Resources
Recruiting Trends
2 min read
Summer Hiring Tips
As the summer season begins, businesses across the country are looking to staff up to support a predicted increase in consumer demand amid one of the most dynamic labor markets in recorded history. A new report from Snagajob highlights some fresh data and insights from thousands of hourly workers and employers as well as practical hiring advice for businesses staffing up for summer. “Despite the fact that 80% of workers plan to look for a new job this year, companies across every industry are reporting they’re struggling to find candidates,” said Mathieu Stevenson, CEO of Snagajob. “One of the great revelations of the pandemic was just how fungible hourly workers’ skill sets were. It’s not that the hourly workers have left the workforce, it’s that they are reshuffling: looking for more equitable work, greater flexibility and better opportunity for advancement.” Summer Hiring Stats Key findings from the survey of over 3,000 hourly workers and employers highlight who is searching for jobs this summer and how employers are faring: 87% of teens are now looking for work 51% of hourly workers reported that they’re willing to change industries 60% of Gen-Z job seekers consider “sharing social values” among their top 3 factors for choosing a company 45% of hourly workers expect improved working conditions/health standards at a new job Over 93% of businesses report that they’re now understaffed 70% of businesses successfully filling roles are open to flexible work schedules Summer Hiring Tips In addition to the key findings, Snagajob’s Summer Hiring Report features tips for businesses on how to hire today’s hourly workers: Build up programs to attract and retain talent – Many employers find that higher wages alone aren’t enough to bring workers back. Emphasizing company culture through opportunities for workers to grow within the company, socialize with their coworkers, or support causes they stand behind are all approaches to attracting and retaining talent. Take advantage of soft-skilled candidates – Expanding who you consider for open positions is paramount to success in the post-COVID world of work. In addition to considering non-traditional workers such as teens and other first-time hires, look for workers who may not have the exact skill set you’re looking for but can still grow into the position. Broaden your offering criteria – Offering better pay is just the beginning. Workers today are going to be enticed by a full range of offerings, from flexibility and health insurance to growth opportunities, tuition reimbursement, child care assistance, paid time off, company discounts, and more. Acknowledge employee contribution – Employees are part of a team with a shared purpose. People want to belong to a workplace community, be part of something bigger than themselves, and enjoy the day-to-day. Keep work interesting with energy, humor, and fresh incentives — purpose, camaraderie, and levity. Hold job fairs – provide incentives for potential seekers to attend such as free food, gift cards, etc.. You may even need to have “open office” hiring hours on a weekly basis. Summer hiring is challenging but these tips should give you some takeaway tactics to us to your advantage. To access the full report, click here.
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Recruiting
2 min read
Why Talent Acquisition is Important
Companies globally are experiencing the impact of ‘the Great Resignation’ and many are failing to meet the challenge of hiring in the competitive job market current economic conditions have them in. Turnover is on the rise as employees catch wind of higher wages, remote work opportunities, and confidence to go after jobs that go above the basic benefits package. Candidates are looking for companies that present a comprehensive experience for them. With these circumstances, businesses are seeking out strategies to stay competitive, retain staff, and hire top talent. Talent acquisition teams are the answer to this problem. Talent acquisition teams should be viewed as integral business partners for any organization looking to make people a priority. As a company plans to scale growth in revenue, increased talent needs to follow, and often does so in budget-approved waves. With a comprehensive approach to growing teams, employers can utilize talent acquisition departments to recruit candidates that bring assets beyond just the minimum required skills. There are several ways that successful talent acquisition teams bring value to an organization. Brand Awareness Big name brand companies get their world wide popularity from their people. Companies with focused talent acquisition strategies add value to a company by providing positive brand awareness. When TA teams have business related goals, values, and visions in mind they are able to effectively communicate the meaning of a company’s brand to every candidate they encounter. Whether a candidate moves to the final stage of hiring or not, smart companies will focus on TA teams that leave every candidate with a positive story to tell. In many industries, networking and hearsay about a companies hiring practices can make or break the future of recruitment. Being sure to have a resilient talent acquisition team can make all the difference in becoming the more attractive employer in the market. Strategic Success Organizational leadership must understand the connection between company success and strategic hiring. Every hire brings to a company a quantifiable value both via tangible and intangible metrics. Leaders in talent acquisition are there to help business decision makers understand those values. Companies must define what specific value they are looking for in a high quality hire. When managers and supervisors make that connection with their talent acquisition team for not only high level positions, but positions throughout the business, hiring can become deeper than looking for the person with the right years of experience. Companies should be helping recruiters answer the question, ‘how will this position ultimately affect the bottom line?’ This will result in new hires coming onboard that know the answer to that question from the start, creating employee engagement and investment from an early stage. Hiring Efficiency Hiring, firing, re-hiring, re-training, and recruiting are extremely expensive business costs. When companies are not investing in a quality talent acquisition team, recruiting and hiring become inefficient. Inefficient hiring leads to additional training and employee turnover. When positions are not filled with high quality candidates and engaged employees, the business suffers. Without quality recruiting and efficient onboarding procedures, most companies will get stuck in cycle of unending turnover leading ultimately to high costs, burdens on existing staff, and frustrations from managers. In order to improve this cycle, talent acquisition must be a valued focus. This means not only having a TA team, but bringing them into the decision making process and partnering with them on business objectives. Talent Analysis Creating high quality hiring strategies and efficient recruitment procedures requires understanding where the gap lies in current conditions and the ideal goal. Talent acquisition teams often have access, or should be provided with acces, to tools that can provide important analytics for the organization. What is the current time to fill? What is the requisition to recruiter ratio on average? What percent of turnover is happening with new hires? Is turnover primarily with tenured employees? How prepared do new employees feel to do the job after the training period? Are expectations laid out in the hiring process to candidates meeting the reality of what happens on the job? Answers to these questions can be provided by a TA team and may be the accelerant to making positive change. Without a team able to advise of where gaps lie, it is extremely difficult to make changes that steer the company in right direction. Stephanie Mauney is a freelance writer and content curator specializing in Human Resources
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Recruiting
3 min read
Jobs with Work Life Balance
Can there ever be enough jobs in the world that offer a good combination of work life balance? I ask that because it’s becoming increasingly more important to the next generation of job seekers. Many of them are reassessing what balance means in their lives. Talent organizations will need to adjust to this new way of work that future hires want. According to Deloitte’s 2022 Gen Z and Millennial Survey, the next generation workforce is deeply concerned about the state of the world. They are worried about the cost of living, climate change, wealth inequality, geopolitical conflicts, and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and they are determined to drive positive societal change. However, they are also struggling with daily life challenges such as financial anxiety, lack of work/life balance, and consistently high stress levels. “This year’s report shows that many Gen Zs and millennials are reassessing what matters most to them as they grapple with the continual disruption and uncertainty of the last few years. This has led to a workplace reckoning which has empowered many to demand sustained changes, including higher compensation, more meaningful and flexible work, more action to address climate change, and an increased focus on well-being. There is an urgent need, and an opportunity, for business leaders to re-define the talent experience to better meet people’s needs,” says Michele Parmelee, Deloitte Global Deputy CEO and Chief People and Purpose Officer. Cost of Living Concerns This year, Gen Zs and millennials cited the cost of living as their top personal concern, just above climate change. Concerns about the cost of living may be a symptom of the times, given the rise of inflation, but they also speak to issues that these generations have been expressing for the past 11 years that Deloitte has conducted the survey: they don’t feel financially secure personally, and at a broader societal level, they are deeply concerned about wealth inequality. About a quarter of Gen Zs (25%) and millennials (21%) say they cannot comfortably pay their living expenses each month, and nearly half live paycheck to paycheck. This likely impacts their ability to save and explains why about three in 10 respondents are not confident they will be able to retire with financial comfort. Meanwhile, about three-quarters of respondents believe that wealth inequality is rising, and only 28% believe the economic situation in their countries will improve in the coming year. Some Gen Zs and millennials are taking on second jobs and redefining their working patterns to alleviate financial concerns. As many as 43% of Gen Zs and 33% of millennials have taken on a paying part- or full-time job in addition to their primary job. They are also capitalizing on the financial benefits of a remote work environment, with a small but growing percentage moving to less expensive cities. Workers in the Driver’s Seat Employee loyalty is up from last year’s survey, potentially because many people changed jobs over the last year. But this still leaves four in 10 Gen Zs and nearly a quarter of millennials who would like to leave their jobs within the next two years, and roughly a third who would do so without another job lined up. Pay, workplace mental health concerns, and burnout are the top reasons why respondents left their jobs over the last two years. But, when choosing a new job, work/life balance and learning and development are the top priorities. Respondents see flexible work as a way to find balance in their lives: saving money while making time for the people and activities they care about. Three-quarters of respondents say they’d prefer a hybrid or remote work arrangement, and many would like more flexible working hours. Purpose continues to be pivotal to talent recruitment and retention. Nearly two in five respondents said they have turned down an assignment or role because it did not align with their values. Meanwhile, those who are satisfied with their employers’ societal and environmental impact—along with their efforts to create a more diverse and inclusive culture—are more likely to stay with their employer long-term. Employers Increase Focus on Mental Health Stress levels continue to be high among respondents, particularly Gen Zs. Nearly half of Gen Zs (46%) and about four in 10 millennials (38%) are stressed all or most of the time. And nearly half of respondents feel burned out due to the pressure of their workloads—about the same percentage of respondents say many of their colleagues have recently left their organizations due to burnout. This signals a retention issue for employers, but about one in five Gen Zs and millennials don’t think their employers are taking it seriously or taking steps to prevent it. The survey did find that Gen Zs and millennials believe their employers are more focused on well-being and mental health since the start of the pandemic. However, just over half of respondents believe this has not had any meaningful impact on employees. “Stress and anxiety levels are unlikely to ease as global threats and ongoing disruption from the pandemic continue to affect Gen Zs’ and millennials’ daily lives and their long-term view of the world,” adds Parmelee. “Business leaders must play a role in supporting better mental health at work, and in mitigating the causes of stress and burnout. Better mental health resources, setting boundaries to protect work/life balance, creating stigma-free environments, and empowering their people to drive change are just a few of the ways leaders can support better workplace mental health.”
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Recruiting
3 min read
Hiring Manager Relationships
Recruiters and hiring managers do not always have a united vision when it comes to hiring practices. I’d go as far as to say that the relationship between them can often be strained. This can be seen posted all over recruiter-focused social media. I sought out a couple of social platforms to see exactly how recruiters are perceiving current industry relationships with their hiring managers. This video from viral HR Tik-Tok content creator, Nikki Jazz, shows the utter frustration of miscommunication between a recruiter and hiring managers concerning compensation negotiations. Nikki pokes fun at the amount of convincing it takes for a manager to increase pay to market level. When asked how to collaborate with and build a healthy relationship with hiring managers LinkedIn influencer and recruiter Dan Roth suggests, “wine and wine.” Of course, Dan is making a joke, but the underlining message is clear. It’s often difficult to work with them, leading to the occasional friendly bribe. Although many recruiters use their social platforms as comic relief, at the core, the majority of both internal and external recruiters desire to build long-lasting rapport with hiring managers to work in partnership on hiring successfully. Alexander Tsokos, Recruitment Business Partner at Adyen, suggests creating a mutually agreed upon written list of expectations initially to begin a healthy relationship from the start of a partnership with a hiring manager. Kristi Moose, a Client Success Manager for TalenTrust, says that she finds it helpful to meet with managers off-site and focus on making a genuine connection outside of operations. It’s important to keep in mind that both the recruiter and hiring manager likely have the same end goal. They want to meet company objectives by bringing on top talent and securing candidates who will convert into tenured employees. There are a few practical ways that recruiters can successfully partner with hiring managers. Building the Hiring Manager Relationship The first step to working well with a hiring manager is building a positive relationship. Both internal and external recruiters should understand that human connection often holds a priceless value in terms of meeting professional goals. Having strong relationships with hiring managers means effective communication, candid conversation, and efficient hiring can happen seamlessly. One way to build a positive relationship is to find ways to connect personally. Do you have any mutual interests? Are you living in a similar life stage? Perhaps plan a quarterly or bi-yearly lunch to step away from the stress of operations and have a planning meeting that can include a personal connection as well. Clarity of Expectations Nearly all strained relationships stem from miscommunicated expectations. Treat your relationship with your hiring manager like a marriage. If an expectation is not communicated clearly in writing or out loud, do not have hope that there will be follow-through. Before beginning a new relationship with a hiring manager take time to discuss a realistic workload and the effects of the number of requisitions on turnaround time. Pull up analytics that shows time to fill and retention. Ask if the hiring manager is satisfied. Talk about the exact type of candidate they are seeking including the experience, education, and skills that are required for the job. Ask where their perfect candidate might be working right now. Creating clear expectations with hiring managers will certainly make strong headway for future hiring success. Training Hiring Managers If open to the idea, hiring managers may need training in proper and legally compliant hiring practices. Providing reasoning and legal repercussions can give hiring managers context for the requirements behind protocols. Not all hiring managers may understand the intricacies of Affirmative Action, document retention, remaining unbiased, and compensation policy. For instance, to attract the perfect candidate, hiring managers may be willing to go above and beyond in offering a lucrative compensation package, but the internal recruiter may have to explain the repercussions of wage compression fur current tenured employees. Hiring managers should also be properly trained in the expected interview process and the importance of having an efficient process for the candidate as well as consistent interview questions. Have a conversation about how many interviews are appropriate for the hiring process, the importance of maintaining consistent communication with candidates, and being open to transferable skills. The potential for recruiters to build strong relationships with hiring managers is hanging on the ability of the recruiter to connect well and communicate effectively. The positive outcome of crafting and sustaining that relationship is well worth it. Give these tactics a try and see if you can turn around a strained relationship. Stephanie Mauney is a freelance writer and content curator specializing in Human Resources.
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Recruiting
3 min read
The Recruiter Experience
Internal talent acquisition teams are often the fuel for the success of any business by being the source who brings the strongest employee talent to the organization. Employers must know how to support and manage an internal recruiting team by optimizing their abilities and leveraging their strengths. This is called the recruiter experience and it should be an ongoing focus of talent leaders. Full-time recruiting day in and day out can be a tough job. Recruiters are often faced with last-minute rejection, no-shows, pressure to fill many roles at a time, and the stresses of a tight labor market. There are several ways employers can strategically support their talent acquisition team. Provide the Necessary Tools Recruiters must have access to the best technology the industry has to offer to match competitors. To effectively capture the attention of both seeking and passive candidates, recruiters need to be utilizing many forms of technology. Companies should provide them with access to some or all of the following; social media platform visibility, a well-run applicant tracking system preferably with integrated AI technology, mobile reaching software, video operated pre-screening tools, talent pool marketing via Candidate Relationship Management, and analytic tools to verify success factors. Being equipped with state-of-the-art technology aids recruiting teams by increasing their effectiveness and benefits the organization by ultimately reducing the cost of being short-staffed and decreasing time-to-fill. Recruiter Experience Means Ongoing Training Internal recruiting teams need ongoing training to be well educated in current trends and industry standards. It may be valuable to provide recruiters with marketing training. They could advance their skills in creating eye-catching job descriptions, high-quality employer branding materials, and wide-reaching job advertisements. Additionally, talent acquisition teams are the first touchpoint for candidates to the organization. They may require training on how to remain unbiased, recognize valuable transferable skills, and create a diverse candidate pool. Maintaining and growing these skills will aid the organization when the recruiter can bring the top of the market and diverse applicants to the hiring team. Empower Your Recruiters Being able to source for a wide range of job requisitions and have a consistent candidate pipeline to pull from often largely stems from access to a broad network of connections. Providing a recruiter with networking opportunities within the industry could be beneficial in creating those crucial connections. Companies could sponsor talent acquisition teams to attend a local chapter meeting of professionals, travel to industry conferences, or even host a regional networking event. Realistic Workload Every company has unique needs and varying requirements for its job requisitions. Keeping a realistic number of jobs to fill per recruiter is an important factor in maintaining job satisfaction for the talent acquisition team. There are many metrics that companies can use to analyze the number of requisitions an individual recruiter can efficiently carry at a time. An organization needs to assess outside factors such as the current labor market, industry competition, and candidate availability. Internal metrics such as average time-to-fill, number of members on the team, acceptance rate, hiring urgency, responsiveness by hiring managers, and cost per hire can all help decipher the appropriate number of job requisitions per recruiter for specific departments. Connecting to Business Objectives To retain an engaged talent acquisition workforce, all employees of the recruiting team must understand how their job works to achieve the goals and objectives of the organization. Recruiters with business acumen can effectively communicate how both their position and the positions they are working to fill help the organization succeed and contribute to the bottom-line revenue. Talent acquisition teams should be familiar with employer branding. Communicating the company culture, CSR initiatives, long-term goals, benefits packages, and overall business tone is critical to successful hiring and onboarding. Providing opportunities for recruiters to be involved in understanding marketing strategies would be beneficial. Team Building Lastly, talent acquisition team leadership must cultivate a culture of team mindset amidst their recruiters. To be the most effective possible, internal recruiters should be able to work together effectively and step into each other’s roles to fill the gap if necessary. The best teams are consistently led by servant leaders who understand the value of everyone as well as the importance of a collaborative work environment. The workload for talent acquisition teams can often be variable throughout seasons of market difficulty or high turnover, but preserving a united group effort can go a long way in taking the team to the next level. Your recruiter experience can be an attraction tool for top recruiting talent. Recruiters gossip a lot in their inner circles and if you aren’t prepared to empower their work, they will look elsewhere. Stephanie Mauney is a freelance writer and content curator specializing in Human Resources.
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Human Resources
2 min read
Is the Reference Check still viable?
I was thinking about the old ways of recruiting and hiring the other day and began wondering about the long time practice of reference checks. I went to one of my favorite HR groups on Facebook and posed the following question to the human resource pros who frequent there. I asked, how important are reference checks to you as an HR person? Do they still matter in today’s landscape? In my previous recruiting jobs I found them rather useless but our CEO was insistent on doing them. In terms of anything useful coming form the conversations, my answer was almost always no. Reference Checks Still Worthy But there was a smattering of HR pros who came across the occasional gem; Christina told me “There was ONE time I am SO glad we reference checked. It was super awkward, but the candidate had stolen from their past company. Some things don’t hit the background check due to timing or agreements made outside of the legal system.” Amy agreed, “I still use them, I sometimes learn they were dishonest on the application. Oddly enough, family and friends they were employed by are sometimes VERY honest.” Rhonda added, “By doing references, I uncovered twice that the resume was completely false – no such number, no such name or record of said person as an employee. Other than that you generally get what you would expect people to say.” Larissa says it’s all about the way you approach the reference check. “If you know how to ask the right questions, they are a great resource” she said. Reference Checks Not Worthy The negative comments seemed to outweigh the positive ones in the thread. One commenter was very honest about it saying “It’s my least favorite part of working in HR.” Others chimed in with the following; Lacie said: “I am required to ask for them, but personally I feel they are a huge waste of time. My time, the candidates time, the person I am calling. The majority of the time companies tell you they are unable to disclose anything. Every now and then someone will give feedback but rarely is it ever anything unexpected.” Kay Jay: “Working at a financial institution, reference checks are part of our risk management policies. I do take them with a grain of salt we typically do 2, and if I get a negative reference I’ll try to do a third as well. They typically don’t carry enough weight to decide not to hire someone (unless we uncover something very serious) but can give us some information that makes it easier for our managers to quickly develop a good coaching relationship.” Janet didn’t hold back: “Useless. There is a “fear of being sued” so I don’t think HR people or managers are going to give truly honest feedback. If you do get the run down on how terrible someone is that makes me feel their review is more personal. The references listed are always going to be the people who will speak highly of the person. Mike adds: “Professional references are a crapshoot. Just because the candidate and the person listed say they worked together or that the latter was the candidate’s supervisor, doesn’t make it so. It can be hard to verify the alleged working relationships. Sometimes a follow up call to HR/Payroll can verify them but that is often a dead end. Sometimes a peek at the reference-provider’s LinkedIn will give you some idea of their credibility but not enough to prove or disprove their working relationship claims.” “I still use them”, one executive said in the thread. “I sometimes learn they were dishonest on the application. Oddly enough, family and friends they were employed by are sometimes VERY honest.” So there you have it. Are reference checks still a valid use of time? It seems to be a mixed bag according to this one little survey.
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Human Resources
3 min read
Employee Mentoring Programs
One of the most popular questions applicants ask in an interview with an employer is often phrased as, ‘how are you going to invest in me?’ During the age of the great resignation, the great reshuffle, employees are dialing up their bare minimum standards. They are looking for not just wage increases and better benefits, but developed culture, humble leaders, and mentors willing to spend the time and effort in building them into the professional they want to be. Gone are the days where top employees are willing to remain comfortable with their current status. Young professionals are reaching for more. According to The Lorman Blog 76% of millennials believe professional development opportunities are one of the most important aspects of company culture. Companies lacking in mentoring and professional development programs are viewed as stagnant in the eyes of potential candidates. Without properly planned and executed professional mentorship and growth opportunities, an organization is guaranteed to lose out on the market’s top talent. Benefits of Employee Mentorship One benefit of a successful mentorship program is the development of a succession pipeline. Building a pipeline of succession can take the heavy lifting and financial burden from high level recruiting. When lower level new employees are giving the opportunity to grow, ultimately they are able to move up with proper training. Filling their lower level roles becomes the motive rather than constantly looking outside for high level positions that are often expensive to fill. Developing and mentoring new employees builds not only loyalty, but a personal investment. Employees that are being developed are heavily engaged in their own growth as well as the growth of the organization. Commitment to growing them encourages tenure and a desire to stay on board with the hopes of moving up as new skills are gained. Types of Employee Mentorship Programs One-on-One Initial onboarding is the perfect time to initiate a one-on-one mentorship pair. One-on-one mentoring can work like a supportive buddy system. Buddy systems are a great way to curb early turnover. Pairing new hires with an engaged tenured employee gives the employee a reliable source of information and community. Their buddy will help them adapt to the culture, learn the new aspects of the job, and be an encouraging peer during the beginning stages of employment. Professional Coaching For highly valued key employees companies can consider a professional coaching service. Professional coaching is typically an outside service that companies can utilize to develop employees they want to retain and grow into leaders. Professional coaches will perform a gap analysis, discuss career objectives, and plan a growth program to help an employee learn and mature desire skillsets. Often executives and managers are prime candidates for coaching. They may be lacking in leadership or communication and need an expert to provide teaching in that area. Professional coaching shows significant investment from the company in creating long term employee relationships. Upskilling Companies can sponsor employees to become more valuable by paying for additional schooling and certifications. Upskilling is the process of employees learning and mastering new skills, often related to technological abilities. Whether it is becoming an excel master, learning coding, developing social media competencies, or gaining an industry specific certification, upskilling helps employees and companies stay relevant. Employers offering investment in employees by sponsoring upskilling programs will have an upper hand in attracting top talent and retaining current employees. Career Path and Succession Planning Providing employees with career path planning and opportunities to be mentored into succession plans encourages them to engage in their own workplace goals. When open conversations are held about employee goals and long term career desires employers can support employees by aligning those goals with the needs of the company. Employers can use career paths and succession planning to build an internal candidate pipeline of loyal and knowledgeable employees. Reverse Mentoring As companies strive to stay relevant in a quickly changing and technologically developing workforce, they may want to consider implementing reverse mentoring. Reverse mentoring is when a younger employee mentors a seasoned executive. This is perfect for companies who have humble leaders that want to stay connected to their employees and are willing to learn from them. This bottom up approach can build a powerful rapport between organizational leaders and new employees. A culture of transparency and collaboration born out of reverse mentoring can initiate a powerful transformation and ultimately increase retention of both new and seasoned employees. Stephanie Mauney is freelance writer and content curator specializing in Human Resources.
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Human Resources
1 min read
Managing Remote Employees 101
A new report by Insightful, a workforce analytics and productivity vendor, shares insights into the status of remote work, and how employers are dealing with managing their new crop of remote employees. Most companies are not dealing well with this new way of working. The Ongoing Challenges of Remote Employees The data also revealed an increased acceptance and adoption of remote work. But, it also found that many leaders still don’t feel fully equipped to operate optimally in this new environment. Just look at these eye-opening numbers; 63.91% of company leaders believe they don’t have the right tools to manage remote employee productivity. 71.45% of company leaders will allow remote work at least some of the time. 64.68% of company leaders will allow their employees to permanently work remotely or hybrid. 21.38% of company leaders reported that collaboration and communication are the biggest challenge when working remotely. 38.06% of company leaders believe that employees are less productive in a remote or hybrid environment. A 383% increase in the adoption of remote and hybrid work was seen among enterprise companies. Among a wide-ranging series of findings, almost two-thirds of respondents stated they don’t have the tools they need to effectively manage their team’s productivity when working remotely. In a further indication that monitoring remote employees’ workloads continues to present challenges, 38.06% of company leaders said that they believe employees are less productive when working remotely. And 21.38% of respondents cited communication and collaboration as the biggest challenges in a distributed work environment. Remote Work is Here to Stay Despite the challenges expressed, the report revealed that a resounding 71.45% of company leaders said they will offer remote work to employees in future at least some of the time. Further reinforcing that workplaces of the future will be distributed, the report also found that 64.68% of company leaders stated that remote and hybrid work will become a permanent fixture in their organization. They will learn to do it better over time. Insightful CEO Ivan Petrovic said: “This research strongly suggests that remote and hybrid work are here to stay, and that they will become the prevailing work models of the future.” “As remote work is still at a nascent stage, we anticipate that over time the challenges expressed by company leaders today will ease through the continued evolution of remote infrastructure and operating mindsets. That said, the research also shows there are ongoing challenges for company leaders when managing remotely.” Download the report here.
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Human Resources
3 min read
Soft Skills for Human Resources
Well-developed skillsets, and the ability to communicate them clearly to employers and hiring managers, place candidates apart in the interview process and throughout a career trajectory. Navigating what skills to focus on in a particular position can be difficult. Discovering hard skills and developing technological abilities is a matter of research and practice. In contrast, soft skills do not always come naturally to every human resource professional. In today’s human resources world, soft skills are becoming increasingly desired to become a successful HR professional. Soft skills focus on social reliability and emotional intelligence. They can be the key differentiator between a qualified employee and an employee that grows themselves towards management. Superior HR professionals will have both hard and soft skills. Most of the time spent in human resources is in dealing with human interaction. Hiring, firing, managing, developing, and leading people are all essential to the job. This is the area where soft skills are going to enhance the ability to thrive. So, what are the essential soft skills? Below are eight soft skills every human resource professional could gain from growing. EMPATHY It is no mistake that empathy falls at the top of the list. The ability to feel and understand what employees are experiencing in any day-to-day situation both in and outside of work is essential. As a renowned author, speaker, and social work researcher, Dr. Brené Brown suggests: Empathy fuels connection Empathy is fuel to the humanness of human resources. It is the skill that draws HR into the progressive era by pressuring companies to see employees as more than a number. RELATIONSHIP BUILDING Commonly referred to as employee relations, the soft skill of relationship-building can be helpful not only in creating a culture of trust with employees but also in transforming HR into a strategic business partner in the eyes of c-suite executives. Authentic relationships create a culture of community within an organization—a culture of community leads to higher retention, lower turnover, cost savings, better performance, and ultimately increased revenue. COMMUNICATION Several of the top reasons employees leave an organization can be linked back to poor communication. Whether it’s the inability to be tactful in a difficult conversation, not providing clarity, or writing emails that need to be in-person discussions, well-rounded communication skills are crucial to the HR professional. ORGANIZATION Every day in HR is different. Moment to moment can often hold a variety of tasks. The ability to multi-task and stay organized while doing so is vital. When managing highly sensitive and confidential information whether on physical paper or electronically, organizational skills are required. Making a mistake due to disorganization could cause a major blunder or even break the law due to incompliance. CREATIVITY AND INNOVATION Human resources is a constantly changing field. Maintaining a spirit of creativity and strategy of innovation can keep an organization at the peak of its industry. Right now, human resources departments countrywide are facing an extremely tight job market, getting creative has been the only way to continue hiring amidst the great resignation. Innovation with ever-evolving policies, tech, and employee priorities keeps human resource professionals relevant. CRITICAL THINKING HR Daily Advisor describes critical thinking as an essential component of effective decision-making. It’s valuable at all organizational levels. In human resources, well-informed and data-driven decision making is key to becoming a valued member of organizational leadership. Those with developed business acumen know and understand the importance of providing advice that is not only backed by proof but also advances the goals of the company. Every decision is an opportunity to use critical thinking to become more effective and increase productivity. ADAPTABILITY and COMPOSURE If the last two years have shown the necessity of any skills, its adaptability. Human resource professionals often face unprecedented situations. To remain adaptable and maintain composure amidst high-stress conditions is essential for leaders in an organization. This unflappable representation has a downward effect of keeping the masses calm and open to change. LEADERSHIP Employees of the human resources department, even non-managerial, are likely perceived as leaders in the company. Leading by example is the most effective way to get employees on board with policies, culture shifts, and productivity. Leadership done well can be the accelerant for success in an organization. Healthy leaders who know both how to take charge with humility and serve employees with a gracious heart will be the catalyst for health in any company. Stephanie Mauney is freelance writer and content curator specializing in Human Resources.
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