Category: Talent Acquisition Strategy

Talking Talent: 2023 Global Talent Market Snapshot

Posted on by nfuqua

As we start 2023, global economic uncertainty remains; so, in this episode of Talking Talent, we’re taking a look at how labor market trends are impacting different regions around the globe.

Over the past three years, we’ve heard a lot of the same words and phrases repeatedly: unprecedented, uncertainty, new normal and the list goes on. We would all prefer if these words stop echoing around in the backs of our minds, but we’re not there yet.

However, if we look at what is happening in different regions around world, we can gain a better understanding of where we stand globally. What are the biggest challenges and opportunities? What can we learn from each other?

In this episode, we hear from three of PeopleScout’s senior leaders, PeopleScout President, Rick Betori*, UK Managing Director and Head of EMEA Operational Delivery, Jon Porter, and Managing Director of APAC, Tim Powell.

Rick Betori has served as President of PeopleScout since March 2023. In his role, Rick helps strengthen client partnerships, drives innovation in talent solutions, fosters collaboration across teams and regions, and bolsters PeopleScout’s reputation as an industry leader and trusted talent partner. He has been with TrueBlue since 2011 and has over 25 years of proven experience driving organizational change and growth. An innovator in business delivery and operations, Rick served as the President of StudentScout until it was acquired by TrueBlue (PeopleReady’s parent company), when he joined PeopleReady’s leadership team.

Jon started his career in finance with KPMG but has spent the last 25 years partnering with commercial and public sector organizations to find solutions to their resourcing problems. Responsible for our EMEA RPO and talent advisory business, his role covers all aspects of client engagement, service delivery and colleague development. Jon joined PeopleScout as part of the company’s acquisition of TMP in 2018.

With a wealth of experience gained from nearly three decades in human capital consulting, RPO and related talent acquisition services, Tim leads PeopleScout’s operations in the APAC region. Tim joined PeopleScout in 2022 and has previously worked in key leadership roles with Deloitte, Accenture and Korn Ferry in APAC, Europe and North America. Tim’s commitment to diversity and inclusion is illustrated by his tenure as a Board member for both Fighting Chance Australia and Jigsaw Australia, two national social enterprises aimed at providing innovative work and wellness programs for people with disabilities.

In this episode, these three leaders discuss what their respective talent markets look like now, what should be top of mind for talent leaders in 2023 and how they can put the hard-learned lessons from the past three years into practice.

*At the time of this recording, Rick’s title was PeopleScout Managing Director, the Americas.

What Candidates Want: Key Research Findings [Infographic]

Posted on by akessler

At PeopleScout, we hear a lot of talk about the candidate experience. Most organizations understand the importance of improving how they engage with job seekers. Yet, our latest research shows that less than two in 10 candidates would rate their recent recruitment experience as excellent.

We audited the candidate journeys of over 215 organizations around the world, assigning each a Candidate Experience Quotient (CandidateXQ) score based on 40 key experience indicators, 15 of which are critical to the candidate experience. Then, we analyzed these scores alongside data gathered from surveying over 2,400 job seekers globally. The results revealed a clear disparity between candidate expectations and their reality.

Check out this infographic to explore the key findings from the Inside the Candidate Experience 2023 Report.

For more global candidate experience insights, download the full Inside the Candidate Experience 2023 Report.

Inside the Candidate Experience: 3 Revelations from Our 2023 Report

Posted on by akessler

By Simon Wright, Global Head of Talent Advisory

When it comes to applying for and accepting new jobs, candidates have more options than ever before. Companies with poor candidate experiences will lose out on the top talent as employers battle for the best prospects.

So, how does the average candidate experience stack up against candidate expectations?

According to PeopleScout’s most recent research, less than two in 10 candidates rate their experience as excellent.

For the Inside the Candidate Experience 2023 Report, we used our proprietary Candidate Experience Diagnostic to audit the candidate journeys of over 215 organizations worldwide. Then we compared this to data gathered via a global survey of over 2,400 job seekers.

Research report

Inside the candidate experience 2023 report

Read the report

The findings reveal a significant gap between candidate expectations and the reality they face while looking for jobs, gathering information to support their decision, and applying.

Here are three surprises from our research:

1. Less than half of employers show information about the organization’s mission, purpose or values on the career site

Yet, they’re in the top considerations for applicants when deciding to apply.

Your takeaway:

Candidates want fulfilling employment and a company that upholds their values—especially Gen Z and Millennial workers. In fact, one in five Millennials state that an organization’s goals and mission are their top priority when considering a job. By not featuring this information on your career site, you’re passing up an opportunity to create an emotional connection with your candidates.

2. Just half (53%) of organizations provide an opportunity for candidates to register their interest or to sign up for job alerts

Even fewer (39%) prompted candidates to join a talent community.

Your takeaway:

Modern job seekers are more sophisticated than ever and are looking to grow a career, not just apply for jobs transactionally. In fact, on average nine months goes by between a candidate engaging with an employer and applying for a job. Maintaining a talent pipeline lets you build a relationship with your talent audience and ensures you get the best talent, not just those who are looking at the time a vacancy arises.

3. 44% of organizations did not provide an opportunity for candidates to give feedback on their experience

Plus, men are more likely than women to be aware of opportunities to provide and receive feedback during the recruitment process.

Your takeaway:

This is a major oversight for many organizations. If you’re not leveraging surveys to gather feedback from all of your candidates, you are passing up valuable insights that might help you enhance your employer brand, lower attrition and shorten your hiring cycle.

The candidate experience is a hot topic, and most talent leaders I speak with appear to recognize the value of improving the candidate journey. However, this research demonstrates that organizations still have work to do to live up to the standards of today’s job seekers. My hope is that our recent findings will mobilize talent acquisition teams to put real action behind their words and make bold moves to improve their candidate experience and speed up the pace of progress.

To get the full research and more actionable insights, download the Inside the Candidate Experience 2023 Report.

Inside the Candidate Experience

Posted on by mrehmann

Inside the Candidate Experience

The Hard Truth About Candidate Expectations vs Candidate Experience Realities

The candidate experience has never been more important. Yet, the latest research from PeopleScout shows that less than two in 10 candidates would rate their recent recruitment experience as excellent.

We audited the candidate journey of over 215 organizations around the world, giving each a Candidate Experience Quotient (CandidateXQ) score—a calculation based on 40 key experience indicators, including 15 critical factors that make or break the candidate experience.

By analyzing these CandidateXQ scores alongside data gathered from surveying over 2,400 job seekers globally, we uncovered a clear disparity between candidate expectation and reality.

Download our free Inside the Candidate Experience report for the latest research exploring:

  • What candidates expect at each stage of the journey and how employers stack up
  • Where each industry is succeeding or struggling with candidate experience
  • Actionable steps you can take to improve your CandidateXQ

The Future of Work: 4 Key Factors That Will Shape the Workplace by 2030

Posted on by akessler

It’s no secret that the labor market has been volatile over the last several years, and talent acquisition teams have experienced a multitude of highs and lows. In our capacity as trusted advisors, PeopleScout analyzed patterns in global workforce trends to help our clients create informed strategies for future-proofing their workforce by examining how these patterns may affect their workforce. While we can’t predict the future of work, we think there are four key factors will shape the world of work over the next decade.

1. Flexibility

Flexibility is here to stay, and it will apply to everything from where and how we work to the roles we do and who we do them for. There will be no hard and fast rules about working hours and shifts in the future.

As life becomes increasingly characterized by change, employees will need to be agile—always ready to reskill. Learning becomes a constant, and we may even find ourselves counting AI robots as our trainers and mentors.

Flexibility and upskilling will manifest differently from generation to generation, so organizations must facilitate working arrangements for different demographics. Over the next decade, the generation gap will widen and then gradually close as Baby Boomers begin to settle down to retirement by blending work and leisure. Millennials and Gen Z will bring their progressive perspectives to work.

10 Predictions for What’s NEXT in the World of Work

DESTINATION 2030

Read the Report

2. Fluidity and the future of work

Globalization will enable much more cross-border, cross-company collaboration. Project teams will be established based on all sorts of factors, not just who’s in what department or which location. People will work with talent from all sorts of specialities as they move from project to project.

Technology helps to support our wellbeing as the lines between work and home become more blurred. But with new technologies come new laws, so security and compliance will also be strategically important, especially for organizations working at the cutting-edge of innovation.

3. Focus 

future of work

Organizational culture will become more important than ever before as people make career choices based on ethics, values and purpose above things like pay and benefits. More and more employees will choose to work for organizations that have a clear purpose and are committed to working in the most ethical, sustainable and socially responsible ways.

Technology also plays a role here, in helping people focus on the work that matters to them as automation takes over the mundane tasks. However, more AI and machine learning will make some roles redundant and create many others—generating even greater demand for technical, analytical and digital skill sets across sectors.

4. Forward-thinking and the future of work

Organizations will continue to compete when it comes to creating innovative new technologies and using those technologies in the most creative ways. But they’ll also be happy to pool some resources to create a better future for everyone. 

Issues like equality and climate change will continue to grow in importance, forcing organizations to find new and better ways of making social and environmental improvements at speed.

Onward, Upward and Who Knows Where the Future Workplace Will Go

You may feel more prepared for some changes more than others as we approach 2030, but it’s safe to say that there will be plenty of surprises that will require creative thinking in order to stay resilient.

PeopleScout will be on the journey with you to support, challenge and inspire you—no matter what the future holds.

To learn more about how we came to these predictions and see our research findings, check out our Destination 2030 white paper.

[On-Demand] The Hard Truth About Candidate Experience: Part Two

Posted on by nfuqua

[On-Demand] The Hard Truth About Candidate Experience: Part Two

Candidate experience has never been more important. Yet, fewer than two in ten candidates rate their experience as excellent.

So, what can you do about it?

To find the answer, PeopleScout audited the candidate journey of more than 215 organizations around the world, giving each a Candidate Experience Quotient, CandidateXQ, score.

By analyzing these CandidateXQ scores alongside data gathered via a survey of over 2,400 job seekers globally, we uncovered a clear disparity between candidate expectations and the reality they encounter while searching for jobs, gathering information to support their decision, and applying. These findings are detailed in our new research report, Inside the Candidate Experience.

For deeper insights into our research as well as actionable ways you can improve your own candidate journey, join PeopleScout Global Head of Talent Consulting Simon Wright for the companion Talking Talent webinar, The Hard Truth About Candidate Experience: Part Two, available now, on-demand.

In the webinar, Simon covers:

  • Our most significant research findings

  • How candidate expectations line up with reality and how you can close the gap

  • How generational differences influence what candidates consider before taking a role

  • An action plan to start improving your candidate experience

  • And more!

If you missed The Hard Truth About Candidate Experience: Part One, watch the half-hour webinar on-demand now!

Creating an Effective Employer Brand for Volume Hiring 

Posted on by akessler

It’s no secret that job vacancies continue to outnumber job seekers.  But what many employers focused on volume hiring don’t realize is that they already have one of the most effective tools for out-recruiting their competition at their disposal: their employer brand.

Investing in your employer value proposition (EVP) and employer brand is one of the best ways an organization can differentiate and attract the volumes of candidates it needs without compromising on quality-of-hire. In this article, we share ways to make your employer brand work harder for your volume hiring needs.

Ebook

Learn 9 Strategies for Improving Volume Hiring

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Employer Brand vs Consumer Brand        

At PeopleScout, we define employer brand and EVP as follows:

  • Employer brand: Your employer brand is the perception and lived experiences of what it’s like to work for your organization.
  • Employer value proposition: Your employer value proposition, or EVP, captures the essence of your uniqueness as an employer and the “give and get” between you and your employees.

When an organization’s brand is well-known, there is frequently an overlap in sentiment between the consumer and employer brands in the minds of the general public. What candidates expect from you as consumers will be very different from what they’re looking for as potential employees.

Your employer brand should showcase the characteristics that make a company a great place to work, as well as the benefits, career growth opportunities, work-life balance and company culture that help you attract and retain talent.

Understand Your Audience & Tailor Your Content

The key to an effective employer brand is to know your audience. Zero in on who your ideal candidates are by looking at the most successful employees in each role. Are there similarities in their work experience, motivators or personalities? For example, we helped a telecoms client create candidate persona profiles for their contact center and found that many of their longest tenured employees were previously employed in beauty salons. These employees were applying their previous customer service experience to their phone and online customer interactions.

By shifting the mindset from getting candidates with previous call center experience to getting applications from candidates with past customer service experience in salons, restaurants and hotels, we were able to help the client increase offer acceptance and reduce attrition.

Similarly broadening your target audience will help you hire at scale in today’s tight market, and understanding who is most successful in a role—what makes them tick, what motivates them—will help you lean into the aspects of your employer brand that will be most meaningful to them. That could mean playing up your flexible work shifts, growth opportunities or your organizational values.

Create a Positive Candidate Experience

Even if you receive an influx of applicants for a role, don’t sacrifice the candidate experience. Word of mouth is still alive and well, and candidates have no problem sharing their experiences (especially negative ones) on social media.

Investing in CRM tools to introduce more personalization into your candidate communications can boost your candidate experience. Look for tools with texting and SMS capabilities to reach candidates where they already are. Texting is often more accessible for many hourly job seekers who are more likely to rely on their mobile devices for job searches and internet access.

Automating your screening and interview scheduling processes via text helps free up time for your recruiters and hiring managers to connect one-on-one with candidates and hold meaningful conversations that improve the candidate experience.

Your recruitment process should leave every applicant, regardless of whether they get a job with you, with a positive impression of your organization. Candidates are often your customers, and the last thing you want is for your candidate experience to negatively impact your consumer brand reputation. An exceptional candidate experience is essential not only in engaging the talent you need today, but in establishing a strong employer brand that will serve you well into the future.

Get Tips to Optimize High-Volume Recruitment

Want more tactics for high-volume recruitment? Check out our ebook, 9 Strategies for Solving High-Volume Hiring Challenges.

Recession, Recruiting and Resilience: Creating Opportunities for Workforce Planning Success

Posted on by akessler

With signs pointing toward a global recession, employers are preparing their workforces for what’s to come. This may mean cutting back on their investment in talent acquisition, delaying HR projects or even reducing their workforce.

While economic uncertainty can lead to difficult decisions for employers, it’s also important to recognize the opportunity it provides. This may be the perfect time to assess the resilience of your workforce and invest in workforce planning to make it fare better in the long run.

Is your talent acquisition program resilient enough to weather the storm? Here are four questions to ask to find out where you stand.

1. Is your employer brand and EVP still relevant?

If you haven’t updated your employer value proposition (EVP) in the last 18 months, it’s probably out of sync with the market and what candidates want. Now is the time to sense check if it’s relevant in 2023 and beyond. Does your employer brand work for a remote and hybrid workforce? Is it an authentic reflection of what you have to offer your employees?

Even if you’re not planning to hire actively in the near future, employer branding is also important for retention. Auditing and updating your brand will help you retain your current talent and ensure you’re ready to attract top talent in the future.

2. Is your hiring process working for remote and hybrid employees?

At the start of the pandemic, if you shoehorned your old in-person hiring process into your new hybrid or remote work reality and never looked back, it’s time to assess whether that’s really working for you. Remote work often requires a different set of skills than office-based work. Is your current process helping you assess those skills to achieve the quality-of-hire you need?  

Review the competencies and behaviors you need for each role to ensure they’re relevant for hybrid or remote employees. Now is the time to update job ads and evaluate your assessment process to ensure they are in tune with the success factors that drive your business now—instead of those that drove success pre-pandemic.

3. Are you achieving your DE&I recruitment goals?

While you may not be actively hiring, now is a good time to engage with diverse communities to ensure candidates from underrepresented backgrounds make up a significant portion of your talent pipeline when you’re ready to ramp up hiring again.

Increase your visibility in diverse communities via campaigns or event sponsorships. Look into your diversity analytics to understand what’s working and what’s not when it comes to sourcing and hiring your target audiences.

4. Is it time to consider RPO?

Now is the time to re-evaluate how you’re going to market for talent, whether via an internal talent acquisitions team, staffing agencies, recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) or a hybrid model. Work with your procurement partner to scrutinize your spend and evaluate your options to streamline and minimize risk—including standardizing with one global RPO partner.

Just because you’re not hiring at the same volume you were before, doesn’t mean outsourcing is out of the question. Recruiter On-Demand or project RPO engagements offer flexible solutions for targeted hiring needs. An RPO partner can also offer value-added talent advisory services like market insights, employer branding, assessment services and more. Plus, once engaged, your RPO partner will be on tap to hit the economic recovery running and scale up for your hiring surge.

An economic slowdown is not the time to put your talent acquisition strategy on the back burner. Use this time to take stock and get prepared so you’re ready to bounce back faster. You’ll be able to beat your competition and create a resilient workforce that’s ready for whatever the future has in store.

Want more insight into the future of work? Check out our ebook, Destination 2030: 10 Predictions for What’s NEXT in the World of Work.

PeopleScout Jobs Report Analysis – December 2022

Posted on by nfuqua

U.S. employers added 223,000 jobs in December, beating analyst expectations. The growth came despite rising interest rates aimed at slowing the job market. The unemployment rate dropped to 3.5%. Year-over-year wage growth fell to 4.6%.

jobs report infographic

The Numbers

223,000: U.S. employers added 223,000 jobs in December.

3.5%: The unemployment rate fell to 3.5 percent.

4.6%: Wages grew 4.6% over the past year.

The Good

December’s jobs report shows evidence the Federal Reserve’s strategy of increasing rates to provide a “soft landing” for the U.S. economy may be working. So, what would look like bad news in almost any other year is actually good news.  

The 223,000 jobs added to the economy is the smallest increase in the past years, as the Wall Street Journal reports, but it is still a healthy pace of job growth. Additionally, year-over-year wage growth slowed to 4.6%. Wage growth has remained stubbornly high over the past two years, and economists feared it could contribute to high inflation. December’s report helped allay some of those concerns.

The Bad

Though December’s job report was generally taken as good news, there are still some signs of unwanted weakness. As MarketWatch reports, layoffs in the technology sector are making an impact in the report. The business and professional services sector, which covers many tech roles, posted a decrease of 6,000 jobs. Additionally, while the labor force participation rate did increase in December, it still remains below prepandemic levels. This continues to contribute to the ongoing labor shortage.

The Unknown

Economists say that the slowing growth in December’s report will likely cause the Federal Reserve to slow the pace of interest rate increases aimed at slowing inflation. As the New York Times reports, the S&P 500 rose 2.3% with the release of the report. Investors have been eager for fewer and smaller interest rate increases. The Federal Reserve meets next on January 31.

Talking Talent: Vanity Metrics vs. Sanity Metrics in RPO

Posted on by nfuqua

In this episode we’re talking about how to determine which metrics you should use to drive and define success in your RPO program.

At PeopleScout, we like to say there are two kinds of metrics—vanity metrics and sanity metrics. Vanity metrics are the numbers that may look great on paper, but fail to tell the full story of what is happening in your talent program. Vanity metrics may make you feel successful. Sanity metrics actually make you successful. So, how do you tell the difference?

Joining us to discuss is Stephen Carlson, vice president of client delivery at PeopleScout. In this conversation, Stephen shares why some the typical metrics that you’re tracking are actually vanity metrics. He outlines how you can dig deeper to find the right metrics within your program to identify opportunities for improvement and take action.

Stephen shares real-world examples from PeopleScout clients who were hitting their talent goals but knew they could be doing more. By taking a deeper look at the numbers, they were able to elevate their programs to the next level. Stephen gives tips to help you start the conversation and work with your RPO provider to better understand your program data.

Heading into 2023 with uncertain market conditions and the potential for fluctuating hiring volumes, defining and tracking your sanity metrics can help you better respond to and weather changes in the market. For example, if you anticipate having fewer job postings but more applicants in 2023, you likely need to adjust how you move candidates through the process. Stephen explains how to look at the right data to enable quick and effective changes while maintaining an efficient process and engaging candidate experience.