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How COVID-19 has affected the gig economy

How COVID-19 has affected the gig economy

How COVID-19 has affected the gig economy

There’s no question that COVID-19 has hit the economy hard. From layoffs to business closures, to stock market collapses, it’s been a year. To say the least. According to Pew Research Center, the U.S. unemployment rate shot up from 3.8% in February – among the lowest on record in the post-World War II era – to 13.0% in May. This leaves a large amount of our population jobless and searching for work, where the gig economy can help.

Gig work is driven by digital platforms that include a variety of ‘jobs’ or temporary work. From Uber driving to food to delivery to shipping, catering, events – gig work gives the worker non-traditional benefits such as flexibility. The gig economy can add tremendous benefits and value to local economies, by providing jobs to those within your community, to spend within your community. Small businesses everywhere are struggling to hire and retain employees. Gig work is a solution that some may not know about, or know how to utilize to its fullest potential.

 

Benefits for the employee and employer

Gig work is almost a perfect situation for retired professionals, college students and those making career changes. For some people, gig work provides a convenient way to supplement existing income or help cover unexpected or additional costs. For others, it’s a way to steadily ride out an extended career transition or hold out for the right opportunity. Still others say gig opportunities enable them to explore different industries or simply provide a needed social outlet. In all cases, the short-term, optional nature of the work is the critical empowering factor. In a culture that celebrates the free agent, the gig economy also provides individuals a midway point between true entrepreneurship and corporate work. It enables workers to experience different kinds of work without necessarily identifying with it.

The gig economy also gives employers the opportunity to finally embrace worker turnover, which is simply endemic in some fields. In a recent study by SHRM, retention/employee turnover was the top workplace management challenge cited by 47 percent of HR professionals polled. Data from the study indicates that the three biggest challenges turnover causes include, employee turnover is costly, leads to a decrease in overall company productivity, and makes it difficult to retain sought after talent. In another similar study, results show that 78 percent of business leaders rank employee retention as important or urgent. Additionally, one-third of new hires quit their job after about six (6) months.

New platforms for temporary work mean that employers don’t necessarily need a team of exclusively full-time workers because they can access pools of equally (if not more) qualified gig workers on demand.

 

Using the gig economy to hire new talent

For many organizations, the hiring process has changed since COVID-19. With layoffs, furloughs, budget cuts, and hiring freezes, organizations everywhere are feeling the pressure to hire the right talent for future success. Recruiters and hiring managers are finding new avenues and ways to hire talent, and one of those ways is gig work. Gig work is the perfect way to “try it before you buy it” when hiring new employees. It offers a range of flexibility and freedom for not only the employer but employees as well. It provides a way to have a potential new hire come in, try their skills, meet the team, and see if they’re a good fit before having to make any long-term commitments. Also, the employee gets to build their resume by trying new jobs, broadening their skills, and experience within the workforce.

 

Other ways to utilize the gig economy

Not only can gig work be used to hire talent but there are several other ways that gig work can help benefit your organization. The upcoming holidays are one prime example of how retail, shipping, packaging, and other organizations can utilize gig work. During these few months, many organizations need extra help to meet demand but are hesitant to hire new employees due to all the hoops needed to jump through to onboard a new employee. That’s where the gig economy comes in. You can hire these temporary employees through temp agencies, and digital platforms to fulfill all of your organization’s needs, while never needing to hire new employees. This is extremely low risk with a high reward option during the next 2-3 months.

 

Moving forward

There is no doubt that COVID-19 is shaping how organizations hire, maintain, and retain talent. This is an unprecedented, never before seen time for businesses to make changes to their traditional models, one of those being the way they look at temporary workers. The gig economy has a bright future in front of it and based on what I’ve seen so far, gig workers could be the solution to problems companies didn’t even know they were facing.

I think it’s about time to stop thinking of the gig economy as “extra work” or “side hustles” and start realizing that this is how millions of people make a living, and is a force of good within our economy. Companies should use this opportunity to really hone in on the gig economy and how to best utilize its benefits for not only the employees but employers. It’s time to stop thinking of the gig economy as just a food delivery or taxi service, and start realizing its potential to scale your workforce, and assemble new talent in an innovative, new way.

Changing Your Career During COVID-19: Steps You Can Take

Changing Your Career During COVID-19: Steps You Can Take

Changing Your Career During COVID-19: Steps You Can Take

The plausibility of switching jobs in the middle of a pandemic is stirring conversation. Although we are now seeing a slow recovery in the business world, according to an economic news release by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, unemployment is still at 12.6 million. With this significant imbalance between job availability and job seekers, does it make sense to take the risk and change careers at this time?

While it may not sound like a sensible idea to some, there are others who are left with no choice but to switch careers. According to S&P Global Market Intelligence, millions of employees from heavily impacted industries are pivoting or switching careers after their positions have become obsolete, as explained by ABC News.

 

Why Shift Jobs During a Pandemic?

As risky as it may sound, changing jobs during a pandemic can be a great idea. Here are some reasons why:

  • You have more time to plan, re-skill or upskill, and to pursue a different job.
  • Despite the massive shutdown, there are still companies continuing to operate and hire.
  • Being pushed into unfamiliar territory can be empowering, which can help develop and shape your character as a professional. Job hunting during a pandemic can be challenging; thus, it prompts job seekers to be more creative and resourceful.

Whether you lost your job because of the coronavirus pandemic or you simply want to move on from your current position, here are 5 critical steps that will ensure a successful career change.

 

5 Steps Toward a Successful Career Change During a Pandemic

Conduct a Thorough Self-Evaluation

You need to have a strong understanding of your current situation before making any changes. This will allow you to prepare yourself physically, emotionally, and mentally for an upcoming development in your career.

This includes understanding why you need a change. If you were not let go, identify what is driving your motivation for something new. Is it a management, compensation, or personal issue? Having a clear understanding of your reason for a career shift is vital as it will determine your next action steps and will ensure that any unaddressed issue does not resurface later on regardless of your new position. 

You also need to check into your readiness when it comes to finances, living arrangements, and other personal responsibilities outside of work. How feasible is this change going to be in your situation? If it’s going to be challenging, how much time will you need to get things sorted out before you make the career switch?

It is never wise to just jump in blindly when there is already so much uncertainty during these times.

 

Do a Skill Audit

Identify your strongest skills and compare them to the prospective job requirements. Is there a gap? If so, how are you going to acquire the needed skills, and how much time will you need to learn and develop them? 

The key to a successful career shift is equal parts preparation and determination. Identify timelines, action plans, and resources.

 

Actively Search for Roles

One positive that emerged from this pandemic is that companies are slowly shifting to the virtual world. Even traditional companies are now seeing the potential of the internet and have moved their recruitment processes online. This means you can make use of online resources to search for jobs and do company research.

You can then compare your skills and qualifications with the roles you want to apply for.

 

Effectively Rebrand Yourself

It is important to work on personal branding and make sure that it is aligned with the role you are applying for. This includes updating your professional online accounts, starting with your LinkedIn profile.

With a wealth of others aiming for the same job, you need to present yourself as an expert in the field or at least as someone with strong potential for the position.

Most importantly, you need to know how to create a professional, functional resume that you can upload to LinkedIn and send in with your application. Also, make sure to tailor your resume for each position, to help you stand out.

 

Network within the Industry

Whether or not you are new to the industry, you need to network with the right people. This can help you identify opportunities and learn industry best practices. Also, recruiters use referrals as a main source of generating leads because they rely on others vouching for prospective candidates. It’s always possible that your recent LinkedIn connection could be the link to your dream job.

Job hunting has never been easy and is even more challenging now that the world is still fighting a global pandemic. Although difficult at times, adaptability, flexibility, and determination can go a long way. 

Before you make a final decision to switch careers in such challenging times, find the time to research and truly assess yourself. If you feel that this move will give you a more fulfilling life and help you grow as a person, then it may be worth the risk.

Rehumanize Recruiting

rehumanize recruiting

Rehumanize Recruiting

In today’s noisy recruiting tech landscape, comprised of AI, algorithms, and all-in-one solutions, it’s difficult to know if your own tool stack is yielding the best results. Even worse, none of these tools are focused on a very important aspect of any hiring process – the candidate experience.

Video really shines with this in mind as it assures a candidate there are real humans reviewing their application, and being their guide along the way. While we’ve successfully innovated in ways to scale a recruiting practice, the candidate experience has suffered.

Candidates often wonder “Does my application have a chance against an AI?”, or even worse, “Will a real human ever see my resume?”

Couple that with the challenges of any job search, especially a job search in an uncertain job market. 

 

Get back to the Fundamentals

While there will always be a need for technology to help Recruiters do their jobs, I’m advocating today for a way to use technology to get us back to the fundamentals of recruiting. Ultimately, our technology should help a job seeker find a job that is fulfilling and treats them like a human being along the way.

Yes, my job as a Recruiter is to fill the roles for my company or my client. I also believe my job as a Recruiter is to guide candidates, and treat them as I would want to be treated as a job seeker. 

Video technology is nothing new in recruiting. Now more than ever, we’ve used it for assessments and for virtual interviews. Today I want to share a few practical applications of video that are focused on the candidate experience and ways to make your own organization really stand out to top talent in a sea of AI and algorithms.

This isn’t meant to be a referendum on AI or machine learning in recruiting, as these are exciting technologies that do allow us to be more efficient. Video is meant to complement these technologies. To bring us back to what we as humans are hard-wired to do – look at each other in the eyes, express empathy, and communicate. 

Today, I’m going to talk about video messaging, and how it can be used to personalize your own recruiting efforts. Of course, we’ve all become experts in video conferencing at this point. Moreover, incorporating video messages into your emails, your evergreen templates, your sourcing, and your feedback loops will overall yield happier hires that feel truly connected to your organization.

 

Sourcing

In-demand talent is overwhelmed by cold emails from various recruiters. We have all been taught that personalizing these cold emails is a great way to get noticed. You can enhance this even further by using personalized video messages to reach out to the top talent you are sourcing. Bonus points if you use a whiteboard with their name written on it!

When supported by text, a video is an outstanding way to grab the attention of the talent you are sourcing and will make you and your company stand out. With the addition of all the personalization aspects you would have included in your text-only email, you will assuredly see your response rate increase. 

 

Evergreen templates

Templates are one of the best tools for any Recruiter. Whether it’s an email through your ATS thanking a candidate for their application, or a template requesting a phone interview – adding a video to these messages will help you stand out and add personalization to your processes. I’ve done this for years in my emails for scheduling a phone interview, and have heard many times from candidates how much they appreciated getting to see and know me before we ever spoke.

It puts them at ease and reaffirms that they are dealing with a real human. This is a great way to put any candidate jitters to rest before a stressful interview and to ensure they are able to be themselves. This results in a better picture of their profile and fit.

 

Feedback

Whether good or bad, candidates deserve feedback. The absolute worst thing to do is to have a candidate interview, and never give them a result. This is by far one of the most cited critiques of recruiters that I hear from candidates. Using video here will highlight the care you have given these candidates.

There’s nothing like receiving a personalized video saying, “The team thought you interviewed extremely well! We’d love to move forward with further steps,” from a candidate’s point of view. Even if the feedback is less favorable, a rejection, sending a video allows you to personally thank them for the time they invested in you, and to keep in contact if there are potential future fits. 

 

Internal Feedback

Using video to communicate with your team about interview feedback is again going to be a time saver. It’s much quicker and easier for a hiring manager to record a video with their thoughts after an interview and send it to you.

It’s important to document this in any way necessary for your company or team, but in a job market where timing is often everything, this is a great way to keep the feedback loop strong and quick. 

Now that we understand some practical applications of where we can use video in our hiring processes, let’s put it to work. Let’s bring humanity back to what we do by rehumanizing our recruiting processes. 

Inhouse Recruitment Teams: At first there were many, then there were few

At first, there were many. Then there were few.

This may sound like the opening dialogue of a trailer to the next hit blockbuster movie, but in fact, it’s a reality experienced by many inhouse recruitment teams. It’s understood that with this pandemic, companies had to take drastic measures to ensure their own survival. Unfortunately, this included laying off many individuals that fall under what corporations call shared services. 

Recruitment typically falls into this category, which is why so many talented and hardworking recruiters found themselves without a job almost overnight. We can’t blame a company for trying to keep as many employees employed as possible during times of great financial strain. What we will look at are the steps that employers take once the tide turns and business starts to creep back towards normal.

 

Balance imbalanced workloads

As the recruiting world does what it can to right itself, what is it like for those recruiters and talent acquisition leaders that have been lucky enough to keep their positions? What has happened to internal recruitment processes now that most requisitions have been placed on hold and a small fraction of the original recruitment department remains at these companies? What happens when jobs start opening back up?

Will companies take the right steps to ensure that their recruiters are supported adequately. Or will revenue and the general ledger be the only things held in their sights?

Let me clarify my personal experience. Companies forced to let go of their recruiting teams due to low requisition numbers and financial hardship, many will hesitate to rehire recruiters and scale their teams back up to fully support greenlighted positions from department heads.

Companies in many instances have taken a financial loss. Which is what triggered the layoffs in the first place. However, once business starts to level out and there’s a need to hire and onboard more employees, many companies try to maximize revenue and limit additional financial losses by not hiring additional recruiting team members.

Not only is this not a way to work their way fiscally back into the black, but in many instances this method adds additional financial strain to the organization. Product teams, engineering teams, and business service teams all end up having massive delays in adding headcount as a direct result of recruiters having too many requisitions to focus on at any given time. 

 

Recruiters protect their personal brands

The opinion regarding what an optimal number of requisitions for recruiters to manage at any given time varies from person to person. Typically I’ve found that between 10-15 requisitions per recruiter tends to be the best range to remain within. 

I’ve had instances in my career where I’ve had 60-90+ requisitions on my workbench due to understaffing and cost-cutting schemes. Again, this was unmanageable and actually caused me to leave companies that I loved working for out of necessity.

Recruiters in particular, must protect their personal brands. Their brand is extremely important. It’s a primary factor in their success and in their ability to perform their jobs well. If a company creates an internal working environment where failure and subpar work is inevitable, then the recruiter risks damage to their personal brand.

The damage is not only internally with the hiring teams that they support, but also with candidates in the marketplace that they do not manage the candidate experience with in an efficient manner. This external damage to the personal brand “follows” recruiters to whichever company they decide to work at. Which is why so many will eventually voluntarily leave from jobs where they are not supported.

 

Risk of employee burnout

A result of recruiters being assigned too many requisitions and not having the support needed to fill them quickly and efficiently, can be summed up as employee burnout. Employee burnout is a serious condition that can result from unmanageable workloads like described above.

It’s a condition that causes an organization’s best talent to eventually consider leaving the company for other opportunities. Due to the professional, personal, and emotional strain that is placed on them.

Employers who make tough decisions during times like the pandemic must also be prepared to make strategic hires in order to support their recruiting teams. Even when it’s not optimal to do so because of financial strain.

This will stave off employee burnout and let the recruiting team know that their well being is top of mind, which helps improve productivity and hiring success.

 

Impact to your employer brand reputation

So what does all of this mean to an employer’s brand? Well, let’s think about what candidates do when looking for a job or when considering a job opportunity.

Most candidates go online and immediately start looking for employee reviews on sites like Glassdoor and Indeed. There’s a mixed consensus on how much stock to put into reviews on these sites from both candidates and employers. But it would be a mistake to discount the impact that these reviews can have on your talent sourcing and recruiting activities.

On these sites, candidates and employees rate their interactions with specific companies during their interview processes or the term of their employment. All of the candidates that do not hear back from a recruiter or hiring manager due to understaffed teams in recruitment have the ability to go on these sites. They will share their personal perspectives on how the business made them feel.

The same also happens with current employees and past employees. Candidates and employees that feel undervalued by a brand have no qualms about sharing their experiences and opinions online. This can be disastrous for these brands and getting enough positive online feedback to counteract the negative can take a lot of time and money.

 

Suggestions for the way forward

So what’s the suggestion here? I would start with truly evaluating the need to hire specific roles across departments that have decided to greenlight requisitions. Then I would look at the remaining recruitment team and rebalance the recruiter workbenches. If the projected hiring numbers showed that recruiters could potentially have more than 10 requisitions each, I would consider adding another recruiter to the team.

A second option would be to utilize a recruiting and staffing agency partner to scale the recruitment team with contract recruiters. This would enable the business to go through some evaluations and growing pains while it tried to return to a normal operating procedure. Being able to pivot quickly during strained economic times is of the utmost importance.

I would also make it a point to take measure of the team’s morale on a regular basis. Listen to the team. Take their concerns seriously. Remember that recruiters are the first contact for most candidates when it comes to a business’ brand. They have to be able to support the brand’s initiatives and always represent the core values for potential employees to embody and engage with.

An understaffed recruiting team will not likely be able to meet those initiatives. Pay attention to requisition loads and find a way to make sure that help is brought in when needed. Whether this is through a contractor placed by an agency partner, or by adding headcount to the recruiting team.

For those recruiting team members that survived the furloughs and layoffs. They now have to hope that the businesses and brands that they support are willing to truly work towards a well thought out, practical way of reopening requisitions. Taking into account the team members that are under pressure to perform and meet their hiring managers’ expectations.

 

Employer takeaway

Employers should think about how to set their recruiting teams up for success. They should truly evaluate ways to prevent workloads from becoming unmanageable. If businesses don’t take these necessary steps to help their recruiting team members, they’ll most likely risk damaging their employer brand. Avoid earning a reputation with candidates for not having a great interview process. Or a reputation with employees for not taking into account the well being of the current workforce.

Investing in inhouse recruiting teams will allow employers to keep great talent, maintain a sterling reputation with candidates, and meet initiatives that are aggressive in nature and allow the company to get back on track after the damage caused by the pandemic.

 

How to build a highly productive remote work environment

productive remote work environment

 

How to build a highly productive remote work environment

Great leaders play a vital role in bringing a civilized work environment within an organization. Offering remote and flexible work opportunities has become essential in the current job market to retain and attract diversified top talent.

We have recently been reading a lot of articles featuring remote work during COVID. Exemplary leadership skills are required to build and manage remote teams. The greatest challenge in an organization is developing a leader with a diversified mindset that can think globally.

The remote team manager has to trust their team and monitor and evaluate the remote team’s performance. The remote team manager should have a history of remote working.

 

Challenges

Let’s discuss some of the challenges faced by remote employees and the steps organizations should take to overcome those challenges. The percentage of employee burnout is on the rise during this COVID pandemic even more than before. Remote team managers should have a high level of Emotional Intelligence to spot burnout.

If left unnoticed, Burned-out employees can easily create a toxic work environment which eventually affects the overall productivity of an organization. As we all know, during this pandemic a lot of things have been happening/happened for companies as well for the people. Employee lifestyle is not the same as before.

 

Job Insecurity:

The anxiety level of employees may be very high due to lay-offs. They tend to work very hard fearing they might get laid off next. Leaving them very confused causes an adverse effect on mental health. The anxiety will be even higher if a team member was recently laid off. The following article explains why layoff anxiety is bad for business and what employees are worried about.

Solution: Companies must be as transparent as possible. Have open discussions with employees about the major decisions being made. Be upfront when you are planning for a layoff. If you are not planning for any layoff, create some situations where they build trust with you.  Examples: asking for suggestions on process improvement, employee recognition awards, etc.

 

Isolation / depression / stress:

These have a direct impact on bringing low productivity if left unchecked. It is very common during COVID since employees are unable to socialize like they used to before. As we all know socializing can be a great stress reliever, and lessen feelings of isolation.

Solution: Stay connected with your team. Have one-on-one chats with your remote team members every 1 to 2 weeks. Have virtual lunch/drinks/coffee etc, and have a chat for at least 15 minutes.  These check-ins can give you a sense of the individual’s mental status, and also ensure they feel considered.  A sense of belongingness, rather than neglect. Planning full team drinks/lunch/coffee is also fun.

Get to know more about your team. Listen to them, pay attention to what they say, so you will get a hint if they are experiencing any burn-out or anything that is bothering them.

Check-in periodically if any part of the work needs some help or some additional training. Discuss positive things they did and discuss in a polite way if any issues need to be corrected.

Remote team managers should be very talented in crisis management and at times should also act as a ‘counselor’.  ‘Critical thinking’ is the most important skill of a remote team manager. Be empathetic. Stay connected.  Make them feel that they can reach out to you if anything is bothering them that affects their work.

Have regular ‘Training/Brainstorming sessions’ between managers and the team (make it more interactive and fun). This will encourage open communication and they learn a lot from each other. Hence improves open interactions between team members.

This article explains clearly what remote workers have to do to manage mental health during situations and what managers and the company can do to support the employees.

 

Micromanagement:

The biggest issue some remote employees face now is they are ‘being micromanaged’(which is even more stressful). Many companies are allowing employees to work remotely solely due to the pandemic. ‘Micromanagement’ is typically done by managers who’ve rarely worked in a remote working set up that have trouble trusting their team.

Solution: Let the remote team members know that it is perfectly fine to take breaks and do long walks/gym, or any personal work and then can resume the work after. Here are some Wellness Program Ideas for productive remote workers.

Be clear in communicating your expectations with the team. Let the team know that you are bothered only about the results and they are not being micromanaged (like checking login time, log-out time, continuously checking their activity, constantly on video meetings, etc.)

Have a clear process to track their performance and measure their outcome, with detailed daily reporting processes for the team. Have a meeting if the results aren’t satisfactory.  Use collaboration tools to integrate the remote team employees spread across different geographical locations. Offer good training programs.

 

Miscommunication:

Miscommunication is one of the major issues in the remote working model and can lead to internal conflict.

Solution: When certain things are sensitive / needs more explanation / giving negative feedback/criticisms etc. it is better to have a phone call or video chat.

When communicating with a diverse remote team, make sure the communication is very clear. Speak slowly with non-native English speakers, and avoid slang. It is easy for anyone to understand the words being said but not the context or the meaning. As a result, it could confuse a diverse remote team, or even offend with what you said.

 

productive remote work environment

 Healthy work environment =  Healthy-minded employees

 

In closing, I would like to mention that it is every organization’s responsibility to set up an atmosphere within the company, where diverse teams can get along and work together happily.  Which is crucial for the long survival of an organization.

Empower your team and build trust. Empowered teams always perform well!

We’re All Responsible for Diversity and Inclusion

We’re all responsible for Diversity and Inclusion!

We’re all responsible for Diversity and Inclusion!

When we hear the terms diversity and inclusion, what comes to mind? Who do we think is responsible for diversity, inclusion, and company culture? HR, Recruiting, Talent Acquisition?

Yes, they do play a critical role in identifying, attracting, engaging, recruiting, retaining, and developing diverse talent. They help shape the D&I strategy and culture of an organization.

However, they are not exclusively responsible. We all have a role to play. It starts with understanding what those terms mean – what they mean to you and your organization. Other terms used in tandem with D&I are E&B (Equity and Belonging). For now, we will focus on D&I. 

A Google search on D&I will produce pages of descriptions and data on the benefits of having a diverse workforce. We know the benefits. Yet in the last decade, we haven’t moved the needle significantly in creating diverse workforces, especially in the C-suite. Less than 6% of CEOs in Fortune 500 companies are people of color.

One reason is that processes for hiring, development, and promotions at some companies are plagued with opportunities for biased decision-making. While bias has become somewhat of a dirty word, the truth is that we are all biased. Research shows that we are given 11 million pieces of information at any given moment, but we can only handle 40. Our brain creates shortcuts so we can make decisions quickly without being overwhelmed; however, these shortcuts can create bias.

I share this not to excuse bad behavior, but to illustrate that even well-intentioned people can be biased. Fortunately, there is something we can do about it. Many companies provide diversity training, workshops, and learning libraries that offer information we can use to make changes. If your company doesn’t provide those resources, you can find research online on the many types of biases, along with videos and training programs on how to recognize bias.

While training is important, it’s not enough. D&I requires action. If we don’t move from information to action, D&I becomes just another feel-good activity. 

The behavioral approach to Diversity and Inclusion is based on a simple premise: Behave until you believe. 

Whether you believe D&I is important or necessary, there is often a gap from information to intention to action. We tend to seek what is comfortable and familiar, especially when faced with stressful situations.

 

Here are some steps we can take when dealing with situations where bias may creep in.

Awareness – What is influencing my thoughts about a person or group of people? Is it based on facts or feelings? Do I possess cultural competence?

Take Action – Is my professional circle diverse? How much interaction do I have with people outside of my circle? Do something different!

Start Small – Confronting bias is not easy. It calls into question the beliefs we have about ourselves and the world around us. Even with the best intentions, good people have bias. 

Be Consistent – Progress is better than perfection! Take small but consistent actions to recognize and mitigate our own biases and challenge those around us to do the same.

 

Feelings are not Facts

I want to address my Recruiting and HR colleagues for a moment. How many times have you submitted a candidate that checked off every requirement for the role, based on the job description and your intake call?

Excited, you presented the candidate to the decision-maker only to get this feedback, “I didn’t get the right feel from the candidate” or “I didn’t feel they would be a good fit.”

One of my good friends often reminds me that feelings are not facts! 

Very few business decisions are made without data or some process that evaluates the facts – past and present. Why are so many companies leaving such a critical business decision to individual feelings? Our feelings can lead us to make biased decisions. For example, when we look at generational diversity there are some stereotypes about the work habits of each generation.

Research shows there are core needs that everyone has, along with similarities in work habits and behavior regardless of age or generational categorization. The narratives around generational categories often do not represent the reality when stacked against the data. Applying these beliefs during the recruiting and hiring process may influence us to potentially exclude younger candidates for roles that require stability and longevity or to exclude mature candidates for more technical roles.

So, what can we do? Beyond fair and equitable hiring processes, skills-based assessments, competency-based interviews with question banks and scoring rubrics, diverse interview panels, and technology tools? We can work on actively recognizing and confronting our own bias, and how it may influence our decision-making at work. 

We often hear that in order for a company’s D&I strategy to be successful, sustainable, and shape the culture of the organization, it needs the following ingredients:

  • Buy-in and sponsorship from the C-suite
  • Resources – money, time, and human capital
  • Alignment with business strategy
  • Measurable – what gets measured gets managed

I would also add that it needs to be important to every employee. We all have a role to play in Diversity and Inclusion at our organizations.

Why Your HR And Marketing Team Needs To Work Together

Why Your HR And Marketing Team Needs To Work Together

 

Why Your HR And Marketing Team Needs To Work Together

For any business to thrive, all the internal departments must perform to their full potential. They must show their dedication and commitment to the work they are assigned to do. This is a fact. Also, it’s a symbiotic relationship and genuine team collaboration that helps everyone push boundaries together.

For example, Developers can’t do much without a strong UX designer team. Effective communication between them will always result in better projects. When cross-functional teams work together on a common goal or form a symbiotic relationship, they can benefit a lot. In this blog, I will discuss why the HR and marketing team needs to work together.

Let’s take a look at the HR and Marketing Teams at individual standpoints in brief. The HR team is responsible for managing employee life-cycle from recruitment to onboarding and training and pretty much everything that concerns an employee for the company’s greater good. They are also responsible for conducting benefit analysis and do market research to stay afloat in the competition and attract the best talents.

It would not be wrong to call the marketing team the face of the company. They are responsible for building the corporate brand and positioning its core values out in public. Marketing reaches out to prospects, customers, existing clients, investors, and the larger audience with critical information that builds the company image and puts them into the spotlight.

They produce promotional and marketing materials, conduct marketing campaigns, takes care of your website’s SEO, manages social media, and much more. They are always proactive and busy in finding innovative ways to promote the business and bring sustainability.

The common thread between these two departments is communication. These two powerhouses manage both internal and external communications very effectively. Therefore, they can do wonders when they work together, forming a symbiotic relationship.

 

Here is Why

Recruitment and Finding the Right Fit

For an HR professional, hiring the right fit for the company is vital. A good hire adds value to the company and contributes to the company culture and its attributes. A right fit means finding talent that understands the company culture and its values. Here, HR can take advantage of the marketing research for finding the right candidate.

The marketing team uses various mediums to generate insights into the market by facilitating data dives. Which, could be beneficial for the HR team on a job posting that targets the right audience. Marketing team could ensure that the job descriptions are intended to the right audience, keeping their perspectives in mind. The marketing team can also help HR curate compelling copy that interests the audience and drives them to their career page.

 

The Big Company Events and Social Media

HR teams conduct events and coaching sessions that help employees and the company realign their goals and objectives. It builds team collaboration, overall morale, and boosts employee engagement. During these events, the leaders share their ideas and thoughts, motivate the team, and build a positive working relationship. The marketing team’s collaboration can give them an ample opportunity to create brand awareness by posting on social media. They could share the before and after experience from the events and put the company brand and culture out in public.

The HR and marketing can monitor social media, get insights into how customers feel about the brand, and how current or former employees think about the company. They could post inspiring stories about the company’s accomplishments and anecdotes from the employees. This would also bring more transparency among the internal departments and add value to potential customers and employees.

 

Employer and Corporate Branding

The HR department manages employer branding, and corporate branding is taken care of by the marketing department. But treating them separately is not a wise decision. Corporate and employer branding must go hand in hand. If corporate branding is lackluster, it is going to impact the employer brand and vice versa.

Both departments play a crucial role in building the brand image since they communicate with candidates and customers. Both candidate and customer experience should be treated perfectly. Lousy candidate experience can derail marketing initiatives. You would not want bad word of mouth, would you? The same goes for customer experience. Therefore, the language and messaging for both the branding initiatives should not be different.

Marketing and HR departments must join hands and should communicate to tell the right stories.

 

End Note

The dynamic duo holds its power in communication, and that is what they do best. More synergy and collaboration between them create many opportunities to improve their work and bring more success. As Richard Branson rightly said,

‘Two heads are definitely better than one, and by sourcing ideas from each other, you have a better chance of coming up with a strategy that will allow your business to overcome a setback or challenge.’

 

Barriers to Recruiting Success: How the Interview Can Thwart Positive Outcomes

Barriers to Recruiting Success_ How the Interview Can Thwart Positive Outcomes

Barriers to Recruiting Success: How the Interview Can Thwart Positive Outcomes

In August 2020, we saw an encouraging continued decline in unemployment rates in the United States (to 8.4% per the BLS) as businesses began to open back up, rehire and grow. However, we still have over 13 million Americans who remain unemployed, putting some hiring teams underwater when it comes to managing rising candidate volumes.

For many organizations, the candidate experience was already sub-optimal, with a majority of candidates not even hearing back after they apply for a job. Consider hiring managers and recruiters getting hundreds of applies for every job when they used to get ten or twenty; the candidate experience will nosedive if we don’t begin to think about hiring in a new way.

One area that could really use some help? Interviews. We took a look at candidate satisfaction across the talent acquisition journey, and less than a quarter of job seekers (only 23%) are satisfied with the interview process overall. That means a whopping 77% are excited to get an interview, and then leave that step feeling disappointed!

In a study of more than 1,000 hourly candidates conducted by Madeline Laurano of Aptitude Research, job seekers cited a lack of structure in scheduling and delayed communication as key complaints, along with limited information on the next steps and expectations for the interview.

I would guess most recruiters prefer the human side of their job over the administrative, but unfortunately, one can’t happen without the other. For recruiters, the reality of managing high volumes of applicants means the burden of scheduling and re-scheduling interviews quickly eats into their capacity – one global banking firm we worked with reported an average of five days to schedule an interview.

So, it took the span of a workweek for an excited candidate to go back and forth, matching availability and answering emails or calls, to finalize that interview spot – what do you think happened if one of the other jobs they applied to got back to them sooner, or made an offer?

And, on the recruiter side of it – they spent hours simply matching up calendars and leaving voicemails or sending emails, taking away from their time to support interview success with things like setting expectations, preparing hiring managers and candidates, and delivering timely feedback. I recently spoke with a talent acquisition leader whose team is now seeing 200+ applications per-hourly job.

Now, multiply this by the 30k hourly workers they hire annually – a process handled primarily by the individual hiring managers working in each location. Not only would it take a massive team of recruiters or administrative support in-store to manage just the interview process, but imagine the decline in hire quality when the administrative burden takes over (in turn, impacting other critical measures like performance, customer satisfaction, and retention).

As automation and artificial intelligence burst onto the HR scene in the last decade, we saw recruiting become one of the most apparent use cases.  But, because HR and talent acquisition professionals typically place a higher value on the relationship-building side of their jobs, there’s sometimes been a fear of automation.

However, this decade’s intelligent tools are evolving into proof that automation can enhance the human side of recruiting – freeing up time and providing insight that drives a more personal experience. Now, imagine that global banking client with the five-day average to schedule an interview – with the implementation of interview scheduling automation, they saw availability matching happen in as little as a minute in some cases.

With nearly 80% of interviews matched immediately through automation, imagine how much recruiter time freed up to work on strategic initiatives or the human side of their job. Automation didn’t replace their recruiters; it helped them work smarter.

Whether job seekers are out of work or looking for additional work to supplement their income, we expect them to be thrilled to hear from us for an interview – but it’s a daunting emotional process. The reality is, they may be going through the same process, at different stages, with different companies (maybe even direct competitors.) Here are just a few ways you can embrace automation to deliver improved hiring outcomes:

 

Reduced Time-to-Hire and Engagement

Whether you’ve found one good candidate or 50, now the back-and-forth begins – the hiring manager or recruiter calls and leaves a message with potential interview times, the candidate calls back only to get voicemail. In direct contrast to a consumer-grade experience, the candidate isn’t in control.

And the amount of manual work that falls on the hiring team is untenable. By enabling interview self-scheduling, the back-and-forth on phone or email to schedule an interview – which stalls hiring and puts candidate interest at risk of moving on – is eliminated.

Self-scheduling can also reduce the stress on working job seekers when they need to step away on-the-job to answer a recruiter’s call or delay accessing an email or voicemail. The candidate feels valued because their time is respected; plus, they can choose a time that works around their schedule.

 

Reduce Drop Out and Ghosting

The ‘path of least resistance’ is a saying for a reason – when candidates get stuck in a cycle of endless scheduling, they’re inclined to give up entirely and engage with the opportunity that feels easier. Putting the candidate in control is the first step mentioned above, but what if we also support them along the way?

Automation is a powerful tool in sending your candidates nudges, information, and answering their questions. If a conflict arises, they don’t just ghost the interview – they can re-schedule at their convenience or contact the hiring manager with ease.

Your recruiters or hiring managers aren’t wasting hours reminding and re-scheduling people – they can focus on helping candidates feel prepared and engaged, instead.

 

Help Managers and Candidates Succeed

Let’s travel a little farther away from the basics of just getting the interview scheduled. The candidate receives their reminders and a map, maybe even some of their questions are answered about attire or job expectations – but are they ready for the interview?

What are you doing to support your hiring manager – the person who might be rushing back to their office from an issue on a cashier lane or with a manufacturing line? Do they know anything about the interviewee as they dig through email to find that application again?

Remember, we mentioned earlier that candidates often feel unprepared or uninformed going into the actual interview, leading to dissatisfaction in the candidate experience. Recruiting automation can lend a hand here by serving the insight the system already knows about the candidate and the job back in a usable way – this is where integration across the entire hiring process becomes valuable.

Your candidate answered pre-screen questions, shared their experience, and probably even took an assessment – why not serve this information to the hiring manager in a way that helps them interview smarter? In turn, as an organization, you know which traits tend to translate to the best fit, performance, and retention for different roles – so why not prepare your candidate to highlight the ways they can showcase their relevant experience in the interview?

Despite the predictable, repetitive processes, planning, scheduling, and preparation for interviews can take a recruiter or hiring manager hours to do right – time they don’t have. Properly done, automation takes the information you already know about your candidate and your jobs to serve up digestible insights that will help everybody feel better equipped and informed, heading into the interview.

In this way, automation makes the hiring process more personalized and human, while freeing up the recruiter and hiring manager to focus on what’s important. In the long run, automating the interview process has the power to impact employee performance, retention, and career progression by finding the best-fit candidates and keeping them engaged.

 

Does TA Understand Passive Talent Engagement?

Does TA Understand Passive Talent Engagement?

As a talent acquisition consultant, specializing in the areas of sourcing and recruitment marketing, I am frequently asked to aid in hard-to-find candidate pursuits. Generally, I can perform a few Boolean searches to identify said passive candidate within a few minutes, retrieving a myriad of qualified candidates for the picking.  It has taken a pandemic and thirty years of experience to finally realize that the “war on talent” is fictitious.

In this internet age, Recruiters and Sourcers can identify any person, anywhere. Including their former names, contact info, ex-spouses, and neighbors’ email.  That is not intended to be funny, we really can do that. Information is everywhere.

This leaves the question to be asked, do we really have a problem finding talent, or do we have trouble getting talent to respond to us?

Now before you start telling me that you have an actual job that really is hard to fill, I can tell you I believe you. But if we hash out the details, I’m sure we could agree on the fact that the type of person you seek exists, it’s just the Recruiter can’t find someone to be interested in the job when they need them to be interested.

This is where the problem lies.

 

Rephrase the Problem

In order to look at the talent shortage differently, we must rephrase the problem we are trying to solve. The talent acquisition challenge is no longer around “where do we find candidates”, but “how do we get passive candidates to engage with us”?

Recruiters now are expected to be recruitment marketing gurus, without any training in that area, and to adopt an always-on news media cycle to job sharing and content writing. When Recruiters fail to understand passive candidate engagement, the time it takes to fill a job increases. Hiring managers complain.

Leaders then assume a performance problem with the Recruiter, when in fact it is a skill and training issue.

The first step in changing a perspective when faced with a challenge is analysis. Noted are a few challenge questions to determine if your organization understands the need for passive talent engagement:

  • Do your Recruiters lack a multi-channel approach when reaching out to prospective candidate leads? And, do they rely on a good mix of email, phone, text, and social media direct messaging?
  • Do your Recruiters have a one-and-done mentality? Meaning, do Recruiters only focus on the potential applicant that responds favorably?
  • When a prospect declines a request to engage, do your Recruiters log those declines and plan for future engagements with the candidate?
  • When a prospect declines a request to engage, do your Recruiters request to stay in touch for referrals?

 

Candidate Engagement

The long-term philosophy for candidate engagement is to log, connect, and reconnect with prospects.

Those connections, if done right, eventually form a relationship with the prospect. That relationship helps to identify the potential candidate’s dream role. The Recruiter then ties that dream to a company value. It is the purposeful and diligent connection with the prospect that, over time, help the lead to recognize the positives of a new job can outweigh the negatives in their current role. Yahtzee.

Seriously, do our recruiters have time to form these relationships while managing eighty requisitions?

A modern talent acquisition team understands that the department doesn’t start and end with Recruiters.  Leading-edge talent teams incorporate Sourcing, Recruitment Marketing, and Competitive Intelligence as sub-sets within the TA department.  Missing any part of that equation positions a team for failure and missed opportunity.

So where to start? Budgets are tight. Perhaps asking for a sourcing team or a CRM is an unrealistic ask right now.  My suggestion is to start with marketing. Ask for an internal marketing resource to be dedicated to talent acquisition.

Even better, you can take a current TA resource (perhaps a coordinator or recruiter) and swap out the FTE budgeted role with your own recruitment marketing specialist.

It’s a start. Happy Hunting.

 

 

Black Women are the Backbone

Black Women are the Backbone

How reactions to Kamala Harris’ Vice-Presidential nomination highlight the broader Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion work that needs to be done across industries.

Many learned during Kamala Harris’ Vice-Presidential nomination acceptance speech about the life long affiliation of members of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated (AKA) and the passion and support of a Historically Black College or University, (in this case) Howard University “the Mecca.”

Kamala Harris’ candidacy is a landmark to all African American Greek Letter organizations and HBCUs alike.  She is the first graduate of an HBCU to be selected as a major party candidate’s running mate.

Howard University’s president, Wayne A.I. Frederick, exclaimed that this is a “milestone opportunity for our democracy to acknowledge the leadership Black women have always exhibited but has too often been ignored.”

 

Solutions and Best Practices

There are a myriad of solutions and best practices companies can leverage in order to support this powerful group.

Lean In provides some high-level advice with “Four concrete ways to prioritize Black women’s advancement:”

  1. Take both gender and race into account when setting representation targets.
  2. Look at metrics beyond just representation
  3. Share metrics.
  4. Reward progress.

Several well-informed and highly respected persons and organizations are doing exemplary work and are focused on initiatives within organizations in support of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. For example; holding teams accountable by using scorecards, incorporating Inclusive hiring practices, and implementing bias training, etc.  

I frankly cannot wait until the year where we no longer need the “Black Women’s Equal Payday”. 

Reputable publications like Forbes have released bold headlines entitled “Why Black Women are Better Leaders.” While HBCUs and Black sororities are somehow new revelations for many non-people of Color. African American Greek Sororities and Fraternities and HBCUs are more inclusive with non-POC being admitted for quite some time.  

 

Untapped Resources for Leadership Roles

It is a contrasting thought that on one accord, Black Women are heralded as top leaders. But on the other hand, the topic of HBCUs and Black Sororities (and fraternities), pillars that have been central to the social justice, activism, civil rights, education, and overall ascendance of Black women (and America as a whole) remain untapped resources for hiring talent. And, for promoting that talent into leadership positions.

Fast Company writes “Top Companies Are Missing Talent From Historically Black Colleges” and acknowledges, “HBCU students represent some of the top talent among prospective job candidates, yet recruitment efforts from top tech companies at these institutions is still scarce.”

Thurgood Marshall college fund provides data that HBCUs are responsible for 22% of current bachelor’s degrees granted to African Americans. 

Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated alone touts their 300,000 members spanning more than 55 nations and across all 50 states.

Data from Claro Workforce analytics shows that within industries where women dominate, Black HBCU graduates and Sorority members make up just a fraction of the leaders.

 

 

Even with the abysmal numbers of Black Women leaders across industries, Black women are substantially more likely than white women—and just as likely as white men—to say that they are interested in becoming top executives. 

I encourage companies to hire Black women in leadership roles.

Learn about their backgrounds. The schools they attended. And, the organizations they are a part of. 

Take the time to acknowledge and celebrate their similarities and differences. Support the idea of bringing the “whole you to work,” by making an effort to learn about a diverse set of topics that are unfamiliar to team members. 

Do this in concert with the options highlighted above and that have been shared by many.

Finally, one thing I know for sure is that Black Women remain the Backbone. (Backbone, Noun: the chief support of a system or organization; the mainstay).

 

Sourcing without a Job Description

Although I am relatively new to the Talent Acquisition industry, over the past several years, receiving a job title and nothing else from my hiring manager has come to feel second nature to me. But, I do remember the first time I experienced working on a job without a job description and I am glad that I had supportive leaders to help me navigate and learn early on. For those who are looking for a little more guidance on the subject, I wanted to provide a quick read, but I will also be speaking more elaborately on the topic on October 27th at SOSUV. 

Coming from a combined sourcing and recruiting background, my first instinct is always to work efficiently. If I could, I would immediately reach out to my hiring manager with a fully prepared document of questions to fill out so that I could do my job well. However, over the past half year of working at Wayne Tech, Mike has been working to balance my and my colleagues’ tendencies to reach a healthy medium of efficiency and research. And, there’s a beauty of finding that happy medium.

Rather than jumping to asking for help, I would take time to research a current employee at the client company with the same title as the job I’m working on. I would run a quick google x-ray that would look along these lines, for a Golang Backend Developer for The New York Times:

 

site:linkedin.com/in ((golang OR go OR backend OR “back-end” OR “back end”) AND (develop* OR engineer*)) AND (“new york times” OR nyt)

 

From there, I would take a look at the candidate profiles who are currently working in the exact job I will be filling. Or, at least a similar job on a different team. 

Sometimes, folks tend to provide the bare minimum on their LinkedIns. They may only say the title, company, and duration they are at their jobs. In that case, I may take note of past companies that my client hires from. From here, it is time to branch out and be more creative.

Back to Google x-ray search! This time, I would consider the past companies of the example profiles I found on my first search. I would replace the New York Times string with the past companies as such:

 

site:linkedin.com/in ((golang OR go OR backend OR “back-end” OR “back end”) AND (develop* OR engineer*)) AND (microsoft OR apple OR facebook OR google)

 

I would look over the candidates who are currently, or over the past few years, working as a Golang Backend Developer at those companies.  Then, we need to consider what we may learn from each profile. 

If you are newer to the type of role, you want to be sure to take notes on any keywords you are not familiar with. Oftentimes, keywords may be a generalization that can be discussed several different ways on a profile. Once you know what tech/keywords you are looking for in your candidate, be sure to circle back and do further research on what you do not understand.

For example, if you are not familiar with “API” or “node,” go ahead and run a quick Google search to learn a little bit more about the tech. This will help you ensure that you are not missing great candidates who are speaking about their experience differently than your sample candidates. 

For me, when I do not understand a type of tech, or I think I could be more creative with my search, I will pull up 3-4 different websites explaining the tech to make sure I am covering all my bases. 

If you are able to speak to the research you did or keep data to reflect your work, you will be able to come to the table with the hiring manager with your expertise, and learn where you may be off base in the future. 

Rather than jumping to an easy (but not always the best) solution, you can take some time to develop your toolset as a sourcer and create a strong relationship with your client by fostering a sense of trust and capability. Taking the time to research will not only save your hiring manager the time of writing up a job description, but will also establish you as a credible expert as a sourcer. You will also be developing strong habits and research skills to further your career. Next time you work on a role without a job description, see it as an opportunity to grow, rather than an inconvenience! 

 

5 tips For a More Effective Remote Onboarding Process

5 tips For a More Effective Remote Onboarding Process

How can you effectively onboard new employees during the pandemic? Employees joining during lockdown don’t have the same chance to meet other members of their team or get acquainted more casually with the company, and it can be tough on both morale and productivity as a result.

To help you make your new employees get up to speed and feel welcome, Capital on Tap has put together five steps that’ll make your onboarding process a success.

 

Welcome Packs

When new employees join, they need to feel welcome in the company – and one of the best ways of doing that is surprising them with a gift and a card!

A small welcome basket with sweets and a welcome card goes a long way towards making it feel like you’re celebrating their arrival; they’ll get the impression that you’re happy to have them join and that they’re really a member of the team. It can be daunting for new employees when joining a firm on their first day so it’s important to make them feel comfortable right from the start.

 

New Joiner Lunches

A staple of most traditional onboarding processes is a new joiner lunch, where the team goes out together. But since that’s no longer possible, why not replace it by using modern technology

Book a virtual meeting with the team and buy your new employee a lunch of their choice via delivery services. They’ll get a chance to meet some new faces that they might not have spoken to yet and they’ll love the free lunch.

 

Regular Meetings

It’s not just feeling welcome that’s important – it’s also feeling useful! When starting a new job it can be tough to know what work to be doing or whether you’re matching up to expectations. In a normal office environment, they might be able to chat casually to their line manager, but it’s not always so easy in a remote setup.

To make sure they’re getting the oversight they need at the start, try booking more meetings between them and their point of contact than you might do in the office so they get a chance to check in without worrying they’re bothering anyone too much. This way you’re able to offer them further work should they need it whilst also building an early strong working relationship.

 

Overcommunication

Like with regular meetings, communication is key. That can take many forms.

With work, give your new joiners a clear schedule of the onboarding process, and have their manager talk them through it, as well as cover off what they’ll be doing in their first few days. Greater clarity will make them feel more secure in their new role and give them better understanding of their position in the company.

But it’s also true of casual chats – part of getting to know the business is talking informally with their co-workers, which they might not get as much of a chance for. Encourage more discussions and send them messages just to chat so they feel more comfortable talking to everyone.

 

Virtual Social Events

If you’re used to hosting social events in the office or in person, you might have already moved over to virtual social events now and again – whether that’s online board games or just video chats.

Before the new starter even starts, invite them to any events you have going. It can make them feel like part of the family before they even crack on with any work.

Above all, making your new employee feel welcome, comfortable, and settled is vital for keeping their morale up in this tough time and making them confident that they made a good call joining your team.

Support them as best you can, and you can be sure that they’ll stay with you as long as any other employee!

How to Make Your Workplace More Inclusive For Workers with Disabilities

How to Make Your Workplace More Inclusive For Workers with Disabilities

October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month, or NDEAM for short. NDEAM has been celebrated since 1945 and spotlights the challenges that people with disabilities face in securing employment, the benefits to companies who hire people with disabilities, and practical advice for organizations working to make their workplace more inclusive. 

In the United States, one in four adults has a disability, which means that disability employment concerns should be a concern for virtually every employer. Additionally, 2020 marks the 30th anniversary of the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act, or ADA. 

The ADA provides protection specifically for workers with disabilities, as well as other protections. At the essence of the ADA, employers covered by the law (referred to as “covered entities”) must not discriminate against people with disabilities in the workplace, and also must provide reasonable accommodations for individuals coping with a disability. 

Basically, the spirit of the ADA is that if a person can do the essential functions of a job, the fact that they have a disability should not be a factor in hiring decisions and that people with disabilities should have the same employment opportunities as people without disabilities. 

There are many benefits for organizations that hire people with disabilities. 

 

Increase Diversity for Organizational Success

First, many employers report that retention for workers with disabilities is higher than that of non-disabled workers in many roles, leading to gains in business continuity, cost savings, and many other benefits. Second, accommodating a worker with a disability isn’t always expensive or challenging: a recent survey found that 58% of accommodations didn’t cost anything at all, and for the accommodations that did have an associated cost, the cost was only $500. 

Third, there’s plenty of evidence that a more diverse workforce contributes to organizational success by providing multiple perspectives, and hiring people with disabilities is one way to increase diversity. Lastly, there are certain tax credits available to employers that hire individuals with disabilities and make accommodations, including the Work Opportunity Tax Credit and the Disabled Access Credit. 

Despite these advantages for companies and the legal protections offered, people with disabilities are still underrepresented in the workplace and face many barriers to employment. 

So how can employers remove some of the barriers that people with disabilities face when seeking employment? Consider these tips for making your workplace more inclusive for people with disabilities. 

 

1. Make the workplace accessible. 

If your workplace isn’t accessible for people with physical disabilities, it’s obviously going to make it challenging to recruit and retain people with disabilities. Older buildings may not conform to today’s building codes and may have obstacles such as narrower doorways. 

Many things might be easier to retrofit (such as adding Braille signs around the office), but in other cases, it might make sense to move to offices that meet ADA standards. Additionally, accessibility extends beyond the building or facility to include things like the company website. 

Can people with disabilities access the career website to even apply for a job? In a recent study reported by SHRM, 89 of the Fortune 100 websites didn’t conform to at least one of the standards of the World Wide Web Consortium’s Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0. 

Companies have a lot of work to do to close the accessibility gap. However, accessibility is not a “nice-to-have,” but a necessity: it’s required by law.

 

2. Provide a mentor upon hire. 

For workers with disabilities, a business mentoring program can be a lifeline. A mentor can help a new employee navigate the organizational politics and norms, provide orientation and other job training, and emotional support. 

Feeling as though they “fit in” is an important concern for any employee, but it can be especially challenging for people with disabilities, as they can face stigma in the workplace. By pairing them with a mentor when they are first hired, it can help the new employee socialize into the organization. 

 

3. Seek out additional recruiting sources. 

Take a good look at how your company is sourcing for the majority of positions, and look for opportunities to cast a wider net. 

In nearly every job market, there are community organizations that support people with disabilities and connect with them to find qualified job candidates. In some cases, these organizations can provide other support to your organization, such as training on laws related to employing people with disabilities. 

 

4. Promote a supportive culture. 

No matter their background, employees aren’t going to stay at an employer long-term that isn’t respectful and doesn’t value them as people. Make sure all employees are valued, respected, and treated as equals. 

There are many benefits to organizations that focus on hiring people with disabilities. With a little bit of effort, companies can make their workplace more inclusive, helping ensure that workers with disabilities can be successful. 

 

Fireside chat with William Tincup & Andres Blank of Fetcher

Fireside chat with William Tincup & Andres Blank of Fetcher

I met Andres and Fetcher in early 2019. He and his passion to make recruiting easier for everyone left an edible mark on me. Of course, we talked ad nauseum about automation and AI but what I came away from the first meeting with Andres was he was a winner and if for nothing else, he would will Fetcher into being an industry powerhouse. And, so far, he’s done just that.  

Andres is the co-founder and CEO of Fetcher. He has a passion for creating companies that optimize processes and enhance daily operations. Previously he was the founder and COO of Pixable, a consumer mobile company with over 5 Million users, which sold to Singtel for $30M in less than 3 years from starting the company

Andres started Pixable while he was pursuing his MBA at MIT. Before moving to Boston, Andres started three companies in Venezuela, the first one, a site for college students at the age of 18, and the last one, a lumber trader and exporter with over 30 employees and $1M in revenue at the age of 24. Through these business ventures, Andres has seen firsthand the positive impact that a strong workforce has on a company, along with the many challenges that hiring efficiently and effectively brings.

This ultimately led him to start the recruiting automation platform, Fetcher.

I think you’ll like Andres and Fetcher. Moreover, I hope you follow his work and enjoy the interview. Let’s get this party started.

 

How has recruiting changed in the last 3-6 months?

When we first started Fetcher, the economy was booming, fewer people were actively searching for new roles, and sourcing was a necessity in order to hire the best talent for the company. In the past 3-6 months, we have seen hiring come to a standstill, and then slowly begin to regenerate… but differently than before.

As companies look to protect their growth and/or revenue, leaders are investing more in the front office and less in the back office, where recruiting lives. This has led to many recruiting teams facing furloughs and layoffs. But with the economy beginning to reopen and businesses continuing to grow, teams are now faced with more responsibilities, more strategic initiatives, and fewer colleagues to help.

Due to this, we have seen there is more open-mindedness to research and invest in automation tools. Allowing smaller teams to continue to produce at higher levels without getting burnt out or bogged down with the more repetitive, top of funnel tasks.

We are in unprecedented times, so it’s hard to know if the changes we’re seeing right now are reversible or here to stay, but the changes we’ve seen to date have emphasized the need for teams to be agile, efficient, and strategic… All without losing the basics of sourcing, emailing, interviewing, and more. It’s a lot! 

 

Given all these changes, what’s keeping you up at night these days?

The recruiting industry was quickly impacted by COVID earlier this year, and Fetcher was no exception. In a startup, growth is what fuels your business and keeps you alive. When the world shut down, hiring paused and every HR Tech investment was reevaluated by companies.

Fetcher immediately felt this impact, and with growth at a standstill, we had to slow down and take time to understand how the future of recruiting might change after this pandemic, and how Fetcher can be a product that companies need, both in an economic boom or bust.

Even though things are starting to recover, we have to be mindful that hiring is more unpredictable than it has been in the past, and Fetcher must adapt to the changes and provide companies with technology that makes their recruiting processes more streamlined, manageable remotely, and effective for the long-term. 

 

What’s your short term (>3 years) vision for Fetcher?

Recruiters have always been known to use 10-15 different tools to find candidates. This not only leads to burn out and frustration but also to overspending and messy analytics. Our vision is to reduce the number of tools to less than 5, by providing one, full-service platform. 

Recruiters are stretch thin, so consolidating tools for prospecting, outreach, and analytics will give them time back in their day and fewer tabs open in their browsers! Our goal is to be the go-to place for all top of funnel tasks: ranking inbound applicants, manually sourcing with just one-click, automated outreach to drive interest, automated calendar bookings to push interviews directly onto hiring managers’ calendars, and robust analytics to predict which positions have empty pipelines and thus enabling automated sourcing to fill those pipelines efficiently.

 

What’s your long-term (<3 years) vision for Fetcher?

At the end of the day, recruiters choose this career because they have a passion for helping and connecting with others. Not for sifting through resumes, LinkedIn profiles, and email inboxes. Recruiters should be spending all of their time interacting with colleagues to understand the needs of the company and with as many qualified candidates as possible to always hire the best person for the job.

Our long-term vision is to remove all the repetitive processes that don’t add value to what a recruiter wants to do, which is to build the best company, culture, and diverse teams around. We want to get recruiters back to doing what they love and what they are truly talented at — and that’s forming connections, breaking down barriers, and helping companies grow with the best, most diverse, and talented teams around them.

 

What has been your experience in helping companies hire diverse teams?

We are grateful to be a part of this conversation. The first thing to note is that diversity isn’t just race, ethnicity, or gender. Diversity also stems from backgrounds, experiences, education, etc. Our goal at Fetcher is to help drive diversity at companies by reducing unconscious bias via automation.

By automating top of funnel tasks like sourcing and outreach, you have the opportunity to broaden your searches to create the space for diverse hires. Rather than limiting searches based on very specific diversity filters, our goal is to work with companies to broaden the scope and thus bring in more diverse candidates through the breadth of searches.

For example, one of our clients is a self-driving car company. They were looking to hire another engineer for their team, which was currently all individuals from top engineering schools throughout the country. We worked with them to broaden the scope of their search and allow for more diverse applicants. Through this broadening of qualifiers, the company actually hired a self-made engineer who had only a high school degree but had a strong promotional track at another auto company.

While there was initial hesitation in interviewing and hiring, it ended up being one of their best hires to date. Not only did this individual show great knowledge throughout the interview process, but they also are one of the hardest working employees because of their motivation and loyalty, as they are grateful to the company for taking a risk on them.

 

You’ll know Fetcher has reached its full potential when?

When our clients never complain about a qualified, diverse, and robust pipeline! It’s true – our goal is to ensure that all open roles have interested candidates ready to go, leading to faster hiring times, candidates that are more satisfied with the recruiting process, and recruiters who are able to achieve their goals without burning out.

 

What advice do you give leaders regarding evaluating technology?

Test, work with your team to adapt, and don’t be scared! First and foremost, never get complacent. Dedicate time every 6 months to reevaluate your current tools and research what is new in the market. Watch how your team utilizes your current toolkit, and understand where the gaps are and what can be optimized.

From there, work with your team to identify tools in the market that could help with these gaps, or even better, tools that could streamline more processes and lead to a smaller toolkit altogether.

From there, test new tools. Make this part of your team’s goals so that adoption occurs, and ensure that they see these new tools in the right light. As we move towards a more automated world, end users are often scared of a tool that replaces what they do. We often hear worries that the tool won’t do it as well as them.

But at the end of the day, the goal is to have your employees doing more critical, strategic initiatives vs. the repetitive tasks that automation can cover. Yes, they might be able to do it better, but it’s not the best use of their time or the best way for them to provide value to the company.

New technology should work for your team, give them more flexibility, and provide a more analytical view of what’s working and what’s not, allowing for faster optimization.

Branded Direct Sourcing: What Is It and Why Do I Need It?

Branded Direct Sourcing: What Is It and Why Do I Need It?

If 2020 has proven anything, it’s that “just in time” recruiting no longer works – for a lot of reasons. Back in early April, LinkedIn wrote about the biggest challenges that talent acquisition faced during coronavirus. And while they correctly identified a few, there was simply no way to predict where the world would be more than six months later.

Coming into this year, employers already knew that they couldn’t post a job description and pray the right candidate would magically appear – evidenced further under pandemic conditions. Coupled with frequently evolving business conditions, the continued call to social distance, the ongoing challenges of managing a hybrid workforce, and a growing desire to “do more with less,” and it comes as no surprise that employers need an altogether different – more strategic – approach to hiring. Particularly for contingent workers. 

Enter: branded direct sourcing.  

 

What Is It?

Branded direct sourcing has been popular in the U.K. and Europe for the last two decades and is now seeing increased adoption across the U.S. In practice, this type of sourcing uses an organization’s existing brand to build loyalty, develop talent pools, and source workers on a contingent basis. 

Branded direct sourcing aims to remove siloes from the recruiting process in order to ensure the consistent cultivation of available talent. Rather than source periodically or as needed, organizations source continually to develop a robust pipeline of workers.

Once in place, the organization can tap this pipeline as staffing requirements change. In turn, positions remain filled, rather than sitting open for weeks or months on end. 

To implement branded direct sourcing, organizations must create a strategy that builds sourcing into the talent acquisition lifecycle to reinforce its contingent infrastructure. Instead of disconnecting after an assignment, workers remain engaged with the organization through frequent contact, ongoing communication, and the promise of new opportunities.

At the same time, talent teams keep full visibility into current as well as former contractors, employees turned alumni, and new applicants, able to job match accordingly. 

 

Why Do I Need It?

With branded direct sourcing in place, organizations gain the flexibility and agility needed to weather dynamic circumstances, such as those experienced under COVID-19. By focusing on the resources at hand, rather than always looking for new candidates, branded direct sourcing underscores the value of talent to the organization and vice versa.

The initial evaluation, paired with the continued development of contingent workers, helps eliminate decentralized processes and carve out a competitive advantage. 

Able to self-sustain based on its internal talent market, the organization will reduce its reliance on external providers and exert greater control over their contingent workforce program. In turn, quality remains paramount, while both time-to-fill and cost-per-hire decrease, leading to significant multi-million dollar savings, echoing industry analyst Madeline Laurano’s thinking, “The art of sourcing includes relationship-building activities, and the science of sourcing involves measuring and evaluating the most effective source of hire.” 

 

How Do I Make It a Reality?

Branded direct sourcing starts with thinking differently about talent, viewing contingent workers as an asset above all else. Put otherwise: brand first. These workers should be treated like customers, through high touch, high-value experiences that emphasize how important they are to the organization. Maintaining the attraction and engagement of contingent workers is critical to lasting success. 

While most organizations have an employee value proposition, branded direct sourcing necessitates the promotion of a contractor value proposition. No one message will motivate all talent, and as such, the organization needs to recognize and celebrate contingent workers as a unique entity. 

Digital transformation also plays into this, says Laurano, because sourcing needs to be insights-driven and enabled through platforms that help automate candidate identification and the assessment of suitability to a role. Think improved processes combined with candidate relationship management. In the long run, this empowers total talent management by bridging gaps, providing a seamless transition in and out of each assignment, and working to find the ideal blend of permanent and contract workers. 

Embracing an always-on approach to sourcing means that there are candidates who meet the organization’s requirements at the ready, rather than the typical fits-and-starts associated with traditional recruiting models. When handled strategically, branded direct sourcing can keep gig workers, retirees, interns, and employees who are keen to reskill engaged with the brand and give the organization direct access to qualified and more cost-effective talent.