“Are you working close to the money today? ”
This was the question my first manager asked me every morning for my first 18 months in recruitment.
What is “working close to the money?”
It is the philosophy that your days’ activity should be focused on doing things that give you the best chance of converting your effort into fees.
As a discipline, recruiting is particularly buzzy, driven by innovation in strategies and technologies alike. Over the last few years, two significant trends stand out: artificial intelligence (AI) and diversity and inclusion (D&I). Both a long time coming, these continue to gain momentum, influencing the space and as the use cases roll in, demonstrating value across organizations of all sizes and industries.
Seemingly dissimilar on the surface, AI and D&I have taken the space by storm, releasing a torrent of tech advancements, transformative tactics and new research. According to last year’s Deloitte Global Human Capital Trends report, some 33 percent of surveyed teams using some form of AI technology to drive HR solutions. At the same time, McKinsey & Company found that gender-diverse organizations are 15 percent more like to outperform their competitors, while ethnically-diverse organizations are 34 percent more likely to do so.
Until now, AI and D&I stayed mostly separate, operating independent of the other and making headway in each respective lane. There was even a brief moment, when it seemed that AI might harm D&I initiatives, perpetuating biases rather than removing them. But that changed, with recruiters readily accepting their role in managing and molding AI, helping improve its use throughout the talent acquisition lifecycle. And with this, recruiters uncovered a natural symbiosis between AI and D&I, with the former working to support the latter.
Continue reading “AI may actually be a positive game-changer in diversity recruiting”
Without a crystal ball, it can seem impossible to plan for the unknown. This is why, despite the dynamic nature of hiring, embracing change continues to elude many recruiters. And yet, given low unemployment levels, omnipresent economic uncertainty, and evolving business objectives, future hiring will require more than just understanding all the features and functionalities of an ATS.
Save a spot for the Dec. 13 webinar on this topic by registering here: http://webinar.workforce.com/creating-a-recruiting-strategy-that-embraces-change-rd.
Ultimately, recruiters are looking to answer a straightforward question: what does it take to deliver an achievable hiring and onboarding experience for the modern workforce? And with an entire discipline dedicated to managing change at an organizational level, it comes as no surprise that success is born from using the following practical, effective approach will ensure that recruiting stays agile.
Implementing new strategies and solutions can be disruptive. No one is trying to claim otherwise, but without careful management, change doesn’t always stick. Like 70 percent of time says the Harvard Business Review. To avoid this all too frequent pitfall, recruiters should look to the massive amount of data already at their fingertips.
With a line of sight into recent metrics, from cost per hire to application drop off, recruiters can quickly identify areas of improvement and where current technologies are failing to address these challenges. The usual complaints include attracting and engaging the right candidates, building and maintaining a talent pipeline and ensuring a good candidate experience from start to finish. Knowing the current state will inform future state and determine what the plan needs to encompass before moving ahead.
With a specific change in mind, begin by circulating the basic idea around to different stakeholders to make sure the recruiting objective aligns with broader business goals. The best recruiting strategies overcome common challenges so discuss within the talent acquisition and HR teams first prior to hiring managers and executives. Engaging those directly impacted by the change may offer additional insight into day-to-day operations, any employee concerns and existing resources to support the process.
As part of this exercise, share the type of change, issue it solves, potential impact, actions required and any pending decisions. Reinforce the overall benefits as well as any anticipated outcomes to demonstrate return on investment and get the organization invested.
Moment of truth. Once due diligence is complete and everything gets fleshed out, it’s time to put the change management process into practice.
See the best-laid plans, even ones that aim to remain fluid, need to factor in communication. This means defining the audience (both internal and external), identifying objectives, sketching out a timeline and selecting the right mix of channels. That’s project management 101 and what one might call an “integrated approach.” Sure, the stakeholders heard about it during the planning phase, but what about the rollout? As part and parcel of the official launch, train the involved parties and tell the entire organization when and where the shift is happening.
Having put the wheels in motion and instituted the change, this might seem like the ideal moment to take a break and reflect, but it’s not. To excel at change, recruiters also need to excel at driving adoption by owning it.
Following the initial kickoff meeting, recruiters need to schedule periodic updates from the talent acquisition team to the remaining stakeholders. Keeping everyone involved and in the loop is one way to maintain momentum, especially when it comes to a new technology. Another way is to stage the change, so it happens gradually and requires continued involvement. A simple one and done does not serve the idea of embracing change and becoming more adaptable as recruiters.
Remember those metrics mentioned earlier on? Time to revisit. With a careful eye on the original challenge, analyze and evaluate progress on an individual, team or department basis. Consider what the data says as well as what the organization thinks about the new approach. Create focus groups, an internal forum or implement surveys to solicit additional feedback and demonstrate value. Stay open to different recruiting scenarios, making tweaks and updates as necessary.
Hiring needs and business objectives can change on a daily basis, leaving recruiters in a vulnerable position as the technologies and trends evolve. To remain ready for whatever the workforce of the future brings, take the time now to identify the pain points, learn the change management process and develop the steps needed to move the function from static to spry. It may not mean clairvoyance, but it could just be the next best thing.
Interested in learning more about change management for recruiting? Save a spot for the Dec. 13 webinar by registering here: http://webinar.workforce.com/creating-a-recruiting-strategy-that-embraces-change-rd.
Just released, and we won’t make you wait:
Keller Williams also topped Indeed’s work-life balance rankings back in April, so that’s a nice double win.
In reviews, one employee mentioned many things they liked about the job, including, “supportive team environment. Great management. Operated with honesty, integrity and friendliness.” They also said, “lots of resources and training provided. You are able to make as much or as little as you want determined by how much effort you put forth.”
Another reviewer stated, “for new real estate agents, Keller Williams Realty is the place for top-notch training and support. For seasoned agents, the economic model allows for unlimited earning potential.”
As for the maybe surprise No. 2 of In-N-Out Burger?
One employee noted the flexibility: “With shifts that start as early as 5 a.m. and as late as 9 p.m. an associate can always find time to work. Management is very flexible with schedules and understands class obligations.” They also noted “hard work will result in raises in both rank (level) and money. Strong culture with a legacy of friendliness, quality food and outstanding customer service.”
Another employee raved, “it was an awesome place to make lifelong friends and make connections because everyone loves an IN-N-Out employee. The pay was competitive, company culture runs deep, and the health benefits were out of this world, great place to work for young adults, students, or people just starting a family.”
A lot of business journalism is rooted in deifying the culture of tech companies and claiming that every other company should be like them, but … notice the top 15 of this list has only one conventional tech company, that being Apple. Hmmm. It’s been a rough year for tech in terms of “their impact on the world and people starting to realize the drawbacks,” so maybe that’s a correlation.
Although a lot of culture stuff sounds and seems “fluffy” and not tied to the numbers of your business, look through these 15 companies and what they’re doing right. Look at them on Glassdoor too. See what people say. Try to work internally — it’s hard, yes — to build that type of culture. Those cultures retain more, which means fewer open reqs, which means more time to focus and strategize on what you’re actually doing. Culture saves time for recruiters. Bad cultures add time. The difference is really important.
We’ve all heard about the power of a great employer brand reputation when it comes to attracting and retaining talent. But the secret to success isn’t necessarily about what your company is saying — it’s what your employees are saying.
Job seekers today aren’t looking in one place for opportunities; they’re looking everywhere — from job sites to social media to word-of-mouth referrals and company reviews. Candidates want to know what mission drives the company they’re applying to. And there’s more information available online today than ever before.
Confession: When applying to some of my former jobs, not only did I look at reviews, but I also reached out to the people who previously held the job I was applying for. They were surprised to hear from me and happy to share their totally unfiltered stories about working in the role. Does that scare you, or comfort you?
“Our company’s biggest asset is our people.” It’s a well-worn leadership cliche, probably because it’s the truth. But what energizes and inspires your people to come to work every day? What are they passionate about? How are they making an impact? These are all questions job seekers ask before they apply for their next job — and your employees can provide authentic and trusted responses. After all, they have the insider view on what it’s like to work at your company day in and day out, along with the credibility.
So how can we get employees to be more active in sharing their voices?
Brand Ambassadors (AKA employee advocates) are an enthusiastic team of people who go behind the scenes to share real stories about your company and employees.
At Indeed, we have over 400 Brand Ambassadors embedded across various activities and programs around the world to engage employees, help cultivate a fun work environment and share their stories. They also get the freedom (and some budget) to learn and do things they might not have access to in their day jobs. Through a short, online survey, employees can enroll in the Brand Ambassador program twice a year. We look for Indeedians who are collaborative, creative, reliable and adaptable, and we reward them for it.
Fun activities and volunteer initiatives are some of the ways Brand Ambassadors attract new members and build employee awareness. We have events like company-wide Wellness Week, Movember, Family Day and Pride to bring employees together, foster community spirit and promote local engagement. With Brand Ambassadors onsite at these events, they can capture every moment — encouraging employees to get involved, taking photos and posting on social media with the hashtag #insideindeed.
Building your brand internally is only one part of the equation — you’ve got to spread the word externally too. How can you leverage social media to tell the story of life at your company from the inside out?
We seek out and encourage people we call Inside Indeed Influencers. They’re the enthusiastic employees posting on social media, consistently sharing their own experience of working at the company. As you can imagine, this is a great source of employer branding content that we curate and repost to show them some love. We also like to surprise them with exclusive branded swag and a personal note from my team to thank them for tagging and sharing.
I’ve always learned from others in employer branding, so I asked a couple of fellow talent attraction leaders to share some other ideas to raise employee engagement on social media.
Holland McCue, Head of Global Employer Branding at Delta Air Lines, is experimenting with her partners in communications and marketing to create a culture of employees’ sharing their career and #DeltaProud moments. One way she is doing this is by creating a call to action in Delta’s “Day 1 Guide” that all new hires receive and reinforcing a culture of sharing in their Day 1 experience. Holland says, “The call-out highlights our social policy and how employees can/should share career moments that they are proud of with their families, friends and colleagues on social.”
Noelle Holdsworth, Employer Brand Manager at T-Mobile, saw terrific engagement from the #LiveMagentaChallenge social campaign for making your life better, easier and more fulfilling. Noelle comments, “Employees had already been using the hashtag amongst themselves to share how they were integrating work and home life, and we wanted to build on the momentum they had developed and bring it to an even larger audience by boosting the employees’ posts.”
Sometimes in all of the excitement people forget to share their experiences on social. So what can you do to promote your brand when your employees forget to tag or to use your hashtag?
Pro Tip: Search your company location geo-tags on sites like Instagram and Facebook. You’ll instantly discover people who are sharing their stories in and around your office(s) with or without the appropriate hashtag. Comment, like, engage with posters and let ‘em know that you’re paying attention.
You can also get creative and supplement user-generated content with created content, such as podcasts, in-person events and live video.
The whole goal for a talent attraction team is to get more people to apply to the right jobs today as well as tomorrow. By showcasing your company events and culture, you’re fostering a community where employees are the real influencers.
I like to read, like a great deal, not only books, which sadly are dying, but online articles as well. The very thought of learning something new for this old dog is genuinely exhilarating. That is the way it has always been for me, you know. I wanted to learn new things, not only in recruiting but life in general. For example, I never knew that a butter dish could keep butter not only warm, but it would not degrade to a dysfunctional state up to two weeks. It’s the little things in life. The other thing I like to do is teach, or more like educate, others, especially in recruiting or sourcing as I want people to be good at what they do and therefore make out profession better. That is what us old timers should be doing you know, and I am going to call a great deal of you out now.
I am not talking about the ones already doing it now, they are, and you know who you are but the ones that complain and moan about millennials and how they are lazy, etc. Since I am educating right now, let me tell you something. EVERY generation looks behind them and says this. I heard growing up we had no work ethic, we were spoiled, we did not live through a war, cold or otherwise. So, let it go and hold on for some knowledge not for the younger folk but for the old guard.
Continue reading “How should recruiters be educating the next wave of the profession?”
Every year the HR Technology Conference serves as a venue for the introduction of various new HR technology platforms, enhancements, and new features from both newcomers to the space and established solution providers. It’s always interesting to see the mix of the two as often the newcomers have the agility to introduce new and innovative solutions faster, while the established players have the ability to enhance existing platforms with the scale, budget and name recognition to grab conference goers’ attention. I believe a good balance of the two is essential to the growth and innovation in our space, but this year I had the opportunity to focus on the latter with a demo of the latest and greatest product from tech recruiting specialists Dice – the latest iteration of their TalentSearch search engine.
Now let me preface this by saying I was not that familiar with previous versions of Dice products prior to this demo having not actually used any of the previous versions. Nor am I any sort of “power tech recruiter.” Though I do some recruiting in my “day job,” I don’t recruit tech talent, and recruiting is just one of the many hats I wear. So I was able to go into the demo with fresh eyes, and with the perspective of a time-strapped practitioner who would be looking for a tool to make my hectic life easier. And I believe the features I saw would indeed do just that.
This newest version of TalentSearch builds on much of what Dice had already established themselves as, a platform to quickly and efficiently find that hard to come by tech talent that is so coveted by many. With already a database of over 11 million complete and unique profiles of tech professionals, they’ve come to be known as a go-to place for recruiters who want actionable results. The new and enhanced features expand on that base. Marketing collateral touts it as built with the recruiter in mind, Dice’s most “innovative search yet” that “allows recruiters to source and engage skilled, relevant talent fast” using “proprietary machine learning technology so you can find ideal candidates in seconds.”
This all sounds good to me…but how exactly do they live up to this claim? Well, they’ve done it by both enhancing some of their existing features while adding a number of new and innovative ones.
The new TalentSearch introduces three key new features: IntelliSearch, Interaction History Dashboard, and MyDice Home.
An alternative to Boolean search utilizing artificial intelligence and natural language processing, IntelliSearch essentially does the hard work for you. It allows you to cut and paste a job description, ideal resume, or other documents, then uses AI algorithms to analyze the text, pull out the most relevant terms, and then presents you with candidates that best match your criteria. You then have the ability to use filters to further customize the results (i.e. compensation, skills, certifications, etc.) The really cool thing is that it actually uses a concept called “conceptual matching” to search. In other words if you were searching for someone with Java skills, it “knows” the other combinations of words that someone with those skills may also use. So for anyone not particularly experienced in tech recruiting, who may still be learning what to look for, this could be a huge benefit. Of course like any tech that uses data, you get out what you put in so it would be essential that your job descriptions represent what you’re looking for to ensure optimal results.
It is worth noting that this functionality does not replace traditional search methods; for those who would rather build searches themselves, that feature is still in place.
Another way TalentSearch makes your life easier is through the Interaction History Dashboard. I referred to this as similar to your “Recently Viewed” on Amazon (we all love tech that mirrors the consumer experience, right?). Essentially Interaction History keeps track of the candidates you’ve been looking at, and also allows you to manage them with tags, ratings, and notes. But it remembers them without those tags and notes as well. See a great candidate but get distracted and forget to make note? No problem, just check your Interaction History and easily find that candidate again. Great for those of us who are constantly multi-tasking!
Billed as “your launchpad for candidate search,” MyDice Home is essentially a dashboard or homepage that collects all of the information you may need at a glance in one place. It’s your one-stop shop to view candidates, matches, saved searches, post jobs and view applicants….more or less all of the key tasks you may need to do or check in on at any point in time. More bonus points for making the life of time-strapped folks easier.
In addition to the three key new features, the new TalentSearch also expanded on a couple of existing features, specifically Similar Candidate and Likely to Switch. Both of these existed to some extent in previous versions, but the functionality has been made more robust.
Again in my eyes channeling the “Amazon experience” and mirroring the consumer technology experience, Similar Candidates functions like the recommendation engines on Amazon and other ecommerce sites by suggesting candidates similar to those you’ve already viewed and like.
The Likely to Switch feature leverages predictive analytics to assess specific activities both within the Dice site itself as well as publically available information on social networks and websites and assigns a likelihood that a particular candidate is willing to make a move. For a busy HR pro wearing multiple hats, this stood out as one of the most valuable features that could be a major time saver and efficiency tool. Why waste time pursuing someone who isn’t showing signs of interest in making a move when someone else may be ready today?
Overall, good stuff from the folks at Dice. From my perspective I liked what I saw in both the new and enhanced features and they certainly seemed to be designed, as they claimed, with the recruiter in mind. Although I particularly liked IntelliSearch, Likely To Switch, and Similar Candidates, there wasn’t a feature I saw that wouldn’t help someone using the platform to be that much more efficient and effective, an outcome we’re all looking to achieve.
P.S. If you’re interested in seeing the new features for yourself, you can request a demo here.
Seven-year on-demand hiring app startup Shiftgig landed $20 million in Series C VC backing in January 2017 and the result is the impressive Shiftgig Deploy, for recruiters and hiring firms. Now firms who want more control over skills verification and mobile-app taxonomy can license – and eventually co-brand – bulk invitations to candidates for on-demand assignments.
According to Shiftgig head of software sales Amy Henderson, the licensing efforts began about seven or eight months ago.
“We introduced Deploy to 35 staffing firms all over the nation,” Henderson told RecruitingDaily. “These were recruiters who were hungry for this type of platform, but not prepared to build it themselves.”
Three staffing firms are on board, and one other is about to go live.
“We only offered it to ten,” she said. “We felt that was as quickly as we could initially ramp up.”
Deploy is Marketplace as a Service (MaaS), allowing recruiting firms to create their own marketplace and business model. They can hire on-demand staff, or 1099 them. Shiftgig is fine with either.
While focused primarily on the food and hospitality industry, Shiftgig is considering others as well, including home care. It’s also open to licensing Deploy to employers, to manage their on-demand worker hires.
“We’re open to all conversations,” said Henderson.
For more on Shiftgig Deploy features, read our Hiring On-Demand Workers coverage.
Hiretual Pro has released a new update that packs in a lot of new features. The most notable addition is the new Insight section. This section allows you to conduct a great deal of research that will help you when sourcing talent. Furthermore, it displays this information in a neat and easy to read format.
The new “Insight” feature can be found as one of the tabs along the right side of the app. Once selected, this feature will allow you to conduct a search as usual, inputting terms such as “title,” “company,” location,” “skill,” etc. However, instead of simply showing you a list of candidates, the Insight tool shows you research about everyone who fits the criteria.
These new tools make it easy to see where most of the talent is coming from, and where to start your search.
Along with the Insight feature, individual candidate profiles have been enhanced. When you view a candidate you are now given valuable information such as market value, likely availability, and expertise.
The new updates to Hiretual Pro make it the perfect place to conduct the research portion of your sourcing lifestyle. ~ Noel Cocca
Look inside with Dean Da Costa:
We live in a world driven by instant gratification. From text messages and social notifications to the ease of Prime and Postmates, chances are if you want something, you can get it – and quickly. But life wasn’t always like that and recruiting wouldn’t be where it is today if not for the human desire to connect. What follows is a look at how much tech changed and how it got it where we are today – in the age of instant gratification.
Looking back, it wasn’t that long ago that people relied on party lines to get phone calls. For the unfamiliar, party lines were shared telephone subscriptions, mostly between neighbors in suburban and rural areas. Each party had a designated ring, so you knew when a call was yours. That didn’t stop nosy neighbors from listening in or hogging the line until the last of these got disconnected in 1991.
The move to personal landlines picked up speed around World War II, and at almost that exact moment, other advancements started to shake things up, too — both literally and figuratively. In 1943, a little girl on vacation asked her dad why she couldn’t see the picture he just snapped of her. Rather than simply explain the development process, that man, Edwin H. Land, decided to do one better and took her idea to heart. Four years later, the first instant-picture process camera, better known as the Polaroid, hit the market.
Despite gains, life still looked a lot different than what we know today. Sure, pictures developed in under a minute but getting messages to people in faraway places meant postal service, telegraph, courier or carrier pigeon. A persistent problem, people worked hard to speed things up and the persistent problem of making connections soon gave way to everyone’s favorite 1990s office relic: the fax machine.
For recruiters, candidates could transmit resumes and cover letters instead of using postal mail or better yet, showing up in person to apply (oh, the horror).
Now, we’re getting somewhere. In actuality, the fax machine dates back to the days of Alexander Graham Bell though it didn’t enter public use until much later. With these handy machines, offices could work in near real-time. For recruiters, candidates could transmit resumes and cover letters instead of using postal mail or better yet, showing up in person to apply (oh, the horror). It’s at this point in our story when “instant” becomes a real possibility as personal computers also become a thing, sending typewriters and word processors the way of the buffalo. Speed begets speed and soon email and file sharing programs started popping up everywhere, increasing productivity and collaboration.
As America Online (AOL) entered into every home across the U.S. came instant messaging, a precursor to texting, and a way to keep in touch with people continuously. Even if a person wasn’t around, a well-crafted away message could communicate that they were eating dinner or perhaps didn’t feel like chatting. This also moved us one step closer to present day with social networks like LiveJournal, Friendster and MySpace offering people a way to connect, share information and show off their personalities through regular updates and posts. Once the iPhone showed up in 2007, the transformation to hyper-connectivity seemed complete.
Saving time is no longer a nice to do, it’s the difference between hiring that top candidate and losing out to the competition.
As the way we communicate changed, so did the tech empowering us, accelerating how people move about their day. With today’s information transmission nearly instantaneous, the recruiting function continues this evolution – needing faster technology to manage the process and meet candidate demands.
Before this, candidates remained patient, understanding that hiring didn’t happen overnight. Now, consumer-facing improvements corresponding to business tech, push communication to where we are, with the average text response clocking in at a mere 90 seconds. Of course, hiring will always take more than a few minutes, so for recruiters, the challenge is keeping up, particularly when it comes to engaging and retaining talent.
This is particularly important when it comes to connecting with Gen Z
Saving time is no longer a nice to do, it’s the difference between hiring that top candidate and losing out to the competition. Luckily, advancements in intelligent automation continue moving the conversation forward making it possible to keep in contact with candidates constant and current. This is particularly important when it comes to connecting with Gen Z. From executing successful events to seamless interview scheduling, recruiters need solutions that refine the function and streamline processes. With the right combination of ATS, CRM, event, interview and program management technology, like those offered by Oleeo, recruiters can take days, even weeks, off of hiring and ensure they connect with Gen Z as they emerge into the workforce. Matching candidate expectations with the new recruiting reality.
Learn more about delivering on instant communication and other recruiting tactics for attracting Gen Z: https://info.oleeo.com/tactics-attracting-gen-z-candidates.
it’s estimated that 32% of all US employers will offer student loan contribution programs by 2021
Recruiting in a time of low unemployment is tough in all industries. But, recruiting in healthcare is especially challenging with both the rising cost of education combined with an exceptionally low unemployment rate of 2.6% in the field. With the cost of turnover increasingly high, healthcare employers are now seeking more innovative ways to attract and retain top talent.
One of the exciting newer benefits that is becoming much more common is employer-student loan repayment assistance. In fact, it’s estimated that 32% of all US employers will offer student loan contribution programs by 2021. It’s clear employers in healthcare are already moving much more quickly.
Because the healthcare industry requires a highly educated and specialized workforce, the student loan repayment benefit can be especially impactful. You cannot be a nurse, a pharmacist, a physician, or any other specialized role in a health system without a college education – but unfortunately, wages in those fields aren’t keeping up with the cost of that education. While other industries may face a changing education landscape, it’s unlikely healthcare will in the near future. Healthcare professionals are required to go through years of high-cost education to be able to perform patient care safely.
nurses’ wages have hardly increased to compensate
Adjusted for inflation, the average cost of a four-year degree at a public institution has increased 63% since 2002. Yet, nurses’ wages have hardly increased to compensate. In 2002, nurses made about $50,000, which has the same buying power as $71,000 today; however the average salary of nurses today is $70,000.
Likewise, physicians are feeling a similar burden. The average debt of physician graduates has increased by over $100,000 since 1991. The average wage of family practice physicians was $105,000 in 1989, when adjusted to 2018 dollars that’s an average salary of $190,000. Today the average annual salary of a family practice physician is $199,000. That represents very little growth in salary despite a growing burden of student loan debt.
The demand for healthcare workers is set to increase at a rapid pace. A large portion of America’s population is aging, which means a potentially overburdened healthcare system. This will lead to increased responsibility for healthcare professionals who must provide more services for more people than ever before. At the same time, the eligible applicant pool is not keeping pace with this growing demand. It’s imperative we encourage college students to pursue careers in the medical field to meet these growing needs. Unfortunately, the fear of getting into large debt is often a deterrent for young people. That’s why the adoption of the student loan repayment benefits, through platforms like Tution.io, will allow budding healthcare professionals to have peace of mind when deciding to make the leap into the field.
21-48% reduction in employee turnover rates among their healthcare clients
Loan repayment benefits will help grow a larger group of healthcare workers, and we are seeing the initial impact of these programs today. The student loan repayment program is a relatively new, but a highly desirable benefit, that acts as a competitive advantage for employers. Health systems offering this benefit can set themselves apart and attract and retain top new talent. To date, Tuition.io has seen a 21-48% reduction in employee turnover rates among their healthcare clients. Not only does Tuition.io’s service allow employers to contribute to employees’ student debt, but the platform also provides a variety of financial wellness tools that aggregate data and provide best practices for repayment.
We are on the verge of a crisis in the healthcare industry and unless we find solutions quickly, our body of medical professionals will become even more strained. With a strong economy and low unemployment rate, companies across all industries must find ways to bolster benefits to aggressively attract top talent. Through focusing on better benefits that align with what employees need the most, like student debt repayment, employers can and must set themselves apart.
When it comes to recruiting technology solutions, talent acquisition professionals are looking for three outcomes: 1) quality candidates, 2) a faster time to fill, and 3) less cumbersome work flows. It reminds me of a phrase from my hotel HR days about creating processes that are “easy to buy and easy to use”.
Finding the best talent doesn’t have to be complex or lengthy. However, in order to accomplish our recruiting goals, we do need to identify the right tools. Take for instance, the sourcing process. Organizations can spend a lot of valuable resources trying to find the most skilled candidates and not end up with the results they’re looking for.
I recently had the opportunity to speak with Art Zeile, CEO of DHI Group about today’s sourcing challenges and his recommended solutions. If you’re not familiar, DHI Group is the parent company for Dice, a technology solution focused on providing sourcing tools to organizations, so they can find the best talent. To start our conversation, Zeile shared his views on the state of sourcing using something we’re all very familiar with – numbers.
Personally, I love talking about yield ratios. In Zeile’s scenario, we start with 300 million plus technology professional’s profiles on sites like Dice to social accounts like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc. Through complex algorithms, which we will not go into today, that number is filtered down to 11 million unique tech profiles and 2M individual profiles that include a resume.
While going from 300M to 2M is great, searching two-million resumes is still a lot of work. Even when you are a Boolean wizard. And if you do find an individual who meets the criteria you’re looking for, what are the chances that they’re willing to entertain a new job opportunity?
Instead of spending valuable recruiting time doing complex searches with a variety of keywords, you simply enter the entire job posting. Yep, the entire posting. That’s where Dice’s new talentsearch tool comes in and the algorithm takes over. The result? Individuals who have the skills you’re looking for AND have a willingness to make a change.
One example where I thought Dice’s new talent search tool could be particularly valuable is in recruiting veterans. It’s a challenge for both candidates and recruiters to decipher skills. For the individual with a service record, it’s about communicating what they did in non-military terms. And for the organization, it’s about understanding how military service is transferrable.
Zeile shared with me that Dice’s new talent search product actually got its start in the military. Specifically, it was originally created and tested in another division of DHI Group called ClearanceJobs.com, which focuses on job openings where a security clearance is required.
Yesterday’s talent search tools allowed us to find skilled candidates. But it required some technical know-how on our parts and time to work our magic. Today’s new talent search tools can help us find better more skilled candidates, especially for technical and highly specialized jobs. And we can do it with the skills we use every day like cut/paste. (Side note: I’m not anti-Boolean, but you have to admit cutting and pasting is easier.)
We’ve all heard that old saying about working smarter not harder. Sourcing is one of those processes where it’s absolutely true. We’re looking for real results – skilled candidates, reduced time to fill, and easier work flows for us.
FluidData is a search engine that sorts through podcast titles and transcripts to find relevant podcasts based on keywords. While this may seem like an odd approach to recruiting, it can actually prove very useful in finding talent.
The search engine’s function is pretty standard—you can input keywords and specify a date range. However, you can also create an account, which allows you to set alerts and save searches. From the search results, you can play podcasts directly, download the audio for later listening, and link through to the podcast’s website.
For recruiting, this can be a very quick way to locate experts in the field of your choice. Though it may take some additional steps or tools to find contact info, FluidData will allow you to be sure that the people you contact know what they are doing.
Here are some tips for using FluidData for recruiting:
FluidData works great to find thought leaders and key individuals that represent a brand~ Noel Cocca
Look inside with Dean Da Costa:
“Ghosts seem harder to please than we are; it is as though they haunted for haunting’s sake — much as we relive, brood and smolder over our pasts.” — Author Elizabeth Bowen
About seven years ago, with the rise of online dating and dating apps, came the term ghosting. In essence, it meant that two people had agreed to meet at a set time on a set date and one of them just didn’t show up. No phone call, no text message, no follow up whatsoever. While typically thought to be poor form, this method of disconnecting has since infiltrated other aspects of life, including the workplace.
At first, there were stories about candidates skipping out interviews, presumably because the job wasn’t of interest or they found something better. Annoying, yes. Rude, for sure. The long-term impact on the organization varies. Though at this stage, potentially minuscule. However lately, the narrative shifted. Rather than missing interviews, candidates turned new hires began jumping ship on their start date without so much as a head’s up.
Beyond the Miss Manners-style implications, this scenario hurts the bottom line. At this stage in the recruiting process, there’s an investment to consider. By one account, cost per hire is upwards of $4,400 on average. There’s also time and effort, with time to fill hovering around 30 days. Ouch. But what’s an employer to do?
With ghosting, one of the biggest frustrations is never knowing the reason why. Logically, it’s most likely on this new hire, though sometimes it could reflect on the organization. So, once established that this person is never, ever, ever showing up, quit calling them and do some recruiting research.
Trace their individual experience to identify any possible pain points in the candidate experience. How did automation and communication factor in? Did the candidate get strung along for months on end? Were their start date and onboarding process spelled out and confirmed ahead of time? Also, examine their offer and how this might compare with similar positions that may have lured them away.
Low unemployment rates mean that this is an employees’ market and right now, ghosting isn’t limited to new hires. If employees are also disappearing without notice, there may be a culture issue to blame. Before the trend continues, try and get to the heart of the matter through internal introspection.
Observation complete, advertence in hand, get back to what’s truly important: finding a talented new hire to fill this role. Now, chances are, there were a few other applicants under consideration before the ghost got selected.
Before starting the process anew, think about going back to these other candidates and explaining that the position reopened. Those still available with a legitimate interest in the organization will likely set aside any bruised feelings for another chance. There is also the possibility of finding fresh candidates hiding out somewhere deep inside the ATS, or maybe even internally. Always hit refresh before restarting.
If this isn’t an option, think about, recruiting continuously. While there’s no foolproof way to escape ghosting, having a free flow of candidates may ease the fallout if and when it occurs again. Whenever feasible, keep scheduling interviews since dropout doesn’t always happen on the first day and maintain the open req until a new hire is 100 percent onboard.
With the ghost out of sight and (mostly) out of mind, move the process forward. Automate the time-consuming top of funnel work like recruitment marketing, sourcing and screening to give recruiters more time for relationship building. In doing so, bonds are forged and strengthened, giving candidates a chance to invest in the organization, well before they start. This approach infuses humanity into the hiring process, and lets candidates know there are real people on the other end of the exchange, eager to welcome them as an employee.
In addition to the top of the funnel, consider improving onboarding to make it more appealing. Some tasks are obligatory, but telling new hires that they’ll spend their first week or more in a conference training will send some running for the hills. The goal should be to bring new hires into the fold as quickly as possible, connecting them to coworkers, making them feel included and letting them know that their presence is an integral addition.
More often than not, ghosting is the result of a poor candidate experience, lengthy hiring timeline, and underwhelming onboarding offer. To avoid the threat of ghosts, organizations can learn from current recruiting processes as well as existing employees to humanize the organization and make the role more desirable. This extends to all aspects of the talent acquisition lifecycle and includes the technologies used, reliance on automation and ultimately, communication. Leave no business unfinished and prevent the possibility of ghosts.
Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) are becoming far more prevalent in the workplace, as firms struggle to practice diversity hiring and employee inclusion and to promote and maintain a level of employee engagement that curtails turnover. Pandora, Lever, Google, Pinterest, Workday, Hewlett-Packard, Oshkosh, Comcast NBC Universal, and Yelp and many other companies have found that ERGs helped brand their firms as diverse and offer each employee an equal opportunity to become empowered and engaged.
Shelton Goode, Ph.D., Director of Diversity and Inclusion for Oshkosh Corp., in his own research on ERG effectiveness, found that over 70 percent of the responding employers relied on their ERGs to create a workforce that reflected customer demographics. A whopping 90 percent called on ERG members to help new hires get comfortable during onboarding, and help assure their retention
Diversity Best Practices defines ERGs as “employer-recognized groups of employees who share the concerns of a common race, gender, national origin or sexual orientation–characteristics protected in some instances by law and in many organizations as a matter of company policy.”
ERGs can be nearly anything employees want them to be, however, if they’re not offensive or otherwise so repugnant that employers disallow them. They’re simply a gathering of like-minded staff, for purposes that might be as simple as camaraderie or as complicated as support for a common cause. They typically meet at the office, with some efforts work-related, and their gatherings and programs are employer funded. Before you let budget dissuade you, however, do read further, about how companies are reaping retention, productivity and financial benefits from ERGs.
At online music giant Pandora, where ERGs are referred to as communities, the Pandora Women community is tasked with meeting and mingling with new hires on an informal basis, to make them feel welcome and included.
Several companies, such as Comcast NBC Universal, cultivate staff talent with their employee groups. Comcast began an ERG Mentorship program in 2012, to boost each ERG’s professional development potential. The program put senior managers together one-on-one with ERG members, to recognize the mentee’s accomplishments, and inspire them to advance in their careers. It also hosted networking events and lunch-and-learns. More than half of the participants have been promoted since the mentorship program began.
Comcast also uses ERGs to promote products and boost its bottom line. Unidos, members of the firm’s Hispanic ERG, worked with the company’s product developers to test a new Spanish-language version of its X1 Voice Remote. Unidos members helped populate the remote’s database of voice commands. This eased the X1 box guide navigation for Spanish-speaking customers and helped them find Spanish-language programming. The newly bilingual X1 Voice Remote has been a huge sales success.
According to Comcast Assurance and Advisory Team Engagement Manager Kristin Heffner, the company’s ERGs have spurred “a higher level of employee engagement, an enhanced sense of community and a stronger understanding of the power of inclusion across all levels of the organization.”
Rachel Williams, Head of Diversity and Inclusion at customer review pioneer Yelp, has been long focused on advancing inclusion in the tech industry. Yelp’s ERGs have been a big part of making that happen.
Williams began her role and her inclusion efforts with a listening tour of Yelp’s 3,500 employees in 7 offices. She discovered several informal staff communities of people such as female leaders and members of the LGBTQ community. She talked to other companies about how they were doing their ERGs and determined that each ERG should focus on a change that the group had a reasonable expectation of accomplishing. She thought it important that they home in, not just on the business value the group would create, but also its ability to teach its members and others about the challenges its members face. She then talked with HR, to find out what concerns employees had voiced. Parenthood and police brutality were prominent topics. She asked for those employees’ names, spoke to them, and created ERGs around those topics. From those initial two, Yelp ERGs have grown to 70.
“Our ERGs have put on hundreds of events this past year across all of our offices that highlight and celebrate their unique perspectives and experiences,” Williams blogged.
Just recently, OUTburst, Yelp’s LGBT+ ERG brought California State Senator Scott Wiener to company headquarters to meet its employees. He spoke to them about equality legislation he was proposing to Congress, including affordable housing, and investment in renewable energy and a high-speed rail system.
“For us, a top down/bottom up approach to our inclusion programming has worked the best,” Williams said.
DiversityInc has written a short primer, with video. The Resource Groups 101 guide defines ERGs and offers startup and management tips.
For companies that have no ERG, DiversityInc suggests that it’s best to start by gathering staff members that belong to a group that is generally underrepresented or whose needs are going unheard in the larger city, state or national community. It might be a Latino group, or an LGBTQ group, or a widowed baby boomers’ group. If you don’t know your staff, do as Rachel Williams did, and ask them.
“First and foremost, have a business charter that is approved by your diversity department”
“First and foremost, have a business charter that is approved by your diversity department,” the DiversityInc primer says. “State clearly what the role of the resource group is and how it will impact your business, whether it is through recruitment and talent development or external market relationships.”
Each group should be sponsored by a senior executive, and preferably someone whose background boosts the group’s cultural diversity. If there are just a few people who want to start a group, don’t put them off until prospective member numbers meet some critical mass. Instead, let your corporate diversity staff step in to encourage new members. As you recognize prospective leaders in each group, give them a chance to lead, and train them to do so.
Don’t forget that these groups are about inclusion. Don’t make them exclusive instead of inclusive by narrowing their memberships to folks who belong to the various underrepresented groups in the larger community. Straight employees who believe in equality may well want to be part of the LGBTQ group and should be welcomed. The women in technology group might benefit from a warm welcome to middle-aged men who don’t quite get what women are complaining about but want to learn, and help.
One such is Espresa, which launched the ERG dashboard this past July as a feature of its program management platform. The employer can see at a glance what ERGs are in place and the programs they’re involved in and can gather employee feedback about the groups. Espresa can help promote each ERG, enable group sign up and track attendance. There are various levels of authority within the platform that enable designated employees to create, manage and promote ERG events. It also empowers benefits or other administrators to ensure that groups comply with company policies. Espresa also tracks ERG cost-per-user figures for the groups and their specific programs.
“When an employee has a network of colleagues they view as friends, it makes it more difficult for them to be tempted by other employment opportunities,” Espresa CEO Alex Shubat said in the product announcement. “This is the value of ERGs, which are also important tools for bridging the gap between siloed employees.”
In its Harnessing the Power of Employee Resource Groups white paper, IDG concluded that both employees and employer benefit from a well-managed ERG program. Employees build relationships that make work more enjoyable, and the business reaps the engagement and productivity rewards of a diverse but unified workforce.
“People actively want to be a part of these communities; they want to unite and give feedback to their team on how to best serve their particular interests,” Williams told researchers, for Lever’s Diversity and Inclusion Handbook. “Ultimately, I can’t think of a better way to retain employees than ERGs. I hear that on our employees’ toughest days, being a part of these communities has kept them here. Their activism has also helped us refine our own product.”
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