Category: Talent Acquisition Strategy

Managing Candidate Volumes During the Great Rehire

Posted on by nfuqua

As employers continue their recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, many face the same two challenges: Applications are up and talent acquisition teams are lean, which leaves a smaller team to sift through mountains of job applications.

At the same time, the pressure to find and hire the best candidate is high. After all, top talent can help speed a recovery. And, while the hiring process needs to be fast, it can’t leave out top candidates. So, let’s examine strategies for managing high candidate volumes that can help employers stand out during the Great Rehire.

HR Outsourcing

Challenge: Our organization needs to scale quickly to make a large number of hires, but our team doesn’t have the bandwidth to handle the volume.

One key pillar of value for HR outsourcing solutions – like RPO; on-demand or project based RPO; or Total Workforce Solutions – is the ability to scale seamlessly as hiring demands shift. Conversely, in an internal talent acquisition team, it can be difficult – if not impossible – to scale up quickly to handle a higher number of hires and then scale back down when hiring volumes shrink. Consequently, many organizations find themselves initially making a large volume of hires to staff up new locations or during a peak season, but then hiring volumes return to normal.

What’s more, businesses in industries hard hit by COVID-19 will see especially high numbers as the economy continues to recover. For these organizations, RPO providers – specifically, on-demand or project RPO solutions – can help fill the gaps by providing focused support based on the needs of individual organizations.

For instance, at PeopleScout, we bring expertise and insights from across our client base, as well as the people needed to handle hiring spikes. Our industry-specialized flex team of recruiters can be activated on short notice, and our global delivery centers provide 24/7 support and recruiting capabilities that enable a faster recruitment process.

An RPO provider can also provide broader solutions – like bringing technology expertise to add automation or virtual interviewing solutions; or providing talent advisory services to improve employer branding, assessments or job posting strategies.

Technology Solutions

Challenge: Our team is too bogged down in repetitive work; the process of screening candidates and scheduling interviews takes too much of our recruiters’ time.

COVID-19 has exposed technology gaps for many employers. In the early days, many scrambled to implement virtual hiring solutions so that they could keep their talent acquisition functions moving. Now, as the pandemic passes the one-year mark, employers face a different challenge: Is their technology built for scale?

When facing high candidate volumes, recruiters can easily get bogged down in repetitive administrative tasks. For example, they might get caught in a game of phone tag trying to schedule interviews; answering simple questions from candidates; sending emails to keep their talent communities warm; and sourcing candidates for hard-to-find skillsets. As a result, that leaves little time for higher-value activities, like communicating with top candidates.

However, robotic process automation (RPA) can lift some of the load. This technology utilizes bots to replicate human actions for time-consuming, but straightforward administrative tasks. And, while it can be used to screen résumés, it can also go far beyond that.

For example, RPA can be used to deploy chatbots to answer simple questions from candidates 24 hours a day. A chatbot can also be used in automated candidate screenings to ask questions about a candidate’s skills, education and experience – either online or via text. Best of all, in addition to saving time for the recruiter, this technology also improves the candidate experience by allowing them to get answers more quickly and feel as though they’re driving the recruitment process forward.

RPA can also be used to automate emails, social media posts and other employer branding campaigns. Right now, many organizations are building candidate pipelines and keeping talent communities warm as they prepare to make hires. In this way, RPA can be used to send messages to these communities – keeping candidates engaged and keeping your company top of mind.

Interview scheduling tools can also prove to be a significant time-saver for recruiters. As an example, with Affinix – PeopleScout’s proprietary talent technology – recruiters can avoid the back-and-forth of scheduling interviews with candidates by automating the process instead. Specifically, a recruiter can sync their calendar with the tool and provide candidates with a link to schedule the interview at a time that works best for them.

These tools can then be combined into a virtual solution that spans from recruitment marketing tools all the way through onboarding. And, as the recovery continues, many employers are finding lasting benefits from adopting these strategies.

Candidate Generation & Assessment Strategies

Challenge: We’re seeing high applicant volumes, but we want to make sure the people we hire are interested in the role for the long-term; we’re worried about high turnover as the economy improves.

As employers hire in 2021, they face a mountain of applications. This includes both candidates who are excited about the role and see it as a long-term step in their careers, as well as candidates who are looking for the role now, but don’t necessarily want to stay in the role or at the organization for the long haul. But, how do you differentiate between the two?

One option is to adjust your candidate generation and assessment strategies to attract and hire the employees with the passion, purpose, and mindset that best match for the organization and the role. For instance, to showcase an honest and authentic employer brand, write honest and authentic job postings. By tailoring your employer brand and job postings to attract only candidates who are truly qualified and interested in the role, you’ll save recruiter time by eliminating the résumés of candidates who aren’t qualified or aren’t excited about the role.

As an example, one PeopleScout client previously wrote job descriptions with an overly positive view of their open positions – without mentioning the more challenging elements. And, although they received a high number of applicants, as those applicants moved through the process, many realized that they didn’t want the job. Meanwhile, others accepted the job, but the turnover rate was high, which was expensive and wasted time for both the recruiter and the hiring manager.

In response, PeopleScout worked with the client to make the job postings more realistic about the challenges, in addition to providing a real preview of what the job would look like. In the end, the client received fewer applicants, but turnover in the role dropped significantly. The client also saved hundreds of hours in hiring manager and recruiter time.

Employers can also adjust their assessment process to identify candidates who can succeed and grow in the role by evaluating their passion, purpose and mindset. This means assessing candidates to find out if the candidate has the enthusiasm for the work; finds purpose in the role and at the organization; and has the right mindset to grow and learn.

Bringing It Together

Combining these strategies in the right way for your organization can help manage the high candidate volumes we expect to continue during the economic recovery from COVID-19. Furthermore, many of these tools and strategies will continue to show their value when unemployment is low. RPO providers and on-demand or project-based RPO can help manage yearly hiring spikes; technology tools will continue to free up recruiter time; and job posting and assessment strategies that guarantee the right cultural fit will continue to result in better talent and higher-performing teams. And, for talent leaders in 2021, solutions that deliver immediate results and lasting benefits will drive success.

Workforce Recovery Strategy: Total Workforce Solutions & the Great Rehire

Posted on by edyson

Human capital is both the most important asset and the single largest operating expense for most organizations. It’s also a constant concern for talent leaders who fear that they don’t have – or can’t acquire – the right mix of top-tier talent.

What’s more, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused employers to increasingly turn to a mix of contingent and permanent labor.

That’s because this allows them to expand their talent base quickly, provides greater cost savings and delivers a more flexible talent acquisition strategies for navigating the Great Rehire.

However, talent acquisition strategies have different meanings depending on whether you’re a procurement professional, talent acquisition specialist or business stakeholder.

These disparate points of view stem from the fact that organizations have largely leveraged distinct talent strategies, systems and processes for different classifications of workers, with each worker classification existing in its own talent silo.

So, how can organizations overcome the complexities of their talent management program to recruit the right mix of contingent and permanent hires they need during the Great Rehire and post-COVID-19 recovery?

In this article, we’ll explore how Total Workforce Solutions (TWS) as a talent acquisition strategy can help your organization: streamline the talent acquisition process for all labor categories, provide greater workforce visibility, improve talent flexibility and drive cost savings.

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What is a Total Workforce Solution?

Total Workforce Solutions provide a centralized view and model for obtaining necessary talent across an organization – both full-time employees and contingent workers (including temporary workers, independent contractors, freelancers and statement of work [SOW] providers).

With a Total Workforce Solution, organizations can improve value and compliance, as well as reduce risk with full-cycle, scalable RPO and MSP programs, or select specific services under each offering to meet specific talent acquisition process needs.

Integrating RPO and MSP talent management into one program also provides organizations with a competitive edge when it comes to understanding their talent needs and their ability to fulfill them.

The Case for TWS as a Talent Acquisition Strategy During the Recovery 

talent acquisition strategies

COVID-19 has altered the calculus for hiring contingent workers, as well as laying off permanent employees.

For example, in the United States, during the months in which the government paid additional unemployment benefits, some organizations hiring for low-skill, blue-collar jobs found that it was more challenging to find talent at the right cost because unemployment benefits could put more money in candidates’ pockets than the job opportunity.

These factors may also be compounded by the uncertainty surrounding COVID-19 going forward, which is forcing many organizations to recalibrate their labor management.

And, with less certainty of future demand, employers are less likely to hire permanent positions; so, they may use contingent and contract workers instead to meet their current labor needs.

Therefore, the case for TWS as a COVID-19 talent acquisition strategy is built upon its ability to view your talent program holistically – rather than by its individual components – which, in turn, provides the following benefits.

Efficiencies Through Standardized Processes

A well-executed TWS program unifies and improves the entire chain of previously disjointed hiring practices for permanent and non-permanent workers alike.

For instance, a TWS provider works with procurement, hiring managers, recruiting teams and stakeholders to piece together a holistic view of your entire talent program.

Then, the information gleaned from exploring your talent ecosystem better enables the TWS provider to design standardized processes for everything from employer branding to posting jobs, interviewing, screening, verifying and onboarding.

Furthermore, the centrally managed talent program designed by a TWS provider concentrates knowledge of talent acquisition strategy, practices and business requirements in one place.

This allows the TWS partner to serve as a dedicated adviser on all sourcing and hiring matters, as well as offer better guidance on standardization and quality practices across the board.

Greater Compliance

When an organization begins to bolster its contingent workforce, it opens itself up to increased compliance and liability risks associated with non-permanent employees.

The most common risks include worker credentialing, worker misclassification, co-employment issues, unemployment claims and workers’ compensation claims.

Without a doubt, avoiding costly compliance violations is essential to recovery as the economic uncertainty from the pandemic continues. 

However, TWS providers are experienced in tackling these compliance issues.

Specifically, TWS providers have proven compliance procedures for independent contractor qualification, worker classification, exempt versus non-exempt policies, Statement of Work management and more.

As a result, organizations that enlist a TWS partner gain instant access to these resources and can better navigate the complex – and often difficult to manage – compliance landscape across multiple geographies.

Improved Analytics & Visibility

employee recruitment strategies

Meanwhile, TWS partners with the right technology can also consolidate your talent tools – such as applicant tracking systems, candidate relationship management systems and vendor management systems – into one view. Integrating these tools into one solution provides views into internally available talent and recruiting needs, as well as the efficiency of hiring and sourcing processes.

Likewise, predictive analytics should be a part of any TWS program.

This technology can process data about time-to-fill, cost-to-fill, quality of hire and more to determine whether the best talent for a role wants to work full-time or as a contingent worker, as well as finding talent and reaching those people.

Similarly, predictive analytics can also provide an early warning system to alert organizations that they may have issues finding a certain type of talent in a certain location.

This is especially valuable for organizations that are short-staffed due to business disruptions brought on by the pandemic.

Better Workforce Planning & Demand Management : Finding Talent

Total Workforce Solutions also drive financial advantages – like cost savings from better workforce utilization, improved demand management, and lower service and vendor management costs – than previously decentralized programs.

Strategic benefits include increased access to global expertise; cross-trained and fully integrated implementation teams; and insights and advice across your entire talent spectrum.

And, because Total Workforce Solutions consolidate permanent and contingent talent pools into one program, organizations are better able to source the right talent in any situation.

For example, a manufacturing company may need data specialists to pinpoint emerging markets.

In this case, a Total Workforce Solutions provider can help with finding talent– as well as determine if the role is best suited for an FTE, temporary workers, or project-based independent contractor or SOW provider.

Employer Branding

When permanent and contingent labor are managed under one program, it’s easier for organizations to portray a cohesive employer brand to all labor categories.

Now, more than ever, this is essential as candidates of all labor types want to know how organizations are handling workplace safety; if employers offer remote work options; and how the overall pandemic response has been.

Plus, a total talent program can help you retain a competitive edge by communicating your employer brand to candidates; improve candidate engagement; and increase brand recognition and reach among in-demand talent.

Strategic Talent Acquisition Brings Greater Workforce Flexibility

TWS providers can also help your organizations adjust and adapt – not only to current changes, but also to unforeseen changes in the future.

COVID-19 has proven that this additional flexibility is crucial as pandemic-related work stoppages and interruptions can be better managed for greater business continuity. 

Moving from decentralized talent acquisition strategies – with siloed decision-making and a lack of visibility across employees and non-employees – to a holistic view of the entire talent spectrum will also allow you to be more flexible and adaptable.

Then, you can engage the talent you need for any role within your organization and decide whether full-time, contingent, freelance, contractor, remote or on-site employees are the best options to get the work done. 

TWS & Talent Acquisition Strategies for Evolving Workforce Dynamics

In response to the pandemic, the global workforce saw an incredible surge in remote work as organizations’ permanent and non-permanent employees looked for safer alternative work arrangements.

However, even prior to the pandemic, full-time and contract employees were already embracing flexible work options that allowed them to work remotely, as opposed to on-site. Now, it’s unlikely this trend will subside as more workers are used to these arrangements.

Meanwhile, in the shuffle of layoffs, reorganizations and remote work following the pandemic, both well-being and inclusivity became priorities.

Stress about health and job security – along with potential 24-hour work cycles due to remote arrangements – forced organizations to become more intentional about the well-being of their workforce.

Consequently, the availability of mental health resources; flexibility for family and childcare; and a focus on communication are now widely practiced strategies for maintaining engagement and productivity across all worker categories.

To that end, organizations now need to ensure that isolated workers don’t fall through the cracks in a physically isolated virtual work environment.

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At the same time, a widespread social and cultural shift toward diversity and social justice has compelled organizations to become more active in building inclusion in the workforce and in establishing a presence in the community.

A TWS partner can assist your organization in meeting these new and overdue shifts in the workplace by: deploying strategic talent acquisition technology to help reduce unconscious bias in hiring; communicating with and engaging all portions of your workforce; and consulting on employer branding to ensure your organization connects with the evolving needs of workers.

TWS represents the next wave of progression in the world of work. In the pandemic talent landscape, it’s not just workers who must be agile and adaptive to stay competitive.

Moving forward, merging permanent and contingent talent strategies will become a priority as more organizations begin to consolidate processes to better compete for scarce workers.

From total talent visibility to the optimization of total labor spend, the multifaceted effect of a Total Workforce Solution program is a powerful concept that represents the future of talent acquisition strategies and process post-COVID-19.

Women in Manufacturing

Posted on by suhlarik
Women in Manufacturing

Women in Manufacturing

A leading manufacturer turned to PeopleScout for a unique, technology-powered candidate attraction campaign to increase women in their workforce.

A PeopleScout manufacturing client operates in an industry that has historically been male-dominated, but the client wants to change that perception. The manufacturer partnered with PeopleScout with the goal of increasing the number of female applicants and hires.

PeopleScout worked with the client to develop the Women in Manufacturing campaign. PeopleScout interviewed nearly 20 women who work in roles across the company and who love their jobs. Using this information, PeopleScout built out candidate personas to target women interested in the industry, and created a campaign featuring real women who work for the client.

Using Affinix™, we built a dedicated landing page and talent community for female candidates. On International Women’s Day, the four-week campaign, Women in Manufacturing, launched to showcase the woman-friendly, inclusive culture at the company. The campaign features employee spotlights, videos and stories to showcase how women are integrated into the culture of the company and integral to the company’s success.

The campaign features profiles of women who work in a range of manufacturing positions.
Employee profiles feature advice and insights for female job candidates.
The customized, targeted landing page was created with Affinix. 
The campaign is featured on the company’s social media accounts.

“To make a lasting change, you need to consider both your stakeholders and the sustainability of your effort. Throughout the process of brainstorming, designing, and executing our Women in Manufacturing recruiting campaign, the team has balanced the technological, brand consistency, and tactical challenges to produce a thoughtful program of materials to support us. Through rapid, data-based decision making, they have quickly adapted to the fluid needs on an ongoing end-to-end recruiting campaign.”

– Matt W.

Director – HR Strategy, Analytics, & Talent Acquisition

At a Glance

  • COMPANY
    Manufacturer
  • INDUSTRY
    Manufacturing & Industrial
  • PEOPLESCOUT SOLUTIONS
    Talent Advisory, Affinix
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Improve Your Employer Brand Using Employer Review Sites

Posted on by jpatel

An organization’s employer brand is often in the hands of its candidates and employees. And, when it comes to employer review sites, the fate of your employer brand is – quite literally – at their fingertips. In fact, according to data from Workplace Trends, 72% of job-seekers share their experience on online employer review sites like Glassdoor. What’s more, recent research from Deloitte found that 80% of candidates who experience an unsatisfactory recruitment process will openly tell people about their experience, and one-third of those candidates will do so proactively.

But, what does this mean for your organization? Unfortunately, negative reviews from both candidates and employees can have a huge influence on your bottom line. For example, per CareerArc, 62% of consumers have stopped buying from an organization that treats its employees poorly. Plus, an Indeed survey found that 95% of workers said that if they were considering a new job opportunity, insight into the company’s employer reputation would be somewhat (33%) or extremely (62%) important. As a result, a poor employer brand reputation could cost your organization millions as productivity decreases due to a reduced candidate pool and consumers stop supporting your business.

So, how can organizations take control of their employer brand and overall online reputation? Well, recent studies from HRO Today and PeopleScout show that organizations globally are planning to invest more heavily in social networking, consistent monitoring of employer review sites, and a greater use of employees as brand advocates.

However, while these steps are important to improve your employer brand, many organizations are unsure of where to start; they may also lack knowledge of best practices for these strategies.

Therefore, in this article, we’ll help you improve your employer brand by outlining how to establish ownership of your organization’s presence on employer review sites like Glassdoor and Indeed; offer best practices for responding to reviews; share tips on how to effectively leverage employee brand advocates; and highlight some popular employer review sites that organizations should be familiar with.

Establish Ownership & Claim Your Employer Review Site Profiles

The first step in establishing an employer brand plan for review sites is to establish who in your organization will own the initiative. Specifically, it may make sense to have your HR team manage the employer review site accounts because they are likely familiar with sites like Indeed and Glassdoor that offer job-posting functionality, in addition to candidate and employee reviews.

However, it can also be beneficial to form partnerships across departments to holistically manage your organization’s employer brand. For example, your communications team can assist HR in crafting responses to reviews that align with your brand standards for tone and voice, as well as provide up-to-date information on awards and accolades. In addition, HR can lean on the marketing team to maintain an active social media presence for your company, as well as work to optimize search results by managing SEO and creating content to combat potentially negative reviews and keywords.

After establishing who will take ownership of the management of employer review sites, claim your profiles. This can be done at no cost by verifying the profile as an employer and creating an employer account to edit and manage the profile.

Plus, with an employer account, you can add valuable information to your profile for candidates to view, such as:

  • Salary and compensation details
  • Explanation of benefits offerings
  • Company mission, vision and values
  • Overview of company culture
  • Logistical information (location, total number of employees, revenue, competitors, etc.)
  • Unique initiatives
  • Remote and flexible work policies
  • Diversity, equity and inclusion programs
  • Photos of employees, events and offices
  • Industry awards and accolades

It’s worth noting that, according to Glassdoor, 75% of active job-seekers are likely to apply to a job if the employer actively manages its employer brand. You can do this by responding to reviews, updating your business profile, and sharing updates on the culture and work environment. Furthermore, building a robust profile on the employer review site will allow candidates to gain a better understanding of who your company is, what you stand for and what it would be like to work for you.

Respond to Reviews – Both Positive & Negative

Responding to reviews is perhaps the most important method in creating a strong brand presence on employer review sites. And, while both types of reviews can be easy to view and dismiss, leaving thoughtful replies is a guaranteed way to show candidates and employees that you care – regardless of whether the feedback is positive or negative. In fact, 80% of job-seekers who read reviews on Glassdoor say their perception of a company improves after seeing an employer respond to a review.

Some best practices to keep in mind when responding to reviews:

  • Address the reviewer by name (for non-anonymous reviews) to establish a personal connection
  • Thank the reviewer for their feedback
  • Acknowledge positive feedback
  • Address any concerns mentioned
  • Offer advice on any relevant next steps

Here are some examples of how to reply to common types of reviews:

Leverage Employee Brand Advocates

While organizations have little control over who will leave reviews – especially reviews with primarily negative feedback – they can proactively build up a strong body of positive reviews by leveraging employee brand advocates. These are employees who advocate for an organization and generate a positive image of the brand via online and offline channels. It’s important to note here that, when encouraging employees to leave reviews, you should emphasize the value of honest, candid reviews; employees should not feel pressured to paint a certain image of your organization.

Consider the following ideas to encourage employees to leave truthful, positive reviews that will help improve your employer brand:

New Hires

New hires are a great place to start when gathering positive reviews. That’s because the application, interviewing, and onboarding process is still fresh in their minds and they recently chose your organization as their new employer. So, ask new hires to leave a review on their hiring experience when they first start, and encourage them to update it after their first 90 days.

HR, PR & Marketing

Another good place to start is by requesting that members of your HR and marketing teams write reviews. Members of these departments already have a good understanding of the importance of employer review sites and are likely willing to leave honest reviews that highlight your organization’s strong points.

Promoted & Awarded Employees

If your organization recognizes employees for outstanding work with awards or honors, these workers can also be an excellent source of positive reviews. The same can be said for employees who have recently been promoted. A good practice is to establish a system that reaches out to these employees with a congratulatory message alongside a call to action to post online about their experience working at your company.

Employee Resource Groups

Employees who voluntarily join employee resource groups in addition to their daily responsibilities are already likely to be highly engaged within your organization. So, tap into these groups of employees and request that they leave reviews based on your organization’s culture and commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion – something Glassdoor provides ratings on and many candidates are interested in.

Regular Requests

Finally, managers should be empowered to regularly encourage their team members to leave reviews. This can become a regular practice during performance meetings, as well as after the completion of a big project or when hiring season is afoot. Likewise, if your organization offers flexible work arrangements or other unique perks, employees should be encouraged to share emotive experiences of how these benefits have affected their lives.

Employer Review Sites to Consider

Because there are a variety of employer review sites out there, it can be hard to keep track of them all. So, we compiled this list of the top 10 you should monitor to improve your employer brand for long-term success.

  • Glassdoor: Current and former employees can anonymously review companies; submit and view salaries; as well as search and apply for jobs.
  • Indeed: Candidates can upload a résumé and browse reviews and salaries, while employers can post jobs, search résumés and more.
  • Comparably: Includes information on employers, brands, salaries and company culture.
  • FairyGodBoss: Women’s career community for career advice, job openings and company reviews.
  • Kununu: Employer reviews, salary data and culture reviews from those who know best: employees and applicants.
  • Google Reviews: Business reviews appear next to your company’s listing in Maps and Search. These can help your business stand out on Google, which is the leading search engine.
  • InHerSight: Here, candidates can find company reviews and ratings; get matched to jobs; and connect with a community of women navigating the workplace.
  • Vault: Known for its influential rankings, ratings, and reviews on thousands of top employers and hundreds of internship programs.
  • CareerBliss: Candidates can find jobs, research salaries and read reviews with a focus on company culture.
  • TheJobCrowd: This UK-based employer review site is focused on helping recent graduates in their early careers.

As recruitment processes and the world of work continue to take digital shifts, employer review sites will become increasingly important in making or breaking a candidate’s decision to join your organization. And, while you certainly can’t control every review, you can be proactive in taking charge of your employer review site presence by regularly responding to reviews, leveraging employee advocates, and monitoring what candidates and employees are saying about your organization online. In doing so, you’ll improve your employer brand by creating a strong employer brand and a positive presence where it counts – and where it makes a difference.

PeopleScout Jobs Report Analysis — March 2021

Posted on by nfuqua

The U.S. economy gained 916,000 jobs in March. The numbers beat economist expectations and show the fastest job growth since the summer of 2020. However, economists caution that there are still challenges ahead. The unemployment rate fell to 6.0%. Year-over-year wage growth was at 4.2%.

The Numbers

916,000: The U.S. economy added 916,000 jobs in March.

6%: The unemployment rate fell to 6%.

4.2%: Wages grew 4.2% over the past year.

The Good

The New York Times reports that March’s jobs report is the most optimistic report since the pandemic began. The 916,000 jobs added to the economy beat the expectations of most economists, though as we noted in our February analysis, some economists thought job growth could be as high as one million. Many of the jobs added came in leisure and hospitality, the sector hit hardest by pandemic job losses.

Economists say they expect growth to continue because of the expanded availability of vaccines, with more than 2 million Americans receiving shots each day. The reopening of schools has also allowed more women to reenter the workforce.

The Bad

Despite the good news in March’s report, as the Wall Street Journal reports, there are still 8.4 million fewer jobs than before the pandemic began, and even if growth continues at this rate, it will take the larger part of the year to make up that ground.

The Unknown

MarketWatch reports that economists have a lot of optimism for the coming months, but there are a few factors that could impact the economic recovery. The first is the speed of vaccinations. As more Americans are vaccinated, the economy can recover more quickly. On the other side, many stats are seeing rising numbers of coronavirus cases, which has slowed reopening plans in some areas. If those numbers do not decrease, it could dampen the recovery.

Talking Talent Leadership Profile: Anna Turner, SHRM-CP, PHR

Posted on by nfuqua

In her role as PeopleScout’s Vice President of Product, Anna Turner isn’t technically sitting in the seat of an HR leader – but you wouldn’t know it. With a long list of human resources certifications, a career that started in recruiting and experience in leadership at multiple HR technology companies – her résumé is a successful marriage of HR and technology.

Operating with the philosophy that innovation is driven through teamwork, Anna leads the vision, strategy, and roadmap for PeopleScout’s product and service portfolio. We spoke with her from her home in Charleston, S.C., to learn what she expects out of HR technology in 2021.

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What is the role of technology in solving the talent acquisition challenges of 2021?

One of the biggest challenges for employers is that things are moving faster in this digital world, and that has an impact on candidate experience. Our expectations as consumers have changed drastically over the past few years. We expect things to be personalized; we expect things to be transparent; and we expect things to be on-demand.

I can pick up my cell phone right now and have groceries delivered to my house in time for dinner. I can see how many stops the delivery driver needs to make before arriving at my house. Now, employers face increasing pressure to have a candidate experience that matches those consumer expectations. We need to bring the right technology to create that experience.

One way we’ve seen the candidate experience transform over the past year is the accelerated use of virtual interviewing solutions, like on-demand or live video interviews. How will that continue to influence the candidate experience going forward?

Before the pandemic, many employers were already focused on digitization. Now, that’s been put on fast forward. Within just a matter of weeks, a virtual process became a necessity – and that’s not going to change.

In this market for talent, employers need a virtual process that’s not only fast, but also has a really strong candidate experience. More people are working remotely than ever, which means employers aren’t facing the typical geographic boundaries for sourcing talent. It also means that candidates have more options. Once those constraints are gone, you transform both the way you compete for talent and the strategies you need to implement to bring in that talent.

Over the past year, we’ve all seen our relationships with technology get a lot tighter. We’re using new tools in almost every aspect of our lives. How will this deeper relationship affect talent acquisition?

I think it impacts both candidates and employers in different ways. On the candidate side, it reinforces those expectations for a consumer-like candidate experience. They want the transparency. Going back to the grocery delivery example, I can track the delivery driver on GPS, but many candidates don’t understand where they stand after they submit an application and are frustrated by the ‘black hole’ of the recruiting process. Are they still being considered? If so, when will they hear back?

Another way it has impacted candidates is their openness to trying new technology. As an example, if you look back a year ago, my mom had never even been on a Zoom call. Now, she’s an expert. That’s happening across all types of workers, and it means that candidates will respond more positively to new hiring technology solutions.

For employers, we’re seeing this deepened relationship with technology accelerate their embrace of new solutions. In a way, employers have been forced to try new solutions. But now, they’ve seen how those solutions can speed up and improve their processes. The biggest opportunity to expand on that will be around insights and data. With all of this technology, you have increased visibility into your process. You can start to see friction points and opportunities to improve the candidate experience. These insights are one of the exciting things that will definitely carry on from leveraging more and more technology as a result of what we’ve been through over the last year.

There’s a lot of hope for 2021. We’ve heard it called “The Great Rehire,” and we know that employers will need to start bringing on more workers. However, many talent acquisition teams are still very lean. How does technology help solve that issue?

Each employer is going to have a different plan and a different story, but we are seeing employers start to get ready. One of the most interesting things that employers can do is to look at their current systems – whether it’s their current ATS or CRM – to see who they have in their network and how they can have a talent pool ready when it is time to make hires. That means finding ways to amplify your employer value proposition, engage talent in your network and keep talent warm.

Once employers are ready to start making those hires, they can leverage technology as part of the recruiting and hiring process. But, right now, I think it’s most important for employers to focus on how they can nurture talent to make the eventual hiring process easier.

We’ve talked a lot about challenges. What would you say are the biggest opportunities for talent leaders in 2021?

I think there are three buckets. One I mentioned earlier, and that’s insights through data. There’s a huge opportunity to become more data-driven, and we’ve been talking about it for years in HR. The challenge has always been tying together all the disparate systems. We’re moving into a realm now where technology partners are able to bridge those gaps and make that happen.

The next one is diversity and inclusion. This is obviously a huge area of importance. We know that, as we have more diverse teams, we will offer better services, deliver better products, come up with better ideas and design better solutions. Now, we can use data to revisit messaging, employer branding, hiring campaigns and more to ensure that they appeal to the diverse candidates that employers want to hire.

The final area is one we’ve talked about a lot, and that’s candidate experience. How do we evolve the experience of our processes to create a ‘wow’ experience for candidates? Does the recruiting process meet candidates where they are – for example, in a mobile-friendly way? Does every candidate know where they stand? For example, the candidates you aren’t moving forward receiving communication is a huge step forward for closing the loop and providing transparency. There are big opportunities in 2021 for employers that can provide a candidate-first experience.

Doing More with Less: Creative Recruitment Strategies for Lean Talent Teams

Posted on by edyson

Finding the right talent at the right time is never easy. It is made even more difficult when you have limited resources to work with. 

Whether that is a lack of time, budget or team members, how can talent acquisition leaders ensure their organization’s talent pipeline is filled with qualified candidates ready to fill critical open positions?

What’s more, the COVID-19 pandemic has shifted the talent market to being employer-driven, providing organizations with the advantage of having a larger pool of qualified candidates.

This shift creates new problems, however, such as having the resources on hand to efficiently recruit this new pool of candidates.

This change necessitates organizations retooling their talent acquisition strategies accordingly to stay competitive, regardless of resources. 

In this article, we cover creative recruitment strategies and innovative recruitment ideas to help you recruit smarter and maximize your impact despite limited talent acquisition resources.

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Become More Strategic with Sourcing to Build a Foundation for Your Creative Recruitment Strategies

Creative Recruitment Strategies

There are a variety of channels that can be used to source candidates: job boards, career fairs, networking events, social media and employee referral programs.

Most recruiting teams use a combination of these channels to source talent and build candidate pipelines.

However, when recruiting with limited resources, you need to ensure that you are devoting your recruitment ideas to the most effective channels as part of your talent acquisition strategy.

Sourcing Tips:

  • Review Past Success: what channels have led to hiring your superstar employees? Consider expanding your use of the most effective search channels.
  • Seek Talent from New Sources: ask current employees for creative contact ideas. They may be able to point you toward a professional association, conference, university, or discipline where you can connect with a new pool of candidates.
  • Get Digital: Invest in digital outreach through channels including webinars and virtual networking events. Especially as in-person meetings may be unavailable during the pandemic, these events offer the next best opportunity to strategically source qualified talent.

Before you start sourcing candidates for a position, it’s a good idea to create a candidate persona.

A candidate persona helps you identify the right channel, message and strategy to source more qualified candidates.

Creating a candidate persona is a multi-step collaborative process, so you need to talk to your team, hiring managers and do some research to build a realistic profile of the ideal candidate.

Once you have created your candidate persona, you need to source candidates who best match the traits of your ideal candidate.

Your ideal candidates may be present on several platforms, so make sure you source from the right places.

For example, when recruiting developers, platforms like StackOverflow or GitHub may be a good candidate source, whereas if you are recruiting graphic designers, platforms like Dribble or Behance are innovative recruitment methods that may work best.

Creative Recruitment Ideas: Reengage Qualified Former Candidates

recruitment ideas

It is common to tell job candidates their resume is being put on file for the future if they are not selected for a role. However, how often do silver-medal candidates get notified when positions fitting their skill sets become open?

To maximize your recruitment methods and resources, seek out former finalists, and those who reached out to you about job openings in the past to see if they are still interested in working for your organization.

This allows you to get your brand and open positions in front of people who cleared multiple qualification hurdles before or were interested enough to send you their resume.

When crafting outreach messages to former candidates, make sure you acknowledge that you are aware that it may have been a while since you have spoken with them, and ask them if they are still interested in working for your organization.

Leveraging these creative recruitment strategies, you may pique their interest again, or maybe their positive experience with you will lead to them recommending a qualified colleague or friend who may be interested.

Regardless of whether they are actively looking at that time, your odds are still better with warmer candidates than with passive candidate outreach.

Pay Attention to Your Career Page

recruitment ideas

A career page can be a powerful tool for recruiting teams looking to extend their reach. However, it’s not enough to have a career page only listing your open positions.

Creative recruitment strategies begin with taking a close look at your career page.

You can post photos of group outings, get quotes from employees about their positive experiences and create videos of them describing the joy of coming to work – or how the benefits you provide have changed their lives for the better.

You can also build out your Glassdoor and LinkedIn pages, so they have personality and a voice that matches your company.

This is free and easy to do, so be sure not to overlook this simple strategy.

What’s more, optimizing your careers page for search is a great way to gain visibility with job seekers.

Ensure the copy featured on each of your careers pages is optimized to rank well by incorporating keywords relevant to your open positions and industry.

Your job description content should be specific to your organization and the individual role, with a minimum word count of 250 words.

The job description content should be relevant and informative to the job seeker, answering any specific question they may have.

Also, be careful to avoid duplicate content or imagery, you can assume the job seeker is looking at a number of job posts, so this is an area where you can really stand out.

Innovative Recruitment Methods: Leveraging Automation and Technology to Fill in the Gaps

Innovative Recruitment Methods

For organizations looking for innovative recruitment methods to optimize their recruiting resources, automation technology can provide time savings, increase recruitment productivity and help reduce unconscious bias in the recruiting process.

Talent acquisition technology can be used for high-level repetitive tasks such as candidate screening, interview scheduling and even sourcing passive candidates using artificial intelligence.

This gives recruiters more time to better engage candidates in a personal one-on-one relationship.

What’s more, technologies with texting automation tools like PeopleScout’s Affinixtm allow your organization to set up automated messages that are triggered at each phase of the hiring process to keep candidates up to date with their status as well as send text links for candidate self-scheduling to streamline interviews.

You can also leverage this technology to better scale your candidate outreach.

Your organization may already have a large database of candidates in your ATS. Sending automated text messages is an extremely effective way to reach out to those contacts at scale to rapidly generate interest in open positions.

However, before your text candidates, make sure they have opted-in to receiving communications from your organization to avoid compliance violations.

Creative Recruitment Strategies: The Gist

Recruiting with limited resources can be a challenging process, but by being strategic in your approach, your organization can source and hire top talent.

Taking a more strategic approach means deploying a variety of tactics and methods in order to build a robust talent pipeline.

The following articles in this section provide actionable insights into managing high candidate volume, creative sourcing strategies, tips for building a more diverse workforce and how total workforce solutions can help you navigate the great rehire with a mixed talent strategy.

Building a Tech-Enabled Internal Mobility Platform for a Government Agency

Posted on by jpatel
Building a Tech-Enabled Internal Mobility Platform for a Government Agency

Government Talent Solutions

Building a Tech-Enabled Internal Mobility Platform for a Government Agency

This government agency in Australia partnered with PeopleScout to develop and launch a technology platform that facilitates internal mobility for government workers.

Employees manage their profiles showcasing employee demographics, education, work history, skills and competencies 
Employees manage their profiles showcasing employee demographics, education, work history, skills and competencies 
AI technology matches candidates to open opportunities across the government and provides alerts to candidates on open job opportunities
AI technology matches candidates to open opportunities across the government and provides alerts to candidates on open job opportunities
Employee engagement increased, while the use of expensive contingent labor resources went down 
Employee engagement increased, while the use of expensive contingent labor resources went down 

Situation  

As a result of COVID-19, the client was operating with a lean workforce and limited resources. They required a solution that allowed them to leverage the skills and competencies of their existing workforce so they could save the time, cost and resources it takes to access the external candidate market. 

They partnered with PeopleScout to develop and launch a platform which facilitates internal mobility for workers who are potentially impacted by the economic downturn due to COVID-19 or looking to move within their department or other government agencies. This allowed the client to engage their workforce through enhanced workforce mobility, skills development and career opportunities within the department and across the government. 

Solution

PeopleScout created an internal mobility platform using our proprietary talent technology, Affinix™, to give the client insight into the scope and experience of their internal talent. By utilizing candidate profiles, hiring managers are not only able to see employee demographics, education and work history, but also specific skills and competencies.  

When an employee creates their profile, they have the opportunity to rate their own competencies and leaders within the organization can rate and leave comments about their performance as well. This gives recruiters a strong sense of what other positions may be a good fit for internal employees, based on hard and soft skills—such as strong cross-functional collaboration abilities. 

PeopleScout’s Affinix Internal Mobility platform gives the client a holistic view of candidates, and when a requisition is posted within the platform, Affinix automatically looks for employees who may be a good fit and proactively recommends candidates based on their profile. 

At a Glance

  • COMPANY
    Australian government agency
  • INDUSTRY
    Government & Public Sector
  • PEOPLESCOUT SOLUTIONS
    Affinix
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PeopleScout Jobs Report Analysis – February 2021

Posted on by nfuqua

The U.S. economy gained 379,000 jobs in February. The numbers beat economist expectations, suggesting that the recovery is gaining steam. However, economists caution that there are still challenges ahead. The unemployment rate fell to 6.2%. Year-over-year wage growth was at 5.3%.

u.s. jobs report infographic

The Numbers

379,000: The U.S. economy gained 379,000 jobs in February.

6.2%: The unemployment rate fell to 6.2%

5.3%: Wages rose 5.3% over the past year.

The Good

The addition of 379,000 jobs to the economy in February suggests that the recovery is picking up steam, the Wall Street Journal reports. Economists had predicted just 210,000 new jobs.

The majority of the job gains happened in the leisure and hospitality sector, which has been the hardest hit by the pandemic. Experts say decreasing coronavirus cases, increasing vaccinations, and the stimulus passed in December likely all contributed to the uptick as consumers are gaining confidence.

The Bad

While there was plenty of good news in February’s report, there is still a long way to go. The U.S. still has 9.5 million fewer jobs than when the pandemic began. Additionally, some sectors, like construction, shed jobs. Though experts say that is likely temporary and related to winter weather conditions.

While the unemployment rate decreased, there was no improvement in the racial disparity in unemployment. As the AP reports, the unemployment rate for white workers fell from 5.7% to 5.6%, but the unemployment rate for Black workers actually rose from 9.2% in January to 9.9% in February. The unemployment rate for Hispanic workers fell from 8.6% to 8.5%.

The Unknown

Economists say this could be the start of a stretch of strong hiring numbers that lasts through the spring. Bloomberg reports that March could potentially see more than a million new jobs, as long as there is not an increase in coronavirus cases. The New York Times also reports that employers see this as the start of a hiring surge.

However, there are a few factors that could impact these predictions. Economists predict that the $1.9 trillion stimulus will have a positive effect, but rising coronavirus cases or a slowdown in school reopening could impact job growth negatively. Ultimately, workers need to both feel safe returning to the workplace and have the childcare options to do so to continue strong economic growth.

[On-Demand] Why Hybrid Hiring is Critical for Talent Acquisition Leaders

Posted on by akessler

[On-Demand] Why Hybrid Hiring is Critical for Talent Acquisition Leaders

What comes after your essential transition to virtual recruiting, when teams have shrunk and hiring needs are volatile? How do you ensure sufficient capacity and capability as organisations activate renewed growth strategies? The answer is hybrid recruiting.

Hybrid recruiting blends the expertise of both core in-house and flexible outsourced recruiters, powered through a deliberate mix of human contact and digital technology. In this series of events we will research, debate and inform on:

  • How you can get the best from hybrid recruiting.
  • How you can determine the right hybrid approach for your organisation.
  • How to embed flexibility, agility, and scalability within your approach.
  • How you can create the change required within your organisation.

We are delighted to invite you to join us as we investigate this hiring adaptation.

This series is now on demand. Please fill out the form to gain instant access. 

 

Meet the panelists:

Adam Britten from Amey

Adam has been working in the Resourcing and Talent space for 18 years and currently operates as Head of Resourcing and Talent for Amey PLC, a leading infrastructure services and engineering company. In his role Adam is responsible for the end to end Talent strategy for Amey ensuring they attract a skilled and diverse applicants whilst ensuring diversity. Adam specialises in Change Management and Transformation in Talent Acquisition having worked as an internal TA leader and also as an RPO  implementation director.

Panellist 1Ewa Zajac from Zendesk
With experience in all aspects of TA ranging from top of funnel employer branding & sourcing, through interview process efficiency, all the way to offer negotiation and new hire onboarding, Ewa has an excellent candidate experience at the heart of her strategy. In her role at Zendesk she focuses on building effective workflows and developing diversity partnerships that help Zendesk hire outstanding talent.

nullLesa Molinari from Colt Technology
Lesa has 14 years of global talent acquisition experience working in healthcare, telecoms and IT. In her current role she leads a high performing, inclusive and collaborative team which enables business leaders to; innovate, drive meaningful value against current and future business needs and, create opportunities to build the business in terms of scale and transformation.
Lesa understands how to drive significant cost savings in a complex matrix environment (down to 5% agency) while balancing best in class solutions. Her pragmatic approach is always focused on delivering business performance. Lesa is an RL100 member, Mentor and Panellist.

Panellist 3 Lisa Kelly from Heathrow Airport
An HR leader and a specialist in talent and resourcing with experience of working in consultancy and internal HR functions. Lisa is passionate about delivering successful business outcomes by enabling organisations through talent acquisition, talent development, performance management, diversity & inclusion, succession, and workforce planning.
Panellist 4 Jon Hull from Nationwide Building Society
An HR and Talent management leader with 20 years experience, Jon is the Head of Resourcing Delivery at Nationwide Building Society. Helping drive the transformation of the customer facing recruiting and the tech & transformation agenda, Jon is passionate about creating a multi channel offer using the latest technology. A real team player, Jon knows that technology alongside human interaction will nurture and attract the best talent, whilst driving innovation, customer delivery and value into the community.