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Quiet Hiring

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Recently, the concept of quiet quitting took center stage in the spotlight as many employees experiencing or on the cusp of experiencing employee burnout shifted their mindset to do their jobs but consciously deciding not to go above and beyond basic duties. Status quo provided enough satisfaction to keep quiet quitting employees from formally resigning.  Quiet quitting is not necessarily a bad concept. There are employees who are satisfied in their current roles and do not seek to take on additional responsibilities. Even if compensation or promotions are offered. Companies need to realize that these employees can fulfill a company need. It is often challenging to retain employees holding low-level positions. There are some people who want to stay where they are, and then there are others who do not.  And that is how companies have opened the door to “quiet hiring”…

What is Quiet Hiring?

Lately, a new term has evolved: “quiet hiring”. It is the paradox of quiet quitting. While the term of quiet hiring is new, the concept is not. Quiet hiring has taken place consistently in the past, particularly when the economic state of a country is less than stellar. Periods of high inflation, with or without a recession, are the most common times companies quiet hire.

Quiet hiring is the concept of an employer adding or reassigning additional tasks onto employees. To fill vacant positions, a company might hire short-term contractors to fulfill the need or temporarily move employees into different roles. Most often, companies tend to reallocate duties to existing employees to reduce internal costs. Money is not spent on recruiting and onboarding new hires when existing employees complete additional tasks. This saves the company thousands of dollars. Quiet hiring is used to help companies prioritize the most essential functions of the business to ensure operations continue and meet projected financial targets.

Monster just released survey data on quiet hiring, and the results were profoundly loud.

  • 80% of employees have been “quiet hired” with 50% of the workers saying the role was not aligned with their skill set.
  • While 63% of the people surveyed feel “quiet hiring” provides them with an opportunity to learn new things, only 19% of the people surveyed said they would be open to taking a new role only if it was temporary.
  • Longevity is uncertain for some who are quiet hired. 27% of those surveyed would quit if they were quiet hired. 39% would not quit because it would give the employees an opportunity to try something new.

When should you Hire Quietly?

Quiet hiring is specifically designed to meet an immediate need. As layoffs and hiring freezes increase in various industries, examining employees who already know the company culture is the starting point to find talent to assume additional responsibilities. Companies who are quiet hiring need to examine their internal talent pool.

Before automatically shifting duties from vacant position(s) or sunsetted departments, examine who would be willing to accept additional responsibilities. Use the company’s onboarding software to send a survey to employees soliciting their interest in assuming new skills and responsibilities before assigning new tasks. Maintain an internal application within the company’s applicant tracking system, and create specific questions in the company’s internal application asking about interest in advancement. Seek employees who are motivated and excited to assume additional duties before automatically assigning tasks to all.

For companies that are “quiet hiring”, management must carefully evaluate financial implications if they do not provide additional compensation to employees who have assumed additional responsibilities. Typically, a pay raise is provided to the quiet hired employee; however, if funding is tight, explore alternate options. Compensation can come in a variety of ways such as flexible working conditions, PTO, flex time, etc. Employees who willingly take on additional duties might be seeking promotions. Others might want more flexibility, remote options or other resources to enhance work-life balance. Find out what the employee seeks as motivating factors, and discuss available compensation options with them.

How to Hire Quietly

Transparency is essential if management seeks to quiet hire. Taking advantage of employees and adding additional tasks to their workloads without proper discussion is going to foster frustration. This could potentially yield high turnover rates. If a company already is lacking talent to fulfill certain roles, they do not need to exacerbate the lack of talent issue by chasing off existing talent. Management must convey that the new assignment(s) are opportunities for growth and learning that come with benefits to the employees.

Discuss timeframes of new tasks. Be forthcoming if this is a permanent or temporary arrangement. If there are struggles with company finances and successes which make these changes necessary, communicate that with the employees so they can understand the validity of the need to redistribute tasks. Mitigating turnover is an essential goal, and honesty can reduce the chance of departures.

Candidly, quiet quitting employees are not the employees envisioned by management to assume additional responsibilities. Ambitious, and often new to the workforce, employees are the ones who capture the attention of management as potential quiet hires. Employees who seek to be quiet hired need to examine their current workload and ask themselves if they have the resources to take on additional responsibilities. Carefully evaluate if there is enough time in the work week to complete the additional tasks.

Be candid with management and find out how the compensation will, or will not, change. Discuss with management to see how the newly proposed duties will align with current career goals. Once arrangements are finalized, the employee, management and Human Resources should have a copy stored in their onboarding platform with specific details regarding tasks, compensation and timeframe.

Conclusion

Quiet hiring can be viewed in many ways. Repositioning of talent and assets…agile workforce…no matter the views, it is a redistribution of tasks and responsibilities within an organization. Employers need to partner directly with their employees when examining how tasks and responsibilities might shift. Honesty and transparency will increase employee loyalty. There is no smooth sailing when the waters are choppy. But if the captain can reiterate the long-term goals by motivating the team to assume all-hands-on-deck, the destination will be worth the ride.

Does Your Company Culture Really Matter

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Company culture. Such a small phrase with a big impact. According to Merriam-Webster, culture is defined as:

A: the customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits of a racial, religious, or social group

B: the set of shared attitudes, values, goals, and practices that characterizes an institution or organization

C: the set of values, conventions, or social practices associated with a particular field, activity, or societal characteristic

D: the integrated pattern of human knowledge, belief, and behavior that depends upon the capacity for learning and transmitting knowledge to succeeding generations

Takeaways from Definitions

Customary beliefs… Shared attitudes… Set of values… Transmitting knowledge to succeeding generations… “Culture” envisions a plethora of responsibilities, and even pressure, but more importantly, possibilities. In the work environment, company culture is the concept that can make or break a company.

If a company’s culture supports communication and establishes a sense of trust among employees and management, the culture fosters an environment of growth and productivity. The company will be an employer of choice by existing and potential employees which is essential as the competition for talent has no end. On the other hand, if a company’s culture does not support collaboration and promotes an authoritarian style of management, productivity will be stagnant, and employees will seek a company which personifies a culture of value – the value of employees and their talent. Culture is ignited or extinguished by one factor, the human factor. Light the fuse to ignite a company culture that shines brightly for all.

Let’s examine the facets of culture in more depth and how all four of those definitions relate to company culture.

 

Company Culture Definition A

In the work environment, customary beliefs are attitudes and principles that guide employees in daily performance. Ideally, these beliefs should be motivators. Employees hope that their hard work pays off financially and intrinsically. People want to do well and succeed in their role. Employee engagement drives productivity. According to Forbes, companies with a positive work culture have 72% higher employee engagement. Productivity plummets and employee morale suffers if employees are not engaged with their responsibilities and the company as a whole.

When a company’s culture promotes teamwork and inclusivity, engagement increases because people feel welcome to contribute no matter their biological or social differences. Creating an environment where people feel safe to share ideas and try new things creates a trusting relationship among employees and leadership. The “work group” evolves into a cohesive unit, ultimately a “work family”, that appreciates the unique characteristics and knowledge that everyone offers which expands ideas and knowledge.

 

Company Culture Definition B:

 

Shared attitudes start with the company’s mission, vision and values. The company’s mission, vision and values serve as the company’s compass for steering and keeping employees on the desired path to fulfillment. Management sets the foundation for establishing culture. The company’s mission, vision and values are only words if they are not demonstrated by management. Authentic company culture begins with leadership who demonstrates positive core values and holds employees accountable to foster a work environment that is conducive to communication and learning.

How people interact and work with each other and how decisions are made is what displays culture. Fewer positive interactions among employees can yield poor decisions that affect business goals. Employees are 26% more likely to leave a role if they feel there is a lack of respect between colleagues. Management must exemplify what is expected of employees to create an authentic environment reflecting the importance of the company’s goals.

 

Definition C

 

All employees have their own set of values that impact them. That is what makes everyone unique and offers a myriad of learning opportunities in society. Muting employees’ differences only festers insecurity. Embrace the value of diversity within the company, and put an emphasis on inclusion. Make sure all employees feel valued and represented. Find ways to show gratitude for their efforts. Were departmental and/or company goals achieved? Financial rewards such as bonuses are compensation tools appreciated by employees; however, not all companies have the financial resources to provide bonuses to employees so find alternate ways to show appreciation.

However, you should keep in mind that it is still important to acknowledge employees’ efforts even if the goal was not achieved because that helps keep employees motivated and willing to be a risk-taker. Celebrate successes by providing lunch to the team. Establish a policy that employees can have their birthday off. Write a thank you note to show gratitude for hard work. Praise publicly. Dedicate a specific area for photos and shout-outs to show gratitude. Because gratitude for employee practices that promote inclusion and aim for achieving company goals can be shown in various ways so find ways that reflect the company’s values.

 

Definition D

 

Keeping talented, knowledgeable employees is a goal for any organization. Turnover costs money. Transmitting knowledge to succeeding generations is a component of a company’s strategic plan by developing succession plans for leadership and identifying ways to enrich current employees’ educational development. A positive company culture retains employees. Seventy four percent of employees would leave their current organization if culture started to decline according to a Glassdoor survey. A mass exodus of talent can leave a company faltering as management tries to capture replacement talent.

The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) calculates that an employee’s departure can cost a company six to nine months worth of salary to find a replacement. When employees feel a connection to the company and their teammates, that creates a sense of camaraderie. If employees feel valued and recognized, attitudes are more positive, and that is contagious. Tenured employees who stay at a company for an extended period of their work life develop an extensive amount of wisdom and knowledge that can be shared with new and existing employees to keep company life strong.

Promoting qualified employees who are committed to maintaining a positive company culture demonstrates the company’s commitment to employees. Everyone benefits. The company maintains productivity by transferring knowledge from seasoned leaders to employees who want to maintain growth and prosperity, individually and for the company.

Final Analysis

Company culture matters. It sets the tone for productivity and happiness in the work environment. If culture is not at the positive level desired, start assessing the environment and evaluate what needs changing to help craft a plan to make those changes. Solicit employees’ feedback about culture through surveys to start gathering different perspectives. Evaluate the feedback and start small with changes. As employees see leadership making a bona fide effort to create a more positive company culture, excitement will develop. Humankind truly becomes human and kind.

Strategies for Remote Recruitment

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From 2019 to 2022, the remote workforce has tripled according to Gallup. Remote recruiting is Human Resources’ fastest growing strategy within talent acquisition to meet the needs of an evolving work environment. Remote recruitment involves the sourcing, screening, interviewing, and hiring of employees located throughout the world. Traditional means of recruitment used to entail a multi-step process. Phone screens, in-depth phone interviews and then, one or more onsite interviews prior to extending an offer of employment. While some traditions are tried and true, traditional recruitment as described is becoming antiquated. It does not accommodate the needs of an evolving remote and hybrid work model. Companies need to make the recruitment process efficient for all types of employees. When recruiting remote employees, an organization must examine their existing recruitment plans. Then make essential adaptations to make the evaluation process efficient for everyone involved.

 

SOURCING

Review your company’s culture and online presence. Remote job seekers will search for opportunities online. The description of the company found online can affect if they apply. The remote job seeker will want to click to learn more or scroll by. Craft your company’s website with a plethora of examples of the company as a whole. Company culture, history, commitments to employees, customers and society with an emphasis on the company’s investment in remote employees. Share pictures on the company’s social media pages to generate excitement about events within the company. Be sure to include remote employees’ experiences within the content.

Include videos from leadership discussing the company’s mission, vision and values. Having an informative and engaging website will help remote job seekers develop a connection to the organization and reiterate their desire to work there. Include benefits that support remote employees such as additional education and certification opportunities, flexible time, technology benefits, etc. Reiterate that promotion can occur for both onsite and remote workers. If your organization is truly a remote friendly company, broadcast that on the company’s website so remote job seekers can quickly identify that your company encourages remote workers. Make it more than words or a nifty “remote friendly” graphic by including testimonials from remote workers about their positive experiences so job seekers can get additional perspectives from those who do work remotely.

JOB POSTINGS AND DESCRIPTIONS

Now that the organization’s culture has been addressed, take a look at the job listings that are posted on the company website and job boards. Human Resources talent acquisition personnel need to craft job descriptions that attract remote employees. Clarify if the position is 100% remote or if the position is actually hybrid with some onsite work requirements. If it is hybrid, will there be occasional travel to the company headquarters or regional office, and if so, how often? Include specific expectations of the role that apply to its remote specification. Is there a specific time window or time zone that the employee must work?  What type of home work environment and technology are required?

An organization needs to examine all channels of promotion for remote jobs. Recruit existing remote employees to scan their networks for potential talent. Promote job listings on job boards that specialize in remote work opportunities. Utilize your Applicant Tracking System (ATS) integrations with niche job boards to expand your audience.

 

SCREENING AND PRE-INTERVIEW

Upon finding potential talent, it is time to evaluate further and put the “human” in “human resources”.  Remote recruitment does not readily offer the ability to bring talent onsite for interviews so it’s time to go to the talent themselves. Schedule the interview through your Applicant Tracking System (ATS). Phone screens offer an initial opportunity to evaluate basic skills, but for remote positions, consider replacing a phone screen with a video call. This gives recruiters an additional opportunity to develop a connection and evaluate communication and nonverbal language skills. Recruiters need to develop and refine video interviewing skills prior to kickstarting a video interviewing process.

Keep your interview area free from distractions and interruptions. Make sure all equipment is working prior to the interview. Doing this prevents precious interviewing time being wasted on resolving tech issues. Technical issues can occur no matter what. So have an alternate plan to continue the interview in case technical issues cannot be resolved. In a warm, welcoming manner, be the first person to join the meeting. This way the interviewee does not increase nervousness waiting for the interviewer(s). This is not a typical video meeting. Recruiters need to gauge and evaluate nonverbal communication cues, but that can be more difficult over a screen. Take notes regarding questions about qualifications and experience, but if you are taking notes using an interview guide within your ATS, ensure that you can see the interviewee the whole time.

INTERVIEWING

Craft interview questions to include segments focusing on time management, communication skills and autonomous experiences. Formulate questions to gauge the job seeker’s ability to work independently when remote and how they communicate with others when questions or challenges arise. How do they handle stress, particularly when they cannot get up and go walk to someone for assistance? Asking open-ended questions seeking examples will help recruiters find remote talent that will fit within the organization’s remote culture. Explore assessments to evaluate job skill compatibility along with behavioral and cognitive capabilities.  Conduct written assessments to get an example of how the job seeker expresses themselves. Writing samples can include how to respond to an angry client while researching the problem, providing instructions to a teammate or a client, or whatever is relevant to the position.

When the interview concludes, ensure they know the next steps in the process and how they will be contacted. Remote recruitment can take longer than traditional recruitment processes. All job seekers appreciate updates on their status in the hiring process. However it is essential to provide additional communication with remote employees so they can stay engaged in the hiring process. Depending on the intricacies of the job opening, examine the need for additional specialty interviews such as panel interviews. Including the remote candidate in a group meeting and encouraging their participation could give another perspective on interaction and group acclimation. Positions need to be filled quickly to mitigate productivity loss. However, take enough time to host enough video interviews and group sessions. Doing this will allow you to determine if the remote candidate is the best fit for the position.

HIRING

Once an employment offer has been extended to the soon-to-be new remote teammate and they accept, engage them in an active onboarding process starting with the use of onboarding software to automate part of the process. Keep the new remote hire involved with open communication and timely notifications of what is needed from them and what they need to do as well. Partner with the company’s Information Technology department to communicate technology security policies with the new remote hire.

Work with the new hire to validate that they have the tools they need to do the role. Craft communication plans with the new hire so they can start interacting with the team. Outline expectations for task completion, and most importantly, be available as questions arise. Check in on the new remote teammate and host weekly meetings to help them get up to speed on the responsibilities of their job. Remote work environments thrive on communication so ensure the team is there to support the new remote teammate as they learn the culture and their role.

Tailoring remote recruitment to meet the needs of remote job seekers provides the organization with the means to find candidates who want and can successfully complete the duties of a remote position. Remote employees must be self-directing and have stellar communication skills along with grit to handle tasks independently but be ready to collaborate and work with teammates digitally alongside them. Remote employees offer higher productivity and increased loyalty to an organization. As an organization seeks talent to fill vacancies, remote talent can provide the skills and commitment to forge a path of heightened productivity. Forge that path together, no matter where you are.

6 Outdated Hiring Practices

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How effective are your current hiring strategies? Are you attracting top-quality talent? Or are you posting and reposting with very few submissions? Today’s hiring ecosystem is different. And what used to work as recently as one year ago won’t necessarily be effective today.

 

So, as you review your hiring and onboarding metrics, look to spot trends that might point to gaps in your current hiring practices. And keep reading to see if any of these outdated hiring practices represent techniques you’re still using. More efficent hiring practices and strategies first require the identification of poor-performing processes. See what you can eliminate and reform so you can get back to hiring incredible talent for your organization.

 

According to Forbes, the “Great Resignation” brought 47.8 million Americans to the decision to leave their jobs in 2021. And that movement shifted power away from the recruiter’s desk and back to the job seeker. While some nuances continue to shift, these are the current hiring practices you should consider eliminating.

1. Hiring Based on Resumes and CVs

There was a time when the candidate’s resume was all a hiring manager needed to make a hiring decision. However, the old CV isn’t carrying as much weight anymore. A surging number of companies are even considering hiring and interviewing applicants without a resume at all. Today’s leaders realize the best-fit candidates present qualifying experiences, applicable knowledge, and soft skills, all of which are hard to quantify in a one-page resume. Sure, some roles will require certification or technical proof of experience. But if you’re still relying on the resume alone to evaluate candidates, it’s an outdated hiring practice that could be costing you brilliant employees.

2. Attracting Candidates with Salary Alone

It also used to be considered a hiring best practice to rely on salaries alone to attract top talent. In theory, you’d pay more for more qualified candidates. But today’s best and most talented applicants are looking beyond the pay before making any offer-accepting decisions. Today’s workers are choosing to work with companies that offer creative benefits that speak to work-life balance. They’re looking for positive company cultures and potential for internal growth. And if your job descriptions or interview processes don’t speak to these points, you’re missing great candidates.

3. Hiring Based on Location

With the onset of remote working dynamics, today’s companies are throwing regional or location-based hiring practices out the window. Stop insisting on “local” when you seek to attract new candidates and open up your role to nationwide pools of incredibly qualified professionals. Of course, this also means you’ll have to adopt a remote or hybrid workforce. And being flexible as a return for productivity is a highly attractive element among top talent today.

4. Posting Vague, Fluffy, or Ambiguous Job Descriptions

Another outdated hiring practice you might not realize you’re using is the generic, vague, or ambiguous job description. Over the years, certain roles evolved to “feel” like templates outlining responsibilities and benefits. Today’s candidates are looking for descriptive, transparent, and precise descriptions. And if they sense any fluff content or gray areas, they’ll move on to the next job opportunity. When crafting your job descriptions, be unique about how you capture the responsibilities and requirements. Spell out what you’re looking for in a dynamic candidate. Additionally, create transparent lists of benefits, perks, and pay ranges that apply. It’s about setting realistic expectations and attracting the candidates who want to apply, not baiting applicants.

5. Requiring Lengthy and Time-Consuming Application Processes

To leverage the most effective and current hiring practices, you’ll need to look at the time it takes to apply to your job. If there are redundant steps in the process, including requirements for applicant logins or form completion steps in addition to resume uploads, you’re likely losing interest among your candidate pools. And even worse are those companies that take too long to move forward with the next steps in the applicant process. Today’s companies are adopting AI for improved communication and innovative software that streamlines every step. Eliminate unnecessary or time-consuming steps in your application procedures and start being more effective in hiring great candidates.

6. Implementing In-Person Interviews and Outdated Tech

If your recruiting and HR teams are still requiring in-person interviews, you’re missing out on pools of incredibly talented applicants and still practicing what is now an outdated hiring practice. Look to adopt all the technology you need to connect with, engage, evaluate, interview, and onboard new hires virtually. Even for those roles you have that DO require on-site work, take the flexible interview route with options for virtual meetings and calls. Use the tech to connect, and you’ll find you have broader applicant pools with which to work.

Is your company still using some of these outdated hiring practices? More importantly, do you need help developing and executing more effective hiring practices? Let ExactHire be your guide! We have all the resources and strategies you need to change your approach to hiring, including the best practices for today’s hiring environment.

4 Different Types of Compensation

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There are four different ways to demonstrate to your employees that you appreciate their work using compensation. Today’s HR professionals and company leaders need to leverage all four methods to be effective, too. The days of salary promises alone are long gone. Today’s top professionals are looking for custom compensation options and flexible earning potential. Here’s more about the four pillars of compensation in today’s workforce and how you can be tapping into them to attract and retain your best teams.

 

Direct and Indirect Compensation

Typically, when you look at forms and methods of employee compensation, you can separate your core offerings into two categories, direct and indirect. Direct compensation is monetary, usually providing a financial benefit. Indirect compensation is usually a combination of financial perks and non-monetary benefits. And your company likely uses both of these different compensation types.

Direct

These methods of compensation are a direct exchange of pay for work performed and include the four primary compensation types, hourly pay, salary, commissions, and bonuses.

Indirect

These types of compensation are benefits based and non-monetary, including equity packages, stock options, insurance benefits, and retirement plans.

Four Different Compensation Types

Start looking at how you’re currently compensating your teams. And separate your methods into one of four different compensation types. From there, you can consider improvements or more of a hybrid approach to pay to ensure you retain your best team members now and can continue to attract top talent into the future.

1. Hourly

As an employer, you may have different employee types, including temporary staff, part-time workers, and entry-level team members. Compensating these employee types with an hourly wage is common among employers. And it makes sense as a compensation strategy without investing in these types of employees beyond their direct work performance.

Pros: Hourly workers provide a cost-savings to employers. And workers expect guaranteed overtime pay should their hourly work exceed standard workweeks.

Cons: There is less job security for those in an hourly wage role, and these workers typically earn less than their salaried counterparts.

2. Salary

Salary pay, or an agreed-upon amount of annual compensation, is usually reserved for a full-time worker, often with more responsibility and skillsets. More technical positions, leadership positions, and highly educated staff typically earn a salary.

Pros: Salaried employees translate to simpler payroll processes for employers. And employees tend to enjoy a more flexible work schedule.

Cons: Overtime lines are blurred, and it can be more difficult to track salaried employees’ performances.

3. Commission

Another form of compensation is commission-based pay. And it’s most common in sales or performance-driven roles. This kind of pay usually represents a percentage of total goals met and serves as an incentive for employees to perform well. Commissions can also be based on profit margins.

Pros: Commission pay is ideal for businesses since it’s directly associated with revenue and performance. It’s an incentive, forward-rewarding method that also tends to drive improved sales.

Cons: Commission can lead to an overly aggressive sales team. And for some companies, it can lead to unpredictable expenses.

4. Bonuses

Bonuses are another form of variable pay and compensation, applicable as the name implies – a bonus. For salespeople or team members responsible for achieving company goals, bonuses are typically a percentage of a sum or established as a flat-rate payout.  Additionally some companies offer bonuses based on departmental performance, while others share bonus pay on a timeline of quarterly or annual results. Bonuses, however, don’t have to be incentive pay like commission. These can be associated with holidays and offered as a loyalty gift without any direct quantitative performance metric.

Pros: Bonuses are great for rewarding employees and fostering an environment of loyalty. It can be a motivating factor for teams to collaborate, too.

Cons: Bonuses represent an added company expense. And if mismanaged, it can lead to false expectations among employees.

Providing Transparent Compensation Statements

As an employer, you can change up how you structure your compensation efforts to create a more flexible, attractive, and results-driven employee engagement. Albeit you can develop a more effective compensation strategy that involves both direct and indirect pay, along with the four different types of compensation mentioned above. Additionally, from there, you can then create a transparent compensation statement, which is helpful for your teams to have a clear understanding of what to expect as compensation.

Today’s hiring and retention landscapes are vastly different. And to be more effective, you’ll want to look for ways to improve your methods of compensation. For more insights and all the support you need in transforming your employee engagement strategies, ExactHire can help! Connect with our team to learn more!

5 Best Practices for Pre-Employment Assessments Hiring Managers Should Be Tracking

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The hiring process is oftentimes littered with pink slips because of unreliable gut instincts about new hires.

Pre-employment assessments are excellent tools that provide a wealth of data, and much needed objectivity, when used correctly. But those same pre-employment tests can perpetuate bias if hiring managers aren’t paying attention to the whole story.

In this post, we’ll explain how employee assessment tests can help you make successful hiring decisions. We’ll also tell you how to measure an assessment’s validity and outcomes to prevent pre-employment assessment bias.

“one-quarter of the people hired by the traditional methods of interviewing and reviewing resumes will fail.”

Pre-Employment Assessment Tools for Better Hiring Decisions

According to Dianna Podmoroff, author of How to Hire, Train, and Keep the Best Employees for your Small Business, “one-quarter of the people hired by the traditional methods of interviewing and reviewing resumes will fail.”

According to Gallup, turnover costs businesses $1 trillion a year—and that’s just voluntary turnover. Clearly, businesses need to increase their employee retention, and the hiring process is the first place to start. Pre-employment assessments are excellent tools that can help you make more successful hiring decisions.

Pre-employment assessment tools are tests that can measure a variety of candidate attributes. Hiring managers can use pre-assessments to know if a candidate really has the job skills to perform well in the role. Leaders can use a hiring assessment test to reduce theft and increase workplace safety. Pre-employment assessments can help you hire people based personality traits that lead to innovation, teamwork, and a strong culture.

If you’re wondering if pre-employment assessments can really result in better hires, take a look at this article on the U.S. Bureau of Labor website. The article summarizes a 2017 study on the effectiveness of pre-employment assessments. The researchers found that hiring managers make better recruiting decisions when they relied on free pre-employment assessment tools.

Legally Using Employment Tests in the Hiring Process

Yet many hiring managers are reluctant to use an employment test in the selection process because they mistakenly believe they make companies more vulnerable to recruitment-related lawsuits. The fact is that any hiring decision made without objective examination of the candidate’s suitability for the role is vulnerable to litigation. And that, of course, includes your subjective gut instinct.

Pre-employment assessments supplement your gut instinct with an objective measure of a candidate’s characteristics. The 25% of new hires that ultimately fail in their roles interviewed just as well as the other 75%. Several types of employment tests can help you uncover traits that make a candidate unsuitable for your open position.

All that being said, employment tests can lead to discrimination litigation if they are not used properly.

Improper Use of Pre-Employment Assessment Example

Just because a test is standardized and has been around for a long time doesn’t mean it’s legal. In 2015, Target became the target of more than irresistible puns. Everybody’s favorite place for soy candles and rope baskets came under fire in a class-action employment discrimination lawsuit.

Target was using a psychiatric test called the MMPI to screen for security guards. The MMPI was first developed in the 1930s, had undergone countless updates, and had been used as a pre-employment test since World War II. But the MMPI contained several questions pertaining to religion and sexual orientation. These inappropriate questions should be red flags for any hiring manager.

Reduce Bias with Pre-Employment Assessments

Some companies are turning to pre-employment assessments to reduce bias and achieve their diversity goals. Forbes reports, “Some of America’s biggest companies… dropped college degree requirements from job postings” and “turned to skills-based hiring to provide an unbiased, fair and consistent basis for employee selection.”

Such a move is especially important for diversity since racial gaps in college degrees are widening. Removing the requirement for the degree while still ensuring candidates possess necessary skills can diversify your workforce. Skills-based testing can also circumvent a growing problem in recruitment: the growing number of applicants who lie during the hiring process.

Legal Yardstick for Pre-Employment Assessment Test

We’ve already seen the types of pre-employment tests can help you make better hiring decisions, increase productivity and lower turnover. Far from job assessments being a waste of time, there are many pros and few cons of skills tests.

How can you avoid a pre-employment testing lawsuit that sometimes arises from their irresponsible use? To ensure that you’re using pre-employment assessments legally, you must show that they are valid and don’t produce adverse outcomes.

Pre-Employment Assessments Must Be Valid

Your pre-employment tests need to be useful for predicting job performance. That means you can only test for skills and traits that lead to success in that particular role. For example, you can administer a personality test for sales candidates to gauge their extroversion. Or you can test typing skills for an administrative position responsible for data entry. But you can’t test for either of those characteristics when hiring for a manufacturing position.

Pre-Employments Assessments Must Not Have an Adverse Impact on Protected Groups

An otherwise neutral selection tool may nonetheless have an adverse impact on women or minorities. Adverse impact was actually the basis for the first discrimination case against employment testing. In 1971, Duke Power Company was sued when it required aptitude testing, along with a high school diploma, for employees wishing to transfer to high paying positions. The Supreme Court found that the requirements had an adverse impact on Duke’s African-American employees.

Best Practices for Skills Assessment Test

We have a list of best practices for using pre-employment assessments responsibly and successfully. Following these tips will help you get all the benefits of pre-employment assessments, like lower turnover and more successful employees.

  • Take your pre-employment assessments for a test drive. No one knows when anyone on Target’s executive team bothered to read the MMPI. But the moral of Target’s serious hiring gaff is that hiring managers should experience their recruiting process from the candidate’s perspective. At least once a year, hop onto your company’s careers site, fill out the application, and take the pre-employment tests. Doing so will not only alert you to potential legal issues, it will also give you insight on how to improve your candidate experience.
  • Perform your own adverse impact analysis. Track data surrounding your use of skills assessment test for employment. Most importantly, track changes to the diversity of your new hires as a result of the assessments. Applicant tracking software can track this data for you automatically.
  • Use your pre-employment assessment in addition to an unbiased, informal screening. Economic researchers at MIT found that companies using pre-employment assessments were able to improve their retention rates and productivity without impacting their diversity efforts when they hire the best scorers within groups. Don’t simply hire the highest scoring applicants. Instead, use pre-employment testing to improve your selection within minority groups as well.
  • Use more than one pre-employment assessment. There’s a wide variety of pre-employment assessments to help you make the best hiring decision. Some, however, are more likely than other to create an adverse impact. Pairing these with useful tests less likely to create an adverse impact can help you make a more informed, unbiased decision.
  • Provide accommodations for test takers. Providing extra time or providing a reader for pre-employment tests are reasonable accommodations under the ADA. Applicant tracking software that includes pre-employment testing makes providing these accommodations easy. Within the software, hiring managers can use text-to-speech or adjust the time allotted for completion.

Best Pre-Employment Testing Software

The traditional interview is beset with blind spots. And that’s why a quarter of all new hires ultimately fail. Pre-employment assessments are proven to help you make better hiring decisions. Don’t shy away from these vital tools just because you’re unsure how to handle them legally.

The fact is, without objective measures like the kind assessments provide, hiring teams are prone to all sorts of biases.  The ability to improve your hiring decisions and avoid costly litigation are examples of the benefits of pre-employment assessments.

The keys to using pre-employment tests are successfully are to understand how the results of pre-employment assessments can help ensure the new hire’s success, as well as how they can   and taking steps to avoid adverse effects are keys to using pre-employment tests successfully. The best practices we’ve provided here can help you achieve higher productivity and retention rates by using pre-employment assessments.

But you don’t have to go it alone. ExactHire’s pre-employment assessments are written to be effective and avoid adverse effects. Our applicant tracking system can help you analyze all of your hiring practices so you can avoid handing a pink slip to a quarter of your new hires.

Contact us today!

 

 

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A Positive Candidate Experience Increases Retention

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Today’s hiring landscape and workforce are changing. Anyone who’s been in a hiring, interviewing, or an onboarding role for any period of time will tell you just how different today’s candidate marketplace is. Everything about the application process is shifting. From how candidates apply for jobs to how today’s companies successfully attract top talent. One important aspect businesses can take steps to improve their hiring process is the candidate experience.

If you’re exploring new methods for improving your hiring process, continue reading. Today, we’ll share insights about creating a positive candidate experience. The benefits of such methods can be game-changing in how you attract and retain top talent. Consider these candidate experience-related strategies and find your path to onboarding success, increased retention, and bottom-line company growth.

Defining a Positive Candidate Experience

Before you can improve a candidate’s experience, you should first understand what that experience entails. When an applicant reaches out to your company intending to submit for a position, every engagement that person has with your brand throughout the recruiting, interviewing, and onboarding process is considered the candidate experience. These interactions might include direct and non-direct communication, software and digital forms, and brand messaging.

Based on the definitions and candidate experience interactions, here are a few examples of areas of engagement:

  • Your company’s career website or landing page
  • Your company’s job postings and job descriptions
  • Your company’s online application submission process
  • Your company’s communication through any applicant tracking systems
  • Your company’s direct communication with internal hiring managers and staff
  • Your company’s candidate acceptance and rejection notices

However when you strategize to make improvements to create a positive candidate experience, you’ll aim to impact these interactions in a way that provides convenience and value. Start your enhancement efforts by analyzing each aspect of your current recruiting process. Begin outlining the next steps through the lens of an applicant to better understand what their experience is like.

Why the Candidate Experience Matters

In today’s recruiting landscape, ignoring the candidate experience can be detrimental to your hiring success. And creating a positive candidate experience matters, especially if your goals include finding, hiring, and retaining top talent quickly. Companies not addressing this aspect of the process will soon begin experiencing:

  • Difficulties in filling open positions, thus hindering company growth and stability
  • Lower application rates due to the word getting out about one or more poor candidate experiences
  • Business loss due to poor candidate experiences affecting consumer purchasing decisions

Here are some alarming stats to consider. One study outlined these metrics, demonstrating how detrimental a poor candidate experience can really be for a business:

  • 60% of candidates never hear back from a company after an interview
  • 42% of dissatisfied applicants say they will never apply with that unresponsive company again
  • 22% of those disgruntled candidates will advise others to avoid applying
  • 9% of dissatisfied applicants would ask their networks to boycott a company’s products and services

Your company’s success is directly correlated to the skills and dedication of your employees. Focusing on how you attract and retain those critical roles will ensure you continue to create the most positive candidate experiences with the best-fit applicants for every position you need to fill.

The Framework for a Positive Candidate Experience

Consider developing a positive candidate experience framework, from the initial job description posting through to the final onboarding steps. Be sure to include these objectives in your outline, ensuring every improvement you make supports the overall company objective and the candidate experience.

  • Clearly defined job descriptions outlining realistic expectations for the role
  • Clearly defined employee-level value propositions (what’s in it for them)
  • Clearly defined details and resources they need to make their decisions
  • Easy-to-use interfaces for both online and mobile-friendly application processes
  • Respect at every level of communication and engagement, including thank you and courtesy correspondence
  • Pleasant and seamless interviewing experiences
  • Simplified transitions for applicants onboarding into new roles
  • Professional and respectful job applicant rejection communications
  • Robust and thorough training for all onboarded new employees

How Companies Can Improve Engagement in Recruitment

What today’s hiring managers really want to know is how to improve the candidate experience in the recruiting process. Start by exploring these solutions. They involve actionable steps you can take right now to impact a more positive result within your recruitment efforts.

Get Technical

Use all the available innovations and software solutions you can to improve your candidate experience. This might include the use of video for interviews, or maybe applicant-facing dashboards where candidates can find real-time updates and information. Right now, Jobvite says the average recruiter fills a position within 30 days. These tech and software enhancements can speed up the hiring process and offer more robust communication and transparency for applicants.

Simplify the Application Process

Look for complicated steps in your current application process and strategize ways to simplify them. Every step a candidate takes should be straightforward and easy. For example, don’t ask for them to upload a resume AND fill out a lengthy internal application. Instead, offer one or the other. And any online forms you do require, make sure you have an auto-save feature that allows candidates to save their progress as they go. However today’s recruiters should also make sure to offer assistance with online application processes, including closed-captioned videos and alternative assistance features.

Personalize Communications

While automations make the application process more transparent and efficient, there’s still a need for personalization and customization with your candidate communications. Explore ways to incorporate more tailored messaging to applicants at various stages of their recruitment process, including addressing them by name.

Ask for and Provide Valuable Feedback from Candidates

LinkedIn recently shared its Talent Solutions report, indicating that 94% of today’s job seekers want feedback from their interviews. It also suggests that only 41% of applicants actually receive feedback. Look for opportunities to send feedback with every engagement. And tap into the value of post-interview surveys to obtain candidates’ sentiments about their experiences, as well.

Make a Positive Impression

Apply for your own job as a candidate. Be mindful as you navigate your process to look for what kind of impression your company makes. Is your brand message incorporated throughout? Does your application web page take too long to load? Are there images or pages with broken links? Are there typos in your job description? All of these details, which may seem minor, could be making a negative impression on candidates.

Tighten Up Communication Timelines

Don’t leave candidates hanging about final hiring determinations. If your evaluation process is going to take two weeks, communicate those timelines to the applicants. They’ll wait two or three weeks if you set the expectation accordingly. They will not wait if you don’t follow up at all and will likely venture elsewhere for employment.

Today’s companies are learning to prioritize the candidate experience. Consider these insights and improvements as you evaluate your processes. And remember, the ExactHire team can help! Contact us to explore better ways you can create positive candidate experiences with your recruiting efforts. You can’t change the job market. But we can certainly help you change your approach to it.

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5 Stats to Know About the Labor Market for 2023

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There are some key thing you need to do to be an effective hiring manager in today’s job market. It’s best to keep up with the relevant statistics regarding employment and unemployment. In addition to those job growth, earnings, and hiring best practices are also important. Today, we’ll share some of the very latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, along with additional insights that will ensure you make the most informed hiring, interviewing, and onboarding decisions in 2023. Knowing the top five current labor market stats will only improve your ability to attract, hire, and retain the top talent professionals you need for your organization to grow.

The Top Five Stats in the Current Labor Market, 2023

The Bureau of Labor Statistics often shares insights and metrics that represent the current state of the labor market. But some of the most recent and interesting stats, as sought after by most of today’s business leaders, are these:

 

  1. The current labor force is growing at a rate of 0.5% annually. It is expected to continue at this pace over the next ten years. More precisely, the labor force grew to 161.2 million, an increase of 462,000, between 2020 and 2021. By 2031, the projections suggest the labor market will grow to 168.9 million.
  2. The aging population will contribute to a decline in labor force participation. Projections indicate a decline from 61.7% to 60.1% by 2031.
  3. Real gross domestic product, or GDP, is expected to continue to improve at a rate of 2.1% annually. This is slightly higher than the 1.8% rate in recent years.
  4. Healthcare-based and social assistance sectors are projected to create the most jobs through 2031. The biggest growth in employment is expected to be among the service sectors serving the aging population.
  5. One of the industry segments experiencing the fastest growth is leisure and hospitality. Rebounding from the economic impacts of the pandemic, these sectors, along with food consumption, accommodations, and public services, are expected to experience the most growth through 2031.

What Can Leaders Do with These Stats?

As a business leader or hiring manager, how can you take these latest labor market statistics and put them to use in your growth efforts? For starters, company leaders should recognize that the country’s experiencing its largest employment expansion ever. Coupled with record-low unemployment rates, these labor market conditions have made hiring ridiculously challenging.

But you probably already know that.

However, these latest stats point to continued growth. So, while many of these market dynamics were exacerbated by the pandemic rebound, it’s not expected to let up in the coming years. It means waiting for the market to “level out” or return to pre-pandemic conditions won’t be an option.

These five stats should also wave red flags to anyone running a business within the service sectors. Leisure, entertainment, hospitality, senior services, healthcare, and food services in particular. These particular markets are growing at higher rates. If your business model represents any of these services, employment is going to continue to be extremely competitive throughout the next eight to ten years.

Understanding these emerging trends and stats will help you strategize for improved applicant attraction methods and hiring best practices.

What Broader Trends Can Leaders Leverage?

Perhaps there is a bigger question for today’s business leaders. How can one capitalize on and leverage these labor market stats and trends? Here are some solutions worth considering as you look to improve how you attract, hire, and retain top talent in today’s employment landscape.

RippleMatch says many employers are relaxing their hiring requirements to broaden their talent pools. For example, opening positions up to potential candidates who don’t have college degrees or years of industry experience is proving successful.

Today’s hiring managers are seeking to improve their employee benefits and company culture initiatives at a much higher rate. The Great Resignation of 2021, where 47 million workers effectively quit their jobs, did so because of a growing need for flexibility and work-life balance.

A Different Approach to Hiring and Onboarding

What today’s current labor market trends really indicate is a need for a new playbook for company leaders looking to hire and retain top talent. Any business striving for growth will need the teams to execute those growth plans. And if you’re not changing the way you hire, you’re going to face hiring challenges ongoing for the next ten years.

Recognizing that you need a new approach might also mean you need a new hiring strategy partner. ExactHire fully embraces the emerging hiring trends and provides companies with the software solutions, hiring tools, and onboarding techniques needed for growth in this new labor market.

These top five labor market stats should inspire change and improvements within your company’s hiring practices. And ExactHire can be the partner you need to facilitate simplified applicant tracking and improved employee onboarding. Contact our team to talk about your challenges and growth goals for 2023!

 

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Powerful Questions to Ask During an Interview

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Recruiting the right team is every business leader’s top priority. More important than your products’ marketability or the size of your customer base, hiring first-rate talent will drive your company to the top of your industry. The opposite also holds true. A bad hiring decision can cost your company thousands in lost productivity and do irreparable harm to your company’s culture and reputation.

Making great hiring decisions is so important that it’s no wonder companies do all they can to get it right. As you’ve developed your own recruiting strategies, you’ve probably considered everything from offering competitive pay to improving your employer branding. But you’ll never be successful at recruiting top talent if you don’t know how to ask powerful interview questions.

The Importance of Interview Questions

Everybody wants a great job. And that’s why interview questions are so important. Your recruiting efforts will yield quality applicants, but also some not-so-great candidates. Powerful interview questions are your most effective tool to weed out undesirable candidates.

Job seekers have an overabundance of tools to help them during the application process. Professional resume writers, mock interviews, and even Google aid candidates trying to make a great impression. And while being prepared is a plus for any potential new hire, your job as the interviewer is to uncover shortcomings that would prevent the candidate from being successful in the role.

If you’re like most hiring managers, your interview process isn’t as effective as you think. In 1979, the University of Texas Medical School was compelled to admit an additional 50 students long after the admissions board had selected what they considered to be the best candidates. The additional 50 applicants were initially rejected largely based on their performance in unstructured interviews. Researchers later assessed the performance of these late-comers and found they performed just as well as the first round of accepted applicants. In other words, the interviewers’ impressions were wrong.

Researchers conducted a group of studies to find out how well volunteers could predict students’ GPA based, in part, on their interview performance. In each study, the researchers found that interviews were the least effective tool for predicting future performance. The interviewers were unable to tell when the students being interviewed were providing random or false answers. Furthermore, volunteers were more accurate when they made their predictions without interviews, relying on previous GPA and the student’s course schedule.

Of course, you wouldn’t want to hire someone you haven’t interviewed in person. But how can you conduct an effective interview that avoids the perils of poor judgement and gut instinct?

Good Interview Questions

Good questions to ask when interviewing someone begin with a thorough assessment of the qualities and skills required for the job. You already likely did a version of this assessment when you wrote the job description for the purposes of placing job ads. Revisit that assessment and dig deeper.

Evaluate the position and develop interview questions based on the following key competencies, according to the University of Portland.

Experience. Open-ended questions that ask applicants about their accomplishments, disappointments, or ongoing skill development will help you assess their current skills and their willingness to learn new skills.

Teamwork. Even employees that work independently need to see their contributions as part of the larger organization.

Communication. Teamwork is only possible if employees are able to communicate clearly and listen well.

Problem Solving. The whole team is more effective when employees take initiative to solve problems. But if they aren’t competent problem-solvers, their efforts could create even more complications.

Leadership. Not just for management, leadership skills include the abilities to motivate others, be assertive when necessary, and be self-disciplined.

Motivation. Employees motivated by an internal drive to do well will be more consistent than those motivated by pay or recognition.

Organization. The abilities to plan their time, prioritize their tasks, and organize their workspaces will help employees complete their work. A high level of organization will also help anyone who may need to step in if the employee is sick or on vacation.

Mission Alignment. Don’t overlook the importance of every employee working to promote your company’s mission. A company’s values, mission, and culture combine to create the standard for all of your employees’ behavior.

For each role, assess how these competencies are demonstrated. Then, create questions tailored to the open position to gauge the applicant’s mastery of these key qualities.

Fun Interview Questions

Weird and fun interview questions to ask an interviewee have been trending since reviewers on Glassdoor revealed that Google challenges its applicants to estimate how many piano tuners there are in the entire world. From there, it came to light that some of the biggest companies in the world use weird and fun questions in an attempt to reveal the applicant’s true self.

These questions attempt to circumvent the candidate’s research and preparation to elicit a candid response. Interviewers want insight into a candidate’s ability to think quickly, logically, or creatively. There is no right or wrong answer to these questions. But if interviewers are discerning enough, weird and fun questions can reveal personality traits that are otherwise difficult to spot in an interview.

The key is knowing why you are asking the fun interview question and what you are looking for in the response. While unusual interview questions can be useful, be careful to not give undue weight to applicants’ responses. Even Google admitted that their brainteasers weren’t a predictor of employee success.

Best Interview Questions

When it comes to predicting employee success, researchers and business leaders agree on a few best practices for creating powerful questions to ask during an interview.

The evidence supports using structured interviews. These interviews rely on a format and a pre-made list of open-ended questions focused on key qualities. And unlike an unstructured interview, the interviewer doesn’t improvise based on the candidate’s response.

Interviewers should use the same questions for each candidate, along with a scale to evaluate each response. By using the same questions, interviewers can compare all the candidates fairly. And by using a scale to measure their response, interviewers avoid relying on their intuition, memory, or even the candidate’s likability.

Questions should focus on the candidate’s past behavior. Experts agree that past behavior is a powerful indicator of future behavior. Ask the candidate to describe situations in which he or she demonstrated key qualities required for the job.

Interviews should be done by teams or panels, with the final decision resting on one person. By inviting more than one person to interview candidates, hiring managers get the benefit of multiple perspectives. Hiring team members should include at least the position’s immediate supervisor, a member of the new hire’s team, along with a final decision maker.

Final Round Interview Questions

Ideally, by the time candidates make the final round of interviews, they have already demonstrated they have the skills and experience to perform the job. At this point in the interview process, you’re looking for personality traits that will drive or hinder their success.

The knockout questions in the final round are behavioral questions. These questions seek to determine if the candidate has character weaknesses that would make her a poor fit. An inability to handle pressure or a tendency to become angry will make even the most qualified candidate difficult to work with. For these questions, use the same format which asks the candidate to describe how she overcame challenging situations in the past, but focus on character traits.

Supplement Interview Questions with Assessments

Interviews can be notoriously poor predictors of employee performance. By using proven strategies, interviewers can increase the likelihood of choosing the best candidate through the interview process alone. Using a structured format, a consistent scale to evaluate performance, and the input of a hiring team, companies can make the best use of powerful interview questions.

Employee assessments can fill the gaps that even powerful interview questions leave. Consider using assessments to objectively measure job skills, personality, and leadership potential. The team at Exact Hire can even help you develop a custom assessment specific to your industry.

By combining assessments with proven interview question techniques, you can further take the guesswork out of hiring. Avoid the costly headache of bad hires. Call us today to find out more about how assessments can improve your hiring decisions.

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