Author: Buyer Advertising

Using Technology to Streamline Your Interview Procedures

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image_018The interview is one of the most vital elements of the hiring process, and no new applicant should be signed without a face-to-face meeting. However, the traditional route of several office interviews is not the most time-effective or cost-effective option for a business. The following are key ways that technology can help to streamline your interview procedures.

Invest in Recruitment Software

According to Josh Gerbin, a writer for Forbes, corporate recruiting software is now a $1.5 billion industry [1]. That is because recruitment software can be an effective way to handle hundreds or even thousands of resumes without getting overwhelmed. Resumes and applications from sites like LinkedIn, Indeed.com and other similar job-hunt websites are automatically organized through the software, which highlights top candidates you should focus on. It also eliminates applicants who do not meet the minimum hiring requirements. Recruitment software is a departure from the idea of networking, but it is an exceptional way to pinpoint candidates who qualify for a video or in-person interview for the job.

One-Sided Video Interviews

Video interviews conducted over platforms like Skype are certainly not new in the recruitment industry. However, taking it one step further is the idea of a one-sided video interview [2]. Interviewers can send out an email with video questions of their choice. Then, the applicants who receive the email can respond with their recorded answers. This lets both parties conduct their interview when it best fits into their schedule and eliminates the problem of a poor or inconsistent Internet connection on either side.

Applicant Tracking Systems Ensure OFCCP Compliance

For companies large and small, a major concern is meeting hiring guidelines set by the Office of Federal Contract Compliance, a subset of the Department of Labor [3]. In order to guarantee equal opportunity employment, interviewers need to stick with the same questions from applicant to applicant. Rather than maintaining piles of paperwork and checklists for each person that steps into the office, an applicant tracking system helps you see which information has been gathered, which questions were asked and whether you are following federal regulations throughout the interview process.

 

[1] http://www.forbes.com/sites/joshbersin/2014/05/06/workday-recruiting-will-it-disrupt-the-talent-acquisition-software-market/

[2] http://money.usnews.com/money/blogs/outside-voices-careers/2012/10/04/how-to-master-a-one-way-interview

[3] http://www.dol.gov/ofccp/

Managing Perceptions in the Intergenerational Workforce

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image_04Due to the tough economy since the Great Recession, many people of retirement age have elected to remain in the workforce. At the same time, new college graduates are entering the workplace, creating a dichotomy of older experienced employees and young tech-savvy workers. Managing the perceptions that each generation has of the other helps to ensure that the intergenerational workplace is one of productivity and respect.

Changing Attitudes Through Mentoring

Human resources personnel can set up mentoring programs within the workplace by pairing a more experienced senior staff member with a new employee. The young person gains inside knowledge of the company’s policies and politics while the longstanding team member can learn about the use of social networking and the newest tech advances in the workplace. Mentoring helps different generations gain appreciation and respect for each other.

Judging Books by Their Covers

While the Baby Boomers and older generations may be clean-shaven and accustomed to wearing business suits or ties to work, younger employees may be strolling into the office with multiple tattoos, body piercings, colorful hair, torn jeans and hoodies. They may perceive the older staff as stuffy and boring, while older workers may see the new team members and find them to be disrespectful or even lazy. Accepting differences in appearance and setting basic company dress codes helps to manage perceptions and underlying attitudes about competence and intelligence.

Speaking Their Minds

Members of the newest generation of workers often feel free to speak their minds in any situation. This may cause older employees to become stressed and frustrated because they were taught to keep their opinions and politics outside of the office. Human resources personnel can encourage communication by writing easily understood policies on the voicing of political beliefs in the workplace and coaching staff on appropriate workplace expression and conduct. Positive reinforcement is preferred over discipline.

Which is the Most Powerful Recruitment Tool in 2014: Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn?

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image_14When it comes to staffing your business, the Internet provides many avenues for finding qualified professionals. Social media has become a prominent method of attracting possible future employees. Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn all have their individual benefits and drawbacks. Which one is the most powerful recruitment tool for you?

Facebook

A Facebook profile is a great way to keep consumers connected to your business through status updates. It’s also a great platform for connecting to specific individuals through advertising. Facebook allows you to fine-tune who sees a job announcement ad based on specific criteria such as location. While this may cost you a bit more, it can be valuable in the search for specific individuals.

As much as 83 percent of active job-seekers use Facebook. [1] This social hub is the second most accessed website in the world.

Twitter

When it comes to sharing messages and tidbits of information with a large audience, Twitter is an excellent tool. With a simple hashtag targeting those looking for employment, you can reach thousands of potential candidates almost instantly. The downside to using Twitter is that your message can quickly become buried as other people join the conversation, making your Tweet less effective. Supported advertising may still be a viable option for recruitment to keep these messages on top of other conversations.

In 2014, 54 percent of recruiters utilized Twitter to find candidates [2]. As there are 560 million active users, the outreach for recruitment is significant.

LinkedIn

Although it’s not as popular of a social media outlet as the previous two, LinkedIn was developed to connect professionals together. Businesses can post job openings while searching for candidates that fit specific criteria. The most significant disadvantage of this social hub is that it isn’t as popular and thus provides fewer potential candidates. However, the site has grown consistently each year and may be worth your time.

Although LinkedIn has only 240 million active users as of the beginning of 2014, the level of professionalism is much higher. Currently, 89 percent of recruiters have hired someone from this professional social network, and the site continues to grow [3].

Each of these methods can attract candidates for employment. Success of the process may rely more on strategies and your organization’s use of each social outlet, and you should determine what’s easier for you to implement. What works well for one company may not have the same impact for another.

 

[1] https://careershift.com/blog/2014/03/how-to-really-use-social-media-to-get-a-job/

[2] http://employerblog.looksharp.co/social-media-recruiting-using-twitter-find-diverse-professionals/

[3] https://www.recruiter.com/i/attention-candidates-how-to-get-in-the-digital-game/

Key Factors in Talent Attraction and Retention

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image_06Attracting and retaining the best employees is no easy feat, even for the most experienced HR manager. While the specific details of a contract vary among firms and industries, there are some common denominators in talent attraction and retention.

Get the Compensation Right

Financial compensation is the biggest factor that employees consider when accepting an offer or choosing to stay with a company. Before an interview, research what a competitive salary might be. Once talent is hired, don’t wait to be asked for a raise; increase salary commensurate with skill and dedication so that your employees won’t be lured elsewhere. According to Inc., you should “pay market, or above, as soon as you can. It’s a sign of respect. And most of the best ones won’t ask [for a raise]. They’ll just eventually get frustrated and leave. [1]”

Establish Your Role as a Coach, Not a Manager

Forbes writes that HR managers should “try to balance giving…team members the authority, the tools and the space they need to do their jobs – empowering them – and staying checked-in as they execute their responsibilities [2].” The best talent in any industry needs to have the freedom to do well, and good employees shouldn’t feel micromanaged at every turn. Those that have independence in their jobs tend to do well and have the desire to stay with the same employer.

Provide and Advertise Perks of the Job

Small incentives and perks are often not specified along with the more important aspects of an offer like salary or flexible work hours. However, many employees appreciate and notice the smaller touches like free breakfasts on Fridays or complimentary dry cleaning once a week.

Create and Showcase Clear Paths to Advancement

Without a doubt, the potential for promotion is a significant factor in both attracting and retaining top talent. During the hiring process, emphasize the potential for advancement within the company. Then, says the Wall Street Journal, “promote from within whenever possible [3].” This shows employees that there is room to grow, which might discourage them from switching to a new company in order to advance their careers.

 

[1] http://www.inc.com/jason-lemkin/how-to-retain-star-employees.html

[2] http://www.forbes.com/sites/elenabajic/2013/07/15/the-6-steps-for-retaining-good-employees/

[3] http://guides.wsj.com/small-business/hiring-and-managing-employees/how-to-retain-employees/

 

How Search Engine Optimization on Career Websites and Job Postings Can Help Bring in the Right Candidates

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image_30With so many candidates applying for each job opening, it is important to take the time to optimize career websites and job postings in order to attract the best candidates. Instead of using general terms or generic attributes, search engine optimization can help big companies recruit top talent with specific skills and knowledge.

Determining a Strategy

Different recruiting websites, social networking forums and job posting pages attract different types of job seekers. Content should be optimized based on where it will be posted. Overall, every posting or recruitment blog should direct internet traffic to the company’s home page where candidates apply for the position.

Focusing on Keywords

The right keywords and combinations of keywords are essential in optimizing a job listing or career website. Firms looking for statistical analysis experts might use terms such as SPSS, SAS, logistic regression, business analysis, database analyst, data analyst and data analysis all within the same posting. Thus, instead of attracting candidates with only a rudimentary skill set in analyzing databases, people with these specific skills will be directed to the posting when searching for jobs. Optimizing the listing for the most common search engines such as Google and Bing also helps to ensure that the right candidates will take notice of the opening.

Honing the List of Candidate Requirements

It is best to avoid listing soft skill attributes in online job postings and career websites. Instead of including words such as teamwork or productivity, pin down exactly what is required of the candidate. Be sure to include common abbreviations of keywords as well. A company looking for candidates holding a Masters in Health Administration might also include “MHA” and terms like health administration, health administrator and human services administrator. To optimize for the most important skills and attributes in a candidate, include the keyword multiple times and in multiple formats. Use the keyword in the title of the posting as well.

Workforce Planning’s Contributions to Organizational Success

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image_19A business’s success is determined by managing resources effectively. How a company recruits, trains, retains and manages its employees has an impact on its overall success. Having a workforce plan in place is important in ensuring that the business can remain competitive in an aggressive market.

Workforce planning is often overlooked in many businesses but should always be implemented. It is a challenging and complex process for any company in the business world, but it is vital for running a successful business. Today, factors that can affect workplace planning include trends in demographics, technology and policy. Effective planning helps the company operate in the current business climate in such a way that future issues and trends can be analyzed and predicted.

Forecasting the need for future employment is a must. To make a prediction, there first has be a solid understanding of the corporate strategy and where the business is headed. Because of unexpected changes in workforce, it is difficult to predict the exact number of employees that will be needed, but it is a good starting point.

It is important to develop a comprehensive analysis of gaps in workforce competencies in order to address them. Identifying and resolving internal and external problems that are weakening business operation can help save your business time and money.

Strategic plans for overcoming workforce issues can include training, restructuring, contracting out, succession planning or technological advancements. Once a plan is implemented, the results should be reviewed and monitored. The plan should be communicated effectively, and everyone should understand their roles. If the implemented strategy is proving to be ineffective, it should be reevaluated and adjusted.

Workforce planning addresses problems and solutions in the long run to save time, money and effort. Planning ahead may benefit your business in many unexpected ways and help your company grow.

Recruiting Industry Trends That Should Have Your Attention

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image_17Are you looking to sharpen your talent-hunting skills? To stay competitive in today’s market, keep up with how technology affects candidate job hunts and widen your search umbrella to as many corners as you can. Take your cues from big brand HR and diversify your hiring techniques with the biggest industry trends.

Going Mobile

A 2014 survey by LinkedIn found that 72 percent of working professionals visited a company’s career page using a mobile device [1]. Whether you utilize apps or a mobile-optimized website, mobile has become essential for keeping tabs on the talent pool.

Adding Analytics to Your Toolkit

Choosing from a pool of candidates can be a challenge, but big data analytics can help alleviate some of the burden. By scrutinizing trends, successes and failures, analytics provides guiding insights into your team-building decisions. One Accenture survey found that business reliance on analytics has tripled since 2009 [2].

Aggressive Sourcing and Branding

Experts agree that aggressive sourcing is becoming a driving force in recruiting. Reaching out to “passive” talent is as important as seeking active candidates. In turn, strong branding and company culture is essential for luring talent away from its source. As Susan Strayer LaMotte, founder of branding consulting firm Exaqueo, told Monster, “You have to focus on what’s yours — what makes your company great that’s different from everyone else [3].”

The Power of the Blog

Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter are merely the basics of social media recruiting. Young talent appreciates the authenticity of an employee-run blog, the creativity of a well-composed YouTube video and the wit of Tumblr posts. Create your own content to promote via social media and harvest talent from intrigued followers.

Anticipatory Hires

Widespread technology is forcing companies to evolve faster than ever. Hiring for today’s goals alone will leave you with an outdated team tomorrow. Corporations are taking stock of what lies ahead and grabbing up specialized talent before smaller businesses know they need it.

Big corporations recognize the success of startups and small businesses in today’s market. While they rush to stay ahead, take your cues from their techniques and you will come out on top.

 

[1] http://talent.linkedin.com/blog/index.php/2014/02/mobile-recruiting-statistics-infographic

[2] http://www.accenture.com/us-en/landing-pages/analytics-in-action/Pages/home.aspx#Infographic

[3] http://www.monster.com/blog/b/small-business-attract-talent-1-brand-0709

5 Abilities Your CRM Software Must Provide

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image_16Your human capital investment effort will benefit from a comprehensive CRM solution to acquire and track talent and manage employees from recruitment to retirement. Ensure your CRM software is up to the task by determining if it offers these six key features:

Equally Capable Web and Desktop Interfaces

HR staff should see the same CRM functionality and interface regardless of whether they are telecommuting or sitting at their desk. Interface differences require additional training and increase the risk of miscommunication. Be sure the software addresses the additional security risks of online access.

Social Network Integration

Social job websites such as LinkedIn and Monster provide an indispensable reservoir of applicants. Your CRM software must integrate with such services to assist recruiters searching for talent and applicants seeking new positions. It must interface with Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and other prominent social networking sites to increase visibility for job openings.

Open Resume Acquisition and Management

Recruiting efforts are tarnished if your CRM solution cannot absorb applicant resumes in a variety of document formats, including Word, PDF, Rich Text or mark-up languages. The resumes must be converted to a consistent format internally and indexed for keyword access.

Communication and Collaboration Tools

Your CRM package must account for the fact that talent management is a team effort. Clients, agencies and managers need visibility throughout the hiring process and the employment lifecycle. This communication is enhanced if your CRM software provides relevant and customizable templates.

Useful Analytics and Reporting

Insight into your talent management efforts will be murky at best if CRM reports are limited or are unable to be customized to present data in a meaningful fashion. The software must provide analytical tools and guidance to extract the most value from HR’s database.

Weigh Flexibility vs. Complexity

Find CRM software that is complete but expandable as business needs grow. Beware of CRM packages with basic functionality that requires additional, expensive components to be useful. If a vendor stresses that any missing features are possible with customization, remember that the other side of flexibility is complexity.

How Effective is Your Employee Pipeline?

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image_08An employee pipeline of key individuals and leaders to fill crucial roles is important for the organizational success of your company. The talent management process should focus on this, but it might miss the mark in some areas. For starters, some hiring managers and HR personnel have different views on managing employee pipelines. Hiring managers might put more emphasis on external candidates while HR focuses on relationship-building with internal candidates.

If you are nodding your head in agreement, it’s time to rethink your company’s recruiting process and begin working from a clear definition of needs and goals. No one disputes that a company’s success is largely based on the talent of employees. Nevertheless, your employee pipeline may have potential leaks when areas such as performance objectives or talent mapping remain unclear.

Begin identifying areas of conflict along with steps that will offer reliable ways to have an effective employee pipeline. Develop a plan to engage current employees, classify high potentials and explore various sources to know the type of talent your company needs to thrive.

Develop Internal Talent

How can you develop an employee pipeline that is impervious to competition, economic impacts or internal struggles? One way to begin is to create opportunities for entry-level and managers to learn skills that allow them to move up within the company. Tiered development opportunities that extend beyond the management team shows most employees that their input is valued. When they begin looking for a new position, they will know they can start with their current employer.

Identify High Potentials

In addition, tiered development programs help to identify employees with the best potential to fulfill needed roles. Make sure there is a sufficient level of transparency. Letting employees know that they are considered high potentials for promotion will affect their view of the company and of themselves.

Plan for Future Needs

This last point might seem redundant, but many companies fail to plan for the skills, education and experience necessary to fill certain roles. Planning reveals where on the spectrum current employees are to fill prospective roles. Old job descriptions often change as industry dynamics change.

Create a development-focused culture and you can have an effective employee pipeline to face business challenges today and in the future.

Common Hiring Mistakes Companies Make

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image_10You hire a promising candidate, but within a month, you are cringing at your decision. What went wrong? Hiring mistakes are costly and frustrating, yet even the most seasoned managers make them. Build a better team by identifying which of these hiring mistakes you might be making and how to fix them.

Too Many or Too Few Criteria

You have an idea of what the position requires, but do you know the specifics? Before you interview for a position, create an outline of the exact skills, experience, knowledge and personality traits you seek. At the same time, having too many criteria will kill your focus. Stick with six to eight critical points.

Hiring for Skills or Personality Alone

A candidate can have ideal skills but a personality that clashes with your company mission, or they can sweep you off your feet with their personality yet lack critical experience. Balance experience and behavior-based interviewing techniques, and resist hiring anybody that fits your company in only one of the two ways.

Not Asking Follow-up Questions

“I’m a very fast learner,” the candidate says. Should you take them at their word and move on? An interview is a fact-finding mission. You need proof that your candidate’s assertions are true. Always ask specific experience-, behavior- or job-based follow-up questions.

Not Identifying Previous Mistakes

Why have your previous hires failed? Most managers can list the reasons easily, but few will have incorporated those points into the hiring process. For example, if you have a job that looks solitary on paper but requires frequent contact with vendors, make sure that you ask about communication skills.

Not Having an Entrance Strategy

Many otherwise perfect hires will fail if they do not get thorough training and oversight when they start. If you do not have a good training plan, the resources to scrutinize their initial performance or a solid structure of expectations, you might as well not be hiring.

Small shifts in hiring practices can eliminate many mistakes. With these changes, you will open the door to building a stronger team and better company.