Category: Contingent Workforce Management

Evolve Your Recruitment Programme with Globally Dispersed Talent 

Posted on by jpatel

As organisations continue to adjust to changes caused by the pandemic, access to skilled talent remains a key factor preventing them from accelerated recovery and growth. However, with work-from-home and hybrid models becoming the new norm, organisations have the unique opportunity to expand their talent network across borders. And, for workers looking to relocate for greater job prospects, crossing borders for work is becoming easier than ever for both employees and employers: According to Harvard Business Review, “Many countries have now put the legal framework in place to hire and relocate global talent at a cost and speed that is broadly comparable with hiring domestically.” 

Furthermore, in a 2021 survey by Boston Consulting Group and The Network, about 50% of respondents were either already working abroad or willing to move abroad for work. Moreover, 57% of respondents said they were willing to work remotely for an employer that didn’t have a physical presence in their home country. 

global talent management

In this article, we’ll share the benefits of a global talent programme; highlight considerations to keep in mind; and offer strategies for attracting and recruiting talent around the world. 

Benefits of Globally Dispersed Talent 

The global talent pool is growing and ready to work—regardless of location—and it’s up to employers to seize the moment. Consider the benefits of leveraging globally dispersed talent: 

Expanded Talent Pool 

Many organisations have been struggling to fill open roles because they’re unable to find the talent they need in local searches. But, by expanding your search across borders, you can expand your search for the skills the role requires in a larger talent pool. Plus, you can also start these workers out in remote and contract roles to test whether they would be a good fit.  

Greater Diversity 

It’s no secret that having a diverse team yields better business results due to high levels of creativity and innovation. Consequently, by hiring people from different geographies, you can tap into the knowledge of people from different backgrounds, cultures, educations and more.  

Increased Reach 

When operating in different regions, you have greater access to new markets, as your dispersed team can help build your brand recognition and reputation with new customer bases in their respective locations. Additionally, having teams across various regions may also enable you to expand your business hours so you can improve productivity and be available to customers no matter where they’re located. 

Cost Savings 

Labour costs vary across countries, so it’s often cost-effective to move certain business operations to countries with lower labour costs. For example, many companies offshore manufacturing, call centre and IT operations to places like Mexico, India and the Philippines. Doing so lowers the cost of operations and, therefore, lowers the cost of products for the consumer.  

And, because commercial real estate policies and prices vary from country to country, you can also reduce costs by implementing a remote work programme in other countries before deciding whether a physical office space will be necessary in a given region. 

Considerations for a Global Talent Management Programme 

Before diving into a global recruitment programme, it’s important to consider the key differences between recruiting in different countries. For instance, cultural nuances, policies and legislation will likely be different from your organisation’s primary country and can make or break the success of your global recruitment and employment strategy. Consider the following examples: 

Workforce Planning 

As you plan your hiring in new geographies, it’s important to be aware of the length of the statutory notice period, as requirements vary widely from country to country and can make hiring timelines longer (up to three to six months, in some cases). For example, in the U.S., there’s no legal requirement to provide notice, but it’s customary for employees to give a two-week notice to aid in the transition. Conversely, in Japan, there’s a fixed notice period of 30 days—regardless of the employee’s years of service or seniority. In other countries, an employee’s notice period depends on the terms of their employment contract and may be connected to the number of years of service to the company. 

In places that require longer notice periods, candidate communications are even more essential in order to keep those candidates engaged and to set expectations on next steps. For this reason, incorporating transition timelines into your workforce planning is crucial so you don’t reduce productivity while waiting for your new hire to start in their role. 

Recruitment Marketing 

Notably, if you’re using the same recruitment marketing tactics in every country, you’re missing a trick. Take social media, for example: Different networks work better in different markets. While LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter are popular in the U.S., WeChat (a mobile app that focuses on messaging, social media and mobile payments) is heavily used in China. Similarly, XING and Viadeo are popular alternatives for career-oriented networking in Germany and France, respectively. So, understanding social media preferences in each country will help you promote your job ads in a more effective manner.  

Granted, social media and digital advertising may not be the best fit for all roles in all places. In fact, even within a single country, there are nuances to consider. For instance, PeopleScout leveraged physical advertisements at bus stops in the smaller European cities where an RPO client in the manufacturing sector was hiring because we knew that it was less likely that blue-collar candidates in these areas would have internet access at home.    

And, localisation is key—not just in digital channel usage, but also in language and imagery. For example, while an image of a blonde-haired, blue-eyed worker would resonate in North America, the same type of image would not be as well-received by candidates in Asia. In addition, candidates in Europe are more likely to be multilingual, so testing recruitment marketing techniques in a few different languages might prove to be useful when recruiting in that geography.  

Mobile-Friendly Candidate Experience 

A mobile-first candidate experience is more important than ever. In the U.S., approximately 15% of adults are “smartphone-only” internet users, meaning that they access the internet only through their smartphone and don’t have an internet connection at home. And, by 2025, nearly three-quarters (72.6%) of internet users—nearly 3.7 billion people worldwide—will access the web exclusively via smartphone.   

Regardless of where they are in the world, your potential candidates are looking and applying for jobs via their mobile phones. So, consider how your recruitment tech stack supports a mobile-friendly application process to future-proof your global talent acquisition programme. 

Regulations & Compliance 

Due to varying laws and regulations, recruitment processes can’t be the same in every country, and it can be difficult for enterprises to navigate the requirements in each market. For example, in Sweden, you don’t need to establish a legal entity to hire employees in the country, whereas you do in Singapore. Furthermore, statutory requirements for notice periods, probationary periods and permitted pre-employment checks all vary from country to country. In fact, in 22 countries, it’s mandatory to organise a medical exam prior to hiring someone. In any case, it’s imperative that you understand employment law in each country you’re hiring in so you don’t violate your new employees’ rights.  

Granted, the employment law landscape is constantly changing, making it increasingly difficult for multinational companies to stay compliant and avoid damages to the organisation’s finances and reputation. Fortunately, a global RPO partner can support you with global and local expertise to ensure you stay on top of regulations in each country you’re hiring in. 

Strategies for Recruiting Globally Dispersed Talent 

So, how can you overcome these challenges to realise the benefits of expanding your recruitment programme to globally dispersed talent? Here are some actionable ideas to help you adjust your recruitment strategies: 

Map Each Labour Market 

Before you start recruiting in a new market, it’s important to understand the lay of land. Specifically, delving into the talent landscape and competition in each area—not just your direct competitors, but any organisation hiring for the roles or skill sets you’re seeking—can inform your recruitment strategy and compensation packages. In this way, investing the time to map the labour market upfront is invaluable for creating a competitive advantage, especially when it comes to new geographies or remote workers. Then, armed with this data, you can create offers that reflect rates in the new hire’s area and boost your acceptance rates in the meantime. 

As an example, PeopleScout recently helped a manufacturing client recruit engineers in an area in the north of the Czech Republic, where the available talent pool for the skills they needed was low, but the competition was high. After completing a labour market analysis, we advised the team to expand their search area across the border to Poland (where the talent supply was larger) to find talent that would be willing to commute or relocate. By doing so, we were able to fill business-critical automation engineer roles that saved their productivity levels.   

Adapt Your EVP to Your Audience 

Your employer brand—an individual’s perceptions and lived experiences of what it’s like to work for your organisation—helps you attract and retain the right people to help your organisation succeed. According to Gartner, organisations that effectively deliver on their employer value proposition (EVP) can decrease annual employee turnover by 69%. And, in today’s ultra-competitive, candidate-driven market, a strong employer brand can also help you stand out in a sea of job openings. 

Specifically, companies that attract top talent will be those that have invested in developing messaging pillars that allow their employer brand to flex and resonate with talent audiences across the globe. For example, PeopleScout helped global law firm Linklaters revamp and tailor its employer brand to support hiring across 20 offices in Europe, North America and Asia-Pacific, while simultaneously boosting its Glassdoor scores and increasing global applications from female lawyers.  

So, to truly understand your ideal candidate, do your homework for every position type in each market and adapt your brand messaging and attraction strategies accordingly. In particular, a candidate persona profile is a great way to capture each position’s requirements, motivations and expectations so you can design your recruitment marketing content around messages that will truly resonate. 

Invest in Your Recruitment Tech Stack 

Investing in standardising your recruitment technology across geographies offers a litany of ways not only to streamline the candidate experience, but also your internal programme management efforts and reporting, as well.  

Plus, nowadays, candidates expect a tech-enabled recruitment experience that enables them to search for jobs on the go—and a whopping 89% of candidates think mobile devices play a critical role in the job-hunting process. Therefore, looking for ways to make your application process more mobile-friendly—including leveraging “quick apply” features in your ATS—will pay off in application volumes.  

What’s more, hiring in new geographies or for remote workers will almost certainly involve virtual interviews. Thus, investing in a virtual hiring solution can help you hire the talent you need quickly and with a seamless candidate experience. Unlike typical video meeting tools, modern virtual interview tools offer options like on-demand phone interviews and text/SMS interviews, as well as live and pre-recorded video interviews. 

However, one consideration to keep in mind when selecting technology for global recruitment is where the data will be stored and processed. Regulations (such as GDPR in Europe) limit the amount of data that can be processed in the U.S. So, look for tools that are SOC 2-certified, and assess any vendor’s information on security policies, procedures and practices. 

Put Your Global Talent Programme in Action 

If your organisation is new to global talent acquisition or if you haven’t expanded business operations very far, the considerations and strategies highlighted above can seem daunting. But, the good news is that a global RPO partner can be a valuable partner to help guide you through your global talent acquisition challenges. Moreover, with a wealth of knowledge and experience gained through working with clients spanning a variety of industries and countries, an RPO partner can also help you navigate the complex compliance and cultural issues that accompany a multi-country recruitment programme. 

So, what should you look for in a global RPO partner? Well, you’ll see the greatest benefit from a provider that is able to offer a customisable solution that’s flexible enough to support everything from your niche hires and short-term needs to your high-volume roles and full-cycle recruitment processes. 

Boomerang Employees: How Looking Back Can Help Propel Your Organisation Forward

Posted on by jpatel

As employees around the world quit their jobs in droves, the Great Resignation quickly became a global phenomenon and job openings across industries hit all-time highs. In order to keep up with this increasing demand for workers, employers are expanding their talent pools in a variety of ways, including searching across new geographies, considering workers who are changing careers, implementing innovative recruitment marketing techniques and more.  

However, as a result of the Great Resignation, we’re beginning to see an alternative talent pool emerge: Boomerang employees—workers who voluntarily resign from your company and later rejoin. In this article, we’ll explain who boomerang employees are; the benefits and considerations of hiring them; and how to attract this unique group of talent. 

Who Are Boomerang Employees?

Before you consider rehiring an employee who previously left your organisation, it’s important to understand the key differentiators that separate potential boomerang employees from permanent alumni.  

As the term suggests, permanent alumni will remain just that—permanently separated from an organisation. These individuals likely stayed at the company for many years and had a good grasp of the organisation’s overall culture and values. However, at a certain point, these individuals decided that the company was not the right fit for them; this could be due to dissatisfaction with company culture, the need for a career change or any number of other work-related issues. Note here that a key factor in any of these reasons for leaving is an internal desire to resign. 

Conversely, boomerang employees are more likely to have left a company quickly due to external factors, such as a sudden family emergency or an unexpected competing job offer that was too good to decline. So, while permanent alumni chose to leave because they were unsatisfied with the company in some way, boomerang employees are more likely to consider rejoining because they left for other reasons—none of which implied that they had an issue with the company in the first place. 

“Five years ago, I chose to take a career break to raise my family. When the boys started school, I was ready to pick up my career again. As chance would have it, PeopleScout had identified a role working on a project supporting two big clients, and I was excited about the prospect of this new challenge. The company had changed a lot in the time I was away, so I was grateful for the in-depth introduction process and support from management and colleagues upon my return. The flexible working arrangement that PeopleScout offers means that I’m able to achieve the balance between working and looking after my family, which is fantastic. I’m happy to be back and am looking forward to developing my career over the coming years.”  

Shelley Romero, Media Solutions Manager 
PeopleScout UK 

Meanwhile, some people may leave to pursue new opportunities because they’re unsatisfied in some way and are hopeful that the “grass will be greener” elsewhere. Then, if they find that isn’t the case, they may also be inclined to return to a previous company with a newfound appreciation. 

“Due to business changes during the pandemic, I was assigned to a new client account and, after much time and consideration, I knew it just wasn’t the right fit for me. Though I did not want to leave, it was in my best interest to resign at that time. However, I stayed in contact with my previous manager and colleagues, and when an opening arose, they asked me, ‘Are you ready to come back home?’ It was never a matter of if, but when I was coming back. Everything needed to align—the right position, team and leadership. I was hesitant to return after my last experience that caused me to resign, but I knew what ‘home’ felt like, and I couldn’t be happier in my current position at PeopleScout!”

Alison Thompson, Senior Recruiter 
PeopleScout

During the pandemic, the world was reminded how quickly life can change. Whether employees left your organisation to pursue other opportunities or to prioritise caring for their family, these types of employees create a whole new pool of talent that could be the perfect fit for your organisation. After some time has passed, many of these people could be on the job hunt again—and your organisation could serve as the right choice at the right time.  

Benefits of Hiring Boomerang Employees 

Rehiring former employees can present a variety of benefits for employers. Here are some of the biggest reasons to consider looking back at your previous hires: 

Save Time & Money 

Hiring a former employee reduces the hiring timeline and cuts down on overall recruiting costs. And, because these employees have previous experience working at your company, they will require less time and fewer resources to onboard and get up to speed to hit the ground running. 

Eliminate Second-Guessing 

Additionally, when you hire a former employee, you won’t have to wonder whether they’ll be a cultural fit; you already know how they fit in with the company and how they work with various people in the organisation—something that always remains a slight unknown when hiring someone completely new. 

Gain Fresh Perspective 

Former employees are unique in the fact that they have had some time to step away and see the organisation from the outside. Often, employees may have left to advance their career at another company and gain valuable skills. Then, when they return, they’ll be equipped with increased knowledge and experience to bring new ideas and insight into your organisation. 

Boost Employer Brand 

Rehiring employees also sends a positive message to existing employees and can improve an organisation’s employer brand overall. Specifically, by giving employees a second chance, it shows that the company is willing to bring people back and help them reach their potential—even if they previously left on their own accord. Furthermore, to existing employees (perhaps some of whom were considering leaving themselves), it shows that the company is worth coming back to, thereby leading to improved retention and employee satisfaction. Moreover, it demonstrates that leaving doesn’t have to burn bridges—especially when the company sees the value of the whole person. 

Make Employees Happy 

Plus, employees who left a job during the pandemic may now realise that they miss some aspects of their old company. Returning to a previous employer with new skills and a fresh perspective can mean higher pay, more growth opportunities and, in some cases, the ability to work from anywhere, which may not have been an option pre-pandemic. Consequently, these employees will likely be happy with their decision to return—leading to improved productivity for your organisation. 

Questions to Ask Before Hiring Boomerang Employees 

rehire employees

While there are many reasons to hire previous employees, that doesn’t always mean you should. So, before you decide whether turning back to a former employee is the right move for your organisation, keep these considerations in mind: 

How Much Time Has Passed? 

Account for how much time has passed since the employee initially left the company. For instance, an employee who left less than a year ago due to a personal emergency is more likely to be able to jump back in and get started than someone who left several years ago and has to learn new processes and technology. 

Are They Adaptable? 

Nowadays, change within an organisation can happen fast, and if the employee has been away from the company for a while, it can be helpful to consider their level of adaptability: Are they willing to learn new systems and procedures? Or, will they be stuck in old habits from their first tenure? 

Are They the Best? 

Amid a labour shortage, it can be tempting to settle for the easiest, quickest option to fill an open role. However, it’s important to think long-term: While this employee will cost less to hire and is a good cultural fit, are they truly the best person for the job? Consider whether this employee performed well in their previous tenure with the company, which is a good indicator of how they will fare the second time around. 

Were They Missed? 

While an employee’s individual performance may have been stellar, it’s important to understand their influence on the team. In particular, did they get along well with colleagues, or was it a relief for people when they left? When bringing back an employee, ensure that their return will have a positive effect on the productivity of the team as a whole. 

Why Do They Want to Return? 

Find out what made the employee choose to leave in the first place. Is that reason still going to be an obstacle moving forward? It’s important to ask what has changed since the time when they initially left. While familial or personal reasons would likely be resolved, you might have a bigger issue on your hands if they left because the company was not a good fit the first time. So, ask the former employee why they want to return. Then, if you’re looking for long-term talent, try to get a grasp of whether they’re ready to commit to your company for the foreseeable future. If they aren’t, you may have a permanent alumnus on your hands. 

How to Keep the Door Open to Boomerang Employees 

As the past two years have shown us, things happen—often unexpectedly. For one reason or another, people might be pulled in another direction and have no choice but to leave your company a little too soon. When this happens, it’s important to understand why they’re leaving and if there’s anything the organisation could have done to encourage them to stay. If not, perform exit interviews and get an idea of what is working and what can be improved upon in your organisation. 

While some employees may choose to reapply to your company in the future, many former employees may never consider rejoining or even know it’s an option without first hearing from a former colleague or manager. In this situation, what’s the best way to reach out to these former employees? 

To start, be sure to part on good terms. If the employee is one whom you would be eager to welcome back to your team again, make sure they know that when they leave. In today’s world that’s driven by social media, it’s easier than ever to stay connected across job changes. So, keep in touch with high-performing employees after they leave and proactively check-in with them when you’re ready to bring them back. 

“Having former employees return to my team has been a true privilege. There is something about a second chance to help someone grow and develop and to be entrusted to help them achieve their career goals that is very special. I have the honour of having three boomerang employees on my current team. I am grateful that they rejoined and for the incredible know-how, passion and commitment that they bring to our team. I will continue to do all I can to support their success so that they can see their future here.”

Caroline Sabetti, Chief Marketing Officer, PeopleReady & PeopleScout 
Senior Vice President, TrueBlue Communications 

In addition, consider these three strategies for re-recruiting former employees: 

1. Existing Employees

If you have an opening on your team and some of your existing employees still maintain relationships with former staff, your current team can be helpful in re-recruiting this talent. Let your current employees know you’d like to consider a former employee for the role and, if they’re willing, they can bring the idea up with the former colleague and encourage them to apply. 

2. Direct Manager Outreach 

For a former employee, it can be extremely powerful to hear directly from a former leader that the company and team wants them back. And, by hearing directly from a manager, the former employee is likely to take the offer seriously and understand that they are specifically who the team and leader want. 

“I had the opportunity to work for our sister company Staff Management | SMX before leaving for another position outside of TrueBlue that allowed me to get specific experience in a different facet of marketing. After gaining valuable experience for a period of time with a different organisation, my former leader at Staff Management | SMX reached out to me to discuss an opportunity to join PeopleScout in a new role. I was thrilled to be able to rejoin TrueBlue and put to use the experience I gained outside of the company. Rejoining TrueBlue and joining PeopleScout was an easy decision due to the positive experience that I had during my original time with the organisation, as well as due to the ability to work directly for my former leader once again.”  

Sarah Katz Candelario, Vice President of Marketing and Communications 
PeopleScout 

3. Email Campaign 

If your company is looking to fill multiple roles at once, a larger campaign might make the most sense. This can include a list of all high-performing employees who left in the last year and serve as a check-in to see where they are in their career now and whether they’d be interested in taking on a new role in the company. 

Beyond the Boomerang Employee 

While looking to former employees serves as a strong new talent pool, it’s just one part of an organisation’s larger rehiring and retention strategy.  

For example, in addition to traditional boomerang employees, the pandemic has also introduced an alternative group of potential employees—those who were furloughed. While these employees didn’t leave voluntarily, they can still be considered for boomerang status and serve as yet another talent pool to reach out to when needs arise. 

But, in order for people to be willing to come back, organisations must ensure that their company is one that people want to return to (or, ideally, one they won’t want to leave at all). This means fostering a welcoming and empowering culture, as well as placing strong emphasis on growth and development of all employees. 

In summary, when people feel valued, included and invested in, they’re less likely to leave your company for another. Then, even when human factors cause them to be pulled away, they’ll be willing and ready to return when the time is right. 

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion: Assessing Programme Maturity & the Role of Talent Acquisition

Posted on by nfuqua

When people of different backgrounds with different experiences come together, they drive innovation—both in the workplace and in the world at large. In fact, there’s substantial research that DE&I initiatives bring many advantages to the workplace, including increased profitability and creativity; greater productivity; and better problem-solving, amongst others.

Employees with diverse backgrounds also bring their own perspectives, ideas and experiences, which help to create organisations that are resilient and effective and that outperform organisations that do not invest in diversity.

Yet, despite the obvious benefits of increased diversity and inclusion in the workplace, the reality still leaves much to be desired. Research from Glassdoor shows that whilst 75% of UK employees say their company employs a diverse workforce, over half (54%) believe their company should do more to improve diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I), including more than two-thirds (62%) of Millennial and Gen Z (ages 18 – 34) employees.

Clearly, employers must do more, and the responsibility for diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) belongs to the entire organisation—including talent acquisition and HR leaders. So, in this article, we’ll cover the different areas of the business that contribute to DE&I; how you can determine your DE&I programme maturity; and areas where talent acquisition leaders can have the greatest influence.

So, Who’s Responsible for DE&I Initiatives?

For years, talent acquisition teams have led diversity efforts within organisations. In some cases, employers hire a chief diversity officer (CDO) and provide a budget for DE&I initiatives. However, the responsibility for DE&I initiatives is much broader, and everyone from senior leaders to entry-level employees in everything from marketing to IT has a role in creating an inclusive workplace. Here, we outline the roles that different areas of the business play in DE&I efforts.

Talent Acquisition & HR

More than any other group or individual, talent acquisition and the broader HR organisation are responsible for diversity and inclusion in the workplace. According to a global survey by Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), in 59% of organisations, HR and talent acquisition oversee diversity efforts and, at 64%, they’re tasked with implementing diversity initiatives.

Leadership

The number of senior leaders as executive sponsors promoting DE&I has increased from 33% in 2018 to 44% in 2021. But, leadership must play a role in the DE&I initiatives at all organisations. In fact, having a C-suite member as the diversity and inclusion programme leader is one of the biggest differentiators between organisations in which diversity is not considered a barrier to progression versus ones where it is, according to PwC’s data.

However, to be successful champions of diversity, leadership needs to be fully engaged—because an inclusive and equitable culture must be present from the top down. Notably, if time and other responsibilities that accompany their jobs make it difficult for executives to be fully engaged, organisations may want to reconsider having their C-suite remain heavily involved in their diversity efforts. In this case, you might consider appointing another individual (or individuals) who is more able to focus on the work and, as a result, bring about more change.

Diversity Committees

Not every organisation has the resources to support a full-time diversity role. In fact, the larger the employer, the more likely it is to have dedicated diversity staff. However, as SHRM found, smaller organisations may be able to aid diversity and inclusion programmes by taking a cue from the 17% of employers that have an advisory group/committee comprised of volunteer staff members. This can actually be quite an effective approach, as employee sponsorship corresponds with lower levels of reported bias within an organisation.

de&i initiatives

Identifying Gaps in the Maturity of Your DE&I Initiatives and Programmes 

When it comes to really progressing your organisation’s DE&I programme, the best place to start is by asking yourself where your organisation stands today. That way, you can best identify where to place your initial efforts in order to create the greatest influence. Below, we outline the different stages of DE&I programme maturity. Note that your organisation may be at different levels in different areas.

Beginner: Generally, employers at the beginner level of maturity tend to be more reactive rather than proactive; they may narrowly define workplace diversity, and leaders usually have limited involvement in driving DE&I forward within the organisation.

Intermediate: Employers at the intermediate level typically focus on more purpose-driven DE&I initiatives, with leadership assuming a greater role in progressing DE&I in the workplace. At this level, the definition of diversity expands to include less-visible characteristics, like disability, religion, class, age, regionalism, sexual orientation and more. Additionally, at this stage, an employer may employ a dedicated staff and provide a budget for DE&I.

Advanced: Employers at the advanced stage focus on multi-dimensionality and intersectionality when thinking about diversity. In this situation, leaders practice inclusive leadership skills and are held accountable for creating a diverse and inclusive workplace. They also often have DE&I resources and budgets distributed throughout the organisation to ensure organisation-wide diversity.

Leading: Employers at this level take a sustainable approach to DE&I, in which leaders are expected to lead holistically and inclusively; be key DE&I initiatives change agents; and hold the organisation accountable. In addition to their internal resources, they often have external DE&I advisory boards that guide them on leading practices.

de&i meaning

Identifying your organisation’s DE&I maturity level allows you to better measure your progress on key areas of workforce diversity, including communication, employee education, company culture, resource investment and the involvement of leadership. This will help guide your next steps toward creating a more diverse, equitable and inclusive workforce, as well as allow your organisation to focus on interventions that are targeted and specific. Plus, in organisational environments facing a multiplicity of DE&I issues at once, the ability to pinpoint current state, plot out the desired state and craft the roadmap to get there is critical.

The Role of Talent Acquisition

While the responsibility for DE&I is spread across an organisation, talent acquisition still plays a major role. Recruiters, sourcers, hiring managers and HR leaders are powerhouse roles that must work together to find the right candidate for the job, while also demonstrating an organisation’s commitment to DE&I from the company’s first interactions with employees.

As talent acquisition leaders, you also play a key role in bringing to life diversity and inclusion as values that are deeply embedded in an organisation. More precisely, your team plays a particularly critical role by sourcing, engaging and eventually hiring candidates from underrepresented groups.

Does your organisation have a talent pool of diverse candidates? Do your interviewing practices reduce unconscious bias? Do you have a strong reputation for being a diverse workplace? These are some of the critical questions that you and your teams should attempt to answer to deliver on the organisation’s diversity agenda.

By understanding your role and performing it effectively, talent acquisition teams can work with leaders in other areas of the business to build a truly holistic DE&I programme. Here, we discuss some of the tactics that talent acquisition can adopt to overcome diversity sourcing, selection and hiring challenges.

Championing Diversity

Once your talent acquisition team establishes awareness and accountability, members should become champions of diversity hiring; you have a tremendous opportunity to drive the diversity agenda by reinforcing the case for diversity hiring. For instance, engaged recruiters can champion diversity and make it an everyday dialogue with hiring managers. That’s because recruiters are responsible for ensuring that all candidates are treated fairly and equally in a process that removes bias. They’re also the first step in demonstrating how the organisation appreciates and celebrates its diverse employees.

Diversity Sourcing

Diversity at work

To ensure that your talent pool is representative of diverse candidates, source your candidates from a variety of talent channels. Clearly, you can’t rely on the same sources repeatedly when seeking out new candidates; focusing only on the sources that you know best can result in a talent pool of similar candidates and a lack of diversity.

Instead, seek out opportunities to source candidates from underrepresented backgrounds. For example, there are many online and offline groups dedicated to women in technology. This could be a great opportunity to meet and connect with high-calibre, female candidates directly—instead of waiting for them to find you through platforms like Indeed. And, the more initiative you take to find these channels, the more likely it is that your talent pools will be diverse.

What’s more, if you’re struggling to find diverse talent, reach out to employees from diverse backgrounds and encourage them to share your job ads with their networks; then, give them the tools they need to promote open roles within your organisation. As a result, your employees and candidates will both feel that your company values their opinions and contributions, which is fantastic for team morale and engagement.

DE&I Initiatives: Building Inclusivity

Building an inclusive workplace is central to creating a workplace environment in which every employee feels valued. Granted, every organisation is different, so the content and structure of an inclusion programme needs to meet the conditions of your organisation. To get you started, SHRM offers an inclusivity checklist for HR that provides a good place to start:

  • Make sure that company leaders understand that inclusion is about ensuring that everyone’s voice is heard, opinions are considered, and value to the team is evident.
  • Train managers to show that inclusivity is a core competency—and hold them accountable.
  • Form an inclusion council with genuine influence and power.
  • Value differences and create an environment in which people can feel comfortable bringing their authentic selves to work.
  • Identify the needs of underrepresented groups, and give them the necessary support and resources.
  • Provide workers with a safe space to voice their concerns.
  • Benchmark key aspects of your organisation’s culture and understand the employee experience before making changes to promote inclusivity.
  • Remember that daily interactions are the most telling sign of whether your company has an inclusive culture.

Unconscious Bias & Candidate Selection

One of the key reasons companies lose out on diverse talent is unconscious bias, which can have detrimental effects on the diversity hiring process. The concept of unconscious bias or implicit bias was first introduced in 2006 as “the new science of unconscious mental processes that has a substantial bearing on discrimination law”. This challenged the longstanding idea that people are guided only by explicit beliefs and conscious intentions.

One example of unconscious bias is that a candidate’s surname—which implies their ethnic background—can adversely affect their chances of landing a job. Unfortunately, studies by Ghent University show that the surname appearing on a candidate’s résumé or CV can reduce the possibility of receiving a call back by 25% in Germany; 29% in Sweden and the UK; and 50% in the U.S. Accordingly, to address unconscious biases, some companies mask candidate demographics while presenting them to the hiring team in order to shift the focus from ethnicity to experience and skills.

Diversity at Work: Converting Candidates From Underrepresented Groups Into Employees

However, winning over diverse candidates goes beyond just locating them and ensuring that they’re treated fairly during the hiring process. Rather, to win diverse talent, organisations should demonstrate the authenticity of their commitment to DE&I by leveraging their employer brand through career sites and social media channels, as well as by showing how diverse and inclusive they are through their employees and leadership.

Furthermore, talent acquisition can also play a role in reinforcing these messages by:

  • Adding a link to diversity and inclusion policies and practices in job advertisements and recruiters’ email signatures.
  • Minimising adverse effects of recruitment discrimination by complementing recruiters with talent acquisition technologies like PeopleScout’s AffinixTM.
  • Ensuring job-related information is accessible to all groups. (For example, ensure your career site is accessible to those with visual impairments through design, alt text and screen readers; and ensure presentations and videos include subtitles or sign language.)
  • Scheduling interviews in locations that are accessible and convenient for all candidates, such as parking for people with disabilities; Braille script on elevators and signage; and female, male and gender-neutral restrooms.
  • Sharing relevant stories about a diverse set of employees in the organisation and involving diverse employees and senior leaders in the interviewing process.
  • Respecting candidates’ gender identity. Because gender identity is internal, a person’s gender identity is not necessarily visible to others, so asking candidates what pronoun(s) they prefer to use in interviews and other communications can make a difference.

DE&I Initiatives: Talent Technology

The right talent acquisition technology can be a powerful tool for reaching your DE&I initiatives and goals. And, as you begin to recognise and fix disparities in hiring processes and work environments, data can be an important tool in determining the effectiveness of those efforts. No DE&I initiative can be successful unless it can be measured.

To that end, diversity dashboards—like those available in PeopleScout’s Affinix Analytics—can break down your hires by gender and ethnicity. Then, with that information, you can identify where the most diverse hires have been found. From there, you can focus on which recruitment strategies are most effective in bringing in candidates form underrepresented groups. And, once those initiatives are in place, you can track your success over time.

The goal of diversity, equity and inclusion in the workplace should be a central pillar in any organisation’s journey. Embracing a multitude of viewpoints and cultures drives innovation; improves decision-making; increases employee productivity and retention; and leads to better-served employees—and, by extension, customers. While responsibility for diversity, equity and inclusion is shared across an organisation, talent acquisition leaders have a significant influence.

Leveraging an Effective Hybrid Hiring Strategy for the New World of Work

Posted on by jpatel

Now more than ever, an organisation’s hiring strategy should adaptable. Throughout the last two years, many employers have had to reimagine their recruitment processes. Due to the pandemic, organisations rapidly moved recruiting processes to virtual models, shifting in-person interviews to digital and transitioning traditional office roles to remote.

Today, as businesses bounce back and job vacancies are at record highs, employers need to hire top talent—and fast. And, just as a hybrid approach to in-person and remote work for employees has become the norm, so, too, will the need for a blended recruiting strategy that will optimise the candidate experience by keeping the advantages of in-person hiring, while also continuing to leverage the benefits of virtual.

In this article, we’ll walk through what a hybrid hiring strategy is, discuss the benefits of in-person versus virtual techniques and provide tips for how to create a hybrid hiring strategy that works for your organisation.

What is a Hybrid Hiring Strategy?

Hybrid hiring—or hybrid recruiting—is a strategy that allows organisations to maximise the benefits of both in-person and virtual hiring techniques. Specifically, a hybrid approach allows employers to leverage the advantages of virtual recruiting when it makes sense, while simultaneously using strategic, in-person methods to add value to the candidate experience along the way.

A hybrid approach to hiring isn’t new. Many organisations employed a mix of virtual and in-person techniques prior to 2020. However, COVID-19 rapidly accelerated the need for safe, efficient hiring models, thereby leading to greater adoption of virtual strategies. Now, because employers have seen the advantages of virtual recruiting, the benefits of a hybrid model have become clear—regardless of social distancing rules. Depending on the type of role you’re hiring for, having a strong hybrid hiring model in place makes it easy to recruit staff 100% virtually when needed, or to use a blended approach.

hiring strategy
Source: Workest by Zenefits

Benefits of a Hybrid Hiring Strategy

Leveraging a hybrid hiring strategy means you get the best of both worlds. But, what does that entail? Here are some of the biggest benefits of both virtual and in-person hiring techniques—and how they’ll play out post-pandemic.

Benefits of Virtual Hiring Techniques

Reduced Cost & Greater Efficiency

When you remove the physical component of recruiting, you see a greatly improved speed-to-hire and an overall reduction in costs. Plus, expenses that would normally be spent on hosting recruiting events—such as travel costs, venue fees and printed materials—suddenly drop to zero. Additionally, your employees save time by hosting events remotely and also reap the benefit of having more candidates in attendance.

Expanded Reach & Reduced Bias

With travel out of the equation and with remote job options in place, employers can then expand the geographies from which they source talent. This offers greater opportunities for candidates and opens up your candidate pool to top talent who may not have been on your radar previously.

Virtual hiring also reduces the amount of hiring bias experienced during in-person interviews. As humans, we judge people on many things (unconsciously or not), including how a candidate may look. But, with virtual interviews, recruiters are able to focus less on a candidate’s appearance and more on what they have to say.

Research from CV Library reveals that a staggering 79% of Brits think that your physical appearance can affect your chances of landing a job.

Overall Convenience

Virtual interviews and other virtual recruiting tactics are convenient for both candidates and recruiters alike. For example, candidates can schedule on-demand interviews at a time that is most convenient for them, and recruiters can watch those recordings at their own convenience. What’s more, through the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and automation, candidates can also self-schedule follow-up interviews, ask questions and receive real-time responses that would have previously taken much longer without the technology that has come from the rise of virtual.

Benefits of In-Person Hiring Techniques

Showcase Your Company Culture

One challenge of virtual recruiting is the ability to effectively showcase your company’s culture. Whilst there are certainly ways to do so, nothing quite compares to experiencing how individuals in an organisation interact with one another in-person. Especially for roles that are required to work in an in-person or office setting, providing a time to come in for an in-person interview or assessment can be a great way to show your candidate what it would really be like to work for your company on a day-to-day basis.

Human Touch

Whilst AI and automated tools help with efficiency, improve candidate experience, and speed up the overall time-to-hire, today’s talent pool can also find benefits from a blended model. A phone call and video interview can get the candidate in the door, but an in-person conversation can seal the deal. This is especially true for senior talent who appreciate being brought in for the final stages of the interview process.

Added Value

Furthermore, utilising in-person techniques can also add value to the candidate experience overall. From office tours to final interviews, it’s difficult to recreate the human touch and employer brand when completely virtual. To that end, where it makes sense, in-person meetings can help sell a candidate on why they should work for your organisation, as opposed to the competition.

How to Recruit People Now: Balancing Your Post-Pandemic Hybrid Hiring Strategy

Types of recruitment

Your hybrid hiring strategy will likely depend on your organisation’s needs and what your workforce will look like on the other side of the pandemic.

For example, if some or all of your teams will work entirely remotely, it would make more sense to complete the entire recruiting process virtually. Inevitably, bringing the candidate in for an in-person interview or office tour would waste time and money, and would likely confuse the candidate, leading to a poor candidate experience. Instead, recruiting for remote roles with virtual tools—providing opportunities for human interaction and culture along the way can help candidates know what it will be like to work remotely for your company.

“How do we show candidates our company culture when we can’t invite them to the office? We send personalised, handwritten cards to candidates before their start date (as well as some swag!). We want to give them a feeling of being really welcomed into the company—which is what we’re really about.”

Ewa Zajac, Recruiting Operations Manager at Zendesk

On the other hand, if some of your teams will be working both from home and from the office, a hybrid hiring approach would be the best fit. Virtual options save a lot of time and money in the beginning stages of sourcing, screening and interviewing. Plus, candidates will want the flexibility to complete those initial interviews and assessments from the comfort and convenience of their own homes.

Then, when it comes to final interviews, an in-person interview is a great final step before extending an offer. The candidate will appreciate the time you’re investing to bring them in, and they’ll get a taste of what it will be like to work in-person. This will be especially important for roles that will be primarily in the office or for which relocation is necessary.

In the end, hybrid hiring won’t be a one-size-fits-all strategy. Whether your organisation opts to keep recruiting fully virtual or leverages in-person connection, the candidate experience must remain at the forefront of any model. Think about what candidates want and the recruiting model that makes the most sense for the role you’re trying to fill.

How to Expand Your Talent Pool with Workers Changing Careers

Posted on by jpatel

Expanding your talent pool amid turbulent times can be difficult. As businesses navigate reopening and hiring amid the surge of the Delta variant of COVID-19, many are struggling to fill their open roles with the talent they need. Combined with the shortage of overseas workers due to Brexit, research from accountancy and advisory firm BDO shows that UK businesses are experiencing disruption to productivity.

Notably, an HGV driver shortage resulted in nationwide fuel shortage. Plus, companies in the healthcare, retail and hospitality sectors are suffering from staff absences, with workers isolating due to COVID-19 infections.

At the same time, millions of workers are also planning to change careers: Data released by Aviva showed that 87% of workers surveyed said they were re-evaluating their careers, whilst nearly one in 10 said they intended to start a new career.

In this article, we’ll explain why people are choosing to change careers, share common skills you should look out for in your talent pool expansion, and provide suggestions for how to create a reskilling programme that will work for your organisation.

How the Talent Pool is Evolving: Why Are Workers Changing Careers?

As a result of the pandemic and the tragic losses that came with it, people were faced with a reminder that every day is not guaranteed. This realisation caused many to rethink their life choices and shift to prioritise their health, loved ones, hobbies and the things they truly enjoy. For many, this included rethinking their career path and goals—including exploring job opportunities that align with their passions.

Source: Prudential

As an employer, you can capitalise on this migration by offering competitive employment packages complete with work/life balance and promoting those benefits via recruitment marketing techniques. More precisely, beyond compensation and flexible work arrangements, show candidates how you will challenge them and help them grow in their career.

Building a Talent Pool: Identifying Transferable Skills in Workers Changing Careers

When searching for talent, you might not consider looking in certain industries or job types because you’re unsure whether the skills developed in those roles will match up with what you need for your business. However, 57% of UK workers are willing to retrain, with mid-career workers (aged 31-40) showing the most willingness at 64%.

Fortunately, you don’t need to start from scratch when hiring people who have chosen to change career paths. Instead, focus on attracting candidates who have strong transferable skills across industries.

Transferable skills, also known as “portable skills,” are those that can carry from one job to another. Transferable skills can be used to position your past experience when applying for a new job—especially if it’s in a different industry. (Source: Indeed)

Because many transferable skills are soft skills, candidates from other industries are often highly collaborative and integrate well into new roles. In particular, they’re well-rounded and more productive from the beginning. As a result, your training time can be focused on knowledge specific to your organisation and the role.

Consider looking for these common transferable skills when expanding your talent pool beyond your industry:

Problem-Solving

Workers who can demonstrate strong problem-solving skills in their previous roles will likely be able to apply that same mentality on the job at your organisation. Specifically, employees with problem-solving skills will be able to identify issues, find out what is causing them and seek out potential solutions—without you having to nudge them.

Teamwork

If the role you’re hiring for requires a lot of collaboration between team members, look for candidates who have experience working toward a common goal with others. Teamwork also encompasses several other skills, such as empathy, active listening and communication.

Communication

Communication is perhaps the most common transferable skill across all industries and job types, because it’s required in almost every role. Workers with effective communication skills are able to clearly share ideas and information both verbally and in writing; know when to ask questions; read body language; and communicate with others in a wide range of settings.

Leadership

Whilst leadership skills are especially vital for management positions and above, they’re important for people to possess at all levels of the organisation. That’s because leadership skills contribute to an employee’s ability to rise to a challenge, get a team on the same page, delegate when needed and see a project through to completion.

Adaptability

Workers who are adaptable and flexible are able to adjust as deadlines, teams or processes change. They can pivot and learn new skills when needed, whilst also maintaining a positive attitude and ensuring goals are still met.

Technology Literacy

If you don’t want to teach your next hire the basics, look for candidates who have experience working with common business tools and technologies that will easily integrate into your business function. Similarly, if your organisation is embracing more digital tools, it’s also important that your candidate is comfortable learning new technology and software to improve efficiency and evolve with your organisation.

Whilst the list above highlights some key transferable skills, there are numerous others that might fit into your organisation and the roles you’re looking to fill. Check out this list from FlexJobs for more.

Building a Reskilling Programme for Workers Changing Careers

Attracting and hiring candidates with transferable skills allows you to skip basic training on soft skills. However, because many of these hires will be coming from different industries, you’ll likely still need to provide an onboarding programme for the first 90 days that includes some reskilling training for non-transferable skills to help them adjust to the new role.

Plus, employees expect training to come from employers. According to McKinsey, skills training is the number-one choice of prospective employees when choosing what makes a great employer. Plus, 94% of employees said they would stay longer with a company that invested in their skills development.

But, what type of training will work for your organisation? Well, that depends on what types of roles you’re looking to fill. According to a report by CompTIA, candidates have different preferences regarding training methods based on the type of job they’re seeking.

Consider these three steps to help you build an effective reskilling programme:

1. Identify Skills Gaps

When hiring candidates from different industries, there’s no doubt that they’ll require some additional training to be able to be successful in the new role. So, identify what those key skills are so you can build your training around them lets you focus on skills unique to the job and your organisation.

2. Develop Specific Skills Trainings

Once you’ve identified the key areas that will need to be covered, develop trainings specific to those needs. These trainings should encompass a variety of reskilling methods to fit the individual needs of your new hires, including:

a. On-the-job training: Employees can take on small projects and learn from real-world experience.

b. Online learning: Virtual courses can be taken at any time and are a great way to speed up the learning process. They provide a lot of content in a digestible form that anyone can complete at their own pace.

c. Blended learning: Combine online courses with in-person training to maximise the benefits of both. Employees can engage with instructors in person and come equipped with knowledge and questions from online training.

d. Peer learning: Employees can learn from one another through collaboration and job shadowing. By observing what someone’s day looks like, employees get a good sense of what will be expected of them day-to-day.

3. Measure Success

Leverage surveys, discussions, post-training assessments and candid feedback from trainees regarding the value they found from the reskilling trainings. Do they feel like they’ve learned something new? Do they have the knowledge to put new skills to use? Are they implementing what they’ve learned on the job? Once you find out, reevaluate and improve your training programme regularly based on the strengths and weaknesses that employees identify.

Marketing Your Reskilling Programme to Your Expanded Talent Pool

Now that you’ve assessed the transferable skills to watch for and developed a reskilling programme for workers who are changing careers, it’s important to make that programme known to potential candidates. Utilise recruitment marketing techniques on social media to promote your roles and share that your organisation is offering reskilling to employees from a variety of industries. In job ads, highlight the fact that hires will be provided with reskilling training to ensure they’re successful in their new role. This—in conjunction with a strong employment offer and benefits—will help your business stand out above others in the competitive search for top talent.

IR35 Reform: How Well Are You Communicating with Your Contingent Workers?

Posted on by akessler

The changes being brought about by the IR35 reforms will have a significant impact on both employers and freelance workers. Yet, it seems that organisations are failing to communicate with contractors about the shift. As an award-winning RPO, MSP and Talent Advisory company, PeopleScout lives and breathes the importance of internal and external candidate and employee communications. 

A Brief Summary of IR35

IR35 is a set of tax laws designed to combat tax avoidance by freelance or contract workers and the organisations using their services (i.e., the end-client). These workers are typically self-employed and engaged by organisations through an intermediary rather than on an employment contract.

Determining whether a contract would be categorised as employment, in which IR35 applies, or as business-to-business services, in which IR35 would not apply, is complicated. If the legislation applies, a contractor could be significantly impacted financially as they would have to pay income tax and National Insurance Contributions (NICs) as if they were a full- or part-time employee. Employers would also be on the hook for taxes and NICs.

This off-payroll legislation was introduced to the public sector in 2017 and is now being extended to the private sector.

The Employer’s Responsibilities Under IR35

The responsibility of determining whether a contract sits within IR35 is not just up to the contractor. Both the contractor and end-client are equally accountable, and any unpaid tax can be collected from both parties if an error is made.

Yet, contract workers are largely uninformed about what their end-clients are doing to prepare for IR35. A recent survey of over 1,400 contractors who will be affected by IR35 reform revealed:

  • 57% have not been contacted by their end-client about IR35 reform.
  • Only 15% have received a Status Determination Statement (SDS), outlining their perceived IR35 position.
  • Of those who have had their contract assessed, 56% have been determined as outside IR35, with 44% deemed inside the legislation.
  • 28% have been informed of their end-client’s strategy for the changes but are yet to be issued with an SDS.

Given that IR35 in the private sector has already been postponed from April 2020 due to COVID-19, it’s surprising that companies, contractors and agencies are not better prepared.

The Importance of Communication About Compliance

Most companies are going to be affected in one way or another by IR35 reform. It’s imperative that you prioritise preparation for IR35 to ensure compliance, especially if you have contingent workers with hard-to-find specialist skills and knowledge. 

As with any change, communication is key. Your contractors want to be kept informed about what you’re doing to ensure compliance, and if they don’t receive that reassurance they will move on to other projects or opportunities where the strategy is clear.

The last thing you need is to lose talent. This could impact your ability to service customers, to achieve strategic milestones and fulfil financial objectives. Contingent workers are an important part of your workforce, and communicating about your IR35 plans will keep them engaged and productive.

TOTAL WORKFORCE SOLUTIONS: OPTIMISE TALENT ACQUISITION BY BLENDING RPO AND MSP

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Business Continuity and Contingent Labor: Building a Better Normal

Posted on by edyson

The stark and apparent lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic are unparalleled in modern times. Prevailing business models have been severely tested and weak points exposed, while organizations and their workforces are coping with the ongoing challenges presented by the pandemic.

As organizations continue their rebound and recovery efforts, they must be proactive in their decision-making to maintain business continuity and build greater organizational resilience.

However, a business continuity survey conducted by Gartner Partners reveals that only 12% of organizations are highly prepared for the impact of the pandemic and just 2% of companies believe they can continue business as usual, leaving many organizations to adjust and learn as they go.

What’s more, COVID-19 has highlighted blind spots in many organizations’ contingent workforce programs, including gaps in enterprise reporting of where contingent workers are on assignment, how to effectively negotiate and communicate with staffing suppliers and how to keep contingent staff informed of rapid operational changes.

To combat business continuity and contingent labor challenges, organizations need to reimagine their total talent supply chain and current operating strategies. In this article, we explore how organizations can best protect their contingent workforce and better prepare for business continuity challenges in the future.

Why Business Continuity Matters Now More Than Ever

Traditionally, business continuity plans are intended to minimize the impact of scenarios such as natural disasters — hurricanes and earthquakes — or societal disruptions — such as civil unrest and war — on business operations and productivity.

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Because organizations rely on business continuity planning to formalize, document and implement emergency management protocols, processes and policies, the plan should be a living, breathing protocol document that is continually updated — incorporating lessons learned and growing alongside your organization’s evolving needs.

Unfortunately, the severity and pace of COVID-19 caught many leaders off guard. Before the pandemic, business continuity plans were created with information gathered in a growing economy with very little turbulence and historically low unemployment, so plans typically took a growth and operations-first approach. While suitable for a pre-COVID world, current business continuity plans need to be updated to put people-first.

By laying the foundation for business continuity during the current pandemic, you can build whatever structure you need to on top of it as the situation evolves and new challenges and opportunities present themselves.

Leveraging Contingent Labor for Greater Business Continuity

Initially, contingent workers were perceived as a potentially vulnerable segment of the workforce during the early days of the COVID-19 crisis. However, as organizations prepared to scale their workforce at the pace of demand, employers were hesitant to add permanent headcount in the face of economic uncertainty, instead  turning increasingly to contingent staff to fill in the gaps. Moreover, according to a recent survey, 32% of organizations are “replacing full-time employees with contingent workers as a cost-saving measure.”

The cost-savings benefits of enlisting flexible short-term workforce support to supplement traditional staff will continue as organizations continue to regain their bearings and operate with leaner talent acquisition budgets.

Contingent workers can play a significant role in maintaining business continuity by keeping distribution centers and delivery networks staffed and operating, filling positions in your organization’s call center, filling skills gaps when employees are not available, and acting as health screeners and temperature takers to reduce outbreaks in key facilities. 

At PeopleScout, our team partners with clients to implement virtual staffing programs to fill skills gaps due to layoffs, furloughs and shutdowns. Once a client location notifies our virtual staffing team of a talent needs, we create a requisition on behalf of the client, contact our top suppliers in the market and make sure adequate staffing is provided on time and within budget. This highly responsive and dynamic contingent labor model provides our clients with great flexibility, less downtime and greater business continuity. 

Preventing work stoppages altogether may be impossible, but harnessing the skills and experience of contingent workers as part of your business continuity plan can certainly help reduce losses and keep your organization as productive and profitable as possible.

Business Continuity Means People Continuity

Many organizations have recognized the enormous human toll of the pandemic and have in turn prioritized the health and well-being of all workers. Successful business continuity plans will hinge on an organization’s ability to humanize and diversify both the substance and delivery of your candidate messaging.

Now is not the time for your organization’s employer branding initiatives to fall by the wayside. In fact, according to a LinkedIn study, COVID-19 posts on the platform from organizations that received the most engagement used the following words more often in their messaging:

  • “Health”
  • “Help”
  • “Social distancing”
  • “Health authorities”
  • “People”
  • “Employees”
  • “Support”
  • “Public health”
  • “Healthcare workers”

Although there are several engagement strategies available for you to utilize to convey your employer value proposition, it’s important to keep in mind the circumstances in which most contingent candidates are likely to find themselves: perhaps recently unemployed, concerned for their safety and that of their family and stressed from uncertainty. Your organization’s greatest “value” will need to manifest in the form of empathic, concise and compassionate communications.

The right MSP provider can empower your organization to engage and communicate with contingent candidates at scale. Communication campaigns should focus on providing skills development opportunities (i.e., free courses, certifications, learning centers, etc.), while strategic social media messaging can both raise awareness and extend your employer brand’s reach, further building your contingent talent pool.

Onsite, you should also provide safety information wherever contingent workers are most likely to see it. This may be in the cafeteria, the breakroom, or bathrooms. Make sure that it clearly states what to do in the case of an outbreak. You should also establish protocols to notify all contingent workers about outbreaks and facility closures. Providing subsequent changes to plans regarding work locations is also a crucial element of maintaining business continuity and productivity.

Organizations capable of preserving the human touch will be well-positioned to grow their talent networks with top-tier contingent candidates – further fortifying and stabilizing business continuity.

Workplace Safety and Working with Staffing Suppliers

Failing to provide adequate workplace safety not only carries compliance risks and financial penalties, it can also impact your organization’s employer brand and in turn negatively impact your total talent program. According to a survey conducted by Marsh & McLennan, 9 out of 10 employees across all industries are worried about how the virus could affect them or their families. Because of the inherent risk associated with working at an onsite location, contingent candidates are looking for reassurance from employers when it comes to their health and well-being and that of their family and community.

It is important to take the time to reassess your staffing suppliers to ensure you are on the same page regarding protecting your contingent workforce.

You can start your supplier assessment by asking all current and prospective staffing suppliers to complete detailed, pandemic-specific assessments that account for the full spectrum of COVID-19 risks – such as security, employee health and safety and financial distress. Your business depends on having a clear understanding of the current status of your critical suppliers, their mitigating actions and your own exposure to risk and compliance concerns.

When negotiating contracts with staffing suppliers, clearly define a joint safety program. Identify the responsibilities of each party. In most contracts, the staffing agency provides general safety training, while a representative from your organization covers safety procedures specific to a work location. The staffing supplier and MSP provider are then responsible for ensuring ongoing compliance with the program.

For each contingent role, policies and procedures for site access, safety equipment provisioning and training should be developed that take into consideration all the health and safety risks in the environment in which the person will be working. Be sure that the training addresses actions such as proper hygiene, mask policies, material handling and other pandemic mitigating policies.

For one client, PeopleScout acts as a communications hub for 40 staffing suppliers. As part of this effort, we collect the acknowledgment that each supplier agrees to be compliant with our client’s health and safety protocols.

This includes everything from directions on what to do when an associate is confirmed positive with COVID-19 to protocols for contact tracing and the safe return to work. Moreover, we collect data from all 40 suppliers and report all confirmed cases of COVID-19 to the client’s health and safety leaders.

Lastly, keeping the workplace safe begins with prevention. Consider deploying a team of non-medical contingent professional to take temperatures at designated checkpoints in your facility with no-touch thermometers to help keep the workplace safe.

Conclusion

Business continuity in the age of COVID-19 is about more than logistical and operational thinking, it is also about people — how to keep people safe, save lives and keep the economy running by getting people back to work. Remember, stay focused on your culture to make sure your organization’s values are authentic and the attitudes and actions of your leadership team reflect these values.

Building a Modern Business Continuity Plan

Posted on by jpatel

With the outbreak of coronavirus (COVID-19), many companies have had to put their business continuity plans to the test — shedding light into areas where their plans may not have been as complete or effective as expected. Without a solid and tested business continuity plan in place, organisations may find themselves confused — which can lead to delayed response time and in some cases, a negative impact to the services or products a business provides. 

In this article, I’ll outline the importance of having a business continuity plan, tips for creating a thorough plan and who should be involved in the planning process. 

The Importance of Having a Business Continuity Plan 

Before I highlight its purpose, let’s start with the basic definition of a business continuity plan. It can be defined as: 

A step-by-step business strategy built to be executed at a time when there is a disruption in services to protect people and assets and have the ability to resume operations in an expedient and controlled fashion. In addition, it identifies requirements and an execution strategy related to business operations and people.  

It’s important to have a thorough and complete plan because it’s the only way to ensure organisations are effectively prepared for a business interruption. A solid plan enables organisations to continue critical business processes to minimise the impacts to customers and employees. 

As an example, our business continuity plans at PeopleScout allow us to continue service delivery to clients in any type of adverse condition and lower the overall cost of disruption from incidents, all while ensuring we are meeting our contractual obligations. When it comes to our clients, we always make sure we have a current, tested business continuity plan in place to effectively support their business in any situation.  

Creating a Thorough and Complete Plan 

What should the business continuity plan look like? 

First, it’s important to note that “thorough and complete” does not necessarily mean “complicated” or “difficult to understand.” Also, the technology used to capture the details of the plan is less important than the accessibility of the details that are included along with the plan itself. 

An effective business continuity plan should clearly define: 

  • What to do 
  • How to do it 
  • Who will do it 
  • When to do it 

In addition, a business continuity plan should be easy to use and be detailed enough for any team member to successfully execute. When putting your plan together, take these components into consideration: 

  • Identification of the planning team 
  • Defined processes 
  • Employee list/call list to reach out to 
  • Vital records associated with the process 
  • Telecom needs 
  • Work area recovery strategies 
  • Applications (software, equipment, supplies) 

What steps should an organisation take when building the plan? 

While certain events cannot be planned for, the optimum scenario is to build the business continuity plan when there isn’t an event or disaster happening. Attempting to develop real-time responses during a crisis situation is much more difficult than following a plan that was already created.  

When building your plan, it is important to evaluate, identify and ask questions. 

  • Evaluate your organisation. Understand the unique needs based on location, technology that’s used, number of employees, processes that are completed, etc.   
  • Identify the key participants to be included in the planning effort. This should include a combination of leaders and subject matter experts.  
  • Ask questions! It’s in the answers to those questions that you will truly understand what is needed to build an effective plan. 

After you do those three things, the basic methodology that a company should use to finalise their plan includes: 

Strategic Planning Phase: This is the phase that prepares us for the incident. It includes risk analysis (what could go wrong?), business impact analysis (what are the maximum acceptable downtimes?), requirements analysis (what do we need to recover?) and recovery options (how will we recover?).  

Tactical Planning Phase: This phase tells us how to respond to the incident. The organisation should ensure effective documentation of how to engage the recovery option when the time comes. Lay the groundwork for what you would need to do in the event you need to execute your plan. 

Consider these tips for building a thorough and complete business continuity plan: 

  • Always look for opportunities to improve your plan. The plan should be a living, breathing document that is reviewed on a regular cadence. 
  • Consider hypothetical situations and plan accordingly. If you change how you do things today, consider how it impacts your business continuity strategies. Do they also need to change? 
  • Ask yourself: Is your plan detailed enough to allow junior-level team members to execute the plan at time of incident if your planning team is compromised? 
  • Lead tabletop exercises to discover other opportunities to improve your programme and plans. Does everyone on your team know what is expected of them during a business interruption incident?  

For more information on tabletop exercises and who should be involved in them, listen to this article’s accompanying podcast.  

Advice for Developing Your First Business Continuity Plan 

When you think about developing a business continuity plan, especially for the first time, it’s very easy to get paralysed when you’re starting with a blank sheet of paper. One thing to remember is that the primary objective is planning — this is what creates the ability to recover.  

So, physically writing the plan or documenting specific instructions is the secondary objective. Look at your plan and ask: 

  • Does it clearly state what to do? 
  • Does it indicate how to do it? 
  • Does it reflect who does it? 
  • Does it identify when to do it? 

If the answer to those four questions is yes, and you verify that to be true through the process of testing, then you’re sure to have a plan that should serve you well in the event of an incident and ensure you are prepared for any event that may occur.  

To learn more about ways employers can respond to the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, visit our Resource Centre. 

PeopleScout Launches its Beyond the Expected™ Managed Service Provider Service Approach

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Cutting-Edge Technology Blended with Faster, More Specialised Support Raises the Industry Standard for Managing a Contingent Workforce

Chicago – September 9, 2019 – PeopleScout today launched its Beyond the Expected™ service approach at the North American CWS Summit in San Diego. Beyond the Expected challenges the status quo and anticipates buyers’ expectations with a more specialised, innovative approach to managed service provider (MSP) solutions.

“All MSP buyers expect a strong process that results in cost reduction and compliance,” said PeopleScout President Taryn Owen. “Our Beyond the Expected service approach is designed for those who are looking for something more, with greater specialisation, faster response time and ongoing technology innovation to help our clients build their contingent workforce with the best talent, now and in the future.”

The launch of PeopleScout’s Beyond the Expected approach is the culmination of a yearlong reimagining of the company’s MSP practice to better meet the evolving needs of MSP buyers. MSP usage has continued to grow steadily on the back of rising demand for contingent labour, with Everest Group estimating contingent spend under management by MSP providers to be in excess of $140 billion globally. With rising usage comes rising expectations for MSP partnerships to deliver ongoing programme evolution, produce actionable insights and leverage emerging technology.

Under the leadership of MSP Client Portfolio Leader Jennifer Torres, who joined PeopleScout in October 2018, PeopleScout re-structured its delivery organisation into vertically-aligned client teams, increased its commitment to 24/7 concierge-level support and invested in technology to elevate visibility across the talent ecosystem. PeopleScout MSP solutions also go beyond the expected cost controls and process administration typical of standard MSP programmes to deliver consultative insight, a uniquely transparent approach to partnership enabled by technology and enhanced supplier engagement.

Tenets of the Beyond the Expected service approach include:

Greater specialisation
  • PeopleScout client delivery teams immerse themselves in client culture to become proactive partners and strategic advisors
  • Delivery teams are aligned by vertical to enable deeper expertise, a better understanding of specific industry trends and effective sharing of market insights and best practices
  • Client needs are put first, every time
Faster response times
  • Communication centralisation and visibility through technology improves issue response time
  • 24/7 support available for all clients
  • Concierge-level service enables the superior user experience and PeopleScout’s ranking as the No. 1 MSP in customer satisfaction on the 2017, 2018 and 2019 HRO Today MSP Baker’s Dozen
Improved technology stack
  • Increased investment in Affinix™, PeopleScout’s proprietary talent technology platform, delivers speed and scalability for MSP clients
  • Affinix easily integrates with VMS technology to harness the power of data and analytics
  • Affinix enables better visibility across a client’s contingent workforce and other labour channels for a total workforce view
Enhanced supplier engagement
  • The PeopleScout supplier management team exclusively focuses on curating a client-dedicated network of partners – from traditional contingent labour to gig, payroll, and independent contractor management suppliers – aligned to specific talent requirements and on improving supplier experience
  • Supplier communications and technology to enable efficient and transparent engagement, a greater understanding of client objectives and improved results
  • The proprietary scoring system continuously optimises performance and rewards suppliers that deliver the best talent

“We understand that authentic, human connections are what make a great partnership and we are committed to transparency every step of the way,” said PeopleScout MSP Client Portfolio Leader Jennifer Torres. “Our client-first Beyond the Expected service approach ensures our clients’ goals are our top priority. This approach allows our teams to immerse themselves in our clients’ culture to understand their specific staffing landscape and the trends that are affecting it so that they can be consultative guides as we move towards what’s coming next.”

PeopleScout continues to be a leader in MSP, RPO and Total Workforce Solutions. In 2019, PeopleScout was named the No. 1 MSP provider on HRO Today’s Baker’s Dozen Customer Satisfaction Ratings for the third consecutive year. Also in 2019, PeopleScout was named a Leader and Star Performer in Everest Group’s RPO Services PEAK Matrix™ Assessment. In 2018, PeopleScout was recognised as an Enterprise RPO Leader on HRO Today’s Baker’s Dozen Customer Satisfaction Ratings and the No. 2 provider on HRO Today’s Baker’s Dozen Customer Satisfaction Ratings for Total Workforce Solutions. PeopleScout’s talent technology platform, Affinix, won the 2018 HRO Today TekTonic Award in the Candidate Experience category and the gold award in the Brandon Hall Group’s 2018 Human Capital Management (HCM) Excellence Awards programme.

To learn more about PeopleScout MSP and its Beyond the Expected service approach visit www.PeopleScout.com/MSP.

About PeopleScout

PeopleScout, a TrueBlue company, is the world’s largest RPO provider managing talent solutions that span the global economy, with end-to-end MSP capabilities supporting total workforce needs. PeopleScout boasts 98 percent client retention managing the most complex programmes in the industry. The company’s thousands of forward-looking talent professionals provide clients with the edge in the people business by consistently delivering now while anticipating what’s next. Affinix™, PeopleScout’s proprietary talent acquisition platform, empowers faster engagement with the best talent through an AI-driven, consumer-like candidate experience with one-point ATS and VMS integration and single sign-on. Leveraging the power of data gleaned from engaging millions of candidates and contingent associates every year, PeopleScout enhances talent intelligence for clients across more than 70 countries with headquarters in Chicago, Sydney and London and global delivery centers in Charlotte, Toronto, Montreal, Bristol, Krakow, Gurgaon and Bangalore. For more information please visit www.peoplescout.com.

Press Contact

Caroline Sabetti

Global VP of Marketing and Communications

312-560-9173

Talking Talent: Field Test – How to Attract Top-Performing Field Talent

Posted on by nfuqua

Attracting candidates with the right cultural fit is difficult at any organisation. The issue is compounded when employees are not working in an office environment but instead out in the field, working face-to-face with your customers. For organisations with field service employees, the workers that spend the least amount of time in your office are often the face of the organisation.

So how do you attract and hire field the best service workers? 

Joining us to talk about this is Chris Gera, the Managing Director, Executive Vice President for Service Council™. In his role, Chris is defining and executing the Service Council’s Research & Insights™ product portfolio.

As the Senior Analyst on Service, Chris is directly connected to Senior Service Leaders and Solution Providers to drive the Service Council’s Smarter Services™ agenda. This provides service executives and organisations the ability to benchmark their operations and also provide guided insight to target how to improve their service organisation performance and deliver the full potential of their change management initiatives.

Chris also leads new member acquisition, member engagement, community expansion and the development of their annual Symposium. Chris plays a key role in building out Service Council’s community platform which is focused on becoming the single source of information and networking for service and customer support executives globally.

Prior to his role at Service Council, Chris held service leadership positions at Vivint SmartHome, where he managed 1,200+ field professionals supporting more than one million customers across North America. While at Nielsen, he led global strategic field initiatives, specifically digitization and technology and process improvement implementations of a $1B profit and loss service business supporting greater than 15,000 field professionals in over 100 countries around the globe.

Also joining for this episode are Mike Yinger and Janice Weiner. Mike is our global leader of growth and strategy here at PeopleScout, and he is responsible for global sales results and organisational strategy. Janice leads cross-selling and total talent initiatives for PeopleScout. Total talent includes all the ways a company can “get its work done.” Getting the work done from a company’s field service perspective is what we focus on in this episode.