With the sudden jolt of the global pandemic to the launch of ChatGPT, it seems as if we’re in a more mature Industry 4.0 – with every trade impacted, including human resources.

But what is at the core of Industry 4.0?  Data.  Big Data. Quantitative data. Nominal data. Qualitative data. Discrete data. Continuous data.

Data is extraordinarily helpful in understanding where we are and what needs to be done to get to where we’re going.

However, not all data is clear even with all the Industry 4.0 tools we now have.  Some data is, well, fuzzy. So, how do recruiters and HR professionals plan with data when it’s fuzzy? After all, what are the numbers telling us if they’re not crystal clear?

What Is Fuzzy Data?

Fuzzy data is essentially “[i]mprecise data with uncertainties which indicates that the observed values cannot be considered as the true unique values.” In other words, the data you may be using does not include “precise numbers, or vectors, or categories.”

However, most “real” data is not precise – or fuzzy.

Let’s look at HR and recruiters specifically.  According to a recent study, when examining Big Data, professionals gather insights around a “wide range of tasks solved by the personnel, both organizational, economic and technological.” However, with such large amounts of data – often surrounding people and their tasks and characteristics – we can’t always determine “true and false.” So instead, we look at multiple possible truths (or in other words, degrees of truth for each interaction, resulting in various possible (and reasonable) conclusions.)

How Can We Plan with Fuzzy Data?

Industry 4.0 has directly impacted HR – with some now calling this impact HR 4.0 – allowing the industry to become more automated and focused on high-level strategic strategies as opposed to manual, repetitive activities.

Through the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, Big Data, technology stacks, and data analytics, recruiters and HR professionals can now build “more efficient and lean teams,” through attracting, retaining, and mobilizing top talent in this continually evolving industrial revolution.

However, not everyone understands how to pull insights from fuzzy data.  For example, if a manager asks specifically about productivity – but the number of successful key performance indicators (KPIs) don’t match up, then the data may not make sense.

That doesn’t mean the data is bad. It just may be fuzzy.  Someone who understands how to read HR data can specifically pull valuable insights from that data as opposed to someone who is only skilled in reading data while making true or false conclusions.

Here are some best practices to keep in mind when analyzing often fuzzy HR data:

• Data often has to be read in “real time,” as the needs of HR change on a seemingly daily basis. So, knowing when to read this data is critical to garner insights that aren’t stale.
• HR is often behind other departments in having the best (and the right) data analytical tools. Leaders need to reprioritize HR when analyzing Big Data, ensuring that organizational budgets align with needs and strategies.
• Leaders must also prioritize reskilling and upskilling recruiters and HR teams, allowing them to garner the necessary skills for a strategic and insightful analysis of fuzzy data.

It’s time for HR to embrace fuzzy data with the right tools and support.  After all, what benefits HR benefits the organization as a whole – and it’s time to recognize that.

The post How to Plan With Fuzzy Data appeared first on RecruitingDaily.

But how does HR fit into this? For decades, HR departments, large and small, have been criticized for not understanding the bigger business picture. In other words, many people believe that HR can’t “speak the numbers,” which, let’s face it, are the true language of business globally.

It doesn’t help that most HR data analytics reporting falls on the low end of the data analytics maturity scale – giving us some information but with insufficient reporting capabilities.

So, how can HR speak the language of business? Keep reading to learn more about talent acquisition data and analytics, giving insight into the company’s people – arguably the most important business asset of any organization.

What Are Talent Acquisition Analytics?

Talent acquisition analytics are used to analyze job candidates and other recruitment data, discovering insights into talent acquisition, onboarding and even retention.

Understanding this data helps talent acquisition leaders understand their decision-making processes during recruitment, improving hiring decisions that directly impact the company.

After all, good hires directly impact turnover rates, productivity and efficiency levels, company culture, innovation and profitability. Need we say more?

Top Talent Acquisition Metrics for 2023 and Beyond

Here are six examples of metrics talent acquisition leaders should understand – not only for their department but for the company as a whole.

1.    Time to Fill

Time to fill is the length of time it takes a talent acquisition team to fill a vacant position, spanning from the initial approval of the budget for the hire through the hire itself. There is no magic number here, as different industries will often see varying times to fill. However, the oft-cited Talent Acquisition Benchmarking Report by SHRM states that – on average – time to fill is approximately 36 days.

This metric isn’t typically used to encourage talent acquisition managers to hire quickly while sacrificing the quality of the hire. Instead, it can identify inefficient processes or duplicative efforts, potentially creating a longer time to hire the right candidate.

2.    Time to Hire

Time to hire overlaps with the time to fill metric. However, this talent acquisition analytic specifically measures the time the job candidate spends interviewing for a position at your company. For example, time to hire measures from the first look of the candidate’s resume to when they are officially extended an offer of employment.

Time to hire gives talent acquisition leaders, as well as the company itself, insight into the candidate’s experience when interviewing at your organization. Bad candidate experiences don’t bode well for your company.  For example, 80% of job candidates who have a bad recruiting experience “openly tell” others about it, with one-third of them doing so proactively.

However, when an organization invests in its candidates’ experiences, they improve the quality of its hires by 70%.

3.    Time in Process (aka Days in Stage)

Time in process (or “days in stage”) measures how long job candidates remain in each stage of the hiring process, such as resume review or on-site/remote interviews. Through this metric, talent acquisition leaders can spot lags and inefficiencies that may be holding up the process.

4.    Acceptance Rate

This talent acquisition analytic is measured by comparing the number of job candidates offered jobs versus the number who have accepted job offers. If the acceptance rate is low, then that puts up a red flag that the company should review its recruitment process (including your job descriptions), its compensation packages, its job flexibility and remote/hybrid work policies, its company culture and other factors identifying the attractiveness of a job offer.

This metric gives talent acquisition managers insight into how successful they are at leading qualified candidates through the recruitment process and ultimately accepting the job offer.

5.    Quality of Hire

Quality of hire measures new talent’s contributions to the company over a period of time. This is a critical measurement, as it gives direct insight into the new hire’s performance, the manager’s ability to support the employee and career progression during the new employee’s tenure.

Staying on top of this metric allowed companies to measure the quality of their employees, allowing the company to achieve its goals faster and more efficiently. And that’s just a win-win for everyone.

6.     Cost Per Hire

Arguably the belle of the ball, cost per hire gets quite the attention as a talent acquisition metric. Cost per hire takes into account all expenses associated with hiring an employee – from sourcing costs to agency fees (and everything in between).

However, cost per hire must be viewed in light of the previous metrics. For example, cost per hire and time to fill are closely related. The longer it takes your recruiting team to hire someone, the higher the cost per hire.

These talent acquisition metrics don’t live in a world by themselves. They each impact the company as a whole – and this is why it’s critical for talent acquisition specialists to not only understand these metrics but bring them to the larger corporate table.

The post Speaking the Language of Business: Why Talent Acquisition Metrics Matter 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.

Is your language advancing your organization’s approach to recruiting, hiring, and advocating for all genders? Or are you hurting your brand without even knowing it?

Keep reading to learn more about the impact of your brand on gender.

What is the Impact of Brand on Gender and Sex?

We know that word choice is essential to a product or service’s perception. It’s no different for your organization’s brand and how the brand impacts views on gender and sex.

First, let’s understand the difference between gender and sex. Sex is typically categorized as female or male; however, organizations should keep in mind that sex includes variations in biological attributes (and how individuals express those attributes).

Gender, on the other hand, “refers to the socially constructed roles, behaviors, expressions and identities of girls, women, boys, men, and gender diverse people.”

According to the Association of National Advertisers, “[w]hile many brands are embracing LGBTQ+ inclusivity in their marketing, tackling gender nonconformity authentically can still present a challenge or missed opportunity for some. However, this is a necessity for brands existing in the now and moving into the future gracefully.”

Not only is this an opportunity for brands and branding, younger generations demand it. According to Gallup, “35 percent know someone who prefers a gender-neutral pronoun and 59 percent believe forms should include options beyond the binary (‘man’ and ‘woman’).”

And as far as the workplace? Deloitte has found that Gen Z will surpass Millennials in population numbers while taking the torch as the most diverse generation in U.S. history. Further, “[a]s Gen Zers are about to step onto the world stage, the impact of their entry will be swift and profound, its effects rippling through the workplace, retail consumption, technology, politics, and culture. Radically different than Millennials, this generation has an entirely unique perspective on careers and how to define success in life and in the workforce.”

And this “swift and profound” entry includes employers’ brand and branding, causing employers to question how and when to market to different sexes and genders – without being “insensitive and outdated.”

Why are Language and Branding Important in the Hiring Process?

Job seekers respond differently to language and branding, including as it relates to job searches – causing some applicants not to apply at all. For example, studies show that “gender-coded language” in job ads deters female applicants. Specifically, in an oft-cited LinkedIn study, if the word “aggressive” was included in a job ad, 44 percent of women and 33 percent of men would be discouraged to apply.

Additionally, LinkedIn found that 92 percent of hiring professionals believe that soft skills are more important than hard skills, including job ad language such as leadership, collaboration, critical thinking, and adaptability.  However, 61 percent of women associate soft skills with the female gender, 52 percent of men associate soft skills with the male gender, and more than 55 percent of c-suite professionals associate soft skills with the male gender.

As you can see, language can impact genders and sexes at all levels of a company – from the job seeker to the hiring manager to the c-suite executive. But, which companies are doing a good job of being more descriptive about the specific job candidate they’re looking for – whether through job descriptions, job ads, or other employer branding language?

For example, Aubrey Blanche, the Global Head of Diversity & Belonging at Atlassian, stated that when it came to using truly inclusive language, they “focused on bringing in more balanced teams as it relates to gender, race, and other underrepresented backgrounds . . . [they]  discovered that we had used language that subtly biased on job ads in favor of white and male candidates, and [technology] helped us more closely align our language to our culture and message more inclusively to a broader set of candidates.”

Promoting an inclusive brand is not always an easy task. Employers must pay attention to language (and reactions to language) across all sexes and genders. However, paying attention to your employer brand’s terminology when recruiting and hiring talent can help you attract more diverse talent while setting a more relevant tone for your employer brand.

The post How Your Language Hurts: The Impact of Brand on Gender appeared first on RecruitingDaily.

On February 16, 2023, Indeed published its results from a recent study about Black job seekers and employees.  Keep reading to understand what Indeed found and how these results may impact your recruitment efforts.

Close to Half of All Black Employees Are Considering Leaving their Jobs

In a shocking statistic, Indeed found that 49 percent of Black workers aren’t satisfied with their current job for two primary reasons:

• 43 percent of Black workers feel like they’re working in a hostile environment where they experience microaggressions from coworkers and leadership
• Employers and Black employees have a disconnect regarding diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) efforts. In other words, Black workers want employers to prioritize DEIB initiatives while employers think they are prioritizing them. Clearly, there is a gap

Indeed noted that Black workers want to work for organizations that are transparent about salary (78 percent), where personal and organizational values align (63 percent), and that support a diverse leadership team (60 percent) while prioritizing their DEIB initiatives to the same level as Black employees’ expectations. Doing so would not only attract more Black talent, but it would also increase retention rates – something that’s not happening now.

DEIB Policies, Procedures, and Training Are in Need of Continue Improvement

While we’re definitely not implying that DEIB policies, procedures, and training haven’t been effective – in fact, the statistics prove that Black workers believe most DEIB initiatives are effective –  we do agree with Indeed that improvement is needed.

For example, here’s an issue. Black workers generally believe that their employers are “implementing DEIB initiatives with ulterior motives.” Further, 24 percent of respondents believe that DEIB efforts are “performative in nature.”

While this is concerning, the inverse is true. Just over 75 percent of respondents believe that their organization’s DEIB initiatives are effective and perhaps even more important, genuine.

So, How Do Black Employee Demands and Employer Actions Line Up?

With these baselines established, what are Black employees demanding from their employers?  Here are some DEIB demands identified by Indeed:

• 58% want pay transparency and equity
• 52% are looking for more worker flexibility to improve work-life balance
• 44% would like increased representation

On the other hand, the top three DEIB initiatives implemented by employers are:

• 64% of employers implemented diverse hiring practices
• 44% noted diversity committees
• 40% cited DEIB employee awareness events

The Cost of Not Prioritizing DEIB Initiatives

So, what is the cost of not prioritizing DEIB initiatives?  Indeed found that employers who fail to prioritize diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging among all demographics are not only hurting their employees, but they’re hurting themselves – and their futures.

Fifty-eight percent of Indeed respondents “skipped applying to a job they would have otherwise been interested in because the company did not appear inclusive and/or diverse.”  Of those employees, 45 percent said they “experienced discrimination in the job interview process.”

But it’s not just Black employees that demand a DEIB-forward workplace culture. According to an Indeed & Glassdoor’s Hiring and Workplace Trends Report 2023, 62 percent of all U.S. employees – across all different demographics – would consider turning down a job offer or changing employers if their company – especially their manager – did not support DEIB initiatives.

DEIB initiatives are continually essential to attracting and retaining top talent. However, employers should take survey results – like these from Indeed – to tailor and tweak their current DEIB efforts, ensuring that they still positively impact Black employees now and in the future.

The post Indeed 2023 DEIB Report: Black Worker Trends – What Recruiters Need to Know appeared first on RecruitingDaily.

However, diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) is hardly waiting in the wings. Qualified candidates (no matter how hard to find) still want to work at an organization that prioritizes DEI, and organizations want to continue attracting the right talent.

After all, DEI has served as a cornerstone for successful companies, helping to capture more customers, increase creativity and innovation, and realize more profits.

But it’s easy to pump up DEI and throw these terms around, but let’s dig deeper. What’s actually working and what isn’t when it comes to the job candidate life cycle – from sourcing to making an offer?

Keep reading to learn more about how DEI is working (and isn’t working) in the hiring process.

Where We Stand

Recently, Lever released its 2022 DEI Through the Recruiting Lifecycle Report, finding that Black, Hispanic, and Asian employees were more likely to report hiring biases than white employees. Further, 62 percent of employees felt they were interviewed only to check the diversity requirement.

With the U.S. population more racially and ethnically diverse than ever before, this is really unacceptable. So, are DEI initiatives just not working? Or is progress terribly slow?

Here are our thoughts on DEI’s role in sourcing and interviewing.

DEI & Sourcing

Sourcing has looked a bit different these past couple of years, with remote and hybrid working arrangements becoming a prime focus. But, to meet their diversity goals, recruiting professionals must continue to refine their sourcing strategies to ensure a diverse and inclusive workforce – no matter where employees work.

When creating a diversity sourcing strategy, recruiting professionals develop a process to find talent with diverse backgrounds, experiences, educational levels, geographies, genders, languages, disabilities, and so on.

However, we tend to think only of changing our language in job descriptions or ads. And, while using inclusive language in job descriptions or ads is critical, we can’t stop there – we need to look beyond this threshold DEI requirement when sourcing talent.

Here are three helpful tips on sourcing diverse talent (beyond job descriptions and ads):

• Recruiting professionals can diversify their talent pools by using LinkedIn as more of a refined tool rather than as a blanket announcement that you’re hiring. For example, you can filter when reaching out to prospective candidates on LinkedIn by finding candidates who identify as “she” or “their.” Additionally, you can use hashtags to narrow your search, such as “Black History Month,” “Pride Month,” or “International Women’s Day.”
• Encourage your minority employees to refer potential job candidates – after all, people tend to refer people similar to themselves. So, create an internal employee referral program where typically underrepresented employees can refer qualified talent like them.
• Target candidates where they gather (in-person or online). By reaching out to different sources, such as HBCU colleges or online platforms that attract different populations, such as theblackwomenintech.com or the Hispanic / Latino Professionals Association.

DEI & Interviewing

Prioritizing DEI doesn’t stop at sourcing, of course. It must be intentionally carried through the hiring process, and that includes the interview phase.

Unintentional bias can sneak into the interview process, wreaking some level of havoc on your carefully-crafted DEI program. However, how can we counteract these biases if we don’t recognize that we all unconsciously have them?

For example, the types of names we hear (or see on a resume or job application) can lead to unintentional biases. A recent study published by the National Bureau of Economic Research found that job candidates who have “distinctively Black names” have a lower probability of moving forward in the hiring process than job candidates with “distinctively white names.”

One way recruiting professionals can address unconscious bias is to standardize the job interview. In non-standardized interviews, there’s typically no consistency across the interviews, even if there is a general set of questions to guide the process.

In standardized (or structured) interviews, on the other hand, candidates are asked the same interview questions in the same order. According to Harvard Business School Professor Francesca Gina, standardized interviews reduce bias by “focusing on the factors that have a direct impact on performance.”

As we’re still in the first quarter of 2023, now is the time for recruiting professionals to re-examine their DEI efforts in the hiring process to see what’s working and what’s not. But don’t just depend on your own review. Talk to your job candidates. Request feedback after they are offered a position (and even for those who aren’t).

And, finally, look at your data. Understanding your hiring metrics is critical to revising and refining your DEI efforts when recruiting.

The post Unintended Impacts: Where DEI Is Working and Where It Isn’t appeared first on RecruitingDaily.

But, almost three years later, the global pandemic’s lingering effects continue to impact the job market. Enter long Covid.

According to the Brookings Institute, about 16 million working-age Americans suffer from long Covid, with anywhere from two to four million out of work because of Covid’s lingering symptoms. The cost to these employees? Lost wages ranging from $170 billion to $230 billion annually, creating a “meaningful drag on U.S. economic performance and household financial health.”

Add to that:

• 260,000 working-age adults that have been lost to Covid
• The slowdown of immigration, costing another three million workers
• Baby Boomer retirements
• Lower birth rates

And, the job market just received another gut punch, along with suffering from its own lingering, seemingly incurable viral symptoms.

Long Covid and the Job Market:  Going Hand in Hand

In the U.S. alone, the coronavirus infected almost 102 million people, putting the brakes on the economy. However, doctors and scientists (and economists) thought that once people started feeling better, they’d get back to work.

A reasonable assumption, no doubt.

However, this hasn’t exactly happened.  Much like long Covid itself, the job market just can’t shake this sick feeling.

U.S. job openings are holding pretty steady at just over 10 million jobs (e.g., 10.3 million in October 2022 and 10.5 million in November 2022), just under the record high of 11 million job openings in 2021 and early 2022. But, where are the workers?

Well, some employees are being laid off by America’s largest companies, such as Amazon, Meta, Twitter, and Peloton. But, employees are quitting their jobs in droves as well – with quits exceeding “the pre-pandemic high for 21 consecutive months, as more than 4 million Americans voluntarily left their jobs in each of the past 18 months.”

In 2022 alone, 46.6 million employees voluntarily quit their jobs.

That’s shocking, to say the least, but the tides have turned. Employees are no longer willing to put up with inflexible, unfair working conditions, causing both workers and companies to re-evaluate the employer-employee relationship.

From the Great Resignation to the Great Reshuffle to the Great Layoffs, the job market is still trying to figure out how to heal itself, getting back to “normal.”

But is there a getting back to normal?  Or just learning to live with long Covid?

Looking for a Cure (or just a way to stop the bleeding)

According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, “[i]f every unemployed person in the country found a job, we would still have 4 million open jobs.” Wow-za.

How do you solve that?  What’s the cure?

We are definitely living in unprecedented times – but is it a crisis?  According to HR expert Josh Bersin, yes – almost.

Last fall, Bersin said:

[Q]uite simply, we cannot “manufacture more people” in a flash. We can solve the global supply chain problem by building a factory, buying a ship, or scaling up a distribution center. People don’t work that way. We need to educate them, train them, and coach them to perform at work. And as all the data now shows, when you “push” people too hard, they just quit, check out, or change careers.

The cure? Treat people like an asset, according to Bersin. Perhaps easier said than done…

The post Lingering Symptoms & Long Covid: The Job Market Continues to Struggle With its Own Chronic Illness appeared first on RecruitingDaily.

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.

The post 2023 and Beyond: What Employers Need to Know About Marijuana and the Workplace appeared first on RecruitingDaily.

In November 2022, Amazon announced 10,000 job cuts. In the same month, Meta announced 11,000 layoffs. And then, making major headlines across the U.S., Twitter announced an almost 50% workforce reduction.

But these significant layoff numbers didn’t just start in the fourth quarter of 2022; other companies were cutting employees throughout the year, including:

• Peloton laid off 20% of its employees in February 2022 (with another 12% in October 2022)
• MasterClass laid off 20% of its employees in June 2022
• Snapchat laid off 20% of its employees in September 2022.

However, it’s not all terminations.  Employees are still quitting their jobs in high numbers, giving rise to the thought that the Great Resignation isn’t quite over. According to Business Insider, in September 2022, 4.1 million Americans quit their jobs, just under the 4.2 million that quit in August. At the Great Resignation’s peak, 4.5 million Americans quit their jobs in late 2021.

The highest industries with employees quitting? According to the most recent U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics report, accommodation and food services, retail and professional and business services take home the highest number of quits per industry.

Keep reading to learn more about the continued Great Resignation, the growing Great Layoffs and what to expect as we move ahead.

The Continuing Great Resignation

Today, employers are retaining workers for longer periods of time, no longer offering “crazy” compensation packages to attract workers. Because of this, “the Great Resignation is far from over, but it is clearly winding down,” according to Julia Pollak, the chief economist at ZipRecruiter.

However, there were 10.3 million U.S. jobs available in October 2022, proving that this “wind down” is slow, as industries such as healthcare and social assistance spike a record number of job openings.

Enter the Federal Reserve, which as of late has been attempting to curb inflation and reduce the gap between the number of available jobs and those seeking a job (or a different job). But, according to Mark Hamrick, Bankrate.com’s senior economic analyst, “[t]he high number of openings continues to underscore the huge divide between supply and demand for labor, contrary to what the Federal Reserve wants to see as it battles inflation.”

McKinsey says “[i]t’s the quitting trend that just won’t quit.”  Even today, workers are still switching jobs, industries, and locations – starting their own businesses, changing industries or roles, or just taking time out to care for their families.

But are workers making the right decisions by changing jobs (or even industries) in such unpredictable times?

In a RecruitingDaily.com discussion with Amazon’s Marc Hamel, Principal Sourcer, Hamel noted that the decision to change jobs during these turbulent times wasn’t the “wrong” decision as several competing interests played into these choices – from family responsibilities to wanting higher salary packages or better benefits.

Hamel notes, however, that even if these decisions to find new employment weren’t “wrong,” many workers have felt buyer’s remorse in doing so.  According to a recent Joblist study, 26% of workers surveyed said they regretted leaving their previous jobs, leading to new phrases such as “The Great Regret” or “boomerang employees” (of which Hamel himself is one, moving from Amazon to Meta and back to Amazon).

One of the main reasons for this regret?  Forty-two percent of employees who found a new job after quitting said that the new job hasn’t lived up to their expectations.

The Reasons Behind High 2022 Layoff Numbers 

With so many workers leaving their jobs during The Great Resignation, employers were forced to hire en masse to fill open positions. Or did companies overestimate how many workers were needed to fill these positions?  After all, it was a crazy time.

But, this hiring en masse has led to mass layoffs, primarily in the tech industry, such as Meta, Amazon, Salesforce, Doordash and Twitter, to name a few. Hamel stated that employers saw these layoffs coming, especially with the exceedingly high number of hires in the previous years.

However, even though these layoffs are confined to a specific industry, the problem is that they are “loud.” They are front-page news.  They are public.  They are talked about on numerous social media platforms.

So, even though these layoffs are primarily contained within the tech industry, these layoffs have earned the nickname “loud layoffs” – negatively impacting how workers outside of the tech industry feel about their current jobs.

Moving Ahead

Looking forward, McKinsey predicts that with voluntary quit rates 25% higher than in pre-pandemic times, job openings won’t return to normal for some time as we continue to move through the Great Resignation and the Great Layoffs – or is it the Great Attrition or the Great Renegotiation? (So many “Greats.”)

Hamel agrees.  In our RecruitingDaily.com interview, he says that it’s not all doom and gloom. Instead, this too shall pass – a welcome thought for professional recruiters out there trying to fill roles.

However, Hamel said not to be surprised if we see still more layoffs. For example, within the large tech industry, companies tie compensation to equity and restricted stock units (RSUs). As a result, when companies lose value – and sometimes significant value – employees’ compensation is negatively impacted.  This can easily cause more employee upset, more attrition and more need to backfill and hire. And round and round we go.

Additionally, Hamel suggested that we’ll see more consumer spending over the next year, necessitating more hires for new positions, not just attrition hires.  And this is a positive for employers and employers alike.

Cumulatively, lessons have been and will continue to be learned.  In 2023 and beyond, recruitment professionals will be able to better manage these significant workplace ups and downs – better positioning themselves for whatever the job market throws their way.

The post From the Great Resignation to the Great Layoffs: What to Expect in 2023 appeared first on RecruitingDaily.

But one thing hasn’t changed.  And that’s prioritizing candidate touchpoints throughout the recruiting process – whether you’re remote, hybrid, or on-site.

After all, your recruiting process is often a job candidate’s first impression of what it’s like to work for your organization. And, to attract the best of the best to your company, you need to create a high-quality candidate experience beyond technology.

You need to extend the human touch.

What Is the Candidate Experience?

The candidate experience includes all job seeker’s interactions with your organization throughout the recruiting process. For example, touchpoints include your job ads, the application process, interview, and any communications with the hiring team and other employees.

You can demonstrate your company’s values and culture through your hiring process, setting yourself apart from your competition in a job market where candidates still have the upper hand. Essentially, the candidate experience keeps job seekers engaged before, during, and often after you offer (or reject) an applicant.

Whether you’re remote, hybrid, or on-site, candidate touchpoints are critical to humanize your recruitment process. From sourcing candidates to interviewing to the point of hire, humanizing candidate touchpoints creates – well – a better candidate experience while benefiting the company as well.

Curious how this benefits you?  Let’s look at some recent statistics.

• 55 percent of job seekers will pull out of the application process
• 75 percent of professionals currently working for their organizations were directly influenced by the touchpoints throughout the recruitment process
• 82 percent of job seekers would share a positive candidate experience with others, whereas 69 percent would share a negative experience

3 Ways to Determine the Main Touchpoints of a Candidate

Let’s now look at three ways professional recruiters should determine their primary candidate touchpoints during the hiring process.

1. Sourcing

According to LinkedIn, recruiting professionals spend up to 13 hours weekly sourcing job candidates for a single role.  And, as many companies are ramping up on hiring, you don’t want to lose out to a competitor when courting talented applicants.

So, how do you insert more human touch into the sourcing process, helping you to attract the best candidates?

Here are some options to improve your sourcing:

• Focus on more than just active candidates. Incorporate passive talent into your sourcing strategy. After all, 70 percent of the global workforce consists of passive talent, meaning those employees that aren’t currently looking for a job.
• Go social.  Start recruiting on social media.  With 86 percent of all job seekers using social media during their job search, companies will lose out on top talent if social media isn’t a core part of their recruiting process.
  • Pro Tip: Don’t be afraid to be yourself on social media.  Job candidates ultimately want to connect with companies that are authentic.
• Look outside of the box.  Expand your search. Connect with candidates that may only have some of the required qualifications. Seek non-traditional candidates, such as those that have been out of the workforce or those returning from military service.

2. Employer Branding

Employer branding is not something to ignore – especially not in today’s job market.  In fact, many employers have found themselves re-inventing themselves since the pandemic.

According to LinkedIn, “[t]he pandemic has muddled both economic and social norms and changed people’s expectations of the brands they work for and buy from.  These blurring lines mean candidates, employees and customers are evaluating companies more holistically than ever. To build trust and compete for the best candidates in this new organizational reality, brands must show up and communicate consistently across all audiences and stakeholders.”

If employers haven’t looked at their employer branding (even in the last six months), they need to bump that up to the top of the to-do list.  With 82 percent of job seekers considering an employer’s reputation before applying for a job, employers that aren’t brand conscious will lose out on top talent.

Further, and potentially more detrimental, 53 percent of job candidates say that “poor or diminishing employer brand and reputation” is one of the reasons they left a previous employer. However, 20 percent claimed it was the primary reason they left a previous job.

In this light, employers must continually consider how to market themselves in a post-COVID world, including what it’s like to work at their organization. To do this, consider having current employees serve as proud ambassadors of your organization, participating in the recruiting process by posting online or interacting with candidates.

Another popular option is to openly discuss flexibility with your job candidates – when building your online presence and then directly during the recruiting process. According to McKinsey, when people are offered flexibility at work, 87 percent of employees take it.  Making flexibility part of your employer branding strategy demonstrates to job seekers that you trust your employees to get their work done while respecting their time.

3. Interview

When focusing on humanizing candidate touchpoints, employers should also give their interview process a good once-over, ensuring that it’s streamlined (for both the employer and the job candidate) but with a personal (and very human) touch.

This phase of your recruitment cycle allows you to connect with candidates – whether in-person or over video. For example, get to know the candidate. Go beyond their initial qualifications to see if they’d be a fit for your culture. How your team communicates during the interview process is essential to the candidate’s perception of your organization.

And, while you’re communicating, be sure to over-communicate about the next steps in the process. With 63 percent of job candidates saying that employers don’t express themselves adequately and another 53 percent saying they received no response from the employer until three months after applying, think about how you can differentiate yourself by just communicating.

Humanizing the Critical Candidate Touchpoints

Keeping communication lines open during the recruitment process while demonstrating empathy, understanding, and awareness can go a long way to humanizing your recruitment process post-pandemic. Humanizing candidate touchpoints during your recruitment process helps candidates feel heard and respected – helping you attract and retain top talent for your organization.

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