Category: D&I

Talking Talent Leadership Profile: Eric de los Santos

Posted on by skatz

The expertise and passion that Eric de los Santos has for diversity and inclusion was forged from his life experiences. As the first in his family to receive a university education, he left his home state of Hawaii to attend Brown University on scholarship and went on to receive his law degree from the University of Washington. Eric joined PeopleScout’s parent company, TrueBlue, 15 years ago; he’s currently the Associate General Counsel, Senior Director of Employment Law, while also serving as President of the National Filipino Lawyers Association. Eric was also the first Chair of the Diversity and Inclusion Council at TrueBlue. 

An avid gardener, de los Santos likes to compare a diverse and inclusive workplace to a garden with multiple varieties of plants that thrive only when the proper nutrients and level of care are provided. He shared his insightful perspectives at PeopleScout’s 2019 NEXT Talent Summit in June, where he hosted a Big Idea Talk and breakout session entitled “Authenticity and Tending to the Garden of Realness.” Before his talk, Eric sat down with us to share his thoughts on diversity and inclusion in the workplace.

The terms diversity and inclusion are often linked in the corporate context. How do these concepts differ and how do they complement each other?

I liken the concept of diversity and inclusion to a garden. Diversity can be thought of as the different species and varieties of plants, while inclusion is the environment that ensures that each and every plant can grow and flourish. Some plants may have special requirements, like the type of soil to use or how much they need to be watered. Inclusion in the garden means nurturing all of the different plants and giving each one exactly what it needs to thrive.

Applying this analogy to a company, management’s role is to provide every employee with what is needed to grow and flourish. And, because these elements may differ for every employee, it can be very challenging. However, just like a beautiful garden that is bursting with different varieties, the result will be a company that is filled with people from many backgrounds who display their full potential and contribute to its success.

So, having a diverse and inclusive workplace can be a decisive factor in a company’s success?

Yes. Take the example of two groups. One group is comprised of people from a single background and culture, while the second group is comprised of multiple backgrounds and cultures. Studies have shown that, when confronted with a problem, the group with diverse backgrounds not only comes up with a greater number of solutions, but their solutions are far more creative and likely to succeed. The diverse group is also more likely to anticipate problems that may arise in the future because it is not limited by the “blind spots” arising from the limited experience and outlook of the monolithic group.

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A company that can successfully bring diverse people together – to share ideas on how to improve performance or create a better company – will have a clear competitive advantage over one that cannot. It is vital that all of those who participate in these discussions feel that they can honestly share their ideas without fear and in an environment of mutual respect.

The crucial factor is to enable everyone to be their authentic selves, not to feel compelled to hide a part of themselves as they interact with others. Employees who are inhibited from displaying who they truly are may look for the exit at the first opportunity. In contrast, those who can be their authentic selves at work are motivated to contribute to an enterprise that recognizes and respects them. Rather than being inhibited, an inclusive environment can result in a workforce that does not hold back from contributing ideas and puts in the hard work that can drive a company’s success. 

How did your life experience lead you to become passionate about diversity and inclusion and eventually start the Diversity and Inclusion Council at TrueBlue?

Growing up in Hawaii, I was surrounded by people from many different backgrounds and cultures, which people discussed with great ease. When I came to the mainland to study, I noticed that there was a tendency for people to compartmentalize themselves – to reveal only the parts that would be readily accepted by others and to keep parts hidden. As a Filipino-American and a gay man, no matter where life took me, I had a feeling of being different. But, I saw no reason why my differences should function as barriers. I learned firsthand about the issues of bias in American life, and ultimately, I understood that bias was something that needed to be confronted and challenged.  

After years of working as a trial lawyer, I joined the predecessor of TrueBlue as a corporate counsel in 2004. Shortly after joining the company, I was invited to an outing that included spouses and significant others. I brought the man who is now my husband, and introduced him as my boyfriend to my coworkers. While this may not seem particularly noteworthy in 2019, being openly gay at work was much less common then. Introducing him as my boyfriend clearly had an influence on many people that night because they congratulated me for openly introducing our relationship. From that point forward, an important part of who I am was no longer hidden from my colleagues.

What were your first steps in establishing the Diversity and Inclusion Council and how has it developed over time?

I found that there was a great interest in diversity and inclusion issues in the company, and I worked to start conversations around the topic. When the Diversity and Inclusion Council was started in 2012, I was asked to be its first chairman.

From the outset, we took steps to make sure that the council had a lasting foundation and that everyone could be engaged in the process. It was also important that we presented diversity as not just being about who we are on the outside; it’s about everything that makes us who we are. We created training programs for managers and exercises to help people talk about themselves, their backgrounds and all of the parts that comprise their whole, authentic self.

The council’s programs were very popular and continue to be engaging today. There was a lot of excitement around these conversations, which provided opportunities to build greater trust and openness within the company. Building on this momentum, we created a comprehensive program that includes employee resource groups such as Women in Leadership, the African-American Resource Network and an LGBTQ group, called BE PROUD. The groups are still expanding and will include groups for Latinx and Hispanic employees, as well as a veterans resource group. The council has also been pursuing initiatives and programs to engage TrueBlue’s contingent workforce, and is focusing on developing a pipeline of future leaders.

What are your thoughts about the role of leadership in diversity and inclusion?

It’s critical that leaders understand their workforce and take steps to deepen that understanding. Even something as mundane as a departmental potluck lunch can be an opportunity to learn more about your team. For example, instead of telling people to bring whatever dish they want, ask them to bring something from their culture or background, and write a short piece explaining why they chose that dish and its significance. 

While this is an example of a useful exercise, being able to respond positively to the needs of your workforce goes well beyond understanding their cultural backgrounds. Take the initiative to find out whether there are any issues going on in their lives outside of the confines of the workplace, and see if you can respond to their needs. For example, if an employee is struggling to take care of an elderly relative who needs help while they are at work, offer them flexibility in their work schedule. This outreach creates an environment of mutual understanding and support.

It is also important that leaders “walk the talk” of diversity and inclusion to be open and authentic themselves. No one is perfect, and everyone has biases and preconceived notions that need to be challenged. Some people find it difficult to talk about certain issues of identity or diversity. It’s fine to acknowledge this and work to find the right words to use that reflect both acceptance and respect. Our employees want to see us as people with real lives that they can relate to. Each one of us has the opportunity to stand out in a unique way. 

Finally, every leader should have a sense of responsibility to foster and nurture a genuinely inclusive environment. To return to the analogy of the garden, as leaders we have the responsibility to ensure our work environment allows people to be their authentic selves – we are the ones who are tending to the garden of realness.

Feeling Part of the Team: The Importance of Building an Inclusive Culture in the Workplace

Posted on by skatz

The letter of resignation came as a shock. The departing employee had just started six months earlier and brought the ideal skill set for the position. They received a substantial salary increase from their previous job, and no one had noticed any signs of discontent. When asked their reason for leaving during the exit interview, after some hesitation, the explanation came out: “I don’t feel like I belong here, and I don’t think anyone really understands who I am.” 

When pressed for details, none were forthcoming. One question came up among the leadership team again and again, “How many other employees feel the same way and what changes do we need to make?” This prompted a review of the company’s diversity and inclusion program, which showed some progress in the diversity of its workforce, but no clear way to measure improvement in inclusion.

An Inclusive Culture Enables a Diverse Workplace to Thrive

The term “Diversity and Inclusion” has become so common that it can be easy to miss the different meaning of each word. A recent article in Gallup’s Workplace magazine defines the distinction between diversity and inclusion:

“Inclusion has to be understood as very different from diversity because simply having a wide roster of demographic characteristics won’t make a difference to an organization’s bottom line unless the people who fall into any one demographic feel welcomed. Inclusion refers to a cultural and environmental feeling of belonging.”

Organizations that have successfully established a diverse workforce can reap the proven benefits that it provides, including a wide array of perspectives and experiences.  However, seemingly innocuous practices that are embedded in a company’s culture have the potential to make a segment of its workforce feel unwelcome and alien. But, when the possible problems with these practices are identified, a commitment to creating an inclusive culture can lead to changes that can vastly improve a work environment.

Consider the example of a tech start-up company that was founded by a group of friends from college, all coming from very similar backgrounds. Every year, a company picnic was held on a Saturday or Sunday with two key competitions taking place among the work teams: a relay swim race and a barbecue cook-off, followed by an employee recognition awards ceremony. This tradition continued as the company grew rapidly and employed a diverse range of talent.

While many employees looked forward to the company picnic, others began to quietly dread it. A few of the reasons these employees felt uncomfortable were: 

  • The religious practices and restrictions on Saturdays or Sundays followed by some employees made them feel like they had to choose between “being part of the team” and their faith.
  • Those who were differently abled or unable to swim well felt excluded from the relay race in the pool.
  • Vegetarians would have to excuse themselves from the “taste-test” part of the barbecue competition.

The goal of the company picnic was to build teamwork and show appreciation, but it had the opposite effect on some employees. For some, the timing and activities held at the picnic sent the message that “you and those who are like you do not really belong here.”

When leadership became aware of the distress that the picnic was causing some employees, they took the time to reach out to every employee to get their feedback on the timing and the events held at the picnic. Great care was taken to implement all of the ideas they received that were feasible and each employee was specifically thanked for their input. This effort was an important step in creating an environment in which every employee felt included and valued – in other words, a culture of inclusion. 

Removing the “Identity Cover”

At some point in many job interviews, the job seeker is asked, “Tell me about yourself.”  They will try to respond with details about themselves that they think the interviewer will like. But, as the candidate mentally calculates what to emphasize, they may also be thinking about what information to withhold because of how the interviewer may perceive them. Once a candidate is hired, this stressful mental exercise can continue.  This can be especially true for those who are in some way different from the majority of their coworkers.

An article in the Harvard Business Review notes that, “Employees who differ from most of their colleagues in religion, gender, sexual orientation, socioeconomic background and generation often hide important parts of themselves at work for fear of negative consequences. We in the diversity and inclusion community call this ‘identity cover,’ and it makes it difficult to know how they feel and what they want, which makes them vulnerable to leaving their organizations. The key to inclusion is understanding who your employees really are … In an ideal world, all leaders would be adept at understanding their employees and making sure they didn’t lose any through neglect or ignorance.” 

Employees who feel they need to cover parts of their identities can lead to behavior in the workplace that is driven by fear. Examples provided in the article include a mother who hesitates to put up pictures of her children because she is afraid coworkers will question her commitment to her job; a Muslim who prays in his car because he does not want to experience Islamophobia; and a gay executive who hesitates to bring his same-sex partner to a company event. By masking part of who they are, these employees implicitly feel that they do not fully belong where they work.

The leaders at the tech start-up had no idea that they were alienating part of their workforce at their company picnic. It can be challenging to perceive what aspects of the work environment need to be changed to promote inclusion, especially for those employees whose backgrounds and identities may be unfamiliar to the majority at a workplace. It is for this reason that the proactive approach of implementing an inclusion program is an important first step in creating an inclusive environment.

Inclusivity Checklist

Every organization is different, so the content and structure of a new inclusion program needs to meet the conditions of your organization. The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) offers an inclusivity checklist for HR that provides a good place to start:

  • Make sure company leaders understand that inclusion is about ensuring that everyone’s voice is heard, opinions are considered and value to the team is evident.
  • Train managers – and hold them accountable – to show that inclusivity is a core competency.
  • Form an inclusion council with genuine influence and power.
  • Value differences, and create an environment where people can feel comfortable bringing their authentic selves to work.
  • Identify the needs of underrepresented groups, and give them necessary support and resources.
  • Provide workers with a safe space to voice their concerns.
  • Benchmark key aspects of your organization’s culture, and understand the employee experience before making changes to promote inclusivity.
  • Remember that daily interactions are the most telling sign of whether your company has an inclusive culture.

Empowering the Workforce by Example

When Eric de los Santos arrived at Brown University as a scholarship student from Hawaii, he was struck by how different he felt from the other students. As a child of immigrants and a gay Filipino-American, he grew up valuing the diversity of cultures that characterize Hawaii. When he came to the mainland, he noticed that many people he encountered were guarded about their cultures and identities.

His commitment to confronting and challenging bias led him to become co-founder of the Filipino Students Alliance. After receiving a law degree from the University of Washington, de los Santos worked as a trial lawyer before joining TrueBlue as a corporate counsel. Shortly after joining the company, he was invited to a corporate outing that included spouses and significant others. It was the early 2000s, when same-sex relationships were far less accepted than today, and same-sex marriage was still several years in the future. After he introduced the man who is now his husband as his boyfriend, he was congratulated by many of his colleagues, who thanked him for being open about his relationship.  

When TrueBlue started a Diversity and Inclusion Council, de los Santos was the natural choice to lead it. Today, in addition to being the President of National Filipino American Lawyers Association, de los Santos is Associate General Counsel, Senior Director of Employment Law at TrueBlue.

At PeopleScout’s 2019 NEXT Talent Summit, de los Santos led a Big Idea Talk and breakout session in which he reflected on his own experience, the success of building a diverse and inclusive work environment at TrueBlue, and the vital role of leadership:

“It is important to be your authentic self, not to feel that you cannot be who you truly are because of another person’s preconceived judgement,” de los Santos said. “If employees feel they cannot be who they truly are and express themselves in a way that is natural for them, they will not be able to display their full potential. If an employee is struggling with something in their lives that they don’t feel they can share, that employee will feel isolated. They may not be able to concentrate on their work and could develop a feeling that no one cares about them and start to think about an exit strategy.

“But, when employees experience genuine respect and feel safe to express themselves, productivity, retention rates and morale all increase. Leaders have a duty to create an environment where people can be their authentic selves and set the example with their own behavior that displays respect and a willingness to listen, and clearly communicates the value of every employee.”

Inclusion Pays Off

While the arguments to build an inclusive culture at work may sound compelling, how important is inclusion to an organization’s success? A study from Deloitte cited research that found that organizations with inclusive cultures have a clear advantage over those that do not.

Organizations with inclusive cultures are:

  • Two times more likely to exceed financial targets
  • Three times more likely to be high-performing
  • Six times more likely to be innovative and agile
  • Eight times more likely to achieve business outcomes

Successfully building a culture of inclusion requires a serious commitment from the leaders of an organization and participation at every level. While there may be challenges along the way, the efforts made to create a culture of inclusion can result in increased retention, greater commitment and input from the workforce, which can lead to markedly improved business outcomes.

Compliance Corner: Natural Hairstyle Discrimination

Posted on by nfuqua

Earlier this year, New York became the second state in the U.S. to ban discrimination based on natural hairstyles.

The law amends both the state’s Human Right’s Law and the Dignity for All Students Act to update the definition of race to include “traits historically associated with race, including, but not limited to, hair texture and protective hairstyles.”

The law is intended to prohibit dress codes or appearance policies that target people of color, particularly black people, by banning traditional styles like cornrows, braids, Bantu knots, twists, fades, afros and dreadlocks or locs.

Earlier this year, the NYC Commission on Human Rights issued a legal enforcement guidance on discrimination of natural hairstyles that states, “while an employer can impose requirements around maintaining a work-appropriate appearance, they cannot enforce such policies in a discriminatory manner and/or target specific hair textures or hairstyles. Therefore, a grooming policy to maintain a ‘neat and orderly’ appearance that prohibits locs or cornrows is discriminatory against black people because it presumes that these hairstyles, which are commonly associated with Black people, are inherently messy or disorderly.”

California was the first state to ban discrimination of natural hairstyles. The CROWN – Creating a Respectful and Open Workplace for Natural Hair – Act was signed into law in July.  A similar measure has also been introduced in New Jersey.

Employers, especially those in New York in California, should review their dress and appearance policies to ensure they are in compliance.
 

Compliance Corner is a feature from PeopleScout. Once a month, we’ll be featuring a compliance issue that’s in the news or on our minds. Understanding the patchwork of labor laws across the world is complicated, but it’s part of what we do best. If you have questions on the compliance issue discussed in this post, please reach out to your PeopleScout account team or contact us at marketing@peoplescout.com.

Openreach: Recruiting for Hard-to-Fill Engineer Roles at Scale

Posted on by skatz
Openreach: Recruiting for Hard-to-Fill Engineer Roles at Scale

Microtitle

Openreach: Recruiting for Hard-to-Fill Engineer Roles at Scale

Openreach approached PeopleScout to help recruit for hard-to-fill trainee engineer positions. Our postal code-by-postal code attraction and simplified recruitment process enabled Openreach to fill all roles and to increase applications from diverse candidates.

413 trainee engineer hires
70 % of applications were from diverse candidates
3 months to fill all vacancies

Situation

Openreach recruits 3,500 trainee engineers on an annual basis, with a large proportion of hires made in areas with strong candidate pipelines. However, hiring in Southern England and London proved challenging. So, they approached PeopleScout to support the delivery of 413 trainee engineer hires in these hard-to-fill locations in just three months.

Solution

SOLUTION HIGHLIGHTS

  • Microsite hub
  • Bespoke, postal code-tailored attraction program
  • Simplified application process
  • All roles filled with increased diversity interest

At a Glance

  • COMPANY
    Openreach
  • INDUSTRY
    Telecommunications
  • PEOPLESCOUT SOLUTIONS
    Recruitment Process Outsourcing
  • ANNUAL HIRES
    413 trainee engineers
  • LOCATIONS
    Multiple areas across Southern England and London
  • ABOUT OPENREACH
    Openreach is a subsidiary of BT Group providing phone, broadband and Ethernet services to homes and businesses across the UK.
Let’s Connect

MICROSITE HUB

We worked with Openreach to scope and build a microsite to act as the hub for trainee engineer hiring. 

TAILORING BY POSTAL CODE

Deploying a bespoke attraction program by specific postal codes allowed us to be highly targeted in driving candidate pipelines. All attraction materials drove candidates to the microsite. 

LIGHT-TOUCH PROCESS

In addition, we developed a light-touch simplified recruitment process, which included video interviews and a one-page online application. 

Results

FILLED IN THREE MONTHS

From sign-off to implementation, the service was set up, configured and ready to go live in six weeks—and all 413 roles were filled within three months. 

DIVERSITY BOOST 

Nearly 70% of applications in London postal codes were from diverse candidates, translating into a 53% offer rate. 

TRANSFORMATIONAL

Openreach has said that collaborating with us has been “transformational,” and we’re now working with them on 150 additional hires.

Delivering Diverse Early Careers Applicants in Financial Services

Posted on by akessler
Delivering Diverse Early Careers Applicants in Financial Services

Delivering Diverse Early Careers Applicants in Financial Services

A leading UK financial services group partnered with PeopleScout to improve the candidate experience in their early careers program, resulting in improved candidate diversity.

36 % Increased in Total Applications
39 % of Candidates Identified as Female
47 % Identified as Coming from an Underrepresented Group

Situation

PeopleScout is the long-time RPO partner for this client, supporting candidate management within their emerging talent program to attract more graduates and interns into the their workforce. As recognized leaders of employer brand and candidate experience, our client delivery team presented some recommendations to the organization to improve their hiring journey based on ad-hoc feedback received while interacting with early careers candidates.

Solution

Crafting a Better Candidate Experience

We started by creating a candidate experience audit to measure the informal comments we’d heard. Through a series of internal and external focus groups with graduates and interns who had recently been through the recruitment process, we identified gaps in the candidate communication schedule. Candidates revealed that they were often unsure of where they were in the process, what was coming next and how they should prepare.

With our client first, not process first philosophy, we created a customized plan to address these concerns. We produced a candidate journey guide to help the candidates understand each step of the process. To go along with this, we developed a content plan to provide candidates with the right information at the right time, keeping them informed about next steps.

Supporting the DE&I Directive

We also took the opportunity to boost candidate engagement by personalising email communications and adding visual content which promoted organizational program that would appeal to this young audience, like their well-being initiatives. In addition, to support the client’s DE&I directive, we chose to highlight stories about women and employees from minority backgrounds—especially those in finance and technology focused roles—to decrease the likelihood of these candidates dropping out of the funnel. 

Implementing Candidate NPS

Since we’re always focused on delivery, we implemented a new candidate Net Promoter Score® (NPS) survey to measure the candidate experience and uncover more opportunities for improvements going forward. All candidates, whether hired or not, are asked how likely they are to recommend the bank as a potential employer based on their recent experience with the early careers recruitment program.

Results

Since taking on the management of the Emerging Talent program for this client, we generated a 36% increase in total applications from the previous year, with 39% from female candidates and 47% from candidates from a underrepresented background.

The new candidate survey provided a candidate NPS of 57, which is considered excellent.

“The PeopleScout team are proactive in talking to us about new ideas and at the same time are brilliant at being reactive to business hiring needs. PeopleScout are a true trusted partner and have been fundamental to our hiring delivery and service over the last 20+ years.”

– Senior Resourcing Manager

At a Glance

  • COMPANY
    Leading UK financial services group
  • INDUSTRY
    Financial Services
  • PEOPLESCOUT SOLUTIONS
    Recruitment Process Outsourcing, Talent Advisory
  • ANNUAL HIRES
    1,500
  • ABOUT THE CLIENT
    A leading UK financial services group has been partnering with PeopleScout for over 20 years, making it one of our longest-standing client relationships. What started as a Talent Advisory engagement has now expanded to include end-to-end volume Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) services, with over 1,500 hires annually across 16 sites, 50 shift patterns and multiple banking brands.
Let’s Connect

Virgin Media: Hiring More Women Technicians

Posted on by akessler
Virgin Media: Hiring More Women Technicians

Virgin Media: Hiring More Women Technicians

Virgin Media asked their RPO partner PeopleScout to improve diversity for their field technician roles.

94 % of applications came from women
2 x growth in female workforce
37 % reduction in candidate drop off

Situation

Addressing gender diversity imbalances is a priority in organizations of all types. But, for roles that enter people’s homes, that need is even more pronounced. The personal nature of that connection makes having a workforce that reflects the customers and communities served even more important.

Virgin Media goal was a 50/50 male to female employee ratio. At that point, their workforce was 73% male. so they turned to their RPO partner PeopleScout for help.

Our first move was to set up a working group to tackle the problem head on. The group immediately identified its first priority: the residential field technician (RFT) role. Out of nearly 1,300 RFTs working across the UK, only 1.9% were women.

Solution

Research

In the research stage, we analyzed application numbers from previous campaigns, and identified that applications from women amounted to less than 2% of those received.

To get clear on the role’s realities, we hosted focus groups with Virgin Media’s current female RFTs. With the insights gathered from these conversations, we built a profile of the ideal female candidate, which informed our “Women in Field” recruitment strategy.

Strategy

Our strategy was simple; celebrate female role models across Virgin Media, and transform the organization’s recruitment communications to address the motivations of our target audience. In short: surprise female candidates who hadn’t considered the role before.

We started with a pilot program launched in four key UK locations. We set the target of five women RFT hires in each of the locations with just 12 weeks from go live to offer. This was hugely ambitious, given that Virgin Media had recruited only four women RFTs across the whole of the UK in the previous year.

We transformed the campaign’s collateral, language and imagery to showcase the amazing women already doing the job. Alongside the advertising, we produced films and written profiles of current female RFTs, showing experiences, challenges and triumphs. This was supported throughout social media with hashtags such as #levellingthefield and #becausewhynot.

Ultimately, our approach was to show outstanding women doing a brilliant job so that our target audience would respond: “I’d love to do that!”

Results

The pilot was a total success. The campaign received 945 applications, with a staggering 94% of applications coming from women. We achieved the hiring target of 20 outstanding new RFTs across the four locations, and in the process, we doubled Virgin Media’s entire female RFT workforce.

Candidate engagement throughout the full recruitment process was massively improved. Drop out decreased by 37%, and more candidates than ever reached the final assessment stage.

We sent surveys to all candidates, successful or not, and overwhelmingly, responders said they found our advertisements disruptive, direct, empowering and welcoming.

Now, we’re working with Virgin Media to roll out a wider campaign, UK-wide. Our ambition is to recruit five female RFTs in every region, attracting 60% more women to these roles. Everything we achieved during the pilot will strengthen this drive, particularly as we’ve created a group of enthusiastic brand advocates—female RFTs happy to help promote referrals, reduce attrition and tell compelling stories to future applicants.

The campaign has also laid the foundations for a strong female management pipeline. As a result, Virgin Media has an emerging population of engaged women RFTs to develop into the leaders of the future.

At a Glance

  • COMPANY
    Virgin Media
  • INDUSTRY
    Telecommunications
  • PEOPLESCOUT SOLUTIONS
    Recruitment Process Outsourcing
  • ABOUT VIRGIN MEDIA
    Virgin Media is a telecommunications company, providing telephone, television and internet services in the United Kingdom. It is owned by Virgin Media O2.
Let’s Connect

Improving Retention and Diversity for Leading North American Tire Brand

Posted on by Kate
Improving Retention and Diversity for Leading North American Tire Brand

High-Volume RPO

Improving Retention and Diversity for Leading North American Tire Brand

A leading North American tire brand partnered with PeopleScout to facilitate more than 10,000 annual hires for automotive technician, management and sales positions and standardize its retail recruitment processes company-wide.

10,000 annual hires
40 % improvement in hiring diverse employees
5 % reduction in technician turnover

A leading North American tire brand was experiencing an alarming rate of attrition in key retail positions, making it difficult to provide the level of service excellence the brand’s customers have come to expect. To help solve its unsustainable employee attrition issue, the client partnered with PeopleScout to efficiently facilitate more than 10,000 annual hires of automotive technicians, management and sales positions and standardize its retail recruitment processes company-wide.

Scope and Scale

Full-life cycle recruiting services needed for 10,000 U.S. hires annually. Skills and positions included: technicians, customer service, sales and management.

Situation

The client was facing a 50% turnover rate at retail locations and lacked a uniform hiring procedure, resulting in a disjointed process and poor quality of hire. Without the appropriate staffing of technicians, customer care suffered, causing a reduction in the client’s revenue in their retail operations. 

Solution

SOLUTION HIGHLIGHTS

  • Screening & block interview scheduling efficiencies
  • 10,000 hires in the first year of the engagement
  • Reduced employee turnover
  • Hiring diversity
  • Transparent Reporting

A STANDARD HIRING MODEL

The partnership was designed to improve turnover rates for technician and retail positions, create a standardized retail recruitment model and provide consistent OFCCP compliance and standardization.

AN EFFICIENT PROCESS

PeopleScout deployed a time-efficient screening process focused on the quality of the candidate, with a guaranteed response from recruiting teams within 48 hours of application.

HIRING DIVERSITY

To help source and engage more diverse candidates for the client, PeopleScout developed a comprehensive network of community organizations for partnered recruitment. 

IN-REGION RECRUITERS

Collaborative relationships between our retail recruiters and the client’s area managers were fostered by in-region placement of PeopleScout recruiters.  

TRANSPARENT REPORTING

Continuous improvement was driven through transparent reporting and analysis for the client’s executive and field leadership.

Results

REDUCED EMPLOYEE TURNOVER

The client’s technician turnover rate has improved by 5% and retail turnover by 6%. 

10,000 HIRES IN FIRST YEAR

PeopleScout hired 10,000 employees in the first year of the engagement.

HIRING DIVERSITY

Hiring diversity improved by 40%, including an increase of 2% for veterans and 6% for female hires.

At a Glance

  • COMPANY
    Leading North American tire brand
  • INDUSTRY
    Consumer Goods
  • PEOPLESCOUT SOLUTIONS
    Recruitment Process Outsourcing
Let’s Connect

Bombardier: Moving the World’s Engineering Talent with a Global Employer Brand

Posted on by akessler
Bombardier: Moving the World's Engineering Talent with a Global Employer Brand

Bombardier: Moving the World’s Engineering Talent with a Global Employer Brand

PeopleScout helped Bombardier Transportation with a global employer brand and toolkit to help them recruit hard-to-fill roles and meet diversity objectives.

Situation

A worldwide leader in rail technology, Bombardier Transportation had no global employer brand presence. They approached PeopleScout and our in-house creative to develop a employer value proposition (EVP), not only to be used to push out the overall brand message, but also to underpin specific propositions for, and support recruitment activity in, each of their territories around the world. Launched initially in the UK, and now rolling out to other territories,

The new employer brand needed to tackle a negative market misperceptions of redundancies and lost orders. The truth was that they had a full order book and some new and exciting contracts to deliver in the future. With this positive story to share, they realized they had a great opportunity to enhance their position within the market.

Solution

Research & Discovery

We began with extensive research in all key Bombardier Transportation global territories. We conducted interviews with a mixture of senior stakeholders and employees from the main talent groups they needed to recruit from and also carried out external sessions with relevant talent groups.

Foundation & Framework

Using the insights we’d gained, we developed a set of EVP pillars capturing the key themes from the research. This provided the framework for creating our global messaging platform and design.

Guidelines & Toolkit

Working closely with Bombardier Transportation’s Branding and Communications teams, we produced a set of guidelines and a toolkit of materials that could be used globally and tweaked for each individual territory.

Results

Initially launched within the UK, the EVP was rolled out to other territories around the world.

Bombardier Transportation launched its first-ever media campaign using the EVP, using a combination of digital and outdoor media in key hiring locations in the UK. Across the whole campaign, they received over 500 applications and made hires into critical roles that they had struggled to recruit for previously. They were also able to recruit several women into these positions addressing their global diversity objectives.

At a Glance

  • COMPANY
    Bombardier Transportation
  • INDUSTRY
    Manufacturing
  • PEOPLESCOUT SOLUTIONS
    Talent Advisory
  • ABOUT BOMBARDIER
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Reducing Unconscious Bias with AI

Posted on by epadmin

Last winter during a bitterly cold rush hour, a father and son were in a terrible car accident off the Kennedy Expressway in Chicago. Tragically, the man died before help arrived. Paramedics were able to successfully transport the child to the nearest hospital where he was brought into an operating room for surgery. The surgeon entered the room but immediately stopped saying, “I can’t operate on this boy, he is my son.”

Who was the surgeon? His mother. This slight variation of the surgeon’s dilemma story helps illustrate how unconscious bias works. Every day people unknowingly form opinions about others based on minimal input; this is known as unconscious bias. These thoughts are usually based on deeply held beliefs. No one wants to be biased, but it is part of being human. Unconscious bias can be related to race, gender, age, religion, sexual preference, veteran status, disability status, socio-economic status, college attended and many other attributes. In fact, at least 150 different unconscious bias types have been identified and studied.


In this article, we’ll explore ways that unconscious bias appears in talent acquisition, review how AI can be used to reduce bias in the recruiting process and share tips for how to select an AI partner that can help employers reduce bias.

Unconscious Bias in Talent Acquisition


While employers strive to uphold legal standards for equal employment opportunities, unconscious bias issues in talent acquisition still exist.


Unconscious bias can occur at many stages throughout the recruiting process. For example, a recruiter may unconsciously write job descriptions that appeal more to a certain group of people. A recruiter looking for an IT developer might advertise a role as a Java Ninja, which could discourage women from applying because the title uses more masculine language.


During the candidate screening process individuals might also experience affinity bias, a specific type of unconscious bias that occurs when someone with a certain background is favored. An instance of this might include a hiring manager seeking candidates with an MBA from a particular school. At a company level, bias can even extend to citing a company’s culture fit as a reason to hire a certain type of person, i.e., hiring only younger workers.


When unconscious bias spreads across a candidate pool, bigger risks, such as a lack of organizational diversity, may emerge. A Deloitte study found that a diverse workforce is twice as likely to meet or exceed a company’s overall financial goals. Another study by Catalyst cited a 34 percent higher return to shareholders for companies with more women in executive positions.


Without a diverse workforce, organizations run the risk of possible legal action. A recent age discrimination lawsuit against three large technology employers claimed millions of older workers were allegedly blocked from seeing Facebook job ads because of their age.


Outside of legal action, companies also face the possibility of accidentally harming their own recruiting efforts. Silicon Valley has long been accused of having a less than diverse workforce. However, 47 percent of millennials say they prefer working for a diverse company.

How AI Can Reduce Bias in the Hiring Process


Artificial intelligence can decrease unconscious bias in recruiting practices in two key ways.

  • First, as a sophisticated pattern detector, AI can find bias across millions of data points.
  • Second, when potential candidates are identified, AI can catalogue profiles based only on certain skill sets. AI can also be programmed to ignore all demographic information, like zip codes, race or gender.

While many vendors today offer AI-enabled capabilities for tasks such as interview scheduling or candidate communications, using AI specifically to reduce the challenges of unconscious bias is still emerging. Montage recently launched Unbiased Candidate Review that helps companies reduce discrimination during the selection and interview process. Unbiased Candidate Review, part of Montage’s on-demand voice and video interviewing solution suite, includes hiding the candidate’s identity and voice until a hiring manager enters feedback on the candidate.


Another example of fighting bias through AI includes the story of entrepreneur Iba Masood. As a native of Pakistan that graduated from college in the United Arab Emirates, Masood had a difficult time finding a tech job after graduating. She was not from the traditional pool of young, male, Ivy League candidates that seek developer roles. So she created her own AI solution, TARA, to combat bias in the tech recruiting process. Today, candidates that use TARA’s online freelancer marketplace are judged only by the code they produce. Companies looking to find project-based developers bid based on the current skills needed for a project with no knowledge of the candidate’s socio-economic or previous professional background.

Potential AI Risks


While promising as a solution, AI algorithms need to be built appropriately and monitored frequently to make sure AI does not perpetuate the bias it was programmed to erase. As AI emerges to help reduce unconscious bias, several groups, including federal agencies, are observing AI’s impact to make sure risks are appropriately addressed.


Some of these groups include the following:

  • The AI Institute, which reviews AI’s ongoing impact on society.
  • Explainable AI, which focuses on tracing the reasoning of AI algorithms back to its human creators so links are not lost.

In addition to these formal groups monitoring AI, organizations can take steps to make sure the correct AI processes are in place. Because AI is constantly evolving, errors in an AI platform’s logic can quickly grow, making problems hard to trace. This is especially true if errors are made at the beginning of the process causing the common problem of garbage in, garbage out. However, there are strategies teams can put in place to reduce risk:

  • Recruiting teams can combine their expertise with data gathered from AI to produce more inclusive job descriptions and candidate pools in the future.
  • Bias can also be reduced by setting strategies internally to identify and eliminate bias through training and other programs.
  • Organizations should assign diverse teams to build AI algorithms so a wider set of ideas is represented in the AI’s output.
  • Finally, companies should conduct ongoing audits of AI algorithms to test that efforts related to AI are progressing appropriately.

How to Select and Evaluate an AI Provider


When assessing enterprise AI partners for your organization, make sure to review the following:

  1. Ask questions. If a potential partner isn’t willing to explain how its algorithms work, walk away. A good partner is prepared to support your business and will be able to articulate how the solutions work in terms you understand.
  2. Understand the vision. Not all partners will be experts in your industry. However, from a technical perspective, ask to see a long-term product roadmap to understand plans for the company’s product evolution and what kind of influence you may have into the roadmap features.
  3. Agree on the support model. Make sure the partner has a thorough understanding of how you operate and how AI folds into that process. Share what is critical to you and ensure they’re ready to commit to supporting those items for you. Without this, your support of your own clients could be affected.

Healthcare Workforce and Recruiting Trends to Watch

Posted on by epadmin

The healthcare workforce is highly specialized. As a result, the healthcare workforce and labor market are uniquely competitive. To gain a competitive edge, healthcare organizations are looking for innovative recruiting solutions to find top-quality candidates who provide world-class care for patients.

In this post, we examine the trends in the healthcare workforce that will influence the future of healthcare recruitment.

Employer Branding for Healthcare Workforce

Top healthcare candidates have many options when it comes to employers and can easily research the experiences of employees in your organization on career sites such as Indeed and Glassdoor.

In fact, a survey conducted by LinkedIn found that 75 percent of job seekers consider an employer’s brand before applying for a job. What’s more, a study conducted by Healthcare Recruiters International found that over 90 percent of candidates think employer branding is an essential recruiting resource. So, how can you ensure you have an impactful employer brand?

How RPO Can Solve The Top Challenges In Healthcare Talent Acquisition

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Conduct an Employer Brand Audit

Before developing your employer brand, you should conduct an employer brand audit. Your employer brand audit will help you understand how your brand distinguishes itself from competitors and provide a starting point from which you can build your strategy. Below are key questions to ask yourself during the audit:

  • Why would someone want to work for you?
  • What is the perception employees and candidates have about your organization?
  • What percentage of your employees would recommend your company as a great place to work?

Set your Employer Brand Strategy

Prospective healthcare employees are similar to patients in that both select the healthcare provider they feel most comfortable with. Your employer brand strategy should help make a candidate’s choice easier and provide assurance that he or she has chosen the right employer. Your employer brand strategy should contain the following three components:

  • Differentiators: A list of the benefits and unique qualities that are different or better about working at your healthcare facility.
  • Employee Value Proposition: Using your list of differentiators, craft a brief paragraph that positions your organization against other healthcare employers and demonstrates why candidates view you as an employer of choice.
  • Employer Brand Promotional Plan: Develop a plan to share your employee value proportion with candidates, including the tactics you will use, the tools you need and the schedule you will follow to attract potential new hires and retain current employees.

Promote Your Employer Brand to the Healthcare Workforce 

Once you have established your employer brand, it is time to promote it. You can promote your employer brand by highlighting your workplace benefits and culture in recruiting materials, on your website and social media channels and in your job postings and candidate outreach emails. Some examples of ways to promote your employer brand include:

  • Sharing videos and pictures of your workplace to show what working for your healthcare organization is like.
  • Leveraging your social channels to show off your workplace and company perks so that a candidate can assess what you have to offer.
  • Building a career site that makes visitors feel welcome and gives applicants the information they are looking for, such as details about employment opportunities, company culture and work environment.
  • Telling engaging stories from current and former employees to better attract the type of healthcare candidates who could see themselves in those stories.

Diversity in the Healthcare Workforce

Healthcare is experiencing a shortage of workers, and professionals of diverse backgrounds are particularly underrepresented in many occupations and in the upper ranks of many healthcare organizations.

Minority Workers in the Healthcare Workforce

With demand in many healthcare professions at record levels, career opportunities abound for individuals of all backgrounds. However, Black, Hispanic and Indigenous Americans make up almost a quarter of the U.S. population, yet as a group, they account for only 6 percent of physicians, 9 percent of nurses and 5 percent of dentists according to the Sullivan Commission on Diversity.

Healthcare organizations can play a significant role in addressing this issue by:

  • Promoting healthcare careers to diverse populations via school programs and community organizations.
  • Encouraging students to shadow healthcare professionals and explore careers in healthcare.
  • Recruiting ethnically diverse individuals for every-level positions to increase current minority representation.
  • Offering internships, residencies and fellowships to ethnically diverse students. For example, the Institute for Diversity in Health Management in Chicago offers summer internships to college students.

Healthcare Workers with Disabilities

Individuals with disabilities can pursue successful careers in the healthcare field. Opportunities are available, but so are obstacles, from expensive equipment to accommodate workers to licensing requirements.

Some disabled healthcare workers take advantage of programs specifically designed to recruit those with disabilities. Project Search at the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center gives high school students with disabilities the opportunity to learn about careers in healthcare. Healthcare organizations can also provide assistance to workers with disabilities by:

  • Creating formal policies and procedures on accommodations for staff with disabilities. Invite employees with disabilities to work with on these policies.
  • Making the online application process easier to use, with fonts that can be enlarged or a site that can be used with a screen reader.
  • Advertising your healthcare organization as an equal opportunity employer and including contact information for anyone having problems accessing your organization because of a disability.

Aging Healthcare Workforce

According to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing the median age of a Registered Nurse (RN) is 46 years old. Plus, more than a quarter of RNs report they plan to retire or leave nursing over the next five years. These demographic trends portend significant employment challenges in the near future in the U.S.

Healthcare employers will need to rethink their current employment policies and practices to simultaneously retain talented older staff and create job opportunities for new workers of all ages. Many healthcare organizations are taking proactive steps to confront the problems that will occur as the healthcare workforce matures. Some of these strategies include:

  • Developing strong outreach mechanisms to attract promising senior candidates to healthcare management careers.
  • Publicizing career advancement opportunities, such as continuing education, professional development organizations, networking events and vacancies inside the organization, in a manner that appeals to everyone, especially older individuals.
  • Creating environments that encourage retention, development and promotion of qualified elderly or senior employees.

Greater Use of Technology

As technology continues to become more sophisticated, it will play an increasingly important role in finding and hiring talent in healthcare. In fact, according to Ideal, 96% of senior HR professionals believe AI has the potential to greatly enhance talent acquisition and retention.

AI can help reduce unconscious bias during the hiring process by anonymizing candidates and focusing on skills, not age, gender or race, auto. AI technology can also be used to improve the screening process and manage interview scheduling.

Drafting Better Job Posts

Finding the right candidate in the healthcare workforce begins with the right job posting. In fact, it is often the first thing candidates see from your organization, so it is important to make a good impression.

Today, AI technology can utilize algorithms to assess and analyze language patterns in job postings to determine why some fail and others succeed and suggest keywords to make job descriptions more appealing to candidates. As the AI technology analyzes more job posts, it becomes more accurate with its language suggestions, helping employers draft precise job descriptions.

While there may never be a perfect job posting, AI technology is getting us closer.

Advanced Candidate Screening

Traditionally, candidate screenings begin with reviewing an applicant’s resume followed by a brief phone call. This means that recruiters and hiring managers have only their judgment of a resume to assess whether a healthcare candidate would make a good hire.

Healthcare recruiters know that resumes are an incomplete picture of someone’s skills, achievements, capabilities and most importantly, personality and culture fit.

AI technology can also be used to cull data and metrics healthcare organizations have on their employees to build predictive models and personality profiles that help lead to candidates who fit the company culture and job requirements more accurately and can reduce time-to-fill metrics.

Automating Recruiting Tasks

In healthcare recruiting, administrative tasks such as resume screenings and scheduling interviews can be time-consuming. With the assistance of AI, recruiters and hiring managers can reduce their time spent conducting administrative work by using AI and Robotic Process Automation technology to automatically screen candidates’ resumes using keyword and qualification searches.

AI can also help schedule interviews with candidates through email or chatbot programs that bring more personalization to the communication process. Not only does this save time that recruiters can spend on more critical tasks, it also accelerates the interview process, helping reduce time-to-hire and ultimately providing healthcare organizations with an advantage when competing for talent.

Conclusion

Your healthcare organization’s success depends on your ability to adapt to changes in recruiting and healthcare talent management. Healthcare RPO is one way the sector is staying on top of a difficult hiring environment.