Author: Buyer Advertising

When to Introduce Recruits to the Company Handbook

Posted on by Buyer Advertising

image_28According to Sarah E. Needleman of the Wall Street Journal, the hiring process is one of elimination, getting rid of unsuitable candidates to end up with the best choices [1]. Along the way, there are screenings of cover letters, application reviews, personal interviews and even studies of past employment. Many hiring managers wait until after a candidate has been hired before showing them the company handbook, but that might be a mistake.

Benefits of a Company Handbook

A company handbook, which in today’s digital world need not always be printed and bound, does the following:

• Shows employees where to go for HR help
• Introduces the dress code or behavior policies
• Explains management and leadership techniques
• Showcases benefits for employees

However, a company handbook can do a lot more than serve as a map for new recruits. In some cases, like the investment firm The Motley Fool, the company handbook was made public and served as a recruitment tool [2]. By outlining perks of employment as well as an irreverent, appealing company culture, the handbook actually brought in more candidates for future positions.

Introducing the Company Handbook Before the Interview Phase

Because a company handbook can reinforce the brand of a company, introducing the handbook to top talent can encourage a desire to want to belong to an organization that leads the industry or is simply a fun place to work. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, a company or employee handbook can also include details like any standards of conduct, compensation protocol and vacation leave policies [3]. Recruiters will notice that these are often key questions and issues brought up at interviews. Streamline the interview by offering candidates access to the company handbook in the days or weeks prior to a face-to-face or video meeting.

Reintroduction on Day One in the Office

When new recruits show up for their first day of work in a new position, having a physical copy of the company handbook is often a smart idea. Include a page or document, typically called an employee acknowledgement page that can be signed by the employee verifying that it has been read and agreed to [4]. It’s a good idea to offer to meet one on one to discuss any aspects of the company handbook that are confusing or unclear to the new hires.

 

[1] http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748703808904575025250789355156

[2] http://www.businessinsider.com/how-one-company-is-using-its-employee-handbook-as-a-recruiting-tool-2014-8

[3] https://www.sba.gov/content/employee-handbooks

[4] http://www.inc.com/guides/2010/06/what-to-include-in-employee-handbook.html

 

How Annual Performance Reviews Can Help or Hurt Employee Retention Rates

Posted on by Buyer Advertising

image_06The findings of a survey from the Harvard Business Review show that 65 percent of employees feel more engaged with their company when their performance reviews are aligned with corporate goals [1]. Achieving employee engagement is key when it comes to employee retention, so unlocking the potential of the performance review is important. However, it turns out that an annual performance review can both hurt and help employee retention rates in a variety of ways.

Annual Reviews Might Not Be Enough

Annual reviews, in and of themselves, can be a positive thing and a great way to engage employees, offer credit where it is due and ensure that both employee and manager are on the same page. Margaret Jacoby, writing for the Huffington Post, believes that relevant feedback needs to be offered throughout the year [2]. More opportunities for open communication can ensure employees are satisfied and willing to stay on in the company.

Winging an Annual Performance Review

Whether an employee performance review is an annual event or something that takes place quarterly, it is perhaps the only chance for a mid- or entry-level employee to have a frank discussion about pay, job title and expected duties. When the reviewer goes into the meeting without adequate preparation, it can be a slap in the face to employees who have worked hard for recognition. Worst of all, according to Forbes, is simply offering the same advice or review as the year before [3].

Providing Detailed Feedback

When offered in a timely fashion and combined with quarterly appraisals to keep employees on the right track, an annual performance review can go a long way in promoting staff satisfaction, which in turn leads to higher retention rates for a business [4]. One way to provide a satisfactory annual performance review is to offer detailed feedback. The manager providing the review should do their homework, offer praise in the areas required and speak candidly with employees.

A thoughtful quarterly or annual review can be a tremendous tool for managers interested in increasing employee retention rates. However, reviews that are poorly done, delayed or not accompanied by year-round feedback could actually reduce employee engagement and satisfaction.

[1] https://hbr.org/resources/pdfs/comm/achievers/hbr_achievers_report_sep13.pdf
[2] http://www.huffingtonpost.com/margaret-jacoby/the-worst-advice-ever-hea_b_7444356.html
[3] http://www.forbes.com/sites/ericjackson/2012/01/09/ten-reasons-performance-reviews-are-done-terribly/
[4] http://www.businessweek.com/managing/content/jan2011/ca20110114_156455.htm

The Importance of Entertaining New Recruits before Selling the Job Opportunity

Posted on by Buyer Advertising

image_24Every successful C-Level executive understands the importance of recruiting and maintaining the best possible talent. It is the continual influx of new and competent individuals that allows a company to grow and expand. However, the very best talent always has multiple opportunities, and you have to show why yours is the most desirable.

In fact, today’s prospective employees are more discriminating and demanding than any generation before them. Numerous personnel and hiring experts have written about the ever-expanding expectations of this generation of job-seekers. In the world of social media, every company’s culture is under the microscope and sites such as Glassdoor ensure there are very few secrets about what life in your company is like.

On top of this factor, media discussions of the work environments at such companies as Twitter, REI, and HubSpot raise the bar for acceptable cultures. In light of these realities, it is important to show your prospective hire that the job you are offering is not the time clock-oriented and boring situation they fear.

While not everyone is expecting a playroom at work, it is possible to address the basic concerns about your company. Among other things you should include in the interviewing process, adding a little entertainment can be a win-win situation for both parties.

When you schedule a time to relax in the hiring process, you get to see another side of your best recruits. Likewise, they have the opportunity to see that their prospective fellow workers are not the dreaded corporate drones. Of course, the form of entertainment is an open choice. Certainly, the traditional formal dinner at a restaurant is not the only or best way to entertain your recruits. That may be a part of the hiring cycle, but it is seldom regarded as a form of entertainment.

Consider taking a group of recruits to a ball game, or adding recruits to a company picnic. Some companies even have special boxes they periodically use for sports, theater, or other out-of-the-office recruiting. Ensure those who participate in this part of the hiring process understand their role is not only to entertain the recruits but also to observe and evaluate their interactions and reactions.

You’ll find that the right form of entertainment is an effective addition to attracting the right recruits in today’s increasingly tight market for top talent.

 

Designing a Recruitment Page that Works Well on Mobile Devices

Posted on by Buyer Advertising

image_11Recruiting top talent can be difficult in a competitive market. A solid recruitment strategy is very important in attracting the right candidates to your company. As technology continues to evolve, you should keep up with current trends.

With that in mind, it’s important to understand that smartphones have surpassed desktops regarding the primary method individuals use to access the Internet. Mobile platforms – smartphones and tablets – combined to account for 60% of total digital media time spent in 2014 according to research by comScore [1]. In addition, 86% of active candidates surveyed by Kelton Research use their smartphone to begin a job search, and 70% of active candidates want to apply via a mobile device [2].

When designing a recruitment page, the functionality of the website is critical to reaching users who are not only working from a desktop but also from a mobile device.

Utilizing new Technology

Recently, Google has developed an algorithm tailored specifically to mobile devices, making it easier for the user to find websites that are mobile compatible. This new algorithm introduced by Google rewards mobile-friendly websites by providing a boost in rankings, taking precedence over non-mobile optimized websites. In this ripe field of cutting-edge technology, incorporating a mobile- friendly recruitment website gives your company an advantage.

Design Time

Your IT team is your best friend when it comes to designing a website that is functional across a variety of platforms and devices. What works with an iPhone will not always work the same with an Android. However, you do not necessarily have to make two different versions of a website to make it mobile friendly. Small adjustments, such as changing the view from portrait to landscape and decreasing text size, can help make your website accessible from virtually any device.

Reaching out to More Prospects

Millennials, especially, have embraced technology to its fullest. Downloadable apps are available for almost every major website. Imagine a mobile app for your company that would allow prospective recruits to search and apply for jobs, upload their resumes, receive job alerts, join talent groups, and hear firsthand what it’s like to work at your company. As job seekers are using their smartphones more and more in the job search, it is your responsibility as an employer to adapt to these changes in technology. The results will be beneficial to potential employees and your company.

[1] https://www.comscore.com/Insights/Blog/Major-Mobile-Milestones-in-May-Apps-Now-Drive-Half-of-All-Time-Spent-on-Digital

[2] http://thehiringsite.careerbuilder.com/2015/01/19/2015-is-year-of-mobile-recruiting/

Hiring Techniques for Balancing Short and Long-Term Corporate Goals

Posted on by Buyer Advertising

image_21Finding, vetting and hiring a new employee is an expensive proposition. For example, it is estimated that the costs for even a high-turnover, low-paying job is at least 16 percent of the annual salary for the position [1]. For more significant positions, the total costs can easily exceed $40,000 to $50,000. Moreover, the costs of terminating an employee can be multiple times this number.

Hiring Processes that Fit the Task

Because of these realities, it is important to develop hiring processes that deal with both short and long-term needs for your organization. If a specific position is identified to fill a seasonal or limited time period, there are ways to save on the costs of adding that employee without compromising the process.

For example, many companies incorporate expensive tests in their hiring cycle to evaluate an individual’s long-term capabilities. This is especially the case where there is an expectation of growth and promotion. If that is not a practical consideration for a more temporary position, those types of investment are easily eliminated. On the other hand, certain proven techniques, such as drug testing, should not be taken out of the hiring equation for even short-term assignments.

Another effective way to deal with limited staffing needs is to consider the temporary employee market. An increasing number of qualified individuals now place themselves at the disposal of temporary agencies and corporations. There are many reasons highly qualified talent might pursue temporary opportunities, and you can find employees for everything from assembly work to C-Level executives who will work on short-term projects.

Protecting the Culture

Of course, looking at temporary employees does not mean accepting a compromise in quality or expectations. This is especially the case is the need extends beyond a few months. It is important to only bring in shorter-term hires that fit the corporate culture and are willing to show the same commitment and performance during their tenure as expected from established staff.

Taking the time to streamline hiring processes that fit the need will help you meet corporate goals while saving on the costs involved.

[1] http://www.cbsnews.com/news/how-much-does-it-cost-companies-to-lose-employees/

 

Using Technology to Anticipate Your Future Hiring Needs

Posted on by Buyer Advertising

image_08Whether you are a startup business or an already established company, planning ahead for the future is a necessity. Being prepared for the future means considering where your company is at today and where you would like it to be tomorrow. Find out how technology and strategic workforce planning can go hand in hand to help you anticipate your employment needs for the coming years.

Utilizing technology can make workforce planning more efficient and provide improved results. Special workforce planning software allows you to analyze your company’s current workforce trends and make educated projections for trends in the future. By plugging in internal and external data, software can help you arrive at more accurate results. Not only can software help you plan for the future, but it can also help guide you along the way by monitoring your progress and alerting you to any variations from the master plan.

Another key benefit is that software can help your company adapt to changing conditions. The talent that was critical for success a few years ago may not suffice in an environment with new challenges that demand new solutions. Workforce planning is not limited to software only, but utilizing your technological resources wisely can better support your executives, HR department, and hiring managers throughout the process. Have a one-on-one session with your IT consultant and discuss the kinds of workforce planning software that are available and which one in particular would be a good fit for your company’s needs.

In summary, using technology to plan for the future creates a culture where workforce planning is based on data and better equips executives in evaluating how changes in objectives and the environment impact staffing levels. Most importantly, approaching workforce planning in a way that fits your company’s needs and aligns with your future goals is key to a successful future.

 

Best Practices for Branding Your Company

Posted on by Buyer Advertising

image_02The way your brand speaks to others can have a great impact on the success of your company. According to LinkedIn’s 2015 Global Recruiting Trends Survey, 56% of 4,125 global talent leaders in 31 countries surveyed for said they believe cultivating their employer brand is a top priority [1]. Good branding takes a lot of thought, hard work, and the consolidation of resources. Here, we will discuss some of the best branding practices that can help your company find its unique identity in a competitive market.

Purpose of Your Brand

Before you get into the intricacies of branding, start with the fundamentals. One of the most important steps is defining the purpose of your brand. While you are still in the discovery phase, ask yourself some questions. What kind of impact do you want your business to have on others? What ideals does your company value? Who is your target market? What goals do you want to achieve in your company’s future?

Developing Your Brand

Now you are ready to build your brand. Understanding your target market and knowing what they want is key to developing your brand. From there, focus on your brand identity. Find out what separates your company from the rest, and once you have that figured out, focus all of your attention on building up from there. After you have developed your brand, you need to exert your passion and energy into preserving your brand long term. Keeping your brand consistent will keep your brand memorable and your customers happy.

Marketing Your Brand

Now that your brand has been established, you need to communicate your brand to the public. This can be done in the form of business cards, websites, and even social media. Establish your presence on sites such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Google+. Further your brand through other channels such as physical networking. Create partnerships and referral networks with those who will be able to help positively promote brand awareness. Hold events that center around your company’s purpose and its core values. When using a PR strategy, select media outlets wisely. You want to make sure your brand is always represented in a positive manner. When marketing your brand, not only are you reaching out to customers, but you are also reaching out to your future employees.

[1] http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/240951

 

Why You Should Keep Up-to-Date on Social Media for Recruiting Needs

Posted on by Buyer Advertising

image_018People seeking employment are turning to corporate social media accounts to learn more about a business’s culture and environment. While traditional websites and career search boards can provide those searching for a job with nuts-and-bolts information, such as work hours and skill-set requirements, keeping up-to-date on social media allows jobseekers to gain a more complete picture of the corporation.

Cultivates Interest

Once jobseekers are certain that they meet the skill and academic credentials for a position, they next want to know whether their personality will fit well at a particular company. Current social media posts cultivate a candidate’s interest in becoming a part of the organization. By seeing that the company is up-to-date in industry trends and is building brand loyalty with its clients, candidates will be more eager to join such a company.

Engages Qualified Individuals

Today’s workers want more out of their work than just a paycheck. They want to be engaged and passionate about what they do, which is particularly true of the Millennial Generation. This generation is also the most likely to use social media to engage with potential employers.

Promotes a Team-oriented Environment

Active sourcing of job candidates through social media helps to promote the development and maintenance of a team-oriented work environment. Recruiters can show images and embed video clips of a variety of employees collaborating on projects. Social media is an efficient and effective way of showing potential staff members how current employees are working together to solve problems and showcase their talents.

Inspires a Creative Workforce

Social media is a newer way of communicating with people who are creative, highly educated and concerned about making a difference in the world. These candidates tend to think outside the box when solving problems and create a dynamic environment in which to work. Human resources staff who recruit candidates through social media are better able to promote the workplace as a creative community in which an employee’s time investment pays off through work that is satisfying personally, professionally and mentally.

 

Top Techniques for Finding the Best Candidates Before They Graduate from College

Posted on by Buyer Advertising

image_017The thought of college recruiting conjures up visions of career fairs with booth after booth of local companies trying to snag the best candidates. If participation in career fairs is your entire college recruitment plan, you’re doing it wrong.

There are a number of steps to be taken prior to a career fair that will identify the best candidates before graduation day:

  • Work with the right schools – the ones with a focus on majors and skill sets that fit your hiring needs, whether you’re looking to hire accountants, engineers, or computer programmers.
  • Build a relationship with the school’s career center.
  • Identify career-related student clubs that target your ideal candidate pool and get involved with them. Offer to have one of your managers give a presentation to the club. Without revealing proprietary information, your representative could present a current issue looking for a resolution and ask the group how they would handle it.
  • Ask employees who are alumni of your target schools to get involved with the career center and student clubs. They’ll have automatic street cred because they’ll be able to identify with the students’ experiences firsthand. Offer to make a presentation to a class.
  • Make use of social media networks like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter, and make sure your website is engaging for those that want to learn more about your company. Today’s millennials want to work for tech-savvy companies. Consider making videos of employees talking about what they do, what they like about working there, and what the culture of your organization is like.
  • Create an internship program. A survey by the National Association of Colleges and Employers showed an overall conversion rate for turning interns into full-time employers hit an all-time high of 58.6% [1]. First, you’ll have a hard-working intern who wants to prove their value. If the intern is successful and demonstrates that they’re a good fit with the culture of your company, you have first dibs at offering them a position. However, the story doesn’t end there – you can send that individual back to their alma mater as your recruiting representative where they’ll be able to tell their own success story to hopeful applicants in the current internship program.

[1] http://webs.purduecal.edu/business/internships/facts-about-internships/

Using Social Media to Recruit the Best New Graduates

Posted on by Buyer Advertising

image_01According to a report by the National Association of Colleges and Employers, 8.3% of employers plan to add new graduates to their employee roster in 2015 [1]. Clearly, the combination of a solid college education and experience are coveted by most employers. While some recent graduates may not have obtained much work experience, their skills and freshness are still traits that most employers want in order to strengthen their companies. While recruiting and hiring recent college graduates is nothing new, there are new methods to ensure that you hire the best.

Waiting for prospective candidates to knock on your door is not one of those methods. Instead, you must think about how you can engage this young talent to build a strong foundation for your company. Employers in NACE’s survey are catching on to what it takes to use social media as a recruitment tool. You can avoid struggling with these methods of communication by utilizing the following tips to optimize your company’s social media presence and connect with young talent.

Build an Online Employer Brand

If you have not already done so, begin posting information about your company’s culture that features recent college graduates hanging out. Prominent social media platforms are excellent ways to introduce your company. Go beyond job listings and post company events and employee photos. Blogs written from the perspective of current employees can indirectly convey to college graduates why your company is the greatest place to work.

Make Personal Connections

Introduce the names of real people behind corporate HR social media accounts. For instance, @GreatCoJobs can include a line with names of people who update your Twitter account. Another example is for each person to have their own accounts, such as @StanAtGreatCo and @MaryAtGreatCo.

You can also humanize your company’s social media presence by granting people handling different accounts the freedom to interject their own observations and personality into updates.

Provide Exclusivity

Leave job postings listed on your corporate website and use social media to give followers something that is not readily available. Contests, impromptu virtual meetups and behind-the-scene peeks at your company are diverse ways to make meaningful connections.

Invest energy, time and strategic thought into recruiting the best new graduates. Your company could reap the payoff for years to come.

[1] https://www.naceweb.org/s11122014/job-outlook-hiring-2015.aspx