Tag: recruitment

Presenting a Possibility-Rich Opportunity to Diversity- and Military-Related Candidates

Posted on by Buyer Advertising

image_014Currently, many companies are seeking to add to the diversity of their workforce as well as attract qualified veterans. In setting these goals, they are finding it necessary to adjust their recruitment and hiring processes. To attract sufficient numbers of qualified candidates, these businesses are learning that it is important to focus on the opportunities and career paths they offer.

Going Beyond the Traditional

The market for both diversity- and military-related employees is more competitive than in the past. As these individuals enter the market, they are seeking situations that are more attractive than the standard positions normally available. Such candidates come to the job market with different perspectives, experiences and expectations.

Many veterans have enjoyed significant responsibilities during their time in the military. With a strong emphasis on leadership and getting the job done, these potential members of a team will be looking for jobs that promise the ability to grow and use their leadership capabilities. Even if the entry-level position they are offered is somewhat limited, it must be understood that there is an opportunity to advance and achieve a position of responsibility within a reasonable period of time.

Likewise, candidates from diverse backgrounds will critically evaluate a position to see if it has a reasonable path for growth and advancement. There is a natural expectation that these individuals will experience barriers and limitations in life, and they are most attracted to companies where they see evidence of full acceptance.

More than Words

To create such an environment, it is important to provide early and abundant evidence that opportunities do exist and are attainable. Achieving this result includes introducing candidates to successful members of the team who have come from similar backgrounds and flourished within the company structure.

Implementing and maintaining programs that assist with the transition and development of employees from these programs also provide solid evidence of a commitment to aiding these prospects in becoming valued and successful additions to the workforce. Providing clear examples of how these programs work and are effective in making potential opportunities into realizable goals is essential in the recruitment process.

 

 

How to Attract the Ideal Candidate with the Requisite Skill and Experience Who Will Also Fit with the Corporate Culture

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image_05Hiring the right people who fit in with corporate culture but also have the requisite skills and experience needed for the job can be a challenge. So, how do you attract the best of the best to your company without sacrificing any of your values?

Attracting the Right Candidate for the Job

Developing a persona for the perfect candidate will give you a better idea of what type of person you are looking for. Once you identify the skills, goals and experience that your ideal candidate would possess, you can then optimize your job posting with the type of information that will attract a desired candidate. Using the Internet as a marketing tool is the best way to reach a large pool of possible job candidates, which in turn gives you a wider selection to choose from.

Your company has the opportunity to make a good first impression on job candidates. Many candidates develop a perception of an organization based on their initial interaction. This is the perfect opportunity to showcase your company and really hit it home as to why they should want to work there. This also gives you the chance to analyze whether or not a candidate will fit in well with company culture. Company culture can be described as the company’s personality and what it’s like to work there from an employee’s perspective. Hiring employees who understand and exemplify your company’s values and goals can have a huge impact on the success of your business. Not only can a good cultural fit have a positive impact on your business, but it also can lead to greater job satisfaction, higher retention rate, more dedication to work and a superior job performance. This is a win-win for both the company and the employee.

If done correctly, you will see that this process will bring in more qualified candidates for your consideration. It is important to make sure that everyone involved in the hiring process is fully trained to do so. The interview process should include more behavior-focused questions. The behavioral interview indicates that past performance is a good predictor of future performance. This interview process is the perfect opportunity to communicate your company’s core values. When communicating these values, use specific instances such as stories or examples that demonstrate those values in action.

Sources:
http://www.ere.net/2013/06/21/cultural-fit-in-the-workplace-how-personality-affects-hiring-and-teamwork/
http://www.hrotoday.com/news/talent-acquisition/fitting-in/
http://www.entrepreneur.com/encyclopedia/corporate-culture
https://www.themuse.com/advice/beyond-the-resume-how-to-choose-the-best-candidates

 

How to Balance Long Term Goals and Short Term Objectives in the Recruitment Process

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image_21As an HR leader, planning for the future is an important part of the recruitment process. Recruiting people without any plan in place can end up being a disaster for a company in the long run. It is important for HR personnel to be able to balance both the long-term goals and near-term objectives that have been set in place.

To have a cohesive staffing policy, a blend of long-term goals and near-term objectives should be implemented. Near-term objectives related to staffing are generally easier to identify and fulfill, but without long-term goals, they are not conducive to successful business. With an increasingly competitive labor market, companies simply cannot survive without a long-term plan and vision with regard to hiring new employees. Employers who set long-term goals as a part of their recruitment strategy tend to have a higher employee retention rate. Near-term staffing strategies are ideal for entry-level jobs, while long-term staffing strategies work best for positions requiring a specialized skill or talent.

Ultimately, your recruitment plan is unique and should be tailored to the goals of your business. You will want to ask yourself some questions in order to determine those goals. For example, what skills are needed to meet the objective? Once you have outlined the generalities, you will want to lay out the specifics. Of course, finding the best person for the job is a No. 1 goal.

Some other recruitment goals you may have include:

  • Attracting high-quality candidates
  • Increasing employee referrals
  • Retaining your employees
  • Marketing your company
  • Determining your overall recruitment goals

Before implementing staffing plans, you need to consider future implications that may arise. Recognizing and responding effectively to change is the key to operating in a positive manner. When conditions change, staffing policies should be assessed and reviewed for any repercussions that may come about.

The benefits of balancing both long-term goals and near-term objectives are going to save your business time and money in the future, leaving you to focus on more important efforts such as employee growth and development. Having a dynamic recruiting strategy will give your company an edge in uncertain market conditions.

The Importance of Articulating & Positioning Employer Branding

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image_03In recent years, labor markets have become increasingly competitive, which in turn has become a major concern for employers trying to attract and retain employees. Finding the perfect candidate who not only has the skills, but who also will contribute to the strategic goals of the organization can be a difficult task. HR leaders need to know the importance of articulating and positioning employer branding in order to gain a competitive advantage.

Just as consumer branding attracts customers, employer branding serves as a means for attracting talent to your organization. Before marketing your brand, make sure you fully understand what your brand stands for. By gathering information both internally and externally, you’ll see what makes your organization’s brand engaging, compelling, and unique.

In order to position your brand in the marketplace, you must first create an accurate view of what it’s like to work at your company. Be real and upfront with people. Instead of using stock photos on the company website, take real pictures of employees working in their actual work environment. When you clarify your brand in the marketplace, you will attract more candidates that are in line with your goals.

Once you have your brand positioned, you need to consider a method of reaching your desired audience. The Internet should be one of your main marketing tools as it is a great platform to reach a large pool of job candidates. Social media is also trending among employers looking to reach young, emerging talent. Of course, newspaper, radio, and television ads are also good traditional methods. Even involving your employees can be a great way to reach people and disseminate the message you want to share.

Employer branding can help attract key talent, increase the number of employee referrals, and even improve the quality of job candidates. As an HR leader, you have the responsibility of sustaining your employer brand. It’s not something you can check off a list; maintaining your brand is an ongoing project. Once you actually see the results of what articulating and positioning employer branding can do for your company, you will have a noticeably stronger business.

 

The Importance of Selling the Job Opportunity

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image_017Every employer wants the best staff that his or her money can buy. In order to attract the most desirable candidate, you need to sell the opportunity as you would any other product. The purpose of this is to attract top individuals to your organization. These prospective employees need to feel like working for your company is the ideal career choice.

Peaking Their Interest

When you post a job opportunity, there is little doubt that you may see an influx of resumes and applications. With the job market the way it is, even unqualified individuals may send in their information. By putting more effort into selling the job, you may increase the interest of candidates that excel in the position. With his or her skills and knowledge, the candidate can find a job in a variety of locations, and you want your organization to stand out among those prospective employees that have superior qualifications.

The Competition

The employees of competing organizations are what drive its success. If you don’t secure highly qualified staff members, you could be inadvertently strengthening the competition’s hold within the market. By enhancing the listing of the job opportunity to engage those individuals, your company could become stronger as a whole. Cases in point, brand name organizations such as Apple and Google are successful because of the people working within the establishment. Talented employees can drive the success of virtually any business platform.

Being More than a Brand

While many people will seek employment from various companies simply because of the brand name, others may want to know why they should apply. What kinds of opportunities are available for growth? What is the general atmosphere like? Questions such as these can speak to a potential candidate and give him or her information about what it would be like to work for your company. Certain working atmospheres can play into people’s personalities creating an enjoyable environment. The happier staff members are to remain at their jobs, the less likely you’ll have to find replacements and train new employees.

Selling the job opportunity doesn’t need to sound like you’re begging for qualified staff. You need to focus on why a person would want to work within your organization. This can help you find the right staff member who will be an asset to the team and enhance the company profile.

The Importance of an Accurate Job Description

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image_01Writing an accurate job description when your company has an opening is not just crucial for getting qualified applicants, but it’s also essential from a legal standpoint. Taking the time to create a detailed and accurate job description is the first step in the applicant screening process. This single step can save your organization countless hours of time and an immeasurable amount of human and financial resources, as the cost per hire averages more than $20,000 nationwide.

Compliance with the Law

The job description written by the human resources department and manager plays an important role in determining whether the organization is hiring staff within the requirements of the law, such as whether or not a person is physically capable of doing the job in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Accurate job descriptions allow both the employee and the organization to set wage standards and salary increases in compliance with the Equal Pay Act. A job description also determines whether an employee is exempt or non-exempt.

Better Recruitment

An accurate job description helps human resources departments recruit qualified candidates for open positions. A well-written job description includes the necessary skills, experience and expectations that the manager has for the position. When an applicant is reviewing job postings, he or she will then be able to match his or her strengths and skills with what is listed in the description of the position. The applicant will also be able to use the job description to determine what his or her career path will look like at your organization.

Performance Evaluations

Job descriptions help human resources personnel and managers evaluate whether an employee is fulfilling his or her expectations in the organization. With a job description, the employer is able to convey the requirements of the job to the employee. When it comes time for an annual performance evaluation, managers and human resources staff can measure the employee’s accomplishments against those set in the job description. This ensures that there will be no confusion over expectations for the employee’s job duties or what your organization will consider when evaluating the worker’s performance on the job.

 

The Importance of Candidate Screening, Evaluation, and Background and Reference Checks

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image_06When hiring new employees, screening, evaluating and examining their background and references are essential. These practices not only help to ensure that you’re hiring a high-quality staff member, but they also help to protect your organization from workers with a poor reputation, low work ethic or those who have committed a crime. Consider the following three reasons why these hiring practices are necessary before bringing new staff into your company.

Establishing the Qualifications of an Applicant

Checking the references and evaluating the claims made on an application or cover letter helps human resources staff determine whether or not a particular person is qualified to do the job that he or she has applied for. References provide insight about a person’s work habits, such as whether the worker shows up on time or has frequent unexplained absences. Screening and evaluating an application is how employers are able to verify that an applicant has the degree and experience stated on the form.

Evaluation of an Applicant’s Fit

Evaluating a job applicant’s past positions, experience and accomplishments helps determine whether or not he or she will be a good fit for the organization. Combined with speaking to the applicant’s references, a human resources professional can determine whether a job applicant has the right personality to fit into the culture of the organization. Employees who fit into the organization’s culture are more likely to succeed and stay with the company.

Protection of the Company

Conducting a background check on a job applicant ensures the safety of staff and the integrity of the organization. A background check may reveal that an applicant is not suitable for a specific position. A person convicted of theft may not be appropriate to hire as a bank teller or cashier, while someone convicted of drug possession or trafficking may not be appropriate for working in a pharmacy. This type of information can only be divulged through a comprehensive background check.

Because the hiring process takes a company’s time, energy and financial resources, taking these steps helps an HR department wisely manage these assets.

How to Avoid Gender Bias in Recruitment Ads

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image_29Avoiding gender bias and discrimination in recruitment ads is not just a friendly thing to do, it also helps your organization stay in compliance with the law. In everyday language, there are many biased words such as “mailman” or frequent use of the word “she” in a job description for a nurse. Using gender-neutral wording or a mix of gendered wording helps to attract an even mix of qualified candidates. These three strategies will help your organization avoid gender bias in recruitment ads and job postings.

References to the Applicant or Employee

When writing a recruitment ad that addresses the employee, it is best to use the gender-neutral pronoun “they” or an equal mixture of the pronouns “he and she.” Managers and human resources personnel who stick with gender-neutral wording can use the singular “they/their” when referring to the candidate. Using a mix of masculine and feminine wording is another good option, but this should be considered second to the use of gender-neutral wording because there is still the potential to show bias.

Consider Masculine and Feminine Adjectives

Some gender-biased words are not as obvious as “he/him” and “she/her.” In a recruitment ad, there are many biased words that may not be overt in their tone. “Community” and “sympathetic” are considered feminine attributes and descriptors in a recruitment ad, while “results-driven,” “dominant” and “leader” are considered masculine descriptors. These words also dig up longstanding biases about who is likely to be “dominant” in the job setting or who may be focused on building a “community.” When using these types of words, managers and human resources staff will need to use a mixture of masculine and feminine attributes to maintain neutrality in the recruitment ad.

Stick with Descriptions of Behaviors

When writing a recruitment ad, human resources staff and managers should focus on writing expectations related to the behaviors of workers rather than the attributes of workers. Try writing the gender-neutral, behavior-oriented “ability to collaborate effectively” rather than the gender-biased “people person” or “team leader.”

Tracking Candidate Source Data and Measuring Cost Per Applicant and Cost Per Hire to Determine ROI

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image_30Measuring the cost per applicant and cost per hire helps human resources departments determine the cost-effectiveness of their candidate recruitment strategies. This candidate data can be gleaned through a variety of methods. Once the statistics have been compiled, managers and human resources staff can then evaluate whether they’re getting their money’s worth, what strategies proved too costly and which efforts can be expanded upon.

Collection of Candidate Source Data

Begin by automating the candidate source data. This can be done within the human resources information technology (IT) department. An applicant tracking system can be implemented by the IT department and used to track basic data for each applicant, such as the source of his or her application or the website where the recruitment ad was placed. This data can then be analyzed by the human resources staff to determine the frequency of applicants from each source.

Data Analysis

Once reliable candidate source data has been gathered, managers can then begin calculating cost per applicant and per hire to determine the ROI. Use the automated program to run reports for “applicants by source” and “hires by source.” Other reports to run include raw applicant and hire volume. Compare these against the costs and fees charged by each source. Factors such as the hours spent by each human resources staff member or hiring manager may be difficult to calculate; however, these also add to the cost per applicant and per hire. Now, you know which of your recruitment ads and methods have produced the greatest ROI.

Making Adjustments

Knowing your ROI for each applicant and hire source allows you to make adjustments as needed. Because recruitment budgets may change on a quarterly or annual basis, you may need to adjust your recruitment media and marketing on a similar schedule. Once you have identified which source or sources are giving your organization the best ROI, you can focus your budget and contracts there. You’ll also have the data to show different recruitment websites and venues so that you can get better ad placement or more services for your employee recruitment budget.

 

Strategies for Establishing a Presence in the Workforce

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image_011Establishing a presence in the workforce allows employers to find candidates with the skills, expertise and experience necessary to succeed in a particular position. Being able to recruit this top talent depends on these desirable employees recognizing an employer’s name and worth. These three strategies can help employers establish a presence for recruiting the top talent in the workforce.

Creation and Maintenance of Recruiting Networks

Even as unemployment levels remain moderately high compared to historical numbers, the talent that an employer desires may not be aware of the employer’s available position openings. To get the word out about who an employer is looking for to fill available openings, the establishment and maintenance of a recruitment network is necessary. Employers can use tools such as social media, company blogs and employment forums to send out messages about the type of talent the company desires.

Partner with Local Colleges and Universities

Local educational institutions that train and educate workers are natural partners for establishing a presence in the workforce. In addition to recruiting high-quality interns, the college and universities in the area are also a great source of regular staff members as students graduate from their programs. Within the higher education system, remember to add the alumni office to the partnership list. Alumni often contact their alma mater when they are seeking a career change or a new position within their industry.

Working with Professional Organizations

Professional organizations related to an employer’s industry are often the go-to source for those seeking a new position. Employers can post their job openings on the websites of these organizations. Individuals who maintain a membership with their professional organization are likely to have the training and experience that employers are looking for. This type of workforce strategy also expands the search for candidates as most professional organizations have a national base. If the organization has state or local chapters, post with them as well.