The process involves a lot more, such as screening all the applications, shortlisting the best-suited candidates, arranging their interviews with concerned departments, etc.

At times, this can get overwhelming for recruiters, taking up a lot of their valuable time and resources. 

What if we tell you that AI can be a solution to this age-old problem?

Artificial intelligence is the new buzzword, which is slowly changing the entire business landscape. More and more businesses are leveraging the power of technology to streamline their operations. 

According to the McKinsey Global Survey 2024, 65% of organizations are using artificial intelligence and deriving great business value from it. A lot of them are utilizing AI to transform their hiring process and reduce the workload of the recruitment team. 

Workable’s AI in Hiring Survey further explains how artificial intelligence is becoming the future of talent acquisition. Thus, it wouldn’t be an overstatement that AI-powered recruitment is a trend, which is here to stay! 

Artificial intelligence: an overview

Artificial intelligence is a form of technology in which software can replicate human thought processes to perform certain tasks.

These tasks can include everything from language translation to problem-solving, visual perception to decision-making. In present times, every human being is using artificial intelligence in one way or another. 

Role of AI in talent acquisition 

Nowadays, talent acquisition is not limited to filling roles. It is also about building a strong and functional team for an organization. But this can turn into a challenge, especially when you have limited time and resources.

This is when the concept of artificial intelligence comes into the picture, offering a revolutionary approach to talent acquisition. 

An efficient AI-based tool can handle a variety of tasks:

• Job advertising
• Candidate sourcing
• Applicant screening 
• Shortlisting candidates 
• Skill assessment
• Scheduling interviews
• Onboarding

Also read: Grow your talent pool with AI

Key benefits

In the current scenario, the increasing importance of AI in job recruitment cannot be ignored. There are several ways in which artificial intelligence can make things easier for organizations and their recruitment teams.

Here are a few key benefits of using AI in HR recruitment:

• Improved hire quality: Screening all applications you receive for a job position is undoubtedly the most complicated part of the hiring process. It not only requires a great amount of time and effort but there is also a chance of accidentally losing a high-potential candidate. Since AI-based tools use a specific set of algorithms, they can sift through the mountain of resumes in minutes. Only candidates with a profile matching a certain job role get shortlisted, improving the overall hire quality.
• Time and effort saving: By using AI in the recruitment process, you can automate several tedious tasks like candidate sourcing, CV screening, etc. This can expedite the hiring process and save a significant amount of effort.
• Bias mitigation: In the manual recruitment process, there is always a chance of unconscious bias based on gender, age, and more. According to research, 48% of HR managers admit that bias affects the candidates they choose to hire. AI-powered recruitment tools purely focus on an individual’s skill set. Hence, there are fewer chances of any kind of bias in decision-making.

Also read: How to use AI for human touch in recruitment

There is no denying that the use of AI in recruitment is reshaping the future of talent acquisition. By leveraging technology, recruiters can find the right talent while saving a significant amount of time and effort. 

Are you also a talent acquisition leader, struggling to streamline your administrative tasks? If yes, harness the power of artificial intelligence and say goodbye to the time-consuming, manual hiring process.

The post The role of AI in talent acquisition: a study for recruiters appeared first on Recruiting Resources: How to Recruit and Hire Better.

Would I fight over this? You bet. Would I drop a client because they refused to implement a dress code. No. Would I laugh hysterically when they come to me and say, “Jane just showed up with the F word plastered across her chest. Do something.”?

Yes, yes, I would. Because I told you something like this would happen. 

I asked HR people (and others) what their HR hills were and if you’re wondering what your HR department is going to focus on this year, this list is a good place to start.

Fair pay

Executive Recruiter Kristina Angel: “I’m passionate about paying internal candidates a fair promotion based on the position they are in. I could never understand why you would limit them to a strict percentage when you would pay much more for an outside candidate to do the same role. Yes, perhaps the outside candidate offers more experience, but the internal also has an edge with their knowledge of processes, culture and have less of a learning curve in other ways.”

CEO of Wage and Hour of LA, Shannon Coleman-Cryer: “I would like to see salaries posted with job postings! I think this will allow applicants both external and internal to know WTH they will be receiving if they apply for said position. Just my two cents… You know I want to talk about exemptions but since I’ve already (kind of) mastered this task, I will leave it alone today .”

Both Angel and Coleman-Cryer advocate for fair pay for employees, whether they are new external hires or internal transfers/promotions. You’ll find salary fairness will keep you out of lawsuits and increases your applicant pool. LinkedIn found that 91 percent of applicants consider the salary range when applying.

No surprises

Senior Consultant in Leadership, Adam Peterson: “No one should be surprised when they are fired. We’ve made the compliance policies clear and given warnings when they are possible.

“In my corporate days, I saw two fairly random enforcements of policies just to find a way to get rid of someone or make an example that we are serious about that procurement policy.

“Don’t short cut the dismissal process. It undermines the culture for everyone else that still works there!”

Recruiter Elliot Echlov: “There should be no surprises (other than positive ones) when conducting formal performance reviews. If you as the manager are waiting until you *have* to document a performance concern to actually do it, then you are failing to do your duty as a manager of people.”

On the surface these seem like two very different HR hills, but they really are the same one: communicate with your employees – especially negative things. Employees deserve the benefit of knowing where they stand at all times. These leaders want to make sure employees know what they’ve done wrong and how they can improve, long before you show them the door.

Showing compassion

Product Manager Kara H: “Bereavement leave should not be limited to specific employer-defined nuclear family relationships; the allowed relationships tend to disregard the myriad types of non-traditional family structures. The result is a kick while they are down to an employee who has just lost the most important person in their life and learns the bereavement policy doesn’t cover it.”

Accessibility program innovation and strategy architect Sheri Byrne-Haber: “I will die on the ‘all accommodations should be centralized’ hill. Otherwise they are determined at the whims of managers and departmental budgets which leads to inconsistencies and unfair decisions, discriminating against the people with disabilities that need them.”

While these two people are not HR employees, they’ve both selected hills that generally fall under HR policies and both focus on compassion.

Bereavement leaves are typically ridiculously short–can you really handle the paperwork for a deceased child or spouse in three days, let alone grieve – and also do not recognize that was all wish to be there with friends or distant relatives that wouldn’t be covered by policies. 

And with disability accommodation, leaving the accommodations up to individual managers is a recipe for trouble. Understanding disability law and accommodations is complex and consistency is more likely to lead to fair, compassionate, and legal outcomes.

If your HR people start focusing on these types of issues–listen, they aren’t going to back down easily and it will make your business much better.

What about you? What are your HR hills you would die on?

The post What HR hills would you die on? appeared first on Recruiting Resources: How to Recruit and Hire Better.

The Surge in demand for blue-collar workers

Let’s start with the good news: blue-collar businesses and their workers are in greater demand than ever before.

Due to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, our nation has invested in major infrastructure projects that develop everything from new roads, bridges, and railways to whole airport terminals and ports.

These transformational undertakings have created a historically high number of new jobs in blue-collar industries like construction, manufacturing, and transportation.

As the White House explains, “The economy has added 670,000 jobs in construction since… January 2021—an average of 20,000 jobs per month… Employment in the construction sector has exceeded the pre-Great Recession high for the first time, with [October 2023] setting a new record high going back to the start of the data in 1939.”

The upshot is that there’s a lot of opportunity in the blue-collar sector today. 

Now for the bad news: despite offering good jobs with high wages, many employers are still struggling to find the talent they need. Even if they do manage to find and recruit new workers, they can have difficulty keeping them.

Why? In my experience, many companies in the blue-collar sector continue to enforce policies that might have worked when a single income was enough to support a family, but these policies no longer meet the needs of today’s workers.

Today’s employees prioritize work-life balance

Society has changed, while many blue-collar businesses have not. Today’s employees — no matter their gender, race, or background — prioritize their ability to balance work with their personal lives.

According to a recently released study by Randstad, the world’s largest employment agency, workers rated being able to strike a healthy work-life balance as just as important as pay. Roughly 57% of respondents said they would not take a job that would negatively impact their work-life balance, such as one that doesn’t offer flexible scheduling.

Indeed, flexibility has become a major priority for employees of all kinds, including those in blue-collar jobs. Another Randstad study from 2023 found that 42% of blue-collar employees consider flexibility to be more important than their salary.

A high rate of respondents — almost two out of five — reported that they wouldn’t have any trouble doing their jobs and completing their tasks on a flexible schedule, but also said that their employers were resisting this possibility.

A surprising number of participants — 30% — even said they had quit a previous job because of the lack of flexibility it had afforded them.

Flexible scheduling initiatives can help blue-collar businesses improve their employees’ work-life harmony and retain their valuable team members.

How blue-collar businesses can offer flexibility

Just because something has always been done a certain way doesn’t mean that’s the best way to do it.

Even blue-collar businesses that cherish a long tradition of working in a certain way can adjust their processes and procedures to support employees’ well-being.

Even blue-collar businesses that cherish a long tradition of working in a certain way can adjust their processes and procedures to support employees’ well-being.

So, what kind of flexible scheduling can blue-collar employers consider?

First of all, if two workers want to trade shifts, employers could create procedures that enable them to do this as quickly and easily as possible. Is it really necessary for them to gain manager approval, for instance?

As long as the two shifts are being covered, the work is getting done, and everyone understands what’s going on, requiring paperwork and approval may just add unnecessary tasks to people’s plates.

It may also be possible to offer shifts of variable lengths so that employees might work longer on one day and take off earlier on another.

It might not matter if one person works 10 hours on Wednesdays and takes off two hours early on Thursdays, especially if another team member works two hours less on Wednesdays and two hours more on Thursdays.

As long as the teams are fully staffed as needed to accomplish the work on time, different workers’ hours could be combined like puzzle pieces in order to meet individuals’ needs and preferences.

This flexibility would be invaluable for parents who need to pick kids up from soccer practice on a certain day every week. Workers who don’t have caretaking responsibilities would also likely appreciate this option since it could enable them to spend time doing the hobbies and activities they enjoy during the regular work week.

For some roles, employers might be able to offer flexibility about the exact time employees begin and end work each day.

If the employee can work independently, there is usually less need for them to report for duty according to a rigid, unchangeable schedule.

Even employees who are necessary for group tasks may be able to find ways to shuffle the workaround to accommodate someone who needs to leave the site at a certain time.

Remember that, as a business leader or manager, you don’t need to come up with all the solutions on your own — just ask your team members how policies might be able to become more flexible without undue disruption to the project. They will probably be able to give you a lot of ideas.

Flexibility equals employee productivity and loyalty

The current state of the job market opens up the possibility of revising company policies and improving employees’ well-being.

Studies show that when employees feel happier about their jobs, they are more productive and loyal to their employers. 

For these reasons alone, blue-collar businesses should take a hard look at their policies and consider the possibility of change.

— Jason Lamonica, COO of Spec on the Job, brings more than 15 years of experience to blue-collar staffing and leadership. He ensures stability and growth for these service lines with a focus on operational excellence within three key areas: evidence-based best practice programs, well-trained and appropriate staffing of people, and developing key partnerships with clients.

The post Creating a better work-life balance for blue collar workers appeared first on Recruiting Resources: How to Recruit and Hire Better.

PRO TIP: The first time we came across Medium’s careers page was in Lou Hoffman’s article: The best job descriptions on the planet. Enough said. 

Read on for more tips or download the complete startup hiring guide eBook for free.

Love at first sight

We all know that applicants like to scan. They want to look at an opening and be able to recognize in the blink of an eye if it’s their dream job. Like all busy people they have a thousand things competing for their attention; especially the passive candidates for whom you’re trawling. Make every job description seductive. Start with the job title, keeping in mind that most job boards work like search engines, therefore candidates use keywords to search for jobs.

The about-the-company part

This is your chance to make a good first impression, so start thinking about the distinctive characteristics that make your company special. The type of job description you publish is closely related to who you are as an employer. Give them a glimpse of your company that will charm them into coming to working for you.

PRO TIP: Check out Vend. We couldn’t even choose what our favorite job description was. We loved them all.

Candidates need to be able to relate to job descriptions on a personal level. Tell them a story about your company that will make them sit back and picture themselves working with you. Start with an educated guess, with something simple, ask for feedback and then optimise. Ask employees why they enjoy working for your startup. If you have a marketing department lean on them for some content marketing advice. Hiring should not to be done in isolation. You’ll need to put in some extra effort but it will pay off. 

Related: Best job posting sites to use when hiring for startups

The about-the-job part

You know that if you go with the flow then your job descriptions will be deathly dull but you’re tempted to do so anyway. Because that’s the way everybody is doing it. But it won’t help your company stand out – it will just add to the mountain of identical job descriptions that grows larger every day.

PRO TIP: Mundane jobs must make for boring job descriptions. Wrong. This is epic

How are job seekers (let alone the precious, passive ones) supposed to spot that you’re offering a dream gig when it looks like a machine wrote your job description? It’s not necessarily because they’re not well-written, it’s because they’re presented as if they were not written by or for a human being. Do everyone a favour and stick to the important stuff. There are tons of job descriptions out there listing every tiny little task a future employee might perform. That’s not the point.

It’s all about clarity

Start writing job descriptions that build businesses. They will attract the best talent and convert prospects into candidates. How?

• Sell your company and their future in it in an engaging fashion

• Get rid of the boring corporate tone

• Keep it chatty and friendly

• Use words that evoke feelings

• Make them aspire and then act on that desire

• Use you or we; drop the passive voice 

To up the ante you can also add a list of people the future hire will get to work with on a regular basis.

The about-the-requirements part

We’ve covered the basics in our “There’s a difference between what you want and what you need” blog post. If you’ve used Workable you may have noticed the must-haves and nice-to-haves requirements. Why did we add this feature? To make sure that candidates won’t get excluded from the hiring process just because they clicked “NO” on a secondary skill that is unlikely to be pivotal. Think about what skills would make sense, adding to the equation the fact that they are individuals and not miracle workers. Must-have requirements are the bare minimum: the can’t-live-without list. Nice-to-have requirements are the extras: they belong on the we- can-live-without list.

PRO TIP: Worth looking at KinHR. They might not have a careers page at the moment but this sales job description rocks. 

Each week we’ll be showcasing a new chapter from the hiring guide every startup should read. Can’t wait that long?
Download your free copy of the complete eBook

The post How to write job descriptions appeared first on Recruiting Resources: How to Recruit and Hire Better.

What is rage applying?

Rage applying is simply applying for jobs when you are fed up with your current job. We can probably trace it back to the Garden of Eden, where Eve got fed up with working in the garden all day, bit into an apple, and got a new job outside the garden–or left to be a stay-at-home mom. It’s hard to say.

Getting fed up with your current job isn’t new, and it won’t go away either. Technology makes it easier to find and apply for new jobs than it did in the 1900s, when you had to mail copies of your resume to people or (gasp!) hand deliver it! However, online applications have been popular for decades (even I got a job via Monster.com in 2001), making applications faster.

Are your employees rage applying?

Undoubtedly, yes. You probably have employees who are unhappy in their jobs. You may also have employees who are mostly happy but have moments of frustration and then log in to LinkedIn and start applying.

Of course, not all applications fall under the “rage” label. Some people are just ready to move on. But since we know that people are more likely to move on when they are disengaged, some of your turnover is due to rage applications.

And anytime you have someone leave, know that it took tremendous work to find a replacement job. StandoutCV found that it takes an average of 27 job applications to get an interview and 162 applications to get a job.

That’s a lot of applications. Tuesday is the most popular day to apply; Saturday is the least popular. Which means your employees are likely applying on the clock. Maybe after they’ve been reprimanded or after getting frustrating news.

What do you do about rage applying?

The short answer is nothing.

The longer answer is more complicated. People will move on–that’s part of life. Employees applying for new jobs is not the problem. The problem is that if they have reached the point of rage, you probably need to change.

This is not to say that employees don’t get angry for ridiculous reasons occasionally. They absolutely do, and these are the employees with whom you want to move on. But, if your good employees are not engaged and are frustrated with the managers or their jobs, then you want to do something.

Employees who are highly engaged are 87 percent less likely to quit than less engaged employees. You’ll never stop people from applying in a moment of frustration, but you can reduce the number of applications by increasing employee engagement.

What things make a difference in employee engagement? 

Researchers at the University of Chicago found four key parts of engagement.

Learning opportunities and variety: Most employees don’t want to stay in the same job forever. They want opportunities to learn and grow. Larger businesses have more opportunities to move from position to position but smaller businesses tend to have more variety within one job. Play to your strengths.

Relationships with managers and coworkers: A good working environment depends heavily on your teams. Team members who get along and managers who know how to manage will increase your employee engagement and lower rage applying. 

Low stress: Some jobs are stressful by their very nature, but most are not stressful all the time. If your employees are in a constant state of stress, they are probably in a constant state of job applications. Reduce stress by reducing workloads, training your managers, and remembering the customer is most certainly not always right. 

Extrinsic benefits (including pay and bonuses): It doesn’t matter how interesting the work is, how fabulous the managers are, or how much opportunity for growth there is–if you aren’t paying market rates, your employees will be looking elsewhere. Yes, finding a new job is difficult, but applying is not terribly complicated these days. Turnover is expensive, and you’ll likely have to replace a rage quitter with someone who earns the market rate. It’s far cheaper to give a good salary to your current employees than to have them quit.

If you are working toward and have good employee engagement, don’t give much thought to rage applying. It’s never going to go away. But, if you have good management, you can certainly reduce its impact on your business.

The post Rage applying: addressing the root causes, not the symptoms appeared first on Recruiting Resources: How to Recruit and Hire Better.

Not the ones for throwing, but employees who leave and then come back. With average tenure at jobs remaining fairly steady at around four years, people can go through quite a few companies in their professional careers. So it makes a bit of sense that people may want to come back.

Is it a good idea to hire boomerangs? It can be! It can also be a disaster. Here’s what you need to know.

Boomeranging is more common than you may think

A Harvard Business Review study looked at 3 million employee records from 2019 to 2022 and found that “28% of “new hires” were actually boomerang hires who had resigned within the last 36 months.”

Of course, this is an unusual period, as many people lost their jobs in 2020, and the same companies that laid off en masse were hiring rapidly in 2022. However, it demonstrates that companies are interested in rehiring people.

They also found that boomerang workers tend to come back around the one-year mark–but again, take that with a grain of salt, as that was also when companies that laid off due to the pandemic were hiring again.

But it’s also enough time for someone who left voluntarily to decide, hey, you know what? The grass isn’t greener elsewhere. And that was precisely what the researchers found–the new company didn’t fulfill its promises.

What about boomerangs today?

Robert Half published a survey in May 2024 that found 48 percent of people would consider going back to a previous company–that’s up 8 percent from 2023. So your employees who left don’t hate you! Well, at least not all of them do. 

They don’t all want to return to the same job–they want to return to a promotion. This follows the advice and the data–the easiest way to get a good salary increase is to change jobs.

So, employees hop to a new job for an increase and want to maintain or increase that to come back. Their latest job would have to be particularly awful to come back for less money.

Benefits of boomerangs

The number one benefit of a boomerang worker is they have a better idea of what they are getting into. And you have a better idea of who you are hiring.

You don’t need to worry about work ethic or cultural fit or even if this person brings terrible potato salad to the company potluck and badgers people about trying it.

You already know your boomerang, and your boomerang knows you.

No amount of interviewing can tell you how a person will be as an employee, so this is a huge advantage when considering a boomerang worker. If you reject one, you can do so with confidence that you have made the right decision.

But that’s not the only benefit of a boomerang employee. Consider the following:

• Faster ramp-up time. Of course, they will need refreshers, but they already know the products, systems, software, and bureaucratic processes. 
• They’ve gained knowledge that, perhaps, your company couldn’t teach them.
• They want to work for you. Sure, some people will still take jobs because they have no other options, but a boomerang knows what they are getting into and chooses to do it anyway.

The benefits to the employee are also solid. For instance:

• They have a shorter ramp-up time. While this is generally seen as a benefit to the company, it also makes for a far less stressful onboarding process for the employee.
• They are eligible for FMLA earlier. Suppose your company has 50 or more employees within a 75-mile radius. In that case, your boomerang employee can become eligible for protected leave when they reach 1250 hours–if they have already worked for you for 12 months. This can be a huge benefit to employees.
• They know what they are getting into. Nobody is honest in interviews–candidates lie about their skills and experience, and managers lie about work-life balance and growth opportunities. Everyone knows the truth with a boomerang.

But none of this means that a boomerang is the right hire.

When you should be cautious about boomerang candidates

Why did the person leave in the first place? Has that problem been fixed? If you laid the candidate off, then it’s not as concerning as if they left voluntarily. A voluntary termination generally means the company did not meet some need. 

Some of these needs are easily fixed or were fixed by leaving. For instance, if someone left because of a lack of growth opportunities and is now returning to a higher role, the problem is solved. But if the person left because of personal conflicts, have the other people left?

If the candidate was a lousy employee the first time around, there’s a strong possibility that the person will be a lousy employee the second time around. Some companies feel desperate for employees and agree to take someone back when they shouldn’t.

Sure, people change and grow, but unless it’s been 5-10 years with solid evidence of growth as a person, pass on the bad boomerang.

Should you target former employees?

Absolutely! Some companies even have alumni groups and keep in contact with former employees. And, honestly, if Wegmans ever reached out to me (my first professional job, way back in the 1900s), I’d strongly consider it–if just for better access to chocolate muffins. 

Your best former employees can be your best future employees. It’s worth considering when you’re struggling to hire. And if the Robert Half numbers are correct, your former employees may well want to return.

The post Boomerang employees: should you target them? appeared first on Recruiting Resources: How to Recruit and Hire Better.

Key features often include market benchmarking, industry-specific insights, and customizable reports. 

These tools are designed to ensure that salaries are competitive and aligned with industry standards.

Using a salary estimator, employers can input job titles, locations, and experience levels. The tool then generates salary ranges based on real-time data. 

This process helps eliminate guesswork and ensures consistency in salary decisions. By relying on objective data, companies can make informed decisions that promote fairness and transparency.

Salary estimators also offer insights into industry trends. This information is valuable for HR professionals who need to stay updated on market conditions. 

By understanding these trends, companies can adjust their compensation strategies accordingly.

Here are some good reasons you should consider using a salary estimator tool.

1. Ensuring competitive salaries

Offering competitive salaries is crucial for attracting and retaining talent. A salary estimator tool helps you stay informed about market rates. It ensures your offers are competitive. 

According to a recent report, U.S. job postings with salary information more than doubled from 18% in February 2020 to 44% in February 2023. 

This trend shows the growing importance of salary transparency.

When your salaries are competitive, you can attract the best candidates. It also helps retain current employees who might otherwise look elsewhere. 

With the job market constantly evolving, staying updated on salary trends is vital. A salary estimator tool ensures you are always informed and ready to offer the best compensation packages.

2. Promoting fairness and transparency

Fairness and transparency in pay are vital for maintaining employee trust and satisfaction. Salary estimators help ensure pay equity by providing objective data. 

This data-driven approach helps eliminate biases in salary decisions. Moreover, transparency in pay practices can improve employee morale.

Statistics from the World Economic Forum show that pay transparency in job postings has increased internationally. In Germany, it rose from 8% to 20%, in France from 10% to 30%, and in Canada from 12% to 23%. These numbers highlight a global shift towards more transparent pay practices.

Pay transparency not only builds trust but also encourages a culture of fairness. Employees feel valued when they know their compensation is fair and competitive.

This can lead to higher job satisfaction and lower turnover rates. By using a salary estimator tool, you can promote a transparent and equitable workplace.

3. Supporting budget planning

A salary estimator tool is invaluable for budget planning. It helps companies allocate resources effectively. 

By providing accurate salary data, these tools enable better financial planning and management. 

Knowing the market rates for various roles allows you to plan your budget more accurately.

For example, consider a company planning to expand its team. Using a salary estimator, the HR department can project the total cost of hiring new employees. 

This includes not just salaries, but also benefits and other associated costs. Having a clear understanding of these expenses helps in making informed decisions about growth and resource allocation.

Additionally, salary estimators can help identify areas where the company might be overspending. 

By comparing your current salary structure with industry standards, you can pinpoint roles where adjustments are needed. This ensures that your compensation strategy is both competitive and cost-effective.

4. Improving employee satisfaction and retention

Fair and competitive salaries are key to employee satisfaction and retention. When employees feel they are compensated fairly, they are more likely to stay with the company. 

A salary estimator tool helps ensure that your compensation packages meet industry standards and employee expectations.

Employees who believe they are being paid fairly are more engaged and motivated. This can lead to increased productivity and a positive workplace culture. On the other hand, perceived pay disparities can lead to dissatisfaction and high turnover rates.

By regularly using a salary estimator tool, you can make necessary adjustments to stay competitive. 

This proactive approach helps retain top talent and reduces the costs associated with high turnover. 

It also demonstrates to your employees that you value their contributions and are committed to fair compensation.

Please review these sections and let me know if any adjustments are needed before proceeding 

5. Staying compliant with regulations

Salary estimators also play a crucial role in ensuring compliance with wage and labor laws. 

Many regions have implemented pay transparency laws that require employers to disclose salary ranges in job postings. 

For instance, in Colorado, the percentage of job postings including salary information increased from 16% to 81% following the implementation of such laws.

Compliance with these regulations is essential to avoid legal issues and potential fines. A salary estimator tool helps you stay updated with the latest legal requirements and ensures your job postings meet these standards. 

By adhering to these laws, you not only avoid penalties but also build a reputation as a fair and transparent employer.

Even in regions without explicit transparency regulations, salary transparency is growing. 

For example, Utah’s largest metro areas saw salary information included in more than 50% of job postings, likely influenced by nearby Colorado’s legislation. 

This trend suggests that adopting transparency practices proactively can keep you ahead of potential regulatory changes.

6. Facilitating market benchmarking

Market benchmarking is another significant benefit of using a salary estimator tool. Benchmarking allows you to compare your company’s compensation packages with those of other companies in your industry. 

This ensures that your salaries are competitive and aligned with market standards.

For example, a mid-sized tech company used a salary estimator tool to benchmark their salaries against competitors. 

They discovered that their compensation packages were below industry standards for several key roles. By adjusting their salaries, they were able to attract higher-quality candidates and improve employee retention.

Benchmarking also helps you understand industry trends and shifts in salary expectations. This information is crucial for strategic planning and staying competitive in the job market. 

A salary estimator tool provides the data needed to make these comparisons and adjust your compensation strategies accordingly.

For HR professionals and SMB employers, adopting a salary estimator tool can be a game-changer. It equips you with the data needed to make informed decisions about compensation.

This, in turn, helps attract and retain top talent, fosters a fair and transparent workplace, and supports strategic financial planning.

The post Six reasons why your company needs a salary estimator tool appeared first on Recruiting Resources: How to Recruit and Hire Better.

Are you ready to explore a few of the most significant ones for your day-to-day work?

You’ll have to wait a little bit longer because we believe it’s better to explain our thought process while crafting this article. We didn’t want to add more confusion, so we divided the terms into six major categories: practicality, fundamental concepts, technology integration, compliance and legal, current trends, and core HR functions.

Now, you are ready. Let’s explore each category and provide additional context on the HR terms every HR professional should know today.

Practicality

This category focuses on practical HR practices and policies that enhance operational efficiency and employee well-being, such as managing absences, implementing telecommuting, and retaining employees.

1. Absence management

Absence management involves policies and procedures designed to reduce absenteeism in the workplace. Effective absence management ensures that employee absences are handled in a way that minimizes disruption to operations.

This includes tracking employee absences, understanding the reasons behind them, and implementing strategies to reduce absenteeism. It can involve flexible working conditions, health and wellness programs, and clear communication of attendance policies.

Good absence management can improve employee productivity, reduce costs associated with absenteeism, and enhance overall workplace morale.

2. Full-time Equivalent (FTE)

Full-time Equivalent (FTE) is a unit that indicates the workload of an employed person in a way that makes workloads comparable across various contexts.

One FTE is equivalent to one employee working full-time.

It’s used to measure the total workforce capacity by converting part-time hours into full-time equivalent hours.

For example, two part-time employees working 20 hours each would be equivalent to one FTE. This metric is crucial for budgeting, financial analysis, and understanding workforce productivity.

3. Telecommuting

Telecommuting, also known as remote work, allows employees to perform their job duties from outside the traditional office environment. This can be from home, a co-working space, or any other location with internet access.

Telecommuting offers flexibility, reduces commuting time and costs, and can increase job satisfaction.

For employers, it can lower overhead costs and attract talent from a broader geographic area. However, it requires robust communication tools, clear expectations, and a strong company culture to ensure productivity and engagement.

4. Unlimited PTO (Paid Time Off)

Unlimited Paid Time Off (PTO) is a policy where employees can take as much time off as they need, as long as their work is completed and deadlines are met.

This policy is designed to promote a healthy work-life balance, reduce burnout, and increase employee satisfaction.

It shifts the focus from tracking hours to achieving results. While it offers flexibility and autonomy, it requires a high level of trust and responsibility from employees and may not be suitable for all types of jobs or industries.

5. Employee retention

Employee retention refers to the ability of an organization to keep its employees and reduce turnover.

High retention rates indicate a positive work environment, competitive compensation, opportunities for career advancement, and strong leadership.

Strategies to improve retention include offering professional development, recognizing and rewarding performance, providing a supportive company culture, and ensuring work-life balance.

Effective employee retention strategies can lead to increased productivity, reduced recruitment and training costs, and a more experienced and cohesive workforce.

Fundamental concepts

Fundamental Concepts cover the core principles and essential knowledge every HR professional should understand, including employment laws, employee engagement, onboarding processes, and job analysis.

1. Employee engagement

Employee engagement refers to the emotional commitment and involvement an employee has towards their organization and its goals.

Engaged employees are more productive, motivated, and likely to stay with the company.

Strategies to boost engagement include providing meaningful work, recognizing achievements, offering professional development opportunities, and fostering a positive workplace culture. High employee engagement can lead to better performance, lower turnover, and a more positive organizational atmosphere.

2. Onboarding

Onboarding is the process of integrating new employees into an organization and equipping them with the necessary tools, knowledge, and skills to become effective team members. It typically includes orientation sessions, training programs, and introductions to company policies and culture.

Effective onboarding helps new hires adjust quickly, improving job satisfaction and retention rates. It is a critical step in ensuring employees feel welcomed, valued, and prepared for their roles.

3. Job Analysis

Job analysis involves systematically studying a job to determine its essential duties, responsibilities, skills, and qualifications. This process helps create accurate job descriptions, which are essential for hiring, performance evaluations, and compensation management.

Job analysis also identifies the physical and mental requirements of a position, ensuring that employees are well-matched to their roles. Accurate job analysis supports effective HR practices by aligning job requirements with organizational goals.

4. Compensation and Benefits

Compensation and benefits refer to the total rewards an employee receives for their work, including salary, wages, bonuses, health insurance, retirement plans, and other perks.

A well-designed compensation and benefits package can attract and retain top talent, boost employee morale, and enhance job satisfaction.

It’s important for HR professionals to stay informed about market trends and ensure that their offerings are competitive and align with organizational objectives and budget constraints.

Technology integration

Technology Integration involves leveraging digital tools and software to streamline HR functions, including applicant tracking systems, HR software, video interview platforms, and payroll solutions.

1. Applicant Tracking System (ATS)

An Applicant Tracking System (ATS) is software that manages the recruitment and hiring process. It automates job postings, screens resumes, and tracks candidates through the hiring stages.

ATS helps HR professionals streamline recruitment by organizing candidate information, ensuring compliance with hiring regulations, and facilitating communication with applicants. By using an ATS, companies can reduce the time and effort required for recruitment, improve the quality of hires, and create a more efficient and organized hiring process.

2. HR software

HR software refers to digital solutions designed to automate and manage various human resources functions. These include payroll, benefits administration, performance management, employee records, and recruitment.

HR software improves efficiency by centralizing data, facilitating reporting, and enabling self-service for employees. It helps HR departments reduce manual tasks, ensure compliance with regulations, and enhance overall HR service delivery. With the right HR software, organizations can improve data accuracy, streamline HR processes, and support strategic decision-making.

3. Video interview software

Video interview software enables organizations to conduct interviews with candidates remotely. This technology facilitates live video interviews or allows candidates to record their responses to predefined questions.

It is particularly useful for screening candidates who are geographically dispersed. Video interview software can save time and costs associated with travel, provide flexibility in scheduling, and offer a more convenient experience for both candidates and interviewers.

Additionally, it can be integrated with ATS and other HR systems to streamline the hiring process.

4. Learning Management System (LMS)

A Learning Management System (LMS) is software that manages and delivers educational courses, training programs, or learning and development initiatives. It allows organizations to create, track, and manage employee training activities.

An LMS provides a centralized platform for e-learning, offering features like course enrollment, progress tracking, and assessments. It supports employee development by providing accessible and consistent training, ensuring compliance with industry standards, and helping measure the effectiveness of training programs.

5. Payroll Software

Payroll software automates the process of managing employee compensation.

It calculates wages, withholds taxes, and ensures employees are paid accurately and on time. Payroll software can also handle deductions, bonuses, benefits, and generate payroll reports.

By automating these tasks, the software reduces errors, ensures compliance with tax regulations, and saves time for HR professionals. Efficient payroll software enhances the overall accuracy and reliability of the payroll process, improving employee satisfaction and trust.

Compliance and legal

This category emphasizes the importance of adhering to legal standards and regulations in HR practices, covering topics such as employment laws, equal opportunity, safety regulations, and family leave policies.

1. At-will Employment

At-will employment is a legal doctrine where either the employer or employee can terminate the employment relationship at any time, for any reason, or for no reason, with or without notice. This framework offers flexibility but provides less job security for employees.

Exceptions to at-will employment include termination for discriminatory reasons or violations of public policy. Understanding this doctrine is crucial for HR professionals to manage terminations properly and ensure compliance with legal standards, thereby minimizing potential legal risks and fostering fair workplace practices.

2. Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO)

Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) refers to the principle that all individuals should have equal access to employment opportunities without discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, or genetic information.

EEO laws and regulations, enforced by agencies like the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), aim to prevent workplace discrimination and promote diversity. HR professionals must ensure that hiring, promotion, and other employment practices comply with EEO standards to foster an inclusive workplace and avoid legal penalties.

3. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Regulations

OSHA regulations are standards set by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to ensure safe and healthy working conditions. These regulations cover a wide range of workplace hazards, including chemical exposure, machinery safety, and ergonomic practices.

Employers are required to comply with OSHA standards to prevent workplace injuries and illnesses. HR professionals play a key role in ensuring compliance by implementing safety programs, conducting regular training, and maintaining accurate records. Adhering to OSHA regulations helps create a safer work environment and reduces the risk of legal issues.

4. Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)

The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) entitles eligible employees to take unpaid, job-protected leave for specified family and medical reasons. Covered reasons include personal or family illness, childbirth, adoption, and certain exigencies related to a family member’s military service.

Employees can take up to 12 weeks of leave in a 12-month period. HR professionals must ensure compliance with FMLA requirements, including proper documentation, communication, and maintaining employee benefits during leave. Understanding FMLA helps protect employees’ rights and ensures that organizations fulfill their legal obligations.

Current trends

Current trends highlight the latest developments and emerging practices in HR, such as inclusive leadership, employer branding, recruitment marketing, remote work policies, and the gig economy.

1. Inclusive Leadership

Inclusive leadership refers to leadership practices that ensure all team members feel valued, respected, and included. Inclusive leaders promote diversity by actively seeking out and leveraging diverse perspectives, fostering an environment of openness and respect.

They are aware of their biases and work to mitigate them, ensuring fair treatment for all employees.

This approach not only enhances team performance but also drives innovation and employee engagement. HR professionals should encourage and train leaders to adopt inclusive leadership practices to build a more equitable workplace.

2. Employer Branding

Employer branding is the process of promoting a company as an employer of choice to attract and retain top talent. It involves creating a positive image of the organization through marketing and communication strategies that highlight the company’s values, culture, and benefits.

Strong employer branding can differentiate a company from its competitors, making it more attractive to potential employees. HR professionals play a key role in developing and maintaining an effective employer brand by ensuring that employee experiences align with the brand’s promises.

3. Recruitment Marketing

Recruitment marketing applies marketing principles to the recruitment process to attract, engage, and nurture potential candidates. It involves creating targeted campaigns that highlight the company’s strengths, culture, and opportunities to attract top talent.

Techniques include social media marketing, content marketing, and employer branding efforts. Effective recruitment marketing helps build a strong talent pipeline, enhances the candidate experience, and improves the overall efficiency of the hiring process. HR professionals should leverage recruitment marketing to reach and engage with passive candidates.

4. Remote Work Policies

Remote work policies outline the guidelines and expectations for employees who work outside the traditional office environment.

These policies cover aspects such as eligibility, communication protocols, performance expectations, and cybersecurity measures.

Implementing clear remote work policies ensures that remote employees are productive, engaged, and aligned with company goals. HR professionals must develop and enforce these policies to support a flexible work environment while maintaining organizational efficiency and security.

5. Gig Economy

The gig economy refers to a labor market characterized by short-term contracts or freelance work rather than permanent jobs. It includes individuals who work as independent contractors, freelancers, or part-time workers in various industries.

The gig economy offers flexibility and autonomy for workers, while companies benefit from cost savings and access to a diverse talent pool. However, it also presents challenges such as lack of job security and benefits.

HR professionals need to understand the implications of the gig economy and develop strategies to manage and support gig workers effectively.

Core HR functions

Core HR Functions encompass the fundamental activities and responsibilities of HR, including performance management, onboarding, recruitment marketing, talent management, and employee relations.

1. Performance management cycle

The performance management cycle is a continuous process used to plan, monitor, and review an employee’s work objectives and overall contribution to the organization. It typically includes setting performance expectations, providing ongoing feedback, conducting performance appraisals, and creating development plans.

Effective performance management ensures alignment between individual goals and organizational objectives, enhances employee performance, and fosters professional growth. HR professionals play a critical role in facilitating this process, ensuring it is fair, transparent, and conducive to employee development and organizational success.

2. Onboarding software

Onboarding software assist you in integrating new employees into an organization and familiarizing them with company policies, culture, and their specific roles.

Effective onboarding helps new hires adjust quickly, enhances job satisfaction, and reduces turnover. By providing necessary resources and support, HR professionals can ensure that new employees become productive members of the team, contributing to their long-term success and the overall efficiency of the organization.

3. Talent management

Talent management encompasses the systematic attraction, identification, development, engagement, retention, and deployment of individuals who possess the skills and potential to meet current and future organizational needs.

It includes activities such as workforce planning, talent acquisition, performance management, learning and development, and succession planning. Effective talent management ensures that the organization has the right people in the right roles, promotes employee growth, and supports the achievement of strategic business goals.

HR professionals are essential in designing and implementing talent management strategies.

4. Employee relations

Employee relations involve managing the relationship between the employer and employees to ensure a harmonious and productive work environment.

This includes handling workplace conflicts, addressing employee grievances, ensuring compliance with labor laws, and promoting fair treatment.

Effective employee relations practices help prevent and resolve issues that can impact employee morale and productivity. HR professionals play a key role in fostering positive employee relations by implementing policies, conducting training, and providing support to both management and employees.

We know it’s a lot for one day. But don’t panic! By following our content, you’ll become more familiar with these terms and receive up-to-date insights from the HR industry.

The post Top HR terms any HR professional should know today appeared first on Recruiting Resources: How to Recruit and Hire Better.

How taboos change

Can you recommend a therapist? Have you had therapy?

Those questions would have been shocking and rude in previous times, but Gen Z has no problem talking about mental health and seeking therapy or medication. How did this happen?

Very Well Mind theorizes, “Gen Z has grown up in a world where it’s normal and considered natural to get treatment for psychological problems. They don’t know any different, and so they don’t attach any bad feelings to speaking about it.”

Gen Z alone doesn’t deserve the credit for being open – it was also the hard work of previous generations that worked to remove stigmas around discussing mental health. The result is a generation with the ability to talk about these things openly.

We are with salary now where we were 30 years ago with mental health. People are starting to talk about it – in fact, a Glassdoor survey finds 70% of employees across seven countries say salary transparency is a good thing.

It’s still a taboo for many, though. People are working hard to change that, though.

New laws around salaries

Some of these taboos around pay transparency are being broken by state legislatures. For instance, Colorado and New York City both have laws requiring salary ranges on job postings. Companies worked around the Colorado law by advertising in their job ads that remote employees could work in any state but Colorado – because they didn’t want to share salary information.

New York City’s law didn’t go into effect until May 15, 2022. Even then, with so many big companies already located there, it’s not likely to prevent companies from going the Colorado company route and offering remote positions in the Big Apple.

Twenty-two states have bans on asking job candidates to produce their salary histories. That may seem like a step backward for salary transparency, but the opposite is true: when companies can’t rely on a person’s previous salary they have to create their own salary around market rates. Knowing previous salaries helped employers to maintain disparate pay and gave companies strong reasons to not want people to speak about it.

For example, if Bianca was making $40,000 at her last job and Dimitri was earning $50,000 at his last job, and you offer them both a 10-percent increase, you can pat yourself on the back and say you’re fair. But, deep down, you know that is not fair.

By not allowing employers to know previous salaries, they are more likely to offer a reasonable wage to both. Without that salary gap, they are less inclined to care if Bianca and Dimitri compare salaries.

Employees have the right to talk salaries

The National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) in the United States protects the rights of employees to talk about their salaries with their coworkers. This is called “concerted activity,” and the National Labor Relations Board doesn’t look kindly on companies that punish employees from talking about it.

That doesn’t stop companies from attempting to ban salary discussions. Even big names like Apple and Google get nervous when employees discuss salaries. But talk you can – just perhaps not on company servers.

With the ease that people can share information now, it seems more and more likely that these outlier spreadsheets will become the norm.

People leading the pay transparency shift

Alison Green, who writes the Ask a Manager Blog, asks people to share their salaries. The result is a sortable spreadsheet with 24,000 responses that can help you determine your own market worth.

Also, the Global Editor of Business Insider, Nicholas Carlson, announced a new project to help demystify salaries:

Insider is launching a series that demystifies people's salaries, and we need your help https://t.co/lsaYePUyEz

— Nicholas Carlson (@nichcarlson) January 25, 2022

But, when asked to share his own salary, he balked, responding:

“Fun question! I’d rather not say publicly for lots of practical reasons I’m sure you can imagine. This feels a little wimpy but also prudent. I think I would submit it to some third party I could trust to keep it anonymous and average it with other people in roles like mine.”

https://twitter.com/beckpeterson/status/1486054955718950914

We do, it seems, want everyone else to go first. I’ll tell you my salary if you tell me yours, but you better go first!

Well, somebody needs to go first.

How is recruiting and hiring affected?

People push back on companies that won’t share salary ranges up front. With many areas facing a labor shortage, quality candidates won’t waste their time on companies that won’t open up about salaries – whether up front or early in the recruitment process.

Even if you’re not hiring in Colorado or NYC, you will increase your candidate pool by being honest – unless your salaries are too low.

Plus, it saves everyone time and effort if you speak up first. It also cuts down on the potential for discrimination and bias.

Recruiter Mercedes Johnson found out the hard way how people won’t stand for hidden salaries that result in underpaying people. She wrote a Facebook post that stated:

“I just offered a candidate $85,000 for a job that had a budget of 130K. I offered her that because that’s what she asked for & I personally don’t have the bandwidth to give lessons on salary negotiation. Here’s the lesson: ALWAYS ASK FOR THE SALARY YOU WANT (DESERVE), no matter how large you think it might be. You never know how much money a company has to work with. #BeConfident”

The response was not “Oh yes; I should negotiate better,” but instead went on the offensive against Johnson. In short – the candidate shouldn’t have to be confident in negotiations. Rather, the onus should be on the company to be upfront about the pay for a job.

There are 2 types of ppl in this world smh pic.twitter.com/dlHA3rXJWB

— BOOBERELLA (@TE_AMO_COURT) January 29, 2022

Johnson learned her lesson – and was let go from her role – but companies that try to keep salaries hush-hush may find themselves on the wrong side of Twitter or /r/antiwork. It’s not a nice place to be.

Let’s all be open about how much we’re being paid for a job. You tell me yours, and I’ll let you know mine.

The post Salary transparency: Good thing for employees – and employers? appeared first on Recruiting Resources: How to Recruit and Hire Better.

Below I’ve distilled my favorite actionable takeaways from Jackie and Rob.

1. Put yourself in their shoes

When you get on the phone with them and you’re speaking to them for the first time, Put yourself into their shoes, create a personal connection, and understand what they’re looking for in the role. Make sure they feel comfortable and understand what their journey’s going to look like.

2. Be their first friend

Remember you’re the first person they talk to. You’re the person they’re emailing asking when they’re gonna be onboarded and reminding yourself once a new hire comes on board that you are, that person for them is so critical. Example: Even if it’s just a Slack on day three to say how’s it going? It creates a warm positive feeling. They know that you’re still thinking about them.

3. Create a safety net

Regardless of if the employee is remote or office based. Make sure they know that they have that safety net (in you). So that they can come to you in the future with any other concerns. Take it beyond a phone screen relationship. Make it genuine and make sure they know you’re there for them.

4. Make sure that they know that they’re valued, and that development is available

Work to get consistency around the career path and onboarding experience you offer. Make sure it’s being implemented across different teams, and break down silos.

So how can we make sure that everyone in the company has that, that great employee experience as well, which I think people are expecting more of.

5. Bridge the remote working disconnect

Since the pandemic we’ve seen a significant shift towards remote working. Away from the office where genuine work and social interaction were able to happen a little more organically. It’s important to actively address challenges. Team events are historically office based, and with the pandemic, that just stopped overnight for many people. So in order to maintain a healthy remote and/or hybrid environment companies should look to actively implement more policies to help us engage more with the company?

6. Work from home isn’t for everyone

For many people life fits really well around working from home, but that’s not everyone’s experience of work from home. There’s a lot of people who want to be in the office every day, whether it’s because they want to be around people or because their work set up at home just isn’t as enjoyable. The shift and the technology have enabled choice. Where employees, if we’re able to give that choice, it’s great, but it doesn’t mean that everyone wants to be working from home.

7. Maintain and promote transparent

Being transparent is hugely important. Call it out whenever you can with employees. Help them understand there’s things that you can’t tell you right away, but when you can you will, and that there will be an opportunity to talk about more. Making what they’re going to expect when joining your team, Really taking that side of transparency, wherever possible.

Thanks for reading. I hope you found these tips useful. Next, drive deeper with more insights from Jackie, Rob, and Julie Jeannotte.

Watch full webinar here

Our partner, Officevibe is the incredibly friendly people-first employee experience platform – providing a fresh, new way to engage, recognize, align, and enable world-class leaders and teams. Learn more

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Before we go into detail on assessment concerns, let’s take a look at the types of assessments. There are five core assessments:

1. abstract reasoning
2. numerical analysis
3. verbal communication
4. attention & focus
5. personality

Each of them have their distinct best practices for specific job roles – for instance, verbal communication skills are desired for those working in public-facing roles such as customer service or sales. Numerical analysis can be applied to those working in finance. And so on.

Now, let’s look at the concerns about these assessments.

Why you should use cognitive assessments

Let’s first look at cognitive assessment concerns, with reasons why you should include them anyway.

Concern #1: They reduce the candidate to a number

The concern: A standardized recruitment process – especially for larger organizations who have built a scalable hiring model – can make candidates feel like they’re on a conveyor belt. When you add assessments, candidates will feel like you’re just adding another statistic to them.

The reality: A standardized process is also more susceptible to bias – despite the sincere intent for the opposite. Likewise, AI screening of resumes can lead to a new problem, as seen in the example of Amazon. Even if you take AI out of the picture, humans can still be influenced by the reputation of the school the candidate went to, or their charisma in a face-to-face interview.

When you add assessments to the process, you can analyze cognitive abilities and potentials in an isolated environment without being influenced by these other factors.

Concern #2: There’s plenty to learn in other stages of the process

The concern: In between the resume, cover letter, interview, and even the reference check, you already have plenty of information to help you make a good decision on the candidate. Adding assessments just further complicates things.

The reality: Each of the stages in the evaluation are designed to understand specific parts of a candidate’s eligibility for a role. But gaps remain: for instance, it’s hard to discern how much of a candidate’s success actually comes from their own contribution or just from the environment they worked in. Plus, exaggerating one’s accomplishments in a resume isn’t entirely uncommon.

With assessments, you’re future-proofing your company against those potential bad or misleading hires by directly analyzing what they can actually bring to your company.

Concern #3: Assessments prolong an already lengthy process

The concern: Adding assessments just adds time to an already lengthy recruitment process – a common gripe among many candidates.

The reality: Yes, they’re right – if those other stages are clumsily managed with slow turnaround at the recruiter’s side due to an excess of work. But optimization tools, such as automated emailing, self-scheduling options, and one-way video interviews, can shorten those stages. This gives you the luxury to seamlessly add assessments to the mix – also in a semi-automated way – without prolonging the process. In effect, you’re getting more for less.

Now that we’ve covered three main concerns around cognitive assessments, let’s look at the more charged topic of personality assessments.

Why you should use personality assessments

While cognitive assessments are already a widely accepted element of the recruitment process, the value of personality assessments isn’t as universally acknowledged. The controversy around Myers Brigg and DiSC profile testing is widespread, and there’s little consensus on their usefulness.

Concern #1: Personality assessments promote biased hiring

The concern: Testing for personality promotes biased hiring. For instance, if you find that someone’s not a so-called “team player” or a good “cultural fit”, you may opt not to move forward with them. It also unfairly favors extroverted “go-getters” and “problem solvers” over equally qualified introverts who prefer to focus on the work at hand.

The reality: Personality assessments should not be dealmakers or dealbreakers in a hiring decision. They only help provide stronger insights into a candidate that may not be found in other stages. Perhaps a candidate seemed quiet and unmotivated during an interview – a personality assessment may find them to be introverted yet still just as qualified as a louder, friendlier candidate who made a stronger impression in the interview stage.

Concern #2: Candidates will try for the “right” answer rather than being honest

The concern: When jobseekers take a personality test, they’re going to be naturally inclined to try and give the ‘right’ answers to further their candidacy for the role. They may not be wholly honest.

The reality: It’s not a test. It’s an assessment. You’re trying to get a deeper understanding of their personality and traits. The result can help you learn how they’re likely to behave in the role, how they like to be managed, the job environment in which they most thrive, and their preferred communication style, among other things that help you understand who the candidate is and what motivates them.

Concern #3: Personalities have nothing to do with the job

The concern: Many see personality assessments as irrelevant and even as an invasion of privacy. What do they really have to do with candidacy for a role?

The reality: As stated above, having a good understanding of how a candidate might act or behave in the workplace will help you build better teams and a work environment in which they can thrive. This can create a better all-around employee experience with more engaged and productive employees.

Assess your own team first

That being said, personality assessments have their limits. To use them to their fullest benefit, have the existing employees in your company take an assessment as well.

Not only can you identify opportunities to build stronger teams, more motivational environments, and better management structures, you can also set up mentorship programs specifically tailored to specific personalities that can bring the best out of a new hire.

This means a much stronger onboarding and a shorter time to maximum productivity.

It’s not a dealmaker or dealbreaker

Boston-based management consultant Laura Crandall seconds that. Personality assessments shouldn’t be the defining factor in making a decision – nor should they even influence a decision.

Laura adds: “The name is a bit misleading, as, at their core, these tests aim to identify how personality traits, be they assertiveness, optimism, extroversion or introversion, and the like, will manifest in workplace behavior.”

And she adds succinctly: “They’re just lenses.”

In the end, while they are great tools to overcome the “one size fits all” solution, cognitive and personality assessments need to be utilized properly for them to be effective. You also want to communicate their intent and benefits to the candidate as clearly as you can to maintain that all-important candidate experience.

Think of it as adding another tool to your HR toolkit that focuses on bringing the best people to your company, and bringing the best out of them while they’re there.

The post 6 major assessment concerns and why you should not worry appeared first on Recruiting Resources: How to Recruit and Hire Better.

The idea is that this minimum salary should be tied to the economic reality. And that makes at least a little sense. 

But, let’s face it, the FLSA makes little sense in 2024. Congress first passed this law in 1938, and they have amended it from time to time, but it remains substantially the same. In a nutshell, it divides employees into two classes: exempt and non-exempt. The non-exempt are paid by the hour and can receive overtime pay, and the exempt receive a salary.

Both groups have minimum salaries, and the law enshrined the 40-hour workweek into law.

And so, what’s wrong with that in 2024? Just about everything, and this latest law change is an example of this.

The economy is very different

In 1938, the unemployment rate was 19 percent. People wanted government intervention. Now when the unemployment rate breaches 4 percent, we all freak out. 

Many of the jobs we have today did not exist in 1938. Certainly, my job did not exist, and yours probably did not either. As technology has changed, the workplace has shifted. The current debate over remote work demonstrates that this is not even close to the same workforce Congress looked at 86 years ago.

In 1940 the US population was 132,164,569 with approximately 8 million farm workers. In 2023, the population was 339,996,563 with only 2.4 million farm workers. Today we have over 3 million IT workers, in comparison. 

And while the original FLSA did not cover farm workers until 1966, just looking at this one set of facts indicates how very different the economy is today.

And while there have been tweaks to FLSA it still is a law built for an economy that doesn’t exist.

Related: Legal experts chime in on the FTC’s noncompete ban

What could a new law look like?

If we wanted to start from scratch, what could we do differently? This is actually a very difficult thought exercise because, of course, people are paid by the hour unless they are meet the duties test to be salaried employees!

But it doesn’t need to be that way. We don’t even need a 40-hour work week!

Other countries survive with different rules.  France has a famous 35-hour work week (although that isn’t universal in France); in Bhutan, the average worker works 54.30 per week (the highest in the world). In practice, French employees work an average of 30.7 hours per week. 

Many professions that offer services don’t charge clients an hourly rate but rather pay by the project.

Many people like the flexibility of a salaried job–no matter how many hours they work, their paycheck remains the same. However, some complain that this allows employers to exploit them. It’s true that absent safety regulations, a company can require an exempt employee to work around the clock.

Senator Bernie Sanders tried to lower the work week to 32 hours, but that will go nowhere. President Biden just vetoed a bill that would have allowed employers to sidestep joint employer regulations that often affect franchised companies.

Some countries offer strong employee protections. The US generally does not. The vast majority of employees are at-will employees. And 36.6 million people in the US are not employees at all, but independent contractors.

So, our status quo doesn’t have to be the future. And while there are a million ways to look at employment, there is one foundation principle that I would like to apply: Contract law.

Why I support contracts?

I spent a good portion of my career laying people off. I know how the at-will system works, and there are many advantages for both employers and employees. The same law that allows a company to terminate you without notice allows you to quit without notice. 

But, what if we flipped employment law on it’s head and said, instead of detailed rules that said who could be paid a salary and who earns overtime, we just said “Everyone is an adult here. You work it out.”

In that case, if I wanted to work for $3 an hour, I could take a job that pays $3 an hour. As an employer, I would also be free to offer a lousy job, but certainly couldn’t force anyone to take it.

If I wanted to offer a salary to work 80 hours a week at $30,000 a year, I could do that, but it’s doubtful anyone would take it.

Let people make the contracts they want to make. Under my system, offer letters would spell out the conditions of pay, including maximum hours per week for salaried roles, and when overtime kicks in for jobs that pay by the hour. And then let people decide if they want to take the jobs or not.

Positions could either be at-will or contracted. Either way, everything would be upfront at first.

Would that mean businesses could take advantage of some people? Absolutely. But they do that today, already. With a clear contract for every role, you would know what you were getting into. Heck, I’d even throw in a mandatory 48-hour waiting period between when the offer was made and when a candidate could accept the offer, giving them time to consult friends at minimum and a lawyer if necessary. 

You might say it would be a disaster without protections. But the true minimum wage is always zero, and too many protections lead to that. Take a look at California, which implemented a $20-an-hour minimum wage for fast food workers, and many people lost their jobs.

Honesty is the best policy in my book and I value independence. So, let individuals decide what they want. The results might surprise you.

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What is an alternating four-day workweek?

The idea of a four-day workweek is nothing new, and it’s something some companies have been offering as an option – or even a required schedule – for years. In most cases, this means that the employee works 10-hour days instead of eight, so the standard 40-hour workweek is completed in just four days. That way, instead of two days off per week, the employee gets three.

An alternating four-day workweek is a little different. With this plan, the employee works five days one week, and four the next. The day off could be Friday to allow for a three-day weekend every other week, but that is up to the individual employee and employer. Those additional days off provide the employee with tremendous flexibility to take extra trips, engage in their favorite hobbies, or whatever else they’d like to do with their spare time.

Why an alternating four-day workweek?

When the pandemic hit, we had to transition our team from being in-office to being a fully remote workforce. It was really all hands on deck to help the company come through the pandemic unscathed, and our team hunkered down and helped us figure out how to make our day to day operations more effective as a remote workforce. This meant lots of retooling and new process development … and long hours.

Working remotely can make work-life balance challenging and increase risk of burnout. A recent survey discovered that 69% of remote workers are experiencing burnout symptoms and 59% of remote workers are taking less time off than normal. Another survey stated that burnout at work doubled from March 2020 to April 2020.

Our hypothesis was that implementing this new perk would help prevent burnout, increase employee job satisfaction, and make our team feel more rested and ultimately, more productive, at work.

Our main concerns

My primary concern was ensuring that our clients and customers still had the level of support that they have come to expect from us. At the same time, I didn’t want this effort to make it harder on our support team as a result of any client frustrations or support ticket backlog. It was important to me that we still had adequate coverage for all teams and for all departmental responsibilities.

My secondary concern was making sure that this new schedule wouldn’t prevent anyone from being able to do their job. I didn’t want this alternating schedule to create any unnecessary stress for employees that couldn’t get something done because a key stakeholder was out of the office. But, all of these concerns can be prevented with proper planning.

How it’s been going so far

We piloted this new program from April to June 2021, a full quarter. We then said we would ressas with leadership, and see if this is something we would want to implement for the long term. Once the pilot was nearing the end, we sent a survey around to our team to get their feedback on this new work schedule.

Here are a few key takeaways:

• 100% of employees said that they wanted us to continue offering this benefit
• 93% of employees have said their productivity has improved, while the other 7% said their productivity has been the same
• 85% of employees said they feel more rested and happier at work

Anecdotally speaking, we also had a few key learnings, including;

• It really enabled better habits when it came to time management and meeting scheduling. For example, everyone seems to be more thoughtful about scheduling meetings in general, so as to not waste time.
• Many of the team members use Fridays for “deep work” days, with no meetings or interruptions.
• This has been a great perk to mention to job candidates during the hiring process, and has been a deal breaker for some of our recent hires.

Four-day workweek tips for you

If this is a concept that you are considering for your team, here are a few things to consider and tips for implementation.

1. Try it as a pilot program first

I highly recommend you “try it on” by first implementing it as a pilot or trial program, with a specific start date and end date, to see how your team and customers adapt to this change. This gives you the flexibility of trying it out before having to fully commit. You may learn that it’s great and everything is fine to move forward with it long-term, or you may learn that you need to tweak a few things.

2. Make any special conditions very clear

Ensure everyone is aware of any special conditions or restrictions to this process to set the right expectations. For us, we didn’t require longer hours during the week of their Friday off, but other companies do. So, if there are special conditions, make them very clear from the start.

3. Make the schedule transparent and visible

Meet with your team leads and schedule out everyone’s Friday off in advance. Make sure it’s clear and visible in a shared calendar so everyone is aware of who is and who isn’t “in the office” on a given Friday. This also helps the team think in advance about any vacation days that may overlap or big events or meetings that need planning around.

4. Ensure your leaders lead by example

Leading by example is essential not only because leadership also needs time to recharge, but also because failing to follow through with the process can send mixed messages to employees and could cause anxiety on whether or not they should take the time off.

Matt Buchanan is the Co-Founder and Chief Growth Officer at Service Direct, a technology company that offers local lead generation solutions for service businesses. He is a graduate of Vanderbilt University. He has 15+ years of expertise in local lead generation, sales, search engine marketing, and building and executing growth strategies.

The post Implementing an alternating four-day workweek: how & why appeared first on Recruiting Resources: How to Recruit and Hire Better.

Sounds like a dream – but it’s now reality. We’re already seeing VR being used in onboarding and orientation, and in the workplace itself, with Apple, Meta, and others bringing their VR headsets and other technologies to the working environment..

Now we have AI – it’s not a futuristic concept at all. ChatGPT was just the beginning, and we’re now seeing countless AI technologies in hiring, management, and business strategy being developed every day.

This doesn’t just require adaptation on your part. It requires strategic upskilling in HR if you, the HR professional, are to stay relevant and competitive in your skill set.

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The emergence of AI in HR

Workable’s AI in Hiring & Work survey report at the end of 2023 found that AI is used widely throughout organizations. More than three in five (62.5%) of all respondents say they’ve used AI in hiring processes over the last year.

The desire for greater efficiency drives growth, improved decision-making capabilities, and enhanced employee experiences.

AI and upskilling in HR: a strategic response

The shift towards AI and automation isn’t replacing jobs – it’s simply reshaping job roles and functions, making upskilling an essential strategy. The World Economic Forum (WEF) estimates that 1.1 billion jobs will be transformed significantly by technological advances.

The WEF also estimates that, by 2025, half of all workers will require reskilling to cope with emerging job functions including automation and AI technologies.

A 2024 Randstad report also finds that 29% of workers point to AI as among the top skills employees are interested in when upskilling and reskilling. Future-proofing is at the core of this motivation.

Upskilling not only prepares HR professionals for these new challenges. It also positions them to take advantage of AI’s benefits in recruitment, employee management, and policy implementation.

AI-powered HR tools: enhancing efficiency

Incorporating AI tools bring advantages, such as automating repetitive tasks and analyzing large data sets more efficiently than human counterparts. You can, for instance, use AI to boost employee retention, and AI-enabled predictive analytics to preempt turnover.

And platforms like Workable have revolutionized hiring processes by automating candidate screening and reducing the time spent on administrative tasks.

This allows HR professionals to focus on strategic decision-making and personalized employee engagement.

To invest in AI upskilling in HR, consider the following strategies:

1. Establish a micro-certification program

Following AT&T’s NanoDegree approach, create or procure a micro-certification program in partnership with an online learning platform.

Focus on specialized courses like data analysis for recruitment, predictive analytics for employee retention, or AI-based onboarding strategies.

2. Plan internal AI workshops

Similarly to Amazon’s Machine Learning University, organize internal workshops that offer hands-on experience with machine learning tools.

You can also invite experts to conduct sessions tailored to HR professionals, enhancing their understanding of AI-driven talent management.

3. Build personalized learning pathways

Develop a personalized learning pathway for yourself and your colleagues – via an app, online portal, or something similar.

Utilize assessment tools to identify knowledge gaps and tailor AI training modules that build on existing HR expertise, ensuring practical application.

4. Train your executives as well

Take a cue from Microsoft’s AI learning hub by organizing executive-level seminars focused on AI ethics, strategy, and data management.

Help HR leaders understand AI’s strategic implications in workforce planning, diversity hiring, and employee development.

Implementing these targeted upskilling strategies will empower you to seamlessly integrate AI into your recruitment and talent management.

Future trends: AI and the global workforce

Looking forward, we’ll see a spike in AI’s role in HR, influenced by global trends towards remote working and digital collaboration. AI can help manage geographically dispersed teams, enhance virtual training programs, and create personalized employee experiences at scale.

As businesses continue to navigate these changes, HR professionals must remain at the forefront of technological adoption, advocating for tools that improve both operational efficiency and employee satisfaction.

Upskilling human resources to utilize AI in its work is not merely about keeping up with technology – it’s also about leading the charge in redefining the workplace of the future. For HR professionals, upskilling in AI is a pivotal step toward enhancing your strategic role and driving your organizations toward innovative horizons.

HR’s future is an intelligent one, one that offers opportunities to those who level up with it.

The post The role of AI in talent acquisition: a study for recruiters appeared first on Recruiting Resources: How to Recruit and Hire Better.

Dawn felt tired after many meetings and wanted a longer lunch break to relax. She wondered if it was possible without causing trouble.

Sam worried that the company was watching what he did online. He couldn’t tell if it was real or just his imagination.

Molly felt sad when she found out about a job opening too late. She wanted to know why nobody told her about it.

Vince didn’t like taking time off work. He wondered if he could avoid using his vacation days.

Olivia got excited about the idea of getting a bonus. She wondered when it would happen and if it was real.

They all needed to reach out to HR to ask the burning questions.

But would they avoid that if there was another way to obtain the information they wanted without having to pose these uncomfortable queries?

The awkward questions list

Still wondering what the questions are?

Let us break them down for you:

• Is it okay to date someone from the workplace?
• Can I take a longer lunch break if I come in early and leave late?
• Is the company monitoring my emails and internet usage? 
• Why wasn’t I informed about the internal job posting before it was filled?
• What happens if I don’t want to use my vacation days?
• Is this Nick a higher-up? 
• What is his/her job role? 
• Will I receive a bonus and when? 

Do you see yourself fitting into any of those scenarios?

I know there are even more. If you ask an HR professional, they will come up with dozens of them. 

Each of these questions pertains to various workplace concerns and dynamics.

The topics cover various aspects of workplace dynamics and policies. They touch on the challenges of dating coworkers and navigating professionalism, conflicts of interest, and HR guidelines.

Additionally, there’s discussion about work-life balance, with considerations for extra hours worked versus time off taken.

Privacy concerns arise regarding surveillance in the workplace, particularly related to email and internet usage monitoring. Communication and transparency within the organization are also scrutinized, especially concerning internal job postings and the dissemination of pertinent information to employees.

Leave policies, including the implications of not utilizing allocated vacation days, are highlighted.

Lastly, inquiries into organizational hierarchy and employee benefits, including the role of an individual named Nick within the company and the timing of potential bonuses, round out the breadth of topics.

Each one underscores different aspects of workplace culture, policies, and interpersonal dynamics that can impact employee experiences and relationships within the organization.

We have automation now

Utilizing AI-powered technology alongside collaborative tools or an HRIS can enhance accessibility to information and streamline HR processes. Let’s elaborate on them one-by-one:

Human Resource Information Systems

An HRIS like Workable can streamline the process of answering these questions without requiring in-person interaction. Here’s how:

Policy documentation: An HRIS can store and provide access to company policies and procedures regarding workplace relationships, lunch breaks, digital privacy, job postings, vacation policies, and bonus eligibility. 

Employees can easily refer to these documents online, ensuring clarity and consistency in information dissemination.

Self-service portals: HRIS platforms often include self-service portals where employees can find answers to commonly asked questions. Employees can log in to the portal to access information about company policies, benefits, and procedures, reducing the need for direct HR involvement.

Automated notifications: HRIS systems can automate notifications regarding important updates or changes in policies, job postings, or bonus structures. This ensures that employees are informed in a timely manner, mitigating confusion or frustration over missed opportunities or outdated information.

AI-powered chatbots

This can be combined with the previous one, significantly increasing efficiency.

AI-powered chatbots or virtual assistants integrated into HR platforms can respond to employee queries instantly and accurately. 

These bots can be programmed to understand natural language, providing personalized support on topics such as workplace policies, break schedules, vacation accrual, and internal job postings. 

By leveraging AI, employees can access relevant information without needing direct interaction with HR personnel, promoting self-service and efficiency.

Collaborative tools  

Platforms like Confluence offer centralized repositories for HR-related documentation, including policies, procedures, and FAQs. 

HR teams can maintain up-to-date information on Confluence pages, ensuring employees have access to the latest guidelines and resources avoiding asking awkward questions. 

Employees can search for answers independently within Confluence, finding information on topics such as workplace relationships, vacation policies, organizational hierarchy, and bonus structures. 

Collaborative features allow HR teams to collaborate on document creation and updates, ensuring accuracy and consistency across materials.

Why is it important to avoid the awkward questions

Companies benefit greatly from working to avoid recurring employee questions and automating their resolution processes through HR technology. 

By proactively addressing common inquiries and streamlining responses, companies can save valuable time and resources for both HR professionals and employees. 

Automation reduces the burden on HR staff, allowing them to focus on strategic initiatives and more complex employee needs rather than repetitive administrative tasks. 

Furthermore, by providing clear, consistent, and readily accessible information through self-service portals and automated notifications, companies can improve employee satisfaction, foster a culture of transparency and trust, and enhance overall organizational efficiency. 

Additionally, automation helps ensure compliance with company policies and regulations by consistently applying rules and procedures across the organization. 

Overall, investing in systems to automate and manage employee awkward questions not only enhances HR effectiveness but also contributes to a more productive and engaged workforce.

The post How to use automation to avoid the awkward HR questions appeared first on Recruiting Resources: How to Recruit and Hire Better.

While he excels in her current role, George aspires to understand the broader business implications of the software she helps create. Recognizing her potential, her company offers her a temporary role in the product management team. 

This move is not just a change of scenery for George, it’s an opportunity to understand different aspects of the business, enhance his skills, and contribute more significantly to his organization’s goals. 

This is a prime example of internal mobility, a crucial strategy in modern organizational management that benefits both the employee and the company.

What is internal mobility?

Internal mobility refers to the movement of employees across different roles, departments, or geographies within the same organization. 

It is an integral part of human resource strategies aimed at leveraging existing talent by providing opportunities for growth and development while filling internal needs for key skills. 

There are three types of internal mobility

• Lateral moves: These occur when an employee moves from one role to another at the same level. These moves are often aimed at broadening an individual’s skills and experience.
• Promotions: Moving an employee to a higher-level position within the organization, which typically involves more responsibilities and a change in job status.
• Temporary assignments or rotations: These are short-term changes in an employee’s role, often used for project-based work or developmental purposes, much like George’s move to the product management team.

Objectives of internal mobility

The objectives of internal mobility are diverse and impact various aspects of organizational health and employee engagement:

1. Career development

Internal mobility is instrumental in career development, providing employees like George opportunities to learn new skills and gain exposure to different facets of the business. 

This not only helps in building a versatile skill set but also prepares employees for higher responsibilities, making them well-rounded professionals.

2. Organizational agility

Today, organizational agility is more crucial than ever. Internal mobility allows companies to quickly reallocate resources to where they are most needed, adapting swiftly to market changes and business needs without the delays of external hiring processes.

3. Retention and satisfaction

Internal mobility is closely linked to higher rates of employee retention. 

According to data from LinkedIn’s 2023 Workplace Learning report, employees who have made an internal move by the end of their second year with a company have a 75% likelihood of staying, compared to a 56% likelihood among those who remained in the same position.

Employees are less likely to seek opportunities outside if they feel their current employer supports their career development and offers them new challenges. 

This is particularly relevant in industries with high turnover rates, like technology and digital services.

The benefits for your organization

We’ve already highlighted the objectives of internal mobility. But what about the additional benefits for the company? From enhanced collaboration to strategic alignment, companies stand to gain significantly from this process.

1. Strategic alignment and succession planning

By allowing employees to traverse various roles and departments, organizations can develop a workforce that understands multiple aspects of the business. This understanding is crucial when identifying potential leaders for succession planning, ensuring the company’s future is in knowledgeable and capable hands.

2. Enhanced collaboration and innovation

When employees move across departments, they bring unique perspectives that can lead to innovative solutions and improve collaboration. This cross-pollination of ideas is crucial for innovation, helping break down silos and fostering a culture of continuous improvement and creative problem-solving.

3. Cultural integration

As employees move within an organization, they spread and reinforce the company culture. This movement helps in building a unified culture that supports the organization’s values across all departments, which is essential for maintaining a cohesive work environment.

There are challenges too

While the benefits of internal mobility are clear, several barriers can impede its successful implementation. 

Common challenges include managerial resistance to losing top talent, lack of a structured internal mobility program, and inadequate HR technologies to track employee skills and match them to internal opportunities. 

Overcoming these barriers requires a proactive approach, beginning with strong leadership support to champion the benefits of mobility.

A Deloitte survey reveals that only 6% of respondents believe their organizations excel at moving people from role to role, and 59% rate their ability as fair or inadequate. The survey also indicated that 49% of respondents see a lack of processes to identify and move employees as a major barrier​.

AI can change the way we think about internal mobility

The advent of artificial intelligence and other new technologies has created new job roles and increased the necessity for internal mobility, ensuring that organizations can quickly fill roles that are newly significant or have never existed before​.

Utilizing AI technology, organizations can now pinpoint skill deficiencies and identify internal candidates primed for career advancement, according to Tom Baker, Head of Talent and Resourcing at M&G. 

This approach ensures that individuals possessing the requisite skills and potential are duly considered for new opportunities within the company.

While encouraging employees to take charge of their career paths is a common discourse in talent management, equipping them with the right tools remains imperative. 

AI-powered tools can be a pivotal solution in this regard. These platforms empower employees to craft personalized learning journeys, pinpoint relevant training programs, and align their career trajectories with individual interests and organizational skill needs. 

Consequently, employees can proactively acquire the skills necessary for future roles, fostering a culture of continuous growth and development.

In addition, AI-driven predictive analytics emerge as invaluable allies, simplifying the complexities of this task. 

By analyzing workforce data and industry trends, these tools forecast forthcoming skill requirements and potential talent shortages. 

Armed with such foresight, talent leaders can devise effective strategies, ensuring the organization maintains a well-equipped workforce ready to tackle future challenges head-on.

Best practices for effective internal mobility programs

To implement a successful internal mobility program, organizations should adopt several best practices:

• Leadership support: Encourage leaders to endorse and actively participate in the mobility program.
• Clear policies and procedures: Develop transparent policies that outline the process for internal applications, selection criteria, and career development opportunities.
• Effective communication: Regularly communicate the availability of internal opportunities and success stories to motivate employees to participate in the program.
• Robust HR systems: Invest in HR technology that can track employee skills, career aspirations, and internal job openings to facilitate the matching process.

By investing in robust internal mobility practices, companies can retain top talent, adapt to changing market conditions, and ensure a competitive edge in their industry.

The post Internal mobility: benefits, challenges, and the impact of AI appeared first on Recruiting Resources: How to Recruit and Hire Better.

From automating routine tasks to facilitating data-driven decision-making, AI empowers HR professionals to transcend traditional boundaries and embrace a strategic role. 

Learning and development (L&D) teams recognize this shift. According to the LinkedIn Executive Confidence Index, in the next six months, nine out of 10 global executives plan to either increase or keep steady their investment in L&D, including upskilling and reskilling.

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Moreover, 60% of CEOs acknowledge the positive ripple effect of robust upskilling programs on company culture and revenue projections, underscoring the organizational benefits of embracing AI. 

As we move further into the AI revolution in HR, the focus sharpens on the specific upskilling opportunities for HR professionals that promise to redefine the role of HR professionals in this new era.

Essential AI skills for HR professionals

Here are some helpful skills you need to have or update in order to boost your productivity in the HR field.

1. Data analytics

Mastery in data analytics is no longer optional; it’s crucial for making informed decisions that drive talent acquisition and retention. As AI reshapes the landscape, HR professionals must also become proficient in automation and Robotic Process Automation (RPA), streamlining processes and enhancing efficiency.

This skill is crucial for identifying trends in employee performance, predicting turnover, and understanding the efficacy of HR policies. 

Mastery in data analysis means HR can forecast hiring needs, tailor retention strategies, and build a more engaged, productive workforce. The ability to sift through data and derive meaningful insights is no longer a nice-to-have but a must-have in the toolkit of modern HR professionals.

Automation in HR not only accelerates tasks like payroll processing and benefits administration but also minimizes errors, freeing HR professionals to focus on more strategic initiatives. 

Understanding and deploying RPA means transforming the HR function into a more agile and strategic partner in the business, capable of delivering more value with less effort.

2. Ethical AI use and bias mitigation

In the realm of AI, ethical use and bias mitigation are paramount. HR professionals are at the vanguard, ensuring that AI tools are implemented in a way that is fair and inclusive. 

This involves scrutinizing AI applications for inherent biases, promoting transparency in AI decision-making processes, and advocating for the ethical collection and use of data. 

By championing ethical AI, HR not only safeguards organizational integrity but also fosters a culture of trust and fairness.

3. Formal education and certification programs

The urgency for reskilling is clear, with the World Economic Forum reporting that 50% of all employees will need new skills within the next five years. 

As the demand for AI-savvy HR professionals grows, so does the availability of formal education and certification programs designed to upskill HR practitioners. 

These programs, ranging from online courses to full-blown certifications, cover essential topics like data analytics, machine learning, and ethical AI use. 

Investing in formal education not only enhances an HR professional’s skill set but also positions them as a strategic asset within their organization, ready to lead in the AI era.

HR professionals can stay ahead through formal education and certification programs, particularly those focusing on AI.

Lastly, 93% of Millennial and Gen Z workers expect employers to provide learning opportunities. With Millennials set to make up 75% of the U.S. workforce by 2030, catering to their expectations for on-the-job training is crucial for retention and organizational growth​

With these generations set to dominate the workforce, offering regular upskilling programs can significantly impact retention and attract top talent, ensuring that organizations remain competitive in the rapidly changing business environment.

Related: Learning & Development trends: There’s no one size fits all, reports say

4. On-the job training

Practical, hands-on experience with AI tools and platforms is invaluable. 

Many organizations now offer on-the-job training programs that allow HR professionals to learn by applying AI technologies to real-world HR challenges. 

This experiential learning approach helps demystify AI, encouraging innovation and experimentation within the safe confines of the organization. It’s a powerful way to build confidence and competence in using AI to solve everyday HR problems.

The significance of on-the-job training is underscored by a study from MIT Sloan School of Management, which found a 250% return on investment from soft skills training within just eight months. 

Envision the significant ripple effects of equipping the workforce with AI expertise, empowering them to reduce time spent on manual tasks and amplify overall productivity. This shift transcends the HR realm, resonating across all facets of the organization.

5. Networking and professional development

Staying abreast of the latest AI trends and best practices in HR requires active engagement with the broader HR and tech communities. 

Networking events, professional associations, and HR tech conferences provide invaluable opportunities for HR professionals to exchange ideas, learn from peers, and discover new technologies. 

This ongoing professional development is crucial for HR professionals looking to leverage AI effectively, ensuring they remain at the cutting edge of HR innovation.

Work smarter, not harder

In the busy world of HR, professionals have to handle lots of tasks quickly. Education helps them share important knowledge with the whole company. But here’s where things get tricky.

Many think that working harder is the only way to get things done. But the real trick is working smarter, not harder. How? By using HR tools with AI, like Workable HR software. These tools are easy to use and help HR pros make the most of technology.

By using these tools, HR folks can make their work easier and get better results. It’s like having a secret weapon that helps them do more with less effort, moving the whole company forward faster.

For HR professionals ready to lead in this new era, the path forward is clear: invest in learning, adapt with innovation, and commit to ethical practice, thus steering the future of work towards a horizon brimming with potential.

The post The great talent shift – and the need for leaders and L&D appeared first on Recruiting Resources: How to Recruit and Hire Better.

Labor market dynamics and employer-employee power shift

The dynamics of the labor market are undergoing a significant transformation, influenced in part by the cooling labor market. As reported by ABC News, some of Australia’s largest employers are leveraging performance bonuses to entice staff back to the office, indicating a shift in the balance of power towards employers.

This trend is mirrored globally, with companies like Google, Meta, and Amazon mandating office attendance for at least three days a week and tying compliance to performance reviews.

The decline in employment numbers, such as the 65,100 drop in Australia in December as reported by Investing, suggests a cooling labor market that could further empower employers in the work-from-home equation.

For HR professionals, this shift necessitates a strategic approach to employee engagement and retention. It’s crucial to balance the enforcement of RTO policies with the maintenance of a positive work culture and employee satisfaction.

This balancing act involves not only crafting policies that reflect the company’s operational needs but also addressing employee preferences for flexibility and autonomy.

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Remote turned to hybrid and that works

Hybrid work, a concept that marries remote and in-office work, has swiftly transitioned from a temporary measure to a mainstay in corporate strategy.

The hybrid work ‘agreement’, if we can call it that, seems to be the middle ground, as Workable predicted in a report back in 2022.

However, Resumebuilder report highlights that an overwhelming majority, approximately nine in ten companies with office space, are set to have employees return to the office by the end of 2024. 51% of them have already achieved that at the moment. 

Yet, this return is far from a straightforward revival of pre-pandemic norms. This shift is not merely a top-down directive but reflects a broader consensus on work preferences. 

A survey by Bankrate, involving over 2,000 adults in the U.S., reveals that around 68% of full-time workers are in favor of a hybrid schedule, which allows for at least one remote workday per week. 

This model strikes a harmonious balance, merging the collaborative benefits of office presence with the flexibility and autonomy afforded by remote work. 

For HR practitioners, this trend underscores a clear mandate: the workplace of the future must be adaptable, catering to both the individual preferences of employees and the overarching goals of the organization. 

It suggests a move towards creating environments that not only enhance productivity and engagement but also prioritize employee well-being.

Regional variations in office recovery

The journey back to the office is far from uniform, with significant disparities in recovery rates across regions. 

Insights from Placer.ai’s December 2023 Office Index shed light on these variations. New York City, for instance, showcased a promising year-over-four-year visit gap of just 19.2% in December 2023, a testament to its robust recovery. 

In stark contrast, San Francisco reported a visit gap of 53.1%, underscoring the challenges some regions face in rebounding to pre-pandemic office visitation levels.

These discrepancies underscore the impact of localized factors — from the composition of industries and public health directives to the sentiments of the workforce — on the implementation and success of RTO strategies. 

For HR leaders, this emphasizes the need for policies that are not only flexible but also attuned to the specific contexts and needs of their workforce. 

Tailoring RTO approaches to accommodate these regional dynamics can significantly enhance an organization’s ability to navigate the complexities of a post-pandemic recovery, ensuring that strategies are both effective and empathetic to employee concerns.

Employer strategies for encouraging office returns

From performance bonuses to the integration of office attendance into performance evaluations, employers are adopting more structured approaches to manage hybrid work models. 

CNBC reports that nearly 30% of companies have stated they would consider termination for employees who resist compliance with in-office requirements, highlighting the tension between operational needs and employee preferences for flexibility.

Remember the video of WebMD? Check more about it here.

As you can see, there are right ways and wrong ways to encourage RTO. For HR professionals, devising these policies is a balancing act. It involves aligning organizational objectives with employee well-being and preferences, ensuring that the workplace remains a space of productivity and collaboration – without compromising on the flexibility that has become a hallmark of the modern work environment.

Productivity and engagement concerns

The debate over the impact of remote work on productivity and engagement remains unresolved, with data presenting a mixed picture. Yahoo Finance highlights that employee productivity in the U.S. saw fluctuations, with a notable increase in 2020 and 2021, followed by a dip and then a rise again in 2023. These variations suggest that the effectiveness of remote versus in-office work is contingent on several factors, including job nature, company culture, and individual preferences.

The transition to hybrid work models has further complicated this debate. While some argue that remote work enhances productivity by reducing commute times and allowing for a more flexible work-life balance, others contend that it can diminish team cohesion and impede spontaneous collaboration.

For HR departments, navigating these concerns requires a nuanced understanding of the factors that drive productivity and engagement within their specific organizational context.

Implementing regular feedback mechanisms, fostering a culture of trust, and providing the tools and resources necessary for effective remote and in-office work are essential strategies in this regard.

How big companies deal with RTO

Different organizations have taken varied approaches to the post-pandemic work environment, ranging from strict office-first strategies to more flexible hybrid models. Here’s how some of the world’s leading companies are adapting:

Office-first strategy

Goldman Sachs: Under the leadership of CEO David Solomon, Goldman Sachs has taken a firm stance on the importance of in-person work, particularly for its collaborative and apprenticeship-driven culture. 

In March 2022, Solomon mandated a return to the office five days a week for all employees. He has been vocal about his belief that remote working does not align with the company’s ethos of innovation and collaboration, emphasizing the need for an office-first approach to maintain the firm’s dynamic work environment.

Hybrid approach

Adobe: In June 2021, Adobe announced a shift towards a hybrid work model, allowing employees to divide their time between home and the office. Chief People Officer Gloria Chen highlighted the model’s flexibility, designed to support significant in-person and virtual collaboration. 

This approach aims to balance the benefits of physical presence with the convenience of remote work, ensuring that employees gather for critical moments and maintain productivity and creativity.

Airbnb: CEO Brian Chesky’s announcement in May 2022 marked a significant departure from traditional work models, allowing employees to work from anywhere in the world without affecting their salary. 

This policy enables staff to relocate from high-cost areas to more affordable locations, a stark contrast to companies that adjust salaries based on geographic cost-of-living differences. Airbnb’s approach reflects a commitment to flexibility and employee well-being, acknowledging the diverse needs and preferences of its workforce.

Amazon: Initially, Amazon introduced a hybrid work model permitting employees to work remotely two days a week. 

However, in a pivot in February 2023, CEO Andy Jassy announced a new expectation for employees to be present at Amazon’s headquarters at least three days a week. 

This adjustment aims to enhance communication, collaboration, and innovation by fostering more consistent in-person interactions among team members.

Apple: Apple’s approach to hybrid work, announced by CEO Tim Cook in June 2021, requires employees to be in the office three days a week (Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday). 

Despite facing some resistance and calls for greater flexibility from its workforce, Apple has upheld this policy. The company believes that this model best supports its goals for in-person collaboration, which is seen as essential for creativity and team cohesion.

Challenges and opportunities for HR in the hybrid era

The transition to hybrid work models presents a unique set of challenges and opportunities for HR professionals. 

As the architects of the workplace’s future, HR has a pivotal role in crafting policies that support both organizational objectives and employee well-being. 

This involves not only navigating the logistical complexities of hybrid work arrangements but also addressing the cultural shifts that accompany this transition.

One of the primary challenges is maintaining a cohesive company culture in a dispersed work environment. HR must innovate to create shared experiences and foster a sense of belonging among remote and in-office employees alike. 

This might involve leveraging technology to facilitate virtual team-building activities or reimagining office spaces to encourage collaboration when employees are on-site.

Another significant challenge is ensuring equity and fairness in opportunities and evaluations for remote and in-office employees. HR must develop clear guidelines and metrics for performance assessment that recognize the contributions of all employees, regardless of their physical work location.

On the opportunity side, the hybrid model offers HR the chance to redesign work in a way that prioritizes employee flexibility, autonomy, and work-life balance. This can lead to increased job satisfaction, reduced turnover, and a more attractive employer brand.

The post Dell’s remote work ultimatum: is it the right decision? appeared first on Recruiting Resources: How to Recruit and Hire Better.

If you were an employer encouraged to do that for your teams? Maybe yes, maybe no.

The topic of the 32-hour workweek – also described as the four-day workweek – is top of mind for those in the business community after US Senator Bernie Sanders presented new legislation calling for a shortened workweek without a reduction in pay.

If passed, any hours worked above 32 in a week would mandate overtime pay.

Why this and why now?

It’s been a wild year – we’re seeing technology in the form of artificial intelligence becoming a mainstay at work for many, and an increased pressure on higher productivity among workers who are operating in times of austerity. And the logic is that this trend needs to be curtailed before it gets out of hand.

According to the New York Times, Sanders said: “The sad reality is that Americans now work more hours than the people of any other wealthy nation.” He cites data that US workers work far more hours than their peers in other countries including Japan, the UK, and Germany.

“The sad reality is that Americans now work more hours than the people of any other wealthy nation.”

Does Sanders have a point? Let’s get into the conversation.

32-hour workweek: the experiences

Let’s first look at those who have actually done it. Matt Buchanan at Service Direct introduced alternating 32-hour workweeks as a three-month experiment in his own company in 2022, and shared his story with Workable.

The result at Service Direct was mostly positive – all workers wanted to keep it after the trial period ended, 93% said productivity improved and 85% said they felt more rested and happier at work.

Meanwhile, 4 Day Week Global (4DWG) – yes, that’s a real organization – found huge value in a four-day workweek based on trials in a number of countries including the US, UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, and a handful of other countries since its inception as a consultancy to willing parties in 2019.

4DWG found that employee engagement went through the roof, with a 42% decrease in employee turnover and 68% decrease in burnout.

Employees actually want it too according to 4DWG data – with 63% of participating organizations now finding it easier to attract new talent to their open jobs when operating on a four-day workweek schedule.

32-hour workweek – take it or leave it?

But take that with a grain of salt. The Washington Post reports that two thirds of the companies in the UK trial, for instance, had fewer than 25 employees – allowing for greater flexibility in hours than larger, more standardized enterprise organizations.

Also, their willingness to participate suggests they’re already looking to move in that direction.

Additionally, according to WaPo, 90% of the employees involved in the pilot project were White – indicating potential privileges that allow for greater flexibility in this group.

And Reddit, of course, has opinions too

A quick scan of Reddit posts suggests that there’s more skepticism than one might realize. A quick glance at a new thread in the popular online site suggests there’s plenty of support for it – but again, with a healthy dose of skepticism.

For instance, Reddit user gracelyy wrote:

“Of course I love it in theory. In reality people are greedy and don’t wanna pay their workers more, so they’re going to try to find any loophole they can in order to make sure your pay is decreased if you work that 32 hour mandatory workweek.”

“Of course I love it in theory. In reality people are greedy and don’t wanna pay their workers more, so they’re going to try to find any loophole they can in order to make sure your pay is decreased if you work that 32 hour mandatory workweek.”

And there’s more pain than that, too:

“As much as I want it to pass.. it won’t. The entire country needs a major overhaul in order for anything like that to even pass the House,much less end up on anyone’s desk who won’t immediately trash it. And if it does ‘pass’, they’re gonna jack up prices and force a false inflation to account for how much they’re gonna be forced to pay workers. Then all of a sudden you’ll need 5 million to retire instead of 2 mil.. if you do retire.”

Which invited this retort from DetectiveJoeKenda:

“Imagine if all of the labour organizers and workers who fought for the rights we have now thought like you. I’m glad they didn’t.”

Well, it can work, right?

User lostmindplzhelp then shared their past experience with the four-day workweek:

“I had it for a few years before Covid came along. We worked 32 hours but got paid for 40. It was pretty awesome but I saw it as a raise they could take away at any moment, which is what happened once business slowed down and the company had to start minimizing expenses. Now I work 32 hours there, get paid for 32, and work somewhere else on weekends to make up for the lost income.”

But all in all, it’s a nice experience for everyone involved:

“Our company is not very productive so it had no effect on productivity. Having a weekday off was nice. The schedule was staggered so some of us worked Monday-Thursday and some worked Tuesday-Friday and the office could stay open as usual. TLDR it’s pretty cool.”

The almighty dollar has something to say

Money, of course, was a hot topic. For instance, flsingleguy suggests that this is something much needed in the modern working world.

“Wages in the U.S. have stagnated since the early 1970s. Between 1979 and 2020, workers’ wages grew by 17.5% while productivity grew over three times as fast at 61.8%. The 32 hour workweek would be an effective way to bridge that gap and give people the time they really need in this crazy world.”

But it’s not always feasible

Wages are nice, but employers have their own needs, according to bklynboyz2, who wrote:

“How about a 5 hour week? One hour week? 10 minute week? You do know companies need to make money if you expect same pay with less hours? Then you complain WAH WAH I am not paid enough!”

Realistic_Salt7109 agreed:

“Who is gonna force employers to pay 20% more? Without repercussions?”

Mooblegum also pointed to the downsides of a four-day workweek in this comment in another Reddit thread from four months earlier:

“Like always, it will be more people without jobs and the rest working full time or even overtime. It is like this in my country in France, many have no jobs but the government just decided to make people work until 64 (it was 62 until now).”

The role of AI in the four-day workweek

We mentioned the role of artificial intelligence above as a reasoning for Sanders’ new legislation. There’s a huge reality there.

Data from London-based news-and-events resource Tech.co collected in late 2023 shows it. In their 2024 Impact of Technology on the Workplace study, which surveyed more than 1,000 business leaders, they found that 29% of businesses on a four-day workweek use AI extensively in their work processes – this includes ChatGPT and other programs to support overall operations.

On the flip side, just 8% of those on a standard five-day workweek use AI to the same extent.

The correlation between AI-driven productivity and the propensity for a four-day workweek is clear:

Closely related is that nearly three out of four (72%) of businesses experienced higher productivity with heavy use of AI in work processes.

So does this mean organizations can do more with less when using AI – and therefore are able to shift to a four-day workweek without a loss in productivity?

The answer is a resounding yes, with 93% of business leaders at AI-focused companies either considering or having already introduced a four-day workweek in their overall business strategy.

But does it work in the real world?

Again, there are many opinions on this at Reddit. Users like PmMeYourBeavertails, were quick to point out the impracticalities of a four-day workweek in terms of time investment and resources:

“How would a 32 hour week work for manual labor? You can’t check out 40 hours worth of customers in 32 hours. Stores will have to hire someone else to cover those 8 hours, resulting in price increases. You also can’t see 40 hours worth of patients in 32 hours, or wait 40 hours worth of tables. Wanna build a house? That’s now gonna take you 20% longer or will be 20% more expensive.”

‘More for less’ will hurt workers

Workable’s AI in Hiring & Work survey report for 2024 finds that workers are more efficient in their jobs when using AI – with three in four workers (75.7%) saying AI has enhanced productivity in their day-to-day work by a little or by a lot.

But is that a good thing? Not necessarily.

For instance, DumpTrumpGrump suggested in the previous Reddit thread that there’s other motivations for employers using AI that may not be so beneficial for employees:

“[Companies] will just hire fewer workers and expect higher productivity out of the ones they do hire. I’m using AI every day right now and comfortably doing the job of 3-4 people right now which is only possible because (1) the work I’m doing for jobs normally outside my specific hired role can be greatly assisted by current AI options and (2)! there’s no one else in the company who can adequately do you those roles nor budget to hire for them. When budget [becomes] available, I [expect] we will hire someone who is only working 15 hours per week but still gonna be expected to show up every day.

And “getting more done with less” continues to be a point of contention:

“Eventually you’ll start seeing the consolidation of jobs. For example a marketing job might end up doing all ad spend, SEO, SEM, content / copy creation and design (web and graphic) whereas most mid-sized companies would split those roles into 3 or 4 roles today.”

Everything old is new again?

Another user, radio_gaia, lamented that the whole AI-driven work environment is just another reflection the same old, same old:

“We’ve heard this before albeit not about AI. Same capitalism model will kill this dream again. The best thing an individual can do is build a skill set that has more demand than supply to be able to earn enough to live and work less hours if they choose to do so. It’s always the same.”

32-hour workweeks may be here to stay

Whatever people think or don’t think, it seems that the trend is heading in that direction anyway. A report from the UK-based think tank Autonomy predicted that by 2033, 28% of the total workforce in the UK would be working in the four-day workweek and 88% of the workforce would see working hours reduced by 10%. Again, a correlation between the integration of AI and the standardizatio of four-day workweeks.

The end result? Quality of life increases for workers. That’s one of the reasonings behind Sanders’ proposed legislative change.

That’s the hoped-for end game for many. But will worker happiness and better health be the end result? We will have to see.

The post Sanders’ 32-hour workweek: what Reddit & employers think appeared first on Recruiting Resources: How to Recruit and Hire Better.

This form of on-the-job training allows employees to closely follow their more experienced colleagues, not just to observe but to engage with the day-to-day activities that drive success in various roles within an organization. 

Let’s explore the positive outcomes of job shadowing and the multiple benefits—not just for the individuals involved but for the organization as a whole.

What is job shadowing?

Unlike traditional training programs that often rely on hypothetical scenarios, job shadowing grounds learning in the reality of the workplace, offering insights into the practical challenges and strategies that define various roles. 

From mastering specific technical skills to understanding the broader organizational culture, job shadowing provides a unique vantage point from which employees can envision their future within the company and identify pathways for career advancement.

Through this immersive learning experience, the shadowing employees uncover the nuances of different positions, gaining insights that are seldom found in manuals or traditional training sessions. 

Key benefits of job shadowing

To prove that job shadowing is a holistic approach that not only aligns individual aspirations with organizational goals but also cultivates a culture of continuous learning and collaboration, we have gathered some of the major benefits and their impact on both the organization and its employees. 

For the organization

Talent development: Job shadowing is a testament to an organization’s commitment to nurturing its talent pool. By facilitating direct knowledge transfer from experienced professionals to eager learners, organizations can cultivate a workforce that is not only skilled but also aligned with the company’s goals and values.

Increased employee engagement: A survey by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) in 2021 highlighted a compelling statistic: 89% of organizations with job shadowing programs reported improved employee engagement. 

This underscores the role of job shadowing in fostering a sense of belonging and motivation among employees, as they feel valued and see clear opportunities for growth within the organization.

Succession planning: Job shadowing is an effective tool for preparing employees for future roles, especially in leadership positions. By understanding the complexities and responsibilities of different roles, employees are better equipped to step into these positions when the time comes, ensuring a smoother transition and continuity of operations.

Cross-functional collaboration: By exposing employees to different departments and functions, job shadowing breaks down silos and promotes a culture of collaboration. Understanding the interdependencies and challenges faced by various teams enhances cooperation and drives collective success.

For employees

Career development: Job shadowing opens the door to a world of possibilities within the organization, allowing employees to explore various career paths and identify where their interests and skills align best.

Skill acquisition: A 2022 study by the National Career Development Association (NCDA) found that 82% of participants in job shadowing programs reported feeling more confident in their career choices (NCDA: Career Development Quarterly, Volume 70, Issue 4, 2022). This boost in confidence stems from the hands-on experience and knowledge gained through direct observation and interaction, equipping employees with the skills needed to excel in their current roles and beyond.

Networking: Job shadowing naturally facilitates networking within the organization, enabling employees to build valuable relationships with colleagues across different departments. These connections can prove invaluable for career development and mentorship opportunities.

Increased job satisfaction: Understanding the broader impact of their work and seeing the potential for career advancement within the organization can significantly enhance job satisfaction among employees. Job shadowing provides a clear picture of how individual contributions fit into the larger organizational goals, fostering a sense of purpose and fulfillment.

Implementing job shadowing in your organization

The successful implementation of a job shadowing program requires careful planning, clear objectives, and a structured approach. Here’s how organizations can effectively introduce and manage job shadowing:

Planning and goal setting

Begin by defining the specific goals you aim to achieve through job shadowing. Whether it’s to enhance skill sets, improve interdepartmental understanding, or prepare employees for future roles, having clear objectives will guide the structure of your program. 

Consider the needs of your workforce and the strategic goals of your organization to ensure alignment.

Selecting participants

Identify both mentors (experienced employees) and mentees (employees seeking to learn) based on their skills, career aspirations, and the goals of the job shadowing program. 

It’s crucial to ensure that mentors have the capacity and interest to share their knowledge, while mentees should demonstrate a genuine curiosity and willingness to learn.

Structuring the shadowing experience

Determine the duration and format of the job shadowing experience. Some roles may require only a few days of shadowing to grasp the essentials, while others might benefit from a longer period. 

Outline the activities and interactions that will take place, including observation, hands-on tasks, and feedback sessions. Providing a structured agenda helps maximize the learning experience for the mentee while minimizing disruptions to the mentor’s work.

Measuring success

Establish metrics to evaluate the effectiveness of the job shadowing program. Feedback from participants, improvements in job performance, and increased engagement levels can all serve as indicators of success. 

Regularly review these metrics to identify areas for improvement and ensure the program continues to meet its objectives.

Best practices for effective job shadowing

To maximize the benefits of job shadowing, consider the following best practices:

Ensuring a good match

The compatibility between mentor and mentee is crucial for a successful job shadowing experience. Take into account personality, learning styles, and professional interests when pairing participants to ensure a productive and positive relationship.

Clear communication

Set clear expectations for both mentors and mentees regarding the goals, responsibilities, and outcomes expected from the job shadowing experience. Open lines of communication help prevent misunderstandings and ensure both parties are fully engaged in the process.

Support and resources

Provide mentors and mentees with the resources and support they need to make the most of the job shadowing experience. This may include training for mentors on how to effectively share their knowledge and resources for mentees to document and reflect on their learning.

Continuous improvement

Solicit feedback from participants after each job shadowing cycle to identify successes and areas for improvement. Use this feedback to refine and enhance the program, adapting to changing organizational needs and participant feedback.

As organizations look to the future, the implementation of job shadowing programs will be a key differentiator in attracting, developing, and retaining top talent. The challenges associated with job shadowing are not insurmountable and, with the right approach, can be turned into opportunities for further growth and development.

For HR professionals and organizational leaders, the message is clear: investing in job shadowing is investing in the future of your workforce and your organization. 

The post Job shadowing at work – How can it benefit your organization? appeared first on Recruiting Resources: How to Recruit and Hire Better.

Read more: COVID-19 big shifts: The workplace will stay remote controlled

This shift has been driven by advancements in communication technologies and pandemic-induced changes to workers’ and organizations’ preferences.

Loneliness increases in remote work

However, with the increased adoption of remote work comes new challenges for organizations and workers, particularly when it comes to feelings of isolation and a lack of community among remote workers. If you’ve been working outside of the office, either full-time or for part of the week, you likely identify with these feelings.

Remote teams often have fewer opportunities to interact and face difficulties in building camaraderie and solidarity, which are critical for workers’ happiness and satisfaction. Our team at UC Berkeley recently conducted a study on remote teams that highlights this concern.

Using empirical evidence from a one-week field experiment in India, we found that remote work eroded within-team solidarity, which led to remote teams being 75% less likely than on-site teams to ‘voice upward’ – in other words, to bring grievances to their managers.

Our findings underscore the crucial role of interpersonal interactions in fostering a sense of belonging and community within a workplace, and how the absence of these interactions can have detrimental effects on remote workers.

There’s a tech for everything

The good news is that there are solutions that can help you alleviate isolation. One compelling solution is virtual coworking, which experienced a surge in popularity during the pandemic. When engaged in virtual coworking, users join timed, quiet “coworking” sessions, often over video. These sessions enable workers to focus on independent tasks in the presence of others.

Read more: Remote work technology: the road ahead is digital

We estimate that virtual coworking platforms have collectively amassed more than 100,000 active users and 10 million sessions – pointing to the critical mass of users adopting this practice as part of their daily work structure.

Some of the major virtual coworking service providers aim to offer a community and sense of accountability to workers — especially those who may be physically distant but can cowork virtually.

One such platform we’ve been studying, called Groove, takes the community aspect one step further. During its 50-minute coworking sessions, Groove enables users to connect with each other via in-app messages. They can even build cohorts of like-minded individuals called “Orbits” that help facilitate future ‘Grooves’ together, build stronger bonds, and offer greater support over the long term.

Replicating the office environment

Interviews we conducted with remote workers point to the potential positive impacts that virtual coworking could have on individuals’ professional and personal lives.

Interviewees consistently spoke to the effectiveness of virtual coworking in acting like a pseudo-“office” environment that mirrors the camaraderie found in traditional office settings; increasing their sense of accountability and work structure, and reducing their isolation.

For example, a freelance digital marketer who started a new job abroad explains: “During the pandemic, for health-related reasons [or] timezone-related reasons … trying to connect remotely with someone was very difficult […] So, [virtual coworking] was one of my only social interactions for being in a place where I didn’t have a strong community.”

A remote financial advisor also expresses appreciation for the unique community of virtual coworkers: “These are people who will [be] vulnerable […] or honest at the beginning [of the session], ‘I’m struggling today and this is stressing me out.’”

Virtual coworkers also share camaraderie: “[It’s] nice to have accountability, … [and] to commiserate with other people doing it,” a remote data analyst told us.

Overall, working virtually with friends or even strangers seemed to provide a sense of community similar to that of an in-person work environment.

Overcoming isolation among remote workers is imperative for the sustainability of remote work in the long run. Insights from our research suggest that virtual coworking has the potential to be a transformative solution.

As remote work continues to evolve, it is essential to prioritize solutions that not only enhance individual productivity but also nurture workers’ overall happiness and satisfaction to create a fulfilling and sustainable work experience. Virtual coworking platforms can be a big help here. Try a few and see if there’s one that works best for you.

Dr. Aruna Ranganathan is an Associate Professor at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business. Her research combines multiple methods to understand what the future of work holds, the ways in which remote work exacerbates or alleviates pre-existing workplace inequalities, and how workers seek meaning in this new world of work.

Angela Tran, who also contributed to this article, is a Research Fellow at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business.

The post Remote work loneliness: how virtual coworking can help appeared first on Recruiting Resources: How to Recruit and Hire Better.

The evidence told them to do so and that it was better for their goals as a school and better for the student applicants. They looked at all students’ test scores after they had been admitted and learned what the impact was.

What on earth does this have to do with your business or hiring practices? In an era when more and more companies and state governments are removing degree requirements, why would it matter to the talent acquisition (TA) world how colleges admit students?

Many reasons, as it happens. Let’s look at Dartmouth’s evidence and break this down.

1. Personal recommendations don’t mean much

What Dartmouth learned: It turns out that personal recommendations and grades that aren’t standardized among schools weren’t as good predictors of success as standardized tests.

What TA can learn from this: It’s not what you know; it’s who you know. This is oft-repeated along with advice to candidates to “network, network, network” their way into jobs.

In addition, giving preference to people who know someone, many companies still require reference checks – not just previous employment checks.

Of course, when asking person A about candidate B, unless you know person A well, you cannot judge their credibility. If someone says, “Candidate B was so whiny and never did his work right!”, you don’t know if that is correct or if the manager was the whiny one who micromanaged.

Using skills-based hiring that can be standardized for certain positions can help avoid this recommendation bias.

2. Removing tests decreased economic diversity

What Dartmouth learned: Students from disadvantaged backgrounds didn’t submit their scores, mistakenly believing that their less-than-perfect scores would disadvantage them. The scores would have shown success in difficult situations.

The researchers who studied the impact of scores wrote, “There are hundreds of less-advantaged applicants with scores in the 1,400 range who should be submitting scores to identify themselves to admissions, but do not under test-optional policies.”

“There are hundreds of less-advantaged applicants with scores in the 1,400 range who should be submitting scores to identify themselves to admissions, but do not under test-optional policies.”

What TA can learn from this: When people think you expect perfection, they may opt-out. If you focus too much on the right connections, you’re going to miss out on people who could do a great job if given the chance.

Universities are sometimes more about connections than about what you learn. In fact, a company that specializes in helping students gain admission to top schools explicitly explains that advantage:

“[Ivy League] connections can open doors to internships, job opportunities, and partnerships in various industries.

“Ivy League alumni networks also offer a sense of exclusivity and access to unique opportunities. From alumni reunions and social events to guest lectures and panels featuring distinguished alumni, there are numerous ways for Ivy League graduates to stay engaged and connected.”

In other words, again, it’s all about who you know and not about what you can do.

The real question TA should focus on is not who recommended this person, but whether this person can do the job.

3. The right tools can help you find people you’d otherwise miss

What Dartmouth learned: The New York Times wrote about Dartmouth:

“For instance, many critics on the political left argue the tests are racially or economically biased, but Beilock said the evidence didn’t support those claims. ‘The research suggests this tool is helpful in finding students we might otherwise miss,’ she said.”

“Many critics on the political left argue the tests are racially or economically biased, but Beilock said the evidence didn’t support those claims. ‘The research suggests this tool is helpful in finding students we might otherwise miss,’ she said.”

What TA can learn from this: Perhaps standardized processes that anyone can use to apply would identify hidden talent.

Of course, candidates don’t like taking tests, and certainly not ones that require significant work. But, perhaps for positions that require specific skills rather than an application, a short skills test could be used.

The key is that you can find people who wouldn’t otherwise have a chance by moving away from subjective criteria (resumes, recommendations) and into objective criteria (skills tests).

4. Look at your real data

What Dartmouth learned: They thought that removing the test requirement would increase their diversity and it didn’t. They hope that reinstating it will increase diversity.

What TA can learn from this: Many companies want to increase diversity at all levels of the organization, but are not terribly successful at this. Take a look at your actual data. Consider the following:

• How do your applicants apply?
• What does your interview process look like?
• What are the similar characteristics of successful employees?
• How can you find candidates with these characteristics?
• Do your processes help evaluate these critical skills?

If you’re willing to truly take a look at how you do things and make changes when you find that things aren’t necessarily what you thought they were, you become better off.

As Dartmouth did with admissions, experimenting with different hiring methods is a good thing, but make sure you follow up your experiments with data analysis.

That way, you’ll improve your overall talent and have the data to show it.

The post Reinstated SAT requirements: why hiring teams should care appeared first on Recruiting Resources: How to Recruit and Hire Better.

The tech industry has witnessed a significant increase in layoffs over the past few years. According to Layoffs.fyi, in 2022, a total of 1,064 tech companies implemented layoffs, leading to the termination of 164,969 tech employees. 

In 2023, the number of tech companies conducting layoffs rose to 1,186, resulting in 262,582 tech employees losing their jobs. 

What really happened?

Pietsch, a former Cloudflare employee, recorded herself during a virtual meeting with HR representatives named Rosie and Dom, seeking answers about her abrupt termination. Despite her inquiries, the HR duo offered scant explanation, citing performance expectations not being met.

@brittanypeachhh Original creator reposting: brittany peach cloudflare layoff. When you know you’re about to get laid off so you film it :) this was traumatizing honestly lmao #cloudflare #techlayoffs #tech #layoff ♬ original sound – Brittany Pietsch

Pietsch, in a mix of frustration and confusion, countered their claims, mentioning her high activity levels and positive feedback from her manager. 

She pressed for transparency, stating, “If that’s the real answer, I would rather just you tell me that instead of making up some bull**it and telling me that right before I lose my job from someone that I’ve never met before.”

Cloudflare CEO, Matthew Prince, responded to the video, admitting the discomfort it caused him and acknowledging the imperfections in the layoff process. He stressed the importance of managers being involved and HR not being entirely outsourced for such delicate matters. 

We fired ~40 sales people out of over 1,500 in our go to market org. That’s a normal quarter. When we’re doing performance management right, we can often tell within 3 months or less of a sales hire, even during the holidays, whether they’re going to be successful or not. Sadly,…

— Matthew Prince (@eastdakota) January 12, 2024

By publicly addressing the issue and openly admitting areas of weakness, Cloudflare signals a willingness to learn and grow from its mistakes. 

The incident has sparked discussions about the role of HR professionals and the need for improved practices in terms of communication during employee layoffs.

@mollybmcpherson Breaking down Cloudflare’s HR crisis response: A deep dive into the aftermath of their viral termination call. #PublicRelations #cloudflare #CrisisCommunication #prlady #prcrisis #chrispaul #HRStrategy #brittany #ceo #corporatecommunication ♬ original sound – Molly McPherson | PR

What HR could do better? 

In the aftermath of the Cloudflare incident, the spotlight now turns toward the broader HR landscape, urging professionals to reflect on what could be done better in such challenging circumstances. 

The lack of transparent communication, evident in the vague performance-related explanation provided, highlights a need for HR to reevaluate their communication strategies during layoffs. 

Action items include:

Transparent communication protocols: Establish clear guidelines for HR representatives to communicate the reasons for layoffs openly and honestly, avoiding vague or generic statements.

Employee-centric approach: Prioritize an employee-centric approach by ensuring that the reasons behind layoffs are conveyed in a way that fosters understanding and allows for questions and clarifications.

Involvement of managers in communication: Enforce policies that mandate the direct involvement of managers in conveying termination decisions, leveraging their existing relationships and understanding of individual performances.

Addressing emotional impact: Develop training programs for HR professionals and managers to navigate emotional conversations during layoffs, acknowledging the potential trauma and offering appropriate support.

Related: Onboarding best practices: boost your new hire experience

The manager’s role and the need of leadership skills

While HR professionals play a vital role in orchestrating layoffs, the manager’s involvement is equally pivotal. Layoffs should not be a surprise for employees, and managers, being more familiar with their team’s dynamics, must actively participate in the process.

Leadership skills come to the forefront during layoffs. Sensitivity, clear communication, and providing support are key elements that define a successful manager in these situations. 

It’s not merely about delivering the news but about doing so with empathy and understanding, recognizing the impact it has on the departing employee as well as those remaining.

Building strong relationships between managers and employees becomes a preventive measure against surprises during layoffs. 

When there is open communication, employees are more likely to be aware of their performance levels and potential areas for improvement. 

A supportive manager can guide employees in navigating challenges, creating a workplace culture that values growth and continuous improvement.

In the context of Cloudflare, the absence of a clear and empathetic communication channel between managers and employees contributed to the sense of shock and dismay. 

The incident underscores the need for HR professionals to champion effective leadership and communication at all levels of the organizational hierarchy.

Turning challenges into opportunities

Within the challenges exposed by the Cloudflare incident lies a roadmap for HR professionals to transform their practices. Proactive measures to turn these challenges into opportunities include:

Feedback integration: Establish regular feedback loops to gather insights from employees about their experiences during layoffs, allowing for continuous improvement in HR practices.

Cultivating a supportive culture: Foster a workplace culture that prioritizes support, empathy, and open communication, creating an environment where employees feel safe to discuss concerns about job security.

Continuous evaluation of layoff processes: Regularly review and refine layoff processes, incorporating lessons learned from incidents like Cloudflare to ensure a more humane and transparent approach in the future.

Related: WebMD’s RTO video: it’s mega cringe, but reflects today’s reality

We need to talk about Brittany, and Gen Z

Brittany Pietsch, 27 years old,  showcased notable soft skills in her response to the layoff at Cloudflare. 

Her effective communication skills were evident as she articulated her thoughts clearly and sought transparent answers during the emotionally charged conversation. 

Demonstrating emotional intelligence, Pietsch expressed the emotional toll of sudden layoffs, highlighting her awareness of both her own and others’ feelings. 

Assertiveness played a key role as she actively questioned the HR representatives, pushing for transparency and genuine reasons behind her termination. 

Her resilience was evident in facing adversity with strength and determination. 

In the face of Pietch, many people from Gen Z saw a representative of their needs. 

Gen Z individuals are motivated by a strong desire for purpose and fulfillment, seeking to make a positive impact in their organizations and society as a whole. 

They prioritize corporate social responsibility (CSR) and value the connection between their work and ethical considerations. 

By 2025, HR departments and managers must be prepared because Gen Z is projected to constitute 27% of the overall workforce. If your answer to this is “yes, and?” then unless you are Ariana Grande, you have to take action. 

As HR professionals continue to refine their practices, the Cloudflare incident serves as a catalyst for positive change, urging organizations to prioritize the well-being of their workforce even in challenging times.

The post Employee layoffs: HR lessons from Cloudflare’s incident appeared first on Recruiting Resources: How to Recruit and Hire Better.

But guess what? Your ATS (applicant tracking system) sucks. As you walk back to your desk (admittedly thankful that this long-winded meeting is finally over), you realize the nightmare that lies ahead: the crappy UIs, the broken buttons, the numerous clicks you have to endure to hire just one person – all that is about to be multiplied by 50.

And the person who has the decision-making power to bring in a new ATS just can’t be bothered, for whatever reason. The guys in IT are blocking it. Finance is slammed at the end of the quarter – that’s enough for you to not even knock on their door.

You know you’ll have to do more than give another lunchtime rant to your boss about the clunky ATS to make a switch happen. You open a new blank document to make your case. But the blank screen is as intimidating as those stern faces in Finance.

So where do you start?

To understand how to make an effective case for new software, it’s good to learn a bit from Product Marketing. That’s right, Product Marketing. This will help you understand why your boss doesn’t and, to an extent, shouldn’t give a shit that you don’t like your ATS’s clunky UI.

You’re probably familiar with the idea of “speaking someone’s language” when trying to persuade them to come around to your way of thinking. But knowing the underlying theory of why that’s important means you can make a more powerful case.

It will also help you personalize any “Convince Your Boss!” marketing collateral you’ve received from ATS vendors you’ve spoken to.

Another way to think about this is to think like a technology vendor. Vendors spend a lot of time thinking about how to sell, position, and talk about their product. This is the responsibility of Product Marketing, and it’s those folks we’ll learn a bit from now.

One of the key roles of Product Marketing is understanding a few simple ideas:

• Who are the buyers of the product?
• Why do the buyers start looking for the product?
• What process do buyers go through when evaluating and selecting a new software like this?
• What is important to the buyers?
• How do we position our product to appeal to those buyers?

In some cases, only one person (“buyer”) is involved in a buying decision, but usually there are more. By and large, in Product Marketing, these buyers are categorized into three groups according to the Pragmatic Marketing Framework. Each of these groups have different priorities:

Economic Buyers

• Hold the budget, sign the check
• Care about costs and ROI
• Request reports from the team to present to management
• Not necessarily users of the product

Functional Buyers

• Users of the product
• Care about features and ease of use
• Create reports for the boss

Technical buyers

• Care a lot about security, compliance, contracts, terms and conditions, access controls, technical details, nitty-gritty of integrations with other business tools in use, etc.
• Not necessarily users of the product
• Often includes legal, IT, operations, finance departments

Know who your players are

Knowing which “buyer bucket” the interested players in your company fall into is essential to the success of your business case for a new ATS. Let’s take a fictional company, Albion Inc. – relatively large, and in the exact same situation as you are: getting ready for hypergrowth for the upcoming year. Let’s meet some of their staff:

Jenny

Jenny is the HR Generalist who, as part of her role, looks after recruitment. If you were at Albion, you’d probably be Jenny.

Beth

Beth, the VP of Human Resources, is Jenny’s boss. She is responsible for all aspects of HR including budget management and planning.

Alex

Alex is the Sales Director. Albion is doing well and his team is growing fast, so he’s always hiring. In this case, he’s the hiring manager.

Georgina

Georgina is the Director of Operations. She doesn’t have any responsibility for hiring, but she is responsible for the maintenance, seamless integration, and security of Albion’s internal IT and tools — in other words, Albion’s tech stack.

Know their pain points and motivations

Now, let’s look at how each of them factors into the overall decision to purchase a new applicant tracking system:

Jenny

Jenny’s the one who just got out of the aforementioned “We’re growing by 50% this year” meeting. She is, to say the least, unhappy with the ATS Albion is currently using. It’s clunky, outdated and hard to use, and it’s slowing her down. She feels like she is spending more time on admin than on recruiting.

Jenny still has to do big chunks of recruiting herself that she is sure software could be handling, such as interview scheduling or advertising on job boards.

The headache doesn’t end there: she’s also feeling overwhelmed because she cannot stay organized and spends too much time chasing hiring managers, like Alex, for feedback on candidates. She’s simply given up on trying to get them to use their ATS at all.

Beth

Jenny has brought this up several times with her boss and decision maker, Beth, without much success. Beth, whilst understanding of Jenny’s frustrations, doesn’t see – yet – how a change to the ATS can be feasible.

To some extent, Jenny is the victim of her own success. She’s made the bad software work OK up to now by using workarounds and a lot of extra sweat and tears.

But Jenny knows this current setup will no longer work with the big growth plans. She’s at the end of her tether, and, just as she should be getting excited about the growth of the company, she’s looking down the barrel of a frustrating and stressful year.

Alex

Meanwhile, around the corner, Alex isn’t happy either. He needs to hire fast and he doesn’t feel like he knows what’s happening. Where are his resumes to review? What happened to that great candidate they spoke about last week? Did Jenny even follow up with the ones that Alex referred her to?

He loves Jenny as a colleague and as a friend, but he’s always been a little tripped up by her ad-hoc approaches to the hiring process with all the workarounds and little fixes. It was fine when hiring just a couple people here and there, but 50 new people, nearly all at once? How is all that going to work?

Lining up his own interviews, the countless trips to and from Jenny’s office at the other end of the building, not to mention trying to hire people remotely? Never mind the fact he’s just been told to boost sales by 50% by EOY – he’ll have to work harder than ever to make that happen.

Georgina

And Georgina over in IT has been working hard to build a seamless integration of all the different technologies used in Albion. The current ATS was a real beast to install and implement. Educating countless people on how to use it (and how not to) took up a lot of her time.

The learning curve felt insurmountable, even for a seasoned tech veteran such as herself. Now that it’s finally in place, she’s happy and she doesn’t want to rock that boat again.

Know what type of buyer they are

Now that you know what drives the players at Albion – and what drives them crazy – let’s categorize them by type of buyer:

Economic Buyer:

Beth is Albion’s economic buyer. She holds the budget and signs the checks for software purchases in HR. She gives final approval to all this stuff. Without her say-so, no decision can be made.

Functional Buyer:

We have two functional buyers at Albion who actually use the ATS. Jenny is the main user, and Alex uses it extensively as his department’s hiring manager.

Technical Buyer:

Georgina is Albion’s technical buyer. She’s simply interested in making the software fit comfortably within the existing system, and ensuring it’s compliant with security standards. More on Georgina later.

All of those players are part of the decision to start looking for a new ATS and which ATS to select. You need to get all of them on board, and you need to know how to convince them.

For instance, as an Economic Buyer, Beth isn’t going to be convinced by Jenny’s “it’s clunky and hard to use” argument. It’s not that Beth doesn’t care — she’s probably been in Jenny’s shoes in the past — but Jenny needs to make an actual business case for a new ATS in a way that is more aligned to Beth’s professional goals and motivations, and ultimately, Albion’s.

Know how to convince them to try a new ATS

By knowing the players in each category, Jenny now knows who she must convince. To do that, Jenny needs to know their drivers, what is going to convince them to make a switch. What is it that drives Beth, Georgina and Alex?

Convince the economic buyer

So what are the drivers of Economic Buyers when it comes to recruiting software? Well, each company is different, but it mostly boils down to two factors: budget and timeline.

Staying within budget:

• Do we have the budget for this?
• Will the new tool be more expensive?
• Will it save me money elsewhere in my budget, e.g. salaries, turnover, agency spend or advertising spend?

Staying on schedule:

• Do we have the time for this?
• Will implementation/learning of the new ATS delay the hiring plan?
• Will the new ATS optimize and speed up the hiring process, meeting goals ahead of time?

Whether you’re simply starting a conversation about getting a new ATS, actively deciding which one to buy, or making a case for the ATS you’ve decided is the best one for the business, you want to be ready to address each of the above questions and any similar concerns on the Economic Buyer’s mind. You want Beth to sign the dotted line and be able to sleep that night. You want her to know that targets will more likely be met with the purchase of this new ATS.

Instead of anecdotal arguments, here are some of the impacts we hear about Workable from the mouths of “Economic Buyers” who were involved in selecting Workable:

• “We’ve reduced our agency spend by 50%”
• “We’ve increased employee referrals by 33%”
• “We’re getting better quality applicants than before using Workable.”

See, no mention of ease of use. Economic buyers care about it, but it’s not the main driver in their decision making; just part of it. They simply have to balance this with other priorities that have been placed on them.

It is these reasons you need to take to your ‘Beth’ to help her understand the benefit of bringing in a new ATS in her “language”. Align your case to her goals and the strategic goals of the company. For instance, why is the existing ATS going to make it impossible to hit that 50% growth hiring plan, and why would a new tool make that possible?

Convince the functional buyer

Clearly, there’s not much convincing needed here. Jenny is the one pushing the case for a new improved ATS. You’re likely Jenny (or Alex) in this case, and you’re here because you want to press your case. So, let’s consider this part completed.

Convince the technical buyer

I mentioned earlier that we’d learn more about Georgina. And this is Georgina’s time to shine. Georgina is powerful. She can veto any software decision Jenny, Beth and Alex make – in fact, she can veto any software purchasing decision at Albion. She’s not the enemy – rather, it’s her job to make sure all the business’s tools work together nicely, are compliant and secure. If she’s not sure a new tool is secure or compliant, you’re back to the drawing board.

Georgina may not be involved in the decision to purchase a new tool, but once that decision has been made, you’ll want to make sure you know her requirements early on so you don’t get a nasty surprise just before signing a new contract. So, stop by her office to talk to her about what boxes she thinks the new software should tick.

Know that everyone cares – just about different things

Now that you have everyone on board – you, your Beth, your Alex, and your Georgina – you can write up that business case or an RFP (which will help you gather information about different recruiting solutions) and move forward in your plan to optimize the hiring process. Circle back to the start: you’re in that big meeting or in a follow-up meeting putting a concrete plan into place, and all heads turn to you when it’s time to talk about the hiring plan. You smile, because you have everyone on board for your new ATS, and you’re ready to show your game.

Shameless plug: Yes, Workable can help you meet those goals. Sign up for our demo and learn about what we can do for you. To learn all the things you need to know about an applicant tracking system and were afraid to ask, read this.

If you still have cold feet in regards to picking the right ATS for your business, this list of best applicant tracking systems in the market can help you make the right decision.

The post Need a new ATS? No one cares, unless you speak their language appeared first on Recruiting Resources: How to Recruit and Hire Better.

The Brookings Institute describes this move as “low-cost ways to open state hiring processes to more applicants and improve economic mobility for qualified workers who have been largely excluded from state hiring systems.”

The private sector has also begun moving in this direction as well, with companies like Walmart leading the way.

In fact, a survey from Intelligent.com found that “nearly half” of all companies plan to drop the bachelor’s degree requirement from their jobs.

Let’s break this down and see how (or if) this affects your business.

Degree bias

A college or university degree is a simple filtering tool that businesses have used for years as a proxy measurement of knowledge, skills, and ability. If a person has a degree, you do know a few things:

1. Someone else determined they were smart enough to enter college (granted, some schools have open-admission policies, so depending on the school, this may not mean much.)
2. They have the stick-to-it-iveness to finish a four-year degree. (This is pretty valuable for young people; not so valuable for someone with a resume showing years of work experience.)
3. They were smart enough to graduate.

For specific degree required jobs – like accounting or engineering – it should indicate specific skills.

And while you can be an accountant but not a CPA, or an engineer but not a licensed Professional Engineer, it’s doubtful you could do the work without a degree – and in many cases, the degree and the license may be required for compliance.

With a liberal arts degree (I, myself, have two degrees in political science), the degree is a proxy for being able to write and think, but not once in my 25 years of professional work has someone asked me to explain Nietzsche’s religious philosophies and declaration that God is dead as it applies to HR.

(I got an A on my senior project about Nietzsche, by the way.)

It’s difficult to evaluate basic skills like writing and logical reasoning, and it’s easier to rely on universities to do that evaluation for companies. Plus, you don’t have to worry about choosing accurate exams for these skills; you can just check if they have finished school.

This, however, has led toward ‘degree bias’ that has been prevalent everywhere, including for baristas. You can see this bias in how AI does job descriptions.

For instance, I asked ChatGPT the following question:

Can you write a job description for the following positions for a manufacturing company with 100 people?

HR Manager

Accounts payable Manager

Shift Supervisor, manufacturing

Marketing director

Plant manager

The results came back with fairly good descriptions and the following degree requirements:

HR Manager: Degree in Human Resources or related field

Accounts Payable Manager: BS degree in Finance, Accounting or Business Administration.

Shift supervisor, manufacturing: High school diploma; degree in a technical, engineering, or relevant field will be an advantage.

Marketing director: BSc or MSc in Marketing or relevant field.

Plant manager: BS degree in Business Management, Industrial Management, Engineering, or related field

Only the shift supervisor didn’t require a degree and, even then, it still indicated that a degree would be beneficial.

Does removing the degree requirement change anything?

Removing a degree requirement certainly opens the jobs up to more people to apply but will it actually affect who gets the job?

Again, degrees are a quick proxy that hiring managers and recruiters alike may use when applicants with and without degrees apply for the position.

For example, I asked ChatGPT to evaluate two candidates. The resumes were identical, with the exception of a degree. I identified the second candidate as having a degree in Business.

When ChatGPT did the analysis it wrote:

Key Differences:

Education: The main difference lies in the educational background. Person 2 has a formal degree in Business, which may add value in terms of theoretical knowledge and business acumen.

Person 1’s Resume Lacks Education Details: If Person 1 also has a relevant degree or higher educational qualifications, this could level the playing field or even tilt it in their favor, depending on the specifics.

Recommendation:

If Educational Qualification is Important: Choose Person 2. The business degree might provide additional insights into business management, financial understanding, and strategic planning, which are valuable in a managerial role.

If Experience and Achievements are the Sole Criteria: It’s a tie. Both candidates demonstrate strong operational experience and achievements. In this case, other factors such as interpersonal skills, cultural fit, leadership style, and personal career goals should be considered in the final decision.

In today’s AI world, remember that the large language models were trained on Internet data, with a strong degree bias built in.

Incidentally, I ran the identical query in Bard, which did not reference the degree in its evaluation but did write:

While Person 1 also has a strong resume, Person 2’s overall experience, accomplishments, and leadership skills give them a slight edge. If you are looking for a manufacturing manager with a proven track record of improving efficiency, reducing costs, enhancing quality, and fostering a positive work environment, Person 2 would be a strong candidate.

Remember, the resumes were identical except for the degree, which Bard interpreted as giving Person 2 more skills.

What does this mean for your business?

Should you require degrees? It depends on your business model, of course, but consider how much is biased and how much is necessary. People with degrees will likely think they couldn’t do their jobs without the degree, introducing another layer of bias.

Take time to evaluate actual skills instead of assuming, as Bard did, that the degree automatically means additional experience.

Unless, of course, you have a desperate need for someone to discuss Nietzsche, then give me a call. I have a couple of unused degrees hanging in my office.

The post Ditching degree requirements for jobs – what to do instead appeared first on Recruiting Resources: How to Recruit and Hire Better.

Wait, what?

Okay, so legally, age discrimination isn’t illegal unless you are discriminating against people who are over the practically dead age of 40. (At least from a federal perspective – some US states prohibit age discrimination from 18.)

However, discrimination is happening frequently to the youngest members of the workforce – Gen Z.

A survey conducted by Intelligent.com in December 2023 found that many employers are steering clear of Gen Z employees.

If you ask me, I think the goal is to show how awful Gen Z is, and instead, it demonstrates three things to me:

1. Every generation thinks the next generation is lazy and awful.
2. If all laziness and awfulness of Gen Z is true, boy, Gen X, and Baby Boomers are bad parents.
3. There is something wrong with our universities.

Let’s break this down, first by looking at the survey results:

The survey results

The survey found that many managers prefer working with older, more experienced employees and are willing to pay a premium to ensure that.

Here are some key points from the Intelligent.com study:

• 38% of employers avoid hiring recent college graduates in favor of older employees
• 1 in 5 employers have had a recent college graduate bring a parent to a job interview
• 58% say recent college graduates are unprepared for the workforce
• Nearly half of employers have had to fire a recent college graduate
• 53% say recent college grads struggle with eye contact
• 50% say recent college grads ask for unreasonable compensation
• 47% say candidates show up dressed inappropriately
• 21% say candidates refused to turn on cameras for video interviews
• 63% say new grads can’t handle their workload

Watch me tsk tsk about these horrible Gen Zs who don’t even know about dress codes and leaving Mommy at home! (Not to be sexist, but I’m willing to bet dollars to donuts that it wasn’t Dad who showed up at the job interview.)

But first, I’m going to shame the adults in the room.

1. Every generation thinks the next generation is lazy and awful.

This really shouldn’t be a shock to anyone. Paul Fairie, a researcher at the University of Calgary, posted a brilliant thread on

Twitter detailing how each generation complains about the younger generation – going back to 1894. He could even have gone further back to sometime around 300-600 BC, when Greeks complained that children “began to be the tyrants, not the slaves, of their households.”

A Brief History of Nobody Wants to Work Anymore

— Paul Fairie (@paulisci) July 19, 2022

The reality is that younger people will never be as good at being like older people precisely because they are younger. They have to be trained. They have to learn by experience. There’s no royal road to maturity. Complaining about young people just makes you sound, well, old.

2. If all laziness and awfulness of Gen Z is true, boy, Gen X, and Baby Boomers are bad parents.

Who are the hiring managers making these decisions? Why, some millennials, of course, whose oldest children are the younger Gen Zs.

But primarily, hiring managers fall into the forgotten Gen X with some Baby Boomers still hanging on down the home stretch to retirement.

And who raised these good-for-nothing Gen Zs who don’t have the sense to put some pants on, turn on their cameras, and cover their tattoos for a job interview? Well, that would be Gen X and the younger boomers.

Yes, it’s ridiculous that we (as a Gen Xer, I feel like I can say “we” here) complain that parents show up for interviews. Who is showing up? It’s not Gen Z that is going to their toddler’s job interviews. It’s the Gen X and Boomer parents. Whose fault is that? Again, not Gen Z.

Why doesn’t Gen Z know how to dress appropriately for a job interview? Perhaps it was because Mommy and Daddy ran to the school to complain about dress codes. When you’re fighting for the right for your son to have his waistband fall below his rear end and your daughter to have her midriff showing, don’t be surprised when your little darlings don’t know how to dress for a job interview.

You’ve spent 22 years saying, ”You be you, honey. Clothes don’t matter.” It turns out children do listen – sometimes.

3. There is something wrong with our universities.

Where does Gen Z get wildly inappropriate ideas about reasonable salaries? Well, from school, of course. A joint survey from PublicSquare and RedBalloon of business owners found that 91% believe universities “are fostering unrealistic expectations among students regarding post-graduation and professional life.”

Yikes.

Students graduate expecting the salaries of people who have worked for years and the responsibilities to match. Sixty-three percent said salary expectations were off, and 50%had false beliefs about work difficulty.

Parents send their children to university so that their children can get good jobs. That’s clear, but it’s not necessarily what universities are doing. Instead, some universities are fostering an environment where every need is handled.

For instance, at Stanford University, there are more administrators and faculty members than actual students. Businesses run much more lean than that. You’re expected to be responsible for yourself and carry out tedious tasks you don’t want to do.

Overall, work is called work because it’s hard. That’s why people pay you. It’s not all fun and games. Workable CEO Nikos Moraitakis made that clear in an interview about the work experience at his company in 2018:

“You will sit in an office, work on what are undoubtedly interesting problems with a pretty significant amount of data, designing a beautiful product on the way. … [Work] involves doing a lot of things that you would rather not be doing, but down the line, there may be something in it that may improve the way a lot of people work.”

[Work] involves doing a lot of things that you would rather not be doing, but down the line, there may be something in it that may improve the way a lot of people work.

And perhaps, look in the mirror before complaining about Gen Z. Young people being young people is expected. But the more significant problems? Well, older generations caused those. Stop accompanying your child on job interviews. Problem solved.

And one more thing; Of course, companies are willing to pay experienced workers more than inexperienced workers. This isn’t discrimination. This is smart. Imagine how people would complain if you paid Emily and Jacob at 22 with one internship, the same salary as Jennifer and Michael with 30 years of experience.

The post Reverse ageism: why do companies avoid Gen Z workers? appeared first on Recruiting Resources: How to Recruit and Hire Better.

And I get it–it’s all about the hits and no one likes to read “Everything is great!” We simply don’t click as often, but we should.

If you have a negative outlook toward HR for 2024, you can fix it. Here’s how.

1. Look at the actual numbers

The survey found that the CHRO confidence index fell from 55 percent in Q3 to 53 percent in Q4. Remember, anything above 50 means more people are positive than negative. Are you going to get your knickers twisted over a two percent difference? The majority of CHROs are confident about things going into 2024. That’s a cause for celebration.

And take a look at these stats:

• 44% of CHROs expect to increase their hiring over the next six months—up from 38% in Q3.
• 19% expect to decrease their hiring over the next six months—down from 26% in Q3.

Hiring is up! That is positive for businesses. 2023 saw a lot of layoffs, especially in the tech sector, so looking at increased hiring is a good thing–for candidates as well. And as hiring increases, more people are looking for new jobs. When things are bad, people hunker down in the position they have. When things look good, they are willing to try new things.

And let’s take a look at retention:

• 22% of CHROs expect employee retention to decrease over the next six months, up from 18% in Q3.
• Only 28% of CHROs expect their employee retention levels to improve over the next six months—down from 34% in Q3.
• 51% of CHROs expect employee retention to hold steady—up slightly from 48% in Q3.

Let’s rewrite that for positivity’s sake:

• 78% of CHROs expect employee retention to increase or remain steady over the next six months.

That’s a fantastic number. Yes, it’s less than Q3s, 82%, but it’s still a great number. Remember, a good hiring market means retaining good employees can be more difficult, so it makes sense that if hiring is up, retention will be down.

These aren’t scary or negative numbers.

2. Look for the positive

When you are looking toward 2024, you can focus on the negative things in your business, or you can focus on the positive things. This does not mean ignoring the problems–that makes everything become negative rather quickly. But look toward the positive.

Doing an employee engagement survey can help you know what is working and what employees feel is lacking. But remember, don’t do a survey if you’re not going to address issues! Nothing is worse for employee morale than asking them how things are going and ignoring it.

When you get the results from your survey, look for the things that are going well and talk them up while patting yourself on the back. There are probably a lot of good things.

3. Fix the negativity

It would be fabulous if HR had all the power and budget needed to solve employee engagement problems, but alas, you are undoubtedly limited. But if your employees tell you of a problem, you need to acknowledge it at least. Here are some things to think about.

Complaint: Pay is too low 

Response: Assuming you literally cannot adjust pay and that your pay is at market rates, at least acknowledge employee concerns. But don’t do so and then hand out big bonuses to the executives. It’s tone-deaf.

Complaint: Managers are terrible

Response: You probably can’t fire managers, but you can do things to address manager behavior. What is wrong with the managers’ behavior? Have you trained your managers in providing feedback and managing by results? If you haven’t done these things, start doing them. 

Complaint: Lack of transparency

Response: Fixing this is free. The battle will be with the C-suite to convince them that letting employees know what is happening is good. People want to know and will perform better if they understand what is going on.

Complaint: No work-life balance

Response: Again, this is a C-suite issue more than a cost issue. Dig into the issue and find out what employees see as the problem. Do they want remote work? Flexible start and end times? More breaks? Some of this may be possible, and some may not–you certainly can’t have your certified nursing assistants working from home–but you can allow your accountants a bit more flexibility. Look for a solution and ask your employees for suggestions. They may have ideas that you would never think of.

4. Stay optimistic

While it’s easier to complain, look for the positive in your organization and celebrate it. This is not the toxic positivity of demanding fake happiness. This is looking for the good and pointing it out. You get more of what you look for, so you’ll see more and more good as you do this.

The post If you have a negative outlook for HR in 2024, you can fix it now appeared first on Recruiting Resources: How to Recruit and Hire Better.

What is an HRIS system?

At its core, an HRIS is a software solution designed to manage and automate many of the routine and administrative tasks associated with human resources. 

But it’s more than just a digital assistant. 

An HRIS encompasses a wide range of functionalities, including employee data management, payroll, recruitment, benefits administration, time and attendance, and much more. 

It’s the central hub from which you can steer the ship of your HR department, ensuring that everything from onboarding to offboarding runs smoothly.

While HRIS focuses on information management, Human Resource Management Systems (HRMS) and Human Capital Management (HCM) might offer broader functionalities, including talent management and strategic HR planning. 

Choosing the right system depends on your business’s specific needs and growth stage.

If you are completely new to this, consider first reading about what an HRIS is and how to determine if you need one. 

When should I get an HRIS system for my business?

Determining the right time to invest in an HRIS can be daunting. However, certain indicators suggest it’s time to make the leap. 

• If your HR team is overwhelmed with administrative tasks, 
• if errors are becoming more frequent,
• if you’re struggling to meet compliance requirements,
• if your business is scaling rapidly and the complexity of managing your workforce is increasing

…then an HRIS can provide the necessary support to manage that growth effectively.

For growing businesses, early adoption of an HRIS can be particularly beneficial, especially when they surpass the number of 25 employees, which triggers compliance requirements.

For growing businesses, early adoption of an HRIS can be particularly beneficial, especially when they surpass the number of 25 employees, which triggers compliance requirements.

Implementing the system when the business is still manageable in size allows for smoother integration and adaptation, setting a solid foundation for future expansions.

Why do you need an HRIS sooner and cheaper?

The question isn’t just why your business needs an HRIS, but why it needs one sooner rather than later and at a cost that won’t break the bank. 

The answer lies in the compound benefits that an HRIS brings over time. Early adoption of HRIS technology can lead to significant long-term savings and efficiencies. 

Firstly, it reduces the labor hours spent on manual tasks, decreasing the likelihood of costly errors, such as those related to compliance or payroll. 

Secondly, it allows for a more strategic allocation of HR’s time towards talent management and employee engagement, activities that directly contribute to your company’s culture and bottom line.

Furthermore, as your business grows, the cost and complexity of implementing an HRIS will only increase.

Early adoption means you can integrate the system into your processes gradually and at a smaller scale, making it more manageable and cost-effective.

Early adoption means you can integrate the system into your processes gradually and at a smaller scale, making it more manageable and cost-effective.

This proactive approach not only positions your business to manage current challenges more effectively but also equips it to handle future growth with agility and foresight.

What does the market think about the HRIS?

A small company spends about 10 weeks before choosing an HRIS, which reflects the importance they place on it. However, this factor needs to be eliminated. 

Time is not a problem when you proactively act for your business and check your options. The good news is that the sooner you choose the sooner your implementation will start. 

People in the market believe that using an HRIS will increase their functionality and this is true. Utilizing technology to:

• Onboard new hires 
• Manage employee information
• Organize company documents
• View organization structure
• Manage time off

Can help you save a lot of time and increase productivity and efficiency quickly for your organization.

The future of HRIS technology is promising and is set to improve how businesses manage their human resources. 

Emerging trends include the integration of artificial intelligence and machine learning to provide predictive analytics, further automating and enhancing decision-making processes. 

We’re also seeing a shift towards more user-friendly, mobile-optimized systems that reflect the modern workforce’s needs. 

As these technologies continue to evolve, they’ll offer even more sophisticated tools to manage, engage, and develop talent.

Don’t miss the opportunity to be part of it. 

The post Why a growing business needs an HRIS soon (and cheaply, too) appeared first on Recruiting Resources: How to Recruit and Hire Better.

As of July 2022, the average wage for an American to switch jobs (the “reserve wage”) was $72,873. Averages skew toward the high end. All it takes is Bill Gates saying he’s willing to change jobs for $3.6 billion, and the average number goes up. Most Americans earn less than $72,873. A median figure would probably give a more accurate picture of what people look for.

But what’s more interesting is when you break it down by gender. The average reserve wage for men has gone up to $86,259 from the previous quarter, while the reserve wage for women dropped to $59,543.

That’s right. Men want more than they did in March, and women are willing to settle for less than they did in March.

What is happening here that women feel like they are worth less in July than they did in March?

The Fed does this survey three times a year, and the July numbers, released in August, are the latest. Maybe it was a blip. It doesn’t seem logical that with inflation soaring, women should be looking to settle for less. What’s going on here?

Settling for less to re-enter?

Caroline Fairchild, Editor in Chief of BFF, a website focused on cryptocurrency news for women and nonbinary people, has a theory that makes a lot of sense. She writes on LinkedIn:

Caroline writes: “My hunch is that the women who were out of the workforce during the pandemic are willing to accept less to get back in. Also, there is no understating the impact of no work or stressful work during the pandemic (women who stayed employed during COVID took on more responsibility) on the ability of women to negotiate for higher pay.”

She’s got a point. More women than men left the workforce in 2020, whether voluntarily or involuntarily. And they didn’t come back when businesses started to reopen and ramp up.

Eden King, Ph.D., a professor of psychology at Rice University, explains that this isn’t purely preference. Societal pressures meant that when childcare became near impossible to find, women felt pressured to stay home while their husbands and boyfriends worked.

“Instead of opting out,” King told the American Psychological Association, “women are being pushed out.”

Additionally, women in 37% of families have most or all childcare responsibilities. So when schools and daycare centers closed, women left the workplace to care for their children.

Workable’s Great Discontent survey report found similar results, with twice as many women as men to cite family priorities to be the reason they’re not working (39.4% vs. 19.3%). That’s just for the US – in the UK, females are more than six times as likely as males to cite family priorities as the reason why they’re not working (41.7% vs. 6.7%).

Hiring biases

Because more women left the workforce than men and, therefore, have more significant gaps on their resumes, it is harder for them to land new opportunities.

An Indeed study in 2021 found that 70% of people in “hiring positions … believed that an unemployed person would make a less productive employee.”

Yikes. No wonder women are willing to work for less. If they’ve been out of the workforce for two years and 70% of hiring managers openly admit that they favor the already employed, it’s no wonder women feel they have to accept less money.

Can businesses fix this?

Yes, they can. Here is what needs to happen.

1. Stop the bias against the unemployed

We talk about unconscious bias, but this is conscious bias – remember, 70% of hiring managers explicitly preferred employed people. Whether you lose your job or choose to stay home, you don’t lose your ability to gain new skills.

2. List accurate salaries in the job posting

If you want to stop women from working less than men, stop making people guess the market rate for the position. List an accurate range – with the top being what your actual top range is. (Plenty of people use the whole range but never hire above midpoint. Make the midpoint your top-listed salary if you won’t go above that.)

3. Offer more flexibility

Women want more flexibility than men do, while female-heavy careers tend to be the ones without flexibility. If you can offer flexibility, do. Even offering a hybrid schedule or the chance to choose what time to come in can make a huge difference in attracting female candidates.

4. Offer fixed schedules

While this may seem a direct contradiction to the above, retail, restaurant, and healthcare jobs often have unpredictable schedules. If you recall, women take care of the children more than men. Daycare is difficult enough to find with a set schedule and can be nearly impossible if you work opening shifts all this week and closing shifts all next week. For in-person shift jobs, let employees pick shifts and stick to them.

5. Promote from within

An MIT Sloan Management study found that women who reached executive levels had to quit jobs to move up. It’s not that they weren’t capable – they had to go elsewhere to get someone to recognize that. Make sure you evaluate your current male and female employees for leadership roles.

Will the pay gap between men and women ever be zero? Probably not, because men and women do have different preferences.

But, when women think they are worth less now than they were a few months ago, it’s likely not a preference issue – business decisions matter; yours included.

The post Women will work for less now – but employers can fix this appeared first on Recruiting Resources: How to Recruit and Hire Better.

What can you do? Here are five ideas to help you build an agile recruitment process, and hire when there aren’t extra people and extra dollars in the budget.

1. Target your recruiting efforts

The big job boards cost a lot of money and provide access to a wide variety of candidates. However, you don’t need a wide variety of candidates – you need candidates to fill your positions. Who cares how many plumbers there are in Pomona when you’re recruiting accountants in Akron?

Focus your recruiting efforts and money on niche job boards and through networking. You need to find people who can and want to do the jobs you need to fill. Narrowing your search can help you find those people.

2. Utilize your current employees’ networks

Everyone talks about networking to find a job, but you also need to use networking to fill positions. Who is likely to know a bunch of people that do X? Why, people who work for you that also do X!

Many companies have employee referral programs to help encourage people to refer their former colleagues, and that can be a reasonably inexpensive – and quicker – way to gather candidates. But, you can go a step further and ask hiring managers to take a look through their own networks and see what they can find. Have them look at their LinkedIn connections and see if anyone seems qualified.

This part of agile recruitment has another distinct advantage: Hiring managers know what they are looking for better than a recruiter can know, so if the hiring manager looks through contacts, something may pop out that a recruiter would overlook.

3. Focus on your current staff

Yes, we were talking about hiring, but too many companies make the mistake of focusing on hiring new people and forgetting about your current employees. For every employee you keep, that’s one less person you have to hire!

Take a look at what it takes to get new people in the door and make sure your current employees have that salary and benefit level. If all your competitors offer sign-on bonuses for new hires, your employees may jump ship if you can’t provide a stay bonus.

This seems like it costs a lot of money, right when you’re trying to stay lean, but what costs more?

• Giving a stay bonus and a raise to a current employee who does a good job and is already fully ramped and trained; or
• Going through the recruiting process, offering a market rate salary and a sign-on bonus to someone new?

And keep in mind you then have to train that person. No matter how experienced this person is, they still have to learn your systems and methods. It’s always cheaper to retain than it is to recruit.

4. Ask the employees themselves

Sometimes employees have insights that managers (especially senior managers) don’t have. This isn’t because managers are bad – it’s just that sometimes they don’t understand the day-to-day. They’re not in the trenches, after all.

When trying to run agile recruitment, ask the people who do the daily running what they need. Maybe no one sees a need for a senior team leader for their group because Jane is handling it well, and everyone likes her. Perhaps everyone wants the most is a group administrative assistant to help with the paperwork.

While it’s true that managers have a more empirical perspective of what’s needed and what’s not needed – but you won’t fully know unless you ask employees as well. Forget about traditional structures and ask away. You may be surprised how much you learn where you can cut back and which positions you need to target immediately.

5. Put the money where it counts

Often companies have salary budgets, travel budgets, and facilities budgets, and they cannot take money from one category to pay another.

Why?

What is the most important thing to your company? The default reaction is “the people!” That is probably true, but it doesn’t have to be. It depends on what your company does and what product or service you produce. It may be that the best use of your money is something that will automate tasks (including in recruitment itself), meaning you can have a smaller headcount.

But, I’ll tell you what it almost surely is not: your location.

Sure, location, location, location. But, with many people wanting (and expecting) to work from home and fewer people willing to do a long commute, having that downtown office space may not be the best use of your budget.

Of course, not all companies can or should have a fully remote workforce, but you need to consider the rent costs of where you are when you’re attempting to recruit people. If your employees commute long distances, moving to where they live may be better. If many jobs can be done at home, maybe a smaller office is in order.

Focus your money on the most important thing – which is probably your employees.

Recruiting isn’t easy at any time, but with tight budgets and high salary demands, it can be even more complicated than usual. Hopefully, some of these elements supporting an agile recruiting process will help you get through it.

The post The agile recruitment process: hiring with leaner teams and budgets appeared first on Recruiting Resources: How to Recruit and Hire Better.

The employer posts the job, you apply, beg for a job, and then, if lucky, the employer will offer you the job. If you’re brave, you can negotiate the salary up a bit, but it’s pretty much a take-it-or-leave-it situation.

Job interviews were like dog-and-pony shows where candidates tried to impress judges, and the judges didn’t feel obligated to try to impress the candidate.

During this time, you saw a lot of ghosting – on the employer’s part. Come in for two, three, five interviews… and then silence. And that was just how it was. It was wrong then, but everyone knew to expect it.

The booming economy in the pre-pandemic days and then the pandemic itself turned all these rules on their heads. Here is how it is now.

The new rules of talent engagement

If you are hiring or looking for a job, you need to know how to play the game. Here are the new rules.

1. Job descriptions are marketing documents
2. Salary comes first
3. Candidates are interviewing you
4. Lack of flexibility makes it harder to hire
5. Everyone is ghosting
6. Candidates won’t play the long interview game

1. Job descriptions are marketing documents

The labor shortage means companies compete for the best candidate. Your job descriptions need to be well written and focus on the critical aspects of the job. Just as recruiters can reject an applicant in seven seconds or less, job candidates can breeze through job postings.

Make sure your job postings:

• Use good formatting to draw eyes to key points
• Stay away from jargon (fast-paced, exciting environment is a red flag to today’s candidates)
• List the top responsibilities only. Long lists get you rejected as nit-picky.

Related: Why Maslow thinks your job ads suck

2. Salary comes first

Several states banned recruiters and hiring managers from asking about previous salaries, which means you can’t get an advantage by asking for a current and past paycheck size.

But that doesn’t mean money is taboo – in fact, candidates want to know the salary budget for the job. Colorado even requires companies to post their salary and benefit information in the job posting.

Candidates don’t like wasting their time interviewing or even applying for jobs where the salary is unknown. Plus, salary is still king when it comes to job decisions, according to September’s Great Discontent survey.

Putting a salary in your job description, or discuss it on the initial phone screen, and you’ll get a lot further. Some candidates will refuse to go on without this knowledge.

3. Candidates are interviewing you

It’s no longer a beauty pageant but a date. The candidate wants to know about your business, management style, and benefits. Candidates expect to have conversations rather than have you interrogate them.

This is a benefit to all parties – after all, you want to hire someone who wants to be into the job, not just a warm bod.

And keep in mind, candidates feel like they have more options, so they will carefully consider your answers as much as you consider theirs.

4. Hiring now requires flexibility

Seventy-two percent of people prefer a hybrid situation, where they can come into the office sometimes and work from home occasionally. While there are plenty of jobs that must be done onsite (dentist, grocery store clerk, janitor, etc.), there are plenty of jobs that can offer options.

Not offering a work-from-home or hybrid option for most white-collar jobs will reduce the number of people interested in your position. People worked from home during the pandemic, liked it or hated it, and now want to control that aspect of their lives.

Including flexibility information in the job posting can help you attract candidates.

Related: One in three US workers value remote work – and three in five value flexible hours. Learn more in our Great Discontent survey report.

5. Everyone is ghosting

It used to be just recruiters and hiring managers that ghosted candidates; now, it’s candidates ghosting interviewers. While this is terrible manners regardless of who does it, you can hardly blame candidates who now feel they have the upper hand. Recruiters treated them poorly for years, and now it’s payback time.

However, the ghosting doesn’t end at the interview stage. Candidates can accept job offers and yet not show up on the first scheduled day or leave after a couple of weeks without saying a word. You may not feel secure in your new hire until several months have passed.

6. Candidates won’t play the long interview game

Many candidates are no longer willing to go through six rounds of interviews plus a presentation when pursuing a job. They will jump to a company that can decide after one or two rounds of interviews. Some companies are even doing on-the-spot job offers.

Adjusting to the new reality

Change is hard for everyone, but candidates jumped at the opportunity to have more power in the hiring relationship. You need to train your recruiters and hiring managers in this new reality.

Shorten your time to hire

It may be a struggle for a company that traditionally has long interview processes or hides salary information until the offer stage. Still, if you continue on this path, you risk losing out on the best (or any) candidates.

Stay on top of salary trends

You also need to keep an eye on market-rate salaries. Things change rapidly. You may think that the fast-food restaurant’s increasing pay doesn’t affect your business, but when unskilled labor jobs start increasing their pay, you’ll find people expect more money for more skilled jobs. No company operates in a vacuum. Salaries can change rapidly across the system.

Don’t hold out for the unicorn

You also cannot afford the perfect candidate to drop out of the applicant tracking system. The labor shortage is a real thing, and you may need to settle.

But, don’t worry – hiring someone who isn’t perfectly equipped to carry out the job means you have the opportunity to train the new employee according to your desires. In other words, you can create your own unicorn – you don’t need to find one.

It’s not a revolution – it’s an evolution

You don’t have to start completely over with your hiring processes. Many things remain the same – you’ll still screen resumes, interview candidates, and make job offers. You’ll just need to do it all a bit faster and a bit more openly.

Be upfront about salary and benefits and keep to a tight timeline. Otherwise, your competitors will race ahead of you in the war for talent.

The post The rules of talent engagement are changing: What’s new now? appeared first on Recruiting Resources: How to Recruit and Hire Better.

This kind of attitude is familiar – “If it doesn’t affect me, it shouldn’t affect you”. After all, you aren’t personally involved in the crisis. Whether it’s a war in Ukraine, a terrorist attack in West Africa, or even a terrible car accident on the freeway, people often assume that it’s no big deal unless you yourself were there.

They are wrong. And as managers and HR people, we need to be aware of the world and local events and understand that even people without obvious connections may be shattered by what goes on elsewhere. You need to support your employees during crisis. Here’s why, and what you need to do.

Everywhere is more global than you realize

I went to high school in St. George, Utah, with Michelle Truax. She was the high school orchestra concertmistress, and I was a very bad cellist. If you know anything about St. George in the 1980s and 1990s, you’d know it was not a very diverse place.

And yet, today, Michelle is the mother of seven children, three of which she and her husband adopted as teenagers from Ukraine. Her children remember their Ukrainian families and keep in touch, and so, why you might see Michelle as a woman from Southern Utah, she’s also a mother of Ukrainian children, and you can bet that this war affects her life.

Also, 13.7% of people living in the United States immigrated from another country. They, most likely, still have friends and families in their countries of origin. Their American-born children are likely still deeply connected as well. And Ukraine isn’t the only country in crisis. Just because you haven’t heard about a particular tragedy doesn’t mean it doesn’t profoundly hurt your employee.

And it’s not just the United States that has a diverse population. Here are the top 10 countries based on foreign-born residents:

1. United States — 50.6 million
2. Germany — 15.8 million
3. Saudi Arabia — 13.5 million
4. Russia — 11.6 million
5. United Kingdom — 9.4 million
6. United Arab Emirates — 8.7 million
7. France — 8.5 million
8. Canada — 8.0 million
9. Australia — 7.7 million
10. Spain — 6.8 million

So how do you react to this information? When tragedy strikes, assume someone in your organization is closely connected to that country. If they are stressed or concerned, listen. Do what you can to support your employees.

1. Do something

If you have employees in Poland, they may well be housing Ukrainian refugees. But your employees in Boston are far less likely to be taking strangers into their homes. But that doesn’t mean you can’t do something to help.

You can organize a fundraiser or join a reputable organization to raise funds. This can support your employees during a crisis and helps your employees feel like you care. Doing something, no matter how small, makes people feel like they can make something a little bit better.

You may even have employees in Ukraine or Russia who are affected firsthand by the war. Many companies in this situation are reinvesting their resources and are actively working to move these employees to safety.

With a big crisis like the Ukrainian invasion, there are obvious ways to help. With smaller or local problems, it might not be so obvious, but there is always something your company can do.

2. Compassion is better than sympathy

You can be sympathetic, and it can still come across as cold, even though you don’t mean to. Harvard Medical School Psychologist Susan David breaks down the differences in how you react to someone else’s problems and pain. Here are her three examples:

• Sympathy: I’m so sorry you’re in pain. (Distant)
• Empathy: I can imagine what this pain feels like. (Shared)
• Compassion: You are suffering, and I will do what I can to help. (Connected and Action-oriented)

Compassion is the best way forward when an employee struggles, whether from a personal problem or a global tragedy. What you can do will vary from person to person and from job to job, but doing what you can and asking your employees what they need is genuine compassion.

Don’t assume based on what you think you would need – ask. And keep in mind that sometimes, your well-meaning suggestions may sound tone-deaf. For example, if an employee comes to you and says the war in Ukraine is very stressful because her relatives live there, and you respond, “Remember, self-care is important. Why don’t you take a day off to relax?”

You may be trying to be nice, but your employee may respond; “How on earth can I relax when they are hiding in the basement of their apartment building?”

Focusing on compassion is never a wrong way to support your employees during a crisis.

3. Remember your Employee Assistance Program

You probably have an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) that comes with your insurance – and if not, look into getting one. The EAP can be like magic in times of crisis. They have access to resources you wouldn’t think of, and your employees might not know what they need. Remind your employees that they can call, and you won’t even know they did. (Your EAP should report only that someone used their services and not identify the person.)

It’s not the first thing that comes to people’s minds in times of crisis, so remind people that it’s there. Post the details in the break rooms or distribute them via online channels such as Slack. Let people know that you want them to call if they need help – and emphasize the privacy to support those employees who may be otherwise hesitant during a crisis.

4. Be as flexible as possible

When an employee suddenly finds their cousins will be arriving from a war-torn area or following a natural disaster, your employee will need time and money to prepare for their family members. If you can offer extra time off, allow your other employees to donate their days, or put out a call for beds and dressers, it can be a tremendous help.

If someone needs to travel without much notice, even if it’s your busy season, remember to be compassionate – this is something you can do.

If someone needs time off because of stress or anxiety, it’s possible that FMLA or ADA can cover that. Send them to their doctor. And if not? Be proactive and give it anyway. Remember, it will take you far longer to replace an employee that quits because you couldn’t be flexible in times of trial than it would to give them the time off and show that you’re thinking about them.

The war in Ukraine won’t be the last tragedy that befalls us, so even if this doesn’t affect your employees directly, the next thing might. Prepare now for the next problem.

The post How to support your employees during a crisis appeared first on Recruiting Resources: How to Recruit and Hire Better.

In some cases, this makes perfect sense, and in some cases, it does not. Here’s what you need to know when making a decision on whether or not to outsource recruitment.

What is recruitment outsourcing?

Outsourcing is hiring someone outside of the company to do a task. This can be a consultant or a contractor, or a company. It can be someone who lives and works in the same town or lives in another country.

When you outsource a task, you give it to an outside person or organization. When you outsource recruitment, you can use several different types of outsourced recruiting.

• Headhunters. This is the colloquial term for recruiters that recruit for specialized positions. They often work on a commission basis. While they can technically recruit for any role, they often have specialized areas. Headhunters increase their value by building relationships in their chosen industries. Companies, not candidates, pay headhunter fees (usually a percentage of the salary if they place a candidate). Some executive or highly specialized headhunter contractors are retainer-based. In this case, the recruiter receives pay for providing candidates and sourcing, and is not contingent on job acceptance.
• General recruiting. You can hire an outsourced recruiter or recruiting firm to handle all your recruiting needs, regardless of specialization. Again, the company, not the candidates, pays the recruiters.
• Staffing companies. These companies not only find people to work for you, but they hire them and pay them as well. Consequently, the employees work for the staffing company and not for you. This model is popular in industries with high turnover and low-skilled labor. It’s also popular for some IT roles, and larger companies, including Google, use this model.

When outsourced recruitment is good

Suppose you are a startup looking to hire your first of everything. In that case, it’s far better to hire a professional recruiter to help you find a CFO than to appoint your college roommate who majored in musical theater but never managed to get their big Broadway break.

For senior roles, the headhunter option generally remains a good idea, as these positions are highly specialized and critical to company success. If you get a mediocre junior analyst, it can get expensive (as bad hires tend to be), but if your newly recruited Chief Marketing Officer is a failure, it can tank your entire company.

You may also want to consider outsourcing recruiting during intense hiring phases, as your in-house HR may not have the bandwidth to take it on. For instance, if you are launching a new product and you need to hire 100 new salespeople across the entire country in a short time, your lone in-house recruiter may not be able to handle that added workload (although a great ATS can help alleviate that stress!).

You can, of course, use a contracted recruiter for all your positions, and some companies do this. Smaller companies can’t afford a dedicated recruiter or don’t hire enough people on a regular basis to warrant an extra employee for that task.

When outsourced recruitment is bad

Relying on someone outside the company to market your jobs, source candidates, and screen them, can be problematic in many situations.

If you want to build a specific company culture, you probably want to bring your recruiting in-house. An external recruiter generally has multiple clients at a time and won’t be able to dedicate themselves to the unique needs of your company as well as an in-house recruiter can do.

Because external recruiters typically get paid upon placement, there can be a bigger push to fill the role than to focus on finding the right person for the position.

If your turnover – whether voluntary and involuntary – is higher than the industry average, you may wish to take a look at in-house recruiting. People do leave when they feel that the company is a bad fit for them. You also need to fire people who turn out to be not a good fit for you.

If your turnover in either of these categories is too high, it could be due to wrongly or poorly targeted recruiting. There are times where assigning the recruiting to someone who knows the employees personally, who walks your warehouse floor every day, or sits in on exit interviews and sees the problems firsthand can result in a better candidate fit.

If you have the proper HR systems in place – a good applicant tracking system and a compatible HRIS – running the recruiting in-house can save you time and make your reporting more straightforward and more accurate.

If you choose outsourced recruitment

This is a path that fits some companies, and if you go in this direction, there are a few things you need to remember when you search for your recruiter.

• If employees work in the office, ensure the recruiter has visited and understands the working environment firsthand. There are different challenges in different businesses, and seeing the physical facilities can help the recruiter’s understanding.
• Go over the job descriptions with the recruiter in depth so that the recruiter understands the key points to look for. You can’t assume an external recruiter understands the unwritten rules of your business because she doesn’t work there.
• Consider the costs. If you hire more than one or two professional people per year with a headhunter, the associated costs can become higher than an in-house, salaried recruiter.
• Keep communication channels open. Hiring managers often change criteria during the recruitment process. If you aren’t communicating clearly, your recruiter will waste valuable time looking for the wrong candidates.
• Figure out how you will coordinate your onboarding process. Frequently, in-house recruiters handle that part of the process. If you outsource recruitment, someone in-house will need to process the paperwork and new-hire orientation.

In-house recruitment benefits

Whether you’re growing or in a high-turnover industry, you might consider bringing the whole thing in-house – the technology is there to help even the leanest hiring teams manage the recruitment process, and at cost. And the benefits of doing it internally can far outweigh the conveniences of outsourced recruitment.

Consider the following:

• Your recruiter can help identify internal candidates that may or may not apply for an open position. Someone with an intimate knowledge of the business will have powerful insight into people who can fill gaps when an external recruiter cannot.
• You can control costs. Many employers outsource recruitment to reduce costs, but filling two senior positions in a year with an external recruiter can cost more than a full-time salary for an experienced in-house recruiter.
• You have more flexibility. If you think you need to do a job fair, you can organize one. If you’re working with an outside firm, you may have to renegotiate the entire contract.
• An internal recruiter can help anticipate business needs. They can spot things before requisitions appear and plan ahead.
• Internal recruiters have a better understanding of company culture because they work there every day. They have a vested interest in getting the right people in roles because they have to work together.

Whatever you decide for your business, remember that good quality recruitment needs to be a high priority. Your business needs people to succeed, and that can’t happen without quality sourcing, recruiting, and hiring.

The post Why companies outsource recruitment (and why you shouldn’t) appeared first on Recruiting Resources: How to Recruit and Hire Better.

First, here’s what the community thinks:

I’m not joking. (I’m in HR, we never joke.) What leadership qualities does Weird Al have that Elon Musk lacks? Here are three qualities the singer has that the businessman could and should learn.

1. Weird Al laughs at himself

Musk is a fantastic troll. But when he had people trolling him by changing their names to Elon Musk, he banned them. He gave a very funny reason for banning comedian Kathy Griffin.

Actually, she was suspended for impersonating a comedian

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 7, 2022

Hilarious, right? But he’s not laughing at himself; he’s laughing at Griffin. It’s funny, but it also looks like Musk can’t take a joke.

Weird Al? He laughs at himself. Take a look at his interview with the New Yorker.

New Yorker: When you decide what a song is going to be about, do you then do a lot of research to get the details right? And do you enjoy that?

Weird Al: Yeah. I’m very passionate about my music, so I’m going to make sure that everything I write about is researched thoroughly. Some require more research than others. When I did “Living with a Hernia,” I didn’t really know about hernias, so I went to the library and just researched hernias for a week. But, like, “White & Nerdy,” I didn’t need to do hardly any research, because I spent my whole life doing research on that song.

Leadership lesson:

If you can’t laugh at yourself, you will take things too seriously. It’s too easy to get offended. Do you know the No. 1 reason companies end up being sued by employees? It’s not sexual harassment or age discrimination: It’s retaliation.

What’s retaliation? When someone makes a complaint, the company punishes the employee for pointing out a real or perceived problem. This distinct lack of being able to handle criticism costs businesses millions of dollars. Recognize when you’re wrong. Laugh at yourself.

2. Weird Al takes care of his staff

Did you know that Weird Al has had the same “executive team” since the early 1980s? Drummer Jon Schwartz met Yankovic while recording “Another One Rides the Bus” in 1980. Bass player Steve Jay and guitarist Jim West joined in 1982, and the four played their first concert together in March 1982.

And Weird Al’s manager, Jay Levey, has been with Yankovic since 1980.

Compare that with Musk, who’s got an annualized 44% turnover for his executive team at Tesla.

I don’t know what goes on behind the scenes at either Tesla or the recording studio, but I know that long-term employees are a sign of good leadership.

While pay is important, it’s not enough. Tesla’s former head of AI Andrej Karpathy has an estimated net worth of $50 million with a $5 million salary, and he walked away.

I will make an educated guess that Weird Al’s long-term staff have much lower compensation levels – Yankovic himself has an estimated net worth of ‘only’ $20 million.

Plus, by all reports, Weird Al is scandal-free (unlike Daniel Radcliffe’s fictional portrayal of him in his “biopic.”). Musk, on the other hand, has a, ahem, reputation.

Leadership lesson:

Treating people right, not just paying them properly, is necessary for authentic leadership. If your team keeps quitting (or you keep having to fire them), the problem is you, not them.

3. Weird Al is nice

Weird Al has every right not to be humble – he’s an accomplished musician and performer. He’s utterly hilarious. Everyone loves him.

And yet, he doesn’t parody a song without the approval of the original songwriter – even though the law specifically allows you to write a parody without permission. When there was a misunderstanding with an artist, Yankovic apologized personally.

Contrast that with Musk, who former employees say threw “temper tantrums” and who, in a Twitter rage, infamously called a cave diver, working to rescue boys trapped in a cave in Thailand, a “pedo guy”.

Leadership lesson:

Nice is important. Being considerate of others is crucial. It shows that you think of others – and not just yourself. Being nice to people even if they can’t do anything for you (other than, perhaps, buy your product) is the type of person a good leader should be.

While Musk and Yankovic are successful in their own spheres, if you had the opportunity to work for one or the other, chances are your gut would tell you to hitch your cart to Yankovic’s star. Sure, there may be more money to be made with Musk, but in terms of leadership skills, Weird Al wins.

The post The Weird Al leadership playbook: Lessons for Elon Musk appeared first on Recruiting Resources: How to Recruit and Hire Better.

Okay, not everyone. We love ourselves – most of the time. But sometimes, we say things that make people hate us, and it’s our own darn fault.

Alan Collins, the author of The New HR Leader’s First 100 Days, wrote a post on LinkedIn where he identified three “killer” phrases that HR Leaders use. They are:

• “Please Copy Me on Everything…”
• “Look, It’s Company Policy, I Can’t…”
• “I Know I Promised This to You, But…”

I agree with Collins 100%. These phrases will destroy all confidence that people once had in HR. (And, in reality, every leader who uses these phrases.)

Collins suggests asking for updates rather than asking to be copied, explaining the reason behind the company policy (and supporting it even if you, personally, disagree), and never making promises you can’t keep. HR leaders can do much better if they adopt these ideas and eliminate these killer phrases.

They aren’t the only killer phrases, though. You probably have some in your vocabulary that are destroying confidence in your organization, and you don’t even realize it.

Here are a few more:

1. “Recruiting isn’t really part of HR, so, you know, I can’t explain why the process sucks.”

What the employees hear: “Yeah, HR is a bad department. We all know it stinks, and we don’t care.”

There’s often a battle between HR and recruiting, with recruiters often being the loudest opponents to being included in the HR umbrella. Whether recruiting should roll up to HR is an entirely different question, worthy of discussion, but here is the hard truth HR (and recruiting) needs to face: Employees and candidates believe HR and Talent Acquisition are one and the same department.

When HR insults TA or TA insults HR, it weakens the respect in both groups. It shouldn’t be a battle. Both groups are supposed to be people experts, and you need to get along and support each other.

Find out if you don’t understand why the recruiting process is X. Work together to make recruiting, hiring, onboarding, and retention work.

And, FYI, the flip side is also true – when recruiters undermine HR, employees lose respect for both groups.

What to say instead: “Tell me what parts frustrate you, and let’s work with the talent acquisition team. They, of course, will be better at explaining the process, but we all want to work together.”

2. “I don’t handle paperwork. My role is strategic. Now, what we should do here is …”

What the employees hear: “I don’t care about your problems at all.”

The larger the organization, the more likely this is to be true. So, if it’s true, you should be able to say it, right?

Just like the TA/HR fight, the paperwork vs. strategy battle rages as well. HR is paperwork heavy – and there’s not a thing HR can do about it. People have to be paid. They have to receive benefits. Hours have to be tracked. The government demands reports. It has to be done.

The average employee doesn’t notice at all when those things go smoothly. But, boy oh boy, do they notice if their paycheck is wrong. (Cue HR Business partner: “That’s payroll! They report to finance! Stop blaming me!”)

To employees, it’s all the same organization. And an organization that messes up someone’s paycheck or health insurance can’t be trusted to provide strategic guidance.

When I was new in HR, I had the pleasure of working for Denise Peppard, who used to tell us that if we can’t get the paperwork right, no one will trust us with the higher-level work. She was right then, and HR needs to remember that now. Ignoring paperwork problems will destroy your relationship with managers and employees.

What to say instead: “I’m so sorry about that. Here’s how we can fix it …” (Even if that is just a referral to an 800 number for your outsourced benefits group.)

3. “I’m not the decision maker here; I’m just doing what the CEO wants.”

What the employees hear: “The CEO doesn’t trust me and my ideas, so you probably shouldn’t listen to me either.”

Again, this is a true statement. HR is always subject to company leadership, but this kind of statement just announces that you’re a worthless lackey without input or influence.

“What? That is completely untrue! I do have influence; it’s just that the CEO overrides my good judgment and …”

If you can hear yourself sputtering that, you can see why it’s a problem. If you want managers to think you have influence and you want to have influence, you need to act like you do. The CEO does have the final say, but you need to be fully on board with whatever that decision is. Your battle is behind closed doors.

Just as you can’t hide behind policy, you can’t hide behind the CEO. You need to be all-in in public. If that’s not possible, find a new job where you can be all-in.

What to say instead: “Yes, the leadership team decided to do X. How can I help you with this change?”

The TL;DR version of this whole article is to lead rather than follow, take responsibility, and take action. It makes for a much better HR department; as a bonus, people will respect you more.

The post Killer phrases in HR: don’t use them, or you’ll erode trust appeared first on Recruiting Resources: How to Recruit and Hire Better.

Since the board of OpenAI fired CEO Sam Altman last week – and even with his reinstatement as top boss – it’s been one news story after another. First, the standard, “CEO fired articles,” and now we saw information like this:

https://twitter.com/GRDecter/status/1726965375974203629?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

I don’t pretend to have unique insight into the backroom decisions of OpenAI, ChatGPT, or Microsoft. But what I do know is people. And as a people leader, I would have advised the board to think through the people side of things.

Let’s assume that the OpenAI board was correct and that Altman shouldn’t be the CEO. This was open for debate – clearly, many people think it was a bad decision, and as it happens, it was reversed just days later with Altman reinstated as CEO.

Regardless of the outcome, there are important lessons to be learned here regarding a decision that’s bound to reverberate through the ecosystem as we’ve seen with OpenAI. Whatever happened behind the scenes at OpenAI, it’s clear that it was not the right move in the end.

So, I would advise your company to think through these things before making moves like this one.

Popularity means a lot

For instance, when 745 of 770 employees threaten to quit over a decision you make, that’s a huge problem. Did the board even know just how popular Atlman was with the employees?

This isn’t to say that you should make decisions based on popularity. Popular does not always mean good. In fact, it can often mean terrible.

But, before you terminate someone at the top, you should have a good idea of how the employees will react. An employee survey would have been a good idea before a change of this magnitude.

Have clear reasons for termination

Why did the board terminate Altman? The OpenAI board tapped Emmett Shear to replace Altman – and Shear then explained on X:

“Before I took the job, I checked on the reasoning behind the change. The board did *not* remove Sam over any specific disagreement on safety, their reasoning was completely different from that. I’m not crazy enough to take this job without board support for commercializing our awesome models.”

Okay, so we know it wasn’t because of the board’s concern that Altman was willing to allow AI to destroy humanity. But that’s a good thing – so what was the reason?

CBS News reports the reasons as follows:

“OpenAI said Friday that Altman was pushed out after a review found he was ‘not consistently candid in his communications’ with the board of directors, which had lost confidence in his ability to lead OpenAI.

“However, one Wall Street research firm said it believes that tensions arose over Altman’s push to develop more advanced products.”

So, there is a lack of communication and a disagreement on products, but not because of Skynet concerns!

So, what is the actual reason?

It’s entirely possible that the board has an excellent reason for the termination they are not publicizing, but it’s unclear, and the employees aren’t buying it as a valid reason.

There is no claim of impropriety, and Microsoft offered Altman a job even before the tweets on the topic stopped trending, so clearly, many people are not concerned about Altman’s character or skills.

If you don’t have a solid reason, it’s time to step back from any termination. I often tell managers and HR to be prepared to have their decisions go viral and to be very careful, but going viral is actually pretty rare for most businesses.

But OpenAI? They knew (or should have known) that this would be hashed out in great detail online. You may never be able to explain it to internet mobs, but OpenAI’s employees clearly weren’t buying it.

In tech, all you really have is your employees

Yes, OpenAI has distinct products, including ChatGPT, but it’s not like a factory where you have machines with distinct value. If all the people who threatened to quit actually quit, will ChatGPT shut down? How long will it take to get going?

And while it’s a difficult market out there, many of them already have job offers from Marc Benioff.

Salesforce will match any OpenAI researcher who has tendered their resignation full cash & equity OTE to immediately join our Salesforce Einstein Trusted AI research team under Silvio Savarese. Send me your cv directly to ceo@salesforce.com. Einstein is the most successful… pic.twitter.com/1RXoc9ekeo

— Marc Benioff (@Benioff) November 20, 2023

If Altman hadn’t been reinstated, and consequently if these people had walked, Shear would have had one heck of a time replacing them. And he would have had to offer people big raises to stay – since Salesforce is offering to match current compensation.

Even the return of Altman to the fold won’t necessarily reverse the damage. Some (many?) employees could still be looking at the exit doors.

How should they have handled it?

Let’s assume that termination was the right path to begin with. Would it have been at all possible to terminate Altman without an employee revolt?

Perhaps. The best bet (and maybe they tried this) is to give him an exceptionally good golden parachute that included, in exchange, a resignation because he wanted to spend more time with his family, travel the world, or build a time machine.

But the whys don’t matter so much here; what matters would be that Altman would be the one leaving voluntarily rather than what came across as an abrupt and rude executive dismissal.

Would this have been possible? If Altman knew his own popularity, he would have had them over the proverbial barrel. And that’s something you should also consider – is the problem you’re going to (or hoping to) solve with such a high-profile termination going to cause even more significant pain down the road?

A new CEO may have happily communicated with the Board more effectively – but what can they say if they have no employees to report on?

You probably won’t have a termination anywhere near this dramatic, but there are many more things to consider when terminating an executive. Proceed with caution.

Executive dismissal: guidelines to follow

Your company probably isn’t as newsworthy as OpenAI, but you don’t want to have a disaster on your hands even if it doesn’t hit the news.

So keep these things in mind before carrying out a decision like the one seen at OpenAI:

• Know your people. If necessary, do a survey.
• If you can’t explain why you’re terminating a leader, reconsider your decision.
• Remember that without your people, you have no business.
• Consider the long-term impacts of any major decision – and weigh them out.

Thinking through these things can help prevent disaster, which is what you’re intending to do in the first place. If it’s worth it to you to replace a leader, then taking these steps will be worth your time.

The post Executive dismissal at OpenAI: many lessons for businesses appeared first on Recruiting Resources: How to Recruit and Hire Better.

In this piece, I’ll discuss the role of a well-built team in startup success. From the early days of a fledgling venture to navigating major corporate milestones, the right team is not just a part of the journey — it is the journey.

1. Understand the challenges of building a startup team

One of the most pressing challenges in building a startup team is maneuvering through the constraint of limited resources. Unlike established companies, when you’re just starting up a new business, you often operate with tight budgets and scarce manpower, making every hiring decision crucial. 

This requires a strategic approach to resource allocation, where maximizing the potential of each team member becomes essential — the key is not just finding the right talent but also ensuring that each hire can wear multiple hats, contributing diversely to the startup’s growth and adaptability. 

Vince Lombardo, the president of Heartland, highlights the intricate challenges involved in assembling and managing a startup team. Unlike established corporations, startups often operate with limited resources, including tight budgets and minimal manpower. 

This scarcity makes every hiring decision pivotal. 

While building the team, he learned the importance of strategic resource allocation and the necessity of maximizing the potential of each team member. The key isn’t just finding the right talent but ensuring each hire can contribute in multiple ways, thereby supporting the startup’s growth and adaptability.

For startups, it’s crucial to not only hire for skills but also for cultural fit. Aligning team members with the company’s core values is as important as their professional abilities. 

The insights from Lombardo’s experience reflect a deep understanding of the nuanced dynamics of team building in a startup environment, where resource constraints necessitate a multifaceted approach to hiring and team development.

2. Decide on core values

Core values are the heartbeat of a startup’s culture, directly influencing the essence of its workplace environment. They serve as a guiding light for hiring decisions and ensure that each new team member brings the necessary skills and aligns with the company’s ethos. 

When startups establish clear core values, they create a cohesive culture where every employee aligns with the shared principles.

Katharine Wolf’s journey in founding Odetta exemplifies the impact of aligning business objectives with personal values. She founded Odetta with a mission to empower highly educated women in regions where they face significant barriers in the job market, particularly in the Middle East and South Asia. 

These barriers may stem from societal norms, logistical challenges, or workplace cultures that restrict women’s participation in the traditional workforce.  

Katharine’s mission is to connect these skilled women to global gig economy opportunities, thereby offering them remote, flexible work that overcomes the limitations they face locally. It’s rooted in addressing gender disparities observed from a young age, and demonstrates how a strong, value-driven foundation is critical for a startup’s success.

Her venture not only addresses a market need but also champions a cause, making Odetta a purpose-driven enterprise.

3. Adopt the right hiring mindset

Adopting the right mindset in hiring is pivotal for the growth and sustainability of a startup. Emphasizing diversity brings a lot of different perspectives and ideas and fosters innovation and creativity. Equally important is seeking adaptability in candidates: working in a startup demands individuals who can pivot and evolve with the company’s needs. 

Alignment with the company’s vision ensures that each team member is not just a cog in the machine, but a passionate contributor to the collective dream, driving the startup towards its long-term goals with shared enthusiasm and commitment.

The expansion of Bondi Bowls illustrates the importance of a mindful hiring approach. Bailey Wilson, the founder, faced the challenge of rapidly building a team for her burgeoning business. 

Her strategy focused on identifying individuals who resonated with her passion for health and community engagement, and who could adapt to the dynamic nature of a growing startup. Bailey’s approach was about finding the right people who could embrace and contribute to Bondi Bowls’ ethos. 

This aligns seamlessly with the startup hiring mindset, emphasizing adaptability, shared vision, and a commitment to the company’s core values. As a result, Bondi Bowls didn’t just grow in size but also in its capacity to impact communities positively.

4. Develop an effective onboarding process

This step is vital for building a strong foundation for team dynamics, encouraging open communication, and aligning individual goals with the company’s vision. A strategic onboarding process ensures that new team members feel welcomed and understood, fostering a sense of belonging from day one. 

Tim Tebow is a renowned athlete and philanthropist. His approach at the Tim Tebow Foundation is characterized by setting a vivid end goal and inspiring his team to see beyond the immediate challenges. Tebow advocates for focusing on the ultimate objective, emphasizing that hard work is not the goal itself, but a means to achieve the end result.

Tebow believes in being hands-on, showing rather than just telling. This approach gains respect and fosters a sense of camaraderie. He exemplifies this by participating in tasks alongside his team, rather than delegating difficult tasks to newcomers.

Tebow’s philosophy centers around painting a clear picture of success, not just in terms of hard work but in visualizing the rewards of that effort. He encourages envisioning the end result — whether it’s a football player dreaming of triumph in a stadium or a team member visualizing the success of a project. 

This vision, Tebow argues, is more motivating than the abstract concept of hard work.

This approach reflects a deep understanding of human motivation and team dynamics. He shows that by inspiring with a clear end goal, teams can cultivate discipline, resilience, and a collective effort towards a common objective. This philosophy applies not only in sports but also in business and life, where the clarity of the ultimate goal can transform the way teams work and achieve success.

5. Foster a culture of growth and development

Cultivating a growth and development culture is all about nurturing a workspace where learning and professional growth are not just encouraged, but are a key part of the daily routine. It’s about moving beyond the traditional approach to development and creating an environment where every team member has the chance to learn, improve, and excel. 

This means rolling out things like mentorship programs, hands-on training sessions, and providing plenty of resources for self-guided learning. The aim is to create a vibrant, supportive workplace where growth is ingrained in the culture and where everyone, regardless of their role, feels they have the support and opportunities to continuously develop their skills and advance in their careers.

Christina Tosi’s journey with Milk Bar is a stellar example of cultivating a culture of growth and development in an entrepreneurial environment. Her approach to business combines extraordinary discipline and boundless creativity, mirrored in her philosophy of “just bake the cake.” 

This attitude encapsulates the essence of learning traditional business rules only to artfully subvert them. Tosi’s example highlights the importance of embracing new experiences and prioritizing flexibility, while nurturing one’s creativity and adapting amidst uncertainty. 

She is focused on understanding and connecting with customers — which coupled with a focus on streamlined operations underlines the vital role of creating a suitable culture for business success. 

Tosi’s journey with Milk Bar, characterized by innovative thinking and a relentless pursuit of growth, is an inspiring blueprint for fostering a culture of continuous learning and development in any entrepreneurial venture.

Related: The Startup Hiring Guide: Hiring for rapid growth from 5 to 50

Build your startup dream team

We’ve navigated various facets of constructing a startup dream team. As we wrap up, it’s crucial to reiterate the undeniable significance of a well-constructed team in startup success.

A team isn’t just a group of individuals working under the same banner — it’s a mosaic of diverse talents, perspectives, and aspirations, all converging towards a singular vision. 

Remember, in the often unpredictable world of startups, your team is your strongest asset. It’s the resilience in times of uncertainty, the creative spark in moments of challenge, and the relentless drive that propels your vision forward. 

As a leader, your role extends beyond mere recruitment to nurturing, inspiring, and leading by example. Let your team be the embodiment of your startup’s values, aspirations, and dreams. The path to success is paved with challenges, but with the right team, no hurdle is insurmountable. 

The post The art of building a stellar startup team from scratch appeared first on Recruiting Resources: How to Recruit and Hire Better.

HRIS enters the room…

By utilizing an HRIS software you can make your business life a lot easier. This technology can ameliorate significantly the way small businesses handle their HR tasks. 

After all, it is no coincidence that 25% of companies identify better functionality as a top reason for using an HRIS. 

And guess what? This article is designed to provide a comprehensive understanding of HRIS and its transformative potential for small businesses. 

What is an HRIS?

Don’t panic. A Human Resources Information System (HRIS) is a software solution that integrates and automates various human resource functions into one centralized system. This is not as technical as it sounds. It really is a software that you can just install on your computer or use it online to help you manage your employees.

It is designed for everyday people to manage employee data, streamline HR processes, and provide strategic insights into workforce management. 

HRIS systems vary in complexity and features, but they all serve the primary purpose of making HR management more efficient and data-driven​​.

What can an HRIS do?

Enough with the terminology. Let’s see now how an HRIS can help small business owners or HR professionals do their job in practice.

Here’s a list of the most popular features of an HRIS: 

1. Onboard new hires
2. Consolidating all Paid Time Off (PTO) requests in one place for easy tracking and approval
3. Automatically updating employee records when they change personal details like address or phone number
4. Generating payroll automatically, including calculating deductions and taxes
5. Scheduling and tracking employee performance reviews and storing the outcomes
6. Providing a portal for employees to access their pay stubs and tax forms.
7. Monitoring employee training progress and certifications.
8. Generating compliance reports for labor laws and regulations.
9. Offering analytics on workforce trends like turnover rates or average time in position.
10. Sending out automatic reminders for important dates like work anniversaries or certification renewals.
11. Facilitating internal job postings and transfers within the organization.
12. Enabling managers to approve expense reports and travel requests.

And this is just for starters. Can you now imagine how helpful an HRIS could be for your organization? 

An HRIS can save you a significant amount of time and money, and also help you identify areas that require human intervention. 

Why do small businesses need an HRIS?

Like everyone operating in a market, all small business were in a position where they were trying to handle different situations and focus on their company’s growth. That is the way to make a small business bigger and bigger. 

However, it comes with no surprise that small businesses often grapple with managing HR tasks efficiently.

Business owners often cope with payroll, schedules, and employee time off manually, either on paper or in spreadsheets. This outdated approach not only consumes a significant amount of time but also introduces the potential for errors, leading to a frustrating experience for you who seek efficiency and accuracy in your day-to-day operations. 

HRIS offers an easy way to deal with these challenges by automating processes such as payroll, benefits administration, and employee data management. This automation not only increases efficiency but also aids in maintaining compliance with various regulatory requirements​​. 

At least, this is what 35.3% of small business owners believe when it comes to increased efficiency. 

Benefits of implementing HRIS in small businesses

We believe that by now, you have received all the information you need to begin implementing an HRIS. However, if you still can’t find the answer to the question ‘why do I need one,’ please allow us to describe some of the benefits of this software.

Efficiency and time savings: Automation of routine HR tasks leads to significant time savings and enhanced operational efficiency.

Data accuracy and security: HRIS minimizes human errors and securely manages sensitive employee data.

Compliance and risk management: It helps in staying compliant with the constantly changing labor laws and regulations.

Employee self-service: Employees can access and manage their own HR-related data, reducing the administrative burden on HR staff.

Scalability: As the business grows, HRIS can easily adapt and scale according to the changing needs.

Choosing the right HRIS for your business

Selecting an appropriate HRIS requires careful consideration of various factors:

Cost and budget

Evaluate the cost of the HRIS against the budget and expected ROI.

Features and functionalities 

Ensure the HRIS has all the necessary features that meet the specific needs of your business.

Ease of use and training

The system should be user-friendly and require minimal training for staff and employees.

Integration capabilities 

Ensure that the HRIS can integrate with other business software and tools for seamless operations.

Vendor reputation and support 

Research the vendor’s reputation in the market and the level of customer support and training they provide.

For small businesses, an HRIS is not just a tool for managing HR processes; it’s a strategic asset that drives efficiency, compliance, and growth. 

You don’t have to be tech-savvy to understand how it works, as most of them – and especially ours – are incredibly user-friendly and designed for everyday people like me and you.

The post What even is an HRIS – and how to know you need one appeared first on Recruiting Resources: How to Recruit and Hire Better.

How then can employers retain them? Most employers veer towards career planning and development but is it an effective practice?

Let’s explore the different challenges, and why (or why not) it is good to have career development strategies in place.

In a traditional setting, employee retention is often associated with better salaries, bonuses, and paid time off. Not so for the current generation of employees. The Great Resignation of 2021 has shown us employees no longer feel they need to be shackled to jobs with low pay, no opportunities for career advancement, and work-life balance. 

As much as 38% of employees will quit in the first year of employment if employers do not have anything tangible to offer on the table. It has become more and more challenging to hire and retain employees nowadays. 

Why employee retention is challenging

Whether you own a small business or a large enterprise, the hard reality is that employers can’t tie down employees anymore.  

The fast-paced technological advancement; the changing economic conditions; and the corresponding business needs, have given rise to the dynamic workplace where multi-skilled employees are in great demand, salaries are competitive, and well-connected workplaces are the norm. 

As a result, a 9-to-5 job is a thing of the past. Better salaries, paid time off, health insurance, and such benefits may have retained employees a decade ago but today they want more. 

Businesses with smaller HR budgets, find the cost of replacement as high as 33% of an employee’s salary, quite challenging to meet. This calls for the need to study and understand what today’s employees look for when they evaluate job options. 

Factors that impact employee retention

Let’s get this straight: there is no one-size-fits-all approach to retention. It is relative to industry, company size, mode of operation, and workplace culture. In this article, we’ll focus on some of the major factors that impact retention in small businesses. 

Global factors  

The COVID-19 pandemic was one of the main reasons that small businesses were forced to cut down on human resources, cost of operations, and go into remote mode. Today, global remote teams have become a common denominator for companies with smaller budgets looking for rapid business growth. 

Remote work, in particular in the technology sector where it is easy to plug into the workplace, has caused employees to re-evaluate the necessity of in-person office when they already have tools, processes, and virtual team mechanisms in place. 

It also makes sense to cut down on “going to the office costs” as global inflation sets in. 

Work culture 

According to a Forbes article, some of the main factors that employees cited that led to the Great Resignation were feelings of disrespect, dismissive behavior of employers, and lack of transparency. 

Inclusivity, diversity, accountability have become the benchmarks for employees to choose a company to work with.

As more and more employees think beyond the tangible benefits, aspects like inclusivity, diversity, accountability, etc. have become the benchmarks for employees to choose a company to work with. 

The changing attitudes do not stop there. Today’s employees have high expectations from their employers. They are attracted to organizations that have: 

• Culture of innovation 
• Job goals and purpose
• Engaged employers
• Work-life balance
• Environmentally conscious, to name a few

Employers need to really prove to employees that their organizations are worth pursuing, and not the other way around.  

Competitive hiring strategies

Despite the prevailing rate of 3.8% unemployment in the United States, hiring remains robust generally. In the technology sector, some of the driving forces for hiring are the rapid rate of innovations like the development of artificial intelligence (AI), and startup unicorns entering the market with Y combinator accelerator programs. 

In order to attract top technical talents in a shorter time frame, companies are adopting competitive hiring strategies. 

In order to attract top technical talents in a shorter time frame, companies are adopting competitive hiring strategies. 

Apart from high salaries, it’s common for employers to offer WFH, flexible hours, and four-day work week options. Throw in perks like company gadgets, paid vacation, airfare, food allowance, etc. then consider the deal done. 

What can employers do about it?

Given the rapidly changing status quo of the job marketplace, employers need to adapt and adopt effective hiring strategies with retention mechanisms in place. 

Having a career development strategy is a good start. Employees prefer to work for employers who plan their career paths for growth and development for the long term. This shows that the company is committed and has a clear vision for their roles in the organization. 

However, career development is not enough. What employers need to do is go the extra mile if they are concerned about retaining valuable human resources for business continuity. 

Planning resources and strategies

Having worked with startups with limited resources, and now at Logo Design, a SaaS small business, I understand the importance of budgets and hiring constraints. My take on this is that retention strategies do not necessarily have to be expensive. You just need creativity and commitment. 

So, let’s explore the options.

1. Set clear career goals

You don’t have to be a genius to know that every person, young or old, needs a sense of purpose, and a goal in life. A personalized career plan is part of it and it starts right from the moment of the interview. 

In my view, finding the right person for the right job isn’t effective anymore, after all, you can train them to the skill level that you want them to be at. A couple of years ago we engaged an intern with no skills in Adobe Illustrator or Photoshop. We trained him so thoroughly that today he’s a senior graphic designer who not only creates logos, mockups, and brand identities but also designs infographics. 

My point is, finding someone with the right attitude and aspirations goes a long way. I ask myself: Can they fit in with the company culture? Will their career goals fit in with the company’s goals? Are they willing to learn on the job? Are they committed?  

2. Build mentorship programs 

Establishing a mentorship program is a great strategy that forces employees to work together to achieve a common goal. Mentoring not only helps the mentored but also the mentor as well.

At BalanceOne.com for example, James Wilkinson shares, “We provide job shadowing opportunities for our employees to gain valuable insights into various roles within the company. This allows them to expand their skill set and fosters a sense of camaraderie and understanding among teams.”

Job shadowing, cross-training, and buddy systems are all great options for on-the-job training and upskilling.  

3. Establish upskilling and reskilling programs

Speaking of skilling, I find reskilling and upskilling programs superb tools to help team members stay abreast with technological development and industry trends, especially in the tech sector where a lot happens day to day. 

For companies that can afford it, funded courses, training, workshops, seminars, webinars in AI, cybersecurity, and software, can develop a sense of loyalty towards the organization, says Maurizio Petrone of Must Read Quotes. 

For employers with low or no training budgets, reskilling and upskilling can take the form of internal knowledge-sharing, training and team-building sessions.

Encouraging employees to take free online courses through Udemy, Google, Facebook, etc. helps in professional development and growth. Even making an hour a day mandatory skill learning fosters commitment to a company that values their contribution. 

Besides, Sarah Jeffries, Managing Director of First Aid Course Leicester adds, “By working on projects they are genuinely passionate about, employees not only gain valuable experience but also acquire new skills and insights that contribute to their overall professional growth.” 

4. Ensure an inclusive and respectful company culture

People by nature are communal. So, building a community is not that difficult. What matters most is developing a culture of inclusivity, transparency, and accountability in that community. How do you do that?

Anand Krishan of SlidetBazaar tells us, “We openly share our company’s performance and emphasize that their contributions matter in our journey. We position ourselves as underdogs fighting against industry giants, encouraging our team to be the driving force behind our success.”

As we have discovered earlier, one of the most important factors that influence employees to quit is disrespect. Disrespect comes in all forms, ranging from abuse, and bullying to dismissive behavior.

At Logo Design, we maintain a respectful company culture from top to bottom and vice versa. Abusiveness, harassment, and bullying are not tolerated because we’ve seen that news about them tends to spread in the candidate circle and discourages them from applying to the company that harbors such a reputation. 

Moreover, an open-door policy has helped me check on employee motivation levels; address grievances and feedback on the spot; and keep a check on managers as well. 

The bottom line is if you treat employees with respect, trust, and recognition, David Zhang of KateBackDrop emphasizes that you are gearing for a positive work environment that will make employees think twice before leaving such a robust company culture behind.

5. Recognize and reward development

Where there is so much going on, rewards and recognition can’t be that important. Wrong!

Employees are as hungry for recognition and rewards as they are for the above elements for career development.

Employees are as hungry for recognition and rewards as they are for the above elements for career development.

For an employer of a small business, like mine, it is difficult to shell out monetary bonuses for everyone. What we can do is celebrate small achievements with verbal recognition, written notes, time out, books, free redeemable coupons, etc. that can make a difference and encourage healthy competition. 

Having said that, yearly appraisals, performance bonuses, paid vacation including airfare, etc. attached with monetary values have their charm too. 

If you can’t have both then at least have one in place to make employees feel acknowledged and earn satisfaction through rewards. 

6. Prioritize work-life balance, a reduced workweek, and flexible hours

In recent years, work-life balance has gained a great deal of popularity, and rightly so. In countries like Japan, the U.S., and others, where “work is life” devalues personal relationships, quality of life, and purpose of work, employees realized after the pandemic that they can have both work and life balanced out, which has given employers cause for concern.

Hence, strategies for work-life balance with flex hours, reduced workweeks, and ensuring personal needs like maternity and paternity leaves, and childcare are met, have made companies like Google, Apple, Tata, etc. the best places to work. 

According to Phil McParlane of 4dayweek.io over 95% prefer to have 4-day work week but only 0.5% of companies offer this. Any company that offer this perk can have a retention rate as much as 80-90%. Those are staggering numbers.

They have proved that changing the way we work has in fact increased productivity rather than decreasing it. These strategies are not difficult to implement, just need the commitment and processes to accommodate work-life needs.

So, does career development help in employee retention?

The short answer is yes. Career development does help in employee retention. But it can’t be the only strategy. 

Employers need to think beyond this, to help employees envision their personal and career development goals and aspirations. By combining the value of their work, people they associate with, a community, and trust of the organization, employers help their people develop a sense of wellbeing, job satisfaction, and achievement when they commit their lives to the company. 

Developing an engaged and inclusive work culture is critical for retention as well. In a study by Advanced, where Nick Gallimore is Managing Director, reports about 73% of employees are of the view that their organizations could engage more with them.

Instead of the traditional yearly performance appraisals, today’s employees are keen on getting instant feedback for improving skills and personal development.

Instead of the traditional yearly performance appraisals, today’s employees are keen on getting instant feedback for improving skills and personal development.

It fosters a culture of continuous learning which adds value to skilled resources.

Feedback also opens up channels of communication in real-time, and allows employers to resolve grievances as they work together. They are able to recognize and reward deserving employees and acknowledge their roles in contributing to the company’s mission. This way, a sense of trust, loyalty, and community is developed between them, making employees reluctant to leave. 

Finally, retention is about making employees feel they are part of a bigger picture rather than just a peg in the wrong hole.

Janil Jean is the Head of Operations at LogoDesign.net. She loves to write about branding, small business, organizational development, careers, and digital marketing. She is the owner of multiple blogs including BusinessSchoolHub.com, and a contributor for Newsbreak, eLearning, GoSkills. Connect with her on social media: LinkedIn, Twitter or Facebook.

The post Is career development good for employee retention in SMBs? appeared first on Recruiting Resources: How to Recruit and Hire Better.

Lying in resumes is true

In adult life, things are different. As kids mature, they usually outgrow these fibs. They need to be honest in their personal and professional relationships. But some lies remain innocent.

Lying on your resumes isn’t the end of the world. Actually, 7 in 10 workers do it in different ways, and guess what, they include applicants in your company – and those you’ve already hired.

Today, as AI generative tools set in, it is easier than ever to present yourself in such a way that is a stretch of reality. However, when you repurpose a cover letter or leave AI to craft your whole CV without letting others know, is it still a lie of the same gravity?

Boundaries of lying may be subjective, but candidates choose to lie for one reason: to increase their appeal to the recruiter and to receive the coveted invitation for the job intervIew. 

Perfect candidates are no longer the case

It is not surprising that for many years, the HR industry has been focused on finding the perfect candidate. However, discussions about diversity, on-the-job training, and hiring without borders were not being considered. 

This practice drove many candidates to start lying about their hard and soft skills in order to present a better version of themselves and schedule an interview. 

The interview remains until today the best process of identifying lies such as educational background, inflated work experience, time gaps, false skills, or a criminal record.

As a recruiter, you can encourage people to be honest, even by updating details in your job description about the company culture and your needs.

Don’t write a job brief that attracts only the best of the best. Instead, write a job description that embraces talent and different skill sets that could be helpful for your organization. 

Give opportunities to rising talents and offer competitive on-the-job training to create the kind of employee that other companies would be jealous of.

But what happens even when you are so open and honest, and still come face to face with blatant lies? 75% of HR managers still catch a lie on a resume. How can you identify them? Let’s go deeper. 

Can AI tools help candidates to lie better? 

AI tools are prone to learning and they react based to what we prompt them. 

This implies that if a candidate fails to include important details or, in a more concerning scenario, deliberately provides false information about their qualifications, the AI tools will incorrectly attribute those qualifications to the candidate. 

Do you see the chaos that is coming? Don’t panic, because there are ways that can help you identify it. 

How to find out if a candidate is lying?

You don’t have to buy a lie detector to identify if a candidate is lying. There are some indicators that could help you during the interview process to have a clear sentiment about it. 

Some steps require being proactive as you navigate this labyrinth. Here are some actions you can take:  

1. Employment verification

Verifying your employment history is a standard procedure. Employers reach out to former managers or HR departments to confirm details like dates of employment, job titles, and roles. Any discrepancies may be red flags. Don’t go crazy about it. 

You can have a clear image just by visiting the candidate’s LinkedIn profile. 

Did you know that lying is more common in high level positions? For example, employees in management and executive positions were found to be more prone to exaggerating their AI skills compared to other employees according to ResumeBuilder. 

2. Background checks

Background checks delve into personal and criminal histories. If the information they provided conflicts with the findings of a background check, their credibility takes a hit. 

3. Reference checks

References play a crucial role. Employers may contact the individuals that candidates listed to vouch for their character. Inconsistencies in the information may surface during these conversations, especially if they have resorted to using false references.

4. Interview inconsistencies

Lying during an interview is risky. Nervousness or the inability to answer industry-related questions can raise suspicions. Hiring managers noticing inconsistencies may prompt further investigation.

5. Educational background verification

Employers can verify candidate’s educational credentials by contacting the institution or using third-party services. Falsifying academic achievements can be uncovered through these checks.

6. Job assessment

Some companies incorporate skills tests in their hiring process. Discrepancies between claimed skills and test scores may expose dishonesty.

7. Inconsistent resume information

Hiring managers scrutinize every application component for coherence. Inconsistencies in job titles, duties, or an exaggerated career path may trigger deeper investigations.

And remember: 51% of candidates may have gotten a bit more excited when describing their job role in their resumes. 

8. Lack of explanation

Vagueness in your resume or during the interview may signal a lack of actual skills or experience. Inability to provide specific details could lead hiring managers to question candidates’ qualifications. Embellishing responsibilities (52%) is the main reason for lying.

We live in a bad world, but we still have to believe in people. They are the most important asset of a company. Getting prepared means being ready to catch any lie, but there is no need to be an alternative to a truth detector. Look deeper and seek potential. 

Think about all the reasons why kids used to lie. 

The post 7 in 10 workers lie in resumes – how do you catch them out? appeared first on Recruiting Resources: How to Recruit and Hire Better.

And, of course, your hiring team is leaning on you to ensure the onboarding and orientation process goes absolutely perfectly.

But, there’s a but: Miriam is one of two dozen new hires starting that week because you’re scaling operations as a company. That puts you in a bit of a pickle. You just don’t have the bandwidth to ensure a smooth onboarding for Miriam and all her new colleagues – so you’re looking at potential problems in the future: Miriam gets thrown to the wolves in her first week on the job, gets disgruntled and frazzled, and starts tuning out pretty quickly afterwards.

Next? She turns to Glassdoor and starts looking again – and even gripes anonymously about the poor experience she had when she was initially pumped about her new job. And that goes for many of the other new hires as well.

Cue frustrated hiring managers, understaffed teams, and an overall stressful working environment for your existing employees who then hit burnout at a time when it could have been avoided.

How do you avoid all that? As an HR professional, you’re always searching for innovative ways to improve the onboarding process. With all the new technology out there, have you considered adding virtual reality to the mix?

Virtual onboarding

VR is no longer the stuff of science fiction and it hasn’t been for a long time. Also referred to as “immersion technology”, VR can be a real boon to your onboarding process. Think about it – rather than plunk Miriam in front of a laptop and telling her she needs to watch a series of videos, you’re putting her in a virtual working environment to get her familiarized with the job before she’s actually doing it.

Those interactive experiences help new hires like Miriam feel welcomed and better informed about the work they’re going to do for you.

The power of information retention

Those first few weeks for a new hire can be overwhelming. As a new hire, you can be bombarded with all kinds of information – you’re meeting new people, learning new systems and entering a new culture. You’ve having meetings one after the next, training with different teams, and reading up on numerous policies and best practices.

This can lead to information overload at a crucial time where you want to ensure new employees retain all that information if they’re going to succeed. That’s where VR can be useful. Immersive learning has been found to be more efficient in terms of memory retention – a University of Maryland study found that VR learners demonstrated an 8.8% higher recall accuracy compared to those using a two-dimensional platform.

Improved retention also means better job performance. A PwC study revealed that employees trained with VR were up to 275% more confident in applying learned skills, and were four times faster in completing training than those in the traditional classroom setting.

A holodeck for training purposes

Star Trek’s holodeck is a perfect example of how immersive technology can be used to train new hires – in Star Trek, it’s used as a safe environment for combat training and scientific simulation. The same thinking applies to VR’s capabilities to create realistic job simulations for your new employees.

And while Star Trek is science fiction, there are real-life examples of this. For instance, retail giant Walmart has embraced VR to train over one million employees across its stores.

Andy Trainor, Walmart’s Senior Director of Walmart U.S. Academies, is a fan of virtual onboarding. “The great thing about VR,” he says, “is its ability to make learning experiential. When you watch a module through the headset, your brain feels like you actually experienced a situation.”

You’ve probably heard about Black Friday, the busiest shopping day of the year in the United States. It’s an intense time for customer support representatives, especially newer, inexperienced ones. To counter the challenge, Walmart has a VR training scenario simulating that environment to prep new and existing employees ahead of time.

That controlled and risk-free environment helps employees practice customer service, problem-solving and safety procedures without fear of consequence, ultimately making them better at the job when the time comes.

Likewise, Farmers Insurance developed a VR training program for their claims adjusters. The program immerses trainees in a virtual environment simulating real-world situations, such as inspecting damaged properties.

This approach to training has enabled Farmers Insurance to accelerate the learning process, improve knowledge retention, and better prepare their claims adjusters for the challenges they’ll face on the job. By leveraging the capabilities of immersive learning solutions, your organization can also unlock the full potential of VR technology in onboarding and orientation.

Being the ‘new kid’ isn’t easy

Working is often collaborative. Consequently, it’s a priority for many hiring teams to build strong working relationships from the get-go.

But for the new hire like Miriam, being introduced to all those unfamiliar names and faces (and roles) can become overwhelming during an already stressful first few weeks on the job. Couple that with the drive to make a strong impression, and it can be a highly anxious time.

VR can address that even before the first day on the job. Immersing the new hire in a virtual working environment which includes ‘introductions’ to their new colleagues helps a new hire familiarize themselves ahead of time. Ice is broken, new connections are built, and new relationships start forming even before they physically arrive for work on the first day.

It’s a virtual solution

As an HR professional, incorporating VR tech into your onboarding and orientation processes can boost the new employee experience.

By offering immersive learning, realistic job simulators and connectivity boosters, you’re priming your new hires such as Miriam to hit the ground running more quickly. That’s more valuable especially in sectors where you’re onboarding in large batches or hiring for higher-stress working environments.

There’s just one caveat – don’t let VR do all the work. There are two balances to bear in mind: first, as with all technologies, you still should maintain the all-important human touch as you scale your tech stack. Second, keep your tech evolution in tandem with your organization’s specific needs and objectives. Don’t let one get ahead of the other.

With the right approach, virtual reality can transform the way you welcome and integrate new employees into your team, creating a more engaged, connected and confident workforce. Newly hired prodigies like Miriam will realize their full potential quicker than before – and your company will reap the benefits.

The post Use VR in onboarding and set your new hires for success appeared first on Recruiting Resources: How to Recruit and Hire Better.

“Anybody who thinks there’s a level playing field in tech is insane” says Aline Lerner. Aline is the co-founder and CEO of interviewing.io, an anonymous technical interviewing platform. She doesn’t think ‘meritocracy’ is a dirty word. But she understands why some people think it is, particularly in the tech recruiting world.

Aline used to be an engineer but she saw an opportunity to make a bigger impact as a recruiter. Being a recruiter in the Bay Area has convinced Aline that technical recruiting is broken. Finding good coders isn’t easy. Coding merit should matter more than anything else. But recruiters are missing out on great technical candidates because pedigrees and degrees don’t reliably signal coding ability. Aline wants to re-engineer the top of tech’s recruiting funnel by replacing resumes with merit.

Here’s how Aline thinks about tech’s recruiting problem and her advice for recruiters who want to fix it:

Resumes are the biggest barrier to entry in tech

Traditionally, resumes sit at the top of tech’s recruiting funnel. But they’re terrible. When Aline started recruiting in 2012, there were very few recruiters in Silicon Valley with technical backgrounds. As a former engineer, she stood out in a competitive crowd. She knew how to spot good coders and found herself working with candidates other recruiters “wouldn’t even touch,” based on their resumes.

“When I started recruiting there was still a huge emphasis on pedigree. Even the smallest startups with no brand insisted that everyone they interviewed came from 1 of 5 top schools, or 1 of 10 top companies. That left out a huge long tail of candidates who were, arguably, just as capable.”

The industry’s insistence on pedigree frustrated Aline. As a coder, she found almost no link between candidates’ school pedigree and how well they could code. In her experience, resumes don’t identify the best candidates. They just act as barriers for non-traditional candidates.

Based on her analysis of hiring data, Aline found that “lack of relevant experience” was the number one reason both recruiters and engineers gave for rejecting candidates’ resumes.

Aline acknowledges that experience can be important. But she thinks that most of the time “lack of relevant experience” is a euphemism for something else. Often it means:

I don’t think this candidate is smart enough

People can couch their rejections in excuses. But a lot of the time, they’re just being elitist. It’s easy to spot a candidate with a Stanford degree. It’s harder to spot raw coding ability. Nobody likes to think they’re an elitist. Making blanket assumptions about candidates based on social signals is easy. But it isn’t a good way to source the best coders.

There’s a resume-recruiter catch-22

Despite ample evidence that resumes are fatally flawed, they’ve proved difficult to kill. Resumes are an easy filtering option because they’re non-technical. Most recruiters aren’t coders, so they rely on non-technical filtering options. Aline argues that it’s unrealistic to expect all technical recruiters to have technical backgrounds. But, without technical knowledge, it’s difficult for recruiters to assess coders’ abilities. So, they have to rely on proxies like resumes. This is a specific example of a general recruiting problem:

As a recruiter, it’s really hard to tell if someone will be good at a job you have no experience doing.

According to Aline, technical recruiters face another, thornier problem that nobody likes to mention:

“Getting respect from engineers is one of the toughest things for a recruiter to do. You’re set up to fail, out of the gate. Every time you speak to an engineer there’s a window in which you have to prove yourself. Everybody knows it. It’s just the nature of the beast.”

So, what should an ambitious technical recruiter do?

Here’s what Aline recommends:

Get a feel for coding basics

Knowing some coding fundamentals can help recruiters gain respect and empathize with candidates. That doesn’t mean technical recruiters need to code well. Aline recommends reading The Non-technical Guide to Web Technologies by Tommy Chheng and taking a short ‘intro to coding’ class through Udacity or Coursera.

“Coding experience can definitely be a big advantage” says Aline. “But ultimately, recruiting is a sales job. It’s better to be a good salesperson than a good coder.”

If you’re reading resumes, know what matters and what doesn’t

To find the right candidates to sell (and sell to), recruiters need reliable shortcuts or ‘signals’ to filter candidates with. If they have to rely on resumes, they should know what to look for. Aline ran some data analysis, based on 300 technical interviews, to see which resume signals indicate how well candidates can code. Here’s what she found:

What doesn’t matter

• GPA
• A degree from a top computer science school
• Side projects (at least, not as much as coders expect)

What matters

• Experience working at a top company
• Whether candidates’ resumes make their previous job responsibilities clear

What really matters (way more than anything else)

• Typos and grammatical errors

So, contrary to popular perception, companies that hire coders from no-name schools aren’t ‘lowering their bar’ because schools aren’t a good measurement of bar height. Typos are a better measurement. And they’re usually easy to spot.

Ask for a writing sample

Despite the common stereotype of techies who can’t write and writers who can’t do math, the two skill sets aren’t mutually exclusive. In Aline’s experience, good coders are good writers. To assess writing skills, resumes and cover letters aren’t the best options. They’re formulaic, generic and constrained by strange customs. It definitely helps if you can actually tell what candidates did at each of their past jobs, though. Here are two resume writing samples Aline highlights on her blog:

She argues that the second sample is clearer and less jargony. It’s a lot easier to tell what the second candidate achieved and what the scope of their project was. In general, well-written resumes focus on teamwork and candidates’ actions. Badly-written resumes focus on technology and industry jargon.

It’s even easier to tell how well candidates can write if you ask them for a specific writing sample, aimed at non-technical readers. Aline recommends asking candidates to describe a project they worked on recently. If a candidate can explain their project to a non-technical audience, they’re probably a good communicator, a good thinker and a good coder.

Consider anonymous technical interviews

Ultimately, Aline advocates for blind technical interviews. Blind interviews remove many of the pedigree prejudices that resumes are rife with. Interviewing.io tracks how candidates do in practice interviews and then uses aggregate past performance data to identify the strongest candidates. Using this approach, over half of interviewing.ios’ candidates make it to onsite interviews at top companies, indicating that anonymous interviewing is a much better candidate signaling mechanism than resumes.

Anonymity allows companies to judge candidates based on the strength of their coding performance. Not their name, gender, race, degree or anything else. Aline doesn’t advocate for stripping candidates of their identities, though. Candidates’ identities matter—but they shouldn’t be a hurdle to getting interviewed. On interviewing.io, interviews focus on performance, not prejudice. Candidates can unveil themselves as they progress through further rounds of interviews.

Anonymity isn’t immune to problems, though. Aline discovered an unnerving gender gap in her beta user base. Men were advancing to the next round of interviews 1.4 times more often than women. So she developed a real-time voice masking feature to see whether hiding interviewees’ genders could help.

Blind technical recruiting is one piece in a large puzzle

Aline recently released the results of her voice modulation experiment. They were surprising. Contrary to what most people expected, masking gender had no effect on interview performance. Confused by these findings, Aline went back to her data to see what else could be causing the gender gap. She discovered that women were leaving interviewing.io roughly 7 times more often than men after doing badly in an interview. Women were self-selecting out based on their self-perception, not their actual performance:

“At least in these findings, it’s not about systemic bias against women or women being bad at computers or whatever. Rather it’s about women being bad at dusting themselves off after failing, which, despite everything, is probably a lot easier to fix.”

Even if women’s self-perceptions are easier to fix than societal oppression, fixing them isn’t going to be easy. Aline realizes that she can’t fix all of tech’s recruiting problems single handedly. Let alone society’s. The ‘top’ of the recruiting funnel starts early. Education, income, gender and race influence who gets to the top of anything, especially competitive funnels and fields. Lots of organizations, like Khan Academy, Code2040 and The Level Playing Field Institute, are working hard to fix other parts of the opportunity pipeline.

For now, we can combat recruiting’s meritocracy problem individually. We can ask questions, analyze data and challenge society’s perceptions. These steps may seem small. But they’re the only way the world has ever been changed.

The post How can we fix tech recruiting? appeared first on Recruiting Resources: How to Recruit and Hire Better.

Starting your salary discussions from of a place of respect is crucial. As a hiring manager, making these offers strategically is important to the long-term success of your business and this role. What are the most important things to keep in mind when you are extending a salary offer? These salary negotiation tips for employers will advise you on making a fair offer for both yourself and your potential hire.

1. Establish salary ranges

For each position you’re hiring for, be sure to have a lower and upper band to orient your approach to the salary negotiation. Your lowest offer should still be in line with industry standards and be attractive to your candidate. Industry standards can be found from government resources like the Bureau of Labor Statistics, or private survey sites like Glassdoor or Salary.com. Know that your candidate will be using these resources to determine their salary requirements and negotiating salary as well.

2. Be transparent but not to your own detriment

Candidates want to be clear about how much they’re worth, and how much they can accept that’s fair to you, and more than fair to them. How can you address these requests, while still being true to the constraints on your company financially? “Ask what the candidate is looking for or expecting in terms of comp,” says Molly Howard, Director of Operations at Ovuline as her top salary negotiation tip for employers. “This sounds silly, but ends up avoiding a lot of the uncertainty down the road. And, surprisingly, most people answer.”

3. Put people first, numbers second

How can you appeal to your candidate’s wants and needs before even beginning a salary negotiation? By understanding what’s important to your candidate — compensation, vacation, health benefits, flexibility. One of our hiring tips for employers is to create a package that is more than just competing for the best number. Create a package that makes both you and your candidate feel good. Many of these other parts of compensation, like work-from-home, can come at little cost to your company. Howard suggests asking “what else are you looking for in a comp package?” before negotiating salary. “This gives me insight into how a candidate is thinking about comp — if it’s all about $, or if there are other things that are important.”

4. Additional monetary compensation

Other advice for employers to create a compelling offer without sacrificing base salary include a signing bonus, performance bonuses, or shares in the company that accrue at various milestones. Howard suggests leaning into these options early in your salary negotiation, so that your candidate can evaluate the full value of their package. “Talk through stock options preemptively, if that is part of the comp,” she says, another of her salary negotiation tips for employers, “so that the candidate can evaluate the amount of worth and value they have before they have dug in a particular number. I like to do this by talking through the offer in a call just after I send the offer letter, when possible.”

Other advice from Howard includes giving some time for a candidate to consider what you’re presenting to them. Being a resource for your candidate during this time will give them the opportunity to ask questions and adjust the offer.

“Give people time to process the offer and don’t be too pushy at the get go if it seems like there is hesitancy on the candidates part,” she says. “I say something like, ‘I know this is a lot of information at once. I’m here for you during this process. Why don’t you go home/think on it and we can connect in a few days.’”

The post 4 effective salary negotiation tips for employers appeared first on Recruiting Resources: How to Recruit and Hire Better.

Here are some simple ways to welcome a new employee with warmth:

Communicate early and often

Start welcoming your new employee before they arrive. The more your new hire knows about your company and your plans for their first few weeks at work, the less nervous they’ll be for their first day. Check in with them before they start and let them know how to prepare and what to expect. Here’s what each employee should know about before their start date:

• Your company dress code
• Their team’s normal working hours
• A tentative schedule for the first week of work
• And what time they should arrive on their first day

To make them feel even more prepared, it’s a good idea to share:

• A list of your tech tools (like Slack, Asana, Google Docs or Trello)
• An overview of your company policies, benefits information and onboarding checklist

Prepare a welcome kit

An employee welcome package or ‘fact sheet’ is a simple gesture that can go a long way. It can include all the normal HR paperwork, company policies, employee handbook and stationery, but it’s a good idea to customize it to fit your new employee’s role. At Workable, we welcomed our new editor with a copy of Josh Bernoff’s ‘Writing Without Bullshit’ book to introduce her to our team’s editing philosophy:

What a warm welcome from @Workable on my #firstday! So happy to be a part of the team! #contentwriting #onboardingswag #hiringdoneright pic.twitter.com/4eBOmNKZCz
— Rohma Abbas (@Rohma_Abbas) December 13, 2016

Both local and remote workers can also benefit from a curated neighborhood guide as part of your welcome kit. Helpscout welcomes their employees to their Boston headquarters with a map of their employees’ favorite places to eat, drink and run errands:

Send a new hire announcement

Not everyone is confident enough to start introducing themselves and socializing from day one. It’s a good idea for the new hire’s manager to send an introductory note to the team on an employee’s first day. Even a simple Slack message in your company’s #general channel, or a short department email can make someone feel welcome:

For big and fast-growing teams, there are two main issues that complicate new hire welcomes. New employees have trouble remembering lots of names and faces. And current employees mightn’t be able to keep track of all their new colleagues. To combat these issues, you could try:

• Sending a new employee announcement email to introduce your new hire and include information that’ll make good talking points.
• Organizing a group activity that involves talking to people from different groups, so that your new hire gets to know people early on.
• Planning an out-of-the-office casual meeting (e.g. for lunch) where team members can get to know each other better.

Related template: Welcome new staff email

Assign a work friend

Managers usually oversee their new team members’ onboarding processes. But pairing a new employee with a colleague can help to make them more comfortable. Colleagues are the best people to share obscure office details and customs, like which copy machine needs a reboot before it works, which local coffee shop serves the best espresso and the unwritten rules of meeting room booking etiquette. That’s why assigning each new hire a ‘buddy’ or ‘mentor’ can be a good idea. IBM and Qualcomm acknowledge that onboarding isn’t a one-day affair, so they provide new hires with mentors for a longer period of time (30 days and one year, respectively.)

Have a clear work plan

After the first introductions and a tour of the office, it’s time to get down to work. Schedule product demos or other presentations that will help them understand your way of working. It’s best not to overwhelm your new hire from their first day, but don’t leave them wondering what they should do next. Prepare their first week by giving them simple tasks to complete and an industry reading list, or a set of presentations to fill any downtime they may have between tasks. This way, they’ll familiarize themselves with their job duties and their new company’s competitive landscape while getting a sense of what you expect of them.

Onboarding should be an ever-changing process. As your team gets bigger, your needs will change. So, frequently review your onboarding process. Ask your newest employees about their first days at work. What did they like? What would have been more helpful? Use this feedback to improve your onboarding for new hires in the future.

The post How to welcome a new hire appeared first on Recruiting Resources: How to Recruit and Hire Better.

The most innovative recruiting teams are always on the lookout for the best online recruiting tools or recruitment software. These innovative recruitment methods can support every step of the hiring process, from sourcing candidates and posting jobs to managing resumes, to interviews. Additional tools can help you revolutionize your approach to your referral policy, referral systems, social media recruiting tools and onboarding as the final stage of an effective recruitment process. There are tools just for managing your recruiting email inbox.

Here we provide 24 modern recruitment techniques and tools, that can help recruiters and managers raise their hiring game:

Sourcing and recruitment tools

Reddit

Reddit is a community messaging site with a user base running to hundreds of millions. If you’re active in the community, your fellow members may give consideration to your job ad more easily. Its informal tone and the ability to reply to comments from interested people gives you a head start in creating strong relationships with a candidate pool. There are also those who are actively looking for a job through Reddit.

Github

Github is a popular platform among developers for working individually or collectively on projects. Being able to see the work of talented professionals gives recruiters a better idea of who can add value to their business.

Facebook Graph Search

Posting jobs on Facebook is already a popular practice among employers. The Facebook Graph Search, though, can also be very useful in sourcing candidates. This innovative recruitment method allows you to conduct searches that include certain criteria (job titles, education, locations etc.) to reach a talent pool that’s relevant to your needs.

Meetup

Through Meetup, employers come into contact with lots of professionals in a specific field. A few hours among talented people and you’re bound to find someone to catch your eye. Even if you don’t have the time to attend an event, an innovative recruitment technique is seeing which people are interested in a particular event and contact them if they’re worthy prospects.

Snap.hr

Snap.hr operates in London and only for developers, but their innovative approach warrants our attention. Developers that want to speak with companies can sign up and ask for the arrangement of interviews. It’s worth being connected to a great pool of interested candidates.

Networkmonkey

Networkmonkey uses a systematic approach to find talented candidates who may be interested in your position. They monitor social media activity according to your criteria and use predictive analytics to determine whether someone is looking for a new job, pulling their contact details afterwards.

1-Page

1-Page finds the most relevant candidates for you. You only have to let them know what you seek and they’ll search according to your criteria. It’ll provide you with recent information and contact details.

LinkedIn/Twitter

Both modern recruitment methods are very popular as social media recruiting tools. Most people are familiar with their functions and recruiters use them regularly for sourcing talent and making more targeted searches for candidates who are interested in a subject or field.

Referrals

Zao

Zao is an employee referral software. It provides an easy-to-use platform for managing referral rewards and incentives as well as social recruiting. The interesting part is that it does all this using innovative gamification technology.

Download our free sourcing guide to help you craft an effective referral program.

Job posting

Indeed

The most popular job board among job seekers, this mega-aggregator offers a simple pay-per-click model for job posting. Additionally, if you write compelling job ads with the correct keywords, Indeed will find them more easily and display them in relevant search results automatically.

Stackoverflow

Chances of finding great candidates for a position are significantly higher if you post your job opening in niche job boards. Stackoverflow is an online community for programmers. According to your needs, you can also find job boards for startups, internships and many other options.

Jobs2Careers

Jobs2Careers is one of the few job boards that use the pay-per-applicant model for job posting. It can be very cost-effective in certain instances and, with 1.2 billion monthly job searches, it’s certainly worth considering.

Candidate management tools

Workable

Workable is an applicant tracking system (ATS) that automates and streamlines your recruiting process. It has tools to write job ads and post them to a variety of free and paid job boards. When resumes start pouring in, it helps you store them, search them, move candidates across the hiring pipeline and write comments and evaluations. Adding other features such as reporting or bulk actions (e.g. sending rejection letters) and an intuitive user interface, it can be one of the most useful recruiting tools.

Task management tools

Trello

Trello’s interface makes it easy to track processes, tasks and even candidates. The ability to move around entries from one stage to another and assign them to specific people can promote easy collaboration within an innovative recruitment and selection process.

Selection tools

SparkHire

SparkHire is one of a number of companies who specialize in video interviewing. This innovative approach makes things easier for interviewing remote or busy candidates. You can create templates of questions that candidates can answer in their own time or have fully interactive interviews over the platform. The video is recorded so you can review it at a later time with your team.

HireVue

HireVue is a major player in digital interviewing. They pay very close attention to quality of video and audio. Their product is complemented with evaluating interviews through predictive analytics and useful reporting features.

Gapjumpers

Gapjumpers offers a method to hire “using blind auditions” avoiding harmful biases when screening and evaluating candidates. Their technology is designed to help you make decisions according to performance and talent.

Codercred

Codercred has also an innovative approach in hiring coders. Employers can create challenges and invite coders to participate. Codercred will score them so hiring managers can make an objective decision.

HackerRank

HackerRank provides a platform for coding challenges like Codercred. It has a library of coding challenges and offers the ability to customize your own. Additionally, it holds public challenges (“CodeSprints”) that you can sponsor and includes a tool for video interviewing.

SurveyMonkey

People use SurveyMonkey’s templates for a lot of reasons. For recruiting, it’s sometimes helpful to create pre-interview questionnaires to screen out candidates who aren’t a good fit before you spend time and effort in interviewing them. SurveyMonkey is highly customizable, and can be used for proprietary and creative recruitment strategies.

Onboarding tools

Kin

Kin is one of those innovators that ensure you won’t neglect your onboarding process. Through its technology, you can manage paperwork and create individual onboarding processes and checklists for each new employee.

Namely

Onboarding is only one function of Namely’s complete HR platform. Along with functions for payroll and benefits, it helps you create an effective orientation process where paperwork and signatures are digital.

BambooHR

Like Namely, BambooHR offers a complete HRIS solution. Their onboarding function is full of interesting features such as “get to know you” emails for introducing employees and preparing new hires for their first day.

More: 21 HR tools and techniques designed for growing companies

The post Innovative recruiting tools and techniques for modern HR teams appeared first on Recruiting Resources: How to Recruit and Hire Better.

‘Best practices’ are like fad diets. If you’re an Atkins enthusiast, Atkins is your hammer and the world is a carb-shaped nail. Companies, like dieters, have individual needs, goals and lifestyles. They don’t need ‘standard’ solutions. They need tailored ones.

Su Joun, the former VP of Talent, Inclusion and Diversity of the health insurer, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts (BCBSMA), advises new HR leaders to abandon general ‘best practices’ for a more tailored approach:

Learn your organization first. Lead it later.

Here’s how she advises HR leaders to approach a new job and learn what their organization needs.

Look beyond HR

According to Su, HR teams are often incredibly disconnected from their businesses areas and divisions. And that’s how they fail. It’s natural for VPs of Talent to think that the HR team they’ve inherited already know their organization well. But they may not. HR employees tend to just know the same 20 to 50 people in their organization and assume that they know everything because of that.

There’s a danger of getting a year or so into a HR role, looking up and realizing, “I never actually spoke to people in the organization about what they wanted and needed. There are just a few people I talk to all the time and I have no idea what the other people are thinking.” That’s how mistakes happen. That’s how a program gets launched that nobody uses. And that’s why people say “The new VP of Talent doesn’t know what’s really going on.”

Su acknowledges that it’s difficult to step back and get to know an organization, especially during the first few months in a new job. But, in a VP of Talent, or other HR leadership role, you need to be the person who meets more employees than anyone else. Otherwise you won’t be able to understand their needs or build the correct programs.

• Interviewing candidates for leadership roles? Visit our leadership interview questions.

Listen to as many people as possible

“Nothing beats talking and listening to people,” says Su. She advises new HR leaders to build relationships all over their organization. When it comes to relationships, there are no shortcuts. In the beginning, it’s easiest to start with a sampling approach. Meet at least 3 people who work at different levels in each department:

1. Meet department heads
2. Then meet people in middle management
3. And then meet a ‘ground troop’ worker.

See if they’re saying similar things. Even with a sample size of three, you’ll be able to get a feel for how people are working together. Go to team meetings to understand what some of the topics are. The more meetings you attend and people you meet, the better.

When Su first joined the HR team at BCBSMA, she made a commitment to meet 300 new associates a year. By the time she left, she had met around 1,100.

Building relationships doesn’t have to involve lunch meetings or drink dates. It means listening. There’s something incredibly powerful about just listening to what it is that they’re going through, good or bad.

When it comes to seeding change, it’s easy to be the first person to voice an idea. But it’s hard to convince people to follow. If you don’t listen to people first, they’ll be unlikely to follow you—even if you try to convince them by talking about ‘best practices.’

This post is the first of a series of posts focusing on how newly-minted VPs of Talent, and other HR leaders, can succeed in a new role. 

The post How to succeed as a HR leader: forget ‘best practices’ appeared first on Recruiting Resources: How to Recruit and Hire Better.

If you’re working in hospitality, you know that it takes more than a good menu and nice decor to keep the customers queuing for a table. You also need employees – front of house and kitchen staff – who do their best to provide high-quality customer service.

But that’s easier said than done. The restaurant space is notorious for its exhausting work schedules, high-pressure environment, low wages and even some toxic behaviors. These factors have traditionally made candidates turn away from the hospitality industry when thinking about their career. Even if these scenarios don’t necessarily hold true at your own restaurant, it’s still not easy to overcome the stigma in the ongoing drive to attract and retain good employees.

The numbers, too, confirm that the restaurant turnover rate is a big challenge for employers and recruiters in hospitality. Data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics show that the Accommodation and Food industry regularly sees one of the highest churn rates in the country. Another survey that digs a bit deeper indicates that there’s both a high number of hires and a high number of job openings in hospitality. Add to that the industry’s overall high turnover rate, and you’ll come across the challenge: employers in hospitality need to attract and hire even more candidates if they want to cover their business needs and replace those who quit.

It seems that challenges in hospitality recruitment center around three pillars: finding, hiring and retaining restaurant employees. Let’s see how industry experts tackle these challenges and get some tips on how to combat employee turnover in restaurants:

1. Finding employees: when you order from a limited menu

That stigma associated with work conditions in hospitality translates into few applications. Companies struggle to find good employees because they don’t receive enough resumes. But the issue here is more about quality and less about quantity. You don’t need hundreds of resumes clogging your inbox; you just need to connect with those job seekers who are genuinely interested in a restaurant job. And to find these candidates, you need to look in the right places and to be fast.

“In our industry, great candidates get snapped up quickly,” says Kelsey Bleakney, Manager of Recruiting & Employment Brand at Joey Restaurants. “If you’re a good server, bartender or chef, you’ve got options. We know that.”

So, it’s not only about finding those great candidates; it’s also about luring them to your side against your competition. A slow hiring process, where job seekers apply for a role and don’t hear back from the company for weeks, costs you good candidates. This has a long-term impact as well, because poor candidate experience reflects negatively on your employer brand and hurts future job openings.

The solution, according to Kelsey, is to organize your hiring and to track important recruiting KPIs. This way, you’ll know what sources (e.g. specific job boards or career fairs) are traditionally bringing you the most successful candidates and you can put your emphasis there instead of posting jobs randomly and hoping for the best.

“From my dashboard I get a snapshot of each pipeline and can quickly see where we have enough applicants and where we don’t,” says Kelsey. “I can refocus resources where they most matter, improve our ROI and build better hiring strategies for the future.”

Surely, the job ad itself plays a big part. You can’t expect to attract candidates if you’re being vague about the role or if you sugarcoat the job. At best, you’ll attract candidates who don’t have a realistic overview of the job when they sign in. As a result, when they see what the job entails, they’re more likely to quit, which explains why the restaurant turnover rate is consistently high. Candidates want to know important and specific details, such as work schedules, salary, bonuses and benefits. A transparent job description that also speaks of your company culture will go a long way.

Do you need some inspiration to create your own job ads? Here are the best job ad examples we gathered from the Workable job board, including one from a restaurant chain.

2. Hiring employees: when you order the chef’s choice

As a recruiter, you’re not the decision maker. But the decision maker (a.k.a. the hiring manager) is not a full-time recruiter. That’s true in every industry. In restaurants, though, there’s an extra challenge. The hiring manager, who is often the store manager or the head chef, has a time-sensitive job in a hectic work environment. A head chef can’t book an hour or two to quietly screen resumes while cooks are preparing meals. Likewise, a restaurant manager needs to look after guests at peak hours, supervise servers and be on top of everything front of house.

Inevitably, recruiting tasks are completed in between regular tasks. But, when hiring managers rush the process and don’t properly evaluate candidates, they risk choosing people who lack necessary skills or who’re not a good culture fit. These people won’t stay for long, making your restaurant turnover rate hurt even more. Soon, you’ll have to look for new employees, and that’s how hiring falls into a loop.

Louis Blake, People and Performance Coordinator at Fonda in Australia, notes how the HR team can support busy hiring managers: “We have pretty extensive interview guides that help inexperienced interviewers to structure their interviews. We are also always available to join a manager in an interview if they want some extra support or feedback. We do a lot of the initial screening ourselves so that the managers can just focus on the good candidates.”

On the other hand, Kelsey explains that if hiring managers don’t prioritize hiring and rely on ‘post and pray’ methods, then the whole process gets delayed: “Our hiring managers couldn’t track where quality candidates were coming from and struggled to keep candidates organized, and ensure they were contacted in time. This ate up sponsorship dollars, lost us some good hires, and reflected badly on the business.”

Prompt communication with candidates, with respect to hiring managers’ busy schedules, can be a huge game-changer, Kelsey adds: “Most of our computers are deep down in a basement office next to the kitchen. Using Workable’s mobile app, our restaurateurs can look at their phone as they’re checking sections. They can contact candidates with one click, pop the phone back in their pocket and continue on their floor.”

3. Retaining employees: when you order more than hors d’oeuvres

OK, so you’ve managed to find and hire great candidates. Now you need to make sure you retain them. Because as your business grows, you want to put your best employees in senior positions; those who’ll lead departments, get more responsibilities, train new employees and even help open more stores.

But how do you convince employees to stay in the long run, particularly when they have to handle a work environment as stressful as the kitchen? “There isn’t a doubt in my mind that people stay because of the friendships they make while working with us,” Louis clarifies. “Every single cultural survey that we’ve ever done has highlighted how much our staff like the people that they work with. I think we’ve even had two or three marriages after people met at Fonda.”

Good relationships among coworkers is not a coincidence – employees are more likely to get along when you’re dedicated to building a healthy, collaborative environment and when you hire the right people to begin with. But measuring culture fit is no easy feat; team spirit and empathy are rather intangible traits.

There can be some indicators during interviews, though. “Firstly, I like to see someone who’s taken some time and effort putting together their application. A well set out resume or a non-generic cover letter immediately tells me that this person has gone above the bare minimum when applying and is more likely to have the same attitude when landing the job,” Louis explains what he’s looking for in future hires.

“In a similar vein, I love to see that an applicant has been promoted, or can articulate how they’ve taken on extra responsibility in a previous role. It doesn’t need to be relevant to the role that they’re applying for, I just want to see that they’ve worked at a standard that merited some sort of extra responsibility.”

Yes, turnover is a thing in hospitality. And, no matter how hard you try to attract people who will stay with your company for many years, there will always be some employees who see their restaurant job as a temporary solution. But, as the saying goes, if you can’t beat them, join them. In some cases, it’s worth fitting inevitable turnover into your hiring strategy and turn this into a win-win situation:

Cook with what’s in your fridge

Louis explains the role that the location plays in their hiring and retention strategy: “We want each individual site to have a great internal culture rather than all to be exactly the same. Our Bondi store, for example, is staffed pretty much exclusively by travelers, whereas some of our sites in Melbourne are staffed by predominantly Aussies in their early twenties starting out at university.”

At a neighborhood restaurant where locals hang out, it makes sense to have permanent staff so that customers see familiar faces. Or, at a college area, you might prefer to hire students who can relate with customers. But, at a vacation spot, it’s normal – or even desirable – to employ people who come from different areas and who speak various languages, so they can better interact with tourists. And it’s also easier to find these candidates, as they seek to combine work with leisure.

In Australia, people with a working holiday visa can stay with the company for about six months, Louis says, “so we try to hire these people during the busy summer months.” Recruiting people with holiday visas instead of only looking for permanent staff can speed up the hiring process in this case – and doesn’t hurt your employer brand, either, considering it’s a vacation spot mostly aimed to cater for tourists.

Hospitality is indisputably a tough space. While chefs perfect their cooking techniques and learn to create masterpieces on a plate, they still haven’t found the secret sauce to attracting and retaining employees. The hospitality turnover rate remains high. Each location, each restaurant or food chain has its own unique challenges. But, hiring needn’t be that much of a burden. A streamlined application and interview process, an investment in career development and being a good and fair employer overall; these are the absolutely necessary ingredients to successful hiring in an industry as challenging as hospitality.

The post How to improve your restaurant turnover rate appeared first on Recruiting Resources: How to Recruit and Hire Better.

We chose three major tech hubs based on global rankings of the best cities for tech startups – Boston, San Francisco and London – all featured in the top 5. The struggle for hiring and sourcing tech talent is the same in all three: many job opportunities, but not quite the talent. To help unravel and resolve this problem, we spoke to developers in Boston and San Francisco who revealed fascinating insights on how to best hire tech talent.

And now, we complete the puzzle with our most recent event in London where Balderton Capital, a London-based venture capital firm focusing on tech startups, opened their doors for a conversation about luring top talent in the London tech scene. More than 200 signed up for the event titled How to hire: Top Tech Talent, which took place on Wednesday, July 3, 2019. On the panel were:

• Paul Ingles, Head of Engineering at uSwitch
• Rahma Javed, Director of Engineering at Deliveroo
• David Whitney, Director, C#, Agile, technical leadership and consultant, Electric Head Software

Workable’s VP of Customer Advocacy Matt Buckland minced no words in his introduction of the panelists, somewhat tongue in cheek: “These are the people where you’d think twice before hitting send. Just those people, where you’re the little bit the right type of afraid. That’s this panel.”

Tech, of course, doesn’t change dramatically from city to city or country to country. But it was interesting to note the differences in tech recruitment challenges – or more so, what attracts tech talent – between the Boston and London tech scenes. Rahma, whose career spanned IBM and BlackBerry outside of Toronto and Microsoft and WealthFront in the Silicon Valley, alluded to that appeal of working in tech:

“That’s probably been the more exciting or interesting part for me, just to be in different sort of tech cultures, being able to figure out what the strengths and weaknesses are in each of these specific tech cultures. Then bringing that along with myself.”

The ensuing discussion was vibrant, thoughtful, and above all, insightful. Here are our top five takeaways from London’s Top Tech Talent event:

1. Know that there’s a London tech talent community

One theme that stood out was the presence of a London tech talent community. That network is dynamic, said David:

“We all know who’s hiring, we all know what the culture’s like inside companies, because people talk and share. Especially if you go to events or on the speaker circuit, or are just in WhatsApp groups full of people that work at different places. We all talk.”

Paul echoed the same sentiment, that when those in tech recruitment approach him, he’s quick to know about the company simply via their reputation:

“I’ll know through networks whether those companies are in high-growth periods. … I’ll go to meetups and see conference presentations, and get a feel for the company or the technology and stuff. I [put those] together to figure out the high-quality stuff.”

David added that candidates will go to their peers before they go to a recruiter:

“Here’s a life hack for recruiters. Turn up at sponsor events, and actually stay for the whole thing, and stay in the bar afterwards, and don’t pitch. Just make friends.”

He added that he himself often refers candidates: “[Candidates] will come to their network before they come to specific people dedicated to hiring,” adding that he’ll refer them to those recruiters who do show up, who know the market, and interact with others.

The takeaway:

Assume that candidates already know a little bit about you via their research and their professional network. And remember to nurture one of the most powerful influencers in that network: your current employee base. Word of mouth is more powerful than any tech recruitment marketing campaign you set out on.

2. Share details on your existing team

All three panelists agreed that while the job is important, it’s almost more important to know who they’ll be working with and for. Again, your current work climate and employee base become crucial to your tech recruitment strategy.

Rahma cited LinkedIn as a tool to learn about a company: “Oftentimes when you’re interested in companies … you look at who all the other people are based in that company right now. What are their backgrounds? What does this company value versus not?”

Paul shared an anecdote about a challenging assessment that he had to do as part of the candidate process, noting that he was so intensely concentrated on the task at hand: “At one point, I saw a pigeon land on the window, I kind of looked off to the side, and then immediately thought, I’ve totally lost my stack. I don’t know what number was here.”

He realized that every team member must have gone through this initiation ritual and that instantly made him feel close to them. “At the end of it, it made me want [the job] even more, because I felt like if I had to go through all of that, the people I work with had been through the same thing.”

Meeting the team members is also important, Paul added: “[That] demonstrates that you’re entirely comfortable with me meeting people that I’m going to be working with, and get a feel for what problems they’re actually facing.”

In addition to the team members candidates will be working with, the outlook and management approach of senior leadership matters as well. Rahma talked about that factoring in her decision to work at a company:

“Backing and buy-in from senior leadership is so crucial, because otherwise you’re going to be fighting two battles. One is the actual problem you’re trying to solve, and one is the internal battle you’re fighting. You can’t win both.”

The takeaway:

Bring up the tech stack and SaaS features if you will, but play up the team, the work culture, the management, and especially, the challenges and opportunities for the candidate. That’ll speak volumes.

3. Put your best foot forward

If you promise a great job and a great team to work with, that’s almost not enough; you need to prove it to the candidate. Everything you do as a hiring manager or recruiter can factor into the candidate’s decision. Everyone has an interview horror story; don’t be a star in one of those stories.

So, you can step up your game at conferences and events where you’re sourcing tech talent, getting far more involved rather than simply making an appearance. This is important because candidates are at these events as well, so you want to demonstrate an active interest and participation in the industry. Candidates want to work for leaders, not just for those who show up. Paul shared his experiences from the hiring side:

“I would say [when hiring], it’s worked best when we’ve done a combination of sponsoring [the event] and doing something on the side and trying to present us as well. People will come and talk to you [when you have a table full of swag], but I think the cost of it relative to the reward you get is relatively low. I would say it tends to work a lot better if we know that we’ve got two people presenting on topics that are interesting.”

Rahma agreed. “What the company is doing is actually very important. … How are you branding yourself? How do you go and reach the public or the set of people that you’re interested in? … you need to be able to be out there on the surface and be attracting talent.”

But you have the best SaaS in the space, right? Doesn’t matter, says Paul:

“Things change so frequently, the half life of technologies feels like it’s shrinking rapidly. Trying to choose a job based on the kind [or state] of technologies that a team has feels relatively low down the list.”

David agreed: “Right? Nobody cares. Cool, [your tech] might be interesting, but just being a cool new blockchain startup is definitely not enough. Really, really isn’t.” He emphasized what the tech doesn’t tell him about a company: “I don’t know that it’s not run by a bunch of psychopaths.”

The takeaway:

Let’s let Matt take this one: “It’s what people say about you when you leave the room, right? … I think all we can do when we try to do these things as recruiters is try to control that message, or at least shepherd it in the right direction. … You definitely have an employer brand. Make it a good one.”

4. Personalize your outreach

You’re not going to get the candidates if you cold-call them – an oft-mentioned thorn in the side with all three panelists, and quite similar in tone to what was discussed in Boston.

Rahma is put off by those impersonal messages.

“If someone just cold emails me with some generic thing, I’m just like, ‘thank you’. You picked 100 people and I’m part of your spam circle.”

If you’re using LinkedIn, go further than just emailing them about a job. “I just think it’s spam,” David said of LinkedIn-based outreaches – suggesting, instead, that you do the homework to find out the candidate’s actual contact details. “Email over LinkedIn 100% of the time.”

Paul echoed the importance of timing. “One of the interesting signals is people emailing me at like 6 on a Saturday evening. I feel like if somebody’s emailing me for a job at 6 on a Saturday, that they’re kind of up against it, and there’s no way that that’s a good job to take.”

All three panelists agreed Tuesday morning was the best time for outreach, a verified good practice according to multiple studies found online.

Don’t forget to personalize that email, said Rahma:

“I’ve had recruiters put in something really interesting, sometimes even a joke, or just sometimes something really just out of the ordinary. That does capture my attention.”

And don’t be vague, said Paul. “If the entry to that conversation is, ‘Hi, I’m a recruiter, I’ve got an engineering role,’ it would be pretty low down on my response rate.” Instead, get down to specifics, such as: “‘Hi, I’m recruiting for the sales team or some team within Facebook, we’ve got this new project going on. We’re desperately trying to find some director of engineering role for that team. You’ve got a load of experience, blah-blah-blah.’” That’d catch Paul’s eye.

The takeaway:

Lose the generic, impersonal, self-serving spam. Do your homework on the candidate you’re reaching out to. Refer to something specifically awesome in their portfolio. Tell them exactly why you’ve reached out to them, and don’t just say it’s about a job – talk about the job itself and why it could be interesting for them. Oh, and don’t forget Tuesday morning.

5. Don’t do the hard sell

You need to build trust with candidates rather than just bang on their door shouting about a new job opportunity that they’ll just love.

There are so many great jobs at so many crappy companies, David said, reminding those in tech recruitment that tech engineers tend to be fixers. They’re excited about driving change into places and you want to tap into that energy.

“[Tell them:] ‘Look, this is an interesting opportunity, you could turn some of these things around.’ Tell it how it is. Just be honest, say, ‘Yeah, the place isn’t great at the moment, but we need to fix these problems. Here’s an enticing job.'”

Rahma agreed, listing what would interest her in a job. “if you are in a place where you’re not very tech-savvy right now, but you have an appetite to change, I think that’s very important. Second is, how much opportunity or impact do I have? How easy would it be for me to come in and make the set of changes that would gear or guide that company’s direction and the direction that ideally myself and the leadership team agree on?”

And be honest about your needs as a company, David said.

“If you want to be a digital business, legitimately showing an appetite for change is the thing that I’m looking for. … As long as [you say]; ‘Look, you can kind of do whatever you want here. You have carte blanche to change this thing. We want to, we just don’t know how.’”

The takeaway:

Lose the corporate shill and don’t commodify the job so much; you’re not putting butts in seats here. Appeal to the interests of the candidate and get them excited about the job in real ways.

And ultimately, in tech recruitment…

Nurture, don’t sell, and it’ll come full circle back to you by way of reputation. Remember – the candidate is making a significant life decision. You’re not just selling them a TV, you’re building a new working relationship with them where they’ll commit the bulk of their waking hours each week. Even if you don’t get them this time, the positive word of mouth will come full circle back to you via their networks and your active participation in the space.

It’s not going to be easy, but with the right messaging and outreach in your tech recruitment strategy, you should get the kind of tech talent you want and need to bring your business to the next level.

Related: Wooing top tech talent: Recruiting in the Boston tech scene

The post Tech recruitment in London: Luring and sourcing top tech talent appeared first on Recruiting Resources: How to Recruit and Hire Better.

• Melissa Bruno, VP Head of People at Stack Overflow
• Hope Weatherford, Head of Talent Attraction at InVision
• Ryan Malone, Founder and CEO at SmartBug Media

All shared valuable insights on virtual screening and onboarding, and useful tips to promote effective collaboration and positive employee relationships.

Virtual screening methods and tactics

The main difference between hiring remote employees and in-office recruiting is in the interviewing process – interviews are conducted via video and rarely (if ever) in person. Meanwhile, in the application phase, recruiters can follow their existing procedures.

According to Hope, being transparent and clear regarding the application, assessment, and screening phases is essential. This way, candidates know what to expect and prepare properly.

At InVision, the video interview length and interview questions the hiring teams ask vary based on the job position and seniority level. Candidates also get to meet other team members, too. Hope explains:

You can be creative with the screening methods you use. As Ryan explained, SmartBug Media’s hiring team usually asks candidates to self-record a short video presenting themselves. This is helpful especially for customer-facing roles who represent the brand and company. Ryan said:

“We try to make it as easy as possible and we don’t want people to spend two days producing some video. We just want to hear you talk. Are you articulate? Can you convey an idea? Is your space well kept?”

In addition to job-related questions, what other types of skills can you check during the video-screening? Hope noted that it’s not only the job-fit skills that matter. You should also find out if the candidate is the right culture fit for your business and can thrive in a remote working environment.

On that level, Ryan pointed out the role that cultural marketing plays in remote hiring:

“We’ve spent a lot of time focusing on culture marketing for our company to try to illustrate what it’s like here, and the type of family that you join, such that we’re attracting people [who] want to be a part of that.”

Ryan also highlighted the importance of building rapport with the candidates to understand their personal needs, motivators, and strengths:

“At the end of the day, business is done between people. It’s not done between companies and candidates, or applications and approvals. And everybody here [in the company] wants to create a connection. No different than if you’ve met somebody at a cocktail party, and you want to learn more about them.”

Promoting connection and confidence

All three speakers agreed that when onboarding new employees it’s crucial to make them feel welcome and encourage them to build a supportive network within the company. Each of them described the remote onboarding process steps they follow, once they’ve provided new remote hires with the necessary gear and digital tools (video conferencing, messaging app, project management tool, etc.) to succeed.

‘Xenia’ onboarding program: Hope described InVision’s onboarding process which consists of 20-hour sessions. After they manage the pre-onboarding essentials (e.g. equipment, paperwork) they move to the core activities.

In these sessions, they explain InVision’s operating system and the company culture to new team members. They also elaborate on how to use digital tools in an efficient manner. Hope highlighted the importance of making yourself available and being clear to employees in this phase:

“We’re really helping everybody ask the questions that they may not want to ask their manager, [and] learn the tools that we use in a little bit of a different way, in a really safe place. It helps us really break through that virtual screen and really get to that level of productivity.”

90-day ramp up plan: Melissa described the 90-day ramp up plan for new hires at Stack Overflow – nearly all of it virtual. During the first 30 days, Stack Overflow focuses on building connection. They share the company culture and norms and introduce new employees to their teammates and partners. During days 31 to 60, they explain business strategic priorities and give employees their first projects. Over the final 30 days, employees set future goals with their managers.

Melissa emphasized that this plan isn’t rigid across the organization:

“Those are the three pillars that we use across the organization. […] There are areas where we customize for the teams, for instance in technology, to be a little bit different, because they have to take a deeper technical dive.”

80% effective in 60 days: According to Ryan, building confidence is key for new team members. At SmartBug Media, during the first 60 days, they train employees on a specific job responsibility and when they excel at it, they move to a new task. They also meet with customers early on.

In Ryan’s own words:

Nurturing communication and employee relationships

For Melissa, an essential asset for effective remote work is “connectivity”, building personal connections with your teammates. An example would be to create virtual “buddy systems” and help remote employees gain a sense of belonging in their new team.

Ryan highlighted the importance of non-verbal communication to understand how employees feel, and how you can pick up on non-verbal cues and nuances through calls and video conferencing:

“I personally call everybody at our company over a period of time to just say, what can we do to make business healthier? What does your roadmap look like here? And is there a path to see it? Because you don’t have that office kind of chatter that you typically see.”

Hope mentioned that every week they schedule virtual meetings with a rather loose agenda, where employees can jump in when whey feel like it, to socialize:

“I set up an hour every week on our team. We call it ‘Friday fun day’ and we just come in and we just chat about anything and everything; sometimes related to work, sometimes not.”

Leaders play a crucial role in promoting healthy communication and making employees feel valued. The speakers shared some tactics for leaders who manage remote employees. Melissa talked about a nudging system they have that reminds managers that they haven’t spoken to an employee for weeks and catch up with them:

Finally, Ryan advised leaders to do announcements via video instead of sending extensive emails to staff:

“Do an announcement on camera and don’t script it. Just let it rip, because when your team sees your own emotion, your own kind of non-verbal cues on your face, I think it’s really, really impactful to them.”

Just when you thought it wasn’t possible – or easy, even – it is indeed a realistic and doable prospect to manage onboarding fully virtually. Equip yourselves with the right tools and, most importantly, with the right attitude and you’ll be more than ready to tackle this challenge successfully. And of course, you’ll probably make mistakes down the road. That’s OK. Just be sure to embrace them and grow through them.

The post Remote hiring tips for recruiters and HR appeared first on Recruiting Resources: How to Recruit and Hire Better.

As an HR practitioner or SMB employer, you’re probably trying to figure out the potential of AI in enhancing human skills and collaboration – especially since this is crucial for staying competitive in today’s rapidly evolving business landscape.

Let’s look at how quickly AI adoption is growing in business. According to a 2022 report by McKinsey & Company, roughly half to three-fifths of all businesses reported that they adopted at least one AI technology in at least one function in annual studies dating back to 2017.

This is probably obvious: this percentage will likely increase dramatically in 2023.

This widespread adoption underscores the growing recognition of AI’s transformative potential and its ability to increase efficiency, productivity and innovation.

But here’s the thing – AI in the workplace isn’t about mere automation of processes. It’s not always about plug-and-play so you can go to the beach.

Rather, when implemented effectively, AI can empower employees to develop new skills, foster effective collaboration and make better-informed decisions. A 2020 report by PwC found that AI could contribute up to $15.7 trillion to the global economy by 2030, with much of this value stemming from its potential to enhance human capabilities.

So, it’s worth a deep dive into how AI can enhance human skills and collaboration at work.

AI improving human skills

Again, AI isn’t about mere automation and optimization. It’s also going to enhance human skills – including personalized learning and personal development, plus improved decision-making. Your business can leverage AI’s capabilities to empower your colleagues to grow, innovate and shine in their roles.

Personalized L&D

AI-powered learning platforms, such as LinkedIn Learning and Coursera, enable employees to access customized learning experiences tailored to their unique needs and goals. AI can now analyze existing skillsets, job roles and performance data to recommend relevant courses and resources to help employees grow professionally.

This is huge in terms of employee engagement and retention. A 2018 LinkedIn survey found that 94% of employees would stay at a company longer if it invested in their professional development. And a TalentLMS survey in late 2021 found that 62% of US tech workers are motivated by training and learning. The payoff is clear.

More so, upskilling to meet new tech developments at work is crucial for success – a 2020 World Economic Forum (WEF) report predicted that by 2025, 50% of all employees will require reskilling due to the adoption of new technologies like AI. Soft skills such as agility, adaptation and autonomous work are becoming even more important.

Decision-making with data-driven insights

Decision-making is another area where AI can enhance human skills. Business decisions are increasingly data-driven. AI analytics tools, such as IBM Watson and Microsoft’s Azure Machine Learning, can process vast amounts of data quickly and accurately, helping employees more quickly make informed decisions based on lightning-quick AI-driven insights.

The benefits of AI-enhanced decision-making are significant. First, AI-driven operations improves accuracy according to a 2022 McKinsey study, leading to better business outcomes and a more competitive edge. This can have far-reaching effects from optimizing supply chain management to improving customer satisfaction and driving revenue growth.

AI may have some limitations in terms of replicated human bias – more on that below – but when used wisely, it can also promote more unbiased decision-making. It can reduce and even eliminate cognitive biases that cloud human judgment, making for more objective, data-driven decisions including in HR.

For example, AI-powered recruitment tools like Workable ensure unbiased hiring processes. For example, its Video Interviews functionality creates interview questions that autopopulate across all interviews for a uniform experience, and its AI Recruiter surfaces candidates based on qualifications and experience. Its AI-created job descriptions are also free of bias.

AI fostering workplace collaboration

As the modern workplace continues to evolve, effective collaboration has become more important than ever. AI tech can also facilitate communication, as well as streamline project management and workflows.

Let’s look at each in depth:

Communication

AI-powered communication tools are revolutionizing how teams collaborate. AI-enhanced tools like SuperNormal’s AI-driven notetaking functionality can significantly improve communication and collaboration among team members.

For example, SuperNormal features automatically transcribes and analyzes meeting content, making it easy for participants to review, share and reference key points discussed. This capability not only enhances communication but also helps to ensure that remote and distributed workers remain engaged and informed, even if they’re unable to attend a meeting in real time.

Chief CX Innovation Officer Jonathan Shroyer at Arise Virtual Solutions is a huge proponent of AI tools in communications, citing emerging tools include AI support chatbots, repeat process automation, AI agents and big data bots in this Forbes article.

Project management and workflow

Project management is another area where AI-enhanced tools such as Asana, Trello and Jira can streamline workflows and improve team collaboration through the automation of tasks, identification of bottlenecks and future-proofing against project risks.

For example, Asana’s workload feature uses AI to analyze team members’ capacity and automatically allocate tasks, ensuring that work is distributed evenly and preventing burnout. Similarly, Trello’s AI-powered ‘Butler’ automates routine tasks, enabling team members to focus on higher-value activities and collaborate more effectively. Atlassian has incorporated predictive machine learning tools into its Jira and Confluence softwares.

The impact of AI on project management is significant. Harvard Business Review writes extensively about how AI will transform project management. In their article, they say that about $48 trillion are invested in projects annually, but only 35% of projects are considered to be successful according to Standish Group. And according to a Gartner report, 80% of project management tasks will be run by AI by the year 2030.

That’s a lot of money at stake. If AI-driven project management can make processes more efficient and productive, shortening project durations and reducing errors, it’s a no-brainer to incorporate AI and machine learning capabilities to foster team collaboration.

Overcoming challenges of AI implementation

It’s not all roses, though. There are challenges that you need to bear in mind when implementing AI to support human skills and collaboration at work. Concerns about job displacement and ethical considerations are pressing issues that you must address as you bring AI into your everyday operations.

Job displacement

One of the most significant concerns surrounding AI implementation is the potential for job displacement. While AI can automate repetitive tasks and improve efficiency, this automation has raised fears of job losses and workforce disruption. For instance, a new World Economic Forum report finds that a quarter of all jobs will be impacted over the next five years with AI at the forefront of those changes.

Here’s a spin on it, however – that same WEF report notes a net positive in jobs over the next five years due to these new developments. It’ll be tumultuous, but in the end, it’s a shift in jobs rather than a reduction in job opportunities.

However, to overcome redundancy, companies will need to adopt the right strategies and invest in workforce development to ensure they stay competitive in the business landscape. Rather than simply seeing AI as replacing humans in work processes, AI can be viewed as a complementary tool that enhances human skills. By focusing on the opportunities that AI creates, organizations can unlock the technology’s full potential and ensure a smooth transition for their workforce.

MIT’s Paul McDonagh-Smith is a supporter of this mentality, highlighting the merger of technological prowess with human drivers to boost your organizational ‘creativity quotient’. In a recent webinar, he discussed how human and machine capabilities can work in a mutually complementary fashion rather than compete with each other.

So what does that mean? Change does not need to be scary. It can be seen as an opportunity. Employees can be reskilled and upskilled so they’re equipped with the resources and talents they need to adapt quickly to their evolving roles and the technologies that come with them. Those who are agile, prepared and continually learning will get ahead.

Data backs this up. The WEF reports that 50% of all employees will need reskilling by 2025 as adoption of workplace technologies grows – with the bulk of those skills focused around problem-solving and critical thinking.

If you proactively address those needs in your business, you can mitigate those job displacement concerns in your teams. Encourage them to grow and develop, and support them to do so, so your business can be set for success in the age of AI.

Ethical use of AI in the workplace

As AI becomes increasingly integrated into the workplace, ensuring its ethical use is paramount. You’ll want to address potential issues related to employee privacy and algorithmic bias to ensure a responsible and equitable AI-driven work environment.

To protect employee privacy, you should establish clear policies and guidelines regarding the collection, storage and use of personal data. By being transparent about how AI technologies process employee data and implementing robust security measures, businesses can build trust and mitigate privacy concerns.

Addressing algorithmic bias is another essential element of ethical AI use. AI systems can inadvertently perpetuate existing biases if they are trained on biased data or designed without considering potential biases. Amazon’s gender-biased hiring using AI is one of the more prominent examples, as well as the infamous “racist soap dispenser” that made waves online some years back.

To counteract these issues, SMBs should invest in diverse AI development teams and implement bias-detection and mitigation strategies in their AI systems. By doing so, they can promote fairness, inclusivity and diversity in the workplace.

Finally, maintaining human oversight is crucial for the ethical use of AI. While AI can augment human decision-making and enhance productivity, it is essential to ensure that humans remain in control and responsible for critical decisions.

AI is the great empowerer

AI in the workplace will revolutionize how we work, collaborate and innovate. It won’t replace humans – it’ll simply enhance human skills. That is, if we empower employees to grow professionally and adapt accordingly to the changing demands of the modern work environment.

Organizations can also incorporate AI tools to foster workplace collaboration, facilitate communication, streamline project management and optimize workflows. At the core of all this? The human aspect.

There’s a powerful saying that’s making the rounds right now: AI will not take your job, but people who use AI will. Keep that in your mind as you move forward – AI isn’t a threat. It’s a great empowerer.

Humans now get from point A to point B faster using machines rather than horses, and can build more quickly with nail guns and electric saws rather than hammers and hacksaws. You’ll find that with a balanced approach and a well-developed human development strategy that incorporates AI, you can continue to thrive as people and as businesses.

The post How AI can enhance human skills and collaboration at work appeared first on Recruiting Resources: How to Recruit and Hire Better.

That’s something you should be concerned about as an employer, so let’s look at why they’re thinking of leaving and what would compel them to stick around. It turns out that skills development, training and overall growth are high up the list of priorities for tech workers.

For instance, in the same survey, 91% want more training opportunities from their current employers.

And it’s not just training. When tech employees are making a career choice, salary and benefits are by and far the most important criteria when deciding who to work for, with 76% picking that as their top decider.

Workable’s Great Discontent survey echoes this sentiment as well, with 63.4% of US workers saying the top reason they’re open to new jobs is because of compensation.

As a tech employer looking to retain your staff, you also want to focus on a career path structure in your company. That’s because two out of five tech workers say the lack of career progression is the main reason they’re leaving their current job.

Three out of five (58%) also tagged skills development as their number-one motivator in choosing a new company. Likewise, three out of five (62%) say that more training and learning as a part of their job will make them more motivated at work.

To quote from the report: “Combined with L&D opportunities being one of the top criteria for selecting a job, the message is clear: training can help slow down the wave of resignations.”

When we’re seeing four million American workers quitting their jobs every month – including in August alone – it’s time for action. Employers need to step up their game with new recruitment strategies to compel their workers to stick around.

But there’s a bright side to all this

Texas A&M professor Dr. Anthony Klotz, who coined the now-famous term “The Great Resignation”, says these insights actually provide an opportunity for employers to get ahead of the problem of turnover.

“While the percentage of individuals thinking about resigning may be high, the good news for organizational leaders is that many of the top reasons that employees provided for wanting to leave are readily addressable,” says Anthony.

He emphasizes that investing in more opportunities for development and career advancement, greater flexibility, and boosting compensation and benefits are all things that can be quickly implemented in one’s own company as significant talent attractors.

And, he adds, keep that two-way street open with your workforce. For example, you can and should use employee surveys to better understand what’s expected of you as an employer.

“There is an opportunity here for companies to talk to their employees about these issues in the wake of the pandemic, and then trial or implement potential solutions.”

The post Invest in your tech workers – or they’ll move on: Survey appeared first on Recruiting Resources: How to Recruit and Hire Better.

A significant shift is the surge in demand for virtual assistant services. With an increase of internet users of more than 257 million from 2020 and 2021, it’s believed that the virtual assistant market will reach $25.6 billion by 2025. This exponential growth underlines its monumental importance in reshaping the future for HR teams globally.

What is a Virtual Assistant?

A virtual assistant (VA) can be an invaluable asset to your HR team, providing administration, technical or creative support remotely.

The concept was initially born out of necessity for entrepreneurs and small business owners who needed help with certain tasks but didn’t have the resources or funds for a full-time employee.

Organizations can expect to save as much as 78% in operating costs from outsourcing tasks to a VA instead of hiring a traditional in-house employee.

Their popularity has since skyrocketed with larger and multinational companies now recognizing their extensive value.

A VA isn’t confined to just simple tasks, they can handle everything from:

• Calendar management
• Email correspondence
• Social media marketing
• Customer service
• Market research
• Bookkeeping
• Sales support
• Administrative support
• Website management
• Personal tasks

There are also no geographical restrictions, as they can provide personalized assistance from any location.

Gone are the days when VA’s were merely seen as ‘remote employees’. They now play a vital role in contributing towards business growth and their team’s operational efficiency.

Whether they’re working for a start-up or a large corporation, businesses across the spectrum are reaping the benefits of this flexible and cost-effective resource.

The surge in demand for virtual assistants

According to Statista, between 2020 and 2025, the IT outsourcing industry will have an annual growth rate of 4.5%, with the most in-demand type being social media management.

The recent surge in demand is largely attributed to the need for flexibility and cost-saving measures, with the global pandemic accelerating the shift towards remote working and the downsizing of physical offices.

VA’s provide a seamless integration into this new way of working, especially in HR teams that have had to downsize teams but require these valuable resources. Thanks to the wide variety of tasks that virtual assistants can handle, this enables those smaller in-house teams to focus more on strategic revenue-generating activities.

This not only helps to reduce staffing costs but also improves the overall productivity and growth of the business.

Why you should consider a virtual assistant for your HR team

As an HR professional, you’re always seeking ways to optimize your team’s efficiency and productivity. Enter the world of Virtual Assistants (VAs). If you’re contemplating augmenting your support staff, here are some compelling reasons why VAs could be your best bet:

1. Time-saving powerhouse: They will handle routine tasks, freeing your team to focus on strategic initiatives and core business activities.
2. Cost-effective: More affordable than a full-time employee. You pay for hours worked, with zero overheads like office space, equipment, or benefits.
3. Round-the-clock support: If you decide to hire virtual assistants in different time zones, you can enjoy round-the-clock support, ensuring tasks are completed promptly and customer inquiries are answered swiftly.
4. Flexible hiring: Depending on your needs, hire VAs hourly, part-time, or full-time.
5. Productivity booster: By managing administrative tasks, they enable your team to concentrate on high-value activities that drive growth, enhancing overall productivity.
6. Diverse skills access: VAs come equipped with a wide array of skills, from administrative to technical to creative, offering you a pool of expertise to tap into as needed.
7. Scalability: As your business expands, simply increase the hours or tasks assigned to your VA, no need for hiring additional full-time employees.
8. Work-life balance: By taking on some of your tasks, VAs help business owners and managers achieve a healthier work-life balance.
9. Stress reduction: Outsourcing and delegating tasks can significantly reduce stress and prevent burnout in the workplace.
10. Streamlined operations: VAs can help streamline business operations, enhancing efficiency and effectiveness.

It’s clear that VAs offer a wealth of benefits. It’s time to consider integrating them into your HR strategy.

The future of virtual assistants

As the remote work model becomes increasingly popular, the demand for virtual assistants is expected to rise even further all over the world. According to industry statistics, there are more than two million freelancers in the UK currently, a figure expected to rise annually as more individuals take the leap.

This trend isn’t slowing down and as HR professionals, you should be staying ahead of the curve and leveraging the power of using a virtual assistant to maintain your organization’s agility and efficiency in the evolving workplace landscape.

HR virtual assistants: your workplace future?

This surge in demand has disrupted the traditional workplace model and is proving to be an excellent way for businesses to optimize their workflow efficiency. As more industries continue to adopt a digital approach, the need for VA’s will continue to rise.

HR professionals must understand the impact of this trend on the job and create policies that enable organizations to work with virtual assistants flexibly.

Embracing virtual assistants is the way forward and a great opportunity to streamline businesses’ productivity while saving on costs.

The post The HR virtual assistant boom: a deep dive into the surge appeared first on Recruiting Resources: How to Recruit and Hire Better.

And when it does happen, you want to make sure you end things on good terms. Surely, no one likes breakups, but sometimes it’s exactly what you need to do – so that you keep your business productive and your workplace healthy.

Still, you probably dread that moment when you’ll say to your soon-to-be ex-employee: ‘You’re fired’; even when you know that this is what needs to be done. But you also don’t want to fall into the trap of getting it over with as soon as possible. A poorly prepared and poorly executed layoff could cause you even more troubles. And in case of large-scale layoffs, problems could escalate quickly.

Let’s see what might go wrong when you’re firing an employee (we shall call him Joe) and what you can do instead, to avoid those issues.

Disclaimer: This is not a legal document, nor do we provide legal advice. We’re discussing some ideas on how to make an employee termination more humane. Also, the following scenarios describe situations where employees are fired due to performance issues, poor culture fit, changes in the organizational chart, etc. We are not talking about severe cases where employees should be immediately terminated, like, for example, when they violate the law, harass their coworkers or break your company’s code of conduct.

Scenario 1: When you use the element of surprise

It’s a typical day. Joe is going to work and during commute, he’s quickly thinking what kind of tasks he has to finish today. “But, first, some coffee in the kitchen with Claire and Bill,” he thinks to himself. But unbeknownst to Joe, today won’t be a typical day. As soon as he arrives at the office, his boss is waiting for him and asks to go to a meeting room. The HR manager is also waiting for them in that room. “I’m sorry, Joe, this isn’t working,” his boss goes straight to the point, “your performance has significantly decreased over the past few months, so, unfortunately, we’ll have to let you go. Nadia from HR will help you with the paperwork.”

Boom! Joe can barely speak. His performance has decreased? How? When? Why has his boss never mentioned that before? In fact, how is this possible to fire him when he has only received positive feedback for his work?

As these questions keep running around his head, Joe gets really mad. Heavy breath, grinding teeth, sweaty fists; before he even realizes it, Joe starts yelling ‘This is ridiculous!’ and storms out.

They might manage to calm him down or escort him outside the building (with or without the help of the security guards), but they can’t stop him from posting negative reviews online and sharing this awful experience offline with his network.

Tip: The moment you fire them, shouldn’t be the first time that employees hear about their poor performance. Managers and team members should have regular 1:1s where they discuss projects and work progress. And regular performance reviews are good opportunities to set short-term and long-term goals (e.g. number of new deals closed or time-to-finish one project) and elaborate on what’s working and what could be improved.

If there are specific issues with an employee’s performance or behavior at work, speak to them before it’s too late. If necessary, you can implement a Performance Improvement Plan (PIP), so you can work together and fix the issues that have arisen. This will give them the chance to improve themselves and you’ll be able to keep them, instead of spending even more money and time to replace them. Or, at a minimum, if there are no significant improvements, they won’t react extremely when you make your announcement.

Also, when you fire an employee, it’s a good idea to give them specific reasons that justify your decision. For example, “In the past three months, you haven’t reached your sales quota, despite the additional training.” Or, “At least 15 days this year, you showed up at work with more than an hour delay without explaining why.” Those points prove that your decision to fire an employee is based on objective criteria, that they were already aware of, and not on personal differences or wrongful treatment.

Scenario 2: When you forget about legal implications

It’s been a week since you’ve fired Joe, when you receive a lawsuit. You’ve been accused of age discrimination. This was definitely not the case, but considering you don’t have documentation in place that proves why you fired Joe and what steps you took prior to that decision, you could be in trouble.

Even if it all ends with no collateral damage for you, you don’t want to put your company’s reputation at risk. There are specific regulations that protect employees (e.g. during maternity or sick leave) and employment terms that protect you. For example, are you sure that Joe, feeling bitter after the termination, won’t go and work for your competitor disclosing sensitive information?

Tip: Review labor legislation when you hire and when you fire employees. If necessary, consult a lawyer who’ll give you proper guidance on how to fire an employee legally. Also, make sure that your employment contracts protect you from losing company assets, sensitive business information and your customers’ details.

Once you take the decision to fire an employee, you should get prepared for next steps, too. When you share the news with them, have the necessary termination paperwork ready for them to review and sign. This could include their final paycheck, a severance pay and any unemployment benefits they’re eligible for.

Scenario 3: When you’re not clear that this is a termination

Fast-forward to a few months later. This time, you’re facing some issues with another employee. Let’s call her Dorine. She’s a very nice person, but fails to handle her job duties effectively. You’ve learned your lesson with Joe, though, so you’ve thought about how to fire someone nicely. You decided to break the news more smoothly. In fact, you did it so smoothly, that Dorine didn’t realize she got fired.

She thinks that this is a simple reprimand for her poor performance. She also thinks that you prompted her to take the day off, since she got upset. So, the next morning, Dorine is back in the office. And you’re in an even more difficult position because now you have to really explain to her what’s going on.

Tip: Yes, firing someone will never be fun and it could get particularly difficult when they’re genuinely nice and you have a good working relationship with them. That’s why the rip-the-band-aid-off approach is probably your best option. There’s no point in sugarcoating a termination; you both know it’s not pleasant, so it’s best to be transparent. If you struggle with what to say when terminating an employee, it’s best to prepare yourself before meeting them. You don’t need to have a ‘how to fire an employee ‘script in place, but try to explain your decision as clearly as possible and make sure there are no misunderstandings before you end this meeting. Describe next steps and offer some help with packing their stuff.

There are things you can do before you get to the point of having to fire someone. Whether there’s a performance or behavior issue, set formal meetings to discuss what’s happening and give them a formal warning notice when they don’t discipline. If the termination comes as a result of internal, org changes, have a discussion with them and see whether they’re interested in another role within the company or, if that’s not possible, give them some notice so that they could start searching for a new job before leaving from yours.

Scenario 4: When you’re brusque with the laid-off employee

Being soft with Dorine didn’t work, so now you have to be straightforward. Out of fear that she won’t get the message again, you end up being too straightforward, though. You list all the things that she did wrong in the past four years that she has been working with you.

Just to be on the safe side, you even invite in your office two colleagues and ask them to confirm your claims. Now Dorine has to face three people telling her – more or less – how awful an employee she is. And just like Joe, she’s at a shock. Not only she loses her job, but she also loses her confidence and her gratitude about what she accomplished with her colleagues.

If she’s now feeling devastated, soon she’ll put the blame on you. She couldn’t have done everything wrong; it must have been your fault too. You’re after all the manager who has more experience and should have coached yer. It’s the company that should have onboarded her better or trained her to help her build up her skills. And just as the bitterness for this termination will grow, Dorine will share her experience with others too. And she’ll try to discourage them from applying at your company, ultimately hurting your employer brand.

Tip: When you’re firing an employee, you’re in an uncomfortable position. But theirs is worse. You can replace them and move on. For them, though, it’s a bit more complicated as they have to look for a new job so that they don’t face any financial issues. They might even have to explain to their potential employers why they stopped working at your company.

There may not be a best way to terminate an employee, but you can start by showing some empathy. Post-firing relationship needn’t be a bad one. They might not be a good fit for this particular role, but this doesn’t mean they’re not good professionals. If possible, offer a generous severance package or a recommendation letter. End things on good terms by showing that you appreciate their good work. After all, as in most break ups, it’s not always only one part who’s at fault.

Scenario 5: When you leave your remaining staff in the dark

Joe is gone. Dorine is gone. But all of the other employees are here. And they’re wondering what happened. Water-cooler discussions suddenly take longer. Gossip is all around – and most of it is far from the truth.

“I heard that Joe was stealing.” “I heard that Dorine was in a relationship with her manager.” And worst of all: “Who do you think will be the next one?”

Tip: In some cases, you can’t disclose the entire reasoning behind a termination, particularly when there are sensitive, personal issues. But you shouldn’t leave your team members guess if they’re going to be the next ones to get fired. Job insecurity decreases morale and you might even lose some of your best employees if they start looking for a new job fearing that they might lose their own.

Be honest about what happened and be there to answer questions. Also, reassure them that this is not a case of mass layoffs. But don’t think that there’ll be no talk at all – employees understand how businesses work but it’s normal that they need some time to process the news. If your former employee is also ok with that, share with your staff their contact details. They’ll likely want to reach out and stay in touch.

The anti-firing scenario: When you don’t fire your employees no matter what

Firing an employee should be the last threshold. But, sometimes, it’s inevitable. Otherwise, you risk losing great employees who can’t stand a toxic work environment. Or, you risk burning out employees who take up the slack when others are under-performing.

Tip: Be cautious, not only when you fire, but also when you hire. Design your recruitment process in a way that you can make objective and well-rounded decisions. This way, you’ll select people who are skilled and motivated, respect your company values and, hopefully, will stay with you in the long-run so you can all live happily ever after.

Related resources:

• Sample letter: Employment termination for cause
• Sample letter: Termination of a contract employee
• Policy: Termination of employment
• Policy: Temporary layoff

The post How to fire an employee gracefully: 5 ways to do it right appeared first on Recruiting Resources: How to Recruit and Hire Better.

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It should come as no surprise that most people make choices and live according to biases that have been instilled in them since childhood. These biases can lead to poor hiring decisions in the recruitment process.

It is no secret that emphasis can sometimes be placed on non-relevant factors such as gender, age, weight, color, and beauty, rather than focusing on the candidate’s actual knowledge and skills. According to a survey, approximately 63% of hiring managers admit to forming judgments about applicants within the first 15 minutes of an interview.

The latest developments in recruitment, along with the increasing use of AI tools, can provide a helping hand in eliminating biases from the screening process. Particularly in today’s society, where more companies are striving to reshape their culture and become more inclusive, AI tools can be a tangible solution to creating a more unbiased hiring landscape.

The rise of AI in recruitment

Over the last few years, AI has become an integral part of our hiring toolkit. It’s not hard to see why. AI promises efficiency, scalability, and the ability to sift through mountains of data in seconds.

According to LinkedIn’s 2023 Global Talent Trends Report, nearly 68% of hirers feel very optimistic about the impact of Generative AI in their work. They tend to use AI tools to automate repetitive tasks, to effectively source candidates and to engage better with them.

But what do we know until now about the unconscious bias deriving from AI? Let’s elaborate more on that.

Understanding unconscious bias in hiring

Before we delve into the AI-bias relationship, it’s crucial to get a clear picture of unconscious bias. These are the subtle, often unnoticed prejudices that influence our decisions. They can sneak into job postings, resume screenings, and interviews, creating a skewed playing field.

Researchers agree that unconscious bias can lead to a lack of diversity, which affects team performance, innovation, and revenue. According to a McKinsey study, companies that are ethnically diverse are 35% more likely to earn above-average revenue, while gender-diverse companies have a 15% higher chance of achieving the same outcome.

Unconscious biases had already been applied in the hiring process in many cases prior to the emergence of AI tools.

Let’s say an HR professional, named Mary, is screening resumes for a tech role. Unconsciously, she gravitates towards candidates from her alma mater and those with big-name tech companies on their resumes. This ‘affinity bias’ and ‘prestige bias’ subtly creep in, skewing the process. As a result, equally or even more qualified candidates from lesser-known schools or firms may be overlooked, limiting the diversity and talent range considered for the position.

Imagine now that a few disqualified candidates are sending an email accusing the company of prejudice in their hiring process or even suing the company for discrimination!

This example highlights how biases can significantly impact the recruitment process and the branding of a company. With this in mind, it is possible that biases may obscure important details in candidates’ resumes.

While experienced HR professionals have managed to overcome these prejudices when hiring, we can now move on to how AI can be educated in a manner that prevents undermining candidates when matching them with specific job opportunities.

AI and unconscious bias

AI tools, designed to standardize recruitment, appear to be a promising solution. They can conduct ‘blind’ screenings, removing data related to gender, ethnicity, or age. They can standardize interview questions and evaluate candidates solely based on their responses.

On the other hand, there are growing voices claiming that algorithms are prone to discrimination. These concerns are raised due to some real events that happened in the recent past.

The truth is that AI offers plenty of flexibility in our hands, but the potential for fallacy which lies behind this notion of AI opens up a whole new discussion. Faulty and biased design allegations have been raised against prominent companies in the recent past like Amazon, Apple, and the UK’s passport photo checker.

Amazon, for instance, discontinued a recruitment algorithm that had inadvertently learned to favor male candidates. Apple faced scrutiny from US regulators due to allegations that its credit card provided different credit limits based on gender. Furthermore, women with darker skin were found to be twice as likely as lighter-skinned men to receive notifications of failed UK passport photo compliance.

Remember the racist soap dispenser? Watch the video below:

A recent study by two researchers of Technical University of Munich dived into the ethical side of using AI in recruitment. They make a case that we shouldn’t just label AI recruiting as completely unethical when it comes to human rights. They come up with some ethical implications for AI recruiting, like the importance of validity, autonomy, non-discrimination, privacy, and transparency. Their research sheds light on the complicated relationship between AI and human rights in hiring practices.

As the driver of the hiring process, you have the power to leverage AI to enhance various aspects of recruitment. With AI’s support, you can optimize candidate selection, minimize biases, and improve overall hiring outcomes.

By harnessing the capabilities of AI-driven tools and technologies, you can drive a more effective and inclusive recruitment process. Remember, more inclusive hiring practices mean more productive and innovative working environments.

The picture isn’t entirely rosy, though. AI tools learn from data – and often, that data reflects our biased world.

Related: AI, ChatGPT and the human touch in hiring

Overcoming unconscious bias with AI

Now, let’s talk about how you might overcome this challenge and make the difference.

Behind the algorithms are teams of skilled developers who train and set parameters in the production process of these LLMs. We also know that AI follows its own unique learning journey and can in the process fatally create its own biases.

Kate Crawford, a senior principal researcher at Microsoft, stated in an interview on Business Insider that: “When AI systems are revealed to be producing discriminatory results along the categories of race, gender, or disability, then some companies commit to reforming their tools or diversifying their data.”

“When AI systems are revealed to be producing discriminatory results along the categories of race, gender, or disability, then some companies commit to reforming their tools or diversifying their data.”

In the same interview she concludes that “what is most needed is regulatory action”.

Indeed, by working closely with the developers who specialize in AI and following the state regulations, you can shape the conditions that will allow this technology to override any unconscious biases and bring about an outcome that will encourage collaboration with people who have the skills for the job.

For example, Workable is always working on AI tools that actively help HR managers and business owners seeking candidates based exclusively on their skills and knowledge, leveling up your hiring game with latest onboard & manage and up-to-date AI features!

The doubtless role of human oversight

AI isn’t a silver bullet for unconscious bias. It’s a tool – a potentially powerful one – but it requires human oversight. As HR professionals, we must ensure that our AI tools are trained on diverse, unbiased data sets. Regular audits are crucial to detect and rectify any bias.

The human factor will always be crucial when hiring new candidates. Although the automation of procedures, including the onboarding process, is expected to increase, certain aspects of the hiring process are difficult to replace.

These include the interview stage, establishing rapport, and gaining a deep understanding of a candidate’s personality.

As Glen Cathey, SVP of Workforce Advisory & Digital Strategy at Randstad, states: “For the foreseeable future of recruiting, humans will still play an essential role. Humanness still matters, especially for hard-to-fill jobs, and the core of that is empathy. A good recruiter brings the opportunity and company to life, beyond what a person can see on a website or job description.”

Balance humans and AI in hiring – and get results

The rise of AI in hiring offers you numerous opportunities, one of which is addressing the critical issue of unconscious bias. While overcoming bias still requires the essential human element, strategic utilization of AI alongside human involvement in the hiring process can lead to a highly effective and diverse team that drives impactful outcomes for your company.

The post Can AI help beat unconscious bias in hiring? Yes, it can appeared first on Recruiting Resources: How to Recruit and Hire Better.

This is as yet unfinished, because:

• You can customize as needed for your own purposes.
• I welcome your ideas as to what I can do with this.
• And mostly, call me out on my BS if need be.

For some context, this borrows very heavily from the Pragmatic Marketing Framework. The general concept is that you can’t do the things on the right (Execution) well if you don’t start with the things on the left (Strategy).

Diverting a little from the PMF, I’ve tried to split the items into those more focused on your Company (lower) and those more focused on the Candidate (higher). It’s by no means a perfect or final setup – again, I’m interested in learning what your thoughts are here, especially if you yourself are a recruiter.

I’m not suggesting that every company should spend days or weeks on each item. Even the Pragmatic Marketing Framework doesn’t suggest every item is as important for every company. What you should do is score the items based on importance to you (1–3; 1 being ‘high importance’) and consider how well you’re doing on each item (score 1–3; with 1 being ‘very well’).

Invest your time and energy on the areas of highest importance where you aren’t doing so well. And take the action steps needed to improve those areas.

Now, boiling down each stage from Strategy to Execution, you get an overview like this:

Looks simple enough, right? In fact, if you’re a recruiter, you’re probably already thinking along those lines at a subconscious level when going about your work. So let’s skip over the reasons why I’ve spent time on all this, and instead, look at the definition of the Pragmatic Marketing Framework:

The Pragmatic Marketing Framework provides a standard language for your entire product team and a blueprint of the key activities needed to bring profitable, problem-oriented products to market.

That’s how Pragmatic Marketing explain the value of their Framework. Now, just switch out all the marketing/profit/product terminology with recruitment-focused words, and you have something resembling a Pragmatic Recruiting Framework.

Let’s try it now:

The Pragmatic Recruiting Framework provides a standard language for your entire hiring team and a blueprint of the key activities needed to bring talented, high-performing employees to your company.

It’s not a silver bullet and you’re at risk of being trapped by dogma if you decide to make it an almost religious or cult-like belief. But at least you’ve got a standardized process in place which will cut down on all the headaches associated with siloed, time-consuming processes that suffer from lack of uniformity throughout. When you’re building teams or scaling rapidly after a funding round, that can get expensive. So, having a system in place will work wonders for recruiting, and ultimately, your bottom line.

Want to learn more? Catch Workable VP of Partnerships Rob Long’s keynote at RecruitCon 2019 in Nashville, Tennessee Nov. 14-15, 2019. If you miss it, watch this space for an update and post-event writeup.

The post The Pragmatic Recruiting Framework: A lesson from marketing appeared first on Recruiting Resources: How to Recruit and Hire Better.

After an incomprehensibly difficult year of COVID-19 and social upheaval, there’s a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel in the form of the COVID-19 vaccine. In the workplace, this brings up questions: Can employers require employees to be vaccinated? And how can you implement a COVID-19 vaccine policy?

First, let’s look at social opinion. A CNBC survey released on Dec. 18, 2020, found that 57% of Americans feel that vaccinations should be made mandatory in the workplace. Look at the opposite, and you can read that 43% of Americans don’t think it should be required.

Another survey, released by Sykes, found a similar result:

In that same survey from Sykes, half (50.7%) of respondents who plan to get vaccinated said they know someone who doesn’t plan to get the vaccine.

Since the workplace can be a natural extension of society, this can pose a challenge for employers who need to make a decision on a COVID-19 vaccine policy. So how can employers go about it in the right way – whether it’s best practices, legal compliance, or both?

COVID-19 vaccine policy in the workplace

We reached out for insights in the business and legal communities to find out, and we’re sharing seven high-level takeaways.

1. There are important legal considerations
2. A safe workplace is a major motivator
3. Worker health equals business health
4. Employers are willing to pay out of pocket
5. Employees should decide how to get the vaccine
6. Not everyone feels the same way
7. Clear communication is key

1. There are important legal considerations

First and foremost: you, of course, want to be compliant when considering a vaccine policy. When it comes to workplace requirements, there will be legal implications – and those get more and more convoluted when you’re dealing with the COVID-19 vaccine and other treatments that can be viewed by some as intrusive.

These legal implications fall largely under two areas, according to Philadelphia employment lawyer Edith Pearce of Pearce Law Firm:

“There are exceptions for certain employees who should receive additional accommodations because of their sincere religious beliefs, or due to health conditions or disabilities that could prevent them from safely receiving a vaccination.”

Medical conditions

David Reischer, Attorney & CEO of New York-based LegalAdvice.com, says that, while there is no law that specifically considers a mandatory COVID-19 vaccination, an employee can exercise rights on the grounds of disability:

“The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has historically advised for the flu vaccination that an employee may be exempt from a mandatory vaccine if the employee has a disability covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) that prevents them from taking the vaccine.”

Edith also points to medical conditions, saying if an employee has a medical reason to object, as recognized by the ADA, they have the right to do so.

“For example, recently Britain’s medicines regulator advised patients who have a history of a significant allergic reaction to vaccines, medicines, or food, and those who have been advised to carry an adrenaline autoinjector (a.k.a. an EpiPen) should not receive the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine.”

If this is the case, the employer has legal rights and obligations of its own, says Edith:

“The employer may request disability-related documentation that substantiates that the individual should not receive the vaccination because of a health condition. The employer would likely again need to provide reasonable accommodation such as wearing a mask as effective alternative means of infection control.”

David adds, however, that employers can take business impact into consideration when looking at such exceptions: “An exemption is permitted as a reasonable accommodation under the ADA unless there is undue hardship, which the ADA defines as significant difficulty or expense for the employer.”

Religious belief

According to Edith, if an employee objects to a vaccination based on religious grounds, they have that right as well.

“If an employee has a sincerely held religious belief, practice, or observance against being vaccinated they are protected under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, as an employer has a duty to reasonably accommodate the employee unless this creates an undue hardship on the employer’s business,” she says.

“That language is important and one should take note of ‘sincerely held religious belief.’ What this means is that employers cannot force those specific religious employees to get the vaccine, but the employee would still have to adhere to other accommodations that would likely include requiring the employee to wear a mask if they have a religious objection to being vaccinated.”

Edith points out the important distinction between personal beliefs and religious beliefs:

“In past cases involving an employee’s objection to the seasonal flu vaccine, courts have held that views based on mere personal beliefs regarding the health effects of the flu vaccine and the desire to avoid the vaccine does not qualify as a ‘sincere held religious belief.’”

David also pointed out the religious accommodation provision in the Civil Rights Act, noting that the impact on business health can be a consideration:

“In such instances, an employee may be exempted if taking the vaccination would violate a sincerely held religious beliefs, practices, or observances. In such instances, an employer must provide reasonable accommodation unless it would pose an undue hardship, which under Title VII is ‘more than de minimis cost’ to the employer’s business.”

2. A safe workplace is a major motivator

While employers have strong legal footing in requiring vaccinations for employees, what’s also top of mind for many employers is the health of their employees and ensuring a safe and healthy working environment.

Test Prep Insight CEO John Ross is viscerally mindful of this in his online education company.

“Once the vaccine becomes widely distributed, I will require that all 10 of our employees get the vaccine, unless they have a substantiated medical reason not to get it,” he says. “As a business owner, I have the obligation to provide a working environment that is safe and where employees feel comfortable, and having a team that has all been immunized against the virus will help me satisfy that obligation.”

The decision to require vaccines can depend on industry, sector, and job position, according to health expert and CEO Vinay Amin of Eu Natural, a health supplement manufacturer and seller in Nevada.

“I believe the COVID-19 vaccine policy of an SMB will depend on the industry, and the type of employment they choose: i.e. in an office, WFH, or a combination.”

However, founder Daniel Carter of ZippyElectrics, an online resource for electric transportation, is equally adamant about the responsibility of the employer in a COVID-19 vaccine policy:

“It is every employer’s task to ensure that their employees and the working environment of their employees are as safe as possible. Therefore, I believe that requiring the vaccine and providing it for your employees is your task as an employer.”

Employees’ rights to a safe, healthy workspace

Daniel points to the obligation of employers as well according to law:

“The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) ensures that the federal law of providing a safe workspace for employees is followed. If you require your employees to be present at the office/establishment, then, as an employer, you are responsible for their health.”

Daniel is right about OSHA, says Edith, who has been practicing law for more than 25 years:

“When it comes to the COVID-19 vaccination – and vaccines in general – employers can generally require their employees to become vaccinated to promote a safe work environment.“

Edith continues: “Under [OSHA] and various state laws, employers have a duty to provide each of their employees with ‘a place of employment which are free from recognized hazards that are causing or likely to cause death or serious physical harm’ to its employees. These laws allow employers to put health and safety policies into action, such as vaccinations from a virus such as COVID-19, but they need to be applied equally to all employees and uniformly enforced for business necessity.”

Holly Helstrom, an Adjunct Instructor at Columbia University in NYC, also states that an employer has the legal right to introduce a COVID-19 vaccine policy if they’re a private sector at-will employer, again due to workplace health considerations:

“This is a product of how US labor law and the Constitution are written. Employers can and have fired employees based on lifestyle choices related to their health, including if they smoke cigarettes or drink alcohol,” says Holly, who specializes in First Amendment rights for employees. “Refusal to get a COVID vaccine if your employer is requiring one could get you fired and your employer would be within their legal rights to do so. “

Andrew Taylor, Director of Net Lawman, an online resource for legal advice in the United Kingdom, says the same.

“Employees can be fired over their lifestyle choices and the COVID-19 vaccine is no different. There are some laws put in place about 10 years ago, protecting employers in this instance and regulations specifically regarding COVID-19, in favor of the vaccine, are quickly clarifying any thoughts.”

3. Worker health equals business health

Business continuity is a factor for many employers in deciding whether or not to have employees be vaccinated, including for Matt Rostosky of Cash Offer Kentucky, a real estate investment firm in Louisville, Kentucky.

“In our case where we go out into the field to conduct real estate sales, it’s important to let our clients feel confident that we have been vaccinated so that our transactions can be much safer at least when the COVID-19 virus hasn’t been eradicated yet.”

Rex Frieberger, CEO of tech and lifestyle publication Gadget Review, admits that he won’t be outright requiring all employees to vaccinate because of what he sees as potential legal implications, but still wants to incentivize it. However, he will require vaccinations for some functions in his business:

“Because we’re focused on travel, I will definitely require employees doing lots of travel to get it. The risk is too great otherwise.”

Jake Hill, the CEO of Austin-based personal finance publication DebtHammer, works with vulnerable populations, and consequently, he’s adamant that all employees be vaccinated if they can safely do so.

“This is something I feel very strongly about and I will not argue with employees about it,” says Jake. “While we do a lot of our work remotely (especially now), in-office we counsel some of the most vulnerable members of society. The elderly and the working poor are extremely susceptible to communicable disease and there is literally no reason not to get the vaccine when working with high-risk individuals.”

John at Test Prep Insight also sees his overall business benefiting from a company-wide vaccination policy.

“Our team is more productive in an in-person working environment, so the moment we are allowed to return to in-person activity, I plan to act on it. However, I have to make sure I have taken all precautions to protect my employees when doing so, and I think requiring the vaccine is the best course of action.”

4. Employers are willing to pay out of pocket

In the United States, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) states on its website that all COVID-19 vaccines purchased with taxpayer money will be provided free of charge – but notes that there may be additional administrative costs levied by vaccine providers. If that’s a factor in an employee’s decision to get a vaccine, some employers told us that they plan to pay out of pocket for this.

Rex at Gadget Review is actually sweetening the deal for those who get the shot.

“We’ll be covering the cost and giving employees who get it a one-time bonus as well, so I think that will encourage most of our crew to get it.”

Jake at DebtHammer also wants to remove any potential obstacles to getting it, whether financial or otherwise.

“I’m hoping the vaccine will be covered by our health plan, but if not I’ll cover it out of pocket. I don’t want anyone to have a reason not to get it, and I’ll expect our employees to step up and do what needs to be done.”

WikiLawn President Dan Bailey plans to extend the same offer beyond employees in his online lawn care resource center’s COVID-19 vaccine policy.

“I don’t know when we’ll get access to it, but we intend to cover the cost for every employee as well as their immediate family. The faster we can get everyone vaccinated, the sooner they’ll be able to live their lives without fear of the virus.”

5. Employees should decide how to get the vaccine

While the motivation and sense of responsibility is strong for many employers, some like Daniel at ZippyElectrics are deferring to the experts when actually administering the vaccine – because of logistical considerations.

“Due to varying schedules, the most ideal way to execute this program is to contact hospitals and clinics that administer the vaccine and point your employees in their direction. This way your employees still have the freedom to choose when and where to get the vaccine. Then you can cover the vaccine’s costs before requiring your employees to return to work.”

There’s another added benefit to empowering employees to dictate the logistics of actually getting vaccinated, according to Spokane, Washington-based Miles Beckler, who works with entrepreneurs in digital marketing.

“The onus is on the employee to get the vaccine themselves – after all, they will be able to access it in a much more sterile, safe environment than an office space.”

6. Not everyone feels the same way

While many employers feel it’s necessary or at least crucial for every employee to be vaccinated, there are some detractors who are uneasy or outright opposed to implementing a formal COVID-19 vaccine policy in the workplace:

Founder and CEO Deven Patel of domain marketplace Alter.com is one who wants to leave that decision to employees, taking into consideration the rapid rollout of the vaccine:

“I would not require my employees to take the COVID-19 vaccine. They should be free to choose on their own,” says Deven, who operates out of New York City.

“Historically, vaccines typically took about 10-12 years to be developed properly. Requiring employees to take the COVID vaccine that was rapidly developed in under a year would be like forcing people to use beta software. It should be the employee’s choice.”

L.A.-based MintResume’s senior career advisor Joe Wilson’s own apprehensions come from a legal and moral standpoint. He would rather defer to existing precautions as recommended by authorities:

“I would question how viable it is to ask employees to have a vaccine. Would it be a case of vaccination or lose your job? I think that could bring a whole host of issues. I certainly don’t want that fight. Precautions such as wearing a mask and keeping a distance are possible and realistic but I’m not sure of the moral implications of insisting that employees have a vaccination.”

7. Clear communication is key

The consensus among employers who do plan to request vaccinations among employees is that the communication must be absolutely clear, to preempt any potential misinterpretation or confusion.

Miles in Spokane points out the importance of full transparency in communicating such a policy to employees. “Given the emotionally charged nature of COVID-19, there can be no gray areas in how the workplace operates post-vaccine. If the office environment is only accessible to those who have had the vaccine, make that distinction clear well in advance.”

Miles adds that a single stream of communication is key.

“To do this in the most effective way, send out a single, definitive communication that answers the questions your employees may have.”

Daniel at ZippyElectrics points to the many different ways that Human Resources can communicate this policy to employees:

“As with many offices, group chats, newsletters, and the like are available to spread new regulations. You can make use of these to tell your employees about how the vaccine situation will be executed.”

Daniel recommends including all details, especially answering “why” such a policy is being implemented, to reassure employees about the motivation of the business:

“It is also important to inform your employees that just because vaccines are being rolled out and are available, does not mean we have to neglect health and safety protocols that have been put in place. Until such time that the vaccine is provided for everyone, it’s better to be safe than sorry.”

Miles recommends including as many details as possible in that single stream of communication so as to remove any confusion:

“The document should clarify whether vaccinations will be administered on-site, whether they’re simply strongly advised, and whether the vaccine is required to return to the workplace.”

Be kind and empathetic – it’s a sensitive topic

Matt of Cash Offer Kentucky recommends that rather than bluntly requiring employees to be vaccinated – which, based on the above-cited survey data, can potentially create a toxic working environment – the language can be revised, and made more approachable. It is, after all, a sensitive area and should be treated as such.

“Encouraged to take the vaccine is a more appropriate term.”

David at LegalAdvice.com says this language exists even in a legal sense: “[With some exceptions], the EEOC does not prohibit employers from mandating vaccines. It strongly emphasizes employers to consider encouraging employees to take the vaccine rather than requiring employees to take the vaccine.”

Holly – who also advises clients at Logos Consulting Group in NYC – points to the importance of clear communication on “why” an employer is taking a specific stance on a COVID-19 vaccination requirement:

“When navigating complex questions such as ‘Is it morally right to do, or not do, X?’, having clarity on one’s values, whether from the employer or employee perspective, can make the decision easier,” says Holly. “For example, if individual liberty is more important to you than job security, your decision when navigating this question as an employee will be much easier.”

COVID-19 vaccine policies at work

For the most part, yes, employers do have the legal right to implement a COVID-19 vaccine policy for their employees – with several notable exceptions. You should do your homework on that from a legal standpoint before administering such a policy – including consulting a lawyer as needed. Workable is first and foremost a recruitment solutions service, not a formal legal authority.

That aside, ensure your employees are on board with such a policy by being clear about your reasons for doing so – be it for business health, workplace health, a combination of both, or otherwise. There’s a clear hesitation by a large swath of the population on the health effects of such a vaccine and its overall impact on the pandemic, and that can’t be ignored. The social and political tensions are also quite tangible, and will be for some time.

The least you can do for your employees is to introduce a COVID-19 vaccine policy in the workplace in a thoughtful, empathetic and clear way. That applies not only for your business health, but also for your employee engagement during a time where reassurance and support can go a long way during tough times.

The post COVID-19 vaccine policy in the workplace: Best practices appeared first on Recruiting Resources: How to Recruit and Hire Better.

Is a higher salary the golden ticket to employee satisfaction, or are there other, more nuanced factors at play?

As HR professionals, it’s our responsibility to delve deeper into these questions, understanding the multifaceted nature of job satisfaction and how we can foster it within our organizations.

The salary-happiness misconception

There’s a common misconception in the world of work: a higher salary equals increased job satisfaction. It’s an easy assumption to make. After all, who doesn’t appreciate a generous paycheck at the end of the month? However, recent data and real-life experiences are challenging this notion, revealing that job satisfaction is a complex construct influenced by a myriad of factors beyond just monetary compensation.

Money can’t buy… job satisfaction

Three recent studies shed light on the intricate relationship between salary and job satisfaction, each from a different industry perspective.

The first, a survey conducted by Vivian Health, focused on the healthcare industry, known for its competitive salaries.

The survey revealed that despite the attractive compensation packages, a staggering 48% of respondents reported their jobs as stressful, with 50% considering or actively applying for a new role in a different industry within the last year.

This suggests that a high salary isn’t enough to offset the stress and dissatisfaction experienced by these workers.

On the other end of the spectrum, a recent study by Moneyzine found that self-employed individuals, who typically earn significantly less than their employed counterparts, reported greater work-life balance, job satisfaction, and lower stress levels.

Despite earning 56% less on average, 4 in 10 self-employed respondents described themselves as happy or very happy with their current employment status. This stark contrast underscores the fact that factors beyond salary significantly contribute to job satisfaction.

Contrary to expectations, a study conducted by My Perfect Resume found that there were no major disparities in overall job satisfaction between individuals earning less than $25,000 and those earning $75,000 or more per year. In fact, 77% and 74% of respondents in each income bracket, respectively, reported high levels of job satisfaction.

Factors that contribute to job satisfaction

So, what are these factors that contribute to job satisfaction beyond salary? Here are some of the top factors that you have to consider:

Work-life balance: The self-employed individuals reported a better work-life balance compared to employed workers. This balance, or the ability to juggle work demands with personal life and family needs, significantly contributes to overall job satisfaction.

Autonomy: Being one’s own boss was the top factor that self-employed individuals enjoyed about their job. The freedom to make decisions and control one’s work can lead to a greater sense of satisfaction and fulfillment.

Job security: While not explicitly mentioned in the surveys, job security often plays a significant role in job satisfaction. The uncertainty of job loss can lead to stress and dissatisfaction, regardless of salary.

Workplace culture: A supportive and positive workplace culture can significantly impact job satisfaction. This includes factors such as relationships with colleagues and supervisors, opportunities for growth and development, and recognition and appreciation for work done.

Meaningful work: Employees who find their work meaningful and purposeful are more likely to be satisfied with their jobs. This sense of purpose can come from the nature of the work itself or from the impact of the organization’s work.

Related: The real reasons your employees don’t want to work for you

The role of HR in enhancing job satisfaction

As HR professionals, we can leverage these insights to enhance job satisfaction within our organizations. Here are a few strategies:

• Encourage flexible work arrangements where possible, and respect employees’ personal time.
• Wherever possible, give employees the freedom to make decisions about their work. This can increase their sense of ownership and satisfaction.
• Transparent communication about the company’s health and future plans can alleviate fears about job security.
• Foster a supportive and inclusive workplace culture. Recognize and appreciate employees’ efforts, and provide opportunities for growth and development.
• Help employees find purpose in their work. This could involve connecting individual tasks to the organization’s broader goals or engaging in corporate social responsibility initiatives.

In conclusion, while salary is an important factor in job satisfaction, it’s not the end-all, be-all.

We need to look beyond the paycheck and consider other factors that contribute to job satisfaction.

By doing so, we can create work environments where employees feel valued, satisfied, and engaged, leading to better outcomes for everyone involved.

The post Why money alone can’t buy happiness at work appeared first on Recruiting Resources: How to Recruit and Hire Better.

There is no dilemma regarding whether to fire employees or hire new ones in the AI era. It simply requires a fresh perspective on the workforce of your company.

Workforce planning has become more important than ever, and both companies and employees must demonstrate flexibility in this regard.

Workable’s CHRO, Rob Long, says: “Right now people are still really trying to understand how this will impact the workforce. Some of the impacts and benefits are clear at a high level but much less certain when it comes to knowing exactly the extent to which it will impact certain functions or roles.”

“Right now people are still really trying to understand how this will impact the workforce. Some of the impacts and benefits are clear at a high level but much less certain when it comes to knowing exactly the extent to which it will impact certain functions or roles.”

By customizing your hiring strategy and identifying areas that humans can collaborate using AI tools, you can reach new heights in terms of performance and efficiency.

Let’s dive into the creation of a successful workforce planning strategy.

Human workers and AI can collaborate

There are several ways to describe the practice of collaboration between human workers and AI. It can be found online under names such as Combining Intelligence, Collaborative Intelligence, Integrated Intelligence, or Augmented Intelligence. All these terms are based on one specific notion: AI is not here to replace human workers, but to augment their capabilities.

Related: How AI can enhance human skills and collaboration at work

As an HR professional, you need to identify the areas where your human workers and AI can collaborate. This first requires a deep understanding of the tasks that your employees perform and the tasks that AI can perform better – and the difference between each.

According to a Harvard Business Review, humans require both cooperative and competitive skills to effectively work with AI systems. Cooperative skills include data-centric skills, AI literacy, and algorithmic communication, while competitive skills encompass emotional intelligence, holistic thinking, creativity, and critical thinking.

On the other hand, AI systems need to develop cooperative skills like natural language processing, explainability, adaptability, and context awareness, while their competitive advantages lie in analytical capacities, generativity, and performance at scale.

Organizations are advised to strike a balance between investing in human skills and technological capabilities to foster a symbiotic relationship between humans and AI.

Current employees will be affected by AI

It’s essential to understand how AI will affect your current employees before shaping a solid workforce planning strategy. Some of your employees may have concerns about their job security or their ability to adapt to new technology.

It’s your job as an HR professional to address these concerns and provide training and support to help your employees adapt to the changing workplace.

According to a survey by Qualtrics, employees see the potential positive impact of AI in the workplace primarily in terms of increased productivity. This includes automating repetitive tasks, allowing employees to focus on more complex work, and enabling faster and advanced data analysis.

The main concerns expressed by workers regarding AI’s impact are the loss of the human element in work (highlighted by 55% of respondents) and the potential erosion of critical thinking skills (selected by 52% of employees).

One of the greatest worries among employees is the possibility of AI replacing jobs altogether. About 68% of respondents believe that some jobs are at risk due to AI, and 23% feel that their own jobs are in jeopardy. There is also confusion and concern regarding policies related to AI in the workplace.

Nearly 60% of employees either state that their company lacks an AI policy or they are unaware of such a policy, leaving them uncertain about what is allowed or not in relation to AI usage.

Perhaps some jobs will be lost or incorporated into larger disciplines. To alleviate employees’ fears of AI taking their jobs, it is crucial to provide them with clear communication and transparency about the role of AI in the workplace.

This can involve comprehensive and ongoing training programs that focus on upskilling and reskilling employees to adapt to the changing work landscape and take advantage of the opportunities presented by AI.

Additionally, creating a culture that values and rewards human skills, such as critical thinking, creativity, emotional intelligence, and problem-solving, can reinforce the importance of these unique abilities alongside AI technologies.

New employees will be affected too

As an HR professional, you need to understand how potential new employees will be affected by AI. This means looking at the skills and knowledge required for jobs in the future and adjusting your hiring strategy accordingly.

An astonishing new survey conducted by Intelligent finds that 86% of hiring managers believe that having ChatGPT can be more valuable than a college degree for entry-level jobs.

Skills related to data analysis, AI literacy, and the ability to work effectively in collaboration with AI systems are highly sought after in the AI era.

Soft skills such as critical thinking, creativity, and problem-solving are more important now than ever. These are skills that are difficult to automate and are likely to become more valuable as AI becomes more prevalent in the workplace.

You can adjust your workforce planning strategy according to the latest developments and the real needs of your company, keeping in mind that AI is still a tool and not an enemy of humans.

Change your strategy for hiring people

According to a report by Accenture, 84% of business executives believe they need to use AI to achieve their growth objectives. You are probably among that group.

As an HR professional, you need to adapt your hiring strategy accordingly. You must begin searching for employees who possess the skills and knowledge required to work alongside AI. Additionally, if you are a team manager, you can offer guidance and assist your employees in upskilling and preparing to incorporate AI into their workdays.

To implement changes in your workforce planning strategy, you need to build a business case for change. This means using data to show the potential benefits of integrating AI into your workforce. You also need to consider the budget required to implement these changes.

However, there is no need to panic. Actually, we are presently living in a transitional period where we need to stay vigilant while also dedicating time to prepare for what the future holds.

Implementing new workforce planning should only happen when we have a clear understanding of our company’s needs and feel prepared to take action.

Hiring, firings, reorganizations and outsourcing

Once you have built a business case for change, you need to create a timeline for implementation. You can reassess the existing team structure, make new hires, or outsource based on this agreed timeline. It is essential to communicate it clearly to your employees and provide training and support to help them adapt to the changes.

If you know your team’s strengths and weaknesses, you can make an informed decision about using AI in the workplace.

Does it mean investing in new hires who are more familiar with new technologies? Does it mean providing reskilling opportunities to your existing employees?

Any decision must be made based on an organized plan and with careful consideration. In some cases, reorganization may be the best option for your company, while in others, outsourcing may be necessary due to time constraints. Consider AI tools as a way to enhance your employees’ abilities and continue investing in both new technologies and personnel.

There is only one word that accurately describes effective workforce planning for both employees and HR professionals, and that is adaptability.

“People are very aware that for many roles times are changing, so hiring people who are adaptable and comfortable with change is more important than ever.”

“People are very aware that for many roles times are changing, so hiring people who are adaptable and comfortable with change is more important than ever. The impact on productivity for certain roles will certainly be on people’s minds. Do they need to hire 10 or could they hire six now and get the same results?” Rob Long comments.

“But I don’t think many people have worked it out just yet. One clear change is the increase in roles related to creating AI technology, those are increasing rapidly and you can see companies investing more heavily here.”

The post Workforce planning strategy in the AI-driven economy appeared first on Recruiting Resources: How to Recruit and Hire Better.

First things first, let us take a moment to elaborate on what employer branding actually is. Employer branding is all about how people see a company’s values and work environment. It includes everything the company does, whether on purpose or not, to promote its unique identity as an employer to current and potential employees.

Employer branding has become a critical factor in attracting and retaining top talent. According to a survey conducted by LinkedIn, 77% of candidates say that the reputation of a company is important while 80% of HR leaders think that an employer brand has an impact on their recruiting.

However, the evolving nature of work and the increasing expectations of candidates and employees pose unique challenges to effective branding.

This is where the power of AI tools in HR comes into play.

By harnessing the capabilities of generative AI algorithms, you can transform your company’s branding efforts and create a lasting impact to your employees and to the world.

But how does it happen? Let’s go further to understand better the value that AI automations put in your company.

AI in the HR environment

As an HR professional, you already know the magical benefits that AI can offer. AI tools have shortened the time to ramp, alleviating concerns about the screening process, candidate communication, and tracking. This allows you to focus on more creative tasks while leaving automation to handle the mundane tasks.

At the same time, AI can push forward your efforts for better company branding.

Generative AI can be leveraged to enhance various aspects of branding, from employer branding to internal communication. By tapping into the potential of generative AI, you can elevate your company’s brand identity and establish a compelling narrative that resonates with your audience.

Therefore, the result is that effective branding has a positive impact on potential candidates, as well as on the external world and the power of word-of-mouth. Does this sound like marketing to you?

Marketing obviously has a huge payoff – for example, Avatar: The Way of Water was able to make until now $2.320 billion at the box office on an estimated $200M marketing budget. Of course, you don’t have that much money in your recruitment budget, which means you will need to utilize tools like AI to boost your brand.

Allow us to elaborate.

How AI can be used to boost employer branding

Good branding reflects positively on others. The image a company projects to the public can be reshaped using AI tools. A company that uses automation and keeps up with the latest technological developments to handle repetitive processes, while leaving room to utilize people in more creative processes, appears larger in the eyes of others. This creates a positive perception of your business in the public opinion.

The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) reports that 88% of companies worldwide were already using AI in their HR practices, even before the COVID-19 pandemic. This technology is particularly helpful for talent recruitment and selection, and can also enhance employer branding to attract new talent.

Are you still wondering how these concepts could be applied to your company? Let’s take a look at an example.

AI cheat sheet for better employer branding

Imagine a three-year-old company in a crowded startup market which had sought to revamp its branding and establish a strong reputation after the latest developments in AI. They begin experimenting with these tools to transform their approach.

By leveraging generative AI algorithms, this company has developed personalized and captivating employer branding messages. These messages communicate the organization’s mission, vision, and values, express a commitment to employee growth and development, highlight the culture and work environment, share success stories and employee testimonials, and indicate the company’s impact more clearly in the community.

The company utilized AI to create engaging and informative internal communications that fostered a sense of unity among employees.

At the same time, the organization utilized generative AI to create personalized job postings that would catch the attention of potential candidates. By analyzing large amounts of data, generative AI algorithms produced compelling narratives that would resonate with their intended talent pools. This approach enabled them to customize their employer branding messages for various demographics and increased the chances of attracting suitable candidates.

Moreover, the HR department introduced a new referral system to attract more talent with the help of satisfied employees within the company.

As a result, this company witnessed a surge in qualified applicants, an enhanced candidate experience, and improved employee engagement.

Their innovative use of AI tools propelled their brand reputation, positioning them as a forward-thinking and desirable employer in the industry.

Adopting such tools can help your business in two ways. Firstly, it positions your company as one that people want to work for. Secondly, it establishes a reputation as a company with the very best people working for it.

Intensify candidate attraction with AI

In today’s candidate-driven market, providing an exceptional candidate experience is paramount. Research shows that candidates who have a positive experience are more likely to accept job offers, refer others, and even become customers.

More specifically, in a recent survey, 49% of job seekers confirmed that they have rejected a job offer due to an unfavorable experience with the prospective employer. The way that HR professionals handle communications between candidates can boost or harm your brand reputation.

AI tools can transform the whole process of hiring by paying attention to creating a good rapport with those who apply for a vacancy in your organization. The outcome of achieving that can be very beneficial to your company.

Jacob Rios, Co-Founder and CEO of JobSage said: “You don’t have to spend much time on the internet to learn that most online reviews tend to skew negative, so it’s great to see such a high percentage of candidates also sharing their positive experiences.”

“You don’t have to spend much time on the internet to learn that most online reviews tend to skew negative, so it’s great to see such a high percentage of candidates also sharing their positive experiences.”

“It is so helpful and empowering to future candidates,” Jacob continues. “We’ve spoken to many jobseekers in our line of work and most simply want to learn the truth, both the good and the bad.”

Through generative AI-powered chatbots and virtual assistants, candidates can receive personalized responses to their inquiries, obtain relevant information about the company and position, and even receive guidance throughout the application process.

This level of personalized engagement not only enhances the candidate experience but also showcases your company’s commitment to providing a seamless and tailored journey.

AI algorithms can analyze your company’s values, mission, and culture to generate internal communications that resonate with employees. From employee newsletters to internal social media posts, generative AI can help you craft compelling content that captures attention and drives engagement.

The 30-60-90 day onboarding framework and AI copilot by Workable are all examples of how AI tools can increase brand reputation and retention rates.

Employer branding equals reputation

As an HR expert, you should consider brand reputation and employer branding as one. Their parameters overlap, and together they create a whole that affects both the internal and external environment of the company. AI tools can assist you throughout this process, but human intervention will always be decisive when it comes to branding.

A business is driven to progress through its people. Therefore, welcome your people, help them become a part of your culture, provide feedback to those who were declined, and keep your eyes on the positive outcome.

The post Boost your employer branding & retention using AI appeared first on Recruiting Resources: How to Recruit and Hire Better.

If you aren’t collecting that information regularly, it’s time to reconsider that choice – you cannot see the bigger picture without your candidates’ point of view. They experience your hiring process first-hand and can readily share your strategy’s pros and cons. Plus, candidates will often share their experiences via public forums such as Glassdoor and Indeed, as well as throughout their professional networks. That’s why it’s critical to take their feedback into serious consideration, before your reputation as an employer is harmed via a poor candidate experience.

Candidate surveys: what can you track – and how?

In this section, you’ll find some key hiring areas you can monitor and improve using candidate surveys. You can tailor these aspects and survey questions according to your business goals and needs. Keep those surveys anonymous, so that job applicants feel more secure and willing to share their honest opinions with you.

1. Candidate experience

We’re starting with the broader category which includes the majority of the aforementioned: Candidate experience. With candidate experience surveys, you can retrieve information regarding each recruiting phase, such as the application process, interviews, and assessment stage. You can combine close-ended with open-ended questions, or ask candidates to evaluate procedures using a Likert scale.

Here’s a small sample of questions you can include:

• What would you recommend to make our hiring process better in the future?
• On a scale from 1 to 5, how hard was the assessment you completed?
• How clear were the job responsibilities to you before and after the interview?

It’s critical to have a standardized hiring process with clear goals and guidelines for both interviewers and hiring managers. The results will enable you to spot the flaws and adjust them accordingly. For example, if the majority of candidates for a specific role reported that the required assessment was hard and time-consuming, consider replacing it with another tool that takes less time to complete and measures skills more accurately.

2. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Companies are increasingly understanding the significance of diverse hiring and inclusivity in the workplace. According to a recent Workable survey on DEI at work, 56.1% of respondents said that they actively aim to improve diverse recruiting in the future, compared to 20% who said they don’t.

In the same survey, 64.8% of the recipients reported they want to achieve diversity throughout the entire company. To succeed in this, understanding the demographics of your candidates is a crucial factor. Here are some data you could collect from your applicants, suggested by Multiverse’s Inclusion and Diversity Lead, Siobhan Randell:

• Gender
• Ethnicity
• Neurodiversity
• Disability
• Education
• Socio-economic background
• Dependents and caring responsibilities

If you find out that you attract applicants from similar backgrounds and with identical traits based on those data, try to figure out why this happens. Maybe you need to tweak the messages – e.g. your vision and mission statements – you share with potential candidates, or post your ads on more diverse job boards.

3. Employer brand

Candidates inform themselves about a company’s culture through numerous channels. They can reach out to your current employees, scroll through Glassdoor or Indeed, search your social media, or talk to others in their professional network. How can you ensure that the perception candidates form about your business is accurate and valid – and remains positive?

Again, candidate surveys can help you know your brand positioning in the competitive market. You can analyze what applicants and candidates think about your company culture and brand and examine how you could boost positive awareness in the future. Here are some questions you could ask:

• Did you know about our company before you applied?
• Was our company culture clear to you during the hiring process?
• Name any benefits/perks that are missing from our scheme that you find valuable.

Overall, this information will enable you to revisit your employer brand and clarify the grey-zone areas that can confuse candidates. For example, let’s imagine that you’ve recently been through a company culture shift. Even though you’ve introduced remote work in your benefit plan, you may learn that candidates were not informed properly about this change.

So, how can you act upon it, with the minimum possible cost? You can consider adding this detail in the job description or your careers page. This way, you’ll attract more suitable candidates next time.

Prevention is better than cure

Overall, collecting feedback from candidates can be game-changing. You’ll be able to spot the flaws in your hiring process before word-of-mouth affects you in a negative way. When candidates understand that their experience and feedback matters to you as an employer and that you want to keep growing in this area, they think better of you.

Finally, avoid using these data just to resolve short-term crises as they occur – instead, utilize them to actively reform your long-term recruitment strategy. For instance, if you see negative comments about your interviewing process online, on Twitter or Glassdoor, responding with an empathetic manner to people who’ve complained is one short-term solution to regain trust. However, if you neglect revisiting the interviewing process, then you’re neglecting the long-term benefits of a fully standardized – and fully tracked – recruitment process.

The post How to level up your hiring strategy through anonymous candidate surveys appeared first on Recruiting Resources: How to Recruit and Hire Better.

Hiring for talent is vague

Hiring for ‘talent’ is too vague to be useful. Recruiters and hiring managers alike use ‘talent’ as a buzzword to describe the kind of people they want to hire. But, like other buzzwords, ‘talent’ is a fuzzy concept. Nobody knows what it is or how to measure it. Let alone how to find employees with those desirable talents. However, talent is meant to be ‘natural’ and spotting it is meant to be intuitive.

But like anything else deemed ‘natural’, the idea of inborn talent greases a slippery slope. For, more often than not, ‘natural’ is just a euphemism for “something I like.” And ‘talent’ is just a euphemism for “someone I like.” Focusing on talent limits employees and employers alike because it glosses over specific skills in favor of intuition and flattery. It also downplays the value of hard work.

How are skills and talent different?

‘Skills’ and ‘talent’ are not synonyms. Talent is general and innate. Skills are specific and learned. If I look for a ‘talented’ writer to join my team, I’ll send myself on a search for a unicorn. But if I look for someone who has taken the time and effort to develop:

• Solid research skills
• A good grasp of grammar
• Strong logical reasoning skills
• And the skill to accept edits with grace

Then I’ll be able to find a good writer.

How to find good employees based on skills:

Run a skills gap analysis

Running a formal skills gap analysis isn’t as trendy as searching for ‘top talent’, but it’s more effective. Conducting a skills gap analysis helps you identify the skills your team needs to meet your business goals. Once you identify the skills you need to scale, you can winnow them down into specific jobs and start thinking about where to find employees who’ll meet your criteria and needs.

Write skills-based job descriptions

Traditional job descriptions focus on proxies for skills, not on skills themselves. Proxies for skills include college degrees, years of experience and specific knowledge of software packages. But, these proxies aren’t necessarily indicative of underlying skills – for example, coding ability has no correlation with fancy or advanced college degrees. The best way to hire new employees who can actually do the job is to ask for what you need, not for proxies.

Advertise where job seekers are

You might be wondering how to find good employees online – or, more accurately, how to make sure you target the most skilled ones when there’s such a large number of job boards and career sites. The key is to experiment with different websites, track the results you get (number of applicants vs. number of hires) from each of them and identify which are the best places to recruit employees based on different jobs and skills. 

Note that each job board might have different requirements for job posting and might attract different candidates – i.e. you may find more effective to attract candidates for designer roles by advertising on niche job boards. 

To help you out, we built a few guides on how to find good employees using the most popular job boards and social platforms: 

• How to find employees on Indeed
• How to find employees on Craigslist
• How to find employees on Facebook
• How to find employees on Stack Overflow

Structure your interview process

Structured interviews are designed to assess job-relevant skills. They are more effective than their unstructured, intuitive counterparts. To structure an interview effectively, hiring managers and recruiters draft a list of job-related skills and craft specific questions to measure each of those skills. For more instruction on how to recruit employees by following a structured interview process, here’s our tutorial and ebook.

Simulate real work tasks with assignments

Assignments are the most effective way of finding good employees. As anyone who has screened applicants knows, many people are able to talk about their skills and experience (at length). The problem begins when you don’t really know how to find the right employee for the job, i.e. you can’t always tell whether candidates can perform until you ask them to simulate the job you’d like to hire them for. I was reminded of this fact when hiring an editor for my team last year: a lot of people can talk up their editing abilities. But, an editing assignment let the most skilled applicant shine through. When we welcomed her to the team, we hired someone with real skills, not vague promises.

Next time you’ll have an open role, don’t get overwhelmed wondering “Why is it so hard to find good employees?” Focus on skills rather than intangible talents, structure your hiring process and, soon enough, you’ll be welcoming your new team member.

The post How to find good employees: hire for skills, not talent appeared first on Recruiting Resources: How to Recruit and Hire Better.

What should be an exercise in storytelling has come to be dominated by a style that’s best described as “forensic”. Other descriptors could include inhuman and mechanical. It’s always worth remembering that it is people who apply for jobs, even if they are applying through an ATS.

Job descriptions can be taken to refer both to the lengthy Human Resources documents that outline all duties and requirements, as well as the shorter versions which are used as job ads. The following points on style are addressed to the latter category.

Think about what the job you’re describing consists of when deciding how to write a job description. Discuss it with someone who already does this job, or its nearest equivalent within your organization, and get them to describe their average day. Break down what that involves into bullet points and then discard the trivial ones to make a feature of what’s important in the role. As a general rule, do this in no more than a half-dozen bullet points.

It starts with the job title

While it’s people who apply for jobs they often use search engines to find a job advert. With that in mind make sure your title is something someone might look for on Google. A designer might reasonably be expected to search using the term “designer”, which won’t help them to find your posting if you’ve used the job title: “graphical ninja”.

Not everyone agrees with this approach. Github, the programming repository, is comfortable asking for “bad-ass Ruby specialists”. The power of their brand means people head directly to their careers page or search “GitHub jobs” to see what opportunities are out there. It works for them but think seriously about whether it works for you. In this one respect it doesn’t hurt to be straightforward when writing a job description.

Drop the formality

Too often postings are addressed to the “ideal candidate” — a moniker with all the warmth of a Cold War thriller title. Postings should talk to “you”.

Writing a job description might start by telling the prospect in a couple of sentences about your company, what it does and why it’s a good place to work. Moving on it would make sense to lay out in plain language what kind of person you’re looking for. And what an average day in the role looks like.

Use full stops

Use plenty of them. The Portuguese novelist Jose Saramago won a Nobel prize for his surrealist writing which contained almost no full stops. He did not write job descriptions. Long sentences won’t help you or the busy people you want to engage with.

While this may sound simple it’s remarkable how wrong companies, big and small, can get it. These mistakes made when writing job descriptions fit into three broad categories which we’ll visit for some real examples.

The dry and dull

Also known as vanilla, because it’s the most commonly chosen route to getting it wrong. Here’s a job description sample from Facebook:

“Facebook seeks an experienced Corporate Communications Manager to support its global monetization efforts and programs. The successful candidate has strong experience in developing and executing high- profile communications initiatives, is an excellent writer, and has knowledge and interest in the concepts and technologies for online and interactive advertising.”

Even the biggest and best are not immune to the machine tendency. While a huge number of people would like to work for one of the most famous brands in the world, few of them daydreamed during math classes about “global monetization efforts”. You don’t really need to do better if you’re Facebook. But you’ll be making a mistake to try the same dry and dull approach if you’re not.

Trying-too-hard

Some efforts to bring color and excitement when writing job descriptions go too far.

This ad from games and comics site Penny Arcade avoids the vanilla tendency too vigorously. There’s a hint of what’s to follow in the job title: “Web/Software Developer & Sys Admin”. If that sounds like two jobs, they are in fact looking for someone to combine four. It concludes:

“So yeah, we know that’s a lot to ask of a person, but all of us here work tremendously hard to do a lot of things, and if you’d like to be at the technical epicenter of it all and don’t mind having a really bad sense of work-life balance…”

A general style point here for job description format is to beware of hyphens. If you’re tempted to ask for a results-driven, high-energy A-player; or a battle-hardened, deadline-oriented dynamic self-starter, don’t.

The outrightly hostile

The rarest but most entertaining category when deciding how to write a good job description.

It’s hard to look beyond the niche London publishers Dalkey Archive Press for the clearest example. Their infamous job description for an unpaid intern warned that the following misdemeanours would be grounds for immediate dismissal:

“Coming in late or leaving early without prior permission; being unavailable at night or on the weekends; failing to meet any goals; giving unsolicited advice about how to run things; taking personal phone calls during work hours; gossiping; misusing company property, including surfing the internet while at work; submission of poorly written materials; creating an atmosphere of complaint or argument; failing to respond to emails in a timely way…”

Check out our library of job description templates, ready to post and easy to customize for your needs.

The post Writing effective job descriptions: a style guide appeared first on Recruiting Resources: How to Recruit and Hire Better.

1. Listing endless job requirements

Think of your job description and requirements as an advertisement.Your career page content should convey the general idea of your open positions and highlight the most enticing aspects. Don’t list out every job requirement on your careers page, especially those that are particularly cumbersome or would be better discussed in person. The more specific you are about requirements, the more likely candidates are to self-select out of your hiring process. If a person sees a position that they are mostly qualified for, but are missing one or two flexible elements, you may miss out on an excellent candidate.

Job descriptions that are too long or too short can deter job applicants from even the best company career pages. A report from Appcast.io found that job descriptions between 4,000 and 5,000 characters get the most job applications.

2. Using too many buzzwords

Your job candidates know their qualifications and the job titles they’re looking for. What they might not know is what you’re looking for when you advertise “rockstar” or “ninja” roles. Answering a question about these kinds of buzzwords on Quora, tech investor and former Facebook product designer Bobby Goodlatte says that they “come across more neo-corporate than anything else. The company posting the job is trying to communicate they “get it” by using words like ninja and rockstar. That inauthenticity scares away the more rogue/unorthodox hacker types that the terms ninja or rockstar try to target.” The best company career pages use a combination of trendy and easy to sea

The team at InsightSquared compiled a list of buzzwords that sales professionals are tired of hearing, including “leading,” “innovative,” “intuitive” and “strategic.” If you are using these words, it might be worth finding more unique, concise ways to describe the work your company is doing and the qualities you’re looking for in candidates.

The team at Tile uses clear and concise language in their job descriptions on their company careers page. Without over-explaining, they list the most crucial elements for the position they’re hiring for (here, a Backend Engineer).

Tools like Textio can help you address off-putting language in your job descriptions. Phrases like “proven” or “under pressure” tend to attract more male candidates, while “exceptional” and “validated” tend to attract more female candidates. By simply tweaking your language, you can appeal to a more diverse group of candidates.

Related: Everything HR managers and recruiters need to know to build an effective careers page

3. Using a confusing schema with too many links

If you’re using a bulky applicant tracking system to design your company careers page, candidates often have to scroll through dozens of positions, filtering by keyword or location, before finding relevant positions. Having one clear system makes searching less confusing for candidates.

The Workable career page content is organized by location, then by team. This allows candidates to get a full idea of our hiring landscape and quickly click through to jobs that interest them.

4. Having no clear flow

Do candidates email you their resume? Connect through LinkedIn? Tweet you for more information? Having a disjointed process detracts applicants and reflects poorly on your employer brand. The hiring process at your company should follow one clear flow. And it should be clear to your applicants and hiring managers. As you build your talent pool and learn which job posting sites are most effective for you, your hiring process will evolve and become clearer.

With an ATS, you can funnel all your applicants through one system and collect extra information from candidates’ social profiles. Helpscout, like many of our other customers, has a simple application in this careers page example that allows candidates to import their resume from LinkedIn.

5. Making culture the main focus

Applicants are coming to your careers page to see if your job is a good fit for them. It’s great to show them photos and videos of what it’s like to work for your company, but this shouldn’t come at the expense of site functionality. Burying an “Apply Now” link below the fold (after a lot of scrolling) is a surefire way to confuse your applicants. For a beautifully designed careers page, Airbnb buries their actual job listings and application under a cumbersome amount of information and in an inconspicuous top navigation. Make sure that you’re selling the right product: your culture is the icing, your careers are the cake.

The post Company career page content: do’s and don’ts appeared first on Recruiting Resources: How to Recruit and Hire Better.

Addressing problems head on can prevent you from making a bad hire. Opening up conversations with candidates can give you the opportunity to learn more about the strengths they can bring to your company.

Here are some ways to breach the most common resume red flags. By asking candidates candid questions you can gather all the information you need.

Short job tenures and long gaps between jobs

Many short stints at (or long periods between) jobs can mean many things. Your candidate could have moved, been in poor health, had a change in their family situation or explored educational opportunities. However, it can also mean that your candidate didn’t work out at a previous company for any number of reasons. When addressing these gaps, be curious instead of accusatory. Candidates could have had an experience during their gap that could make them a better fit for your job.

Sample questions:

• Can you tell me more about what you did during this time?
• What was your most interesting experience?
• What new job skills did you learn?

Vague resume wording

Writing a resume can be tough. Your candidates are often distilling thousands of hours of work at a company into a few short lines. And it’s almost impossible to capture job commitment in words. However, it’s important to note the word choices your candidates make to describe their work. Did they ‘oversee’ or ‘manage’? Did they ‘strategize’ or ‘execute’? Does your candidate list any concrete results from their initiatives or projects? If action-oriented verbs and measurable results are missing, it’s worth asking your candidate what their responsibilities actually were and whether they line up with what you’re looking for.

Sample questions:

• What were your exact responsibilities on this project?
• What were the results you expected for this project and what were the results you saw?
• Who were the other stakeholders and what were their responsibilities?

Lack of attention to detail

Some interviewers consider resume spelling mistakes inexcusable. However, throwing out a candidate’s resume because of a small oversight could cost you a good hire. Is their error understandable or does it indicate a pattern of inattention to detail? If a candidate is a fit, minus a spelling hiccup, it’s best to use a multi-pronged approach to assess their attention to detail. Skills assessments and assignments can give you a much better idea of how your candidate approaches their work and give you a larger body of examples to determine whether carelessness is a pattern for them. Explore candidates’ mistakes during interviews and use your time together to learn more about their tendency to pay attention to details.

Sample questions

• Can you describe a time where you made a mistake and had to correct it?
• Can you describe a time when you found a mistake someone else made? How did you approach them?
• How do you approach situations where the directions are unclear?

Related: How to source on job boards and resume databases

Unprofessional language or design

Especially common when hiring interns or recent graduates, resumes with unprofessional language or design may detract from candidates’ strengths. Common mistakes include childish email addresses, overly-aggrandized job descriptions, too many highlights from hobbies and student positions, irrelevant portfolio items and anything else that doesn’t explain why your candidate is qualified. Other common resume blunders include adding a second page, including a photo or writing in the first-person. Though it may take extra time to sift through an unprofessional resume to get to the meat of a candidate’s qualifications, it’s worth noting their accomplishments and skills before deciding whether to invite them to interview. Such candidates are often qualified but may not have had access to resources or training opportunities to learn how to create a professional resume. If a candidate impresses you beyond their unscrupulous resume, invite them to an interview or phone screen to determine if their unprofessional behavior is the result of inadequate job training or whether it’s a personality trait.

Sample questions

• What is a challenging professional problem you’ve encountered and how did you find with a solution?
• Give an example of a professional decision you’ve had to make without anyone else’s input.
• Describe a time where you saw a project through from beginning to end and presented your results.

Irrelevant references

A good reference list is crucial. Though active job-seekers may not include their current manager or colleagues in their reference list, candidates should provide references who can vouch for their current work style. It’s a red flag if a candidate’s references are unrelated to the job they’ve applied for or have little experience working closely with them. Because self-selected references are nearly always positive, it’s important to assess the value of each reference to see if they’re illustrative. Ask your candidate about their relationship with each reference to get a better sense of how relevant their references are.

Sample questions

• In what capacity did you work with this reference, and how would you describe your working relationship?
• What projects did you work on together?
• What specific job qualifications will this reference be relevant for?

The post Addressing resume red flags appeared first on Recruiting Resources: How to Recruit and Hire Better.

Interview red flags are ‘blink moments.’ They usually signal that an employee will not work out in the long term. However, if a candidate has potential, it may be worth addressing some of these issues with interview feedback.

Download our complete guide on how to structure interviews, along with interviewing tips, for free.

Here are seven of the most common interview red flags and some questions you can ask to check your instincts.

1. Appearance

Dressing well for an interview can mean a lot of things. Depending on your industry, interviewees could show up in jeans or a full suit. However, no matter what your company dress style, it’s easy to tell whether a candidate put effort into their appearance. If your candidate looks like they just rolled out of bed, chances are, your job isn’t a priority for them.

It’s also important for you to be upfront about what you expect candidates to wear. If your company is startup casual, a gentle reminder in your confirmation email that you don’t expect your candidate to dress formally can go a long way. By setting realistic expectations for professional appearance, you can also gauge your candidates’ sense of judgment and ability to follow directions.

Ask: have you ever worked for a company where you didn’t agree with the dress code?

2. Being late

Being late for an interview is usually unacceptable. Your company should be looking for candidates who prioritize your time. A candidate who shows up to an interview more than five or ten minutes late might not have the best time management skills. External factors often contribute to tardiness. How candidates react to these setbacks is a great indication of their tenacity. Did your candidate call to let you know they were running late? This simple gesture can show that they value your time and are clear communicators.

Ask: have you ever been in a situation where you weren’t able to arrive at work on time, or commit to a full workday?

3. Complaining or gossiping

How a candidate discusses their former employer, coworkers or industry really matters. Negative energy from a candidate should be disconcerting. Though candidates are clearly looking for a way out of their old company, their attitude toward leaving is sometimes indicative of their attitude toward work. Are they making unnecessary comments about their former team? Are they minimizing or deriding the work of their previous company? Are they interacting poorly with other members in a group interview? They could say the same kinds of things about your company in the future.

However, be on the lookout for valid concerns. Within the confines of a structured interview, your candidate may mention a management style that worked poorly for them or share a previous interpersonal issue. These anecdotes could indicate how well your candidate handles conflict. Negativity can’t be completely avoided in the workplace. Maturity and conflict resolution skills make for great hires.

Ask: how did you handle a disagreement with a coworker, and how would you handle a similar problem in the future?

4. Poor listening skills

Poor listening skills can reveal themselves at many points in your interview process. From your first interactions, notice how often your candidate needs refreshing on details or confirms items you’ve already discussed. Though some confirmation is natural, forgetting basic details about you, your company or your schedule is problematic. Not only does this show that your candidate pays little attention to detail, it shows that they may be dismissive or distracted at work.

Ask: Describe a time when you misunderstood someone else’s instructions, what happened and how could you have handled it differently?

5. No learning experiences

Asking a candidate what they learned from a project or position may seem like a filler question. However, it can be a big factor in determining whether your candidate has grown over time and learned from their experiences. Did your candidate learn a specific technical skill that could be applied to their new position? What about a management tactic or interpersonal skill? One of the most important employee traits is the ability to learn from difficult situations. Let candidates answer learning-related questions with a specific story that details their learning experience. If they come up short, take it as a sign that they may not be as invested in developing their career.

Ask: what would you do differently if you had to address a big problem for a second time?

6. Not asking questions

Candidates who do their research will ask questions. Even those who haven’t read all your company’s content will have specific questions about strategy, processes and how you achieved certain results. Candidates with few or no questions probably didn’t do enough research. Having nothing to ask is a major warning sign. Lack of curiosity indicates that candidates don’t care about your company, aren’t willing to invest in learning more and aren’t willing to engage with you.

Ask: what would you want to know on your first day working here that you don’t already know?

7. Lack of factual support

A resume offers a first glimpse into a candidate’s work history, but should only be the jumping off point for an in-depth discussion about their background. If candidates can’t speak to any details from their resume accomplishments during an interview, consider it a red flag. It’s an indicator that they might have embellished their responsibilities on their resume.

Ask: who were the key stakeholders in these projects, how long did they take to complete and how did you report the results?

The post Addressing interview red flags appeared first on Recruiting Resources: How to Recruit and Hire Better.

HR audits are a critical part of ensuring an organization’s employees are productive, satisfied and constantly improving. Audits are kind of like checklists for HR managers. According to SHRM, audits are most commonly used to go over current HR policies, systems, documentations and other various aspects within an organization.

After working in human resources for various corporate organizations over the last 20 years, I know firsthand how important auditing is to both HR professionals and to the overall health of an organization. Audits and productivity go hand in hand.

Here are a few auditing tips for HR professionals to facilitate an organization’s workflow.

1. Focus on the employee experience
2. Fine-tune your candidate experience
3. Conduct ROI analyses
4. Create consistent audit schedules
5. Survey your employees

1. Focus on the employee experience

When auditing an organization’s workflow, the best place to start is by focusing on the organization’s employee experiences. Look at the recruiting, onboarding, service/performance milestones, and administrative processes you have in place. Ask yourself, are they intuitive? Are they simple? Are they effective?

If not, identify areas of improvement within the organization so employees will want to brag about where they work. If employees have positive experiences, they’re more likely to be more productive.

Factors that may contribute to a positive employee experience include:

• Meaningful work
• Growth and promotion opportunities
• Healthy/positive work environment
• Trust in leaders and supervisors
• Supportive management

Additionally, employees with a more positive experience are more likely to produce higher rates of employee retention, customer satisfaction, profitability and work performance.

Read more: Josh Bersin also has a lot to say on the subject of employee experience. Check out our top 10 insights from a recent webinar.

Because of the abundance of hiring laws involved in nearly each step of the employment process, it is also critical for HR professionals to constantly conduct audits to ensure their organization’s workflow is in compliance with all applicable policies and laws in their jurisdiction.

2. Fine-tune your candidate sourcing

Whether or not your candidate sourcing process is effective can also have a massive outcome on the number of new hires your organization receives, as well as the types of hires your organization receives.

How often an organization audits its candidate sourcing practice will vary from business to business. An easy rule of thumb to remember is, if your hiring successes are low, then your audit has been delayed for too long.

Start out by determining how candidates are entering your hiring pipeline, from what sources, and whether or not you’re finding the right kind of talent. Are you using hiring boards? Social media? Have you noticed a pattern since using these sources?

Experience the process as a candidate

This step is more focused on mapping out a potential candidate’s journey. By doing this, HR professionals can clearly see an overview of what an organization’s application process looks like, and whether or not it is effective.

It is important to constantly adjust these processes to ensure your organization is focusing on hiring relevant talent that will only contribute to the growth of an organization.

Define your candidate persona

Additionally, in order to effectively recruit potential employees with relevant work experience for your organization, you must determine more than just where and how candidates are applying in the first place. Start by creating a candidate persona and aligning that persona to the employer’s or organization’s brand.

Next, check the engagement numbers on each of your recruiting platforms. Is posting on Instagram more effective than posting on LinkedIn? Is that technique bringing in large amounts of potential candidates with relevant work experience?

Auditing the hiring process goes beyond avoiding candidates with little to no relevant experience. Ultimately, it saves an organization time, money, energy and resources.

3. Conduct ROI analyses

Return On Investment (ROI) is a term used when measuring the financial return on an investment made. This concept can be applied in HR when conducting audits to analyze employee productivity, budgets, future initiatives, and of course, an ATS.

If you’re looking to build a case for a new ATS, we’ve got an ATS ROI Calculator to get you started. You can tell your decision makers that a good ATS can save your business $127,875 annually – no exaggeration!

When auditing an organization, you should also analyze your budget forecast and scrutinize your spend. This can be achieved by determining which items make sense to continue to invest in and which areas are no longer needed.

This ultimately frees up dollars to improve the HR workflow. Organizations can gauge whether or not they need to reinvest in employees, or save for a future initiative. ROI analyses help HR professionals clearly see what is worth spending on, rather than continuing to spend company dollars on expenses that have a low ROI.

4. Create consistent audit schedules

Most HR processes are heavily dependent upon employee data. Keeping the data clean and updated is imperative in order to create analytics dashboards that help your organization make important people and business decisions. Audits are a reflection of the data at your organization. If your audits are consistent and accurate, then it will reflect in the data you collect.

Regular process audits keep data clean and serve to identify breaks in the process before those breaks become a huge problem. Process audits examine a set of results and then determine whether the activities, resources and behaviors that caused those results are being managed effectively and efficiently.

HR professionals will most likely create a schedule for their process audits, either annually, monthly or quarterly. Each organization’s auditing needs will vary based on many different factors such as the employee workforce population size, the company’s size as well as the company’s overall goals.

Process audits can also help HR teams better assign roles and responsibilities within the team, identify administrative burdens and ways to resolve them, and whether or not the process is worth continuing altogether. In turn, process audits boost the overall productivity of an organization.

5. Survey your employees

Surveys are an important tool, often overlooked by many organizations and HR professionals. The best and most effective way to know what your HR team should be focused on, is by simply asking your employees.

Begin outlining your survey by deciding what type of survey you would like to conduct in order to answer your question. Different types of surveys produce different outcomes. Do you want to conduct a qualitative survey, focused on written feedback? Or would you like to gather data by using a quantitative survey instead?

Planning these surveys out can be easy and quick, depending on the content and length of each survey question.

Surveys, while sometimes cumbersome, provide the insight you want and the opinions you need to hear to overhaul processes and develop a meaningful people strategy. They blatantly show us what we should be focusing on, as well as how employees feel toward certain elements of your organization.

Employees are willing to tell you where you are falling short, what things they love about the company, and what things need more attention. Asking for employee feedback also establishes a level of trust between supervisors and employees; if employees feel safe enough to give quality, in-depth feedback, most HR professionals can assume they have a high level of trust with them.

Auditing is worth the time

While auditing may seem like an unnecessary or time consuming process to many people, HR professionals know how important auditing is. Auditing an organization’s processes, employees, investment returns and hiring practices ultimately give HR professionals a clear picture of what’s working and what isn’t.

They save organizations time, money and resources while continuously striving for improvement and improving workflow. That’s exactly why audits should be included in every organization’s HR toolbelt moving forward.

The post Auditing to improve the HR workflow appeared first on Recruiting Resources: How to Recruit and Hire Better.

Consider their potential, not their past

Let’s have a quick quiz. Say you want to hire a graphic designer. You have received applications from the following candidates:

• Anastasia obtained her BSc in Graphic Design from the Rhode Island School of Design with a 3.9 GPA.
• Jonas has worked the past 3 years at a design agency and has no college degree.
• Megan holds a design degree from the University of Texas. To afford her studies, she worked part-time while at college and graduated after 6.5 years.
• Lukas is 35 years old and currently working as a Customer Support Specialist. Two years ago, he decided he wanted to pursue his passion, so he attends online courses on graphic design after work. He has already built a portfolio with his sample designs.

With only this info at hand, can you say with confidence who can do the job and who can’t? At first glance, the obvious choice is probably Anastasia; she has a stellar GPA from a well-known design school. But have you considered what a non-traditional candidate like Jonas, who has all this practical experience, could bring to the table?

Megan is also a strong candidate, as she is a hard worker and demonstrates a real knack for multitasking. And Lukas is the kind of employee who’s personally motivated by everything about design, proactively fills any skills or knowledge gaps and puts his best self at work.

So, on second thought, these are all potential hires, but for different reasons. You can’t be sure whether they are indeed good candidates unless you interview them and learn first-hand about their experiences and career motives. You need to see how they’ll perform in an assignment that simulates one of your work projects. In other words, you need to assess these non-traditional candidates using strictly job-related criteria.

We’ve somehow decided that employment and skills gaps, unusual educational backgrounds or deviations from linear career paths are red flags in candidates. But, maybe it’s time to stop thinking that all employees (or all people) fit the exact same pattern that we have in mind. Each person is unique; we can’t judge candidates based on their life decisions. We should only judge them based on whether they can do this particular job right now, regardless of how and why they got here. As Liz Ryan, famous author and founder of the Human Workplace, and opera singer among other things, explained it in her article:

So are you an opera singer, or an HR Manager?” people would ask me. I said “Both. How awful to be only one thing!

The linear career path (a four-year degree from a good university and then climbing the ladder) is outdated. If we wanted to illustrate modern career paths, we’d draw horizontal lines for employees who make career changes and transfer to new departments, circles for employees who use their spherical knowledge and take up generalists’ roles and wavy lines for employees who happily take a more junior position if it’s in an industry they’re passionate about.

The hiring process should have a fresh design, as well. It’s not about having a checklist of requirements and finding the one person who meets all the criteria in that list. Each open role is like the summit of a mountain; you know where you want to go but there are multiple ways to get there.

Diversity is a choice – not a ‘nice thing to do’

It’s not about making an exception and hiring one great candidate despite not having relevant work experience. It’s about proactively looking to hire people who come from various professional and academic backgrounds. Why? Hiring non-traditional candidates helps you:

1. Boost your profits

Various studies prove that diverse teams perform better, are innovative and bring in more revenues for their companies. And when you’re flexible with your hiring criteria and remove biases around age, gender and disability, you can build these diverse teams. For example:

• • when you don’t place huge emphasis on Ivy League schools, you can recruit candidates who come from different ethnicities and social classes and have the right skill set but couldn’t afford to or don’t historically attend these schools;
  • when you aren’t fixated on finding people with traditional career paths, you open up the opportunity to hire more women in male-dominated professions and vice versa; and
  • when you’re open to hiring people who’ve made a career change, you don’t reject candidates because they seem ‘too old’ for a specific job, as you come to realize that they’ve invested time to work towards a second degree in the field they want to pursue.

2. Expand your talent pool

If you’re only looking for a very specific candidate profile, your hiring process could suffer – both time and cost-wise. Everybody wants to hire a candidate who looks great on paper and meets all the criteria. However, this means that you compete against many companies for this ‘perfect candidate’ and you might end up having to offer a higher salary to win them over, or you might have to start the hiring process all over again if they go with another offer.

On the other hand, when you cross off the requirements that aren’t necessarily needed, like a 4-year college degree, you open the door for more people to apply; people who may lack the typical qualifications, but still have the skills and the drive to perform successfully.

3. Connect with customers with equally diverse backgrounds

Your customers are diverse; and that’s why you should be, too. For example, a restaurant chain could hire a marketer who doesn’t have a degree in marketing but has previous industry experience in a different position. This person can better relate to customer pain points because they have first-hand experience. They can also recommend effective advertising campaigns that connect with the target market because they, themselves, have been in the trenches.

Likewise, if you’re a multinational company, don’t dismiss candidates who took a career break to travel the world; they could actually be your competitive advantage if they have spent time in places where your customers are and may even speak a few foreign languages, too.

4. Get fresh ideas

The more diverse your team is, the more unique and unexpected ideas they’ll bring in the table. The key here is ‘unexpected’. Employees with unconventional backgrounds will contribute in areas that are beyond the scope of their position and can take a multilateral approach to a situation, offering solutions to problems you didn’t even know existed.

For example, Chris, one of Workable’s sales development representatives, was previously working as an interior designer. That’s why during events, he always helps set up our booth sharing great tips on how to make it functional and attractive. And Paul, a sales manager with a sports background as a national squash player, knew how to coach and inspire his team members both after a win or a loss.

“Should I invest in people with flaky career paths?”

That’s a valid concern. Someone who frequently changes jobs might leave your company, too, soon after you’ve hired them. Or, another employee, given the opportunity, could jump to a new role that’s closer to their field of studies.

If you come often across these scenarios, you need to examine the problem at its root; it’s not the candidate, but rather, your hiring process. When interviewing candidates, focus more on candidates’ motives and professional goals. Do they align with what you can offer? Also, be very specific and transparent about what the job entails before you bring them on board; if it’s not what they’re looking for, you’ll both realize it and can fix the problem before it’s too late.

Yet, no matter how carefully you hire employees, some of them will still quit. It’s time to think a little bit more about the reasons why they leave. “Moving to a job closer to my field of studies.” Is this what they told you or did you just assume, knowing their background? And if they told you so, are you sure it’s the only reason or does it happen to be a convenient excuse?

People leave jobs for all kinds of reasons. You can’t always predict or avoid that. They also stay where they feel valued and where they grow. And this is where you can actually do something. Foster a healthy workplace where employees develop their skills, build upon their existing knowledge and are evaluated based on their current accomplishments as team members in your company – not based on their professional or academic past.

The post Why you should consider non-traditional candidates appeared first on Recruiting Resources: How to Recruit and Hire Better.

I’ve heard it said that recruiters shouldn’t use free job posting sites because:

• the candidates from them aren’t qualified;
• it’s simply too time consuming to post to free job boards; and,
• it’s difficult to manage responses to candidates.

This is wrong. It’s poor advice. And if you follow it, it could damage your business.

Free job posting sites should absolutely be part of your recruiting strategy. Let me explain why and debunk some of this harmful rhetoric:

You will find qualified candidates using free job sites.

It’s often said that you can’t rely on free job posting sites to bring you qualified candidates. One recent stat I read claimed over half of candidates from free job boards are underqualified. But, wait a minute, that means nearly half of the candidates I get (for free) are qualified for my job? That seems like a pretty decent return on zero dollars.

You don’t have to be overwhelmed by all the applicants.

If you’re screening resumes using your inbox or spreadsheets or a clunky Applicant Tracking System (ATS) with a poor user experience, it’ll be overwhelming and time-consuming to review all the applications you’ll get.

But this is why your recruiting software should be easy to use. An ATS should enable you to screen resumes faster, spend more time evaluating candidates and spend less time clicking buttons and switching screens.

You can notify all applicants of your hiring decision, and rejections don’t have to be cold and impersonal.

Since you will get so many applicants from free job boards, some say you:

• Won’t be able to notify all of them of your decision, and this will damage your employer brand.
• If you do send rejection emails, they’ll come across as cold or impersonal, and this again damages your employer brand.

I think I’ll file both of these arguments under ‘P’ for patronizing.

The answer to this is simple. Send notification emails. Don’t be in the 39 percent of companies who aren’t notifying candidates when they are rejected. It’s not the free job boards’ fault when companies don’t notify candidates. This doesn’t mean you have to write an essay to each applicant. Above all, they will appreciate hearing back in a timely fashion.

Good recruiting software should make sending rejection emails to every candidate easy so it isn’t a draining chore that prevents you from maintaining your employer brand. If you’re struggling with how to write a rejection email that people won’t hate, we have some templates that might help.

A lower conversion rate is no reason to avoid free job sites.

I’ve been a recruiter. Even with all the drip mails and automation in the world, it still takes longer to find, reach out to, hear back from and engage one great sourced candidate than it takes to screen two job-board applicants. I could probably screen 152 in that time.

I’m not saying don’t source candidates (I’ll get to that later.) But to only source, just because the conversion rate of sourced candidates is higher, is nonsense and means you’re missing out on qualified applicants.

Free job boards help you build your candidate database

When you’re using spreadsheets or a clunky ATS, it’s true that having more candidates makes hiring more complex. The answer to that isn’t to throw the baby out with the bathwater.

If your recruitment software is preventing you from getting qualified candidates from free job sites because it’s too hard to separate them from the under-qualified ones, take a look at your recruitment software, not the job board.

And finally, I’ve heard:

“Avoid free job sites and focus all your time on sourcing.”

No. Just no. This is the worst.

No channel reaches every candidate, passive or otherwise. You’re better off having a mix of channels in your recruiting strategy, where you don’t say “no” to candidates from free job boards who could be relevant and are actively seeking jobs (which is good.) Good people look for jobs, too. And good people look on job boards.

Absolutely get referrals, they are a brilliant source of hires.

Absolutely do some sourcing, some roles may need it.

Absolutely use recruiters when you need their support, maybe for tough roles or a temporary boost in hiring capacity.

Absolutely use job boards. Absolutely use free job boards. Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth.

Your recruiting software should let you to do all of those easily in one place.

If your recruiting software is limiting your recruiting strategy and you’d like to find out why 6,000 companies have already switched to using Workable, we’d love to speak to you.

The post Why you should use free job posting sites appeared first on Recruiting Resources: How to Recruit and Hire Better.

But hiring managers across all industries are losing time and money in the struggle to fill their (often urgent) tech-related positions.

The talent battle and the mounting skills gap

When researchers at McKinsey & Co. sought to understand the apparent skills gap, they separated relevant technology skills into seven separate ‘battlegrounds.’ Offering CIOs across the globe their choice from the seven, they asked survey respondents what will matter most to their organization in the next three to five years.

The largest percentage of CIOs ranked data analytics, IT, mobile, and web design as the fields with the most talent mismatch – the highest amount of need and the lowest amount of supply.

Quantified, McKinsey’s experts are predicting a global deficit of 3.5 million cybersecurity positions by the end of this year. They expect that demand for agile skills in tech-related roles will outnumber supply by four to one, and the need for big data talent will be roughly 60% greater than the available labor. For a sector that’s shaping our post-COVID future, it’s not the demand-supply curve that one would expect.

Real continuous learning: evolution as we speak

The numbers paint an alarming image, but they don’t say much in the way of why. A crucial consideration is the rapid mental upkeep that the ongoing modernization of technology requires. A candidate today is required not only to have in-depth knowledge of existing systems, but also to understand how to transition from one system to another. Outdated programming languages, shifting organizational needs, and new-to-market vendors make intensive continuous learning a part of every tech-adjacent role.

Hiring managers and employers might ask themselves, then: are we supporting that learning? Generally, most leaders understand that training, re-skilling, and upskilling are all lifeboats in choppy COVID-19 waters. Turning to existing team members for new needs is not only cost-efficient, it’s necessary for a healthy corporate culture. 82% of global executives seem to understand that, but only 27% of McKinsey’s respondents said they’ve seen their employers pursue a talent transformation within the last two years.

Filling those seven areas of tech-related needs will require an artful combination of re-skilling, up-skilling, and open-minded recruitment methods that draw on alternate sources of talent. For post-COVID tech talent recruiters and hiring managers, below are a few promising ways to extend a talent search.

The post-COVID tech talent search: talent comes from anywhere

New candidates could determine the course of a company’s recovery; it’s crucial that employers remain open to talent in all of its many forms, shapes, sizes, and funnels. Beginning on a local level, accredited educational institutions should be a feature of every recruitment scheme. Developing relationships with nearby colleges and universities can help hiring teams engage early candidates and better understand the candidate’s skill set based on curricular offerings.

The pandemic has also shifted the educational landscape, bringing with it long-awaited changes. A number of options now exist on the market for certification and needs-aware training, helping candidates at any stage of the career train move toward the specific needs of their local job markets.

Partnering with training institutions, employers can not only engage with a self-motivated pool of applicants, they can help training professionals understand the nuances of what their local business ecosystem is seeking.

From soft skills training to advanced coding languages, local and virtual training courses are alternative talent pools, and recruitment teams should make every effort to be involved at the early stages.

The new professional ecosystem: a holistic approach

The current shortage landscape calls for non-traditional solutions. At the talent sourcing phase of the recruitment process, hiring managers can capitalize on educational settings, training platforms, and online certification offerings to find incredible talent that will be perfectly positioned to make an early contribution.

The vetting phase, too, requires new techniques. The number of self-taught IT professionals is higher than ever and continues to rise. Many candidates go through short skill acquisition programs that don’t hold the same weight as a formal degree on a resume.

Read more: Tech recruitment in London: Luring and sourcing top tech talent

But one look at their portfolio might make it clear that this is a candidate the company can’t afford to lose. Opening up the recruitment process not only to different sources of talent, but also different forms of credentials, is a crucial part of post-COVID tech talent hiring. Portfolios and skills tests should be as important, if not more important, to the hiring team.

To better understand the performance of the candidate outside of their credentials, hiring managers can involve senior IT executives within the company in the recruitment process. Roles are growing more sophisticated and malleable; it’s likely that the current employees know best the kind of competence and skills that would make the most beneficial addition to the team.

Tech-focused candidates want to speak the language of tech with other tech professionals. Rather than trying to get a full recruitment team up to speed, involving senior tech executives, and maybe those anchor hires, is the superior strategy.

Read more: Wooing top tech talent: Recruiting in the Boston tech scene

Technology is driving business success and post-COVID enterprise relevance. But it won’t be a linear path to securing a well-staffed and well-supported team. Non-traditional strategies, from talent sourcing to skills assessment, will be needed to build a robust, diverse and competent team.

By partnering with education institutions and local training programs, giving due weight to a candidate’s portfolio, and involving tech professionals throughout the recruitment process, hiring managers and employers will have what they need to appeal to top talent and compete in the post-COVID hiring arena.

Pablo Listingart is the Founder and Executive Director of ComIT, a non-profit organization designed to help people overcome employment barriers and re-introduce themselves to the local market. With an extensive network, ComIT builds ever-changing courses tailored to industry needs, connecting promising graduates with companies in need of local talent.

The post Post-COVID tech talent: the gap and the bridge appeared first on Recruiting Resources: How to Recruit and Hire Better.

If these recruiting stats sound unbelievable—well, let’s put that to rest right now. They’re real. And Doist owns them. Doist is a startup that creates productivity software. They are also a remote-first company. This means:

• They rarely, if ever, meet candidates in person before hiring them.
• Their recruiting process is just as distributed as they are.
• They have no central office. Anyone can work from anywhere, as long as there’s a stable Internet connection.

So, how do they make hiring work? It’s actually not rocket science. They follow a meticulously structured hiring process. It’s one they are obsessive about it. Because, when it comes to extending a job offer, Doist doesn’t believe being half-hearted.

“There’s no lukewarm ‘yes,’ when we’re hiring a candidate” Allan Christensen, Doist’s COO told us. “It’s either a ‘hell yeah’ or a ‘no.’”

Doist has been using Workable to manage all aspects of their hiring since July 2016. Last year, the company received 13,700 applications for open roles. They shortlisted 1,400 candidates. They hired 18.

“We hired 0.1% of all the people who applied,” Christensen said.

We were fascinated by Doist when we heard their story. The company creates Todoist, a popular to-do list software, and Twist, a Slack competitor that promotes calmer, more organized team communication. Doist scaled 25 percent last year, from 48 employees to 60. We wanted to know how they did it. Here are their keys to success for hiring remote employees:

1. They have access to the entire world

Doist is remote-first. Being a remote-first company means they don’t need to look locally for talent. If you’re interested in working for Doist and you’re talented, it doesn’t matter where you’re based—as long as you’re “passionate about the project” as Christensen puts it.

Being completely remote allows Doist to recruit from literally anywhere. They use Workable’s job posting features to post their roles. (Workable offers single-click job posting to the most popular free and premium job boards, globally.)

“This is amazing,” Christensen said. “This gives us as a remote company access to the entire world.”

2. Everyone on the hiring team gets veto power

Hiring is a democratic process at Doist. That’s small ‘d.’ They believe in “hiring committees” of at least three people. One person shortlists candidates. The others offer tests and interview candidates. And, no matter what your title is at Doist, anyone can veto a hire within the process.

But of course there are checks-and-balances in place, Christensen said. For example, if he shortlists candidates during the screening phase, then he won’t participate in the following interview phase. This prevents one person from having too much power in the hiring process.

3. If you don’t have a cover letter, it’s a dealbreaker

U.S. companies tend to fixate on resumes, Christensen says. At Doist, they won’t even look at a resume unless it’s got a cover letter. Well-written cover letters show that candidates care about the mission of the company, not just the allure of a remote-work role.

“We want a well-crafted, tailored cover letter for this particular role that just radiates how much they want to be part of our mission and team,” he said. “We sort of see this as a bare minimum just to get shortlisted.”

They’ve questioned themselves a few times on this, because “we miss out on great candidates.”

“It makes it harder to find good developers sometimes, because they just seem to be less prone to write cover letters.”

4. They put candidates to the test

The second phase of the interview process is the “test task.” This task is directly related to the role the person is interviewing for. For a design or engineering role, Doist candidates usually undergo a 10-hour test task, and they’re paid for their time. For a translator or someone in support, it’s typically much shorter, around 15 to 20 minutes.

You might think—who has time to do this? But Doist fixates on quality of hire over time to hire. On average, it can take about two months to hire someone at Doist.

5. They measure ‘Doistness’

Doist aims to create a culture that other people yearn to be a part of. So, they actually screen for something they call “Doistness.” They’ve got it down to a science. Everyone on the hiring team evaluates candidates against four core values:

• Leadership
• Role-related knowledge
• Cognitive ability
• Doistness

The first three are self-explanatory. Doistness, Christensen said, is “how well you feel this person will fit into the culture.” Everyone on the hiring team will rate the candidate on a scale of one to four on each value. A candidate has to score an average of three in order to be hireable.

6. They have an opinion about the world of work

In some workplaces, those who shout the loudest get heard. But not so at Doist. Their communication is text-based and meetings are rare. Volume doesn’t matter. It doesn’t even exist.

“At Doist, the best argument always wins, no matter your job title,” Christensen says.

Doist also cares about productive communication. They used to use Slack for internal chat, but learned that it didn’t work for their needs as a remote-first company: it was distracting and it made people unhappy. So they created their own team communication software, called Twist, that was launched publicly in June of 2017.

As a company, they put just as much thought into how they treat their people:

Interns

If Doist hires an intern, they make sure interns are paid, and that they’ve got a job lined up for them after the internship ends. “Many of our interns are graduates that could go out and find a full-time job, but they were willing to do a six-month internship.”

Perks & benefits

They’ve also got some enviable perks. As Christensen puts it, “I usually tell people we’re an international company built on Scandinavian values. If you join Doist, there’s four months maternity leave, five weeks vacation and all the national holidays of the country in which you live.”

Company retreats

Doist also hosts companywide yearly retreats. At the first-ever retreat, employees tended to stick with other team members from the same country. But over time, and through familiarity they got more comfortable with each other. The retreats span a week, and include presentations, Q&As, team sessions, cross-functional brainstorming and workshops. But it’s not all work—Doist employees also do activities together, like rafting, paintball, soccer. “It’s a big investment, and it pays off bigtime.”

7. They ‘recruit as a team’

What’s Doist’s advice for remote recruiting?

“It’s definitely getting a second opinion,” he said. “Recruit as a team. Don’t recruit alone. It’s a huge benefit. It’s risky to have one person making all the hiring decisions. Take advantage of your team. And give everybody the power to veto.”

The post Seven lessons from Doist on hiring remote employees appeared first on Recruiting Resources: How to Recruit and Hire Better.

The soft bigotry for the active candidate

Millions of people in the open marketplace for jobs want to work for your company. Over 50% of jobs get filled this way. It’s cheap, quick and effective. Yet, you’ll never run out of vendors eagerly dismissing this. I call it ‘the soft bigotry for the active candidate’.

Somehow, we are told, good people are not looking for a job, so candidates on job sites are second-rate. This is unbelievable bullshit, easily disproven by hiring statistics, if not just a casual poll of friends and co-workers.

Passive candidates must be part of the mix in recruiting, and they’re harder to get, so I can see how there’s an ‘effort bias’ here. You’ve worked harder to get something—so it must be better. This is the least-discussed bias in recruiting.

Customers systematically self-report that their majority of hires come from passive candidates. Then you take them to their reports and they find out that 70% of their actual hires were actives. Effort bias. What they spend most of their time on, feels like most of the outcome. Ironically, anti-job-site dogma is peddled by the same vendors and recruiters who rage all day about diversity.

Pro tip: if you ignore the most democratic market of applicants and only focus on your network and the same old keyword searches, you’re not promoting diversity!

Casting a wider net, bursting your bubble, is the highest-impact diversity tactic. But it’s hard. Your ATS vendor needs to put in great effort to integrate hundreds of sources. You have to review more applications. It’s easier to skip this altogether and make diversity pie charts.

The candidate nurture paradox

Another favorite: Recruiting is like sales. No it’s not. In sales you’re fishing for any qualified lead, any time, at any volume. In recruiting you want something specific, now, at a quantity specified by a hiring plan. A sales process doesn’t work for recruiting.

Nurturing is the best example of this paradox. Recruiters want to match suitable candidates to actual jobs. Now.

‘Suitable’ includes ‘interested and available’. Yet, spamming lists of vaguely related people has become a thing. You call it ‘CRM’ and it almost sounds like a good idea. The technology to find the right people when you need them is available. But it’s hard. It involves managing simultaneous campaigns to advertise jobs, run referrals, match profiles, passive search, and on and on. Spamming unsuitable people is shirking away from the hard work.

Fixing the wrong part of the funnel

Here’s one that always puzzled me: Companies in ultra-competitive job markets (e.g. looking for front-end developers in NYC) getting obsessed about heavy selection processes (e.g. complex ‘scorecards’). Their problem is at the top of the funnel but they try to fix the bottom. What’s the scorecard for hiring the head of design at Apple? Nobody cares. I’m sure they have to choose among the best, they’ll figure it out. If you’re struggling to find enough high-quality candidates, stop debating the assessment process.

The quality of your hiring comes down to the quality of your options. But most vendors of hiring software stay away from sourcing. Instead of solving the hard problem, (that makes everything else easy) they sell arcane features at the bottom of the funnel. This division between applicant tracking and sourcing is incomprehensible to me. Sure, no software will do everything, but a recruiting platform should put sourcing first and foremost, in all its forms.

As a vendor, I know it’s hard to be honest about those false dogmas. Recruiting is complex – there is no single trick to solve it. But vendors can’t do everything, so it’s easier to pretend that the thing you do is the trick that does it. The reality is that you need to do a lot of things to be successful in recruiting. Some of it looks like marketing, some of it looks like sales, much of it is human judgement, and most of it you don’t get to control. The most impactful bit (top of the funnel) is the hardest.

Why we focus on the hardest part of recruiting

We chose to focus on the hardest part, because we see it delivering results for our customers. 25 million candidates later, I know this was the right choice. And that’s why, six years into the journey, there’s still a lot to do, and minds to change.

It’s easier to make features that give you more things to do, more process to follow. Aggressive marketing can make busywork features feel like you’re getting organized, prudent, methodical. Facile comparisons like ‘recruiting is sales’ have the allure of intellectual junk-food.

But often the solution to complex problems is less operational complexity, understanding that it’s not ‘just like X but for Y’ and embracing the un-sexy idea that you won’t solve the hardest problem in business with a piece of software because it has so-and-so feature. There’s a place for that piece of software. To make it easy so you can focus on the actual work. To do some footwork for you on the highest-impact bits. To be flexible, and to stay out of your way when it should. Believe me, this apparent simplicity is terribly hard to design.

If you disagree with me, I want to hear from you. If you help me understand this problem better, I’ll probably want to hire you :) If some of the ideas above sound right to you, we have a product that embodies them: Workable and it’s always work in progress.

This post originated as a series of tweets. Hear more from Nikos on Twitter.

The post The least-discussed myths in recruiting appeared first on Recruiting Resources: How to Recruit and Hire Better.

All tests have their merits but they are far from perfect. To help you decide whether to include them in your recruiting process, we’ve put together an overview of pros and cons:

The positive side

Tests are more objective than other forms of assessment

Unstructured interviews, resume screenings and pre-interview calls are ineffective predictors of job performance. This is because recruiters and hiring managers often judge candidates based on subjective, rather than job-related, criteria.

Tests work differently. If they’re well-designed, they can help you draw more objective conclusions. Well-designed tests are valid (they measure what they are designed to measure) and reliable (they produce consistent results).

Tests are the same for everyone

Other assessment methods like screening calls and unstructured interviews can be unfair. Interviewers ask different questions to different candidates and there’s no consensus on how to rate candidates’ answers.

Tests, by contrast, are standardized and administered in the same way to all candidates. If they’re crafted according to strictly job-related criteria, they give everyone the same opportunity to succeed.

Tests can save you time on interviews

Assessing 20 traits during an interview would be time consuming and exhausting for both candidates and interviewers. You can assess some of these traits through pre-employment testing instead.

It’s best to assess job knowledge through tests to avoid losing time interviewing candidates who can’t do the job. You can also evaluate certain skills through tests like typing speed, written communication or problem-solving.

Tests allow you to rely on quantifiable insight

Sometimes experienced hiring managers have a gut feeling about certain candidates. Unfortunately, this gut feeling isn’t always a good ally. It might lead them to the wrong conclusions if it takes the form of unconscious bias. It’s also not legally defensible. If candidates’ decide to file a lawsuit for discriminatory hiring practices, companies will have difficulty defending their hiring managers’ vague assumptions.

Tests, much like structured interviews, give you something tangible to guide your hiring decisions. They help you to be specific about your reasons for rejecting candidates, instead of relying solely on intuition.

Tests can be strictly job related

Unless you’re using structured interviews, it’s easy to stray from job-related criteria when interviewing candidates. But, tests can be designed to focus solely on what really matters for the job.

That depends on the type of test, though. One of the most popular personality tests, the Myers-Briggs test, is unable to predict job performance (or personality, for that matter). It’s best for companies to avoid it. Other tests, like Gallup’s StrengthsFinder and 16PF, can be better options.

And the negative side

Tests rarely give the whole picture

Each test usually measures a handful of traits. This means that they neglect to assess important details. For example, job knowledge tests are good at assessing job specific knowledge. But, they don’t take into account how willing (or able) someone is to learn and improve. Candidates might have never used CRM systems before but they could learn quickly. Other candidates might have deep knowledge of such systems but could be unwilling to try new technologies. Test results alone won’t necessarily tell you who’d be the best candidate for your company.

To assess more traits, you will have to use multiple tests. There’s a risk that this will annoy or exhaust candidates. They might stop trying to give honest or thoughtful answers if they’re tired of taking copious amounts of tests.

Tests can be discriminatory

This seems to be a paradox, since tests are relatively objective. But cognitive ability and knowledge tests can disproportionately screen out non-white candidates. This can result in costly lawsuits. One example is a 2012 discrimination case where a company had to pay $550,000 in back wages to minority workers it rejected through a pre-employment test.

Some personality and physical ability tests can break anti-discrimination laws, if they’re trying to ‘diagnose’ a mental or physical condition that’s unrelated to the job. For example, in 2006, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), won a lawsuit against a company that screened out female applicants through a ‘strength’ test.

Tests invite lies

Drug tests can’t be easily faked but that’s not necessarily true for all tests. For example, if you ask candidates to complete an integrity and work ethics test, then you can expect candidates to occasionally fake their answers. This doesn’t always happen consciously. People tend to present themselves in the best possible light (called social desirability bias). We all do it. And we’re more likely to misrepresent ourselves when a job is at stake. For example, extraversion is usually highly valued in the workplace. If a personality test asks candidates to rate their social skills, you can expect that few candidates, if any, will rate themselves as anti-social.

Tests (and their results) are often ambiguous

Integrity tests are a good example. You might have come across one that asks you to indicate whether you agree or disagree with statements like “morality is important.” But how can you be sure there will be consensus among candidates on what this sentence means? Some people might think it means treating others fairly. But others might associate morality with religion. This kind of ambiguity can give you unreliable results.

Tests result in longer time-to-fill

Giving one 20-minute test to all shortlisted candidates can slow down your recruitment process by several days. If you add various types of tests and an assignment (which is generally a good idea), prepare yourself for a lengthy process. It’s still worth it though, since tests can improve quality of hire.

Tests assume unique people are made through molds

People have many things in common. But, there are also many things that make us different. Tests can’t capture this variation. They assume we all respond the same way to situations and statements.

Companies usually look for culture fit and tests can help them hire people made from the same mold. But, this approach doesn’t always work. It might be more beneficial for companies to hire people who complement their culture. Or people who have unique abilities and views. Diverse teams produce better results, after all.

So, should pre-employment testing be part of a recruiting process?

Pre-employment testing can help to predict quality of hire, under some conditions. Here are the three most important:

• Tests should be legal. Discriminatory tests can damage companies. There are ways to monitor tests’ outcomes. For example, you can calculate the yield ratios of the testing phase. If you find that you disproportionately reject protected groups, you should stop using the test. Also, if you want to use pre-employment drug screening, you should know about any relevant legal guidelines.

• Tests should be job-related. Questions should measure strictly job-related traits that companies have identified through job analysis. It’s best to assess only the ‘must-haves’ for a position. It’s also best to use separate tests for unrelated positions. It wouldn’t make much sense to test office clerks using a case study for sales representatives.

• Tests should be well-validated. The law doesn’t prohibit companies from using tests that hiring managers make up on the spot (as long as they’re not discriminatory). But, tests are only worth the trouble if they can actually predict job performance.

The bottom line

Using well-designed pre-employment tests can add objectivity to your recruiting process. But, it’s still reasonable to be skeptical of them. Tests are created and completed by people after all, so they’re unlikely to ever be really free of biases or misunderstandings.

There will always be false positives and false negatives. It’s best to use pre-employment tests in conjunction with other assessment methods. And it’s best to choose tests that researchers have checked for validity and reliability. They make for a longer hiring process, but they can result in better hiring decisions.

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Brushing off interests as simple intangibles risks reducing the candidate to a flat piece of paper. There is a lot you can learn from looking at their interests – and if you know how to approach them, it can bring a list of checkboxes to life. Here’s a five-step method for how to assess hobbies and interests in a resume.

1. Look at the intent and deeper meaning

Resume writing is a practice in self-reflection. Often, a candidate first writes everything they can about all of their accomplishments over several pages. After substantial editing, in many cases, a candidate will then condense that to just a single page.

A smart-thinking candidate caters a resume to the job they’re applying for, and their interests fit into that formula as well. In the same way that their past job descriptions should have relevant statements for the job they’re applying for, a candidate should include interests that they can speak to. If they can’t market their interests effectively to you, that’s when those interests shouldn’t be included.

As the interviewer, it’s your job to ask pointed questions that get at the underlying value of the words on the resume. According to Harvard Business Review, the resume is a selective piece, and writing it well, whether professionally edited or not, is like “working with a personal trainer.” Someone who knows how to write a resume purposely includes interests.

Resumes are the first touchpoint a company has with an applicant, and interests give candidates the chance to set themselves as individuals apart from the crowd. Some interests may initially seem irrelevant, but can indicate something deeper about the candidate that you otherwise wouldn’t learn by looking at the standard categories. In short: when interests are included, consider the deeper reasons for what’s been included and why.

2. Consider it a helpful differentiator

Hobbies and interests alone probably won’t be what gets someone in the door for the interview. But if you, the interviewer, know how to ask or to read about interests, this might help you determine what makes a candidate stand out and makes them memorable. Former President of Harvard College Drew Gilpin Faust said in 2014: “We could fill our class twice over with valedictorians,” highlighting the importance of intangibles to set yourself apart.

So, in order to differentiate themselves, candidates need to focus on what makes them interesting. Those initial checkmarks – the requisite number of years of experience, a degree, etc. – are great and on point, but oftentimes lack the opportunity to show spark. Interests’ main purpose is spark, and that spark means diverse personalities and diverse thoughts; those highlights in a new hire can make a company shine.

Assessing candidates isn’t just about looking at formal qualifications. Looking at hobbies and interests in a resume also gives you purview into the relationship between the outside self and the work self by bringing personality into the mix. When you’re looking for a good culture fit in your candidates, or hiring for potential, it can be a huge differentiator when candidates include hobbies in a resume.

3. Assume they’re deliberately included

What a candidate chooses to include as interests isn’t necessarily a random act. Every part of a well-crafted resume should count, and if asked about it, the candidate should be able to speak to why they do X thing, what they’ve learned/achieved, and the relationship between that and the job they’re interviewing for.

It doesn’t necessarily matter what the specific hobby or interest is, and the candidate doesn’t have to be a champion at it. Don’t look for or expect a marathon runner, a world traveler or a chess star – although those can indicate very strong relevant traits that candidate can bring to the position you’re hiring for.

The candidate, likewise, doesn’t have to have an obscure interest like horology (the study of time). Interests could read as simply as running, traveling and chess – but the applicant needs to be able to speak to each one with insight and relevance to the position they’re applying for. Your job will be to give them that opportunity when interviewing them.

4. Consider their direct relevance to the job

Each interest should connect to a skill you’re looking for, and with that skill the candidate should be able to tell you how it’d help in the job they’re interviewing for. Interests demonstrate their ability to tell a story. For instance, just because someone lists ‘running’ as a hobby doesn’t necessarily mean they simply like to run. It can give you some great insights into the kind of person they might be (planner because they set courses, determined because they set goals) and how they might contribute to the position you’re trying to fill. Then it’s on them to build that into a relevant narrative.

For example, when you’re interviewing someone and asking them about a specific interest on their resume, look for them to frame their answer in an equation like this one:

“I’m interested in X thing; I’ve achieved Y accomplishment; and it’s taught me Z skill. That skill would help me at the potential job because…”

For example, I’m interested in hiking; I’ve achieved winter hiking and it’s taught me that substantial planning makes me comfortable when I’m forced to think quickly on my feet in a stressful situation. I could continue with this general theme and say that it would help me at product marketing because I work across business disciplines and need to be ready to field a whole host of questions, that may be out of left field even with lots of prep beforehand.

I could go deeper in my answer and explain that my hobby of winter hiking has taught me four skills: scheduling, meal preparation, delayering and basic first aid. These four skills translate to my candidacy for the product marketing role as: I need to plan well with room for change; understand different variables that roll into the final product and the environment it’s in; sometimes you start with a big project and realize that to be most effective you need to cut back; and that in order to do a good job I need to make sure my team and I have the tools to thrive.

This is the story you’re looking for when you ask an applicant about their interests, because those seemingly intangible skills then become tangible and relevant to the position you’re looking to fill.

5. Leave room for the ‘flair’

Interests give the candidate the time to show off their flair. Take a few minutes in an interview and see where the conversation takes you.

You could look at a resume and find they have interests that may initially seem irrelevant. For example, “movie watching”. You can ask them specifically about this: “I see here that you list movie watching as a hobby of yours. Tell me more about how that relates to the position you’ve applied for.”

A disappointing answer would be something like; “Uh… it’s just that, I saw Avengers last week and it was awesome!” That wouldn’t necessarily disqualify the candidate, but the fact they’ve missed on a very special opportunity to impress you with a thoughtful answer can indicate something about them. On the flip side, the candidate might tell you about a weekly film club that they’ve been running for the last two years focusing on locally made films – a huge indicator of their intangible attributes.

Remember, you’re not looking for the candidate to squirm, but rather, you want to see what kind of amazing answer they can come up with. It’s an opportunity for them to show their creativity and ability to carry an interesting conversation about things outside of work.

Don’t dismiss those hobbies and interests

For employers, this flair is what creates a great company – a company full of individuals who come together to solve a problem with unique perspectives and multi-faceted personalities. This diversity in thought is what sets your company apart from your competitors. When candidates include hobbies in a resume, you have a huge opportunity to get to know candidates at a deeper level. Don’t overlook it.

Postnote: My own resume’s hobbies and interests section includes Hiking, Knitting, Pie Baking, Expressionist Oil Painting, Broadway Music, and Vinyasa Yoga.

The post There’s much to learn when candidates include hobbies in a resume appeared first on Recruiting Resources: How to Recruit and Hire Better.

Right now, the average job description is a mishmash of the original text from when the position was created quite a few years ago, some amendments from an enthusiastic new hiring manager and some sexier phrases stolen from various other companies’ career pages.

When you stop to consider the army of resources that marketers invest into a banner or headline just to make a viewer click, it’s mind-boggling to think that recruiters are not investing that same energy into their talent attraction strategies.

If the majority of job ads out there are any indication, recruiters are actually asking people to make an enormous change to their lives on the basis of bland copy and trite cliché.

There’s a better way to attract talent. Instead of drily saying, “We’re looking for someone to do X, Y, and Z for us, for this-and-that salary and benefits”, you should appeal directly to the candidate’s deeper needs and wants.

That’s where Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs comes in.

Some background: in 1943, Abraham Maslow published his paper “A Theory of Human Motivation” in The Psychological Review. In it, he posited a series of human drivers that worked sequentially, the lowest order of which must be satisfied in order to achieve the next. For example, when starving to death, we’re unlikely to be concerned with how our peer group thinks of us until we meet that more basic need.

Matt Buckland also talked about candidate hierarchy in a recent Workable webinar:

Maslow used the terms “physiological”, “safety”, “belonging”, “esteem” and “self-actualization” to describe the pattern that human motivations generally move through.

Because jobs are such a huge part of our life experience, why not apply that same theory to your talent attraction strategies? You can broaden the appeal of a job ad or careers page by hitting on more of the motivational bases that Maslow identified.

So what would such a “candidate’s hierarchy of needs” look like? Let’s go through the pyramid one by one:

1) Financial gain: how much will I make?

The first step in Maslow’s hierarchy is “Physiological”. This includes the absolute basic needs for human survival; food, sleep, air, water, etc. In terms of jobs, the lowest order motivator has got to be financial gain – a candidate must make money in order to live. They’re not going to work for nothing – actually, they can’t.

So, make it easy for them by putting the salary range on your job postings. That way, you know those candidates who apply are probably OK with that range and you’ve effectively weeded out those who aren’t.

An important caveat: promising adequate or even fair pay for a candidate’s toil should never be your primary motivator for a job, nor should it be your “ace in the hole”. If your post is simply titled “Java Developer $90,000!”, that’s a great indicator that you haven’t really understood the job’s real differentiators or your target audience for that job.

There may be other details disclosed about the job, but at the basest level these will be generic and explanatory, e.g., “You will write code and fix bugs”. Like salary, these are statements which would be true of any job and hardly differentiate. So, how can you make your job ad more personal and attractive to your ideal candidate?

2) Job security and benefits: how ‘safe’ am I in this job?

Maslow’s second step in the hierarchy is “Safety”. People need to feel safe and secure. They need shelter, a social structure where general rules and proper decorum are followed. For job seekers, this could mean whether the job they’re considering is permanent or contract-based, or if the company they’re applying to is a strong and thriving entity. These concerns can be addressed early on, from startups referring to themselves as “VC funded” or larger corporates stating successes (e.g. expanded into a new area, merged with another large company, in business since 19XX).

Details of a lower-than-expected salary or indeterminate contract length will help candidates self-select out of the process, and that’s probably a good thing at this stage. An applicant looking for a six-figure base salary and a guaranteed one-year placement will not apply for a job offering half that salary at a risky startup. Otherwise, they’re wasting their – and your – time. Remember:

A great job ad is about gaining the interest of the right people, not the most people.

Now, benefits: many companies follow in the footsteps of larger organizations that offer free incentives and perks. These include the hyperbolic tales of free food, dogs in the workplace, on site masseuses and hot and cold running champagne.

Promising money and free things are a great way to have someone make a small change such as switching bank accounts or internet service providers. But changing employers? Let’s be realistic: people don’t work for companies because of the ping-pong table in the lunch room. Job security should be implied in any job description and the benefits and perks are nice-to-haves – and a smartly thought-out benefits package can have immense appeal in terms of talent attraction. But there’s more to the pyramid than that.

3) Team: what will my team be like?

Maslow’s third tier was “Belonging” or “Love”. In short, that’s the human tribal need for companionship, family, and yes, love. No one is an island. You want to convey that same sense of belonging to a team. Everyone’s been unemployed at some point – they know all too well how draining the lack of sense of belonging can be.

Engage that need in your job ad by talking about the people the candidate will be working with. Honestly, who wants to spend eight hours a day treading the same carpet as people you hate? At the other end of the spectrum, people would love to work with an inspirational leader, or join a team of renowned experts in their field. Cultural fit is another powerful motivator.

A dry “you will work with our team of developers” statement will risk turning off a potential star candidate. Talk about your team and include employee testimonials. Advertise the company’s social activities, outings and volunteer projects via social channels and on your website.

Sell the pedigree of a potential peer group.

Equally relevant, especially in startups, is advertising the profile of the higher-ups in a company – i.e. founders who are ex-Google or ex-Facebook can influence candidates looking to build up their own expertise via association and learning from “the best”.

You can also show how the team organizes and works together. A job can be made more attractive if you explicitly state that the team doesn’t hold lengthy meetings, or they collaborate closely with other parts of the business. For those who are frustrated about their current employer’s bureaucracy or lack of innovation, offering insight into how your company gets work done can be revealing and enlightening.

In short, this is all about building up your employer brand and making your team look like an amazing group to be a part of. But team isn’t enough. You also need to think about the actual candidate themselves. Moving on up the pyramid:

4) Individual opportunity: what’s my role in that team?

The fourth level of Maslow’s hierarchy is “Esteem”. This is the need for appreciation and respect from those around you. People need to feel valued as individuals and that they are making a real contribution. In terms of employment, candidates have a much stronger sense of esteem and self-value when they feel they have an opportunity to contribute. On the flip side, when employees become unhappy and disengaged, feeling like they’re just another cog in the machine, they stagnate.

In a job description, communicate the role in such a way that it’s uniquely important to the rest of the team and to the company as a whole. While it’s a given that some roles you’re advertising are similar to other roles at other companies – or even within the same company – the powerful differentiator of “Individual opportunity” is lost when you loudly proclaim that you’re hiring “one thousand software developers this year!”

Individual opportunities are a higher motivator than the more basic “carrot and stick” incentives of salary and benefits.

Highlight the truly motivating factors that appeal to candidates as individuals, such as autonomous working opportunities and results-driven environments that aren’t overly harnessed by rules and policies. This can be a powerful differentiator, but there’s one final tier on the road to fulfilment.

5) Personal growth: what do I gain from being here?

The top of the pyramid in Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is “Self-actualization”. This is the final level of psychological development that can be achieved when all basic and mental needs are fulfilled, and the “actualization” of the full personal potential takes place. Research regularly has found that when people live lives that are different from their true nature and capabilities, they are less likely to be happy than those whose goals and lives match. Gandhi said it best: “Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.”

In terms of your job ad, think about the kind of “personal growth” you can offer to a prospective candidate. Rather than resorting to the dry hyperbole of many existing job ads that do nothing but describe the job you’ll be doing and the company you’ll be working for, be thoughtful and clear and remember the candidate experience – especially when it comes to hiring exceptional employees.

Tell candidates what they stand to gain at a deeper level as an employee.

If you can address the following questions in your job ad, you’re well on your way:

• What are the experiences they’ll have that enable them to grow as individuals?
• Will they gain new skills or be trained in new areas?
• Will they get to mentor or be mentored, leading to rewarding interactions and relationships with others?
• Will they have the scope and freedom to be truly creative?
• Will they be motivated and empowered to innovate?

If you can describe the kind of brighter future a candidate gets by working for you, this might just be the tipping point to hit that big red “apply” button.

Talent attraction: Put yourself in their shoes

If you’re recruiting for Google or Tesla, the brand recognition alone makes your job easy when you’re looking to attract talent – in fact, Google gets two million applications every year. But you’re not them, of course.

Put yourself in the candidate’s shoes and have a look at the job ad you’ve just put together. Does it look like a job you’ll be excited to do? Does it look like the kind of work where you can really grow as an employee and as a person? Go through each of the levels of the candidate hierarchy; salary, benefits, team, individual, and personal growth. Have you covered all of those?

If the answer is yes, then you’ll get a highly motivated candidate who doesn’t mind the commute to the “unsexy” location nor that you’re an “unsexy” company. You’ve shown them that they’ll get a lot of personal fulfilment from their work; something that many jobs don’t even claim to offer in their job ads. You might even attract the kind of talent that you’ve been trying to lure from those “cooler” areas.

Related:
How to source passive candidates
How to write a job ad: 7 common mistakes to avoid
How to write the best job description ad ever: 6 tips for success

The post Talent attraction: Why Maslow thinks your job ads suck appeared first on Recruiting Resources: How to Recruit and Hire Better.

Other major drivers of churn: The fact that companies fail to hire the right person most of the time, and the ongoing global struggle to inspire passion, productivity, and loyalty in the workplace.

When great employees leave, it’s not just a financial hit due to the absence of one person’s productivity and the increasing time and expense involved in hiring and training a new person. These employees take their skills, relationships, and institutional knowledge with them. Staff turnover also decreases employee morale.

A 2015 SHRM/Globoforce survey puts employee retention at the top of the list of challenges facing HR leaders. If it’s yours too, read up on effective employee retention strategies from some of the best companies around.

Be realistic about what the job entails

Recruiters use realistic job previews to give candidates an up front, “warts and all” context for the job and a sense of what they’ll encounter if hired. It may sound scary to tell someone “Five managers quit in the last six months” or “You’ll be working with two difficult personalities…and their difficulties are with each other.” Nevertheless, this practice decreases the odds that people will leave due to the surprises of the job within the job.

Effective employee retention strategies also involve telling candidates why they would want to work at your company. At Workable, we namecheck managers when we promote our jobs on social media, so that candidates can see what kind of people they’ll be working with. On top of phone screens and on-site interviews, we also do the occasional coffee chat with a candidate that is purely about the culture and work environment.

In the case of Hilton hotels and resorts franchises, RJPs are effective employee retention strategies for weeding out applicants that were likely to quit during the first 30 to 60 days. To lower employee churn in their housekeeping staff, they implemented voluntary tryouts. These tryouts consisted of actual job responsibilities, such as making a half-dozen beds. The results? A 30% drop in employee turnover.

Create a culture of mentorship

Mentorship doesn’t have to take the form of formal programs. In fact, it may be more effective if the attitude of mentorship is baked into your company culture from the beginning.

Mentors benefit by honing their leadership and communications skills while advising their mentees. Mentoring also improves manager-employee relationships throughout your company. You know what they say: “People leave managers, not companies.” Bosses who are also mentors give smart and driven mentees a powerful reason to stay.

On the flip side, mentees benefit from receiving inside advice from experienced professionals in their field. They also acclimate faster to their jobs, especially if they’re new employees. Fun fact: Mentorship is the top request of junior employees worldwide. It’s also a path to advancement. Mentors and mentees are 20% more likely to get raises than employees who don’t participate in such an arrangement.

Seven out of ten companies report that mentorship programs improved employee retention and job performance. At the California Nurse Mentor Project, mentoring lowered attrition and helped hospitals save between $1.4M and $5.8M over three years. Mentoring also improved retention at Sun Microsystems. Employee retention increased by 69% for mentors and by 72% for mentees over a period of seven years. They saved $6.7B in avoided staff turnover and replacement costs.

Compensation and benefits

The job-hopping habits of the younger generations may baffle employers, not to mention recruiters. However, the surrounding circumstances paint a clear picture as to why these employees burn out and leave. Most companies don’t pay young professionals (dare we say, “millennials”) enough to pay both rent and student loan payments in one month. That’s quite a squeeze, considering that nearly half of all young professionals are forking over half their paychecks to student loan lenders. So in this case, yes, compensation counts. Think about it the next time you’re in a salary negotiation conversation.

Of course, there are other ways to reward employees for all their hard work. One great way to do that is to help employees get their time back. See suggested leave policies and flex time ideas in our previous post on employee engagement. Let’s not forget health care. Six out of ten employees worry about not being able to afford out-of-pocket medical costs. Providing health insurance shows employees that you care about their well-being, and encourages them to stay longer at your company.

What does this look like in the field? In the case of Wal-Mart and Costco, via the Harvard Business Review, Costco paid higher wages and provided a much more competitive benefits package. Costco covered a greater number of employees, got a plan with cheaper health premiums, and added a retirement plan. Their investment paid off. Compared to Wal-Mart, which had 44% employee turnover a year, Costco only had 17% turnover a year.

The post Stand by me: employee retention strategies from the pros appeared first on Recruiting Resources: How to Recruit and Hire Better.

Here’s some employee engagement strategies that work for Limeade, The Hershey’s Company, Starbucks, General Mills and Patagonia.

Make the right hire

There’s lots of talk about shaping culture and instilling a sense of purpose but the truth of the matter is that you’ll do less work in these areas if you have a great recruitment process. Thorough screening, including take home assignments and the right interview questions, results in onboarding people who are engaged from the very beginning. Your employees will feel well-suited for their jobs, support your vision, and model your company values.

A nice employee engagement idea comes from the corporate wellness company Limeade. At Limeade, they make hiring decisions based on candidates’ natural inclinations towards “intrapraneurship”, generally defined as behaving like an entrepreneur within a larger organization. They assess this by asking candidates to talk about how they started new initiatives at their previous workplace. “The people who are most revered at Limeade are the ones who act like owners. They constantly go the extra mile in helping the company, our customers, and each other,” says Limeade CEO Henry Albrecht. It’s no surprise then that they’ve scored higher in the Intrapraneur Index study than any other company to date.

Recognize a job well done

It’s such a little thing and it sounds obvious, but companies need to get better at praising and rewarding employees when they’ve done well. Recognition is one of the top three drivers of employee engagement, and companies that make a practice of recognizing great work have lower turnover rates.

In 2014, The Hershey Company prioritized social recognition as a way to become a better place to work and tapped the experts at Globoforce to roll out a global, company-wide recognition initiative called Hershey Smiles. In just one year, they saw results. According to Cesar Villa, Hershey’s Director of Compensation Global Functions, “60% of our population has received at least one recognition and almost 70% of leaders have delivered recognition.” Employee engagement at Hershey’s also increased by 11% over the previous year.

Saying “thanks” doesn’t need to break the bank. A newsletter spotlight or a standing ovation at your next meeting will work just as well.

Develop your people

It’s not easy to thrive in food and hospitality, an industry that’s notorious for constant employee churn. Starbucks leads the pack in this sector by providing generous health benefits and tuition reimbursement. On top of that, they’ve got their Leadership Lab, an annual leadership conference and tradeshow for their store managers. “This is a company that cares about people… There’s a passion for developing strong leaders,” says store manager Kate Wentworth.

General Mills also boasts renowned employee development programs. In 2009, they launched a multiyear “Great Manager” initiative to build a solid base of highly effective managers throughout their company. This engages their managers, which has a positive ripple effect on teams and encourages them to stay longer at the company.

Eight out of ten employees will leave if you don’t provide opportunities for career growth. Ask your team what skills they’d like to hone. Supporting career development will encourage your team to excel at work and result in more productivity for your business.

Provide time to think, create, and rest

The myth: More hours at work result in more and better output. The truth: Overwork backfires on businesses. Stress linked to overwork results in higher healthcare costs and poor work performance. Giving employees ample time to rest and recuperate helps them achieve peak performance at work.

Patagonia, the outdoor apparel manufacturer, takes a firm stance against “presenteeism”, or the belief that people should be at work while they’re ill or be at work beyond the time needed. Their employees set their own flexible, results-oriented schedules. Even part-timers are well-cared for. If you work 20 hours a week, you’re eligible for “no-cost” health insurance, paid sick leave and vacation. Parental leave consists of 16 weeks off, according to WorkingMother.com. The practice attracts and retains great talent. Since 2008, Patagonia has doubled in size and tripled its profits. Turnover is rare and their employees are fiercely loyal.

For smaller teams, maternal leave, paternal leave and a short-term disability policy are an excellent start to making sure that your employees have the extra protection and work-life balance they need.

The post Employee engagement strategies that work appeared first on Recruiting Resources: How to Recruit and Hire Better.

Fast forward to Susan’s first month at work. Things are slightly different than what she expected. Her job is not copywriting – or, rather, not only copywriting. She also edits images, replies to customers’ emails and assists other departments as needed. Susan is sure that her coworkers are smart and interesting people, but she hasn’t had the chance to actually get to know most of them, as five employees have already quit and left the company.

The only thing that stayed true to her expectations is the office; there are spacious meeting rooms and communal areas, a nice view and a ping pong table for employees who want to unwind. It’s a shame, though, that no one actually enjoys these amenities; they’re all running like crazy to regularly put out fires and to meet deadlines since their teams are woefully understaffed.

Susan wonders what could have gone so badly. Were there any red flags that she didn’t notice during the hiring process? Should she have guessed that all this is too good to be true?

(Marketing) trick or treat

No, it’s not Susan’s fault. Like most job seekers, she did her research before accepting the job offer – even before applying in the first place. She browsed White Lies’ career site and social media pages and read all about the attractive benefits they offer and the values they stand by, e.g. work-life balance. Along with the promises of a challenging career opportunity, Susan was hooked.

So far, so good, right? Similar to how candidates sell their skills during an interview, companies apply a recruitment marketing strategy to talk up their culture and attract future hires. And there’s nothing wrong with that. The problem begins when companies brand themselves as something different – even slightly – than what they really are.

Picture a company that advertises itself as a great place to grow your career when in reality offers only entry-level roles with little to no room for professional development. Or another company that advocates for diversity when all employees in senior management are white males. In Susan’s case, she thought she had found a workplace with a great work-life balance, but ended up working overtime and getting stressed over tasks she wasn’t familiar with.

And while job seekers like Susan can take branding messages with a pinch of salt, it’s still the company’s responsibility to present a picture that’s not misleading but reflects its culture as accurately as possible. Because candidates will often decide on a job offer based on what they learn about the job and company during the process.

“What’s so funny ‘bout recruitment marketing?”

The recruiters at White Lies probably thought that if they slightly embellish their company culture, they’ll get to hire great candidates. And they might feel justified in doing so, considering that they got a star employee in Susan. But don’t be so fast to replicate their recruitment marketing strategy in your own organization. Let’s go further down the road to see what happened with Susan:

One month later…

Susan’s first month at work was far from ideal but she decided to give White Lies the benefit of the doubt. Maybe they were having a rough month, maybe they lost a stellar employee and got disorganized. In any case, she’ll try to get the job done and make the most out of this job opportunity.

Two months later…

No matter how optimistic and hard-working Susan is, things are getting worse – or at least, not improving. Employees keep quitting and tasks are getting overwhelming. Senior management doesn’t seem to take any actions to improve the work conditions. On top of that, Susan becomes friends with her desk neighbor and, during a lunch break, she learns that this is actually the norm; things have always been that way at White Lies.

Three months later…

Frustrated with the lack of organization, the constant changes and the long hours, Susan decided to look for another job and finds one pretty quickly. She gives her two-week notice.

Four months later…

Susan has started a new job that is nothing like her previous experience at White Lies. Now that she sees what it means to have a truly good company culture, she decides to “save” some fellow candidates and leaves a scathing but fair review on Glassdoor to describe the real work environment of White Lies. She also talks openly about her experience with hundreds of fellow copywriters in her WhatsApp and Slack chat groups. When people in her extended LinkedIn network see that she used to work at White Lies and ask about getting a referral, she’s honest with them.

A year later…

White Lies’ Glassdoor score plummets from a respectable 3.7 to 2.2 within months, as former employees and candidates follow Susan’s example and share their experiences online. The company’s reputation is drowning and that is even reflected in their sales numbers – people don’t trust its brand.

Perhaps all this sounds too dramatic, but it’s not an extreme scenario. Candidates pay attention to a company’s reputation, and a poor employer brand largely impacts their decision to apply for an open role. Based on research, 69% of candidates are not very or not at all likely to accept a job offer from a company with a bad reputation – even if they’re unemployed.

So what should White Lies do? Admit that their work conditions are far from ideal and hope that some candidates will still get interested?

It’s not all fun and games

Now, that’s the real question: would Susan apply knowing all this about White Lies in advance? Probably not. But Jane would. Jane is a copywriter who, unlike Susan, prefers less structure in her work and is always up for a challenge. She is more creative and productive when under pressure, and White Lies offers an environment where she can thrive.

Or, she could thrive, had she applied. But White Lies’ recruitment marketing strategy was targeting Susans, not Janes.

Here’s what you can do to make sure you target the right candidates:

Play to your strengths

Before you market your employer brand, you first need to know what makes you a good employer. Don’t assume that every employee wants a job with increased responsibilities or that everyone would pick a higher salary over a flexible work schedule. You just need to appeal to the right audience.

Do you only offer entry-level positions? Perfect; reach out to recent graduates who wish to gain job experience and be open about how you’ll help them advance their career. Are you a newly formed company that can’t afford to pay above or even at the market rate? No problem; balance it out with remote work options so employees can cut commuting expenses.

For example, look at HireVue, the video interview software. They want to hire talented and ambitious tech candidates. That’s why they’ve added the following section in their job ads, making a point that HireVue could be a stepping stone to even larger companies:

BECO., a UK-based soap company, realizes that not everyone wants to do this job for a lifetime. So, they developed an unorthodox recruitment marketing campaign to encourage other companies to steal their staff (while also supporting the employment of people with disabilities):

They have a dedicated section on their website where they present their employees and talk about their skills, while also including information on their soap packages:

Recognize your weaknesses

No one is perfect. While flaws are not something to shout about, it’s not useful to sweep them under the rug, either. Someone will talk about your weaknesses, even if you don’t – it’s no accident that sites like Glassdoor are popular with candidates and employees. Look at these ads from GE from a couple years ago:

With a clever recruitment marketing campaign, GE spreads the message that, contrary to popular belief, it’s more than just a big old-school manufacturing firm. By acknowledging your weaknesses as an employer brand and rebuilding your reputation among job seekers in this way, you’ll come across as genuine and trustworthy.

Get better

At the end of the day, you don’t want to be a good marketer; you want to be a good employer. As Louis Blake, People and Performance Coordinator at Fonda in Australia, puts it:

It’s less about convincing candidates and more about showing them.

He emphasizes on the importance of taking feedback and improving your workplace based on that: “We can bang on all day about our great work environment but, really, it’s our managers on the ground who are the real drivers of the restaurant’s culture. We constantly seek out feedback from our team members and ensure that all levels of the organization are held accountable to that feedback.”

The most powerful trick you can use is to actually build a workplace where employees are productive, engaged, and valued. And then you won’t need any magic spells to make candidates look your way. Good news travels fast; your current employees will naturally become your employer brand ambassadors and even those candidates who got rejected will be happy to apply again at some point in the future.

Honesty is a win-win

In marketing, if you try to be everything for everyone, you’ll likely fail. You need to know who your personas are, what their habits and needs are and how to speak to them. The same applies in recruitment marketing. As Dave Hazlehurst, partner at Ph.Creative and keynote speaker, said; not all candidates will join your company for the same reasons: “So, build your unique personas and, then, differentiate your employer branding tactics based on these personas.”

Being authentic about your employer brand does mean that some candidates won’t even bother applying – but the ones who do apply will be the right ones you want for your organization. You might never meet Susan, but you’ll hire all the Janes who genuinely want to work with you and can add value to your business. And that’s a recipe for success in the long run.

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