The Big Quit: Why We Need It & What We Can Learn

The Big Quit is here. According to the Labor Department, 4.3 million employees left their jobs in August — numbers we haven’t seen since December 2000. But is this actually a good thing?
 

Last week on Talent Experience Live, Phenom’s Jonathan Dale (JD), VP of Marketing, and Jennifer Thomas, Manager, Content Marketing, explored this controversial idea, and how employers can take action to create more meaningful experiences and retain talent. Catch up on the full episode below, or catch highlights to learn more!
 

The “Big Quit” – or “Great Realignment”?
 

According to JD, tight labor market means employees are feeling empowered to evaluate their job situation rather than stay trapped in a role that isn’t right.
 

“There has to be a true alignment between what that employee values, what they’re looking for, and what they need in their career. And that has to be directly in line with what a company is looking for, what a company’s purpose is, and what a company needs from that employee … when you have an opportunity to reevaluate that, it’s a positive thing,” JD added.
 

How to improve employee retention
 

So what can HR teams do as they struggle to attract and retain sought-after talent? There are a few ways employers can help their organizations navigate the Big Quit to ultimately achieve better workforce alignment. 
 

Train managers to be great leaders (and listeners!)
 

Good leaders are the key to retention, JD pointed out. It’s crucial to put the best possible managers in place throughout your organization. This means training new and existing managers to be good listeners who strive to uncover and support their employees’ career aspirations. 
 

“It helps [bring about] that candid, open conversations about alignment – do you have the right people and is everyone connected … [to better] understand their career path, their upward mobility, and what experience they need to get to the next level. If you have managers doing that, then at a company level, half the problem is already solved,” he said. 
 

Invest in the employee experience
 

Although having good leaders is vital to retention, having a strong employee experience (EX) is a close runner up. To explore how companies can improve EX, we brought on recent Phenom hire John Harrington to share insight from his own career journey. 
 

True story: Growth and development just might be the silver bullet

When Harrington chose to leave his previous position, he didn’t take the decision lightly – he wanted to make sure he wasn’t running from something, but running toward a better opportunity. 
 

Harrington advised employers, “Look at every person as someone who can add value to your team in ways that maybe you don’t know today… help them find that career path and access to mentors and people they work with to get the skills and experience they need to qualify for the opportunities that are going to help your business to compete,” he said. “Look at people on your team as true assets that need to be continually invested in.”
 

Put the right tech in place 
 

For many organizations, uncovering employees’ career aspirations and providing them with tailored paths and upskilling opportunities may sound easier said than done — but technology can bridge the gap. 
 

Although it can’t replace the human element of great leaders, or start a conversation, it can help employees define a career path and navigate internal resources to get from point A to point B. Employee experience platforms powered by artificial intelligence (AI) create transparency, revealing what’s possible within the organization to launch employees on a career trajectory, said Jesus Latorre-Socas, Lead Product Manager at Phenom.  
 

“It’s about creating that transparency for an employee to understand not just where they are today and how they can further learn and enhance their experience, but also get a sense of trajectory and where they want to go in the organization,” Jesus said. “It’s their journey at the end of the day … give them the keys to create that journey. That’s where technology is going to bridge the gap.”
 

Utilize AI skills gap analysis to streamline internal mobility
 

Once an employee decides on a career goal, how can they identify the best way to get there?
 

AI-powered skills gap analysis uses specific data the system has gathered about that employee through previous interactions to quickly identify the most relevant resources available. In seconds, an employee can map a progression of curated resources to help them advance – including learning and development courses, certifications, mentors, and gigs – tailored to their aspirations and level of experience.
 

Determine if a salary increase is appropriate
 

Of course, you can’t have a conversation about employee retention without talking dollars. The specter of re-hiring challenges can tempt managers into offering pay increases. 
 

“If compensation is one of the key factors for the employees you care most about – that’s the button you should press,” JD said. But that’s not always a risk worth taking.
 

If you’re increasing someone’s salary just to avoid re-hiring – not because they’re perfect for the job – you may be delaying the inevitable. “One of the biggest risks right now for an employer is retaining people purely based upon compensation when you know it’s not the right fit.“
 

On the other side of the salary coin, employers are offering a lot of money to lure job candidates. But there are risks to overpaying for unproven talent – not the least of which is being unable to match compensation for current employees. 
 

Help employees understand the value of champions
 

A champion – someone internally to support an employee’s career growth and development path – is critical to the employee experience, JD believes.
 

“A champion who’s influential in the organization can help you get ahead, help you understand the obstacles, and how to get around and through them.”  
 

HR departments and team leaders can educate employees about finding a champion – but the employee has to do the work of connecting, networking, and demonstrating their value to earn the relationship. 
 

A well-rounded employee experience is essential 
 

There are multiple tools, resources, and HR technologies that can help organizations support their employees. Although each employee will value offerings, programs, and benefits differently, one thing is certain – a stellar employee experience doesn’t guarantee they’ll stick around, but a poor one means you’ll lose them faster than you think. 
 

Learn more about how to retain top talent in our Definitive Guide to the Employee Experience! 
 

Catch Talent Experience Live on LinkedIn, YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook every Thursday at noon ET to get the latest in recruiting, talent acquisition, talent management, and HR tech.

kasey.lynch
Fri, 10/22/2021 – 07:39

Wie Kühne+Nagel die Phenom Employee Experience nutzt, um interne Talente zu fördern

Die Karriereseite eines Unternehmens sagt viel über das Unternehmen aus. Aber noch mehr kann man daran erkennen, wie es ihre Mitarbeiter behandeln – und welche Möglichkeiten sie für die persönliche und berufliche Entwicklung bieten.
 
Das weltweit führende Logistikunternehmen Kühne+Nagel ist den meisten anderen Unternehmen bereits einen Schritt voraus, wenn es darum geht, die Erfahrungen seiner Mitarbeiter zu verbessern. Ein intelligenter interner Talentmarktplatz ermöglicht es dem Unternehmen, die berufliche Entwicklung und Mobilität seiner Mitarbeiter zu fördern und problemlos eigene Mitarbeiter zu engagieren. 

Mit rund 78.000 Mitarbeitern an 1.400 Standorten, in mehr als 100 Ländern und in praktisch allen wichtigen Branchen gibt es eine Fülle von internen Stellenangeboten. Aber nur dann, wenn die Mitarbeiter darüber Bescheid wissen.
 
Der Schlüssel zum Erfolg? Die Erhöhung der Transparenz zwischen der Personalabteilung, den Mitarbeitern und den Personalverantwortlichen. 
 

Die Notwendigkeit von Transparenz

“Wir haben großartige Mitarbeiter, die für uns arbeiten, aber wir waren nicht immer in der Lage, diese für interne Einstellungen zu nutzen”, sagt Sandra Aasma, Global HR Systems Expert bei Kühne+Nagel. 

 
Eine Herausforderung, die viele TA-Teams nur zu gut kennen. In den meisten Fällen bewerben sich Mitarbeiter nicht auf interne Stellen, weil sie gar nicht wissen, dass es sie überhaupt gibt. Ohne Transparenz suchen selbst engagierte Mitarbeiter oft extern nach Möglichkeiten, sich weiterzubilden und aufzusteigen.

 
“Wir wollen unsere Mitarbeiter befähigen und in die Lage versetzen, ihre Karriere selbst in die Hand zu nehmen”, so Aasma weiter. 

 
Die wichtigste Frage, vor der das Team stand, war: Wie?
 

Eine Employee Experience, die fördert.

Durch den Einsatz von Phenom’s Employee Experience – das die interne Mobilität und eine Vielzahl weiterer mitarbeiterorientierter Ziele unterstützt – startete Kühne+Nagel sein eigenes KI-gestütztes Mitarbeiterportal mit den Zielen:

die Anzahl der internen Stellenbesetzungen zu erhöhen
Steigerung des Mitarbeiterengagements und der Mitarbeiterbindung 
die Zeit bis zur Stellenbesetzung zu verkürzen
 
Heute ermöglicht der interne Talentmarktplatz mit dem treffenden Namen “Career Explorer” den Mitarbeitern, genau das zu tun, ohne die ihnen bekannte und vertraute Kühne+Nagel-Kultur verlassen zu müssen. 

Hier ein kurzer Überblick darüber, wie es funktioniert: 

 
Nachdem sich ein Mitarbeiter eingeloggt hat, wird er mit vorgefertigten Profilinformationen aus den verschiedenen HR-Systemen des Unternehmens begrüßt. Der Mitarbeiter kann dann sein Profil vervollständigen, zusätzliche Informationen hinzufügen und sofort personalisierte Job- und Lernempfehlungen auf der Grundlage seiner Präferenzen einsehen. Darüber hinaus können sie auf relevante Inhalte zu verwandten Stellenangeboten, Entwicklungsmöglichkeiten und mehr zugreifen.
 

Wirksame Ergebnisse liefern

 
“Mit Hilfe des Career Explorers werden unsere eigenen Recruiter zu internen Headhuntern und suchen proaktiv nach Stellenangeboten, die für sie interessant sein könnten, führen ein Pre-Screening durch und wenden sich an Mitarbeiter, bevor sie nach externen Kandidaten suchen”, erklärt Claudia Harms, Global Talent Acquisition Expert bei Kühne+Nagel.
 
“Auf diese Weise können wir eine starke Talentpipeline aufbauen, den Personalverantwortlichen die besten verfügbaren Kandidaten anbieten, die Zeit bis zur Einstellung verkürzen und eine rundum bessere – sogar einzigartige – Employee Experience schaffen.”
 

 

In nur 2,5 Monaten steigerte Kühne+Nagel die Conversion Rate für interne Bewerber um insgesamt 22 %, verkürzte die Zeit bis zur Besetzung interner Stellen um 20 % und erreichte eine Mitarbeiterzufriedenheit von 74 %.
 

Einen Unterschied machen 

Anhand der zahlreichen Mitarbeiterstimmen auf der Karriereseite von Kühne+Nagel wird deutlich, dass die Bemühungen des Unternehmens, die Mitarbeiter in die Lage zu versetzen, ihre Karriere selbst in die Hand zu nehmen, nicht umsonst waren. 
Hier ist nur ein Beispiel, das zeigt, wie die Employee Experience bei Kühne+Nagel ankommt:

Warum entscheiden Sie sich für Kühne+ * Nagel? 

„Ich entscheide mich jeden Tag für Kühne+ * Nagel .
Weil es klare Ziele vorgibt, so dass man selbständig arbeiten und die Verantwortung der eigenen Leistungen übernehmen kann.

weil es Schulungen und Entwicklungen fördert, so dass man wirklich die Führung der eigenen Karriere übernehmen und das Beste für sich selbst erreichen kann. 

weil es ein flexibles Arbeitsumfeld schafft, so dass man jeden Tag die Work-Life-Balance finden kann, die den eigenen Bedürfnissen am besten entspricht.

K + N ist eines der führenden Logistikunternehmen der Welt. Trotz unserer riesigen Dimension sind wir wie eine große Familie. Hier bin ich immer bereit, die Extra-Meile für meine Kollegen und für unsere Kunden zu gehen.”

Und das ist erst der Anfang, sagt Harms. “Wir sehen für die Zukunft ein großes Potenzial für den Mehrwert von Phenom Gigs”, sagte sie. In einem größeren Rahmen plant Kühne & Nagel  auch Referrals und das Alumni-Portal – zwei weitere Produkte von Phenom- einzusetzen, die beide die Geschwindigkeit, das Volumen und die Qualität der Einstellungen unterstützen. 

Es gibt viele Unternehmen, die behaupten, dass ihnen ihre Mitarbeiter am Herzen liegen. Aber Kühne+Nagel ist ein Unternehmen, das das auch zeigt.

Auf der Website des Unternehmens heißt es: “Gemeinsam bauen wir eine Unternehmenskultur auf, die den Menschen in den Mittelpunkt unseres Handelns stellt – ein Unternehmen, für das es sich lohnt, zu arbeiten, und mit dem es sich lohnt, zu arbeiten.”

Bei einem so starken Engagement für die Förderung und Entwicklung seiner Mitarbeiter können potenzielle Mitarbeiter sicher sein, dass dies ein genaues Abbild eines Unternehmens ist, das genau das tut, was es verspricht. 

Erhalten Sie hier die wichtigsten Informationen aus der Fallstudie von Kuehne+Nagel!Fallstudie

jonathan.ryle
Tue, 10/19/2021 – 05:43

Mercy’s Top Hacks To Hire Frontline Healthcare Workers

This just in — the Great Resignation is here. According to the Labor Department, 4.3 million workers left their jobs in August — a number that hasn’t been seen since December of 2000. Among the majority? Frontline workers.
 

A shortage of critical talent is something healthcare providers are all too familiar with. In fact, it’s exactly what Kayla Drady, Director of Talent Acquisition Strategy & Operations at Mercy, and her team faced in the throes of the pandemic. 
 

The result? The need to completely shift university recruiting strategies to bring in new nursing talent. Drady shared the innovative ways Mercy is using Phenom’s AI-powered Talent Experience Management (TXM) platform to hire hundreds of recent grads and fill their candidate pipeline during the most competitive healthcare hiring environment in recent memory.
 

View all of Drady’s insights on combining impactful virtual events with omnichannel recruitment marketing campaigns in the video below — or read on to catch key takeaways!
 

Taking Candidate-First Connections Virtual
 

Mercy, which operates more than 40 facilities across four states, typically has several hundred open nursing positions at any given time. Up against chronic nursing shortages, even pre-pandemic, Drady knows first-hand the importance of a strong on-campus presence to recruit nursing students.  
 

But with the Mercy TA team’s university recruiting toolbox limited by restricted campus access, they had to get creative to connect with students. “We could no longer go onsite, no longer do the career fairs that we once did,” Drady said. “So how do we make sure that we’re continuing to have our pipeline and not [take] our foot off the gas, and really continue to recruit those new grads?” 
 

Like most of us, nursing students are more overwhelmed than usual, Drady noted. They’re learning remotely and feeling the stressors of the pandemic. With that in mind, the TA team used Phenom University Recruiting — complete with events, campaigns and analytics — to bring best-fit opportunities and personalized, relevant content to students as quickly, conveniently, and seamlessly as possible. 
 

Their top 5 types of virtual events included: 
 

Online career fairs gave busy nursing students a quick and easy way to log in from anywhere to view open jobs and get a sense of Mercy’s amazing employer brand. 
 

Recruiter chats enabled instant connection with recruiters so students could learn more about specific job opportunities — and schedule an interview in less than 10 minutes. 
 

Webinars covered topics nursing students don’t necessarily learn about in school, such as transitioning to a full-time position, job search tips, and how to write resumes, cover letters, and more.
 

Virtual Q&A sessions with recruiters supplemented webinars and were held throughout the day to allow maximum flexibility. Providing candidates with an SMS keyword added to the overall convenience and sharing of information.
 

Virtual classroom visits via Zoom let Mercy recruiters share job opportunities with entire classes of nursing students. One thing the pandemic was unable to upend? The strong relationships Mercy has with area university faculty members, which gave them a natural point of entry. 
 

5 Essential Frontline Hiring Hacks 
 

With a digital advertising strategy employing AI and automation, email and SMS campaigns, social media, and more, Mercy generated strong interest, response, and registrations. Here are Drady’s top recommendations for advertising virtual university recruiting events to increase speed of frontline hires:
 

Showcase events on your career site. Mercy posts every event front and center on its career site homepage regardless of size, Drady says. They also use Phenom’s event building capabilities to create event landing pages and registration pages where students can find all essential event information, add events to their calendars, and share with their networks.
 

Pro Tip: Make your registration form as quick and easy to complete as possible for multi-tasking students on mobile devices. 
 

Maximize your reach with SMS and email campaigns. A combination of email and text campaigns are the way to quickly reach thousands of students. Drady recommends scheduling your first campaign blast one week before the event. “That’s the sweet spot we found,” Drady said. It gives enough notice, but isn’t too far in advance that the message gets buried and forgotten. Reminder messages the day before and the day of are also common best practices, but Drady urges others to test to discover what works best with their audience. 
 

Pro Tip: Use AI-powered talent analytics to see who’s opening messages, and prioritize candidates who are most engaged.
 

Market on social. Advertising on social media offers great visibility — and you can do a lot of it for free. Mercy creates related events posts for the organization’s social media accounts, including Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. 
 

Pro Tip: Link back to your event registration page to capture candidate information in your CRM.
 

Send digital flyers. Mercy creates digital flyers for university contacts to share with students via internal job boards and email blasts. The flyers include all relevant event info and link back to the registration page. “I would recommend creating a list of all of your contacts at the universities that you have partnered with, whether it’s professors, faculty, staff, admins, deans of the colleges — anybody that you can build that relationship with — and then create a list of their contact information within the CRM,” Drady said.
 

Pro Tip: Cultivate and leverage strong relationships with key universities. (Check out how TRC is doing just that and exceeding their DE&I goals with Phenom!)
 

Use SMS Keywords. Just like with in-person career fairs, a major goal of virtual events is to capture leads. That’s where Mercy’s use of an SMS keyword is critical.  
 

Within the Phenom CRM, the team is easily able to create a 5-digit text code that candidates can use to instantaneously send their resume, apply for a job or receive information about open roles, FAQs, or upcoming events and connect with a recruiter to learn more.
 

“It allows us to have their information in our CRM in a matter of seconds,” Drady noted — a sharp contrast from manual resume collection and data entry. “And we were able to capture so many leads from those sessions.” Drady’s team is then tagging students in their CRM according to their graduation year. That means a few years from now, when they need a more experienced nurse, they can identify and target 2020 grads.
 

Related — Text to Apply: Everything You Need to Know to Fill High-Volume Roles Fast
 

Growing Through Challenges
 

Despite the need to pivot under incredibly challenging circumstances, Drady’s team was well prepared thanks to their comprehensive talent experience platform. In fact, having to go completely virtual with university outreach produced several unexpected benefits.
 

Without the need to travel or prep for in-person events, time-strapped recruiters gained countless hours to perform other tasks, all multiplied by the convenience of automation. Even more importantly, Mercy was able to cast a much wider net to recruit talent.
 

“Now all we have to do is post one event and we’re able to reach students from all across the country. So that really opens up our talent pool. They no longer have to live in one of our markets to attend one of our events, so it allows us to be more efficient while reaching more students,” reported Drady.
 

“Using the technology … we can now reach so many more candidates than we have ever been able to before.”   
 

Need to get ahead of frontline hiring? Request a demo!

jennifer.thomas
Fri, 10/15/2021 – 17:00

Getting The Most From AI Fit Scores, Candidate Discovery & More

Using artificial intelligence (AI) to hire best-fit candidates faster is finally becoming mainstream in HR. But are TA teams leveraging this superpowered tech to its fullest potential?
 

On Talent Experience Live, Phenom Product Manager Sean O’Donnell shared tips on how recruiters can get the most out of their AI-driven tech – from using AI fit scores and discovery capabilities to training strategies that improve results over time. Watch the full episode here, or catch highlights from the show below!
 

Debunking AI misconceptions 

First, a few words of reassurance: Artificial intelligence isn’t meant to spawn evil robots that try to take over the human race. Instead, AI and humans work together to do things like hire top talent faster.
 

“We design [AI] to keep the human in it,” O’Donnell said. “It’s meant to augment human processes, not replace them.”
 

Another common misconception? The back-end effort to get AI platforms and processes moving is just too big of an ask for time-strapped recruiters. 
 

“The biggest thing I hear is, ‘Our ecosystem is pretty large and there’s a lot of facets, and AI is just one of them,” O’Donnell said. But AI can actually help supercharge the recruiting experience, with the potential to save tons of time once it’s up and running. 
 

Take candidate matching, for example. By investing a few minutes to set up this criteria, recruiters can instantly generate dozens of best-fit candidate suggestions, eliminating a significant amount of time spent conducting manual searches — which means they can focus on other critical hiring activities.

Related: How Recruitment Leaders Can Leverage AI to Supercharge the Candidate Experience

Bye, bye Boolean search — Hello AI-powered candidate matching 

For years, Boolean logic and search functionality was an old favorite standby for recruiters that dates back to the 1940s. Today, AI can filter and source candidates — and so much more — while also reducing the risk of introducing past biases and mistakes.
 

AI-powered candidate matching within the Phenom talent experience platform is based on 4 key sets of criteria: job title, skill, location, and experience. Recruiters can set preferences in each area, and the system’s algorithms go to work to suggest best-fit talent it discovers in profiles and resumes. 
 

Not only does this help TA teams illuminate the right candidate faster, it also helps future-proof sourcing and hiring in general. 
 

To ensure it’s always improving results, AI constantly applies feedback it “learns” from all of the talent interactions that occur within the platform. This includes identifying how various job titles and skills are related, and ranking skills based on how relevant they are to the job title. Through this process, AI can keep up as positions evolve to include new skills. 
 

“A given [job] title might require a new skill that becomes much more relevant than a previous skill. These are things that the AI will adapt to and learn over time versus just staying static,” O’Donnell said. 

How to train your dragon AI

AI is not a set-it-and-forget-it technology. Drilling deeper into why human input is vital for a well-performing AI platform, O’Donnell shared a few tips on how you can help improve your AI over time:
 

Optimize job descriptions. An accurate, well-crafted job description is a must. They also serve as the original source of information to pull relevant skills into the matching criteria (the system’s job parser “reads” the description and uses NLP (natural language processing) to extract relevant details.
 

Think of it this way, says O’Donnell, “[AI] is getting you 80% of the way there. So that’s good – now it’s your chance to make it awesome.” 
 

Add skills. Through conversations with hiring managers, recruiters can glean additional skills that should be included in job descriptions. By keeping them up to date, you can ensure your AI is illuminating best-fit candidates as expectations shift. And here’s a quick tip: Beware of piling too many skills into matching criteria – you’ll see diminishing returns after about 20 skills, O’Donnell later pointed out. Doing so could cause the platform to identify candidates who don’t have the most critical skills for the position.
 

Remove skills. Recruiters should also monitor the skills AI is pulling out of job descriptions. If some of them aren’t relevant, drop them from the matching criteria. “You’re teaching the AI to be better as it moves forward,” O’Donnell said.
 

How are you sourcing ideal candidates? 

The path to finding the right candidate isn’t always clear. But there are ways recruiters and sources can help clear the fog.
 

O’Donnell recommends recruiters teach the system what to look for initially by uploading an ideal candidate profile – a current employee, for example, who embodies the skills and experience the manager thinks would fit best. 
 

If a recruiter later selects talent who deviate from that profile, AI can quickly pinpoint and highlight where the gaps are. 
 

“It can find the difference, or the delta, between the matching criteria and who you’re actually hiring,” O’Donnell said. “It accounts for that change, adapts the algorithm, and gets you folks closer to who you want to hire.” 

Fit scores give recruiters the speed they need

So the system is off and running, generating lists of candidates … which, depending on the position, could total in the thousands. How can recruiters quickly zero in on the best-fit candidates?
 

That’s where fit scores come in: AI assigns a score that ranks candidates according to how well their profiles match job description criteria.
 

What about candidates with incomplete profiles?

This could include candidates whose resumes are in a format not easily parsed by NLP (e.g., image-heavy resumes or files scanned in as images). Recruiters need a heads-up to keep a lookout for these files. 
 

The system will, however, sort on partial applies, so no leads get left behind. 
 

Perhaps a visitor has interacted with the career site – through the chatbot, for example – but hasn’t uploaded a resume or completed an application. AI will still sort these leads using any data the system has collected on them, and suggest them as a fit if there are any matches. Then recruiters can target these leads with personalized messaging, inviting them to apply. 
 

How AI is designed to support DE&I

Some organizations are wary of AI introducing bias into the hiring process, hurting rather than helping Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DE&I) efforts.
 

But AI-driven platforms like Phenom’s are designed to prevent bias, O’Donnell clarified.
 

“We try to factor out any adverse impact by only doing the four non-biased reasons: skills, title, location, and experience,” he said. “Our data science team can run an adverse impact study on any client to find out, ‘Are we hitting the mark?’ There’s more than one brain making sure we stay on the leading edge of how to maintain diversity in hiring.”
 

For more on how to hire faster with AI, check out The Definitive Guide to Artificial Intelligence for Recruiting

Sign up to get notified about future episodes of Talent Experience Live! Catch us on LinkedIn, YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook every Thursday at noon ET to get the latest in recruiting, talent acquisition, talent management, and HR tech. 

regina.rao
Wed, 10/13/2021 – 04:53

Armed with Data: How Life Time Hires with Agility & Efficiency

Agility. Efficiency. Endurance. It’s what’s separating the best talent acquisition teams from the rest. But how are they able to consistently hire quality candidates under the pressure of today’s unpredictable, tight labor market? 
 

AI, automation, and data — lots of it. 
 

For Mick Joneja, Senior Director of Talent Acquisition of premier health club provider Life Time, the secret to keeping his team ahead of the competition is anticipating staffing needs and adjusting recruitment activities with AI-powered talent analytics.
 

View all of his insights in the video below, or read on to catch key takeaways!
 

Analytics to Anticipate Future Hiring Needs
 

Life Time, which operates more than 150 athletic resort destinations across the U.S. and Canada, experienced the impact of the pandemic firsthand on its clubs, members, and employees. As they started reopening clubs, it was imperative that Joneja and the TA team analyze and automate their hiring processes. 
 

But with a significant number of part-time employees and consistently changing business needs, Life Time wasn’t able to rely on traditional forecasting technologies, Joneja said.
 

Instead, his team uses Phenom’s intelligent talent analytics to predict staffing needs and determine how to build their applicant pool today for hiring tomorrow. “What we love about Phenom analytics is how we can track, monitor, and adjust our talent strategies,” Joneja revealed. “The reporting is intuitive and helps us problem solve, as well as celebrate successes and progress.”
 

Related Content — How Micro Focus Drives Successful Business Outcomes with Talent Analytics 
 

Creating a Comprehensive Hiring Forecast
 

Joneja relies on Phenom’s funnel analytics, which reveal candidate conversion along every step in the hiring process, from career site visits to the point of hire. With insight to help understand and predict hiring gaps — as well as how many applicants will be needed to fill open reqs — his team gains a comfortable head start on focused recruitment activities.  
 

“The data is so beneficial, because it helps us identify areas of higher drop rates, and problem solve to increase overall conversion of the career site, from site visitors all the way through to hire,” Joneja said.
 

Armed with data on Life Time’s application-to-hiring ratio, Joneja can then create a general company forecast for staffing needs a month in advance. “We take our current company average headcount, make turnover projections based on current trends, and then add in new needs we have to create a comprehensive total hiring forecast [for the following month].” 
 

Essential hiring funnel reports. Phenom’s hiring funnel reports help recruiters and TA leaders better understand how candidates are moving through the hiring process. Key data points include: 
 

How many career site visitors convert to job viewers? 
How many viewers turn into applicants? 
How many applicants are hired? 

By comparing that information and anticipated hiring needs against the projected monthly applicant flow, Joneja can determine whether the team’s on track – and plan ahead for potential deficits. 
 

Through this approach, the TA team gains a six-week head start on filling the top of the funnel, Joneja noted. Then they can proactively implement campaigns, use external marketing tactics, and collaborate with hiring managers on referrals and other recruitment marketing efforts to drive hires.
 

The same process allows the team to dig deeper into career site subcategories. Knowing in advance which areas of the business projected staffing gaps are coming from enables them to proactively plan campaigns that target best-fit candidates.
 

“With so much unknown in the near future, it’s critical to stay close to current traffic and trends,” remarked Joneja. And that’s why it’s so beneficial to have resources like this to help us prepare for unplanned changes in this new volatile and unprecedented market.”
 

Enhancing the Candidate Experience with Data
 

While Life Time already has an outstanding employer brand, the TA team has been able to reinforce its stellar reputation with job seekers through its engaging career site — complete with video testimonials, chatbot, and hiring events. A major piece of their strategy? Detailed performance analytics that uncover visitor engagement trends for each page of the site.
 

“We can see every landing page performance, not only side by side but also against the total career site average,” Joneja revealed. Valuable metrics that the team frequently turns to include:
 

Total views
Time spent on each page
Total visitors who exit the career site from a specific page
Bounce rates
Using this information, the team is able to strategically update content to increase performance with their content management system (CMS). Case in point? Committed to driving better candidate engagement among stylists and massage therapists, the team made over its salon and spa subpage with a razor-sharp focus on audience preferences for this high-demand talent segment. 
 

They populated the subpage with content highlighting the most important employee value propositions for this market: benefits, compensation, and career growth opportunities. In addition, they included personal email addresses of recruiters and director-level LifeSpa staff throughout their recruitment marketing campaigns. Stylists and massage therapists are typically passive candidates who prefer a warm introduction over a cold apply, explained Joneja.
 

The revitalized approach cut bounce rates in half and doubled the amount of time visitors spend on the page. “It’s really helped us to find passive leads we never would have found before — and now we can target them through Phenom’s passive leads campaigns,” he noted.
 

Shaping a Strong Future 
 

As Life Time continues to differentiate itself as a premier employer of choice, they’re continually expanding their use of Phenom’s talent experience management (TXM) platform to provide a superior experience for candidates, recruiters, employees, and managers. The results of a recent brand refresh are now evident across their updated career site which includes an engaging, authentic look at their diversity and inclusion — complete with impactful video testimonials from employees across the company.
 

“We’re excited to watch engagement analytics jump as we create a better, more inclusive and personalized candidate experience,” said Joneja. We’re excited, too. 
 

Want to level up your analytics with AI? Sign up for a demo and we’ll show you how!
 

jennifer.thomas
Sun, 10/10/2021 – 12:27

ATS and CRM: Powering the Candidate Experience

The success of any organization is closely tied to the quality of its employees — but attracting top talent is far from easy.
 

Employers today must differentiate themselves in the job market by building a great brand that reflects your company culture, providing candidates with a personalized experience that keeps them interested throughout the recruitment process, and leveraging technology that helps your team achieve your hiring goals. 
 

While your Applicant Tracking System (ATS) is designed as a workflow and compliance tool for managing applicants, a Candidate Relationship Management (CRM) tool helps you engage candidates before and after the application process begins by providing you with the tools to engage and nurture talent at scale. 
 

But with so many HR technologies to choose from, how can you ensure you’re choosing the right fit? In this post, we’ll explore the differences between an ATS and CRM, and share a checklist to help you determine the right CRM for your needs!
 

What is an ATS?
 

An Applicant Tracking System (ATS) is a type of recruiting software that is intended to be a “system of record” in the recruitment and hiring process. An ATS is designed for recruitment tracking purposes, enabling the recruiters and hiring managers to handle applicant-related tasks such as posting job openings to multiple job boards and storing applicant data.  
 

Today’s ATSs serve as the information center for other recruiting tools, such as recruitment marketing platforms, job distribution tools, background checks, onboarding, and talent experience platforms. Having an ATS is also a common compliance requirement— making it easier to adhere to multiple layers of hiring laws while simultaneously protecting your company against possible litigation as your workforce grows.
 

While an ATS can save recruiters time by automating the resume review process, it does have its limitations. From a candidate’s perspective, ATSs are often cumbersome and there’s no way to tell if their resume has been reviewed by a human being. This creates a poor candidate experience that may disengage top talent and entice them to accept a job offer somewhere else.
 

Meanwhile, recruiters and hiring managers are losing extremely qualified candidates in the database if the applicant doesn’t use specific keywords. They’re also missing out on crucial opportunities to improve the candidate experience with quick communications. Not to mention, candidate pipelining is difficult — there’s no simple way to discover and engage with candidates who have already shown an interest in the company or application to a position.
 

While the ATS is an important tool for HR, here’s how adding a CRM can help supercharge its functionality — and more. 
 

What is a CRM?
 

A Candidate Relationship Management (CRM) tool is recruiting software that serves as a “system of engagement”. It’s designed to simplify sourcing and improve productivity, while maximizing and streamlining communication between recruiters and candidates — helping TA teams build, engage, and track talent pipelines for their organization. 
 

It starts from a candidate’s first contact with your company and continues through the entirety of their recruitment process, but also continues with passive candidates who are not actively looking for employment but may be open to opportunities to join your company in the future.
 

Regardless of whether it’s a relationship with a potential hire or a passive candidate, the CRM enables recruiters to stay in touch and share information about new job openings and upcoming events. 
 

A CRM is made up of several capabilities that create a well-rounded and personalized experience for your recruiter. Here are some examples of what a CRM can do:
 

Enable candidate rediscovery through a customizable talent pipeline 
Leverage artificial intelligence to source top talent faster and reduce time-to-hire 
Assign fit scores to candidates based on experience, skill requirements, and location 
Create targeted marketing campaigns to keep candidates engaged 
Streamline sourcing while improving recruiter effectiveness 
 
CRM software powered by AI helps HR professionals engage and track candidates at various steps in the hiring process — from before an application is submitted to after the interview process is over, giving organizations the opportunity to reach out to all qualified candidates when new positions open. 
 

But what should an organization consider before purchasing a CRM? 
 

Checklist for investing in a talent CRM
 

When selecting the right provider, the HR tech solution you choose must meet your business requirements and be agile enough to grow alongside your company to adapt to your evolving needs. You also have to consider the vendor-client relationship to ensure it’s a good fit. After all, you’ll be working closely with the vendor team throughout configuration, implementation, and beyond! 
 

Step 1: Conduct a thorough needs assessment
 

Before you begin your HR tech search, you need to be clear about how the entire organization will reap the benefits of a new software solution. When you’re in the discovery process, don’t avoid the tough questions.
 

If you currently use a CRM, what are its limitations? 
If you don’t use a CRM, what are the hiring challenges you’re trying to overcome?
What are your  HR goals and operational needs 1 year, 3 years, and 5 years post-implementation?
What is your estimated budget?
 
Step 2: Determine must-have product capabilities
 

What specific features and functionality should your CRM have? By understanding what your team needs, you can choose the right platform to support them so they can reach their goals. Look for solutions that:
 

Offer fit scoring based on experience, skill requirements, and location 
Capture passive candidate information
Automatically track recruiter and candidate activity 
Recommend personalized and actionable insights 
Feature an intuitive and mobile-friendly user interface
Leverage predictive intelligence and deep learning technology 
 
Campaign capabilities  
 

Can your team manage and track email communications through the software?
Does it integrate with SMS / WhatsApp and allow direct messaging from the recruitment CRM?
Does the CRM show candidate data and measure campaign performance?
Event management capabilities 
Does it make managing and tracking recruiting events simple?
What about after the event? Can you follow up with prospects who did and did not attend?
 
Candidate rediscovery capabilities 
 

Does it allow for the rediscovery of past candidates (silver medalists)?
Is it easy to reach out to them with new opportunities that better fit their skill sets? 
 
Additional capabilities 
 

Are the vendor’s products and features able to break down the hiring process by stage?
Does the software offer project management tools like to-do lists, contact management, and scheduling capabilities?
Do you have the ability to create custom automations?
Are the dashboards user-friendly and easy to use? 
Can you collect and measure the recruiting data efficiently? 
 
Step 3: Integrations
 

It’s crucial that your CRM integrates with existing software, such as social media, job boards, testing platforms, and more. By synchronizing data, recruiters and candidates benefit from a more seamless experience. 
 

Is the CRM part of a larger platform that can support and strengthen more areas of the talent experience?
Can the vendor’s software integrate with other platforms? If so, which ones?
Are third-party platforms needed to connect the vendor’s software and existing systems?
 
Step 4: Get to know the CRM vendor
 

By asking questions about the vendor’s onboarding process, training capabilities, customer support, and other supplemental programs, you can gather a better understanding of what to expect after you’ve successfully integrated the chosen software into your processes. 
 

How many customers do they have?
Are they well-rated on software review sites such as G2, Capterra, etc.?
Do they offer hands-on experience via a test environment?
Do they offer onboarding assistance?
Do they offer training to get you started?
How long does the setup usually take for a company like yours?
What customer support do they offer?
What does their data migration process look like?
 
Step 5: Innovation
 

HR tech should be continuously evolving. By assessing if the vendor prioritizes innovation, you can determine if you’re purchasing software that will grow with you — or software that serves a “one-and-done solution” that suits your needs now, but will need to be re-evaluated in the future. 
 

Do they have a product roadmap aligned per quarter/twice a year? 
Does the CRM have any unique features that other systems don’t?
How often do they release new features?
 
Step 6: Security and performance
 

When you’re handling sensitive candidate information, you need to be sure that it’s secure, and that your company remains compliant with local data protection laws.
 

How do you make sure the candidate data you collect is secure?
Is the vendor able to ensure and manage your company’s compliance with hiring laws?
Is the vendor compliant with guidelines and policies that your organization must follow, such as GDPR? 
 
Step 7: Evaluating the right solution
 

The best way to determine what your vendor-client relationship might look like is by reaching out to existing and previous clients. By reaching out to an organization that’s already been through the implementation process, you can ask specific questions that will help you set appropriate expectations. 
 

Ask the existing client what their implementation process was like: how did it go for them? Did they face any roadblocks?
Talk to an existing client that has been using the software for at least a year. Have they run into any issues integrating the software? How did their teams handle the transition? 
Reach out to a former client that left within the past year (make sure you confirm the purchase decision). Why did the software solution not work for them? 
 
Step 8: Assemble a cross-functional team
 

Once you get buy-in from key stakeholders, it’s time to mobilize a dedicated team. Determine who needs to get involved to assist with integration — speak with HR, IT, and HRIS employees and leaders to support you. Reach out to the selected vendor and inquire about a point of contact that can provide guidance while your team goes through this transition. Establish and communicate realistic expectations for your team and create a plan for employee training.
 

Are there resources for using and learning about the CRM?
Does the team need to get certified in using the CRM?
Who can you contact if you or your team has questions during the implementation process? 
Does your employee training make adoption simple and straightforward? 
Who will be responsible for ensuring seamless adoption of the CRM? 
Resource: How to Deploy Intelligent HR Tech With Confidence

Step 9: Maintenance Plan
 

Establish and implement a plan for system maintenance. Once the CRM is live, assign internal ambassadors or champions to make sure everyone’s maximizing the tool — track usage rates, issues, and tickets to determine which teams need additional support. Don’t forget to measure your progress and results, and be prepared to report your results to key stakeholders.
 

Integrate your ATS and CRM for a stellar candidate experience 
 

Finding the right HR technology solution is like finding the right candidate — it takes time, effort, and vision. With more than 98% of Fortune 500 companies currently using an ATS to support recruiting, its true potential becomes apparent when you use it together with a CRM to discover, engage, and convert talent.  
 

What’s even more powerful? A comprehensive talent experience platform that seamlessly integrates a company’s career site, CRM, ATS, and more in one platform. Ready to find your next hire? 
 

Learn how Phenom’s Talent CRM can help your company reach its hiring goals — request a demo today!

kasey.lynch
Fri, 10/08/2021 – 22:49

5 Employer Brands That Are Getting Talent Experience Right

The Great Resignation. The Turnover Tsunami.
 

Sounds like a promo for an HR thriller movie (based on a true story). How can organizations quickly adapt to the newest talent requirements to ensure they’re delivering on what matters most to attract, develop, and retain today’s workers?
 

Last week on Talent Experience Live, we shared highlights from IAMHR, our virtual event packed with expert insight on how to redesign the talent experience to overcome today’s biggest hiring and retention challenges. 
 

Watch how five top employers — Newell Brands, Southwest Airlines, KinderCare Education, Thermo Fisher Scientific, and MITRE — are writing their own scripts to survive and thrive amid today’s tumultuous labor market.
 

Missed IAMHR? Get free access to on-demand sessions!
 

Newell Brands: Using AI to supercharge internal mobility 
 

When Newell Brands’ Ashley Blackmore, Director, North America Talent Acquisition & Operations, and her team wanted to level up the employee experience related to skill development and internal opportunities, they had a few overarching goals in mind:
 

Provide visibility to all internal openings
Empower people to take control of their future career paths
Provide internal job alerts that match employees’ preferences

“Consistent feedback we’d gotten from our internals is that they don’t have visibility to all of the openings,” Blackmore noted. “It also wasn’t a great view or experience, especially with referring friends.”
 

In the past year, Newell Brands stepped up their internal mobility efforts by launching a fully global program, which handed employees more control over their long-term career goals. The team chose to implement Phenom’s Employee Experience (EX) platform, recognizing that its AI-supported job search, skills matching, and interest-based job alerts capabilities would empower employees to take control of their careers. 

Case Study: How Newell Brands Boosted Applies 69%

After winning buy-in from key stakeholders including TA, HR, HRIT, and business unit leaders with a product demo, Blackmore and her team hit the gas pedal on a global launch designed to generate buzz. They improved on multichannel communications — flyers, swag, TV monitor banners, in-office presentations and email communications — and let employees know that exciting changes were coming to internal mobility.
 

In just two days post-launch, Blackmore and her team saw amazing results, including:
 

646 employees logins
880 employee visits
1,026 internal posted jobs
26 apply clicks
21 referrals

The new platform represents a big win for Newell employees, who now have the same phenomenal experience as external candidates.
 

Southwest Airlines: The sky’s the limit for employee referrals 
 

When COVID-19 shook up the labor market, Southwest Airlines’ Kelby Tansey, Team Lead, Recruitment Marketing, and Tyler Hagood, Team Lead, Sourcing and SWA Staffers, knew that incentivizing one of Southwest’s most valuable candidate pools — employee referrals — was critical.
 

In fact, data shows that 45% of employees sourced from referrals stay for more than 4 years, while 25% sourced through job boards stay only 2 years. With this information in mind, Southwest’s TA team decided to inject fresh life into their referral program with a points-based reward system. But they knew that incentivizing employee referrals like this would require efficiency, organization, and scaling — and the right tech to keep it all on track. 
 

Luckily, the team already had Phenom’s Employee Experience (EX) platform in place to support critical functions of the new referrals program. “We were able to do several company-wide communication touch points and then lead [referring employees] back into the internal mobility platform to learn more or refer somebody,” Tansey said. 
 

At the same time, referring employees were prompted to complete their employee profiles, enabling more personalized internal mobility opportunities for a better experience. Using the platform’s automation capabilities drew candidates to engage further with Southwest, prompting them to create a profile and receive relevant communications.

Related: The Value of 1M Chatbot Interactions: Southwest Airlines Tells All

And as those referral numbers increased, Hagood worked to balance delivering a great experience with meeting administrative demands to scale the program. To do so, they implemented virtual referral information sessions. Hosted through the platform, they set up multiple touch points during which recruiters could provide interviewing tips, insights on Southwest’s culture, and answers to FAQs.  
 

Hagood’s team has been able to stay ahead of hiring demands by proactively reaching out to referred candidates when they identify a hard-to-find role. With direct call campaigns, recruiters can personally contact referral candidates who would be a good fit. “When we know a position is going to post, we are calling into that market weeks ahead of time, letting the referrals know, ‘Hey get your resume dusted off, get ready, this position is going to post.’” 
 

According to Hagood, the results speak for themselves: In just a few weeks, Southwest’s referrals jumped from 125 per week to 1,000 referrals per week. And at least 50% of referrals completed their profiles, which better equips recruiters to convert them into applicants later. 
 

Thermo Fisher Scientific: Booking interviews faster with automation
 

When the pandemic caused open requisitions at Thermo Fisher Scientific to skyrocket, Amy Ritter, Senior Director, TA Operations & Enabling Solutions, saw that streamlining the interview and hiring process was essential. (Thermo Fisher develops COVID vaccines, tests, and therapies.)
 

“Engaging experiences, recruiter productivity, and speed are critical for us now like never before,” she said. Thermo Fisher’s TA team turned to Phenom’s scheduling assistant, which functions right within the platform’s CRM – and easily integrates with the company’s email system – to create a seamless, AI-powered interview experience. 
 

The interview scheduling tool gives candidates the same level of ease they’re used to with online consumer experiences – such as making a restaurant reservation or booking a salon appointment. It frees recruiters from the back-and-forth time drain, too. “It allows us to provide an efficient, frictionless experience to handle the administrative aspects of the process, while conserving energy to focus on preparing for the interview itself,” Ritter noted.
 

With automated communications throughout the process, from reminders to thank you notes, Thermo Fisher stays top-of-mind with interviewees — which is critical when you consider that many candidates are entertaining multiple job offers, as Ritter has observed in today’s market. 
 

Phenom’s scheduling tool netted Thermo Fisher some eye-opening results:
 

1,000+ interviews scheduled in one month (more than 78% of all interviews)
24 hour reduction in time spent on interview scheduling

KinderCare Education: Hiring for hourly positions in one day

When KinderCare Education began reopening locations after pandemic-related shutdowns, Derek Murphy-Johnson, Senior Manager, Talent Attraction, and his team faced a big hurdle: the company’s hiring needs outstripped their capacity to keep up. 
 

But by hosting virtual hiring events with Phenom Events, KinderCare was able to hire hourly workers at scale overnight. Consider these results from just one event:
 

160+ applicants registered 
79 interviews held
40+ critical hires made

Efficient hiring creates a better experience across the board — for hiring managers, current staff, and parents as well, Murphy-Johnson noted. 

Related: Connecting with Care: How Employers Can Better Support Working Parents

Consider these top 4 lessons from KinderCare’s hiring events:
 

1. Use technology to stay organized. Phenom Events helped the team by facilitating event requests from hiring managers. On the back end, Murphy-Johnson and his teammate used the CRM to build out candidate profiles and maintain event communications.
 

2. Leverage paid advertising. Create paid Google and Facebook ads to increase visibility among external applicants. Allocating a small budget for this was worth well the ROI, Murphy-Johnson noted.
 

3. Automate email communication. Using Phenom’s automated email campaigns, Murphy-Johnson was able to create a great experience and reduce the workload for his team. Through both timed reminders and automated drip messages, KinderCare maintained frequent, personalized contact. “We know that in today’s world, time to engage and time to connect with your candidates is critical,” he said.  
 

4. Get proactive. Share event leads 24-48 hours before the event with interview team so they can engage with attendees in advance. Hiring managers should also receive candidate details, including interests and experience, so they can better engage with attendees. 
 

Murphy-Johnson shared a few additional pro tips:
 

Send registered candidates a message 24 hours before the event with participation details. 
 
Encourage hiring managers to reach out personally with a text message or email the day before the event to build excitement. 
 
Email campaigns are better for longer messages. Save text campaigns for quick reminders and finer details.
 
Conduct follow-up surveys with both participants and hiring managers to see how events could be improved. (Phenom’s platform automates this, btw!) 

MITRE: Proactively fill the pipeline and engage hiring managers 

Crystal Stanfield, Director, Talent Planning and Acquisition at MITRE has a secret weapon for hiring for critical roles: Collaborating with hiring managers on skills, sourcing, and engagement. 
 

“We collaborate together on these three areas, helping us to really arm the talent advisor with the right info to go after the right candidate,” she said. It’s clearly an effective method: MITRE just wrapped their fiscal year with 1,335 external hires — 39% of which were directly sourced.
 

Driving the results? Tech that enables hiring manager and recruiter collaboration. “When we look at the AI in Phenom, and the collaboration with our hiring managers, it really is a perfect recipe for success.”
 

Stanfield shared these best practices for optimizing collaborative sourcing between TA and hiring managers — and ultimately filling the pipeline with best-fit candidates:
 

Conduct screen-share meetings
Search your own database first
Ask hiring managers for ideal profiles
Create a shared project to work from
Create Boolean strings for sourcing tools
Agree in advance to bi-weekly sourcing syncs
Review analytics and market insights
Encourage an iterative process

She also provided tips on leveraging AI tech to fill challenging roles:
 

1. Refine requisition skills criteria. Working with hiring managers, the team pays close attention to the search algorithm within the Phenom platform, scrutinizing which skills its pulling out of job descriptions. Are they the right ones? Are there redundancies? Hiring managers also provide ideal candidates, which the team then loads into the system to ensure no skills are left out. 

2. Review leads together. Knowing that AI needs human input to produce the best results, TA and hiring managers reviewed leads gained from AI together. “We really help train the algorithm to know that they are accurate — that this is a good candidate for this role,” Stanfield said. 

3. Optimize your own database. When MITRE launched Phenom, the team loaded data on thousands of candidates from their current system. This allowed them to tap into existing pools of past applicants already engaged with the employer brand. “From there, we really gained the power of owning our talent community in a way that we didn’t have before. So knowing that we can search on really anything to help pull the right candidates out of our talent community is really powerful.”

4. Share data as much as possible. The more hiring managers know, the more they can help the TA team. “Hiring managers really like to know what we do — they like to see a source and they like to see the data because it helps them understand how they can help us. And really, it’s a win-win.”
 

Missed out on IAMHR?Catch all sessions on demand!

Sign up to get notified about future episodes of Talent Experience Live! Catch us on LinkedIn, YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook every Thursday at noon ET to get the latest in recruiting, talent acquisition, talent management, and HR tech.

regina.rao
Fri, 10/08/2021 – 21:21

6 Best Practices for Recruiting Gen Z Talent

Gen Z, Zoomers, iGen — whatever you call them, this new wave of young professionals is already taking the workforce by storm. 
 

That’s right: the oldest members of Gen Z are graduating college — and for many companies, they’re in demand: Gen Z is expected to fill 1 out of every 5 job positions within the next decade. Not only is Gen Z valued for their tech-savviness, social conscientiousness, and ambition, today’s tight labor market means the pressure is on for HR to come up with a talent acquisition strategy best-suited for these rising professionals.
 

Here are our top six Gen Z recruiting tips.

1. Show off your tech

There’s a reason Gen Z is also called iGen. 
 

As the first generation of digital natives, technology is the most essential element of their lives — right after air and water. Most of Gen Z doesn’t even remember a time before social media, smartphones, and instant messaging. This has made the new generation more proficient at practicing their written communication skills than any of their predecessors, but it also means they have high expectations when it comes to technology. 
 

Gen Z is less likely to accept a job offer if the recruiting process seems outdated. They want to know that the company they work for is modern, streamlined, and eager for progress. In fact, Zoomers spend an average total of 6-11 hours on electronic devices per day. Effectively using tech to handle details during the recruiting process, such as event registration, resume capture, and general communication shows Gen Z applicants that you’re up-to-date with the latest technology and have a focus on evolution and optimization. 
 

Utilizing career sites to deliver personalized job and content recommendations should pique the interest of Gen Z job seekers. Even investing in chatbots to help candidates efficiently find information on your career site or utilizing SMS to send your candidates personalized messages and updates on their hiring process is a great way to showcase your company’s technical literacy.
 

Phenomenal Tip: Leverage an events tool to capture registrations and candidate information, and then invest in a mobile app to take your recruiting efforts on the go. 

In addition to using the latest technology when recruiting talent, make sure to also highlight the software and technology they’ll use when they become an employee. Do you use cloud tech to work from anywhere? Is your company active on social media platforms? Let them know!

2. Be transparent
 

Like Millennials, Gen Z expects transparency from potential employers. They’ve adopted an attitude of “if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.” This may be why a survey conducted by EY revealed that 67% of Zoomers say that people can’t be trusted. The new generation not only expects honesty and authenticity, they require it. If they think a potential employer is trying to pull the wool over their eyes, they won’t hesitate to turn down the offer.
 

Be upfront about any details that may be of interest to an entry-level candidate, including company policies, career benefits, and growth opportunities. Remember: Gen Z holds information they receive at college career centers and hiring events in high esteem. Make sure the information you’re providing at recruiting events is accurate and empathetic. 
 

Encourage your recruiters to be honest and eager to share details about your company culture all throughout the hiring process, from the booth at the career fair to a phone call after the event: what team building events do you offer? How are you ensuring diversity and inclusion? Do you have any specific perks, like internet bill rebates? 
 

Even if you don’t offer something they might be looking for, that’s okay. By only highlighting the favorable aspects of your company or available position, you’re signaling inauthenticity to Gen Z candidates. Rather than framing things as negatives, present them as challenges, and offer a positive solution. For example, if your company culture is fast-paced, you can communicate that “our work environment is very fast-paced, but we support open communication between employees and their managers to mitigate any stress or exhaustion.” 
 

By being open about less desirable details, you’re letting them know that they can trust you. Just make sure that for any negative you list, you spin it back into a positive.
 

3. Choose recruiters wisely
 

Despite being known for their early technological literacy, 72% of Gen Z actually prefer face-to-face communication over any other method of professional communication. When choosing recruiters, consider who can best appeal to young, entry-level job seekers while also accurately representing your company culture. 
 

Your recruiters are among the highest factors in Gen Z career decision-making. If early talent feels respected and understood, they’re going to associate those feelings with your company. Choose recruiters who are certified in recruiting college-aged candidates, and consider providing your employees with opportunities to get certified in this area if they aren’t already. 
 

Phenomenal Tip: Provide training materials such as relevant resources, persona-based learning, and certification opportunities on topics including early talent recruiting, university events, and events marketing. Investing in a Learning Management System can help you centralize this information and make it easy to access as well!

As with recruiting any candidate, knowing your audience and where to find them is key. Nearly 25% of Gen Z begin their job search during their freshman year of college. Make sure they get to know you before your competitors by engaging early and attending campus recruiting events. Even if you don’t find your next employee at that campus, you’re raising brand awareness among the next wave of college graduates.
 

Phenomenal Tip: With many campuses continuing to host virtual or hybrid job fairs and recruiting events, consider utilizing an event planning software to easily plan on-site, virtual, or hybrid university recruiting events.

4. Stay concise, but engaging
 

Today the average person has an average attention span of eight seconds — that’s shorter than a goldfish! As digital natives, Gen Z’s media consumption has been directly influenced by their early, constant access to technology. Commercials, social media, news outlets — this new generation has watched brands and media fight non-stop for their attention, and it’s made them easily bored. It also raises the possibility of your efforts being lost in the noise.
 

When advertising to Gen Z, whether you’re making banners for career fairs or writing a post for LinkedIn, make sure to keep it concise. Communicate your message in a maximum of five words and include a big picture. You might also want to try using modern lingo to boost relatability. Want to convey that your company culture stands out from the rest? Let them know it hits different. What to add emphasis to a point? Drop a periodt at the end of the sentence. 
 

Just make sure you’re not being cheugy, or trying too hard to be trendy. Remember: Gen Z can smell inauthenticity and “try-hard” behavior from a mile away. Try following popular accounts on social media platforms to stay up to date with the latest trends and lingo. 
 

It’s also important to note that their attention span doesn’t just stop at advertisements. Try to set up instantaneous registration and apply processes and to avoid losing potential candidate’s interest halfway through the process. 
 

Phenomenal Tip: Don’t make registration or application processes complicated —  keep the details down to name, phone number, email address, and resume. 

5. Make it meaningful
 

When it comes to Gen Z, purpose is everything. They want to know that the work they’ll be doing is meaningful, and that the company they work for is woke (adj., alert to injustice in society).
 

According to a survey by Deloitte Global, Gen Z is nearly 15% more likely to make career decisions based on personal ethics than Millennials. This includes the type of work they are prepared to do and the organizations they’d work for.
 

When trying to appeal to Gen Z, make sure to let them know how your company will benefit them both inside and outside of the workplace. What company values do you expect your employees to align themselves with? What strategies does your company employ to support mental health? What kind of diversity and inclusion events does your company provide? These are the kind of questions Gen Z wants answers to.
 

You might consider highlighting what your company and employees do to help their community. If you make a charitable donation, let your Gen Z audience know by posting about it. If you host an annual fundraising event, make sure your recruiters organically bring it up. Gen Z wants to take pride in working for you, so give them a reason to!
 

6. Maintain quick communication
 

So now that you’ve convinced them to apply, what do you do next? 
 

Like with everything else, Gen Z has modern expectations for the hiring process. The new generation is more likely than Millennials to become frustrated when recruiters can’t quickly or efficiently schedule interviews. Low volume communication signals a lack of respect to Gen Z, making them more wary of accepting your company’s offer. 
 

Since 23% of Gen Z expects texting to be an essential part of the workforce, it might be beneficial to employ SMS campaigns throughout the hiring process. This makes it easy for your recruiters to personalize communication with multiple students simultaneously, allowing you to keep in contact with Gen Z candidates, while they get the respect and attention they need.
 

Phenomenal Tip: Leverage SMS messaging to send 1-1 messages and large-scale campaigns. 

So what’s next?

With entry-level Gen Z candidates being of such high value in a tight labor market, make sure you have a plan for attracting and retaining Gen Z talent that involves modern and efficient technology, transparent communication, and engaging authenticity — periodt (See what I did there?).
 

Interested in a talent experience platform that will transform your Gen Z recruiting? Request a demo to see it in action!
 

If you’re a current customer and you’re interested in tips and tricks for Gen Z recruiting and are interested in getting certified, contact your Customer Success Manager today!
 

monica.montesa
Tue, 09/28/2021 – 10:23

Getting Your Employee Value Proposition Right

Standing out among candidates — and keeping the talent you have — is an ever-growing challenge in today’s tight labor market. It may be time to evaluate a key TA element: your employee value proposition (EVP).
 

On last week’s episode of Talent Experience Live, Michelle Sargent, VP of New Business and Partnerships at recruitment marketing agency Recruitics, shared pro tips on employer branding, creating EVPs that resonate — and how to spread the word to talent.  
 

Watch the full episode below, or read on for details!
 

EVP is everything

According to Sargent, who has helped many employers fine-tune and promote their EVPs, companies she hears from today tend to be in SOS mode. “Right now, the conversations are very much, ‘We need help now. We need to find candidates,’” she said. “So the first question I ask back is, ‘Well, what’s your EVP, what does your employment brand say?’” 
 

Attracting and retaining talent depends on a strong EVP

The concept of EVP has evolved over the past several years, Sargent said. And it’s become a top priority as companies revamp their approach to hiring and retention. 
 

Attracting talent. In fact, she noted, there are nearly 11 million open jobs right now, citing research by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. “How do you make your job, your company stand out from all of those? You need to have an EVP that differentiates you from all of those companies, all of those jobs. And as people start to get back to work, you really have to have that compelling message [as to] why they would choose you over those 11 million jobs out there.”
 

Companies can try every creative tactic in the book, from wrapped buildings to QR codes — but at the end of the day, it’s what they’re actually saying that matters most. “My advice is, level up the EVP and really take a hard look at what that EVP and employment brand are saying.”
 

Retaining talent. A well-defined EVP is also critical to retaining the employees you already have. “A strong EVP and workforce go hand in hand,” Sargent said. “Companies without them can have high turnover, or attract the wrong candidates.”

What channel works best for conveying your EVP?

To get a read on this, Phenom polled LinkedIn members on their favorite ways to promote their EVP. Here’s how they responded:

48%: Career site
30%: Social media
13%: Events
10%: Talent marketing campaigns

As for Sargent’s thoughts? All of the above are essential. “I don’t think that you can say just one. Your employment brand needs to live and breathe on every stage of that journey.”

Using HR tech to ensure consistency 

So, mixing it up channel-wise is good – but avoid mixing the message.
 

Before a candidate even applies to a job, they’ll experience an average of 3 to 18 touch points with an employer, Sargent said. As a result, it’s important that the EVP comes through at every touch.
 

She recommends using a talent experience management platform to ensure consistency and shared how using the Phenom solution was pivotal in promoting Brother International Corporation’s EVP, “At your side.” 

Case Study: How Brother International Corporation Increased Completed Applications 140% with Rebrand

“We started [integrating EVPs] on Phenom’s platform, and then we did it across the entire digital footprint. So it was a fantastic way to showcase all of the different touch points in the candidate journey, and how it’s important to be consistent in that messaging so that candidates really soak it in.”

EVP vs. Employment Brand: There’s a difference

Although closely connected, EVP and employment brand have different functions — and it’s important to understand the nuances, Sargent said. 
 

EVP should communicate what your employees and candidates stand to gain in return for their commitment to work for you. It’s more than a slogan, value, or culture code, Sargent emphasizes, “It’s about the promises you’re making to your employees and your candidates.”
 

Employer brand is the external face the company shows the outside world – the sum of all differentiators, the “why.” 
 

“In other words, the EVP is really, ‘Why come work here?’ and the employer brand is the ‘how’ and ‘what it takes to work there,” Sargent clarified.

Blog: 4 Steps to Establishing Your Employer Brand

Supercharging your EVP, step by step

So you want to level up your EVP. What’s next?
 

First, know that it’s a big commitment, and plan not to rush things, Sargent said. She recommends the following approach:
 

Define and refine your EVP

Again, good EVPs share certain characteristics: they convey culture. They convey what you stand to gain as an employee. “It’s about defining the essence of your company, and how unique it is and what it stands for. It’s the central reason that people are proud and motivated to work there and to stay there … I really feel it keeps your employees coming to work every day,” Sargent said.
 

“I tell [clients], think of [EVP] like a table, with four legs and a top,” she added. “Each leg is a promise and on top lays the EVP. You can’t have one leg without all four, and can’t have the top without legs to support it.”
 

The most impactful EVPs are the ones that authentically convey culture, she said. Sargent’s favorite examples of employer brands and value propositions are simple, iconic, and powerful:
 

Apple: Join us. Be you. The message here? We embrace our employees; you’ll fit in with our culture.Hershey: Haven’t reached your full potential yet? Neither have we. There’s more to be made. This clearly tells candidates and employees that they’ll never stop growing and learning.Chewy: Sargent gave props specifically to Chewy for its dynamic approach to culture. For example, Chewy calls team members Chewtopians. “I want to be part of that tribe – that to me is really compelling,” she said.

Blog: The 3 Levels of Employer Brand

Get your revamped brand and EVP in motion 

Once you’ve nailed your EVP, take these next steps:
 

Secure buy-in. Like any major initiative, securing buy-in has to come first. It should also come from all levels of stakeholders, from the C-suite to hourly workers.
 
Do your research. Conduct thorough research in the form of employee surveys, focus groups, competitive analyses, and internal analyses. 
 
Get feedback. Make sure you got it right – secure internal and external validation to make sure your employment brand resonates.
 
Activate the brand. Decide how and where it will be communicated, and monitor how it’s being received.

The must-have medium to convey your EVP

When it comes to communicating your EVP, Sargent is a fan of the power of video. 
 

“I don’t think anything will convey your EVP, employment brand, or culture better than video,” she said.
 

Investing in video development also primes employers to stand out on social media, where job candidates (especially younger generations) spend so much time. Think Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube … video is the way to connect with candidates on these platforms.
 

Key takeaways
 

Employer value proposition (EVP) and employer brand are not the same. EVPs should communicate what your candidates and employees stand to gain in return for their commitment to work for you. Your employer brand shows the outside world what your company does and why. 
 

Define and refine your EVP. Once you craft a solid EVP, strategically implement it throughout every step of your candidate experience. Use HR tech and videos for consistent messaging that cuts through the noise. 
 

Don’t forget to get feedback. You work hard to create an EVP that accurately represents your company culture. Make sure your candidates and employees are receiving the message in the way that you intended. 
 

Read The Definitive Guide to Recruitment Marketing to crush your recruitment marketing goals with Phenom!

Sign up to get notified about future episodes of Talent Experience Live! Catch us on LinkedIn, YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook every Thursday at noon ET to get the latest in recruiting, talent acquisition, talent management, and HR tech.

regina.rao
Tue, 09/21/2021 – 20:40

Building the Dream Team: What HR Can Learn From Pro Football

What do the most winning pro football teams have in common? A culture that embraces, recognizes, and invests in its people. That applies to high-achieving companies as well.
 

On our last episode of Talent Experience Live, Phenom’s Product Marketing Manager Devin Foster explored the parallels between building unstoppable pro football teams and thriving corporate organizations.
 

To find out how you can take a page out of your favorite team’s playbook to position your people for success, watch the full episode here, or check out show highlights below!
 

Roster check: It’s all about your people

People are at the heart of both a workplace and a professional sports team, defining its character and culture. 
 

Success ultimately depends on how all the players align how to work together to meet their goals (or, of course, to score goals, if you’re a pro baller).
 

So who’s who at your organization? It might help to think of your key players this way:

Team owners = C-Suite, Stockholders, and Venture Capitalists 

They’re setting the tone at the top, investing in the overhead that will get the work done – leading to attract top talent. 

General Manager = CHRO, VP of HR

As the leader of HR, this person is in charge of positioning the team with the technology and tools needed for optimal success. 
 

As Foster describes it, “When we look at it from an HR perspective, it’s the kind of HR tech that they’re providing you with to thrive — in the same way that a general manager selects or drafts star players.”

Coach = VP of Talent Acquisition

The TA leader, like a head coach in pro football, is pivotal to assembling top talent on your team for long-term success. “They are setting things up for the future and truly are all about bringing in your star players,” Foster said.

Quarterback = Recruiters

Tom Brady. Aaron Rodgers. Patrick Mahomes. They’re household names for a reason: When it comes to winning or losing, quarterbacks have the most visibility, and these are the guys that have delivered over the past few (or many) years. 
 

Likewise, your recruiters get credit when they bring in the winning hires. Today, the most successful recruiters act as talent advisors, building relationships with managers and candidates alike in the same way that quarterbacks guide their teammates. 

Running Backs and Wide Receivers = Hiring Managers and Internal Leaders

What do running backs and wide receivers do? They’re the top scorers, the ones who get fans excited about showing up for the game. 
 

Hiring managers and internal leaders have similar star power in your organization. When do you need to make a big impression and really show off your culture? You bring in your most charismatic team leaders to score points fast.

The Offensive Line = Sourcers

It’s often said that football games are won and lost in the trenches. Who’s in the trenches for you? Your talent sourcers who are busy sending email campaigns and getting on the phone with candidates. They are the ones making the plays that fill the pipeline.

The Big D = HR Tech and AI

Having the right technology helps your star players get in the red zone by working smarter and more efficiently. In today’s super-competitive talent market, AI-driven tech is becoming essential to staying ahead, Foster noted. It also enables the constant communication and outreach needed to stay top-of-mind with candidates.
 

“When we look at chatbots and automation, and all of the aspects that go into AI — not only for external candidates but also for your employees – that’s your defense, that’s what’s going to help you win championships.”

The game plans that position you for success 

Game Plan 1: Technology is key 

Not only does technology make life easier for your team, it gives leaders the ability to evaluate what’s been working and what hasn’t. “You have to look back and see what performs well in certain situations,” Foster said.
 

It’s a little like HR’s version of reviewing game footage to adjust for next Sunday.

Game Plan 2: Culture helps win it

Just as Super Bowl winners proudly hoist that Lombardi Trophy, having a winning company culture is definitely something to showcase. But what if your culture needs a little work? 
 

Often when pro football teams want to change the culture, they simply fire the head coach and expect positive changes will naturally follow. It’s never that easy, though.
 

The best football teams and organizations alike know that real change comes from the ground up, with input and buy-in from all your players.

Game Plan 3: Data is your secret weapon

Sports analytics help teams dig in deep on performance, tactics, and strategy. In HR, a common challenge when it comes to leveraging analytics is the lack of cohesive data.
 

“When we look at analytics from an HR perspective, oftentimes we’re looking at very specific KPIs, like time to hire, time to fill, call metrics, email metrics. All of these are hyper-analyzed and they live in different places, especially if you don’t have a holistic approach to your talent acquisition suite,” Foster said.
 

Quality of hire, although elusive to measure, is the game-winning metric. As Foster explained, at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter how many emails have been sent, calls made, applications submitted, or even candidates hired if turnover is high.
 

“When you look at your company’s analytics, you really have to take a look at the entire picture and take a 10,000-foot view and say, ‘Where are we getting the most qualified candidates, and how do we keep them here?’”

There’s no big championship game in HR

The season never ends for HR and TA departments – there will always be open jobs; that super-tough role to fill. “When you’re constantly fighting this uphill battle, you have to continue to get better in all phases of the game,” Foster concluded.
 

So get the right people in place. Then give them the tech they need for the blitz.
 

“With this tight job market, when companies are continually trying to pull everything out of their hat to get talent in the door, HR tech is the one thing that can help them out.”

Take the lead with IAMHR
 

Learn how industry leaders are redesigning the talent experience through AI and automation. Join us for Sept. 21-24 for IAMHR, our free 4-day virtual event!

Sign up to get notified about future episodes of Talent Experience Live! Catch us on LinkedIn, YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook every Thursday at noon ET to get the latest in recruiting, talent acquisition, talent management, and HR tech.

regina.rao
Thu, 09/16/2021 – 21:58