Category: Talent Technology

Data & Diversity: Using Analytics to Achieve your DE&I Goals

Posted on by nfuqua

Diversity sourcing is a top priority in talent acquisition. A recent PwC survey found that 57% of CFOs planned to invest in diversity and inclusion initiatives in the next year. But, with investment comes accountability; you can’t track and report your progress without the proper technology tools. So, as employers continue to prioritise diversity, equality and inclusion, talent leaders need the proper tools to understand the progress they’re making toward reaching their DE&I goals.

Additionally, despite the progress made throughout the last few years, employers still have a long way to go. In fact, according to a survey by Boston Consulting Group, only 25% of employees from underrepresented backgrounds said that they had benefited from their company’s diversity and inclusion programs—despite the fact that most companies have these programs in place.

In this article, we’ll discuss how the right technology tools can help measure and improve diversity, equality and inclusion in your recruitment process.

Optimising Diversity Sourcing

DE&I hiring efforts start at the beginning with diversity sourcing; you can’t hire diverse candidates without a diverse pipeline. And, to build a diverse candidate pipeline, you need to track who your candidates are and which of your sourcing channels and campaigns bring them into the recruitment process.

To further understand who your candidates are, it’s essential to capture their demographic information in your applicant tracking system (ATS) through self-identification via the employment application. However, because some candidates from underrepresented groups may feel uncomfortable disclosing this information in an application, it’s best practice to also ask for self-identification after you extend an offer or when a new employee goes through the onboarding process.

Then, track the sourcing channel through your candidate relationship management (CRM) software, which is critically important to track your recruitment marketing campaigns, as well as sources. Simply tracking that a candidate came to your careers site through LinkedIn isn’t enough; you need to know if a specific campaign on LinkedIn influenced their decision to apply.

Often, these data points are stored in different systems. But, a reporting tool can help synthesise your data and visualise trends. Specifically, with PeopleScout’s Affinix™ Analytics diversity dashboards, you can track how diverse candidates are entering your pipeline in real time. Then, by tracking how candidates progress through your funnel, you can determine which sources and campaigns bring in the highest-quality candidates from underrepresented groups. From there, you can then adjust your sourcing spend to maximise the channels and promotions that bring in the most and highest-quality candidates.

For instance, you may find that a recruitment marketing campaign you’re running on LinkedIn that features diverse faces and real employee stories is bringing in far more diverse candidates than the same campaign on Facebook. You could then shift budget from the Facebook campaign to the LinkedIn campaign, thereby optimising your channels. Additionally, you could compare the LinkedIn campaign featuring diverse employees to a different LinkedIn campaign featuring your office space and benefits package to see which type of content resonates best with candidates.

As an example, when one PeopleScout industrial client wanted to add more women to its primarily male workforce, we partnered with the company to build out a recruitment marketing initiative featuring the organisation’s female employees. In tracking the results of the campaign, our client was able to see a marked increase in female applicants and hires tied directly to the recruitment marketing initiative.

Optimising Diversity Sourcing Data to Gather • Candidate self-identification • Sourcing channel • Campaigns as sources • Tracking the candidate from application to hire Goals • Determine sourcing channels that produce strong candidates from underrepresented groups • Adjust spend to maximise applicant diversity • Measure the success of your diverse campaigns and recruiting strategies

Identifying Barriers in Your Process

Building a more diverse, equitable and inclusive process doesn’t stop with sourcing; if you’re bringing a robust slate of diverse candidates into your pipeline, but very few candidates from underrepresented groups are actually hired, you may have a barrier somewhere else in your process: This could be an assessment with an unintentional bias; a recruiter or hiring manager who could benefit from more training; or an issue with your employment offers. In this situation, the right data can help determine exactly where the issue is occurring in your process and whether changes would result in a more equitable recruitment process.

data accurately. Then, in your reporting tool, you’ll be able to identify if a particular step in your process precipitates a drop in candidate diversity.

For instance, your reporting may show that a recently added video interview step resulted in more candidates from diverse backgrounds dropping out of your funnel. In this case, you could try converting the video interview to a phone or on-demand audio interview to see if it improves results. Similarly, your reporting could show that you have one recruiter or hiring manager with a higher percentage of diverse candidates falling out, which could lead to an opportunity to implement more training. Or, you could see that candidates from diverse backgrounds are successful throughout your recruitment process, but then turn down your employment offers. If that’s the case, then you may want to look at your benefits, offer process or employer value proposition.

Identifying Barriers in Your Process Data to gather • Candidate and new hire self-identification • Candidate progress through the recruitment funnel • Reason for candidate rejection • Recruiter and hiring manager trends Goals • Identify where candidates from underrepresented groups are dropping out of your interviewing and screening process • Adjust to reduce unconscious bias in diversity sourcing

Using Surveys to Improve Inclusion

Our first examples focused on improving diversity sourcing and equity in the recruitment funnel, but you can also use data to measure and improve inclusion. Your goal is to understand how candidates feel about your hiring process, as well as how new employees feel about your onboarding process and company culture—and the best way to measure this is to simply ask them.

In fact, you can and should survey candidates at different stages of your recruitment funnel. Fortunately, there are a variety of candidate survey tools that you can integrate into your ATS to automatically ask candidates for feedback about their experiences, which can then provide critical insights about points where you may be alienating certain candidates. Yet, very few employers regularly ask candidates for feedback about the recruitment process: According to a survey by PeopleScout and HRO Today, only 29% of employers in North America regularly ask for candidate feedback, while 33% never do so. In Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), the data is somewhat better, with 42% of recruiters reporting that they regularly request candidate feedback, whereas 24% say that they never do.

Essentially, there are two different ways you can gather and gauge the results of your surveys, and it all comes down to the questions that you ask. A strong survey will have a mixture of both scored questions and open text responses; the scores help you identify trends over time, while the text responses help you drill into specifics.

Surveys can also help measure your success and identify problem areas—especially when coupled with your recruiting data. For example, if you ask candidates how they feel about the interview process and those scores start to trend downward, you can review your recruiting data to see if you notice any changing trends. Likewise, if you see more candidates from underrepresented backgrounds dropping out just before or after an interview, you can evaluate and determine why your interview process is negatively affecting candidates—especially if you also have text responses that provide specific feedback.

Going a step further, you can also survey new hires to measure inclusion in your onboarding process. A Gartner study featured in the Harvard Business Review identified seven factors that can provide a holistic view of inclusion within your organisation:

  1. Fair treatment: Employees at my organisation who help the organisation achieve its strategic objectives are rewarded and recognised fairly.
  2. Integrating differences: Employees at my organisation respect and value each other’s opinions.
  3. Decision-making: Members of my team fairly consider ideas and suggestions offered by other team members.
  4. Psychological safety: I feel welcome to express my true feelings at work.
  5. Trust: Communication we receive from the organisation is honest and open.
  6. Belonging: People in my organisation care about me.
  7. Diversity: Managers at my organisation are as diverse as the broader workforce.

Then, if your survey finds that new hires from underrepresented backgrounds feel less of a sense of belonging or less safe expressing their true feelings at work, you can evaluate and improve your onboarding process and, through further surveys, measure the influence of any changes you make.

Using Surveys to Improve Inclusion Data to Gather • Candidate and new hire self-identification • New hire survey responses • Onboarding survey responses • Candidate survey responses Goals • Identify and remove barriers in your hiring process • Identify and remove barriers in your onboarding process • Measure employee engagement and inclusion

As employers continue to work to improve diversity sourcing, equity and inclusion within their organisations, it’s critical to have the right tools in place to identify opportunities for improvement and measure success. Talent acquisition leaders play an important role in achieving those goals, and a trusted RPO and technology partner can provide valuable insights and market trends. To learn more about what talent leaders can do, download our ebook, Progress in Action: Moving Toward a Globally Diverse and Inclusive Workplace.

Talking Talent: Talent Technology and the Human Touch, Building a Balanced Recruitment Process with Rick Betori

Posted on by nfuqua

Rick Betori’s role as PeopleScout’s managing director of the Americas has a few similarities with a previous leadership position he held as coach of his children’s baseball teams.

“The ball is always going to roll in between someone’s legs,” he told me from his home in the Chicago suburbs. “And, it’s not about the fact that it went through their legs; it’s what they do after and how they respond when things don’t go according to plan. That’s one of the most important things I can do in my role as a leader.”

Rick thrives when there’s a challenge to tackle, when there’s a problem to solve and when there’s the opportunity to connect the right person with the right job in a difficult labour market. It’s an important quality as employers face a talent landscape that has been transformed by the pandemic.

Although Rick joined PeopleScout in 2021, he has been a part of the TrueBlue organisation since 2011, most recently leading delivery operations at PeopleReady, where he helped spearhead the company’s digital transformation. As such, he understands how technology, combined with human expertise, can solve the toughest talent problems. We talked to him about the role of talent technology in 2022.

You’re not new to TrueBlue, but you are a relatively new face here at PeopleScout. What makes you really excited about talent acquisition right now?

I’m excited because I believe that we can truly help companies that are facing some of their largest hiring challenges in their histories. Talent acquisition teams need creative partners to help them succeed, and I’m thrilled to be a part of finding those solutions.

I’m also passionate about our talent technology platform, Affinix™, and what it does to help candidates seamlessly move through the application process. Candidates have so many choices today; when they’re searching for a new role, they expect a great experience, and they want it to be fast. I also think that now more than ever, data and analytics will be key in helping employers stay ahead of their competition in a difficult talent market.

And finally, I’ve been a part of the TrueBlue family since 2011, so I’ve been able to witness the passion and energy of the PeopleScout team working to put our clients first. It’s been great to dig in with the team in these last few months. They bring this infectious energy to do what’s right for our clients and their applicants. I’m proud to be a part of this organisation moving forward.

Throughout the last couple of years, we’ve seen a lot of employers add technology to their recruitment process out of need. For talent acquisition leaders, where do you think their relationship with talent technology stands today?

I hate to start the answer to a question with “it depends,” but it really does vary.  We have seen many employers add technology solutions to deal with increased workload, compliance concerns, and to eliminate or simplify administrative tasks.

More recently, employers feel the pressures of attracting top talent, so they’re taking the next step, focusing on easing and improving the process for candidates. More companies are starting to leverage technology to reduce friction for candidates in the application process and at the same time, building a stronger employer brand.

Finally, we’re seeing leaders stepping back and asking, “How can technology, data and analytics inform our decision-making from a talent standpoint?” These leaders want more information around changes in roles; how the market is responding in their specific area; and how factors like the rise of the gig economy and the COVID-19 pandemic have influenced their prospective talent pools.

The right technology can really make the recruitment process feel even more personal and enhance an organisation’s employer brand. How can you make that happen?

It’s about more than the right technology; it’s about the right technology at the right time. Employers can make the greatest impact by targeting specific points in the candidate’s journey.

For example, we know that candidates want to feel a sense of control in the process, and they want to feel as though things are moving forward. That means employers need to keep candidates feeling engaged and empowered. So, the right technology intervention could be implementing a pre-screen that candidates can complete by text or adding an interview self-scheduling tool. These give candidates the ability to feel like they’re taking the next step in the process, rather than waiting to hear back from someone.

Employers should also evaluate specific tools to ensure they fit with their brand. For example, candidates applying to a technology company would expect the process to include more advanced technology, more automation and a more cutting-edge approach to the recruitment process. On the other hand, candidates for positions where the work is focused on manual tasks or face-to-face interactions may expect a different experience. It’s not one size fits all.

Why should employers reevaluate their technology stacks now?

In the current market, talent acquisition teams need to move faster than ever to identify and secure talent. The days of long recruitment processes, multiple interviews and multiple steps are over.

Candidates have so many opportunities facing them today…and it’s not just different employers. Think about the impact of virtual work. It used to be that companies simply competed with other organisations in their area, but now, they compete for top talent with companies across the globe.

Add that to that the fact that many employers are reporting a record numbers of job openings and they can’t ramp up their internal teams fast enough to keep up with the number of requisitions they’ve got to fill. The right tools, and the right partner, can make the process easier and even provide them a competitive advantage.

Adding new technology to an established process can be scary. What advice do you have for talent leaders to help them gain buy-in in their organisations?

First off, I’d say, if there wasn’t any fear, I’d be surprised. It’s human nature. But that’s not a reason not to automate.

It starts with having a good, strong, proactive communication plan around the process—explaining what they’re doing and why they’re doing it. It should be transparent and easy to understand. The plan should clearly demonstrate the benefits for the team, and then, it’s important to gather feedback. There must be open lines of communication. It’s about letting people weigh in as you fine-tune the process. Finally, it’s great to recognise and celebrate the early adopters. We’ve seen a lot of success in highlighting the employees who engage and really embrace the change early on.

With internal buy-in, it’s tough, and you can’t underestimate the challenge. However, a good, solid plan executed by leadership goes a long way.

Are there any final thoughts you’d like to leave us with?

I want to put an exclamation point on something I said earlier about the importance of speed in the current talent market. I know the types of pressures that talent leaders are under right now. I don’t have a crystal ball to tell you how long it will last, but I can say that when you find the right partner, they can help you start this process in a way that feels manageable, and that can also help you prepare for whatever challenge lies ahead.

Recruitment Technology: How to Build the Ultimate Tech Stack

Posted on by akessler

Digital transformation has hit HR, and the world of recruitment has rapidly evolved with the growth of mobile apps, big data, artificial intelligence (AI) and analytics. Candidates now expect a tech-enabled recruitment experience, and building a talent acquisition tech stack has gone from a nice-to-have to a critical part of a global recruitment strategy for any enterprise. However, with the influx of new talent acquisition technology—from foundational platforms like an ATS to point solutions for sourcing, interviewing or recruitment marketing—it can be hard to navigate the recruitment technology ecosystem and know where to invest your budget.

In this article, we’ll help you make sense of all the available talent tech and how each recruitment system can benefit your business. You’ll learn some important things to keep in mind as you build your tech stack. Plus, we’ll provide some details on what features to look for as you evaluate solutions.

Working with a Tech Capable RPO Partner

One of the biggest value-adds that RPO brings is experience with the latest talent technology innovations. In fact, in 2021 PeopleScout saw new RPO engagements with technology included increase from 40% to 67%. An RPO partner can help you assess talent acquisition software to address all aspects of your recruiting process, from identifying talent to creating a more efficient candidate experience. Your provider can show you how emerging technologies like AI, machine learning and predictive analytics can boost your ability to attract top talent. 

In addition to consulting, some RPO providers are investing in proprietary technology solutions including application tracking systems (ATS), candidate relationship management (CRM) tools, analytics platforms and automation tools. This can come in the form of a single platform or as a set of integrated systems, providing a modular approach that lets you add and remove solutions from your tech stack as your needs change.

Integrate Recruitment Technology for Seamless Operations

Any new recruitment tool you consider should integrate with your current talent acquisition and HR systems. Not only does integration let you benefit from existing investments and grow as your needs change, but it also helps you streamline operations by eliminating the need for manual data entry—saving time and effort. 

When evaluating any solution, ask about built in integrations. If one doesn’t exist for one of your existing systems, evaluate the vendor’s ability to support you through an API. An application programming interface, or API, is a connection between pieces of software. Open APIs let you build a custom solution by connecting your talent acquisition technology systems with each other and with your other HR systems—boosting the flow of data and improving operational and cost efficiencies.  

A Word on Security

Any technology you do add to your talent tech stack must comply with data privacy regulations in all regions where you’re recruiting. Pay attention to any rules about where data can be stored, like those stipulated by the GDPR. Look for tools that are SOC 2 certified, which shows they maintain a high level of information security.  

Building Your Recruitment Tech Stack

Now that we’ve covered some important things to keep in mind when evaluating software, here are some tech solutions to consider when building your talent acquisition tech stack.

Applicant Tracking System (ATS)

An ATS is the foundation upon which you will build your tech stack. This platform acts as the system of record for your talent acquisition programme. As a repository for applicants, it helps you manage the hiring process for all your requisitions and satisfies compliance requirements for record keeping.

Some ATS systems let you create branded career sites and landing pages where candidates can learn more about your company, search jobs openings and even apply for a role. Look for a platform with a “quick apply” feature that lets candidates apply in a few clicks even via mobile devices—which has been proven to increase application conversion rates. ATS platforms may also support the candidate selection process through AI-powered keyword scanning and other automated features like approval workflows, candidate and hiring manager notifications, offer letter generation and more—all with the benefit of reducing time-to-fill and streamlining the candidate experience.

AI Sourcing Tool

AI-powered sourcing tools review, sort and rank talent on the open web using sourcing criteria you’ve previously specified like current or past job titles, companies, diversity attributes, industry experience and more. Algorithms crawl resumes, social media profiles and other sources of data to find candidates that match your job requirements. This increases your potential applicants while speeding up your search and reducing the manual repetitive tasks for recruiters.  

AI sourcing can also help reduce bias as it only looks for what you’ve specified and disregards other factors like race, gender or age. It can also be applied to internal candidates by screening the existing employee profiles within an organisation to find strong matches for current open positions.

When designed correctly, AI can help you create a better candidate experience. However, there are dos and don’ts when it comes to automation. Proper testing at each stage coupled with human oversight will go a long way to catching biases or negative hiring experiences, so you can pause and reconfigure your strategy.

Candidate Relationship Management (CRM) Software

Many analysts believe that 70-80% of the recruiting process could be handled by the CRM, so it’s worth looking into complementing your ATS with a candidate relationship management (CRM) system. This recruitment marketing platform helps recruiters create talent pools based on geographies, level of interest and skills. With a CRM, you can differentiate your organisation by nurturing these candidates through automated recruitment emails, SMS messages and more—whether to keep them informed during an active application process or to keep them warm until a suitable position opens up. Communications can be personalised to the candidate for a more engaging experience.

A whopping 89% of candidates think mobile devices play a critical role in the job-hunting process. So, meet your candidates where they are, and look for solutions that are mobile-first and create a consumer-like experience your employer brand deserves. Other features to consider are custom landing pages and careers sites as well as event management tools to support specific recruiting goals. 

Recruiting Chatbot

Consider adding a chatbot to your careers site or investing in an ATS that offers this functionality to modernise your candidate experience. As a conversational interface, chatbots leverage natural language processing to screen candidates, answer candidate queries and schedule interviews. Some even offer candidates the ability to check the status of their application. This reduces the burden on recruiters and hiring managers by taking on some frequently asked questions from candidates, freeing them to focus on other things.

In addition to process efficiencies, chatbots can also be a great way to bring your employer brand to life. We implemented a chatbot for The AA, a UK-based motoring association offering roadside breakdown assistance, as part of their reimagined careers site. Candidates could ask AAbot questions and were served with information tailored to their interests. Not satisfied with a run-of-the-mill experience, we gave AAbot a big personality, reflecting the organisation’s playful employer brand. As a result, we boosted career site traffic by 60% year-over-year and applications by 275%. We even used AAbot in recruitment marketing campaigns and social media posts.

Virtual Interview Management System

A Gartner HR Survey revealed that 86% of organisations conducted virtual interviews during the course of the coronavirus pandemic, and this isn’t likely to decline as businesses recover. A dedicated virtual hiring solution can help you quickly hire the essential talent you need, no matter where they live or how the demand for remote working changes.

Modern candidates expect a hiring experience to be personal, quick and convenient. Rather than just leverage video meeting tools, look for dedicated virtual interview tools that offer multiple options for virtual interviews, including on-demand phone interviews, text interviews as well as live and pre-recorded video interviews. Additional features, like self-scheduling tools and automated candidate advancement tools, help dramatically reduce time-to-hire and enhance the candidate experience.

Virtual Assessment Tool

Speed up the candidate review process by investing in virtual pre-employment assessment tools. Modern options include AI that can evaluate writing samples, phone and video interviews and skills test responses. Digital assessment solutions examine the candidate’s aptitude, personality and skills using predictive analytics and machine learning, ensuring you hire the highest quality talent. This also has the added benefit of reducing bias, as the AI focuses on the content of the responses not the candidate or what they look like.

Platforms range from those providing code evaluations for software development roles to language aptitude tests. Make sure you look at the assessment experience from both the candidate and hiring manager experience before committing to a tool.

Recruitment Analytics

With data flowing across your integrated systems, investing in a recruitment analytics platform offers you a single source of truth for understanding your end-to-end recruitment process. Whether you’re hoping to track time-to-fill, DE&I efforts or overall talent acquisition performance, these tools will satisfy your C-suite’s hunger for insights into your recruitment programme.

Look for a tool with interactive dashboards that make it easy to visually monitor trends and slice and dice the data to identify areas of opportunity—and gain the full value of your recruitment data. Modern analytics tools leverage artificial intelligence and machine learning to highlight insights, anomalies and predictions so you have the data you need to drive informed decisions.

New analytics advancements mean cutting edge tools can now provide the ability to query your data via natural language processing. For example, our Ask Affinix feature, powered by Amazon’s QuickSight Q, lets you ask questions of your data in plain language and receive accurate answers with relevant visualisations in seconds.

Onboarding Tool

The new employee onboarding process is an essential element of creating a positive employee experience. Not only should it get new hires up-to-speed on your company and their role, there’s also crucial paperwork steps for payroll, taxes, benefits and more. Consider implementing an onboarding software to automate and support the onboarding process—especially if you’re doing a lot of remote hiring. Checklist features guide your candidates and hiring managers through the first days on the job, so they don’t miss any important steps. Self-service tools let new hires work through all those first tasks and training modules at their own pace. They won’t miss any crucial policies or compliance training, and you’ll have a record of when they completed it in the event of an audit.

Look for tools that let your new hires upload documents online like signed employment contracts, tax forms and right-to-work documents to speed up your payroll procedures. It’s also imperative that this integrates with your ATS and HRIS platforms to keep your employment records up-to-date and eliminate any manual steps which are prone to human error.

Internal Mobility Software

It’s no secret how important career pathing and development are for retaining employees and saving on sourcing costs. In fact, a study of LinkedIn users showed that employees who were promoted within three years of being hired have a 70% chance of staying with the company and those who made a lateral move have a 62% chance. Meanwhile, those who didn’t make an internal move only have 45% chance of staying.

An internal mobility platform lets you share vacancies internally first and help you identify existing employees who may have the skills and experience to move laterally or vertically into a new role. Look for a tool that offers a seamless experience by letting you post to internal and public job boards and view internal and external candidates together in one place, with internal candidates uniquely identified. The system should feature automation like automated invitation emails to qualified internal candidates to speed up time-to-fill and reduce administrative burden.

Conclusion

The recruitment technology landscape is complicated, with new solutions being added all the time. It can be confusing to plan a talent acquisition tech stack but selecting the right tools can boost access to data and help you create both operational and cost efficiencies. Employers should work with a talent partner who can help them customise a technology ecosystem that meets their needs now and prepares them for what’s next.

Learn more about how technology is transforming recruitment in our ebook, Six Tech Trends Shaping the Talent Landscape.

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.

Filling Niche Roles: How a Webinar Improved Candidate Experience and Application Numbers

Posted on by cspivack

How do you persuade valued, highly sought-after professionals to move jobs in this market? By providing an opportunity to engage with the employer and understand the work and culture – before applying.

The Chemicals Regulation Division (CRD) of the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) is regulatory science at its best. Work here is forward-thinking, strategic and connected to decisions made by both Central Government and large-scale business.

SOLUTION HIGHLIGHTS

  • SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASED AWARENESS OF HSE AND THIS NICHE DIVISION WITHIN IT
  • 55 QUESTIONS SUBMITTED FILLING THE CANDIDATES INFORMATION GAP
  • 70% OF ATTENDEES MORE LIKELY TO APPLY SINCE THE WEBINAR

SCOPE AND SCALE

In undergoing significant change, our client was evolving and working hard to meet the challenges ahead. This required the recruitment of a significant number of Scientists to help ensure the safe and sustainable use of chemicals. This is science with a scale, scope and influence few organisations can match.

SITUATION

The vacancies were based in Bootle and York and market mapping was undertaken into the number of suitable candidates with the relevant skills and qualifications for these roles. This highlighted the scarcity of candidates available. In addition, there was the challenge of how to engage with the target audience and give them the insight and opportunity to better understand the organisation, the vital work they undertake and the opportunities for career development. A recent national study found the number one question from candidates was “What’s it like to work there?”

SOLUTION

With this in mind, we devised and developed a webinar to introduce the work of the CRD. The webinar featured a panel of existing employees, giving the participants an opportunity to hear first-hand what the job would entail. Alongside this we offered a live Q&A so that each person could ask questions. The webinar brought the organisation to life and painted a picture of what it would be like to work there.

RESULTS

The webinar significantly increased awareness of HSE and the niche division within it. The attendees were able to view the webinar remotely and on-demand. During the Q and A, 55 questions were submitted. These filled the candidates information gap and gave them insight as to how they would fit in. 70% of attendees said they are more likely to apply since attending the webinar.

Three Potential Pitfalls of High-Volume Hiring and How to Avoid Them

Posted on by akessler

A fairly large handful of colleagues and clients are aware that my family and I are having some fairly extensive renovation work done on our home. Partly because I have moaned about it on a weekly basis since January. Partly because the endless background sounds of drills, hammers and circular saws— and on one particularly fraught occasion, a builders exposed backside descending from a loft ladder behind me—have all permeated some of my Zoom video calls. 

Now that the work is 90 percent finished, I look back on the project, and there are some aspects of it that I wish we had done differently. In doing such a lot of work at one time, we inevitably compromised on our standards in some small ways when faced with the size of the project ahead. 

Hopefully, you can see where the analogy is leading. When we, or our clients, are faced with a mountain to climb in terms of the complexity or scarcity of required talent in big numbers, it’s easy to deviate away from best practice. And this is never more common than now. 

As organisations switch from hiring freezes to acute growth mode, we are seeing a dramatic shift back towards a candidate-driven market. As the next 12 months play out, I personally believe this will prove to be one of the most dramatic shifts in several decades, and employers will be scratching their heads at just how they are going to close the hiring gap. 

During these impending and inevitably large-scale campaigns, there are three potential risks that stand out to me:

1. Introducing new people will impact the company culture.

Firstly, hiring lots of new people can present a risk to the company culture you’ve spent a lot of effort crafting. This may be more prevalent within smaller organisations or for those hiring at the leadership level, but no organisation is truly immune. With any hiring that significantly impacts a team, you must consider not only the skills and competencies match, but also how the existing cultural makeup of that group will be affected. One way to counter this is through thorough training to help align old and new employees on the same cultural path. This should be led by leadership and serve as a catalyst for people—old and new—to embrace your organisation’s mission and values. 

2. High-volume hiring can increase the risk of compromising on quality.

When it comes to high-volume hiring, hiring managers are more inclined to drop their standards on quality-of-hire. Not so much in terms of matching skills and experience, which tends to be a more objective. Plus, a deviation away from the requisite profile can be harder for the hiring manager to justify in their own mind. However, I’ve seen a “lowering of the bar” when it comes to the softer skills—the personality traits and competency matches which are naturally more subjective. One effective antidote here is robust candidate assessment practices. Backing up your gut feel with a bespoke or even “off the shelf” assessment package can help make your judgement more objective. 

3. Diversity amongst new hires suffers.

Thirdly, there is naturally a risk to diversity in your hiring. We’re all hopefully well-versed on the myriad benefits that fostering a diverse and inclusive workforce can bring. But, what is a valid, primary consideration when hiring one or two team members can begin to feel like an added challenge when filling a large number of openings starts to weigh down on a manager. Is there a temptation to let diversity standards slip if the challenge of filling critical gaps on your team already feels impossible? Is one allowed to be pragmatic in the circumstances and just hire, regardless of the diversity credentials? 

I would argue that you wouldn’t hire someone who has the wrong skills for your team, so you shouldn’t be any more inclined to lower standards on diversity. As we all know, the wrong hiring decision now, only costs us in the long-term when we have to re-hire down the line. Better to get it right first time, whether that be a diversity match or a skills match. 

Ultimately, any short-term concessions we might be tempted to make under pressure to hire at the time will be a source of regret. So, don’t lower your standards and suffer from these pitfalls. Take it from me—the decision not to fit underfloor heating in our family bathroom will likely haunt me for the next decade or two!

9 Strategies for Solving High-Volume Hiring Challenges

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Digital Series: Planning for Growth – Why Hybrid Hiring is Critical for Talent Acquisition Leaders

Posted on by mhill

What comes after your essential transition to virtual recruiting, when teams have shrunk and hiring needs are volatile? How do you ensure sufficient capacity and capability as organisations activate renewed growth strategies? The answer is hybrid recruiting.

We are delighted to invite you to join us as we investigate this hiring adaptation.  The first part of the series will be a bite size briefing that will explore the pros and cons of hybrid recruiting and why Human Resource and Talent leaders are turning their focus towards a flexible hybrid approach.

The Bite-Size-Briefing & Panel Debate are now available On-Demand.

Sourcing Candidates in 2021

Posted on by edyson

Sourcing candidates—even in the best of times—can be quite a daunting task. Sourcers and recruiters can spend weeks and sometimes months searching for the perfect candidate for a job opening and sometimes the person you want unfortunately may not exist. As the job market quickly recovers and candidates are now considering a move, organizations need to look to new and innovative ways to source, recruit and hire talent.

While you cannot wish the perfect candidates into existence or fast-forward past the pandemic, there are a number of candidate sourcing strategies you can deploy to help ensure that you have a quality talent pool at your fingertips as soon as you are ready to hire. In this article, we outline tips and strategies for sourcing candidates in 2021 that will help you improve your talent sourcing.

Sourcing Candidates Begins with Your Employer Brand

Your employer brand could be the difference between a candidate responding to your strategic sourcing and outreach or ignoring it. Candidates may not respond to your outreach messaging if they think poorly of your employer brand, so make sure you communicate your employer value proposition.

To improve your sourcing techniques and overall recruiting success, here are some tips on both repairing and building a better employer brand:

Respond to Reviews

Regularly check review sites like Glassdoor and respond to the feedback to let people know you appreciate their input and will take action where it’s necessary. This will generate goodwill, and help your employees feel engaged and heard.

Tell your Story

Engaging your employees in storytelling, encouraging them to personalize their LinkedIn profiles, starting a company blog, being active in the press and speaking at conferences are just a few of the ways employers can spread awareness about their brand.

Partner with your Marketing Team

The strategies and methods needed to help spread your employer brand to job seekers are similar to the ones marketing is using to promote your organization’s brand. Partner closely with your marketing team on both employer-branded content creation and distribution channels. 

Start Sourcing Candidates for Jobs Before You Are Ready

candidate sourcing

Sourcing candidates for jobs takes time, and that’s unlikely to change anytime soon. To get ahead of the candidate sourcing curve, start sourcing talent even if you do not have open positions. Typically, sourcing goes like this: “I have X job to fill, I’m going to source people for X job.” But smarter sourcers get even more proactive with their sourcing efforts and get ahead on roles they will need to hire for in the future.

First, take a look at your business growth plans. Then, build a corresponding workforce hiring strategy that gives you insight into when hires need to be made across the year to sustain your organization’s goals.

Once you have a picture of which teams need to grow, you can work with department leaders and HR to identify the level and skillsets required. Aggregate those skills and what you know about your company and team culture so you can begin to strategic sourcing for specific profiles candidates in a focused and on-ongoing way.   

Social Sourcing Tools and Platforms

sourcing tools

If you want to find and connect with the best talent, you should create a comprehensive social media sourcing strategy.

Social media channels provide strategic sourcing professionals an opportunity to share targeted job content and details about their organization, mission statements and hiring process to keep candidates warm, and better source talent.

Social talent sourcing tools and technology like PeopleScout’s Affinix technology solution help sourcing specialists and recruiters narrow their search and identify qualified candidates quicker. Here are some social media tools and platforms that will streamline your sourcing:

  • LinkedIn with 760 million users has been the social network of choice for sourcers and recruiters alike and for good reason, as professionals share their career history, advertise accomplishments and interact with industry experts. A LinkedIn Recruiter license lets you search profiles and send personal messages (InMails) to potential candidates, making LinkedIn an essential sourcing tool.
  • With 2.8 billion users, everyone is on Facebook, making every user a potential candidate. What’s more, users frequently research potential employers, look for job opportunities and apply for jobs through Facebook. Consider using paid job ads and Facebook groups to help you source candidates
  • Twitter has 330 million users and offers various tools, like search, lists and chat that help recruiters source candidates. Get the most out of your sourcing efforts by being active on Twitter. Engage in Twitter discussions, advertise conferences you sponsor and follow industry-related hashtags to find the talent you are looking for.

While the most popular platforms for social sourcing are LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, if you want to expand your sourcing efforts to non-traditional social channels, consider the following social platforms:

  • Slack is a platform that allows group communications between professionals with similar interests. You can use Slack to source candidates by joining channels relevant to the job candidates you are looking to source in a more casual setting.
  • Meetup is a website that facilitates meetings and groups for people with common interests.
  • Reddit is an online community forum where members (Redditors) discuss a range of topics and interests. Reddit is not a traditional sourcing channel, but Reddit’s communities (called subreddits) are great places to post job ads and engage with potential candidates, especially in the professional communities you are searching for talent in.

Creative Ways For Sourcing Candidates: Leverage Your Employees’ Networks

sourcing strategies

According to LinkedIn, organizations can expand their talent pool by 10 times by recruiting through their employees’ networks. Run sourcing sessions and employee referral programs with your team to see if anyone in your employee’s networks would be interested in one of your open roles. Your employees can help you reach more untapped talent pools, and improve response rates with warmer candidates. 

Facebook, for instance, will display to your team, different job candidate search results based on their social graph, so you can uncover passive job candidates you would not have otherwise discovered. Job sourcing sites such as Sourcing.io allow your employees to connect their social media accounts on LinkedIn, Twitter, and GitHub so you can view candidates who are connected to your team members. When you find a qualified job candidate, you should encourage your team to send warm introductions to increase your candidate engagement and response rate.

Perfect Your Outreach Messages When Sourcing Candidates

sourcing techniques

You and your talent acquisition team have worked hard to source the qualified candidates, but that does not matter if you fail to create a real connection. A few rules of thumb: Lead with a subject line that will stand out and make the candidate want to open and read your message; always personalize your recruiting message with the relevant information you found about them; paint a brief picture of the role and your organization; and explain how you think they could contribute to your team.

Narrowing down and building a targeted audience is a way to create a strong and more personalized outreach message. According to Glassdoor, 78% of sales professionals said they would accept less money to work at a company selling something compelling, 66% of healthcare professionals are likely to accept less money to work at a company with a great culture.

Improve your response rates by personalizing and focusing on the issues that matter to candidates of all categories. Your goal is to give your pool of job candidates just enough content and engagement to pique their interest and respond to your outreach messaging, you want to be careful about overloading them with communications. Ask your recent hires for feedback on your outreach messages, and use that feedback to test different messaging to improve your response rates.

If your talent team invests the resources to sourcing a robust talent pipeline, you will find more candidates in your talent pool qualified for open roles in the future. Re-engaging prospects is a missed candidate sourcing opportunity for many organizations, you should remind your recruiting team to source from silver medal job candidates first because they are qualified and vetted.

Remember Strategic Sourcing Begins with Reexamining Your Program

Despite setbacks caused by the pandemic, the best candidates will always be in high demand, making it more important than ever to reevaluate your talent sourcing strategy in 2021. Attracting top talent is essential to your organization’s ability to recover and keep pace during the great rehire. These strategic sourcing methods can help you fill your pipeline with qualified talent so you can choose the best hire for your team.

Leveraging an Internal Mobility Program to Optimise Your Workforce

Posted on by jpatel

When the COVID-19 pandemic struck, organisations everywhere were forced to fundamentally rethink their talent acquisition strategies. Whether that came in the form of hiring freezes, a dramatically reduced number of new hires, laid off workers or furloughed employees, an internal mobility program can be a cost-effective way to help organisations bounce back in the upcoming recovery phase. 

What’s more, many people will be less inclined to switch jobs in the coming months and might opt to stay with their current employer where they feel their job is secure. It will be increasingly difficult to pull top talent away from their current employers—especially if those employers kept employees on and supported them during a challenging time. 

That said, starting your talent search from within can help you fill gaps quickly and effectively, while also boosting retention rates and saving scarce resources. In this article, we’ll take a deeper look at what an internal mobility program is, the benefits of internal mobility and tips for building an effective internal mobility program in your organisation. 

What is an Internal Mobility Program? 

Internal mobility refers to the movement—both vertically and laterally—of employees within an organisation. An internal mobility program takes this idea a step further by implementing a specific process for moving internal talent between roles. And since the onset of the pandemic, while many organisations have been unable to hire external talent at pre-pandemic rates, internal mobility has become a necessity for filling critical skills gaps left in organisations. 

Benefits of an Internal Mobility Program 

Save Time and Money 

One of the biggest benefits of an internal recruitment strategy is the ability to operate more efficiently—especially during a time where many organisations are operating with leaner teams after scaling down in response to challenges presented by COVID-19.  

Many organisations today are faced with high applicant volumes and a time-consuming selection process for their talent acquisition teams. Moreover, the time and money spent on recruiting externally, like posting job ads, running recruitment marketing campaigns, sourcing and communicating with candidates can take a toll on already limited resources.  

In addition to savings on recruitment costs, external candidates often have higher salary expectations than internal employees—especially if they are hesitant about leaving their current employer. On average, the starting salary of an external hire is 18-20% more than that of internal candidates. 

Leverage Furloughed Employees 

When organisations enter the recovery phase and begin to ramp up hiring, an internal recruitment process can allow you to easily search within your furloughed employees first—targeting the people who know your business and are ready to get back to work.  

By pulling from your pool of furloughed employees, you’ll have a wealth of internal candidates who already possess organisational knowledge and expertise, leading to faster rates of productivity and less time spent on initial trainings. You’ll also have access to this talent almost immediately, allowing you to bounce back quickly and reduce time spent searching for external candidates who fit your needs. 

Retain Top Talent 

By developing internal talent and providing opportunities for mobility within your organisation, employee engagement and morale will increase, leading to higher retention rates and reduced employee turnover that often comes with hiring externally.  

According to data from LinkedIn, companies that excel at internal mobility can retain employees nearly twice as long as companies that struggle with it. In addition, employee willingness to go above and beyond at work is 27% higher and employee intent to stay is 33% higher at organisations with a more vibrant internal labour market, according to a report by Gartner. 

Foster Diversity and Inclusion 

An internal mobility program can be a great way to proactively develop the diverse talent already existing within your organisation. By giving internal employees the opportunity to move up, reskill and take pathways for growth within your organisation, you’ll be fostering a more diverse workforce at all levels, including leadership.  

Plus, according to McKinsey’s Delivering Through Diversity report, companies in the top-quartile for gender diversity on executive teams were 21% more likely to outperform on profitability and companies in the top-quartile for ethnic/cultural diversity on executive teams were 33% more likely to have industry-leading profitability. 

Utilising internal talent and providing opportunities for growth will improve diversity and inclusion at your organisation overall and will consequently aid in your succession planning process as well. 

How to Create an Effective Internal Mobility Program

Build an Internal Mobility Platform  

Organisations should invest in a dedicated internal mobility platform that matches employees with open opportunities within the business. Recruiters can make job postings within the platform, so internal employees can see open opportunities and apply directly in the system.  

Employees can also create a profile within the platform outlining their demographics, skills, capabilities, experience and more which enables recruiters to more effectively find and place internal employees in new roles.  

Internal Mobility Platform in Practice  

As a result of COVID-19, this government agency in Australia was operating with a lean workforce and limited resources. They required a solution that allowed them to leverage the skills and competencies of their existing workforce so they could save the time, cost and resources it takes to access the external candidate market. They partnered with PeopleScout to develop and launch a platform which facilitates internal mobility for workers who are potentially impacted by the economic downturn due to COVID-19 or looking to move within their department or other government agencies. This allowed the client to engage their workforce through enhanced workforce mobility, skills development and career opportunities within the department and across government. 

Solution Highlights 

PeopleScout created an internal mobility platform using our proprietary talent technology, AffinixTM, to give the client insight into the scope and experience of their internal talent.  

  • Employees are able to self-manage profiles showcasing employee demographics, education and work history, and specific skills and competencies 
  • Employees who may have been affected by COVID-19 are given priority access and visibility to all job opportunities across the agency before they are advertised externally 
  • Employees can self-rate on key competencies like tech and digital skills
  • AI technology matches candidates to open opportunities across government and provides alerts to candidates on open job opportunities 
  • Increased engagement of existing staff, while reducing the use of expensive contingent labour hire resources 
  • Recruiters have a strong sense of what other positions may be a good fit for internal employees, based on hard and soft skills  

Communicate Transparently 

When officially launching your internal mobility program, it’s important to openly communicate the strategy with employees. Inform employees of the new program and provide clear communications on how the process will work. If you have a specific platform for internal mobility, this can include communicating how to access the platform, create a profile, view job openings and what to expect after applying for a role. 

Failure to explain your internal recruitment strategy clearly can result in employee confusion and a negative sentiment in the future if they misunderstand why they weren’t selected for a specific role or promotion.  

Focus on People at All Levels 

A common mistake organisations make when implementing an internal mobility process is focusing only on the highest performing employees within the business. While these high performers are likely good candidates for lateral and vertical moves within the organisation, they aren’t the only people who you should open the program to. 

Instead, you should focus on people at all levels who are high potentials. These are the employees who you can see having great potential in various roles, and eventually in management and leadership roles. By broadening your internal search to include employees at all levels, you’ll also be increasing the mobility of your diverse talent. 

Educate Management 

Many managers might fear losing an exceptional employee from their department to another area within the business, so it’s important to educate management on the benefits of internal mobility for the organisation as a whole.  

When managers understand the reasons for internal mobility, they will be more likely to encourage their employees to participate in the program and have discussions on what their employees’ goals are for growth within the organisation. This will foster a culture of support and employees will feel comfortable talking with their manager about opportunities for mobility.  

Encourage Endorsements and Referrals 

A key component of a successful internal mobility program is an endorsement and referral system. Managers should be able to rate employees based on the skills and competencies they’ve included on their profile. This can include comments on performance and examples of times employees demonstrated excellent work. 

In addition, managers who see an opening and know someone who might be a great fit, can refer that employee to the recruiter and provide their endorsement. This gives recruiters additional insight into which employees may be the best fit for open roles based on feedback from leaders who have worked directly with the internal candidate. 

Utilise Technology to Support Internal Mobility 

Technology can enhance your internal mobility program and save your talent acquisition team time in a variety of ways through the use of artificial intelligence, automation and more. A few examples of how PeopleScout’s Affinix supports internal mobility include: 

  • Requisition flexibility for posting internally, externally or both 
  • Simplified separation between internal and external candidates for an open role 
  • Sourcing that automatically matches candidates to open roles based on their unique skills, competencies and experiences 
  • Automated, targeted internal mobility campaigns 
  • AI-enabled job recommendations personalized to internal employees 
  • Proactive system recommendation of candidates who may be a good fit for open roles based on their profile 

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An Innovative Strategy for the Future of Work 

As the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic begin to subside and organisations resume hiring, they will be looking to new and innovative ways to recruit and structure their talent acquisition programs for the new world of work. Prioritising diversity and inclusion and flexible work opportunities will remain top of mind as organisations look to the future, but simply attracting talent won’t be enough. Organisations will need to employ a multifaceted approach to talent acquisition and retention to keep top talent with key skills. Adding an internal mobility strategy to the total talent mix will be a necessary focus for organisations looking to build a lasting and resilient workforce for years to come.