Recruiting 2021: New Challenges, New Opportunities

incipioworkstg on April 9, 2021

The COVID-19 pandemic brought the entire nation to its knees. Large businesses sent staff home, some to work (many with slashed salaries), and some without a job. Small businesses disappeared entirely. Those fortunate enough to have a job tried to adapt to the new “work-from-home” routine. And those newly laid off or furloughed attempted to figure out how to look for a new job during a pandemic.

The workplace culture — and the hiring/recruiting practices essential to populating that culture — arguably has been changed forever.

Whether you are looking for staff, or looking for a position, it will be challenging doing it alone in the emerging post-pandemic world.

For corporations, especially, it is essential to make Human Resources part of your business strategy, not just an afterthought.
Individuals, meanwhile, need to ensure their job searches — and the way they present themselves — is consistent with the skills and experience important to companies in the new workplace environment.

Here are some insights into the new reality.

The Macro Situation

A huge number (41%) of individuals who suffered a job loss have been unemployed for almost a year now, resulting in a crowded applicant market. The S. had approximately 23 million unemployed last April and the current number is still about 10 million.
According to Statista, 47% of companies discouraged remote work and required employees to show up in the office before COVID-19. However, the past year saw even the most rigid employers allow staff to work from home. Now, almost 44% of companies have shifted to full-time remote work.
According to Gallup, 59% of American employees who have been working remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic would prefer continuing to work from home as much as possible, after public health restrictions are eased.

Employer Hiring Challenges

For employers, the go-forward challenges are significant.

Companies that previously laid off workers need to be concerned about lingering negative perceptions that may exist among employees/applicants.
Employers that shifted to an office-less framework need to determine a set of traits that remote employees should possess and add new stages to the hiring process, such as behavioral and aptitude tests.
Large unemployment numbers likely are causing a huge number of applicants — many unqualified — and employers can waste a lot of time simply reviewing and trying to determine qualified persons.
Candidates increasingly are concerned about their health and safety. Employers have to validate that they’re going beyond just staying compliant to reduce fears so that employees will feel safe returning to the office.
Employers will have to audit existing hiring processes, determine what had been working in the past, what hadn’t been working, and figure out how the new normal is going to change their recruitment strategies.
They also will have to adapt their sales pitches based on additional benefits that they may be offering. For instance, the commuter stipend is no longer useful so they may have to introduce better home office setups, childcare benefits, and other wellbeing benefits.

Employee Search Challenges

Individuals, meanwhile, have new concerns that didn’t exist prior to the pandemic.

Many have determined in the past year that remote work fits their personal and professional needs and are interested in continuing on that track. However, they also would be interested in not limiting the number of opportunities that are presented to them.
They are also afraid that the new normal no longer includes jobs that clearly fit their pre-pandemic talents. And they may have to learn new skills to pivot.
The glut of applicants can easily cause qualified applicants not to get noticed by prospective employers. With remote working becoming the norm, they may even have to face competition with a geographically diverse pool of candidates.
When returning to the workplace, individuals may face different health risks depending on the kind of work they do, where they do it, and their own health conditions.
They might feel apprehensive about working with a company that made hundreds of employees redundant in the past.

Moving Forward

Skilled and experienced recruiters provide an important solution for employers and job seekers. Identifying, recruiting, interviewing, and onboarding aren’t the only tasks a recruiter needs to provide in 2021. New skills needed include virtual interviewing and assessment, virtual background checks, virtual hiring, and also reshaping an employer’s identity. Most importantly, the right recruiter is focused and aligned with the employer’s goals.

At Incipio Workforce Solutions, we learned a great deal in 2020 and turned that experience into better systems, processes, and procedures to help our clients achieve their objectives. For example, many companies realized the six-month or yearly performance review no longer was effective. We’ve developed much better ways of setting goals and tracking effectiveness on both a personal and professional level.

Want to know more about Incipio? Get in touch with us right away to learn how we can help you achieve your goals.

Training and Development: Why It’s Necessary!

incipioworkstg on September 1, 2020

What’s your biggest asset?

You Already Know.

Have you ever heard a company say, “Employees are our biggest asset?” When I hear that, I want to know what they are doing to back that up. Job seekers, in particular, are impressed if they learn a company is investing in their people to make them more efficient and productive. That’s exactly what great training and development programs are designed to accomplish.

Attract and Retain Employees

One of the biggest benefits of a training and development program is it’s effectiveness in attracting and retaining the best employees. Knowing an organization is willing to spend money on training and development not only attracts the interest of excellent candidates, but it will make your current employees feel valued and even increase loyalty. A combination of internal and external training (perhaps collaborating with a local college or university) will pay long-term dividends. It also will improve your reputation in the community which certainly will help your recruiting efforts.

Build Your Bench Strength

We’ve talked in other blogs about how disruptive it can be when you have to replace a valued employee. Having a program that trains and develops workers will go a long way to minimize that disruption by providing a smooth transition. A successful training and development program provides you with a pipeline of qualified employees ready to step up and be rewarded with a promotion. You’ll find it’s a lot cheaper than starting over in the hiring process.

Do Your Research

Survey Your Employees

***They know what they need!***

Have you thought about surveying your employees to see what they would like to see in terms of training or development efforts? It will give you some great feedback and allow you to tailor a program that is effective and appreciated. You’ll find it will also increase communication, collaboration and teamwork. It’s a great chance for employees to show you skills you didn’t even know they had.

Happy Ever After On-boarding

incipioworkstg on July 21, 2020

When You Know you’ve started at a great job!

There is no better feeling than when you go home from your first day at a new job and you tell your family you’re confident you made the right career decision. Top organizations understand it’s in their best interest to make their on-boarding process both welcoming and effective. Here are some things to keep in mind from the new hire’s perspective:

It’s all about Communication

Make sure you reach out to your new employee between the job offer and day one. Hearing from their new employer gives positive confirmation they left their previous role for good reason.

Get Housekeeping Matters Completed Early

Many times half of the new hire’s first day is spent in paperwork.

I would suggest you be proactive and get that paperwork completed ahead of time.

Set Expectations in Advance

When you start a new job, it’s like “drinking out of a firehose.” It is process information overload. Go ahead and get some of the simple expectations out of the way in advance. Answer a new hire’s questions such as: What’s the dress code? Where should I park? Will I be working a full day on my first day? Who are the key players in the organization? Can you provide me with an organizational chart?

Make Onboarding a Team Effort

A new hire shouldn’t be meeting with just one person the entire first day. They should be talking with a collective group of key players. This will break up the monotony of the day. This exposure to the organization will go a long way to making the new person feel welcomed and engaged.

Save time for Questions

New hires will have questions so make sure your organization has time set aside for discussion. The first day isn’t the time to rush people through a cookie-cutter orientation program.

Make a Plan for 30, 60 and 90 Days

If you set expectations in stages, the new hire won’t be overwhelmed and will clearly see goals and objectives. Have questions prepared for each stage so you can gather feedback on how the new hire is doing. Moreover, this will help you improve your overall onboarding process.

New Hire Success Story? Maybe…

incipioworkstg on July 14, 2020

More Than

30 % of people quit their job within the first 90 days.

A recent survey shows upwards of 30 percent of people quit their job within the first 90 days of employment. Job turnover not only reflects poorly on a company it also is extremely costly. Onboarding – the process of integrating a new employee into a company – is your opportunity to deliver on all the promises made during the hiring process. It’s your window to make the new hire feel welcome, motivated and to guarantee the candidate experience has put them on a path to happiness and success.

All during the hiring process you were selling your organization – telling candidates they’ll find your organization a great place to work – it’s a family. That had better be what the candidate finds when they step inside the door. Because if you sold them the wrong story, there’s no expectation they’re going to be successful.

Before the new hire starts, there should be a welcome email. It should explain where they need to be on their first day, the appropriate attire, what they need to bring with them and what they can expect. Make sure all the “first day” paperwork has been taken care of in advance of the actual start date. Have a department lunch the first day so they can casually meet and see the faces of the people they’ll be working with.

So the new hire doesn’t feel isolated, the hiring manager needs to be very intentional on getting the person involved in project teams right away. They should be exposed to the broader landscape of the organization so they can see how their role fits into the company’s overall success. Make sure the new hire knows how they’ll be judged at their annual performance appraisal so it’s clearly understood exactly what is expected of them. In addition, ensure professional development programs are in place to help the employee grow and continue to be challenged.

Consider a Peer Mentor

Setting up a peer mentor program is a great idea. Choose a person similar to the new hire who has done the job or is currently in that role. This is someone who isn’t their supervisor but who can show them around and answer any questions. The mentor should be involved for at least six months in the new hire’s employment. People want to work in places where they are able to create bonds and make friends. The peer mentor program helps you create that bond.

Set up Regular Check-ins

There should be regular check-ins from the hiring manager or the recruiter. Touch base with scripted questions at the end of week one – the end of week two and at 30, 60 and 90 days. Ask how things are going. New hires will be much more open with their recruiter or hiring manager then they will be with their supervisor.

Lower Expectations

Employers should be aware in the first 30 days in particular, they shouldn’t expect the new hire to make a huge, revolutionary impact. The person is just getting acclimated and taking on a lot of new projects and likely dealing with new systems and software. So the onboarding plan should be designed to get the new hire up and running without overwhelming them.

New Hires and Those First 90 Days

incipioworkstg on July 7, 2020

Every employer today should be thinking about what the process looks like when a new hire comes into your business. What consistently takes place and is it effective? Start with examining your current process and then ask yourself, “What should successful on-boarding look like?”

Onboarding

Got Process?

Structure

Onboarding begins before the new hire walks in the door. Think about your first correspondence to the new hire. If you’ve ever signed up for Disney vacation, you’ll remember receiving a beautiful package in the mail with customized rubber bands and your name displayed on everything. The package sets up clear expectations and makes you feel special that you just spent a lot of money! Imagine that from a business perspective. How can you make new hires feel special about the money your organization is about to spend on them?

Your structure should include tasks for specific people in the onboarding process. For example, the hiring manager should be triggered to call the new hire with congratulations and details of what they should expect on day one. And it’s important the hiring manager be there to greet the person as they walk in the door before turning them over to human resources.

On the first day, it’s wise to introduce the new hire to a mentor. It could be someone who happens to be in the same job role, but if you have a person who started in a similar job role but has advanced, that’s a great person to select as a mentor. With proper guidance, a mentor program gives you the opportunity to begin setting up expectations and will go a long way to making the new person feel welcomed and engaged. This is a great time to bring your top talent into the mentor program. It will help them feel valued – even if they don’t have a direct “dotted-line” connection with the new hire.

Culture

You should be spending time in onboarding talking about culture. This is when you should promote behaviors that are most valued in your organization. You should be very specific about those behaviors and show how they apply to their job role. Talking about culture also gives you a great way to transition into setting expectations for 30, 60, 90 days, and longer. You can show the new hire exactly how they’ll be judged when it comes to performance reviews and possible salary increases.

Did you?

Once you’ve built the onboarding structure and you’re driving connections and stressing culture, you need to make sure all of this actually happens! There is nothing worse than having some leaders who don’t follow the onboarding program. I could argue inconsistency is almost worse than having no onboarding program at all. Make sure you have systems in place to ensure follow-up to measure the effectiveness of your effort. For example, talk with new hires at the 90-day mark and again at six months to get their feedback. If some portion of your process wasn’t followed, this is the time to regroup and revisit what may have been overlooked.

The Candidate Experience

incipioworkstg on July 2, 2020

Is your comapny’s job candidate experience keeping the best people away?

Toxic Employees On Your Team

incipioworkstg on July 1, 2020

What to Do About Your Toxic Employees.

First Impressions: How Does Your Company Look to Candidates?

incipioworkstg on June 30, 2020

As with Online Dating, Your Company’s First Impression is Everything!

f you’ve ever tried online dating, you won’t be surprised to learn it’s all about the first impression. At that initial meet-up at the coffee shop or on a Zoom chat, you have to be on-point because you likely won’t get a second chance. It’s the same for companies looking to hire top talent. Even with the Covid-19 crisis, the job market today is competitive and it’s likely the candidate is speaking with four or five other companies.

Does Your Online Presence Give the Right Impression?

So you have to make a connection quickly. How do you do that? It starts long before the interview process. Your organization must be seen as a place people want to work. Are there things in your job posting that really help people understand what you’re providing to your customers in terms of products and services? How old is that job description? Your pool of applicants might be small because a competitor has a “compelling” job posting. It’s not sexy because it’s all glitz and glamour. It’s compelling because it’s appealing to somebody who wants to do that type of work with a progressive and successful organization.

What are the behaviors you truly value? If you say you love innovative, involved employees at every level and the candidate just wants “a job” and to be left alone, making those values clear will stop you from wasting everyone’s time.

Putting a consistent, systematic hiring process in place is a must. You need to have a standardized approach for every interview and every touchpoint. Candidates will talk to each other and if their stories are different it’s potential fuel for people to say you have “issues” in your company. Do you have managers who say, “Oh I don’t need a standardized process – I just sit back, meet the person and we have a conversation.” That personal approach might be okay if you’re a small business owner hiring three people and that’s all you have. However, as you get to scale, that can be perceived as preferential treatment – and you can get burned.

Cost/Benefit and The Candidate Experience

incipioworkstg on June 26, 2020

Do you remember the last time you were a candidate for a job? How did it feel? Were you frustrated? Did the process drag on without the prospective employer giving you regular updates? If you didn’t get the job, do you still have a positive impression of the company?

The answers to all of these questions are dependent on what we call “the candidate experience.” As we talked about last month in our blogs, your recruiting process is a direct reflection of your employer brand. Prospective employees today know a great deal about your company long before they come in for a face-to-face interview. Combine that knowledge with how applicants are treated during the employment process, and it can have a lasting positive – or negative – impact on your ability to hire and retain top talent.

Before a job is even posted, it’ important to determine exactly what is needed in a new hire. Set up clear expectations and a communication process so candidates remain interested and engaged. Studies show the biggest letdown for most candidates is a lack of communication.

Once you’ve brought the candidate in the door you have to work to keep them there. Make sure you have a program of professional development in place to ensure your company’s culture helps the new hire grow and continues to feel challenged. The cost of a new hire walking out the door unhappy is enormous.

In talent acquisition, perhaps the most crucial step you can take is developing a positive candidate experience. Not only will the applicants you hire feel even more welcomed by your organization, but also the candidates you don’t hire will still respect you. As a result, they will be more likely to refer other job seekers who may be a great fit for your organizations. That in turn leads to your company seen as a great place to work and makes your hiring process efficient and successful. The best idea is to treat prospective employees as customers. Because if they aren’t customers today, they could be in the future!

Talent Attraction: Lots of Great Talent Available, Are You Ready?

incipioworkstg on June 19, 2020

It’s 2020 and Everything Has Changed

No one would argue the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic has been dramatic. Our world has been reshaped in ways we can’t have imagined. However, as difficult at these current times are, there are opportunities for forward-thinking companies. Businesses should be preparing now for post-crisis recovery and growth.

Time to Scoop Up Great Talent

One important opportunity is that the pool of available talent has expanded. Far-sighted business leaders should stay calm and understand that many talented people are suddenly available. If you’re a strong business, well-capitalized with a solid growth plan, now is the time to scoop up top talent. It’s just like the stock market. When the market is down and you have cash – that’s the time to buy.

YOU NEED A PLAN. 30 Day. 60 Day. 90 Day

Pay can be important, but research shows what truly motivates workers is a high level of belonging and purpose. You want a candidate to say, “This is where I want to work.” Candidates will join an organization because they can see a company has a plan in place. That requires the right plan for the current situation. Your five-year plan may not work right now. You need to have a 30-day plan – with your workforce being a major component. You also need to have a 60-day and a 90-day plan – all based on where your revenues are today and where they might look in two or three months. Do you need to hire more people? Do you need to reorganize your current staff? These times demand flexibility.

RETENTION IS KEY

Once you get the right people in the door, you have to keep them. The cost of turnover is enormous. People today want to grow. They want professional development. They want to be valued – to know their opinions are being heard. They want to be an important part of an effective team.

LEAD WITH YOUR HEART

Perhaps in your organization, there isn’t a defined career ladder for a particular job. But you can still develop those employees professionally and help them become better at what they do. If you look at successful businesses, they’ve worked on this piece. They have an effective and engaging employee culture. They have learned to lead with their heart. They are invested in their people and as a result, have employees who are loyal. Businesses that haven’t learned will be the companies that struggle.