Posts

Image by Fizkes

Recruiting Today: How to Humanize a Digital Hiring Experience [Podcast]

A recent analysis by McKinsey found that the pandemic has transformed how we work for good. Yes, some of us will return to the workplace. Many others, though, will become part of a hybrid team or remain remote contributors. Some of us may never return to a traditional office setting. This rapid change has hit many HR functions just as hard. Recruiting today, after all, is not what it was a year ago. And it isn’t going back to the old normal ever again.

Recruiting — I know from experience — can be slow to change, though. It’s not that hiring wants to be old-fashioned. But the roots of the entire hiring ecosystem have grown strong due to existing personal connections and through the growth of human relationships. So for many recruiters, the questions have become: 

  • How do we extend those connections and relationships into the digital realm?
  • How do we create a great candidate experience without — at least until an employer is ready to extend a job offer — ever meeting in person? 

Let’s discuss… on #WorkTrends Conversations.

Our Guests: PeopleLift’s Tim Visconti (CEO) and Tim David (COO)

On this episode of #WorkTrends, I welcomed two Tims — Tim Visconti, CEO at PeopleLift, and Tim David, PeopleLift’s COO. The goal for our time together: Discussing how the recruiting landscape has changed, forever. Both Tims are uniquely positioned to talk about this timely topic. After all, PeopleLift is a rapidly growing Employee Experience (EX) consulting firm with operations in three countries. They truly have a global perspective on the challenges recruiters face in today’s marketplace.

Of course, I had to start our conversation by asking what about recruiting has changed most since the pandemic began. Tim Visconti’s answer was at first brief but spot-on:

“What hasn’t changed?”

Recruiting Today: Humanizing a Mostly Digital Process

After taking on topics like PeopleLift’s approach to recruiting today, the best recruiting tools available, and diversity and inclusion, I asked the questions on everyone’s mind: How do we humanize a mostly digital process while creating an excellent candidate experience. Tim Visconti helped with an insightful answer:

“It’s about being intentional. During our interview process, our recruiters are very intentional about keeping in touch with candidates. They are really present in those conversations; they’re engaging personally with candidates every step of the way.”

Tim Davis agreed the human aspect of recruiting is more important than ever now, even when the process is mostly digital:

“Bringing the human aspect back to the recruiting process is key. Tools that started coming out prior to COVID were meant to remove the human interaction. So I’m excited to see the human aspect come back to that recruiting profession now. That is the cornerstone of our company; it is how we operate. We operate because we care. And it’s exciting to see how other companies are employing that methodology as well.”

I love that we’re getting back to human — and back to concepts like caring. After all that we’ve been through in the last fifteen months, could the timing be any better?

I encourage you to check out the fine work PeopleLift is doing in recruiting today, as well as their caring approach to employee experience. And I thank them for sponsoring this episode of #WorkTrends Conversations! And please consider connecting with Tim Visconti on LinkedIn here, and with Tim David here.

Now… go be human.

 

 

The Old Ways Of Working Are Not Working

The future of talent has arrived. Today’s businesses are competing for the most innovative and the brightest, and it is time to step up to the plate or step aside. What does it take to recruit, evaluate and retain a 21st century workforce? Well, here are some things you need to consider:

1)    The Old Ways Won’t Work: Cultivating top talent is essential if you want your business to adapt and thrive. According to a recent survey just 34% of executives believe their talent acquisition efforts are up to the job of preparing the workforces their companies will need in the future.  They’re right. Executives need to focus on building the company’s employment brand. Today’s companies must market their brand not just to consumers, but to potential hires too. Leveraging social media and professional networks to mine and build talent communities is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the outreach process. Video, collaboration programs, and employment engagement platforms are just a few of the tools companies are using to build the workforces of the future. Leaders are becoming more social by the minute. 

2)    Use Big Data to Build and Retain Talent: Top talent is still a rare commodity, but the pool of potential employees is global. Leveraging big data and talent analytics is essential to identifying skilled candidates and measuring the quality of hires. Put simply, statistical tools can help you locate the proverbial needle in a haystack. Otherwise, you might as well be aiming at a dartboard blindfolded.

3)    Community Building: Community building is not just important on the job, it is an important way companies are attracting the right recruits. For example, companies like GM have used employee generated content dispersed through social media to attract and build talent-based communities. Innovative practices like these are helping companies expand their talent pool.

4)    Interface is Everything: To reach potential employees you must connect with them using the same tools and technologies they use. Think candidate experience. Essentially, this means giving potential hires a great experience with whatever platform, device or channel they choose to use when interacting with your company. Top-quality candidates have more choices than ever. If they can’t connect with you seamlessly, then they’ll likely pass you over in favor of someone else.

5)    Employee Engagement: Today, hiring a recruit is only the beginning of an extended process. Employee engagement is indispensable towards maintaining a deep bench and a motivated workforce. Creating a connected and collaborative workplace environment helps assure that employees have open lines of communication, team-building tools and the feedback they require to do their jobs. Today’s recruiting is not your mother or father’s recruiting. The emergence of global markets, social media, and analytic tools is transforming the business of hiring and retaining employees. Companies need to out-smart, out-innovate, and out-hustle the competition if they want to have the inside track when it comes to attracting the highest quality candidates. If you want the best and brightest to work for you, then you had better be the best and the brightest at acquiring talent.

A version of this was first posted on Forbes.

Photo Credit: RollisFontenot via Compfight cc