4 Tips For Better Job Candidates

Getting the best Job Candidates available is critical for a company’s success. Better employees means more efficiency, ingenuity, and thus better results. To ensure you are doing your do diligence in getting the best possible candidates, you should consider using ExactHire’s ATS to cross reference hundreds of candidates against various criteria, so you can guarantee getting the most qualified candidates every time!

One consistent characteristic about the job market is that it will have its ebbs and flows. During times of high job vacancies, job seekers possess a unique advantage to seek higher pay and/or additional benefits. When job vacancies are minimal, companies maintain the option to be more selective with pay and benefits as they filter through candidates to find the one who will be the best cultural fit. No matter the current hiring environment, there are ways organizations can improve the quality of candidates who apply. Here are four tips to implement in an organization’s hiring process to find better job candidates:

 

Create a simple application process to get better job candidates

Job seekers do not want to spend an exorbitant amount of time completing an online application. Ideally, an online application process should last five minutes or less. From the time the applicant starts the process to the time they click the button to submit. Human Resources professionals should take time to test the application and proceed through the content as if they are an actual applicant. From an applicant’s perspective, was the process cumbersome or simple?

Evaluate the questions included in the application. Can some or most questions be set as optional instead of being set as required? Which questions can be removed from the application? Do you really need to collect the applicant’s full address or the complete addresses, down to the zip codes, of past employers? Is it necessary to request references’ contact information at the time of application? Eliminating the muss of unnecessary questions will reduce the applicants’ fuss. 

Job seekers are often applying to jobs during work breaks, in between appointments and child care pick up, and even when stuck in traffic. The job application process must be quick and convenient. Make sure that the application process offers individuals the ability to apply on mobile phones and devices. TIme is of the essence to job seekers. Check your Applicant Drop Off report to get some insight, and do not ignore the message conveyed by the data.  The higher the drop off rate, the more likely it is for Human Resources to take action. It is important to use analytics to improve the application process. 

 

Craft accurately detailed job listings

When job seekers read through a job listing, they try to picture themselves in the role completing the listed responsibilities.  If the listing is vague, it is harder for a job seeker to imagine themselves in the role. Not enough detail will motivate the job seeker to skip applying. Communicate what the job entails and what qualities are needed by the person to be successful in the role. Integrate descriptions of company culture in the listing so the job seeker can get a feel for the work environment.  Specify if the role is remote, hybrid or onsite to eliminate questions.

Use bullets to identify key tasks and duties. Evaluate the level of education that is essential for success in the role. Is a bachelor degree really a requirement for the role? Some roles can be successfully completed by someone who has an associate degree or less but with the desired experience and skill set. Include any coveted benefits that differentiate the company from others such as unlimited or extended PTO, four-day work weeks, pensions, retirement matches, etc. 

 

Communicate with applicants

Starting when the applicant submits their application to an organization, communication should begin. Set up your Applicant Tracking System (ATS) to send a personalized, automatic email to the applicant confirming that the application has been received by the company. No matter the tech savviness level, the job seeker gets reassurance that their application was officially received by the organization. The ideal hiring process, from application submission to offer extended and accepted, should take no more than 30 days.

The longer the process takes, the more likely an organization will lose candidates to competitors. Do not leave applicants wondering if they are still in consideration. If they are not in consideration, be kind, and let them know by sending a message template. Good ATS platforms will offer ways to use wildcards to “personalize” text and email templates without users taking the time to manually input names, job titles, etc. Applicants will have a better applicant experience if they receive updates, even if it is not the news they want to hear. Sending timely, personable updates to applicants will positively portray the company’s branding. Word of mouth can help or hinder a company so ensure that job seekers’ experiences applying to the company is worth sharing. 

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Boost your employee referral program

What better way can an organization expand its talent pool by reaching out to current employees to get their recommendations of talent? Current employees have a solid understanding of the work culture and what is needed to thrive. They can be excellent judges of who in their network could be an asset to the organization. If an organization does not have an employee referral program established, create one with a variety of benefits. Offer financial stipends to current employees if a referral is hired and stays for a company designated timeframe.

Gift cards, event tickets, company swag and additional PTO are other ways to reward employees for bringing talent to the organization. To make sure proper credit is given, include a question on the employment application asking who referred the job seeker to apply to the company. Employee experience matters here also. Do not overlook former employees as a referral source. Former employees can share their testimonials and recommend colleagues to apply to their past employer so reward them fairly.  

 

Share on Social Media To Get Better Job Candidates

Global internet users spend almost 2.5 hours daily on social media. Job seekers and individuals not actively looking for a job will scroll intentionally and aimlessly to whatever catches their attention. Post company jobs on social media platforms, and consider sponsoring job listings for additional traffic. Job seekers can land on companies’ corporate pages through scanning job listings on job boards so make social media buttons highly visible on the company’s website to entice viewers to follow.  Share QR codes of vacancies to give job seekers quick access to apply.  Even if a viewer does not find a role that they want to apply to, they might know of a stellar candidate and share the link with them. 

 

In a competitive job market, it is challenging to find talent so companies must find ways to make themselves, and their job openings, uniquely attractive to entice job seekers to apply. By accurately portraying the company as a culture welcoming to all, individuals are more likely to explore opportunities to start a career at the place. Companies must communicate their message across multiple channels to reach different audiences. Get the message out that your company is THE company for job seekers.

2023 Hiring Challenges: How to Prepare and Fix Them

Hiring challenges are robust and consistent anytime of year, use ExactHire’s ATS to minimize these challenges and get you the best candidates on the market.

No matter how revolutionary your product or service is and no matter how innovative your solution is, your business won’t grow without high-value staff. Your bottom-line results are directly connected to your ability to attract, hire, and retain incredible workers. And today’s workforce and hiring environment are challenging. In fact, these are the top 2023 hiring challenges, along with insights to prepare for and fix them. 

Attracting Diverse Workforces

As an employer, you’re feeling the pressure to expand your company culture to be more inclusive and diverse. However, trying to attract and retain a more diverse workforce can be challenging. To improve your efforts and attract more diversity to your teams, it starts with a shift in company culture. Consider redefining your company’s position on inclusivity and diversity. And from there, branch out by developing targeted recruiting strategies that open the door to more applicants. Look for job fairs and networking events that specifically support underrepresented groups. Additionally, create diversity position statements in your job descriptions and throughout your online marketing. 

Finding Top-Quality Candidates

Another 2023 hiring challenge you’re likely facing involves finding top-quality and high-value candidates for your key positions. The competition right now for skilled candidates is fierce. Those applicants with the rooted experience you need are going to be tough to find. But, you can expand your recruiting efforts to include a more robust presence on the job boards. Be open with your marketing channels, like social media and your website, about unique job openings. Tap into your professional networks to create buzz about your role and ask for referral candidates. The top-quality candidates you’re looking for may also be working elsewhere right now. So, look to develop a strategy for connecting with passive candidates who may be ready for a career change but aren’t actively looking.

Remote Hiring Challenges: Job Candidates Need Flexibility 

It’s a worker-driven economy right now, meaning employees and job seekers have more opportunities to consider. Yes, they need to work. But they’re also being choosy about which positions to apply for and the companies they work with in the end. Regardless of how you feel about remote working dynamics, today’s workers need that flexibility and won’t change careers without it. But there’s more to flexibility than just remote and hybrid work. As an employer, you can offer more flexibility in terms of redefining working hours or work weeks. Consider implementing more progressive approaches to work-life balance initiatives that place value on employee experiences. 

Applicants Want the Opportunity to Explore New Skills

Internal mobility is the order of the day. And to address the 2023 hiring challenge relating to workers who want to try new things, you’re going to need to adopt a more comprehensive approach to internal promotion and in-house opportunities. Employees are more often looking to transform their careers in new directions. And they’ll stay with employers who routinely offer opportunities for continued learning, additional certifications, and new skills in other departments. To fix these hiring challenges, look to internal growth initiatives. When your new hires and existing employees show interest in exploring new paths, provide them with the roles and opportunities so they can continue to grow and improve – with your company and not someone else’s.

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Skills-Based Hiring Carries More Weight

If you’re struggling to find and hire top talent, take a look at your job requirements. The days of strict educational requirements and industry experience are in the rearview mirror. Today’s companies are adopting a more skills-based approach to hiring, seriously considering candidates with relatable skills and trainable characteristics. Create your job descriptions in a way that outlines the precise skills needed for the role. Instead of a bachelor’s degree in marketing, be open to those who have relevant experience with marketing on social media, content creation, or email campaigns. Broaden your lens to include skills, and you’ll broaden your pool of worthy applicants.

Retaining Your Best Talent

Hiring challenges in 2023 also extend to retention strategies. Once you do find great workers, you’re going to have to prepare for the challenges related to retention. This means sitting down with your current staff and gathering feedback about what they value most from an employer. And then, create an attractive strategy for keeping your best team members for the long term. Consider more comprehensive benefits packages, increased job flexibility, improved company culture, competitive compensation, and professional development opportunities. 

 

Prepare to address the unique hiring challenges in 2023 with these insights rooted in data and the latest hiring trends. And when you need a partner to help facilitate your new strategies, let ExactHire be your guide!

What makes Talent Acquisition so hard (and important)

Talent Acquisition (TA) is a complicated but highly rewarding concept. For Human Resources professionals focused in the realm of TA, they are on a high speed roller coaster with multiple twists and turns that can often lead them on a white knuckled trip. What makes talent acquisition so hard, and yet so important, is the main focus of the task. TA is a competitive, time-sensitive task that can yield disappointment but also joyous rewards. To really ensure you acquire the best talent you need ExactHire’s ATS. This allows you to compare hundreds of candidates against various criteria to get the best candidate for your position.

Talent Acquisition Challenges

The main reason TA can be so challenging yet rewarding is the same – the people factor. In the current job market, the talent pool is very competitive due to disproportionate numbers of skilled available talent compared to the number of vacant jobs. The competition is fiercely competitive. Rival companies are recruiting the same candidates that TA professionals seek to hire. Getting the message out to job seekers about the company’s vacancies and the company’s stellar branding to entice them to apply and pursue the company takes precision to filter through competitors’ noise. TA specialists can resonate their message more clearly and combat the noise by ensuring that company branding promotes the company as being the employer of choice due to culture.

Having a culture inclusive to employees with benefits that meets and exceeds the needs of employees solidifies TA’s claims to job seekers that their company is the one for job seekers. If job vacancies in certain geographic areas are more difficult to fill, examine what could help with filling those roles. Consider expanding the candidate search to additional areas or explore options for remote or hybrid work settings to attract more candidates. Utilize social media to its fullest and promote vacant job listings on major platforms. Social media platforms reach target audiences of differing ages and backgrounds. Using different social media platforms allows TA professionals to reach job seekers with diverse demographics.

The “People Factor”

Digging deeper into the people factor. What if applicants are plentiful, but none are perceived to have the needed skill set to be fully qualified to fill the vacant roles within an organization? This is where TA must partner closely with the department leaders of the vacant roles. Focus on the required skills needed for the vacant role. Candidates that meet those required skills can be evaluated further. They then identify the reasons why Human Resources cannot completely commit to extending a job offer.

For candidates who are contenders for a role but not 100% vetted, explore what it would take to mold a candidate for the vacant role in which they applied. The “perfect” candidate is equivalent to a unicorn; sought-after, beautiful and fictitious. If there are candidates for vacancies that can be shaped into productive contributors to an organization with some assistance upon hire, consider providing that assistance. It is possible that extra training or classes could be beneficial. The financial investment initially could pay off more down the road. A new hire will then have been given the opportunity to refine weaker areas to enhance their performance. Investing in employees, particularly new hires, can lead to higher employee retention and productivity.

Screening Candidates

Upon review of candidates, TA must be tasked with screening those who are potential for the company. TA is often the first impression of a company so TA professionals must display professionalism with a personable demeanor. Phone screens and interviews, whether face-to-face or virtual, generate nervousness in the minds of job seekers. TA professionals should create a positive rapport with interviewees. they can do this through sincerity and a genuine interest in learning more about the person’s desire to work for the company. Establishing a dialogue that is reflective of the company culture of inclusivity will help TA professionals formulate a working relationship with job seekers that help set a competitive edge. The best job seekers will be receiving employment offers from multiple companies. Job seekers will migrate to the company that demonstrates a bona fide interest in employees. This will help attract stellar job seekers from competitors.

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How to make Talent Acquisition Easier

Monitoring efficiency in talent acquisition can be challenging if data is not being collected and analyzed. Using an Applicant Tracking System (ATS) consolidates applicant data into a central location for analysis and communication by TA professionals and other designated employees in the hiring process. Having a central location to screen applicant data and communicate with stakeholders in the hiring process saves time and creates a comprehensive trail of actions taken when screening applicant records. Robust reporting tools deliver accessible data quickly to identify efficiency gaps in the hiring process. Using analytics helps TA professionals confidently formulate short-term and long-term goals. These can be used in immediate activities and strategic planning with leadership.

Conclusion

TA professionals work diligently to overcome competitive challenges in the hiring process. It is often a role which entails erratic schedules with long days and weekend events. Disappointment is frequent when TA professionals witness coveted potential talent decline their best pitch at landing them within their organization. While it is a game of wins and losses in a very broad generic sense, talent acquisition hosts a plethora of rewards. Without TA professionals to lead the charge of recruiting and retaining key talent, an organization would be sailing a ship without sails ultimately leading to a lack of sales.

TA professionals relentlessly pursue potential talent. They need to have the support of executive leadership as they navigate the recruitment process. Providing TA professionals with the tools they need for success is the best option for an organization. Then leadership can ensure that the company’s growth and productivity as a whole will weather threatening situations. This will allow them to survive things such as pandemics and global recessions. Talent acquisition is truly a hard but essential component in an organization’s overall health. It is crucial that appreciation is shown to those charged with acquiring talent to the company.

How will ChatGPT affect the hiring process?

Chat Generative Pretrained Transformer (AKA ChatGPT) is making headlines consistently throughout the world. ChatGPT is an Artificial Intelligence (AI) driven, human-like chat concept created by OpenAI and released to the world in November 2022. OpenAI has a strong, powerful and well-known investor – Microsoft.  In fact, the partnership with OpenAI and Microsoft is so strong, Microsoft is slated to incorporate AI called “Copilot” into Microsoft 365. Technology is constantly evolving, and the world is getting mainstream access to software that is reflective of human-like responses. AI driven software is new and exciting yet intimidating and overwhelming. ChatGPT is promoted as a resource for industries across the board, and Human Resources are starting to field questions, benefits and concerns as it is integrated in the hiring process. Want to streamline your hiring process? Use ExactHire’s Full Service Hiring service and forget about hiring struggles and just get the best available candidates for your open positions delivered to you!

 

Benefits to using ChatGPT in recruiting

Crafting a job listing or creating a standard job template can take time. ChatGPT can help by providing a foundation of content describing the role that can be customized to reflect the requirements of a vacant job listing. ChatGPT can generate content that does not include unconscious bias towards protected classes. It can keep content neutral, remove potential gender biases and eliminate jargon.

ChatGPT can provide job specific content for an organization. It can provide Human Resources professionals with sample interview questions to use in phone screens and face-to-face/virtual interviews. It can focus on the roles being filled at the moment. This is helpful as a starting point for recruiters.  These recruiters might be interviewing candidates for different types of roles that might be outside their niche. Before becoming dependent on the interview questions generated by ChatGPT, it is important to check with the company’s legal team. They can ensure that all application  and interview questions meet local, state and federal legal guidelines. HR professionals need to customize questions to reflect the culture, mission and vision of the organization as a whole.

Using ChatGPT in the workplace

Trying to come up with a way to draft an email that is not too wordy but yet “personable”? ChatGPT can be tasked with composing email content related to the mission of the message. Spelling and grammar errors are reduced. Save the content as a Communication Template to use when texting and/or emailing others.

Once new talent has been hired, it is crucial for a company to keep them engaged. ChatGPT can help new hires by answering their questions about company policies. ChatGPT can also provide assistance to new hires as they complete required paperwork and enroll in benefits. This can save HR time by automating tasks such as scheduling orientation, supervisor meetings and ordering company swag for new hires.

Microsoft’s AI, Copilot, will be integrated into Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook.  Abilities of the AI integration will allow for the automatic creation of data graphs in Excel. It also has the ability for PowerPoint to create presentations with images based on user prompts. For people who miss a Teams meeting, Copilot is set to generate automatic summarization. It will document the key content points from conversations within Teams. The inclusion date of this feature has not yet been released. This is promoted to offer cost and time savings to end users. Considering the volume of companies that use Microsoft, this will impact internal and external stakeholders.

 

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Concerns about using ChatGPT in the hiring process

While AI has been trickling into mainstream software and internet use, the immersion of ChatGPT fosters some genuine concern. Such as how intuitive the tool can be and whether it can cross a line of no return in its answers. There is no guarantee that answers provided to the users’ questions will be accurate or even ethically appropriate. Individuals who are starting conversations with an employer via chat dialogues need to be aware of who is or is not on the other side of the chat. Be forthcoming to employees that AI is driving the results and direction of the chat conversation to mitigate negative perception of the “employee” communicating in the chat.

Some companies will seek the use of ChatGPT as a replacement for human capital in a way to save time and money. If ChatGPT can do the tasks of one or more individuals, it is likely there will be some cost-cutting measures by eliminating human roles. Goldman Sachs estimates that 300 million jobs could be lost or diminished due to AI. To mitigate risk of elimination, at-risk employees need to explore opportunities for ongoing education and cross-training in in-demand areas.

Questions exist over safety controls. As with any software program, engineers work diligently to establish the highest parameters of safety. Will answers be accurate and appropriate? If ChatGPT generates inappropriate answers in a chat conversation, the impact of that conversation could lead to negative publicity that could impact the recruitment and retention of employees.

Conclusion

As an Applicant Tracking System helps streamline the recruitment process and an Onboarding System securely organizes employees’ content, technology is designed to simplify tasks in a process.  With ChatGPT, a lingering question exists. How will ChatGPT affect the neurodevelopment of employees? Will individuals find ChatGPT as a time saving tool that helps individuals light the fire of innovation of new projects, or will ChatGPT foster a sense of dependency and lethargy that stymies creativity and self-awareness? Time will tell as the debate is escalating on the use of AI in the employment sector. As with any new tool, it takes time to develop and refine the skills of its use. Knowledge is power; do not underestimate the powerful partnership of technology and the human brain in the quest for efficiency and productivity.

Workforce Redeployment

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Layoffs have been a recurring theme in the news lately. Major organizations such as Disney, Meta, Microsoft, and Goldman Sachs are some of the most well-known organizations that are cutting staff due to concerns of a pending global recession. Layoffs are designed to cut costs and implement a more lean style of business to yield a higher profit. However it can often communicate internal instability to consumers. They might look at other product and service providers who appear more stable to complete business transactions.

Layoffs not only reduce staff, but they also reduce employee morale. They generate a sense of uncertainty as many employees wonder if they are next on the “chopping block”. If employees are tense wondering if they are going to be laid off, they will start looking at employment elsewhere. Often this is with the company’s competitors in the same niche.  Although layoffs can be unavoidable, other options worth examining exist before making the decision to eliminate jobs. To help mitigate damage to employee morale and maintain a positive perception of company stability, companies need to explore the option of workforce redeployment instead of layoffs.

Internal Mobility

Workforce redeployment, AKA “internal mobility”, is a strategic function conducted by Human Resources and leadership to shift existing employees into different roles within the same organization. This is not a new concept. Companies have been utilizing workforce redeployment for years. Particularly in the case of health issues where an employee might not be able to physically or mentally perform the duties of their current role. They are then moved into a different role within the same organization which is more feasible for success. Workforce redeployment is commonly used at times of internal reorganization to help employees maintain employment within the company. Redeployed employees do not necessarily keep the same pay, schedule and working arrangements. Those factors are based on the needs of the new role in which the employee was redeployed.

Currently, workforce redeployment is gaining more traction as a strategic function to offset unexpected situations that impact business functions. The economy will continue to ebb and flow with periods of expansion and contraction so that is a known variable. Unknown variables such as a global pandemic are difficult to anticipate. Over three years later, companies are still reeling from the effects of COVID-19’s impact on working arrangements and job adaptability. Throw in the ongoing challenge of finding qualified talent, and these three items form the perfect storm for business failure if proactive processes to retain talent are not integrated within the company’s strategic plan.

Maximizing Efficiencies

Human Resources and leadership must conduct regular reviews of an organization’s structure. To help maximize efficiencies within an organization, a company needs to evaluate current roles. Then forecast where growth and reductions are anticipated to occur. In departments where growth and value are lagging, examine the likelihood of their future impact and their timeframe of dissipating value. Before the expiration date of those departments and/or roles within that have lagging value, invest in the talented employees. Offer the ability to reskill, as needed, and move into a different role. During times of prosperity, cross train employees. Provide training on skills that are internally forecasted with a high need.

Proactively identifying where cuts are needed, but allowing time to partner with those affected employees, shows the organization’s commitment to their employees. Redeploying employees can boost employee morale and demonstrate a view of solidarity and strength to internal and external stakeholders. Employees who believe that their organization is committed to their tenure and growth are more likely to stay within the organization reducing the loss of knowledge and talent.

For those employees who are redeployed into a different role within an organization, management must take into account that there will be varying degrees of emotion. Employees will run through a gamut of nervousness, excitement, and fear. Establish regular check-ins and monitor the transition into the new role. The redeployed employee is already familiar with the company’s culture and mission, vision and values so time to productivity should be quicker. Allow the employee to openly share their needs, goals and expectations for success.

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Workforce Redeployment Challenges

Not all employees will be supportive of workforce redeployment initiatives so there will be some attrition. For those employees who willingly leave the company, keep the door open and offer a warm welcome for a potential future return. Boomerang workers are employees who leave an organization and come back later to work for the same company. Harvard Business Review reports that 20% of employees who left an organization during the pandemic have returned to a previous employer. Losing talent is hard. It is even more painful for the organization if the talent built a positive rapport with colleagues. Provide a positive departing experience for talent who is voluntarily leaving. There is a solid chance they could want to return, and they might be the talent your organization is seeking.

Due to the nature and complexity of the scope of business, not all organizations can launch a mainstream workforce redeployment plan. However, often feasible opportunities exist to shift employees into roles that are conducive to company growth. Creative efforts must be made when examining the potential jobs and employees for redeployment. Create an internal network so employees can have a better understanding of other departments’ functions. Conduct skills assessments to identify skills transferable into different roles. Use an Applicant Tracking System’s (ATS’s) internal application to collect the interest of employees interested in other company opportunities. Maintain performance and employee records in a robust onboarding platform.

Conclusion

To offset financial loss and maintain a competitive edge, include workforce redeployment initiatives in the company’s strategic plan. Companies must forge through merciless storms of talent wars, evolving technology, pandemics, inflation and supply chain issues among many other barriers that disrupt operations and threaten a company’s existence. The loss of talent and the negative publicity that results from layoffs can be a one-two punch that can impede profits and even existence. Taking initiatives, such as workforce redeployment, can mitigate those losses and help keep doors open longer. Having an agile workforce is in an investment that pays in the long run.

3 Changes to HR in 2023

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The role of a Human Resources Manager looks a lot different today than it did just a few years ago. The responsibilities have shifted, as have the workplace landscapes. And the future of HR is going to depend on your company’s ability to adapt and grow in these new directions. HR in 2023 calls for a new playbook. And to ensure your HR teams remain flexible with emerging trends and diligent in connecting employees to career paths with brands they love, these are the insights you need to know. These are the three ways HR is changing the most.

1. Internal HR Changes

Some of the most notable changes in human resources will take place internally. Consider examining your current HR processes, internal structure, and policies. You might spot possible areas of improvement based on these emerging HR trends and changes.

Internal Organizational Ecosystems Will Change

Organizational design structure and change management will be a priority for HR in 2023. In fact, 53% of HR managers and 45% of their staff say they’re already experiencing fatigue from all the change. Chances are, your HR teams are fatigued, as well. New digital adoptions, changing workplace dynamics, and economic stress affect employees and leaders at every level. To provide relief, many HR teams are now focusing on changing up the ecosystem and prioritizing change management to minimize employee fatigue and disruption. Too much change or uncertainty, left unchecked, will lead to high turnover and reduced productivity.

HR Budgets Will Increase

Another change that will remain evident throughout the future of HR is the budget. Most HR executives say they anticipate increases in their organizational budgets. And many say those boosts in spending will be a sizable 4% to 6%. Those increased HR budgets will mostly be dedicated to efforts related to expanding the workforce, too. Recruiting and onboarding represent the biggest budget increase, while employee compensation drives investment increases as well.

Based on current HR management surveys, the top three priorities within recruiting and retention that call for bigger budgets include:

  • Finding and recruiting applicants from broader talent pools
  • Retaining the best employees
  • Maintaining and improving company culture, morale, and engagement

2. Employee Wellness Is a Priority

Another key shift you’re going to see in the future of HR involves prioritizing employee health, wellness, and experiences. A company’s employee retention strategies are more important now than ever before. And while more traditional methods of HR involve enforcing guidelines and managing strict procedures, today’s HR professionals are looking for better ways to engage and support employees.

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Employee Experiences Matter

The employee experience matters, and today’s HR managers recognize changes are needed to improve the workplace culture. In fact, roughly 47% of HR managers say significant changes have to happen to transform the employee perspective. Employees will only remain loyal and productive to their employers if they feel there is a compelling career path before them. And if at any point they feel devalued or disposable in any way, they’ll seek employment elsewhere. HR leaders are exploring these three areas the most to introduce improvements to the employee experience:

  • Expanding health, mental health, and wellness initiatives
  • Developing healthier food and affordable menu selections
  • Creating more educational programs to support and incentivize learning, certifications, and skills improvement

Flexible and Hybrid Work Environments Are the Norm

Your HR teams are already keenly aware of the need for hybrid work flexibility wherever possible. Of course, some roles are only effective with in-person or on-the-job reporting. But those departments and staff who can be just as productive or more productive working from home will need employers to accommodate those hybrid dynamics. And when your employees are working from home, the accountability and productivity metrics will need to change, too. Your HR leaders can expect to abandon any micromanagement efforts of yesterday and adopt new ways for off-site staff to remain accountable and productive.

3. Changes in Attracting, Hiring, and Onboarding New Talent

The third massive change in human resources to consider involves a slew of new perspectives and methods relating to hiring. Today’s recruiting landscape is vastly different from years past. And if your company needs top talent to facilitate growth and scaling, you’ll have a new playbook to adopt outlining improved methods for attracting, hiring, and onboarding new employees.

Skills Carry More Value Than Degrees

Your company might need to revisit job descriptions and role prerequisites. Recent studies suggest skillsets carry more value to employers today than traditional degrees or certified education. In fact, skills-based hiring has been up more than 60% in the last year. Make sure your hiring managers are placing enough value on candidate experiences without automatically disqualifying candidates who maybe lack a four-year degree. Focusing on skills will also help you to remove salary or career barriers for some two-thirds of the working population that doesn’t have a bachelor’s degree. Other advantages include more diverse workforces, broader talent pools, and increased time to hire.

ESG Reporting Will Attract Applicants

There are increased pressures from regulatory compliance and stakeholders alike for improved environmental, social, and governance (ESG) reporting. More than 90% of S&P 500 businesses publish sustainability reports. Dedicating efforts to develop and maintain a healthy ESG reporting system is contributing to executive-level compensation, improving how existing employees perceive their employers, and attracting new hires.

Key Takeaways for HR in 2023

Consider these HR changes happening now and start re-evaluating your current position relating to internal HR operations, employee wellness, and recruiting talent. And if you need guidance in this new realm of HR, connect with ExactHire! We can help you navigate the emerging trends and affect change within your departments so you can grow with the future of HR in 2023 and beyond.

5 Considerations for an Applicant Tracking System Vendor

If your organization is exploring the use of an Applicant Tracking System (ATS), or if your company has taken the first step towards internal efficiency by approving the investment of an Applicant Tracking System (ATS), it might seem like a daunting challenge. Many questions resonate as implementation can be a bit overwhelming even for the most seasoned tech users. What should I do next? Where do I go from here? How does this product work?

Don’t let fear get in the way of efficiency. Implementing an ATS into your organization is an investment of time and financial resources. As HR professionals explore the caveats of an ATS, it is essential to find the tool that works best for your organization with a support team that defines ongoing value.

 

When evaluating a system, here are five items to consider:

 

1) Applicant Tracking System Support

If you are asking yourself, “How do we use this new product?”, that’s an essential question that needs to be answered in depth, in addition to other questions centered on product support. What type of training will we receive from the product vendor? Is training personalized to meet our organization’s needs? After training, if we still have questions, will we be able to contact someone in the United States?

Best-in-class vendors offer personalized training by a Client Success team composed of professionals who are genuinely vested in your organization’s success. Training is provided to your team, and follow up questions, which are expected, are supported by the Client Success team. The Client Success team lives up to its name; they are a bonafide, dedicated team who wants to make your lives easier by using employment software solutions. Relationships are important, and those are built here. Tap into their wisdom and expertise to help guide your use of the ATS.

2) The Applicant Experience

Applicants won’t waste time. Can job seekers apply quickly on mobile devices? If a job seeker finds more than one job to which they want to apply, do they have to start over again?

Convenient for the job seekers you are attracting, look for an ATS that is mobile responsive so that your applicants experience a seamless application process. No passwords should be needed by the applicant; the applicant can use their contact information, such as an email or phone number, to access their applications.

More than one job of interest to your job seekers? Not a problem – top of the line HR Software will offer multi-apply where the applicant can apply to more than one job at a time.  And since the best HR Software offers an organization the ability to use different applications to collect data essential for screening, the applicant will complete the questions you specify in one experience without interruption even if the applicant is applying to multiple jobs based on different application templates.

 

3) ATS Job Board Integrations

Visibility of my jobs is important in this competitive job market. What type of boards are available? To which boards are my jobs automatically sent? Does the ATS offer diversity and niche job boards?

The best HR Software offers the ability to automatically push jobs to free boards like Indeed, ZipRecruiter, Snagajob, Job Inventory and indexed for Google for Jobs. No effort needed on your part for those job boards. Interested in other job boards? Some of the best ATS software offers other options to automate job postings to various boards such as diversity boards, niche boards, and many other options.

4) Building Applicant Pools

An applicant today might be the fit for tomorrow’s opening. How can I search for applicants’ talents and skills for my current and future roles? When I find applicants that meet our requirements, how do I communicate with them?

As you screen your applicants, you can “tag” your applicants’ skills and talents using keywords of value to your organization. Best-in-class HR Software offers ways to navigate your view of applicants and jobs to filter to the criteria you are seeking at the moment.

As you find applicants you want to move forward, you’ll need the option to communicate with them via texting  (ideally without additional fees). But not all applicants will want to be texted, so integrated email with customizable communication templates will be required as well. Be sure that your vendor allows you to attach the files with your email communication as well.  Finally, you’ll want to find a software solution that provides communication history displayed on the applicant’s record; however, be sure that HR Managers can restrict access to this area if necessary.

5) ATS Compliance Reporting

Subject to Affirmative Action reporting? Compliance to EEO guidelines and internal company parameters is crucial. Will I be able to analyze data?

You absolutely should! Whether an organization is subject to governmental reporting requirements or simply if they want to keep track of data to fulfill internal parameters, Best-in-class HR Software will offer robust Affirmative Action Plan reporting and reporting compliant with Equal Employment Opportunity guidelines. Whether you are seeking reports for formal reporting, or if you are looking for data specific to particular job(s), top HR Software allows users the opportunity to delve into data using distinctive insights.

An ATS is meant to make HR, hiring managers, and other system users’ lives easier. ExactHire HR Software offers the ability to effectively screen applicants, communicate with those of key interest and identify the talent you seek to fill existing vacancies. ExactHire HR Software can save you time and money through automation and simple quick clicks to perform tasks confirming that an ATS is not an expense but an investment that yields a plethora of rewards.

To see a demo of ExactHire HR Software, click here.

 

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What Are the 5 C’s of Onboarding?

Onboarding is the critical first impression that you only get one chance to make. Prior to the pandemic, many companies skated by with a basic onboarding process involving a few forms and an employee handbook. Companies making a nominal effort may have treated their new hires to lunch on their first day.

A lackluster onboarding process isn’t cutting it during the “Great Resignation.” With many companies struggling to find enough employees to provide fundamental customer service, they need to do everything they can to hold onto the new hires they’re lucky enough to get.

An outstanding onboarding process is the proven first step to lowering employee turnover, improving engagement, and boosting productivity. Small and mid-sized businesses are learning in 2021 what the most successful corporate giants have known for years: great onboarding is a key component of your company’s success.

But why is onboarding so important?

And what makes an outstanding onboarding program?


Download ExactHire's Employee Onboarding Checklist

Benefits of a Robust Onboarding Process

When your onboarding process checklist has got game, your new employees fall in love with their jobs. The fact is, your company needs employees that are fully engaged to compete in the new economy. According to this Gallup study, employee engagement is a key factor in nine performance outcomes, including customer service, profitability, and turnover.

Engaged employees are passionate about their work and they feel a strong connection to their company’s culture and values. Employee engagement is all about the emotional bonds people form with their work. These employees will always outperform their peers who couldn’t care less.

You want your employees to show up on time, every day, and do their best work. You want them to go the extra mile for the customer. When they’re on the manufacturing line, you want them to care—really care—about the quality of the goods they’re producing.

Companies are constantly looking for that special combination of skilled talent, soft skills, and work ethic that make a great employee. But they leave their new hires to fend for themselves as soon as they are finished filling out their W-4. A poor employee onboarding process flow contributes to the massive national turnover rate that costs U.S. companies $1 trillion each year.

A robust onboarding process, on the other hand, can make your employees almost 70 percent more likely to stay with your company for at least three years. And your new hires can be 50 percent more productive when your onboarding process steps set clear expectations while also providing crucial support early on.

Your new employee’s onboarding checklist pdf covers four areas known as the “4 C’s.” The 4 C’s are listed in order of importance to company growth. However, every stage of the 4 C’s is essential to a comprehensive onboarding plan.

Onboarding: The 4 C’s

Most companies stop with the first two C’s: compliance and clarification. Successful companies pay careful attention to the last two C’s: culture and connection. And our team likes to add a fifth C (shhh…don’t tell anyone!).

Compliance: Companies interested in avoiding discrimination and harassment lawsuits, i.e., every company, should start their onboarding with a thorough run-down of their policies and rules. To be most effective, you should implement a clear process by which employees can report discrimination and other issues. Earn your new employee’s trust by making it clear your company takes these issues seriously.

Clarification: This is the stage during which your new hires learn about their role, their duties and their responsibilities. Take this time to set your employee up for success. Establish a support network and ensure she has the tools she needs to complete her work.

Culture: More than a buzzword, culture has a tangible effect on a company’s success. A strong and positive culture gives you a recruiting edge. And clear values keep individual behavior in line with your company’s ethics. Make culture a strong aspect of your onboarding process by inserting it throughout your new hire’s experience. Include your company’s history and mission in your onboarding process.

Connection: Often overlooked during the onboarding process, connection is a key driver of employee retention. When workers form friendships with their coworkers, they’re more likely to enjoy being in the office. Positive relationships between your employees also mean less drama and conflict. You can foster connection during your onboarding process by finding creative ways for your new hires to spend time with coworkers.

We like to add a bonus C: check-in. New hires are most likely to quit their positions within the first year. By checking in with these new employees throughout that first year, companies can address brewing problems.

New Hire Onboarding framework

These 5 stages of onboarding create a framework companies can use to improve employee engagement and its associated outcomes. By adopting a more formal, vs an informal, onboarding process, companies can boost their customer ratings, improve employee retention, and increase their profits. Onboarding software can help companies keep their improved onboarding process organized and efficient.

Onboarding software can help you improve all 5 stages of employee onboarding. New employees can fill out their paperwork more quickly and accurately during the compliance portion of the 5 stages of onboarding with the help of auto-populating fields. Legally binding electronic signatures for all of your important onboarding forms will always be easily accessible, even years down the road.

Create training modules for every position within the company. Use training videos, how-to guides, and assessments. A simple checklist and triggering feature ensure your new employees won’t feel overwhelmed.

Include information about your culture, mission, and values in your training modules. By making culture a key component of your new employee’s experience, you’ll encourage behavior that aligns with your values. You can foster connection by assigning roles to team members to assist in the onboarding process. Each team member will receive email reminders so you know your new hires won’t fall through the cracks.

Incorporate the bonus C, Check-In, by assigning tasks to supervisors at intervals throughout the new hire’s first year. Over time, the data you collect in your onboarding software will help you improve your overall onboarding process.

Final Thoughts About the 5 C’s of Onboarding

The pandemic underscored the high cost of employee turnover, low engagement, and an uninspiring culture. When your employees are unenthusiastic, they’ll be less productive and less innovative. You’ll need more people on the payroll to get the same amount of output.

Beefing up your onboarding process is the first step to creating an inspired workforce. The investment you make in onboarding will pay dividends by creating a strong, cohesive team. Learn more with our webinar, How Effective Onboarding Boosts Your Bottom Line.

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What Is Programmatic Job Advertising?

Have you ever wished your recruitment advertisement strategy could target your ideal job candidate with as much precision as Instagram when it showed you that goat-shaming Farmers Insurance ad? After all, if the internet can know you go ga-ga over baby goats and you’re insuring two teenage drivers, then why can’t it deliver your job ad to experienced IT candidates in the local area who know SQL?

The targeted ads you’ve been noticing—the ones that seem tailored-made for you—are the result of a thing called programmatic advertising. These nifty algorithms are traditionally the domain of tech giants and commercial marketers. But in recent years, the recruitment industry has been taking notice. Hundreds of job boards, along with crappy candidates crowding out the champions, leave recruiters wondering if there’s a better way.

There is, and the better way is called programmatic job advertising.

Programmatic job advertising brings targeted ads to job seekers. Using programmatic job postings, companies can create job advertising campaigns that zero in on the best candidates, wherever they may be on the internet. Job ads appear on the right site, at the right time, just when the right candidate will see it. But programmatic job advertising does so much more.

Programmatic Advertising

Advertising on the Internet is nothing new. We all remember the flashy banner ads on Myspace. What is new is programmatic advertising that uses big data, machine learning, and predictive analytics to target the right audience.

When your grandfather told you “Nothing in life is free,” he might as well have been talking about all those free apps on your devices. It’s no secret that everything we do digitally is stored in a cybernated profile. Programmatic advertising uses this information, collectively known as “big data,” to target consumers.

Don Draper and the rest of the “Mad Men” only had standard demographics to work with when creating audience profiles. Big data adds hundreds of input fields to create a complete analysis of an ad’s intended audience.

All those factoids are too much for humans to interpret and act upon. Enter machine learning. Software can analyze the data and match ads with users most likely to convert. The software will always make the best choices using algorithms that analyze all that big data.

The ad’s performance metrics are fed back into the algorithm. When this performance data is factored into the big data, the software can make better matches in the future. Predictive analytics is what happens when machine learning produces increasingly better results.

But the software doesn’t stop there. Programmatic advertising completely automates the purchasing and managing of advertising space. Programmatic advertising software can find sites and purchase or bid on space within a spending budget set by the user. Humans can always step in and make adjustments. Programmatic advertising platforms take the grunt work out of marketing campaigns while making them more efficient and effective.

Programmatic advertising is why you see an ad from REI for a mirrored sighting compass after you purchase “A Walk in the Woods” from Amazon.

Recruitment Advertisement

Despite the advantages of programmatic job advertisement, most companies still use traditional recruitment strategies to place job ads.

Traditional recruitment advertisement operates a lot like those old Myspace ads. Recruiters hand-select the job boards to which they wanted to post. They log into each one individually, then purchase space and upload their ad. They cross their fingers and wait.

Traditional recruitment advertisement doesn’t have the advantage of big data. Recruiters can’t know which job board has the most forklift operators or which ones have the most active users in their area. Traditional recruitment advertisements are basically a crap shoot in which recruiters hope they’re posting to the right jobs site at the right time.

Aptitude Research, a Boston-based advisory firm, estimates recruiters waste 40 percent of their advertising budget with traditional job advertising. According to Aptitude’s founder, Madeline Laurano, “Traditional job advertising is expensive, inefficient and, at times, ineffective.”

Applicant tracking software can help improve the efficiency of job advertising with one-click posting and single screen analytics. Recruiters who use an ATS can increase job seeker conversion with a branded careers site and a multi-step application. ATS can also streamline other recruitment-related tasks such as HR compliance reporting.

Pairing applicant tracking software with compatible programmatic job advertising software can help companies zero in on the best candidates, wherever they may be. The result is a recruitment juggernaut that finds and converts the best candidates, then streamlines and optimizes every step of the selection process.

Programmatic Job Advertising in Recruitment

Programmatic job advertising by definition will help you reach the right candidates, wherever they may be. With the help of programmatic job advertising platforms, your job ads will appear on the job boards where your ideal candidates are hanging out. Glassdoor and Monster cater to different types of job seekers. Your job ad will appear on the best choice, whether you are looking for an operations manager or a forklift operator. Your best job candidates aren’t spending all their time on job boards. Programmatic job advertising software will place your ads on sites you may not have considered.

HGS, a business process management company, pivoted to mostly programmatic job advertising from traditional job advertising in response to the pandemic. To keep their workforce safe and healthy, HGS closed their call center doors. Their newly remote workforce meant that HGS could recruit from almost anywhere in the U.S. and Canada, rather than the few physical locations they previously operated. Casting a wider net in a larger talent pool meant their job advertising costs ballooned. Programmatic job advertising helped reign those costs in while improving time-to-hire.

According to Trish Robb, the General Manager of North American Recruitment and Talent Management at HGS, “With some of the time that we’ve gained back, our team has been able to focus on other recruitment marketing strategies, like engaging with talent through our social media channels, creating virtual job previews, responding to employee reviews and improving our reputation as an employer.”

Affordable Programmatic Job Posting

In the aftermath of the pandemic and the current labor shortage, HR teams are looking to programmatic job advertising to save money and find great candidates. According to Aptitude’s research, companies that use programmatic job advertising improve their time-to-hire as well as the quality of their new hire. Filling open positions quickly with top talent is the first step to improving employee retention.

With hundreds of job boards available, both you and your advertising budget can get overwhelmed. Programmatic job advertising software will help you effectively branch out to the most effective niche sites without wasting money on ineffective job boards. The algorithms written into programmatic job advertising software will use real-time data to adjust the software’s recruitment strategy.

When you use programmatic job advertising in recruitment, you can rely on predictive analytics and algorithms to make the most efficient use of your recruitment budget. You can avoid wasting money purchasing paid advertising on sites or for open positions that perform well through less expensive posting options. Programmatic recruitment marketing platforms will identify the open positions that aren’t receiving enough applicants. The programmatic job posting software will then your recruitment spending into those positions by purchasing ads on the optimal sites.

Final Thoughts About Programmatic Job Advertising

Whether you’re hiring hundreds of high-turnover positions each year or searching for a unicorn with mad JavaScript skills, you can use programmatic job advertising to reduce your costs and free up your time for other recruitment activities.

After all, posting job ads are just one part of a comprehensive recruitment strategy. Rather than spending your time analyzing your recruitment ROI across dozens of job sites, let programmatic job advertising software send your job ads to platforms where your best candidates are hanging out. You can focus on boosting your employer brand and selecting the best new hire.

Are you ready to dive deeper into the cost-saving possibilities of programmatic job advertising? Contact our solutions team for a personalized demonstration.

 

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