Click through the tabs above for a deep dive into this month’s JOLTS report. Data Visualizations: Drew Stanley – – – Job openings fell by more than 560,000 in November, BLS says. Sharp declines in the retail and construction sectors led to an overall drop of more than half a million job openings in November 2019, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported Jan. 17. Job openings from October 2019 to November 2019 saw the steepest falloffs in retail (139,000) and construction (112,000). The bureau said that as of Nov. 29, the number of U.S. job openings outside farming sank by 561,000 from October 2019. The private sector accounted for 520,000 of those jobs. The number of job openings took an even deeper dive compared with November 2018 — 826,000 jobs. At the end of November 2019, BLS counted 6.8 million available jobs as part of its monthly Job Openings and Labor Turnover Summary (JOLTS). That compares with 7.1 million in October 2019 and 6.9 million in November 2018. The job openings rate decreased to 4.3% in November 2019 versus 4.6% in October 2019 and 4.8% in November 2018. This rate measures the number of job openings on the last business day of the month as a share of total employment plus job openings. In the retail sector, the job openings rate slipped to 4.5% in November 2019 compared with 5.3% in October 2019 and 6.5% in November 2018. Meanwhile, the job openings rate for the construction sector tumbled to 2.8% in November 2019 from 4.2% in October 2019 and 3.6% in November 2018. On Jan. 10, seven days before the bureau’s job openings report came out, the White House Council of Economic Advisers boasted that the nation’s unemployment rate in December 2019 remained steady at 3.5 percent. Last year, the U.S. added an average of 176,000 jobs a month, the council said. “To put that growth into perspective, the U.S. economy needs to create around 70,000 jobs a month to keep pace with working-age population growth. Any employment growth above this level is typically from workers coming off the sidelines,” the council said. While the number of job openings in November 2019 went down, the BLS figures for hires and separations outside farming were stable (5.8 million and 5.6 million, respectively). The separations category — otherwise known as turnover — includes workers who quit, who retired, were fired or were laid off. The hires and separations rates were unchanged from October 2019 to November 2019 (3.8% and 3.7%, respectively). The hires rate for November 2018 was 3.9%, and the separations rate was 3.7%. The hires rate is the number of hires divided by the number of people who worked. The separations rate looks at the number of separations as a share of total employment. Among all employment sectors, professional and business services bore the brunt of layoffs and discharges in November 2019, at 441,000. That was up from 416,000 in October 2019 and 426,000 in November 2018. This number comprises employees who were involuntarily laid off or were fired for cause. The construction sector saw layoffs and discharges go down from October 2019 to November 2019 (254,000 to 229,000). However, the number climbed from November 2018 to November 2019 (192,000 to 229,000). Meanwhile, the number of layoffs and discharges in the retail sector fell from 200,000 in October 2019 to 175,000 in November 2019, and from 221,000 in November 2018. In 2019, U.S.-based employers announced 592,000 job cuts, the highest annual total since 2015 (598,000) but well off the total of 1,288,030 in 2009, at the tail end of the Great Recession, according to a report from outplacement firm Challenger Gray & Christmas Inc. Last year, retail led all sectors with 77,475 job cuts, down 21% from 98,563 job cuts in 2018. Retail bankruptcies triggered a big chunk of last year’s job cuts. In December 2019, the number of announced job cuts hit its lowest monthly total (32,843) since July 2018 (27,122). “Confidence was high heading into the last month of the year. With some resolutions occurring in the trade war and strong consumer spending in the fourth quarter, companies appear to be taking a wait- and-see approach … into 2020,” said Andrew Challenger, vice president of Challenger Gray & Christmas.
The post Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey – November 2019 appeared first on Career Advice.
Podcasts have become a valuable source of information. This is especially true when it comes to recruitment. Here are the top six recruitment podcasts out there that you should be following for tips on how to find and add top talent to your growing workforce. Recruitment on the Go – Caitie McCollow Recruitment on the Go is a simple title, but succinctly tells you exactly what to expect with this podcast. At between 7 and 15 minutes per podcast, these bite-sized episodes, released every weekday, are perfect to listen to while you’re commuting to work, exercising, or enjoying your lunch break. On this podcast, host Caitie McCollow discusses the ins and outs of the recruitment process, giving you the latest in what’s hot in recruitment right now, along with tips to help you improve your hiring process. This podcast is ideal for recruiters, as well as those in HR and talent acquisition. HBR Ideacast – Harvard Business Review Sarah Green Carmichael, editor of the Harvard Business Review, heads up HBR Ideacast, a weekly 12 to 25-minute podcast dedicated to examining leaders in the business world who might be able to teach us a thing or two. For instance, Carmichael sat down with Melinda Gates, wife of Bill Gates, to discuss her commitment to the advancement of gender equality, and how other women can learn from her experiences in the business world. Carmichael also covers certain topics in more depth, such as how to feel happier while at work. This podcast is great for recruiters who also play a broader HR role within the company and want to improve their workplace atmosphere. HR Happy Hour – Steve Boese and Trish McFarlane HR Happy Hour, hosted by Steve Boese and Trish McFarlane, is one of the most downloaded recruitment podcasts out there. It is also one of the longest-running – and for good reason. Boese, the co-chair of the HR Technology Conference, and McFarlane, author of the blog HR Ringleader, invite experts onto their show to discuss topics related to HR trends and strategies. This is another podcast consisting of shorter episodes, which makes it more appealing to check out if you’re on the run and don’t have a lot of time. Episodes range in duration from 26 minutes to around an hour. Slate’s Working – Slate Jordan Weissmann, the senior business and economics correspondent for Slate, hosts the innovative podcast Slate’s Working, an immensely interesting podcast wherein Weissman interviews individuals working in a variety of fields to find out the inner workings of how they do their jobs. Episodes range from “How Does a Clown Work?” to “How Does a Parenting Influencer Do Their Job?” With hundreds of episodes in Slate’s podcast repertoire, you’re bound to find one that interests you. Weissman has interviewed everyone from oyster farmers to tugboat pilots and firework designers. While this podcast may be able to give you insight into the kinds of people you meet as a recruiter, this podcast is also just downright fun. Slate allows you to dig even deeper into an untapped side of the recruitment business: what people do in their day-to-day once they actually land the job. Joblogues – Joymarie Parker and Cortney Cleveland In a world where recruitment podcasts can grow stale with a multitude of hosts covering the same topics, and sometimes with the same people, Joblogues is a breath of fresh air. That’s because hosts Joymarie Parker and Cortney Cleveland flip the idea of a recruitment podcast on its head and interview those on the other side of the table. Parker and Cleveland speak to young professionals the world over to find out what it is they are looking for in their careers. Hiring managers can then use this information to hone their interview and selection processes and better align their goals with those of the present and upcoming workforce. Hiring on All Cylinders – Entelo First, that name – Hiring on All Cylinders – is fantastic. Second, you may find this to be one of the most valuable recruitment podcasts you’ve ever heard. That’s because Entelo’s hosts, including Sean Simerly, sit down for a 30 to 40-minute weekly interview with recruiting experts to get answers to some of the most pressing questions in the industry. Entelo understands that the world of recruitment is ever-changing and, as such, recruiters, HR professionals, and those in talent acquisition must be kept abreast of trends and topics so they can weed out the best of the best in their related fields.
The post Recruitment Podcast Roundup appeared first on Career Advice.
Nurses are the backbone of every healthcare organization. Currently, there are serious nursing shortages all over the country, and it is predicted those shortages will continue into the future. There simply aren’t enough nurses to fill demand, and an aging population. You will need to think outside the box as you seek to recruit talented nurses – you may limit your options by only utilizing an online or social media approach. While social media and other online resources are widely used in recruiting today, not every talented candidate in the industry can be found online. According to studies, approximately 10% of adults are still not using the internet at all, and about 30% of adults decline to use social media (LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, etc). Younger folks are far more likely than older folks to use social media, although all ages access the platforms. It is valuable to determine where your candidate pool participates in educational and professional activities and, therefore, where to focus your recruiting efforts. See the tips below for recruiting nurses who are less active (or inactive) online: Employee Referrals If you already have a strong team of nurses and need to replace or add to your talent, consider asking every top-performing nurse for recommendations. You might offer bonuses or other rewards for successful hires that result from an internal referral, to encourage participation. These bonuses can be offered both to the new hire, and to the professional who referred them. The Old-School Method Advertise in newspapers, community circulars, and any other print publications that may be preferred by the types of nurses you’re targeting. Even if they don’t see it, someone may tell them about an advertisement. Print can also result in word-of-mouth referrals! University & Technical College Recruiting While most young people are online, there are some who have refrained from using social media, or the usual channels that would let you reach them. Consider working with local schools that have nursing degree programs. You can set up internships for students, participate in job fairs held on campus, and directly recruit top talent upon graduation. Master’s and Ph.D. programs, in particular, may have experienced nursing talent that is, perhaps, less active online. Start generating interest in your organization while the nurses are still students in the program. Catch their attention as they eagerly seek to determine their first placement post-graduation. Make sure to advertise the perks of working with your organization! Alumni Associations Contact schools of nursing in order to connect with their alumni base, as they have access to professionals who may like to work for your organization. The campus career center is another good resource, as recent graduates may still utilize school resources as they search for the perfect job. Continuing Education & Certification Courses One area where you can always expect to find nurses is in continuing education. Form relationships with popular local or online schools to learn ways that you can advertise your positions, or create a meet ‘n’ greet with participating nurses. You may also be able to sponsor certification courses and use the email list of participants to recruit directly. Other Events, Conferences, and Associations Attend industry events where nurses are participating and speaking. You might either linger to socialize and create introductions or request a booth in order to advertise your open positions. Your organization could consider making a donation to the event, as well, so you’re listed as a sponsor. You can also participate in job fairs for the medical community. Finally, be sure to engage the relevant national and local professional groups and associations. Consider attending events they host and placing notices in publications distributed to nurses. Industry-Specific Recruiters Cast a wider net by partnering with industry-specific recruiters who can do some of the legwork for you and expand your access to talent in today’s market. Find the right niche for your organization – is it a hospital, clinic, specialty hospital, educational or research organization? Target the specific types of nurses you seek. The Bottom Line Nursing is an important, rewarding career with a workforce shortage – nurses are in very high demand! While career websites, email, and social media certainly all deserve your recruiting efforts, remember that it is still only one facet of a thorough approach. You may blast notices to your social media network to see if they connect you with talented nurses who are two or three times removed from your network. A well-rounded mission to recruit the best nurses involves online tactics as well as face to face encounters. Recruiters and administrators have an important role to play in mitigating the nursing shortage issue, so your organization doesn’t experience staff serious or prolonged vacancies (which have a direct impact on patient care). As you attempt to fill positions with the best of the best, you want to ensure that you leave no stone unturned – some adults, believe it or not, are still not active online. Get creative to connect to those hold-outs! Article Updated from the Original on May 26, 2019
The post 5 Effective Tips For Recruiting Offline Nurses appeared first on Career Advice.
Have you ever had one of those days when you just couldn’t seem to get anything done, despite your best intentions? Unless you’re a superhuman with impeccable initiative and an inability to be distracted by cute cate videos, you probably know what we’re talking about. Whether its the myriad of work piling up on your desk, a host of small problems that seem to pull you away from larger tasks, or simply a lack of a good nights sleep that leaves you unable to focus, we’ve all had moments in the workplace where we feel less than satisfied with our accomplishments. Sure, we can sit and beat ourselves up for not punching out that report fast enough or for not getting that extra invoice sent out for the day, but repeated studies show that criticizing ourselves, and others, for perceived failures can often be counterproductive. Don’t get us wrong, from time to time there will be a bad apple in the workforce who turns out to be lazy or uncoachable, but the majority of us simply need a little help in prioritization. This is why true leaders should resolve to manage expectations, both of themselves, and others, in order to improve performance rather than simply asking for more or harder work. Sound impossible? Let’s dig into a few simple ways to make big changes with this approach. Evaluate the Current Situation Whether it’s a single project or an entire system or way of conducting business before goals can be set or deadlines established leaders need to evaluate the current state of affairs. What are your main pain points or problem areas in your industry and specific place of business? What are short, medium, and long term projects that need to be accomplished? Finally, what are your current staffing capabilities both in number and talent? Evaluating each of these with a critical eye is a crucial first step to undertake before you can move on to planning and implementation. Establish Realistic Goals Whether it’s yourself or your employees, if you are unclear on what can realistically be accomplished in a given timeframe, it will be nearly impossible to set clear, realistic timelines. Can you really roll out that systemwide software upgrade in three months? Perhaps there’s a project that other companies could accomplish in a few weeks but with your current staffing levels, it will take a team more than double the time. In short, be honest with your assessment of the situation and don’t be afraid to ask for extra resources, additional time, or to push back altogether if a goal just isn’t doable. Not only will this save you face with management and your team, but you’ll also be less likely to discourage your own efforts due to feelings of failure or hopelessness from trying to meet an unrealistic endgame. Expectations of Self When it comes to managing expectations, leadership starts at the top. Be an example to your team by identifying, establishing, and then following up on clear goals for your own performance. While these don’t always need to be communicated directly to those you work with, do take the opportunity to mention during regular check-ins or team meetings. This will help keep you accountable and will also signal to others that you take promises seriously when it comes to your work performance. Expectations of Your Team Leading by example is great and all, but if you aren’t clear in communicating your expectations to those who answer to you, it’ll be difficult to try and introduce a culture of accountability. Many managers get hung up when it comes to being afraid to ask too much of their team members. This can create hedging in your directions and confusion when it comes to what was supposed to get done and by whom. To avoid these hiccups, sit your team down and establish clear protocols and procedures for asking for help and taking direction. When assigning an individual project, be clear about the final due date and any nuanced guidance you may have to delivery or roll out. Lastly, if a deadline is dropped or less than the optimal product is turned in, be sure to debrief your individual team members as to what went wrong. This can make a big difference in weeding out poor performers from those who simply need additional guidance and can also identify flaws in your own ability to clearly communicate expectations. Expectations of Your Company While the individual cogs are the day to day performers, the company you answer to also needs to live up to its promises in order for the individual employees to be effective in their roles. If you are being asked to implement a plan that is simply unfeasible with your current staffing levels or resources, be sure to speak up. Asking for the tools and support you need to do your job won’t be considered rude or demanding but instead will demonstrate that you are a leader who wants to get things done and isn’t afraid to speak up when necessary in order to execute a vision. It’s Not a One Time Fix While the above basic guidelines are a great place to start to develop a method for managing expectations, it’s important to know these steps aren’t a one time practice. Each new initiative, project, or major sales goal will need some version of the above, even in an abbreviated format. It’s also useful to schedule regular check-ins both for yourself and your team to ensure that there hasn’t been any material change in assumptions that may necessitate a shift in expectations. Remember that accountability is a key skill for any great leader and that execution of this trait goes both up and down the corporate ladder. Keep good housekeeping of your ability to manage expectations of self and others and you’ll be well on your way to getting more accomplished and to feeling less overwhelmed in the process. Article Updated from the Original on May 22, 2019
The post I Resolve To…Manage Expectations of Myself and Others appeared first on Career Advice.
Everyone loves a good New Years resolution. It’s an accepted fact that the arbitrary flipping of a calendar year makes a great opportunity to aspire to do and be better whether at home or in the office. If you’re a hiring professional, recruiter, or otherwise involved in talent acquisition for your company, the New Year often marks the start of a new hiring spree to meet demands for future growth and fill gaps in your current workforce. This uptick in hiring comes with an increased need for resources to help locate, interview, and eventually onboard your new employees. It’s well accepted that employers make the largest investment in their new additions during the first months to a year of employment. While this is unlikely to change given the dynamics of training a new person to fit a specific role and inevitable employee turnover, as a hiring manager you can resolve to help improve the process. Here are a few suggestions to help you lower hiring costs and deliver better applicants to help meet your company’s needs in the New Year, and beyond. Lower Costs When it comes to lowering the costs associated with employee hiring, the first thing to consider is efficiencies in your process. Many companies without built-in hiring departments often rely on outside recruitment agencies or pre-screening firms to send a select group of candidates for review. While this can save time when it comes to weeding through unqualified candidates, these services also cost a great deal of money in the form of referral and finders fees. One of the keys to reducing costs is access to a source of high-quality candidates or a platform that brings these individuals to your door with pre-screening in place. A Forrester study found that Simply Hired delivered the lowest cost per hire (CPH) among two leading job boards and one job search aggregator. Advertising on Simply Hired cost 58% less than the leading job boards, and 7% less than the job search aggregator. Simply Hired’s pay per click model means that employers pay only when candidates click on their listings, not when those listings show up in a mass search result. In addition, Simply Hired provides a host of guidance when it comes to crafting concise, targetted job listings to help ensure your open position gets in front of the right candidates. In short, Simply Hired’s platform not only delivers quality candidates, but it also does so at a fraction of the cost of using a placement service or similar job board listings. In addition, as the popular saying goes, time is money and this is especially true when it comes to hiring new employees. Each day a position goes vacant is lost revenue and productivity for a company. Leveraging tools offered by Simply Hired’s job search and listing platform can help employers recruit and hire faster, thus reducing the overall onboarding costs. Deliver Better Applicants Lowering costs is a useful strategy for a business, but for full effectiveness, quality must remain the same in order to achieve maximum value from a hiring program. As it turns out, Simply Hired also comes to the rescue in this regard. With keyword targeting for employers and industry-leading search features for prospective candidates, Simply Hired has made an art form out of connecting qualified candidates with their ideal open job positions. Prospective employees can search job openings by location, industry, salary and more, ensuring that your final applicants are better matched with the specifics of your listing. When comparing to other major job boards, Forrester looked at year over year data from a large recruitment agency and found “…the CPH of the other three large vendors increased at varying rates while the CPH for Simply Hired gradually decreased. This trend may be partly explained by the ethos of Simply Hired’s engineering team. When Forrester interviewed these engineers, we found that they regard Simply Hired primarily as search engine technology and dedicate the bulk of their resources to improving the job search experience for users.” A positive job search experience allows Simply Hired to match candidates to more relevant job openings and improve the overall experience leading to a positive word of mouth and a corresponding increase of quality candidates on the platform. In short, if one of your resolutions for the New Year was to reduce costs and deliver better candidates for your available positions, Simply Hired is your partner to help meet your goals. Read Related Articles:
Your Message or Theirs? Take Control of Your Employer Brand Charm Candidates With an Irresistible Company Culture How to Leave a Positive Impression With Rejected Candidates
Article Updated from the Original on May 19, 2019
The post I Resolve To…Lower Hiring Costs and Deliver Better Applicants appeared first on Career Advice.
If you’ve spent time recently perusing the available job market, you’ve probably seen a new theme among entry-level positions. It seems that nearly every position, from cashier to computer technician, asks for or prefers a college degree. While it’s a given that specialized careers such as lawyers or doctors would need some kind of advanced certification, for many other positions the connection between additional schooling and performing the essential job functions may not be as dependent. If you’re a hiring professional, perhaps you’re thinking it only makes sense to ask for a college degree for your open positions. After all, attending higher education would appear to correlate to a higher level of intelligence and, therefore, a more successful candidate on the job. But before you go reaching for that submit button on your latest job listing, consider the benefits of candidates with alternative qualifications. Ready to learn more? Let’s take a look at a few scenarios when hiring for real-world experience is a better value than shopping for candidates with college or advanced degrees. Entry Level Positions First thing first, it’s time we address the elephant in the interview room. We’re talking entry level jobs and the various requirements that employers seem to place on these low-responsibility positions in a knee jerk fashion. While the term entry level can vary in meaning from employer to employer or industry to industry, the commonality is that candidates need little to no actual experience in the given field in order to get up and running. Typical entry-level jobs include food service, clerical, data entry, stock room, delivery, and other positions where the essential functions are easily taught and understood without needing any specific background. During the employment downturn following the housing and stock market crashes in the late 2000s, many employers found themselves with a wealth of newly minted college graduates ready, willing, and able to take any available job. While the willingness of college grads to accept lower pay and responsibility positions dried up as the jobs market improved, employers have been slower to the punch when it comes to altering their hiring mindset. The result is that hiring managers often include the requirement of a college degree for any and all jobs as a matter of course, limiting the available talent pool to only those who have spent 2-4 years in higher academia. The end result of this mismatched, overqualified approach to hiring is often shorter term employees and a higher level of job dissatisfaction. When polled, countless employers site employee turnover as one of their highest areas of overhead and largest disrupters to business continuity. The truth is that young would-be job seekers who have attended college typically do so with a specific career, or at least career aspirations, in mind. While they may have that graduate degree in their pocket to get them in the door as a warehouse staffer, rest assured that the majority of college graduates will consider your entry-level, part-time, or labor based job as a temporary stop-gap measure until they can find a position in their chosen career path. Identify Essential Job Functions With the above facts in mind, it’s in every hiring manager’s best interest to keep their options open as they start out their search for the perfect candidate for their open job listing. Instead of listing out a set of minimum or preferred qualifications based on some level of education try approaching your opening in a more holistic manner. Start out by polling your various managers and staffers in the same or complementary positions as the job for which you’re hiring. Identify the essential job functions, responsibilities, and minimum requirements needed to perform and excel. If you already have a person in a similar position, consider what characteristics or prior experience they had prior to joining as well. Using this information, craft your job listing in a way that focuses on the individual strengths and qualities of an individual candidate, rather than an arbitrary degree. The Bottom Line on Hiring Based on Practical Skills Just as items labeled one-size-fits-all inevitably end up fitting no one well, no one set of requirements or qualifications are right for every position within your company. While higher education can often teach valuable skills such as logic, reasoning, math, and communication, these qualities can also be gained from the real world either in a similar job or via life experience. By limiting your position to candidates with advanced educations, you cut out a significant demographic from the job pool that may possess the traits you desire and are committed to remaining in your position and growing with the company. In short, hiring managers should look at each listing on a case by case basis and take the time to invite and evaluate a diverse range of candidates. The end result will be a better fit for both your business and your new employee.
The post When Hiring for Real World Experience is a Better Value appeared first on Career Advice.
When it comes to hiring challenges, few items often trip up decision makers as the opportunity to hire active, reserve, or retired members of our military. Correspondingly, non-active duty veterans often find interviews in the private workforce to be one of the most stressful aspects of civilian life. From misconceptions about their active duty job roles to a lack of understanding of the nuanced talents veterans can bring to all levels of employment, let’s delve into our guide to hiring and understanding veteran candidates and the benefits they may add to any organization. Return From Duty One of the most common misconceptions when it comes to the term “veteran” is that it refers to soldiers who have experienced combat. In reality, however, a veteran is anyone who has fulfilled their active duty responsibilities either at home or abroad, in combat, or in a support role. Regardless of the individual position, however, all military members have undergone the same level of training and conditioning. This initial induction, as well as subsequent experience in an active military role, helps create dynamic and talented individuals with a range of qualifications. From culinary to logistics, veterans are uniquely qualified to step into a diverse range of service and leadership positions with their prior training and support already provided courtesy of their previous armed services experience. Unfair Bias Veterans exiting active duty are often confronted with a host of unfair biases. One of the most common is a misconception of PTSD, or post-traumatic stress disorder. While PTSD is a common condition facing many of our active duty service members exposed to stressful and violent experiences on the battlefront, it does not impact a person’s ability to contribute to society, maintain a successful job, or lead a team of qualified individuals. When interviewing veterans, refrain from asking about specific combat experiences such as whether they were engaged in live fire situations or whether they had to kill anyone in their role. Not only are such questions prohibited under many federal laws, but they are also a poor method for evaluating individual capabilities and performance in civilian positions. Instead of focusing on military duty, ask for situations that highlight individual traits such as leadership or decision making skills. In return, you’ll gain not only a quality employee but someone who is able to contribute a unique set of skills to your position based on a wide array of real-world experience. Alternative Approaches Need additional guidance in the interview room or beyond for potential veteran candidates? Here we lay out a few common questions and viewpoints that express unnecessary bias along with alternative queries that will help you identify transferable skills and that will help land you a quality candidate in the process:
Bias
Ask these questions
Military personnel only do what they’re told. They don’t have leadership skills and can’t think on their own.
Tell me about a situation when you made a decision that affected your troop. What were the results of that decision?
Tell me about a time when you disagreed with your instructions. What did you do? What was the outcome?
Former military personnel can be rigid in their individual thoughts and actions.
Tell me about a time you contributed to a team when there were different viewpoints being shared. How did the team come to a solution, and what role did you play?
Soldiers are uneducated and do not have college degrees.
What kind of on the job training was provided to you in the military? Tell me what skills you learned while in the military.
All veterans have PTSD, and won’t be able to do their job reliably as a result.
Ask specific questions related to your job in this situation. For example, will you be able to work between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.? Will you be able to travel 25% of the time?
When evaluating veteran candidates, keep in mind that this unique and diverse talent pool will often have experiences and training that can benefit your individual business and return on talent investment. A commitment to excellence and discipline and the ability to adapt to the most extreme of conditions are only a few of the benefits of hiring a veteran can bring to your business. Keep an open mind and you will reap the benefits of a candidate who has undergone the most rigorous on the job training program available. Article Updated from the Original on May 8, 2019
The post A Guide to Understanding and Hiring Veterans appeared first on Career Advice.
It’s a well-known fact that one of the largest staffing related costs businesses face is employee turnover. During the hiring and firing process, employee turnover costs the average company approximately 150% of an individual’s total compensation package. What’s perhaps not as well known is that an effective onboarding plan can help drastically decrease employee turnover. The result is not only seen in immediate dollars and cents savings. A successful onboarding strategy also contributes to employee productivity which has a corresponding effect on staffing output and your ultimate bottom line. While developing such a program may seem like a time and resource consuming task, in reality, many of the most common solutions require little in the way of resource expenditure and a modest amount of planning. The three largest goals of any onboarding plan should include helping your new hire get up to speed in their job role, orienting the employee on company culture and policies, and integrating the individual positively within the new team. The best onboarding processes begin early at the recruiting stage and continue throughout the first six months to a year of employment. Here we break down how to craft an effective onboarding plan and provide advice for implementation that cost less than $100 total for each new role. Stagger Your New Hires While the tendency may be to combine multiple hiring opportunities into unified start dates, the reality is that this approach often stretches existing limited HR and training resources. Whenever possible, stagger your new hires by several weeks to allow your key onboarding professionals time to get back to tackling their everyday tasks. Even in larger companies that have dedicated training and hiring personnel, scheduling your new groups of candidates by priority will allow the best application of resources and will keep your existing team fresh and energetic. Take Advantage of Efficiencies That being said about staggering if you have the opportunity to onboard several new hires within the same department or with similar job functions every effort should be made to bring the new employees on with the same start date. Not only will you save resources by offering one training to several individuals, but there are also proven benefits to establishing strong working and team relationships at the outset of any new employment. Evaluate your anticipated and one-off hiring needs in order to determine the right balance between optimization and over taxation of your hiring and training staff. Treat Each Position Individually We’ve all heard the common idiom about trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. Much like our childhood building blocks games, treating the onboarding process the same across all company job levels and descriptions often lead to a one-size-does-not-fit-all scenario. While there will be certain essential HR orientation and company-wide training that apply to all hires, individual department and seniority level specific training strategies should be utilized to help make the onboarding process as impactful and useful as possible. Create a Mentorship Structure Perhaps one of the most vital tools in any successful onboarding process is a company’s existing talent pool. Current longterm and otherwise standout employees can provide vital support, mentoring, and leadership to newer counterparts. Hiring managers should identify current team members that display an acumen for guiding and mentoring current staff. These individuals should be partnered with new hires to help provide the kind of firsthand guidance that cannot be replaced by an employee manual or first-day hire presentation. Utilize 360 Feedback Going hand in hand with mentorship, allowing new hires to provide feedback on the hiring and training process is an important step to crafting and refining a successful onboarding program. Oftentimes a new set of eyes can provide crucial insights into the efficacy of existing policies and procedures. Allowing new hires to provide feedback on their individual experiences can also create opportunities for these individuals to feel appreciated and involved in their hiring process and the larger company. At various stages throughout the onboarding process, be sure to provide prompts for feedback on both structure and various individual interaction. Utilizing this information will allow leadership to fine-tune individual policies and procedures and will return dividends beyond a single new hire experience. Successful Onboarding as Company Culture Last but not least, when it comes to creating and maintaining a successful hiring and integration platform, hiring managers should remember that onboarding isn’t as much a one time process as it is a company culture phenomenon. An impactful onboarding program will speak to both a commitment to finding quality talent and your internal company culture. Both of these aspects will resonate with both current and incoming candidates. The result? The ability to not only attract but retain top-notch quality individuals for all of your essential job roles. Want to learn more about how to improve your hiring process? Stay tuned to the Simply Hired blog for the latest and greatest advice from those in the know when it comes to best practices and impactful trends in the world of recruiting. Article Updated from the Original on May 7, 2019
The post Save HR Dollars, Learn to Onboard Like a Pro appeared first on Career Advice.
In the modern world of intrusive commercials, social media marketing, and product placements it’s easy to understand how customers can often feel inundated by advertisements. Instead of succinctly communicating your brand message, the result of this oversaturation leaves the client’s feeling like they’ve been clubbed over the head by marketing strategies. The result is that when approached by traditional advertisements, customer’s are increasingly likely to tune out, change the channel, or even be put off by your product, service or brand. This oversaturation can, and does, translate to your brand message when it comes to attracting, or turning off, prospective employees. Instead, how about trying the grassroots approach where your current talent base passively promotes by example. Grassroots recruiting through your employer brand should be a staple of any hiring plan, and here we delve into how to use it effectively. Your Employees Are Communicating Company Culture Current employees often communicate a company’s culture through their everyday interactions with customers and the general public. Savvy companies will capitalize on this free exposure by giving comprehensive training to all incoming employees on the message they should express in their interactions with guests. Disney parks are well known for providing positive, outgoing, and customer-centered interactions. Disney “cast members” are instructed to stay in character constantly while they are “on stage” or in the public eye. This doesn’t just apply to the character actors, either. Everyone from janitors to ride operators are given a multi-day training, complete with their own individual group mentors, instructing new employees on the nuances of the Disney brand. Smaller brands or establishments can also benefit from this approach. Fast food companies can instruct their employees to always greet guests with a friendly smile and cheery disposition. Hardware stores can be instructed to accommodate guests running just a few minutes past closing time. Not only will these small steps gain and retain cash-paying customers, but it also sets a precedent that your establishment must be a great place to work. Oftentimes, employees express a company’s culture through trained speech, body language and through a specific type of customer service or affability. Below are some examples of how workers communicate and show the company culture on a daily basis. Train Employees To Exhibit Your Brand Effectively Telling an employee your company’s brand message is one thing, effectively demonstrating it is another entirely. Start by adopting a comprehensive training regimen, ala Disney as we mentioned above. Disney, in fact, has been so successful with their hiring program that other major companies hire out the magic kingdom HR teams to present onsite training sessions for their own staff. Any training program should offer both written guidance and real-world demonstrations. Asking your incoming class to act out specific scenarios is a great way to provide constructive guidance while allowing you to talk through one-off scenarios. In addition to training, be sure your current management is practicing what they preach when it comes to exhibiting the ideal company brand message. Management should be held to the highest of standards to ensure that lower level employees mimic their behavior and follow suit in adopting the company messaging. It’s Not That Complicated Last but not least we need to stress the point that your brand message, and it’s effective communication, doesn’t need to involve a hundred steps or layers of factors. In fact, the most authentic communication strategies utilized by companies often involve a simplified back to basics approach. Consider these criteria when developing and implementing your brand message with employees:
Identify the concerns and motivations of your customers and ensure your employees are knowledgeable in how to address these issues. Trust your current employees and their real-world experience and allow them some flexibility in delivering or even improving upon your existing messaging. Actively engage your current employees for their feedback and recommendations. After all, if your goal is recruiting a strong workforce it only makes sense that you’d go to the current group for areas of improvement.
However you choose to address your employer brand, never underestimate the impact that the smallest of gestures can have on your overall business. Whether it’s a friendly smile or a standard greeting, especially when it comes to recruiting it’s often these minute plus factors that allow you to attract the best of the best in the competitive talent pool. Article Updated from the Original on April 18, 2019
The post Grassroots Recruiting Through Your Employer Brand appeared first on Career Advice.
For many employers, it may seem the intuitive choice to look for candidates that are willing and eager to take direction. Especially for those among us who are decision makers or managers already, knowing that you’ll be adding a hard working and malleable team member provides comfort in knowing that your daily assignments, tasks, and directions will be performed to your specifications. This line of reasoning is all well and good, but it opens the door for organizations to overlook perhaps one of the most vital qualities in longterm, lasting employees. We’re talking leadership and the ability for individuals to one day, if not from the outset, guide their own teams and provide direction to subordinates. Maybe the position isn’t management or not even on the same track, you may say. Here we lay out why one of your top resolutions as a good hiring manager should be to identify and hire leaders within your teams, regardless of the individual job specification. Leaders Show Initiative A strong propensity to be a leader will often go hand in hand with a level of independence and confidence in your candidates. While at a minimum you need a group of employees that are willing to take direction, it’s neither efficient nor an ideal working environment when a single “boss” is micromanaging a team with individual tasks. Employees with leadership tendencies will feel comfortable striking out on their own. These candidates will be able to work independently and will require far less day to day guidance in order to produce stellar work product that meets the job specifications. Be sure to have weekly or monthly meetings and communicate your goals and the responsibilities of the position clearly and your team members with leadership skills, and your business overall will thrive. Leaders Will Innovate Along with a strong tendency towards initiative in their roles, leader personalities also can help organizations think outside the box. Whether they are managing a team or working independently, the comfortability with taking on a guiding roll will prompt a leader to always consider whether there’s a better mousetrap suited for the position. Depending on the level of the employee you may need to provide guidance or otherwise ensure they haven’t gotten too far off task with their new way of thinking, but there isn’t a business around that couldn’t benefit from a fresh set of eyes on an existing structure, process, or problem. Leaders are Able to Step In Need another reason you should be looking for leadership traits among all of your potential hires? Consider what happens in your day to day business when a manager, team or group head, director or other report person has to step out. Whether its unexpected sickness, employee departure, or plain old vacation time, if you don’t have a stock of leaders to pull from in their absence your business can and will face gaps in performance while the person is away. In addition, by having existing leaders on your team you have a built-in recruitment pool when its time to hire. Internal promotes are already familiar with your business model and processes and will save time and money when they step into their new position efficiently and with little lag time. How to Attract Leaders It’s all well and good for us to lay down the facts and convince you it’s in your best interest to hire leaders, but just how do you go about finding them in the first place? Leaders have the ability to think independently and know when to act, when to be flexible and when to seek guidance. Identify these traits and use them in your job listing and recruitment materials to single out quality candidates. Another way to ensure your business is attractive to leaders is to focus your recruitment campaigns on your existing managers and guiding employees. Messages directly from your president, CEO, or senior leadership are great ways to lead on any recruitment marketing video or flyer. Have the message regarding company culture, expectations, and opportunities come directly from the top to appeal to leadership personalities. A leader is often recognized as a team member who can think and act independently while considering the team’s mission and direction. A leader is astute at knowing when to act when to be flexible, and when to seek guidance. Many organizations have replaced the term “manager” or “supervisor” with the term leader to represent a more holistic view of a person who doesn’t simply instruct people but also participates in the development of the team and its members. However, leadership is a coveted skill for almost any staff member, regardless of any official authority. Other ideas for making your company and corresponding job positions attractive to inherent leaders include:
Showcase videos featuring existing employees including awards, success, and the relationships among existing team members. Train your managers and HR staff in identifying leadership traits in candidates so that they are better able to identify these candidates in wider employee pools. List the opportunities at your company that includes innovative thinking, an opportunity for growth, and career development. Leaders want to excel and grow and you should highlight just how your company provides those sparks. Set clear expectations of the opportunity and your company from the outset as leaders are attracted to a strong workplace with solid structures.
Last but not least, be sure to regularly perform a comprehensive talent assessment at the company level. This will allow you to identify your current talent pool and opportunities for improvement or to shuffle positions or staff to areas where they may be better suited. Consider the leadership or other skills needed every time a new position comes up and use your existing workforce whenever possible to maximize efficiencies and demonstrate loyalty that will only further your employer brand. Read Related Articles:
How To Avoid The Pitfalls of A Cumbersome Hiring Process Your Message or Theirs? Take Control of Your Employer Brand
Article Updated from the Original on April 15, 2019
The post I Resolve To… Hire Leaders appeared first on Career Advice.