Category: Employee Engagement

Diversity and Inclusion: Building Employee Resource Groups and Driving Change

Posted on by edyson

Diversity, equity and inclusion have long been a key point of discussion in many organizations’ human resources departments. While the topic has always been top of mind, events in 2020 have shined new light and emphasis on the importance of social justice, anti-discrimination and diversity and inclusion.

Why is Inclusion Important?

employee resource groups

However, according to a PricewaterhouseCoopers Global Diversity & Inclusion Survey, two-thirds of respondents indicated their organizations have not adopted practices to reduce unconscious biases and other barriers to inclusion. Moreover, even among organizations that have adopted such practices, employees are not likely to be aware of the efforts. This illustrates the importance of inclusion in the workplace for candidates.

Creating employee resource groups (ERGs) is an approach you can use to build a more inclusive environment and addresses diversity and inclusion in a more holistic, community-based way. Employee resource groups, also known as affinity groups, have emerged in the workplace as a standard component of diversity and inclusion initiatives. In fact. according to a report from Bentley University, nearly 90% of all Fortune 500 companies have ERGs.

For many organizations, the benefits of employee resource groups have evolved from the primary intent — to provide a forum in which members of an organization who share common interests, issues, or concerns meet to address those issues — to multifaceted benefits that impact an organization’s strategic diversity and inclusion efforts in recruitment, retention, mentoring, leadership development, marketing, customer relations and return on investment.

What is an Employee Resource Group?

The first employee resource groups were initially workplace affinity groups created in response to racial strife of the civil rights era. Joseph Wilson, the former CEO of Xerox, developed the concept following race riots in Rochester, NY in 1964. Wilson and his African-American employees designed and launched the National Black Employees Caucus in 1970 to address racial tension and the issue of workplace discrimination.

Modern ERG programs are the enduring legacy of Mr. Wilson and his colleagues’ courageous efforts. In its most basic form, an ERG is an employee identity or experience-based group that helps employees within an organization build community and share a common cause.

what is an erg

ERGs are generally based on building or strengthening community, providing support and contributing to personal and professional development in the workplace. Most ERGs are volunteer based, though some companies support organizers with a percentage of paid time off or other recognition, including leadership development opportunities.

What is the Purpose of an ERG Program?

While each ERG must define its purpose and goal, common ERG drivers are:

  • An ERG program creates an open forum for employees who share a common identity to meet and support one another in building their community and sense of belonging.
  • ERG programs empower these groups by offering them financial support, organizational support and access to decision-makers.
  • ERG programs facilitate a clear line of communication from ERGs to leadership to voice concerns and solve problems.
  • ERGs provide a resource for leadership regarding employee and community issues, needs and policies.
  • ERG programs seek to advance a respectful and inclusive company culture and reinforce the importance of inclusion.

What Does an ERG Look Like?

ERGs come in a variety of forms, with some of the more popular ones taking the shape of:

  • Diversity groups that foster a sense of belonging among employees that belong to a minority group in the organization
  • Volunteer programs where employees can support charities and other volunteer initiatives
  • Affinity clubs where employees with similar interests get an opportunity to socialize
  • Professional development groups that provide employees the opportunity to share knowledge with their peers from other departments

The Value of Employee Resource Groups and Why is Inclusion Important

ERGs deliver value to organizations and their workforces in multiple ways. They build a sense of community and belonging for employees by connecting people in a social and professional way and encouraging interaction between employees.

What’s more, according to a report from the Society for Human Resource Management, 90% of companies examined said ERGs helped make new hires more comfortable during the onboarding process, and 70% of organizations relied on ERGs to build a workforce to reflect the demographics of their customer base.

ERGs empower employees by giving each group a collective voice to speak with decision-makers and management. Groups are also empowered to assemble and voice concerns as a community. ERGs support learning and development by offering formal and informal leadership opportunities and creating visibility for employees who are active.

ERGs also provide a resource for leadership and decision-makers regarding staff/community issues, needs and policies. And ERGs offer to the company their expertise and experiences to improve equality and equity. They can also be an asset in business decisions to make better, more inclusive products and services.

Lastly, ERGs can also support retention because employees are likely to stay with the company longer if they have built or are part of a strong community within the company and feel heard again, this is why why is inclusion important.

Creating an Employee Resource Group

erg diversity

If you or other employees within your organization would like to start an ERG, it can be difficult to know where to start. Below, we outline the steps to get your ERG off the ground.

Align Your ERG with your Organization’s Broader Objectives

For your ERG to be successful, your purpose should be tied to your organization’s overall mission and values. Is your organization focused on giving back to your community? Or is your goal to build a more diverse workforce?

Choose a topic around diversity and inclusion for your employee resource group that aligns with overall company goals. Think about writing a mission statement for your ERG that touches on your organization’s core values. Showing how your ERG advances the overall organizational strategy will help earn support from other areas of the organization.

Secure Executive Support

Executive support for your ERG is essential for continued success. To gain buy-in, find executive or C-suite sponsors who are personally committed to diversity and inclusion or social impact initiatives. Executives are busy and oftentimes metrics focused, so it may be helpful to come with talking points and data that showcase how an ERG will make a positive impact on your organization.

Make sure HR leaders are invested as well, as you will need their support to share ERGs during the new hire onboarding process and in promotional materials for the ERG.

Building Your ERG Team

Before launching the ERG, establish a communication plan and identify benchmarks for success, including long-term goals and potential challenges. Recruit colleagues willing to take on a leadership role, such as committing to a monthly meeting or making time to plan and execute events.

Then, find other like-minded coworkers who are passionate about supporting your ERG. It’s just as important to have members who are willing to participate and spread the word as it is to have leaders and planners.

Deploying Your ERG Program

A strong communications plan is a major component of an employee resource group’s success strategy. You can begin by creating a simple presentation that outlines the ERG’s goals, events and ideas for participation. You can leverage your organization’s marketing team to use your organization’s brand standards to create a logo for the ERG that ties it directly to the organization. This is an effective way to clearly communicate that your ERG is supported by leadership and is an important initiative.

Equipped with your members and materials, generate excitement for the ERG by hosting a company event. Throwing a happy hour — virtually now, because of COVID-19 — is a great way to introduce your ERG’s mission, lay out future events and recruit attendees to grow your group’s core membership.

How Your Organization Can Support Your Employee Resource Group

Your organization can support your employee resource groups in a variety of ways. Your ERG may receive budget and organizational support. However, your organization should not dictate which groups should form, who should join each group or what impact the groups should have. That should be a decision of the group, but it’s important for the organization to provide tools to work towards and measure that success.

This could include charter documentation, purpose workshop, road-mapping templates and exercises, budget tracking tools, support in setting and tracking OKRs, a platform for communication with their group and potential members, visibility within the organization and meetings with senior leadership.

Conclusion

A sense of belonging and inclusion in the workplace is important in order to empower employees and help them bring their whole self to work. Building a strong network or community is a very important step in creating this sense of belonging.

In order to truly empower and support ERGs, it’s important to give the employee resource groups the autonomy to define the scope of their group, to define membership eligibility and most importantly, to define what success means to them.

Succession Planning: Maintaining Talent Continuity

Posted on by edyson

The immediate response to the COVID-19 pandemic by many organizations correctly focused on workplace safety, maintaining business continuity and preserving relationships with key clients and suppliers.

Now, organizations are rebuilding and preparing themselves for the new normal. And, they are taking a good look at their people, processes and systems, including creating or revisiting organizational succession plans.

Establishing a well thought out succession plan is now more important than ever and will continue to be a vital process as baby boomers move into retirement and skills gaps and shortages that were challenges before COVID-19 persist. In this article, we explore best practices for designing and executing a successful succession planning program to help your organization better prepare for workforce disruptions.

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Five Tips for Leading Teams Through Crisis

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What is Succession Planning?

For some organizations, succession planning simply means making sure there are replacement candidates for key positions. For organizations with a more comprehensive view, succession planning is a systematic process to ensure leadership continuity in key positions, retain and develop institutional knowledge within key employees for the future, encourage individual advancement and ensure the stability or “bench strength” of key personnel.

Having employees identified as backups makes good business sense, as it allows organizations to fill vital roles with qualified successors quickly. A successful succession planning program should align talent management with an organization’s culture, vision and strategies.

Key Benefits of Succession Planning

  • Identify skill gaps and training needs
  • Retain institutional knowledge in a knowledge economy
  • Replace unique or highly specialized competencies

Building Your Succession Planning Team

The role of HR in succession planning should be to support business leaders, facilitate the process and provide tools and guidance along the way. Engaging stakeholders, particularly senior leadership, is critical. As part of the process, you should conduct interviews with them, invite them to take surveys and attend focus groups to get a better understanding of which roles are considered most essential to operations and the future talent needs of your organization

Plan for Both People and Positions

The first step of succession planning begins with identifying which positions your organization should target based on urgency and how critical the roles are to your organization’s operations. Your succession plan should address both specific positions and individuals to ensure you are covering all of your bases.

When identifying individual employees as potential successors for a role, consider the following traits:

  • Flexible and willing to change roles and work environments
  • Interested in professional development and learning new skills
  • A good communicator who works well with other teams and departments

When identifying positions to include in your succession plan, considering the following:

  • Positions central to strategic goals or that can provide you with a competitive advantage during uncertain times
  • Positions that are specific to your organization or industry
  • Positions of influence and leadership within your organization
  • Jobs with long learning curves, training requirements, specialized licenses and certifications
  • Positions that require institutional knowledge and experience

Assessing Successor Candidates

Once critical positions have been identified, it is time for your succession planning team to identify the employees who can potentially fit into those roles when opportunities emerge. But what should your team look for in a potential successor? To answer this question, examine a candidate’s knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs). The three terms seem interchangeable. However, they are distinctly different dimensions of a potential successor’s qualifications.

Knowledge: Focuses on the candidate’s understanding of key theoretical concepts important in the role.

Skills: Skills are the capabilities or hands-on experience needed for the application of theoretical knowledge important for the role.

Abilities: Abilities are the innate traits or talents that a person brings to the role if selected as a successor.

KSAs are the core competencies used when assessing talent and can create a better picture of a potential candidate’s strengths and weaknesses and are useful in paving an organization’s development programs and eventually, a successors’ growth in their new role. 

It is essential for you and your organization to develop a KSA profile of each candidate and see if their attributes align well with a specific role.  

Your succession planning team can start building KSA profiles by asking these three questions: 

  • Where does the organization see the role evolving in the next three to five years? 
  • What unique or specialized competencies are needed to succeed in the role?
  • What qualities should the new successor possesses in order to thrive in the role and meet your organization’s business objectives? 

A successor does not need to be someone who will think, talk and react the same way as the incumbent, you just need to be confident that the candidate can step up to the plate when called upon.

Develop Future Leaders Today

While every job is important, leadership positions within your organization would significantly impact your business if left open for a long period. In fact, according to SHRM’s Selecting Leadership Talent for the 21st-Century Workplace report, the cost of replacing a senior executive can range from $750,000 to $2.5 million, and up to $52 million for a chief executive officer. Leaders will undoubtedly be a significant competitive advantage as your organization rebounds and recovers. This means retaining, developing and leveraging future talent is even more important than it was pre-pandemic.

Your succession planning team, which should include HR and other key members of your executive leadership team, should conduct a thorough review of the skill sets of each member of your leadership team and identify candidates with similar skills who could become potential successors. Your team should also determine skills that you might be missing on your current leadership team and will be needed to emerge successfully from the pandemic and beyond.

PeopleScout Solution Spotlight

Design and delivery of leadership and development centers for a law enforcement agency.

  • Our client’s promotion criteria were historically focused on operational knowledge; we lead a shift in focus to also consider leadership capabilities and behavior.
  • We designed a behavioral framework aligned with national law enforcement standards and local leadership aspirations and organizational values.
  • We led the creation of both operational and behavioral exercises for each rank in the law enforcement agency.
  • We trained talent assessors and developed a digital assessment platform with automated feedback reports to create a more centralized process for succession planning.

Leverage Succession Planning to Retain Institutional Knowledge

According to research conducted by Panopto, 42% of the skills and expertise required to capably perform in a given position will be known only by the person currently in that position. Institutional knowledge is a combination of experiences, processes, data, expertise, cultural values and information possessed by specific employees or teams within your organization. It can span decades and is comprised of your organization’s tangible and intangible knowledge that defines who you are and how you operate. While some of this knowledge gets translated into processes and policies, most of it resides in the heads and hands of individual employees.

For example, what happens if your organization’s top sales manager is decides to take an early retirement or accepts a new position at another organization? Do you have a ready replacement? If yes, do they possess the deep institutional knowledge of your organization needed to rally their team and engage clients effectively?

With succession planning, you can ensure that knowledge sharing can occur concurrently between an employee and their potential successor, giving the successor the unique opportunity to gain useful skills and knowledge without a long, on-the-job learning curve. In the following graphic, we outline best practices for training and developing successor talent.

Training and Development of Successor Candidates

Training and development for potential successor candidates can take many forms and should include both real-life scenarios and classroom-style training. Below are a few common exercises to help ease the candidates into their future roles. 

  • Stretch Assignments: Just like the name implies, the employees will have to complete a set of tasks or assignments that stretch their limits. Examples include leading a special project, being assigned to a challenging task, or chairing a committee. 
  • Job Rotations: Enable successor candidates to rotate and assume different roles to obtain new experiences and learn more about the operations and processes of your organization. 
  • Mentoring and Coaching: Create or leverage existing corporate mentorship programs and pair successor candidates with senior employees to provide candidates with ongoing guidance, deeper insights and career support. 

Communication is Key

Clear and concise communication makes the succession planning strategy much smoother. According to research conducted by Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company, around 25% of employees in line to take over a key role in an organization did not know they had been chosen for the role. Consider what this might mean — an employee might believe they have no real future at your company and so might make plans elsewhere.

Be sure to inform each employee you have identified as a potential successor — especially in the case of leadership roles — that they have been ear­marked for a future role (without making an outright promise). Take this opportunity to determine if they are interested. While they might be content with their current position, knowing that you see real promise in them might make them feel valued, resulting in better employee retention.

Conclusion

A well-implemented succession plan will give your organization a sense of the investment you will need to make should backups for key positions be necessary. Whether it’s temporary or long-term, employees who are asked to assume greater responsibilities need support. Regularly checking in with employees will make you keenly aware of what they will need to be successful.

Remember, succession planning is not a one-off task. Organizations need to be agile to keep up with the fast-paced and ever-evolving world. You should regularly discuss and reevaluate your strategy with key stakeholders including front-line managers, your executive leadership team and HR leaders to make sure your plan is up to date.

The Importance of Inclusion in Your Diversity Program

Posted on by jpatel

The seemingly never-ending obstacle course of 2020 has been filled with highs, lows and everything in between — from a landmark ruling for LGBTQ+ workers to an international awakening to systemic racism and a global pandemic that has impacted the lives of millions. As organizations around the world face a future more unpredictable than ever before, one thing remains certain: the business case for diversity and inclusion (D&I) is stronger than ever. 

In order to face unique challenges, organizations will need unique thinking, the kind that only comes with a truly diverse team — whether in age, gender, sexuality, race or otherwise. According to a report from the World Economic Forum, companies with above-average diversity scores report nearly 20% higher revenue due to innovation. Moreover, this article from The Conversation cites research from more than 300 Australian studies that conclusively shows how workplace racism has a direct, detrimental impact on performance, accounting for an estimated 3% loss in average annual gross domestic product. 

That said, the driving motivators for organizations to foster effective D&I programs should not be focused only on performance metrics, but rather the desire to make employees feel represented, understood, respected and cared for. While most companies are able to increase their level of diversity, they struggle with cultivating a culture in which those diverse voices are heard — leaving room for improvement in their inclusion efforts. 

D&I: Defined 

Diversity and inclusion in the workplace has been a hot topic for years, so why does it often seem like minimal meaningful change has occurred? Unfortunately, the downfall for many organizations is the misinterpretation that diversity and inclusion are synonymous. To avoid making this mistake, it is important to understand the difference between diversity and inclusion, to better understand why it’s time to shift focus to the latter. 

The definition for diversity is relatively straightforward, and simple enough for most organizations to achieve by tracking demographics and collecting concrete data to ensure they hire and promote people of varying backgrounds. 

However, the definition for inclusion is more difficult to effectively measure results against because every organization can interpret words like “including” and “accommodating” differently.  

According to Deloitte, “without a shared understanding of inclusion, people are prone to miscommunication, progress cannot be reliably evaluated, leaders can’t be held accountable and organizations default to counting diversity numbers.” 

Deloitte goes a step further by using its research to create a holistic definition comprised of four distinct yet connected elements:  

  • Fairness and respect: The starting point for effective inclusion is ensuring people are treated equitably and with respect — in both nondiscrimination and basic courtesy.  
  • Valued and belonging: People will feel included when they believe their authentic self is valued by others and they feel a sense of connectedness with their peers. 
  • Safe and open: Inclusion is experienced when people feel safe to speak up without any fear of embarrassment or retaliation. 
  • Empowered and growing: True inclusion happens when people feel empowered to grow in their role and do their best work — diversity of thinking can emerge.  

By looking at the depth of these definitions, it’s clear that building and maintaining an effective inclusion program requires considerably more time and effort than it does to reformat a hiring process to increase diversity. While diversity can be measured and those metrics can be used to set and achieve goals, inclusion calls for a continuous cultural reset.  

Inclusion Requires Action 

In a 2020 report by McKinsey & Company, data from three industries with the highest levels of executive-team diversity — financial services, technology and healthcare — showed that “while overall [employee] sentiment on diversity was 52% positive and 31% negative, sentiment on inclusion was markedly worse, at only 29% positive and 61% negative.” Furthermore, the levels of negative sentiment about equality and fairness of opportunity, key indicators of inclusion, were also particularly high — proving that even more diverse companies struggle with effective inclusion.  

So, what are some steps organizations can take toward fostering better inclusion? To gain some insight, LinkedIn asked Black talent leaders their thoughts on what talent acquisition teams can do to accelerate diversity and inclusion. Here are three of their tactics: 

Change how and where you look for talent  

This starts with having diverse recruiting teams. Having recruiters from a wide variety of backgrounds will help employers change the way they think about how and where they find talent — shifting their sourcing beyond the geographies, companies and schools they’ve become accustomed to. 

Make a “top-down investment” in diverse employees 

To build diversity into the succession plan, organizations should invest time, money, training and executive sponsorship into their diversity efforts, ensuring representation across the business. By hiring and promoting diverse talent, an organization sends a message of inclusion that ripples throughout the company and into the industry — positioning you as an inclusive workplace that recognizes the value of diverse talent. 

Leverage the power of remote work  

Continuing distributed work strategies beyond the current crisis will allow recruiting teams to source, engage and hire talent where they are. Organizations will no longer be limited to talent that lives in the same geographies as their physical offices, meaning they can expand their scope to locations that are historically diverse.  

These tactics may seem like large feats, and that’s because they are. Building an organization that is truly diverse and inclusive is a huge undertaking that takes time, effort and serious commitment. While you work on the organizational overhaul, keep in mind that there are also some smaller steps you can take along the way: 

  • Provide resources. Inclusion can’t be mandated; it requires the “changing of hearts and minds.” Organizations can do their part by encouraging open dialogue and providing educational resources, like this anti-racist reading list from DiversityInc. 
  • Break up cliques. We are naturally drawn toward others who are like us, which can often result in cliques. Create opportunities to position employees outside of their comfort zone and into work groups made up of people with various backgrounds. 
  • Form inclusive groups. Create a dedicated task force focused on updating policies that promote your company’s values. Project Include offers more suggestions for creating systemic inclusion here. 
  • Offer professional development. Offering development programs and mentorship opportunities to underrepresented employees who may have a steeper hill to climb can help them in their career ascent.  
  • Showcase diverse talent. Representation matters, and employees and candidates will understand how you value diverse talent when you celebrate and share their stories. 

A Continuous Journey 

It can be easy to get lost in the mindset that inclusion is a “one and done” activity. That mindset has a certain allure, because it would mean we could all rest assured knowing we’ve created a workforce that is 100% diverse and effectively inclusive. In reality, inclusion is a continuous journey that requires a concerted effort, focus and determination to effect meaningful change. You can think of it like a long road trip — one that requires multiple checkpoints, refuels and stops to check you’re still going in the right direction. To ensure you’re always on the correct path, it can be helpful to perform a regular inclusion audit that asks: 

  • Does the organization have a continuous representation of diverse talent? 
  • Is diverse talent represented in leadership roles? 
  • Is there room to remove bias in the hiring process? Promotion process? 
  • Are we listening to employee concerns? 
  • Are we regularly surveying employee sentiment on D&I? 
  • Do we know what’s working? What isn’t? 
  • Have we asked employees what they want and need? 

It’s clear that simply hiring diverse talent is not enough. While it’s a start, it’s only part of the solution. Workplace experience and true inclusion is what will help employees feel represented and valued, leading to diverse hires that stay, grow and thrive. The road ahead is a long one, but by implementing the strategies outlined in this article, your organization will be well on its way toward a better diverse and inclusive workplace. 

Talking Talent: Building a Healthy, Authentic Company Culture

Posted on by nfuqua

In this episode of Talking Talent, we’re talking about company culture – why it’s important, how to build one that attracts the employees you want to hire and what you can do to embrace authenticity.

Right now, your company culture is especially important. COVID-19 has changed the way we’ve all worked. A strong culture can help support your employees’ mental health throughout this crisis, and in the long term, it can help with a robust recovery by helping you hire and retain the best talent.

In this episode, we hear from three experts. The first is Vanessa Hawes, Senior Employer Brand & Communications Strategist at PeopleScout

As a member of PeopleScout’s talent advisory practice, Vanessa supports our clients to effectively launch, embed, manage and measure their employer brand. Vanessa leads a number of strategic employer brand accounts, as well as supporting the RPO division and PeopleScout globally. Vanessa takes an active interest in inclusion and diversity, especially female representation in business and STEM and social mobility.

The second is Frances-Leigh Husband, Sales Manager at Guardian Jobs.

In her role, Frances heads up both the Guardian Jobs public services and client relationship teams. With more than 15 years of experience at the Guardian, she has overseen the evolution of the digital business model and developed a sales strategy which has produced new revenue streams and delivering growth.

Finally, we’re joined by Helen Durkin, the EMEA Employer Brand Program Manager at Indeed.

In her role, she responsible for building Indeed’s employer brand reputation and owning the content and advertising strategy across EMEA. With more than 10 years in the industry, Helen has experienced most of the challenges within the employer branding space. Helen has won awards for her work—and even served as an award judge herself, so she knows her stuff.

We recorded this podcast earlier this year, before the COVID-19 crisis had impacted much of the world, but we believe the insights are still valuable and relevant today.

Tips for Leading Through Crisis

Posted on by jpatel

Leaders have great responsibility – to inspire and motivate teams to work toward a common purpose in good times and bad. In times of uncertainty, the importance of good leadership is elevated to an even higher level. 

As organizations across the globe face the unprecedented challenges brought about by the outbreak of coronavirus (COVID-19), our leadership team at PeopleScout is starting first and foremost by leading with compassion and empathy. While each of us is experiencing the COVID-19 crisis differently, we are all in this together as it relates to the uncertainty and fear we face. 

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Five Tips for Leading Teams Through Crisis

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Lead by Putting People First  

Now, more than ever, people must come first. Effective leaders focus on what their teams need to be successful. Right now, needs have shifted in dramatic ways, as has the definition of success. As leaders, we need to empathize with those needs and quickly adjust how we respond.   

In the case of COVID-19 or a similar public health crisis, it is important to be intentional about putting people first in two main ways: 

  1. Provide leadership that safeguards people. Because COVID-19 threatens the basic human need for safety, this is the most obvious and immediate need and it requires decisive leadership. Quick action is necessary to keep employees and clients safe and to keep business running during an extreme crisis. Even when we don’t yet have all the facts or understand the long-term outcome, we must make the best decisions possible to safeguard our people given what is known about the situation.  
  2. Lead with empathy. As a leader addressing a rapidly unfolding crisis, this can certainly be difficult to remember to do deliberately. But by endeavoring to understand the variety of ways people are experiencing a crisis – both directly and indirectly – one can more effectively communicate and lead.  

These are unprecedented times, with people facing tremendous fear. Fear for their health and the health of their loved ones. Fear of the unknown. Fear of the economic impact. Fear because their job – in the case of first and second responders – puts them at elevated risk.  

This fear is magnified by the new stresses that we are all facing in different ways in day-to-day life. To be effective, you must seek to understand the variety of unique fears and stresses being experienced and provide the necessary leadership to best meet people where they are.  

Aspire to the Philosophy of Servant Leadership 

Through servant leadership, the good of the team and understanding the experience of the team is always central. Grounding yourself on those tenets can be helpful when facing any crisis – especially one of this magnitude. 

As we consider leadership through crisis, there are several servant leadership principals that I find highly applicable, such as: 

  • Seeking to understand by listening 
  • Being aware of people’s feelings 
  • Striving to empathize  

In our organization, we have some incredibly talented leaders. Some of the best decisions I make are because I listen to those who may have a different viewpoint, instead of believing my way is always right. 

As we face this unprecedented situation, where uncertainty reigns, it is our responsibility as leaders to lead by example and with integrity, humility and an unwavering commitment to treating people the right way. This is essential, because during crisis it is easy to allow emotions and the need for rapid decision making to distract from the necessity of putting people first.  

Communicating During Crisis 

Access to information for employees is critical during a crisis, and even if you think you’re communicating enough, you probably aren’t.  

In times of uncertainty and instability, the quality of the message is paramount. Employees will be hyper-focused on every message you share and need to know you are being transparent and authentic. They need to trust you are telling them what you know, as well as what you don’t know, and that you are sharing honest information on the decisions being made and the actions being taken.  

Sometimes we are afraid to be transparent, which can cause us to lose the trust of our people.  Balance can be difficult during crisis, so we must stay focused on being honest, but optimistic.  We need to believe we will get through this, without minimizing the pain in the journey. 

It is also important for leaders to be visible. Given the scale of the crisis, it is easy to go into bunker mode as you and the crisis team home in on the response and the most pressing concerns. While that focus is critical to business stability and keeping people safe, it is also important that leaders are visible to their teams and the broader organization. 

The lack of visibility of key leaders and any perceived silence on topics that are creating stress in the business breeds rumors and anxiety. So, it is critical to get out there and avoid the tendency towards introverted leadership that naturally arises in times of crisis.  

Team Leadership During Crisis 

As a leader, you must be highly engaged in the response, but you must also empower your teams to make decisions quickly by making it clear that you support them and that they won’t be second guessed. A few select leaders will not have the capacity or expertise to manage all aspects of the crisis response, so it’s important to give your teams the ability to make decisions independently.  

As we’ve seen with the pace of the COVID-19 crisis, the situation is evolving quickly, so it’s essential to create a crisis management function that can keep up. Cross-functional teams should be created with members from across the organization to address the evolving situation from a variety of perspectives.  

As we manage through COVID-19, our crisis leadership team is meeting regularly to ensure we are acting quickly and responsibly. That team isn’t dependent on me; they will meet and take action even if I’m not available, and they know I trust their judgement and respect their decisions. That said, I make a concerted effort to be present because it allows me to be informed and provide input in real-time.  

Personal Leadership During Crisis 

From a personal leadership style, leaders must balance optimism with realistic thinking and act based on a realistic assessment of how the crisis will unfold.  

Care must be taken not to give in to doomsday thinking – which is easy to do in this cycle of bad news and scary headlines. Conversely, it is important for leaders not to take an overly optimistic stance. My goal through COVID-19 and other crisis situations is to provide informed optimism – to avoid eroding trust and future back peddling.  

Self-management is also critical during a prolonged crisis. If you don’t maintain your health, balance and perspective you can’t be level–headed and exercise good judgement. Although it would be easy to skip in favor of one more call or email, I prioritize taking a break for my 7 p.m. walks with my 8-pound JackChi dog to relax and process the events of the day. 

Another important trait to focus on is resilience. The resilience you demonstrate and your daily intent to be your best self through crisis will motivate others to do the same – to believe in your leadership and to stay engaged even when things are difficult. It is our role as leaders to provide level-headed, calm leadership that enables employees to have confidence that we are taking the most thoughtful approach possible given the situation. This will allow them to be their best selves through adversity. 

Looking Beyond the Crisis 

While this can be difficult – especially in the case of a public health crisis that threatens employee safety – you must look for and examine the long-term opportunities that are created by the change. 

The world will change permanently as a result of COVID-19, and those who harness innovative, long-term thinking through the crisis will find new ways to operate and will create solutions to meet new client needs. This sort of thinking will allow you to identify opportunities to optimize how you operate, communicate, manage and deliver services, and create ways to be more responsive, scalable and flexible.  

It will be through effective leadership that these opportunities will be identified and acted upon, rather than allowing the crisis at hand to blind you from them. Even in a terrible situation like this, I do believe we will find silver linings. As a leader, intentionally looking for those silver linings helps to maintain balanced and informed optimism and good long-term decision making. 

Keeping Candidates and Employees Safe with a Virtual Hiring Solution with Allison Brigden

Posted on by edyson

As organizations around the globe confront the challenges presented by the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, even the most seasoned talent leaders find themselves in uncharted territory. We’re creating a mini-series with our experts here at PeopleScout about the issues that are most pressing during this uncertain time.

This profile shares insights from PeopleScout Global Leader of Affinix Client Success and Strategy, Allison Brigden, on transitioning to a virtual talent acquisition solution. Allison leads the Affinix Client Success Team and our strategic technology partnerships.

Allison shared her insights about virtual hiring solutions from her home in Chicago.

Allison, we know that things are hard right now, but a lot of organizations that provide essential goods and services need to keep hiring and it’s important to keep both employees and candidates safe during the process. What’s the best way to do this?

The best way to do that is to continue your recruiting process, but do it virtually. Recruiting has undergone a digital transformation and essentially all of the recruiting steps can be handled virtually. By moving to this type of process, you can provide access to jobs in a completely safe environment without contact for both the employer and the job seeker. Of course, candidates have been able to apply online for a long time and recruiters can review resumes online, but most interviews have still been done in person. 

Interviews can be done virtually through technology that allows you to have a live, two-way video or a pre-recorded video that the candidate can do on their timeline, at their convenience. Later, the audio or video recording can be reviewed by both the recruiter and the hiring manager.

This technology can easily support a process that can be fully virtual from the time candidates apply through the offer and onboarding. As I said, the technology has been available for a while, but it hasn’t been fully adopted. This is an opportune time for us to use the available technology. 

A virtual hiring solution allows us to put health and safety first, but also provide access to jobs for those who need one during this challenging time. There’s also been a huge spike in jobs for remote workers in the past few weeks. A virtual hiring solution is directly aligned to that remote work environment as well, so it’s a very good time to introduce that and transition to a virtual process for your recruiting.

So, what does a virtual talent acquisition solution look like?

A virtual hiring solution leverages technology, but it can also have a highly personal touch. By using technologies to their full advantage, recruiters can and will have more time to spend with applicants. Technology can engage one applicant with multiple interviewers and live two-way video engagement. You can even have a panel interview with five different interviewers connecting with a candidate at the same time.

You should strive to make your virtual conversations feel more personal, just because you are leveraging technology doesn’t mean that you have to lose that personal touch as part of the process.

To further answer this question, I think a virtual hiring solution should involve the following components:

First, you should have an easy application that can be done on a mobile phone. It should feel like an online shopping experience and should only take four to eight minutes. There should also be an immediate next step, so that the applicant can drive the process.

This could be a text exchange where you’re asking questions about the interview schedule or the requirements of the job, or it can be a video exchange or a candidate-friendly assessment process. All this can be done on their mobile phone. 

Another really important component is automated self-scheduling. This allows the candidate to look at the available interview times and select one for themselves, either via text or via an online web experience. This also allows candidates to drive that next step – whether it’s a phone interview with the recruiter or a live video interview. Giving the candidate the ability to drive forward in the process is also a very important component of a virtual hiring solution.

The offer and the post-offer process can also be done virtually. This has been done over the phone for a long time, but there are also more options for a personalized and engaging onboarding experience, which can help right now when people are feeling a little bit isolated or disconnected. 

As an example, after someone has accepted an offer have a welcome video sent to their phone or preferred device where you welcome them and tell them what to expect on their first day. 

The entire virtual hiring process can be fully branded to elevate your employer brand and the connection you have with applicants. These are the components you’d want to have in place while building your virtual process.

In summary, a virtual hiring solution can be very safe while still being highly effective. It doesn’t require contact, but it also gives you that chance to connect with potential new employees and provide them a personalized experience.

Can you tell me some of the short-term and long-term benefits that people would see with a virtual hiring solution?

Things are changing quickly and it’s very important to remember that we’re all in this together and we need to be understanding and flexible as things develop. PeopleScout can definitely help with both short-term benefits for the job seeker as well as long-term benefits for the company. 

Short-term benefits are fairly clear. The virtual interview and scheduling process provides a completely safe, no-contact method to further the recruiting process, which is a clear short-term benefit. Another short-term benefit is speed-to-hire. We typically see a reduction of four to eight days in the time it takes to fill a job.

Virtual interviews and automated scheduling reduce the amount of time it takes to fill a job and that’s a short-term benefit in getting an essential worker on the job sooner. By providing a more automated applicant-driven process, you can enhance the candidate experience and lead to acquiring better talent faster. 

Virtual interviews and automated scheduling are also a long-term benefit because companies will see improvements in their business outcomes as people reach productivity faster.  A few additional benefits include saving money and travel costs for interviews, if you would normally have candidates travel in for an interview and a lower overall cost-per-hire.

Once you have a virtual process in place, you don’t need to return to previous hiring practices, you can continue the virtual process and reap the same benefits.

Giving candidates more control in the process, whether that be the option to record an on-demand video or audio interview, or scheduling an interview themselves, puts them in a position of controlling the process, or driving the next step, which is a great improvement in the candidate experience. If you implement this virtual process today, you’ll see these short-term and long-term benefits that you can carry forward as the future unfolds.

How do you transition or implement a virtual hiring solution?

The good news here is that this transition is more of a light lift than a heavy lift. Most likely, a large part of an employer’s process is already virtual. Everyone can apply online. Recruiters can work online to interact with the systems already in place.

Mostly you need to focus on the steps that are traditionally face-to-face, like the interview itself or some parts of the onboarding process. You probably don’t need to overhaul the whole application and hiring process, but rather just introduce this virtual interviewing and scheduling component. And, if you’re working with a provider, like a recruitment process outsourcing partner, they can actually handle much of that transition for you. Even if you just have an in-house team, it’s not a very difficult transition to make.

The biggest challenge will be the adoption and training. I would definitely want to have an employer focus their efforts on helping the hiring managers understand the process and share the short-term and long-term benefits so that they can drive adoption within their organization.

For a lot of organizations, hiring face-to-face may be deeply ingrained into the culture. How can you make virtual interviewing work in a way that still feels authentic and personal for both the hiring manager and the candidate?

A big part of this is comfort level. And the only way to truly get comfortable with something is to start using it. So, the comfort level will increase for everyone involved as they continue to use the technology. This is true for candidates too. The first time they do an interview like this, they might have increased nervousness. 

After they’ve been through it once, we’ve seen that the next time they become more comfortable. But there are things you can do to make it the best experience possible, and to make it feel authentic and personal.

Even though this is a virtual interview, as a recruiter, you want to be prepared so that you have meaningful questions to ask. Make sure you have pertinent information about the job on-hand, and make sure you’ve reviewed the resumes so you’re not going in cold to this interview experience.

As a candidate, you want to be sure that you have the same level of professionalism that you would have in a face-to-face environment. This extends to not just how you dress for the interview, but making sure that you have a quiet place to participate, etc. Another best practice would be to test the technology first. Most virtual interviewing technologies allow you to test your video and your sound, so you’re able to see what the video looks like before you begin the process. 

For employers, I also recommend testing your connections and making sure everything looks and sounds good. Once the video interviews begins you should also reinforce your employer brand by letting the candidate know unique things about your company culture that may appeal to the candidate. Displaying your company culture is important during the virtual hiring process, as candidates do not have to opportunity to visit your facility.

Beyond displaying your company culture and employer brand, you need to make sure you ask the right questions during the interview to better understand a candidate’s experience and competencies, and very importantly, communicate openly and authentically about the role and your expectations. 

After the interview is done, it’s important to provide some sort of feedback to the candidate, and let them know what the next step is in the process. Whether or not a candidate is moving forward in the process or not, provide them that information in a timely way so they’re not left wondering and feeling disconnected from your brand and keep all of the interactions warm. 

Are there any final thoughts you’d like to leave us with?

I would just say that it is important for those essential workers that we need in the healthcare industry and front line retail and essential goods industries to be able to hire at this time. Being able to move forward with this process and keep recruiters busy and employed to fill these critical jobs is very important and it’s a great way to help in this uncertain time. And then lastly, I would just say keep safe everyone. Follow the recommendations of the CDC and the world health organization and we will all come through this challenging time together.

To learn more about ways employers can respond to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, visit our Resource Center. 

How to Successfully Engage with Remote Work Teams

Posted on by jpatel

While remote work is new for some — especially amidst the changes that organizations have implemented since the outbreak of coronavirus (COVID-19) across the globe —  I have been working from a home office off and on for almost 20 years, and it’s allowed me to be uniquely prepared for the new reality that COVID-19 has brought to the workforce. 

I have been fortunate to work for a few companies, including PeopleScout, who were very comfortable with a virtual work environment — in some cases, almost everybody in the organization was working remotely. I also worked for several years where the culture was the opposite, and it would have been impossible for me to advance in my career if I was unable to physically come into the office each day. That experience really solidified what I already knew — I thrive in a remote work environment. 

The experience I’ve had working remote for most of my career has been an absolute blessing. It’s allowed me to spend extra time with my kids, work flexible hours and form relationships with colleagues who I would not have met if I were only working in an office. 

At PeopleScout, nearly half our teams were regularly working remote before COVID-19 social distancing protocols were put in place, and our experience managing these remote teams has helped in the transition as that number increases. 

In this article, I’ll share how to determine whether a remote work strategy is right for your organization during this time, highlight some best practices for engaging and managing a team of remote workers and outline the reasons why remote work matters. 

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Is Remote Work Right for Your Organization? 

Due to COVID-19 social distancing protocols, many people who wouldn’t normally fit the criteria for remote work are now adjusting to working virtually. However, in a scenario when you have the choice for whether a role should be remote, there are some ways you can help make that determination.  

How can you be sure if a remote work program fits into your organization? Consider the following: 

Does your team need to be together? 

If your team works best with a lot of hands-on collaboration, like brainstorming sessions, whiteboarding, and other in-person activities, shifting to remote might be challenging. But if you find that it isn’t truly necessary for each team member to meet face-to-face each day, a virtual strategy could work. Consider collaborative documents and team video calls to offset the facetime you’d be missing if everyone were in the office. 

Do my employees have the tools they need to work virtually? 

In order to successfully communicate and complete tasks, a remote work strategy is dependent on workers having access to a computer, internet and phone. If they do, you’ll also want to restructure your onboarding process to account for remote workers. Although virtual workers can work flexible hours, you’ll want to make sure they understand if there are any specific hours they are required to be “online.” Also, ensure everyone is aware of any time zone differences that could impact communication. 

Can roles be converted to remote? 

Certain roles, such as client-facing or other positions where working in person is a necessity, might not be able to shift to remote work as easily as positions where a person primarily works on a computer. Alternately, if your clients are spread over a wide geography, a virtual worker might be closer to a client and be able to provide even better service than an employee in your main office. Consider offering other benefits, perks and flexible work options to employees where full-time virtual work isn’t a viable option to ensure that no employee feels left out.  

Remote work doesn’t have to be all or nothing. There’s a spectrum when it comes to flexible work options, and here are a few examples: 

  • Part-time telecommuting  
  • Weekly/monthly work from home days 
  • Sponsored co-working spaces outside of the office 

What Does a Successful Remote Team Look Like? 

Whether an employee is newly hired for a remote role or you’re transitioning an existing position to remote due to COVID-19, utilizing the right technology is critical. Tools like Slack, Asana and Zoom can simplify employee collaboration and serve as a substitute for face-to-face interactions in a virtual environment.  

In addition to utilizing these communication tools, here are some additional tips for staying connected with remote workers that I use while leading teams at PeopleScout:  

  • Set up regular phone calls. I make sure to schedule weekly check-ins with each of my team members to see how they are doing and to stay aligned on project updates.  
  • Embrace informality. When teams are working from a large distance apart, informal communication (in addition to necessary formal conversations like meetings and conferences) can help foster strong connections between team members. Sometimes I’ll send team members a quick text message or IM to check in and remind them I’m available if they need anything. 
  • Celebrate successes. In an environment where it can be easy to feel secluded, remember to personally thank team members for all they do to contribute to the goals of the organization. 
  • Try new ways of connecting. It’s important that your virtual team doesn’t feel left out from events that may be occurring in the main office. Each year, my team holds a virtual holiday party where we all get together for an hour or so to bring our little community together and reflect on the year’s successes. 
  • Capitalize on face-to-face interactions. While travel is currently limited, when I’m able to visit a PeopleScout office or a town where a team member lives, I’ll always make a point to try to schedule a lunch or coffee break to catch up with colleagues in-person. 
  • Communicate purposefully. Be intentional when reaching out to people. Especially while we are all no doubt facing uncertainty, stress and anxiety about the current COVID-19 situation, be sure to remember to check in and make sure your team members are doing okay. We’re all facing this incredible challenge together, and your team members should feel that their manager truly cares. 

Another important engagement strategy is fostering company culture, which can be difficult to do successfully when not everyone is together in an office each day. At PeopleScout, we have our DNA culture principles which make us who we are. To ensure my team feels connected to these culture principles, I make a point to celebrate each of their individual characteristics. 

One of the beautiful things about having a virtual team is that it allows for a diverse workforce full of people with different backgrounds, talents, experiences, and points of view. Each person brings something unique to the team which continues to add value to our clients in ways that a small local team may not be able to.  

Remote Work is Here to Stay 

While at one time it may have seemed like a fleeting trend, remote work has proved it’s far from temporary. Virtual work has established itself as a workplace norm, and with the challenges brought upon by the outbreak of COVID-19, it doesn’t appear to be leaving anytime soon.  

It’s in the Numbers 

66% – A 2019 report by Zapier shows that 2 in 3 knowledge workers think the traditional office will be obsolete by 2030.  

69% – According to data from the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), organizations have increasingly offered telecommuting options over the last five years, with ad hoc telecommuting showing the greatest growth. At 69%, it’s up 13% from 2015. 

74% – 74% of U.S. knowledge workers would be willing to quit their job to work remote, and 26% have already done so, according to Zapier. 

It’s What Employees Want 

According to SHRM, just over a quarter of organizations already offer full-time telecommuting, so setting up a strong remote work system before the rest of the competition can help you stand out in candidates’ eyes.  

Virtual work has benefits for both employees and employers. The leading reasons employees want remote work options are to save money, to be able to work anywhere and have more time with family. Many employees also say they’re more productive at home, and this increased productivity carries over into the organization. In addition, remote work can have a positive impact on the mental health of employees, leading to a stronger company culture and overall employee experience.  

Working Together Toward Remote Work Success 

As you implement a remote work strategy into your organization, especially during these uncertain times, it’s important to lead your teams with a lot of understanding and grace. Establishing a successful work from home strategy is going to be a transition for all — and for some, not an easy one.  

Understand that life is going to happen. Doorbells may ring, dogs may bark or kids may yell down the hallway while you’re on video calls. However, it is through consistent communication and purposeful engagement that you and your team will be able to navigate this new normal together.  

To learn more about ways employers can respond to the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, visit our Resource Center. 

Advice for Working and Leading Teams from Home with Chris Gould

Posted on by jpatel

As organizations around the globe confront the challenges presented by the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, even the most seasoned talent leaders find themselves in uncharted territory. We’re creating a mini-series with our experts here at PeopleScout about the issues that are most pressing during this uncertain time. 

PeopleScout Client Portfolio Leader Chris Gould shared his insights on working remote and leading remote teams from his home in Dallas, TX. 

Chris has over 20 years of experience in RPO, global talent acquisition leadership and consulting. He has proven success driving talent strategies and operations; building and developing global, diverse teams; and working with business leaders developing cost and availability strategies in mature and emerging markets. Prior to PeopleScout, Chris was formally the Global Head of Talent Acquisition for Black & Veatch and the Aon Corporation and held senior leadership roles with Accenture, Hewitt Associates, and Aon Hewitt. His global teams have been responsible for permanent and contingent hires in over 100 countries. He is a requested speaker on topics related to global talent acquisition, leadership, social networking, and human resources. 

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Can you talk a little about your experience leading teams from home? 

For most of my career, I’ve been leading teams that have worked virtually within the United States as well as globally, and that has really forced me to think about how to communicate and keep a team engaged. How do you go above and beyond to ensure that everyone feels connected? The reality is we may not see each other, other than maybe once a year, if that, so I try to implement virtual interactions, virtual parties and virtual get togethers to celebrate what everybody is doing. I also pay special attention to communication, since any news being shared will usually be received by someone by themselves, as opposed to in a group setting where people can easily discuss. 

What advice do you have for people who are transitioning to working from home for the first time? 

The first thing, and I had to learn this as well, is to have a routine that you stick to. If you’re used to working in an office, generally you have a morning routine, right? You get up, maybe you take a shower, you have breakfast, you may watch the news. Whatever you do, I think it’s important to continue to do so while working from home. And while you may not dress in the same clothes as you would if you were going into the office, make it a point to get out of your pajamas and intentionally move from your bed into your home office. For me, that’s a big thing.  

I also think having a quiet space that is yours to as much of a degree as you can make it is important. And it may take some changing around and some experimenting. You might be in front of a window in certain times of the day, and when the light comes in you can’t see your computer screen, so you have to move. It may get too cold or too hot. You may hear the neighbors mowing the grass, or you may have other distractions come up. Experiment and find what works best for you.  

Finally, try to limit distractions. However, you’re going to need to get up and stretch and take a break throughout the day. Maybe take a walk outside or do something away from your computer to break up the monotony and make sure you’re not confined to that same space all day long. 

Some people are now leading virtual teams for the first time. How can those leaders keep their teams engaged? 

I think the first thing is to realize and understand that everyone is going through a tremendous amount of change right now, and that can lead to a lot of stress. There’s a lot of things that team members were not expecting to do, they may not be set up to do and they may not have wanted to do. So, from a leadership perspective, support employees by imparting as much of your knowledge of the situation as can and help employees connect with other people who may have more experience working from home to help with the transition.  

Also, when you have conference calls or you’re talking to teams, understand that life is going to happen, and unplanned situations are going to occur. Continue to send positive messages to your team that you are there to support them, and let them know if they do have concerns or issues or other things that come up that you will be there to help them solve those and enable them to be successful. 

What strategies do you advise for people as we shift from this initial shock of a change to working from home to what could become sustained isolation? 

As when any change happens, there’s going to be that initial newness that you’re working through and there may be some excitement as you try to figure out your new normal. Obviously, there’s going to be stress with that too. But then things are going to start to normalize again. Whatever that new normal may look like for you as this shift continues for weeks or even longer, I think it continues to be important to focus on communication, relationships and connections. Depending on what your situation is, if you’re home by yourself, for example, be sure to really be thoughtful about reaching out to people, talking to them on the phone, hosting video calls or whatever tools you use to continue to foster those connections. 

Reach out to people at work who you generally spend a lot of time with during the day and check in on them – ask how things are going and how you can support them. And get creative! Get together with your team or colleagues virtually and talk about books you’ve read or shows you’ve watched and experiment communicating in ways that you haven’t had to in the past. These ways of connecting are going to be necessary to keep yourself in a good place both mentally and physically during the unprecedented times we’re in today. 

The other piece of advice I have is to set some guidelines on when you’re working and when you’re not working. It’s very easy, and I have found this myself, that when all you have to do is walk across the hall and into your office, you could be working all day and all night long. It’s not as easy to turn off because you’re not physically leaving an office. So, set some timeframes and some guidelines around when you’ll stop your day as you would have done in the office. I think this is important to finding your new normal, understanding what your routine looks like and setting boundaries. 

Is there anything you’d like to add on the topic of working and leading teams from home? 

I think the overarching message that I want to convey is there’s so much going on right now and so many stresses that have been added to people’s lives. You need to take care of yourself and look for ways to rejuvenate and reinvigorate your day so you can be in a better position to help others. If you’re not taking care of yourself, it’s very difficult to take care of other people — and we all need that right now, especially as leaders.  

This situation is going to test you in ways that you probably have never been tested before, so your ability to show up, to show grace, compassion, understanding and creativity to alleviate some of the stress and continue to find enjoyment in these times is going to be very difficult. It’s going to be next to impossible if you’re not taking care of yourself. That would be my biggest advice. There are different ways to practice self-care, and you know which ways work best for yourself. Don’t forget to take time to step back and breathe as you’re maneuvering through these times. 

To learn more about ways employers can respond to the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, visit our Resource Center. 

Keeping Your Recruiting Team Engaged in the Midst of Uncertainty

Posted on by edyson

In the face of uncertainty, the very best employees and managers often confront issues head-on and come forward with bold solutions. As global uncertainty rises during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, now is the time for talent acquisition and HR leaders to keep their teams engaged.

If your team has planned to learn more about emerging talent acquisitions strategies to attract new talent, now may be an excellent time. You do not have to be an expert on each new recruiting technology or channel, but you do need to understand what is at available in the marketplace. Here are some tips to keeping your recruiting team engaged and provide value to your organization amidst these challenging times.

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Five Tips for Leading Teams Through Crisis

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Redefine Your Approach to Recruiting the Next Generation of Talent

Millennials, and up-and-coming younger generations, it almost goes without saying, have an entirely different approach to searching for jobs than previous generations. By extension, using the latest talent tech tools, recruitment marketing, social media platforms and mobile recruiting to attract and hire the next generation of talent is a must.

Experimenting with a new tech tool to see what may, or may not work, for your organization’s needs, reviewing job application procedures to be sure you are not limiting the flow of qualified, but non-traditional, candidates into your pipeline, or perhaps partnering with your colleagues in the marketing department for help in refreshing your employment brand are all good uses of your team’s time. By looking at recruitment challenges from different perspectives, you may uncover fresh new solutions.

Develop Your Current Employees

There may be no better way of addressing uncertainty than recognizing the potential of your current employees. Their experience and capacity to learn are valuable assets. When resources do not allow for adding new headcount, it’s even more vital to develop your current workforce so they can adapt to and fill your organization’s evolving needs during a crisis.

What’s more, losing a top performer during uncertain times can mean significant headaches as the loss of productivity and knowledge may be hard to regain. Making your existing workforce more agile and resilient to changes in the environment can help your organization thrive in uncertain times.

Be Creative When Keeping Your Recruiting Team Engaged

In a time of uncertainty, candidates may not always respond to traditional recruiting tactics, so you may need to be more proactive and creative in the ways your team connects with them.

Have your team think of some out-of-the-box, creative recruitment campaigns or ways to interact in a unique way with candidates. Perhaps consider expanding your use of video or images on your career site or reevaluate your use of language in job descriptions to capture the imagination of candidates.

Recruiters and their wealth of knowledge play a big role in uncertain times. With their unique perspective — on both the candidate’s and organization’s needs, your recruiting team can help right the ship in the middle of the storm. This knowledge is paramount for any climate, especially when organizations need to navigate uncertainty and crisis. By keeping your recruiting team engaged, you are investing in your organizations future and building resilience.

Advice for Keeping Employees Engaged During a Crisis with Andrea Brogger

Posted on by jpatel

As organizations around the globe confront the challenges presented by the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, even the most seasoned talent leaders find themselves in uncharted territory. We’re creating a mini-series with our experts here at PeopleScout about the issues that are most pressing during this uncertain time.

Andrea Brogger is TrueBlue’s Leader of the Global Human Resources team, responsible for the overall HR strategy at PeopleScout, PeopleManagement and PeopleReady, including leadership development, diversity and inclusion, employee development, training and much more. She has more than 17 years of human resources experience and has changed the function, culture and impact of HR across TrueBlue to support its business goals and strategies, as well as the needs and aspirations of its 5,000 employees around the globe. Andrea is passionate about talent management, engagement and development programs that ensure that we have the right talent in the right roles at the right time. She holds a master’s degree in Business Administration as well as her executive master’s degree in Human Resources Management from Cornell University.

Andrea shared her insights on keeping employees engaged when things are difficult from her home in Las Vegas.

Why are engagement strategies so important right now?

In our current environment, we’re seeing a record number of people working from home, which seemed to happen almost overnight. And when people are working from home, they may start to feel disconnected or a little bit out of the loop. We’ve all heard the old adage, “out of sight, out of mind,” which can be a very real concern for people who work from home or who work in satellite offices. This feeling of isolation can impact engagement, which directly impacts productivity.

Which engagement strategies are most important today for keeping employees engaged?

There are a few simple things we can all do to help keep the lines of communication open and keep our teams productive and closely aligned with one another. When we think about communication in this new working environment, it’s important to share your preferences and styles with your team. Do you prefer email, Skype, Yammer, phone calls, texting? Let your team know your preference and be sure you’re asking them theirs.

In a situation like we’re all facing right now, priorities and areas of focus may shift daily, or even hourly, so regular calls can help you address those items with your team. When you do communicate with your team, be sure you’re taking their feedback into consideration. Also, make sure you’re scheduling regular meetings both individually and as a group. This can help make sure everyone stays up to speed on what’s going on within the organization.

It’s also important to set aside time in your agenda to foster opportunities for small talk with your team. Encourage your teams to chat with one another, share photos and tips for things they’ve uncovered are successful in working from home. Maybe they’ve uncovered a fun new way to keep their kids engaged who are also stuck at home. All these things can go a long way in keeping your teams engaged and connected with you, with one another and with the company.

How can you help employees with the stress and anxiety they may be feeling during this difficult time?

There’s so much uncertainty both inside and outside of our work lives right now, which can cause people to feel uneasy about what they do and don’t know. It’s important to remember these feelings are completely normal, and it’s up to us as leaders to help stay connected with our teams and to talk openly with them about these anxieties.

However, in the absence of information, it’s human nature for people to fill in the blanks or to make their own assumptions — which isn’t productive for them or for the organization. We owe it to our teams to be open, honest and consistent. There’s nothing wrong with telling your team you don’t have all the answers or that you aren’t able to share all information at this time. The communication and open dialogue they have with you will help reassure them and keep the trust they have in you.

Keeping Employees Engaged: Andrea’s Crisis Communication Do’s and Don’ts

Do

  • Focus on what you and your team are in control of. While there’s a lot that might feel uncertain right now, there are many things we can control. Focus there, as well as on your routines, and stay positive.
  • Share your own concerns. You validate how other people are feeling by sharing your own vulnerability. Listen to what others are sharing and be empathetic.
  • Stay in constant contact with your team. When in doubt, overcommunicate. Your team will appreciate regular check-ins and knowing that their leader cares. So, when communicating with your team, go above and beyond.
  • Take care of yourself. When working from home, it can be easy to put in a lot of extra hours, skip breaks or even meals. Model self-care behavior and encourage your team to follow suit.

Don’t

  • Don’t let uncertainty impact you and your team’s ability to get work done. Don’t dwell. It’s important to acknowledge how people are feeling but try not to get stuck at the negative.
  • Don’t be afraid to try new things with your team. Experiment and find out what works for you and your team. Maybe you want to take a virtual lunch break with your team on video to make sure you’re all stepping away and getting the breaks you need. This can be a fun way to break up the day as well as stay connected with your team.

What advice do you have for teams who are transitioning to work from home for the first time?

Remember that you’re part of a team and you’re not the only one feeling this way. Many of us are working from home with spouses, children or others around due to various closures. Be sensitive to the fact that there may be distractions and noises outside of people’s control. Recognize that we’re all adapting to a new normal, and ensure your team knows what their priorities are and what they’re being held accountable for.

I’d also advise that you reach out and stay connected to your teams. When working from home, I find the days go by so quickly that the week is often over before I know it! So, to make sure I’m not missing out on quality connections with my team, I make sure I’m scheduling one-on-ones and team meetings. these are great ways for keeping employees engaged. I leverage my calendar to set reminders to help make sure I’m checking in with my team on a more casual and friendly basis.

We know not everybody is able to work from home, and there are some people who need to be in offices, essentially by themselves. How can you support those people?

I think as we all work through some significant changes right now, it’s always important to put ourselves in someone else’s shoes and to be human. If I was in a nearly empty office without my usual support system, I think I would feel lonely, anxious and vulnerable. I’d probably wonder why other people had the opportunity to work from home and I didn’t. I might ask myself, why am I more important or less important?

When somebody is feeling this way, the power of recognition and appreciation really comes into play. Make sure you’re taking the time to thank those team members for their support. Let them know you appreciate that you can count on them to help keep normal business operations going. Your appreciation is really going to hit home with them if you tie their role back to the goals of the organization and remind them why they are so important. Recognition and appreciation are always important, especially during tough times. Don’t underestimate the power of gratitude.

To learn more about ways employers are keeping employees engaged outbreak, visit our Resource Center.