a way that supports both ends of the equation.

“[Employers] have to create a trusting environment and a supportive environment and still be able to drive productivity and all the things that are core and critical to the business in an effective way. So I realize that there’s a balancing act here. Employers want to be able to maximize the return from the people.”

There’s tangible proof of the ROI in all this. A 2017 Gallup study finds that highly engaged employees lead to a 17% increase in company productivity, and 24% less turnover in companies in high-turnover sectors.

Amy doubles down on that message – because of that clear ROI, companies need to put in the work to meet those new expectations in the talent market.

“[That’s the] balancing act for 2022 that people really have to figure out.”

On investing in your workers

So how exactly do you ‘invest’ in your people? One area surging in popularity in 2022 is learning and development. In a survey commissioned by Workable and TalentLMS, 91% of tech workers want more learning opportunities from their current employers and 58% cited “skills development” as one criteria in choosing who they want to work for. It’s also a top motivator for tech employees.

And there are other ways to attract and engage employees – Amy shares a few more with us.

The value of connection

Amy stressed several times the importance of ensuring that workers feel connected to the company, whether that’s in a remote environment or otherwise.

“First of all, you have a full-time person dedicated to building the community, whether it’s different activities, whether it’s different communication strategies; there’s a number of different things that have to happen in order for that to be done effectively.”

We’re humans after all – the sense of community in the workplace can be a powerful thing.

The value of compensation

In the above-mentioned Great Discontent worker survey, 63% of workers cited salary as the reason why they’re looking elsewhere for a new job – and 62% say it’s the top factor in their decision to move to a new job.

It’s clear: companies must think about compensation in their value proposition.

“I do think you have to pay people competitively for the market, for their job. And so if you’re underpaying people and you’ve gotten away with it so far, you probably won’t continue to get away with it because people are starting to realize what they’re worth because of how hot the market is.”

This doesn’t mean giving raises across the board, she cautions. It’s more about fair market value.

“You have to pay people what the market suggests they’re worth or they’ll find a company that will.”

The value of people

Ultimately, whether it’s salary, learning & development, or connectivity, what people officers need to be thinking about is the ‘people’ factor. Employees are people too.

“If you’re treating people the way they want to be treated and they feel connected to your mission and connected to the business, they aren’t leaving. People that are leaving because they don’t feel connected. They don’t feel appreciated and they feel like there’s better opportunities for them.”

When your employees take pride in what they do and feel part of a larger mission, that can be even more motivating than a straight-up higher salary – if you’re one SMB that may be challenged in your ability to offer higher wages, this can be a good workaround.

On proactively sourcing candidates

Now, let’s get to the other challenge of the Great Resignation – the dwindling number of candidates that we’re seeing in our Hiring Pulse data and elsewhere. When you take a month’s candidates per hire and compare it with the average CPH of the previous three months, there was a negative trend in that data every single month in 2021:

It’s doubly a challenge for companies like the one Amy works at when high-volume hiring is part of the overall company strategy.

“We don’t have much of an employer brand [because] the company’s only three years old. And so our lower candidate pipeline, I would attribute to not having a strong employer brand because we’re a new company.”

But that means the work is cut out for Relay Payment’s recruitment team, which has resorted to fresh strategies to bring new candidates into the hiring process under Amy’s leadership – at high volume too.

“We get a lot of hires from referrals. I would say 30% of our hires in 2021 were referral-based,” Amy says, adding that they offer bonuses to team members who have successfully referred a candidate who ultimately gets hired.

The lack of a strong, recognizable employer brand is a challenge facing many SMBs, and Amy is well aware of that. She has ways to get around that.

“Our recruiters have had to work really hard to source candidates proactively because people don’t know us well enough to have a big application pipeline.”

So how do you do that? A ton of stuff, says Amy, who cites LinkedIn Recruiter – which she admits is expensive – as a tool to get the word out about a job, and external recruiters when they need to make a niche hire or when time is of the essence. Searching for candidates in Google using related keywords is also an effective strategy.

On growing the team that grows teams

But that’s a lot of work, of course. Amy has a solution for that: Hire more recruiters.

“I actually just doubled the size of my recruiting team in the last week,” she says. “I hired my first dedicated recruiter last summer. I hired a second recruiter in October [2021] and I just hired two [in early January 2022] that will start [in February]. So I’ve gone from one recruiter to four in like eight months.”

The reason being – if you have more team members dedicated to the specific goals in recruitment, you’ll draw more applicants for your open roles.

“The volume of people that you’ve got building your brand and sourcing and building pipelines will also help generate an enormous amount of activity as compared to having fewer people.”

“The volume of people that you’ve got building your brand and sourcing and building pipelines will also help generate an enormous amount of activity as compared to having fewer people.”

Anyone in sales and marketing will understand Amy’s thinking process here. If you want to see increased conversions (i.e. hires), you not only have to bring in the right kind of candidate via referrals and online search – you also have to bring in more candidates.

“For us, it’s about bigger pipelines. We want bigger top of funnel. So how do you invest to get your top of funnel big enough, such that if you have 90 of a specific type of role that you want to hire in a year? [This] is what we’re doing with our AE team. We’re going to add 90 AEs [in 2022].”

And even with the candidates-per-hire metric steadily dropping month over month in 2021 and 2022, any SMB worth their salt – including Relay Payments – will want to have a healthy selection of candidates for any given role. Amy is vividly aware of that.

“If you do the math to back into 90 hires, what do you need your funnel to be? It’s gotta be enormous.”

That’s hiring and retention at scale in Amy’s world. What’s yours? Share your workplace story with us and you may see it get published!

The post Hiring at scale in tech for 2022: A top CPO shares her tips appeared first on Recruiting Resources: How to Recruit and Hire Better.

We agree. Employers need to start figuring out their game plan right now.

The challenge of the vax mandate

Every employer who must comply with the mandate will face some sort of difficulty in execution – where testing will be performed, for example, and how to craft the vaccination and testing policies, as well as the downstream impact on productivity.

Some employers will be able to pull it off, but many will struggle to create yet another new process that takes away from revenue-generating activity.

In addition, employers must know:

• if they are going to require vaccinations as an employment contingency or offer weekly testing
• how they will track vaccinations/testing results
• what repercussions will occur when a violation occurs
• how to handle positive testing results
• whether or not to pay for weekly testing
• where and when to perform testing
• and, ultimately, who within their organization will be responsible for administering the tracking and testing within the organization.

The vaccine mandate will, in one way or another, add expense to every organization and very likely to all of us as consumers.

With millions of Americans having dropped out of the workforce since April – the so-called Great Resignation – beleaguered employers are wondering how this mandate will affect their ability to recruit – and keep – talent.

The bad news is that the tight labor market will probably continue for at least the next few years as the major catalysts that led people to leave the workforce – e.g. retirement, early retirement, health concerns, lack of child care – have not and will not change soon.

In other words, the labor market remains an employee’s market and will remain so for the foreseeable future.

Agility and attentiveness will win out

More than ever, HR professionals will need to be agile and creative, both in their thought processes and in execution. They must immediately focus on mandatory practices, while over the long-term, they need to be prepared to support employees and the business which will require versatility that may not have been required in the past.

As an executive of a large multinational recently told The Wall Street Journal: “We couldn’t keep employees very long if we weren’t attentive to their personal lives and professional aspirations.”

Welcome to the new deal, or what we’re calling, The Great Reassessment.

The good news is that the vax/testing mandate provides clarity and deflects a major onus from employers. But it requires them to be the enforcers, tracking vaccinations and testing results, fielding complaints from employees, then managing the fallout that comes from a positive test result.

Large employers will feel the pain at scale; smaller ones will struggle to operationalize these new practices in an efficient way. No employer will be immune from the complexities.

The game is on

In other words, the Biden vaccine mandate is a “game on!” moment. The winners will be those employers who create more efficient processes and/or more flexible policies.

For example, if an employee is already on the fence about changing jobs and does not want to follow their current employer’s mandatory vaccination policy, they may opt to leave for a company that offers testing in lieu of vaccination. (Job switchers are reportedly the vast majority of job quitters.)

The reverse could happen too; there are many employees who want to work in the safest environment possible; they will seek out an employer who requires vaccination.

In either case, employers cannot afford to lose employees at a time when there are millions more job openings than workers to fill them.

What can employers do?

So what can the employer do, right now? Ensure that pay is equitable and competitive, for a start. They should also double-check that their benefits are comprehensive and meaningful, and that employees feel a sense of inclusivity and belonging.

In addition to these “big three” initiatives, companies will need to benchmark their offerings and regularly survey their employees in order to know what areas require focus.

Don’t fall behind

This is the most dynamic job market we’ve seen in our lifetimes. Americans are reassessing their priorities on a regular basis. Many want to slow down and be more present in daily life. They’re looking for a way to earn a living while enjoying free time, family, friends, and hobbies. Employees who sense a lack of flexibility or are unable to dedicate time to what matters to them suddenly have a lot of options. To keep them from dropping out, their employers must figure out how to offer flexibility in all types of jobs, even hourly shift positions – and fast!

While we await a final court decision regarding Biden’s vaccine mandate, employers are adding these pending requirements to the long list of people policy, process, and practice changes they have been buried in since March 2020.

Ms. Winans is the Chief Executive Officer and Principal HR Consultant for Next Level Benefits.

The post What the Biden vaccine mandate means for employers – and how to manage it appeared first on Recruiting Resources: How to Recruit and Hire Better.

I use WhatsApp to get hold of candidates who are difficult to reach. I’ve actually placed six developers in the last three months using just WhatsApp. WhatsApp also has capabilities that help me engage candidates and build a network fast and easy.

WhatsApp brings you closer to hard-to-find candidates

I do a lot of hiring for developers who are in high demand especially in the UK. It’s very hard to get hold of them. On LinkedIn, they get bombarded by recruiting messages; they get about 20 or more messages per day on average. So, they don’t have time to respond. The last thing they want is to go through all their InMail. (I’ve even seen developers who have just deleted their LinkedIn account because they were being spammed with messages about job opportunities). The same situation arises in other platforms we use, like GitHub and Stack Overflow.

WhatsApp is different because:

• It’s instant. It’s on your phone, or computer if you’re using the desktop app, and the notification pops up quickly.
• It’s underutilized. Not many recruiters will try to reach candidates on WhatsApp, so you don’t risk getting buried in a long list of messages.
• It’s discreet. A line manager won’t be suspicious if team members respond to a message on WhatsApp. Being on LinkedIn or ducking out to take a phone raises alarm bells.
• Candidates use it constantly. They use WhatsApp to speak with family and friends, so they see and send messages in this app pretty much all the time.

And it works. I’ve noticed that candidates are quite responsive there much more than they are on other platforms. This is especially so in Europe and Latin America where WhatsApp is widely used, and also in North America and other parts of the world.

WhatsApp is global and stable

Because the roles I work with are spread across the globe, I have trouble calling people over the phone in different parts of the world. The connection isn’t always good and sometimes you get stuck with large international phone bills. WhatsApp, on the other hand, is a globally available VoIP service that allows you to make calls over data or WiFi connections.

Of the VoIP services, I’ve found that WhatsApp is the most stable. With other similar platforms (including Skype), the connection can be quite problematic and they also use up a lot of data. WhatsApp is better in that sense while still letting you take advantage of its other benefits.

WhatsApp is forever (if you want it to be)

WhatsApp backs up your contacts, conversations and groups. Your account is tied to your phone number so you’ll never lose it – there’s no fear of forgetting your password or being hacked.

This ensures that you’ll keep your contacts and you’ll be able to remember who you’ve reached out to. Of course, I use separate accounts for personal and business reasons (with the help of a double SIM card phone).

WhatsApp helps you evaluate candidates

When I have someone’s contact details (that I’ve found on a public platform or from a previous hiring process), I can add them on WhatsApp. In this platform, when you click on someone’s image or profile, you can see certain details about them. If they’re looking for a job, they might share that information in their profile, and if they’re passionate about what they do, they’d share that too. This might take you to sites like GitHub where they’ve built repositories, portfolios or personal websites. That information helps you define who is really good, who’s junior, or who’s mid-level.

This way, I can get to know them better, evaluate them as candidates, and ultimately fill roles faster. Otherwise, you might find yourself trying to reach someone for days at a time only to find they’re incompatible with the role you’re hiring for once they finally reply. So, WhatsApp makes you a lot more efficient in your job as a recruiter and helps you get hold of as many ideal candidates as needed for the role.

WhatsApp helps you build relationships

I usually start the conversation by sending a message about a job opportunity. Just like I can see their profile, my own profile and number are visible to everyone I message and they can also review my message before they reply. This helps build trust.

Using WhatsApp also lets me attach PDFs or docs so I can send people the full job description.

Now, our conversation could go either way: they could be interested in the opportunity or they could pass.

When candidates are interested, I can speak to them directly

This is one of the benefits of using an instant messaging app. If I had sent them an email, I’d be waiting for them to reply and then I’d have to schedule a call or exchange more emails with them.

With WhatsApp, communications go faster and, if they’re interested, I can ask to call them instantly over the app so we can talk. I can also use the video-call functionality, if we have an interview, to see how they carry themselves – and they can do the same with me. Also, we both have freedom to move around and chat anywhere instead of being confined to desks.

When candidates aren’t interested, I keep in touch via WhatsApp communities

First, if a candidate tells me they’re not interested or that they’re happy where they are, I ask some follow-up questions. For example, I ask what would motivate them to move away from their role or what their dream opportunity would look like. We also discuss salaries and, if they’re a contract employee, I ask them when their contract is up so I can follow up with a new opportunity when the time comes.

Also, it’s important to be GDPR-compliant, so I ask candidates if they want me to keep their details. If they say, “Thank you very much, I’d like you to remove my details from the database,” then I delete their information straight away. If they say they might be interested in opportunities in the future, I’ll let them know I can also add them to a group on WhatsApp.

WhatsApp groups are rich networks

These groups are a huge advantage. You can create as many as you want and name them. For example, I could name a group “Contract employees” or “Prospective candidates.” (Also, because I work with various companies, I make sure to put the name of the company I reached out to them about so I can keep track).

For example, I might tell a Python developer that I have a group on WhatsApp with other individuals like them, such as other Python developers. If they’re interested, I’ll invite them to the group.

Then, if I want to hire a Python developer at some point in the future, I can reach out to the group and text this message; “I’m looking for a Python dev with XYZ experience to come join us for perm role.” Anyone interested can say so, and you can instantly call them because their contact details are available. Their profiles might be available as well, allowing you to review to determine whether they match the requirements you’re looking for. Candidates can also share information about friends, colleagues or anyone who may be looking for a job as a Python developer.

Α WhatsApp recruitment group also enables everybody there to share industry news or developments inside organizations. For example, if people are in a Uber group, they could discuss the news that Uber wants to buy Deliveroo. People can talk about interesting topics like that. We’re basically creating a mini-network inside WhatsApp.

Candidates also appreciate those groups

Companies and candidates use them like a forum, similar to Reddit or LinkedIn groups. WhatsApp groups are more secure, because you can more easily moderate who is in there. You can see their number and profile and all people in those groups are professionals with similar interests.

So candidates can make connections and learn things, and they can also manage opportunities better, instead of being bombarded with messages on other platforms. That’s why they like these groups.

WhatsApp just makes recruitment a lot smarter

This ‘WhatsApp recruiting tool’ is very useful and it’s not utilized enough. If you want to stay ahead of the game and remain competitive in the recruiting market, start using different tools, even ones that don’t seem ‘normal.’ WhatsApp is fast, flexible, personable and can help you find those in-high-demand people you’re searching for, as well as build up your network and make you more efficient at your job.

Prince John is a Talent Acquisition Manager at Troi.io, a new cost-effective, end-to-end approach to hiring aimed at high growth business, an embedded onsite model. Via Troi, he helps companies grow with effective talent strategy and practices. He has over seven years of experience in talent identification and attraction as well as managing the full recruitment cycle. He also has a keen interest in technology, especially Intelligent Automation (RPA, machine learning, intelligent chatbots, data analytics and artificial intelligence). He enjoys thinking out of the box and applying creative hiring methods.

The post Ask a Recruiter: Why and how do you use WhatsApp for recruiting candidates? appeared first on Recruiting Resources: How to Recruit and Hire Better.

As a general rule of thumb, I believe that the rejection should reflect the amount of effort we have expected from the applicant depending on the stage of the process they’ve reached. Sometimes a “higher touch” more personal process may be appropriate for very senior or specialist roles. Often Recruiters agonize for so long on how and what to say they end up doing nothing. That is unacceptable and leads to a very poor candidate experience!

At every stage, feedback/rejection should be given within 24 hours—if more time is needed to make a decision, then send a holding message with the expected time frame. This way the applicant will still feel that they’re important to you.

• Rejection at application stage. A standard but personalized email rejection is fine. Thank them for their interest, but advise them you are working with candidates who more closely match your requirements. This template should be a standard feature of your ATS.
• Rejection after initial screen (phone or video.) A rejection email is still acceptable at this stage. Always thank them for their time and if you can, give a specific reason why you have decided not to proceed. If you prefer to call the candidate you should be prepared for them to ask for specific details about how you reached your decision.
• Rejection after technical test. Some technical tests can take hours to complete and most candidates already have full-time jobs and lives—so even if they don’t reach the standard you want, they deserve to have feedback on their results, given the effort they’ve gone through. It is imperative that the commentary is provided by the Hiring Manager or Assessor so that it is authentic and constructive. The delivery of this message can still be by the Recruiter via email or phone call, depending upon personal preference.
• Rejection after face-to-face interview. An applicant who makes it this far in the process should always, at the very least, be rejected by a phone call or video chat (for example, Skype/ Google Hangouts.) They’ve committed a lot of time and effort to your process and this should be reflected in the manner of your rejection. Provide them with honest, constructive interview feedback and specific reasons, and follow up via email if they request it for reflection later.

Joanne Ward is the Managing Director & Co-Founder of Winter Court Consulting, a UK-based company providing internal recruitment teams on a project basis to help startups and scaling businesses manage recruitment challenges. Follow Joanne on Twitter @Joanne_WCC and LinkedIn. 

The post Ask a Recruiter: What is the best way to reject a job applicant? appeared first on Recruiting Resources: How to Recruit and Hire Better.

What triggers this change? In my experience, there’s a point when organizations realize they’re not recruiting as well as they thought or they’re spending money in the wrong places. They’re not getting enough people or people aren’t staying long enough. That’s when they usually bring in someone like me – a Head of Talent who can dig in and see what’s happening.

What are some symptoms that you need recruiting software?

As a Head of Talent, when I came into a new organization, I looked at everything in the recruitment structure and process, where and how we advertised, where information was kept and what we did with it. I asked questions like “why did we fill only 20 percent of our open roles last year?”

I often found the same challenges repeated:

• There was no talent pool or centralized process. Some organizations were relying on Excel or finance software that had basic HR functions. But, they had no way to properly document recruiting information in a place where hiring teams could access it. Hiring managers were doing everything themselves in the way they thought was best without collaborating with other team members or keeping track of their steps. There was no standard way to hire or to document recruitment spend. In some cases, hiring managers ended up reaching out to agencies only to find candidates who were already known to the organization through past hiring processes. That’s because there wasn’t an in-house candidate database to look into.
• There was no way to track hiring progress. As a recruiter, you’ll be reporting back on a weekly or monthly basis. Your manager or even CEO might ask how long it’s taken to hire and what problems appeared. That reporting element is absolutely vital, because you would then be able to talk about what is going well and what needs to be improved. If you knew something wasn’t going well and you wanted to implement changes, you needed hiring reports to support your case (for example, you could see how much time hiring teams take to hire or exchange feedback to advocate for more training for them). And it was very difficult to do all this without actual data from a system.
• Money wasn’t invested properly (or there was no way to be sure it was). Without software, there wasn’t a way to know which sources candidates were coming from or how our job ads were performing. Was it worth advertising on Indeed or Linkedin? What sort of applicant volume were we getting? Advertising jobs might have been costing more than it should: when I joined the Red Cross as Head of Talent, we were advertising jobs using a marketing agency. We were paying them to post each job on multiple sites when we could have had a job posting system at a lower cost.

So, after auditing the recruitment process, I saw that all those wonderful things we could be doing with a recruitment software solution weren’t happening. It became clear that we could solve our pain points easily with recruiting software.

How can you build a business case for recruiting software?

When building a business case, I’d connect the challenges I found to the organization’s growth strategy. I’d look at the organization’s future, what we hoped to achieve in two or three years – and how a lack of a reliable system could slow us down.

I’d also look at how many people in the organization it took to fill a role. Purchasing an ATS helps you reduce the overhead cost of people who are involved in recruitment.

And of course, it’s beneficial to explain all the opportunities that applicant tracking system opens up. For example, when explaining the value of an ATS to board members, I’d talk about the power of social media and how our branding efforts could be driven by an ATS. I’d share the value of time-saving—which is priceless. Why should our team go to separate sites to post separate adverts, when they could go into an ATS and post to multiple job sites with only a few clicks?

All this would contribute to my business case.

We know we need recruiting software, but which one is right for us?

Finding the right ATS is the next step to building a business case. When doing research and attending demos, it’s useful to have specific criteria in mind:

• Think of your company’s unique requirements. For example, if you have recruiting teams around the world, you’ll need a system that works internationally with global support.
• Look for integrations. You probably already have an HR system on board (or you will have some time soon). If your ATS integrates with that system and also other software you might be using (like video interview platforms), it’ll be a huge advantage.
• Pay attention to ease of use. As recruiters, we want to make it easy for hiring teams to go online, see their open jobs, review their candidates, shortlist, interview and check progress.
• Opt for a mobile-optimized ATS app. Hiring managers won’t always be at their desks, they’re often working on-the-go. They need a system that’s mobile-friendly so that they can recruit from wherever they are; on the way to meetings, on the train or on the bus.
• Look for an easy application process for candidates. At the Red Cross, people were telling me it took them two hours to fill out an application form. Many people lost interest half-way through, especially if they were in a senior role; if you’re a regional finance director, the last thing you want to do is spend two hours of your evening filling out forms. A good ATS could help you build applications that make it easy for candidates to apply, even from their mobile phone.

So a system that’s savvy and understands your pain points is going to make things fast and easy for the hiring manager, the recruiter and the candidate.

Get the most value out of your new Applicant Tracking System

A system is only as good as the information that has been put in. And even if you have the best recruitment software, it won’t help you if you don’t use it correctly. For example, organizations often settle for using their ATS as a talent pool. And that’s a wasted opportunity.

I think people are now starting to realize they need to up their game. There are so many things you can do with recruiting software that are worthwhile – like improving candidate experience. Especially when you see that candidates are happy to criticize your company on sites like Glassdoor and their comments matter for your employer brand.

As a Head of Recruitment, I would first ensure that I had a team of people who could understand what an ATS is and how to get the best out of it. And as the leader of that team, I would ensure that hiring managers were adhering to their part. Were they conducting good interviews? Did they know what a good interview was? And how were they responding to candidates? Recruiters should help hiring managers understand and embrace their role – and show them how an ATS can change their lives when hiring.

How do you demonstrate the value of an ATS you implemented?

After you implement an ATS, you can show the return on investment. Use reports from the system itself showing that you filled most of the roles or that the hiring teams were productive.

Where possible, I would also demonstrate new hire retention. Show that your team isn’t just filling roles. You should be able to say that the system allowed you to screen properly, and the person you found stayed with your company for years. That’s very important because having people leave after you’ve trained them and having to repeat a recruitment process is a massive loss for an organization. The value of an ATS is not just to help you get people on board, but to help you select the right people who’ll be with you for a long time.

Sandy Grewal is currently Head Of Resourcing at The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in the UK. She is an executive level mentor on all things “talent” and has managed large-scale talent acquisition change programs at a global scale. She holds a Masters Degree in Personnel and Development from the University of Greenwich.

The post How do you know it’s time to purchase recruitment software and what are your tips for success? appeared first on Recruiting Resources: How to Recruit and Hire Better.

As an organization hiring up to 50 new employees per year, we needed to find ways to be more efficient with our time. To make things easier, we decided to try Jobma, one of the video interviewing platforms already integrated with Workable, our recruiting software. While this added another step to our hiring process, it actually helps us to hire faster by ensuring that we’re bringing in the right people for an interview.

How do video interviews work? It’s easy. Once we’ve reviewed the applications, we send three questions via email to the most promising candidates. These questions are relevant to both the role and the company and help us screen applicants. Candidates can record and submit their answers via the video platform. Those who qualify will move forward to a phone screen. Those who don’t, will be notified by our team.

Using video interviews when it makes sense

One-way video interviews are helpful during the early hiring stages. Often, candidates seem good on paper, but lack the necessary skills for the job. Video interviews give us a better understanding of candidates’ potential, particularly when it comes to skills we can’t judge based on a resume alone, like communication or presentation skills.

Also, for entry-level roles, we often hire recent graduates with little or no job experience. Video interviews help us to learn more about their abilities and career interests.

What questions to ask during video interviews

The information included on resumes and application forms is usually quite general. Video interviews help us delve into candidates’ skills to understand if they’re a good fit. Since we’re hiring for customer-centric roles, we get to see how candidates carry themselves. If they’re good communicators, we want to meet them in-person, too.

One-way video interviews also help us to spot dealbreakers early in the recruitment process. For example, we ask candidates about their career goals. This helps us to identify potential hires who’ll find the position interesting and have the skills to contribute to our business objectives. We ask targeted questions like:

• Why did you apply for this role?
• Which of your skills do you think will help you thrive in this position?
• What are your short-term and long-term professional goals?

How video interviews speed up the hiring process

Adding one-way video interviews in the beginning of our hiring process helps us make better use of our time and hire faster because we:

• Reduce the number of phone screens: Video interviews are good indicators of who’s qualified for the next hiring steps and who’s not.
• Save time during phone screens: Having already covered some points at the video interview stage, we can now ask fewer questions during the phone call.
• Get ideas for useful, follow-up questions: During video interviews, we learn things about each candidate that we didn’t know based on their resume. These can be useful talking points for the interviews that follow.

But, what do candidates think about video interviews?

So far, candidates have given us positive feedback. They think that video interviews add a unique, more modern touch to the hiring process. The secret is to keep the process as human as possible.

We start by proactively emailing instructions on the way candidates can record their answers and share tips on how to improve their performance. We also include answers to common questions a candidate might have and make sure we’re available to answer any questions with a personal reply.

The goal is to have candidates who are well-prepared and feel relaxed, so that they can bring out their best selves when recording their answers. That’s how you’ll shape more complete candidate profiles and decide who you’ll invite to a live interview.

Neil Bruinsma is the Talent Manager at Xcentric, an IT cloud service provider, where he develops and scales their talent management strategy. He has also built talent systems from the ground up for both nonprofit and for-profit companies that have increased employee engagement and reduced company turnover. Neil is an SHRM-certified professional and holds a degree in Mechanical Engineering from Calvin College, USA.

The post Ask a Recruiter: How do you include video interviews in the hiring process? appeared first on Recruiting Resources: How to Recruit and Hire Better.

As a UK-based employer looking to navigate the precarious immigration landscape post-Brexit, you’re likely wondering how to proceed and how to stay compliant in this new era. Namely: can you still recruit non-UK nationals from the EU? What happens to your current non-UK workforce? Can you keep them? What about international mobility – can your workforce continue moving back and forth? And so on?

To field those questions, we sat down with EU-based legal expert Stefan Nerinckx to get Brexit advice for employers such as yourself. Stefan is a partner and head of the HR Law Department at Fieldfisher Brussels, and a professor in employment law at University College Brussels. He’s been advising companies and individuals on international mobility, immigration, social security and employment law for more than 30 years.

Stefan spoke with us for a full hour. You can watch the full video here, or scroll down through the four major sections below, with each sub-section jumping to the relevant part of the video:

1. Introduction
2. Immigration
3. Social security
4. Employment law

Download the full presentation deck here

1. Introduction: Brexit advice for employers

In this section, which is about 3 minutes long, you’ll learn about:

• Stefan’s related background and what he brings to the table
• What is Brexit?
• The Brexit timeline
• What’s going on now
• The Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) and its impact

2. Brexit and immigration

In this section, which is about 10 minutes long, you’ll learn about:

• The unique situations facing UK and EU citizens leading up to 31 December 2020 and after 1 January 2021 (including important deadlines to know)
  • Right to reside and work in the EU
  • Right to reside and work in the UK
• The Trade and Cooperation Agreement Impact
  • Specific legislations and definitions for business trips
  • Intra-Company Transfer (ICT) permit (and related residence/visa considerations)

3. Brexit and EU social security

In this section, which is about 13 minutes long, you’ll learn about:

• Brexit and EU social security coordination:
  • Pre-Brexit, up to 31 December 2020, and new situation commencing as of 1 January 2021
• Situation present before 1 January 2021
  • EU Regulations determine the applicable social security scheme and benefits – 883/2004 and 987/2009
  • Cross-border employment situation involving EU and UK
• Situation commencing 1 January 2021
  • New cross-border employment situation involving EU and UK or interruption of an existing situation on 31 December 2020
  • Similar rules to EU Regulation 883/2004 and 987/2009 on the coordination of social security schemes, but important differences to know
  • New:
    • Posting of employees from EU to UK and vice versa is limited to 24 months (no general exception rule in the TCA)
    • Social security benefits (entitlement and export) and aggregation of insurance periods (i.e. healthcare, unemployment, pensions, etc.)
• Tips for HR:
  • Assess whether the situation started prior to or after 1 January 2021 and whether it is interrupted
  • Get your A1 or E101 applied for and by the hand
  • Sort out the social security coverage entitlement for your employee

4. Brexit and employment law

In this section, which is about 13 minutes long, you’ll learn about:

• Trade and Cooperation Agreement
  • The fate of current EU laws after 31 December 2020
    • Impact on labour law
    • EU legislation implemented by the UK is unilaterally modifiable by the UK
  • The fate of new EU laws after 31 December 2020
    • Will not be implemented in the UK
• Employment law within the UK as of 1 January 2021
  • Changes in some areas protected by EU laws may be expected – that would be less protective for workers
    • Transfer of undertaking (dismissal protection, harmonization of employment conditions might be challenged)
    • Working time (maximum 48-hour work week)
    • Interim workers’ protection
• Impact of Brexit on cross-border mobility
  • Rules of Rome I Regulation 593/2008 – determining the legislation applicable to an employment contract with international elements; the UK will continue to follow the principles but for how long?
  • Example scenarios and impact

We hope this Brexit advice for employers has been helpful. If you have any further questions, please don’t hesitate to ask us at content@workable.com, with “Brexit” in the subject heading. We’ll see if we can get them answered for you!

The post Brexit advice for employers from a legal expert appeared first on Recruiting Resources: How to Recruit and Hire Better.

This is why our job, as recruiters, is to empower hiring managers. When we realize that we have a common goal and work as a team, that’s when we’re able to fill the seats with the right people.

How can you tell that the hiring process is broken?

I was once interviewed at a large firm and was asked the same thing three times, by three different people, during three different hiring stages. When I asked why this happened, I got the reply: “These are the things they told me to ask.” There was a clear disconnect within the hiring team – and I knew that without even working there.

Behaviours like this can tarnish the candidate experience and cost you good candidates. That’s because hiring managers who are not engaged in the process, slip into bad habits: they’re late to interviews, ask the wrong questions and don’t share their feedback on time. Or, they jump into chats with candidates, instead of having real interviews where they assess skills objectively.

Recruiters to the rescue

Unfortunately, recruiters can’t go back in time and fix things. It’s important to foster team spirit from the very beginning. By ‘beginning’, I mean long before you start interviewing candidates, and even before you publish a job ad. First, you need to figure out what’s needed to achieve what. And then, you can build a process to make this happen.

So, I start by asking hiring managers to write a short mission for the role. This way, the entire hiring team can understand what this role is going to accomplish. We don’t want to hire someone for the sake of hiring.

The next step, is to write down the desirable outcomes for the new hire’s first 12 months. And then we start thinking of the competencies and track records that will help employees reach these outcomes. When we have this in place, we can start building an interview process that will help us assess these skills in candidates. Then, we’re ready to release the role.

This prep work is exactly what engages hiring managers in the recruiting process and gives them a sense of responsibility. They’re actively involved in hiring and provide their input. And that’s helpful for recruiters, too. When I sit down with hiring managers to discuss a role, I learn things I didn’t know. For example, I find out what skills are absolutely necessary and why.

On their part, hiring managers learn to respect the recruiting process. You won’t have to ‘chase’ them to leave interview feedback; they’ll have already provided useful comments because they understand the reasoning behind it.

You won’t have to train hiring managers on interviewing techniques, either. Many of them don’t really like doing interviews (just like candidates don’t like going to interviews) – or don’t know how to do them. But, when you get hiring managers to buy in at the beginning of the process, interviews will flow easily. They’ll know what they’re looking for; they’ll know what they need to ask and how to get the information they want from candidates. And when interviews are done right, hiring managers tend to enjoy them more.

More: Recruiter vs hiring manager: Who is really responsible for hiring?

So, why are hiring managers disengaged?

Sometimes, hiring managers bring past processes that have worked in their previous jobs, thinking that they work universally. While some principles remain the same, there’s no one-stop-shop solution in hiring. You have to build the processes that work for your company and mission specifically.

When hiring managers are not willing to spend the time to build the process together, I try and show them the benefit of closing the right hires. I pay attention to the language I use. I don’t say “I need this”. I say, “We need this”, or even, “You need this”. It’s not about me. It’s about you (the hiring manager) achieving your goals. If you don’t hire the right people, we’ll have to repeat the process again and again. And that’s a huge waste of time for you, too.

Conversely, if we hire the right people, you’ll be able to reach your targets faster. So, let me help you achieve your goals with the right people. After all, that’s the ultimate purpose of hiring.

I think it is important that hiring managers and recruitment teams alike should be made accountable in the right areas of the process to further impact responsibility and execution. I believe the overall headcount goal should sit with the hiring managers, our job as a recruitment function is then to support those objectives being hit. I believe this also encourages a more collaborative approach to hiring rather than dumping things into the talent function and hoping something positive comes out at the other end.

To finish, I always tell hiring teams to value candidates’ time as they would value their own. Experience is incredibly important in the acquisition process and getting people to think like this will result in positive outcomes.

Tom Pyle is the Head of Talent at Pusher. He has more than 10 years of experience supporting the growth of technology companies, with a strong focus on hiring elite level talent and the process that supports this happening.

The post Ask a Recruiter: How do you fully engage hiring managers in the recruiting process? appeared first on Recruiting Resources: How to Recruit and Hire Better.

But first, job ads

Here, at Boojum, we aim to catch the attention of potential employees who are ambitious and have a real passion for the industry. We want to make it clear to candidates that if they want to develop a career in hospitality, then we will help them do it. “Our aim is to offer you a career, not just a job.”, the message that you will see throughout our job postings is a genuine reflection of the experience we offer.

This mindset is integral to our culture; we believe that some of our success lies in the fact that we promote from within and aim to put real value on the time that people spend here while working with us. Developing people through the company helps to keep our vision clear; it creates goals and lays ambitious foundations for all our employees. We want to reflect this culture of development and succession planning through our hiring procedures.

We also put a huge focus on diversity and try to ensure that our application process avoids any unconscious bias pitfalls; pictures, date of birth, personal information that is anything more than the bare bones need to apply for a job: name, contact details, previous experience and a few questions we pose for our initial screening phase.

Effective interviewing = successful hires

Interviews can be stressful for candidates, so if you’re able to relieve some of that stress, you’ll have more productive interviews and inspire candidates to really shine. They’ll feel more comfortable talking about their professional goals and aspirations, allowing you to understand whether those align with your business goals.

How can you do this?

• By giving candidates the information they need to know about the role
• By creating a relaxed environment in which to interview candidates
• By being welcoming and positive
• By using recruitment platforms, like Workable, that allow you to clearly schedule the date and time of the interview as well as link a map to the location of the job interview (getting to the right place at the right time, if you have never been there before can be just as stressful as the interview itself!)

When we interview potential hires, we aim to discuss job duties and expectations in detail. Disillusionment or lack of clarity around job roles can have a negative effect on turnover rates. To improve employee retention, it’s important that candidates fully understand what the position entails and what is expected of them and what they can expect from us, as their employer before they accept the job offer.

OK, they’re hired. What now?

The recruitment process is only the first part of our responsibility in retaining employees.

We have found that streamlined, candidate-focused recruitment and onboarding processes have had a really positive effect on employee retention.

In our job ads, we mention career development and promotions. When we have an open role for a manager, we look first and foremost at our current staff. Approximately 80% of our managers, area managers and central support team have worked their way up through a store-level career path. If you say you are going to offer career development, you have to do it, right?

During the hiring process, we also communicate that we want to build a knowledgeable, ambitious and engaged team. We work towards this goal by actively supporting our employees’ training and development. There is a specific training program for each restaurant position and training buddies in each location. Every time we open a new restaurant we bring in a ‘craic squad’ which is made up of top performers from established restaurants whose aim is to support the initial development of the new team and ensure our customers get the high standards of service and food quality they have come to expect from Boojum.

Three people in my team have just completed CIPD qualifications at the diploma level, fully financed by Boojum which is just a snapshot of the managers who have taken advantage of our study support scheme. We have elected Employee Representatives in each of our locations who help promote a focus on the Employee Voice. They have made some really significant, employee-led changes since the group’s inception last year and I’m really excited for the work we have planned together in 2019.

We try to make sure to offer benefits that tie in well with our company culture. From enhanced maternity and paternity pay to monthly employee rewards and activity-based days out, our benefits package reflects our values: we put family first and we always try to remember to have fun!

One final note

You can’t look at recruitment in isolation. It has to integrate with your image and brand as a whole.

For example, we send vouchers for burritos to all candidates who have reached the interview stage but are unsuccessful in making it to the next round. While they may not have qualified for one particular job, we still appreciate the time and effort they put into applying and interviewing and we’re more than happy to meet them again in one of our restaurants.

Likewise, we know that happy customers can easily become engaged employees. That’s why it’s crucial for us to offer a positive in-store experience. For someone who’s eating at our restaurant and also on the lookout for a new job, a great customer service experience might be the defining moment that prompts them to apply.

Employee retention doesn’t depend only on the job ads you write or the benefits you offer. You attract, hire and retain the best employees when you offer them a great overall experience, whether they’re customers, candidates or current employees. This will never not be a work in progress as the labor market, values and technology constantly change.

Fiona Tanham is the Head of HR at Boojum. With more than 10 years of experience in the restaurant industry in UK and Ireland, she aims to build successful, diverse and passionate teams.

The post Ask a Recruiter: How do you improve employee retention in an industry with high turnover rates? appeared first on Recruiting Resources: How to Recruit and Hire Better.

They were right.

And now we have five business and HR experts sharing their tips and insights on best practices and outcomes in this area. Check out the video to see what they had to say!

Those experts are:

Rey Ramirez, management consultant at Thrive HR, which provides fractional CHRO and HR services to companies of every size.

Tony Jamous, CEO and founder of Oyster, a global employment platform that empowers companies to hire, pay, and care for team members wherever they are in the world.

Amy Zimmerman, Chief People Officer at Relay Payments, an end-to-end digital payment solution and mobile app for the supply chain and logistics industries.

Natasha Bowman, The Workplace Doctor and founder of The Bowman Foundation for Workplace Equity and Mental Wellness.

David Nour, CEO of The Nour Group and Relationship Economics® Advisor, author of Curve Benders.

The post Remote work: ‘There’s no going back on this’ appeared first on Recruiting Resources: How to Recruit and Hire Better.

He said he was incarcerated. I didn’t know what to say, so I said something like, “Oh, that’s nice,” and continued to ask him about his previous work history. Talk about awkward!

Here’s what I should have done. I should have taken a pause and collected my thoughts. In this situation, you had to have a clean record to work in the department he was applying for. If you were in my shoes, you could say, “I’m sorry, but the position you’re applying for requires passing a background check. We have other positions where this isn’t a requirement. Would you be interested in learning more about these opportunities?”

NOTE: Check out these tips for background check best practices. 

Conversations about compensation

There are also those uncomfortable conversations around compensation, especially if you work for an employer who pays less than market rates. As a hiring manager, you’re not quite sure when to bring this up, and as a candidate, you’re unsure if you should ask questions regarding pay.

Wasting people’s time is no good, which is why I encourage my clients to discuss pay when they’re screening candidates, especially if the person they’re speaking to appears to have significantly more responsibility than the job requires or if they’re coming from a major city and my client is based in a small town.

Hiring managers can start the conversation about pay by asking, “What are you looking for in terms of compensation?” Let’s say a candidate’s salary expectations are slightly higher than what you’ve budgeted for. Probe further to see if there is something else you can offer them, such as a signing bonus, or additional benefits.

Suppose a candidate’s expectations far exceed your salary range. In situations like this, honesty is the best policy. Tell the candidate that it appears you are too far apart in terms of compensation. Ask them if they have any flexibility regarding pay. If they say no, it’s best to thank them for their time and end the interview.

NOTE: Sometimes you do have to navigate other tough questions – check out these other tips to handle tough questions from candidates like a pro.

Conversations about pandemic policy

A new awkward conversation has recently moved into the mainstream for hiring managers, courtesy of the pandemic. The need to address company policies concerning vaccination requirements and back-to-office decisions is unsettling for many.

To avoid legal problems, hiring managers are well-advised to check with their HR departments regarding how to best handle this topic. My suggestion is to state your company policy, including details about whether the role is remote, hybrid, or in person. You can also share information on vaccination policy, masks in the office, and other considerations around COVID-19 workplace safety. Follow this up by asking, “Will this present a problem for you?”

If a candidate takes issue, and your policy is firm, then you’ve reached a standstill. Let the candidate know that your company’s position is firm, and that you’re unable to proceed.

Awkwardness during onboarding

Early in my career, I was being onboarded by a company that walked me around their large facility and failed to mention where the restrooms were. It wasn’t until I absolutely had to go that I mustered up the courage to ask my boss where the bathrooms were located! A checklist, in terms of what should be covered for new hires on an employee’s first day, will prevent you from making the same mistake.

Another avoidable uncomfortable conversation that occurs during the onboarding process is when the employee discovers the job they’ve been hired to do is vastly different from the job described to them during the interview. In my experience, most employees won’t say anything when this first occurs. They’re thinking, “Surely things will get better.” Usually, this is not the case.

How to get ‘unawkward’

In my newest book, Can We Talk? Seven Principles for Managing Difficult Conversations at Work, I write that you have to have the courage of your talent. Make an appointment with your boss. This small step will propel you into action. Then, think about what you’d ultimately like to see happen as a result of your conversation. Knowing this will help you stay on track during the conversation.

Another challenging work conversation that occurs during onboarding happens when one of the parties quickly realizes a hiring mistake has been made. Let’s say you’re the hiring manager, and you promptly conclude you hired the wrong person. If you’ve noticed this, there’s a good chance the employee is feeling the same way.

Honestly, honesty is the best policy. If you’re the manager, pull together examples of why you think this person is a mismatch for the job. When speaking with the employee, allow them to resign, as there is no point in taking this person’s ego down a few notches while taking away their job.

Awkward conversations in the workplace aren’t disappearing any time soon. The sooner you get better at managing these awkward conversations when hiring, the better it will be for those candidates you move through the recruitment process and ultimately, into your workforce.

For more than 25 years, Roberta Matuson, president of Matuson Consulting, has helped leaders in highly regarded companies, including General Motors, New Balance, and Microsoft, and small to medium-size businesses, achieve dramatic growth and market leadership through the maximization of talent.

The post How to manage awkward conversations when hiring appeared first on Recruiting Resources: How to Recruit and Hire Better.

Presiding were:

• Matt Buckland, Workable VP of Customer Advocacy, who brings with him 16 years of experience in human resources and recruitment
  
• Sarah Lieberman, Programme Director and Senior Lecturer, Politics and International Relations at Canterbury Christ Church University, who brings 11 years of European legislation & regulation expertise
• Louise Haycock, Director & Solicitor at Fragomen, who brings 12 years of UK inbound immigration experience.

Brexit uncertainty hangs like a cloud over Britain’s recruitment community, as well as permeating conversations everywhere from the residential supper table to Westminster. With that in mind, our three panelists discussed the impact of Brexit on recruitment and retention for the larger recruitment community in the UK, and offered insights and potential workarounds for what’s coming up. A video of the hour-long panel talk is below – meanwhile, read on to learn the key takeaways from the event:

1. No easy path

No one knows what’s going to happen. This theme was a common refrain throughout the hour.

Sarah made this clear early on in the panel: “This morning … we were desperately checking Twitter, checking BBC News for updates, [even just] 20 minutes ago, because that is how close we are now, and how uncertain things are. … literally it’s all up in the air.”

This of course affects planning purposes in mitigating the impact of Brexit on employment. It’s hard to plan for something when you don’t know what that something is going to be, Sarah said.

“It depends if you mean long term or short term. In the short-term, I have no idea. It could be anything. In the short term, the only two options currently appear to be sticking with what we’ve got [or going ahead with no formal arrangement]. Because there is no deal on the table. … There’s nothing to look at, and say, ‘Yeah, this is what it’s going to be.’

And to really drive the point home that it’s gone far beyond the politics, Sarah clarified:

“Whether [you are] pro-remain or pro-leave, it doesn’t immunize you against it being difficult.”

2. But yes, there are things you can do

Nevertheless, Brexit uncertainty doesn’t mean that there’s nothing to plan around. There are numerous focal points that recruiters and HR representatives can consider to build a strategy with contingency plans designed to pivot quickly at the earliest sign of clarity.

Louise emphasized the importance of that: “There are certainly elements that we can look at and start to plan on a worst-case scenario basis and on a best-case scenario basis. What would happen under the withdrawal agreement that’s on the table at the moment?”

She added a point of optimism that maybe – just maybe – the anticipated changes may not be as marked as originally feared, based on the UK government’s Brexit white paper which was released in December of 2018. Louise’s employer, Fragomen, has an extensive and detailed Brexit section on its website that outlines, among other things, the main details of the white paper as it pertains to immigration.

Louise pressed the point that, while there would be a transitory period, there were two points to look forward to: what would happen with people will likely not change drastically from one day to the next, and free movement would likely continue until the end of 2020.

“Now, that gives employers a long time to be able to sort out the individuals that are already exercising those treaty rights. So meaning they can go and register their presence. They have a means to prove that they are able to live and work in each of those countries, and they have an ability to show that they are able to travel. So that clearly is the preferable scenario, that we’ve got a big lead in time and we’ve all got an opportunity to be able to protect those individuals.”

That, however, is if the details of the white paper – which Louise clarified is just a set of ideas proposed by the UK government in terms of immigration – were to take effect in law.

Consider the impacted parties

In the case of a hard Brexit – meaning, no agreement at all – Louise recommends looking at the three impacted parties in Brexit HR implications: 1) EU nationals living in the UK; 2) UK nationals living in the EU; and 3) those living in one country but working in another, or “frontier workers”.

For EU nationals living in the UK: Louise was clear that they must register as soon as possible under the EU Settlement Scheme, and the potential turnaround for approval – normally expected to be 2-3 weeks – could be as short as 24 hours based on one client’s experience. The murkier part happens in paying the fee — at the moment, a fee must be paid, and applicants can apply for reimbursement after 29 March.

For UK nationals living in Europe: it gets a little more complicated. Each country will have its own registration process for UK nationals, Louise said. “That’s 27 different types of registration processes, all of which look slightly different. All of which have different timescales in which those individuals have to register by before you get to the position where they’re essentially illegal.”

She highlighted two examples: “We do know in Germany they’re going to have three months, whereas, on Dutch soil, you’ve got much longer … it should be a two-year point that UK nationals have to register their presence. So I would be concentrating on those individuals who are British nationals based in Germany.”

There is, of course, the caveat of lack of clarity: “I must add at this point that these schemes aren’t necessarily live yet. We just have a very broad outline of what they might look like.”

Louise recommends looking at the nationalities within your workforce and those you are looking to hire in the coming months, and take advantage of that short time frame between now and 29 March: “Is there anybody who is relocating that may need to or would benefit from free movement?”

For those who work for businesses remotely in the EU – the ‘frontier workers’: “It goes back to the withdrawal agreement and what that says. So there is provision for, say, a frontier worker who might live in one member state and work in another. Wherever you may get a residence permit – is it only where you live and not necessarily where you work?

“So there might be a separate registration process they’re going through for looking at frontier workers. And that would be, how you would have to remote work in the future.”

3. Contingency plans abound

“A change management plan is a really good idea,” said Louise. She points out that there are general points to look at: knowing who your impacted populations are, communicating with them, mapping out who needs to know about the impact of Brexit on employment and business, what specifically they need to know in terms of their role in the company, and devising a plan that accounts for time, budget, business planning, and other elements.

Time is a major factor, especially. Take into account the benchmarks that will affect your hiring and retention strategies, such as Germany’s three-month scheme and the two-year scheme in the Netherlands. You may have to implement an aggressive hiring strategy starting in 2021 when Brexit is finalised, and consider that bringing in EU nationals – and other foreign talent at large – will take up added time and resources.

Plan for what is likely to happen

Sarah also discussed the potential outcomes that you can plan for: “I suspect long-term we will end up with something a bit like the deal that Norway has. I think, in the long term, we don’t want to not be trading with European member states, because [a lot] of our trade is with our European partners. They’re the closest countries to us.”

Louise stressed that you must consider 29 March as the cutoff date for registering for presettled status in the EU settlement scheme, and consider that this date potentially marks the end of free movement for potential candidates and even current employees. “I would encourage your European population in the UK to use that scheme now.”

Visa processing times will likely increase – with some estimates as long as six weeks – having a considerably direct impact on time to hire. Not to mention costs associated with employing someone who has a visa requirement: “For example, somebody is employed under tier-2 for five years; the latest [quote] that I gave to a client was even £9,000 in visa fees alone. So not including anything else. Businesses don’t go to that as it’s not a cheap means of getting labour.“

Louise reminded us that no matter the outcome, one thing is certain, provided there is a Brexit: “There will be a new immigration system that will go live from autumn 2020 [onward].” She added that the current immigration system wouldn’t be able to withstand the added numbers of incoming European nationals post-Brexit, and that there’s also a need to cater to the labour market in a different way.

But, she noted, with the white paper outlining plans for a new immigration setup to go live in the autumn of 2020, employers have the time to plan for procuring entry permissions for individuals starting in early 2021. That’s the kind of long-term planning that recruiters and employers can and should aim for.

Sarah pointed out the time constraints at the nearer end of the scale: “There’s only 34 days, I think, when Parliament is meant to be sitting before the big day when Britain leaves.” (Ed note: this is as of 23 January, the day of our event). While that may be a scary thought for many, Sarah recommended keeping an eye on the day-to-day processes and knowing where to put your pieces on the board.

Louise agreed, with a reminder for caution:

“It’s plotting out that strategy over a three-year period and perhaps mapping your timeline to what the government’s [process] looks like. Although, let’s face it, that’s not exactly entirely clear at that stage either.”

Get your data together

What you can do is do your homework, Louise said. Get your data together, know who your affected people are, look into registration schemes for both your UK population in Europe and your EU population in Britain.

For example, she offered a short-term solution for those EU nationals in Britain, who can opt for the subtle status scheme which is in its third stage of the pilot and open for most people.

“Once you’ve obtained your registration, so, your settled or pre-settled status, you’re obviously in the very best possible position to be able to ensure that you can travel in April.” This would then give EU nationals in Britain a document allowing them the ability to change employers, open bank accounts, rent a home, and so on.

This is one of the risk-mitigation strategies that recruiters can take to limit the Brexit impact on recruitment, Louise added, as an example of immediate-term planning. There is also the short-term planning — look to potential new starters and think about whether they need to move country. “Would they have the ability to work and could they take advantage of those free movement provisions? It’s also about, in that sort of short term, considering the people that you have already employed.”

And then, the longer term: “[Look at] what your recruitment strategy ought to be into the future. Now in Europe, that’s probably going to be British nationals needing to apply under the schemes that are in place in the EU 27.”

And once all that is known, and put together as a potential strategy, you want to talk to each of the parties in your organisation on the points of interest to them, such as the C-suiters, line managers, those in finance, and others. Keep them in the loop as much as you can so they can plan their own processes down the line.

4. Keep up your EU outreach

There is a huge skill set in the EU that cannot be ignored. And we need to somehow continue to capitalise on that. Sarah put it succinctly:

“The best person for the job might not be in Britain. That’s the case.”

All three panelists offered personal anecdotes to point out the diverse range of talent from continental EU countries. Sarah, for instance, talked about her cat’s Romanian veterinarian, her obstetrician from Poland, and her dentist from another eastern European country. She also went into detail about the labour shortage in the agricultural economy in Kent, where she lives, and how that gap was filled with ‘migrant workers’. Brexit potentially brings a double whammy of no longer being able to bring in this skill set and not being able to export these foods to the continent.

Plus, “if we’re losing people moving into Britain into those positions,” she said, “we suddenly have a situation where we’re going to have to retrain or train an awful lot of British workers to do those jobs. And that’s in all sectors, I would say.”

Sarah drives the point home: “I don’t think there’s any way that British companies will stop employing EU nationals because they’re our closest neighbours. It’s a huge skill set. They’re skills that are just traditionally employed in Britain from other member states.”

Don’t dismiss EU talent

Louise concurred, adding that not only would accepting EU applications fall under the discrimination legislation, it would in fact be wise to continue encouraging EU-based talent to apply for roles in the UK, and be clear about how you, as a recruiter and employer, have an open conversation about the uncertainty that Brexit brings in terms of relocation. Be open about your willingness to do everything you can to facilitate such a move to the UK and be as reassuring as you can.

“If you are a European national in our business or a UK national in Europe, you are welcome, you are valued, and we absolutely want to retain your talents. We are looking for ways that we are able to behave in the same way that we do now and recruit a diverse and valued workforce looking for, as [Sarah says], the very best individuals to fill those roles.”

Otherwise, Louise warns, “you deny yourself an enormous talent pool.” She does offer one point of reassurance from her own work with clients: “What was really positive is that there was no individual I could think of that I couldn’t put anywhere, or there were very, very few. … There’s a whole raft of individuals that couldn’t be sponsored that now could be sponsored, so that’s hugely positive news.”

Sarah offers a similarly comforting insight: “I envisage it being difficult for a period of time, but it’s not going to continue to be difficult. Something will be worked out. At the moment, it’s unclear what that something is and that’s the problem,” she said.

“It’s the lack of clarity. It’s not a situation where you should be saying, ‘We can’t employ EU nationals, it’s going to be be awful’, but I [do] think for the next couple of months it might be fairly difficult. That’s the time when you need to reassure people, both people that you’re looking to recruit and people who are already working for you; ‘Stick with us. It’ll work out, it’s got to work out.’”

5. Be empathetic and knowledgeable

There are numerous “unknown unknowns”, as Matt called them, that recruiters may not be aware of in light of Brexit implications for employees and candidates. For instance, Sarah shared an anecdote of a German colleague who went through a complicated process with his car insurance company because his driving licence may no longer be valid post-Brexit, and therefore he may have to retake his driving test.

With this kind of granular impact, the impact of Brexit on employment is felt at the day-to-day level as much as it’s felt at the company-wide level. Keep that in mind as you communicate with your current and potential employees, being fully transparent about your role and how you can help, Louise advised.

Adding the caveat that her answer was different from two days earlier – again a testament to the day-in and day-out of Brexit uncertainty – Louise said: “The best thing that employers can do … is to show that they’re on top of the registration schemes. That they can help in terms of either directing queries, [or] provision of support in terms of making these applications.

“It’s really communicating with those individuals who are impacted and showing them the way in [which the test can be applied]. So there’s obviously a number of ways in which you can communicate with those particular schemes.”

In short, you want to show your employees and candidates that you’ve got their back.

“In terms of the advice that you provide, [you] could be directing them to the government website,” Louise said. “It could be providing legal support, guides, webinars, all of those sorts of things which show that you care and you are considering the position of the individuals that you employ right at this moment and that you want them to stay.” She again referenced the white paper and the importance of looking at it as a potential beacon for recruitment planning.

Communication is absolutely key to the whole recruitment and employee management process, Matt said. “It would be making that reassurance explicit,” he said. “You could write [that] in your job ads.

“I would state explicitly ‘we welcome applications from EU nationals’; ‘this is what we will do to support you’, ‘this is how much we love you’, that kind of stuff. I would make it absolutely 100% explicit. [This] is what I would do as a recruiter.”

But what can recruiters do right now in returning to their desks for the afternoon, in the midst of all these Brexit HR implications? All three panelists were adamant that you must reassure your colleagues that you have an eye out for them. And that things may get clearer next week, and until then, it’s a waiting game.

Which brings us to…

6. Stay the course

“Keep calm and carry on,” Sarah said, acknowledging a very British cliche which is nevertheless very relevant right now. “I think for now we might just have to, because there’s very little we can do right now that is going to change the outcome at all. You can make things slightly easier for the people who work for you but you can’t change whatever the process is going to be in April.”

Matt echoed that sentiment. “For all of the uncertainty and doubt … I would say reassurance and calm. It might not be true at the moment, but I would go for reassurance and calm… once people are in that pipeline and you’ve started talking to them it will become easier and easier because as they get further into the process they’ve spoken to you more, [and] they’ve learned more about the business. They know things aren’t [going to] fold.”

He emphasized that this message would be more powerful than sidestepping the question or pretending that you have all the answers.

“I guess [it’s] being authentic to yourself and saying:

“‘We don’t know what’s going to happen, but we’re going to support you through the things that we don’t know.’”

All in all, it’s OK to feel frustrated and uncertain about the road that lies ahead. Every recruiter and employer feels the same way, as Matt testified in a recent blog post on Brexit HR implications. Know where you can plan, and know where you can’t, and keep everyone in the loop as much as you can. The human factor is a powerful one in this case, and empathy and moral support goes a long way.

Related:
Bad news for businesses affected by Brexit uncertainty
Don’t forget the ‘human’ in Brexit HR implications
Brexit Project Manager job description

The post The impact of Brexit on employment: Insights from 3 experts appeared first on Recruiting Resources: How to Recruit and Hire Better.

Your recruiters are telling you they can’t handle any more job requisitions.

Your head of talent just gave notice.

Sound familiar?

Could you possibly be responsible for burning out your hiring team?

According to the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), the national average across all industries and employer sizes is somewhere between 30-40 open requisitions per recruiter at any one time. Sounds like a reasonable number, right?

Before you agree, it’s essential to understand that this data point doesn’t tell the whole story of what may contribute to recruiter burnout.

The following are other factors to consider when determining what a reasonable workload is for your recruitment team and the effectiveness of your recruitment efforts.

1. Unemployment rates

When the unemployment rate is high, more applicants will lead to a more robust applicant pipeline and an increased offer-acceptance rate. The time to fill rates, affording a recruiter time to manage a greater number of job openings, will also decline.

However, the opposite is true as well. When we have low unemployment rates, which we’re experiencing right now, employers are seeing significantly fewer qualified applicants, which means it’s taking considerably more time and effort to fill positions. So, in essence, we’re asking those responsible for recruiting to produce the same results with no additional support.

2. Absence of a dedicated recruiting team

Many organizations don’t have dedicated recruiting teams, which means that many HR folks are under enormous pressure to fill jobs while balancing the rest of their responsibilities. At the same time, those who work for companies with limited budgets are told they cannot pay recruitment fees. If this is what’s happening in your business, you’re setting yourself up for failure.

If you continue to ask your HR team to do more with less, you’ll soon be in the unenviable position of recruiting a new HR department. You want people to feel good about their work. For many, that means having the necessary resources to do their jobs well, such as a budget for recruitment fees and approval to hire a contract recruiter.

3. Lack of resources available

We briefly touched upon resources available (i.e., budget for recruitment fees, headcount for contract recruiters, etc.) However, there are more factors to examine to ensure you’re up for the hiring challenges that 2022 will bring.

Have you updated your talent strategy? If you haven’t, then no wonder why your people are frustrated. Working off a talent plan established pre-pandemic is the equivalent of reading the user manual for your old Sony Trinitron when trying to figure out how to operate your smart TV. Throw that plan (and that manual) into the trash and establish a relevant strategy, given the times we are in.

Do you have an effective employee referral program? The key word here is effective. Many of you have programs in place that your employees aren’t aware of. Now’s the time to rebrand those programs to ensure they are top of mind in your organization. Do you have a robust social media recruiting program? If not, your recruiting team may be working way harder than they should be.

4. High employee turnover

Most people don’t understand the full impact of high levels of employee turnover on attracting candidates and filling jobs. It’s no secret which companies churn employees, which means that your people must work twice as hard to land a candidate as a competitor with low turnover.

You can’t go back and change history. However, you can take immediate steps to stop the churn. First, you can find out the real reason why people are leaving. Many people on the way out the door say they are leaving for a “better opportunity.” But what you really want to know is why they considered a better opportunity in the first place.

Next, you want to have your managers meet with their teams and ask the following questions:

• What were your hopes and dreams when you took this job?
• Are you advancing towards your dreams?
• What can I do to help you get there?

Remind managers to listen for those areas where they can support their team member’s wish to achieve a desired state of being.

5. Underutilized resources

The quickest way to help your recruiters fill jobs is to turn your entire team into a hiring machine. Every person in your organization should be responsible for recruiting talent. To make this happen, you must train your people to recruit and select for success.

These are some of the ways to reduce the burnout and stress recruiters are feeling these days and suggestions on how your organization can better fill jobs rapidly with suitable candidates. The next step is up to you. Do something now to ensure your hiring team is refreshed and ready to face the challenges 2022 will bring.

Roberta Matuson, The Talent Maximizer® and President of Matuson Consulting, helps world-class organizations like General Motors, Takeda Pharmaceuticals, and Microsoft hire and retain world-class talent. Roberta is the author of six books on talent and leadership, including the newly released, Can We Talk? Seven Principles for Managing Difficult Conversations at Work, and Evergreen Talent. Sign up to receive her free newsletter, The Talent Maximizer®. Follow her on Twitter.

The post Recruiter burnout: Why it’s happening and what you can do appeared first on Recruiting Resources: How to Recruit and Hire Better.

More than 600 people signed up for the event, titled Optimizing the candidate experience: A webinar with Spark Hire.

Meet the experts in that webinar:

• Melissa Escobar-Franco, VP of People at Workable
• Jackie Sirni, Senior People Operations Specialist at Workable
• Jeremy Tolan, Partnerships Manager at Spark Hire

A video of the hour-long chat is below – but if you want just the digestible highlights, read on to learn the key takeaways on how to make your hiring process more efficient:

Can you share some tips that you use for personalized communication with candidates?

Melissa: “It’s mostly about continuous engagement with your candidates’ entire journey from start to finish, and how you’re connecting with them. We always say that a recruiter is a candidate’s first friend when they connect with a company. How much more personal can you get when you have someone on the other end rooting for you?”

Jeremy: “Something that we do a lot at Spark Hire in our own hiring process is incorporate video in the email communication. A study from White House Research and Advisory found that viewers retain 95% of a message when they watch it in a video compared to just 10% when they read it. So taking the time to add that video can really help personalize the process and is super effective.”

With all of the tools and automations that exist, do you see any challenges that may come along with all these personalizations?

Jackie: “Yes, it’s always going to make the recruiter’s life easier by having those automated emails built out, but you have to build them in a thoughtful way. For example, I know that sometimes the hiring process for entry-level positions can go very fast. The candidate could feel like we’re rushing through the process when really it’s just the natural cycle of it. So on that first touchpoint with the candidate, I tell them this could feel a little crazy. We can slow down if you need to, but we do want to fill this position pretty quickly. There’s a need to explain why we’re moving fast, but still make them feel like they have personalized communication with us.”

How do you leverage technology to create a positive and favorable hiring experience?

Melissa: “You really need to have a robust applicant tracking system in place. It’s really going to help you do your job and do your job well. Here are some specific technologies that we use within our ATS that I think are beneficial for both the hiring team and the candidates alike:

• Job descriptions: We have thousands of job descriptions in our tool so that we don’t have to start from scratch when it’s time to hire
• Interview Scorecards: These ready-made interview question packages will help you evaluate different elements of a job applicant’s candidacy for a role. They also ensure uniformity and accuracy in interviews.
• Assessments: You can also use these predesigned assessment tools to assess core competencies such as numerical reasoning, verbal comprehension, abstract reasoning, and so on.

Jackie: “My personal favorite tool within Workable is the self-schedule link. I could sing its praises for the rest of my life. Everyone has been in that moment where you’re trying to schedule an interview and your day gets busy, the candidate gets back to you at the time they’re available and you’re like, sorry, somebody already booked me for that time. Can we reschedule? With the self-schedule link, I send it to the candidate and they get it and book the interview with me within minutes of them getting it. Then it’s on my calendar, and I don’t have to think twice about it.”

Jeremy: “Video interviews are the main feature that our software provides, and there are two types of video interviews that are really helpful for organizations. One of them is a one-way video interview where you’re able to set up questions in advance so that candidates record video responses on their own time. The other one’s a live video interview, which most people are familiar with. We found that on average, the companies that are using Spark Hire’s one-way interviews have made their screening process five to seven times [faster].”

Q: Why is it so important to be transparent with your candidates about the interview process? What are organizations doing to be more transparent with their candidates throughout the process?

Jeremy: “Just put yourself in your candidate’s shoes. Applying for jobs can be a really stressful experience for candidates, so you want to set up an environment where you’re trying to relieve that as much as possible and make candidates feel as comfortable as possible, so being transparent plays a role in that.”

Jeremy (cont’d): “To add that transparency, something that I’d really encourage you to do is ask your team members to be involved in your process. Encourage them to connect with candidates that would be interested in speaking with a member of the team that they’d be joining. Having a candidate talk to a peer can be like the ultimate testimonial for your company. And it can be a great way to win that candidate over and have your organization stand out.”

Jackie: “A huge part for me is building out that interview timeline, and being honest about how long the process is going to take. So I always outline something about who they’re going to talk to and then I’ll give a little bit of information about who each person is in the process.”

Melissa: “We believe in transparency so much that we’re holding ourselves accountable to it. It’s actually included in our performance reviews in terms of how quickly we’re getting back to candidates, what are the touch points in between, what’s the quality of the feedback that’s being given, etc. We care about it so much that we are rating ourselves against it because we really want to do a good job there.”

The post Optimizing the candidate interview experience: Experts share their tips appeared first on Recruiting Resources: How to Recruit and Hire Better.

And that’s what we’ve been doing at OpenSignal, where I’ve been the Director of People and Talent for almost a year now. We’re a company of 60 people globally with about 45 of those based in London while the rest are located outside of the UK.

We’re proud to be a diverse organisation: we have 26 nationalities in our team. Almost every other Opensignaler (as we like to call ourselves!) you meet is from a different country, and that’s just counting what’s on their passports, not how they might identify themselves.

Because of our overall diversity, and global nature of our business, Brexit will affect us. We’ve had two London-based Opensignalers decide they did not want to live in the UK anymore in the last year (but they continue to work for OpenSignal remotely). Then, in the last three months, we’ve had two employees relocate to the UK from mainland Europe specifically to work for us.

So we need to prepare to help all our Opensignalers feel secure, supported and more informed about their legal status and their options under Brexit. Here’s how to prepare your business for Brexit:

First things first: Right to work

Our CEO stood in front of the company and said, “We know that change is coming and whilst I can’t tell you exactly how Brexit will work out, I will offer you our commitment: OpenSignal is committed to to ensure we can continue to employ our Opensignalers irrespective of their nationality. We have worked incredibly hard to build this amazing team and we will do whatever we can to avoid any repercussion from Brexit getting in the way of that.”

So we put a plan in place and we shared it with the board.

The first step for me was to verify our team members’ right to work. And that involves having a valid passport but also, if they’re EU/EEA citizens, whether they’ve considered applying for a British passport. Also, I identified if they have a residency card and what additional steps they’ve taken to secure their residency in the UK.

I spoke with everyone in the company who does not have a British passport, which is over 50% of our UK workforce.

Seek legal expertise and let employees in on it

There’s only so much information I can share when I’m not a legal expert myself, so we engaged an external expert to provide additional support. We would not want to have any risk in terms of giving information that isn’t valid. This is about people’s lives, not just about their employment status with us.

We found an immigration and visa specialist who now completely manages any visa sponsorship applications with the Home Office. They understand all the different steps to make sure the process isn’t delayed and they share up-to-date information and any government changes on immigration statuses. I’ve already learnt a lot having them onboard!

We then offered our team the ability to seek confidential advice with this external expert. We put him in touch with Opensignalers who are looking to understand, for example, the new settlement scheme and get information about applying.

And it’s on the house

The company decided to pay for this advice. Whether employees wanted advice on their application process, making sure they had all the right documents or whether it’s just asking some questions, we pay for that. We also pay any home office fees for their applications.

We want to give them unrestrained access to that advice and information, so that hopefully they can feel a little less concerned about their situation. We want to make sure they have all the knowledge and understanding they can to make an informed choice, whether they decide to stay in the UK or not.

People are still coming to the UK

The stats show there’s been a decline in the number of people from the EU/EEA moving to the UK since the referendum in June 2016. I’d say we haven’t seen less CVs from candidates outside of the UK in general, but we have seen slightly fewer CVs from candidates residing in mainland Europe. We continue to receive as many applications from the US, India, Turkey, Israel, and countries across South America. In a previous company, we had two European candidates pull out of the final stages of the hiring process just after the referendum.

However, we definitely still see people moving to London, even from the EU/EEA. Software engineers, especially, are still motivated to work and live here. I think that’s because they’re so in demand; when you have lots of opportunities available, you’re probably less likely to be concerned as you know you can always move to another buzzing tech hub, especially if you’re an EU/EEA citizen. Also, for those who are not looking to move to the UK as a long-term commitment, such as buying a house or raising a family here, there’s still very much incentive to move to London – for now!

So we’re still hiring people from outside of the UK and many of them are relocating here in London.

…but they need support

Benefits are an important part of the equation and are key in attracting and retaining the best people regardless of the social and political climate.

One of the first big benefits we put in place when I joined was private healthcare. Given that over 50% of our employees are not from the UK, they understand the concept of the NHS (as the majority of EU/EEA countries have variants of public health services) but ultimately they were telling us “we want private healthcare and we want to be able to add our families to it.” This was feedback we got from engagement surveys we send out every two months, and we listened.

For the people who relocate to work in our London office, we offer relocation support. There is a financial budget they receive and we also share guides on how to set up a bank account, how to look for housing, how to get a national insurance card, what is the NHS, and all kinds of things we take for granted as people who’ve lived here for a very long time.

We try to be flexible and accommodate as much as possible for those coming from abroad, and the changes they experience.

Remote work matters

We’ve been starting to think about what we’ll do in a worst case scenario Brexit – where there might be a big dip in terms of the workforce and the economy – and plans we might need to put in place to support our Opensignalers to continue working for us, wherever that might be. These plans are in their infancy though, while there’s still so much uncertainty.

However, we feel confident that hiring people from outside of the UK will be a lesser challenge because of our remote work practices. If the number of Opensignalers we hire outside of our London office increases, they’ll experience the same ways of working and behaviors that we already have in place. About 25% of our workforce aren’t based in HQ anyway.

This is also what has enabled us to retain the two employees who decided to leave the UK – they’re no longer in our London-office, but they remain Opensignalers.

How we make remote working work

First, we have local HR services within the countries where our remote workers are employed, to support them from a local employment law, payroll and benefits perspective.

But these employees are still very much part of Opensignal and its culture. Everyone uses Zoom and Slack, we have screens everywhere in the office where it’s very easy for people to log in and work with each other remotely. We also try to make sure the sessions we run coincide with most people’s time zones and if that’s not possible, we record everything. Whether it’s an all-company meeting or team meeting, we document everything so it’s available for people if they miss it.

We also have pretty flexible working patterns. People have flexibility in terms of when they start and finish – whatever works for our Opensignalers, the teams they work with and the projects they commit to, we trust our people to do their best work, however that might be.

Then we also have a policy in place to let our UK workforce work from abroad. We understand that, as over half of our workforce in London are from outside of the UK, they may want to go home and see their family for a longer period of time during special holidays such as Christmas, so we offer the ability to work from abroad. They have the opportunity to work from abroad for any kind of emergencies or extenuating circumstances too. This is part of a flexible culture that we’ve tried to create that pays attention to our Opensignalers’ needs.

I think, for sure, there are challenges with having remote workers but the feedback has always been that it’s working quite well. Every month we host town halls that people can join from HQ or Zoom, every quarter we get the whole company together for a company update followed by some social activity; and twice a year we take all our Opensignalers offsite for an away day. We believe that bringing our teams together regularly to solve problems, learn and laugh with one another is critical for our success.

Boost your attractiveness to candidates

We’re lucky because, as an organisation, we actually have more of a presence outside of the UK. For sure, there will always be people who decide to actively look for jobs in Amsterdam or Berlin rather than London, but currently, it hasn’t been a problem for us. We might just have to think even more outside of the box in terms of how we set our Opensignalers up for success, and how we we brand our company going forward, if it becomes more challenging with new Brexit developments.

Unfortunately, as one organisation, there’s not much you can do to change candidates’ perception of what they’re reading about the UK and the UK workforce. All we can do is promote our culture and show we have opportunities for them to work for us, even if it’s not specifically in London.

Communicate your culture

As part of the hiring process, I meet with everyone at final stage and I speak a lot about the culture of the company, how we work and what we expect of each other. It’s especially important to talk about how flexible we are, about having employees all over the globe, and about the processes and ways of working we’ve set up to support them.

We share the fact that we’re continuously scaling – with a workforce that’s not all in the same place. That’s always received really positively in the interview process.

Invest in relevant content

I’m currently the only full-time person who works in the people and talent function, but we’re investing further in the people team this year. Once the next person’s on board, we’ll build further on our employer brand.

We’ll get a few more day-in-the-life blogs out there. Maybe one of our remote engineers can share what a day looks like for them, and how they continue to work effectively with colleagues who are in different countries.

That’s definitely one of the strategies we would like to implement over the next 12 months. Creating more blog posts and building up our social media presence; sharing short videos on what people love about working in our organisation and openly share our stats, such as having a company of 60 people and more than 26 nationalities.

Build a team who truly understands diversity

It’s really important to have an internal recruitment team, and leadership team, that are open to different ways of thinking, see the benefits of a diverse workforce, and are aware of their unconscious biases. Brexit has already created a psychological barrier, so it’s important that hiring teams remain open to seeing candidates from all backgrounds, and continue to make the effort to find the right skilled person for the right role. Brexit isn’t specifically about diversity and inclusion, but I think it will definitely play a part in the choices UK companies make in their hiring strategies.

A good starting point is asking your internal recruiters and hiring managers to take the Harvard Implicit Bias test to help them identify their biases. Facebook’s ‘Managing Bias’ training is also really useful!

Employee retention made easier

In general, employees have really appreciated the additional advice and support we’re providing. What’s also important is the consistent message we keep driving internally, about how proud we are of the fact we’re a diverse company, and the positive impacts this has on our success. We’re continuing to be an inclusive environment in terms of how we hire, and it’s showing.

People are concerned, they’re not sure what’s going to happen, but ultimately they know that Opensignal is committed to continuing to employ them. They see we still hire people from abroad and they understand we value diversity and inclusion. They know there are possibilities for them, and we’ll continue to support them, no matter what happens with Brexit. We don’t have all the answers, but we always hear what our Opensignalers need; and ensure Opensignal remains a great place to work for everyone, whether they are in the office or at the end of a Zoom call.

Kat Bowles is a Business Psychologist and People and Talent Leader with over 8 years experience in large scale and high growth global tech companies. She’s passionate about creating engaging candidate and employee experiences, fostering inclusive environments, employee wellbeing, and how to create positive change as businesses rapidly scale and evolve.

Related:

• Don’t forget the ‘human’ in Brexit HR implications
• The impact of Brexit on employment: Insights from 3 experts

The post Ask a Recruiter: How to prepare your business for Brexit appeared first on Recruiting Resources: How to Recruit and Hire Better.

1. You’re understaffed

Word on the street (and on places like Glassdoor) is that you’re understaffed, and in some cases, this is intentional. You expect employees to give you their heart and soul and to be at your beck and call 24/7. In return, you’re willing to issue them a paycheck for 40 hours of work.

This approach may have worked during the last recession but won’t pass muster in a highly competitive labor market. Today, employees have choices and are choosing to work for companies where work/life balance is obtainable.

Look at the culture you’ve built with an eye towards becoming a more people-friendly company. Train your managers to set boundaries for accessing employees and establishing reasonable work expectations.

2. Your pay isn’t competitive

The people who say money doesn’t matter are the people with money. For the rest of us, money matters.

When was the last time you moved your salary ranges? If it’s been longer than a year, get moving! Have you benchmarked your pay? Do this now.

Salaries have skyrocketed over the past several years and are continuing to rise. If you want to stand a chance of hiring the best, you must be willing and able to pay for talent.

3. You’re taking way too long to hire

Your current hiring process may be why you can’t fill jobs. By the time you get a candidate through your process, this person is already off the market. Today, more than ever, speed matters.

Try this. Make a list of everyone currently involved in hiring for a particular position, with the key decision-makers at the top. Draw a line through the middle of this list.

Thank those below the line for their willingness to participate and inform them their services for evaluating candidates will no longer be needed.

4. Your job requirements are inflated

You’ve loaded up the job requirements for a particular job with the hopes that your boss will approve a great compensation package. Now, try finding someone who meets all these requirements! If this feels like an impossible task, that’s because it probably is.

Does a receptionist really need a college degree to greet clients? Must a production manager with 13 years of experience genuinely need the 15 years of experience you’ve listed in your posting to succeed in your organization?

Take a closer look at your job requirements and ask yourself if everything listed is a “must have” or if some items are “nice to have.” Then adjust your job descriptions and postings accordingly.

5. You’ve got lousy managers

People don’t work for companies. They work for people. All the money in the world won’t help you attract and keep talent if your managers chase these people away.

More than 4 million Americans voluntarily left their jobs in each of the past 18 months. Meanwhile, employers, especially in low-wage sectors, are still struggling to fill open positions.

A recent report from employment and background screening services company GoodHire points to managers as a critical factor. In the survey of 3,000 workers, 82% told GoodHire they would consider quitting their job because of a bad manager.

Be careful whom you let into management; only some are cut out for this job. Provide managers with the coaching they need to be talent magnets – the type of managers that easily attract and retain talent, and you won’t have to worry about constantly having to fill jobs. People will gladly remain in your employ for years to come.

The post The real reasons your employees don’t want to work for you appeared first on Recruiting Resources: How to Recruit and Hire Better.

Picture yourself as a job hunter. Maybe you’re even job hunting as you read this. Job hunters will always research a company, whether it’s about its history, culture, or the industry it’s in. Jobseekers will also get curious – we, after all, are naturally curious creatures, and curiosity just happens to spill over into job hunting.

Jobseekers also want to make sure they are interviewing with and potentially joining a company that may be a good fit for them whether it is aligning with their personal values, career goals, and a culture where they picture themselves thriving in.

And apart from being curious about facts about a company, jobseekers get curious about the people.

It takes just seconds to look up a company and click on that tab that says ‘people’ on LinkedIn. Naturally, a jobseeker will take a look to see if anyone in a company is similar to them.

They’re drawn in to see if there are different groups of people, people that identify from the same group as them, and to see if the company they are interested in includes people like them.

But why do they do this? Let’s add a bit of psychology 101 into this. Naturally, humans have what is called an unconscious bias. Unconscious bias refers to the attitudes, beliefs, and stereotypes that affect our judgments and decisions without us even realizing it. These biases are often subconscious and are formed based on personal experiences, cultural background, and social context.

Unconscious bias can also creep in for the jobseeker. Candidates are drawn to similarities. If they do not see someone that is similar to themselves, this sends a message to that jobseeker that diversity, equity, and inclusion is low or nowhere to be found – or even conveys that they may not be welcomed in that organization.

This can be problematic for both jobseekers and employers.

Unconscious bias: a two-way street

This works both ways. Recruiters have unconscious bias too, where it influences the impression of a candidate.

You, as an HR professional, must be careful with that unconscious bias. You must try to block out these unconscious biases within yourself and try not to let them cloud your judgment.

Otherwise, that clouding could result in you missing out on high-quality candidates because biases can affect your judgment of that individual’s candidacy for the position. When it comes to your day-to-day work in your job – for example, when you’re screening candidates – try to put yourself in the shoes of the jobseeker above.

Ask yourself: would you rather see more people like you or more diversification? Wouldn’t you like to be at a company that promotes the sense of welcoming, the promotion of diversity enriching the culture – and see that the sense of diversity, equity, and inclusion has a permanent strategy there?

Often, diversity, equity, and inclusion is dismissed or just refined to being a training or another difficult conversation. In recruiting, it’s confined to being just another metric. In fact, just 30% of companies have DEI as part of their permanent strategy, according to our survey on DEI in the workplace.

On the contrary, it’s more than just a training. It’s more than just an ‘HR thing’, and certainly more than a metric recruiters have to pay attention to.

DEI is beyond all of this. It’s about bringing new perspectives to the table. It’s about diversity having the power to spark creativity, innovation, and problem-solving skills that may not have been possible or achievable with a homogeneous workforce.

The sense of belonging in the workplace trumps many things for people. Recruiters should leave bias hiring behind and think about this particular view of DEI.

The value of culture add

As recruiters, we must think about not just ‘culture fit’, but rather ‘culture add’.

Culture fit focuses on the harmony between an individual and the company culture. The individual shares similar values, behaviors, and attitudes as the company where they can blend seamlessly into the company culture.

On the other hand, culture add takes a different shift in focus. With culture add, there is an embrace of fresh and new perspectives, uniqueness, and differences that the individual can bring forward to enhance the company culture.

Looking at these differences, culture add can increase value to an organization. Culture fit confines a person to fit particular characteristics, while culture add embraces and allows the individual to break that confinement and to redefine what it means to ‘fit in’. This uniqueness, fresh perspectives, all stems from diversity.

This is important to keep in mind as a recruiter when scouting for talent. We want to plant culture add in our organizational garden because, remember, a diverse garden can open many opportunities.

Growing the DEI garden

True gardeners or those interested in gardening know that gardens should have a diverse species of plants to flourish. For the reason being that underneath the surface, diverse planting can create a promotion of sustainability, success, and life for the beautiful garden that most gardeners aim to have.

Now think of the company being the soil, candidates being the seeds, DEI being the water and sunlight. Imagine what beauty could grow out of this, and what could blossom. This is the beauty of DEI, how it collectively brings wonderful minds together to blossom into something bigger. This is the promotion of bringing a more sustainable, successful, alive culture to the surface.

And then think about your part in all of this. It all starts with the recruiter. Besides the company, the recruiter holds the power to bring forth those wonderful minds and enrichen the company’s diversity. This could then inspire others to do the same, to plant more of the importance of DEI.

Imagine the garden that can be grown. A garden of fresh ideas, talent, innovation, and most importantly, belonging. It is important to recognize and address unconscious biases to create a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplace.

Think about the difference that can be made in hiring and how to couple diversity, equity, and inclusion with recruiting. Start that garden, give it the water and sunlight it needs to be healthy and to blossom. Contribute to the nature of the curious garden of DEI.

Iliana Ramos is Workable’s Talent Acquisition Specialist. In her own words: “My passion for talent acquisition first stemmed from an internship I did in college. Since then, I am doing what I love where I get to meet tons of new people everyday and staying on top of trends in the industry. When I am not recruiting, I am an avid gym-goer and a huge lover of music. My favorite artist of all time is Tiësto and have been listening to him since I was 12 years old. I almost fainted when I saw him live in person for the first time.”

The post Embrace diversity: cultivate a thriving workplace garden appeared first on Recruiting Resources: How to Recruit and Hire Better.

The spike in departures comes as employees re-think what they want from their careers after COVID-19 lockdowns, with more women selecting flexibility and well-being.

Women are already significantly underrepresented in leadership. Now, companies are hanging on by a thread to hold onto the relatively few women leaders they have. These dynamics are even more pronounced for women of color.

Why this matters: According to McKinsey, companies in the top quartile for gender diversity on executive teams were 25 percent more likely to have above-average profitability than companies in the fourth quartile—up from 21 percent in 2017 and 15 percent in 2014.

Bottom line: Gender diversity pays dividends.

Why women are leaving

Women are tired of running against headwinds. At every corner, it feels like the wind is picking up. When considered for a promotion, women are more likely to be questioned about their qualifications than their male counterparts. Assumptions are made that now is not a good time for them to take on more responsibility. This assumption is never a consideration for men.

Women leaders are being discounted. Imagine someone else getting credit for some of your best ideas? Women leaders don’t have to imagine this. It’s their reality. According to the report, women leaders are twice as likely as men to be mistaken for someone less senior, and are more likely to see a co-worker get credit for their ideas.

Women leaders are exhausted and undervalued. Women often volunteer to take on roles at work, like leading a company’s diversity initiative, which is rarely considered when raises and promotions are given out. When people don’t feel appreciated, they look elsewhere for opportunities where they will be recognized and rewarded for their efforts.

Choice is critical: Women want and need flexibility. Yet companies like Disney and JP Morgan are sending out messages to their employees that say butts in seats or no work. Women are choosing to sit their butts down elsewhere. They’re going to organizations where they control how and when work gets done.

Getting women leaders to stay

Managers play a vital role in terms of the retention of talent. When organizations invest in developing their people, employees are more apt to stay. When employees see people who look like them in senior leadership roles, they know what’s possible.

If you don’t want the women in your organization to participate in The Great Breakup, give them a reason to stay. Show them that the best partner is the one they’re with.

Here’s where to start:

• Rethink systems and challenge norms
• Support the advancement of women
• Give women the flexibility they need to be successful
• Hold managers accountable and acknowledge and reward those fully committed to helping women succeed in your workplace
• Look at your pipeline and identify areas where women may be seeping out of your organization
• Take steps to fix problem areas

Breaking up is hard on companies and will have a lasting impact on your organization. Do everything in your power to retain those women leaders you’ve worked extremely hard to attract, and if you’re lucky, they may give you a second chance.

The post The great breakup: Why are female leaders leaving in droves? appeared first on Recruiting Resources: How to Recruit and Hire Better.

Featured is Female Founders co-CEO Amelia Suda, who shares insights on:

Current trends in VC funding in Europe
Why a gender imbalance exists in European startups
Why this matters, including at the bottom line
How you can restore balance
What you can do about it at the organizational level
What you can do about it at the personal level

The post VIDEO: Build balance and strengthen your teams appeared first on Recruiting Resources: How to Recruit and Hire Better.

But these decisions are not straightforward, and the processes to arrive to them are very involved and have far-reaching impact.

As with many causes such as immigrant rights, gender equality, racial equity, and anti-racism, employee resource groups (ERGs) are at the forefront of not only supporting members of the affected communities, but bringing about awareness and action to the issue at hand.

Related: Ask the Evil HR Lady: Workplace tensions after Roe v. Wade overturned

Fallout after the overturn of Roe v. Wade

The same is the case with the recent Supreme Court ruling overturning Roe v. Wade. Women’s and other gender-based ERGs are mobilizing to provide a space for their employee community to gather and process the news. They are also actively organizing to create sustainable action based on concerns about the health of their employees.

At workplaces, we are seeing a movement of men and people who don’t have the capacity to give birth, who are rising to serve as supporting allies, learning about the issue and considering the impact on their family members, friends, and coworkers.

At the same time there are people rejoicing the outcome of Roe v. Wade, and these different camps exist in the workplace as much as they do in greater society. As a result of employee dynamics and political polarization, organizations are determining a way to act. It is a tightrope walk of a very sensitive issue, and leaders are on the hook for determining a path forward for their entire workforce.

What to do as an employer

What leaders must remember is that any discussion about abortion is very provoking and can also retrigger trauma for people who have gone through a struggle related to this issue.

That includes people who have had abortions as a result of miscarriages or health complications, people who have been sexually assaulted and needed an abortion, and even people who are adopted because of the rhetoric of “Have your baby, I’ll adopt it!” that is starting to appear in headlines.

Now is the time for employers to delve deeper into existing approaches and processes, and determine what may need to be adjusted, shifted, or changed as a result. Employee resource group members and leaders may encourage employers to consider the company’s overall response to the issue, as well as how to directly support employees who are affected. Although they may serve as a sounding board as they are closely in touch or represent affected employees on the ground, ERGs should not be the main drivers of any organization-wide effort.

Here is a list of areas of attention that leaders at organizations should proactively consider assessing. If these items have been on the table for discussion for some time even before the verdict, now is the time to take action.

1. Revisit the employee handbook

Re-examine the organization’s employee handbook and offer benefits to help ascertain what reproductive health benefits are included or excluded, and if any changes should be made at this time to support workers.

2. Establish a communication strategy

Consider an intentional and sensitive communications strategy, as the polarizing nature of the issue can cause divisions due to belief systems that are tied to morals, ethics and the virtues of faith and religion.

3. Inform employees on EAPs

Schedule reminder announcements about the offerings from Employee assistance plans (EAP) around both physical and mental health, as employees may be in need of both.

4. Open the channels of dialogue

Hold open discussion meetings such as town halls and community dialogues, involving both ERGs and all staff, to receive and understand concerns related to the recent news. Model listening and appropriate ways of responding that create a culture of belonging across differences.

Cultivating an environment of empathy and understanding, acknowledging that there are many sides to this issue, is key at this time. Abortion is a topic that is sensitive and personal and at the same time very public. Navigating these matters carefully are integral to ensuring that people are heard and that your organization is intentional and not dismissive to the very real concerns facing many people and families today.

Raising awareness and being responsive in a variety of ways will demonstrate the continued commitment and care that the organization and its leadership has, towards all employees.

Farzana Nayani (she/hers) is a recognized DEI specialist, business and strategy coach, and international keynote speaker. Her new book, The Power of Employee Resource Groups: How People Create Authentic Change, is the first authoritative book on building ERGs to empower underrepresented employees and positively impact DEI efforts.

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