Create an Internal Talent Marketplace

An internal talent marketplace (platform or interface) allows employees to showcase their skills and interests, apply for open positions, and connect with hiring managers. It creates transparency and enables employees to take control of their career development.

It also gives managers and company leaders insight into the skills that their existing workforce has now or wants to learn in order to forecast and close future skills gaps by moving skilled employees into new roles.

Jessica Miller-Merrell
Founder and Chief Innovation Officer, Workology

Try Monthly Career Planning

Employees can often be terrified of raising career questions with their immediate boss—scared it could lead to reduced trust or worse…termination. To boost internal mobility, organizations have to actively encourage managers to set regular checkpoints with team members where long-term career planning is the focus (a monthly cadence is my personal recommendation).

Having done this twice recently, the common refrain I hear is, “Why would you allow your employees to move to alternate teams?” My response is simple: I’d always prefer talent to remain within our company, and if we can develop an appropriate transition plan, then there is no downtime, compared to if the employee becomes frustrated and ultimately leaves, causing a far greater burden than if we found a new home for them within the same company.

Patrick Ward
Founder, NanoGlobals

Share Stories of Growth

Spread the word when employees are promoted! When staff members are celebrated publicly, it can inspire everyone.

Your employees will feel empowered to create their own paths to success within the company. Consider an internal page on your website where employees can share success stories and you can feature open roles. When your team celebrates each other often, a culture of growth develops!

Liza Kirsh
Chief Marketing Officer, Dymapak

Post Internally First

To encourage employees to apply for internal positions, begin by posting the position internally only. Post positions in-house for at least 14 days before sharing externally.

This will encourage and give employees the opportunity to apply before having to compete with a wider applicant pool. Many internal candidates won’t apply, as they fear they won’t be able to compete, especially for higher positions. However, these employees have company history and knowledge that can’t be replicated. Show your employees that promoting from within is a priority for your company.

Asker Ahmed
Director and Founder, iProcess

Facilitate Employee Development

In my expert opinion, one of the most effective ways to improve internal mobility is by investing in employee development.

Well, employers should provide opportunities for their employees to learn new skills, take on additional responsibilities, and advance their careers. This can be done through job shadowing, mentoring, training programs, and offering tuition reimbursement for further education.

Rene Delgado
Founder and CEO, Shop Indoor Golf

Increase Transparency and Communication

In my expert opinion, to improve internal mobility, employers should increase transparency and communication with their employees. This includes providing clear job descriptions, career paths, and performance expectations.

Employers should also provide regular feedback and have open discussions with employees about their career goals and aspirations. This will help employees understand what opportunities are available to them and how they can advance within the company.

Matthew Appleton
E-commerce Manager, Appleton Sweets

Implement a Formal Internal Mobility Program

Experts prefer this, employers should implement a formal internal mobility program that outlines the process for internal job postings, transfers, and promotions. The best thing about this program is that it should be easily accessible to all employees and should be regularly updated to reflect the changing needs of the company.

The program should also be supported by senior leadership and be communicated clearly to all employees to ensure that everyone is aware of the opportunities available to them.

Alice Hall
Co-Founder and Creative Director, Rowen Homes

Cross-train Employees

Generally, each employee holds a single job description or list of tasks and responsibilities at one time. Employees, and their leaders, may consider this to be a level of internal comfort, whereby most people know their place and expectations.

This level of operation comes at a cost to individual employees who seek to learn more about your business operations and even contribute more to its success. Employees who aspire to higher levels of responsibility and authority need to know that this potential is realistic.

Evidence may come when certain opportunities for cross-training are advertised. Employees, for example, who are generally in a customer-facing position may be offered exposure to the internal operations, such as customers’ order processing.

For those seeking to reach higher and organizations valuing the skills and experience of tenured staff, internal mobility can be improved when staff is building upon skills, rather than only perfecting their original job description.

Ashley Kenny
Founder, Heirloom

Develop a Comprehensive Career Development Program

The best way to improve internal mobility for employees is to provide a clear path forward for career advancement. If you’re in a position where you’d like to move up in your organization but don’t know how or if it’s even possible, it can frustrate and demoralize you. We want our employees to feel empowered and confident in their ability to advance within the company, so we ensure they have access to guidance and resources that will help them get there.

One way to do this is to develop a comprehensive career development program. This program should give employees the tools and help they need to improve and advance in the company. This could mean having access to opportunities for training and growth, mentoring and coaching programs, and career counseling services. Also, organizations can create a culture of continuous learning and development by giving employees at all levels of the organization opportunities to learn and grow.

Kimberley Tyler-Smith
VP, Strategy and Growth, Resume Worded

Ensure that You Have the Proper Technologies

Big businesses, in my perspective, hold a complicated web of opportunities. It is understandable that hiring managers will find it difficult to balance hiring requirements with existing internal expertise. Increasing the visibility of opportunities and simplifying the identification and development of internal talent, talent management software helps make sense of it all.

Seek software with professional progression and internal mobility features. This will assist you in systematizing your efforts and making internal mobility accessible and realizable for the entire organization.

Joe Troyer
CEO and Growth Advisor, Digital Triggers

The post Improving Internal Mobility for Employees appeared first on RecruitingDaily.

Despite the headlines about tech layoffs, the war for top talent is more competitive than we’ve experienced in decades. Job seekers have more power over when, where and how they work – including how they engage with prospective employers during the recruitment and hiring process. 

Companies are competing furiously for talent, and while some companies have adapted to this highly competitive landscape, others are falling behind in terms of competitive offerings and a new level of authenticity needed to attract the best talent. But, one thing remains blatantly clear: a strong employer brand is a deciding factor for prospective employees.

Now more than ever, companies need a well-defined employee value proposition (EVP) to showcase they’re a values-driven organization focused on more than just profits. Coupled with a strong engagement strategy to target this message to prospective employees and a commitment to a positive and smooth candidate experience, EVPs will be a key ingredient to winning the ongoing talent wars.

What is an EVP and Why is it Important?

Defining and building an employer brand is not a task that should be taken lightly – it’s a meaningful way to showcase what your brand stands for, and can impact many facets of the business. While it’s often mistaken for sentiment about company culture and employee engagement, it is far more about what the employer offers to its employees; much like a product value proposition is to the consumers who purchase said products.  

The EVP is how businesses market their value to new talent and retain current employees. It’s the benefit employers offer to employees about why they should come work for their company. Think about the standard interview question “Why should we hire you?” and turn it around: “Why should you choose us as your employer?”

Your EVP sends a consistent message to customers, partners, the community, etc., about who you are as a company and what you represent. Strong employer branding exercises will consider a combination of company identity, mission, values and workplace culture. However, a succinct, impactful EVP will be the differentiating factor to elevate the brand above countless other companies vying for the candidate’s attention. 

If you don’t have an explicit and authentic EVP you’re communicating strategically to prospective employees, you could be missing out on the right talent to drive your business. Surprisingly, even though most people recognize EVPs as critical to a healthy talent acquisition strategy, 41.4% of companies still don’t have one established. So, the problem is not necessarily that companies don’t realize the importance of EVPs. The disparity lies between knowing it’s important and actually investing in creating one, which leads us to believe establishing and implementing an EVP is the main barrier. For the organizations that may have an EVP, they are often slung together in a few slides and don’t have the foundational research needed to be in tune with reality.  

How to Create an EVP

First, an EVP is part of a much larger discussion around employer branding. It’s not just what you can offer to employees, it’s what your company stands for. Here are just a few steps you can take to establish and implement your own EVP: 

Introspection:

Ask yourself what your company has to offer an employee. Why would they want to work for you versus another company with similar pay and benefits? What can you do for them in the long run? If this proves to be challenging to answer, consider asking existing employees via surveys, focus groups and interviews what they find most valuable and rewarding about working for the company. This is also a great time to reflect on areas of company culture that can be improved upon to attract more talent in the future, while creating a better overall experience for existing employees in the process.

Boil it Down:

Boil the answers down into a few simple sentences or a short paragraph, explaining what you offer employees. It’s easy to just mention good company culture and competitive pay, but it’s more constructive to make it unique to your specific company. Does your company offer flexible work hours (appealing to parents) or unlimited PTO (appealing to millennials)? Is the company involved in any community or charitable organizations? How can you demonstrate the company is a people-first organization with a focus on employee well-being and development?

Establish and Market:

Once the EVP is finalized, establish it within your company first, leading by example and ensuring it’s aligned with current organizational goals and culture. Next, develop assets to market it externally as a part of your employer branding and awareness efforts, careful to strategically target key types of job seekers who can become the future employees you want. It is important to target candidates both on and off the job boards so you are not only targeting active job seekers but also trying to reach them during their daily lives. To stand out, it is important to be proactive about bringing your message to them versus completely relying on the job boards to deliver the best hires. Evaluate the results regularly and tweak as necessary to make sure it’s authentic and resonating with internal audiences and external candidates. To answer ‘why should someone want to work here,’ an EVP is not something that should remain static. Just as the dynamics of the job market continuously change, companies should be aware of the evolving work environment, their employee sentiment, and tweaks to their values as time progresses and cultures and priorities evolve. 

When you break it down, EVPs aren’t as daunting of a task as they might seem, and can make all the difference in your hiring practices. 

The job seekers of today have different priorities and it is still critical to understand this is an employee-dominated market.  It’s not enough to just skate by, you need to stand out. Today, millennials have changed the workplace and Gen Z candidates are rapidly entering the workforce  looking for more than just a paycheck and simple benefits. They want to work for a company that has a mission and purpose, but also puts them first. Strong, authentic EVPs build trust, transparency and excitement about an employer brand – and in the end, will encourage the strongest candidates to apply regardless of the type of workers you need to power your business.

The post Without a Strong Employee Value Proposition, You Can Kiss Top Talent Goodbye appeared first on RecruitingDaily.

According to a recent McKinsey/LeanIn study, women are re-evaluating their careers and switching jobs in unprecedented numbers. The global pandemic highlighted challenges associated with child care, family time, and mental health.

But, many of these workplace challenges began for women long before the pandemic started. We just finally seem to be talking about it – out loud and in front of decision-makers.

Are companies listening?  Well, women aren’t waiting around, twiddling their thumbs, waiting politely for an answer. Instead, they’re communicating with their feet – as they walk away from a job (and maybe a career) that doesn’t serve them.

Keep reading to learn more about the Great Breakup and its implications on hiring in 2023 and beyond.

Why Are Women Changing Jobs in Droves?

According to the McKinsey/LeanIn study, women are changing jobs for three primary reasons:

• Women leaders want to advance, but they face more challenges than men
• Women are underrepresented in their organizations but overworked
• Women demand a better work culture focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), overall well-being, and flexibility

Let’s look at each.

1.    Women Leaders Want to Advance, But Face More Challenges than Men

Just like men, women want to grow professionally, advancing in their careers. However, women face unique challenges that men don’t. Here are some examples of these headwinds from the McKinsey/LeanIn study:

• Women leaders are twice as likely as men to be “mistaken for someone more junior”
• 37 percent of women leaders have had a co-worker take credit for their idea, compared to 27 percent of men leaders
• Women are more likely than men leaders to have co-workers who imply they are unqualified or question their judgment
• Women leaders are more likely to claim that their personal characteristics (such as being a mother or caregiver and/or their gender) have negatively impacted their ability to advance (through receiving a raise or promotion)

2.    Women are Underrepresented, Unrecognized and Overworked in their Organizations

Anyone feel this one? Statistically, women are still underrepresented in their organizations – especially in leadership positions. McKinsey/LeanIn’s Women in the Workplace 2022 Report says that women are “dramatically underrepresented in corporate America with only one in four women serving in an executive, C-suite role.

And, despite this underrepresentation, women are still unrecognized and overworked, giving way to burnout and mental health challenges. In fact, 43 percent of women leaders feel burned out compared to 31 percent of men in similar positions.

But here’s the rub. Women spend 2x more time and effort than men on supporting employee DEI initiatives – both of which improve employee retention and satisfaction rates. However, 40 percent of women leaders say this additional DEI work isn’t acknowledged in performance reviews. While work in DEI helps to attract and retain talent while improving corporate brand, this work doesn’t help women advance – it just stretches them thin.

3.    Women are Demanding a Better Work Culture

Finally, women are demanding a better work culture and changing jobs when they don’t find it. Women are more likely to change jobs to find a culture with more flexibility and commitment to DEI and well-being.

And although these demands were present before 2020, the global pandemic just emphasized the importance of these demands.

Here are some examples to consider:

• Women leaders are 1.5x more likely than their male counterparts to have left a previous job for one that prioritizes DEI
• 49 percent of women say that flexibility is a top reason they consider when accepting a job offer or staying at a job

To attract and retain female talent, especially in leadership positions, employers must support women.  If not, women will continue leaving in droves, setting diverse employment and leadership back decades.

Are Younger Generations of Women Changing Jobs Too?

So, what about our future female leaders? Well, the news isn’t much better there. With mid- and senior women leaders leaving for more flexible, diverse, supportive positions, there will be fewer female mentors at a majority of companies – leaving younger women with no one to watch advance up the ranks.

And young women want to advance.  According to the McKinsey/LeanIn study, more than two-thirds of women under 30 want to advance to senior leadership positions. Additionally, more than half of these women say that advancement has become more important to them over the pandemic. Finally, just like their more experienced counterparts, younger women also want to work for an organization that prioritizes flexibility, DEI, and overall well-being.

Companies that fail to focus on these issues will have difficulty retaining women leaders they already have while potentially losing out on recruiting young talent, creating a weak (or broken) leadership pipeline for attracting the next generation of leaders.

Instead, companies must continually embrace flexibility and commitment to DEI and well-being all while providing women with opportunities to advance – free of headwinds. After all, a diverse and inclusive company will continue to attract and retain the best talent while keeping its well-deserved competitive edge.

The post Why Are Women Leaders Leaving their Jobs in Unprecedented Numbers? appeared first on RecruitingDaily.

Conduct Regular One-on-One Meetings

There are several reasons conducting regular one-on-one meetings is a good practice for encouraging employees to apply for internal positions.

First, one-on-one meetings are an effective way of spotting exceptional talents within your workforce. It also allows you to focus on analyzing and providing feedback on their performance and prevents external blockers from impeding doing that. Hence, if an employee is performing great on a project, you can readily discuss internal mobility opportunities with him or her during these meetings. That way, you’ll make sure that opportunities are given to the right people.

Additionally, one-on-one meetings provide you with an easier way of gauging your employees’ needs. During these meetings, employees are more open to talking about their morale and productivity issues regarding certain tasks or projects. Hence, once an employee becomes unhappy with his or her position, you can discuss internal opportunities with him or her.

Paw Vej
Chief Operating Officer, Financer.com

Recognize Your Workforce

One powerful way to encourage employees to apply for internal positions is to create a culture of recognition and reward. This can be done by recognizing employees who have applied for and been successful in internal positions and rewarding them with bonuses, promotions or other incentives.

Providing your employees with access to resources such as career development programs, mentorship opportunities and job postings can help them feel more confident in their ability to apply for internal positions.

Ultimately, creating a culture of open communication between management and employees ensures that they can feel comfortable asking questions and expressing their interest in internal positions.

Ryan Rottman
Co-Founder and CEO, OSDB Sports

Send a Personal Invite 

We send a personal invite to key individuals we think would be a great fit for the role to build their courage to apply. We detail the email with why we think they should apply, how we would support them in the role and additional role details.

Even if the employee doesn’t get the offer, they know we selected them to apply, and that their team thinks highly of them. If an employee doesn’t get the offer, we share feedback and create a plan to build certain skills and gain experience.

Nicole Serres
President, Star Staffing

Encourage Individuals to Switch Jobs

Show your employees from the beginning that your company has many paths to advancement. Allow your A-listers to take center stage during employee orientation. Has anyone, say, moved from payroll to marketing to management? How did she plan out her career?

Tell tales that show why your staff members shouldn’t limit themselves to a single function. Solicit their interest in other available positions. Maintain this upbeat attitude even after training has ended.

For instance, if a new position opens up, you could notify the entire company via email. Or, you could make an internal board and publish a notice on the company intranet. Employees frequently misjudge the availability of opportunities because they are unaware of what is out there. And keep an open mind if an employee approaches you about leaving to pursue another opportunity. Don’t automatically label someone as a “technical engineer.” They might have unseen strengths in business development.

Samantha Odo
Real Estate Expert and Chief Operating Officer, Precondo

Get the Positions in Front of Them

At an organization with a lot of moving parts and constantly changing hiring needs, your employees may not have the time to go in and check the internal career site regularly.

We use multiple channels to ensure our people know about our current openings, and we pin a link to our career site to our internal communications hub. Our weekly newsletter calls out the opportunities in a section specifically for hiring. We also often spotlight open positions on our social media channels.

The benefit of this strategy goes beyond internal applicants, as it can also promote awareness that can drive additional employee referrals!

Patrick Ward
Manager, Talent Acquisition, Halloran Consulting Group, Inc.

Provide Mentorship Opportunities

I best encourage and support my employees to apply for internal positions by offering mentorship opportunities.

As you know, most times, employees may not apply for internal positions because of a lack of experience or uncertainty about the position’s duties. But for us, mentorship programs have been extremely effective in helping employees feel more confident in applying for internal positions and taking the next step in their careers.

With those programs, we provide a support system that not only helps employees understand what we expect of them in different roles, but also helps them to develop the skills and knowledge required to succeed in those positions.

Plus, our mentorship programs also provide a valuable opportunity for employees to network and build relationships with other professionals within the organization, which opens up extra opportunities for growth and advancement.

So, it’s an exciting chance to take on new roles with confidence.

Maria Harutyunyan
Co-Founder, Loopex Digital

Socialize Internal Positions With Slack

If you want to encourage employees to apply for internal positions, consider socializing the opening via Slack. It’s a simple and easy way to create more awareness of new career opportunities for current employees.

By sharing the opening in one or more Slack channels, you’re spreading the word internally much quicker than asking your team, “Who do you know?” Doing this early in your search will give you a clear sign of whether the right candidate exists internally or if you’ll need to pursue external candidates.

Tim Butler
Manager, Talent Acquisition, Sourcing Team, New Relic

Stretch Initiatives for Your Staff

In the growth of employees, pacing is crucial. Employees can gradually broaden their skill sets by taking on challenging new tasks as part of stretch initiatives. Tell your team members why they were chosen to work on these projects to avoid any confusion.

Employees become much more invested and engaged when allowed to voice their opinions, since they are aware of the potential effects on both their personal lives and the success of the company.

As the year progresses, have follow-up discussions regarding these stretch goals. This allows your staff a chance to communicate with you about what’s working and any difficulties they are experiencing. Your staff should gradually feel more comfortable with their abilities and be prepared to assume even greater responsibility.

Michael Koh
Senior IT Director, PropNex

Link the Opening to their Career Development Plan

Employees like to know what their next role will be. What skills do they need to reach that next promotion or lateral move? With well-organized career development plans and a skills inventory in each employee’s profile, I can easily see which employees are the best qualified for open positions.

Once the position is advertised internally, employees can see right away if they meet the requirements and if the position is on their development plan. I can then work with employees’ current managers and hiring managers (if different) to schedule interviews. It’s important that these impactful conversations occur directly between employees and managers, so that team members feel valued.

Susan Snipes
Chief People and Culture Consultant, GoCo

Streamline Internal Recommendations

One way to encourage employees to apply for internal positions is to emphasize company loyalty by streamlining internal recommendations. This method is a way to show employees they have an advantage over outside candidates. Having an internal recommendation for a job opening within the company will encourage employees to see a long future within the company.

Lionel Mora
CEO, Neoplants

Promote Growth and Development Programs

Employees who know their company cares about their growth and development are more likely to stay. That’s a fact. Create a program that allows your employees to share their desires and simultaneously help your leaders develop their teams. It can be that simple.

Irma Parone, ODCP
President, Parone Group

Be Transparent About Career Paths and Discuss Goals

One way to encourage employees to apply for internal positions is by facilitating open and honest conversations about career paths. By allowing time in the workday to discuss personal goals and ambitions, employees can determine if an internal position is a good fit for their professional development.

Additionally, providing resources that help explain job expectations, qualifications, roles and duties may help make applying for an internal position more transparent and inviting. Offering incentives such as monetary rewards or extra vacation days can further reward employees to pursue opportunities within the company.

The most important factor in retaining talented employees is recognizing their hard work and investing in their growth. Providing mentorship programs, special projects or additional training can show employees that their efforts are valued and appreciated.

Darren Shafae
Founder, ResumeBlaze

Cultivate High Employee Satisfaction

Studies show that companies with high employee satisfaction rates often have the highest internal application rates. This is because a happy employee will want to learn and grow within their current space, whereas an unhappy employee will seek opportunities elsewhere.

So, how do I keep my employees happy? Open communication. Talk to people with whom you work. Find out what their biggest frustrations with their current position are and what they wish the company would do differently. I promise the insights will pleasantly surprise you.

McKay Simmons
Account Executive, Ignite Recruitment

The post How Do You Encourage Employees to Apply for Internal Positions? appeared first on RecruitingDaily.

Founded in 2007, the NFL Player Care Foundation is an organization dedicated to helping retired players improve their quality of life. The PCF provides assistance for multiple areas of life, including medical, emotional, financial, social and community. This year marks the third year of collaboration between the PCF and Atrium.

At the beginning of their relationship, the program primarily aimed to help retired players through building their resumes. According to Atrium Director, People and Engagement Joanna Chavers the work with the Player Care Foundation specifically took shape as career advising. “We started with doing resume editing for them – making sure these players had a great resume that really communicated their transferable skills,” she said.

Furthering Careers

“Post the resume advising, it became quite clear that yes, we could set them up with a really great resume, but they needed to know how to articulate this resume,” Chavers added. “So, the career coaching and career advising emerged within the last year along with our suite of services.”

As such, the players – or as they say, the “legends” – can better communicate their current skill set and how that will be applicable to their prospective career.

The collaboration now also includes access to a suite of Atrium products, including career advice, Predictive Index assessments, resume building consultations, interview coaching and job matching for the former NFL players.

On the topic of the expansion Chavers commented that the program is starting to take the form of 360-degree full support. “The program has turned into this journey of understanding how can we help the players through this process. It starts at the resume, and it ends in placement.” In addition, the two organizations also strive to empower the players they work with to be able to do it all on their own.

This past week, the PCF held their 5th Annual Super Bowl Career Fair, to facilitate meetings between legends and talent acquisition representatives. According to the company, the goal of the fair is to help players “explore how the skills learned on the field can successfully translate into the business world.”

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Recruiters aren’t being spared either. Many of these layoffs included sourcers and recruiters. In some cases, entire teams were let go.

Apple is seeing much of the same challenges other tech companies are facing. Its stock price dropped 27% in 2022 and the company’s latest earnings report showed the first decline in quarterly sales in more than three years.

Yet, Apple is avoiding layoffs. Why and how?

Apple Operates and Hires Differently

Apple runs a little differently than other companies. For example, compared to its tech rivals, Apple tends to operate very lean. They don’t tend to offer the laundry list of perks that other tech companies do, and they tend to hire at a slower pace.

More Methodical Hiring

Compare the hiring patterns at some of the major tech companies over the past three years:

• Meta employment expanded by 94%.
• Google employment grew by 57%.
• Microsoft employment increased by 53%.

Yet, Apple only grew its staff by 20% during the same period. Although the company did scale back 100 contract recruiting jobs last August, so far mass layoffs have been avoided.

Industry analysts say Apple’s restraint in hiring during the pandemic is key to its ability to withstand economic challenges. While other companies added huge amounts of employees, Apple held off.

CEO Pay Cuts

There’s another significant step Apple took amid economic uncertainty. Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, took more than a 40% cut in pay. While still set to earn an astounding $49 million in 2023, his comp package was reduced from $84 million in 2023. You can save a lot of jobs that extra $35 million.

FYI, CEOs at Alphabet (Google), Meta, and others didn’t take pay cuts.

So, No Layoffs at Apple?

 “We manage for the long term,” Apple CEO Tim Cook said during a February call with analysts. “We invest in innovation and people.”

That long-term thinking has paid off so far.

Tom Forte, senior research analyst at DA Davison predicts there will be reductions in headcount at Apple. Forte told Bloomberg Radio that the cutbacks are more likely to occur through attrition. Apple’s been vocal about employees returning to the workplace full time and that may shrink the ranks of employees who want to continue to work remotely. Forte expects any layoffs to occur at the retail level based on consumer demand.

Still, Forte says he sees an underlying structural shift in the tech industry. Despite record gains over the past five years, he says you can no longer count on these companies to automatically outperform other industries. “I think it’s a change in dynamics,” he said. “I think it’s something that’s going to continue to play out over the next 12 months.

Cook says they will work hard to avoid layoffs. “I view layoffs as a last resort kind of thing,” Cook told the Wall Street Journal. “We want to manage costs in other ways to the degree that we can.”

Still, he said, “You can never say never.”

What’s Next?

Right-sizing an organization and balancing employee headcount versus bottom-line expectations is always a challenge. Many companies overhired in the wake of the pandemic as consumer behavior changed. Now with slowing in eCommerce sales and digital advertising, companies are seeing growth patterns that align more closely with pre-pandemic levels.

What will happen next in hiring and recruiting? Expect more cutbacks across industries as companies right-size their organizations for the future. While mass hiring and layoffs in the tech industry get a lot of attention, hiring shifts are happening across nearly every industry.

Apple was more cautious than other tech competitors when it came to hiring and it looks like that decision is paying off so far — for both the company and its employees. As Cook notes, Apple is still hiring for strategic positions.

The post Can Apple Continue to Dodge Mass Layoffs? appeared first on RecruitingDaily.

Chipotle is gearing up and announced they’re looking to hire 15,000 restaurant workers — about a 15% increase in their total workforce. The company is looking to staff up existing restaurants and overcome the quick-serve industry’s consistent challenges with turnover.

Is This Mass Hiring Strategy a Smart Move?

This sounds like great hiring news for those looking for restaurant jobs, but is it a good move for the company?

Many companies in 2021 and 2022 worried about finding qualified workers and over-hired. Mass hiring also turned into mass layoffs in several industries in the latter part of 2022 and the start of 2023, especially in the tech sector.

Hiring fast and scaling quickly can be a recipe for trouble, but the company says there’s a method in its madness within the Chipotle hiring process. The company has an aggressive plan for expansion that would nearly double its stores nationwide to 7,000. They’re hiring en masse now to find those with leadership potential to be team leads and store managers.

Chipotle has found the best candidates for management come from within the company. More than 90% of management roles were internal promotions in 2022, including 100% of regional VPs, 81% of team directors, and 74% of field leader positions. To find tomorrow’s leaders, they need to hire and evaluate today’s workers.

Upskilling and promoting from within are increasingly part of the trends for frontline hiring within many industries today.

What Happens When Busy Season Ends?

Despite the company’s desire to grow, expansion takes time. It’s impossible to construct and open thousands of stores between now and the end of the busy season. Will Chipotle be looking at its own mass layoffs when the burrito season ends?

Maybe. Maybe not. When you consider that turnover rates at Chipotle for hourly crew members average more than 140% annually and turnover for salaried workers and managers can run between 31% and 49%, it may be a smart plan.

The company currently has 100,000 employees. If turnover’s that high, they might easily need to add 15,000 new workers a quarter just to stay on par. With such a significant amount of turnover, Chipotle can evaluate workers during the burrito season and then likely absorb most if not all of the workers that want to stay with the company.

Continued Industry Shortages

The National Restaurant Association says the industry still needs about 450,000 workers. Despite nearly across-the-board wage increases in the QSR and fast-food industry, hiring continues to be a challenge. A growing number of jobs outside the restaurant industry are also hiring workers from a similar talent pool.

While other restaurants may not be hiring at the same rate as Chipotle, the Association’s recent survey of operators showed that 87% would hire additional employees if they could find qualified workers.

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This represents a major opportunity for proactive hiring professionals who are looking to gain an edge amid fierce competition for talent. There are millions of overlooked Americans who aren’t included in the official unemployment rate of 3.5 percent because they aren’t currently searching for a job or they fall outside the DOL’s time window. But this doesn’t mean these people are unreachable – if companies expand their efforts to identify and recruit candidates, they’ll discover future employees who aren’t showing up in government statistics. This won’t just connect companies with the talent they desperately need – it will also help to draw workers out of the shadows. 

There’s a lot of talk about the strong labor market today, but these conversations need to consider the entire economic picture instead of the deceptively low unemployment rate. When HR teams focus on the millions of available workers who aren’t technically classified as unemployed, they’ll alleviate their talent shortages while contributing to a healthier labor force more broadly. 

Real Unemployment is Higher Than You Think

At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the labor force participation rate collapsed as the unemployment rate surged. But as the latter returned to pre-pandemic levels, the former has remained depressed – from 63.3 percent in February 2020 to 62.3 percent in December 2022. This rate is critical because it captures a reality that the unemployment rate misses. As the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics explains: “All persons who are without jobs and are actively seeking and available to work are included among the unemployed.” This leaves many people out. 

While early retirements, a legal immigration slowdown, and other factors have contributed to the shrinking labor market, a February 2022 working paper published by the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago found that a lower willingness to work was also having an impact. This should come as no surprise – the quit rate remains high as employees continue to demand more flexibility on the job, better benefits and compensation, and greater opportunities for professional development and talent mobility. Meanwhile, we’re in the middle of an employee engagement crisis – Gallup reports that just 21 percent of employees say they’re engaged at work, which can lead to turnover, cultural problems, and lower productivity. 

Even when employees stick around, their lack of engagement and frustration with the status quo can lead to quiet quitting (a term I loathe, but that’s an article for another day), which refers to workers becoming less invested in their jobs and doing the absolute minimum necessary to remain employed. Is it any wonder that many of the workers who’ve dropped out of the labor force are feeling similarly disenchanted about their prospects? Just as many employees are merely going through the motions at their jobs, many would-be employees don’t see a compelling reason to rush back to work in the first place. 

How Companies Can Reach Overlooked Workers

While the labor force participation rate has remained stubbornly low over the past two years, this doesn’t mean companies should write off millions of potential employees who aren’t lining up to go back to work. In many cases, these apprehensive former workers are experienced professionals who would make a great addition to your team. They’re just deterred by the frustrating process of reentering the workforce, anxious about shifting workplace demands and environments, or in the process of reassessing their professional lives. 

But before hiring managers and HR teams even think about how to convince these professionals to return, they have to be capable of finding and contacting people who are no longer classified as “actively seeking” work. This is where talent rediscovery can be a powerful tool. Hiring managers are increasingly scanning their records to resurface potential employees who have previously applied for positions at their companies, as these candidates are more likely to suit their needs, and they’ve already expressed interest in a position. There are also great tools that seek to operationalize this process like Retrain. These candidates’ former applications will provide invaluable information for personalized outreach, and this level of engagement may be enough to bring them back into the labor force. 

There are many other strategies hiring managers can explore to identify overlooked workers. They can forge relationships with educational institutions, community groups, and other organizations where former workers may be active. They can reach out to part-time gig workers who were full-time employees before the pandemic. At a time when there are still many more jobs than workers, hiring managers will have to get creative about expanding their networks and finding talent where their competitors forgot to look.

Meeting Potential Employees Where They Are

As the quit rate soared over the past several years, the “Great Resignation” quickly became part of the lexicon for many HR professionals. But some in the industry prefer alternative terms like the “Great Reevaluation” to capture the fact that the social and economic turmoil caused by COVID-19 convinced many employees to take a hard look at what they want out of their careers. Employees are increasingly demanding remote work options, more robust financial support, a wider range of benefits such as mental health coverage, professional development opportunities, and greater flexibility.

HR teams are attempting to meet these emerging demands and expectations, which will lead to long-overdue changes in their relationships with employees. These changes may also appeal to former employees who dropped out of the labor force, and the companies that want to attract these potential workers should make it clear that they take employees’ shifting concerns and priorities seriously. At a time when household debt is surging – including a 15 percent year-over-year increase in credit card balances, which is a two-decade high – and the personal savings rate has collapsed, many workers who’ve been on the sidelines since the beginning of the pandemic may start exploring their options to return to the workforce. Your company should get a head start by finding these future employees now. 

Although the unemployment rate is hovering around 3.5 percent, it’s clear that this figure is undercounting how many Americans are out of work. Instead of writing these workers off, hiring managers should be doing everything possible to bring them back into the fold. 

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In 2020, U.S. legal marijuana sales increased by 67 percent, then another 40 percent in 2021, reaching $26.5 billion in sales. In 2022, it was estimated that legal marijuana sales exceeded $32 billion in sales with most Americans supporting the legalization of marijuana.

According to a November 2022 Pew Research study, nine in ten Americans support the legalization of marijuana for medical or recreational use. And states are taking notice, with 37 states legalizing medical marijuana usage while 21 states have legalized it for recreational purposes. Despite this support, the Drug Enforcement Agency (“DEA”) classifies marijuana (or cannabis) as a Schedule I drug under the Controlled Substances Act of 1970, along with heroin and LSD.

While the federal and state governments continually oppose each other’s marijuana usage laws, employers face continual challenges in crafting HR policies and procedures, including employee drug testing and recruiting. As more states consider legalizing recreational marijuana in 2023, such as Minnesota and Pennsylvania, the “patchwork of employment protections” will continue to grow and evolve.

Keep reading to learn more about what employers need to understand about marijuana and the workplace – in 2023 and beyond.

Recent Federal Legislation

To understand the trends in marijuana and the workplace, HR professionals and employers must understand recent federal and state legislation.

Although federal legislation has frequently appeared as a bulwark to legal marijuana use – in and out of work – several federal initiatives have gained traction in recent years.

For example, in October 2022, President Joe Biden granted clemency to low-level federal marijuana offenders while directing the U.S. Attorney General to review federal marijuana laws. Within this Presidential action, President Biden “encouraged state governors to take similar steps but, under the United States’ federalist system of government, the President has no direct power to change state law or compel the states to adopt federal policies.”

Employers should understand, however, that this Presidential pardon “does not change the status of marijuana under federal law.”

In 2021, Congress introduced the Medical Marijuana and Cannabidiol Research Expansion Act, which facilitates research on both marijuana and cannabidiol (“CBD”). This act (and legal reform) encourages the reduction of federal and state law differences.

Additionally, the U.S. House of Representatives introduced the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act (MORE Act, H.R. 3617) in 2021, which removes marijuana and Tetrahydrocannabinol (or “THC”) from the Controlled Substances Act altogether and requires the expungement of any past federal marijuana convictions. Although the House approved this bill in 2022, it never received a hearing in the Senate.

Although these federal law changes don’t directly address marijuana and the workplace, they demonstrate changes in attitude toward marijuana at the federal level.

Recent State Legislation

As of January 2023, 37 states have legalized medical marijuana, including Alaska, Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and West Virginia.

Additionally, 21 states have legalized marijuana for recreational purposes, including Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Nevada, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington.

To complicate matters, the state courts are now involved too.  For example, on December 1, 2022, the Nevada Supreme Court was “tasked with interpreting whether Nevada law provides employees who use medical cannabis with workplace protections.”  In this ruling, the court concluded that because its state law requires that employers provide “reasonable accommodation” for those medical-use marijuana users (when used off-site or outside of working hours), employees may sue their employers for failing to provide any accommodation.

So, where does this leave employees?

3 Things Employers Should Know About Marijuana When Navigating the 2023 Workplace

1. How does increased marijuana legalization impact drug testing policies?

With numerous states legalizing (and decriminalizing) marijuana usage, many employers are scrapping their drug testing policies while the law continues to evolve.  But is a full scraping necessary?

Employers with safety-sensitive employees, such as airline pilots, employees handling heavy machinery, or federal contractors have no choice.  By law, they must drug-test their workers for marijuana. Other employers have the choice to implement and administer drug testing policies, as no comprehensive federal drug testing law exists.

However, here’s the rub. Many states have enacted their own drug testing restrictions, running the gamut from limiting testing to “reasonable suspicion” to permitting random testing. This creates conflicts, once again, for employers attempting to update their HR policies.

Because marijuana usage laws continue to evolve rapidly, here are some best practices for updating employer drug testing policies:

• Understand what the law in your state (or states for multi-state employers) says about drug testing.  For example, understand when and how you can administer drug tests  of any restrictions) along with what documentation is needed.
• Additionally, understand what your local laws say about drug testing, such as your city or county.
• In the policy itself, clearly state the specifics of your drug testing program, including which positions require testing, when and how testing will be conducted, what happens if an employee fails a drug test (i.e., what are the consequences?  Suspension? Termination?), and any accommodations that may be granted.
• Ensure that your employees are aware of your drug testing policy.
• Also, ensure that your HR team understands the policy and any recent changes or revisions to the policy.
• Continue to follow national, state, and local legal developments, helping you to keep your HR policies current and compliant.

2. How does marijuana usage impact companies that are hybrid, fully remote, or co-located?

Over the past three years, employers have experienced the good and bad (and everything in between) about employees shifting to remote, hybrid, or co-located work experiences.  For example, employees in states where recreational marijuana use is legal may feel like they can smoke during work hours since they’re in the privacy of their own homes.

But, an employee’s work location does not change an employer’s tolerance of marijuana usage while working.

Legally, employers can prohibit marijuana use during work hours.  However, with work and home blurring the lines for remote or hybrid employees, what can an employer do?

Here are some best practices for employers with remote or hybrid workers to keep in mind:

• Revisit your HR policies, determining whether they should be updated or any form of remote work.
• Continue to remind employees that company policies apply to them during working hours, no matter where they’re located.  This includes any drug and alcohol policies.
• Ensure that any employment agreements or remote work agreements reflect your stance on marijuana use, drug testing, and consequences for not complying with company policies.
• Understand your legal options if you suspect an employee is using marijuana on company time.

3. How do marijuana and the workplace impact recruiting and hiring overall?

The tight labor market continues as we roll into 2023, and recruiting professionals are still trying to keep that competitive edge when attracting (and retaining) talent. To meet these challenges, some employers are taking another look at their marijuana drug policies, including mandatory or pre-employment drug testing, to determine if they’re excluding potential talent from applying for jobs.

In June 2021, Amazon announced they would no longer include marijuana in their pre-employment drug screening.  In doing so, Amazon stated:

We made these changes for a few reasons. First, we recognized that an increasing number of states are moving to some level of cannabis legalization—making it difficult to implement an equitable, consistent, and national pre-employment marijuana testing program. Second, publicly available national data indicates that pre-employment marijuana testing disproportionately impacts people of color and acts as a barrier to employment. And third, Amazon’s pace of growth means that we are always looking to hire great new team members, and we’ve found that eliminating pre-employment testing for cannabis allows us to expand our applicant pool.

And, Amazon isn’t alone.  Here are some other large employers that are kicking pre-employment drug testing to the curb:

• Apple
• Facebook
• Gap
• Michael’s
• PetSmart
• Starbucks
• Trader Joe’s
• Whole Foods

If you choose to move marijuana from your pre-employment testing, that doesn’t mean you’re condoning marijuana use during work hours. Instead, think of it as expanding your talent pool while increasing your inclusivity.

As legalization and acceptance of marijuana usage continue to grow and evolve, HR professionals will need to stay in the know when it comes to the legal usage of marijuana. Understanding the law (at the federal, state, and local levels), deciding whether to exclude marijuana from any pre-employment drug tests (or excluding pre-employment drug tests altogether for unregulated positions) and refining your HR policies should continue to be topics of conversation at your organization for 2023 and beyond.

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Virtual people are a hybrid of animation, AI, sound tech, and machine learning, resulting in digitized “staff” who can interact with the public based on their unique programming. Virtual people projects and their role in businesses are on the rise. This fascinating addition and development in the Metaverse have piqued the interest of recruiters and employers.

The Latest Buzz on Virtual People

China’s pioneers in AI technology have made some impactful additions to the recruitment world. Here’s the latest on virtual people and their increasing presence in the workplace:

• Beijing plans to grow the municipal virtual people industry to more than 50 billion yuan by 2025.
• Over 280 000 enterprises in China use services related to digital humans and have a growth rate of nearly 60%.
• The revenue accrued by digital humans in entertainment is anticipated to reach 175 billion yuan in China by 2023, while the service-orientated virtual staff is expected to exceed 95 billion yuan, according to an industry report released by QbitAI, an industry services platform focusing on AI and cutting-edge technology.

Why is Digital Staffing an Attractive Choice?

For the most part, digital “staff” have a low-drama appeal for employees and advertising agencies. A virtual personality will not encounter negative criticism for their personal actions and scandals. This is beneficial for Chinese brands looking to use virtual people as spokespeople and hosts for their brand events and customer-interactive positions.

Anonymity is another appeal to using virtual staff. A U.S.-based study that used virtual humans to assess mental health patients found that people find it easier to disclose their information when there is anonymity, an attribute that is more easily found when talking to a digital personality.

The costs of virtual personalities are also expected to drop as technology improves. In the past year, Baidu’s virtual people and robotics business has seen costs drop by 80%. Expenses are around $14,300 per year for a three-dimensional virtual person and $3,000 (¥20,000) for a two-dimensional one.

Where are Virtual People Most Used?

China’s cyberspace is becoming densely populated with digital humans, and we will soon see similar merges in other developed countries. Popular spaces that have hired digital employees include:

• Financial services companies
• Local tourism boards
• Broadcasting spaces
• Healthcare
• Education
• Manufacturing and retail
• Marketing — social media influencers, mascots, corporate speakers, etc.
• Entertainment media

From animated to realistic-looking, AI personnel can be used for most interactive simulations. The use of virtual staff will only spread as technology advances.

The Pros of Virtual Hiring

For companies looking to hire virtual people, here are the perks of using a tech company’s virtual creation for you:

• Reduces burnout and burden on staff
• 24/7 response time
• Consistent communication that’s always on-script
• Product and brand experts
• Multi-lingual capabilities

Recruiting virtual staff requires an in-depth look at tech companies that offer digital human creation. The brain of a virtual person is then tailored for the job based on product database and knowledge. Virtual humans can also provide face-to-face interaction and communicate based on non-verbal facial cues and voice tones. You get to design your candidate as you please.

Digital humans can provide a helpful layer to the workforce and streamline many positions. Their success is measurable. But at this point, many customers still prefer human interaction over artificial virtual interactions.

The Future of Recruiting – Mind Versus Machine

The shift of working side-by-side with virtual humans may seem intimidating, but recruiters and companies hold the role of deciding when and where these digital humans can serve them. The quality and initial input for well-executed virtual staff members cost companies time, effort, and trial periods. This investment is worth the effort for some roles in a company.

Ultimately, we can imagine and expect a future where we see digital people paralleled with humans. Staffing a business requires keeping your finger on the pulse of tech advancements and finding creative ways to source candidates. Look at what your competitors are doing, assess your goals, and determine whether a virtual person may have a future in your company or the business you’re staffing.

The post Staffing your Workforce with Virtual, Digital People – A Closer Look appeared first on RecruitingDaily.

“As data is increasingly embraced by existing and emerging industries, the demand on the labor pool is daunting,” said Adastra Chief Technology Strategy Officer Rahim Hajee. “It goes far beyond data scientists, especially for larger corporations who often depend on teams of programmers, data visualization experts, project-specific coordinators” and others.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, by 2026 the number of jobs requiring data science skills will increase nearly 28%. However, the number of STEM graduates every year isn’t meeting the demand of companies in need of people with those sets of skills.

According to Adastra, 89% of the survey participants said their organizations in 2023 will spend the same amount or more on data estate modernization compared to 2022. This is indicative of a greater reliance by organizations on data and data professionals— with the goal of improving profitability and operational efficiencies, the company said.

Standing Out

While nearly four in five — around 88% of IT decision makers agree that data utilization can distinguish an organization from its competition, almost 60% admitted their executive teams are too old to understand the benefits of data. Meanwhile, 65% agreed their company is falling behind its competition in using data analytics.

On top of that, 56% of CEOs are worried their competitors will move ahead with data estate modernization more quickly than their own organizations. At the same time, nearly half (47%) of respondents believe their company is doing as well as their competitors when it comes to using data and analytics.

“The challenge in attracting new talent to a legacy business will become increasingly more difficult with each passing year,” said Hajee. “Innovative organizations will continue investing in data and analytics to leverage more value against accelerating costs in talent acquisition.”

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The survey, Deloitte’s Q4 2022 CFO Signals Survey was conducted between Nov. 7 and 21, 2022. It included responses from 126 CFOs in the U.S., Canada and Mexico.

Respondents said that they expect a drop in their company’s revenue and earnings, as geopolitics and political instability stand out as their most pressing external risks. Talent retention emerged as the top internal worry among the executives, in addition to prioritization and execution.

“CFOs again lowered their year-over-year growth expectations for revenue, earnings, capital spending, domestic hiring and domestic wages. The biggest declines in growth expectations were in revenue, which decreased to 4.2% from 6.2%, and earnings, which dropped to 2.9% from 6.4%,” the survey said.

Reducing Costs With Automation

Meanwhile, CFOs dropped their expectations for domestic hiring growth to 2.1% from 2.6% in the previous quarter. They reported that domestic wages and sales slumped to 4.6% from 4.8%, and a significant number of executives (41%) noted that their organization plans to hire more people than they will let go.

A majority (61%) said they plan to implement digital transformation and automation to replace some jobs previously performed by humans. This is even as two-thirds (66%) plan to allocate or reallocate capital to new business investments next year.

“Deloitte’s latest CFO Signals survey reveals that the challenging economic environment that persisted throughout 2022 has impacted CFOs, both in their assessments of global economies and in their planning with respect to strategy, capital, operations and talent for 2023,” said Steve Galluci, national managing partner at Deloitte’s U.S. CFO Program.

“Still, CFOs don’t appear to be pulling back on new business investments, the introduction of new services or products, or their use of automation and digital technologies,” Gallucci added.

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Feeling like a small fish in a massive pond becomes even more daunting when you consider the current economic outlook. Concerns over a possible recession loom large, putting additional pressure on staffing companies to outperform the competition. But beyond pumping yourself up to “Eye of the Tiger” every morning, giving out lackluster career advice on LinkedIn or coining a recognizable catchphrase, what can you do to stand out? How can you be the best that staffing has to offer? 

Use Earned Data

Earned data is the data that already exists in your databases, everything from ATS and CRM to email and spreadsheets. It’s a veritable treasure trove, provided you unlock its usefulness. First things first, clean it up! When was the last time anyone scrubbed that ATS?

Think about it like checking the fridge before going grocery shopping. The only way to avoid buying duplicates or forgetting something vital is to check what you have on hand. And don’t forget to check your notes. There’s critical information all over your systems, just waiting for you to use it to your advantage.

Once that’s out of the way, this earned data becomes the basis for tactics like automated talent redeployment and candidate-to-job matching, all the fancy stuff that will drive outcomes and set you apart from the crowd. 

Supercharge Your Process

Building on that last point, with your data cleaned up and room to try out new strategies, consider your current process and how you might boost your output. Automation isn’t limited to redeployment. You can also use it to up your marketing game, taking those (personalized!) batched emails and messages to the next level with follow-up to ensure you’re connecting with targets regularly.

Ever hear of Ron Popeil? He was an inventor best known for starring in his own infomercials. One of his most popular products was the Ronco Showtime Rotisserie, which he promoted using the tagline, “Set it, and forget it!” Think of automation as a way to set your process and keep it in motion. Take another note from Mr. Popeil with the phrase, “But wait, there’s more!” 

Expand Your Purview

While having a niche is helpful in staffing, it can also become limiting as time goes on. That goes for both clients and candidates. If you’re concerned about the impact of a potential downturn, take this opportunity and start to learn about other companies and industries.

You know what transferable skills are, so leverage your own and do your research. Figure out which sectors will remain in demand. Read up on position types, common qualifications and credentials that go along with these jobs.

Find out where these candidates hang out online and begin to familiarize yourself with their behaviors. The goal is to broaden your expertise and make yourself indispensable, regardless of hiring conditions. 

Follow the Platinum Rule

TikToker “rocketjump” recently went viral with his 3.5-star rule for Chinese restaurants. In the video, he explained that he found that the most authentic Chinese restaurants typically have 3.5 stars on Yelp. Not three, not four. Exactly 3.5.

The reason why? American service expectations. Though the food might be better in these establishments, U.S.-based reviewers ding the restaurant on the review because of their service expectations. Think about the service expectations for staffing. Even if your delivery and results are flawless, are you following the platinum rule of treating people how they want to be treated?

Think about your clients as partners and move from a transactional mindset to a relational one. Keep clients informed on who you already have access to, whom you need to reach out to and what the response has been. Go above and beyond the expected and aim for delight. 

Staffing is incredibly cyclical, which is why when it comes to standing out from the competition, the best way is to do a better job faster, no matter the market. Doing that means taking full ownership of what you know through earned data, industry insight, contacts and connections and optimizing it for your clients.

It’s about walking that walk and talking the talk. 

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In the midst of a persistent talent shortage, success at redeploying talent remains a top priority. Bullhorn’s research showed that two-thirds of global temporary and contract workers  – about 64% – are currently thinking about moving to a permanent role. However, close to half of the survey’s respondents would not commit to redeploying using the same staffing firm, even if it could provide appropriate jobs. So, Bullhorn said, providing the best possible recruitment experience is the key to retaining talent.

Worker Expectations

By meeting talent’s expectations, staffing firms have an opportunity to establish lasting relationships with their workers.

The top priorities for temporary and contract workers, according to Bullhorn’s data, include access to desirable jobs, a good reputation and positive past experiences. Around 70% of respondents also wanted the flexibility to work remotely, while 90% expressed interest in participating in any reskilling, upskilling or certification programs.

Workers also expressed a desire for recruiters at their firm to reach out more frequently with opportunities. More than half (57%) said they wanted to hear from recruiters at least once a week when they’re looking for new opportunities. In addition, the mode of communication was also on workers’ minds, with phone calls and email being the top two channels through which  respondents preferred to be contacted.

Another common concern was timeliness. Two-thirds (66%) of temporary and contract workers said that they had previusy abandoned a job search when the recruitment process took too long. Moreover, the value of timely communication goes beyond the hiring process, Bullhorn said: Workers who felt their staffing firm was responsiveness while they were on assignment were twice as likely to say they would work with that firm again.

“It starts and ends with examining the entire talent journey, defining those moments that matter and ensuring your efforts result in satisfied employees,” said Andre Mileti, Bullhorn’s Product Evangelist – Talent Experience. “You’ll know you’ve succeeded when ratings and reviews improve, time-to-fill decreases and referral and redeployment rates increase.”

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Juggling clients and tracking assignments has become much harder for staffing agencies to manage. Not only is the market changing rapidly, but so is the way people work. Employee turnover is higher than ever, and the workers an agency does have are often spread out across a wide geographic range. So, an agency and its clients need to be on the same page for how to tackle the challenges of the post-pandemic world.

What’s more, in an age of remote working, personalized work relationships are becoming harder and harder to achieve. Staffing agencies are struggling to build trust and faith with their clients under shifting work conditions, particularly with less personal face-to-face interaction. Staffing industry experts may manage multiple accounts with clients they’ve never actually met in person. 

So, how can you deepen client relationships when the client is just a voice on the phone or an image on a screen? Or, even if there are in-person interactions, how can an agency build trust in an uncertain, potentially alienating market? 

Craft a More Personalized Approach 

Everybody likes to feel special, so you should make your clients feel special, too—regardless of the medium or mode of your interactions. You may be juggling many different clients and projects at once, but that doesn’t mean people should feel like they’re on the back burner. 

It’s essential to establish a direct line of communication with clients on either web-based or mobile tech platforms. Clients should be able to contact a staffing agency expert anywhere, anytime they’re in need. Think of a chatbot, but more personal—instead, they have a direct line to an employee with a face and a name. That way, they don’t feel like just another number. Or consider setting up a dedicated channel for that client on Slack or Microsoft Teams. Being able to chat directly with multiple people at your company can make a world of difference to clients. 

Even before you’ve established the communication groundwork, ask your clients what they’re looking for in a staffing agency and determine their long-term goals. Do they have certain revenue or staff numbers in mind for growth? Productivity indicators? Average time to fill assignments and vacancies? Ask specific and targeted questions when conversing with them. 

Then, leverage that information to form a personalized execution plan for how you will help them achieve those goals. Not only will it build trust with your clients, it will prevent you from pitching the same cookie-cutter plan to all of your clients.

Communicate Your Long-Term Goals 

Clients also want to be in-the-know about where you see your agency going. Are you planning on expanding the number of employees you’re taking on? Or perhaps reducing the number of clients that you serve to give each one better service? Communicating your long-term goals will build trust with your clients and give them a clear picture for what’s in store while you’re working together. This also allows you to humanize your agency—everyone can relate to and admire future ambitions and goals. 

To first determine these business goals, staffing agencies can enlist the help of technology like data analytics or artificial Intelligence to analyze current outputs and predict future company growth. There are a variety of tools out there to help measure productivity, whether it’s the number of clients you intend to acquire over a certain period of time or the improvements you’re planning to make in employee retention rates. 

It will also be beneficial for you to understand exactly how you are going to achieve your long-term goals. Again, it’s a numbers game. What is your capacity for clients and how will that change over time? What is your anticipated annual growth? Statistical modeling can be your friend here. These questions are essential to think about when considering how to execute your goals and will help your clients understand what you need to get there.

Remember, an agency that’s clear on its goals will better be able to build a culture of trust and accountability with its clients. 

Invest in New Technology 

If the technology you have isn’t up to par, consider investing in a new system. Specifically, one that can monitor and track staffing assignments in real time and help you juggle an arsenal of clients. Luckily, both time and attendance technology (T&A tech) and customer relationship management (CRM) systems are rapidly advancing to meet the needs of a changing workforce. 

In essence, T&A monitoring programs are a type of software that tracks time and wages for workers across assignments. Conversely, CRM tech is focused on managing and improving company relationships, so more on the communications side. 

T&A technology can help you track both tasks and time, ensuring you are issuing accurate invoices to your clients and avoiding any nasty wage disputes. So, when choosing a T&A system, ensure that it is user-friendly, allowing employees to automatically record their hours, and that it then calculates payroll for you. 

Investing in a T&A system that includes biometrics is also a smart move. This type of time management system requires employees to clock in using fingerprints, retinal scans or facial recognition. Currently, about 75% of U.S. companies fall victim to “buddy punching,” which is when a coworker clocks in for another employee. Biometric time attendance eradicates the possibility of buddy punching, cutting down on time theft and saving you and your clients money. 

CRM systems are more focused on finding and retaining clients. These systems do this by searching for and collecting client data across platforms and then organizing the data in one location to give you a complete record of the client. You’ll end up knowing them better than they know themselves. 

Investing in better systems will ultimately heighten efficiency and give you an edge over other staffing agencies—and your clients will feel it, too. You should want your technology to be as reliable and steadfast as your business. 

Continue Education and Development

As technology is improving and shifting at lightning speed, try to create structured learning opportunities for your employees and clients to follow new developments, such as educational courses or company-wide seminars. Regardless of the subject matter, it’s best to make a schedule that includes regular and repeatable learning modules and gives people the opportunity to complete the work in their own time. 

You can also extend the invitation to your clients to keep them in the loop. Educating and training your clients will save you time in the long run, as it’s a sure way to reduce confusion on their end and keep them updated on the latest developments. Moreover, it’s a way to bring everyone together to build better working relationships. 

Overall, offering supplementary resources will create a more adaptable workforce and clientele in a rapidly changing business world. Your clients will feel like they are a step ahead of the game if they’re up-to-date with industry changes and emerging technologies. 

The Bottom Line

Clients are the heart of any staffing agency. It’s thus imperative to foster personalized client relationships, developing an excellent reputation for yourself in an already crowded industry. Otherwise, clients can always look elsewhere—they have plenty of choice. 

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