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.

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While there are many variables for job seekers to consider in order to zero in on their best-fit roles, it’s helpful for candidates, recruiters and employers to be as honest as possible at every step of the search, so that all parties can most efficiently find a strong two-way fit.

Here are a few tips that candidates can consider to decide which opportunities are most aligned with their background, expertise and intended direction. Doing this will ensure that all parties are showing up to the right interviews, in an honest fashion, and using each other’s time wisely.

Explore Options and Clarify Best-Fit Career Direction

The clearer you get on what is right for you, the easier it will be to share your goals with recruiters and networking connections. This way, you can efficiently identify fitting opportunities, show up to interviews confidently and seamlessly find a strong role and company fit.

• What titles strongly align with your natural affinities? Is there more research, networking or reflection you can do to gain confidence in which role is the best next step for you? In my experience, if you still have options here, you’ve not done enough learning, reflection, or both.
• What industries align with your background or areas of interest? What mission, purpose or problem do you want to put your time toward? (Understanding this helps you get ahead of and authentically answer the interview question, “Why do you want to work here?”)
• What do you need or want out of a company’s environment (i.e. culture, values, style, personality, remote work, hours/flexibility, etc.)? What should it look and feel like? What should it NOT look and feel like?

Use Self Awareness to Assess the Proper Response to an Interview

While all interviews can be treated as practice, would it be better to be honest with the recruiter or employer if the role they propose isn’t aligned with what you’re looking for? For all you know, they may have other open roles available. You can simultaneously be polite, professional and authentic if you mention your intended career direction and see what other relevant opportunities they may be aware of.

Make Your Questions Specific, Creative, Concrete and Comprehensive

Remember that interviews are a two-way assessment of fit. Take the time to prepare and craft the questions you want to ask so that you can get a full, accurate picture of the role, team, company and environment, and thus easily and adequately assess your fit.

• When learning about a role, here are a few key topics you can consider and ask about:
  • Understand where the person holding this job would typically spend their time, as well as the role’s ultimate goals and performance expectations. Understand who you’d typically interact with. First and foremost, understand the style and nature of the day-to-day and consider whether that aligns with what you are great at and enjoy doing.
• When learning about a company, consider and ask about:
  • The core of what they do, how they do it and why they do it. What’s their place/positioning in the industry and does that intrigue you?
  • Also consider how their teams and departments are organized, how they approach growth and career development, how and when they handle promotions and how they handle performance reviews.
• When you ask about hot topics like culture, management style or diversity/inclusion, get creative with how you ask questions so that you can get accurate answers.
  • First, be clear with yourself about the most specific key factors that are critical to you to see in this employer.
  • Then, phrase questions in a way that can elicit stories or examples. For example, instead of saying, “What’s your company’s culture?” you can ask something like, “Tell me about a time when someone on the team brought up a new idea and how did that go?” That will help you assess how the company empowers employees, whether it’s meritocratic and/or whether it’s open to improving processes.
  • When you ask for real stories or examples about things that matter to you, the company will “show” rather than “tell” how it operates so you can accurately understand and assess its style versus hearing fluffy, generic answers. (They ask you for stories, and you can do the same).
  • Know that a fluffy answer can also be treated as an answer itself if it seems like the company’s sugarcoating or not being specific enough.

What If You’re Not Sure?

Every job seeker is different in terms of their personal needs and timeline. Consider these factors to help you decide on an offer:

• How much personal financial runway do you have? If you’re in a dire situation, any job will help you feel a sense of security. You can always consider your broader career plan and growth once you begin working in the role. That being said, if you have more time on your side, consider how closely the role aligns with your intended goals.
  • Trick: Give 1-10 ratings for your fit with the role, your interest in the industry and your alignment with the company culture given the people you’ve met so far.
  • If you’re at least a 7 on each category, it’s a safe bet to take the role. If there are any ratings below 7, ask yourself if these are areas where you can go back to learn more, or important enough to be deal breakers.
• Do you have any key concerns or hesitations given everything you’ve learned (considering the role, industry and environment)?
  • If so, any potential positive answers to the below questions may be irrelevant. Don’t ignore red flags, and if you’re not sure how serious they are, get perspective from a peer, mentor or coach.
  • Decide if there are things you need or want to ask more about.
  • Understanding what you want or need upfront, before your job search, is a key to ensuring that you notice red flags and assess whether an issue is in or out of line with your needs.
• How long have you been searching?
  • If it’s been a while, could this be an interim move to get you closer to a better future step? If it hasn’t been, do you think, given your background and your intended direction, you could see some more traction?
• Do you have the right guidance or support to make your job search as efficient and effective as possible? If you’ve only used your own devices and strategies so far, perhaps with some career coaching or mentor support, you may strengthen the odds of nailing more interviews for roles that you’re excited about.
  

  Saying No Takes Courage… But Can Open The Door to Yes

If you feel that the role or offer isn’t the right fit, here are some tips on how to handle it:

• Get support so that you’re not just saying yes for convenience’s sake, but rather you’re, finding a way to get comfortable with the difficult, yet necessary, act of saying no to something that isn’t right for you. (Remember you’re doing the employer a favor here by being honest).
• Thank each interviewer for their time and reiterate what was interesting about your conversations with them.
• Be authentic about how your reflections or realizations changed during the journey and which roles you feel would be a better fit for you to explore. Could that lead to an introduction with a different team within the organization?

Mention that you’d love to explore other opportunities that are a closer fit, would appreciate any other personal or professional introductions they’d be willing to make to help you in your job search, or that you’d be grateful to simply stay in touch in the future.

The post How & When To Say No To An Interview Or Offer appeared first on RecruitingDaily.

According to the Talent Board, the number of candidates who have a positive experience when dealing with an employer is on the decline. At the same time, they’re more hesitant to apply to an employer another time, refer others, be a brand advocate and/or make purchases from consumer-based businesses.

This is a reversal from 2021, when positive experiences increased during the pandemic’s early days.

While positive candidate experience is going down, candidate resentment is going up. In North America and EMEA, the Talent Board said, candidate resentment has risen to pre-pandemic levels. In North America, it rose from 8% in 2020 to 14% in 2021, a 75% spike and the largest increase the Talent Board has seen in the decade it’s been conducting research.

All of this comes from the Talent Board’s primary 2021 candidate experience benchmark research report. Sifting through the data, the organization drew several other conclusions.

First, AI improves the candidate experience. Top companies are more likely to have implemented AI recruiting technology to improve their sourcing capabilities, their communication with candidates and to support recruiters in doing their jobs. Automation, the board said, can free up recruiters to work more efficiently, which improves candidate experience outcomes.

Second, feedback loops are critical. Candidates for leading companies indicated they were more likely to increase their relationship with the employer. While all stages of the process are important, candidates who make it to the screening and interviewing phase are most likely to be encouraged to apply again in the future.

This year over 150 companies around the world participated in the benchmark research program, which ultimately collected the feedback and experiences of nearly 200,000 candidates.

“No matter what the world looks like, each year we know that timely communication, expectation setting, feedback, transparency and closure are competitive differentiators,” said Ron Machamer, the Talent Board’s director of global programs. “Communication and feedback loops at every stage of the recruitment process continue to be critical, can equate to a greater fairness for candidates and can generate a positive impact on business outcomes and the employment brand.”

For the first time, the Talent Board asked candidates to self-identify their race and ethnicity. According to President Kevin Grossman, “We found that women and people of color rated their 2021 candidate experiences much more positively than older candidates, male candidates or white/Caucasian candidates did.” One possible reason: more inclusive language and examples of diversity that employers are incorporating into to their career sites, communications, job ads and other marketing material for their employment brands, he said.

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Flexibility for workers became a necessity instead of a luxury. Where possible, workers needed to do their job from outside of the office thanks to social distancing, childcare issues or taking care of sick family members.

With the pandemic on the way out and a little bit of normalcy returning, what will the job hiring landscape look like? How will employers retain your best employees and woo exciting new workers? Your insurance and health benefits package can help.

Touting Benefits

Maybe your company had to lay off employees because of poor finances during the pandemic. Maybe your company had to restructure to fit the changing needs of the industry. Any way that you look at it, though, you now need to fill positions. So, where do you begin? Focus on benefits.

Start with the obvious one — health insurance. Potential employees want to know you care and that you’ll help pay for their health care. A recent Insure.com survey of 1,000 workers found that 70% consider health insurance an essential part of recruitment and retention.

But there’s more to health insurance than just offering one option. Employees want more choices so they can find a plan that fits their needs. Don’t go with only one option, such as a high-deductible health plan (HDHP).

A HDHP has its place in a benefits package, but don’t just rely on that sole option and expect employees will like it. Instead, provide at least one other option, such as a health maintenance organization (HMO) or preferred provider organization (PPO) plan.

Offering more than one option gives you a better chance to recruit a solid workforce. Your employees won’t all be the same, so your health insurance menu shouldn’t be either.

A Well-Rounded Offer

The most prominent benefit a company can offer is healthcare, but after you have built a robust menu of options in that area, you’re not done. Job seekers are looking for something that will set your position apart from another offer they receive.

One perk is to offer a health savings account (HSA). HSAs let employees save pre-tax money for future healthcare needs. These accounts are connected to a HDHP and employers can also contribute money to them.

HSAs can be a selling point to help offset out-of-pocket costs. You can make this an even better selling point if you contribute to the employee HSA accounts.

Another way to round out your benefits plan and show job seekers that you care about them as a person as well as an employee is by offering supplemental life insurance. For a small cost to your company, you could offer a group plan with $10,000 death benefits. A group life insurance plan won’t likely be the sole reason someone stays or joins your company, but it can serve as part of a well-rounded benefits package.

Advocate and Educate

With such a competitive job market currently, employers can’t sit back and take a passive role in building their workforce.

When you make an offer to a potential employee, highlight all of your benefits, not just compensation. Talk about the health benefits options and make sure to talk about both the premiums and out-of-pocket costs like coinsurance and deductibles. Promote your health plan’s provider network. Discuss associated benefits like gym memberships.

Tell the prospect why each option matters. Explain why you have such well-rounded coverage.

That communication shouldn’t stop when you hire a new employee. Instead, keep the communication flow about health benefits ongoing.

So much jargon is thrown around in the benefits arena and never explained. Employees are expected to know the difference between coinsurance and copays; the difference between an HMO and PPO; the difference between in network and out of network.

Do yourself and that person a favor by educating them from the beginning. Tell them about each term to help them make health insurance decisions. An educated workforce will make better decisions and keep costs down for everyone.

Let’s face it, a happy employee means company loyalty and less turnover. Ensuring your employees have a benefits package that suits their needs can be vital to keep a productive and stable workforce.

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