Category: Talent Acquisition Strategy

PeopleScout Jobs Report Analysis – November 2020

Posted on by nfuqua

U.S. employers added 245,000 jobs in November. This was a slowdown from the previous month, and lower than economists expected. Despite the growth, the jobs numbers show a significant slowdown in the recovery. The unemployment rate fell to 6.7%. Year-over-year wage growth was at 4.4%.

U.S. Jobs report infographic

The Numbers

245,000: The U.S. economy added 245,000 jobs in November.

6.7%: The unemployment rate fell to 6.7%.

4.4%: Wages rose 4.4% over the past year.

The Good

If we were looking at the numbers for November 2019, the 245,000 jobs added to the economy and the 0.2% drop in the unemployment rate would look like good news. However, in 2020, those numbers tell the opposite story. There are few bright spots in the November jobs report. The Wall Street Journal reports the most significant jobs growth happened in transportation and warehousing, likely related to holiday hiring for ecommerce roles.

The Bad

November’s job growth is by far the weakest since the recovery started this spring. The numbers fell below economist expectations, and as the Washington Post reports, the retail sector shed 35,000 jobs. Bars, restaurants and other food-service businesses shed 17,000. This comes as coronavirus cases have been surging across the U.S., causing some jurisdictions to implement new restrictions, including closing indoor dining. The increase in cases may also be pushing some Americans to complete holiday shopping online, rather than inside retail stores.

Additionally, the decrease in the unemployment rate occurred mostly because 400,000 people dropped out of the workforce, as NPR reports. The economy is still 9.8 million jobs behind pre-pandemic levels.

The Unknown

As 2020 draws to a close, there are still several unanswered questions. Congress is still negotiating a relief bill. Two runoff elections in Georgia will determine control of congress in 2021, which could influence the possibility of additional aid in the coming year.

Americans are also still awaiting FDA approval of the first coronavirus vaccines. As the New York Times reports, many employers see the vaccine as the “sunlight in the distance,” but it will likely take months before the vaccine is available to the majority of Americans.

Candidate NPS: What are Candidates Saying About You When You’re Not in the Room?

Posted on by akessler

We hear a lot about ‘customer-centricity’, putting the customer at the heart of everything you do. For years, organisations have been using Net Promoter Score (NPS) to measure their customer experience and to generate feedback that boosts data-driven decision making. However, when it comes to measuring the candidate experience, companies are missing out on candidate NPS.

What is NPS?

Net Promoter Score, or NPS, began as way for organisations to measure customer satisfaction and loyalty. By asking one question—“On a scale from 0 to 10, how likely are you to recommend this product/company to a friend or colleague?”—organisations can gauge which customers are promoters, and which are detractors.

Graphic depicts how candidate NPS is scored.

Overall NPS score can range between -100 and +100, and the higher the score the better.

Why Candidate NPS?

Why is NPS an important measurement for talent acquisition leaders? Our research into candidate experience revealed that: 

  • Only 5% of candidates rated their experience excellent
  • But 66% of candidates have never been asked to provide feedback on their recruitment experience.
  • Yet, 9 out of 10 have provided feedback when asked.

With such a small percentage of candidates having an excellent recruitment experience, it’s imperative for organisations to start benchmarking their candidate experience in order to make data-driven improvements.

Yet, so few organisations are leveraging Candidate NPS. In a recent poll, we asked whether our database currently use, intend to use or have no plans to use NPS to measure their candidate experience. Our audience told us the following:

  • 7% currently use NPS
  • 21% don’t plan to 
  • 64% intend to start
  • 7% have other plans

Getting Started with Candidate NPS

Consider adding a communication to your CRM after critical stages in your recruitment process like the assessment centre or hiring manager interview—regardless of outcome. By asking one simple question and the candidate’s reasoning for their rating, you can gather valuable data to drive continuous improvement in your candidate experience.  

After gaining an initial benchmark, you can measure Candidate NPS overtime to see how your process improvements are impacting the candidate experience. Combined with other metrics, you’ll be on your way to understanding the impact of your talent acquisition program and improving your recruitment outcomes.

Sourcing Beyond 2020: Building Global Pipelines for Adaptive Work

Posted on by edyson

This year, many organizations have had to rethink the strategies and methods they leverage to source and recruit talent. As the year ends and good news regarding vaccines brings us all new hope, you might be wondering what talent acquisition success looks like post-2020?

One of the first steps in preparing for the changes ahead in the talent landscape is to establish an efficient method of sourcing talent. Building a global talent pipeline strategy is an effective way to source and recruit the talent you need.  

More technology is available than ever before, designed to making global sourcing and talent acquisition more efficient. Video interviewing makes it simple to interview candidates remotely, virtual reality technology can provide candidates a realistic look at your office without ever stepping foot inside and a variety of solutions for remote work mean that candidates can work from anywhere.  

I recently had the opportunity to join Hiretual for their webinar Sourcing Beyond 2020: Building Global Pipelines for Adaptive Work. During the live Q&A, I discussed how to tap into the global talent pool, ways to attract talent faster during the Great Rehire and how to go about engaging with candidates for current or future roles.

In follow up to the webinar, I wanted to provide some additional insights, observations and takeaways from the current talent sourcing landscape and provide you with actionable advice to help you source talent in 2020 and beyond. You can also watch the recorded webinar on the Hiretual website.

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Employer Brand Conversation Shifts from Acquisition to Retention and Rebuilding

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My Three Biggest Sourcing Takeaways from 2020

Maximize Your Investments

At the onset of the pandemic, many organizations had to make hard personnel decisions. As a result, teams are lean, but sourcing systems and contracts are still in place, so companies are looking for ways to use what they have. When you have a lean team, it is really important to invest in sourcing tools that allow them to produce more with fewer people. And, if your team is in a position to have any downtime, they can use it to get the most out of the current systems, processes and plans they have today.

It is becoming more important to reach out to passive job seekers who possess the skills you need, as relying on those actively applying cannot be your only channel. At PeopleScout we have invested heavily in technology and sourcing tools with our proprietary Affinix™ platform. Specifically, it has AI sourcing to find passive candidates through various online channels and match skills against your internal databases as well. This augments your existing team and frees up people to handle the most important tasks.

Many of our clients are sophisticated technology buyers and they are also investing in some best in breed AI sourcing tools. In fact, many of them use Hiretual and so our recruiting teams have had access to use that as well, augmenting our strategy and providing the lift needed as we prepare for continued increases in hiring (The Great Rehire).

Get Ahead Where You Can

Focus on best practice building of consistent, authentic and meaningful communication, identifying talent locations and managing to keep former employees, alumni and prospects engaged. Use the sourcing tools you have, maximize your CRM potential, and keep the conversation going. This will ensure that when you are ready to hire candidates are aware of you and open to talk. On the call, Stockpiling was mentioned. Take a page from Executive search firms – research, map and have your ‘first 50’ calls or communication candidates ready to be engaged. Start with drip marketing on the ones you can.

Push relevant, authentic content to them around the company, its future, plans and opportunities. Make it engaging and not just ‘here’s a job.’ Talk about the company, it’s vision, plans for recovery or success. Looking for a job is a lot like looking for a home – when you decide it’s on, it’s on. It’s not often a constant search. Something triggers it and companies want to be top of mind when it does. Drip marketing and candidate engagement go a long way when the pipeline becomes hiring.

Be Flexible in Your Approach

With uncertainty in the talent market due to COVID-19, recovery efforts and just general unease after a big life-changing event – recruitment has become more unpredictable.

Most companies aren’t providing guidance on revenue and hiring initiatives because of this. Company goals are going to change, and so will hiring efforts to meet those goals. Your sourcing engine needs to be adaptable and ready to go as quickly as you can, but also be nimble enough to flex.

Using automation tools (like those for AI sourcing or lead generation) as well as easy to update marketing and drip marketing campaigns can take the weight off of your sourcers, who can focus on strategy and research for future needs and on how to go to market for these candidates.

How Should Enterprise Hiring Teams Structure Their Global Sourcing Process?

candidate sourcing tools

Processes will need to be nimble and teams will need to be tuned in closely to hiring needs. Just like sales teams need clear goals and a plan to execute successfully, the closer talent acquisition is to an organization’s strategic objectives, the ‘tip of the spear’ sourcing team can be ready and focused on building early talent communication and networking.

Now, with the pandemic upending a lot of the traditional norms of work – physical locations, workplace flexibility from home, less commute, and a broader candidate pool for most industries, sourcing has to shift from their traditional method of ‘going where they know’ to rethinking where great candidates are and how to adapt and qualify them. Having more candidates doesn’t make sourcing easier; while it sure helps, it also presents new challenges for teams and organizations.

On the flip side of this coin – companies that cannot have virtual employees – face a different type of challenge. First, combating the notion that work from home is for everyone and sourcing candidates that will want to work onsite. Second, the competition for these individuals will intensify as the ‘Great Rehire’ kicks into full steam. Getting ahead of this and doing everything you can to map that talent and build rapport early will go a long way to getting ahead of a rapid upswing in hiring volumes.

Both scenarios also present a unique opportunity for recruitment and sourcing teams. Often, we source where we know – we look for carbon copies of the person we are replacing or the last people we hired (which is a lot to unpack for another time – diversity, inclusion and attraction anyone?) but with this, there will be large talent groups displaced that have skills and abilities but will not return to their previous roles.

An example of this is Flight Attendants. All major airlines, worldwide, have reduced their staff by enormous numbers. There are hundreds of thousands of candidates looking for work in a new area. For the savviest of sourcing and recruiting teams, there’s a huge opportunity here to bring a new candidate type to the table for roles. Knowing where to find them, how to engage them and how to bring them to the table for your hiring community will be extremely important and a massive opportunity for them.

How Enterprise Recruiters Can Set Themselves Apart from the Competition  

We’re all on the edge of what’s being called the ‘Great Rehire.’ We know that an average of 70% of the workforce has and will continue to work uninterrupted both virtually and in the office. That leaves a large, displaced group of candidates that will either return to their current careers or new ones. When that happens is anyone’s guess.

What teams can do now is a lot of the above – optimise your recruitment channels, build compelling drip marketing and attraction packages, leverage smart scouring tools, and start your research now to be sure you are ready when the hiring begins. To the TA leadership, if you aren’t already involved in future planning, get ahead of it now. This has the potential to be a massive rehire, at least we all hope, and we don’t have a precedent in modern hiring to compare. Be ready to be nimble.

Choosing the Right Scouring Tools and Technology

There has been a lot of debate in sourcing about how technology will either eliminate the need for sourcing (just like it will eliminate the need to interview) or will it augment. I’m firmly in the camp that technology, for the near to mid-future, will be an augmentation of human efforts.

So, now is the time to look at your sourcing tools and tech stack and eliminate waste and optimize your process and efforts. Take your sourcing tools and position them for the future, look at your organization and your needs and choose the tools that will help accelerate your hiring teams through the process.

We have to assume, as we always do in recruiting, that hiring will come faster than we can prepare for. Choose and implement tools that maximize your sourcing ability and help the team be faster, better and smarter. Tools have the ability to augment your team, integrate with your CRM to ensure you can automate attraction and marketing, and report back on the success rate of your efforts.

Look at your reporting state now – can you measure each key piece of the process to see where you can tweak, adjust, or shift to get better results? Best in class TA teams have learned to measure the entire funnel – not just for speed of process but also for efficiency or ‘friction.’ The faster you can get to market, identify and/or attract, and bring that candidate through an impactful experience will help you both hire and retain great people. To do that, you need to focus on the holistic view of your process and be sure you can measure it effectively.

Planning Your Future Workforce and Building Robust Talent Pipelines

At PeopleScout, we see it across our client base and I’m hearing it from friends and former colleagues; we know we need to prepare; we know we need to get ahead, but how? What are we hiring for? When does it start?

The best practices we’ve seen and some of the lessons we learned after the Great Recession in 2008 was that the closer recruiting is to sales and to executive planning, the better we can be prepared to not just find candidates but to strategise on what roles are needed to help the business rebuild, and then where to find them and how to engage them.

Planning ahead will be critical but I would say more importantly, given resource constraints, cost constraints and the level of uncertainty, sourcing will need to ensure they have a clear understanding beyond just the number of hires and what’s in your funnel. This is a time for talent acquisition as a whole to show how strategic we really are. We have been solving company problems for a long time, and this will be a huge opportunity to get in the mix of future state analysis, building the plan for what type of candidate is both needed and available and then delivering on that plan.

Building future proof talent pipelines requires both a plan and sourcing tools to help you source, track and communicate with your Great Rehire talent. Starting earlier will be well worth it when it begins. It won’t be as simple as knowing where the right talent is when you need them. You will need to be sure you track and build rapport consistently given the uncertainty of the market.

Race in the Workplace: How to Support BIPOC Colleagues Through Meaningful Conversations

Posted on by jpatel

As more people across the U.S. began to recognize the systemic racism that many Black, Indigenous and people of color (BIPOC) were already facing, the injustices became a catalyst that sparked conversations around the world. Meanwhile, many organizations have heard the call to action and want to do their part in showing support to their BIPOC employees. So, how can organizations help drive effective change around race in the workplace? Simple: Encourage employees to partake in open, honest and respectful dialogue with their colleagues.

Well, maybe not so simple. While now is not the time to be silent, it’s also not the time to have unchecked and uninformed discourse on such a sensitive topic. So, to ensure everyone involved feels respected, heard and understood, organizations should create safe spaces where employees can listen, learn and have important dialogues with their coworkers, leaders and team members.

Engaging employees in conversations regarding race in the workplace can be challenging; while some people might feel hesitant to speak on a topic they may not know much about, others might be reluctant to share the injustices they’ve experienced firsthand. That’s why we put together these tips for how to effectively reflect on racism through open dialogue; we encourage you to share them with employees across your organization.

Before You Talk

Take Ownership

The first step in fixing the problem is acknowledging that there is one – and that you might be contributing to it. Recognize the implicit biases that contribute to racism and consider how you can unlearn them. As you learn, grow and begin your work toward becoming a better ally, leverage resources that can help guide you along the way.

Educate Yourself

Understand that educating yourself is no one’s responsibility but your own. Likewise, before opening the dialogue with your BIPOC colleagues, it’s important to have some background knowledge on the issue. For instance, avoid putting your BIPOC colleagues in a position in which they feel as though they are the “teachers” on racial disparities; instead, be proactive in your own learning about diversity, inclusion and social injustices. Coming to the conversation with a basic understanding of the detrimental effect of the racial inequalities that BIPOC face will benefit you, your BIPOC peers and the effectiveness of the discussion as a whole.

Here are some resources to help get you started:

Helpful resources to consult before discussing race in the workplace.

During the Open Dialogue

If discussing race in the workplace is new for your organization, it may be helpful to host conversations in a moderated environment. Bringing in speakers with a background in racial justice work or designating a moderator to lead the discussion will alleviate any pressure your employees may feel about jumping straight to a one-on-one conversation. During a moderated dialogue, encourage your employees to:

Acknowledge Vulnerability

Conversations around race in the workplace are difficult. To acknowledge the difficulty and vulnerability required for a discussion on such a sensitive topic, it can be helpful to validate what one another is feeling – whether it’s grief, anger, confusion, discomfort or otherwise. At the same time, each person should acknowledge that while they are experts on their own individual experiences, no one has all the answers, and that’s okay. The purpose of these conversations is to continuously learn and grow.

Step Up by Stepping Back

With Black professionals holding just 3.3% of all executive or senior leadership roles in 2018, it’s not surprising that non-BIPOC professionals have dominated conversations in the workplace. Therefore, it’s important to take care not to overpower the discussion. Instead, be purposeful in allowing the voices of your BIPOC colleagues to shine. Then, you can learn about their experiences and build a better understanding of their perspectives.

Engage Thoughtfully

As you work to understand one another’s viewpoints, don’t be afraid to ask genuine questions. By asking questions respectfully and with an open mind, you’ll allow your BIPOC peers to answer without fear of being judged. In particular, word your curiosities with compassion so that the other party doesn’t feel defensive or uncomfortable when sharing their experiences. Creating a safe space like this will form a strong sense of trust and respect that will go both ways.

Beyond the Conversation

Continue to Check in

Make a habit of checking in with your colleagues regularly to continue the important conversations around race. As a manager, remember to ask about the professional goals of your employees and how you can help them work toward accomplishing them. Similarly, as a peer, help amplify your colleagues’ successes – as well as the injustices they’ve faced – and always keep in mind how you can provide BIPOC peers with opportunities, resources and support.

In addition, check in with yourself. Know that there’s always more to learn and more that can be done. While this guide serves as a starting point for the important conversations that need to be had across organizations, it is by no means exhaustive. Therefore, continue to look for ways to educate yourself, learn from others and be part of the change toward equality for all.

Organizational Support in Practice

How can organizations facilitate intentional dialogue? Here are some of the ways we at PeopleScout and the broader TrueBlue organization are encouraging thoughtful discourse on race in the workplace:

How PeopleScout is encouraging thoughtful discourse on race in the workplace.

Respectful Conversation Starters

Starting the conversation around race in the workplace can be challenging and it’s important to practice cultural sensitivity as you begin discussions. It’s also essential to remember that, even in designated group or one-on-one conversations about race, not everyone will feel comfortable answering certain questions. So, make sure you give your peers a chance to come to you willing to talk – and don’t be offended if they’re hesitant. Here are some open-ended questions that respectfully inquire about cultural differences to help get you started:

  1. What’s your favorite part about your racial or ethnic identity?
  2. Would you mind explaining a little more about why you feel that way? I’ve never thought about it that way before.
  3. How often do you think about your racial or ethnic identity?
  4. Have you ever felt you were treated unfairly because of your racial or ethnic identity? How so?
  5. How has your racial or ethnic identity affected your personal life? What about your professional life?
  6. Can you recall a positive experience around your racial or ethnic identity? A negative one?
  7. Do you find value in forming relationships with people of different racial or ethnic identities? What can you learn from one another?
  8. Have you ever felt left out of groups with people of different racial or ethnic identities than your own? How did this affect you? What could someone have done to make you feel included?
  9. What aspect of your racial or ethnic identity makes you most proud?
  10. What are some ways I can better support you?

Leading in the New Reality: Keeping Employees Engaged Across Flexible Work Arrangements

Posted on by jpatel

Improved employee satisfaction and overall productivity have proven that the new models of flexible work organizations implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic won’t be going anywhere any time soon. In fact, 83% of U.S. companies surveyed by Mercer are considering implementing flexible working at a greater scale than they were prior to the pandemic. In order to improve employee engagement, just as leaders had to adapt to managing remote teams at the onset of the pandemic, they will again need to readjust their approach as they lead teams across a variety of locations, schedules and unique work arrangements.

At PeopleScout, implementing flexible work to support our people is something we know well. One example of this is Emily Gordon, a single mother to a pediatric cancer survivor and PeopleScout’s vice president of global implementation.

In late 2016, when Emily had her final interview before joining PeopleScout, she was sitting in a hospital hallway while her daughter was finishing her fight with pediatric cancer – or so she thought. Emily’s daughter was nine years old when she battled cancer the first time and almost 11 when it returned. As a result, Emily’s goal was to find a company in which she could both work remotely and continue to support her daughter and family. But, prior to COVID-19, there were limited options for people who needed to be adaptable and still work full-time to support loved ones. Thankfully, PeopleScout’s work flexibility options gave Emily that opportunity.

Emily’s team was willing to work with her on video, which enabled her to be in the hospital with her daughter for more than 100 days in a year, while also exceeding work goals and supporting one of PeopleScout’s largest RPO clients. In turn, Emily has been comfortable hiring people who also need flexibility, such as in part-time or split-shift roles. As Emily’s story illustrates, the need for flexible work options exists outside of COVID-19. These unique situations existed before the pandemic and will continue when it eventually passes; it’s up to organizations to have flexible strategies in place to support their workers.

Even with the variety of benefits of workplace flexibility, the management of it is not without its challenges. Chief among them is how to improve employee engagement, especially during COVID-19. When employees cannot safely interact in close quarters, making sure they remain motivated and attentive is not always easy. In this article, we outline tips for how to effectively manage teams and improve employee engagement through the remainder of the pandemic and beyond.

“My team was already leveraging technology and reporting to support communication, and when COVID-19 hit, we amplified that across the whole portfolio. We meet twice a week for up to an hour to just talk, listen, give updates and support one another. All it takes is a willingness to over-communicate. Flexibility does not mean less work or performance. In my experience, it means people work harder to achieve goals because they are grateful for the support and understanding that work is not one-size-fits-all.”

Emily Gordon, VP of Global Implementation

Focus on Communication

Communication was important before and throughout the pandemic, so it’s no surprise that a strong communication strategy is at the top of the list for best practices in the new work reality. Regardless of whether you’re leading in-person teams remotely, leading a remote team while you remain in the office, or a combination of both, frequent communication is paramount.

Specifically, managers should schedule regular check-ins with the team as a whole to quickly solve challenges, share knowledge, and communicate openly about what’s working and what might need improvement. Likewise, one-on-one meetings are also important so managers and employees can share feedback and stay on the same page even if they’re working in different locations. Keep in mind that, because many of these flexible work arrangements are still new, it might take some time to find the right meeting cadence that works for both parties. For instance, while it might start out as a weekly check-in, you may find that one employee prefers ad-hoc calls while another prefers a set schedule to keep them on track. Try to remain as flexible as possible when it comes to these check-ins; they’re crucial for helping employees feel connected and cared for.

Quick Tip: Remember to trust your people and approach communications with a sense of empathy and a people-first focus.

Improve Employee Engagement Through Collaboration

Because employees may be scattered across different locations, working different hours or job-sharing, it can be easy to feel a little disconnected from each other – especially for workers who are not regularly going into the office. Fortunately, leaders can help solve this challenge by leveraging the following tools and strategies that foster collaboration and connectedness across teams.

Create a Team Brief

Your flexible work model may see some people working special hours to care for kids or loved ones, while others are using a hybrid model to work both in the office and remotely on alternating days. To ensure everyone is on the same page, it can be helpful to create a short team brief that outlines key expectations, covers how and when you’ll communicate, and transparently shares each employee’s schedule.

Quick Tip: Utilize tools like Teams and Slack (or your preferred communication platform) to set messages for when you’re away and when you’ll be back online.

Encourage Video Meetings to Improve Employee Engagement

While some employees are working in-person because their job duties require them to or they don’t have the means to work effectively at home every day, others may be fully remote for safety and family obligations. However, if you’re not careful, these employees can easily feel left out because they’re missing out on the face-to-face interactions and impromptu conversations that naturally occur when people work together in the same office.

Quick Tip: Ensure employees have the tools necessary for high-quality video calls, including proper audio and video equipment.

Fortunately, according to OwlLabs, 93% of people agree that video conferencing is effective at improving the connectedness of remote employees. Therefore, encourage calls to be taken on video so virtual workers have the opportunity to view and share non-verbal reactions, as well as their verbal insight. At the same time, pre-determine which meetings will be on video so employees have a chance to prepare. And, to combat video fatigue, be flexible in allowing people to remain off video if it is not conducive for them on a given day.

Quick Tip: Create a digital space where meeting attendees can post thoughts and notes once they’ve reflected on the call. This can give remote employees the chance to contribute to the “meeting after the meeting” that often occurs in person.

To enhance participation in video calls, show people how to ask questions in the chat, virtually raise their hand, and/or use breakout rooms so everyone has a chance to work and connect with one another.

Utilize Shared Dashboards

With people working various hours and in different places, staying aligned on goals and the work that is being done can be a challenge. However, by leveraging available technology, you can create team dashboards that share which projects are currently in progress and who is working on what. This can then give the whole team insight into the work that everyone is contributing, as well as the progress being made toward goals –regardless of when and where they’re working. Digital project management dashboards are also a great way to assign tasks, track targets and share ideas.

Quick Tip: To boost connectedness, create sub-channels within your communication platforms to group individuals with similar professional skills and personal interests.

Build Community to Improve Employee Engagement

It’s important that neither the in-person nor the remote teams become isolated from the other. As a manager, it’s your job to ensure you’re not mistakenly focusing more on one team over the other. To that end, a great way to build team culture and community is to spend some time each month on a virtual happy hour, coffee break or other team-building activity perfect for hybrid teams. Then, when the pandemic is no longer looming over us, it will also be important to make time to see people in-person when possible. For example, if you are traveling to the same location as an office or remote employee, set aside some time to meet them for a cup of coffee or lunch. Or, if you normally have a virtual check-in at the time you’re visiting, conduct your meeting face-to-face.

Quick Tip: To create equity between your remote and in-person teams, try to find unique ways to extend perks to virtual team members, as well. For example, when providing lunch for a meeting at the office, offer your remote workers a gift card for their lunch at home.

Create opportunities for hybrid teams to connect with each other on a personal level. For example, if it’s “bring your kid to work day” in the office, allow remote employees to bring their child to video sessions. This is an easy way to stimulate real connections between colleagues.

Flexible work models are quickly becoming the norm and are already proving to be an integral part of the way we work during the pandemic. The modes of work established in these instrumental months will pave the way for a future of flexible work beyond the current global health crisis. In that future, leaders will need to prioritize communication, collaboration and connectedness to create sustainable team engagement, productivity and culture.

[On-Demand]: Hello, Is Anyone There?: Great Candidate Experience Needs Communication

Posted on by edyson

[On-Demand]: Hello, Is Anyone There?: Great Candidate Experience Needs Communication

Candidates want feedback, so why do so few employers provide it?

Employers want to provide a better candidate experience, so why do so few actually ask candidates what they think about the process?

Candidate experience is the core of employer branding. Research by HRO Today and PeopleScout shows that employer branding is still top of mind in 2020, but employers still have plenty of room for improvement.

Join PeopleScout Executive Leader, Group Managing Director of EMEA & APAC Andrew Wilkinson for our Talking Talent webinar, Hello, Is Anyone There? Great Candidate Experience Needs Communication. Andrew will break down the latest research from PeopleScout and HRO Today about how employers are adjusting their strategies and provide best practices for success.

You’ll also hear from a panel of employer branding experts, including Neil Daly, the Global Employer Brand Lead at Baker Hughes, Craig Morgans, the Global Head of Talent Acquisition at IWG plc and Vanessa Hawes, PeopleScout Senior Employer Brand and Communications Strategist.

In this webinar you’ll learn:

  • How employers are shifting their employer branding strategies in 2020
  • Best practices for communicating with candidates
  • How to approach employer branding from a strategic rather than tactical perspective
  • How to build an employer brand that focuses on retention
  • And more!

Building an Effective Veteran Hiring Program

Posted on by epadmin

Building an Effective Veteran Hiring Program

If you want to hire veterans, you can’t just wait and hope it happens. Veterans won’t apply through your one-size-fits all careers page. Their skills and experience don’t fit into a standard application. And if veterans do apply, do you have a team that can understand the military language? Can you translate their achievements and place that veteran in the best position for their skill set?

In this ebook, Best Practices for Hiring Veterans, you’ll learn:

  • The most important and effective steps to take when creating a veteran hiring program
  • The veteran hiring landscape
  • The unique challenges veterans face as they transition into the civilian workforce

Preparing & Planning for a Hiring Recovery

Posted on by nfuqua

I don’t need to tell you how different the world, economy and talent landscape look today compared to just nine months ago; we’ve all experienced it within our organizations, on our teams and in our own homes. However, despite the uncertainty of 2020, we can be sure that the job market will recover and hiring will begin in earnest once again. And, although we don’t know exactly when this will happen, now is the time to prepare.

As I write this article, we are moving into fall in the U.S. Cities and states are reopening at different rates, and some regions are shutting down or adding new restrictions as clusters of COVID-19 cases pop up. Meanwhile, employers are dealing with new challenges as students head back to school – leaving parents functioning as both employee and teacher – and several large companies are anticipating new rounds of furloughs and layoffs. 

On top of all that, how do you plan for your organization to start hiring again? In this article, I’ll outline: the biggest challenges employers will face; how a recruitment process outsourcing provider is uniquely positioned to help with a hiring recovery surge; and what employers should be doing right now.

Talking Talent Podcast

How to Capitalize on an Uncertain Talent Market

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A Challenge of Scale

First, employers preparing for recovery face the issue of scaling their internal talent acquisition teams. Unfortunately, throughout the crisis, many have had to make reductions to their teams, limit or cancel contracts, and set aside projects. However, scaling back up in anticipation of a hiring recovery surge isn’t a simple process because the individuals who were laid off or furloughed may have found other positions inside or outside of your organization, or there may be another reason that they’re unavailable for work.

This creates three questions about how to manage your internal team when you need to ramp up hiring again:

  1. How quickly do you want to rebuild your own talent acquisition team?
  2. How much risk do you want to take with the internal operational cost involved in pulling those workers back? 
  3. How realistic is it for a team to take on all of the challenges included in your hiring recovery, including reigniting talent pipelines and implementing new technology?

Meanwhile, the shift in the economy makes answering these questions more complicated. Plus, at many organizations, we’re already starting to see that recovery hiring volumes will be higher than those that the previous team was managing. For instance, organizations like retail stores and quick-service restaurant chains have been operating with low staff. But, eventually, they’ll need to undergo a large hiring recovery surge to get back to normal staffing levels before leveling out to their pre-pandemic hiring volumes. What’s more, even if you decide to bring back your full internal talent acquisition team, you’ll need to decide if they’ll be able to handle this additional, temporary volume.

The other factor to consider when evaluating if your internal team is prepared to scale is the current high unemployment rate, which will translate into high applicant volumes. Nine months ago was one of the most difficult job markets to hire in; it was challenging to find someone for virtually every job, and recruiters were dealing with low volumes of applicants. Fast forward to today and now we’re seeing scores – if not hundreds – of applicants for every job posting. As such, talent acquisition teams will have to deal with not only more job postings, but also more applicants – which could potentially create a poor candidate experience if recruiters are overwhelmed and don’t follow up with candidates.

So, to be prepared to take on higher hiring volumes, employers need to decide whether they will build their internal team or work with a partner. And, for leaders looking to reduce risk as recovery continues and the future is uncertain, working with an RPO provider is the best solution.

The Value of RPO

As an RPO provider, PeopleScout can immediately fill in the gaps and help teams scale. Specifically, we bring the expertise, the insights from across our client base and the people needed to supplement spikes in hiring.

Furthermore, depending on the needs of each organization, we can also: create a more automated hiring process; bring technology solutions; assist with sourcing strategies; or work on diversity and inclusion projects. Plus, we can provide value either through ongoing, operational support or on a strategic, project-by-project basis. Essentially, an RPO provider can provide businesses with the flexibility and scalability they need for the next several months – and potentially longer as the virus continues to affect the economy.

Hiring Recovery Value of RPO

At PeopleScout, we have clients across different industries, segments of the market, geographies and sizes. As you can imagine, each client has its own unique situation, solutions, best practices and lessons learned. As a result, we can bring that broad expertise to each of our clients and use that experience to craft the best solution for each employer’s needs.

In particular, when I think about the current challenges of scale from an RPO perspective, there are two significant ways in which we can help: 1) We can supplement internal talent acquisition teams by bringing in additional recruiters, and 2) we can add technology – automation technology and digital tools – to handle the increase in volume of hires and applications.

The best part is that when it comes to scaling with an RPO partner, the process is seamless on the employer’s end. That’s because we: develop a relationship as early as possible and train our teams on your processes; introduce them to your hiring managers; and prepare the right technology suite for your needs. That way, our teams are trained and ready to go, but we don’t start our work until you are ready to hire. Then, when hiring begins, you don’t have to worry about finding recruiters and getting them up to speed. Instead, when it’s time to flip the switch and start hiring, our teams are able to begin working very quickly.

At PeopleScout, we have two ways to accomplish our speed to scale: 1) our industry-specialized flex team of recruiters can be activated on short notice, and 2) our global delivery centers provide 24/7 support and recruiting capabilities that enable a faster recruitment process. Consequently, we can scale up these experienced recruiters very quickly. Then, as your needs change, we can scale the team back down.

Our teams also rely on our technology solutions to ramp up quickly. With AffinixTM Virtual Interview Management, our teams can automate on-demand virtual interviews and allow candidates to self-schedule their own live interviews, thereby saving valuable time.

Here’s an example of how quickly the process works: When one of our clients needed to ramp up immediately to provide aid after a major hurricane hit the southern U.S., PeopleScout quickly sourced and hired 100 workers in just three days. 

From a client perspective, it’s invisible. There’s no risk in having to make investments, and there are no large teams to manage. You simply share with us what the demand is, and we build in processes to make sure that we’re available to hit those ramps and, just as quickly, turn it off.

The Conversations You Should Have Now

Even if your organization is not ready to make hires now, you should begin having conversations about when and how you will hire when the time comes. That way, you won’t have a week-long lead time.

If you haven’t been hiring since the pandemic began, you may also need to revamp parts of your recruitment process for the health and safety of your employees and candidates. This means looking at a virtual solution that, depending on your needs, may include adding virtual interviews, interview scheduling, a remote offer and onboarding process or more. Now is the best time to work with your RPO provider to have the solution up and running when you start hiring.

When things do ramp back up, I think a big piece of a strong recovery for your organization will be timing. We know the economy is going to get better; we don’t know exactly when, but we know it will happen. It’s time to start these conversations and start planning.

COVID-19 Series: How the Pandemic Impacts Talent Program Implementation

Posted on by nfuqua

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues and talent leaders around the world respond to the constant uncertainty, many are partnering with RPO and technology providers. Meanwhile, hiring and technology needs are changing quickly and frequently, which necessitates a nimble partner who can scale quickly. However, the days of implementing new programs in the traditional ways are over. Specifically, there are no days-long, in-person kickoffs or hands-on, face-to-face trainings. Now, it’s all virtual.

At PeopleScout, Emily Gordon has risen to the challenge of building partnerships and implementing new talent programs without even a handshake. She has more than 21 years of experience in talent acquisition and has overseen sourcing, continual process improvement and client implementations. In particular, her expertise is in transitions, process improvement, team building, client relationship development and operational delivery.

We spoke with Emily from her home in Michigan about what implementation looks like right now.

How has the COVID-19 pandemic transformed the RPO implementation process?

The first and most obvious change is that it has moved everything to a 100% virtual process. That was a big shift for us. We depended on in-person meetings and non-verbal cues. Implementation has been a human-to-human process. We’ve been really pushed to leverage technology and use new tools. We’ve also added an emotional intelligence expert, who is helping our internal teams and our customers adapt. We’re interacting with stakeholders in different ways.

We’re using a lot of video and doing lots of checking in, but we’re also taking more breaks. In a traditional implementation, we’d have a big kickoff that would take place over multiple days. We’d meet in person and get the butterflies and nervousness and excitement out. That’s difficult to manage now; because of video fatigue, people have a hard time spending a full workday on camera in a video meeting. So, we break our kickoff into more manageable chunks.

That means that while implementations during the pandemic have moved faster than they did before, it feels like we’re moving slower over the first few days as we get started. Relationships take longer to grow over video calls than they do in person. At the same time, we save a lot of time because we don’t need to build in travel or work as hard to coordinate schedules. This speed is important right now because a lot of customers want to implement new solutions faster because they had to scale down so quickly due to COVID. Now, they’re needing to ramp back up just as quickly.

What does the process look like now?

We’ve boiled the process down to four steps, and we use the acronym NEXT. It stands for Needs analysis, Engage and evaluate, eXecute and Transform.

In our needs analysis, we meet internally with our business development team and solutions architects, and we meet externally with clients to really understand their needs. We define what success looks like in this partnership and ensure that all their needs are met.

Then, we move into engage and evaluate, where we bring in even more stakeholders, including our PeopleScout client delivery teams. We go through every step of the client’s current process and look for ways to optimise and bring in our expertise. We make sure there aren’t any missed opportunities to accelerate success.

Then, we’re in the execute phase, where we add in our technology teams. We start to test and bring our new processes into practice. We bring the full delivery team into place, complete trainings and get ready for go-live.

Finally, we move into transformation. When you think about an implementation, it is really just the beginning, right? Our philosophy at PeopleScout is that implementation is a process and not an event. When we get to that last phase, we’re really at the beginning of our relationship with a new way of working established for both organisations.

What are the best virtual partnership building strategies you’ve developed – especially when it comes to communication?

Video is so important. At first, I think people were shy about being on video all day, every day. We broke up meetings to make it work for everybody. We also use collaboration technology to update our notes and project management tracking in real time so clients can watch everything happen. Building transparent communication virtually is difficult, so this has been an important step.

We’ve also learned not to be afraid to say, “I think we need to try that again.” Sometimes, we need to have another call to dig into an issue a little bit more, or maybe the right stakeholders couldn’t make part of a call. Sometimes, we ask the same questions two or three times throughout the process to make sure everyone is still on the same page.

A lot of talent acquisition teams are running lean right now. What advice do you have for organizations that are implementing RPO with a small internal team?

That’s the best part about RPO, right? Whatever you’re trying to implement – whether you’re trying to expand scope or add technology – that’s what we’re made for. Just be honest about the team you have and the needs you have. If you don’t have access to subject matter experts, let us know and be flexible. Maybe you previously had a reporting analyst, but now you can only provide access so that our team can find the necessary data ourselves. That’s okay. That’s our job. Our job is to bring the solution to you and to support you. It can feel overwhelming to start a new relationship. It’s a lot of work. To get through it, we need to acknowledge that and talk about the support you need so we can help you get there.

A lot of organizations find themselves needing to quickly implement a new technology solution, especially around virtual interviewing. What advice do you have for the process?

I recommend starting by selecting a technology solution that can be flexible and ramp up and down quickly. A best-in-class technology solution includes integrations, but that adds time and complexity when a lot of talent acquisition leaders are looking for speed. We encourage people to be flexible. We’ll pilot a new solution in a certain way and then decide what integrations we need to do and where we can best spend our time and effort. You have to design the process around your immediate needs and then build it from there.

At PeopleScout, we use Affinix™, and that’s always my recommendation. When a client needs it, we can just turn on our virtual interviewing solution. I just did this with one of my clients, a healthcare organisation, where we had to get video interviewing up and running really quickly at the start of the pandemic. If you need that, we can do it.

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

Remember that change is always difficult. Having a good partner makes it better, but there will always be bumps in the road. Communicate. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Be vulnerable. Admit what’s working and what’s not. As an RPO provider, we are here as a consultant. Our job is to come forward with solutions to problems you might not even be able to articulate yet. So, be open. Implementation is hard, but it doesn’t need to be painful.

PeopleScout Jobs Report Analysis – October 2020

Posted on by nfuqua

U.S. employers added 638,000 jobs in October. This was a slowdown from the previous month, but higher than economists expected. Despite the growth, the jobs numbers still remain far below pre-pandemic levels. The unemployment rate fell to 6.9%. Year-over-year wage growth was at 4.5%.

U.S. jobs report infographic October 2020

The Numbers

638,000: Employers added 638,000 jobs to the economy in October

6.9%: The unemployment rate fell to 6.9%

4.5%: Wages rose 4.5% over the past year

The Good

The U.S. economy continued to add jobs for the sixth straight month. The 638,000 jobs added surpassed economists’ expectations, especially because the number was offset by the loss of 268,000 government jobs. Most of those losses were temporary census jobs. The gain for private sector employers was 906,000. The biggest gains came in leisure and hospitality, retail and construction, as the Wall Street Journal reports. The drop in the unemployment rate to 6.9% is also good news.

The Bad

In a normal year, the 638,000 jobs would have been considered a great month of growth; however, 2020 is not a typical year. The Washington Post reports that October’s job growth is another slowdown. About 11 million people remain unemployed. The unemployment rate is also unevenly distributed. Black American workers still face an unemployment rate of 10.8%, while the unemployment rate for white workers is only 6%.

The Unknown

The October jobs report has come down at a particularly uncertain time in an already uncertain year. Coronavirus cases are surging across the country and there is still no clarity on further federal aid.

As the New York Times reports, some of the hardest hit industries could face another setback as winter arrives. Outdoor dining has helped bring back restaurant jobs, but as the weather cools and some states add more restrictions on indoor dining, the leisure and hospitality industry faces another difficult period.