AI in Hiring: Is it Good, Bad, or Ugly?

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Is AI in Hiring the Best Thing Since Sliced Bread?

For anyone faced with hiring in today’s intensely competitive candidate market, the promises of Artificial Intelligence are attractive. The primary goal of AI in hiring is to automate hundreds of time-consuming recruiting tasks while simultaneously helping a company make smarter hiring decisions. It’s like having a highly efficient and intelligent assistant that can handle repetitive tasks, analyze vast amounts of data, and identify the best-fit candidates.

Doesn’t that sound like the best thing since sliced bread?

Well, perhaps to an extent, yes. But it can just as easily end up as toast.

It’s crucial to approach AI implementation with caution, careful consideration, and hyperawareness of its pros and cons. Despite all their benefits, AI aren’t magical solutions to common hiring problems. They’re tools, and tools can be used for good or ill.

On the positive side, AI can significantly streamline the hiring process by automating administrative tasks like resume screening, candidate sourcing, and interview scheduling. This frees up valuable time for recruiters and hiring managers, allowing you to focus on more strategic and human-centric aspects of the hiring process.

However, every recruiter worth their salt knows that there’s an element of human judgment that’s critical for effective hiring. AI shouldn’t replace or overrule that judgement. Rather, you should deploy AI solutions strategically so that it augments and enhances human capabilities rather than replace them.

By leveraging the benefits of AI while maintaining a human-centric approach, organizations can optimize their hiring process and make well-informed decisions that lead to long-term success. Here’s an eBook where we walk through our thought process on AI in recruiting and how we see this new technology adding value in the future.

Grab your copy of our latest eBook to find out how AI can both help and hurt you in the hiring process.

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What to Look for in a Staffing & Recruiting Firm: A Checklist

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What to look for in a staffing partner

 

 

No two staffing firms are alike. Even among lists of the most highly rated firms, their services, processes, and philosophies are as unique as your own, and picking one at random is unlikely to result in long-term success. So what should you look for in a staffing and recruiting firm that can best serve your company?

 

 

Culture and Values

First and foremost, recognize the importance of choosing a partner whose values and culture align with your own. Without that foundation, it’s unlikely the relationship will hold any longevity. Even if they find you a handful of quality candidates, differences in priorities or processes may risk a successful placement. For instance, if your company values work-life balance for your employees, but your staffing and recruiting firm prioritizes quotas over their people, the mis-match will manifest itself in the very people you end up hiring.

 

Quality Relationships

Quotas aren’t inherently a bad thing, but for staffing firms that live and die by them, it’s likely their relationships will suffer. Filling your inbox full of resumes to see what sticks is not a long-term strategy. Neither is an unhealthy focus on staffing technology that automates most of the processes. Instead, look for a staffing firm that prioritizes the human element of the recruitment process. Technology and process are key ingredients to successful staffing and recruiting, but relationships are the glue that sticks it all together.

 

Measured Success

A staffing firm may have all the best intentions to serve their clients well, but if they don’t measure what they’re doing, success will be harder to achieve. And to be clear, it’s not just ratios of interviews to placements or consultant retention statistics that you’ll want to find out about. Look for a staffing and recruiting partner that also measures the experience of their clients and candidates. They might do this internally, or they might measure experience through a third party like Great Recruiters, a platform for collecting candidate feedback, and through a partner that measures their Net Promoter Score. When a staffing firm takes the initiative to discover the perspective of their clients and candidates, you know they’re a genuine partner.

 

Market Expertise

We’re all familiar with the age-old adage that a Jack of All Trades is Master of None. As cliché as it sounds, it’s no less true when it comes to choosing a staffing and recruiting partner. A successful partnership is founded on the firm’s thorough understanding of your industry and the associated challenges you have in finding quality candidates. Find out about their history as a company, as well as the experience and tenure of the specific recruiters you’re working with. A staffing firm’s market expertise will also help ensure that their network of talent is uniquely focused on the specific skillsets you’re looking for.

 

Staff Tenure

It’s no secret that turnover in the staffing industry is often sky-high. Too often, companies are only focused on the bottom line and care little for their employees. When you find a company that cares, their employees stick around, and it’s those employees with the expertise, passion, and engagement that will lead to staffing success.

 

What to Look for in a Staffing and Recruiting Firm

You’ve likely worked with a handful of staffing companies to help you fill positions in the past. But that experience doesn’t make choosing a new staffing partner any easier. Make sure your decision covers all the bases so that you can build a long-term relationship that will continue to deliver quality candidates again and again.

 

Curious what Brightwing can bring to the table? Discover the Brightwing difference today.

Related Articles

The Power of Company Culture in Your Talent Acquisition Strategy

Get Competitive with a Candidate-Driven Talent Acquisition Process

12 Employment Statistics to Know for 2018

The Power of Company Culture in Your Talent Acquisition Strategy

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The Power of Company Culture in Your Talent Acquisition Strategy

 

If you build it, they will come. An excellent company culture goes a long way in attracting candidates, and at a time when chasing talent for weeks and months on end is the norm, it can make all the difference in landing the right professionals quickly. According to a survey of over 615,000 Glassdoor users, culture is the workplace factor that matters most to employees, ranking well above compensation. But building a great culture is only part of the battle. Let’s take a look at the power of an outstanding company culture and how to leverage it to improve your talent acquisition strategy.

 

 

How a Great Company Culture Attracts Candidates

It’s not necessary to reach the heights of Google or Facebook before your company culture can attract candidates and boost the hiring process. As consumers, we are increasingly seeking out reviews and the opinions of peers for even the smallest of purchases. Job seekers approach career opportunities the same way, which is a major reason culture is so vital to talent acquisition.

 

Positive word of mouth cannot be bought. If your employees truly enjoy their workplace environment and being around their coworkers, they tell their family, friends, and professional peers. A great culture creates an army of promoters who sing your praises when the inevitable “so how’s work been?” conversations arise. When your employees have something positive to respond with, it resonates with those working within subpar cultures. As 60% of today’s talent are passive job seekers, a contagious culture becomes an effective tool for capturing their attention.

 

Whether or not they are tipped off by a current employee, candidates considering applying for a role with your organization are assessing company culture right away. If they see positive signs everywhere they turn, from your Facebook page, to your website, down to your hallways and amenities if they have come in for an interview, then their desire to work for you grows. Existing employees who go out of their way to introduce themselves, along with those in the background who are clearly enjoying their jobs, make a big difference.

 

 

What Makes a Great Culture?

Company culture is made up of the dynamic between employees and their surroundings, but improving culture takes more than just remodeling a break room. A great company culture equates to a sense of comradery, acceptance, and encouragement. Opportunities for team building and collaboration should be abundant. Likewise, fostering a healthy work-life balance where employees feel in control of their day rather than confined to rigid procedures helps increase employee engagement, which in turn can make a business 21% more profitable.

 

Finally, a desired company culture is one that allows employees to grow in their careers. 87% of Millennials and 69% of other generations rate professional development and career growth opportunities as very important. Businesses that focus on career pathing, implement professional development, and check in with employees regularly can improve engagement and contribute to a positive culture.

 

 

How to Spread the Word

Building a fantastic culture isn’t something to be quiet about. While your employees will generate positive word of mouth, you will want to take action to see the biggest impact on your talent acquisition strategy. Since 79% of job seekers utilize social media in their job search, show off your culture on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Sharing fun images from events like monthly lunches, awards ceremonies, or weekly bowling leagues is a good start, but also consider showcasing the everyday things that make your culture great.

 

Further, take a hard look at your website. Does it accurately represent your awesome culture and environment? Is it regularly updated with new videos, photos, and blogs that recap the events going on in your office? And does it reflect community or charity involvement? Job seekers will undoubtedly be combing through your website when deciding whether or not to apply for one of your roles. When they find signs of an excellent culture, they will be much more interested in working with you.

 

 

The Power of Company Culture in Your Talent Acquisition Strategy

An outstanding company culture, when leveraged, can provide numerous benefits to your organization. Not only will it help attract the professionals you need most, but it will ensure that your current employees perform at their highest level since engaged employees are 60% less likely to make an error. With the potential for thriving productivity and a flourishing talent acquisition strategy, it’s not hard to see why so many organizations are placing an emphasis on improving culture.

 

Looking for the right talent who can mesh perfectly with your unique culture? Brightwing can help. Contact us today.

 

 

Related Articles

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How to Ensure Successful New Hires

5 Tips for Purpose-Driven Recruiting

Get Competitive with a Candidate-Driven Talent Acquisition Process

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Get Competitive with a Candidate-Driven Talent Acquisition Process

 

The talent economy in today’s job market is low—demand is higher than supply. Because top talent is so difficult to find, the best way to compete in today’s job market is to develop a fast-acting, flexible talent acquisition process.

 

 

Deliver an experience your own employees would want

75% of job seekers say a company’s candidate experience indicates how they will treat their employees, and 86% of job seekers believe that employers should treat candidates with the same respect as current employees. Knowing this, it’s critical to understand how to interact with your candidates in each stage so you can deliver an engaging candidate experience.

 

There are five stages in the candidate journey: Awareness & Consideration, Talent Acquisition, Interview, Offer, and Onboarding. In our eBook “The Candidate Journey: How to Optimize Your Hiring Process in Every Stage”, you’ll learn:

  • How to develop a swift and efficient talent acquisition process
  • Specific actions required in each stage to engage candidates
  • What makes you competitive for top talent

 

 

Complete the form to download our eBook today!

 

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5 Strategies for Assessing the Strength of Your Hiring Process

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5 Strategies for Assessing the Strength of Your Hiring Process

 

According to Indeed, a massive 61 percent of employers are expecting to hire more people in 2018 than they did in 2017. But expecting to do so and successfully executing on that plan are two different things. In our experience, whether it’s because of infrequent hiring or outdated procedures, few companies have a robust hiring process – and even if they do, it is rarely updated to align with current market demands. Thus, those 61 percent of employers may not end up onboarding the people they need.

 

If you’re not regularly assessing the strength of your hiring process, 2018 is the year to start. Here are five key areas you should consider.

 

 

Are You Losing Candidates in the Application Process?

 
A recent Careerbuilder report reveals that 52 percent of jobseekers say their biggest frustration is the lack of response from employers during the job search. What typically happens is that these candidates apply to positions only to get buried in an inbox of resumes or the labyrinth of a complex ATS. Considering that 78 percent of these same jobseekers believe the candidate experience reflects how a company values its employees, the fact that so many candidates receive no feedback is a huge red flag.

 

However, 82 percent of hiring managers consider the candidate experience extremely important. So employers and jobseekers appear to be on the same page! Where’s the disconnect? The data says it’s in how an organization perceives its own candidate experience; only 1 in 3 hiring managers have personally gone through the application and hiring process to assess the experience. Here, then, is a great place to start. Put your hiring process to the test to personally assess any gaps that may exist.

 

 

Are You Selling Your Company?

 
Today’s top talent want more than “just a job.” They want an opportunity to grow in their career at a place they’re excited to wake up for each morning. Because of this trend, it’s entirely possible that your hiring process is too candidate-centric, with little room for selling the perks and benefits of working for your company.

 

Jobseekers are assessing your company from the moment they read your advertised job description. From there, they are interacting with your website, receiving automated emails from your ATS, checking out your social media accounts, talking to your people on the phone, and eventually meeting with them face-to-face. Every interaction is an opportunity to sell them on why they would want to work for your company. Does your hiring process leverage those opportunities? Or is it too narrowly focused on screening out unqualified candidates? If it’s the latter, chances are you’ll end up unintentionally screening out the qualified ones, too.

 

 

Are You Using the Same Old Interview Techniques?

 
Every candidate is going to be prepared for the same old interview questions. A quick Google search will give them tips and tricks for answering them in the most articulate, qualified manner. So how much can those questions really reveal about a candidate?

 

Companies need to get creative in their interview processes. Creating questions that better align with the job requirements, company culture, and business objectives will be much more helpful. Finding new ways of understanding what makes a candidate tick, how they learn and think, and what they’re passionate about will serve you better in the long run than falling back on the same old interview questions.

 

Additionally, conducting the interview across the conference table is going to limit how much you can really learn about someone. Instead, give them a tour around the office to see how they interact with the rest of your staff. Get your team involved to ask them questions. Take them out to lunch or dinner and continue the interview in that setting. These are just a few ways to help discover a candidate’s true personality and motivations.

 

 

Are You Hiring Worn Out Profiles?

 
When you’re hiring talent for the same position you’ve hired in the past, the easiest tactic is to grab the job description you last used and immediately start advertising. Even if you’re writing up a new job ad, it’s likely you have the same profile of candidate in mind. You’re probably looking for similar experiences, career path and education as your existing team, but how recently have you assessed that profile? Does that age-old job description align with how your company has progressed over the years?

 

It’s worth taking the time to reevaluate how your ideal candidate profile aligns with your current company culture, business objectives, and evolved job requirements. Additionally, be aware that some diversity in career path or previous experience can bring different perspectives into your team, opening the door to greater innovation and problem solving.

 

 

Have You Lost the Human Element?

 
Finally, one of the biggest mistakes companies make when they implement hiring technologies like an ATS is that they lose the human element that defines the quality of the hiring process. ATS platforms are highly valuable for streamlining the process and storing thousands of searchable records, but it’s easy to focus too much attention on metrics, keyword searches, and automation.

 

If you’re looking for an emotionally intelligent candidate, someone with quality soft skills who will fit into your company culture as well match the technical skills you need, then you need an emotionally intelligent hiring process. Although speed and efficiency are huge drivers of a successful process, nurturing the human element is a non-negotiable part of the equation. That means your recruiters need to build genuine relationships with the candidates you’re screening. Those relationships will help you learn more about the candidate in question, uncovering the intangible, unmeasurable qualities of their personality, skills, and experience that an ATS will always miss.

 

 

Is Your Hiring Process Actually Working?

 
The strength of your hiring process depends upon more than just the latest recruiting tools and technologies. Attracting top talent – and keeping them interested throughout the process – requires a creative approach and an intimate understanding of current market trends. If your hiring process hasn’t evolved or been assessed in years, it’s probably time to discover what you might be missing.

 

At Brightwing, our commitment to the human element in hiring shines in every interaction. We can’t wait to learn more about your hiring needs. Let’s chat today.

 

 

Related Articles

Employee Engagement: Win the War for Talent

5 Tips for Purpose-Driven Recruiting

6 Mistakes to Avoid When Recruiting

12 Employment Statistics to Know

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How do you find candidates that constantly align with your company’s mission and vision? Answering million-dollar question is key to executing a competent talent acquisition strategy and filling those hard-to-place roles.

But in today’s fast-paced business landscape, you need a constant stream of top talent to stay ahead of your competition. But staying ahead of ongoing trends and dynamics is easier said than done, and can post a challenge to remaining competitive and relevant in your market.

Whether we’re talking industry-specific demands, emerging skill sets, or standard salary expectations, staying ahead of the curve will position your company as an attractive employer to high-performing candidates who are looking for competitive compensation, culture, and other factors that can advance their career.

From the initial application to the final interview, every touchpoint along your candidate’s journey should reflect your company’s values and commitment to a seamless and transparent hiring process. Some specific practices to illustrate this include:

  • Timely communication with the candidate (don’t make them wait on you for longer than absolutely necessary)
  • Personalized engagement (no automated stock email templates!)
  • Matching your company’s value prop to their career goals and aspirations (this requires active listening and engagement)

To ensure reliable employment outcomes and make meaningful changes to your recruitment strategy, we’ve put together the following infographic “12 Employment Statistics to Know for 2018.” Use this resource to bolster your talent acquisition efforts so you can secure the best candidates for your company’s strategic needs.

Click the image below to view and download the full infographic.

12 Employment Statistics to Know for 2018 Infographic

Employee Engagement: Win the War for Talent

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The War for Talent

 

 

Employee engagement can help win the war for talent and increase profitability up to 21%.

It’s a candidate-driven market, and the competition for great talent is fierce. To win the war for talent, organizations need to go beyond the resume to identify great people who align with culture and core values. In our whitepaper The War for Talent, Brightwing President George Opitz explains how organizations can make more reliable hiring decisions by providing a high-quality candidate experience, implementing a flexible talent acquisition strategy, and driving employee engagement.

 

Employee engagement has a substantial impact on an organization’s ability to retain great people and succeed in the marketplace. In fact, studies show that organizations with highly engaged employees are 21% more profitable than those with disengaged employees. What about great employees who are disengaged? According to a 2016 study by Gallup, 67% of American employees are disengaged and either actively seeking for new opportunities or simply not performing to their highest potential.

 

 

Go beyond the resume to find great candidates.

The War for Talent Whitepaper

Though education, experience, and hard skills are undeniably important, to make reliable hiring decisions, organizations need to go beyond the resume to the candidates’ core values. Do they align with the organization’s core values? How about those of your top performers?

 

In our whitepaper The War for Talent, Opitz shares valuable information and strategies for attracting and retaining great people. For example:

– Why it’s important to hire talent that aligns with company culture

– Insight on what candidates want in a potential employee

– Steps to improve your employee engagement and retention

 

Ultimately, the real secret to success is surrounding yourself with great people – and money generally isn’t their main motivator. Instead, they are looking for a healthy work environment, aligned corporate culture, social awareness, and brand presence in the market. Organizations that drive employee engagement and take hiring and retaining talent seriously will reap exponential rewards.

 

War for Talent PDF button

 

 

 

6 Recruitment Mistakes to Avoid at All Costs

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6 Mistakes to Avoid When Recruiting

Recruiting is not merely a function of HR, it’s essential to the success of your organization. Without a well-defined strategy for recruiting talent, you run the risk of making inefficient and costly hiring decisions—up to $17,000 in lost productivity, compromised work quality, and turnover.

To ensure better hires, you need a targeted recruiting strategy that will help identify high-quality candidates who align with the requirements of the position and the corporate culture. Avoiding these six recruitment mistakes can help streamline your hiring process so you can make more reliable hiring decisions that will elevate and enhance company performance.

1. Hiring in desperation mode

When you’re desperate, you can often make hasty decisions that can have long-term (often negative) consequences for your organization. This is as true in hiring as anywhere else.

That’s why it’s essential to approach the recruitment process proactively, not reactively. Building and maintaining a pipeline of potential candidates, even when you’re not actively hiring, ensures that you always have a pool of pre-vetted, talented individuals to choose from.

This will reduce time pressure and help improve the quality of your hires.

Here are some steps you can take to build a talent pipeline:

  • Regularly attend networking events
  • Engage with potential candidates on social media and other digital platforms
  • Partner with a professional hiring agency that already has a pipeline in place

2. Failing to validate traits

Resumés can be misleading. Everyone naturally puts their best foot forward and, as a result, often overstates their previous experience and success. In fact, Forbes published a startling report last year, claiming that 70% of workers lie on their resumés.

As a result, validating each candidate’s values, aptitudes, passion, behaviors, and skills is absolutely critical. You can do this through a series of screening activities, including tailored assessments, reference checking, and more.

The more you validate candidates early in the hiring process, the less turnover you’ll have.

3. Not tapping into your personal network

Referral hires are 40% more likely to remain with an employer after the first year than non-referral hires. So if you aren’t leveraging your personal network in the recruitment process, you’re missing out on high-value opportunities.

4. Skipping the pre-screening phone call

You don’t want to waste time on a candidate that will never be a good fit for the role. Pre-screening phone calls, then, are an essential time management tool for your recruiting team. During these calls, you can quickly get a sense of the candidate’s:

  • Communication skills
  • Professionalism
  • Genuine interest in the position
  • Knowledge of the industry and their own trade

By screening out obvious bad fits, you can ensure your recruiters (internal or external) are only spending time with candidates you might actually hire.

5. Hiring based on instinct

Sure, intuition plays a role in the hiring process. But relying on your gut too much can lead to biased and inconsistent decisions. Instead, it’s important to have some kind of standard hiring process to enable evidence-based hiring decisions.

Brightwing has a time-tested process that involves multiple stages of assessment and strategic planning to ensure we’re finding the best candidates for your needs.

6. Speaking before listening

To the best of your ability, you should avoid telling applicants what the ideal candidate looks like before you find out who they are and what they can do.

By opening the conversation to explore their intrinsic motivations, problem-solving skills, and perspectives, you gain insights that would otherwise go unnoticed. This approach not only respects the individuality of applicants but also enriches your understanding of how they might contribute uniquely to the team.

Avoid these recruitment mistakes with a dedicated talent partner

It can take a great deal of time and energy to avoid these recruitment mistakes. That’s why it’s a good idea to have a talent partner in your corner that can take the reins of the hiring process. Learn more about Brightwing’s tested process here.

5 Tips for Purpose-Driven Recruiting

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5 Tips for Purpose-Driven Recruiting

 

The art and science of recruiting with purpose goes beyond matching a skill set to a job requirement. It’s about understanding the position and its impact on the organization and industry—and finding the ideal candidate who aligns with the organization’s core values and the other employees.

 

 

Brightwing’s 5 Tips for Purpose-Driven Recruiting will help you make more reliable, high-quality hiring decisions.

 

1. Know the Position—Intimately

Candidates will perform their due diligence researching your company, checking out social media channels, browsing through the website, and gathering competitive salary information long before sitting down for the interview.

 

Therefore, use the time to share information the candidate doesn’t know. Explain how the position impacts the organization, and describe recent critical projects that were completed. Discuss the candidate’s short- and long-term career goals and explain how the job will help achieve those goals. Bonus Tip: Identify specific training and programs that are in place to support and encourage employees’ professional growth.

 

2. Define the Ideal Candidate

This exercise will help you define characteristics of the actual human being who will be most successful in the role. This goes beyond skills, education, and even experience. Once a candidate aligns with the organization’s core values, identify characteristics that will ensure long-term success within the company as well as the department.

 

Consider two employees: one working in accounting the other in marketing. Even though their core values may be equally aligned with the organization’s, the characteristics that define the ideal candidate for their respective roles will likely look very different.

 

3. Answer the Question: Why?

Why should a highly qualified, perfectly aligned candidate sign an employee agreement with your organization? Every organization promotes work-life balance, culture, and people. Dig deeper. Give them more. Take time to consider the type of role you are hiring for and what you would expect the ideal candidate to want from the role. Talk about a cross-departmental innovation team that meets quarterly, and specific projects that are in process and on the horizon. Share an employee success story and tell an anecdote about a company party or event. This is a great way to say you have a great company culture without actually saying it.

 

4. Let Employees Tell your Story

Don’t limit testimonials to customers! Let your current employees be your greatest supporters. Give them the opportunity to share comments on the company website via short quotes or even short videos. Develop a variety of examples, including project diversity, holiday parties, on- and off-site events, etc. Be as transparent as possible. Remember, you want to attract and hire employees who will thrive in the organization and hopefully share their own testimonial one day.

 

5. Promote, promote, promote!

This is a recruiting step that takes planning and strategy. Get involved in events, forums, conferences, and meet–ups where you can connect with the right people. Invest in a strong social media presence to continuously engage directly and indirectly with your audience. Most importantly, push for referrals, as the best hires are often found in your employees’ network.

 

How to Ensure Successful New Hires

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How to Ensure Successful New Hires

 

Hiring new employees is extremely costly—don’t lose them after a few months! In today’s world, it’s important to pay attention to every step of the hiring process to secure successful new hires. Follow Brightwing’s top 4 strategies on how to hire and retain great employees.

 

 

1. Establish a High-Quality Hiring Process

Go beyond a resume; it takes more to get the job done. Of course you want new hires with the right skillset and experience. However, if you rush the screening process and fast-forward through the interview, you run the risk of settling for a candidate who only looks good on paper. Instead, develop a strategic process for vetting candidates to ensure the fit is good for both of you.

 

 

2. Develop a Structured Onboarding Process

Once you hire the best candidate for the position, take measures to ensure he/she feels empowered to get the job done. Develop a structured onboarding process designed to introduce new hires to the company, access relevant tools, and navigate the building.

 

 

3. Invest in Your Employees

Brightwing places a premium on the human element. Employees work hard to develop the skills and experience needed to qualify for high-quality roles. Once hired, take time to recognize their achievements and contributions to the company.

 

 

4. Build a Strong Company Culture with Creative Benefits

Today, more than ever, company culture impacts employees’ overall job satisfaction. Consider creative benefits you can offer to provide a positive, encouraging environment. For example, a gym membership, time off for volunteer work, flex time, and discounts on healthy meal delivery services.

 

What’s Your Company Culture?

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Whats Your Company Culture

 

Company culture is everything. It turns an ordinary business into something extraordinary! but what exactly makes up a company culture? To keep it simple, we’ve narrowed it down to two main ideas: People and Vision.

 

People

We believe that people make all the difference! This is why our entire business is based on going beyond a resume and matching the right talent to the right companies. We’ve seen it time and time again — those who excel in a company, tend to be those who match the company culture. These people love their job, and that excitement is what makes them go above and beyond on their everyday tasks. It’s a crucial step for us to find a job that our candidate will love, and an employee that will contribute to the success of a company.

 

Vision

Having a purpose is infectious. It motivates people to do their job because there’s a bigger reason behind it other than “becoming the leaders in x industry…”. Take Google for example, people all around the world apply to work there everyday! Going beyond their fun office and benefits, people know their work is impacting the world through the advancement of technology and offering new opportunities. Having a meaningful vision, is what pushes all of us to give the best part of ourselves everyday.

 

A few of our favorite company cultures:

 

4moms

Speaking of revolutionary products, 4moms has introduced a variety of products that have made parents’ lives a little bit easier. In their own words, they “accomplish great things, and have a great time doing it.” Their values, similar to ours, include innovation, passion and people, which resonates with everything that they do! From corporate events to their philanthropy “4moms cares”, their company culture stands out. Checkout just how awesome their team is from their 2015 yearbook.

 

Deeplocal

Their company purpose reads “To be a place where amazing talent can invent, create, and inspire”. While many people may have the talent, Deeplocal looks for individuals who hold the same values as they do. By doing so, they’ve built a team who continues to strive with their clients such as Nike, Netflix and Google.

 

Hiring Tips to Acquire the Best Talent

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job searchAcquiring talent for your organization is one thing, but knowing how to find the best of the best is crucial – especially in a candidate-driven market. Hiring Tips to Acquire the BEST Talent:

 

 

Down to Business: Seven tips for better hiring

Finding great employees can be the difference between your business stagnating, or successfully growing your organization. You must actively seek out information on how to hire well and endure the school of experience. 7 Hiring Tips…

 

How to Know You’ve Failed as a Hiring Manager / Hiring Tips

Admittedly, hiring is one of the most challenging parts of building and growing a company. You have to learn how to identify those people who will add to your organization instead of draining your resources. Here are a few ways that you can assess your choice of potential employees during the hiring process. Read more…

 

The 7 Most Important Hires For Creating A Culture Of Innovation

Studies have shown that office culture is one of the most revealing indicators of workplace satisfaction. How can companies be intentional about building and nurturing a good workplace culture? The short answer: Hire for the right roles. Read more…

 

 

SEE ALSO: Closing the Deal as a Hiring Manager in 2016

Hiring Numbers Up Again – Employment Trends to Follow

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U.S. hiring numbers are up once again this month. More than ever, companies must rely on employment trends that actually work to compete with the best. 4 trending topics to aide your hiring efforts:

 

US hiring reaches 9-year high; job openings slip

The Labor Department recently reported that 5.4 million people found jobs, a 5.8 percent jump from January and the most since November 2006. Both figures point to a healthier, more dynamic labor market. Businesses have been reluctant to accelerate hiring for much of the nearly seven year old recovery. Employers added a solid 215,000 positions in March, while the unemployment rate rose to 5 percent from 4.9 percent. Read more…

 

 

The Top 5 HR Trends For 2016 And Beyond

I’m very excited and optimistic about the future of HR. This role is undergoing massive transformation both in terms of name and function. Over the past few months I’ve been fortunate enough to spend a lot of time speaking with some of the world’s top talent, human resource, and people officers at organizations around the world. The five trends shaping the future of HR for 2016

 

 

Attitudes changing about rehiring workers who left

76 percent of 1,800-plus human resources professionals surveyed were willing to consider taking workers back, while another survey found 98 percent of 300 human resources managers polled open to such a move. Read more…

 

 

An Inside Look at the Fast-Growing IT Industry’s New and Emerging Jobs

Information Technology is the “IT” industry – and this trend shows no signs of slowing down. For students who don’t want to pursue a medical or law degree, IT represents the next highest-paying job market, and the shortage of students completing an IT degree makes this a high-demand field. Read more…

Is Your Company Aware of Current Employment Trends?

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A couple weeks ago, we discussed how hiring managers and recruiters are getting ahead in 2016. There are many recruiting tips and tactics that will help get you there, but you must also be conscious of the current employment trends, and job market. Here are a few trending articles to get you started:

 

242K Jobs Added In Feb, Unemployment Rate Steady At 4.9%

The latest labor market reckoning out from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Friday showed stronger than anticipated job growth and signs that discouraged workers are not only jumping back in the game, but also finding work quickly when they do. The Data…

 

 

5 Tech Sector Employment Trends

A new study by CompTIA on job growth in the US tech sector – Tech needs more skilled workers. The report relies on job posting data, which is a good indication of real-time employer demand. Job posting data can give insight into the types of skills employers are looking for, the kind of companies that are especially aggressive in recruiting tech talent and the geographic locations where hiring is happening. Read more…

 

Best and Worst Graduate Degrees for Jobs in 2016

In the United States, average tuition for a master’s degree can be nearly $30,000 at public universities and $40,000 at private institutions. To determine the best and worst graduate degrees for jobs, Fortune asked the careers site PayScale to run the numbers. Read more…

 

Closing the Deal as a Hiring Manager

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hiring manager 2016The economy as it relates to the recruiting industry is in an interesting place. From 2010 to 2013, we witnessed a recession bounce-back – both demand (job requisitions) and supply (candidates) were on a steady rise. The last few years has been a different story though. Demand for high caliber IT and Engineering professionals has been constant, but the supply hasn’t.

So how do hiring managers and recruiters get ahead in 2016? For one, they must always be closing. In other words, making sure your hiring process is efficient and timely is important when candidates often have 4-5 other companies fighting for them. If you don’t make it all about them, you may be wasting your time.

 
Here are a few more trendy recruiting tips to assure your hiring process is where it needs to be:

 

Improving Quality of Hire Requires Better Jobs, Better Recruiters and Better Hiring Managers

To raise your company’s quality of hire, you need a hiring strategy designed to attract the best not one designed to weed out the weak. Read more…

 

The Future of Recruiting: Major Trends to Watch

The way companies locate and attract top talent has changed dramatically in recent years. Hiring managers and HR experts weighed in on the current landscape. Read more…

 

Death to Purple Squirrels

Every recruiter is after the proverbial purple squirrels, but the problem is that by focusing on the unfindable, sourcers ignore what matters most. Read more…

Talent Acquisition – It’s All About Keeping Up With The Times

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It’s no secret that we’re in the midst of a candidate-driven market. Candidates have more choices than ever, so employers must break from the norm. Some hiring managers are raising red flags, but the smarter ones are viewing this as a talent acquisition opportunity. Getting ahead of the curve, and involving technology in your recruiting efforts is key.
 
4 trending talent acquisition topics to get ahead of the curve:

 

Candidate Experience by Design: Applying UX To Recruiting.

Since almost every job search happens online, there’s really no difference between candidate experience and UX anymore. We must accept that today’s job search and recruiting process happens exclusively online, for every position, for every candidate, for every sector (save the oddest of outliers). 9 UX Principles for Hiring Success

 
 
 
 
 

6 Ways to Recruit Superstar Talent to Your New Company

Recruiting in today’s ultra-competitive job market is tough and success can often hinge on the team that you already have in place. Some sources suggest that in the start-up world the team is second only to timing when it comes to recruiting. The team is more important than the idea, the business model, and funding. 6 ways…

 

How Employers Are Wasting Time/Money To Recruit New Hires

With over 100 occupations in the U.S. currently posting more jobs than actual hires month over month, according to CareerBuilder, the war for talent is on. So you would think employers would be scrambling to figure out the best ways to lure talent, especially considering that millennials who will make up 75% of the workforce in the next decade are itching for their next career opportunity. Read more…

 

Cover Letters Are Dead And Other 2016 Recruiting Trends

Almost every cover letter says the same thing – it says ‘Here’s my resume, and here’s why I’m qualified for your job opening.’ No one has time to read cover letters, because the contents of the cover letter are so unlikely to make the manager’s heart beat faster that he or she doesn’t invest the twenty seconds it would take to scan the cover letter. Read more…

 

Recruiting Trends 2016: Breaking From the Norm

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It’s no secret that the demand for talent has surpassed supply. To counteract this, employers must break from the norm, get out of their comfort zones and bring candidate needs to the forefront. Top recruiting trends this week:

 

Hire the Best People, & Let Them Work from Wherever They Are

Most organizations say they are more open-minded than ever about virtual teams, and yet they still have old-school systems in place for hiring people across the country or around the world. From where I sit, the overlapping barriers come down to structure, culture, and mindset. Read more…

 

How to Conquer Recruiting, Retention and IT Skills Challenges

IT has become ingrained in every part of business strategy, so it’s not surprising that demand for tech talent is at an all-time high, forcing organizations to be creative when competing for talent. We’re already through the month of January and employers are looking down the barrel of a competitive 2016. Several industry experts offer their advice. Read more…

 

With Changing Job Climate, Employers Need to Break with Tradition to Find New Hires

Demand is outpacing the supply of talent as baby boomers hit retirement age and the economy improves, putting pressure on companies to try new angles. Here are five less-obvious pools of talent that can bring fresh ideas to the company, as well as fill gaps. Read more…

 

 

 

 

 

Grasping Visa Rules Can Help in Hiring International Students

work visaInternational students majoring in STEM (Science Technology Engineering Mathematics) fields can stay in the U.S. longer if they are using the OPT program. Read more…

 

 

Recruiting & Job Search Trends you Need to Know

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Brightwing is serving up the latest recruiting trends for job seekers and hiring managers. Don’t worry, we do the reading for you and dish out the latest news and information in the industry.

 

Jackpot: How Recruiters And Candidates Win At Salary Negotiation

Salary negotiation doesn’t have to be such a hot button topic. Learn how everyone can win in a salary negotiation. Hint: It starts with communication. Read more…

 

Can You Handle The Truth? Millennials Can.

With 36 percent of the workforce comprised of millennials, recruiters must understand what millennials want and need in order to fill more positions. Read more…

 

8 Costly Mistakes to Avoid When Interviewing a Job Candidate

To be a great leader you must be a great interviewer, since the quality of your organization depends on your ability to find and hire the right people. Save money and time by identifying great applicants the first time around. 8 Mistakes.

 

The New Way We’ll Work – Global Workplace Trends

Findings from the ADP Research Institute’s 2016 Evolution of Work study, a global look at workplace trends across 2,000 individuals in 13 countries. Read more…

 

 

 

25 Best Jobs in America Right Now

The jobs that make this list have the highest overall Glassdoor Job Score, determined by combining three key factors – number of job openings, salary and career opportunities rating. These jobs stand out across all three categories. The Top 25.

3 Ways to Make Onboarding Paperwork Easier for New Employees

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For a fresh college graduate starting their first job today, running the onboarding gamut can be as daunting as a mortgage agreement. The onboarding experience includes the application, authorizations and disclosures, background screening and verification, drug screening, federal tax withholding, state tax withholding, medical insurance and ACA forms, 401K, short-term and long-term disability, voluntary disclosure of disability, COBRA acknowledgement, non-compete agreement, employee handbook agreement, direct deposit, emergency contact, wage theft, EEO… gasp!… it is a lot of paperwork.

 

paperworkI recently had an opportunity to interview some college graduates who had just gone through an onboarding process. A common theme arose from all of them: the paperwork, whether electronic or paper, was a daunting task. When having to onboard using paper forms they universally talked about the same experience. It required an appointment, locked in a conference room with someone from HR, not understanding what was required on certain forms, and not having all of the required information with them to complete the tasks. Does this sound familiar?

 

To ease the onboarding process, organizations and HR need to consider the growing regulatory environment that we are in today, and the mountains of required documentation. There are plenty of ways to be out of compliance, government or corporate: use an out-of-date form or miss a form altogether; overlook an employee walking away with vital intellectual property without a non-compete on file; fail to meet the requests of an ICE audit and suffer fines. So what is an HR professional to do? Plenty!

 

Have you ever spent time looking for a paper form trapped on a coworker’s desk? First thing’s first, if you’re still using paper it is time to move your onboarding forms into an electronic process. This provides consistency, ensures the required forms are completed on time with the right information and in the right sequence, and provides you with a permanent digital record. It also helps make information easier to search for and share across locations.

 

SEE ALSO: How to Implement a Highly Effective Onboarding Process

 

In talking to HR professionals, one of the most dreaded questions when helping an employee with their paperwork is, “how many deductions should I write down?” We are many things, but a tax accountant is not one of them! Give your candidates the option to complete their onboarding paperwork at home before their first day. Every day new employees are asked to make critical, potentially life-altering choices on a Monday morning, with only seconds to think about it and without access to key resources to make an informed decision. Additionally, for forms regarding healthcare and life insurance, most people don’t have dependents’ or beneficiary’s social security numbers with them, making these nearly impossible to fill out in a conference room setting. Letting your new hires complete their forms at their own pace before they start their job enables them to ask questions among experts within their own circle, find required information, and also means less time for you in a conference room. Leave the tax questions to the tax experts!

 

Finally, be patient with your candidates. The top four positive stressful events (is there really such a thing as positive stress?) are: buying a home, getting married, having children, and starting a new job. Talking to the recent college graduates, their number one resource for help with their new hire paperwork was their parents. As HR professionals, we live and breathe these forms every day. We know a W-4 from a W-9 from an I-9 and we have the I-9 List A, B, and C document requirements memorized. Your new bright-eyed candidate may have never completed these forms in their life. Always look at things through their perspective, and remember there is no such thing as a stupid question!

 

Originally Posted by TalentWise, a Brightwing partner

At Brightwing, recruiting and staffing is about the people. We pride ourselves on effective onboarding to position new employees for long-term productivity. Looking to jump-start your career? We live for that. Learn more here.

The Best Hiring Managers Focus on Who, not What

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We have all known a leader who’s struggled trying to fill an open position because they wanted the perfect combination of hard skills and really weren’t persuaded by exceptional soft skills. These leaders are holding out for a candidate’s work experience that includes a particular previous employer, or an unusual technical skill, or a certain project experience.

 

hiring manager tipsSurprisingly, when these same hiring managers are asked whether or not they would have been better off hiring a smart, energetic person to whom they could teach the hard skills, they answered “yes” — especially when they’ve been waiting for those elusive hard skills for months.

 

To make matters worse, in almost every case in which a hiring manager was seduced by some particular hard skill for which they’ve hired, they fired for misaligned soft skills. Rarely do we hear of someone being fired for not having a hard skill they professed to have. Yet, how often have we heard someone fired for poor work ethic, no initiative, poor people skills, or they just don’t fit?

 

So why are hiring managers still so hung up on searching for candidates with ideal hard skills when they know most (not all) critical hard skills can be learned? One reason is these leaders aren’t sure how to screen for those soft skills. Another reason may be the IBM syndrome: the leader stands a better chance of being criticized for taking a risk on an unknown than for going with someone who has a “proven” track record. The flaw in that reasoning is we don’t know if the candidate’s perceived success is due to their own skill, others on their team, the environment, or just a perception created by this candidate.

 

When hiring managers review candidates, they should challenge their bias towards hard skills and ask themselves what someone with good soft skills can learn. One of Jim Collins’ most important leadership principles is “first who, then what.”

 

Empowered hiring managers focus on “who” and the successful “what” then comes.

 

This post originally published by The Metiss Group here.

Hiring for Cultural Fit: An Organizational Necessity

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At Brightwing, we believe that in today’s competitive world you cannot be successful in the marketplace without first being successful in the workplace. It’s at the core of everything we do, and the reason we invest so much in the culture of our organization. That being said, we pride ourselves on hiring employees who are the right ‘fit’. In this blog, we will answer 2 questions:

 

How will hiring cultural fit employees benefit my organization?

How do organizations go about recruiting employees who are culturally fit?

 

[Blog Inspiration: 7Geese]

 

cultural fit

Before we dive into the brass tacks of cultural fit importance, see if these numbers speak to you like they speak to us. According to a recent Career Builder survey:

– 66% of U.S. employers reported ‘bad’ hires
– 37% of U.S. employers lost productivity because of a bad hire
– 27% of U.S. employers reported a single bad hire cost more than $50,000

 

Not only can hiring for cultural fit save your organization loads of money, but it can also lead to higher motivation and productivity. When employees align with your culture and the core values it stands for, they’re typically intrinsically motivated to work at full capacity towards organizational objectives. For that reason, it’s important for hiring managers to focus on candidates who are a good cultural fit, rather than just a good job fit. In essence, you’re saving money and improving company morale every time you hire someone who is culturally fit.

 

Now that you know the importance and benefits to hiring for cultural fit, we will discuss the best practices, proposed by Development Dimensions International, for recruiting employees who are culturally fit.

Describe the Values in Behavioral Terms

Using behavioral-based questions is a great way to assess suitability in the screening/interviewing process. Furthermore, you can identify candidate competencies that align with the organization’s core values by asking situational questions. For example, if one of your core values is dedication, you may ask the candidates to discuss a time when they went above and beyond on a particular work or school project. Past behaviors are often good predictors for the future, so asking good questions is key.

 

Ensure that Hiring Managers are Adequately Trained

Often times, the toughest tasks for hiring managers is avoiding biases during the recruitment process. It’s easy to like someone who has a similar background and interests to you. This is why it’s important that hiring managers are trained to hire based on the interviewee’s core value compatibility to the organization, and not necessarily the manager. Furthermore, they need to know what they’re looking for in candidates, and how to interpret and evaluate interview question responses.

 

Help Applicants Better Understand Your Culture and Core Values

Organizations should brand themselves around their core values. If done correctly, potential candidates can evaluate their suitability with your organization. For example, a company’s website, videos, and social media are all outside resources that may be utilized to examine cultural fit. If your organizational culture fits the criteria of a job-seeker, they may just find you before you find them.

 

We’ve discussed the the benefits of hiring for cultural fit, along with some of the best practices to hiring the right people. If your employees can fully represent your core values, your organization will more than likely encounter higher morale, profitability, and likelihood of avoiding recruitment process failure.

How to Implement a Highly Effective Onboarding Process

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Having an effective onboarding process has never been more important in today’s competitive workforce. Talented employees are among one of the strongest assets for innovative companies, but poor initial onboarding experiences often lead to unpleasant, costly results.

 

The following statistics emphasize the importance of an effective onboarding process:

– 33% of new hires look for a new job within their first 6 months on the job
– 23% of new hires quit before their first anniversary
– It takes about 8 months for a new hire to reach full productivity
– Estimated employee turnover costs range between 100% – 300% of the replaced employee’s salary

Statistics Source: Harvard Business Review

 

Understandably, managers have busy work lives. It’s often a challenge to implement stimulating, effective onboarding experiences. Luckily, there are ways to streamline new-hire processes to engage and drive long-term success. Below, we provide 4 suggestions for implementing a highly effective onboarding process:

 

Create an Onboarding Video

A quick onboarding video is one way to effectively show newcomers what they can expect. The video may highlight things like culture, core values, and the next steps in the onboarding process.

  
Use Technology to Speed up the Paperwork Process

We have the technology at our fingertips, so why not use it? HR systems like Talentwise, Silkroad, and Taleo provide new hire portals that are capable of implementing electronic signatures, up-to-date employment records, and socializing features.

 

Create a Mentoring Program

To make the onboarding process less overwhelming, create a mentoring program. Mentors will often be able to help newcomers understand the organizational structure and employee processes. Such a program usually increases productivity as well.

 

Involve All Stakeholders & Give a Warm Welcome

The development and implementation of the onboarding process doesn’t have to be limited to the HR department. There are several other departments that can make a good first impression as well. For instance, streamlining a process where the new hire gets to meet different sectors of the workplace every other day is a good way to encourage increased employee engagement and motivation.

 

Avoid Recruitment Process Failure – Get Coworker Insight

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Most parents know the best way to get their kid’s buy-in on family decisions is to have the kids be a part of the decision making process. One of our partners, The Metiss Group, had an employee who was dreading a family vacation with his two teenagers.  Instead of he and his wife just planning the trip, he had his son and daughter plan several of the activities.  The family ended up having one of their best vacations. Getting group input when putting together job descriptions is a vital part of the recruitment process.

 

Whether you are defining jobs using a traditional description, or an Accountability Matrix, you’ll want to get input from the people who will interact with the individual on a regular basis. This is important when you start to outline the key job requirements, such as responsibilities, performance standards, education, experience, technical skills, and interpersonal skills.

 

The supervisor and/or HR are generally responsible for defining job requirements. Soliciting input from those closest to the job, or those impacted by how well the job is performed, provides several important advantages:

 

Recruitment Process at Brightwing

*  The people working closely with the job know whether it’s being done correctly or not – often because it impacts their  work;

*  Gaining input from these stakeholders create more robust success factors for the job;

*  Consulting the stakeholders creates a commitment from them to the individual in the job to succeed since they had a hand in defining it;

*  When coupled with a disciplined selection process, the learning curve is shortened because involved co-workers aren’t  just waiting for the new hire to fail.

 

Just imagine the support your new hire will feel.

By empowering hiring managers to ask for input from colleagues when defining their jobs, they will likely experience more confidence and success in their placements.

This entry was originally posted by The Metiss Group – For over 20 years, The Metiss Group has strived to remove unpredictability and optimize performance for organizations. They rely on behavioral science to address hiring issues, underperforming teams, disharmony among leaders, and much more.

Contingent Workforce Management: Determining the Right Model for You

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Contingent Workforce ManagementThere is no question that the contingent workforce continues to grow.

And, why wouldn’t it?  A contingent workforce offers organizations a litany of benefits.  If you want to help reduce liability, manage costs and simplify the tracking and accounting of your workforce you have traveled down the right path.

So, as a conscientious corporate executive you do your research and find a VMS/MSP to manage the process.  But, don’t be fooled!  Most of the current MSP/VMS models seem to have come woefully short of truly delivering exceptional value to their end clients.  But why?  Well, although the intentions are audacious, most of the time the execution falls short with the setting of unreasonable expectations coupled with a dramatically poor communication program.

The typical MSP/VMS solutions count on the system to manage a workflow, but are usually understaffed or unqualified to manage the interactions required in a high performing recruiting model.  Couple this with unrealistic restrictions and expectations put on the “vendors/partners” who are actually the delivery engine of the whole process, and you have a flawed system.

Quick vs. Great

In reality, among a majority of hiring managers, staffing vendors and many of the organizations who continue buying these contingent workforce management solutions there seems to be an underlying lack of satisfaction with the results of their programs. Here are some facts:

  • A recent SIA survey of buyers and users of MSP/VMS recorded “Net Promoter” scores of 25% or less – essentially not a ringing endorsement of the solutions.
  • A similar SIA survey of vendors to MSP/VMS solutions recorded a “Net Promoter” score of minus 50%, yes minus and they are the actual delivery engine to these solutions.
  • Brightwing’s own survey, sent to over 4,000 users, represented similar results with 52% of the respondents desiring a solution that incorporates the high touch of specialized recruiting or staffing firms.
  • Finally, over 90% of those surveyed responded that for critical positons they actually had to find a work around the existing MSP/VMS processes.

Attracting the best and brightest into an organization takes a high-level of communication, understanding and nurturing. So, why does it seem that in most of these MSP/VMS delivery models one of the first and most important process they implement is to limit communication  as opposed to enhance it? The truth is, the expectation is to view and categorize people as nothing more than commodotized widgets.

There is a simpler, more cost effective and value driven alternative.

  • There are available technologies today that can drive the consolidation and management of time keeping, invoicing and even the security (who is actually in your facility and when).
  • Managing issues regarding compliance and liability are structural issues where processes don’t have to eliminate communication.
  • There are also simple answers to tracking expectations and results (quality) that actually can be delivered using the same technologies that are being used but very seldom applied.

Talent drives innovation and success in any top-performing organization. Leading organizations understand that when they are discovering and acquiring talent, it’s an investment in their future and a statement about their potential.  Let’s work towards helping our clients and our candidates reach their full potential as opposed to putting systems and processes in place that are not conducive to attracting and delivering the best.

Contingent Workforce ExpertAuthor: George Albert Optiz, President of Brightwing