Blog

More Human By Technology

More Human By Technology

As people who tend to read my articles on this website know, I’m a big fan of pre-selection software. I often however run into the die-hard old school recruiter or HR manager that believes we should be ‘more human’ and ‘have the human touch’ in the selection phase.

Sometimes they will admit that technology might help for volume jobs, but if you only get 5 or up to 30 applicants per job, there is no reason to use screening technology and it’s just a negative experience.

I disagree. 

The human experience

Let’s start by quantifying the human experience. The one that is supposed to be superior to a machine helping with the pre-selection. I research the candidate experience in the Netherlands for years and part of this massive research is a mystery application.

We apply every year to the 550 biggest and most well-known employers in the country. We apply in order to be rejected. Think a recent graduate applying to a senior management position.

As little volume jobs as possible. It could not be easier to give us a reason for rejecting us, sorry, but at least 6 years of experience is required for this job. Last year only 26% of the companies gave this type of feedback and over two thirds just said: sorry, we have better candidates.

And yes, there were those, about 6%, that called us. About 6% call every candidate to see if there is another possible fit. 

 

The machine experience

Now let me give anecdotal evidence on the machine experience. The first time I heard of pre-selection testing and the first company that implemented this on scale was a contact centre.

With a cognitive and personality test they tested every applicant and if an applicant scored below a certain threshold they would get an automatic rejection with their assessment report and the minimum values you need to score on certain traits.

I wondered how candidates would feel about automated rejections, when their head of recruitment showed me an e-mail they got.

It read ‘Thank you for this rejection, this is the most humane rejection I ever heard. Now I finally have the explanation why I am not fit for this specific type of job and I understand I need to look elsewhere’. 

Yes, the candidate actually said it was the most humane rejection he ever got, while it was probably the only one he had ever had that had no human touch it. 

 

Machine empathy

I’m not saying machines can be empathetic, they can’t be. Some can simulate it, but they can’t be. The problem is about 66% of all recruiters don’t even simulate any empathy when rejecting candidates. 

So not only do we select better, on actual important character traits and cognitive values, when we use pre-selection technology. Because of the data this generates, we can be clearer and more human in our rejection.

Let’s be honest, saying ‘from your resume I don’t see you have the skills’ sounds a lot worse than actually saying: I’m sorry, you tested 65% on this trait and the minimum for this job is 80%. 

 

The human experience

Let’s treat candidates more humane, let’s use technology to mitigate our weaknesses. 

 

The Pandemic’s Equity Impact, Part 2: The CEO Opportunity

The Pandemic’s Equity Impact, Part 2: The CEO Opportunity

This two-part series looks at the impact of the pandemic on women’s careers and workplace equity. Part one spotlights recent findings and recommendations. Part two offers actionable insights and practical advice for leaders. 

The first part of this series leveraged research from the Rutgers Center for Women in Business (CWIB) to envision the impact of COVID-19 on women. While hardly a positive experience for anyone trying to navigate pandemic conditions, CWIB found a potential silver lining for women’s careers, particularly those who are mid-career: the benefit of increased support from partners and employers. 

With regard to current gender gaps, Adam Feigenbaum, a member of the CWIB advisory board, offered, “CWIB believes that while most CEOs – which data shows are predominantly white and male – agree there is a problem; they just don’t think it’s their problem.

To do so would require a CEO to outwardly acknowledge inequities in their business, opening oneself to at the very least reputational risk, and perhaps fear of financial or even legal risk at a corporate level. As a result, business leaders lean on HR to put in policies and processes to protect their business above all else. These are not conditions for progress – they reinforce the status quo as the standard for success is just keeping out of trouble.”

The Business Imperative

Knowing that women prosper when they have the right resources, consider what it takes to deliver more equitable experiences – and why this hasn’t been the case all along. It’s well-documented that women represent a large, highly skilled, and extraordinarily capable talent pool often underutilized.

The recent exodus of women leaving the workforce, at a rate four times more than men, amplifies that point. However, historically, diversity and inclusion initiatives have been HR’s responsibility, but what’s happening now, Feigenbaum says, is less of an HR issue and more of a CEO opportunity. 

He continued, “More progressive companies will think about this surplus of talent that’s available, specifically from women, that is beginning to go unutilized because they’re leaving the workforce. And it is incumbent upon CEOs, not just HR representatives, but CEOs to identify this as a potential competitive advantage, an inefficiency in the market that they could then leverage and focus on.

As more CEOs understand this, they will proactively transform their culture and policies, with the help of HR, to attract and engage women as a priority will earn themselves the talent advantage organizations needs to thrive.” 

 

The Redefinition of Resources

The path forward involves several factors, starting with a solid business case, buy-in from senior leaders, and alignment back to HR. If policies and processes designed to protect the organization are what led to this juncture, then develop policies and processes that safeguard workers, too.  

Lisa Kaplowitz, the center’s executive director, said, “We see two sides of this issue. One is to remove barriers, structural barriers, systemic barriers, and the other is to empower women with the confidence and skills necessary to succeed as business leaders.” 

Specific to HR, the barriers Kaplowitz referred to exist throughout the talent lifecycle, from job descriptions that use words that prevent women from applying to certain jobs to inflexible practices for families and caregivers that cause women to stop working. 

Recognizing such challenges, Kaplowitz explained that CWIB is piloting new programs, including one that offers women mid-career mentoring. So far, she revealed, the response to sessions such as “Positioning Yourself for Promotions and Performance Reviews Virtually” has been incredibly positive, with measurable results.

During that particular event, participants were polled about their intent to ask for a raise or a promotion in the next six months. At the outset, 38 percent were thinking about it. By the end, 67 percent said they would. While just one example, Kaplowitz makes the point that, “When you see something that powerful in 55 minutes, it speaks to the impact that we’re making quickly.” 

 

The Future of Work (is Female)

Kristina Durante, the center’s director of research, commented, “One thing I stress when I talk about our research is that we need to be responsible for the conversation. Now that we’ve had this experience, now that we see what’s going on, let’s turn it into a positive and keep talking about it. Especially if that helps get the CEO or leadership team members to buy-in.” 

The pandemic’s strain is real for everyone. But as the labor data indicates, this is especially true for women. Without action, the workforce will lose a substantial talent pool, set to influence productivity and profitability for the foreseeable future. That goes beyond anything that exists today. It requires a rethinking of what work looks like and how it operates. 

Whether a small business or enterprise organization, HR and senior leaders need to advocate for their women workers by providing support for work-life overlap, offering increased flex time or leave options, promoting engagement and wellbeing, and ultimately, encouraging advancement.

Feigenbaum reiterated that the evidence is already out there, “If we’re thinking about it, this is in the best of interest of the workers as well as the business. It’s in everyone’s best interest to create and drive cultures that promote workforce diversity. That’s how organizations win time and time again.” 

 

Give Your Virtual Hiring Events an Edge With Broadcast Video

broadcast video

Give Your Virtual Hiring Events an Edge With Broadcast Video

The pandemic and the need for social distancing has accelerated the adoption of all things virtual. Zoom now takes the place of stand-up meetings. FaceTime has replaced countless lunches, and you’re probably using online tools to keep your family “close” these days.

The entire world is collectively trying to figure out video etiquette. Online hiring events and job fairs are no different.

In this post, I’ll share some observations I’ve made from watching hundreds of recruiters host online hiring events.

Let’s get our jargon straight before we dive in. When I refer to “broadcast video” I’m talking about one recruiter speaking to many candidates simultaneously, not to be confused with one-on-one video which is typically used for private interviews.

If you’ll be hosting a virtual hiring event and potentially using video of any sort, you should prepare in advance.

A lack of preparation is always obvious! Take care of the basics before you make larger plans:

  • Dress accordingly. Your “comfy shirt” may be great during remote work, but it’s not the best presentation to your candidates.
  • Make sure your camera and microphone are working with your hiring event platform.  Take the time to test them in advance so that you’re not scrambling the day of your event.
  • Clean and organize the background that will be captured by your camera. Mess on the countertop?  Clutter on your shelves?  Clear it all out and, if you have signage or other large brand assets, place them strategically behind you to better represent your firm.
  • Ideally, you will use a headset and dedicated microphone, and not just for your benefit.  Many headsets have more precise audio capture than the built-in mics included in PCs and laptops. These can greatly reduce background noise that might sneak into your broadcast.  I like to use Airpods, but there are many (and more affordable) options available.

With that house cleaning out of the way, let’s discuss the ways in which you can use broadcast video during your job fair.

Three Ways To Use Broadcast Video in Your Hiring Events

1) Scheduled & Structured Presentations

This is the most sophisticated use of broadcast video during hiring events, but also the one that requires the most planning and preparation. No pressure here!

Perhaps you already have a nice, “canned” presentation that you’ve rehearsed many times in the past that introduces jobseekers to your brand?  Maybe you have a number of different roles you’re hiring for and you’d like representatives from these departments to speak about their specific missions, culture, etc?

Here are a few tips for structured presentations, should this be of interest:

  • Keep them short! Job seekers have other demands on their time and may be attending while on break from their current job. Remember, this is not a conference, it’s a hiring event, so five to ten-minute presentations are ideal.
  • Make them relevant to the job seeker.  What is it like working at your firm and in that department?  What is the culture?  Are there specific pros and cons that are worth discussing in advance of them applying?
  • Prominently and clearly post a schedule of your presentations. Make sure that job seekers know exactly when they will start, the approximate length, and what will be covered.
  • Do not schedule them to begin at the very start of the hiring event.  It’s common to have a rush when the virtual “doors” open, so leave time for people to get their bearings, find your schedule and prepare for the broadcast.

 

2) Ad Hoc

As-needed broadcast video can be a lifeline, and you don’t need to have a clear or structured presentation to utilize video this way.

Here’s the most common scenario: you’re a recruiter who is solely manning a virtual booth at a hiring event. Or maybe you have a second recruiter assisting you, but they’ve run out to get lunch. Your event started early so traffic was light at first, but an hour in and your booth visitors and one-on-one chat requests are piling up.

Don’t run yourself ragged while simultaneously leaving job seekers hanging for far too long in your queue.  Drop the chat requests momentarily and begin a video broadcast where you can address all of your visitors simultaneously!

Most hiring event platforms will provide a way for your booth visitors to send questions to you privately, so those other job seekers cannot see them (and potentially insert trolling messages into your event). As the broadcaster, you can now pick and choose between these questions and rapidly answer them for the benefit of ALL of your current visitors.

If one job seeker has a question, it’s likely that many of them have the same question.  Ad hoc broadcast video will often allow you to rapidly clear out a long chat request queue.

 

3) Passive & Always-On (WHAT?!)

This is a potentially surprising way to use broadcast video during your hiring events, but one that I would strongly encourage you to try. First, what do we mean by passive broadcast video?  Basically, it means turning your camera on so that all your booth visitors see you immediately upon entering and then you continue on with your other work until you’re needed.

Passive broadcasting doesn’t preclude you from having structured presentations and can be a great way to fill in the gaps between those presentations. The first time I saw broadcast video used in this way the benefits became immediately apparent:

  • It more closely mimics the real-world behaviors and expectations of people (recruiters and job seekers). I’ll make the point with two examples… How do you feel when you walk into a business and there is literally no one in sight?  How do job seekers feel when they attend a physical job fair and only find an unstaffed table with some printed pamphlets?  It’s not very confidence-inspiring, is it?
  • A passive broadcast will give you an edge over the booths that have no broadcast video at all. In short, it’s one more differentiator of your firm and hiring efforts.
  • Passive broadcasting allows you to proactively address a rush on your booth, whereas ad hoc broadcasting only reacts to a rush of visitors.
  • It requires no scheduling and no preparation whatsoever, it’s simply an easy-to-use tactic that recognizes the reality of a busy recruiter’s schedule.

I hope that I’ve provided some ideas for your next hiring event, and I hope to see you there!

The Pandemic’s Equity Impact, Part 1: Increased Lifeload, Increased Support

The Pandemic’s Equity Impact, Part 1: Increased Lifeload, Increased Support

This two-part series looks at the impact of the pandemic on women’s careers and workplace equity. Part one spotlights recent findings and recommendations, part two offers actionable insights and practical advice for leaders. 

The topic of gender equity in the workforce is not new. The disparity in representation and pay between men and women is not new. Yes, there have been some gains, but despite decades of awareness, meaningful progress remained slow. Most agree that these gaps need to be addressed, and initiatives started to gain serious momentum in recent years.

When COVID-19 hit, seemingly overnight, all issues beyond safety and survival went out the proverbial window. 

At first, no one knew where to focus their concerns. Would there be a recession? What would this mean for early-career workers? What about those approaching retirement?

Quickly, it became clear that while the crisis wasn’t going to discriminate, it might hit mid-career employees harder than most: Those working from home while managing households and caring for children, while schools, daycare facilities, and similar programs closed.

Recognizing this possibility, the Rutgers Business School Center for Women in Business (CWIB) launched a survey of dual-income households interested in understanding how gender roles in the home might impact gender equity in the workforce. 

Increased Contributions at Home

In May 2020, CWIB launched an online representative survey of roughly 1,500 adults, with 1,073 respondents living in dual-career households with opposite-gender partners. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the results found that both men and women were taking on more unpaid labor and childcare because of COVID-19.

The percent of men who provided five or more hours of daily care for children nearly doubled, from 15 percent pre-pandemic to 29 percent, while for women, their share jumped from 23 percent to 37 percent. Time spent on household chores soared, too, with men who spent at least five hours a day rising from 11 percent to 20 percent during the crisis, compared to an increase from 15 percent to 28 percent for women. 

Over time, the hope is that men dedicating more time to childcare and chores will help destigmatize what’s been seen as “women’s work” and promote increased gender equity at home and in the workplace. From the study, CWIB believes there’s reason to suggest that this correlation already exists.

Kristina Durante, the center’s director of research, explained, “We found that the more men were contributing to unpaid household labor, when there are more hands-on-deck, this was positively related to women’s perceptions of their job productivity and their job satisfaction.” 

The authors’ of Good Guys: How Men Can Be Better Allies for Women in the Workplace echoed this sentiment, revealing that when men do their fair share at home, it accelerates gender equity at work in three ways: women become more successful, children gain an egalitarian perspective and men participating in unpaid labor help normalize flexible work arrangements.  

 

Increased Support from Work

At the same time, while men may be doing more at home, there’s plenty of reason to be concerned. As several months into the pandemic, McKinsey discovered that 1 in 4 women are thinking about downshifting their careers or leaving the workforce entirely, unable to balance work and life when there are no longer boundaries between the two.

Help outside the office won’t be enough to stem the tide, and the brunt of this burden can’t fall to individual workers. 

As Lisa Kaplowitz, executive director of the center, reinforced, “Everybody’s going through this. You hear kids in the background on the Zoom. You see kids in the background. That’s from the CEO down to the admin. We have to be mindful of that.” 

A larger, more systemic change needs to take place – and soon. According to NPR, “the pandemic’s female exodus has decidedly turned back the clock by at least a generation, with the share of women in the workforce down to levels not seen since in 1988.”

Diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives need to be revived and refocused for both internal workforce development and external recruiting. Flexibility, agility, and adaptability are recurring themes that require immediate consideration on the part of employers of all sizes.

 

What’s Next?

CWIB sees ample opportunity through HR and senior leadership, creating new policies and systems that support women in the long run and not just at this moment.

Adam Feigenbaum, a member of the CWIB advisory board, shared, “To accomplish this, organizations have to be very purposeful about how they attract women to their business and how they mentor women for future roles. It’s going to be about women-first policies, and women are going to be able to see that there’s not only a place for them to start but a place for them to grow.” 

Durante concluded, “We’re hoping that our memories for this time period where we were all at home can be sustained so that the social norm around what comprises the traditional worker changes in a positive way, creating less stigmatization between balancing work and home life.

Because we were all part of it, we were all in the same boat. We’re hoping that that memory of what it takes to run a household will stick around. We may all have to actively make sure that it doesn’t fade.” 

 

Time For A New Model For Recruitment And Talent Management

New Model For Recruitment And Talent Management

Time For A New Model For Recruitment And Talent Management 

Virtual recruitment strategies and online recruiting events are the new currency in recruitment today. But the changes in the way we demand, pursue, and acquire tomorrow’s talent must go deeper into the planning process if an organization is to stay resilient and efficient.

The truth is that clinging onto our current methodologies and model of recruitment and talent management is foolhardy. It is true that they have been developed over many years of refinement and know-how.

But it is equally true that our work environment has changed dramatically during the past six months making many of these models irrelevant today. The organizations that will succeed in the future are those that most quickly embrace new ways of working. 

New Chapter in Human Development

It is also tempting to say that these changes are just the result of COVID 19. But many authorities saw them coming before this. The World Economic Forum identified the emergence of the “4th Industrial Revolution”, calling it a new chapter in human development. They explained that the turning of history’s pages was set to accelerate. Driven by the stream of recent technological advances such as artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, and cloud computing.

They likened these changes to the dramatic shifts’ societies experienced in the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Industrial Revolutions. Today’s advances are merging the physical, digital, and biological worlds to create enormous opportunities alongside daunting challenges. Standing still against this tide of change is not an option for ambitious business leaders.

It is against this backdrop, and the advent of the pandemic, that we developed the Talent Transformation Pyramid model. It was conceived to offer a view of talent in line with the thoughts and beliefs of the new world of work. As with any change, not everyone will be thrilled with their organization’s new direction and goals. This new model will help leaders and managers understand this resistance so they can move through inertia, gain momentum, and reach their goals.

 

The Pyramid Framework

This pyramid framework is designed to enable organizations to execute change and build a workforce capable of matching tomorrow’s needs. It provides a complete model for improving individual and team performance by building on technical skills, creativity, flexibility, and emotional intelligence.

The model highlights twelve critical factors for enabling employees, teams, and the entire organization within an easy-to-understand framework for predicting performance.

It also addresses environmental factors that impact performance, and it neatly incorporates technical competencies, tools, information, policies, and culture. It clearly illustrates how factors support each other and help you understand the puzzles of competence, performance, and working in teams.

The Talent Technology Pyramid brings together the 12 most important factors to enable organizations to get a clear view of the challenges and opportunities available to acquire and develop the talent they need for tomorrow

 

Combining these concepts with the wisdom of researchers, thinkers, and practitioners across a broad range of disciplines from management theory and psychology provides an engagement model to simplify complexity. The framework, supported with resources, thoughtful questions, and easy-to-understand charts that leaders can use to plan their way into the future with confidence and clarity.

 

Technology Driven Future

Encapsulated in the Talent Transformation book, we begin with a look at our technology-driven future and invite readers to recognize the challenges of change, glimpse new possibilities, and start planning for what’s ahead.

As such, it supplies a solid bedrock for recruiting policies of the future. Not just in terms of execution. By encouraging the assessment of situational and environmental factors, the pyramid recognizes the changing nature of work and how organizations work as corporate social responsibility, and employee wellness programs become increasingly important. 

The pyramid model also asserts that objective assessments will play a larger role in recruitment, onboarding, learning, credentialing, and certification. As recruitment becomes a more remote process, then real measurable data about candidates will become more critical.

Multiple studies have already shown that valid and reliable tests are better predictors of organizational fit, job fit, and job performance than interviews. The range of assessments is likely to grow with the increased adoption of machine learning and artificial intelligence. 

The book includes templates, assessment recommendations, and other guides to ensure that its concepts are genuinely actionable rather than just an interesting academic exercise. This alone will make it a useful supplement to the recruiter’s playbook.

Dear COVID: Thank you for bringing my recruitment agency to the next level

Dear COVID: Thank you for bringing my recruitment agency to the next level.

Hello COVID-19,

I hope you don’t find yourself well by the time you read this letter.

Don’t take me wrong, but I’ve known you for the last 10 months since your first appearance in my border town when you turned our world upside-down.

But to be fair, you also made us stronger.

You do not know me, at least not yet. Or probably you already did, and I didn’t notice because I could be one of the lucky asymptomatic ones. In case you haven’t visited me before, my name is Ines Velasco.

I am the president of Sigma Solutions, a recruitment agency in Ciudad Juarez, MX – the sixth-largest city in Mexico. On the border with El Paso, Texas, the lone-star state. These are considered sister cities despite how they come from different countries.

I know you don’t care where I live. Or if I’m Latin, African-American, tall, short, poor, or wealthy. You are pretty democratic and you like to meet and greet everybody no matter religion, sex or nationality, but I’ll nevertheless introduce myself:

I am Mexican, married, a mother of three, and even though I studied Industrial Engineering I found that recruitment is my passion. I love to talk to people and to be in touch with them. We have that in common.

You’re probably thinking “So? what does it have to do with me?”

Well, thanks to you, my mindset has changed. A lot.

I’ve been an independent recruiter for four years. Mostly with customers in the manufacturing industry (did I mention the sister cities are highly industrial?). Up until March 2020, I was just thinking about how to grow by word of mouth recommendations.

I liked to talk to people face to face during networking events. Eventually visiting a couple of companies to offer my services, which is as far as prospecting efforts went. My web page was nice but not updated, Sigma Solutions only offer recruiting services for the manufacturing industry and from time to time I was exporting professional talent to the US through visa TN1.

Suddenly, you appeared in our lives like a hurricane! The US embassy was closed for visas. Network events were canceled. No more in-person visits to customers and no more face to face interviews. As with every unusual situation, we all had two options: fly or fight!

But how to fight with you if you are almost invisible and present everywhere?

That is when I found I had to fight with myself, with my old ways of doing things. I started to see how the business had to go digital. Not only mine but most of them. This is when I was presented with the opportunity to hire a digital marketing agency to help me grow my business and move away from the old methods that would not bring new customers…

Probably you already know that developed countries were communicating through apps and platforms and tons of gadgets before you were born. However, in a developing country like Mexico that was not so common.

So here we go, starting to use terms like “copy” in social media, SEO, Google AdWords, web page optimization, chatbots, platforms like Mailchimp for digital campaigns, or Slack to communicate between remote teams. And even starting to promote my business on my personal Facebook! (Which I never gave thought to before.)

And I found that leaders and employees were as confused and uncertain as I was, but at the same time trying to innovate as well.

For example, branding became more important than ever for companies. No matter what service or product they provide.

You can’t have any more networking events, job fairs, or “meet up” events unless they are digital, at least not like the “old days.” All you have now is your digital presence and the way to bring valuable content to your audience. Because, you must be -and look- like an expert in your area. On the other hand, people looking for a job started to create impressive personal branding strategies that I have never seen before to obtain companies’ attention.

I can see you are now scratching your corona and wondering, “But again, could you explain what all of this has to do with me?”

Well, thanks to you I had to reinvent Sigma Solutions through a new concept. Offering new services such as convenient recruitment packages according to customer needs. Or, training for desperate hiring managers who were trying to learn how to interview candidates (and not kill them in the process) when recruitment for the manufacturing industry was almost gone.

I had to start speaking in webinars, researching trends in job markets, understanding how my customers were thinking, and offering them my help in times of uncertainty. If it were not for you, I would be attending local network events with 20 people instead of organizing webinars with attendees from all over Mexico.

Thanks to you I have a well-structured company with great collaborators that are happy working from home, one of them just had a baby.  My web page looks better than ever with a friendly chatbot ready to help.

But of course, not everything is sweet.

There are a lot of challenges for 2021, figuring out ways to get used to this “new reality,” (such as how to cope with uncertainty, use our soft skills as strategic chess pieces, learn how to upskill and reskill in our careers, etc,) but again, you transformed our world with its ups and downs, and forced us to be creative, innovative, and think outside of our comfort zone.

So, with that honest “thank you” being said, can you just go and disappear from our lives now?

I miss the piñatas and family gatherings on Sundays. I miss hugging my friends and receiving a candidate with a firm handshake. These things will never be the same through Zoom.

Sorry, did you say something? You’re on mute.

Not yours truly at all,

Inés Velasco

 

5 Tenets of Successful High-Volume Recruiting

high-volume recruiting

5 Tenets of Successful High-Volume Recruiting

High-volume recruitment presents a completely different set of challenges from those found in traditional corporate recruiting. While the roles traditionally require fewer prerequisites, you’re dealing with a significantly higher volume of candidates that are typically less responsive.

A different set of challenges requires a different approach. Attracting qualified candidates while simultaneously screening and searching through hundreds of applications is tedious and time-consuming. Once you do have these candidates in your funnel, the ways in which you screen and evaluate them requires the ability to work quickly and efficiently.

A successful high-volume recruiting process has many characteristics. I’ve included 5 key tenets to help you establish an effective high-volume hiring process:

 

Eliminate barriers to entry

The first challenge that high-volume recruiters experience is a lack of applicants. If you’re staffing for many positions, across a variety of locations, not having people in your pipeline will require you to spend more time on sourcing. The more time you spend sourcing, the greater your cost-per-applicant becomes.

The easiest way to increase the number of applicants in your funnel is to eliminate unnecessary barriers preventing or deterring them from applying. Shorter applications (1-5 minutes) have a 12.47% completion rate, compared to a 6.97% completion rate for longer applications (6-15 minutes). Try to avoid too much jargon, and only include critical information.

Before posting a job description and application form, ask yourself what the absolute must-haves for the role are. If you find yourself including other qualifiers that aren’t dealbreakers, don’t include them. Any lingering questions beyond the must-haves can be addressed later in the interview process. The most important factor is getting these people into your pipeline.

 

Take a mobile-first approach

Email has traditionally been the primary form of communication between recruiters and candidates, but times are changing. Individuals are becoming more and more comfortable having companies communicate with them via text. Utilizing text messaging as a primary source of communication with your candidates is crucial for any successful high-volume hiring process.

When dealing with such a high volume of applicants, you don’t have extra time to try to get their attention. Emails have anywhere between a 15-20% open rate, while text messages have a 98-99% open rate. You can almost be certain when you text someone, they will see it at some point.

A few other key statistics about job seekers from our recent survey:

  • 57% of applicants apply to jobs via their mobile devices
  • 52.3% said lack of follow-up was one of the most annoying things about the application process.
  • 52.3% prefer a phone call to let them know they’ve made it to the interview stage

 

Add video interviews to your process

In a Covid world, video interviews are gaining increased popularity. Prior to COVID, there was a stigma associated with video interviews. Many recruiters reported that applicant conversion rates were much lower when applicants were asked to submit a pre-recorded video at the start of the recruitment process.

Those times are gone. Candidates and companies alike are buying into the new norm, as there has been a 67% spike in video interviews conducted on the Fountain platform and a 150% increase in candidates wanting to digitize their CV via a pre-recorded video.

If you were to get on the phone with a candidate who identified themselves as an under-qualified candidate within the first 3-4 minutes, what would you do? You’d likely spend the full 15 minutes allotted to speak with them as a courtesy. Alternatively, if your first step was to evaluate a group of pre-recorded video interviews, you would be able to get through 3 candidates in that same amount of time.

 

Give the candidate more control

High-volume recruiters have at least 10x more roles than corporate recruiters on average. They don’t have nearly as much time to make decisions and weigh candidate feedback. This requires the ability to work at an expedited pace.

There can be many stages in a candidate’s journey. Application, interview, assessment, document upload, background checks, etc. As a recruiter, you need to have a set process that allows you to navigate these stages in your workflow in a quick, repeatable, and scalable manner.

A key workflow that high-volume recruiters can implement immediately to accelerate their recruiting is allowing applicants to schedule their own interviews. Going back and forth with an individual via email is time-consuming at scale. Eliminating this step will increase the total number of candidates you can manage in your pipeline.

It’s important to note that you should have limits to when a candidate can book time on your calendar. Set the parameters so they have to schedule within a 5-7 day window. This will help you decrease the amount of time each candidate spends in your pipeline.

 

Lean into workflow automation

The distinctions in workflows are a big reason why a traditional ATS just doesn’t work for high-volume recruiting. You need a system that allows for a high level of automation if you’re going to evaluate your candidate pools effectively.

You can’t allow automation to come at the expense of the candidate experience, however. There has to be a healthy balance, and you need to identify which stages can be automated. Candidate screening and feedback is a step that can’t be automated, but a “thank you” email after applying can be. There are enough candidate touchpoints in a candidate’s lifecycle (at least 5 within the first 48 hours) that some can be automated.

Successfully personalizing messaging and communication at scale is difficult, but a necessary component if you are to successfully scale your recruiting.

Do’s & Don’ts of Text Recruiting

texting candidates

Do’s & Don’ts of Text Recruiting

It’s 2020 and recruiters are texting with candidates more than ever and this trend will surely continue as more Millennials and Generation Z workers make up the majority of the candidate market. Officially known as ‘Text Recruiting’ – recruiters love the speed and response rate of texting, and candidates love how convenient and discreet it is. However, texting with candidates isn’t as simple as picking up your cell phone and sending a text. Recruiters need to be aware of the risks and limitations of this modern communication channel because, if used incorrectly, it can damage your brand and could land you in hot water with the feds. 

Like other messaging mediums such as email, basic etiquette and common sense will get you far with Text Recruiting however there are some US and Canadian federal regulations and recommended best-practices that recruiters need to be aware of. 

As the co-founder of a text recruiting software company a big part of my responsibility to our industry is to educate and inform recruiting teams on the Do’s and Dont’s of Text Recruiting which I’ve summarized below. 

 

What to do:

As per TCPA regulations, make sure your candidate is happy to communicate via text before you start texting them – enable them to opt-in on a job application or ask them directly.

Greet & introduce yourself – make sure your candidate knows who you are, the company you are from and why you are texting them.

Give your candidates a clear method of opting-out from future text messages (Text Recruiting Software takes care of this for you).

Be polite, professional and genuine in your message content (but don’t forget to show your personality!).

Always make sure the message content is always relevant and appropriate to each candidate.

Keep your messages personal and concise – each message should be no longer than approximately 240 characters. If you need to send a long message then consider using email instead.

If sending campaigns, make sure to personalize the messages to candidates using our built-in hot keys for First Name, Last Name, and Company.

Spell check your texts and read the message out loud before hitting ‘send’ to catch any grammar issues.

Be mindful of the time when texting candidates. During normal working hours is ideal (9 -5) but if this isn’t possible, send texts no earlier than 8am and no later than 8pm.

Phone calls with candidates are still relevant during the recruitment process so use texts to set up calls (not to replace phone calls altogether).

Reply to text messages quickly to show your candidate that you care about them and value their time. This also keeps the momentum going and the candidate engaged.

Include a Call-to-Action (CTA) so that the candidate knows what the next steps are. Ideally you’ll keep the CTA to come via text 😉

Finally, use Text Recruiting Software to communicate with your candidates via text instead of your personal cell phone.

 

‍

What NOT to do:

Don’t text with candidates who do not want to be contacted via text message.

Don’t send text messages to candidates who have previously opted out (Text Recruiting Software safeguards you against this).

Avoid sending any text messages that could be considered spammy or unprofessional.

While emojis can add personality and tone to a message, avoid using too many emojis in the same message as it’s unprofessional.

Minimise your use of slang and acronyms such as LOL, OMG, BTW etc.

Stay away from using EXCESSIVE ALL CAPS, punctuation and special characters such as ‘Hi how are YOU???????’

Avoid sending text messages early in the morning, late at night, or during the weekends (unless your candidate given your permission to do so).

Don’t use texting when the nature of the message requires detail or deeper context. E.g.  during salary negotiations and or declining candidates.

Harassing candidates by sending them multiple unanswered texts is a big no-no.

Don’t use your personal cell phone for text recruiting.

 

‍If you’re not sure…

Overall, use common professional sense and text with candidates in the same way that you’d expect to be texted by them if your roles were reversed. However, if you’re not sure whether a text you are about to send falls within the best practice guidelines then we recommend that you play-it-safe and don’t send it – if you’re not sure if it’s a good idea then it’s probably not!

Like Your Kindergarten Teacher Taught You

candidate experience

Like Your Kindergarten Teacher Taught You

“Candidate experience.” It’s a phrase you are seeing and hearing everywhere these days.

Many blogs, articles, podcasts, and webinars cover this topic, and you will hear about it during any HR or recruiting event more than once. It is definitely trending right now.

But what everyone is calling candidate experience, I call good old-fashioned manners. Like you learned in elementary school.

Be sure to say please and thank-you, respond when spoken to, don’t interrupt, etc.

This is what we in recruiting need to remember.

Ghosting

I have been in the recruiting world for a few years and have worked with different companies, a lot of different recruiters, and many, many candidates. I have seen the best and worst of them all. What was always mind-boggling to me was the recruiters who became a black hole.

They would engage a candidate and then leave them in the dark – sometimes after an email, and even at times after multiple interviews! Ghosting, as they like to call it now. It has never made sense to me whether we are in a hot or cold market.

First, like mama said, that is just plain rude.

Second, it makes you AND your company look bad. Candidates remember the ones who leave them high and dry. And they aren’t afraid to share it. I myself had this terrible experience after what I estimated was eight hours of interviewing!

Any time I spoke of that company, I steered people far away from it.

Honesty

Being dishonest is an obvious no-no! But some recruiters still do this.

They lie about the openings they have, the clients they have, and some will even submit someone to a client without even telling the candidate. Be honest with your openings. If you do not have a current opening a candidate fits, let them know.

Share with them how often you usually get these types of roles and do your best to keep them warm. Most times, they are willing to continue working with you, especially if you have that great reputation and are known for candidate experience.

And if not, that is OK, too. Sometimes it is all about timing.

With clients, every recruiter works with different clients, and candidates understand that.  Do not try to pretend you are working with a client if you are not. This almost always comes out and can potentially harm your reputation and make your company looks bad. And again, it has always been mind-blowing to me when a firm will submit a person’s resume to a client without their permission! I have heard about this multiple times in my career.

This situation is bad on several levels. First off, this is being dishonest with your candidate and your client. It can put the candidate in a bad position if they have given another firm permission to submit them to that role. It can put the client in a bad position. If they receive the resume from two different firms, they have to decide on how they want to proceed, and it can leave a sour taste in their mouth.

And sometimes they just rule that candidate out completely to not deal with it. They could also show interest and NOW the candidate is unavailable when contacted. Remember: Honesty is the best policy!

Communicate

If a candidate applies, even if they are not a good fit, respond, and thank them for their application. It only takes a few seconds and you never know how that can reap rewards in the future.

If you have spare time, you can even share suggestions for the candidates. Kindness really does matter. As a candidate goes through the process, keep communication open. Share with them steps, helpful feedback, suggestions, etc.

If the candidate is not a good fit, no matter the reason, let them know. People would rather have closure than wait and wonder. If you are able, share constructive feedback to help them in the future.

People appreciate the simplicity of good manners, and they also remember it. If someone asks them about you and your company, even if they weren’t hired, they will say positive things which leads to positive outcomes for you and your company!

Remember, it’s as simple as doing what your kindergarten teacher taught you.

Why HR Desperately Needs a New Take on Talent Mobility

new take on talent mobility

Why HR Desperately Needs a New Take on Talent Mobility

Let’s get right to it: COVID-19 sucks. Professionally speaking, it sucks big time. Here we are, eight-plus months into this calamity, and companies are still struggling to stay in the fight and successfully counter a stinging one-two punch of budget cuts and hiring freezes.

And although it would appear that we are a ways away from producing an actual cure for 2020’s biggest buzzkill when it comes to Human Capital Management, I have some good news…talent mobility is the antidote that we have all been waiting for.

Given the enduring uncertainty of our new normal, it has never been more crucial for HR departments to develop in-house talent. And while “mobility” as a strategic pillar of HCM has seen its fair share of innovative iterations in the digital age, survival in the current environment demands that HR departments venture into the uncharted waters of project-based sourcing.

In shifting from siloed and rigid mobility programs to a focus on talent marketplaces and short-term, “gig” assignments, organizations will not only succeed in more effectively upskilling a motivated workforce, but will achieve significant savings on sourcing activities.

Armed with a tech-infused, multi-tiered, and employee-driven approach to talent mobility, organizations will have a fighting chance to develop the agility needed for economically viable sourcing in these crazy and trying times.

It may be unorthodox. It may sound strange. But it’s time for HR to move the gig economy in-house.

First, Establish a Talent Marketplace to Better Develop Internal Talent

The construction of an internal talent marketplace is the first step an organization should take when looking to bolster talent mobility activities. As an internal digital platform that identifies motivated employees and provides them with the growth opportunities most relevant to their position, skill-set, and goals. The talent marketplace represents an important philosophical evolution with respect to HR and our understanding of mobility.

While employee mobility has traditionally (and some would say dogmatically) focused on predetermined, vertical career paths, talent marketplaces empower organizations to provide employees with more control over their career development and professional pathways.

Beyond merely promoting employees or shifting them from one geographic territory to another, talent marketplaces position organizations to better prepare employees for vertical, horizontal, and, eventually, project-based development opportunities.

 

Second, Look to Upskill Employees With Project-Based Assignments

Once an organization has successfully constructed an internal talent marketplace from which to provide employees with a targeted mobility experience, HR should shift its focus to filling project-based roles with permanent employees.

While we typically associate project-based employment with the procurement department and their never-ending quest to cost-effectively source contingent, temporary, and “here-today-gone-tomorrow” talent, this perspective tends to be to the detriment of HR. As we continue to move further and further away from the idea that professional growth is a linear (i.e., non-agile) experience, internal “side gigs” provide organizations with the unique chance to up-skill and develop agility in large segments of the workforce while simultaneously encouraging employees to take the career road less traveled.

Not only does internal side gig sourcing make business sense (as it will drastically reduce acquisition costs), but project-based assignments clearly align the interests of both employer and employee in a time when organizational needs are guaranteed to evolve.

Perhaps your organization has a technical writer interested in UX, or an implementation specialist looking to try their hand at client training. Even better, imagine your organization has both interested employees and a business need.

A gig approach to mobility will empower organizations with the agility needed to meet changing needs while encouraging employees to pursue the project-based work that both inspires them and assists them in developing the core competencies associated with their role.

It is only once acquisition stakeholders (i.e., both procurement and HR) have determined that highly specialized knowledge is immediately required and not internally available that an organization should look to source contingent talent.

 

Third, Directly Source With a Contingent Talent Network

If it is determined that the only way forward in regards to sourcing for a project-based role is with temporary external talent, the best way to do so is by implementing a direct sourcing strategy.

As traditional contingent sourcing activities are simply too costly to be sustainable for many companies given the economic realities of the ongoing pandemic, organizations must look to cut out the middleman and directly source contingent workers through a contingent talent network. Just as opportunity marketplaces position internal candidates to have greater control over their professional development, contingent talent networks aim to provide contingent workers with an engaging “candidate” experience that encourages top-tier, expert talent to come back and apply again in the future.

Once effectively implemented, organizations will marvel at their ability to cut costs, improve time to fill and streamline the administrative tasks associated with contingent sourcing.

 

Connecting the Talent Mobility Dots

Times of great uncertainty demand innovative thinking. As we inch closer to 2021, those organizations struggling to address and overcome today’s pandemic-driven mobility challenges must aim to develop greater harmony between internal and external talent pools.

The most effective way to do so is by taking a multi-faceted approach to talent mobility and sourcing activities, an approach driven by a focus on non-linear development, project-based assignments, and both internal and external marketplaces.

2021 Vision: 8 Recruitment and Retainment Predictions for the New Year

2021 recruitment and retainment predictions

Recruitment and Retainment Predictions for 2021

It’s hard to think of an industry that wasn’t affected by the pandemic. Whether that meant shifting business models, making difficult decisions about furloughs and layoffs, recalculating budgets, or trading in conference rooms for dining tables, we had to make adjustments that made sense for our business needs. 

When planning ahead for the new year, budgets, business goals, and defining strategies are common considerations for most organizations.

As we look towards 2021, many hiring professionals and business leaders are wondering how the effects of the pandemic will influence their plans, while safely assuming that the next year will yield even more uncertainties.

Should employees return to the office full time? Will we be able to grow our teams? How much longer can we maintain virtual relationships with our colleagues? 

While we don’t have all the answers, we can look at the patterns and trends in play before and during the pandemic to make assumptions about the recruitment and retainment landscape over the next year.

Below, I’ve shared a list of eight ways business leaders and HR departments can grow and build more resilient teams in 2021.

 

Carry Your Flexibility from 2020 into 2021

Flexible reactions to the pandemic have maintained business continuity during an uncertain time. We must make room for flexibility around returning to the office space while also weighing the benefits of remote working environments.

When looking at our current employees, we should consider the hours that work best for our working parents and those continuing their education. Can we expand our talent pool to include employees around the world?

If an employee tells us they work better at night, should we shift their hours? By adapting to our current remote working environment, we’ve proven flexibility can lead to success.

 

Automate Your HR Department

As we look for strong candidates, we need to look at ways we can use automation to reduce the manual labor of our teams. Especially for smaller businesses. Or, those currently operating with a lean HR department.

More and more companies are relying on applicant tracking systems from their human resources information systems (HRIS) to help them fill roles. The technology and workflows built into these automated systems are put in place to cut down on the amount of work a recruiter has to do to find and hire good employees.

From processing, staffing, and payroll, HR departments will begin to incorporate more technology in 2021. Those already leveraging this technology should look into maximizing its capabilities.

 

Install and Maintain a Resilient Culture

Whether or not we’ll see a return of the traditional office in 2021, workplace culture remains a vital element to maintaining company morale and boosting employee success. Whether it’s scheduling virtual happy hours or regularly checking in with team members, keeping the spirit of your company alive is essential.

Additionally, ensure you’re creating a culture where employees understand that they can get through these difficult times and still be successful in a changing environment. Maintain resilience by putting programs in place to upscale employees, cross-train where possible and reskill employees whose jobs may no longer fit company needs. 

 

Shift Your Focus to Soft Skills

As we continue to operate in a hybrid or fully remote work model, employers will embrace other soft skills. Those that help colleagues engage in meaningful interactions, problem solve and manage their work in a productive manner.

A lot can be lost in translation over messaging platforms and without the face-to-face interactions we were accustomed to when working in an office. By fostering the development of soft skills and valuing them as highly as technical skills, organizations will overcome a variety of hurdles. 

 

Invest in Your Employees’ Abilities

Carry the resilience of your existing company culture into the recruitment process. Historically, if you needed a developer to fill a role within a tech company, you only hired people with those skill sets.

Now, companies will start to hire people who are adaptable, resilient, and can be trained in many skill sets. These employees provide a huge mutual benefit to the organizations that aren’t pigeonholing them to fill one role.

When you help to develop your team’s skills, they will be more likely to learn new skills instead of moving on to work elsewhere. 

 

Embrace Global Recruitment

As we continue to find success working from home, HR departments will look into casting a global recruitment net to fill skills gaps and build a more diverse workforce. Technology is just one industry facing a growing skills gap, especially in the realm of cybersecurity.

Once we move beyond physical borders and embrace our abilities to connect globally, we can recruit employees for positions that have historically been difficult to fill. Bringing the ideas and talents of employees from different regions will also further enrich your business by providing varied perspectives.

 

Maintain Your Brand

Job seekers are increasingly placing value on a company’s brand when applying for jobs. With the prevalence of the digital age, so much information about an organization can be gathered online. Job seekers are relying more on referrals in their application process. These referrals often come in the form of social media and review sites.

As employers understand the implications of what is being said about their brand and workplace culture on social media, they will better understand how to set themselves apart in a positive manner.

 

Lead with Benefits

Company information online has also provided applicants with the ability to compare benefits between organizations. As employers fight to hire talented applicants and recent grads who are less costly, being transparent about benefits is essential to the interview process.

Don’t wait for applicants to ask about company benefits. Rather lead with them, and consider adding to the traditional 401K and life insurance packages. Prior to the pandemic, the ability to work remotely was a growing trend. Now, it’s a requirement. Unlimited PTO, student loan repayment programs, flexible schedules, and supplemental training are also attractive benefits for recent graduates and should be considered where possible.

Entering a new talent market through a multi-channel marketing strategy

multi-channel marketing

Entering a new talent market through a multi-channel marketing strategy.

Entering a new talent market is no easy task. The days of posting on your local job board are no more. To make an impact as an unknown in a new market you need to launch a comprehensive campaign or else you won’t make a splash.

I’ve provided an overview of how to enter a new talent market and the main channels you should use.

 

Data Collection/Talent Research Phase

Before developing your strategy to drive applicants and awareness you need to be able to understand what the talent market actually looks like. Start with collecting data and understanding the talent market you are trying to break into. There’s no point in trying to assign money to a channel or even picking a channel without knowing ahead of time where the talent is, where they are looking, and where they consume content. 

Few ways to find out: BLS, Talent LinkedIn Insights

 

Deciding Channel & Budgets

Based on the information collected during the talent research phase you can then decide where you want to spend your time and money. An important step is delivering the information of the talent market to key stakeholders of the organization so they understand what the market actually looks like and you can set expectations around budget and results.

 

Establishing Success Metrics

Based on the channels used you can build awareness through traffic increases, advertising impressions & CTR. You can also look at driving top-of-funnel applicants. You want to show that you are building the brand name, more people are hearing about your company as a preferred place to work, and more quality candidates are applying. I would base the quality of candidates on how many candidates get through to the later stages of the interview process. Be clear with stakeholders about what you are responsible for driving so there are no issues going forward.

 

Channel Strategy

Keep in mind the strategy is to provide air-cover for recruiters that are actively prospecting. This will be done by increasing brand awareness and making sure that positions are available. Since nobody in the market has heard of you, you are going to want to be where the talent actively consumes content but where your jobs are listed. So when they do go to check you out or apply further, that segmented audience has content that resonates with them.

I’ve broken out the channels to achieve these goals and maximize the effectiveness of your strategy here.

 

Organic Social

One of the best ways to build brand awareness and the first place many candidates go to learn more about your company is your social media accounts.

Showcase content like:

  • Highlighting benefits
  • Location perks
  • Professional development opportunities
  • Anything unique to your company.

 

Paid Social

Take advantage of LinkedIn’s, Facebook’s, and Instagram’s powerful targeting abilities. LinkedIn has the ability to dial down into experience, location, and even target skills that prospects have.

 

Display Advertising

With display advertising, you can get really granular. Since a big bulk of job seekers are passive this is a great way to continue to build awareness and nudge passive candidates into your funnel.

You also have the ability to retarget your audience to create laser-focused high converting segments. “In general, website visitors who are retargeted are 43% more likely to convert.“

 

Events

Events are a great way to connect with the local talent market even virtually. Host an event and partner with local speakers or offer to lead a workshop on something that is relevant to the industry.

Then promote through local meetup pages, Facebook events, Slack channels. Organic Job Boards + Job Board Advertising + Programmatic Advertising

Ensure that your ATS is pushing out and connected to all the relevant job boards. Many of these job boards such as Indeed or Glassdoor have sponsored jobs and also brand advertising. Programmatic advertising can help handle multiple postings and can be adjusted as needed.

I recommend learning each channel and how it works before adding programmatics. It will make you a stronger recruitment marketer and give you deeper insight into how each channel works.

 

PR/Media

Finding opportunities to be in local or bigger publications for that talent market is a huge piece of the puzzle. But making a splash in the media is a great addition for referral traffic to your careers page.

This can be even more effective if you tie entering the market with a non-profit cause, like donating to the local school or offering free workshops for rising seniors.

 

Editorial

Written content is one of the strongest assets you can develop. Not only can it give a detailed look into how your company operates it can act as an anchor for multiple pieces of micro-content. One editorial post can become a social quote card, a video, a podcast, and more.

 

Email Nurture

An email nurture track is a great way to keep your prospects or interested candidates warm. There are many ways to get talent onto this email nurture, either through email collection on your paid advertising, signup on your careers page, or from event signups.

A nurture program should have at least three touchpoints filled with content about your company and relevant jobs.

 

Employee Advocacy

Your employee’s personal networks can do a lot of work for you. You can use incentives for sharing jobs through your referral program and on how many posts or jobs each one shares.

The more jobs posted by your employees the more willing candidates are to explore your company as they see it’s coming directly from them.

 

Closing

Building brand awareness is a tough job. Building brand awareness to a new talent market is even tougher. Take an analytic approach and use all the channels listed above to gain an edge on your competition. You want to think of it as a giant ecosystem that fits and feeds into each other.

Be where the talent is looking actively, where they aren’t looking and when they decide to take a deeper dive you already have content ready for them that resonates and will move them to ultimately apply.

 

The 5 Key SALES Lessons YOU MUST Implement in a Global Pandemic: Part 5

sales lessons in a global pandemic part five

The 5 Key SALES Lessons YOU MUST Implement in a Global Pandemic: Part 5

This is the final installment of a series of five by Steve Guest. Read Part one: “If you don’t get your head straight, you’ve already LOST” and Part two: “If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got.” Part three: “Go above and beyond, no time to REST.” Part four: “You can’t sell anything, if you can’t tell anything”

 

Be so good, THEY can’t ignore YOU

The first place to start will be your existing clients. Make sure that you know and understand the whole business. Introduce yourself to all the divisions, and the contacts you haven’t had chance to present yourself to.

Utilise pre-existing relationships and build on that. If 80% of your revenue comes from 20% of your clients, then focus on the 20% and spend 80% of your time building these relationships even further.

Find the areas you didn’t know existed, and build the relationships with the clients you have worked with before. 

The best place to start is warm clients that you have an existing working relationship with. They form the foundation for your market research to fully understand how the businesses have been affected. This helps you to approach businesses that you don’t know so well and show empathy and compassion to build stronger relationships. 

The hardest place to spend any of your time during a global pandemic or market downturn will be cold calls to cold businesses and looking to sell. I know, because for six months that is where I spent my days back in 2008.

Whilst it’s the hardest place to be, it’s also the most rewarding, self-developing, soul-destroying, backbone establishing, educational environment in which to put yourself. 

The lessons I learnt during this time will stay with me forever. Those six months provided me with the self-awareness and self-motivation that will stay with me for a lifetime. I know I can get through the toughest days, make the necessary cold calls, deal with the toughest levels of rejection and know I can come out the other end successful and better for it.

I can see opportunity in the darkest of days and come out better for it – you can do the same. Keep the faith and motivation high. Give yourself small incremental targets and work towards them. Give yourself hourly targets if necessary.

Smash those targets and reward yourself (my vice has always been a posh coffee from Costa!).

Make small incremental steps hourly, daily, weekly and monthly to work towards that bigger picture.

Consider that recessions and market downturns do not impact every business to the same degree. Some businesses and industries will have prospered; some will not have fared as well. Take the time to consider who might be recession-proof in your markets and which companies have been less affected.

There will be industries that cope with recessions relatively well, so think of businesses that have lower barriers to entry, lower-cost products, and businesses that promote cost savings. 

In my experience, businesses that can adapt more quickly during downturns tend to be the smaller SME type businesses as opposed to the FTSE 100 businesses. Purely down to their ability to diversify, manage overheads, and move with the markets and the times.

Smaller businesses tend to be able to bounce back more quickly and can get through the hard times more swiftly. The traditional thinking would be to go for the bigger businesses, as in theory, they should be making the biggest strides to gain market share.

But in my experience, these tend to be the businesses that are now shedding staff as opposed to recruiting.

 

Customer Contact

I didn’t want to hinder or inconvenience my clients during times where they may not need my services. Thus, I have come to an arranged way of working with clients. Many clients will be working harder, with potentially less staff trying to gain back any sales or market share they have lost.

The last thing they want is a salesperson calling every Monday to see what’s changed. However, some of your clients should be able to see the value in keeping the conversation consistently moving.

Questions like; 

“What would the perfect person look like if they become available? What skillset, background, or experience would you want me to call you about should they become available?” 

The client must see you as an additional resource to their business, and an extension of their brand. You must remember that it’s not about the number of times you contact a company.

It’s about the value you bring when you do speak to them, and how you tell them you can bring value in the future.

Ensure you get the first call as and when the client has a requirement. I will call every four to six weeks with an update but will rely on the fact that they will call me first should they need help with anything. 

 

Additional Key Points to Remember

sales lessons in a global pandemic part five

 

BUYING DECISIONS take LONGER so have PATIENCE!

One of the biggest issues within recruitment in market downturns is the time it takes for a decision to be made. After a variety of insecurities, worries, concerns, sign offs, etc, clients are likely to want less, and if they do, they will revert to shorter-term objectives.

These can include temporary or freelance recruitment, and you must be able to service this need.

You will experience an increase in price concessions and businesses looking to save in certain areas, especially looking for a reduction on terms. These are standard areas that you must consider and deal with along the way. It’s important to remember not to get ‘bogged down’ with things you can’t control.

Concentrate on what you can control. Your activity, your workflow and your sales potential. Think opportunity, not setback. 

 

Reduced cash flow

How can I help my client find the money to pay my fee? 

You need to be able to show your client that you are either saving them money via your proposal or making them money by adding value. Think about the opportunity cost of not recruiting that individual. Who is this vacancy creating pressure for? What about the additional overtime for current staff, multitasking to cover the ‘missing member of staff’?

Does the lack of having this vacancy filled remove an individual from their own day job which is therefore costing the business more money but in other areas? 

Communicate these facts and offer your solution.

 

Face YOUR Fear and build with YOUR CLIENTS

Companies who invest in a recession can take advantage of the competition. Go on the journey with your client!

Recessions create great uncertainty and the fear mentality can take over, but they are also wonderful opportunities to outclass competitors and create inroads in a world where everybody else is cutting back.

So what are you waiting for? Go make it happen!

Good luck!

–Steve

P.S.: If you enjoyed this series, I host a FREE Recruitment Mastery Facebook Group. All are welcome to join!

The Bat-Belt of Recruiting

Chances are, over the years you have seen the iconic superhero facing certain doom, while fire plumes all around him. The building falling to pieces, one hand clenched onto a lone pole sticking out of the rubble. The other hand holding on to someone, holding true to his promise to not let them down. Then, almost like magic, he grabs something from his bat-belt, pushes this and twists that, and jumps. That leap of faith, in whatever untested tech marvel, will save him and the person he came to rescue.

Batman was always my favorite superhero because he wasn’t from some far off planet or given some magic ring or irradiated by gamma radiation. He was just an average person who knew how to use the most advanced tech to figure his way out of the craziest problems. Batman was Agile before the term was all the buzz.

COVID Side-Effects

COVID-19 has forced companies to take a look at every aspect of their business in order to adapt to the changes that had to take place. Though many of us have worked virtually for decades, the idea of having entire companies working at home was frightening, as if the office building itself was some kind of cell wall that held the organism intact. Providing an integral structure so that the organization could be cohesive enough to function as a business.

But COVID showed us the truth. It’s not truly the brick and mortar shell holding the company intact, but rather the technology.

In a recent article published on October 13th by McKinsey and Company, they outline 5 key factors that they have observed to be common amongst their customers who are navigating the COVID world using Agile thinking and transformation to succeed no matter what curveball comes next.

These key factors are:

    1. Establish a common purpose and clear communications.
    2. Set up structures to allow rapid decision making.
    3. Created networks of teams with clear and accountable roles.
    4. Develop a culture that empowers people.
    5. Provide people the technology they need.

Tech-Centric Tools

They are simple really. In looking at them, they are all centered around technology. Clear and open communication is accomplished by having the best video tech and to keep communication channels open.

Rapid decision making is only accomplished competently when technology provides us with real-time data and facts to base those decisions on. Teams are working virtually. So once again, technology is the binding element assuring team coherence and success.

All this when working together truly does empower the people of an organization and it cannot be done without the technology.

Coming from a background of recruitment enablement and talent sourcing, getting sent for the next best bell or whistle has been a challenge throughout my career.   HR budgets have traditionally given a small portion to most organizations’ in-house recruiting functions, making Batmans out of all of us. (Though, more reminiscent of MacGyver using duct tape and string and paperclips to produce world-class results.)

But business is now interwoven with technology and software. You don’t have to be a SaaS company to benefit from dozens of SaaS technologies and cloud computing solutions to help make whatever it is you do easier, more accurate, and more streamlined to get done with more transparent results shared across the organization.

The Evolution

The real evolution from COVID 19 will be embracing technology like our new brick and mortar. See it not as a neat tool to have in the Bat-belt, but as a necessary part of the life of an organization that it couldn’t survive without.

Just like the infinite gadgets in Bruce Wayne’s bat-belt, there might only be a very occasional, specific use for that tool. But he would have been burned alive had he not had it.

As a 25-year sourcing SME, my job has always been recruitment enablement. Finding the tools out there, I have always had to argue to justify every paperclip in my Bat-Belt.

We are moving to a world where tech tools, cloud-based tech solutions, enterprise platform solutions, and cell phone apps are integral as to how each of us does our job. They are no longer bells and whistles. They are now necessary tools in our belt to be competitive.

Availability

The availability of those tools will not only directly affect the ability of a company to perform in the market, but also its ability to grab the attention of and recruit the most gifted and innovative talent in the marketplace.

After all, who would respond to an ad for Batman if it said:

“Wanted, athletic, quick to HIS/HER feet, quick to heal superhero wanted.  Must be able to stitch own wounds and develop their own agile solutions to problems brought on by the most notorious supervision(s).  Experience with the building of own gadgets required- raw materials not provided. As a superhero, you will be accountable for the arrest and detainment of the most dangerous people in the city.  This a contract/ as needed opening with per project compensation and no healthcare benefits.” 

If companies truly want to hire the “Bruce Waynes” of the Tech world, they have to be ready to give these innovators all the tools in the tool bat-belt which make Batman a Superhero.

As Recruiters and Sourcers who look for the Bruce Waynes of the world every day, we have to make sure our Bat-Belts are filled too.

How to Use Custom Search Engines to Find Niche Candidates

How to Use Custom Search Engines to Find Niche Candidates

I’m a big advocate of behavioural sourcing and a frequent user of Custom Search Engines (CSE). Instead of using mainstream solutions, I choose to look at the behaviours and patterns of certain candidate pools to find their digital footprints. 

 

Why Custom Search Engines?

CSE is a great tool to automate your favourite search strings. Some other benefits of using CSE are:

  • You can search for multiple sites at once 
  • CSE look into Google’s index and you can customize them which saves a lot of time
  • The query addition automates additional parameters
  • In your advanced settings, you could use Refinements to overcome the CSE’s limit. By adding additional labels, you can narrow down your search. For example, I have a long string of e-mail addresses or gender I want to come up in my search. 
  • CSE can use object types such as “person” which is an example of Structured Data. That option is not possible in Google search. To understand more about structured data, you need to look at the HTML code of the webpage.

When setting up CSE, it is important to understand the URL patterns to know what to include or exclude.

Example below:

The Assignment

I’m looking for a client-facing Solution Architect with either pre-sales or post-sales experience in the financial services industry. Where can I find these people? Can I find candidates that are ‘only 20% hands-on’ on a code-sharing platform?

 

Where to Begin?

I always start my search by finding digital footprints of my targeted candidates. I noticed that some Solution Architects were on GitHub. Thus, I looked at what aspects they worked on in the overview of the repositories and found some keywords. See example: 

Step 1. GitHub Search on CSE

When I create my CSE, I would add “Github” in my Sites to Search and put in “person” in the Schema org Types. By creating Query Additions, I can exclude certain parameters such as: “intitle: -jobs”

In my End-user Search I would put “more:p:code-programminglanguage:java more:p:code-description:microservices” to see if there are other relevant people. I selected exact keywords (in this case: microservices) which reflect the repositories of our previous architect example on GitHub. 

Once logged in to your GitHub account, you will get direct access to the email addresses or personal websites which will enrich your overall data. Alternatively, you can use the patch function by clicking on the commits in the repositories and put ‘’.patch’’ behind the URL.

 

Step 2. Looking at the Competitors

I would look at our typical competitors which would also have architects. Since I’m specifically looking at Kony, I would target it in End-User Search with “more:p:person-worksfor:kony.” Just like the previous step, I can retrieve information via GitHub. 

Finding people on GitHub by their specific job title is possible but sometimes it is not ideal because people do not always enlist their job title correctly. However, I found out that the first person on my list (even though he is a Product Manager) is a great candidate since he worked as a pre-sales architect at one of our competitors.

Step 3. Searching with No Sites

Another take on this is to have a wider search, especially when I’m not familiar with a certain country’s digital footprints. In this scenario, I’m still looking for the same architect but in Germany. Instead of selecting Sites to Search on CSE, I used the No Sites to Search function by selecting first any random website to search (please include Search the Entire Web) and afterwards delete it. 

For Query Addition, I added the following parameters: 

In the End-User Search, I searched for “Solution Architect banking Germany.” 

Step 4: Site Search Xing

Another option is creating Site to Search for Xing. Similar to previous steps, I simply select Sites to Search and list in the Query Addition all the additional information that needs to be highlighted.

This time, I enabled the Structured Data so I can see how Google indexes information about certain websites. Then I can run another search and target it even more specific.

Since Xing is using Hcard, I can put more:p:hcard-title in End-User Search and will receive similar profiles.

 

Step 5. Site Search About.me

We can also create Site to Search for About.me which is a great platform for people who want to brand themselves; perfect for a pre-sales architect that I’m searching for. I used similar steps but this time, when setting up CSE, I add “person” to Restrict Pages using Schema.org Types. 

In End-User Search, I used one or multiple keywords: banking fintech pre sales architecture.

Step 6. Site Search SpeakerHub

My final step is to look at speakers. Since this is a client-facing role, they often need to run presentations. It would be great if they are used to public speaking or presenting. I would select the site SpeakerHub, use the structure more:p:person-jobtitle:*architect, and investigate further.

As an example, I found this candidate in SpeakerHub. By searching his name on Google, I encountered and scraped other events on websites that I could use for my own benefit. 

For scraping. I prefer Webscraper.io over Dataminer since it’s easier to grab the element attribute for specific URLs.

I would look at the candidate’s digital footprints to find out if there are even more events coming up (for example FinTech Code) and add that to my CSE. 

In my mind, it doesn’t really matter which position they throw at you. If you have this mindset and interest to try and investigate, you can work on any role!