Recruitment Archives - Strategic HR

Recruitment Questions of the Week

HR Wheel for Recruitment Services from Strategic HR Business Advisors.

What Should We Include On Our Careers Page?

Last Updated August 16th, 2023
in Recruitment

HR Question:

What should we include on our company Careers page to ensure we’re keeping up with the times?

HR Answer:

You’re wise to have the quality of your company’s Careers page on your radar. This is a critical recruitment marketing tool to capture the attention of potential candidates. Your page’s content, look, and feel must grab their attention fast to keep job seekers engaged and interested in applying. Otherwise, you lose them before they even apply. You’ll want to make sure that you seize the opportunity to showcase who you are, what you have to offer, and why job seekers would want to work at your organization.

Your Careers page should be designed to intrigue candidates to want to learn more; actively engage them with your content; and compel them to apply. There are many components that you can consider to optimize your Careers page, so here are some suggestions to get you started.

Nine Tips to Optimize Your Careers Page:

1. Showcase your employer brand

Your employer brand encompasses your mission, values, benefits/perks, and overall company culture. It can be viewed as your company’s reputation as an employer, which is a critical piece that job seekers want to understand.

Although this is different than your company brand, your employer branding should be aligned with your company brand. We’ll touch upon some components of employer branding below, but to dive in further, check out this LinkedIn article, “What Is Employer Branding and How Can It Grow Your Business?”

2. Share your mission and values

According to Strategic HR’s “Generations at Work” survey, a “values match” between the candidate and the company ranked within the top five reasons any generation would prioritize when deciding whether or not to join an organization. By incorporating your company’s mission and values on your Careers page, candidates can connect to your company’s purpose.

A great way to showcase this can be through testimonials from your employees sharing how your values come to life in your workplace. This presents a good opportunity to ensure that you are indeed living the values that you profess for your company.

3. Include benefits / perks

It should be no surprise that job seekers want to know about the benefits and perks that you offer. This is a prime opportunity to market what you offer to your employees and tout why it’s great to work at your company. Wondering what today’s job seeker values the most? Check out Forbes’s “Best Employee Benefits of 2023.”

4. Shine a light on company culture

Your company culture is what makes your organization uniquely YOU. Candidates want to have a realistic picture of what it’s like to work at your company so they can assess if it feels like a good fit for them. A powerful way to communicate your culture can be through videos. For example, you could share “A day in the life” videos showing real employees at work and hearing about their experiences.

Not sure where to start? Check out 8 Steps to Producing a Great Employment Video for tips and tricks!

5. Ensure a fast and easy application process

If you capture the job seeker’s interest to the point where they’re ready to apply, make sure you don’t lose them in the application process! Many applications are too long, and with the number of current job openings far exceeding the available talent to fill them, job seekers can pick and choose where they want to apply.

Make sure your application only asks for the information that you absolutely need at that stage in your selection process. It should be quick and easy to complete – target completion in 5 minutes or less.

6. Make it mobile friendly

Many candidates (particularly millennials) conduct their job search on the go using their phones, so be sure that your Careers page is mobile-friendly. To the point made above, you’ll also want to ensure that your job application is mobile-optimized as well. If you’re not sure, try it out for yourself!

7. Offer job alerts

Don’t count on job seekers to go back to your Careers page on their own if they don’t see a job opening that interests them when they first visit your page. Your Careers page should offer the opportunity for job seekers to sign up to receive job alerts for the type(s) of position(s) they want to pursue. This push notification can help to re-engage that candidate when an appropriate job becomes available.

8. Allow applications without a job opening

Don’t let a potential candidate slip through your fingers simply because you don’t have the right job opening for them today. Seize the opportunity to engage that candidate in a future job opportunity by allowing them to apply for a future fit position. If you do this, be sure that you source your ATS when new positions become available to ensure that you re-engage these candidates who have expressed an interest in your company.

9. Explain your hiring process

Job seekers want to understand your hiring process. They want to know the expected steps it takes to get hired, and they want to know what they can expect from you in this process. Providing an explanation of your hiring process either through text or video can help to manage candidates’ expectations and answer some of their questions on the front end.

After you’ve completed the suggestions above, consider taking it a step further! Reviewing your entire recruitment process annually – from application to offer to acceptance – is a great way to ensure that you’re creating a welcoming, efficient, and attractive process for potential talent to follow should they want to join your team.

Thank you to Samantha Kelly, Sr. Sales & Marketing Strategist, and Stephanie Kolodziejski, Talent Acquisition Consultant, for updating this HR Question of the Week.

Do you need help creating or updating your Careers page? Give us a call! Our expert Talent Acquisition Consultants can help evaluate, streamline, and suggest ways to build efficiencies into your recruitment process. Or better yet, take it off your hands completely! Visit our Outsourced Recruitment page for more information on how we can help you effectively and efficiently find your next employee.

How Can We Reduce Bias in Recruitment Processes?

Last Updated August 16th, 2023
in Recruitment

HR Question:

Our team is learning about bias in the workplace, and as a result, we’re re-examining many of our own processes to see how we can improve. How can we reduce bias in our recruitment processes?

HR Answer:

First, let’s define “bias.” A bias is “a tendency to believe that some people, ideas, etc., are better than others that usually results in treating some people unfairly.” Whether we are aware or not, we all have biases. Most biases we have may be unconscious – meaning we don’t know we have or show them. And if we don’t know that we exhibit bias, it may explain how easily these preferences can creep into hiring and other employment practices.

You may find bias in your recruitment process at any point, whether that’s in your ad language, or where you recruit, all the way through interviews, assessments, evaluations, and offers. So, the first step is to understand different types of bias that can occur, followed by identifying specific ways to avoid falling into the pitfalls they create.

Types of Bias to Be Aware Of

Here are a few common interview and evaluation biases we consistently see have the most impact. Simply being aware of them can help interviewers and hiring managers reduce these tendencies.

Halo/Horn Effect

Also connected to anchoring bias or first impression biases, this bias creates a tendency to judge based on a piece of information received first, regardless of the value of it or what’s heard or seen later. This positive or negative impression then carries too much weight, allowing valuable information that follows to lose value and not get the attention it deserves.

For example, maybe the candidate’s first answer wasn’t strong. The rest of their answers may be exactly what you need, but as a result, you discounted everything positive after you heard one thing you didn’t like. Consider how differently you may have treated the interview or rated them if that “poor” answer was not until the end of the interview.

“Like Me” or Preferential Bias

People innately like those who are like them. This can lead interviewers to rate candidates like (or perceived like) themselves higher. This preferential bias keeps interviewers from rating candidates by actual relevant skills or qualifications.

Stereotypes

We all know this term. Consider its impacts in this scenario: you see a candidate from a company where you had a past employee who was a poor performer. Are you already thinking they will not be good performers too?

Desperation Bias

In this tight labor market, it’s tough to find multiple candidates who meet your requirements. You may have just one to interview after an exhaustive search. When your choice is to hire or not hire, sometimes the desire of feeling less stressed and simply getting the position filled makes the decision for you. That desperation bias comes in leading to a strong temptation to hire now, take a chance, and live with any regret or poor hiring decision – no matter the cost.

How Can We Reduce Bias in Recruiting?

There are numerous practices and policies in the recruitment process where you can look to reduce bias, so here are a few key areas to review:

Check the verbiage in your job ads and qualifications.

Don’t let your job ads limit your ability to attract a diverse pool of candidates. We suggest removing single-gendered wording. Review your requested qualifications of specific education and consider whether that unnecessarily eliminates someone who has the skills or experience, but doesn’t have the degree. List open-ended years required (i.e., 5+ years) instead of 5-7 years to avoid unintentionally showing a bias against older applicants.

Use a structured interview process.

Consistently use the same interview questions for candidates for the same job. This will keep your interviews on target, relevant, and job-related with less potentially-biased questions.

Have each interviewer use and complete standardized evaluation guides.

When the interviewer is scoring candidates on the same outlined criteria (tech skills, accountability, effective communication, etc.), it lessens the chance of other evaluation criteria and biases being used.

Consider a telephone interview as the first step.

Go old school! Yes, while video interviews can be easy and efficient, they’re best used toward the end of the process in lieu of in-person interviews. With a phone interview, you can ensure you have not screened someone out too soon based on any biases for age, race, or something else not job-relevant (like a surprising hair color or tattoo). Another added benefit? Candidates are usually less nervous and typically share more examples while at ease on a call versus video.

Enlist multiple interviewers in the process.

It can be tempting to have one or two people conducting interviews, but by including more interviewers with multiple perspectives, you’ll have more input and data points while being less likely swayed by just one person’s bias. You’re almost guaranteed a better-matched hire as well.

Don’t share all your feedback with other interviewers right away.

Avoid discussing specifics unless you need the next interviewer to probe further or ask something important you forgot. Listening to others’ feedback prior to your interview can bring their biases into your interview.

By implementing these best practices in your organization’s talent acquisition processes, not only will you reduce biases and diversify your workforce, but you will be also adhering to EEOC guidelines.

Special thanks to Andrea Whalen, Senior HR Business Strategist, for contributing to this edition of our HR Question of the Week.

Looking for ways to reduce bias and create streamlined recruitment processes? Strategic HR can help! Whether it’s taking on your recruiting function or analyzing internal processes for improvements, our team of recruitment experts can help you reach your talent acquisition goals. Check out our Outsourced Recruitment page or contact us today to learn more!

Should I Use a Pre-Screen Questionnaire For Job Applicants?

Last Updated August 16th, 2023
in Recruitment

HR Question:

Should we use a pre-screen questionnaire for job applicants? Isn’t that just another step in the process that takes more time? Why should we use them?

HR Answer:

Recruiting is hard. Screeners can make it…well, a little less hard. You take the time to craft a perfectly worded job ad, place it online, and pray the ideal candidate applies soon. Then, your job posts either bring in only a handful of applicants or you get so many applicants that you don’t have time to review all the resumes. This is where spending 20 minutes upfront to create a pre-screen questionnaire when you post your job online can help save you hours later. You can get your applicant list down to the most qualified shortlist.

When trying to implement pre-screening processes, you will want to follow a few best practices to make the most of your time.

Use five or fewer screening questions

Your questions should be job-related and relevant, getting at the “must-haves” or “must-know” items. Keep most questions easy to answer with a Yes or No such as “Have you used Tableau for Data Visualization?” or “Are you willing to travel every week for two overnights?” Sparingly use questions requiring a longer answer such as “Tell us a recent example of how you closed your last sales deal.” These are best used during a phone or in-person interview.

Send your pre-screen questionnaire in a Word document or PDF if necessary

Do you get your applicants from other sources that are not online job boards? Send a short pre-screen questionnaire in PDF or Word to those applicants before you conduct a phone or in-person interview. This can be effective even when you don’t get an abundance of resumes yet still prefer to narrow the applicant pool. Once you have selected a handful of qualified candidates, you can spend your quality time interviewing by phone, video, or in person.

Leverage online skills assessment tests

Some job boards, such as Indeed or LinkedIn, offer skills screeners to save both you and the candidate time. You can have the skills tests sent automatically to all applicants or simply request it of just those whose resumes show the most potential. These skills screening assessments can give you a score for accounting skills, customer service, software, and so much more. These assessments are often free and take the candidate just minutes to do while saving your organization hours finding those stars.

Build questions into your organization’s careers page

This method is great when you’re advertising and drawing applicants in from places other than online job boards. You can still prescreen those applicants no matter the source. Many applicant tracking systems such as Taleo, Greenhouse, and Workable give you the option to add custom screening questions with each new job you list on your website, beyond those on your standard application. Keep these additional questions to fewer than five to avoid a lengthy application.

When not to use a pre-screen questionnaire

Are there times when using a screener or adding a screening skills assessment is not appropriate? Sure! For more senior-level positions, particularly ones that may have a large impact on your company’s strategy or bottom line, have a brief conversation with them up front if their resume looks like a fit. That quick conversation could address the same questions you would ask in a screener but has a personal and professional touch that would indicate your interest and their status in the recruitment process quickly. The same could go for any candidate you have found through networking or a referral as well.

Don’t forget that screeners and pre-screening questions should follow the same standards that you would follow when asking interview questions. Wondering what you can or cannot ask? Check out our Legal Interview Question Guidelines for more information.

Thank you to Andrea Whalen, Senior HR Business Strategist, for contributing to this HR Question of the Week.

Recruitment is more than just posting a job ad. It takes a targeted message, the right sources, and lots of follow-up. But recruiting doesn’t have to take up all of your time and money! Our team at Strategic HR knows what it takes to attract, hire, and retain the best employees. Check out our Outsourced Recruitment page to learn more or contact us for recruiting help!

How Can I Stop Candidates From Ghosting After Accepting an Offer?

Last Updated October 12th, 2022
in Recruitment

HR Question:

It’s a tough market right now! It feels like every time we find the right candidate and extend an offer, candidates will accept the offer but then ghost or decline before their first day. What can I do differently to ensure my candidates stop ghosting after accepting an offer?

HR Answer:

So, your offer was accepted and a start date for your new hire has been established – congratulations! Unfortunately, the phenomenon of candidates ghosting or changing their minds before a start date has become even more frequent in today’s market. Despite accepting an offer of employment, candidates are still entertaining counteroffers and continue to interview even though they may have signed an offer letter and completed a background check and drug screen. “Yes” no longer means “accepted” until a new hire shows up on the first day.

In recent years, Indeed found that 65% of employers surveyed said that they had candidates accept an offer and fail to show up for their first day – proving that a signed offer letter is certainly not the definitive and final stage of recruitment. So how are hiring managers and recruiters supposed to reduce the chance of a candidate ghosting after accepting an offer?

Prepare to Spend the Time (and Money)

With the current labor shortage, employers are competing for many of the same candidates. Since we are faced with a candidate-driven market, employers have to think about how to engage with new hires (pre-start date) differently.

What does that mean? Most likely – more time and more money. But before you click away from this article, consider this: a recent benchmarking analysis from the Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM) found that the average cost of a hire is $4,700, but when factoring in time, the impact to productivity, the emotional toll on the team, and the cost of competition, the true cost of hiring could be up to three or four times the employee’s salary.

By investing in building and nourishing the candidate’s experience with the company, recruiters increase the chances of acceptance of the offer, reduce the time and money costs to the team, and create a hard stop on the job search front. Small up-front costs, like a welcome basket with company swag sent to the new hire’s home prior to the start date or taking them out to lunch or dinner to meet the team ahead of time, can be a welcoming touch to encourage staying on board.

Welcome Them to the Team

Nobody wants to join a team where they’re not wanted. Make it abundantly clear to your new team member that not only are they welcomed, but they’re also an exciting addition to the team! Some ways to do this are sending emails or notes from team members ahead of time welcoming them and sharing tips for success as a new hire. Or maybe, it could look like asking the team member to share details about themselves so that current employees can find common interests to share with the new hire, making them feel like they’ve got a built-in network with easy topics to talk about from the beginning.

Don’t Be Afraid to Overcommunicate

While your initial response may be to hold back in order to not scare the candidate, the more you can communicate, the better and calmer they’ll feel. Consider sending the itinerary for the new hire’s first day in advance so they know who they’ll be meeting and how the day will flow. Company newsletters or videos of top management media or milestones may help them feel clued in and in the loop. Encourage them to settle into the company and the industry by inviting them to participate in networking events or company gatherings prior to starting so they feel like they have a leg up.

Adopting an engaging strategy to prevent new hires from ghosting after accepting an offer is critical. Regular communication with a candidate during their transition period (typically, as they give their 2-to-3-week notice) will help them feel they’ve made a great decision.

At the end of the day, it is the candidate’s decision. But employers can make the decision to stay an easy one by building an attractive and encouraging engagement process from acceptance to the first day. From there, it’s on to onboarding!

Special thanks to Tracy Walker and Sammie Kelly for contributing to this edition of our HR Question of the Week!

Strategic HR Business Advisors provide a variety of resources to help you find the help you need. We offer outsourced recruiting or contract assistance. We can create a plan that’s custom fit for your specific recruitment needs. Please visit our Recruitment page for more information.

How Can I Improve My Recruitment Processes?

Last Updated March 30th, 2023
in Recruitment

HR Question:

We’re in desperate need of the right talent, but I can’t seem to attract or engage the number of candidates I need! How can I improve my recruitment processes to attract more candidates?

HR Answer:

You’re not alone! Recruiting the right talent is a challenge in almost every industry and market right now. Because the competition for candidates is incredibly tight, employers everywhere are looking internally to find ways to improve their recruitment processes to catch more prospective employees. By eliminating barriers for candidates and making the job search and application process engaging, efficient, and user-friendly, employers can see an increase in their candidate flow, further increasing the likelihood of finding the right candidates for their organization.

So, let’s dive in to identify what employers can do to attract more candidates – without losing them during the application process.

Optimize Your Job Ad

First, make sure your job ad is designed to show off your company by highlighting the areas that candidates want to know more about – the culture, the day-to-day, what success looks like, and why they would want to join your organization. What makes you stand out against your competition? Take note of these reasons and work them into the ad, as just placing your job description on your company’s career page is not likely to attract many candidates. Paint the picture of your company and the open role with clear and concise language, limited bullet points, and the key requirements of the position.

Consider researching similar positions in your area for popular job titles to make sure you are not reducing your audience by titling your position something unfamiliar to your target applicant pool. For example, don’t name your Customer Service Representative a “Client Wizard” or “People Pleasing Person.” While the titles may bring a smile to your face, they won’t show up in basic keyword searches.

Although it may cause some hesitation, it is also recommended to include the salary range in your job post, even if it is a broad range. Research has proven that candidates are more likely to apply if they know the compensation range, and it eliminates time down the line by not considering candidates significantly out of range.

Cast a Wide Net to Attract More Candidates

Now that your job ad is written, it is time to get the right eyes on it! In order to make sure you’re spending your time and money to optimize your return on investment, take some time to do a brief search of where similar positions are being advertised. Check out any applicant stats that the job board may highlight about those roles. How many people have applied? How long has it been posted? Are there other similar positions posted on the site? This will help you understand if this is where your desired audience might be found.

If you have the budget to advertise your job, use it. If not, there are also online recruitment platforms where you can post your positions for free, most of which take little time to use and can help with visibility. You can also look for local, county, or state job networks where you can share your position for free. You may want to consider joining some professional associations or alumni groups on LinkedIn and Facebook that align with your organization so that you can share your open positions. You can also use your involvement in these organizations and groups to build a network from which you can source current and future candidates.

Keep It Simple

Once you have a candidate interested, it is important to make your application process as simple as possible. Keeping the process short and simple will help convert the number of views of your job into completed applications. Mobile-friendly application processes are now “a must,” rather than considered “nice to have.” In fact, almost 60% of job seekers apply via a mobile device, so having a long application results in fewer completed applications.

Several job posting platforms allow candidates to apply with one click, which has become an increasingly popular option for applicants and recruiters alike. If you do require an application, first make sure it is mobile-friendly and that your system can auto-populate employment history from the applicant’s resume. Any additional screening questions should be yes or no questions and only those things that are essential to the position at the application stage in your process (i.e., age requirements or required certifications). Save any other questions for later in the recruitment and hiring process.

If you want to improve your recruitment processes, it won’t necessarily require a full overhaul of your entire department. Particularly when departments might feel stretched thin or understaffed, simplifying the steps required and creating targeted materials can make the process easier on both the recruiter and the candidates. Consider taking some time today to review your processes and find ways to simplify your steps!

Special thanks to Lisa Johnson, CIR, and Samantha Osborne Kelly for contributing to this HR Question of the Week.

What’s the Most Effective Way to Use Panel Interviews?

Last Updated March 30th, 2023
in Recruitment

HR Question:

As a retention and growth opportunity, we have decided to shift to panel interviews to engage our team members in the hiring process. What’s the most effective way to use panel interviews?

HR Answer:

Panel interviews, when planned properly, can greatly exceed the effectiveness of single interviewer methods.

Why Single Interviewer Methods Can Be Difficult

From the perspective of an interviewer, conducting an effective interview can be a challenging task. The interviewer must concentrate on asking good questions and listening to the candidate’s responses. At the same time, the interviewer has to formulate an appropriate follow-up question, monitor how much time is left, jot down interview notes and, most importantly, pay close attention to both verbal and non-verbal responses of the interviewee. These tasks altogether create distractions that cause an interviewer to miss important cues from the candidate.

Panel interviewing addresses the shortcomings of the single interviewer method. As the Society of Human Resources shares, panel interviews allow interviewers to get a broader picture of the candidate and their experience while observing the candidate’s verbal and non-verbal responses and taking good notes. From the candidate’s perspective, it can significantly reduce the amount of time that they must spend interviewing with the employer as compared to interviewing with several employees separately.

How to Build an Effective Interviewing Panel

The interview panel generally should consist of three to five members with one of those individuals playing the role of panel facilitator. Whenever possible, the panel should represent the diversity of your organization. Although the specific individuals selected to participate on an interview panel will most likely change based on the positions you are seeking to fill, once a panel is selected for a particular role, the members of that panel should stay consistent until the position is filled. Panel members should receive training on effective interviewing techniques and be briefed in advance regarding their role in meeting with the candidates.

Before each interview, the panel facilitator will be responsible for a few tasks, such as assigning questions to each panel member, establishing the expectations of the panel, briefing the panel on certain areas for more emphasis or depth of questioning depending on the candidate’s situation, as well as distributing the materials to be used by the panel — candidate resume, application, interview guide, job description, etc. Ideally, these materials should be provided ahead of time for each panel member to review in advance.

During the interview, the facilitator will introduce the candidate to the panel, monitor time and, after the candidate has departed, lead the evaluation and consensus rating of the candidate. Preferably, panel facilitators should have good leadership skills, interviewing experience, and consensus-building skills.

The “Flow” of an Effective Panel Interview

The best panel interviews follow a sequence that allows panel members to get the most information from the candidate. Effective panel interviews will naturally follow the same steps.

First, introductions are made by the main facilitator, who will also detail the process for the candidate. The facilitator should let the candidate know there will be time for their questions at the end, so the candidate can feel at ease.

Using the same interview guide, the facilitator and other panel members will take turns asking questions of the candidate. It’s important that other panel members remain silent and take note of the candidate’s responses when it isn’t their turn to allow the candidate to focus on responding to only one person, as well as to make sure they’ve accurately captured the candidate’s thoughts. Once the panel members’ and candidate’s questions are answered, the facilitator will tell the candidate what to expect next and will escort the candidate from the interview room.

Afterward, the facilitator will lead the discussion on the candidate’s responses, qualifications, and ratings for each area questioned during the interview. Panel members will discuss their ratings, point out the basis for their evaluations, compare their decisions, and support their observations. Finally, a consensus on next steps should be reached.

The Importance of Reducing Candidate Stress

The most effective interviews provide candidate responses that are candid and thorough. Candidate stress can inhibit straightforward responses and reduce the effectiveness of the interview. Therefore, a genuine attempt should be made to put the interviewee at ease. This can be done in several ways, such as:

Giving the candidate enough warning that this will be a panel interview, along with background information on each panelist to help the candidate have a better idea of who they will be meeting with.
Avoid seating panel members behind a massive table or facing the applicant as if it were an interrogation or a trial by jury.
Make sure that each interviewer finishes asking all of their assigned questions before others ask follow-up questions. Without this, the candidate may feel interrogated rather than engaging in an open dialogue.

Special thanks to Terry Wilson, SPHR, SHRM-SCP, Senior HR Business Advisor for contributing to this edition of our HR Question of the Week!

Could you use some help in recruiting the best talent for your organization? Learn about our Recruitment Services, or better yet, Contact Us to find out how we can help.

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Top 3 Reasons Why New Hires Leave… And How to Turn Around Your Turnover!

Last Updated March 30th, 2023
in Employee Relations, Recruitment

HR Question:

We’re struggling with high turnover, and what’s particularly frustrating is to see so many new hires leave. What can we do to retain our new hires?

HR Answer:

We have endured a pandemic and in its wake, US employers are experiencing record-high turnover rates resulting from the “great resignation.” It sounds like your business is in the thick of navigating through this. Like many others, you are probably spending more time and money recruiting, onboarding, and training employees, only to see new hires leave sooner and sooner. It is estimated that 20-40% of new hires leave in their first 90 days. This leaves many employers scratching their heads asking, “Why can’t we keep our new employees?”

When a new hire leaves a position early in their employment, it is typically for one of three reasons:

The job did not turn out to be what they expected
They do not feel a part of the team
The business down the street offered more money

I’ll discuss each of these turnover reasons below and share specific actions you can take to address these issues.

What to do if your new hires leave

When you experience turnover, your first step should be to find out why your employees are leaving. Have HR or someone other than the direct supervisor take a few minutes to reach out and talk to the departing employee. Most people want to express their frustrations, and you can learn a great deal by asking a few prompting questions followed by listening carefully. If an employee left without warning, text them and ask for a brief response with no pressure to provide more than a reason.

When the job is NOT what the employee expected…

Candidates are not typically good interviewers. When coaching people in their career search, I always remind them that they are responsible for interviewing the company as thoroughly as the company is interviewing them. They should have a list of questions for the interviewers that help them evaluate the organization’s culture, work environment, leadership, development, and advancement opportunities. But most importantly, they have to get a clear picture of the job duties to determine if they will enjoy them and have what it takes to be successful in the role. Many candidates are just so nervous they don’t take the time to do their own investigating which can result in new hires leaving.

So what can you do? Help your candidates by filling in these blanks during the interview. Continue to note whether the candidate has questions or has done any research on the company (this says something about the candidates’ preparedness), provide a copy of the job description, and give them a company tour, but go above and beyond this.

Paint a realistic picture of the job and the company for candidates by:

Job Shadowing – Have candidates spend time following an employee doing the same/similar job, so they can see first-hand what the job entails.
Walking the Job – Walk through the job site with the candidate. Have them talk through what they see, what they would do in this situation, what resources they need, and what questions they have.
Providing a Job/Company Presentation – Create a presentation for job candidates with videos of the jobs being performed (or borrow one of the hundreds provided by the Department of Labor’s Careeronestop page) along with pictures of the work environment, your culture, organization structure, compensation programs and benefits, etc. You can use this with groups of candidates when you are hiring multiple people for similar roles.
Including Multiple Employees in Interviews – Allow the candidates to speak to multiple employees, including the direct supervisor, members of the team, and another person doing the same/similar job. These company representatives should have prepared information to share about the job and company and be ready to answer candidate questions.

Painting a clear picture of the job will help some candidates self-select out of the applicant pool, but that is what you want. Then you are left with the candidates who have a realistic picture of the job and your organization who WANT to work for you.

When the New Hire Doesn’t Feel Part of the Team…

Think about a time when you walked into a room with a group of people and had a hard time connecting with anyone there. You probably felt like an outsider and wanted to leave the group. This happens more than we want to admit, especially in a new job. When you do not feel “a part” of something, it is very easy to walk away, assuming no one will notice or care when you’re gone. So, it’s not surprising that new hires leave when they don’t feel connected.

Build new employees’ connections with:

Daily Check-ins (or at each scheduled shift) – Ask a simple question about their day, a current project, their weekend, technology, who they have met, or what help they need to do their work that day. It doesn’t have to be more than five minutes, but just connecting reminds them that you know they are there. And it doesn’t hurt to tell them that you are glad they are there!
Team Mentor/Buddy – Some organizations use a formal buddy or mentor program, which is very beneficial. If your organization is too small for a formal program, do it informally. Just ask another person to reach out to the new hire at least weekly for the first three months. This person can invite the new hire to join their group for lunch or answer questions that the new employee may not feel comfortable asking their supervisor.
Plan for Virtual Employees – Don’t forget your virtual employees, as this can be the most challenging group to keep connected. For some creative ideas, check out this article from Scavify.

When a Competitor Offers More Money…

Budgets will be stretched this year as rising compensation and inflation are big challenges employers are facing. Money is being thrown at applicants in the form of higher hourly rates and salaries, signing bonuses, retention bonuses, performance bonuses, etc. This results in employees jumping (or being recruited) from one employer to the next to get a quick bump in pay. It is easy for competitors to entice new hires to leave when they are not happy with or feel disconnected from the job or the company culture from the start.

Address employee compensation by:

Assessing the Market – Learn what current pay rates are for jobs in your industry and location and compensate your employees fairly. If you don’t have the time or expertise to collect and analyze the data, you can reach out to an external compensation & benefits expert to assist in providing benchmark compensation reports for comparison.
Offering Competitive Pay That Can be Maintained – Ensure that higher pay rates/bonuses for new employees DO NOT:
- Put such a strain on the budget that you will not be able to continue paying that rate or cause you to hire fewer workers than needed therefore making existing employees’ jobs even harder; and/or
- Create pay inequities with existing staff to cause them to walk away.
Showcasing Internal Career Paths – Show new employees what their job will look like in six months, a year, two years, and how their compensation will increase so they have something to work toward.
Communicating Your Value – Your recruiting strategy must include the intrinsic value your organization offers (benefits, culture, career path) going beyond compensation. This is the time to develop a Total Compensation Statement if you don’t already have one, and then live up to the hype of what makes your organization great. Check out these fun recruiting videos shared by Builtin to see how they share their messages.

While we will likely continue to see high turnover in the coming year according to economists, there are strategies your organization can take to retain your employees, especially your newest and most vulnerable new hires. A little extra time and money spent in doing these things will save an exorbitant amount spent in turnover.

Thank you to Lorrie Diaz, Senior HR Business Advisor with the Strategic HR Business Advisors team, for contributing to this HR Question of the Week.

If your organization is struggling with high turnover, Strategic HR can help you to understand what’s going wrong and identify the necessary steps to increase employee engagement and retention. Contact Us to turn around your turnover!

Image of HR Wheel of Services emphasizing Benefits and Compensation Services from Strategic HR Business Advisors

How Can I Use Salary Benchmarking As a Recruitment Strategy?

Last Updated October 12th, 2022
in Benefits & Compensation, Recruitment

HR Question:

Like many companies, we’re struggling with recruiting right now. I’ve been tasked with doing salary benchmarking to see if compensation is part of the problem, but I’m not sure how to go about doing it. Can you advise me on how to tackle the benchmarking process?

HR Answer:

Attracting and hiring talent is one of the most challenging yet critical processes for any organization. Descriptions of a welcoming work environment, rich benefit offerings, and career growth are frequently at the top of the most attractive attributes that organizations tout in their job ads, but one feature stands out among the rest – salary. If you are struggling to hire the talent that you need and your organization has not assessed the market pay rates for your positions, or if it has been a while since you’ve done this analysis, then it will be very beneficial to gather salary benchmarking data to ensure that you’re offering a competitive and attractive salary, particularly in a candidate’s market.

What is Salary Benchmarking?

Salary benchmarking is a process in which companies compare their internal salaries to those of other competitive companies to understand the market average. This allows them to create compensation structures and programs that can meet (if not beat) other competitors in the industry and attract top talent.

But beyond attracting talent, salary benchmarking can also take steps towards reducing costs, rather than just increasing them. Consider the average amount of time and money that goes into hiring, onboarding, training, and equipping new employees. Then, picture your bottom line should a candidate leave soon after joining the team for a higher, more competitive salary – one you had the ability to offer in the first place. And now, the process has to start all over again due to a more competitive offer. So how can organizations reduce the frequency of these situations through salary benchmarking?

How to Begin Salary Benchmarking

First, determine the roles you want to benchmark and create descriptions for each of them. The descriptions should include key job responsibilities, skills, education, and experience criteria. Next, determine the market criteria you want to compare against. Factors to consider are companies within the same industry, geography, organizations of similar size, and cost of living.

After you have established your criteria, conduct external research and compile salary data by comparing your roles against similar roles in the market(s) you’ve identified. Salary data can be found through several sources including the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), online salary surveys, job posting websites, compensation reports, and third-party providers. Keep in mind, when using free online resources, be sure to reference several sources as the data may not be up to date or completely accurate.

Once you’ve compiled external salary data for each job, establish an internal pay range that aligns closely with the external market. Salary ranges should include a minimum and maximum pay range, and a mid-point that lies within 50% of the range. Once you understand what your organization is able to pay, use the salary range to create a compensation and recruitment strategy for your organization. For example, are you able to pay “at market”, meaning your pay is at a level that matches the market average salary for a specific job? Alternatively, you may opt to pay ‘above market’ and offer a higher rate of pay than other companies in the market. Company and employee performance, the company’s financial ability to pay, and overall business strategy should drive the compensation philosophy you adopt.

I Have My Compensation Strategy… Now What?

Adhere to your compensation strategy and salary ranges to maintain both internal and external salary equity for your employees. In other words, internal employees within the same job classification and similar experience levels should be paid similarly to their internal counterparts. New hires should be paid within the established pay range of the position and their pay should be commensurate with their level of experience. An employee’s placement in the salary range should align with their overall experience level and tenure. Entry-level hires should be paid toward the lower 25% percentile of the range while more experienced employees should be paid between the 50% mid-point or 75% percentile of the range.

What About My Current Staff?

What happens when the candidates you’re recruiting for all have higher salary demands than the salaries of your current staff? It could mean your salary structure is out of date and lagging behind what the market is offering. Or, there may be dynamic forces in place which have drastically shifted salaries – such as inflation, increased competition, or a major market event.

In either case – it’s best to research, validate, and adjust the starting salaries for the positions you’re recruiting for rather than continue to offer below-market wages. These lower wages can not only hurt your recruitment efforts but also compound any “below-market” compensation issue you’re experiencing. Instead, conduct an internal analysis of positions and/or employees who are being underpaid and develop a strategy to bring pay up in line with the marketplace. This may require an immediate adjustment to salaries or, a long-term plan which brings salaries up over time.

Lastly, in addition to starting rates and salaries, hiring managers and HR professionals should also benchmark what other perks are being offered to attract talent. Sign-on bonuses, flexible work hours, and enhanced time-off benefits are just a few of the perks offered by employers today to help attract staff and retain staff.

Special thanks to Terry Salo, Senior HR Business Partner, for contributing to this HR Question of the Week.

Need assistance in benchmarking your organization’s salaries? Strategic HR can help! Contact us to get started.

How can internships address your talent shortage?

Last Updated August 2nd, 2023
in Recruitment

HR Question:

We’re having a hard time meeting our business goals as we’re understaffed and finding it difficult to fill our open positions. The idea of using interns came up in a brainstorming session. Should my company consider creating an internship program to address our talent shortage?

HR Answer:

You are not alone as many companies are currently struggling to find the talent that they need. It is smart to be thinking about various ways to address your talent gaps, and internships can be a great way to help lighten your current workloads while providing helpful work experience to college students. They also give you the chance to groom potential future employees.

How a lack of internships has impacted college students, aka your future employees

In 2020, the number of internships that were completely removed or scaled back was significant. It’s understandable that internships, which by design are temporary and transitional in nature, were affected by the pandemic. However, it’s important to recognize the impact of the reduction of available internships on college students, aka your future employees.

First, college students depend on internships to solidify their field of choice and receive relevant work experience. With fewer internships, many students are graduating unsure and unprepared. According to Forbes, “About three out of four students said losing their internship has caused significant disruption to their future.”

Secondly, 2020 and 2021 college graduates who couldn’t complete internships are finding it difficult to secure full-time positions in their fields. Their resumes are lacking the robust one or two internships experiences that employers, like you, are typically looking for.

When companies are recruiting to fill full-time positions, they often look for candidates who can bring some relevant experience. Previous experience, particularly through internships and co-ops for new college grads, can provide relevant work experience to help them hit the ground running in a full-time post-graduation role. It’s difficult to get experience if internships are not offered. Hence, the argument for the value of internships for both the students and employers.

How internships can address labor shortages, fill your talent pipeline, and create brand awareness

As you’ve likely experienced, the hiring landscape is challenging for many positions. With labor shortages created by fewer available workers than open jobs (.7 person for every open job according to BLS), coupled with the Great Resignation, employers are struggling to fill many of their open positions. As the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) reported, internships have “proved advantageous for companies that need some extra help but can’t afford to take on new staff or hire a temp.” We encourage you to look at how you can leverage internships to get meaningful work done that helps you to meet your business goals.

In addition to addressing immediate needs, training college students for your future employment is a forward-thinking recruiting strategy. Hiring an intern is one of the best ways to “try before buying” your next employee. It also gives interns an insider’s perspective on what it’s like to work in your organization which can lead to increased new hire retention rates as they have a realistic view of what it’s like to work at your company.

Offering a meaningful internship program also shines a positive light and message to the community. It helps to increase brand awareness among upcoming college grads, which is particularly important for small to mid-sized companies who may not be household names, yet excellent places to work.

How to create an internship program

If you don’t already have an internship program in place or a former one that you can dust off, it can feel overwhelming to get started. There are many resources available to help create or revise an internship program such as these employer internship resources. You may also want to review the 15 best practices for internship programs according to the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE). In general, it is important to provide a meaningful experience where the intern is introduced and welcomed into your company culture, gains valuable work experience, and helps your organization to meet your goals.

One of the benefits of having experienced a year or more of learning online, today’s college students are highly adept at working remotely. Typical summer internships can now be offered year-round, remote, or hybrid. As Forbes points out, “A virtual internship today might be pretty good preparation for the remote work of tomorrow.” In addition, students can continue remote learning and have an internship concurrently, if needed. It can be a win-win for the student and your company.

Offering paid internships will not only make the positions easier to fill, but depending on the school(s) they attend and/or local, state, or federal laws, you may be required to provide compensation. Be sure to understand the law(s) around paid versus unpaid internships in determining compensation.

Bottom line, now is a great time to consider offering an internship program. There are many benefits for college students and for you, their future employer.

Special thanks to Cindy Eldred, Talent Acquisition Consultant, for contributing to this HR Question of the Week.

Are you wondering whether an internship program could help to meet your talent needs? Would you like to start an internship program but just don’t have the time to do it? Our talent acquisition experts are happy to help! Contact us today.

Why Do My Candidates Keep Dropping Out?

Last Updated August 2nd, 2023
in COVID-19, Recruitment

What Features Should I Consider in a New Applicant Tracking System?

Last Updated August 2nd, 2023
in Recruitment

HR Question:

My company is considering purchasing an Applicant Tracking System to help organize and bolster our recruitment process. There are so many options out there in the market! What Applicant Tracking System features should we keep in mind as we go through our search?

HR Answer:

As we roll into 2021, companies are beginning to see an increase in demand and are eagerly preparing for an uptick in business as the push for “normalcy” continues. With an increase in business comes an increase in the need for talent, which can cause a scramble for candidates if companies are unprepared. However, by implementing an Applicant Tracking System (ATS), organizations can be better prepared to tackle their talent needs. The options are endless and easily overwhelming, so it is important to know what key features and functions of an ATS will support your organization’s recruitment goals.

At the beginning of 2020, Strategic HR went through the process of selecting a new Applicant Tracking System and learned several lessons along the way. Through our research and experience, we discovered a myriad of categories to prioritize in our search and have created a go-to list of categories and questions to consider as you navigate your ATS search.

Budget

Just as with any large software purchase, it’s key to identify a range for how much you’re willing to spend before you begin your search. This will determine the level of implementation support you can achieve, the number of technical questions or concerns you can submit post-implementation, and the level of customization you have with the system.

Customization / Setup

Once you have established your budget, evaluate the flexibility of the systems within that budget range. Can you adjust and customize the system to work with your organization’s recruitment workflow and hiring needs? Can this customization be done alone or does it require additional involvement and potential cost from the vendor? How easy is it to configure and update the process flow as your recruitment needs and team structure adjust? What is the implementation and set up timeframe? All of these questions will determine not only the time required to set up and implement the program, but also the time that is taken up later by questions, concerns, and changes that inevitably come about when working with a new system.

Recruitment Flow

How customizable is the workflow? How easy is it to see all of the candidate information from their resume to their LinkedIn profile, past job submissions, notes from other recruiters on the team? How easy is it to see and move candidates through the different steps in the recruitment process? Can you send communications, application forms, and schedule interviews through the ATS? How well does the system automate the recruitment process from auto-populating candidate’s information to scheduled automated messaging for candidates throughout the interview process?

Parsing

Parsing is the process of moving candidates from your job portal or your email into your ATS. How seamless is that process now, and what improvements can the system make to the process as it stands today? Does the system automatically input candidate contact and address information from their resume? Does the ATS recognize and flag duplicate candidates in the system? Does the system automatically parse in candidates who apply through certain job boards? How easy is it to determine if a candidate is submitting a new resume for a job, or one you already have on file? Does the system also parse in any cover letters, references, and certification information for easy review? How well does the ATS track the requisition ID and referral source of a candidate for reporting purposes?

Sourcing / Screening

How fast and accurate are the search capabilities? Can the system search multiple online sources for key skills and easily parse them in as a candidate profile? Can you search, add prospects to your new ATS account, and contact them directly in just one quick submission? Can you create tags for key skills and prospect folders for future recruitment and highlight strong future candidates?

Job Posting / Employer Branding

Your employer brand is one of the most vital (and free!) pieces to a successful recruitment process. It’s important to protect and maintain that brand through any job posting or career portal you use. So, as you begin to explore the system’s career portal capabilities, ask if the career portal allows for employer branding and how customizable it is. How easily can you make changes to the portal and how frequently does the system update? Is the career portal mobile-friendly? How user-friendly is the candidate application process? Does the system easily integrate and push to national job boards? How many job boards does it integrate with?

Integration

You most likely already have several different systems set up to support your recruiting efforts. The more integrations a system might have, the easier the transition may be. Does the system communicate with your email provider to track communications? Does the ATS have a texting platform or integrate with one? Does the system have a calendar integration for scheduling interviews? Does the system have a CRM feature and how well does it coordinate with the ATS? Does the ATS have a video interviewing integration? Does the system integrate with any other systems, like payroll, and how customizable are the integrations?

Data Storage

What is the data storage limit on the system? This is important if you have a large amount of data to import into the ATS.

Mobile Application

If 2020 taught us one thing, it was to be ready to take our work anywhere. Does the system have a mobile application? How user-friendly is the mobile application? What features are not available on the mobile application? Does the mobile application work with Android and iOS?

Training

There’s nothing worse than diving into a new system without sufficient guidance. Ask your salesperson if training is offered as part of the implementation process? Is there an extra cost for training? Does the system offer a Help Center, and how useful is the content? Is there ongoing support and how quick is the response time from the support team?

Reporting / Analytics

Assess your reporting needs, and ask the following questions: How robust are the systems’ reporting and analytics capabilities? Can you build your own reports? Can you create recurring scheduled reports? Can you filter reports and how well is the information displayed for review? Can you easily export or share reports? Even if you don’t currently have an in-depth reporting structure, the data you collect today may help you tomorrow.

Financial Investment

Does the platform allow for unlimited users? If not, what is the cost per user in the system? While preparing for unlimited users may be more expensive at first glance, this package may benefit your organization (depending on the number of members on your team and your expansion plans in the next three to five years). How much will it cost to import/migrate your existing candidate data? Is there an additional cost for training and customer support? Is there a contract length requirement? Is there a cost associated with customization to the system or to integrate features such as text capability?

In the end, you will need to choose which applicant tracking system features mean the most to your organization. In Strategic HR’s case, we used each of these key features to review our top ten ATSs and rated each system by these features to narrow our search to the top four. We then went through multiple in-depth demos and trial runs with the sales and integration team for each system, allowing for multiple potential users to ask questions. By utilizing this step-by-step process, we were able to save time on the selection process, involve multiple team members in the search process, and clearly define those items that were top priority in a new ATS (versus wish list items).

Thank you to Lisa Johnson, CIR for contributing to this edition of our HR Question of the Week.

Need help picking out an Applicant Tracking System of your own? Call Strategic HR today at (513) 697-9855 or email us for a free recruiting consultation. Let us tackle your recruiting challenges so you can have time to do what you do best.

What Is an RPO?

Last Updated February 24th, 2020
in Recruitment

HR Question:

I keep hearing about RPOs… but I don’t have a clue what they are! What are they, and should I be looking into one?

HR Answer:

It’s nearly impossible to keep up with all of the business acronyms, new or old, so it’s not shocking that you may not have heard of an RPO – particularly if you’re outside of the HR space. An RPO – or Recruitment Process Outsourcing – can be beneficial to all kinds of companies, particularly if you’re working with limited staff dedicated to human resources.

What is an RPO?

First, the Recruitment Process Outsourcing Association defines RPOs as something akin to a business process outsourcing, where “an employer transfers all or parts of its recruitment processes to an external service provider.” While that might sound intimidating, think of it this way – an RPO takes care of clearing your desk of resumes, pending background checks, job descriptions desperate for review, and all of the other paperwork that goes along with hiring new employees.

An RPO will require an element of transparency that you may not be used to, but don’t worry, it’s in the name of better service. An RPO will want to understand how you typically approach your recruitment process, the reason why you’ve done it this way in the past, and previous candidates that you’ve worked with or considered. This will keep the RPO team from spinning wheels already spun while making sure to move your process forward.

Benefits of an RPO

Not only does an RPO take care of the more tedious and time-consuming aspects of adding to your team, but they can also tackle some of the softer approaches that recruiting calls for in today’s market. With the additional time and attention RPO teams are able to afford candidates, they can create the “human touch” that is so often called for in a recruitment process. Don’t believe us? Check out Monster’s article on candidate experience and why it matters.

RPOs can also save you some cold hard cash. When you consider the average placement rate of many staffing firms – which ranges from 20-40% – versus the hourly rate of many RPOs, you can save thousands of dollars. For example, take your new HR Manager position. You plan to pay this person $60K a year. If you were to work through a staffing firm, that new hire could cost you $15,000, not to mention the time and energy put in by your team to hire and onboard this individual. Should you work with an RPO (with an hourly rate of $110) using an average of 55 hours to fill a position, you’re only spending $6,050 – a cost-savings of almost $9,000. Imagine taking those numbers to your CFO – you’ll be the new Finance Hero!

Is an RPO right for you?

Even if an RPO is a great process for some businesses, it’s not meant for all. Ideally, small to medium-sized businesses benefit the most from this addition, as these are the businesses that typically run on a lean or limited team. If you don’t have the resources or your plate is too full, reaching out to an outsourced resource can keep your timeline moving with a limited time commitment on your part.

If you don’t need help month-in, month-out or your needs ebb and flow more than you can plan for, an RPO may be a good fit. Ideally, their consultative approach should be able to be turned on or off when your needs call for them.

Or finally, you may need an expert or strategic partner. You and your team might recognize the limits of your understanding or knowledge in recruiting, and you’re doing your best to avoid compliance issues in your department. This would be a key opportunity to bring in a team with talent acquisition expertise.

What to look for in an RPO

While there are many RPOs out there, not all are the same. When trying to assess which RPO is right for you, consider the following items:

Expertise

If you’re handing off your recruitment process with an increased level of transparency, you want to make sure you can trust the team with which you are partnering. Take a look at the level of expertise the company boasts. What is their approach to talent acquisition? Are they thought-leaders in their industry? Are they sharing and producing relative and pressing content? Are they able to speak to providing a positive candidate experience, data analytics, and cost-savings?

Examples & Testimonials

Have others in your industry used this RPO, or others similar? Is this company able to speak to the experience that both candidates and clients have had during their time using their services? Does this company have experience in your industry and understand the nuances that might come with your jobs? If so, explore further.

Clear Communication

Can this company clearly outline their costs and how they’ll save you money? Can they provide an accurate prediction of potential costs you may encounter along the way? Are they as timely with you as they are with candidates? This may be another good reason to dig into your network and testimonials to see what others say.

Think an RPO might be a fit for you? Call Strategic HR today at (513) 697-9855 or email us for a free recruiting consultation. Let us tackle your recruiting challenges so you can have time to do what you do best.

Interview Questions to Avoid

Last Updated February 24th, 2020
in Recruitment

Question:

Are there any questions we should avoid when interviewing job candidates?

Answer:

Yes. You should avoid questions that cause an applicant to tell you about their inclusion in a protected class. Don’t ask about race, national origin, citizenship status, religious affiliation, disabilities, pregnancy, sexual orientation or gender identity, past illnesses (including use of sick leave or workers’ comp claims), age, genetic information, or military service. You should also avoid asking about things that might be protected by state law (e.g., marital status and political affiliation). If you were to ask any questions pertaining to these matters, rejected candidates could claim that your decision was based on their inclusion in these classes rather than their credentials.

The types of questions you ask a job candidate should be job-related and nondiscriminatory. This may seem obvious, but employers sometimes ask problematic questions because they believe they are job-related. For instance, an interviewer might ask an applicant if they have any back issues when they are trying to determine if the applicant can lift 25 pounds repeatedly throughout the day. Or when seeking someone to fill a position on Sundays, they might ask if the applicant is Christian or goes to church. Both of these questions are plainly discriminatory and could get an employer into significant trouble.

Thankfully, there’s a way to get this information without asking discriminatory questions. Instead of considering the things that could get in the way of an applicant doing the job and asking about those, frame the question so that it’s about the essential duties of the position. Can they lift 25 pounds all day every day? Are they available on Sunday, since that’s the day you are hiring for? Simple adjustments and precautions can go a long way toward a compliant interview process.

On a final note, you should also avoid questions that are asked purely out of curiosity (Do you have children? What kind of accent is that? What do you do for fun?), as those can easily be misconstrued as discriminatory. When in doubt, return to the job description. Make sure your questions are directly related to the essential duties and answer the ultimate question—can the applicant do the job?

Thank you to the HR Pros on our HR Support Center for this question of the week.

Strategic HR provides a variety of resources to help you find the help you need. We offer outsourced recruiting, on-site contract assistance or contingency placement. We can create a plan that’s custom fit for your specific recruitment needs. Please visit our Recruitment page for more information.

Hiring Practices in a Candidate Driven Market

Last Updated April 27th, 2023
in Recruitment

HR Question:

What best hiring practices should I have in place for a “Candidate Driven” market?

HR Answer:

Since the Great Recession in 2008 and especially over the last several years, the economy has moved from recovery mode to consistently maintaining strong growth. The latest news release from the Bureau of Labor Statistics states that the national monthly unemployment rates have been remaining steady at 3.7%, while at the same time, job numbers continue to stay positive. Many financial experts see that trend continuing for the foreseeable future.

So, what does that mean? First, it means that all job seekers have more opportunities and professional options to choose from. More importantly though, it means that the top tier candidates have the most leverage for the best opportunities. Secondly, it means that you can no longer use the same old hiring practices that you’ve used in the past when there were more candidates than there were jobs.

The easiest solution to this problem would be to simply raise wages and increase benefits to attract the top tier talent, or have employee sign on bonuses or other incentives. For most companies though, that simply is not an option. So, what can employers do to improve their ability to compete in these tough, competitive markets that are cost effective and simple to implement?

Below are some best hiring practices and strategies for hiring top tier talent in a Candidate Driven market:

Write clear and concise job ads that promote both the position and the organization. Include information and links to the company website and other social media outlets that put on display your “employment brand”. This is usually the first impression a candidate sees when introduced to your organization, so make it a great one.
Focus on candidate experience! In this market, the difficulty of the hiring process can have the most detrimental impact on a company’s ability to hire top tier candidates. There are several simple and easy steps to create a strong candidate experience:
- Utilize readily available technology to find alternate ways to reach out to candidates. In today’s world, people are always on their phones. As a result, utilizing text messaging to reach out to candidates is an effective way to communicate with candidates. This is especially true if a company has a lot of high-volume recruiting. Texting is a great way to reach a lot of candidates quickly and effectively. It boosts candidate engagement and may cut down on time spent playing phone tag.
- A recent study completed by Glassdoor found that 58% of job seekers search for new opportunities on their mobile devices, and 35% prefer to apply to positions on those devices. Be sure to offer options on your postings for candidates to easily provide links to their LinkedIn profiles or other social media.
- Simplify the ability of the candidate to post/apply to positions. Remove any unnecessary steps that make the application process lengthy or complex, which may turn off the candidates from even applying in the first place. Wait until after initial conversations with a candidate before making them complete lengthy applications or assessments. This allows for an opportunity to “sell” the position and the employment brand of the company, and to get the candidate interested to keep moving forward through those tasks.
- Implement internal best hiring practices or set expectations to ensure that new candidates are contacted within the first 24 hours after applying to a job. This can be a simple email that thanks them for their interest and includes an explanation of what the next steps in the process will be. In today’s environment, with the use of technology to apply for positions, candidates can easily feel that they are sending their resume into a black hole, never to be seen again. If the candidate doesn’t meet the qualifications, send an email letting the candidate know. The candidate will appreciate the follow up which will also help protect the employment brand of the company.
- Simplify the interview process as much as possible. Avoid having candidates come on-site multiple times for interviews. Top tier candidates are usually currently employed, which makes it very difficult for them to take time off to interview. Try to schedule as much as possible in one trip. The more that the interview process is dragged on and delayed, the more likely the candidate will get frustrated and find another opportunity. A lot of time and money is spent in the recruiting process, even up to the point of scheduling interviews and it is always costly to restart that process. If you have a good candidate, make sure that you maintain a high level of engagement and keep them interested throughout the process.
An increasingly popular trend is to offer candidates an option to spend part of a day job shadowing with current staff in the role. Depending on the role and ability for a company to do so, this may be a great opportunity for the candidate to spend time with the team and to get a sense of the culture of the organization. Of course, you need to have a strong team and organizational culture to make that effective.
Be proactive in your searches. Don’t wait for the candidate to come to you. Research organizations, social media outlets, or other networking options that are relevant to the position or company. Routinely connect with your network, share news, and let them know that you are hiring.
Sell the position to the candidate! As previously mentioned, if you are competing for the same candidates as other competing organizations, be ready to sell to the candidate on why your company will be their best choice. This is not just a discussion of pay and benefits, but more about the culture, mission of the company, and potential career growth. This is especially important when interviewing Millennials. A 2016 Gallup report, found that a full 87% of Millennials say that professional development and career growth opportunities are what is most important to them. So, if your organization does a great job of providing career paths and development opportunities, be proud of that, put that message first and foremost ahead of pay and benefits.
If your organization is utilizing a recruiting agency or firm to supplement recruiting efforts for those tough to fill positions, it is imperative to provide feedback and stay engaged in their recruiting efforts. If the agency does provide a qualified candidate, be sure to act quickly and move the candidate through the process. These are often currently employed, passive, candidates that have been sourced by the agency. They require being sold on the company and may take more effort to make them want to leave their current jobs.

Hopefully these tips and best hiring practices have sparked easy and simple ideas for you to strengthen your ability to compete for top tier candidates in a very competitive market without having to spend a lot of money. In fact, many of these are great hiring practices to implement in any market!

Are you struggling to find qualified individuals that fit your culture and make productive, long-term employees? Finding the right person to “fit” a job is a critical HR function. That’s why Strategic HR utilizes a variety of resources to help client’s source, screen and select the best candidates and employees. Please visit our Recruitment page for more information on how we can help you effectively and efficiently find your next employee.

Importance of the Careers Page and What Should Be Included

Last Updated August 9th, 2023
in Recruitment

Question:

What should we include on our company Careers page to make sure we’re keeping up with the times?

Answer:

You’re wise to have the quality of your company Careers page on your radar. This is a critical recruitment marketing tool to capture the attention of potential candidates. The content, look, and feel of your page must capture their attention fast in order to keep job seekers engaged and interested in applying. Otherwise, you lose them before they even apply. You’ll want to make sure that you seize the opportunity to showcase who you are, what you have to offer, and why job seekers would want to work at your organization.

Nine Tips to Optimize Your Careers Page:

Employer Branding: Your employer brand encompasses your mission, values, benefits/perks, and overall company culture. It can be viewed as your company’s reputation as an employer, which is a critical piece that job seekers want to understand. Although this is different than your company brand, your employer branding should be aligned with your company brand. We’ll touch upon some components of employer branding below, but to dive in further, check out this LinkedIn article, “What Is Employer Branding and How Can It Grow Your Business?”

Mission and Values: By incorporating your company’s mission and values on your Careers page, candidates can connect to your company’s purpose. It helps them to understand what’s important to your organization. A great way to showcase this can be through testimonials from your employees sharing how your values come to life in your workplace. This presents a good opportunity to ensure that you are indeed living the values that you profess for your company.

Benefits / Perks: It should be no surprise that job seekers want to know about the benefits and perks that you offer. This is a prime opportunity to market what you offer to your employees and tout why it’s great to work at your company. Check out Strategic HR’s Top 10 Employee Benefits of 2019.

Company Culture: Your company culture is what makes your organization uniquely YOU. Candidates want to have a realistic picture of what it’s like to work at your company so they can assess if it feels like a good fit for them. A powerful way to communicate your culture can be through videos. Don’t worry- this doesn’t have to be an expensive undertaking. Lighthouse research & advisory found “55% of active job seekers said employee-generated video would be more credible/trustworthy than company-produced video.”

Effective Application: If you capture the job seeker’s interest to the point where they’re ready to apply, make sure you don’t lose them in the application process! Many applications are too long, and with the number of current job openings far exceeding the available talent to fill them, job seekers can pick and choose where they want to apply. A 2018 survey conducted by SilkRoad and CareerBuilder found that “one-in-five employees gives less than 10 minutes to a job application, or two to three pages on a mobile device, before dropping off.” Make sure your application only asks for the information that you absolutely need at that stage in your selection process. It should be quick and easy to complete.

Mobile Friendly: Many candidates (particularly millennials) conduct their job search on-the-go using their mobile phones, so be sure that your Careers page is mobile friendly. To the point made above, you’ll also want to ensure that your job application is mobile optimized as well. If you’re not sure, try it out for yourself!

Job Alerts: Don’t count on job seekers to go back to your Careers page on their own if they don’t see a job opening that interests them when they first visit your page. Your Careers page should offer the opportunity for job seekers to sign up to receive job alerts for the type(s) of position(s) they want to pursue. This push notification can help to re-engage that candidate when an appropriate job becomes available.

Apply Without Job Opening: Don’t let a potential candidate slip through your fingers simply because you don’t have the right job opening for them today. Seize the opportunity to engage that candidate in a future job opportunity by allowing them to apply for a future fit position. If you do this, be sure that you source your ATS when new positions become available to ensure that you re-engage these candidates who have expressed an interest in your company.

Explain Your Hiring Process: Job seekers want to understand your hiring process. They want to know the expected steps it takes to get hired, and they want to know what they can expect from you in this process. Providing an explanation of your hiring process either through text or video can help to manage candidates’ expectations and answer some of their questions on the frontend.

After you’ve completed the suggestions above, Harver’s blog offers even more tips to optimize your company Careers page. For inspiration and examples of well designed company Careers pages, check out SmartRecruiters’ Top 10 company career pages.

Hopefully, these tips have sparked ideas for how you can strengthen your company Careers page and set your recruitment marketing efforts on a path for continued success.

Do you need help creating or updating your Careers page? Contact us right away. Otherwise, if you struggle to find qualified individuals that fit your culture and make productive, long-term employees? Finding the right person to “fit” a job is a critical HR function. That’s why Strategic HR utilizes a variety of resources to help client’s source, screen and select the best candidates and employees. Please visit our Recruitment page for more information on how we can help you effectively and efficiently find your next employee.

Emphasizing Empathy for a Successful Candidate Experience

Last Updated March 11th, 2020
in Recruitment

Question:

We’re in the process of improving our candidate experience, and we just don’t know where to start. What should we consider as we re-vamp this process?

Answer:

In an industry that contains a high percentage of rejection, talent acquisition can often times become somewhat demoralizing, both for the job seeker and the recruiter. One of the rising focuses within the recruitment industry is prioritizing the candidate experience. Companies are beginning to assess how they communicate with potential employees and the impressions they leave behind with those that aren’t a fit. As employers break down the components that make a strong candidate experience, there’s one key that comes out on top: empathy.

Before we dive further into how empathy fits into the recruiting machine, what is candidate experience? As Melinda Canino wrote in her article “Candidate Experience: How Small Tweaks Can Make a Huge Impact”, she describes candidate experience as “the collective whole of a job seeker’s interactions with and perception of a company during the recruitment and hiring process”. This means that there is so much more than just the voice behind the phone – candidate experience covers everything from the job ad to the application process to the final communication as you wrap up the requisition.

So how does empathy find its way into the process? When recruiters have that ability to understand and share in the feelings of their potential candidates, it allows them to craft their messages and actions towards them, including them in the process rather than leaving them out on an island. As Greg Savage details in his article “You Are Not In ‘Recruitment’. You Are In ‘Rejection’.”: “we are in the rejection business. And classy rejection is a skill worth refining.”

Whether or not you agree with the classification of being in the “rejection business”, everything is better with a little bit of empathy. Empathy can be demonstrated in several different ways throughout the recruiting process:

Let candidates know when you’ve received an application: many candidates are sending their resumes into unresponsive black holes. Even an automated message alerting them to the receipt of their resume is enough to recognize the hard work they’ve already put in.
Don’t leave them out in the cold: If the process is taking a while, let your candidates know where you are in the process. It doesn’t have to be incredibly specific (i.e. “the hiring manager is reviewing your resume, but you’re sixth in line to interview”), but enough to let them know that the process is ongoing. Keep your candidates warm, and recognize the agony that the wait can produce.
Communicate early, often, and clearly: In a candidate’s market, talent acquisition professionals no longer have the luxury of working on their own timeline. Sometimes candidates have multiple potential positions in the works, and many are juggling different combinations of benefits, salary and PTO to find their best fit. By connecting with them early, and creating an empathetic connection, they may be more willing to continue down the path that you’re trying to lay.
Train your memory: Don’t you love it when someone remembers a small, but personal detail? If you’re balancing several requisitions at one time, or if you’ve had an overwhelming response to a posting, it would be near impossible to remember every candidate’s name and each line of their resume. However, taking notes and remembering personal details will help candidates feel significant, cared for, and give the impression that they matter to your organization (because they do!). Make sure you’re taking note of questions or concerns during your conversations, and file them away in connection with each candidate. You don’t have to remember their childhood pet’s name, but it will benefit you in the future if you remember their prowess in a difficult-to-master skill set.

Not every candidate will receive the position they’re vying for, and many of them will be disappointed. In order to keep candidates interested and engaged with your company, even after they’ve received the rejection notice, consider emphasizing empathy within each step of your recruitment process.

Recruitment is a critical HR function. Strategic HR knows that finding and keeping talented employees is the key to company survival. That’s why our Talent Acquisition Consultants utilize a variety of resources to help client’s source, screen and select the best candidates and employees. Please visit our Recruitment page for more information on how we can help you effectively and efficiently find your next employee.

Creating a Strategy for High Volume Recruitment

Last Updated March 11th, 2020
in Recruitment

Question:

Our organization is about to go through some very high volume staffing this year. What measures should we put in place to ensure that we will successfully meet our hiring goals?

Answer:

In this candidate-driven market, it is a must that you have a robust plan or strategy in place to accomplish your hiring goals and to measure the success of your efforts.

Below are a few strategies to consider as you develop your next moves. By incorporating these tactics, it will ensure greater opportunity of success in your hiring goals:

Employment Brand: Your brand is a critical component to igniting candidates’ interest in your organization. Creating an exciting image of how great it is to work at your organization can make you stand out among competitive companies hiring the same talent. The great thing about your brand is that you have complete control of it – this is your chance to create a narrative that best represents what it’s like to work with you and your team. Ideas for developing your brand include:
- Developing an easy-to-use link to the “Careers” page on your company website. Make it easy to find! Don’t hide the link in the bottom corner of the home page. And, include testimonials and videos if possible.
- Create jobs posts that reflect your company culture, such as including your values or perks of working for your company.
- Use social media – build out social media networks and create social media accounts for your company on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. You also should be prepared to respond to on-line reviews, such as Google reviews, about your company to help manage your company’s reputation.
Employee Referral program: Statistically, the best resource for candidates is from your existing employees. If you do not already have an Employee Referral program, or if it has not been very effective, take the time to set up or review your plan for opportunities to strengthen it for maximum results. Think about what would motivate your employees to recommend others to work at your organization? Money? How much money? Time off?
College recruiting: Do you have a position that could benefit from hiring new college graduates? If so, get in touch with your local colleges and universities now. Don’t wait until it’s the end of the school year, as many institutions will have job fairs year-round. It is in the best interest of those schools to help find avenues for their students to find great jobs. Take advantage of those relationships and get in ahead of your competition!
Niche job boards: Online resources are constantly evolving. Ensure that you are aware of all available job boards and posting opportunities that are relevant to your open positions.
Training opportunities: If you are having trouble finding candidates that can come into your organization and hit the ground running, look for opportunities to recruit candidates that could be trained to be long-term and successful contributors.
Partner with a staffing firm: Having a strong and effective staffing partner to subsidize your recruiting efforts will allow you to stay focused on other areas of your organization that require a high level of priority.

Now that you have your strategies in place, and you’re ready to start hiring, how will you measure success? Metrics are always an important tool for HR to determine the effectiveness of a company’s recruiting efforts. The right kind of metrics are crucial when it comes to high-volume recruiting. Below are some metrics to consider:

Qualified candidates per hire: This metric measures the number of candidates hired compared to those who made it past the first stage of the screening. It will quantify the effectiveness of your selection process in determining the most qualified candidates to move forward in your hiring process. If you have a large number of qualified candidates who are falling out of your recruiting process, this will present the opportunity to review your screening criteria to be sure it is in line with the needs of the position.
Source of hire: Tracking the source of your hires is critical. You want to know which sourcing method is generating the most return on your investment in both dollars and time. If you are using a source that only generates a few hires, you will want to evaluate if you are applying your budget most effectively.
Recruiting life cycle: The recruiting life cycle starts at the beginning stage of posting for the position and continues to the day that the candidate is scheduled to start. It includes screening resumes, phone screening, interviewing, making the offer, and completing any background checks. Knowing how long that process takes will let you know when you need to start executing your recruiting plans.
Interview to hire ratio: This measure is critical to comprehend. If you know how many interviews it will take to make a single hire, it will help determine the most effective amount of recruiter resources needed to meet your hiring needs in a given amount of time. A good tip would be to make it a practice to have a post-interview summary with the hiring manager(s) to better understand why or why not a candidate may have been selected for hire. Make sure the candidate profile you are searching for is in line with what the organizational needs.
Offer acceptance rate: It is important to understand why every offer is declined and to track the responses. Knowing this information:
- will allow you to address it early in the candidate life cycle, and it will help candidates self-eliminate themselves before investing more time in them.
- will help determine if adjustments to the candidate profile need to be made.
- will help determine if any organizational adjustments can be made to open up the opportunity for a wider candidate profile (e.g. work life balance concerns, pay, relocation).

Ultimately, high-volume sourcing requires high-performing strategies that rely on data-driven practices and not just HR best practices. Understanding the data will allow HR to engage in discussions with senior leadership from a level of authority which will help justify personnel and budget allocations needed for success.

What is a Certificate of Qualification for Employment?

Last Updated February 16th, 2023
in HR Compliance, Recruitment

HR Question:

This week a hiring manager was excited about a candidate but learned during an interview that the candidate has had a Felony for theft. The candidate mentioned having an Ohio Certificate of Qualification for Employment that they could provide. Although we are not a bank and the role does not handle money, we need to make sure our organization will not be put at risk by making a careless hire. Alternatively, we do not want to be discriminatory or lose an otherwise qualified individual that could make a great fit for the role. So what is a Certificate of Qualification of Employment and how can it help our company?

HR Answer:

Ohio law provides for a certificate to be available that removes criminal-record-based barriers to employment, without erasing or hiding the criminal record itself. The “Certificate of Qualification for Employment” (CQE) will allow persons who have a previous felony or misdemeanor conviction to apply to the court to lift the collateral sanction that bars them from being considered for employment in a particular field. A CQE is only given if an individual has been through an extensive application and investigation process and deemed, by both the Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections (DRC) and the Court, to be rehabilitated. A Certificate of Qualification for Employment may be revoked if the offender is convicted of or pleads guilty to a felony offense committed subsequent to the issuance of the certificate.

Employer Benefits of a Certificate of Qualification for Employment

A CQE can benefit an employer by removing mandatory rules that prohibit licensure or employment of individuals with certain criminal records. The Certificate may be used for general employment opportunities as well. If an employer knowingly hires a CQE holder, the Certificate offers the employer legal protection from a potential negligent-hiring lawsuit. (However, if the employer fails to take action if dangerous or criminal behavior is exhibited after hiring and retains the employee after such behavior, the employer can then be held liable.)

The Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction provides information to learn more about the certificate and a link where you can assure the authenticity of a CQE. You can also contact The Ohio Justice and Policy Center or directly review Ohio Revised Code 2953.25.

Banning the Box

There are many states and cities with laws making it illegal to exclude an otherwise qualified applicant who has had a misdemeanor or felony. At least 16 states have already passed legislation, “banning the box”, which prevents employers from inquiring about a criminal background at initial application. Federal EEO laws, including Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, prohibit employers from discrimination by using criminal history information in their employment decisions because they can significantly disadvantage protected individuals such as African Americans and Hispanics.

The EEOC also has written the following guidance you may refer to:

This candidate’s Certificate of Qualification for Employment could prove to be a win-win. An applicant who has the qualifications you need and is looking for that long-deserved break may prove to be one of your most grateful and loyal employees if given the opportunity. Remember whether hiring or declining, before making a potentially costly decision, it is important to educate yourself on related federal, state, and local laws and/or seek legal counsel.

Struggling with hiring the right person and figuring out how and where to find candidates? Wondering how to do drug screens, background checks, physicals, references, and assessments? We can help you make sense of it all. Whether you need a complete recruitment solution or just help with pieces of the process, Strategic HR can assist you. Visit our Recruitment page to learn how we can provide you with top-notch outsourced recruitment solutions.

How Do Glassdoor Reviews Impact My Company and Our Recruiting Efforts?

Last Updated April 27th, 2023
in Recruitment

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What Are Some Tips To Prevent Candidates From Ghosting?

Last Updated July 5th, 2022
in Recruitment

Updated June 2022

HR Question:

Candidates are continuing to disappear while we’re in the middle of our recruiting process – why is this happening and what can I do about this ghosting phenomenon?

HR Answer:

Great question, and one that doesn’t have just one answer. In a survey conducted by Robert Half earlier this year, candidates shared the following reasons for ghosting potential employers:

A poor interview process (33%)
Receiving another job offer (29%)
The realization that the job was not what they expected (23%)
A mandatory return-to-office policy was implemented (16%)

While not all of these reasons are within your control (i.e., the candidate receiving another job offer or a return-to-office policy being implemented), there are actions that you can take to mitigate some of the reasons candidates are ghosting throughout your recruiting process.

Provide Accurate and Transparent Communication from the Beginning

Providing clear and concise communication long before your candidates walk in the door can help reduce your ghosting rates. For example, does your job ad paint a clear picture of the job responsibilities, benefits, and culture? Does it convey what the candidate’s potential experience would be like in a way that’s accurate and attractive? If candidates begin to feel that they may be at the receiving end of a bait-and-switch, it’s easy to see why they may quickly abandon ship in favor of more transparent offerings.

Additionally, in this intense candidate-driven market, it’s important to remain in constant contact with your candidates so they feel engaged throughout the process. Doing so may build relationships that create a sense of responsibility in the candidates to reach out if they’ve changed their mind. However, this sense of responsibility goes both ways. When surveyed by CareerPlug, nearly 70% of job seekers reported having had a poor experience with an employer or recruiter, and nearly 60% of job seekers declined a job offer due to that poor experience. In the same study, 37% percent of those respondents said they shared their negative experience online, further impeding the employers’ reputation and ability to attract the necessary talent.

Remember the Interview Process is a Two-Way Street

Of course, a primary goal of an interview is to assess whether a candidate is a good fit for the job and your organization. But don’t forget that the interview process is a two-way street – candidates are trying to assess if they can see themselves working with you and succeeding in your organization. The experience they have during the interview, along with the people they meet, will shape their thoughts and feelings about the job and your organization, so make sure it’s a good one!

A few things you can do to ensure a positive interview experience are:

Let candidates know what to expect before their interview. Provide directions, parking information, and an agenda listing who they will meet with and what they will be discussing.
Include multiple employees in the process. It is helpful for candidates to meet multiple employees in the interview process to help give them a better sense of the team of people with whom they would work. This also allows for a faster and smoother transition into your organization if they are ultimately hired.
Provide interview training. Make sure that anyone who is involved in the interview process (and this includes a front desk receptionist!) is prepared to be a good host for candidates. Provide job descriptions, interview questions or topics to be covered, interview agenda, and candidates’ resumes ahead of time so that all interviewers arrive prepared and ready for productive discussions. Also, interviewers should be coached to not dominate the conversations. While they can provide information about the position and/or the company, they are also there to learn about the candidate’s background and experience.
Make time for candidate questions. Be sure that candidates have ample time to ask questions during the interview process.

Listen and Respond to Job Seekers’ Needs

By cultivating a culture of good communication in your recruitment process, you not only elevate your employer brand as a desirable place to work where people are valued, but you can also create the opportunity for candidates to share what is important to them.

For example, by encouraging frequent and transparent communication, candidates may be more willing to express exactly what they need in order to join your team. Maybe it’s a quick turnaround (especially if they have other offers on the table), or maybe it’s additional flexibility in the role to achieve the work/life balance they’re looking for. If those needs are within your ability to meet, a little flexibility may go a long way.

Cultivate a Positive Online Reputation

Among the various reasons that potential employees are ghosting, some of them may also point to the image that an employer portrays online. Job seekers expect to be able to easily learn a lot about your organization through multiple channels beyond your website, and if they can’t easily find the information online, that in and of itself speaks volumes. Not surprisingly, they will also be on the lookout for company reviews. Therefore, we recommend a couple of simple steps to help develop or maintain a positive online reputation.

First, make sure you’re active on social media. If you’re in the process of trying to catch the next wave of employees, consumers, or influencers, you’re going to be caught in the surf without some form of active social media presence. This can provide a great way for job seekers to get to know your company through frequent and timely messages, images, and videos.

Secondly, make sure you’re staying on top of any online reviews. In a world that revolves around constant and instant communication, bad news can travel fast, and negative reviews can have a significant impact. When dealing with negativity in your web presence, a quick, factual, and polite response will show potential employees and potential customers that you are a respectful and reputable partner in the whole process. (Looking for more tips and tricks when dealing with negative reviews? Check out our HR Question of the Week: Can Glassdoor Reviews Impact Your Company and Your Recruiting Efforts.)

In the end, we are clearly in the midst of a candidate’s job market with multiple options at their fingertips. Therefore, it is important to understand why you’re seeing an increase in candidate ghosting because this can lead you to actionable solutions. Our best advice is to review and improve what is within your control. Put yourself in the candidates’ shoes – walk through your recruitment process to look for ways to adjust, improve, and streamline the process, and continue to build an employer brand that great candidates want to be a part of.

Special thanks to Samantha Kelly and Amy Turner, Six Sigma Black Belt for contributing to this edition of our HR Question of the Week.

Do you struggle to find qualified individuals that fit your culture and make productive, long-term employees? Finding the right people to “fit” your jobs is critical to your organization’s success. That’s why Strategic HR utilizes a variety of resources to help clients source, screen, and select the best candidates and employees. Please visit our Recruitment page for more information on how we can help you effectively and efficiently find your next employee.

What Are the Benefits of a MicroMasters Certification?

Last Updated September 7th, 2021
in Recruitment

Question:

I was recently reviewing a candidate’s resume and I noticed that they had listed a MicroMasters certification under their education for supply chain management. What is a MicroMasters certification and what does it mean for a candidate’s qualification for my open position?

Answer:

A MicroMasters certification is a certificate of completion of an abbreviated online graduate level course from one of many top universities through edX. edX, founded by Harvard University and MIT has been developing massive open online courses since 2012 and has co-developed MicroMasters programs in association with top-brand institutions worldwide such as Columbia University, MIT, RIT and the University of Michigan. All of the MicroMasters programs are sponsored by at least one industry partner such as Microsoft, IBM, GE, Bloomberg and Boeing to name a few.

The MicroMasters certification on a resume means that the candidate has completed a career-focused program backed by a top-tier educator and some of the most respected businesses worldwide. They provide deep learning in a specific career field and are recognized by employers for their real job relevance. A MicroMasters certificate program is designed to be a continued and targeted education to move forward in a specific field of work or it can be the stepping stone to expediting the completion of a Master degree. These MicroMasters programs are being offered in many fields, however there is a strong focus on new technology skills areas like AI, IoT, robotics, and data science.

Anant Agarwal, the CEO of edX, and a professor at MIT, says “Adding MicroMasters to a resume/CV or LinkedIn profile signifies that a learner has gained exposure to a field at a strategic level, giving them the knowledge necessary to advance their career.” Employers are confident that successful students in the MicroMasters programs have the education and training needed to meet their organization’s needs. The MicroMasters programs are supported by employers such as Microsoft because frequentative learning is a way of re-skilling your workforce and contributes to a culture of lifelong learning.

The programs are advantageous to both students and employers. edX lists five specific advantages:

Career-focused: The programs are validated by top companies.
Backed by credit: A MicroMasters credential equals 25-50 percent of a Master’s degree – 20-30 ECTS in Europe.
Speed: Each program is designed to take three to six months.
Affordable: Program costs range from $800 to $1,400.
Flexible: Programs are offered online multiple times per year and on-demand. Students proceed at their own pace.

“After earning a MicroMasters certification, learners can immediately apply their new knowledge to further their career, or they can apply to an on-campus program and put their MicroMasters credential toward completing a master’s degree,” Agarwal says.

We will continue to see the addition of MicroMasters certifications on resumes as the number of subjects and universities participating in these programs is expected to continue to rise. MicroMasters certifications can vary depending on the program and university, but what is universal is that they all offer global learners the opportunity to study master’s level courses from top-ranked graduate programs, advance their professional skills, and earn valuable credentials toward their Master’s from top-tier institutions to advance their career.

Are you overwhelmed trying to screen and hire the right talent for your company? Hiring isn’t what it used to be and it can be difficult to keep up with new regulations and sources of talent. That’s were Strategic HR can help. Let our team of experts assist you with your recruitment needs. Visit our Recruitment page to learn more.

What Should I Use To Measure Recruitment Performance?

Last Updated August 2nd, 2023
in Recruitment

HR Question:

I need to measure our recruitment performance and develop a metric to do so. How do I set that up and what would I measure?

HR Answer:

Since there isn’t a universal formula for calculating recruitment performance and costs, you will need to determine what costs you want to track and attribute to your hiring efforts. There are many direct and indirect costs that you may consider including in the calculation. Below are some of the basic costs that you should consider when measuring recruitment performance.

Sourcing

Costs incurred to source for candidates using online job posting boards, resume banks, social media ad campaigns, etc. Be sure you divide the cost of these sources by the number of positions you are filling that use the source on order to have a true cost for a specific hire.

Screening

Costs associated with the time and expense for your staff to handle and review resumes and applicants for a particular position, including:

Administrative staff time to open, respond, and route resumes to the hiring team. To calculate this time, figure out an average cost per resume and track how many resumes are received for each job to calculate the administrative cost per job.
Hiring team/recruiter time spent screening through resumes and following up as needed. Similar to administrative costs, this can be calculated per resume/applicant to determine an average cost.
Be sure to track time spent on preliminary phone interviews or pre-screens. Look at how many were conducted and the time spent by the recruiter to prepare, conduct, summarize and communicate the results of those interviews.
Do you have an automated applicant tracking program? This is an indirect cost that you may choose to pro-rate across your hires for a specific period of time, somewhat like depreciating a new computer on your taxes.

Interviewing

Costs associated with the interview including time spent scheduling interviews and travel expenses or accommodations for the hiring team or interviewee that were reimbursed.

Remember to calculate interview costs to include the number of staff members involved in the interviews, their time spent per interview, and the number of interviews they attended to determine the average cost of the interviewers’ time.

Hiring

Hiring expenses include:

Time and expense associated with the follow-up with candidates during negotiations and to notify those that were not hired.
Cost of referral fees from a recruiting agency or an employee referral.
Relocation costs for the new hire to relocate. Some costs may include moving company, airplane tickets, hotel accommodations, temporary housing, house hunting visits, assistance with sell/buy, or spouse/dependent assistance.
Cost for background investigations and/or reference checks and drug screens.
Incentives or sign-on bonus for the new employee.
Think about all the costs to bring someone on board, such as orientation, mentoring, benefits enrollment, computers, cell phones, uniforms, etc.

Not every hire will incur all of these expenses. And, your organization may choose not to track some of these costs, but this list is a starting point to help you identify your recruitment costs per hire. The key is to identify what recruitment costs you are going to track and then consistently track them for all your hires to have an internal comparison from one hire to the next.

Other Considerations

There are other measures you need to consider as you evaluate the overall success of your recruitment performance and what you can do better next time. These include:

How long did it take to fill the position from start to hire date?
What could you have done to reduce the time to hire and not have impacted the quality of the hire?
What was the impact on productivity while the position was left vacant? This is a very difficult calculation to conduct especially depending on the position. However, it does have an impact on the hiring manager and the organization as a whole. If it can’t be quantified, at least keep it in mind.
How satisfied was the hiring manager / organization with the hire? This assessment can be done following the hiring but should be repeated again 3-6 months after the employee has been on the job to get a real sense of how successful the hire was.

Be sure you review your cost analysis and each of these other measures to identify what you can capitalize on next time and what you need to do different. For example, what was the success of your recruitment sources? Which ones provided the most candidates and more importantly the quality candidates? Which ones did not?

Again, it’s important to recognize that there are many ways to measure your recruitment performance. If there are other metrics that are important to your organization beyond those that are suggested, you can and should add them to your list of metrics.

Recruitment is more than just placing an ad in the newspaper. It takes a targeted message using the right sources and lots of follow-up. It can be expensive when not well thought-out, but when done correctly it doesn’t have to break the budget. Strategic HR knows what it takes to attract, hire and retain the best employees. Visit our Recruitment page to learn how our services can help you get your recruiting on the right track.

What To Do If a Background Check Results in a Rejection of Hire

Last Updated January 20th, 2023
in Recruitment

HR Question:

What steps need to be taken after I reject an applicant based on the results of a background check? What are pre-adverse and adverse action notices? When do I need to send them?

HR Answer:

When considering the addition of a new employee to your team, background checks are an essential final screening tool that many employers use. But, what happens when the results of a background check are concerning? Can you simply reject this applicant and move on to the next one? Think again!

If hiring decisions are made as a result of the findings on a background check, employers are legally required, under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, to take certain steps in order to remain compliant.

Pre-Adverse Action Notice

Before making a final decision, a “Pre-Adverse Action Notice” must be sent to the applicant. This notice should inform the applicant that there were questionable findings on the background check, but should not cite specifics. After the notice is sent, a reasonable amount of time must be given to the applicant to dispute these findings. Although the Fair Credit Reporting Act does not define a “reasonable” amount of time, the Federal Trade Commission and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau state that a minimum of 5 business days can be considered “reasonable.” Along with the Pre-Adverse Action Notice, the applicant must be sent a copy of the background check and a copy of the Fair Credit Reporting Act’s, “A Summary of Your Rights.”

Adverse Action Notice

If, after a reasonable amount of time, the applicant has not disputed the background report findings, then an “Adverse Action Notice” must be sent to the applicant. Along with the reason for denying employment, this notice must include several key pieces of information:

The name and address of the Consumer Reporting Agency, along with a statement that the adverse action is based upon information in the background check.
A statement noting that the Consumer Reporting Agency who supplied the report did not make any decisions regarding the adverse action.
A statement outlining the applicant’s right to dispute any information included in the background check.
A notice stating that the applicant can receive a free copy of the report within 60 days.

Often your background check provider can help you through this process and may even provide the forms and an online tool to initiate the notices.

Does the thought of hiring someone make your head spin? Perm, temp, temp-to-perm, intern…drug screens, background checks, physicals, references, assessments – we can help you make sense of it all. Whether you need a complete recruitment solution or just help with pieces of the process, Strategic HR can assist you. Visit our Recruitment page to learn how we can provide you with top notch recruitment solutions.

Are Social Media Background Checks Legal?

Last Updated January 20th, 2023
in Recruitment

Question:

Should my company conduct social media background checks as part of our recruitment process?

Answer:

When a hiring team considers using social media background checks on potential candidates, they should first assess the risk of performing these checks and proceed with caution. Social media profiles often include information such as:

Age,
Race,
Gender,
National Origin,
Religion, and
other protected classes.

Previewing this protected information can lead to an assortment of legal trouble if hiring decisions are made or appear to be made based on social media checks performed by someone that has the ability to impact the hiring decision.

Another item to be aware of is protected activity. For example, if a candidate was criticizing his or her former employer on social media and a hiring decision was made based on those comments, it may be considered protected concerted activity under the National Labor Relations Act.

In the past, some employers have requested social media user names and/or passwords to access the information this way. However, many states are now making it illegal for employers to request this information.

This only skims the surface of the potential workplace compliance issues that could arise by conducting social media checks on potential employees. If you are going to use social media as a tool in your recruiting process, it is generally a good rule not to handle social media background checks internally. However, if you still feel a candidate’s social media can help you in your recruitment process, you need to identify job related information that you hope to gain from the check (i.e. writing skills, consistency of job titles and dates), AND have someone that is not at all involved in the hiring decision (i.e. another employee or an external service or consultant) conduct these searches. This way, you will be able to obtain the information you need, without the perception of discriminating against your candidate.

Recruitment isn’t just a matter of finding and hiring the right person. There are scores of regulations that must be adhered to or you risk stiff fines or penalties. Strategic HR specializes in helping companies find, hire, and retain a talented workforce while keeping an organization compliant. Visit our Recruitment page to learn how we can help you hire safely.

In my recruitment strategies, can I really text a candidate?

Last Updated January 20th, 2023
in Recruitment

Question:

Sometimes, in my recruitment strategies, I have such a hard time getting candidates to respond to my calls and emails. A colleague asked if I had tried texting? Can I really do this? It seems intrusive.

Answer:

In a word, yes. Especially if a good candidate is not responding to other means. Texting is a ubiquitous part of our everyday life, why not use it in your recruitment strategies? The fact is that many people are more likely to check messages on their mobile phone and keep it nearby. A text may get their attention when a voice message may not. If you do so, I would offer some parameters:

Make sure and identify yourself.
Keep it brief but professional.
Your goal should be to engage in a dialog/conversation; craft your message carefully to gain the best response.
Consider the right time of day to text someone; where texting is more immediate, is it appropriate to text a candidate in the evening or early morning?
There are also web-based phone options that will also allow you to text, which can avoid using your personal cell phone.

It’s a very tight job market, and a recruiter must use every tool available to reach candidates. The world has changed and our recruiting tactics to keep up.

With today’s high unemployment there are lots of job seekers, but only one is going to be the right “fit” for your job opening. It takes a targeted approach using the right message, the best resources and lots of follow up to find that “needle in a haystack”. It can be expensive when not well thought-out, but when done correctly doesn’t have to break the budget. Strategic HR knows what it takes to attract, hire and retain the best employees. Whether you need a complete recruitment solution or just help with pieces of your process, we can assist you. Visit our Recruitment page to learn how we can provide you with top notch recruitment assistance.

Recruiting Reality Check

Last Updated September 5th, 2021
in Recruitment

Question:

A couple of my hiring managers are disconnected from the reality of our current labor market – they still want to compare several top candidates before making a decision. We’re losing great candidates because it’s taking too long to try to find more candidates to compare. How do I help them understand we need to move smarter and faster?

Answer:

We understand your frustration, and you’re not alone! Since you’re in the trenches of daily recruiting, you know firsthand how quickly great candidates are getting snatched up by competitors who are able to move faster in their selection process. You probably also noticed that it’s more difficult to find viable candidates for many positions because the available labor pool is small. According to the Southwest Ohio Region Workforce Investment Board’s latest unemployment statistics (September 2016), unemployment for the Greater Cincinnati area is 4.1%.

We can no longer post job openings and expect to be flooded with resumes. Rather, recruiters have to spend more time sourcing to identify viable passive candidates. Once we find those candidates, we need to move them through the selection process quickly or we risk losing them altogether. All of this combined heightens the need for a fast and efficient recruiting and selection process with the ability to make quick, astute hiring decisions.

So, how do you explain the reality of today’s labor market to your hiring managers? If sharing the points above doesn’t help, maybe you can try a new angle. Have you ever noticed the similarities between the recruiting process and house hunting? Ask them to recall how they approached house hunting, which often goes like this:

Step 1: You go into house hunting with a huge list of “must haves” that you simply cannot live without – just as we do when recruiting for an open position.

Step 2: You see the houses currently available on the market, which may not be nearly as many as you had hoped for, nor do they have all of your desired features. (Where are the granite countertops and hardwood floors?!) But you need to find a house, so you forge ahead to step 3!

Step 3: You do a bit of soul searching to refine and prioritize your “must haves” list to identify what’s truly most important to you and determine what you’re willing to live without or change/update yourself. (Everybody likes a DIY project, right?)

Step 4: Act fast and call in your offer immediately before someone else snatches up your next soon-to-be dream house! (You’ve learned this because it happened with the last two houses you tried to buy, but took too long to decide upon, and lost them to other buyers. Meanwhile, those other savvy buyers are already hosting their new housewarming parties!)

If you apply the lessons learned during the house hunting experience to your recruiting and selection process, you know you need to:

Be accurate in defining the role you’re looking to fill and the “must haves” versus “nice to haves.” Make sure your job descriptions are up to date too!
Assess the current pool of potential candidates and connect with them quickly.
Readjust expectations and “must haves” if the labor market doesn’t meet all of your criteria. Determine critical skills needed to start, and what could possibly be trained.
Move fast on strong candidates; even if you don’t have several to compare. Don’t let your desire to shop around cause you to lose a great potential employee.
Celebrate knowing that you did your homework, understood the market and made a smart, fast new hire!

Hopefully, this gives you a new angle for your recruiting conversations with your hiring managers. Building a strong, trusting relationship with your hiring managers will be invaluable as you navigate the waters of recruiting in today’s labor market.

Finding qualified employees for your business can be one of the most difficult and time-consuming HR functions. Strategic HR has a wealth of knowledge concerning current trends in the job market as well as where to go to find the key staff you need for your company. We have the know-how, the contacts and the tools needed to get your job search up and running. Whether you need to fill several on-going job openings, or have a hard-to-fill position that’s been zapping your energy, allow Strategic HR to do the work for you. Find out how our Outsourced Recruitment Solution can help you with all stages of the recruitment process.

Hiring Ex-Sex Offenders

Last Updated April 6th, 2022
in Recruitment

HR Question:

I am open to the idea of possibly hiring someone with a past record as a sex offender. Will this be a concern to my employees? What do I need to think about before bringing them on board?

HR Answer:

When it comes to hiring ex-sex offenders, companies should walk into the situation with eyes open, educating themselves while being open-minded to the many benefits the hire can bring to the table. Not only can you bring benefits to your organization, you will be helping the individual by offering employment and stability to those looking for an opportunity in the working world.

While sex offenders should have just as much of an opportunity to employment as anyone else, there are questions that an employer must address before hiring these individuals, based on their criminal past. It is essential to ensure that they are able to perform the essential duties of the job and ensure that they have no restrictions on their employment. Some ex-offenders are faced with restrictions such as working with minors, or having access to a computer and/or internet, and employers will need to work with the offender in order to find a suitable position that meets these requirements, if that is possible. Open and honest communication with the individual will help you to meet these requirements. Other considerations:

Consider relevant factors

Relevant factors that should be considered include the type of offense, the number of offenses that have occurred, rehabilitation efforts, and length of time it has been since the offense.

Is the offense job related?

While it is easy to justify not hiring a sex offender “just because”, employers should be open minded and think about if the offense could potentially affect the job to be done. If not, then the applicant should be considered like any other.

Do I still feel like I am providing a safe work environment for my employees?

The most important thing you should consider when considering hiring an ex-sex offender is if you are still providing a safe and comfortable work environment for yourself and other employees. This answer can vary based on your opinion about sex offenders, but employers should keep an open mind and take into account all of the factors that go into hiring someone with a criminal background. Keep in mind that applicants should always have a chance to explain their criminal background.

Finally, keep in mind that if you do hire someone with a record, your company may be eligible for the Work Opportunity Tax Credit, which is a Federal tax credit that is available to employers who hire and retain individuals from target groups that face considerable barriers when it comes to finding a job, like sex offenders.

Do you struggle to find qualified individuals that fit your culture and make productive, long-term employees? Finding the right person to “fit” a job is a critical HR function. That’s why Strategic HR utilizes a variety of resources to help clients source, screen and select the best candidates and employees. Please visit our Recruitment page for more information on how we can help you effectively and efficiently find your next employee.

Recruiting Etiquette

Last Updated January 20th, 2023
in Recruitment

Question:

This is supposed to be a tough job market with too many job seekers and not enough jobs. I would think job seekers would be extra careful about their business etiquette. But I’ve called and emailed would-be candidates to the point of “stalking” with no response – how many times should I try before giving up?

Answer:

Both sides of the fence, job seekers and recruiters, have been complaining about the lack of business, or more specifically recruiting etiquette, these days. Seems that all camps are presently unhappy with the current state of things.

When contacting applicants it is most common to try multiple times and ways to reach them. Whether the applicant sends in a resume or they are sourced via another method, you should call or email as the first contact, wait a day or two, then follow up with the opposite of how you first attempted contact (call if email was used as the first contact method or vice versa), then wait a few more days before making a last contact using the original method (call or email). Simplified it looks like this:

Email – Call – Email <or> Call – Email – Call

Depending on the time frame of the search, this contact process might span a few days or as much as a week or two. This method of contact allows for multiple approaches (in the event the email gets caught in spam) and multiple times (in the event that you catch them on vacation and unavailable). This will provide adequate opportunity for a truly interested applicant to respond.

If none of these approaches work, before you give up on an applicant entirely, be sure to look at surrounding circumstances that might impact a speedy response time. Did you contact the applicant around the holidays? Could their message be in YOUR spam folder? Do they work on an off-shift that makes connecting with you problematic? Make sure you provide them with alternate ways to get back in touch with you! Privacy concerns may be an issue so be sure to be discreet if necessary and respect the applicant’s need for discretion. And, when possible, be patient.

Temporary Employees and Background Checks

Last Updated October 20th, 2022
in Recruitment

HR Question:

We had a fabulous temporary working for us from a temporary agency. We decided to hire the individual and ran them through our process including conducting a background check. The results were shocking…we thought the temporary agency had already verified their background. How should I handle background checks for temporary employees going forward to ensure this doesn’t happen again?

HR Answer:

Many companies do treat temporary employees differently when it comes to background checks and only realize it when it’s too late – when they try to hire the individual. The staffing company said they ran a “background check” before they placed the individual with you, but when you compare the results of your own verification versus the staffing company’s, it hits you: If you would have run your own background check first, instead of relying on the staffing company’s, you would never have considered the individual in the first place. Now what???

Unfortunately, this situation is all too common. For some reason, employers allow temporary workers into the organization without knowing anything about the “background check” the staffing company performed prior to coming to work for your organization.

Did they just run a database search? Maybe they just entered the employee’s name in a local county records website or just Googled the person. Or, even more disturbing, maybe they didn’t research the person at all!

The term “background check” is very broad. When working with temporary employees, make sure your staffing company is running quality courthouse background research before you let them place temporary personnel with your organization.

Here are some background check tips for temporary employees:

Ask to see the reports! Don’t assume that you and the staffing company agree on what constitutes a “background check”. Chances are that you don’t and your standards might be significantly higher. Set the expectations on what screenings you want them to run.
Make sure your searches include county criminal research. County research is the best place to find if a felony or misdemeanor charge exists for an individual and also helps ensure legal compliance with FCRA.
Don’t be fooled by a “federal” search. This check certainly has a place, but can be misleading. It sounds all-encompassing but most crimes are state crimes, NOT federal. Most people who have a criminal past would come back clean on a federal search.

If you currently run pre-employment screenings before you bring someone on board, you already know the importance of this verification process. Don’t put your company and employees at risk. Make sure employees from staffing companies meet the same expectations as direct hires.

A special thanks to Matt Messersmith, President, with Signet Screening inc. for his expert contribution to our Question of the Week. If you have questions for Matt, contact him at MtM@signetscreening.com or 513.330.6695 or visit Signet’s website at www.signetscreening.com.

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Keeping Electronic Recruiting Correspondence

Last Updated November 28th, 2017
in Recordkeeping, Recruitment

Question:

Much of our recruiting is now done online and via email. Do I need to keep the emails generated from our last round of hiring? Does it matter if the candidate followed through with a response or not?

Answer:

You need to keep any records from the search for one year – those that you were considering AND those that you were not (even those that applied but may not have followed through with a response to your email). Keeping them in an electronic file is great – date it and pitch it next year. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) requires employers to keep employment records for one year. After that time, employers can either discard the record or archive it, provided they maintain the confidentiality of information contained in each record. Suppose you have a resume, cover letter, list of references and brief notes from a telephone screening, yet you decided to select other candidates for in-person interviews. The records generated, including electronically, during the course of the preliminary screening are, in fact, hiring records. They must be kept for one year, pursuant to EEOC regulations.

Another important reason to keep hiring records on file even if the applicant wasn’t hired is so applicants don’t have possible recourse if they are rejected during the hiring process. Applicants who claim they weren’t hired based on factors not related to the job (i.e, race, sex, national origin, age or religion) have up to one year to file a formal discrimination charge with the EEOC. Should the EEOC decide to investigate the applicant’s complaint, the agency can ask employers to produce records used during the hiring process. The company’s hiring practices don’t look favorable if the employer can’t comply with the request because it has discarded the hiring materials.

Employment recordkeeping does not rank high on the list of favorite human resources functions, but it is vitally important. What you keep can be as detrimental as what you don’t keep in some instances. Avoid the fines and minimize your stress level by having Strategic HR assist with your recordkeeping compliance. Visit our Recordkeeping page to learn more about our services.

What Are Allowable Religious Requirements for Hiring?

Last Updated March 30th, 2023
in Recruitment

HR Question:

When hiring for my religious-based organization is it legal for me to require candidates to be of the same religion?

HR Answer:

While religion is protected under Title VII, there is a Religious Organization Exemption that permits religious organizations to give employment preference to members of their own religion when hiring. This exemption only applies to organizations that can ‘define’ their religious association through articles of incorporation, religious day-to-day operations involving services, products, or education (such as a church or school), non-profit status, or an affiliation with or support from another religious organization.

This exemption does not allow religious organizations to discriminate on the basis of age, gender, race, color, national origin, or disability – even when the religion has, as a tenet of its beliefs, an element of discrimination (such as not associating with people of other races).

If your organization has a “purpose and character that is primarily religious,” then you can prefer to hire individuals that meet your religious needs.

Recruitment isn’t just a matter of finding and hiring the right person. There are scores of regulations that must be adhered to or you risk stiff fines or penalties. Strategic HR specializes in helping companies recruit and retain a talented workforce while keeping an organization compliant. Visit our Recruitment page to learn how we can help you hire safely.

Is It Okay To Use Personality Tests Prior To An Interview?

Last Updated October 12th, 2022
in HR Compliance, Recruitment

HR Question:

Is it okay to ask candidates to take online personality profile tests before they interview with anyone from our company? Only those candidates who “pass” the profile will move forward in the process. I’m concerned that using such a test to screen candidates could be legally questionable.

HR Answer:

Generally speaking, it is not recommended to conduct a personality assessment as the first step in the recruitment process, as personality fit is only one factor in the hiring equation. Any assessment used for hiring purposes needs to rely on the bona fide occupational qualifications (BFOQ) of the position. Additionally, the test itself needs to be proven reliable and valid for testing those BFOQs. There are many pre-employment tests sold that are loaded with inappropriate questions – questions not necessarily linked to the necessities of the job. If the assessment can be shown to be related to the skill needs of the position and it is administered to all the applicants equally for that position then it should be okay. But when talking about personality assessments, that’s another matter.

How personality profile tests can lead to disparate impact

While many large corporations use such tests as part of their initial online screening, if the test has not been vetted and causes a disparate impact (i.e., has a detrimental impact on one group of applicants versus another group), this can cause major legal headaches. What happens, for example, if the test results are deemed voided? Should the employer not rely on them at all? If the employer does not rely on them, what about the applicants that did well on the test – do they have a possible legal claim along with the applicants who did not get hired? These instances often give rise to very expensive lawsuits with lots of publicity – the New Haven firefighter case decided in 2009 by the Supreme Court is a great example.

What is the preferred timing for a personality profile test?

If a personality test “must” be done, it would be best to do so only after hire, as a tool to help guide management in building a relationship with the new employee, or it should only be administered to final candidates as a tool to help distinguish between candidates; not select a final candidate. A personality profile isn’t something that should be used as a tool for hire unless it can be shown to be job-related. And it should never be THE tool to determine if a candidate is hired or not, but one of many tools.

Regarding the legal risk associated with using such a test, this is a very complicated legal area, and can easily give rise to litigation. You should check with your legal counsel before using such a test.

Strategic HR understands the complexity and pitfalls of hiring. From applicants to candidates to prospects, we know the ins and outs of sourcing, screening, and selecting your next new employee. For more information on how we can help you fill your job openings efficiently and cost-effectively, visit our Recruitment page.

How To Say Sponsorship Is Not Available And Remain Compliant

Last Updated September 5th, 2023
in Recruitment

HR Question:

Although we need to find ways to broaden our recruiting efforts, our company is not able to provide sponsorship to candidates who want to work legally in the United States and need an H1-B Visa. How do we say that sponsorship is not available on our employment ads to avoid problems? Can we hire someone who has been granted political asylum?

HR Answer:

These are great questions! Let’s break it down and address each one separately.

Am I required to accept applicants who need an H-1B Visa?

Due to the ease of access, online job ads and recruiting efforts can generate a multitude of candidates, including those who are not yet authorized to work in the United States. For some companies, this is a benefit as it allows them to access a wider talent pool. For others, particularly smaller organizations, it can be a financial hardship for them to sponsor or transfer an H-1B Visa for employees who require an employment Visa to work legally in the U.S.

It is important to clarify that employers are not required by law to sponsor an H-1B Visa for a candidate who is not eligible to work in the United States. It can help both your organization and candidates to know upfront if you are unable to provide sponsorship. You can freely specify “no sponsorship” in a job ad and refuse to consider people who are not already authorized to work in the U.S.

How can I communicate sponsorship is not available in our job ad?

There are multiple ways that you can communicate this message, but we have commonly seen the use of the following language:

“Applicants must be authorized to work for ANY employer in the U.S. We are unable to sponsor or take over sponsorship of an employment Visa at this time.”

Can I hire individuals who were granted asylum?

To address your second question regarding whether you can hire a candidate who has been granted political asylum, the answer is yes – if they have followed the proper process. Individuals entering the United States seeking protection/asylum can remain in the U.S. and apply for asylum within one year of arrival. These individuals are not eligible to apply for permission to work (employment authorization) in the U.S. at the same time they apply for asylum. They are, however, able to apply for permission to work after 150 days of their asylum application if they are still awaiting a decision on their application.

The federal government grants refugee and asylee status to people who have been persecuted or fear persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion. Because of their status, refugees’ and asylees’ permission to work does not expire.

On March 29, 2022, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced it will extend asylum seekers’ work permits so that they are valid for a longer period of time while renewal applications are pending. The current auto-extension period is 180 days.

A person granted asylum is protected from being returned to his or her home country; is authorized to work in the United States; may apply for a Social Security card; may request permission to travel overseas; and can petition to bring family members to the United States.

Individuals granted asylum may work immediately. Some asylees choose to obtain Employment Authorization Documents (EADs) for convenience or identification purposes, but an EAD is not necessary for asylees to be able to work. Visit I-9 Central to determine how to properly complete the I-9 form for an asylee and what identification is needed by the Department of Homeland Security.

As you seek to make the right decisions for your organization, remember that it is best practice to consult your attorney to ensure your legal compliance.

Thank you to Cecilia Vocke, MS, SHRM-SCP, SPHR, Senior HR Business Advisor and Melinda Canino, MS, Senior HR Communications Advisor for contributing to this HR Question of the Week.

VISAs, EADs, I-9s – An alphabet soup of acronyms and rules pertaining to the hiring of a foreign national. It can be confusing, even to the experienced HR professional, if you aren’t familiar with the process. Strategic HR Business Advisors can help you navigate through the process to ensure everything is handled correctly. Visit our Outsourced Recruitment page to learn more about how we can help.

The Difference between Applicants and Candidates

Last Updated January 20th, 2023
in Recruitment

Question:

My recruiter talks about applicants and candidates as if they’re not interchangeable–what’s the difference?

Answer:

In some circles it’s possible that applicants and candidates are used interchangeably. But when talking with human resources recruiters, applicants are job seekers who have “applied” for your job opening. They have either sent a resume to you or completed an application – online or in person. You might have 300 applicants for a particular job opening. Candidates on the other hand are applicants that you have screened and deem minimally qualified for the job opening. They are contenders for the opening; these are the folks that you will interview by phone or in person or have some other form of contact to learn more about their qualifications. Out of an applicant pool of 300, you might only identify 15 candidates.

Strategic HR understands the complexity of hiring. From applicants to candidates to prospects, we know the ins and outs of sourcing, screening and selecting your next new hire. For more information visit our Recruitment page to learn how we can help you fill your job openings efficiently and cost effectively.