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The Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Recruiting

Studies state that 40% of the recruitment specialist’s time is spent browsing resumes or entering all acquired data into ATS. The conventional recruitment process was typically time-consuming due to the many phases that hiring professionals focused on. These include stages like application verification, background checks, and interviews, which all complicate the process.

With the advent of artificial intelligence, the recruitment process has become simpler and more efficient. Now, applicants can send their resumes online; the software scans all details, and interviews are set automatically.

The increasing use of AI in various industries, including recruiting, is constantly expanding in the current commercial ecosystem.

While AI technology cannot fully replace the natural human cognitive ability, new solutions that have similar functions to some extent are available. These software types include machine learning technology, allowing them to learn, make decisions, and process information without manual input.

Companies in various business sectors enjoy the flexibility of AI integration in devices, tools, and programs. As a result, they are adopting these solutions to automate and enhance their normal processes.

For example, ChatGPT is trained for large-scale human-generated text analysis and generates similarly styled responses. In recruitment processes, this is useful for automating the initial interview process.

The Benefits of AI in Recruiting

Businesses adopting AI-based solutions for the recruitment process have seen many advantages. In this regard, you can also expect some benefits of AI in recruitment in your industry.

Time-saving and Efficiency

AI-based recruitment solutions are increasingly used by businesses, primarily to shorten the duration of the hiring process overall.

According to reports, talent acquisition experts typically spend around 13 hours (or one-third of their estimated workweek schedule) sourcing applicants for just one open position. This is only the first stage of the process—the overall hiring process involves many more steps.

Therefore, recruiters have started to prefer AI-powered software as it can streamline their talent acquisition process. The algorithms scan the applicants based on specific criteria, assign interview dates, and even provide assessment results—all in a shorter period of time.

Reducing Bias in the Recruitment Process

With an AI-based intelligent scanning system, you can screen all applicants faster per your set regulations, like specialization type, employment experience, and educational background.

To note, the AI-based software only relies on the recruitment-related criteria points regarding attributes, skills, and knowledge to hire team members. This helps in reducing bias during the recruitment process.

Enhancing the Quality of Hires

On average, companies in European countries take around 30 days to hire staff, while American companies take approximately 23.8 days. However, the more prominent companies acquire top-level candidates with the best-of-the-best credentials within the first few days. Thus, you need to conduct a fast and smooth recruitment process.

With AI-powered software for recruitment, it is faster to shift through the applications and target the most suitable candidates for the work. Additionally, these solutions can automate the overall workflow, leaving the recruiters free to focus on a complete analysis of the top candidates or the open position.

So, avoid spending time shifting through applications and conducting the interview processes early.

Case Studies: Examples of AI Use in Recruiting

For a better understanding of the impact of artificial intelligence in recruiting, here are some real-world AI recruitment examples for reference.

Transform The Future of People Leadership

1.   IBM’s Watson Recruitment Tool

This application for Talent Suite works with the cognitive mechanisms within the ATS (Application Tracking System) of clients. It helps deliver a high-quality recruitment experience.

With this tool, recruiters can match the candidates’ skills with the company’s requirements, prioritize requisitions, recognize that applicants have the highest growth potential via predictive hiring, etc.

2.   Unilever’s AI-based Video Interviewing Tool

Incorporating video interviewing functionality for recruitment is highly useful to avoid issues like candidate ghosting. This initiative’s primary focus is to save time with the interview process by allowing recruiters to interact with applicants directly via video conference.

3.   Hilton’s Use of AI for Talent Acquisition

Hilton integrated AI mechanisms in their hiring model for optimized talent acquisition. The software evaluated the candidates and their information, increasing hiring rates by forty percent and reducing vacant position fill-up time by 90%.

Future of AI in Recruiting

The role of artificial intelligence in recruitment is expected to improve in the coming years, as evidenced by its current expansion in varying industries. The main issues that need to be addressed in this regard are as follows.  

Advancements in AI technology

These solutions are operational in diverse fields, like manufacturing, telecommunications, financial services, retail, and professional services. Not to mention, all sectors have noticed growth with AI-powered automation tools and solutions.

There can be several benefits of AI in recruitment, including:

  • Personalized application and recruitment experience for candidates
  • Automatic hiring processes
  • Predictive hiring support based on critical parameters, like knowledge base, experience, etc.
  • More inclusion and diversity in the team

Ethical Concerns and the Need for Regulation

AI-based software for recruitment purposes includes various novel assessment and talent acquisition tools. For example, they assess different application information based on voice inflections, personal data, and other details to decide who is the right candidate for a job.

However, it is difficult to deduce what precisely the software judges to draw insights, so guaranteeing an entirely ethical recruitment process is impossible. These tools’ machine learning ability analyzes data and adapts to what they learn. These systems are susceptible to learned biases too.

Developers of these solutions prioritize properly balancing all data used for AI model training to cover details for all demographic groups to avoid biased hiring.

The Role of HR professionals in the Changing Landscape of Recruitment

The HR department in most companies today is shifting towards technological solutions to streamline its workflow. More of these professionals are adopting collaborative tools for workforce management, including automated hiring models for the company.

They depend on these tools more since they allow them to focus on other, more stringent processes requiring focused manual attention. So, using automated recruitment systems will decrease human intervention here and digitize the process more.

Wrapping Up

There are many AI recruitment examples for judging job applicants and choosing the right talent for the company. Now, job opening emails can be sent with attractive subject lines to attract applicants due to the emerging role of artificial intelligence in recruitment. More companies will adopt these solutions over time to save money and time while streamlining the recruitment process.

However, while the benefits are high, HR professionals need to note the potential ethical implications of AI in their recruiting practices.

Optimize Your Recruiting Emails with the ChatGPT Chrome Extension

The impact AI has had in the recruiting industry is getting ridiculous. With AI curating lists of potential hires and recruiting emails being crafted by AI, you have to ask…was this article written by a computer? Who even knows anymore. But one of the fantastic things about technologies like these: they can get even better. Now, spoken word queries can be saved, reused, and easily modified with the official ChatGPT Chrome Extension.

If you’re having trouble generating email copy for your recruiting sends, then look no further. This extension adds a zillion different pre-built options for generating content, but luckily it has some email options in there as well. Furthermore, you can customize and tailor exactly what you want the AI to produce if whatever template you’re using isn’t exactly to your liking.

the ChatGPT Chrome extension has a few other neat features. You can tailor the list to your liking with the favorites section, so you can at-a-glance get access to your most frequently used options. However, there is a bit of a learning curve when it comes to generating content. It uses tags and other features to allow you to make sure it generates unique content every time. There’s forums, FAQ’s, and all sorts of resources so you can fully take advantage of these features.

Give it a try! If you put a little effort into making your own curated prompts you could save yourself countless hours of work.

Other Dean Da Costa Content:

Dean has a free page of sourcing tools, links, and other recruiting resources that we highly recommend you check out! That page has an overwhelming amount of stuff, so you gotta really love sourcing to appreciate the infinite hours of work Dean has put into it. For all of the Dean Da Costa resources on RecruitingDaily, click here!

Spotlight: Succeeding with Recruiting Solutions in 2023

We’ve curated a list of the top recruiting tools to help you deliver a better candidate experience while rationalizing your investment.

I’ve seen a bunch of cool updates to recruiting and TA tech the last few weeks. In light of this, I’ve been motivated to curate a list with some of the highlights in recruiting tools for 2023 to help you deliver a better candidate experience while rationalizing your HR tech investment.

The past twelve months have been volatile for the labor market. From the COVID hiring boom to the gradual rationalization of labor demand across industries, you wouldn’t be wrong to assume that we’re amid a recession.

However, the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics data paints a vastly different picture. The US economy added a whopping 517,000 jobs in January 2023, beating market estimates. The unemployment rate fell to the lowest level since May 1969.

While we witnessed massive layoffs across tech, industries like hospitality and leisure, government, business services, and healthcare, amongst others, added a significant number of jobs.

At a time when organizations are exploring new ways to unlock growth, talent acquisition (TA) can play a pivotal role in enabling businesses to navigate an increasingly unpredictable economic environment.

Focusing on the strategic side of talent acquisition brings enormous benefits to businesses, especially when talent teams are not consumed with tactical hiring activities. With the new talent available for hire, organizations can access a larger pool of qualified candidates. In addition, prioritizing TA during this time can help organizations develop their competitive advantage when it comes to improving the hiring experience – for both candidates and recruiters.

As TA takes on a more strategic role within organizations, it’s a great time to assess your recruiting technology stack to determine if your technology, processes, and people are ready to meet your organization’s near-future and longer-term talent needs.

From the technology demos and success stories that have been shared with me, here are my takeaways on some of the solutions making an impact in 2023.

The Modern Recruitment Technology Ecosystem

Today’s recruiting technology ecosystem is much more diverse, and with good reason. A decade back, it wouldn’t be surprising to see an organization relying on a single-suite solution to orchestrate its entire hiring process. Your typical HRIS or HCM would tackle everything from sourcing to offer management, albeit with limited functionalities and customizability.

Fast forward a few years, and we see an explosion of best-of-breed solutions designed to address specific needs at different stages of the recruitment funnel. There has been a massive shift in how organizations think about leveraging and managing such solutions.

So, top-of-the-funnel (TOFU) activities go beyond the capabilities of a traditional ATS. For instance, there’s programmatic job advertising, with players like Joveo bringing data science and behavioral advertising to enable organizations to reach a much larger pool of qualified candidates. Similarly, we see players like Qualifi, GoodTime, and Metaview delivering better interview experiences (mid-funnel) for both candidates and recruiters.

recruiting tools

The thought of developing a future-proof recruitment stack can be daunting but it doesn’t have to be. Despite the large vendor ecosystem out there, identifying a good fit comes down to clarity in what you seek to achieve with your point solutions.

Paycor Recruiting AI

We’ve deconstructed the hiring funnel to examine how some vendors in 2023 are addressing a number of the biggest challenges in talent acquisition.

Top-of-the-Funnel (TOFU)

As the skills landscape continues to evolve, sourcing and recruitment marketing remain key priorities for organizations. A new study by Mercer found that 98% of companies still report significant skills gaps. While HR and TA look at new ways to address the growing skills divide, a large section (37%)  believe skills acquisition through hiring is the best way forward.

Here are some of the companies you should have on your radar if you’re looking to bolster your TOFU capabilities:

  • PitchMe: The solution offers a great way to supercharge your candidate database, automatically updating candidate profiles in your existing database, allowing you to operationalize your candidate data like never before. Pitchme scans over 35 digital sources to update work experience, contact information, and enrich candidate profiles with verified skills missing from their resumes. It also suggests new candidates from outside of your current database.
    Why consider it? Save on valuable time by automating database enrichment and saving the hiring budget purchasing new candidates.
  • Fetcher: A platform that addresses both – top and mid funnel recruiting needs by delivering candidates right to recruiters’ inboxes and offering a host of candidate relationship management (CRM) features to help you improve engagement with sourced candidates. Fetcher takes a unique approach to identifying great-fit candidates by steering away from traditional databases and using talent intelligence and matching to curate batches of qualified candidates based on requisition criteria. You can also use it to automate email follow-ups and interview scheduling.
    Why consider it? A fresh approach to sourcing and focus on DEI metrics makes it a powerful tool for organizations looking to match with candidates in high-competition industries.
  • Datapeople: Simplifies job posting by automating compliance requirements for pay transparency by location and offering real time recommendations for job descriptions using language analytics. Datapeople also features an intuitive recruiting dashboard that offers insight into your job description language and content. The solution “humanizes” candidate outreach and supports your DEI efforts right from the start, i.e., job descriptions.
    Why consider it? The easiest way to audit recruiting content for job descriptions and outreach for better DEI and conversions. Also offers integrations with all major ATS.
  • Brazen: A virtual career events platform for organizations hiring from both college and non-college alternatives. Brazen also offers a host of candidate engagement features and microsites designed to provide experiential/interactive communication to drive candidates down the recruiting funnel.
    Why consider it? Brazen provides a seamless engagement experience – allowing recruiters to transition from text-based chat to voice and video, all in a branded environment. The platform also offers comprehensive event tools – covering everything from event promotions to an analytics dashboard for measuring event performance.
  • Retrain: Match the right people to the right roles with Retain’s intelligent candidate profiling. The solution helps you discover candidates’ skills and aptitudes and connect them to suitable roles in your organization while reducing bias. Retrain’s responsible AI supports your DEI goals by breaking down candidate profiles into skills while masking titles, degrees, or other factors that can introduce potential bias.
    Why consider it? Leverage talent intelligence to bridge your skills gap and support your DEI efforts.
  • Paradox: A mobile-first, conversational recruiting platform that automates screening and scheduling. Paradox’s AI assistant, Olivia, is an intuitive conversational interface that reduces application drop-off rates by making applications as easy as texting.
    Why consider it? Job application flow has remained virtually unchanged since the early job boards. Olivia makes applying to jobs a lot more engaging and easy.
  • JobSync: A platform for recruitment marketing that automates the integration of ATS’s and job sites. The solution helps connect all parts of a TA tech stack. It also removes friction by simplifying the application process to create a better candidate experience.
    Why consider it? Integrate the application process from the job site to ATS to save time and increase ROI.
  • PandoLogic: A recruiting marketing and conversational AI platform that does everything from job advertising to candidate experience and analysis. It simplifies the hiring process by automatically posting jobs to recruitment sites, search engines, and social media. Its AI-enabled talent acquisition platform helps get job postings in front of more qualified candidates.
    Why consider it? Save time leveraging candidate data while reducing bias, and continuously redefine hiring strategy based on your needs

Mid-Funnel (MOFU)

Candidate engagement and interviews typically dominate mid-funnel recruitment efforts. Over the past two years, this segment has witnessed a massive transformation in the way MOFU activities are carried out. The pandemic accelerated the shift to a digital-first interviewing experience and the rise of communication automation. Vendors have been adding intelligent layers to their candidate engagement and CRM platforms to drive personalized messaging. However, CX as a whole is still evolving and many organizations are yet to begin thinking about engagement as a strategic candidate acquisition enabler. A 2022 report found that nearly 53% of candidates abandoned the recruiting process because of poor communication from the employer.

On the interviews and assessment front, there have been interesting developments since the move to digital. Overall, organizations reported a 44% increase in the number of interviews from 2018 to 2021. A part of this spike could be attributed to the fact that organizations added custom interview stages to their recruitment processes (for technical and leadership positions). On the other hand, the total time spent with prospective hires in the interview process fell 14% during the same time period. While organizations are able to operationalize their interview feedback faster, the candidate journey is a lot more non-linear. This signals an ongoing evolution in the way talent teams interact with candidates through the hiring funnel.

Vendors making moves in 2023 include (but are not limited to):

  • Shine Interview: The platform offers one-way and live interviewing capabilities in addition to video introductions. It can facilitate candidate attraction and interview scheduling as well. Shine Interview helps you seamlessly add highlights and notes to interviews, making cross-team and cross-organizational collaboration seamless.
    Why consider it? Create a single unified view of the candidate from the initial attraction phase to interviewing in a shareable digital profile.
  • Pillar: An interview intelligence platform, Pillar helps you speed up the hiring process by transcribing interviews for easy collaboration. The platform also offers interviewer coaching and question recommendations based on job profiles. However, the standout feature is the platform’s ability to let interviewers curate highlights, post-interview recaps to responses, cutting the failure rate in half. In addition, the offering allows for side-by-side candidate comparison to combat regency bias.
    Why consider it? Pillar’s AI-generated skills based highlight reels make hiring more objective and the question guidance feature helps you weed out any bias from the interviewing process to improve your DEI outcomes.
  • Fama: The company takes a novel approach to helping organizations build a more productive and tolerant workforce by helping them identify problematic behavior before it becomes a problem. Fama offers background screening focused on uncovering intolerant behavior on social media. Its compliant and consent-based screening empowers organizations and hiring teams to make a more informed decision when hiring. With a marked increase in the use of social media post COVID-19, and an associated increase in participation online on topics such as racial justice, politics, and gender equity, Fama can help you mitigate risks associated with incivility, ostracism, bullying, and harassment in the workplace. The product also takes out the possibility of introducing bias that comes with manual screening.
    Why consider it? Discrimination is expensive. In addition to potential legal costs, the cost to replace employees can be anywhere from one-half to two times their salary. For organizations looking to build a healthy and productive culture, identifying and addressing intolerance at the hiring stage could save hundreds of thousands of dollars.
  • Glider: The skills intelligence platform helps organizations assess talent quality across multiple stages – screening, assessments, and interviews, via AI chatbots and proctoring. It offers both technical and non-technical skill assessment features making it a potent tool for businesses across industries.
    Why consider it? Save valuable SME time by automating phone screening with Glider’s AI-guided phone conversations.
  • SourceWhale: A solution that brings consumer-grade personalization to talent acquisition, SourceWhale offers hyper-personalization to engage and drive candidates down the recruiting funnel. Its handy chrome extension allows you to pull in personalized content mid-sequence and edit variables on the fly, allowing recruiters to create a white-glove experience for candidates. SourceWhale also features reporting and automation along with ATS integrations, making it one of the easiest “bolt-on” candidate experience solutions out there.
    Why consider it? Drive personalization at scale with content. Leverage A/B testing, gamification, and DEI analytics to improve your recruiting outcomes.
  • Calendly: A scheduling automation tool that helps reduce time to hire and improve employee productivity. The solution can help teams coordinate multi-step interviews with various formats in a singular location. It also manages interviewer workload, attributes and time-zone to build balanced schedules.
    Why consider it? Increase your candidate pipeline while reducing the time it takes to fill a position. Also decreases interviewer burnout by managing the work across an entire team.
  • Metaview: Makes interviewing more engaging for both interviewers and candidates. Metaview automates notetaking so interviewers can focus on high-quality conversations with candidates. It also offers AI-generated summaries of interviews. Solutions like these put the spotlight back on human interactions in an increasingly automated world. It enriches itself from other data sources like ATS to synthesize the highlights of the interview – making life easier for recruiters and hiring managers.
    Why consider it? Improve the quality and speed of your hiring process by uncovering insights into the rigor and consistency of your interviews.
  • GoodTime: Simplify interview scheduling and bring down your time to hire with smart automation. GoodTime’s meeting optimization engine ensures candidates get matching times on their interviewers’ calendars as soon as they give their availability. It addresses common scheduling problems like manual emails and panel interview slot matching. It’s a great solution for companies with high-volume hiring needs as well as organizations with multiple interview stages for white-collar roles.
    Why consider it? Scale your interviewer pool with shadow training and develop new subject matter experts within your organization.
  • Qualifi: Reduce candidate ghosting and scheduling conflicts with on-demand interviewing. Qualifi allows you to pre-record your interview questions that candidates can respond to and complete within 20 hours, making phone screening a breeze. In addition, a transcript is created which identifies keywords that match the role requirements. Pre-recorded interviews significantly bring down your time-to-hire.
    Why consider it? Qualifi’s interviewing platform allows you to bulk-send interviews to candidates, avoiding the back-and-forth burden of scheduling. Interviews are just a link or QR code away and can be reviewed like a podcast in 1.5 or 2x speed.
  • HireMojo: A new product category within CRM, MojoHire offers a wide range of functionalities, from sourcing to hiring. The platform features a database of job descriptions and interview questions that are further matched to your requisition via AI to help you find the top candidates. MojoHire also identifies the best job posting channels for your open roles using predictive analytics and real-time behavioral data. Finally, automated screening allows recruiters to focus on high-value tasks rather than resume screening.
    Why consider it? Achieve more with your ATS by tapping into intelligent layers and talent rediscovery.

Bottom-of-the-Funnel (BOFU)

As the organizations continue to scrutinize their quality-of-hire, skill assessment platforms have become a staple in the selection stage for organizations. Post pandemic, technical assessments have become more immersive thanks to interactive experiences via problem-solving simulations and conversational intelligence. Vendors in this space are now expanding their capabilities to support more of the recruitment process from sourcing to selection, similar to what we’ve observed over the last two years in the video interviewing segment.

In addition to skills, behavioral assessment and psychological profiling remain relevant today despite scepticism from a scientific validation standpoint. However, we’ve observed a marked departure from game-based psychometric assessments to more holistic job simulation assessments that measure both behavioral and domain skills.

Some assessment solutions to watch out for in 2023:

  • Filtered: A unique approach to technical assessments that does not rely on coding tests or screening. You can instead evaluate candidates with short, comprehensive job simulations that objectively assess the skills you are hiring for. Filtered can help you create real-world simulations tailored to a role and seniority level, while empowering candidates to explain their work.
    Why consider it? Make assessments more impactful and objective to predict candidate performance on the job.
  • Highmatch: Mobile-first assessments that measure the success factors for on-the-job performance. Highmatch offers domain, personality, cognitive aptitude, and situational judgment assessments, making it a 360-degree assessment platform for organizations in all industries and of all sizes.
    Why consider it? Personalize assessment to the candidate and their experiences to get a complete view of their ability to succeed in a role.

Conclusion

Slowing growth and a highly competitive labor market make for an interesting paradox. And the recruiting technology ecosystem is rising to the occasion by developing solutions based on deep-domain expertise and leaning on talent intelligence. With more recruiting tools becoming ATS and HCM agnostic, TA teams have an opportunity to tap into a much larger solutions ecosystem with bespoke capabilities for each stage of the hiring funnel.

Going forward, TA teams will need even more education, support, and consulting expertise to navigate candidate expectations and achieve business goals in 2023. As all these challenges take form, we will be here to guide you.

We hope this resource helps you get started re-envisioning how you address your most pressing challenges with technology.

10 Ways Transcription Services Can Be Beneficial When Recruiting Employees 

Transcription services are becoming a must for businesses, regardless of if the business is large or small. Some companies even require video and audio files and consider audio transcription a requirement, not a choice. 

The need for records and notes is becoming an increasing demand for legal, ethical, and references. Specific documents used in HR departments include:

  • Performance reviews
  • KPI developments 
  • Proofreading of existing contract templates 
  • On and off-boarding documentation 
  • Video recording interviews
  • Also, documentations you may prefer for outsourcing and securing transcription to avoid in-house work 

Keep in mind that there are laws associated with video recording an interview. Some states are two-party consent states, meaning that both parties must consider it lawful to conduct the video recording. Alternatively, a state like Texas offers a one-party consent state. This means that you can conduct interviews without the interviewee’s consent. 

There’s much to learn about transcription services in the hiring process, so let’s dive deeper into this article to learn more! 

Benefits to Your Recruiting Process

Makes Content Easily Consumable and Searchable 

Once the content is transcribed, people will find it easier to reference and review the content. Job-seekers might visit your website and want to learn more about your business, so they might start listening to webinars. Having a transcript will make it easier to find you on Google, so your audience will expand. 

Watching a video with transcription is easier to understand since it promotes hearing and sight rather than digesting information in only one way. Roughly 70% of viewers watch videos without sound in public areas. Consider that most people are somewhere, so they might only sometimes be available to watch videos with sound. Moreover, job seekers might want to consume more of your content but can’t do so if they aren’t free to do so both in hearing and sight. 

Let’s not forget that most job seekers will read about your company before applying. For example, did you know that 86% of users who use Glassdoor will read reviews and ratings before they apply? 

Promotes Accuracy and Efficiency 

Some business owners might find it challenging to hire an in-house transcriptionist and will try to delegate tasks to colleagues who type fast but need to gain experience in transcription services. However, highly-skilled transcriptionists ensure that accurate work is carried out and is produced in the shortest time possible. Therefore, transcription services allow you to focus on time efficiency and delivering an error-free file. 

Also, let’s not forget that hiring professional transcription services will save you time by not managing work independently and allowing you to streamline your business processes. 

Simplifies the Data Collection Process During Academic Research

More than ever, businesses conduct transcription services for academic research (interviews, focus groups, seminars). Academic research is used in all industries, and the HR industry needs it a lot because of the recruiting interviews conducted. Research provides you with enough alternatives for identifying new improvements you can make to your hiring strategies. 

It’s essential to record and analyze your discussion with the target audience you want to hire. In this case, transcribing audio to text is helpful and simplifies the process. It takes much less time to re-listen to conversations and to scan written pages for necessary information. Overall, you’ll easily search for crucial information across several sessions and save enough time while accumulating the data. Then, after you gather all the data, you can report it to higher powers in the hierarchy. 

Saves You Time and Money 

Especially during the hiring process, you need to save as much money and time as possible. Outsourcing transcription services give you a chance to do so. However, let’s not forget that an in-house team for transcription with the right tools allows you to conduct the hiring process effectively. 

Transcription services might be an issue since it takes time to produce high-quality files. However, hiring a professional transcriptionist allows you to get accurate transcripts and eliminate unnecessary costs. Another advantage is that professional transcribers might have years of experience transcribing files, so this is a win-win situation for you. 

The hiring process requires you to save as much time and money as possible. However, the long-term costs might add up to two times the employee’s salary, especially when the turnover rate is high. Therefore, it’s important to consider using transcription services to save time and money. 

Increases the Ways You Can Provide Information to Job Seekers 

The way we deliver and receive information has changed due to technological advancements. Almost everyone has internet now, which gives them more opportunities to access wealth details. 

Business transcription services have many technical improvements and have adjusted how we live our lives and how businesses conduct themselves offline and online. However, while picture and video content are popular and exciting, audio doesn’t offer the same enthusiasm. 

Speeds Turnover Time 

Time is money and delays can cost you a lot in the long term. Therefore, the faster you can speed up your documents, the better it’ll be for you and offer you a higher level of competitiveness. If you don’t have enough time to conduct transcription services, you can hire a transcription company that’ll do the work for you. 

Eliminates Repetition 

Much time and effort are invested in ensuring all readers have the same level of information available. But unfortunately, repetition can get quite annoying; the worst part is that it’s time-consuming and tiresome. 

Taking accurate notes during an interview, meeting, or conference will take time and effort. After all, whether you are conducting an interview with candidates online or in real life, you still have to take notes. However, transcription services are recorded and transcribed to help acquire information the job seeker needs, saving you from speaking too much and becoming repetitive. 

You can share your transcripts in a view-only or edit mode form with anyone, regardless of where they are. Comparatively, human-made transcription services help relieve the stress you put on yourself. This will free up enough resources for the organization to focus entirely on primary business activities. In addition, no matter how many files you need to transcribe, transcription software allows you to streamline the transcription process. 

However, manual transcription software is best if you are considering transcribing a highly critical file. 

Grants the Freedom to Focus on Other Business Activities 

Transcription services save you enough time to focus on other activities while hiring new candidates. Time-to-hire is an important factor, especially when hiring top business talent. In other words, employees won’t need to spend many hours listening to audio files to transcribe, leaving their most important job responsibilities. 

Without interruptions in the flow of responsibilities, your company can effectively operate and save time while hiring new candidates. The best option is to consider delegating this work to a professional transcription service. This is primarily for saving time and money while keeping your daily responsibilities on track simultaneously and providing enough flexibility for everyone at the company. 

Increases the Time Spent on Your Site 

There’s no guarantee of how long users might stay on your site. You can make tons of videos, but nobody guarantees the time users will take to watch your videos. Sometimes, the reason might be a lack of interest or onboarding issues. 

Job seekers will visit your website when they want to learn more about you, so when introducing your company, make sure to make it a good one. Transcription services make your life easier in this part and engage visitors. This is precisely what you need when you are trying to hire candidates. 

Keeps You Organized 

While you run a business, the last thing you want to happen is not to be organized enough. This helps you stay concentrated throughout the hiring process, increases productivity levels, and saves enough time. Being organized becomes a simple process when using transcription services since your files and folders are customized, allowing you to drag and drop by moving folders and files around. Nevertheless, you can print, store, or even display them publicly. 

However, keep in mind to always keep them in a private or public e-folder. You can do this by either saving them on a Word or PDF file, restricting unauthorized access. Being organized with transcription is easy because it allows you to keep files and folders anywhere you want. After all, the last thing you want when hiring someone is to not know where your folders and files are located. 

The Final Cutdown 

Transcription services have come a long way and are making our lives much easier, giving most of the work to AI and reducing time consumption. However, it can be challenging to hire someone and transcription services immensely help us in this part. 

Therefore, whether you are using manual or automatic transcription services, it’s important to use them to your advantage. 

Stop Coaching for Women and Start Developing a Gender-Neutral Leadership Pipeline

Before beginning my journey at Sounding Board, I spent over 25 years building leadership capabilities in Fortune 500 CEOs and other key executive positions. As a result, I’ve seen first-hand how successful organizations approach leadership development, and I have opinions on what works and what doesn’t. 

When it comes to developing women leaders, I often wonder why companies have specific programs for women, especially ones that only include women. There is a perception that women need something different than men — help with “imposter syndrome,” or how to present powerfully, and that somehow only networking with other women is the winning strategy. Of course, some women might need this, but some men might need this as well. Women do not have an inherent lack of confidence or ability to organize and present ideas. All potential leaders have strengths and areas for development. 

Developing Todays Leaders, Regardless of Gender

Developing leaders with a personalized approach makes sense. Leadership coaching is a fantastic way to do this. But not all women have the same needs, and it’s strange to think they do when we don’t have the same frame of reference for men. Do companies have men-only programs for how to tame aggressiveness or how to collaborate and not compete? Of course not! Because all men don’t have the same developmental needs — neither do women. 

Early in my career, employers kept trying to sign me up for imposter syndrome classes. At that time, these classes were called “assertiveness,” and I never needed or wanted them. I’m not shy and have been told my entire life that I need to employ some restraint and not overshadow others. Me in an assertiveness class? It was a disaster. I ended up leading it, and guess what? There were a number of men in the class too. Yet this was the curriculum for women. 

Creating separate programs for women implies that women are different from men and perpetuates existing biases. The reality is that women should get developed, just like men, from day one with a company. To anyone thinking, “but men and women are different!” Of course, they are, and personalized development through coaching handles this because men are also different from each other, just as women are. From a leadership perspective, the most significant difference between men and women is that women leaders often deal with a majority of men and may need help with that. The reverse is not typically true. 

Analyzing the state of global entrepreneurship, World Bank noted, “The gender gap in entrepreneurship reflects recurring underlying disparities and tends to signal strong inequalities in access to institutions.” You will notice they did not say anything about capabilities and skills. That’s because leaders, regardless of biological sex or gender identity, need the same capabilities and skills.

Build Equality Programs

So, what can we do instead of creating programs isolated to women? For starters, companies should build programs rooted in equality. Coaching is a development accelerator. If the goal is to have a balanced pipeline of leaders, you can’t have 80 percent of men being promoted and think that adding a development program for women will change this ratio. The results will always be unbalanced, and parity will be impossible. If an organization needs to catch up because they don’t have gender balance in the leadership ranks now, this is the opportunity to promote more women; there is no need to create another program to do that. Use what is in place for the male employees. 

Transform The Future of People Leadership

With regard to possible pushback, my stance remains that naysayers and skeptics are simply feeding into an existing bias against women. We do not need special development programs. We need the same development and promotional opportunities that men receive, starting at the same point in career trajectory as men, with the same championing and support that men receive. 

Given that women are not compromised when it comes to business, a unified approach to leader development can open up new avenues for employers and enable them to rethink how and when development programs start. Even the perceived challenges, such as imposter syndrome, dismissive attitudes from counterparts, interruptions in meetings, and skepticism of decisions, all go back to coachable capabilities like confidence and presence. I have coached a lot of women and have never once worked on imposter syndrome. But I have worked to develop self-confidence, decision-making confidence, and how to generate confidence in others with each and every coachee and anecdotally, for the first 15 years of my career as an executive coach, I only worked with men. Why? Men were — and still are — the dominant cohort at the senior leadership level in many organizations and industries.

Capabilities for Coaching

Capabilities are at the core of successful leadership coaching. Companies need to focus on fostering those capabilities throughout the employee lifecycle. That means developing leaders earlier to be available when the need arises. To accomplish this, employers need to recognize abilities and potential as part of the talent acquisition process and offer coaching immediately post-hire. That way, everyone is equally prepared. Likewise, by starting earlier, employees also have the ability to build out new networks, and networks have been proven to impact professional advancement. Supporting access for women to professional networks traditionally enjoyed by men can also make a big difference. 

A piece published by Harvard Business Review indicated that high centrality, a key measurement in social network analysis, tends to drive placement more than other factors. The author wrote, “Centrality, in this context, is less a function of how many people you know but who those people are. Identifying and connecting with people who are connected to multiple networks is a key strategy.” By sequestering women into gender-specific programs, companies limit their networks and, ultimately, their career development.

Final Thoughts

From what I’ve seen and what the research indicates, if organizations want to create a balanced pipeline, that starts the moment all employees are hired. That is why I advocate for the term gender neutral. Gender is no longer a factor in the decision of who is promotable. Skills and capabilities are, and leadership coaching is a proven way to develop them. The sooner companies realize the value coaching offers employees from the outset, the less likely women and other underrepresented populations are to fall behind.

How Video Technology is Transforming the Recruitment Process

As technology continues to advance, it’s no surprise that video has become a more prevalent part of the recruitment process. Video technology is changing the way companies attract, screen, and select candidates, providing a more efficient and engaging experience for both recruiters and job seekers.

In this post, we will explore the different ways in which video technology is transforming recruitment and the benefits it offers to both employers and candidates. From virtual interviews and video resumes to employer branding and candidate engagement, we’ll examine how video technology is revolutionizing the way we approach recruitment and what it means for the future of hiring. 

The use of video technology in recruitment offers a number of advantages for both employers and candidates.

Time-Saving for Both Employers and Candidates

Employers can review video resumes and conduct video interviews at their own convenience without the need for scheduling in-person meetings. 

Similarly, candidates can submit video resumes and participate in video interviews without having to take time off from work or travel to the employer’s location.

Cost-Effective

Traditional recruitment methods often require employers to pay for advertising, travel expenses for candidates, and even the cost of renting a conference room for in-person interviews. 

With video technology, these costs are eliminated, as employers can conduct video interviews remotely and review video resumes online.

Allows for Remote Interviews

Video technology allows for remote interviews, which is particularly beneficial in today’s world, where remote working has become a norm due to the pandemic. 

Employers can conduct interviews with candidates from anywhere, regardless of their physical location, which expands the pool of potential candidates and increases diversity.

Facilitates Better Communication and a More Personal Connection

Through video interviews, employers can observe candidates’ body language, facial expressions, and communication skills in action, which provides a more accurate assessment of their qualifications and fit for the role.

There are several types of video technology used in recruitment, each with its own unique purpose and function.

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Video Resumes

Video resumes are a modern twist on traditional written resumes. They allow candidates to create a clip that showcases their qualifications, skills, and work experience in a dynamic and engaging way. 

This can be done using a simple smartphone or a more advanced camera and editing software.

Video Interviewing Platforms

Video interviewing platforms are online tools that allow employers to conduct video interviews with candidates remotely.

These platforms often include features such as scheduling, recording, and playback functionality, as well as the ability to share the interview with other members of the hiring team.

Virtual Reality for Job Simulations

Virtual reality technology can be used to create job simulations that allow candidates to experience what it would be like to work in a specific role or at a specific company. 

This technology can be used to create a realistic and immersive experience, giving candidates a better understanding of the job requirements and company culture.

AI-Assisted Video Analysis

AI-assisted video analysis is a form of technology that uses artificial intelligence to analyze video footage of candidates during interviews. 

This can include analyzing facial expressions, body language, and speech patterns to identify patterns and make predictions about a candidate’s qualifications and fit for the role.

Final Thoughts

In conclusion, video technology is transforming the recruitment process by providing a more efficient and effective way to screen candidates. By embracing video technology and keeping up with the latest trends, companies can gain a competitive advantage in the hiring process and find the best candidates for their organizations.

Why is Internal Hiring Important?

Internal hiring can be a good way to gain new skills without having to spend time and cost on looking for candidates externally. From limiting attrition to supporting your staff’s career progression, here are insights from recruiters, HR leaders, and executives on the importance of internal hiring.

Doesn’t Kill Employee Morale

It is extremely important for organizations to hire from within. This should be the foundation for developing talent and limiting attrition. There is nothing more demotivating for employees than being passed over for a leadership role by outside hires.

Organizations that continuously pass on internal candidates for leadership positions will kill their employee morale and force employee attrition. If your organization does not have an internal candidate that is equipped for the role, that is a direct failure by your company.

You should cultivate talent and train your people to move up in your organization. The goal should be to always have a long roster of talent that you can develop and move to strategic leadership roles.

These people know the company, know the culture and employees, and can seamlessly move into these roles with less downtime. Hiring new people should only be for entry-level and extremely specialized roles, not management.

Mark Smith
Program Chair, University of Advancing Technology

Develops a Committed Workforce

Internal hiring is important for several reasons, but one reason is that it can help to improve employee retention. When employees see opportunities for career advancement within their organization, they are more likely to stay with the company and invest in their work. This can lead to higher levels of employee engagement, job satisfaction, and productivity.

Internal hiring allows the organization to tap into the knowledge and skills of employees who are already familiar with the company culture and values, reducing the time and costs associated with onboarding new employees. The employer values their contributions and invests in their career development, which can help to create a more positive and committed workforce.

Salman Aslam
Managing Director, Omnicore Agency

Keeps Your Culture Strong

Hiring internally means keeping control over the culture you’re trying to create. New hires only stand to threaten that delicate butterfly that is culture unless you go to great lengths to verify their working style during the interview process.

Even if you’re careful, you don’t know how the new employee will be until they’re in the mix with the rest of your team. Hiring from within ensures you protect the culture you’ve built while proving to the rest of the team that you prioritize talent from within.

Jonathan Zacharias
Founder, GR0

Preserves Knowledge in the Company

Internal hiring and promotions are key to keeping hard-earned wisdom. While you can train new recruits with impeccable curricula and materials, nothing will replace the wisdom of a long-term employee who has weathered the storms and celebrated the triumphs alongside your company.

They simply have more context and can make decisions that take that context into account. They know the customers and have developed relationships, so keeping them around and rewarding their work with upward mobility or a change of scene can keep that knowledge with your organization. When someone leaves for a competitor, you can bet that hard-earned knowledge is going with them!

Gates Little
President and CEO, altLINE

Helps Your Team Progress

Internal hiring is crucial to show actively to your employees that you care about their progression, and that you can develop their skills to a point of career development through internal promotions.

Without internal progression, retention is likely to suffer as employees only see an “exit,” and no clear means of internal progression.

Tracey Beveridge
HR Director, Personnel Checks

Reduces External Recruitment Risks

Internal hiring is critical for companies as it helps reduce the risk associated with external recruitment, increases employee morale and engagement levels, and better fulfills managerial objectives.

An uncommon example of why internal hiring is beneficial is that it can help develop up-and-coming leaders and executives who have a deep understanding of the organization’s culture and values.

Hiring from within will allow those already familiar with the company to rise quickly in rank to positions of responsibility that many outside hires would need to be trained on before taking over. In addition, having a committed workforce from within fosters loyalty from team members, which further boosts overall productivity.

Grace He
People and Culture Director, Team Building

Eliminates Bad Calls for External Hires

Assessing cultural fit in advance is hard. And if you make the wrong call, culturally unfitting new hires will be gone within months. One advantage internal hires have is that you will already have a clear picture of their everyday behaviors.

Data you will not get in a one-off interview with externals. Don’t hire for skills; hire for attitude—and assessing attitude with internals is way easier.

Veronika Schäfer
Head of Learning Science, Zavvy

Spares HR From Drowning in Resumes

Resumes flood companies and we’ve all heard the stories of HR professionals who felt overwhelmed with the amount of information they have to process. So why not make their lives easier?

Internal recruitment can be a real game-changer for the recruiters’ workload, as it spares them the complex process of verifying new candidates’ qualifications. Cutting down recruitment stages is a perfect way of quickly covering emerging vacancies.

Not to mention reducing time-consuming onboarding processes. Sometimes the best solutions are hiding in plain sight, and managers overlook the fact that the most excellent candidate might be the one they work with every single day.

Martyna Szczesniak
Community Expert, MyPerfectResume

Bolsters Morale and Engagement

While there are many reasons to prioritize internal hiring, one of the most important is the message it communicates, being that the company values its employees and cares about their career progression.

When a workforce feels valued with a clear path to promotions and increased income, it boosts morale, engagement, and retention.

Hiring from existing talent sends a positive message and confirms the company’s commitment to rewarding talent and hard work. Internal hiring helps keep the highest performers by offering them tangible career progression within the organization.

Candace Barr
Owner, Executive Resume Writer, and Job Search Consultant, Strategic Resume

Without a Strong Employee Value Proposition, You Can Kiss Top Talent Goodbye

As businesses of all sizes continue to keep their eyes on a looming recession, the lasting impacts of the Great Resignation, and the aftermath of COVID’s forced workplace transformation, it is clear that talent acquisition leaders have been hit with a lot of challenges in the past few years. 

Despite the headlines about tech layoffs, the war for top talent is more competitive than we’ve experienced in decades. Job seekers have more power over when, where and how they work – including how they engage with prospective employers during the recruitment and hiring process. 

Companies are competing furiously for talent, and while some companies have adapted to this highly competitive landscape, others are falling behind in terms of competitive offerings and a new level of authenticity needed to attract the best talent. But, one thing remains blatantly clear: a strong employer brand is a deciding factor for prospective employees.

Now more than ever, companies need a well-defined employee value proposition (EVP) to showcase they’re a values-driven organization focused on more than just profits. Coupled with a strong engagement strategy to target this message to prospective employees and a commitment to a positive and smooth candidate experience, EVPs will be a key ingredient to winning the ongoing talent wars.

What is an EVP and Why is it Important?

Defining and building an employer brand is not a task that should be taken lightly – it’s a meaningful way to showcase what your brand stands for, and can impact many facets of the business. While it’s often mistaken for sentiment about company culture and employee engagement, it is far more about what the employer offers to its employees; much like a product value proposition is to the consumers who purchase said products.  

The EVP is how businesses market their value to new talent and retain current employees. It’s the benefit employers offer to employees about why they should come work for their company. Think about the standard interview question “Why should we hire you?” and turn it around: “Why should you choose us as your employer?”

Your EVP sends a consistent message to customers, partners, the community, etc., about who you are as a company and what you represent. Strong employer branding exercises will consider a combination of company identity, mission, values and workplace culture. However, a succinct, impactful EVP will be the differentiating factor to elevate the brand above countless other companies vying for the candidate’s attention. 

If you don’t have an explicit and authentic EVP you’re communicating strategically to prospective employees, you could be missing out on the right talent to drive your business. Surprisingly, even though most people recognize EVPs as critical to a healthy talent acquisition strategy, 41.4% of companies still don’t have one established. So, the problem is not necessarily that companies don’t realize the importance of EVPs. The disparity lies between knowing it’s important and actually investing in creating one, which leads us to believe establishing and implementing an EVP is the main barrier. For the organizations that may have an EVP, they are often slung together in a few slides and don’t have the foundational research needed to be in tune with reality.  

Transform The Future of People Leadership

How to Create an EVP

First, an EVP is part of a much larger discussion around employer branding. It’s not just what you can offer to employees, it’s what your company stands for. Here are just a few steps you can take to establish and implement your own EVP: 

Introspection:

Ask yourself what your company has to offer an employee. Why would they want to work for you versus another company with similar pay and benefits? What can you do for them in the long run? If this proves to be challenging to answer, consider asking existing employees via surveys, focus groups and interviews what they find most valuable and rewarding about working for the company. This is also a great time to reflect on areas of company culture that can be improved upon to attract more talent in the future, while creating a better overall experience for existing employees in the process.

Boil it Down:

Boil the answers down into a few simple sentences or a short paragraph, explaining what you offer employees. It’s easy to just mention good company culture and competitive pay, but it’s more constructive to make it unique to your specific company. Does your company offer flexible work hours (appealing to parents) or unlimited PTO (appealing to millennials)? Is the company involved in any community or charitable organizations? How can you demonstrate the company is a people-first organization with a focus on employee well-being and development?

Establish and Market:

Once the EVP is finalized, establish it within your company first, leading by example and ensuring it’s aligned with current organizational goals and culture. Next, develop assets to market it externally as a part of your employer branding and awareness efforts, careful to strategically target key types of job seekers who can become the future employees you want. It is important to target candidates both on and off the job boards so you are not only targeting active job seekers but also trying to reach them during their daily lives. To stand out, it is important to be proactive about bringing your message to them versus completely relying on the job boards to deliver the best hires. Evaluate the results regularly and tweak as necessary to make sure it’s authentic and resonating with internal audiences and external candidates. To answer ‘why should someone want to work here,’ an EVP is not something that should remain static. Just as the dynamics of the job market continuously change, companies should be aware of the evolving work environment, their employee sentiment, and tweaks to their values as time progresses and cultures and priorities evolve. 

When you break it down, EVPs aren’t as daunting of a task as they might seem, and can make all the difference in your hiring practices. 

The job seekers of today have different priorities and it is still critical to understand this is an employee-dominated market.  It’s not enough to just skate by, you need to stand out. Today, millennials have changed the workplace and Gen Z candidates are rapidly entering the workforce  looking for more than just a paycheck and simple benefits. They want to work for a company that has a mission and purpose, but also puts them first. Strong, authentic EVPs build trust, transparency and excitement about an employer brand – and in the end, will encourage the strongest candidates to apply regardless of the type of workers you need to power your business.

Check Github Activity at a Glance with OSS Insight

When it comes to software developers, GitHub is the holy grail of geeks. Everyone who’s anyone is on this platform, and a site you probably frequent if you’re hiring a computer wiz. Want a way to check these developer’s GitHub activity? Then here’s the sauce.

GitHub makes it somewhat straightforward to tell user activity, but there’s a better way. With OSS Insight, you have a clean one page dashboard of all the recent repo updates, pulls and pushes, and everything else in-between. This makes chugging through developer’s GitHub activity extremely painless, to the point where you can tell within seconds just how active this coder is.

There are some other niche features like GPT powered data exploration. It lets you request data in natural language and spits out a very intelligent answer. It can even generate SQL from the dataset. If you have a detailed enough request, you could use this to headhunt active developers in a specific field. The search feature is VERY powerful, give it a try.

You can also explore trending data. If you want to see what sort of code is hot right now, it’s a great place to start. It tracks all sorts of metrics on GitHub, far more than the average person might need.

This tool has a myriad of uses, we really recommend you take a look and see if it’s something you can add to your workflow.

Other Dean Da Costa Content:

Dean has a free page of sourcing tools, links, and other recruiting resources that we highly recommend you check out! That page has an overwhelming amount of stuff, so you gotta really love sourcing to appreciate the infinite hours of work Dean has put into it. For all of the Dean Da Costa resources on RecruitingDaily, click here!

Why Skills-Based Hiring is on the Rise and Should Remain that Way

Even as the economy shifts and layoffs hit the news, hiring is still a challenge. To fill open positions, companies are starting to more closely evaluate how they review applicants and are more willing to overlook educational shortfalls if candidates have the necessary skills.

Skills-based hiring continues to trend.

As you know, skills-based hiring focuses on screening candidates based on their capabilities rather than education or employment history. In today’s hiring environment, if you’re not hiring for skills, you’re missing plenty of potentially high-performing job candidates.

The Benefits of Skills-Based Hiring

When it comes to the benefits of skills-based hiring, the results speak for themselves. In a survey of more than 2,700 employers by TestGorilla, they found dramatic improvements in hiring practices and outcomes when employers shifted to skills-based hiring, including:

  • 89% reduction in the cost-to-hire
  • 91% reduction in the time-to-hire
  • 92% reduction in mis-hires
  • 91% increase in employee retention
  • 91% increase in hiring diversity

A skills-based hiring strategy also creates a better job-fit for employees, which produces greater job satisfaction, employee engagement, and performance appraisal ratings. Those with high job-fit also tend to better adapt to challenges, seek upskilling, and develop transferable skills.

Shifting Hiring Requirements

In an effort to fill spots in several industries, LinkedIn launched a program guaranteeing job seekers an interview with recruiting teams if they can pass a skills-based test. Look for expansion of this type of strategy in the future.

For years, companies have practiced “degree inflation,” demanding four-year college degrees for positions that didn’t require them. This kept many skilled workers out of the talent pool due to the high cost of higher education. This disproportionately impacted those in lower-income communities, especially people of color, leading to a lack of diversity in the workforce in upwardly-mobile positions. With fewer diverse candidates in entry-level jobs, fewer diverse candidates were being promoted upward in companies.

That’s changing.

A review of job descriptions by the Harvard Business Review showed that employers have started to reduce degree requirements by more than 45% for mid-level employees and about a third for high-skilled positions. Job ads showed a marked shift towards skills rather than specific degrees.

Companies like Google, Microsoft, Apple, IBM, and GM have all shifted their hiring practices and offer some high-level positions to employees without college degrees in an attempt to widen the talent pool and attract different types of candidates. Today, about half of the jobs at IBM do not require a four-year degree.

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There’s also a greater emphasis on finding candidates with transferable skills that will help them grow within the organization and upskilling current workers to provide more opportunities for internal movement.

Continuing Need for High-Quality Employees

Employers need workers with the right skills and many are desperate to find quality candidates. Despite some companies cutting back, there are still 11 million job openings in the U.S., according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. At the same time, turnover continues to be an issue with monthly layoffs, separations, quits, and discharges topping 11.5 million monthly.

Employees Want to Develop New Skills

The Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania reported that nearly a third of tech workers, for example, say skills and self-improvement are what they value most about their job. 92% of professional says having access to professional development is important or very important.

Current employees are also seeking more upskilling opportunities to stay ahead of changing work environments. A study by Amazon and Workplace Intelligence showed that seven out of ten employees say they do not feel prepared for the future of work.

By providing opportunities for employees to adapt and learn new skills on the job, employers can retrain and retain workers at a higher level.

More Opportunities for Skills Development

One piece of good news for employers and job seekers is that there are more opportunities for skills development than ever before.

Colleges are offering online courses and boot camps in greater numbers than in years past. The number of massive open online course (MOOC) platforms has risen, offering free courses and unlimited participation. Many employers have started their own training and certification programs to attract the next generation of workers.

Skills-Based Hiring Will Continue

Hiring based on skills is on the rise and will remain that way into the future. Employers need to reassess their hiring practices to see whether they are leveraging this growing trend.

How Recruiters Can Maximize the Value of Assessments

The most essential element of any effective hiring process is its ability to accurately predict how well candidates will perform in certain roles. As recruiters become increasingly focused on measurable outcomes, traditional hiring methods (such as unstructured interviews and resume reviews) are being called into question.

Companies are increasingly supplementing or replacing these methods with assessments, which are intended to mitigate bias and provide more rigorous evaluations of candidates. While assessments often serve these functions, there are many questions hiring managers should ask themselves before using them: are they focused on soft skills, hard skills, or personality traits? When should assessments be deployed? What characteristics is the company looking for?

Assessments are powerful hiring tools, but they aren’t an automatic solution to the problems recruiters face. They have to be carefully calibrated to pursue specific outcomes, and they need to be used in a way that won’t discriminate against or alienate candidates. With these guidelines in mind, recruiters can fully leverage assessments in their hiring processes.

How Assessments Can Enable Evidence-Based Hiring

Recruiters are increasingly outcome-oriented – they want to make sure that new hires will perform well on the job, contribute to a healthy organizational culture, and remain with the company over the long term. This has led some to question conventional hiring methods such as unstructured interviews, which have a poor record of predictive validity.

On the other hand, pre-employment assessments have repeatedly demonstrated their ability to accurately predict job performance. One reason for this finding is the generalizability of certain traits. A review of the relevant research by the American Psychological Association reports that general cognitive ability and conscientiousness, for instance, “appear to be relevant to performance in virtually every job studied.”

Pre-employment assessments are especially important at a time when companies are prioritizing diversity and inclusion. Traditional hiring methods are prone to bias, which is why some diverse candidates even mask their identities on resumes to land interviews. This is a status quo recruiters shouldn’t accept, and assessments can help them move beyond it.

The Risks Posed by Assessments

Although assessments sometimes allow recruiters to objectively measure candidates on a level playing field, this isn’t always the case. The quality of assessments can vary dramatically depending on how they’re constructed. They can actively work against a company if they aren’t designed to track the right skills and traits.

For example, companies sometimes develop assessments that aren’t sufficiently relevant to the role in question or fail to account for important variables. These problems arise when the developers of assessments make unwarranted assumptions about which characteristics new hires should possess – characteristics that frequently turn out to be counterintuitive. When companies emphasize traits unrelated to job performance or responsibilities, this can be a source of discrimination and lead to poor hiring outcomes.

Companies should develop assessments with the same critical perspective they apply to every other stage of the hiring process. If recruiters rely on flawed assessments, they won’t just confront the costs of bad hires – they’ll also bear the opportunity cost of missing out on employees who would have been a great fit.

Maximizing the Value of Assessments

Not all assessments are created equally. While it makes sense for recruiters to take assessments seriously as a strategy to avoid the pitfalls of conventional hiring, they need to think carefully about why and how these assessments are being used. There are several guidelines recruiters can use to make these determinations, all of which will help them build a more predictive and fair hiring process:

  • Recruiters have to decide when an assessment will be deployed. In many cases, early assessments make sense, as they filter out candidates who aren’t a good fit before the company (or candidate, for that matter) has invested too much time in the process.
  • Need to systematically consider which skills and traits are necessary for each role – as well as the company’s broader culture and operations.
  • Can use this information to establish how those skills and traits will be measured – a process that will be consistently updated as they compare hiring decisions with outcomes.

The best way to take full advantage of assessments is by subjecting them to a constant process of review and reconfiguration. This will ensure that they’re always directly applicable to the company’s hiring goals and capable of producing the outcomes recruiters want.

Why Are Women Leaders Leaving their Jobs in Unprecedented Numbers?

Three years later, we’re still facing unprecedented moves in the job market.  From the “Great Resignation” of 2021 to “Quiet Quitting” in 2022, we now arrive at the “Great Breakup” of 2023.

According to a recent McKinsey/LeanIn study, women are re-evaluating their careers and switching jobs in unprecedented numbers. The global pandemic highlighted challenges associated with child care, family time, and mental health.

But, many of these workplace challenges began for women long before the pandemic started. We just finally seem to be talking about it – out loud and in front of decision-makers.

Are companies listening?  Well, women aren’t waiting around, twiddling their thumbs, waiting politely for an answer. Instead, they’re communicating with their feet – as they walk away from a job (and maybe a career) that doesn’t serve them.

Keep reading to learn more about the Great Breakup and its implications on hiring in 2023 and beyond.

Why Are Women Changing Jobs in Droves?

According to the McKinsey/LeanIn study, women are changing jobs for three primary reasons:

  • Women leaders want to advance, but they face more challenges than men
  • Women are underrepresented in their organizations but overworked
  • Women demand a better work culture focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), overall well-being, and flexibility

Let’s look at each.

1.    Women Leaders Want to Advance, But Face More Challenges than Men

Just like men, women want to grow professionally, advancing in their careers. However, women face unique challenges that men don’t. Here are some examples of these headwinds from the McKinsey/LeanIn study:

  • Women leaders are twice as likely as men to be “mistaken for someone more junior”
  • 37 percent of women leaders have had a co-worker take credit for their idea, compared to 27 percent of men leaders
  • Women are more likely than men leaders to have co-workers who imply they are unqualified or question their judgment
  • Women leaders are more likely to claim that their personal characteristics (such as being a mother or caregiver and/or their gender) have negatively impacted their ability to advance (through receiving a raise or promotion)

2.    Women are Underrepresented, Unrecognized and Overworked in their Organizations

Anyone feel this one? Statistically, women are still underrepresented in their organizations – especially in leadership positions. McKinsey/LeanIn’s Women in the Workplace 2022 Report says that women are “dramatically underrepresented in corporate America with only one in four women serving in an executive, C-suite role.

And, despite this underrepresentation, women are still unrecognized and overworked, giving way to burnout and mental health challenges. In fact, 43 percent of women leaders feel burned out compared to 31 percent of men in similar positions.

But here’s the rub. Women spend 2x more time and effort than men on supporting employee DEI initiatives – both of which improve employee retention and satisfaction rates. However, 40 percent of women leaders say this additional DEI work isn’t acknowledged in performance reviews. While work in DEI helps to attract and retain talent while improving corporate brand, this work doesn’t help women advance – it just stretches them thin.

3.    Women are Demanding a Better Work Culture

Finally, women are demanding a better work culture and changing jobs when they don’t find it. Women are more likely to change jobs to find a culture with more flexibility and commitment to DEI and well-being.

And although these demands were present before 2020, the global pandemic just emphasized the importance of these demands.

Here are some examples to consider:

  • Women leaders are 1.5x more likely than their male counterparts to have left a previous job for one that prioritizes DEI
  • 49 percent of women say that flexibility is a top reason they consider when accepting a job offer or staying at a job

To attract and retain female talent, especially in leadership positions, employers must support women.  If not, women will continue leaving in droves, setting diverse employment and leadership back decades.

Are Younger Generations of Women Changing Jobs Too?

So, what about our future female leaders? Well, the news isn’t much better there. With mid- and senior women leaders leaving for more flexible, diverse, supportive positions, there will be fewer female mentors at a majority of companies – leaving younger women with no one to watch advance up the ranks.

And young women want to advance.  According to the McKinsey/LeanIn study, more than two-thirds of women under 30 want to advance to senior leadership positions. Additionally, more than half of these women say that advancement has become more important to them over the pandemic. Finally, just like their more experienced counterparts, younger women also want to work for an organization that prioritizes flexibility, DEI, and overall well-being.

Companies that fail to focus on these issues will have difficulty retaining women leaders they already have while potentially losing out on recruiting young talent, creating a weak (or broken) leadership pipeline for attracting the next generation of leaders.

Instead, companies must continually embrace flexibility and commitment to DEI and well-being all while providing women with opportunities to advance – free of headwinds. After all, a diverse and inclusive company will continue to attract and retain the best talent while keeping its well-deserved competitive edge.

The 6 Best Tips for Recruiters to Achieve Win-Win Candidate Negotiations

As a recruiter, negotiating with a candidate can be an uphill task. Many come to the meeting with expectations often at odds with what the companies offer. So, your offers, as enticing as you try to make them, may not cut it.

All’s not lost though. Here are four tips you can leverage to achieve win-win outcomes. 

Be Well Prepared

You’re selling your company to the candidate as much as they are selling themselves to you. So be well-prepared so you can make a dazzling impression. Being well-prepared also helps to build trust and create a healthy interviewing atmosphere.

So, once you lock in a time and date for your meeting, do your homework. Refresh your memory of the candidate’s background and skills. Showing that you remember the details of their career history can create a feeling of admiration and respect.

Also, develop a list of targeted questions to ask during the interview. This can ensure the conversation is meaningful and productive. It will also let the candidate know that you are invested in understanding their needs and wants.

Break the Ice

Before jumping into a negotiation, help the candidate feel at ease. You can begin with a casual chat. According to Recruiter, small talk can be a powerful tool to build rapport, connect and foster trust.

According to SHRM, casual talk can also help you gain insight into a candidate’s feelings towards you, personality, and social skills. Here are some examples of questions that can help lighten the mood.

  • How was the traffic on your way here?
  • Was it hard to find the office?
  • What are your hobbies?
  • How long have you lived in the area?

Avoid Dominating the Conversation

When recruiting, you can gain more traction by giving the interviewee the floor. By giving them free rein to express their thoughts, values, and goals, you’ll gain an idea of their needs, motives, and desires. Then, you can use that insight to craft an attractive offer. 

Also, by listening attentively, you show you value their contribution to the conversation, which helps build goodwill and rapport. However, beware of the discussion going off track. Balance the conversation with your insights and point of view to steer it in the right direction.

Give One, Take One

Refusing to budge on an unsuitable offer is a surefire way to get handed a rejection. So, be open to making some concessions. However, for every request you receive and are willing to grant, be sure to ask for one in return. 

For instance, if you are open to bumping up the salary, ask for a longer notice period. Trading concessions ensures that the agreement arrived at is mutually beneficial. 

To avoid making rush decisions, identify what you can offer ahead of time. Also, make sure that the concessions being traded are of similar value. 

Be Transparent

Transparency is a key skill for recruiters, say negotiation trainers. Being hazy can create feelings of mistrust and misunderstanding. Not only can this cost you a great hire, but you run the risk of damaging your reputation and making it difficult to attract talented individuals in the future. 

So, be crystal clear about what a role entails and the attached benefits. Do your best to provide answers to all questions. Circle back to the hiring manager or HR team if there are any questions you’re unable to answer. 

Be Patient

The recruitment process can be a long and drawn-out affair. The more complex the role, the more discussion is involved. According to Workable, the average time to hire ranges roughly between 20 and 30 days. 

Leaving positions unfilled can create a few hiccups in the business. However, rushing to fill roles can create an ill-fit all around. Plus, it can lead to an abrupt resignation shortly after the hire.

So, to create a win-win hire, allow sufficient time to dissect the offer’s pros and cons. Being patient also gives recruiters the opportunity to catch any red flags that pop up along the way. Remember, successful negotiating is a two-way street, so taking the extra time can go a long way.

Recruiters usher in talent and skills to the organization. As such, they’re an integral part of any company’s success. These are a few negotiation training skills that can help carve out win-win outcomes.

6 Ways to Identify Recruitment Bias

Bias can be a seemingly unavoidable issue in the hiring process. Even with new technologies, unconcious biases can sneak in, whether that be intentional or not. Still, it’s so important to take charge and eliminate as much bias as possible. As such, there must be intentional changes made. From looking past just where someone graduated to identifying patterns in your recruits, here are insights from executives and recruiting leaders on how you can best identify and address bias in the recruitment process.

Don’t Recruit Just Based on School

Strictly hiring based on background or school is a usual way recruiters show bias. One way we can identify this is with what schools a company focuses on for job fairs. Making sure as a company you focus on recruiting from all levels of schools is a good way to give equal opportunity across the board.

Maegan Griffin
Founder, CEO and Nurse Practitioner, Skin Pharm

Check Your Wording

Double-check the wording of your job postings in order to identify and remove any potentially biased wording. While such wording is often unintentional, it can still disrupt your hiring initiative if it drives away potential applicants before they even think about trying.

You’ll be able to find online guidelines for writing bias-free job postings that will be easy to follow and highly effective. Once you’ve removed any unintended bias, then you’re free to spruce up your posting and inject your personal style into it.

With ‌extra care, you can avoid accidentally putting off potential applicants who might otherwise be an excellent fit for your roles. It may add a few minutes of time to creating your listings, but it will be well worth it for your business if it helps you land quality hires.

Max Schwartzapfel
CMO, Schwartzapfel Lawyers

Conduct Blind Reviews

One thing I have done to identify recruitment bias is to conduct blind reviews of job candidates. Blind reviews involve removing any identifying information, such as names, genders, dates of birth, and even universities attended, so that decisions can be made on the merits of a candidate’s qualifications alone.

This process removes potential sources of bias by preventing hiring managers from making assumptions based on demographic or other non-essential factors. Additionally, I have conducted surveys among my recruiting team to understand their own personal biases and experiences before developing an interview rubric for screening applicants.

Employers can also use data analytics on the impact of different recruiting strategies. For example, you could analyze whether certain recruitment channels are leading to more success in terms of applicant quality or diversifying your talent pool, versus looking at individuals who applied through less effective channels.

Travis Lindemoen
Managing Director, nexus IT group

Transform The Future of People Leadership

Use a Standardized Interview Process

Companies should judge people on their credentials and achievements. If a company judges candidates during recruitment on their race, gender, beauty, or any other illogical thing, it’s highly unethical.

You can identify recruitment bias by using a standardized interview process. In this type of interview, an employer asks candidates the same set of questions for the designated position. It strongly minimizes biases in recruitment. We can fairly judge candidates based on their performance in the interview and the quality of their answers.

Don’t forget to set the questions according to the skills and abilities required for the particular job. This way, you can easily identify whether the interviewer is trying to discriminate. It is now a highly prevalent method of interviewing to avoid any unnecessary issues during the interview.

Saikat Ghosh
Associate Director, HR and Business, Technource

Do a Thorough Job Analysis

An effective approach to uncovering recruitment bias is to conduct a comprehensive examination of our job requirements and responsibilities. By gaining a clear understanding of what our positions entail and how performance is measured, we can pinpoint any potential biases in our hiring procedures. This vigilance enables us to eliminate discrimination and ensure that all applicants are evaluated fairly, regardless of factors such as their race or gender.

Kimberley Tyler-Smith
VP, Strategy and Growth, Resume Worded

Look for Patterns

This might sound bad, so please hear me out: but diversity isn’t just about goodness; it also is an incredible strategic advantage. For example, we actively review our recruiting practices nonstop, intentionally looking for patterns of new recruits.

If our engineers seem to reflect too many males, we go back over applications looking for females who might have been overlooked. This tactic has improved our skill sets and functional capabilities within the first year.

The old days of using “it’s just business” to rationalize building a company of people, all from one demographic, are over. Diversity is here to stay because it’s more than just good—it’s good business.

Shaun Connell
Founder and CEO, Credit Building Tips

Are You Spending Too Much Time on Hiring?

Like other parts of a business, HR teams are under pressure to adapt to rapidly evolving enterprise climates. Most businesses hired extensively in 2022, with 53% of companies attempting to fill open roles and create new ones. However, modern organizations also have to react to the needs of a constantly changing workforce. As younger workers look for employment, businesses must be aware of their needs and respond accordingly. This means businesses must learn to optimize their hiring processes to fill open positions with candidates who are the best fit for them. 

Modern organizations have to process a staggering number of applications to build a shortlist for each open position. Businesses receive an average of 250 applications for each corporate-level role. The best of these applicants are usually interviewing with more than one company at any time. It is, therefore, in the best interest of businesses to quickly find the right candidates and confirm their employment to prevent losing them to a competitor. 

Why Businesses Should Focus On Optimizing Hiring Pipelines

As businesses compete more aggressively for talent, experienced and motivated candidates are in high demand. Recent research has revealed that 57% of job seekers lose interest in a job if the hiring process is too lengthy. The longer the consideration process is, the higher the chance the applicant will go elsewhere. The best move for these organizations is to optimize their hiring processes to quickly gather the information they need and make a decision. 

Businesses that keep the hiring process short and optimized also experience significant economic benefits. The average American employer spends approximately $4,000 and 24 days on a single hire in labor, software, and outreach costs. These numbers can add up quickly for companies that look to expand or need to manage high turnover rates. Optimizing the hiring process can reduce this cost by freeing up resources such as recruitment personnel and meeting rooms. Hiring managers are also often pulled away from their regular job to interview promising candidates, so reducing the time spent on hiring gives them more time to focus on high-value business activities. 

4 Ways to Spend Less Time Hiring

Identify and Automate Repetitive Tasks

The first step for businesses that wish to eliminate inefficiencies is to identify areas that are ripe for modernization. Hiring teams must report tasks that they find repetitive and time-consuming. These usually include essential steps such as providing candidates with visitor and check-in information, vetting resumes for basic qualifications, coordinating interview schedules, and more. 

HR teams now have access to digital tools that can help them save time when organizing interviews and finding the best candidates. AI-powered tools can scrub resumes and weed out applicants who don’t have the appropriate qualifications for the position even before hiring teams do their initial reviews. Once a shortlist is produced, visitor management software can help hiring teams find the best room for the interview, send the relevant information to candidates and recruiters, and optimize the registration process once the candidate arrives at the office. This can significantly improve the candidate experience—and can position a business as an employer of choice for talented candidates. 

Build Talent Pipelines Ahead of Time

Businesses often know their expansion plans and can anticipate their staffing needs. However, there is often no standardized process to track openings and applicants across business departments. Instead of merely posting job descriptions on job boards as necessary, businesses can build talent pipelines to help them fill open positions faster. Candidates who interview for one position can sometimes be directed to other roles where they might also be a fit.

Keeping records of past applicants and making them accessible across business silos can make it easier for recruiters to build a strong shortlist of candidates early in the hiring process. Recruitment teams must avoid waiting until there is an open position to fill before they build a pipeline that can deliver highly qualified candidates to them ahead of time. 

Streamline the Interview Process

There are many things to consider when planning an interview. Hiring teams must develop the interview questions, form an assessment rubric, find an appropriate location for the interview to take place, find interviewers who are available, and choose the best time for both the interviewer and the candidate. These processes can be streamlined by making this information easily accessible to all team members. Even better, providing this information on an integrated platform also makes it easy for the point person to convey relevant data to the candidate. 

Track Time Spent on Hiring

Once effective and efficient systems are in place, hiring teams may assume that the work is done. However, as tools modernize and new solutions are introduced to the industry, hiring processes can be optimized further. Companies must build a culture of constant improvement. The easiest way to do this is to improve recording and reporting. Hiring teams should track exactly how much is spent on each part of the hiring process. This can help business leaders identify areas of inefficiency and account for recruiting costs better. 

The hiring landscape is unlikely to get any less competitive in the coming years. Businesses must use all the tools at their disposal to ensure that their hiring practices are effective and efficient. Modern software can help businesses reduce hiring costs, focus on high-value activities, and fill open positions faster. Companies that wish to hire the best candidates must put the best practices in place to attract and retain them more effectively.