Blog

Improving Internal Mobility for Employees

From trying out a talent marketplace to getting the most helpful tools, there are many ways to give employees the opportunity for growth and internal mobility.

Create an Internal Talent Marketplace

An internal talent marketplace (platform or interface) allows employees to showcase their skills and interests, apply for open positions, and connect with hiring managers. It creates transparency and enables employees to take control of their career development.

It also gives managers and company leaders insight into the skills that their existing workforce has now or wants to learn in order to forecast and close future skills gaps by moving skilled employees into new roles.

Jessica Miller-Merrell
Founder and Chief Innovation Officer, Workology

Try Monthly Career Planning

Employees can often be terrified of raising career questions with their immediate boss—scared it could lead to reduced trust or worse…termination. To boost internal mobility, organizations have to actively encourage managers to set regular checkpoints with team members where long-term career planning is the focus (a monthly cadence is my personal recommendation).

Having done this twice recently, the common refrain I hear is, “Why would you allow your employees to move to alternate teams?” My response is simple: I’d always prefer talent to remain within our company, and if we can develop an appropriate transition plan, then there is no downtime, compared to if the employee becomes frustrated and ultimately leaves, causing a far greater burden than if we found a new home for them within the same company.

Patrick Ward
Founder, NanoGlobals

Share Stories of Growth

Spread the word when employees are promoted! When staff members are celebrated publicly, it can inspire everyone.

Your employees will feel empowered to create their own paths to success within the company. Consider an internal page on your website where employees can share success stories and you can feature open roles. When your team celebrates each other often, a culture of growth develops!

Liza Kirsh
Chief Marketing Officer, Dymapak

Post Internally First

To encourage employees to apply for internal positions, begin by posting the position internally only. Post positions in-house for at least 14 days before sharing externally.

This will encourage and give employees the opportunity to apply before having to compete with a wider applicant pool. Many internal candidates won’t apply, as they fear they won’t be able to compete, especially for higher positions. However, these employees have company history and knowledge that can’t be replicated. Show your employees that promoting from within is a priority for your company.

Asker Ahmed
Director and Founder, iProcess

Facilitate Employee Development

In my expert opinion, one of the most effective ways to improve internal mobility is by investing in employee development.

Well, employers should provide opportunities for their employees to learn new skills, take on additional responsibilities, and advance their careers. This can be done through job shadowing, mentoring, training programs, and offering tuition reimbursement for further education.

Rene Delgado
Founder and CEO, Shop Indoor Golf

Increase Transparency and Communication

In my expert opinion, to improve internal mobility, employers should increase transparency and communication with their employees. This includes providing clear job descriptions, career paths, and performance expectations.

Employers should also provide regular feedback and have open discussions with employees about their career goals and aspirations. This will help employees understand what opportunities are available to them and how they can advance within the company.

Matthew Appleton
E-commerce Manager, Appleton Sweets

Implement a Formal Internal Mobility Program

Experts prefer this, employers should implement a formal internal mobility program that outlines the process for internal job postings, transfers, and promotions. The best thing about this program is that it should be easily accessible to all employees and should be regularly updated to reflect the changing needs of the company.

The program should also be supported by senior leadership and be communicated clearly to all employees to ensure that everyone is aware of the opportunities available to them.

Alice Hall
Co-Founder and Creative Director, Rowen Homes

Cross-train Employees

Generally, each employee holds a single job description or list of tasks and responsibilities at one time. Employees, and their leaders, may consider this to be a level of internal comfort, whereby most people know their place and expectations.

This level of operation comes at a cost to individual employees who seek to learn more about your business operations and even contribute more to its success. Employees who aspire to higher levels of responsibility and authority need to know that this potential is realistic.

Evidence may come when certain opportunities for cross-training are advertised. Employees, for example, who are generally in a customer-facing position may be offered exposure to the internal operations, such as customers’ order processing.

For those seeking to reach higher and organizations valuing the skills and experience of tenured staff, internal mobility can be improved when staff is building upon skills, rather than only perfecting their original job description.

Ashley Kenny
Founder, Heirloom

Develop a Comprehensive Career Development Program

The best way to improve internal mobility for employees is to provide a clear path forward for career advancement. If you’re in a position where you’d like to move up in your organization but don’t know how or if it’s even possible, it can frustrate and demoralize you. We want our employees to feel empowered and confident in their ability to advance within the company, so we ensure they have access to guidance and resources that will help them get there.

One way to do this is to develop a comprehensive career development program. This program should give employees the tools and help they need to improve and advance in the company. This could mean having access to opportunities for training and growth, mentoring and coaching programs, and career counseling services. Also, organizations can create a culture of continuous learning and development by giving employees at all levels of the organization opportunities to learn and grow.

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

Ensure that You Have the Proper Technologies

Big businesses, in my perspective, hold a complicated web of opportunities. It is understandable that hiring managers will find it difficult to balance hiring requirements with existing internal expertise. Increasing the visibility of opportunities and simplifying the identification and development of internal talent, talent management software helps make sense of it all.

Seek software with professional progression and internal mobility features. This will assist you in systematizing your efforts and making internal mobility accessible and realizable for the entire organization.

Joe Troyer
CEO and Growth Advisor, Digital Triggers

Top Logistics Talent Challenges in 2023 – And How to Overcome Them

The logistics industry has been fraught with labor shortages, with the nation experiencing a widespread lack of truck drivers, warehouse workers, couriers, and skilled technicians. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment among couriers, messengers, warehousing, and storage continued on a downward trend in December 2022, as well.

With evolving market dynamics, logistics companies need to stay ahead of the curve when it comes to hiring and retaining great-fit talent. In this article, we discuss how HR leaders in logistics can optimize recruitment for better hiring outcomes.

Overcoming the Talent Challenges in Logistics Industry

Here are some trends to keep in mind for companies looking to hire new talent:

1. Technology and Automation or Employee Skill Development: What’s the Answer?

Consumer demand is increasing and, according to a survey by Accenture, it is one of the most significant causes for transformation. As a result, companies are turning to technology and automation tools to meet evolving customer expectations. Moreover, data analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) are revolutionizing logistics by minimizing errors, using predictive maintenance, assisting inventory management with real-time feedback, and forecasting demand and potential bottlenecks. However, increasing investment in AI-powered and automated solutions begs an obvious question – how does it impact human jobs?

While training and implementing digital models seem easier, human labor remains integral to supply chains. This means that for companies to attract and retain talented employees, it is vital to pay attention to how the physical and digital worlds collaborate to create a more valuable workforce. It is time to invest in tech and humans, equally.

With such advancements in technology and automation, you need employees who are comfortable using digital tools and software like transportation management systems and data analytics. This is where upskilling and skill development come in. Although there is a need for digitally-skilled employees, only 45% of companies invest in effective skill development programs, and it’s a deal breaker for new talent! Forty-four percent of employees would stay in their current company, but only on the condition of reskilling and development. To set yourself apart from the competition, focus on creating upskilling programs, career growth opportunities, and apprenticeships and internships to sustain critical employees and experts. Such options will also help you gain new talent.

2. Leveraging Flexibility and Remote Work Options

Given the changing business landscape, flexible and remote work options have become ordinary – and most employees prefer it! More control over one’s schedule makes for a supportive work environment which encourages better work-life balance. This can mean a few different things based on your needs.

First, businesses have adopted contingent and temporary workers in response to changing market conditions. It presents a win-win situation for both – companies can scale up efficiently when required, while employees enjoy the benefits of higher flexibility. Next, introducing (or continuing) remote work options for certain employees will help retain them longer. Many functions like quality control measures and technical support can be performed remotely. Encouraging and creating a collaborative environment for remote workers will enhance efficiency, morale, and productivity. It also allows you to curate a positive company culture that values teamwork, collaboration, and open communication and fosters a positive and supportive work environment – which is crucial to attracting and retaining new talent.

Lastly, when talking about attracting new talent, a robust application and hiring process is a must. But don’t make it long, confusing, and tedious – candidates will drop out. Leverage recruitment solutions to streamline the application and make it more flexible for the candidates. For instance, invest in digital platforms that centralize the application, provide 24/7 support to candidates, and allow you to communicate on the go. This will also enhance the overall candidate experience and impact your conversion rates and return on investment. Including these best practices in your hiring will allow you to attract and retain top talent.

3. Expand Your Talent Pool with Data-driven Sourcing

Another great way to optimize your tech stack is to back the hiring process with a data-driven approach. In a tight and competitive labor market, hiring managers, talent acquisition (TA), and HR leaders are hard-pressed to find quality candidates. Often, sourcing challenges also arise from using outdated channels instead of updating and expanding your options.

Data analytics and workforce management solutions do an excellent job of providing you with the right type of data to enhance your candidate search. Apart from that, data also provides insight into your hiring needs by identifying open priority roles, hiring costs, and future needs of the business to consider while making hiring decisions.

Equipped with this data, you can opt for sourcing solutions like programmatic advertising to optimize ad spending and target the great-fit candidates. Programmatic solutions automatically select and allocate funds among the best job boards and display your ads to desired candidates. Read more about how programmatic solutions can help with candidate sourcing: Thrive Amid Volatility with Data-Driven Talent Sourcing

In addition, you can also use social media platforms to reach and recruit new candidates. Millennial and Gen-Z workers frequent companies’ social media accounts; using them correctly, you can reach and attract them. A variety of content, like images, audio, and video, enables you to connect and engage with a broader audience. If you still need more reasons to include social media in your recruitment strategy, read 8 Reasons Why Social Media Is the Best Platform for Recruiting

Conclusion

Logistics, supply chain, and transportation industries have struggled with labor shortages in the last few years. The pandemic, global economic challenges, and disruptions have only exacerbated these issues and are likely to continue well into this year.

Companies that prioritize employee skill development and growth while investing in helpful tech and automation (combined with flexibility and remote work options) will be well-positioned to attract and retain top talent in the logistics industry. Furthermore, businesses must look into their hiring process and make it easier, quicker, and more streamlined. Lastly, most companies often fall back due to their outdated sourcing approaches.

To learn more about how you can use Joveo’s award-winning programmatic platform to find great-fit talent, see us in action!.

The Last Analog Process: Job Interviews

Countless business functions—from customer service to sales and content marketing—are being improved through a mix of data, analytics, machine learning, and artificial intelligence. But a digital divide remains in one of the most critical organizational processes in human resources: interviewing.

Interviewing is still a primarily analog process, which makes hiring more subjective than it could or should be. In fact, HR teams report that 85% to 97% of hiring is based on gut instinct. That’s right, one of the most important and impactful processes in HR is still based primarily on instinct rather than data.

It’s no wonder that turnover rates are high and 60% of candidates report a poor interview experience. Turnover can be due to many factors but is often related to expectation setting and proper transparency during the interview itself. In a tight labor market like we’re facing today, startups and HR teams face massive challenges in filling open positions and can no longer afford to be hindered by ineffective analog interview processes. Gut instinct must be fact-checked with data.

Fact-checking Gut Instinct With Data

Gut instinct may always remain a reality of hiring, but what if we could augment instinct with objective data? Conversational analytics solutions now provide a way to automatically gather, synthesize, and present summarized, objective candidate data that helps recruiters and hiring managers compare their instinct with objective findings from the interview. Also referred to as conversational intelligence or conversational AI, these solutions extract data and insights from human-to-machine or human-to-human conversations.

A common use case for conversational analytics in human-to-machine interactions is leveraging chatbots to field customer service issues. The chatbot collects data to determine what the problem is and whether the customer is satisfied with the answers provided. In the area of human-to-human interaction, we’ve seen conversational analytics applied to the sales domain. Solutions such as Gong and Chorus listen to calls to extract “sales intelligence” to analyze the quality of opportunities.

Finally, we’ve arrived at the era of conversational analytics applied to HR, where solutions like HireLogic listen to job interviews and extract “interview intelligence” for a comprehensive understanding of candidates and what was covered during the interview.

How Conversational Analytics Radically Changes Interviewing

Conversational analytics provides interview intelligence automatically after an interview is completed. Some solutions in the market claim to provide interview intelligence, but instead, provide “interview metrics” like talk time and talk ratio, and allow users to manually highlight snippets of the transcript for review.Evolution of Interview Support Platforms

 

True interview intelligence goes beyond metrics to provide time-saving insights that help with hiring decisions. It detects the skills, job functions, industries, and titles discussed, reports how much of the conversation covered those topics, and flags portions of the transcript to surface candidate characteristics such as leadership qualities, aspirations, likes, and dislikes. This succinct analysis helps hiring managers understand how thorough an interview was, whether the interviewer’s recommendation is reliable, and what type of follow-up questions might be required.

To reduce bias and ensure compliance, interview intelligence flags potentially inappropriate questions around age, gender, marital status, or other personal traits so that employees can be coached on how to be better interviewers. For example, asking a candidate how old their children are may seem innocuous but could lead to age-related discrimination. Oftentimes, people don’t even realize they’re doing it, so it’s helpful to have AI attempt to detect and identify opportunities to improve interview compliance.

Having been a founder, a board member, and a C-Suite leader at several companies, I know how important interviewing is to find the right team member. Even the most seasoned manager can find it challenging to simultaneously think of the right questions to ask, listen carefully to the response, and take good notes that can be used for objective hiring decisions, all while trying to build rapport and engage with the candidate. When you compound this challenge across multiple team members, candidates, and positions, it quickly becomes apparent that having objective data to make informed hiring decisions helps tremendously to fact-check instincts and unconscious bias. Having used conversational intelligence to help gather this data automatically during calls, I never want to do another interview again without it.

Imagine the Data From 30 Million+ Interviews per Month

At the start of 2023, there were approximately 11 million job openings in the U.S. If you assume conservatively that there are three interviews conducted per opening, that’s over 30 million interviews a month, or roughly 1 million interviews happening every day in the U.S. alone. This is a significant amount of time and resources that organizations are spending to conduct interviews for hiring, and it’s still a mostly subjective process prone to unconscious bias.

If all that data could be instantly gathered and applied to augment the interview and hiring process, organizations may save countless hours, reduce unconscious bias, and experience less turnover. But most exciting above all is the prospect of helping both hiring managers and job seekers finally find the right fit for a productive and beneficial relationship.

 

 

The Intersection of Talent Acquisition and Medical Billing

As the healthcare industry continues to grow, the need for medical billing professionals has never been higher. Medical billers play a vital role in ensuring that healthcare providers get paid for their services. However, finding and hiring the right talent can be a challenge, especially with the high demand for skilled professionals in this field. In this article, we will discuss best practices for hiring billing professionals, including the skills to look for and the recruitment strategies that work best.

Understanding the Role of Medical Billers

Before diving into the best practices for hiring billing professionals, it is essential to understand what the role entails. Medical billers are responsible for processing claims and ensuring that healthcare providers receive payment for their services. This requires a thorough understanding of medical terminology, billing codes, and insurance regulations. A skilled medical biller must be detail-oriented, highly organized, and possess excellent communication skills to work with patients, healthcare providers, and insurance companies.

Best Practices for Hiring Billing Professionals

When it comes to hiring billing professionals, there are several best practices to consider. Here are some tips to help you find and hire the right talent for your organization:

1. Define the Role

Before starting the recruitment process, it is essential to define the role of the medical biller. This includes the job responsibilities, required skills, and experience level. This will help attract the right candidates and streamline the recruitment process.

2. Look for Relevant Experience

Medical billing requires specialized knowledge and experience. Look for candidates with a background in billing, coding, or healthcare administration. Candidates with experience working in a medical office or healthcare setting will be familiar with medical terminology, billing codes, and insurance regulations.

3. Evaluate Technical Skills

In addition to relevant experience, it is essential to evaluate technical skills. Medical billing software and technology are constantly evolving, so it is crucial to hire someone who is familiar with the latest tools and techniques. Look for candidates with experience using electronic health record (EHR) systems, medical billing software, and other related technology.

4. Assess Soft Skills

Assessing soft skills is crucial when hiring medical billing professionals. In addition to technical skills, medical billers must have excellent communication, problem-solving, and customer service skills to interact effectively with patients, healthcare providers, and insurance companies. One way to evaluate a candidate’s soft skills is by conducting behavioral interviews that focus on past experiences and actions in challenging situations. You can also administer personality assessments or work simulations to gauge their abilities to work collaboratively, handle stress, and manage their time effectively. By assessing soft skills, you can ensure that you’re hiring candidates who are not only proficient in medical billing but also possess the interpersonal skills needed to excel in the role.

Conduct Behavioral Interviews

To assess a candidate’s soft skills, consider conducting behavioral interviews. These types of interviews focus on the candidate’s past behavior in certain situations. For example, you might ask the candidate to describe a time when they had to handle a difficult patient or insurance company. This can help you evaluate how they would handle similar situations in the future.

Utilize Referrals and Networking

Don’t underestimate the power of referrals and networking when it comes to hiring medical billers. Reach out to your professional network or industry associations for recommendations. Additionally, consider offering a referral bonus to current employees for successful hires.

Provide Competitive Compensation and Benefits

Medical billing professionals are in high demand, and they know it. To attract and retain top talent, you must offer competitive compensation and benefits. Conduct market research to determine the appropriate salary range for the role and consider offering benefits such as health insurance, retirement plans, and paid time off.

Offer Training and Development Opportunities

Medical billing is a complex and ever-changing field. To keep your employees up-to-date with the latest technologies and regulations, offer training and development opportunities. This can include online courses, industry certifications, or attendance at conferences and seminars.

Conclusion

Hiring skilled medical billing professionals can be challenging, but by following these best practices, you can streamline the recruitment process and find the right talent for your organization. Remember to define the role, look for relevant experience, evaluate technical and soft skills, conduct behavioral interviews, utilize referrals and networking, provide competitive compensation and benefits, and offer training and development opportunities. Additionally, outsourcing medical billing services can be a smart move for organizations looking to optimize their billing operations and achieve greater efficiency. By partnering with specialized professionals who have expertise in medical billing processes, regulations, and requirements, organizations can benefit from faster reimbursement, reduced billing errors, and improved accuracy. By incorporating outsourcing as part of your talent acquisition strategy, you can build a strong team of medical billing professionals and position your organization for success in the competitive healthcare industry.

BizNar Makes Company Research Easy

Are you tired of scrolling through endless news articles to find the information you need about a company? Look no further than BizNar! This website is your one-stop-shop for easy company research. It’s like having your own personal Sherlock Holmes, but without the deerstalker hat.

BizNar.com aggregates news from thousands of sources, including major news outlets and niche blogs, so you can easily find the latest information on any company. With its powerful search engine, you can easily search for specific keywords or topics to quickly find the information you need. It’s like having a search engine on steroids!

But wait, there’s more! They also offer a customizable dashboard that allows you to tailor your news feed to your interests and preferences. Want to know everything about Apple? No problem. Just customize your dashboard to show all the latest news and updates about the tech giant. It’s like having a personal assistant who knows exactly what you’re looking for.

And if you’re always on-the-go, don’t worry. BizNar.com has a mobile app that allows you to access the latest business news and insights from anywhere. It’s like having a pocket-sized business encyclopedia that you can carry with you wherever you go.

In conclusion, if you want to make company research easy and even a little bit fun, BizNar.com is the way to go. With its powerful search engine, customizable dashboard, and mobile app, you’ll have all the information you need at your fingertips. So why waste time sifting through endless news articles when you can get all the information you need with just a few clicks?

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!

How Workplace Safety Impacts Hiring and Recruitment

Maintaining a safe and secure environment for all employees is a crucial component in the successful operation of a business.

Failing to implement appropriate workplace safety measures and security procedures can lead to injuries among employees. This can also result in decreased morale, a negative atmosphere, and challenges in attracting and retaining new staff members.

It is essential to foster a sense of safety and inclusion during the recruitment and hiring process to entice potential employees to join your organization. Neglecting their safety is far from welcoming and could signal that their welfare is not a priority for you.

Here are some potential consequences to consider in relation to workplace safety.

Impacts On Hiring, Recruitment, and Staff Retention Regarding Safety

Safety is important for your current workers, but also for prospect employees. When new applicants see that you care about their safety they are more likely to be interested in working for your company.

Proper Safety Practices Will Encourage People To Apply

Implementing safety practices encourages people to apply to companies, as it reflects the organization’s commitment to employee well-being and a secure work environment.

By emphasizing safety, a company showcases its dedication to safeguarding its workforce from potential hazards.

Employing safety guidelines and procedures helps maintain smooth business operations. Straightforward measures, such as providing machine manuals, offering clear instructions, using floor markers, reminding employees about safety gear, and keeping protocols up-to-date, contribute to a safer and more efficient workplace.

Potential applicants are more likely to be drawn to a company that demonstrates concern for their safety. In the absence of such measures, candidates may be deterred from applying, fearing the risk of harm to themselves within the work setting.

Fewer Injuries Show the Trustworthiness of the Business

Regular occurrences of injuries are undoubtedly detrimental to any business. Regrettably, accidents can still occur despite addressing all safety concerns, as they are sometimes unavoidable. In 2021, US workplaces experienced 2,607,900 non-fatal injuries and 5,190 fatalities.

However, these accidents imply that some businesses lack safety protocols and don’t provide proper training for employees.

In addition to dealing with unhappy and injured employees, potential safety breaches may prompt the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to inspect your workplace. If violations are discovered, the company may face fines of $15,625 per infraction and suffer damage to its reputation.

The objective should be to achieve zero injuries. A decrease in incidents demonstrates to potential employees that the workplace is secure, fostering trust in the organization. Moreover, when injury rates are minimal or ideally nonexistent, employees will feel confident in the company’s ability to ensure their safety throughout the workday.

Safety Measures Lead To Higher Morale and Engagement

Implementing safety precautions contributes to maintaining a positive atmosphere for both management and employees. A sense of security fosters a more relaxed and content environment, reducing stress related to potential uncertainties.

Alongside improved morale, heightened employee engagement and productivity are likely to result from reduced concerns about potential injuries. Employees can concentrate on their tasks and perform confidently, knowing they are following proper procedures. Prospective applicants will be attracted to a dynamic and efficient work environment.

When employees feel safe and happy in the workplace, you can expect the business to do well. Job satisfaction is vital in every sized business, otherwise, you’ll have people quitting left and right, leaving the company scrambling to find new employees.

Prioritizing Safety Can Create an Inviting Work Environment

Approximately 68% of employees worldwide feel insecure in their work settings. Implementing safety guidelines and protocols, however, can help enhance this statistic. By taking these steps, companies demonstrate that they view employees as more than just workers and genuinely care about their well-being.

When employees feel unsafe, the work atmosphere can become tense and confrontational. This often results in a lack of trust between management and employees, potentially leading to the following consequences:

  • Pent-up anger and passive aggressiveness
  • Stress and anxiety
  • Fighting
  • General unhappiness

When adequate safety measures are in place, the workplace atmosphere generally becomes more amicable. Employees perceive that their supervisors value their well-being, fostering a harmonious environment. As hostility dissipates, opportunities arise for cultivating deeper and more supportive work relationships.

A positive and content atmosphere is far more appealing to prospective applicants than one rife with tension and dissatisfied employees. Observing people who genuinely enjoy their work experience is likely to pique their interest.

Providing Safety Training and Technology Will Encourage People To Apply and Keep Current Employees

If your organization lacks adequate safety protocols and employees appear discontent, you can reverse this situation by introducing safety training and technology.

Safety training may seem bothersome to some, but it ensures everyone has a consistent understanding and awareness of safety practices. This is vital for minimizing the risk of injury to oneself and others while carrying out job tasks.

With proper safety training, employees and prospective hires will feel equipped for their roles. Experiencing a sense of insecurity and unpreparedness can negatively impact job performance and overall business success.

Safety technology, such as alarms, machine sensors, and other devices, also contributes to a secure environment. These tools serve as additional safeguards should any aspect of a safety protocol be overlooked.

Implementing these measures will enhance the sense of security among current employees, encouraging retention, and make new applicants feel more confident during the hiring process and subsequent employment.

Concluding Thoughts

In conclusion, the importance of workplace safety and security procedures cannot be overstated.

Establishing and maintaining a safe environment is crucial for business success, employee well-being, and overall job satisfaction. Implementing appropriate safety measures, providing training, and leveraging technology can help to foster a positive atmosphere that attracts and retains top talent.

By prioritizing safety, organizations can create an inviting work environment where employees feel secure, valued, and empowered to contribute their best efforts.

Investing in workplace safety not only prevents injuries and costly legal consequences but also paves the way for a more productive, efficient, and harmonious work environment that ultimately leads to greater success for the entire organization.

Encourage ‘Quiet Thriving’ Starting At the Recruitment Level

Late in 2022, psychotherapist Lesley Alderman wrote an article for The Washington Post about quiet thriving, introducing the world to the term and the concept.

Because Americans spend 40 or more hours every week on the job, it’s natural for them to get frustrated and rethink work relationships, including if they want to continue their employment. Rather than joining in on the Great Resignation, some workers chose quiet thriving, where they found ways to get more engaged and less miserable at work.

The State of Quiet Quitting

Gallup estimates around 50% of the U.S. workforce are “quiet quitters.” They do the bare minimum to meet the job description and avoid getting fired. These workers aren’t passionate about what they do nor do they go above and beyond.

Quiet quitters are burned out and often feel overlooked and underappreciated. The epidemic might be due to low pay, poor company culture or lack of feedback from leadership.

Recruiters have two opportunities to improve this situation. First, they can offer insight to the companies they recruit for better onboarding. Second, they can tap into the talent pool of disenchanted workers and find them positions they’re better suited for.

Tips to Help Your Job Candidates with Quiet Thriving

The opposite of quiet quitting could be quiet thriving. Most brands want their staff to excel at what they do and feel great doing it. If you consistently deliver workers who solve their own problems and continue to excel during high-stress moments, you’ll be the go-to headhunter for your clients or company.

Here are some ideas for ensuring your applicants quietly thrive, starting at the recruiting stage.

1.    Be Transparent

Before recruiting a job candidate, be upfront about the company’s goals and what the job entails. If the person needs to work weekends, don’t tell them most weekends are free. A big part of dissatisfaction with a job is discovering the recruiter wasn’t honest about the requirements.

2.    Design Career Paths

Know the promotional structure and career path people must take to get from entry-level to management positions. One study showed around 30% of current jobs need re-leveling to include additional job levels and clearly define progression for existing employees.

The only way to design clear career paths is to understand the stages in learning necessary to fill each role effectively. If you run a recruiting firm rather than working directly under the umbrella of a corporation, you can train your clients and work with them to ensure the structure makes sense for their organization.

Set up the training, mentors and benchmarks to move up the career ladder. You’ll also be able to share the progression path with potential job candidates to encourage them to come on board.

3.    Define the Purpose of Work

The same Gallup poll showed many younger employees are uncertain of what’s expected of them and see no point in the tasks they complete. One way to counteract this and keep your employees focused on the importance of what they do is to discuss how what they do contributes to their department and the company as a whole.

When training management, encourage at least one conversation a week with each staff member and ensure it is deep and meaningful about what the workers see as their contributions and how well they are doing in their positions.

4.    Automate Menial Tasks

No one enjoys doing repetitive and boring things almost anyone could handle. They’ll feel undervalued and easily replaced. Around 57% of organizations have already adopted artificial intelligence (AI) to help with various business processes.

Encourage companies to take on the AI processes that give workers the freedom to dream, brainstorm and create new ideas. You should also encourage them to take risks without fear of repercussions. If they don’t feel safe throwing fresh ideas into the mix, they’ll start to keep the best ideas for themselves rather than share them with management.

Keep in touch with the job candidates who were hired. Are they happy in their new role? When recruiters show they care about the company and the employee’s needs, they’ll keep a study pool of clients and job applicants.

5.    Teach New Skills

Most people understand they must complete specific tasks to fill their workday. However, developing new skills and completing training is how employees grow and thrive in any environment.

Most workers are smart enough to understand when a recruiter invests in them, they see potential for the future. Not only are you putting money into the person, but you’re adding knowledge to your company and your staff’s skills.

Employees feel much more engaged and comfortable when they’re equipped to do their jobs to the best of their ability. Send staff to conferences, host in-house workshops and pay for courses. Invest in your workers and they’ll be more likely to give back in knowledge and better work routines.

When studying a job applicant’s resume, be honest about any skills necessary to land the role they desire. More schooling, training or experience can benefit their future careers.

A Word of Caution About Fake Work Cultures

Companies that don’t have their employees’ best interests at heart set the entire organization up for failure on a worker level. Many critics of quiet thriving point to the fact that if you are thriving at work, the last thing you should do is be quiet about it.

If you consistently put people in roles where they feel overworked and lack work/life balance, they will no longer trust you to look out for their best interests.

Some fear “quiet thriving” is another buzzword to pressure people to do more for less money and work longer hours. Brands must create a positive work culture and insist employees prioritize mental health. Recruiters can encourage quiet thriving or any other term and still lose them to a brand or recruitment company that will put their well-being first.

Open Communication and Encouragement

Take the time to serve as the gatekeeper and open the lines of communication between management and staff members. The better a company understands staff needs, the easier it will be to help them quietly thrive and find the tools to self-motivate. You’ll have a stockpile of workers willing to quietly thrive and a list of companies looking to invest in people long-term.

Getting Back to Basics at #HRTX March 2023: The Essentials of a Great Sourcer

This past month we at RecruitingDaily presented our first HRTX Virtual of the year, the free virtual training program for sourcers and recruiters.

For this event, we asked industry trainers to give a crash course on the essential techniques and technology needed to make anyone a great sourcer. The full-day event featured training sessions by experts: Vanessa Raath, Carrie Collier, Shally Steckerl, Brian FinkErin Mathew, Junius Currier and Mark Hamel. They gave their best insights on how to improve sourcing efficiency and effectiveness for everyone from beginner sourcers to seasoned professionals.

The main theme of the day was highlighting the rich community that comes with sourcing and recruiting. The presenters made it clear that the community can be a great source of support, assistance and knowledge.

The usage of AI to streamline the process was also a large part of the discussion throughout the event. With almost every presenter mentioning OpenAI’s GPT language models, it’s clear that this kind of technology will have an impact on sourcing and widespread change is fast approaching.

Highlights & Takeaways

  • Carrie Collier and Vanessa Raath kicked off the event with a presentation on personalization, organization and curiosity. With it, they showed some of their favorite tools and chrome extensions to make sourcing more efficient, including Magical. The pair also shared their experiences with getting into the industry and building their personal brand as well as the power of becoming part of the community to trade techniques and share expertise. Their biggest recommendation to the audience was simple: “Stay curious!”
  • ChatGPT made an appearance in Shally Steckerl’s session about automating tedious sourcing tasks such as pre-screening and candidate outreach. In his training session, he demonstrated some examples of prompts to give ChatGPT that yield the best results. His advice was if you frequently do a repetitive task, ask that question of ChatGPT to save time.
  • Brian Fink and Erin Mathew discussed building a better understanding of the roles you are sourcing for, giving tips and tricks for breaking down a role to learn the essential skills and qualifications. This duo recommended using Reddit to find inside information on jobs, as the website is often used as a place for workers to vent about problems within their job or field.
  • Finally, Junius Currier and Mark Hamel wrapped up the event with a run-down of sourcing fundamentals along with their favorite tips, tricks and tools. They highlighted start.me, GoLinks, Remove Breadcrumbs, OSINT and many more of the tools and extensions they use in their personal sourcing practices. In addition, they discussed the immense importance of building relationships in the sourcing community to stay on top of changes and trends in sourcing.

Looking Forward

Join us for all the HRTX events in 2023, both virtual and  in-person. We are excited to bring our signature event back to Boston this May as our first in person event since 2019! Sign up now to be notified when tickets are available!

You can also sign up for a Sourcing Masterclass this month with Shally Steckerl to learn how to find the candidates your competitors can’t.

Get the ChatGPT Browser Extension to Keep Your AI Friend Close

Get ready to ramp up the convenience factor to eleven by having ChatGPT always accessible as a chrome extension.

There has been all sorts of creative and functional ChatGPT uses for a recruiter’s workflow, but one slight inconvenience is the need to keep a tab open.  Not gonna lie, we’ve become pretty spoiled with technology.  But, now us whiny drama queens can ramp up the convenience factor to eleven by having ChatGPT always accessible as a chrome extension. The Halist AI ChatGPT Browser Extensions is a juicy way to keep your little robot helper along for the ride.

If you’re looking for some long winded write-up about this chrome extension’s bountiful features, you won’t find much here.  It’s pretty much just going to save you a tab and some hassle.  It also keeps a record of your recent searches, so feel free to minimize the window once it finishes its search.

One frustrating drawback, despite its convenience, is the inability to close the window mid-search.  The ChatGPT browser extension can’t handle being ignored while it talks to you.  So, if you want to keep your little AI buddy happy as a clam, keep the tiny window open whilst it chirps out an answer.

AI can help recruiters with Boolean, write email copy, find trends in data, and even write love stories…And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. This new world of intelligence assisted work we live in is quite interesting, and this feels like just the beginning.

If you have any uses for ChatGPT that you think breaks the norm, feel free to comment on them below! We love talking geek.

Happy Hunting!

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!

How Do I Recruit Student Interns?

Student populations have untapped potential when it comes to recruiting and sourcing. Especially when it comes to internship and entry level positions, students can be a worthwhile group of talent. But, how can it be accomplished? From establishing a working relationship with students to looking beyond candidates’ resumes and grades, here are insights from executives into the best practices for recruiting students for internship opportunities.

If Hiring at Scale, Advertise on Job Search Sites

The answer largely depends on the scale of the hiring and the skill set the employer wants the interns to have. You can quickly and inexpensively hire one intern with widely shared skills by advertising your job through the schools closest to where the job is located. The larger the number of hires, the more unusual the skill set and the greater the number of candidates you’ll need to enter the hiring funnel.

This typically means investing hundreds of hours of staffing time over 12-15 months to identify target schools, plan with them to interview on-campus, and then travel to and conduct the interviews. Or, you can do all of that within a few weeks and at about 10 percent of the cost by reaching students as you would almost any other candidate: through relevant, niche, and general job search sites.

Steven Rothberg
Founder and Chief Visionary Officer, College Recruiter

Host a Booth at a Career Fair

Host a booth at a career fair to recruit student interns. Many universities offer a career fair once or twice a year to introduce students to the working world and help them land an internship or a job. When hosting, you can establish a working relationship with students and tell them about your brand, mission and values, and make them aware of any open internships you have for the upcoming season. It increases brand awareness while recruiting students.

Ann McFerran
CEO, Glamnetic

Maintain Alumni Connections

Assuming you liked your alma mater, there is no better place to recruit. Fellow soon-to-be alumni most likely have a lot in common with your thought process and rigor.

Although this could create a monoculture, I have often found it’s a smart place to start because you have to jump over fewer barriers to develop credibility. The ecosystem of the university aligns alumni with business success, so it’s useful to align business goals with secondary benefits like media attention or class credit for the interns.

Trevor Ewen
COO, QBench

Employ a Multifaceted Approach

With our institutes and NGOs, we employ a multifaceted approach that addresses the unique needs and motivations of the student population. This approach should leverage a mix of traditional and modern recruitment methods, including social media campaigns, campus events and targeted outreach to career centers and academic departments.

Businesses must prioritize their internship programs by offering meaningful work experiences, professional development opportunities and mentorship programs that align with students’ career aspirations. By doing so, businesses can attract and retain top talent while bolstering their brand and reputation in the marketplace.

James Scott
Founder, Embassy Row Project

Make It Worth Their While

If you want to recruit high-quality interns, see them as an integral part of your organization. There is always this misconception in the corporate world that companies do interns a favor by giving them a chance to earn important work experience. While this is true, let’s also not forget that interns represent a unique type of raw talent that you can use for the organization’s best interests.

So, instead of just offering internship programs for the sake of it, make your program worth it. Create a budget for it and make sure your interns get some stipend to cover their expenses. Make sure you also offer credible career growth opportunities for these emerging professionals.

Do not pick someone just to assign them to coffee duty or somewhere in the mailroom. Let them get up close and personal with the core operations of the business, where they can learn and appreciate the work.

Logan Nguyen
Co-Founder, MIDSS

Develop an Appealing Internship Program

An attractive internship program will draw the attention of potential student interns. Take the time to create a well-structured program that outlines tasks, provides learning opportunities and offers flexible hours. You should also consider what perks you can provide that would entice students, such as a stipend or transportation help.

Matt Teifke
CEO, Teifke Real Estate

Use Your Greek Organization’s Local Chapters

I’ve had outstanding success in recruiting students by utilizing the local university chapters of the Greek organizations that I and my network are members of. The students and sorority/fraternity members must motivate themselves to provide a great impression and work output for their organizations’ alumni to maintain top grades.

They also have experience working in a group, working on multiple projects of various kinds and understanding that their work will be scrutinized from a variety of perspectives. They can make incredible interns.

Jeanne Eury
Owner, 8 Arms Group

Look for Those that Exhibit a Passion for the Field

You can most effectively recruit student interns if you look for individuals who are passionate about the field. When recruiting, look for individuals who have a genuine interest in the field—this will guarantee their dedication and eagerness to learn.

When I was in the recruiting field, I found that the best interns were those who had previous experience in similar fields, such as volunteering at a charity or doing research on a particular topic.

I also actively sought interns who showed initiative and had the desire to learn more about the industry. Interns who truly love their work will undoubtedly do better than those who take the job for other reasons.

Pete Evering
Business Development Manager, Utopia Management

Reach Out to University Career Centers

Many universities have dedicated career centers that connect students with internships and job opportunities. By reaching out to these career centers and establishing a relationship, you can tap into a pool of highly motivated and qualified candidates who are actively seeking internships.

The second step is to look beyond candidates’ resumes and grades when hiring student interns. Instead, search for applicants who exhibit originality, zeal and a will to meet challenges.

For instance, I’ve previously hired interns who had launched their businesses or assumed leadership positions in extracurricular activities. These encounters can show traits that are helpful in a startup environment, such as problem-solving, teamwork and resilience.

Percy Grunwald
Co-Founder, Compare Banks

Leveraging AI In Recruiting To Uplift Underrepresented Groups

Leveraging AI in talent acquisition was considered taboo eight months ago. The fear of algorithmic bias and ‘automating away my job’ made sure the risk of these technologies wasn’t worth the potential reward.

But lately, there’s been a shift. Talent leaders are starting to take artificial intelligence more seriously, especially as smaller teams and budgets are forcing teams to adopt technology that can help them scale with less. Those same leaders are also seeing the impact AI has had in other functions like sales, marketing, and R&D, dramatically improving their ability to work at scale.

And yet, new regulations like New York’s Local Law 144, would seek to limit how recruiting teams use AI.  For the unfamiliar: Local Law 144 would require employers to conduct bias audits on automated employment decision tools (AEDTs), including those that use AI and similar technologies, and would require employers to provide specific notices about such tools to employees or job candidates who reside in New York City. Others have pointed out the ways in which this particular legislation might not actually have much impact, but the law and its passing illustrates the ways in which we’re still thinking about AI in recruiting all wrong –– ultimately, this law and others like it could materially slow down the adoption of software that can benefit recruiting teams that are serious about scaling their diversity recruiting efforts.

Bias for Good

Recruiting is a special use case, and concerns around AI’s potential to negatively impact candidates who are part of underrepresented groups aren’t unfounded, especially as tools touch ever more elements of the recruiting and hiring pipeline –– from how candidates find roles, to resumé scans, to facial and voice recognition software leveraged in the interview process.

But there’s a flip side to that coin: tools that use AI specifically to support the hiring of underrepresented groups. While AI can unintentionally filter out candidates for certain groups based on keywords and NLP, it can also –– when applied intentionally –– do the exact opposite, and surface candidates from underrepresented groups to help diversify pipelines. Regulation that doesn’t acknowledge that there are tools and applications that are specifically designed to support underrepresented groups by quite literally filtering candidates with different backgrounds into candidate pools. Thinking only of the ways AI and automation can result in negative outcomes demonstrates a too-narrow view on these tools, and could do more harm than good in their attempts to prevent bias in hiring.

Optimizing for Candidate Control

The ethics around AI application for the talent acquisition and hiring process depends heavily on where the technology is applied: it might be an issue if it’s automating the pipeline for recruiters and potentially weeding out qualified candidates before they’re reviewed by a human, but not if it’s designed to support candidates in finding and applying for relevant roles. For example, algorithms that match candidates with skill-relevant, available job opportunities so that qualified candidates don’t miss out on opportunities, or even better, algorithms that uncover ‘inferred skills’ to match candidates with roles they wouldn’t have applied for otherwise.

AI tools can also analyze the behaviors of a candidate on any given platform to understand and surface roles in which they’re actively interested; this a fantastic way to optimize the process for job seekers.

AI vs Referrals

Many companies –– from startups to Fortune 500s –  rely on referrals to fill open roles, which data shows can lead to a homogeneous workforce. This is in part because referrals lend a helping hand in narrowing down vast quantities of applicants to vetted candidates. But AI done well can do the same, and when it’s designed to surface candidates that meet predetermined D&I thresholds, it can support the hiring of talented, qualified candidates who might have otherwise been overlooked, or who because of their background, wouldn’t have come in via referral.

Not only is prioritizing DE&I objectively the fair and right thing to do and an important part of a forward-thinking, equitable society, but it’s also simply good for business; companies that prioritize these efforts are more productive and successful, while employees are happier and stick around longer. And as Gen-Z enters the workforce, the candidate pool is objectively becoming more diverse, so preparing to attract underrepresented candidates contributes to future proofing any business.

It’s the People Team’s Turn

Sales, marketing, and R&D have had all the fun with AI –– it’s far less prone to amplifying systemic issues in those contexts. But now it’s the people teams turn to embrace this technological shift, while giving feedback on all the ways it can disenfranchise the very people we serve and thinking of ways to use these advances to support positive outcomes, rather than regulating them out of processes point-blank in service of “less bias.”

The opportunity to adopt technology now to support diversity efforts at scale is a massive one, especially as companies experience a slower pace of hiring relative to the frenzied pace of the last few years. If you’re not laying the foundation for attracting underrepresented people in new, tech-enabled ways, companies risk losing out on exceptional talent –– and losing the competitive edge that AI can provide.

Tailoring Your Recruitment Marketing Strategy While on a Budget

For recruitment professionals, finding talent that can contribute to the company can be challenging — even more so if you’re on a low budget. If you find yourself in this situation, here are a few tips for setting up a recruitment marketing strategy on a budget.

Use Virtual Recruitment Strategies

One of the most incredible things about the 21st century is the ability to get to know potential hires online instead of face-to-face. Even artificial intelligence tools are developing to help recruiters find hires online.

Using your business’s online resources is a great way to spread the word about openings and recruitment opportunities. Here are some tips for utilizing your online recruiting resources.

Your Website

Every organization needs a presence online nowadays. In addition to being a place to tell people about your workplace, websites are also a great way to attract potential hires on a budget. It can be as easy as creating a “careers” page on the site and adding descriptions of available positions along with your contact information.

If you have the budget and want to take your online recruitment strategy a step further, you can set up a recruitment website for your company. This can maximize your exposure and call attention to your job openings.

When creating your recruitment website, remember to use a strong branding message that gets your needs in a potential hire across. Be clear about what kinds of positions you have open and what benefits they could earn.

Job Search Websites

Job search websites like Indeed and Monster can be great tools when searching for potential hires. These websites allow people looking for a new job or career path to search for opportunities, but they can also help with your recruitment marketing strategy.

They are simple to use for employers, too. First, create an account on the job search website of your choice. The next step is to set up your employer account and page so potential hires can see your positions. Most job search websites allow you to use features like filters and screening questions to make it easier to find suitable candidates.

Social Media Recruiting

Social media is everywhere in today’s world, which can make it a handy tool for recruiters. If you have a social media page on Linkedin or Facebook, there is a perfect opportunity to advertise your open positions. Remember to be active on these pages so potential recruits know you’re still interested in filling positions.

If you have the time and your budget is not too low, you can also start a web advertising campaign using Google and partner companies’ websites. This can be a complicated process, however — you should determine whether it would be worth it first.

Virtual Events

Hosting a virtual recruiting event like a virtual job fair or presentation is one of the best ways to get to know potential hires face-to-face without traveling. They are also a great way to reach out to as many people as possible. Flourishing your online presence is very important to boosting your recruitment marketing strategy.

Make event panels simple and fun while still talking about the critical points of your workplace and why candidates should choose to work with you. Encourage questions so they feel like everyone can participate.

After the event, you can follow up with potential candidates by asking them for their emails and keeping in touch. This is an excellent way to show you’re actively interested in them for the positions.

In-Person Events and Promotions

While there are many advantages to virtual recruiting strategies, there’s still something unique about good old-fashioned in-person recruiting. While this might be difficult, there are still ways to meet people face-to-face, depending on your budget.

Remember to promote your opportunities, values and why potential hires should choose you to work with. Even something like the company’s credit score can be an asset. Make sure you can answer any questions they might have.

Recruiting events can be a great way to meet and get to know potential hires. While you might not have the budget to host your event, you can also participate in a job fair to find new talents. RecruitingDaily is planning a few in-person events throughout the year, you should check them out!

If the business doesn’t give you much money for travel, try to find a job fair closer to you.

Develop Your Recruitment Marketing Strategy

While developing a recruitment marketing strategy on a budget can be challenging, it’s perfectly doable using modern-day tools. Using virtual and in-person methods is the best way to find potential hires.

Speaking the Language of Business: Why Talent Acquisition Metrics Matter

In today’s fast-moving business world, there is no shortage of data to help organizations identify and improve gaps, performance, efficiencies and profitability on both macro and micro fronts. But according to Gartner, data and analytics also “unearth[s] new questions and innovative solutions to questions – and opportunities – that business leaders had not even considered.”

But how does HR fit into this? For decades, HR departments, large and small, have been criticized for not understanding the bigger business picture. In other words, many people believe that HR can’t “speak the numbers,” which, let’s face it, are the true language of business globally.

It doesn’t help that most HR data analytics reporting falls on the low end of the data analytics maturity scale – giving us some information but with insufficient reporting capabilities.

So, how can HR speak the language of business? Keep reading to learn more about talent acquisition data and analytics, giving insight into the company’s people – arguably the most important business asset of any organization.

What Are Talent Acquisition Analytics?

Talent acquisition analytics are used to analyze job candidates and other recruitment data, discovering insights into talent acquisition, onboarding and even retention.

Understanding this data helps talent acquisition leaders understand their decision-making processes during recruitment, improving hiring decisions that directly impact the company.

After all, good hires directly impact turnover rates, productivity and efficiency levels, company culture, innovation and profitability. Need we say more?

Top Talent Acquisition Metrics for 2023 and Beyond

Here are six examples of metrics talent acquisition leaders should understand – not only for their department but for the company as a whole.

1.    Time to Fill

Time to fill is the length of time it takes a talent acquisition team to fill a vacant position, spanning from the initial approval of the budget for the hire through the hire itself. There is no magic number here, as different industries will often see varying times to fill. However, the oft-cited Talent Acquisition Benchmarking Report by SHRM states that – on average – time to fill is approximately 36 days.

This metric isn’t typically used to encourage talent acquisition managers to hire quickly while sacrificing the quality of the hire. Instead, it can identify inefficient processes or duplicative efforts, potentially creating a longer time to hire the right candidate.

2.    Time to Hire

Time to hire overlaps with the time to fill metric. However, this talent acquisition analytic specifically measures the time the job candidate spends interviewing for a position at your company. For example, time to hire measures from the first look of the candidate’s resume to when they are officially extended an offer of employment.

Time to hire gives talent acquisition leaders, as well as the company itself, insight into the candidate’s experience when interviewing at your organization. Bad candidate experiences don’t bode well for your company.  For example, 80% of job candidates who have a bad recruiting experience “openly tell” others about it, with one-third of them doing so proactively.

However, when an organization invests in its candidates’ experiences, they improve the quality of its hires by 70%.

3.    Time in Process (aka Days in Stage)

Time in process (or “days in stage”) measures how long job candidates remain in each stage of the hiring process, such as resume review or on-site/remote interviews. Through this metric, talent acquisition leaders can spot lags and inefficiencies that may be holding up the process.

4.    Acceptance Rate

This talent acquisition analytic is measured by comparing the number of job candidates offered jobs versus the number who have accepted job offers. If the acceptance rate is low, then that puts up a red flag that the company should review its recruitment process (including your job descriptions), its compensation packages, its job flexibility and remote/hybrid work policies, its company culture and other factors identifying the attractiveness of a job offer.

This metric gives talent acquisition managers insight into how successful they are at leading qualified candidates through the recruitment process and ultimately accepting the job offer.

5.    Quality of Hire

Quality of hire measures new talent’s contributions to the company over a period of time. This is a critical measurement, as it gives direct insight into the new hire’s performance, the manager’s ability to support the employee and career progression during the new employee’s tenure.

Staying on top of this metric allowed companies to measure the quality of their employees, allowing the company to achieve its goals faster and more efficiently. And that’s just a win-win for everyone.

6.     Cost Per Hire

Arguably the belle of the ball, cost per hire gets quite the attention as a talent acquisition metric. Cost per hire takes into account all expenses associated with hiring an employee – from sourcing costs to agency fees (and everything in between).

However, cost per hire must be viewed in light of the previous metrics. For example, cost per hire and time to fill are closely related. The longer it takes your recruiting team to hire someone, the higher the cost per hire.

These talent acquisition metrics don’t live in a world by themselves. They each impact the company as a whole – and this is why it’s critical for talent acquisition specialists to not only understand these metrics but bring them to the larger corporate table.

6 Cybersecurity Threats Targeting Recruiters

IT departments in all industries are concerned about hackers dialing into company records and targeting employees, driving new pushes to secure data. Recruiters may be particularly vulnerable. It makes sense for cybercriminals to target businesses that rely on their cloud-based systems, which means protecting recruiters is more important than ever.

Who Is Most Targeted by Cyberattacks? 

A recent Cisco study found that 86% of companies had at least one user attempt to connect to a phishing site and 48% found information-stealing malware on their systems. It makes sense that industries that store a lot of sensitive information for their users are highly coveted by cybercriminals. 

If you want people to entrust you with their personal details, they must believe you’ll protect their sensitive data. Knowing what the common threats are can help you avoid an incident and subsequent crisis control measures.

1. Phishing

Phishing is one of the most common ways companies get hacked — an employee clicks on a link and is sent to a site with keystroke tracking or downloads malware. Train your workers to never click on links in emails, even if the message looks official. They should always go directly to the website address. 

If an employee is uncertain, they should contact the person who supposedly sent the email via another form of communication, such as a phone call or text message. While some links are okay and sent by legitimate contacts, many are unsafe — especially those sent to recruiters, who often work with new or unfamiliar people. 

2. Connected Devices

The world is more connected than ever before, with billions of devices tapping into the Internet of Things (IoT). Every device connected to a network via IoT creates another potential vulnerability. 

Ask workers to download the latest virus protection and put security policies in place to avoid opening your data up to hackers. Even simple apps that workers may have downloaded on work devices can create havoc. One example is WhatsApp, which compromised the information of 1.5 billion users when hackers installed software and accessed personal data. 

Be aware of how your staff taps into the IoT and how it might impact your network if they access your databases on the same device. 

3. Surroundings

A lack of awareness can create a situation where passwords and other sensitive data fall into the wrong hands. For example, imagine a remote employee goes to a nearby coffee shop and logs into the system. If they aren’t careful to protect their login credentials, someone could learn how to easily hack into the system. 

By the same token, users should only access the system on secure networks. Accessing sensitive information on a public network at a hotel or public library Wi-Fi will require more safeguards than the average person utilizes.  

4. Camera Hacking

With more people working from home, virtual meetings have become more commonplace. Unfortunately, a new threat to security is camera hacking. 

The hacker gets access to the computer’s camera when the user downloads a virus via phishing or unsecured networks. The cybercriminal now can listen in on video conferencing, learn insider secrets and gain valuable data. Users may not even realize they’re being spied on.

The best way to protect yourself from this threat is to ensure antivirus software is kept updated and run regular scans on the system. 

5. Ransomware

You’ve likely heard of ransomware and big corporations paying millions of dollars to stop the attack and get back to business. The issue with paying cyberterrorists a ransom is that it breeds more of them and encourages criminals to attack other brands — big and small. 

The number of cyberattacks has increased since the pandemic. It’s tempting to just pay the ransom to regain access to your network, but there’s no guarantee you’ll actually get your data back. Hackers can also keep customers’ private data or dox them. 

Before you face a situation where hackers demand payment, establish a policy for how you’ll handle ransomware. If you’re regularly backing up your site, you might choose to shut things down and restore it back to normal. The best policy is to prevent the attack in the first place, so spend time shoring up your firewalls and security policies. 

6. Disgruntled Employees

Unfortunately, you might run into a situation where a former employee put in backdoor access to your system or still has login credentials. If they were fired or left on bad terms, they might want to do maximum damage to your company’s reputation.

They might sell the login information to hackers or steal information and form their own recruiting agency. Make it a policy to shut down access before letting an employee go. If they give notice, immediately turn off their access to databases and other sensitive details. Regularly change passwords for systems. Review who accesses your systems each day. 

Create a Cybersecurity Policy

The threat of hackers grows every year as more people work remotely and companies do business increasingly online. Your first step to ensuring you keep user data safe is to create a cybersecurity policy.

When your employees understand the best way to protect sensitive information, it’s much less likely data will fall into the wrong hands. Protect your customers and employees from cybercriminals by shoring up your policies before cyberthieves slip through any holes in your security.

What Makes Gen Z Ghost Recruiters?

Generation Z is becoming a larger part of the workforce and recruiters are scrambling to figure out how to attract and engage this new generation of candidates. On top of that, according to many media reports these candidates have been known to ghost from the application process. But, why? From not being updated on the latest tech to trying a catch-all strategy, here are eight answers to the question, “What are a few examples of things that make Gen Z ghost recruiters?”

Lack of Tech Savvy

One of the biggest issues that Generation Z recruiters face is a lack of connection with prospective candidates. Gen Zers are more tech-savvy, so they prefer digital communication over face-to-face interaction. That can make it difficult to create an authentic connection and build rapport with potential recruits.

If a recruiter doesn’t take the time to build a relationship with the candidate, they may be perceived as a “ghost recruiter”—someone who quickly contacts a candidate and then disappears.

To avoid this problem, recruiters should try to stay connected with prospective candidates over longer periods of time through multiple channels, such as email, social media, and text messaging.

Aviad Faruz
CEO, FARUZO

A Counter-offer From Their Current Employer

I’ve recently learned how many professionals, especially Gen Zers, look for job offers while already employed to negotiate their salary in their present workplace. Since they aren’t serious from the beginning and only need an offer in hand to prove their worth where they’re already working, they end up ghosting the recruiter involved.

With the looming recession forcing businesses to save costs, getting a raise isn’t as straightforward as it once was. Proving you have an offer ready if you’re denied a raise can sometimes help you get that much-needed salary jump without switching jobs.

While a few applicants are moral enough to excuse themselves, most don’t bother notifying the recruiter that they’ve accepted their company’s counteroffer and are, therefore, turning down the new opportunity.

Anjela Mangrum
President, Mangrum Career Solutions

Misrepresentation of the Position

If a candidate feels like they have been lied to or misled about the requirements, responsibilities or work environment of the role, that will cause a major loss of trust in the company. Lying about or misrepresenting a role is a good way to lose candidates from any generation.

The younger the candidate, the less patience they tend to have for this kind of behavior, and Gen Z in particular is likely to drop out of the application process without feeling the need to explain why. This is especially common with “remote-washed” positions, which seem to be fully remote from the job posting but in reality use a hybrid model, or are even mostly in-person.

That said, any change to the role’s responsibilities, compensation, benefits or work environment from what was originally described to the candidate is at risk of prompting them to ghost, especially if they feel the deception was intentional.

Archie Payne
CEO, CalTek Staffing

Taking Too Long to Respond 

As a recruiter in the tech niche, I am increasingly hiring Gen Z candidates. A key concern that comes up is how long it takes to hear from the recruiter/hiring manager/employer.

Gen Z grew up in an era of instant feedback, a phenomenon mostly driven by social media and they are not used to long waiting periods. Some have said that they deem it rude when they do not hear after as little as five days and will not hesitate to cut all communication and move on if this happens.

You might come back to them a few weeks later with a job offer, only to find that they will not respond to your messages or calls. Even if they haven’t accepted another job offer, they’ve definitely grown disinterested in yours.

Adding a disclaimer in the job posting on how long candidates might have to wait to hear from you can keep them engaged. And engaging them throughout the waiting period, for example, by sharing helpful content and updates, will keep top talent in your pipeline.

Joe Coletta
Founder and CEO, 180 Engineering

Unclear Job Descriptions

A lot of us have endured agonizing silence while waiting to hear from a potential employer, only to hear nothing at all. In actuality, though, it’s not only the recruiters who are ghosting the candidates—now it’s the candidates themselves. Some job seekers are quitting contact and responding to companies giving no notice. What is the cause, though?

The reason candidates are ghosting is that most of them reconsidered during the interview process or had done more research on your business after the fact. Although Gen Z isn’t afraid to turn down an offer if the job or benefits aren’t what they expect them to be, they usually know how to be polite. Gen Z already has the power to demand things like high pay or flexible work.

However, the candidates will ghost recruiters back if recruiters are unclear about the entire recruiting process and they feel ghosted. Always be upfront about the details of the offer and the expected hiring schedule.

Andre Oentoro
Founder and CEO, Breadnbeyond

Bias in the Recruitment Process

Gen Z candidates are among the most awakened and knowledgeable about workplace diversity, equality and inclusion. For recruiters interviewing candidates for a company with a flawed recruitment process, this becomes a sign of further problems down the line and in the organization in question.

Owing to their inclination to work for inclusive companies, Gen Z candidates will “ghost” recruiters from companies that they sense have bias, which may be clear in the language they use to advertise open roles in the company or in the requirements they mention.

Liam Liu
Co-Founder and CMO, Parcel Panel

Poor Communication

Gen Z is used to immediacy and fast-moving environments. Poor communication about the hiring timeline can lead Gen Z candidates to believe they’re no longer in the process if they haven’t heard from recruiters in just a couple of days.

When hiring managers and recruiters fail to keep candidates in the loop and cannot establish clear expectations for them regarding the steps and duration of the hiring process, candidates may choose to forget about the application and move on to other job opportunities.

Andrei Kurtuy
Co-Founder and CCO, Novoresume

Using a One-Size-Fits-All Approach

I was guilty of approaching hiring in a one-size-fits-all manner when I first started out as a CEO. But as I grew in experience, I came to see that this wasn’t the ideal strategy, particularly for Gen Z. People want to know that their unique skills and interests are considered and that they are more than just a resume. Gen Z prospects can see that you regard them as people and are interested in what they offer by personalizing the hiring process.

One strategy I’ve found to be effective is to provide each Gen Z prospect with a tailored message in an email or phone call. I spend a few minutes looking over their website or LinkedIn page, and I say anything I found intriguing about their educational background or professional experience. This shows my interest in them as a candidate and that I have taken an effort to get to know them.

Percy Grunwald
Co-Founder, Compare Banks