Teaching Company Culture to a Newly Hired Employee

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I am not the newest member of the ExactHire team, but I still remember my first day well! Being the new kid on the block can be a little intimidating, especially at a small company. So, ease the fears of your new hires by teaching company culture from the start. You know…the informal, generally accepted ways of doing things in your company that the employee won’t necessarily read about in the employee handbook.

Times Have Changed in the Workplace

In most cases, workplaces are much more flexible and relaxed places to be than in decades past. If this is the case with your office, make sure the new hire is aware of dress code, lunch policy and other activities/tasks on which flexibility is given. This is true for companies that are still very traditional, as well. Think about how uncomfortable a new employee would feel coming to work way overdressed (or way too casual) on the first day of work. Let him/her know the expectations right away…especially since new employees may be hesitant to ask these types of questions directly when first beginning work at a new organization.

Part of the Family

If you utilized pre-employment testing during the hiring process, than you should already know a lot about what makes your employee “tick” and why he/she is well-suited for the role he/she has accepted. Keep that in mind when acclimating him/her to the new work environment and co-workers. If your company has any social media pages, make sure to invite the new employee to optionally view or participate in these pages. LinkedIn will provide a sense of the company’s industry presence or overall market view. Pages like Facebook, will allow the employee to see some of the fun activities your company has to offer (examples could include office parties or working retreats that the employees attend together).

Know Your Company History

It is helpful to teach the new employee about the background of the company, as well as the industry in which it participates. Knowing how the company started and what major milestones have been reached, paints a clearer picture of why the company is what it is today. Some businesses have traditions they keep in place to remind them of humble roots at the start of the company or even just reminders of the original owners. The new employee will more likely feel more in tune with the overall culture of the company as a result of knowing these facts.

By proactively instilling a sense of your organization’s culture with new employees, you are further helping to make the employee onboarding process a pleasant and informative experience. In the long run, employees who engage more quickly are generally more likely to be productive sooner and stay employed with your company longer.

Technology can augment your company’s employment brand which is certainly a key component of the organizational culture. For more information about ExactHire and how we can help, visit our resources section or contact us today.

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Employee Referrals – Use Technology to Help Track and Reward

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There’s a lot of talk in our market these days about where recruiting is headed. Many experts feel that we are on the cusp of some significant changes in the next few years. Less reliance on traditional job boards, heavier use of social media and allowing applicants to leverage mobile technology are some of the more consistent topics of change that I see on a regular basis.

Whether you see these trends affecting your organization or not, there is a recruiting strategy that is worth considering — employee referrals. This is nothing new. In fact, employers and their staff members responsible for hiring have been trying to find ways to consistently tap this market for years.

Employee Referral Program Benefits

There are several benefits to using employee referrals for sourcing applicants:

  • Better applicants — good people tend to know and refer other good people
  • Passive applicants — this approach reaches people who may not yet be actively looking for work and would never see your opening on your career site or a job board
  • Lower cost — even if you pay employees for referrals, it is widely acknowledged that this cost is far lower than the typical costs born through standard recruiting techniques
  • Better potential for cultural fit — your current employees understand your organization’s culture and are in the best position to help answer questions about the organization from those applicants they refer

Here’s more good news…technological advances are continuing to help make this employee referral process better for both employers and their employees. Social media on its own allows employees to make others in their networks aware of job openings in their organization. However, some of the more progressive applicant tracking software (ATS) tools in the market make this even easier for employees. Employees may click and share openings through their social channels without any copying/pasting. This makes the overall program more sustainable and successful.

To learn more about social referral tools available within HireCentric ATS, please schedule a live demo with ExactHire.

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Boost Your Employee Referral Program

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How does your company promote and incentivize employee referrals? Did you know that in many industries, the #1 source for acquiring new hires is via employee referrals? That is powerful information, especially when harnessed appropriately. Using social media tools to promote your organization’s referral system will also help produce quality applicants, show that you stay current with market trends and boost company culture, as well! Here are some reasons for you to soup up your referral engine!

Why have an employee referral program

  • Produces quality applicants – First, make sure that you have a formal referral program set in place and that all employees have access to the details. All too often organizations may have a policy or program available, but employees don’t know much about it. When employees are given incentives for bringing in quality applicants, it’s a win-win! The employee may receive some type of reward, the applicant will already know more about the company and the company is able to build its applicant database with quality people (quality in the sense that someone trusted can already vouch for them in some respects).
  • Promotes company culture and employment brand – This is very important! When hiring, you want to make sure your company is seen in a positive light. By using referrals, the applicant likely already knows at least a little positive information about your company from the person that referred them. This is your opportunity to hone your employment brand and to promote your company culture. Soon people will hear about what a great organization it is (especialy because it rewards employees for referrals), and there will be increasingly more applicants for all your job openings.
  • Creates a positive experience for the candidate – All applicants want to have a positive experience. Let’s face it; job hunting is not a fun thing for most people to do. If candidates are referred by existing employees, they probably already feel positive about the experience (after all, they wouldn’t take the advice of an enemy would they?). Keep that momentum going by following up with each applicant – either way. Even if they are not hired, make it a positive experience by keeping them in mind for future jobs; or, informed of company news through an email campaign or newsletter. While they may not be a fit for one role, they could be just the person for a future opportunity.

How to use social media with your referral program

  • Employees can spread the word of job openings – This is a super easy and yet very effective way to bring candidates to your company. Most employees today have a Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn account – some have all of these and more! The employee can post a specific job to their network of friends or link directly to the company’s career page. HireCentric applicant tracking system then allows applicants to name the referring employee during the application process.
  • Create social media pages for your company – If you haven’t already done this – please don’t delay! Companies across all industries can benefit from having well-maintained social media pages. LinkedIn is optimal for corporate social presence because you can present your company history, post jobs and blog links, and give updates that allow applicants to find out more about your company culture. By encouraging your employees to follow your social media pages, they can easily repost your notices about new job openings or other company events to their own networks. Plus, with social recruiting tools now available in hiring software, automating the process of posting to your social media properties is seamless.
  • Incentivize sharing behavior – If you are prepared to have a little skin in the game, then offer employees a monetary incentive for referrals that result in new hires. And, with the tracking and analytical tools available to you in an ATS, managing this type of program can be a cinch and pay for itself. Social media can have an exponential impact on the exposure for your organization’s positions – don’t miss out on that opportunity.

To learn more about ExactHire’s applicant tracking software or to view a demo, please contact us today!

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Ideas to Improve Employee Retention in Your Organization

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Congratulations! You have hired a new team member, and this person appears to be the answer to your organization’s needs. As a leader, you can envision this new employee having a bright future with your company for the long term. This person will complement the organization’s goals beyond your greatest expectations…at least in your vision. How do you connect your vision of long-term achievement with your new employee’s formulating vision of achievement? From the beginning, effective communication about goals, culture and environment with your new team member helps ensure a true collaborative environment in which your new team member is motivated to commit to a productive tenure and reward your employee retention efforts.

How to Keep Your Employees Engaged

Even with a job market that is the most competitive in decades, employees come and go, and the cost of turnover for an organization is a financial and human capital hit that can sink the strongest of ships. Even the brightest employees with tremendous potential can and will leave if their needs are not met. Take a moment to look at some data about the financial repercussions of employee turnover. According to a Fall 2012 report shared by CBS News, for all jobs earning less than $50,000 per year, the average cost of replacing an employee amounts to fully 20% of the person’s salary. More than 40% of jobs in the United States fall into this category. One employee’s departure can cause bruising, but if frequent turnover exists in the work environment, it can cause bleeding that can be fatal to the morale of the employees and ultimately, decrease the lifespan of the company.

What will you and your team do to keep that new asset on board? Organizations can provide various perks to their employees. Affordable benefits, time off, and flexible scheduling are ways to help an employee maintain a work-life balance. Establish a consistent time to meet with your new employee to acquire his/her perspectives while you are sincerely listening more than talking. Often, some of the most important observations can be made by viewing nonverbal language in addition to listening to the details of verbal dialogue.

Use Pre-Employment Testing as a Hiring and Retention Tool

Ultimately, an employee wants to feel challenged and appreciated. Challenged? Appreciated? How do I help my new employee, or even my current employees, feel challenged and appreciated you might ask? Excellent question. Having insight into an employee’s cognitive and behavioral skills can help you, as a leader, effectively mentor the new employee during the initial acclimation phase and throughout his/her career with the organization. Current employees can benefit from mentoring, as well, after receiving feedback from 360 degree evaluations and leadership assessments. To acquire this insightful information about your employees, consider using employee assessments. Pre-hire assessments are excellent tools to help leaders identify strengths and potential weaker areas of candidates. These assessments can be used, in conjunction with interviewing and application screening, to help make a hiring decision, and in addition, identify ways for managers to help nurture new employees’ strengths and coach them as they improve or compensate for weaker areas. Assessments can also be given to an existing team to acquire a better understanding of the team’s motivators and help in succession planning and management promotion.

ExactHire offers a comprehensive selection of pre-employment testing tools that can help you and your organization acquire the necessary insight to lead, and not just supervise your team, while planning for a solid future of growth in your organization. These 360 degree evaluations, leadership and workplace team assessments, along with management potential evaluations are just a few types of assessments available to you. These tools can give you, the leader, a solid foundation of knowledge and insight to help you create an empowering relationship with your team.

For more information about employee assessments available from ExactHire, please contact us today.

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Hiring Solutions and Technology for Auto Dealers

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With the automotive industry rebound in recent years, we’ve had the opportunity to customize our applicant tracking system technology for auto dealers around the country. In doing so, it dawned on me that there are some common reasons many of these automotive groups are looking for help with their hiring process:

  1. Turnover — With the improved economy, turnover figures are trending back to pre-recession levels. Salespeople, automotive techs and customer service representatives are the main positions where dealers experience turnover.
  2. Demographics — A high percentage of the applicant pool for auto dealers are job seekers who are very tech savvy. These applicants are used to doing things online and expect potential employers to follow suit.
  3. Limited resources — Managers in most dealerships are busier than ever with their day-to-day jobs. This means they don’t have a lot of excess time to review resumes and try to decide which applicants are qualified for their openings. These managers are looking for ways to automate as much as possible.
  4. Cost — Dealers are seeing margins squeezed like everyone else. This means they want technology solutions with low upfront costs, low ongoing costs, and no long-term contracts.

While not unique to auto dealers, these core reasons certainly seem to resonate in this industry. In particular, these issues are magnified for those dealers who happen to have multiple locations — a more common occurrence than years ago.

Popular Applicant Tracking Features for Car Dealers

Below are some of the features to which our clients have gravitated when using our HireCentric applicant tracking software (ATS):

  • Branded career portal to match the rest of your corporate web presence
  • Flexible employment application setup to gather what’s important to a particular dealer’s needs — this includes the ability to break the application into more than one step, if desired
  • See multiple applications for an individual tied to a central applicant profile — especially helpful for “serial” applicants
  • Track all notes, email correspondence and internal feedback for each applicant in a single database
  • Reach out to previous good applicants when positions open up unexpectedly
  • Communicate with groups of applicants simultaneously to keep them informed of progress in filling a position — this protects your brand for applicants who may also be existing or potential customers
  • Easily see what the “pipeline” looks like for any given position or group of positions

Using applicant tracking software isn’t right for every automotive dealer. However, if any of the features mentioned above resonate as potential options for your organization (automotive industry or not), please contact ExactHire to discuss whether this type of solution is functionally and economically viable for your group.

Use our pricing calculator for HireCentric ATS.

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Posting Jobs To Job Boards – How To Automate

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Automate posting to job boardsI talk with groups frequently about the use of social media tools to help drive qualified candidates to their open positions. While I believe strongly in those efforts, the fact remains that job boards still account for a significant amount of applicant traffic for most organizations. Naturally, then, clients typically want to know where they should post jobs and how to keep track of them.

The first part of the question (where to post jobs) is a separate conversation unto itself. The second part of the question (how to keep track of which job boards are being used) is my focus here today. To break this down a bit, I see this in two phases:

  • To which job boards have certain positions been posted (and what is it costing)?
  • What is the payback from these ad sources (what kind of applicant traffic are they generating?)

The act of getting positions posted to job boards can be time-consuming. Once you’ve created your job description, you typically must visit each board, log in, paste in your description, provide the additional information needed as required by the individual board, and confirm that the formatting looks correct. This allows the position to be posted. Then, when the position has been filled or the posting time limit is reached, you usually must then revisit the various boards and take the listing down.

As to the payback of various boards, most organizations don’t have the time to really consider this at all. For most, the only way to track the listings and the expenses associated with each is in a spreadsheet or manual file. Even if a company is willing to log this, they are still faced with the issue of not knowing how many applicants are coming from each board. The only way to know is to ask those applicants, which leads to yet another column in a separate spreadsheet that logs all applicants and from where they came. I think you get the picture at this point — this is way too painful for most.

The exception to both of these instances is when an organization chooses to use an applicant tracking software solution. The right ATS should allow you to automate the posting of your open positions to most any job board, alleviating the need to visit the individual boards and complete all of the steps I mentioned above. In addition, using a software tool like this should allow applicants to share what board led them to your open position, including tracking the costs of each posting and the number of applicants coming from each board. Our HireCentric ATS even allows organizations to review analytics documenting traffic to an organization’s careers portal, including a list of referral sources (i.e. job boards in many cases).

While this may not be the sole reason an organization seeks out a recruiting software tool, it is one of the more consistent points on which we receive positive feedback. To learn more about ExactHire, please visit our resources section or contact us. 

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Applicant Tracking Fits The Needs Of The Healthcare Industry

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The healthcare industry has obviously been through many, many changes in this country. This affects all aspects of healthcare providers – from the services rendered to patients to the other side of the spectrum…such as the benefits of the health care workers themselves (not to mention the benefits of all employees in all industries). That being said, I think we can agree that human resource representatives, especially those working for hospitals, clinics and other providers, have their plates full these days. With limited time and resources available, healthcare organizations stand to gain a lot from automating some standard HR processes such as recruiting and onboarding. For example, with the right applicant tracking software (ATS), they can quickly alleviate some of the headaches of hiring in this chaotic, current landscape.

While the issues detailed below can occur for HR within any industry, they can especially cause BIG problems in hiring for healthcare positions.

Overtime for current staff and using temporary, contingent staff

When there are many positions open, current staff is sometimes forced to work more (which of course costs more!); or, the organization may need to hastily hire temporary staff (which is also expensive in itself). After all, the healthcare industry is not a place where you can just “close down” until a new hire is found or chalk involuntary turnover up to embraced attrition. For example, some positions can be 24 hour shifts that require constant employee attendance. When using an ATS in the healthcare industry, you will be able to make hires more quickly and efficiently when utilizing existing job templates and automated job board posting features; thus, keeping costs down and being more effective with your staffing process.

Never ending paperwork

This headache can apply to an applicant or the hiring manager. However, by integrating an effective hiring software tool into your organization’s recruitment process, job applicants will generally appreciate the ability to access your employment application online so that they may complete it at their own convenience and without rifling through a paper application. An ATS can be configured to allow them to upload files representing any additional documentation you may require such as licenses, test scores and transcripts.

And, hiring managers will be able to use an applicant tracking system to quickly launch and receive approval on new job requisition requests instead of having to wait for multiple layers of people to manually deliver paper forms to one another. In addition, hiring managers can design screening questions that score and/or disqualify applicants who do not meet minimum requirements so that they may reduce the number of applicants they need to review to keep the process moving for all involved.

Higher turnover rates

It can be common in the healthcare realm for organizations to suffer from higher turnover rates. This could be attributable to multiple factors. For example, sometimes when a hospital is understaffed, the extra shifts may cause more employees to disengage, burn out and then leave the organization. Its a vicious cycle and the turnover rate then gets higher and higher. Again, using an applicant tracking system can help reduce the time to fill a position as well as the cost (especially in terms of time) it takes to make effective hires for the positions open.

People are the most valuable resource for not just the healthcare industry, but any industry. However, they are also the biggest piece of the pie when analyzing the operating costs of any organization. Using an applicant tracking system can help to ensure that you find the right fit for your positions in a time-sensitive and cost-effective manner.

To take the hiring process one step further – ExactHire can also assist you with background screening options and employee assessments to make sure the you find the best fit and retain your talent in the long run.

To learn more about ExactHire’s hiring software solutions, please visit our resources section or contact us today.

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Equal Employment Opportunities Make Good Business Sense

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Individuals in Human Resources already know there are laws that prohibit discrimination in the workplace against existing employees, but equal employment opportunity also relates to hiring and recruiting new employees, as well. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) enforces federal laws that make it illegal to discriminate against someone (applicant or employee) because of his/her race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy), national origin, age (40 or older), disability or genetic information (EEOC.gov).

How does EEO affect the hiring process?
Here are a few considerations when examining your selection process to ensure that you are in compliance with EEOC regulations:

  • Employment Applications – Nothing on the application can ask about or refer to a class of people in a way that could be construed as being discriminatory. Avoid asking questions that may single out a group based on gender, age, religion, sex…and the other federal law factors mentioned above.
  • Job Ads – Remember when posting a job advertisement not to hone in on a specific group, such as recent college grads (may seem like you are not inclusive of all ages) or women (though some jobs may seem like they have been traditionally held by a certain gender group in the past, you cannot focus the job ad to that sex).
  • Applicant Referrals – Word of mouth job advertising can be tricky. If you have a workforce that is a similar demographic, and you exclusively, or very heavily, recruit based only on employee referrals, you are likely going to minimize diversity across your workforce and run into issues of adverse impact.
  • Talent Acquisition – If all your recruiting is targeted to a certain age group, gender, race or other protected group, then you are violating the laws for equal employment opportunity. Make sure, when sourcing applicants, that you use a wide variety of external ad sources so that you do not disproportionately exclude any type of applicant based on the protected classes above.

Just a few other potentially inflammatory EEOC-related issues to keep in mind:

  • Promotions – When promoting an employee, do not make a decision based on race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy), national origin, age (40 or older), disability or genetic information; but rather, on experience and/or performance/merit. In human resources, it is important to keep a documented history of performance reviews to support any promotion decisions.
  • Benefits – Regardless of age, religion, gender (including pregnancy), and the other factors mentioned throughout this blog, all employees and applicants should be offered the same benefits. Think of benefits such as health care plans, 401k and stock options that may be offered to an incoming applicant. This includes a woman getting the same pay as a man for the same job, as just one example.
  • Discipline – When it comes to the discipline of employees, the rules need to be just, legal and applied consistently across the board. This will eliminate discrimination issues as well as harassment in the workplace.

Remember to put processes and training programs in place to stay compliant with federal anti-discrimination laws beyond the recruiting process, as well.

How can ExactHire help with EOE requirements?

Using an applicant tracking system can help to streamline and ease the challenges that can sometimes be associated with compliance reporting. An ATS also has tools in place to automate the process of posting jobs to a diverse set of external ad sources so that you can more easily amass a diverse group of engaged applicants. We can show you tools to find diversity and inclusion ad sources as well as coach you on how to build reports to help you stay compliant with EEOC laws.

For more information on our applicant tracking software, please visit our resources section or contact ExactHire.

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Hiring Software Works For Internships

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I can’t believe it’s already November! Fall is in full swing and school is back in session. I love this time of year, cool crisp weather and football all weekend! Unfortunately, time flies and seasons change! Before you know it, it will be full blown holiday season…is your company ready? Do you offer internships through holiday break or even for spring quarter? Believe it or not, college kids are already thinking about their potential internship opportunities! A hiring software solution, such as an applicant tracking system or employee onboarding software, can be a wonderful tool for helping to source and onboard not just permanent employees, but also interns for your company now and in future hiring seasons.

Why not use applicant tracking to recruit interns, or even seasonal help?

Revisit your typical recruiting process for picking interns…do you use a separate employment application for these positions; or, is it the same standard application used for permanent positions? Either way, ExactHire’s ATS can help streamline your internship application process. Students (who are, by the way, your potential full-time employees of tomorrow) will be impressed with the overall recruitment experience and technology. This promotes positive word of mouth awareness for your company – it’s a win-win!

In addition to your standard application questions, you may still use job-specific screening questions with scoring and disqualification filters, too! Think about what you would ask of a current student before hiring them as an intern…for example:

  • Have you had an internship previously? If so, what did you enjoy/dislike?
  • Please describe how your school extracurricular activities have prepared you for this internship position.
  • Are you able to work while still attending school?

All of these (as well as other topics) are important and can be made into screening questions. After you have a pool qualified applicants, you will be able to start to narrow down your choices and pick the final intern candidates that best fit your needs and company culture.

Another bonus of using applicant tracking software for your internship hiring process is that you can accumulate an inventory of students that fit your requirements. The next time you have an internship or full time position to fill, you already have a pool of “warm lead” applicants from which to engage interest and potentially convert candidates.

Using a hiring solution such as an ATS to find those students that will be the best fit for your company’s intern positions makes the selection process more efficient and consistent, benefiting your company in the long run as well.

To see our software solutions in action, please visit our resources page or contact us to schedule a live demo.
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