7 Sourcing Mistakes Recruiters Make

Too many employers and recruiters make the grave mistake of not giving candidate sourcing much thought. Here are 7 common mistakes that they make when it comes to uncovering and matching candidates.

Let’s check out some of the most common sourcing mistakes recruiters make when looking for new candidates.

1. Making assumptions

Very often, recruiters make assumptions about a candidate they’ve never met before. This includes writing attractive emails about the job offers and openings and assuming that the candidate would like it even before you’ve analysed the candidate’s credentials.

With this kind of attitude and approach, the recruiter assumes that they professionally know the candidate very well. However, the fact is that you have little information about the candidate and don’t know whether the candidate would like the job opportunity or not. You are at risk of losing out on the trust that you may have otherwise gained from the candidate.

Therefore, using butterfly sales language and assumptions is not the right way to source candidates.

2. Ignoring active job seekers

Most recruiters believe that passive candidates are the best fit for their job positions, and it is worth their time to persuade them to consider your job opportunity.

Many experts disagree that only pursuing passive candidates is the right approach to sourcing. It mainly depends on the job position that you want to hire.

More often, active candidates are best suited for a majority of the job positions. Plus, there is a higher chance of finding the right cultural fit candidate among the active job seekers.

In the current job market, not many individuals often prefer to change jobs. The average period is about 4 to 5 years before a candidate actively seeks a new job. Therefore, don’t ignore or undervalue the significance and skills of active job seekers.

3. Creating generalised job ads

Another common mistake that most recruiters make is not creating focused job ads that highlight the specific qualities they want for the job role. This often leads to hundreds of job applications with weaker matches, which does not solve the purpose of sourcing.

Sourcing is about finding and creating a list of the most eligible and best-fit candidates and then encouraging them to apply for the job position. Therefore, the job ads need to focus on the specific skills, knowledge and experience required for the job role.

4. Sharing job descriptions on social media without proper brand building

Most recruiters rush to share job descriptions on social media platforms to their thousands of followers without prior brand building.

First, the recruiter needs to build their brand on the internet by actively engaging with their followers. This is a long-term process that starts well before posting your job opportunities.

Developing a proper brand helps your followers or your target audience on social media to connect and engage with your brand. This boosts your credibility, which pays rich dividends when sharing social media job opportunities or job descriptions.

5. Neglecting candidates that fall short by fewer margins

A majority of recruiters are too rigid in their candidate requirements. They overlook the fairly good candidates who fall short by narrow margins.

By being rigid with your requirements, you may miss some terrific candidates who are the best fit for the job. Sometimes, you do not just require a candidate with top skills and talent, but you also need one with the right attitude. Because skills can be acquired, but attitude is difficult to cultivate.

6. Being too dependent on job ads

Most recruiters rely heavily on job ads to source candidates. And they feel they’ve achieved good outcomes when they receive hundreds of resumes. However, there’s a flaw in this approach.

If you’ve received hundreds of job applications for your job openings, there’s clearly something wrong. This indicates that the active candidates did not fully understand your job posting; they just submitted their resumes to try their luck with this job opportunity.

It makes your sourcing more complex because, in such a situation, you have to work again to weed out the bad matches and invite the best-fit candidates to the next round of interviews.

7. Not using different recruitment channels

It is vital to use the proper recruiting channels to reach out to candidates in this digital age. Most recruiters rely on single recruitment channels such as job ads to source their candidates.

This way, they miss out on the vast resource of social media, which can help them directly connect and interact with active and passive job seekers. Recruiters need to identify the proper channels to find the candidates they want for the job role.

Sourcing is the first and the most crucial step in the recruitment process. To learn more about effective sourcing, visit BetterPlace.

Source: https://www.betterplace.co.in/blog/sourcing-mistakes-recruiters-make/

4 Ways to Make a Good Impression With Recruiters

We recently explored how to identify the signs that your recruiter is a perfect fit for you. It's definitely important that when working with a recruiter, that person is well-suited to help you achieve your career goals beyond your MBA program. However, working with a recruiter is a reciprocal relationship; their job is to sell you to potential employers, and to do that, it's just as important that you're a good fit for them.

In order to motivate a recruiter to work hard to place you with the perfect job, you need to leave them with a good impression—not just of your credentials as a candidate, but of who you are as a person. The key is to approach a new relationship with a recruiter with as much professionalism and attention to detail as you would approach a new job. To that end, here are four ways to make a good impression with your recruiter.

Always respond, even if you're not looking for a job.

Many recruiter/candidate relationships begin with some variation of an email or direct message we've all seen at least once:

"Hi there!

I saw your profile on LinkedIn, and I thought you'd be a great fit for a position I'm working on. Are you looking to make a move? I'd love to connect with you if you've got a few minutes this week to hear more about the position. Let me know if you have some time for a quick call.

Looking forward to your response."

Recruiters cast a wide net. Still, they're not going to reach out to somebody they don't think they can sell to an employer. So, if you've gotten a message like that, chances are, they really are interested in speaking with you.

Even if you're not currently in the market for a job, it shows a certain level of professionalism and consideration when you respond to let them know. You might not need a job now, but you might further down the road, and if you've shown a recruiter that you took their message to heart, then you've kept the lines of communication open if you need to reach out to them in the future.

Treat your first meeting with a recruiter as you would treat an interview.

The stakes may seem slightly lower when you meet with a recruiter than when you interview for a job, but they aren't really. This is still a person who needs to learn who you are as a candidate, and whose impression will play a critical role in how you progress down the job search pipeline. Take this first meeting as seriously as you would an interview, and you'll show them you're not only someone they can sell, but someone they'll want to sell—someone they can root for.

Do your research before you meet with the recruiter for the first time. Know the job description by heart, and if they give you information about the company or the hiring manager (they won't always), do your due diligence with that information, too. If you don't have specific information about the company, research the staffing agency for whom the recruiter works. Understand the areas in which they specialize, and familiarize yourself with the specific recruiter's LinkedIn.

Dress for the meeting the same way you would dress for an interview, and bring the necessary materials—your resume, a portfolio if necessary, and any documentation the recruiter might need to add you to their system. Be prompt, and follow up with a thank you note.

Answer all questions with candor.

Okay, so this one seems pretty obvious. Of course, when you're speaking with somebody whose job it is to sell you to your future boss, you want to give them as accurate an idea of you as possible. You never want to lie or exaggerate points on your resume or aspects of your experience. You want to be forthcoming with your goals.

But there are other things a recruiter might ask you that you might be tempted to gloss over. MBA students, for instance, might not want to give the impression that their coursework could impinge on the amount of time they can commit to a new job.

A lot of recruiters will also ask where you are in your job search; they may ask how many interviews you've gone on, and if you're awaiting any outstanding decisions. They could also ask if you're working with other recruiters. Some people find these questions probing, and are hesitant to divulge sensitive details about their job search. But a recruiter will appreciate your honesty, and candid answers may go towards helping them build their case for you.

Always follow up.

Recruiters will usually want to hear from you after the interview to get a sense of how it went and to gather feedback for when they speak with the employer about a decision. If they don't call you first, it's imperative that you reach out to them. Staying proactive even beyond the interview will show them that you're serious about the job. Follow up in another few days if you haven't heard from them one way or another.

If you get another job while you're still in active communication with this recruiter, it's helpful to let them know. They'll appreciate that you were honest with them that you found a job elsewhere, and they'll know not to continue looking for opportunities to place you. It's polite and it's also something not everybody does, so they're definitely more likely to remember you. Chances are you're going to need another recruiter again at some point during your career, so keeping the lines of communication open is always a good idea.

Article Source: https://firsthand.co/blogs/job-search/4-ways-to-make-a-good-impression-with-your-recruiter

Recruiters Will Continue to Adapt in 2022

Talent acquisition professionals continue to face recruiting and hiring challenges in the second year of an unprecedented labor market characterized by record-level turnover and job openings, increased stress, and significantly changed candidate expectations.   

Agility is the key factor in successful recruiting, according to the annual Recruiter Nation survey of over 800 U.S.-based recruiting professionals conducted by talent acquisition software company Jobvite.  

"Things have been changing so quickly, and we're finding that recruiters are becoming more adaptable to labor market trends," said Kerry Gilliam, vice president of marketing at Jobvite.

"Recruiters are short-staffed themselves, and yet they are having to hire more than before amid a shortage of talent."

But where there's great challenge, she said, there's also great opportunity: "Hiring teams are using more external workers, looking at different sourcing channels and rethinking requirements for roles. If companies can invest in their hiring teams and rethink their employee value proposition, it is a great opportunity."

Here are some of the report's key findings as recruiters look ahead to what is expected to be another strong candidates' market in 2022.

Shifting Priorities

Improving quality-of-hire over the next 12 months is the top priority of surveyed recruiters, according to Jobvite. That aspirational forecast may be a result of the crisis-hiring taking place in many sectors, experts say. Employers desperate to fill roles may be thinking that the effectiveness of those hires will have to be evaluated and addressed once the labor market settles down.

The survey revealed interesting shifts in recruitment priorities over the last five years. The biggest downward shifts in importance include areas like talent pipelining and crafting employer brand. The biggest upward shifts include investing in recruiting technology, automating processes and improving diversity.

"Companies are still putting an emphasis on diversity, but recruiters' commitment has dropped since last year," said Amber Ferrari, marketing manager at Jobvite. "Recruiters are so bogged down right now, that while it is still important to them, it's more of a luxury to think about that while being overwhelmed with open requisitions." 

Tim Sackett, SHRM-SCP, president of HRU Technical Resources, an engineering and design staffing firm based in Lansing, Mich., agreed, saying that "Most organizations have pushed DE&I goals to the side because they are so desperate for talent right now."

Gilliam said investing in automation, in order to improve efficiency and allow recruiters more time to build relationships with candidates, is also related to the current labor market, where recruiters are swamped with open roles to fill.  

Sixty-four percent of recruiters expect recruiting budgets to increase in the next six to 12 months, with the largest recruitment investment shifts going toward external recruiting agencies and internal hiring programs. 

"We're seeing a lot of traction with internal mobility," Gilliam said. "Everyone is fearing the 'Great Resignation,' and companies are thinking about how to retain their best talent."

She added that companies that would not have previously considered using an external staffing provider or recruitment process outsourcing firm are doing so in increasing numbers.

"They're busier than ever right now," she said.

"So many recruiters were laid off when the pandemic hit," Sackett said. "Then hiring turned back on, and organizations have been trying to figure out how to hire with less resources. Heads of HR are telling me that this is the hardest time to find recruiters and salaries for recruiters have skyrocketed."

Pandemic-Related Challenges

Recruiters expect to still be dealing with challenges in 2022 related to the pandemic, including addressing health and safety concerns; COVID-19 vaccination mandates; and whether jobs are fully remote, onsite or something in between.    

"Organizations will lose talent if they don't adapt to candidate and employee expectations around these issues," Ferrari said. "Recruiters have had candidates turn down offers specifically because there wasn't flexibility built into the offer. Some form of flexibility is becoming less of a perk and more of a real expectation."

Stress and burnout continue to be acutely felt by talent acquisition professionals. "For every success you have filling a role, there's 10 more [openings] coming your way," Sackett said. "On top of that, TA teams are getting beat on by senior executives for not filling roles fast enough."

Recognition from senior leadership is one simple solution. "Recruiters probably could use some more technology investment, and more budget for job advertising, but just showing appreciation goes a long way," Sackett said.

Gilliam added that while recruiters are tasked with having to hire more people from smaller applicant pools, "let's not forget that they are people too, juggling kids, and school and home and not exempt from these other challenges everyone else is experiencing during the pandemic."

What Candidates Want

Candidate expectations have also shifted during the last couple of years, and workers expect more from organizations.

Seventy-three percent of recruiters report an increase in negotiating for higher salaries among candidates and current employees—up more than 20 percentage points since 2020. "I'm surprised it's not higher than that," Gilliam said. "Practitioners are telling me that companies are having to pay significantly more for the same roles. And candidates are very educated about their market value."

Recruiters are having to get savvy around negotiating earlier in the process and pre-closing candidates, Sackett said. "Pre-closing is hard for new recruiters to learn, but it only takes getting burned by candidates a couple of times before you start realizing the value of locking them down early on salary expectations."

As for benefits, the traditional offerings are still most commonly asked about by candidates, including health care coverage and a 401(k), but new benefits are rising in popularity, such as family planning, child care and parental leave. "Flexibility and child care support are becoming an expectation from employers," Gilliam said. She added that about half of respondents said an increased number of job seekers are inquiring about DE&I initiatives more than they did in the previous year.

Investment in Tech

In addition to recruiters being agile, the survey results showed that to compete for talent in a candidate's market, employers are having to improve process efficiency. Recruiters are using automation and artificial intelligence software to source, screen, schedule and chat with candidates more so than the previous year.

"Most companies are in dire need of more candidates, which requires them to cast a wider net," said Anil Dharni, CEO and co-founder of Sense, an automated communication and engagement platform based in San Francisco. "To do this successfully, you have to have an automated technology platform to effectively reach five times or even 10 times more candidates. Then there's the situation where there is an abundance of candidates for a position and now companies are tasked with looking for the needle in the haystack. With automated technology, companies can more efficiently and more quickly qualify the best candidates for the available positions. Anything a recruiter is doing more than five times a day can and should be automated."

Chatbots are one of the most popular tools being used, Jobvite found. Just over half (51 percent) of surveyed recruiters said their organization uses chatbots in the recruiting process.

"With chatbots, recruiters can better qualify candidates prior to any human interaction," Dharni said. "This is the wave of the future and speaks to the consumerization of how people seek jobs. Candidates want an Amazon-type experience from companies when seeking employment. They want their information to be current and accurate, they want their preferences remembered and to be connected to positions they see as a good fit."

Source: https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/talent-acquisition/pages/recruiters-will-continue-adapt-in-2022.aspx

11 HR Trends for 2022: Driving Change and Adding Business Value

While 2021 was a year of reinventing HR and solidifying its new role, 2022 is going to be all about pushing the boundaries of how HR can add value. In this article, we will review 11 HR trends that are impacting the way we manage Human Resources.

In my regular interactions with our clients and HR professionals from around the world, I’m constantly reminded of two facts:

That nothing has changed more in the past two years than the way we work, and companies operate. And that no other business department has been under more pressure to keep up with this fast pace of change than Human Resources. 

From the initial shift towards the full remote working setting, the numerous lockdowns, and health concerns, to the Great Reopening (only to be swiftly followed by the Great Resignation and talent shortages), the disruption to our economies and to every organization has been continuous rather than episodic.

That’s why it is even more crucial to be aware of these HR trends and understand how to leverage them to drive change and add more business value in 2022 and beyond.

Let’s dive in.

Contents

1. HR as a product

2. Collaboration by design

3. Talent marketplaces & talent allocation

4. Career experiences

5. HR owning business transformation

6. Preparing for multiple futures

7. HR tech for good

8. From DEI to DEI&B

9. The shift from people analytics to data literacy 

10. Impactful rewards

11. The skills economy

1. HR as a product

One of the most notable HR trends we are seeing right now is the shift away from HR focused on projects towards HR focused on products. 

This represents a fundamental change to how HR operates. Traditionally, HR functioned with a project mindset. A project has a clear timeline, set deliverables, a predefined set of resources, and is aimed at being run efficiently. 

A product, on the other hand, is ongoing. It doesn’t necessarily have an end and aims to provide value, with (additional) resources being allocated as impact increases.

This shift in mindset will not only increase HR’s service delivery quality, it will also enable HR to better build the capabilities that help improve the businesses’ bottom line.

Such a shift, however, will require an upgrade on the side of HR professionals. They will need to better understand their company’s internal customers, their changing habits and preferences. What’s more, they will need to step up their game in delivering a more personalized and unique employee experience.

2. Collaboration by design

The role of the office has fundamentally changed. It no longer holds that excellent work can only happen in the office, let alone inside an office cubicle. In fact, 77 percent of people have seen their productivity rise during the pandemic. Almost one-third of workers have been able to do more work in less time. 

The drawback is that remote work has shrunk employees’ networks and made organizations more siloed. Data from ADP suggest that remote workers have fewer ad-hoc conversations with colleagues than those working on-site (60 percent vs. 77 percent respectively). All of this has a negative impact on collaboration and innovation.

That’s why in 2022, HR will need to become a lot more deliberate and involved in helping organizations reshape the way collaboration, co-creation, and innovation happen. 

HR can help create conditions that will allow employees (and HR professionals, for that matter) to work on different projects across the organization or even trans-organizationally (see our next trend on talent marketplaces). 

Human Resources practitioners can do this through:

Designing a workplace (both physical and digital) that helps teams work together and connect regardless of where they sit;

Organizational designs that drive cross-functional teams. These incorporate traditional employees, gig-workers, and contractors to intentionally drive collaboration and diversity of thought;

Talent programs that allow for rotation (see our trend on career experiences);

Leveraging digital platforms to connect employees asynchronously so that they can work together anytime, anywhere;

And so on.

By taking a design approach to collaboration, HR can help build an organization that provides the comforts of working from home while ensuring that collaborative practices keep delivering value and innovation to the organization. This is an HR trend that we’re expecting to see much more of in 2022.

3. Talent marketplaces & talent allocation

One of the biggest lessons learned from the pandemic is the fact that companies can no longer solely rely on buying their talent externally. Instead, the tight labor market has forced them to make better use of the talent they already have. 

Cue in our next HR trend which involves better talent allocation through talent marketplaces. In a word, talent marketplaces help connect employees within an organization or a sector to internal career opportunities. These include job openings, but also cross-departmental projects, temporary assignments, and other initiatives.

In some sectors, talent allocation has happened organically. 

In the shipbuilding industry, professionals are deployed when a new assignment comes in, only to ‘jump ship’ when the contract is about to complete, and a competitor company gets the next big contract. This way, the employee works on relevant projects and can build their own capabilities. Conversely, the company is able to quickly deploy a temporary but skilled workforce based on the projects available.

What has changed is that HR departments are increasingly conscious of the importance of (planned) skill development. As a consequence, more and more companies are looking into partnering up with their strategic partners to create common talent marketplaces.

Recently, Unilever and Vodacom (a Vodafone subsidiary) initiated a digital marketing exchange program. This initiative not only helps build more diverse capabilities but also provides the opportunity for cross-pollination of ideas and innovation. 

But Unilever and Vodacom are not the only ones. In fact, according to a Harvard Business School report, almost two-thirds of businesses now prefer to borrow or rent people with certain skills from other companies, instead of recruiting new full-time staff. 

Under this model, organizations bring workers in on an as-needed basis to consult or to work on a specific assignment – one of the HR trends that we will see much more of in 2022. 

To read the full article, please go to https://www.aihr.com/blog/hr-trends/

5 Powerful Steps To Improve Employee Engagement

Today more than ever, organizations rely on the energy, commitment and engagement of their workforce in order to survive and thrive in the twenty-first century. As a former Navy SEAL, I can assure you that one of the fundamental reasons we continue to dominate our battlefield and defeat a very dangerous and decentralized enemy is due to the fact that we have 100% employee engagement. We have ecosystems of empowered teams that are fully engaged and working in a “decentralized command” environment.

According to Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace report, only 15% of employees worldwide are engaged in their jobs – meaning that they are emotionally invested in committing their time, talent and energy in adding value to their team and advancing the organization’s initiatives. More Gallop research shows that employee disengagement costs the United States upwards of $550 billion a year in lost productivity. So one could see why this is both a serious problem that most leaders and managers face with today’s workforce — but also an amazing opportunity for companies that learn to master the art of engagement.

The current business environment, and the world in general, is moving faster than it ever has before. Organizations across the globe are faced with more change than most can handle — in order to compete and dominate their segment they are required to grow faster often giving them less time to focus on managing all of their financial goals. They are forced to grow quickly with fewer resource - to do more with less. Managers have to learn to excel in managing themselves, their teams and meeting organizational goals simultaneously.

It is a common understanding of a vast majority of leaders that the employees are a company’s most important asset. But in reality, that is only true when the majority of the workforce is fully engaged in their work. If not, they are either adding minimal value or actively working against the organization.

There are three types of employees in any organization:

Engaged (15% of the workforce). These employees are loyal and emotionally committed to the organization. They are in roles where they excel and where their talents are truly leveraged. They enthusiastically invest in their work and take on responsibilities outside of their job description. They are generally more likely to become emerging leaders and will stay with an organization much longer then disengaged employees.

Not Engaged (67% of the workforce). These employees can be difficult to identify because they are often relatively happy and satisfied in their role. However, they do the bare minimum and are not invested in the company’s mission, vision, values or goals. They are less likely to be customer-focused and are not concerned about productivity or company profitability. These team members are both a threat and great opportunity – because with the proper approach, they can be transformed into engaged employees that thrive in the organization.

Actively Disengaged (18% of the workforce). We have all worked alongside these people. They are consistently negative, create a toxic environment, dominate their manager’s time and are usually vocal about their unhappiness. What’s worse, is they are often subject matter experts well-respected in their unique skillset. And because of that, they often have significant influence over others. These employees can easily spread toxicity throughout an organization and can rarely be transformed into true “A” players.

Most studies point to the fact that employee engagement has a direct impact on productivity and profitability. That seems self-evident, yet many managers still struggle to define, measure and improve engagement in their teams.

The Leader’s Role in Engagement

Leaders improve engagement by defining and communicating a powerful vision for the organization. They hire and develop managers that are emotionally invested in the organization’s mission and vision and give them the resources to build great teams with the right people in the right roles. They empower.

The Manager’s Role in Engagement

Great managers ensure they acquire and develop great talent – they get the right people on the bus and make sure they are in the right seats. They actively prioritize engagement. Their team’s activities align perfectly behind the mission narrative of the organization.

In many of my articles, I dive deep in to the methodologies, tools and strategies leaders and managers need to successfully navigate the murky waters of twenty-first century organizational transformation — for leading change. I showcase how to build a culture that is more nimble and adaptive founded on the principles of trust and accountability. The issue at hand is with such low engagement in the workforce, it is very difficult to create a culture of trust and accountability.

70% of organizational transformation efforts fall significantly short of realizing the company’s goals. Why? Because change is hard, takes longer and usually has higher hard and soft costs than managers and leaders generally plan for. Change can be intensely personal for employees, causes fear and can actually reduce productivity when approached improperly.

To read the full article, please go to https://www.forbes.com/sites/brentgleeson/2017/10/15/5-powerful-steps-to-improve-employee-engagement/?sh=270867df341d 

The ‘New Normal’ Of Recruitment

CCO at TELUS International, a global customer experience provider powered by next-gen digital solutions.

Although the current state of business could be described as unusual, critical day-to-day operations must continue as usual for the sake of business continuity, and that includes recruitment. With shelter-in-place orders still in place across some regions, looming uncertainty about a possible second wave of Covid-19 and an uncertain timeline for vaccine availability, companies are wondering how to effectively find, interview, assess and create a connection with job candidates in an expanded virtual labor market as we settle into the new normal.

Previously, an overhaul to long-standing HR practices and processes would have felt prohibitively complex, but in a Covid-19 world and economy, many companies have quickly shifted and adapted to a remote workforce and are discovering the benefits of this approach. Namely, their talent pools have expanded exponentially. 

Once upon a time (a few months ago!), the majority of search parameters for talent were regional, or national at most. Today, because of the prevalence of virtual work models, companies can post positions that are location-agnostic, literally opening up a new world of qualified applicants. And this works both ways. Candidates seeking work who previously overlooked firms that were unwilling or unable to accommodate remote work are now also throwing their proverbial hats in the ring.

With the technology available today, including cloud platforms, AI-powered analytics and automation, online recruitment may become and remain the preferred approach, even when many of us return to the office. But how can companies make the transition from an in-person to a virtual talent acquisition process while ensuring that the candidates hired are verifiable, qualified and a great fit with your company’s culture? This will mean adopting a number of best practices designed to address some unique challenges.

Streamline Virtual Recruitment For A More Effective Hiring Process

The benefits of enabling employees to work from home aren’t limited to your employees. By sourcing talent at virtual job fairs and on social media and advertising new roles as remote positions, companies stand to find more qualified candidates. As noted in an article published by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), recruiting outside of the local talent pool can provide access to higher-quality candidates. This approach also stands to help organizations establish a more diverse workforce, according to a recent MarketWatch report. And, I believe that to truly find success, diversity and inclusion are paramount, and a workforce must mirror the customers they serve and be equally diverse in nature.

So what does the online hiring process look like? With virtual interviews, hiring managers and candidates can still connect on a personal level, but have the added perk of recording the conversation so those unable to attend also have the opportunity to share their feedback. With the help of AI and machine learning, data captured and analyzed from online applications and background checks can also help companies further optimize their recruitment capabilities.

At TELUS International, we’ve successfully streamlined our remote recruitment process to take 125 minutes from online application to new hire training. This sort of streamlining creates an effortless candidate experience that helps to extend “customer first” branding into the very first employee touchpoint, ensuring a robust and ready pipeline of global candidates suitable to meet the organization’s evolving talent needs. 

Data Privacy In Recruitment

As a virtual recruitment approach becomes increasingly common, questions regarding privacy and data ethics will undoubtedly follow suit. Employers must be aware of all privacy laws in their jurisdiction and ensure that they’re compliant and transparent with prospective candidates about how their data will be used and shared.

Companies should also be mindful of privacy and security concerns when virtually onboarding candidates, but they must also consider their own risks. For instance, how can a candidate prove they are who they say they are?

Organizations must verify a candidate’s identity to make sure they’re always dealing with the same person — not just during the recruitment process, but also when that individual attends training sessions and starts their first day of work. One solution is to use biometric technology, like face or voice ID, for verification purposes. Keep in mind, however, that biometrics have high compliance thresholds and companies must stay on top of all region-specific legislation to ensure their compliance. 

Onboarding And Learning

Once a candidate has been hired remotely, they must also be onboarded, trained and kept engaged and supported. In this respect, companies must find ways to translate their existing employee engagement model for success in a virtual world.

Fortunately, digital media lends itself well to these types of engagements. Coaching, focus groups, coffee chats and one-on-one meetings can be done online. To facilitate ongoing communication, establish dedicated communication channels like chat and online video platforms. Internal social media tools can promote engagement by inviting employees to share photos of their pets and activities they may participate in to establish deeper and more personal connections with colleagues.  

Finally, make a point of finding ways to provide volunteer opportunities and share diversity initiatives. A strong corporate culture inspires and engages existing employees and can also help attract new candidates. Although they may not be the sole reason a candidate chooses to apply, these types of activities are often the reason why many team members choose to stay. Just recently, our team in the Philippines generated over 500 recruitment leads based on the promotion of our Pride activities and celebrations. 

To read the full article, please go to https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbeshumanresourcescouncil/2020/08/12/the-new-normal-of-recruitment/?sh=da3f9025173b

12 Things Recruiters Look At First When Going Through Job Applications

Successful HR executives from Forbes Human Resources Council offer leadership and management insights.

Human resources departments all have their own unique things they keep an eye out for when judging job applications. Some details can give a lot of insight into what sort of person the applicant is and whether how they present themselves in the resume is an accurate reflection of who they truly are.

One of the skills that HR personnel use daily is the ability to read between the lines. Job seekers can be quite honest in some parts of their application, but few are always reliable. Spotting the relevant details can help to fill out the rest of the unsaid information and determine whether the applicant deserves an interview. 

To help, 12 members of Forbes Human Resources Council discuss the critical details they look for first in a job seeker's application, and what those elements help them ascertain about that person.

1. Career Continuity

It takes time to learn the ropes of a new job and to carve a place within a team. One whose career trajectory shows frequent jumps likely does not have the determination and stamina to stick around long enough to make the difference. Certainly, there are exceptions — for example, when one needs to take time off to take care of their family or faces obstacles along their path. - Rachel Lyubovitzky, EverythingBenefits

2. Customization

The candidate's resume and cover letter should align with the job description and requirements. The resume should clearly state and show work experience, education, skills and achievements that relate to the specific job opening or application. The candidate's cover letter should convey why the candidate is interested in the company and what makes the candidate a good fit for the job. - Ochuko Dasimaka, Career Heights Consulting, Inc.

3. Effective Communication

I am drawn to a clearly-written resume/application. For those candidates that include an objective statement in their resume, I want to be able to immediately see strengths, background/skills highlights, and industries they have worked in. If this is well-written, I will review the resume further. Otherwise, the candidate most likely won't move forward. - Kathy Short, Yorktown Systems Group

4. Ability To Follow Directions

When hiring, especially for remote positions, the first thing to look for in an applicant is their ability to follow directions. Did the applicant do what was asked of them during the application process, providing pertinent details and documents like a resume and cover letter? Did they respond to your request to share why they would best fill the role, or did they send a generic message? A person’s ability to follow directions and "read between the lines" of the job description shows they are a good candidate to consider. - Laura Spawn, Virtual Vocations, Inc.

5. Previous Job Description

Some candidates will list out their job descriptions in their duties, which look highly like the ones they were probably given upon hire. Wording duties like "processes invoices" rather than "process invoices" tells me they more than likely copied and pasted the responsibilities for that job rather than taking the time to tell me what they really do (or did). - Kerri Johnson, Foam Supplies, Inc.

6. Sense Of Authenticity And Self

Resumes, job applications and online profiles can only tell you so much about a candidate. I want to hire a person who happens to have experience relative to a job and that special something that brings their skills to life. Frequently the best hire is someone with the greatest number of intangible credentials, so I look for a sense of authenticity and self to come through in their application. - Jennifer Marszalek, Working Credit NFP

7. Agility And Flexibility

We live in an agile world where we need to focus more on hiring for potential than just the project or role in front of us. Therefore, agility and willingness to be flexible are key — certainly in the ever-changing digital world we live in today. - Paul Phillips, Avanade

8. Length Of The Resume

Despite all advice to keep resumes short, many people still have resumes stretching way past seven or eight pages. A long resume tells me that you haven't put the effort in to update your resume, you can't make a decision on what to take out, or you think the rules shouldn't apply to you. There is nothing positive about a lengthy resume. - Karla Reffold, BeecherMadden

9. Storytelling

I love looking at a resume that is easy to read and tells you a compelling narrative of the candidate's story — a big picture outline of who they are followed by a list of accomplishments that weaves in with the key points mentioned in the summary. The ability to put years of experience in a one-page document that invokes interest says a lot about the person's communication and presentation skills. - Jyoti Khadgawat, smule Inc

To read the full article, please visit https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbeshumanresourcescouncil/2020/06/17/12-things-recruiters-look-at-first-when-going-through-job-applications/?sh=1b32128d2e8c 

10 Ways to Recruit More Effectively Against the Competition

A recent article from CNBC indicated that there are 1 million more job openings than people looking for work. We all know there are various reasons that people are searching (or not searching) for new opportunities. The bottom line is that organizations need to focus on their recruiting strategy in a highly competitive labor market.

l’ve always had to recruit in highly competitive business environments. My thought is there are two different kinds of competition when it comes to talent:

General competition applies to all jobs, and is the result of low unemployment, increased voluntary quits, etc. It could also be the result of a geographic region getting a large employer and creating lots of jobs. Another reason could be a skills gap in a much-needed area like supervisory skills or critical thinking.

Industry-based competition is specific to a type of work, like technology talent in Silicon Valley. It could be based on a highly technical position. Or it could be the result of a geographic region becoming a hub for certain types of businesses.

Organizations are not immune to competition and must be prepared to address both types when they recruit. The answer isn’t poaching employees. It’s taking steps to make sure your organization rises above the competition.

1-Build a solid employment brand. It starts with understanding what makes your organization unique. If your recruiting team doesn’t know, how will they be able to sell candidates on the value of coming to work for the company. Make a concerted effort to find out why employees stay. Hiring managers could start asking “stay interview” questions during their one-on-one meetings.

2-Be a great employer. Don’t hesitate to apply for a local/state/national “best places to work” award. It’s a great way to promote your organization and culture when you recruit. Also, consider allowing the HR team to present at conferences. Not only is it great professional development for HR but they are sharing the company’s best practices.

3-Offer a competitive compensation and benefits package. I realize a lot goes into the conversation about employee compensation and benefits. But the reality is, as the job market gets more competitive, so do compensation and benefits. Organizations need to ensure their packages are internally fair and externally competitive.

4-Have an employee referral program. Employee referrals continue to be a cost-effective source of quality applicant flow. If the company is offering a thank you bonus for recommending candidates, make sure it’s appropriate given your cost per hire. And consider adding former employees and contingent workers – both in terms of being referred and providing referrals. They’re a key piece to today’s recruiting strategy.

5-Consider boomerangs. This won’t apply in every situation when you recruit, but giving former employees a door to return to can be a very successful strategy. Allow an employee to leave, gain new skills, and return with a fresh perspective. Just be sure to address old issues that caused them to leave in the first place.

6-Give candidates a realistic job preview. Job seekers are doing their research before applying. Organizations should include on their career portal a typical “day in the life” of an employee. This can be done with video and using employee testimonials. Also, while I know it’s an extra step, consider using more readable/relatable job descriptions (versus legalese ones.)

7-Make it easy to apply. Organizations must distribute their job openings where candidates spend their time – one of those places being social media. HR professionals and hiring managers should try to find and apply for a job at their company to understand what applicants go through. And candidates should be able to easily view, share, and apply for jobs using their mobile devices.

8-Build a talent community. The days of recruiting only when there’s an open job requisition are over. Competition means recruiting all the time. If you don’t have an opening, find a way to keep job seekers engaged. And if job seekers aren’t ready to apply, find a way to keep them engaged. Create a community where future candidates can learn about the company.

9-Promote your company brand! This aligns with #7 above. Recruiters need to start taking media requests to talk about the company brand. I know I’ve said that organizations need to build great career websites, distribute job openings on social media, and make sure your site is mobile responsive. That alone isn’t enough. Keep the conversation out there about being a great place to work.

10-Train hiring managers to interview well. Last but certainly not least, organizations shouldn’t assume that everyone knows how to interview. Interviewing is harder than it looks. Recruiters should help hiring managers understand the connection between cost per hire, turnover, and the hiring process.

If you’re a good employer, job seekers will want to work for you. Organizations need to get the word out about their culture, jobs, and benefits. Now isn’t the time to be shy about the benefits of working at your organization. Because you can bet your competition is telling candidates the benefits of working for them.

Article Source: https://www.humanresourcestoday.com/article/recruitment/?open-article-id=20035475&article-title=10-ways-to-recruit-more-effectively-against-the-competition&blog-domain=hrbartender.com&blog-title=hr-bartender

How To Be More Confident At Work

There are many reasons you can lack confidence at work. Maybe you're in a job that requires skills you don’t have, or you're less experienced than anyone around you. Or you're new to the company and feel uneasy about your ability to succeed. Or you feel threatened by colleagues, fear losing your job, or are simply too hard on yourself. Public humiliation and errors in judgment can also do the trick.

There's just one most common reason, though, says Lynn Taylor, a national workplace expert and author of Tame Your Terrible Office Tyrant: “Overall, the most common reason that employees lose confidence is very simply because of a bad relationship with their boss. That insecurity will last as long as the relationship is strained.”

Negative peer relationships also often disrupt confidence, especially if there's a pack mentality, she adds. “A group may feel threatened, for example, and try to undermine a worker. But since managers hold the cards to the employee's future, the state of that rapport has the greatest impact on confidence levels.”

The good news is that you can manage behavior around you to improve relations, boosting both your self-esteem and your career, Taylor says. And you’ll definitely want to do that.

Why be more assertive? For one, you will be taken more seriously if your words and action have conviction, Taylor explains. “This will help you advance in your job and career.” However, there is a fine line between confidence and arrogance, so be sure you don't overcompensate by getting egotistical during moments of low self-esteem.

“Regulating and balancing feelings of confidence requires considerable self-awareness and knowledge,” says Dr. Katharine Brooks, director of Liberal Arts Career Services at The University of Texas at Austin and author of You Majored in What? Mapping Your Path From Chaos to Career. “In the same way that you don't want to lack confidence, you also don't want to be over-confident.  Over-confidence can make you take on projects that are beyond your capability, and you might not be able to complete them.”

A healthy level of confidence, however, will make you more likely to engage in challenging but manageable projects, will help you get outside your comfort zone, and allow you to achieve new goals--all of which are valued characteristics of successful workers, Brooks says. “Employers will know that they can trust you with a project and that you are likely going to be good at motivating others as well.”

William Arruda, a personal branding expert and author of Ditch. Dare. Do! says confidence is important because it is the most attractive personal brand attribute. “When someone exudes confidence, we want to work with them. We are more likely to follow their lead. Confidence is the number one byproduct of the personal branding process, because in branding you uncover what makes you exceptional and use it to make career choices and deliver outstanding value.”

Confidence is also a key leadership quality, Taylor adds. If you are a decisive person with the credentials to back it up, you will be better positioned to advance in a company. “You'll also be able to attract and retain a quality team, because they will trust you and feel you have matters under control. If you know your subject and stance, believe in yourself, and speak with poise and conviction, you will naturally exude confidence.” Conversely, uncertainty begets uncertainty. If you doubt yourself, so will others.

Deborah Brown-Volkman, a career coach and president of SurpassYourDreams.com, says that without confidence you won't stand out, you won’t be assigned great projects, and you’re less likely to be recognized or get raises, bonuses, and promotions.

It turns out your confidence can benefit your employer, as well.

“More and more, employees are the face of the company,” Arruda says. “When employees are confident, they are better spokespeople for the company. With a lean workforce, companies need everyone engaged and inspired. Lack of confidence impedes full engagement.”

Taylor adds that employers benefit from confident workers because they are more positive contributors, more productive, good motivators and make great role models. “In addition, self-assured employees, particularly in customer-facing or sales positions, directly contribute to brand perception, beginning with the receptionist or administrative contact,” Taylor says. “Companies want to put their best foot forward in a macro sense, too, projecting leadership and confidence--and employees represent the parts to the whole.”

Good employees spend a lot of time being modest, says Alexandra Levit, the author of Blind Spots: The 10 Business Myths You Can’t Afford to Believe on Your New Path to Success. “Sometimes we actually feel that way, and sometimes we don’t but think that’s how we’re supposed to act so that other people will like us. At times, though, I believe it has the reverse effect. Other people don’t view us as talented or as worthy because we don’t appear to view ourselves that way.”

If you have low self-esteem or your confidence has been threatened in some way, here’s what the experts say you can do to strengthen your backbone and boost morale:

Stay focused on you

Taylor says you should do the best you can to stay on-task and focused, regardless of politics, rumor mills or non-productive maneuvers that are as common as the office water cooler. “Confidence emerges from time-honored good work combined with a great attitude,” she adds.

Identify your strengths and capitalize on them

“One of the best ways to build confidence is to get clear on your strengths and find ways to integrate those strengths into what you do every day,” Arruda says. When you lead from your strengths, you’re engaged and energized. You’re self-assured.

Once you take inventory of the things you do better than anyone else, ask yourself how you can use those strengths to do your job, Arruda adds. “If your current role does not give you opportunities to maximize your strengths, think about other roles that will.

Identify weaknesses, and work on them

If there are weaknesses that are affecting your confidence, make a plan to reduce or eliminate them, Arruda suggests. You shouldn’t obsess over these things—but know that addressing your weaknesses and making a diligent effort to overcome them can help boost confidence.

Believe in yourself

It may be easier said than done, but try to tell yourself “I can do this,” and believe it. Arruda suggests saying three affirmations to yourself each night before going to bed--telling yourself three things that you like about yourself or three things that went well that day.

To read the full article, please visit https://www.forbes.com/sites/jacquelynsmith/2012/03/06/how-to-be-more-confident-at-work/?sh=349b47f8d9b2

7 Mindsets of Highly Successful (And Happy) People

Change your mindset, change your life. It sounds so easy, yet many of us tell ourselves it’s too late to change careers or that we don’t have enough time to learn something new. Living with these limiting beliefs creates a self-fulfilling prophecy: we believe we can’t, so we don’t. If we instead lived in terms of “I can” and “I will”, imagine what we could achieve!

I believe our thoughts have incredible power over our everyday lives, and that our moods and behaviors are a reflection of how we think. Over the years, I’ve developed 7 hacks to ensure I’m always in the right frame of mind to be successful and happy — and it starts with imagining possibilities instead of focusing on roadblocks.

Anyone can transform their mindset and learn to ask “Can You Imagine?” too. Here are the 7 mindsets of highly successful (and happy) people.

1. Ditch the Fixed Mindset and Go For Growth

Let’s say you feel like you’re not getting ahead at work. A fixed mindset says the situation is the way it is, and it will never change no matter what you do. A growth mindset says you can create change if you work hard, adapt to feedback and implement strategies for personal development. It goes without saying which type of people go further in their careers.

It comes down to the difference between limiting and empowering beliefs. If you believe your growth is confined to its current state indefinitely, you’re unlikely to develop. But if you start to believe in your capacity to achieve greatness, you’ll find that everything in your life will follow suit.

2. Adopt An Abundance Mentality, Not Scarcity Mentality

About 6 years into 1-800-GOT-JUNK?, my top employee resigned. This wouldn’t have been the end of the world … except he was leaving to start a competing junk removal business. At first, I was gutted — then, I wanted revenge. I became obsessed with shutting his business down, to the detriment of my own company.

Now I know that I was stuck in a scarcity mentality: I thought there was only enough success for one of us. I’ve since learned that this kind of thinking breeds a culture of paranoia where everyone lives in fear. Now, our company thrives on an abundance mentality: we believe that everyone benefits when we share ideas, even with the competition. By recognizing that there’s more than enough success to go around, we’ve freed ourselves from limitations.

3. Stop Fearing Failure. Instead, Be Willing to Fail

The number one reason entrepreneurs don’t succeed is because they’re afraid to fail — that fear can even keep them from starting something in the first place.

The fact is, no one ever fell to the top of the mountain; you can’t reach the peak unless you take the first step. We believe in the philosophy WTF (Willing to Fail) because the only way to grow is to make mistakes. Risk is scary, but stagnation is worse — and the more you believe you’ll fail, the more likely it is that you will. Remember: if you’re not progressing then you’re failing anyway, so you’re better off taking the chance.

4. Create a Long-Term Vision Instead of Only Short-Term Goals

You can’t reach a destination if you don’t know where you’re going. Same goes if you’re climbing the corporate ladder, switching jobs, or starting a new business. Before you can create a strategy and set your short-term goals, you first need to write a long-term vision of success.

I’ve always been more concerned with where our company is going than how we’ll get there. I’m a visionary entrepreneur, so for me, it’s not a matter of blindly putting one foot in front of the other — it’s about shooting for the moon and working backwards to bring our vision safely back to earth. We call our vision our Painted Picture: a crystal-clear snapshot of how our business will look, feel and act every five years. It’s a way of keeping everyone aligned and motivated to succeed as a team.

5. Don’t Be Afraid to Break the Rules

Growing up, I was a bit of a rebel. But despite what my parents and teachers told me, this didn’t hold me back. If anything, my affinity for troublemaking made me a better entrepreneur.

Risk-averse people who stay in their comfort zones rarely lead the pack. It’s the people who move fast, break things and defy convention who change the world. Success is all about grit, guts and gumption — so if you want to progress your career, you better get comfortable colouring outside the lines.

6. Listen to Your Gut

We all overthink things every once in awhile and that’s okay — but if you second guess every decision you make, you’ll never get anything done. Over thinking also leads to rumination, the destructive and potentially career-ruining process of dwelling on the past.

After twenty-eight years  in business, I’ve learned how important it is to make quick (and tough) decisions, and that to get ahead you need to avoid unproductive indecisiveness. Stop letting your lizard brain control your thoughts and actions — instead, take charge and start acting on instinct. In most cases, your intuition will steer you in the right direction.

7. Let Positivity Flow Into Everything You Do

If you’re only going to change one thing about the way you think, this should be it. It’s scientifically proven that optimists are happier and more successful than pessimists (provided they’re realistic about goals and outcomes). As an eternal optimist, I always try to see the good in every situation. If we’re falling short on some aspect of the business, I don’t see it as impending doom — I know it’s only a temporary obstacle we need to overcome.

The best part is that positivity breeds positivity; when you adopt a glass-half-full attitude, it will start to guide everything you do. The truth is success doesn’t automatically bring happiness — but a positive frame of mind will invite success into your life. All it takes is a few simple tweaks to your thinking to become your happiest, most fulfilled self.

10 Must-dos to manage day-to-day employee performance

Managing employee performance has become an increasingly popular topic lately. Large and small businesses alike are taking a special interest in measuring and improving productivity and performance.

We analyzed several aspects of an effective performance management system and we extracted 10 must-dos that can significantly improve your day-to-day employee performance management.

Here we go:

1. Set clear expectations

Start this discussion as early as during your recruitment interviews. Set clear expectations on both sides.

What is your team’s performance standard, how does it translate for every employee based on their job description, how will you measure it and other critical aspects that are best discussed in the beginning of your work relationship.

Respect your employee and have him/her express their own expectations on the matter. Different individuals will have different performance levels, habits or needs.

2. Try performance coaching

This new technique for managing employee performance focuses on the direct relationships between employees and their direct supervisors.

It’s about individual attention that caters to an employee’s needs, allowing them to significantly improve their skills and aptitudes, and, consequently, increase their performance.

The way it works is that every couple of weeks, a manager will have some coaching sessions with his/her team member, to discuss how they can improve their performance, by focusing on the present and not on past actions.

3. Empower employees

Giving employees more and more autonomy, while providing the right tools and resources, will empower employees to push their own limits and become more productive.

Don’t fall into the micromanagement trap because you feel like you would know better or you need to stay in control.

Educate your team and invest the necessary time into growing them. That will not only lead to higher performance but also higher employee engagement and retention.

4. Get valuable feedback

Ask and encourage giving constructive feedback every step of the way. It may be uncomfortable sometimes, it may even become a routine, but it’s an essential process that helps you stay ahead of important performance drivers such as engagement, motivation and development.

Addressing every issue in its own time will ensure long-term performance and productivity and it will create a healthy working environment.

Little things matter and every small concern left unsolved can become a critical disengagement factor that leads to poor performance.

5. Set goals

Start with the end in mind. This goes for both an employees’ career path as well as for the overall business planning process.

Working without clear goals that can be easily tracked and evaluated is a recipe for disaster when it comes to employee performance.

Set individual performance milestones as well as general team milestones and make a habit out of checking them regularly.

6. Measure performance

Sometimes, getting to the finishing line blurs out how you got there, leaving you with no information to go on when you want to develop a more efficient performance strategy.

That’s what happens when you only measure performance at the end of the year, when you’re distracted by New Year’s plans or next year’s budget.

Adopt or create a performance measurement system that works well for you and your team and stick to it. Circle back to it every day/week/ couple of weeks tops.

7. Adapt and adjust

That system that everyone’s been using since 2 years ago when it revolutionized performance management for your company may not be working so well for your current needs.

Adapt or have your performance levels slowly die. Always be one step ahead and use the current performance results and the feedback received to adapt your system and make sure that it’s helpful instead of hell-pful.

8. Gather improvement suggestions

Back to feedback, the mother of all good things. Push for organizational innovation, using internal ideas and suggestions; listening to employees, getting feedback and committing to the improvement ideas that arise, like we talked about in our previous article.

9. Keep in mind the big picture

Remind employees how each of their actions influence the overall project or team objectives. Link them with your company’s business objectives so that you get a clear perspective on what your performance levels should be and why.

Never skip the “why”. People are not machines, they are driven by ambitions, desires and thoughts. Not having a clear perspective on their actions and the related impact affects their performance in a negative way.

10.  Increase happiness at work

People perform better when they’re happier.

These are just some of the things you should start monitoring on a daily or weekly basis. But more importantly, you should find out what they key performance drivers in your team are and how you can manage them to get optimum results.

https://gethppy.com/employee-engagement/10-must-dos-manage-day-day-employee-performance

7 Tips for Coaching Employees to Improve Performance

Managers and leaders are critical to the success of a business, and so are effective coaching skills. Consistent coaching helps with employee onboarding and retention, performance improvement, skill improvement, and knowledge transfer. On top of these benefits, coaching others is an effective method for reinforcing and transferring learning.

While there are many important leadership skills and competencies, coaching is central to improving the performance of entire teams.

A coaching leadership style is proving to be much more effective with today’s employees than the more authoritarian styles that many business leaders operate under. Leaders who coach employees instead of commanding them are able to build a much more talented and agile workforce, which leads to a healthy and growing business.

Think back to your peewee soccer days (or any team sport, really). I bet you can think of three kinds of teams:

The directionless group of kids running around aimlessly, taking frequent breaks for cookies and juice.

The organized group who focused, but still had fun.

The hyper-focused, aggressive group.

And how do you think these teams got the way they did? The coach, of course! The first group had a coddling coach, the second had a balanced coach, and the third had an intense coach living out his failed soccer dreams vicariously through a group of 6-year-olds.

Which seems like the healthiest group? Hopefully, you said the second one. But how do you coach in such a way that produces a healthy team?

Good coaching can be easy to spot, but hard to emulate.

First, you need to meet your team members where they’re at. Coaching isn’t a one-size-fits-all endeavor. Some people will need a lot more handholding than others, depending on where they’re at in their job role and overall career.

So before we get to our seven coaching tips, here’s a quick look at how you can align coaching conversations with individual employees’ needs.

How to Coach Employees at Different Levels

The best coaches don’t use the same coaching style for each individual team member. They’re flexible enough to adapt to the situation at hand.

There are five levels of employee performance, and you’ll have to adapt your style for each one to coach them effectively:

1.Novices

2.Doers

3.Performers

4.Masters

5.Experts

Level 1: Novice

Novices are in the “telling” stage of learning. They need to receive a lot of instruction and constructive correction. If you’re confident in the people you’ve hired, then they probably won’t need to stay in this stage very long. Also, watch out for your own micromanaging tendencies – you don’t want to hold an employee back from moving to the next level!

Level 2: Doer

Once Novices begin to understand the task and start to perform, they transition to the Doer stage. They haven’t yet mastered the job, so there’s still a heavy amount of “tell” coaching going on. But they’re doing some productive work and contributing to the team. So, there are now opportunities to encourage new behaviors, and praise Doers for good results.

Level 3: Performer

As Doers start accomplishing a task to standards, they become Performers. Now they’re doing real work and carrying their full share of the load. And they’re doing the task the way it should be done. With Performers, there’s much less “tell” coaching, if any at all. But there’s still feedback, mostly focused on recognizing good results and improving the results that don’t meet expectations.

Level 4: Master

Some Performers may continue to grow on the job and reach the Master stage. At this point, they can not only accomplish tasks to standards, they can do so efficiently and effectively. Plus, they have a deep enough understanding of what should be done that they can teach and coach others on the task. And they know enough to actually help improve standard processes.

Level 5: Expert

Experts are valuable members of the team and may become front-line team leads. Experts don’t need a lot of direction – they’re highly self-sufficient. If anything, they can provide direction to others. Experts don’t necessarily require a lot of recognition and praise to stay motivated, but that doesn’t mean they don’t want any.

To read the full article, please go to https://www.bizlibrary.com/blog/leadership/7-coaching-tips-managers-leaders/ 

How To Prepare for an Interview

Preparing for an interview might seem intimidating, but there are several steps you can take to prepare yourself for a successful interview. In this article, we create an interviewing prep checklist with 11 items.

Preparing for an interview

Preparing for an interview primarily means taking time to thoughtfully consider your goals and qualifications relative to the position and employer. To accomplish this, you should perform research on the company and carefully review the job description to understand why you would be a good fit. Let’s look at the steps to preparing for an interview.

1. Carefully examine the job description

During your prep work, you should use the employer’s posted job description as a guide. The job description is a list of the qualifications, qualities and background the employer is looking for in an ideal candidate. The more you can align yourself with these details, the more the employer will be able to see that you are qualified. The job description may also give you ideas about questions the employer may ask throughout the interview.

2. Consider why you are interviewing and your qualifications

Before your interview, you should have a good understanding of why you want the job and why you’re qualified. You should be prepared to explain your interest in the opportunity and why you’re the best person for the role.

3. Perform research on the company and role

Researching the company you’re applying to is an important part of preparing for an interview. Not only will it help provide context for your interview conversations, but it will also help you when preparing thoughtful questions for your interviewers.

Researching the company and role as much as possible will give you an edge over the competition. Not only that, but fully preparing for an interview will help you remain calm so that you can be at your best. Here are a few things you should know before you walk into your interview:

Research the product or service:

Even if the role isn't directly related to the company's product or service, you're still looking to be part of the team. It's important to learn all you can about the product or service the company produces and promotes. You don't necessarily need to understand each and every detail, especially if it's a technical product, and you're interviewing for a non-technical position, but you should have a basic understanding of the main products or services the company offers.

If possible, request a sample of the product to familiarize yourself with the customer’s perspective. The more you can tell them about the product from both a company and customer standpoint, the better you'll perform in your interview.

Research the role

It's important to read the job description carefully and make sure that you understand all the requirements and responsibilities that go along with it. This will not only prepare you with thoughtful, targeted questions about the position during the interview, but it will ensure that you're truly qualified and prepared to tackle the responsibilities if you get the job.

If possible, research similar positions and read reviews from individuals in those positions, so you can get an idea of what the day-to-day activities will be. During the interview, ask for clarification or details about the role, so you can be sure you're ready should you receive a job offer. Researching the role before an interview will also help you to decide whether or not the position is right for you.

Research the company culture

Modern companies usually have social media accounts and blogs that discuss their company culture and industry. This information can give you an impression of the tone and personality of the company, as well as what they value. No matter how good a job seems, it's important that you fit within the company culture and share a similar personality and values.

If you have questions about the workplace environment, culture, personality or values, be sure to ask during the interview. These questions can range from the software and tools used by the company, to their policies on vacation and sick time. Remember that the interview is just as much about you finding a good fit for your own work environment as it is about the company finding a good fit for the role. Knowing that your values align with the company ensures a happy professional life. This is also the perfect opportunity to find out more about the company and show the interviewer how you'll fit.

4. Consider your answers to common interview questions

While you won’t be able to predict every question you’ll be asked in an interview, there are a few common questions you can plan answers for. You might also consider developing an elevator pitch that quickly describes who you are, what you do and what you want.

There are some jobs that may involve a test or evaluation during the interview process. For example, if you are interviewing for a computer programming, development or analytics role, you might also be asked to write or evaluate lines of code. It might be helpful to consult with colleagues in the industry for examples of tests they’ve been given to prepare.

You should also prepare to discuss your salary expectations, just in case. If you’re unsure about what salary is appropriate to ask for the position you’re applying to, visit Indeed's Salary Calculator to get a free, personalized pay range based on your location, industry and experience.

Here are a few examples of common interview questions:

Why do you want to work here?

The best way to prepare for this question is to learn about the products, services, mission, history and culture of the company. In your answer, mention the aspects of the company that appeal to you and align with your career goals.

Example: “I’d love the opportunity to work with a company that’s making a difference. Finding a company with a positive work environment and values that align with my own has remained a priority throughout my job search, and this company ranks at the top of the list.”

To read the full article, please go to https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/interviewing/how-to-prepare-for-an-interview

5 Ways To Promote Respect In The Workplace

In 2018, Georgetown University polled 20,000 employees worldwide, asking respondents to rank positive leadership traits in order of importance. The No. 1 attribute was not clear communication, a strong work ethic or empathy, important as those are. Instead, employees put respect at the top of the list.

Any business that does not promote an environment of mutual respect is simply asking for employee turnover. A consistent lack of appreciation and common courtesy is sure to keep your HR team busy managing a revolving door of new hires and disgruntled exits. Word will get around quick, as it always does, and will do serious damage to your brand’s reputation.

As with any other business priority, instilling a shared value of respect starts at the top. Leadership must consistently demonstrate what it looks like to show respect across the org chart. A key component of the process, as Aretha Franklin famously suggested, is to “find out what it means” to your workers. In addition to gaining clarity on how different people perceive and receive respect, there are a few steps you can take to foster a respectful atmosphere.

1. Choose Your Words Carefully

Catch your employees doing things right. Praise lavishly in public, and critique sparingly in private. Try not to go overboard on either side of that equation, but don’t be slow to share well-earned kudos.

Set the example of what it looks like to have a positive disposition and show gratitude for a job well done. By leading in this way, you invite others to chime in with words of praise and encouragement as well.

Constructive criticism is often necessary for growth and improvement, but too much of it can be debilitating. You also want to be on guard against any signs of micromanagement in your leadership style. Micromanagers send a silent message that they do not trust their employees, even if they mean well.

With the increase in remote work, your opportunities to speak with employees will be more limited, so take advantage of the chances you’re given. Focus on employee praise during virtual meetings and use online communication channels to send positive messages every once in a while.

2. Make Soft Skills a Priority

I’d much rather hire someone with obvious soft skills—emotional intelligence, self-control, adaptability—than a candidate with superior qualifications who runs roughshod over others. Maintaining respect in the workplace becomes exponentially simpler if you filter out selfish, immature people on the front end.

Scanning any applicant’s digital footprint (especially their social media feeds) is one simple way to assess the degree of respect they show to others. Having more than one set of eyes on an applicant as they interview is another.

Any commitment to mutual respect needs to be reinforced primarily through thousands of small, daily interactions. However, you’ll also want to budget time and resources for soft skills development throughout the year, whether that takes the form of seminars or informal book studies. Don’t wait for problems fueled by bias, hasty assumptions or miscommunication to crop up.

3. Resist All Forms of Exclusion

Keep an eye on cliques forming within your workplace. When employees begin to segregate themselves based on job description, seniority or any other criteria, it can quickly give rise to an erosion of trust. Should a rift develop between two entrenched friend groups, untangling its destructive effects will be that much more difficult.

If appropriate to your setting, consider holding brief, informal morning meetings to improve communication. The intelligent use of project management software can also help employees gain a better understanding of how each member of the team contributes to a shared objective. Whatever you can do to break down silos will help foster mutual respect.

Another time-tested mechanism for promoting employee bonds across work groups is to host occasional activities for your team outside of regular work hours. These events work best when they are both fun and optional. Whether it’s a meal, sporting event or game night, the idea is to schedule opportunities for interaction that people truly want to attend.

4. Clearly Articulate Zero Tolerance for Harassment

Few things torpedo a workplace respect faster than unaddressed harassment. Studies have shown that approximately 60% of workplace misconduct goes unreported. The most common reasons for underreporting are a fear of not being believed, threat of retribution at the hands of an abuser or the belief that management doesn’t truly care. Any workplace that does not take a firm stand against all forms of employee harassment represents a lawsuit waiting to happen.

Every one of your employees needs to be 100% certain that management not only forbids abuse as a matter of settled policy, but also has effective methods for dealing with it when it does occur. Where abuse is verified, consequences need to be swift and severe. Clear information regarding an employee’s rights and company-specific procedures for confidential reporting of harassment should be posted in high-visibility locations.

To read the full article, please go to https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnhall/2021/04/18/5-ways-to-promote-respect-in-the-workplace/?sh=364db1a87fe2

Utilizing Emotional Intelligence in the Workplace

Emotional intelligence, sometimes referred to as EQ ("emotional quotient"), refers to a person's ability to recognize, understand, manage, and reason with emotions. It is a critical ability when it comes to interpersonal communication—and a hot topic not only in psychology, but in the business world.

The term was coined by psychologists in the 1990s. Its use quickly spread into other areas including business, education, and popular culture.

What Is Emotional Intelligence?

Psychologists Peter Salovey and John D. Mayer, two of the leading researchers on the topic, define emotional intelligence as the ability to recognize and understand emotions in oneself and others. This ability also involves using this emotional understanding to make decisions, solve problems, and communicate with others.

According to Salovey and Mayer, there are four different levels of emotional intelligence:

-Perceiving emotions

-Reasoning with emotions

-Understanding emotions

-Managing emotions

In the past, emotions and intelligence were often viewed as being in opposition to one another. In recent decades, however, researchers exploring emotion psychology have become increasingly interested in cognition and affect.

This area explores how cognitive processes and emotions interact and influence the ways that people think. Consider how emotions and moods such as happiness, anger, fear, and sadness influence how people behave and make decisions.

Why EQ Is Important for Success

Interest in emotion psychology and the concept of emotional intelligence really caught fire with the 1995 publication of Daniel Goleman's book "Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ." In the book, Goleman argued that emotional intelligence was critical for predicting success in life. Emotional competencies, he argued, also played a particularly important role in the workplace.

The concept quickly attracted the attention of the public, including human resource managers and business leaders. Researchers have suggested that emotional intelligence influences how well employees interact with their colleagues, and EQ is also thought to play a role in how workers manage stress and conflict. It also affects overall performance on the job. Other studies have linked emotional intelligence with job satisfaction.

Studies have shown that employees with higher scores on measures of EQ also tend to be rated higher on measures of interpersonal functioning, leadership abilities, and stress management.

Goleman suggested that while traditional intelligence was associated with leadership success, it alone was not enough. People who are successful at work aren't just smart—they also have a high EQ.

But emotional intelligence is not just for CEOs and senior managers. It's a quality that's important at every level of a person's career, from college students looking for internships to seasoned employees hoping to take on a leadership role. If you want to succeed in the workplace and move up the career ladder, emotional intelligence is critical to your success.

Why EQ Matters in the Workplace

Why is emotional intelligence such a valued workplace skill? According to one survey of hiring managers, almost 75% of respondents suggested that they valued an employee's EQ more than their IQ.

Emotional intelligence is widely recognized as a valuable skill that helps improve communication, management, problem-solving, and relationships within the workplace. It is also a skill that researchers believe can be improved with training and practice.

To read the full article, please go to https://www.verywellmind.com/utilizing-emotional-intelligence-in-the-workplace-4164713

4 Actions Transformational Leaders Take

Successful business transformations are rare, and the pandemic has made them more necessary and more difficult. The difficulty, especially for “traditional” organizations, isn’t surprising. A substantive and irreversible shift in an organization’s identity, value system, and capabilities requires three difficult acts: Developing a deeper sense of purpose that guides strategic decisions and shapes the workplace culture, repositioning the core business, and creating new sources of growth.

The increases in online commerce and remote work requires upgrades to infrastructure, workflows, and tools. And the growth and diversification of digital platforms like Amazon, Alibaba, and Stripe raises important strategic questions about where and how to compete. Difficult economic conditions (low consumer demand in particular) challenge the viability of some business models.

Employees, customers, and investors also expect organizations to play a more prominent role in tackling other systemic issues, such as climate change and social inequality — while also making a profit. Employees, many of whom will have experienced trauma, loneliness, and burnout, expect to use smarter, more flexible working practices and to work for leaders who are effective, authentic, and compassionate.

A typical transformation is led by a CEO figurehead. It often involves major structural change (acquisitions, disposals, partnerships, and organizational redesign), widespread deployment of new technologies, considerable effort, and cultural change. These elements still play critical roles, but a more complex, sensitized context requires leaders to be wiser in what they say and do — and doing more of the same won’t cut it. The following four strategies, based on our collective experience in leading transformations over the last 25 years, will help leaders increase their chances of success.

Practice New Mental Models

Leading transformational change involves helping the organization transcend its current positioning, performance, and capabilities. This requires visionary thinking, the ability to tackle complex problems (like overcoming organizational inertia), and the courage to make difficult choices (like when to shut down or sell off assets that were once considered “core”). Leaders must think deeply and manage their emotions in intense situations, all while stakeholders expect to see results.

One of David’s clients described his role as being “on top of the business, and in the business.” This means being detached and able to take a wider perspective while being immersed in the details when required. Paul Polman, the former CEO of Unilever, told David, “You have to be able to have an enormous appetite for the detail to drive [that] sense of urgency, to make that purpose come alive with storytelling. Then you need to have that broader picture…by continuously being a few steps ahead, in terms of these systemic changes.”

Chris has often seen his CEO clients being unable (or even unwilling) to imagine the future, even when industry shifts happened much faster than they expected. They shared a common failing: Their extensive expertise and experience prevented them from practicing new mental models outside of their comfort zone. As a result, they missed out on value-creation opportunities (and hundreds of millions of dollars) in areas like solar energy, drones, electric flight, and EV charging.

To strike this balance between a wider perspective and the details, practice using your “Wise Advocate” — a term described in the book by Art Kleiner, Dr. Jeffrey Schwartz, and Josie Thomson. This means adopting a third-person perspective of your own experience: Taking in all the information you get from being an insider while being detached as if you were an outside observer. It also requires strength of character, integrity, and conviction; you need to manage your attention to achieve more significant, transformational goals. As the authors note, “The choice to attend to the Wise Advocate regularly — to focus your mind in that way, day after day — is one of the most important habitual decisions that an accomplished leader can make.”

To read the full article, please go to https://hbr.org/2021/05/4-actions-transformational-leaders-take 

Leadership and innovation

McKinsey research reveals a wide gap between the aspirations of executives to innovate and their ability to execute. Organizational structures and processes are not the solution.

Like short skirts, innovation has traditionally swung into and out of fashion: popular in good times and tossed back into the closet in downturns. But as globalization tears down the geographic boundaries and market barriers that once kept businesses from achieving their potential, a company's ability to innovate—to tap the fresh value-creating ideas of its employees and those of its partners, customers, suppliers, and other parties beyond its own boundaries—is anything but faddish. In fact, innovation has become a core driver of growth, performance, and valuation.

Our research bears out this point. More than 70 percent of the senior executives in a survey we recently conducted say that innovation will be at least one of the top three drivers of growth for their companies in the next three to five years. Other executives see innovation as the most important way for companies to accelerate the pace of change in today's global business environment. Leading strategic thinkers are moving beyond a focus on traditional product and service categories to pioneer innovations in business processes, distribution, value chains, business models, and even the functions of management.

Our research also shows that most executives are generally disappointed in their ability to stimulate innovation: some 65 percent of the senior executives we surveyed were only "somewhat," "a little," or "not at all" confident about the decisions they make in this area. What explains the gap between the leaders' aspirations and execution? Even starting to build an organization in which innovation plays a central role is often far more frustrating than most executives ever imagine it to be. Many of those who mimic the approaches of the most successful practitioners have found that path to be ineffective. Sustaining innovation to create real value at scale—the only kind of innovation that has a significant financial impact—is even harder.

There are no best-practice solutions to seed and cultivate innovation. The structures and processes that many leaders reflexively use to encourage it are important, we find, but not sufficient. On the contrary, senior executives almost unanimously—94 percent—say that people and corporate culture are the most important drivers of innovation.

Our experience convinces us that a disciplined focus on three people-management fundamentals may produce the building blocks of an innovative organization. A first step is to formally integrate innovation into the strategic-management agenda of senior leaders to an extent that few companies have done so far. In this way, innovation can be not only encouraged but also managed, tracked, and measured as a core element in a company's growth aspirations. Second, executives can make better use of existing (and often untapped) talent for innovation, without implementing disruptive change programs, by creating the conditions that allow dynamic innovation networks to emerge and flourish. Finally, they can take explicit steps to foster an innovation culture based on trust among employees. In such a culture, people understand that their ideas are valued, trust that it is safe to express those ideas, and oversee risk collectively, together with their managers. Such an environment can be more effective than monetary incentives in sustaining innovation.

This list of steps is not exhaustive. Still, given the limited time and means—as well as the short-term performance pressures that executives constantly face—pursuing innovation with anything other than existing talent and resources often isn't an option. These three fundamentals are a practical starting point to improve an organization's chances of stimulating and sustaining innovation where it matters most—among a company's people.

To read the full article, please go to https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/strategy-and-corporate-finance/our-insights/leadership-and-innovation

The Importance Of Software For Your Business And How To Choose The Right Tools

We are living in the age of information, the age filled with technological advances that are reshaping our lives.

However, novelties of this kind are not only affecting the way we talk to each other, play with each other, enjoy music, movies, and so on. These advances are also changing the business world of today.

Fortunately, there is a way to benefit from this. You may have heard that certain types of software can improve the way you are running your business, but you are not so sure how to make it happen or how to choose the right tool.

If you’re eager to learn more about this, keep reading.

Why Using Software Can Help Your Business

There are quite a few segments of your business that can be improved with the help of software. Some of the more prominent ones include finances, customer support, email outreach, time-tracking, and so on.

Below you will find important tips that will help you choose the best software for your business and implement it right away.

Client management

With the help of software tools, you can do a great job when it comes to client management. To be precise, you can build and manage a customer database. However, don’t mistake this for a contact list.

A contact list is great because it is a place where you store phone numbers and addresses, but it doesn’t do anything else. However, a number of entrepreneurs recognized the more-than-clear benefits of customer databases.

In a database, you can store more details about your clients, and that will help you deliver quality service. What’s even better, you can even track personal preferences, service history, equipment details, and other important notes.

Service request tracking software

Many business owners claim that this kind of software needs to sit right up there at the top when it comes to quality and usefulness.

By implementing a service request tracking system, you will improve the time management between the second a customer calls and the moment of service request completion.

Without a good service request tracking system in place, users spend more time on non-value added work. Of course, this could be as simple as reducing the time it takes to answer a customer’s question, or as complex as managing resources efficiently.

With a solid system of this kind, you can work faster, save more time, and then spend the saved time in a better, smarter way.

Productivity tools

If you are having trouble with the productivity levels of your workers, you will appreciate time-tracking software.

Even though some believe that this kind of software is ‘too much’, it is still an excellent tool for mapping out where time is spent and by whom. When you have such insight and use it properly, you can learn what your workers need to improve and how.

To read the full article, please go to https://www.feedster.com/technology/the-importance-of-software-for-your-business-and-how-to-choose-the-right-tools/

How to attract and retain the best talent

Want to Boost Employee Productivity? Offer an Incentive

Your Approach to Hiring Is All Wrong

Businesses have never done as much hiring as they do today. They’ve never spent as much money doing it. And they’ve never done a worse job of it.

For most of the post–World War II era, large corporations went about hiring this way: Human resources experts prepared a detailed job analysis to determine what tasks the job required and what attributes a good candidate should have. Next they did a job evaluation to determine how the job fit into the organizational chart and how much it should pay, especially compared with other jobs. Ads were posted, and applicants applied. Then came the task of sorting through the applicants. That included skills tests, reference checks, maybe personality and IQ tests, and extensive interviews to learn more about them as people. William H. Whyte, in The Organization Man, described this process as going on for as long as a week before the winning candidate was offered the job. The vast majority of non-entry-level openings were filled from within.

Today’s approach couldn’t be more different. Census data shows, for example, that the majority of people who took a new job last year weren’t searching for one: Somebody came and got them. Companies seek to fill their recruiting funnel with as many candidates as possible, especially “passive candidates,” who aren’t looking to move. Often employers advertise jobs that don’t exist, hoping to find people who might be useful later on or in a different context.

The recruiting and hiring function has been eviscerated. Many U.S. companies—about 40%, according to research by Korn Ferry—have outsourced much if not all of the hiring process to “recruitment process outsourcers,” which in turn often use subcontractors, typically in India and the Philippines. The subcontractors scour LinkedIn and social media to find potential candidates. They sometimes contact them directly to see whether they can be persuaded to apply for a position and negotiate the salary they’re willing to accept. (The recruiters get incentive pay if they negotiate the amount down.) To hire programmers, for example, these subcontractors can scan websites that programmers might visit, trace their “digital exhaust” from cookies and other user-tracking measures to identify who they are, and then examine their curricula vitae.

At companies that still do their own recruitment and hiring, managers trying to fill open positions are largely left to figure out what the jobs require and what the ads should say. When applications come—always electronically—applicant-tracking software sifts through them for key words that the hiring managers want to see. Then the process moves into the Wild West, where a new industry of vendors offer an astonishing array of smart-sounding tools that claim to predict who will be a good hire. They use voice recognition, body language, clues on social media, and especially machine learning algorithms—everything but tea leaves. Entire publications are devoted to what these vendors are doing.

The big problem with all these new practices is that we don’t know whether they actually produce satisfactory hires. Only about a third of U.S. companies report that they monitor whether their hiring practices lead to good employees; few of them do so carefully, and only a minority even track cost per hire and time to hire. Imagine if the CEO asked how an advertising campaign had gone, and the response was “We have a good idea how long it took to roll out and what it cost, but we haven’t looked to see whether we’re selling more.”

Hiring talent remains the number one concern of CEOs in the most recent Conference Board Annual Survey; it’s also the top concern of the entire executive suite. PwC’s 2017 CEO survey reports that chief executives view the unavailability of talent and skills as the biggest threat to their business. Employers also spend an enormous amount on hiring—an average of $4,129 per job in the United States, according to Society for Human Resource Management estimates, and many times that amount for managerial roles—and the United States fills a staggering 66 million jobs a year. Most of the $20 billion that companies spend on human resources vendors goes to hiring.

Why do employers spend so much on something so important while knowing so little about whether it works?

To read the full article, please go to https://hbr.org/2019/05/your-approach-to-hiring-is-all-wrong

Top 5 workforce management tech trends in 2021

COVID-19 recovery, labor compliance and automated scheduling are among the emerging trends in effective workforce management.

Organizations were forced to rethink operations in 2020 and shift their strategies overnight, prompting new investments in workforce management technology. So, what’s to come in 2021? 

We’ve compiled a list of the top 5 and specific workforce.com technology features we predict will be key trends this year. These include COVID recovery, labor compliance, automated scheduling, advanced workforce analytics and increased cloud and mobility functionality. 

Labor compliance and minimum wage changes

The Biden administration is pushing to raise the federal hourly minimum wage to $15 by 2025. While legislation has yet to be passed, organizations will be preparing for minimum wage changes and complying correctly. Companies that fail to comply are at risk of facing stiff financial penalties and negative public attention.

Staying abreast of these changes will be crucial, and organizations will be looking to have an automated system in place that will make the transition easier. Organizations will require solutions that can simplify and automate labor law compliance. They will need a proactive platform that accounts for all applicable federal, state and local labor regulations from employee scheduling to payroll processing.

Workforce.com continues to invest in our fully automated and user customizable compliance engine, pioneered in Australia to manage the world’s most complicated and expensive wage laws and costs. Instead of manually updating or having to calculate different wages for schedules, overtime and payroll, organizations will be able to have changes automatically forecasted and updated. We predict labor compliance to continue to become increasingly complicated due to political, regional and union influence.

Higher wages will also mean increased labor cost and a need for companies to be smarter around how they schedule, track and spend on wages. Workforce management features that can boost employee productivity while providing wage oversight for owners and front-line teams to proactively manage will be key.

A way to address this will be the workforce.com Live Wage Tracker, which provides a real-time view of staff count, exact costs and where there may be overspending per shift factored for compliance. It equips frontline managers to make decisions quickly and adjust staffing levels accordingly throughout the day. With this, businesses can be more efficient in controlling their labor costs and optimizing real-time operations.

COVID-19 recovery and employee well-being

As the world recovers from COVID-19 and shift work industries return to normal, it will remain paramount for organizations to have a workforce management platform in place for ensuring employee health, safety and feedback.

As workers return to their shifts in numbers, clear communication will be vital to responding to queries and staying agile as a team. Workforce.com innovations this year include the live 360-degree shift feedback and ratings feature so comments can be gathered from employees after each shift and proactively managed. Their responses enable managers to quickly address issues and apply necessary changes to future shifts. This tool promotes transparency and will provide an avenue for employees to speak up and be heard.

Tracking accurate time and attendance but minimizing contact with communal punch clocks will also continue to remain a priority for organizations. Instead of these older physical devices we predict an accelerated rise of next-gen mobile, app, GPS and tablet clocking in solutions that addresses these concerns.

For instance, with workforce.com GPS Clock ins instead of just one device for clocking in, staff will be able to use this feature to clock in on their own mobile device. Employees who are on the go can also use it to accurately log their start and end times, as well as their break and location while on shift. This results in a lower hardware and maintenance cost of ensuring accurate timesheets while reducing multiple touches to a communal device.

Workforce.com has also developed a completely free tool called Reopen to help businesses manage their capacity and social distancing requirements as they open. By allowing customers to make an appointment online, this will assist businesses in managing the number of people within their premises at a particular time. Organizations will be able to set opening hours, and customers can book in a time slot using their phone.

To read the full article, please go to https://www.workforce.com/news/workforce-management-trends

‘Big 4’ Accounting Giant PwC Accepts its First Bitcoin Payment

PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC), one of the world’s largest accounting firms, has accepted its first ever bitcoin payment for its advisory services.

An ever-growing embrace of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology among its clients has seen PwC accept bitcoin as a payment in Hong Kong. According to a Wall Street Journal report, PwC in Hong Kong revealed it is working with a number of startups involved in bitcoin and the wider cryptocurrency industry, prompting the firm to accept the world’s most widely-known cryptocurrency. Notably, PwC also confirmed its advent into advising clients about crypto funds and investments, cryptocurrency exchanges and initial coin offerings –  a radical new form of fundraising powered by cryptocurrencies.

“This decision helps illustrate how we are embracing new technology and incorporating innovative business models across our full range of services,” said PwC Asia-Pacific chairman Raymund Chao.

Notably, the PwC official added:

It is also an indication that bitcoin and other established cryptocurrencies have now developed into more broadly accepted forms of settlement.

PwC is the second ‘big four’ accounting firm to accept bitcoin as payments for its services. Ernst & Young (EY) in Switzerland became the first firm of its kind to accept bitcoin for both auditing and advisory services since the turn of 2017. EY also installed a Bitcoin ATM among its offices late last year, providing its employees with a digital bitcoin wallet within its in-house EY wallet app. Accepting bitcoin, EY said in late 2016, was essential for EY’s strategy of “digitizing itself”.

Institutional adoption of bitcoin as a currency is slowly catching on, not quite as quickly as financial institutions’ embrace of the cryptocurrency as a financial instrument.

In a fortnight, CME Group – the world’s largest exchange owner – will launch its bitcoin futures contracts product, signaling a growing trend within Wall Street that is now warming to bitcoin. As reported yesterday, New York-based Nasdaq – the world’s second-largest stock exchange after the NYSE – is also planning to launch its bitcoin futures product in the first half of 2018.

4 Secrets of Successful Business Owners

Have you ever wondered how some entrepreneurs and business owners seem almost superhuman, that everything they touch and do practically turns to gold?

Take Richard Branson for example. He started Virgin in 1970 and has built numerous businesses across multiple industries over the last 35 years. A company that stands for excitement, uniqueness, and more recently, making the world a better place through giving back.

While you and I may not be looking to start a massive company that generates enough revenue to support a small country, there are important lessons that we can learn from the way they do business and how they operate.

Let’s dive deep and look at four incredible entrepreneurs—who have shaped the way we do business today—and what they say that makes them successful. Sit tight. Epiphanies ahead.

1. “Chance favors the prepared mind. The more you practice, the luckier you become.” – Richard Branson

Don’t be fooled by Richard’s calm demeanor and laid back style. You better believe he had a plan and was prepared when he launched each of his businesses over the years. It may not have been 100 percent conventional, but he was always prepared in some form or fashion.

Be sure you take advantage of free resources to prepare your mind and lay out a strategy for your business. And if you want to take your preparation a step further, use a tool like LivePlan. Even if you’re a current business owner, take a step back and analyze your strategy.

Once you know you’re prepared and ready to tackle the task at hand, just get started. There is no better teacher than experience. Richard never went to business school to learn about building a business. He just got started and learned through the processes.

And it seemed to work out pretty well for him, didn’t it?

To read the full article, please go to https://articles.bplans.com/4-secrets-successful-business-owners/

How To Develop A HR Data Strategy: Here Are 6 Simple Steps

Data-driven HR is an exciting, fast-developing field that can transform every aspect of human resources. But, in order to  get the most out of data,  it’s vital every HR team maps  out a clear data strategy that links to wider operational objectives and demonstrates how HR will contribute to those objectives.

Why every HR team needs a data strategy

Data-driven HR isn’t about capturing data on everything in the organisation that lives, breathes and moves. It’s about using data in the smartest possible ways. It’s about using the insights that you glean from data to continually improve decisions, better understand your employees, optimise operations, and add value to the company.

To pull this off, you need to be very clear about what it is you want to achieve and what data you need to  reach those goals.  Counterintuitively, it’s not about gathering tons of data. In fact, you should aim to  collect, store and analyse the smallest amount of data possible to achieve your goals.  Keeping your data as small as possible means you’re  maintaining a tight focus on where you want to go and what data will help you get there.

Besides,  from a people perspective,  it’s never a good idea to start collecting huge amounts of data that you don’t really need – and this is especially true with a lot of HR data, because it’s so personal in nature. Collecting people-related data  with no clear business reason or benefit can lead to  serious  morale problems. No one wants to feel like  Big Brother is  watching them!

In this way, creating a robust  HR  data strategy helps you develop and maintain a laser-like focus on what data is best for you.

Linking your HR objectives to wider organisational objectives

The best kind of HR data strategy is directly linked to the organisation’s wider objectives. In effect,  it  should cascade down from those corporate objectives to create HR-specific  goals that will help fulfil those corporate  aims. Therefore, a good place to start isn’t with HR at all, but the company-wide strategic plan.

Only once you understand the  company’s strategic  priorities can you begin to create your own HR  objectives that link to those  strategic priorities. Therefore, your HR data strategy is about identifying  what you need to achieve in order to contribute to the company’s success.

I cannot  stress enough that you  must  keep this objectives phase simple.  You don’t want to end up with a 100-point list, so focus only on core objectives.  You need to be  crystal clear on what exactly you need to achieve and, in turn, what areas or activities you need to focus on to achieve those aims.  This is the smartest way of  delivering value through data.

Creating your data strategy is about asking the right questions

Having identified your objectives, you can begin to translate those objectives into a data strategy. Any HR data strategy can be easily broken down into  six simple  steps or questions.

Answer all six questions in the order set out below, rather than skipping over various sections.

A Look At The Middle East: Trends & Opportunities

The explosion on August 4th in Beirut shook the world. How are you doing these days, what is the economic situation in Lebanon?

Employee Loyalty Not for Sale

Workforce.com published an interesting article on what truly secures employee loyalty within organizations.

Loyal Employees are Assets – Not Liabilities!

Brigette Hyacinth published an interesting article on LinkedIn regarding the importance of loyal employees.

9 Qualities Of Truly Confident People

Dharmesh Shah published an interesting article on qualities possessed by confident individuals.

The 3 Questions People Always Forget to Ask in an Interview

James Caan published an interesting article on LinkedIn about three questions interviewees forget to ask. 

8 Things Productive People Do During the Workday

Ilya Pozin published an interesting article on LinkedIn concerning 8 steps to take so as to harness your creativity.

6 Toxic Behaviors That Push People Away: How To Recognize Them In Yourself and Change Them

Kathy Caprino published an interesting article on LinkedIn regarding the toxic behaviors that can surface at work.

How Successful People Stay Calm

Dr. Travis Bradberry published an interesting article on LinkedIn regarding the ability to control your emotions at work.

2018 Workplace Learning Report: The Rise and Responsibility of Talent Development in the New Labor Market

LinkedIn published an interesting report on the trends shaping the modern workplace learning.

The Global Human Capital Report 2017

3 Roles for Recruiters in the AI Era

ERE Recruiting Intelligence published an interesting article on the role of recruiters within the AI era.

Retraining and reskilling workers in the age of automation

McKinsey & Company published an interesting article on transitions to occur within the workplace by 2030.

Don’t Like Your Job? Change It (Without Quitting)

Harvard Business Review published an interesting article on tactics one can implement when they cannot change jobs due to different circumstances.

How to Turn Negative Employee Feedback Into a Positive Opportunity

Recruiter.com published an interesting article including helpful steps to change negative employee feedback, towards a positive outlook.

Happy Mother's Day: Children Benefit From Having a Working Mom

Harvard Business School published an interesting article on research that has demonstrated how children benefit from their mothers in employment!

22 Ways to Get Noticed by Executive Search Consultants: Part One

BlueSteps.com published an interesting article on simple steps to get noticed by executive search consultants.

Happy International Women's Day: In Iceland, it's now illegal to pay men more than women

Al Jazeera News published an interesting article regarding equal pay regardless of gender in Iceland.

Here’s what the lack of training can cost your company

People matters published an interesting article on the need to train and develop employees, while also discussing the benefits of such an investment.

Employee Engagement in the Digital Age

2018 Consumer Products Industry Outlook: Newer approaches and bolder moves in consumer goods

Applying the art of war to recruitment

Vacancysoft published an interesting article on identifying and establishing best recruitment cycle practices.

When could a move abroad make sense?

Vacancysoft published an interesting article on the consequences of working abroad, and when would a move make sense.

Regional Trends Report 2017 Year in Review

Vacancysoft and APSCo published an interesting article on the professional work trends of 2017 by profession and industry, as well as other outlooks.

How to Write a Résumé That Stands Out

Harvard Business Review published an article on tips and steps to creating a CV that stands out.

Qatar introduces minimum wage for first time

BBC News as published an article on how Qatar has planned a number of labour law reforms, one of which is the minimum wage.

Using Talent Management to Create Value

McKinsey & Company published an interesting article on how it is important for companies must combine talent to value, and what this means for the HR function.

Do’s and Don’ts for Your Executive Interview

There are many interview pitfalls that executive candidates can encounter, so for those with interviews coming up, BlueSteps.com published a helpful article.

Happy Valentines Day: The Need for Employee Recognition, and How to Do It Right

Really Smart Work published an interesting article on the significance of employee recognition.

Attracting and retaining the right talent

McKinsey published an interesting article  on why talent is important, statistical evidence on how companies don’t believe they recruit highly talented people, and more.

Saudi Arabia Bans Foreigners from certain jobs to give Citizens more Employment Opportunities

The Independent published an article on how Saudi Arabia is banning foreigners from certain jobs in favor of giving them to Saudi citizens.

Good Conduct Certificates for UAE Work Visas from Today

The Khaleej Times Dubai published an interesting article on how good conduct certificates for UAE work visas can it be obtained, who requires it, and much more.

How to Network with Executive Search Firms

Harvard Business Review published an interesting article on establishing four steps in achieving proper networking with executive search firms.

Game Changing Sales Structure Questions Answered Scientifically

HEED s.a.l – HEED is a sales management consulting firm that published an interesting article on sales structures in organizations.

BlueSteps Global Guide to Personal Branding for Executives

BlueSteps.com published an interesting article as a guide for executives in understanding what personal branding is, its importance, along with its components.