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AI vs. Traditional: Which is the Best Approach in Recruitment

Recruiting challenges change constantly, which means you need creativity to stay ahead of the curve and ensure efficient hiring. However, traditional methods, while tried and tested, can struggle to keep pace with the dynamic hiring needs of today’s world. Enter AI recruiting.

From sourcing to candidate assessment, this promising method brings various tools and technologies that help streamline recruitment processes. It can sift through vast volumes of data in real-time, expediting top talent searches and fine-tuning selections based on your parameters.

As such, it isn’t surprising that 45% of companies utilized AI recruitment tools in 2023.

READ: How to Welcome AI in Your Recruiting Process

As businesses shift to AI, the debate between modern and traditional methods intensifies. Each approach boasts its strengths, but they share the same goal: securing the best talent swiftly and effectively.

AI vs. traditional recruitment

The battle between these two methods revolves around efficacy, personal touch and adaptability. AI, with its data-driven precision, battles against the human-centric approach of traditional methods. Here are the strengths and weaknesses, and how they fare in critical recruitment domains.

Speed and efficiency

AI recruiting tools can swiftly scan through resumes, identify patterns and shortlist candidates in a fraction of the time it takes traditional methods. Automated processes expedite initial screenings, accelerating the overall hiring timeline significantly.

Conversely, traditional methods rely on human judgment, often prolonging the process due to manual candidate evaluation and decision-making.

Candidate experience

Traditional methods tend to excel in providing a more personalized candidate experience. Human interactions, through customized communication and tailored processes, contribute to a more engaging and empathetic candidate journey, which is essential for businesses trying to appeal to top talent.

However, AI’s advancements in natural language processing (NLP) and chatbots attempt to bridge this gap, offering instantaneous responses and personalized interactions at scale. Though these AI tools are not quite at the level of consistently passing as humans, developers are constantly improving their function, which may only be a matter of time.

READ: Unlocking the Power of Conversational AI — 6 Game-Changing Applications for Your Business

Bias mitigation

Hypothetically, AI promises to minimize bias in recruitment decisions by basing assessments on data rather than subjective human judgment. However, biases can seep into AI algorithms through training data or flawed equations, leading to unintended discriminatory outcomes. After all, humans tend to influence their creations, often without intent.

Traditional methods, though prone to inherent biases, often have human intervention that can mitigate them to an extent.

Adaptability and flexibility

AI evolves rapidly, constantly learning and adapting based on data patterns and user interactions. This adaptability continuously refines and optimizes processes. Contrastingly, traditional methods may need help to swiftly adapt to changing trends, technology or sudden shifts in the job market.

AI can be particularly helpful when onboarding remote hires since AI-analyzed data can help depict special skills you otherwise wouldn’t have because of the lack of face-to-face interaction — integral when observing an applicant’s soft skills and personal qualities.

READ: AI in the Workplace — A Roadmap For HR Professionals

Cost considerations

Investing in new technologies and tools will almost certainly come with a steep initial price tag. For smaller businesses, it can even be prohibitively expensive. However, in the long run, efficiency gains and reduced time-to-hire can outweigh the initial costs.

Conversely, traditional methods may be more cost-effective upfront, but hidden costs associated with prolonged vacancies, higher turnover rates and increased labor requirements might overshadow these apparent savings.

The Hybrid Model

In reality, the ideal approach is most likely somewhere between these two approaches — a symbiosis that capitalizes on the strengths of both AI and traditional recruitment. Hybrid models are most likely to become greater than the sum of their parts.

AI’s speed and precision near-instantly parses applications based on your minimum requirements and sort those that pass for human intervention.

Your hiring professionals can then add the human touch to make candidates more engaged and your company more relatable to prospects. A person can also make the final decision of hiring based on AI data and the subjective qualities that machines can sometimes struggle to detect.

This last step is for candidates who may appear perfect on paper but may have some less concrete qualities that your company finds undesirable.

Finding the middle ground

Adapting AI in recruitment may seem like a long shot, but it isn’t without basis. Because of the continuous innovations in AI technology, businesses are seeing how they can use it in a plethora of business processes, including recruitment. With proper application, a hybrid model can result in an evolutionary leap in recruitment strategies, benefiting candidates and recruiters alike.

Instead of viewing AI as a replacement for traditional hiring practices, companies should see AI for what it is — a revolutionary tool that offers unprecedented efficiency that thrives in collaboration with human judgment and empathy.

 

Ken Crowell HeadshotKen Crowell is the Founder and CEO of EmployTest. EmployTest has helped more than 7000 corporate and government customers of all sizes in every US state and Canadian province, as well as more than 17 countries across six continents. EmployTest administers more than 60,000 tests to job applicants every year.

Training and Managing Recent Graduates: Strategies for Maximizing Class of 2023’s Success in the Workforce

This summer, millions of college graduates will enter the workforce. Like every class, the Class of 2023 will bring unique skills and face unique challenges in their early careers. To maximize the benefit of new grads to business and support their career development, employers should implement the best practices for training and managing recent graduates for their success.

While there is no one way to help new graduates succeed, the best approaches to training include performance management, rotational programs and social and emotional learning.

READ: Maximizing Your Mental Health Insurance Benefits — A Guide for Gen Z in 2023

Performance management

Every employee benefits from performance management. New grads especially benefit from ongoing conversations around their performance and benchmarks to measure progress, which can refine their existing skills and grow their capabilities. To support new grads, organizations should create a performance management strategy to maximize these benefits for both new grads and their teams.

Through performance management, employees enter into an ongoing conversation with their managers about their performance. This process allows managers to continuously coach their employees, enhancing their performance and developing their skills. While a strong performance management system may also include biannual or annual reviews, the review should be only one of many touchpoints when new grads receive feedback on their performance.

For new hires, it is critical for managers to set clear expectations during their first conversations since many new grads lack experience with a full-time role. As new hires take on greater responsibilities, they should collaborate with managers to identify realistic, timely goals and a way to measure them over time. This approach will set up new hires to continually grow and support their teams.

READ: Unlocking Business Success Through Travel: 5 Lessons Learned in Nepal

Rotational programs

Robust rotational programs are an efficient way to expose new grads to a variety of aspects of the business. In traditional rotational programs, new hires move from one entry-level role to another within their organization for a preset length of time. This allows new grads to gain knowledge and skills through exposure to multiple areas of business.

The benefits are clear in data from National Associate of Colleges and Employers, which found 43.8% of employers with rotational programs saw higher retention of first-year employees by almost 20%. By asking new graduates to start over with a new team, organizations reinforce relationship-building skills, resilience and adaptability. Rotational programs can also improve engagement by varying job duties over time and develop self-confidence for new graduates who succeed in different environments.

Perhaps most importantly, rotational programs allow new graduates to find their best fit. Many graduates enter the workplace seemingly certain of their career interests, but quickly find their first job is not what they envisioned. Through a rotational program, new graduates have permission to explore and pursue the role that excited them most at the end of the program.

READ: Want to Set your Business Apart From the Rest? Consider Apprenticeship

Social and emotional learning

Graduates may have earned their degrees, but may not have the coping skills to thrive in the workplace without additional support. The class of 2023 attended college during the coronavirus pandemic, preventing many from gaining valuable in-person experience through internships. A study from the Mary Christie Institute this March surveyed young adults with at least a bachelor’s degree, finding a majority were not emotionally equipped to navigate their workplace. Over one in three of those surveyed said their college programs did not teach them workplace skills or emotional and behavioral expectations.

These statistics reflect the importance of setting expectations around behavior for new hires fresh out of college through social and emotional learning (SEL). SEL refers to the process of developing essential skills for success in work and life, such as understanding and managing emotions, goal setting, demonstrating empathy for coworkers and forming positive relationships in the workplace. Organizations can incorporate a social-emotional learning element to their new hire training program, which can close emotional skills gaps, build culture and help new hires succeed. 

Social and emotional skills not only increase the likelihood of success in the workplace, but they also assist new hires in advancing their careers. Without the soft skills to build relationships, network, receive constructive criticism and respond to challenges with resilience, new grads may falter in their early careers. Organizations that train new grads across the board will strengthen their own culture, while providing a foundation for their newest employees to advance in the ranks.

 

Niki JorgensenNiki Jorgensen is a Director of Service Operations with Insperity, a leading provider of human resources offering the most comprehensive suite of scalable HR solutions available in the marketplace. For more information about Insperity, call 800-465-3800 or visit www.insperity.com.  

Entrepreneur of 2023 Finalist — Jennifer Henderson

For Jennifer Henderson, starting TiLT in 2017 was personal. “I spent 15 years in corporate America, always working for Fortune 500 companies in an operational role,” says Henderson, 42. “In the early years of my professional career, I also went through seven years of in vitro fertilization with my husband, trying to get pregnant. Then we got pregnant, and overnight I stopped getting invited to the table.” 

READ: Guest Column — Fighting Gender Politics in the Home Improvement Industry

But that wasn’t the immediate catalyst for TiLT. “Five years later, a different company, a different stage of my career, when I announced I was expecting with our second, I actually had a promotion rescinded,” she says. “That was the straw that broke the camel’s back for me.” 

Henderson thought there had to be a better, more equitable way of managing corporate leave programs. “That’s when I started to lean into solving leave of absence, and quite honestly, when I left corporate America, I was just very pissed off.” 

TiLT’s platform manages paid leave programs for client companies while reducing the risk of both litigation and turnover. The company went to market with its platform in 2019. Four years later, it has 85 employees. 

“We are an HR tech tool, by definition,” Henderson says. “We often point to TurboTax in terms of what they have done in streamlining complexity in a very disparate landscape in a similar way to what we’re doing with leaves of absence.” 

READ: The Best Modern HR Strategies — Navigating Challenges and Embracing Opportunities

Initially targeting California-based tech companies “was very successful,” Henderson says.  “We’ve had at least a 2X every year since coming out of the box and I don’t see that changing this year.” 

After closing on a $10 million Series B in late 2022, TiLT is scaling up to serve large enterprises. Big companies “have very few options to do leave currently, so these large organizations are pulling TiLT very aggressively to swim upstream,” Henderson says. “We’re moving as fast as we can to position ourselves to support anyone from the Walmarts of the world to mom-and-pop, Main Street stores.” 

Henderson says her personal connection to TiLT’s mission has been critical to the company’s success. “I truly believe that if you don’t have a visceral connection to the problem that you’re solving, I don’t know how you manage through the ups and downs that this entrepreneurial journey throws at you. For me, I see my daughter every single day, so I’ve given myself a clock until she enters the workforce to make this better for her, and that’s a hell of a motivation.”

 

Denver-based writer Eric Peterson is the author of Frommer’s Colorado, Frommer’s Montana & Wyoming, Frommer’s Yellowstone & Grand Teton National Parks and the Ramble series of guidebooks, featuring first-person travelogues covering everything from atomic landmarks in New Mexico to celebrity gone wrong in Hollywood. Peterson has also recently written about backpacking in Yosemite, cross-country skiing in Yellowstone and downhill skiing in Colorado for such publications as Denver’s Westword and The New York Daily News. He can be reached at [email protected]

What is a Professional Employer Organization (PEO)? — Understanding the Benefits of Co-Employment

Imagine an employee who receives their very first paycheck from their employer. Everything is to be expected, except one small discrepancy. To their confusion, the business listed on the check is not the name of their employer. What is the explanation? For the 15% of small businesses with 10 to 99 employees, the answer may be co-employment, according to the National Association of Professional Employer Organizations.

In co-employment, a Professional Employer Organization (PEO) becomes the professional employer of a business’s existing workforce, usually for small to medium-sized businesses of 10 to 5,000 employees. The business continues to fully control their organization and can outsource some or all of their HR burdens and liabilities, depending on their contract or client service agreement (CSA). These HR burdens can include payroll and tax filing, benefits administration, compliance, risk and safety management, human resources support and talent management.

READ: The Best Modern HR Strategies — Navigating Challenges and Embracing Opportunities

The following outlines what business leaders need to know about Professional Employer Organizations and when working with a PEO is appropriate. Several key considerations are the HR functions and outsourced employment responsibilities, questions to ask PEOs about capabilities and explaining PEOs to employees.

How to identify which functions can be outsourced

The first step for leaders in understanding PEOs is identifying where their business needs support. In many cases, small businesses choose to outsource the provision and administration of both employee benefits and payroll to a PEO. Because PEOs manage more than one business, they can give clients access to a wider range of benefit options, usually at better rates, than what businesses could access on their own.

This is because PEOs collectively represent a bigger group of employees than any one of those businesses on their own, granting PEOs the purchasing power to negotiate a lower rate. PEOs can provide a range of employee benefits including medical, dental and vision coverage, health care flexible spending accounts, retirement plans, life insurance and more. It is important to note, there is no agreement between the group of PEO clients, so employers are solely responsible for their own employees and do not take on the burden of the other businesses serviced by the same PEO. 

Leaders should also consider how PEOs could help save time and money through reducing administrative workload. Administrative HR duties like payroll processing can take up a significant amount of time for a business owner or an HR department. By outsourcing these duties, businesses can increase the productivity of their HR teams with the support of a PEO.

READ: AI in Employment — A Troubling Issue in the Hiring Process

How businesses can learn more about PEOs’ capabilities

Every PEO has a different approach to HR, making it imperative for leaders to choose a PEO that suits their needs best. Leaders need to understand the basics, like which services are included, what costs to expect, what technology or software the PEO uses and whether the PEO can provide professional development or employee benefits plans.

They also need to understand how their role will change regarding liability, taxes and regulations. PEOs mitigate a substantial amount of the risk and responsibility of being an employer. That includes the risks of handling payroll processing, HR administration and workers’ compensation. This reduced risk is one of the major benefits of working with PEOs, which usually have specialists on staff to monitor employer-related state and federal laws and regulations. PEOs should be able to clearly explain this transfer of risk and responsibilities.

Leaders often find it useful to compare several PEOs to one another and ask PEOs for references from businesses with a similar location, size and industry. If a PEO cannot share references, that might be a sign they lack experience or success in supporting small businesses. 

How to simplify PEOs for employees

Employees who have never worked with a Professional Employer Organization before may feel confused about the circumstances of their employment. Especially for businesses that transition to a PEO, there is a need to communicate carefully to avoid misunderstandings.

One of the most important factors to emphasize is that a Professional Employer Organization does not acquire or take over a business. Rather, the business remains in full control of its existing owners but outsources certain HR or employment duties, much in the same way some businesses outsource customer service support to a third party. It is also important to explain the benefits of PEOs for employees, including improved employee benefits, performance management support and greater access to training and development programs.

READ: 5 Tips for Overcoming Customer Service Obstacles as a Small Business

The bottom line

Any business that begins working with a Professional Employer Organization should also collaborate with their service team on communications efforts. A town hall with management and a PEO representative will allow employees the chance to ask questions and gain knowledge.

Contracting with a capable PEO can improve their productivity, increase their access to employee benefit plans and simplify their operations.

 

Niki JorgensenNiki Jorgensen is a director of service operations with Insperity, a leading provider of human resources offering the most comprehensive suite of scalable HR solutions available in the marketplace. For more information about Insperity, call 800-465-3800 or visit www.insperity.com.  

The Best Modern HR Strategies: Navigating Challenges and Embracing Opportunities

In recent years, HR strategies have drastically changed. From compliance regulations, COVID-19 and the shift toward remote work — as well as an increased focus on the employee experience — HR departments have been forced to constantly evolve. As the state of HR’s complexity increases, there are ways HR leaders can turn these challenges into opportunities.

READ: Veteran Unemployment — Untapped Workplace Resources

Workplace landscape 

One of the biggest changes the HR industry is dealing with today is adapting to the rapidly changing landscape of the workplace. The pandemic accelerated the movement toward remote work, and HR professionals have been tasked with managing a workforce that functions across different locations and time zones. This has required leaders to revise their HR strategies, putting additional emphasis on employee engagement, productivity and performance, while ensuring compliance in all municipalities and states.

Artificial intelligence (AI)

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been on the rise and it has the potential to quickly change HR, recruiting and many other jobs across the board. While AI already has made a substantial impact on the HR profession by lightening the load of some administrative tasks, such as job descriptions and handbooks, it cannot replace the human aspects of positions, such as strategy and creativity.

HR professionals will be at the forefront of balancing the use of AI as a tool through policies and guidelines, for their own departments and overall organizations, but also, they will need to ensure human creativity and ingenuity is not lost with machine learning.

READ: Exploring the Potential of AI Bots in HR

Compliance

The constant in the HR industry over the past three years has been change, and it does not show signs of stopping.

Agile HR teams have managed fluctuating regulations and compliance requirements throughout the pandemic. Now, the federal and state employment laws and regulations, as well as changes to healthcare policies, benefits and workplace safety, continue to change.

Municipalities are passing pay transparency laws, companies with employees across the country must be compliant with each regulation and overtime requirements are constantly in flux. Staying informed on these ever-changing regulations can be a time-consuming and complex task but it is essential for HR professionals to keep businesses compliant. 

Labor

There is a juxtaposition among key verticals. Industries that experienced exponential growth during the pandemic, such as the tech industry, are downsizing their workforce. However, other industries are still experiencing a labor shortage. HR professionals today are working with the C-suite to either determine layoff alternatives or develop strategies to find candidates with alternative credentials to fill growing needs. Recruitment and retention strategies are top of mind for HR strategists today who want to keep employees happy who either remain with an organization post-layoff or within organizations that continue to struggle to find viable new hires. 

READ: How Colorado Can Make “The Great Reset” a Reality for a Disrupted Talent Pipeline

Opportunities for success

Despite these challenges, there are several opportunities for success.

First and foremost, HR professionals must continue to be adaptable and willing to embrace change. What holds true in HR today is prioritizing the employee experience and maximizing its power to create a positive work culture. Leaders should consider developing initiatives that target flexible work policies and procedures, wellness programs, career development and new strategies for communication and collaboration across different time zones. These efforts can result in a more engaged and satisfied workforce, which increases retention, but it also positively impacts the organization’s bottom line.

The bottom line

HR departments are the backbone of every organization. The current state of HR will continue to be dynamic and evolve as businesses adapt to numerous economic, social and technological trends. What is paramount for HR professionals is staying abreast of these changes and being strategic in the guidance they provide leadership. This guidance will help the business take care of its people, who are critical to its success. 

 

Niki JorgensenNiki Jorgensen is a director of service operations for Insperity, a leading provider of human resources and business performance solutions. For more information about Insperity, call 800-465-3800 or visit www.insperity.com.

How to Craft an Ideal Employee Experience Strategy — 6 Easy Steps

Families are feeling more connected after the challenging times they’ve experienced over the past three years. In addition to enjoying more time together, they’ve saved money and found convenience from new workplace policies toward flexibility, choice, and remote or hybrid work — three factors that contribute to a successful employee experience strategy in 2023.

People are committed to finding a better work-life balance that supports both their personal life and professional growth along with competitive salaries. They expect support from their employers in achieving this goal. And employers are failing them in a big way. As a consequence, they risk failing themselves.

READ  — How To Balance Supporting Your Remote Workers and In-office Employees

TalenTrust’s nationwide research of more than 2,500 leaders over the past three years finds that close to half of those employers are failing to effectively address and monitor their employee experience (EX). EX, the soul of every workplace community, has a direct impact on the ability to recruit and retain talent — realistically, the only competitive edge a company has. 

Much of the problem is related to outdated thinking on the part of leaders and a refusal to discard the hierarchical, inflexible practices of the past, like mandating unnecessary “returns to work.” If you’re not offering remote or hybrid work options, haven’t developed a clear vision or purpose don’t see your people holistically with a healthy blend of home and work lives or have not empowered your employees to make decisions, you need to rethink your employee experience strategy and the costs of failure.

Crafting the ideal employee experience strategy is an ongoing process that includes embracing positive change and creating a community of dignity and mutual respect. It’s entirely possible to be empathic and kind while holding people accountable to each other and to your mission and goals. Following are six critical steps to guide you in crafting your ideal employee experieince strategy:

Step 1: Hire the right people at every level.

Develop a recruiting process built on a sales model with a pipeline of diverse and widely sourced candidates.

Step 2: Put People in the Right Roles.

Just as important as having the right people on board is making sure they are in the right roles to be challenged and fulfilled.

Step 3: Don’t try for perfection.

Aspire to create a community that’s irresistible, enabling you to attract and retain the top talent with the skills and culture alignment you need to succeed. 

READ — Why Being a Perfectionist May Actually Hurt Your Career in the Long Run

Step 4: Put your people first, above everything else.

Think of employees as your internal customers and treat both with the same care and interest. 

Step 5: Listen first. Then Act.

As a baseline, ask current employees how they feel working in your company and what would make it even better for them. 

Step 6: Think coach, not boss.

From CEO to supervisor, develop leaders who connect deeply with their people to build trusting relationships and healthy environments. 

Any organization can craft a uniquely irresistible employee experience strategy that meets today’s expectations and their business objectives. Clinging to past practices and policies is not the easy way out; it’s a path to failure. Don’t take it.

 

Kathleen Quinn Votaw2Kathleen Quinn Votaw is Founder/CEO and Speaker/Author of TalenTrust and KQV Speaks. Her first book, Solve the People Puzzle: How High-Growth Companies Attract and Retain Top Talent, debuted in February 2016; with the second book, Dare to Care in the Workplace: A Guide to the New Way We Work and related Podcast launched between 2021-2022.

Kathleen and her firm have achieved many recognitions from many well-known organizations, including ColoradoBiz Magazine, Vistage Worldwide, and the coveted Inc. 5000 for two consecutive years. Kathleen is a regularly published columnist and popular speaker on topics related to HR strategies and workplace culture. Reach Kathleen at [email protected] or (303) 838-3334.

Veteran Unemployment: Untapped Workplace Resources

As we celebrate our military service members this time of year, it’s time to acknowledge the veteran unemployment issues and think about how employers can take full advantage of veteran skill sets and fill critical roles on their teams.

With veteran unemployment reaching 18.5 million, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports the veteran unemployment rate at 2.7% is lower than the national average of 3.4%. These stats do not consider the underemployment gap between veterans and nonveterans. A ZipRecruiter and the Call of Duty Endowment report shows nearly one-third of veterans are underemployed, 15.6% higher than nonveterans. Veteran candidates have the skills to succeed in higher-earning jobs with greater responsibility, yet employers fail to consider veterans for these roles. Many times, civilian employers may not understand how veterans’ military skills and experience transfer to the job position at hand.

The veteran hiring pool can bring the skills that make for a successful business, even if their resume may not tick the typical boxes.

Commitment

Military veterans are committed. Most have entered the service due to a commitment to their country, which translates into a commitment to their unit. This commitment boils down to the success of a team, and teamwork is an essential skill for them to master. For a company or organization, it translates into impeccable follow-through. In their military career, the consequences were dire, but the same commitment to their work tends to carry through to help meet business goals and objectives.

Creativity

In the military, creative problem-solving skills are taught so these men and women quickly tackle difficult circumstances with limited resources. Today’s business environment and tight labor market need creative problem solvers who can quickly look at a situation and adapt their approach to ensure success.

Veterans have had to master a number of jobs while in the military, filling their quiver with a variety of skills. Because this is a must in their military careers, veterans can quickly adopt and master new concepts. This is extremely valuable to any business facing staffing challenges.

Calm

The business environment has been especially frantic with changing legislation, new workplace rules and economic uncertainties. This forces businesses to quickly adapt. Many veterans thrive under pressure, keep the end goal in mind and focus under the most difficult situations. An employee who has the ability to remain calm and focus on the organization’s goals in the midst of change can be a person leadership relies upon and one who employees look to for guidance.

Control

Intrapersonal skills – discipline, motivation and innovation – are some of the first skills learned in basic training. These happen to be the same skills every entrepreneur and business owner values within themselves. Finding a pool of employees who share the same drive is a gold mine.

The self-control and tenacity veterans exhibit make them an employee that leadership will rely upon. These are employees who will naturally gravitate toward leadership opportunities and make it their mission to help meet and exceed business goals.

When business owners and leadership dream of their ideal candidate, they are looking for the skills that motivate a team and an organization, which many veterans possess. A few technical skills can easily be taught but hiring based on the core beliefs and unique skills held by veterans can transform organizations.

 

Niki JorgensenNiki Jorgensen is a director of service operations with Insperity, a leading provider of human resources offering the most comprehensive suite of scalable HR solutions available in the marketplace. For more information about Insperity, call 800-465-3800 or visit www.insperity.com.

Building a Company Culture of Care

From the Black Lives Matter movement to the crisis in Ukraine to gun violence in U.S. communities, companies big and small are being judged more than ever on how much (and how well) they care. This mandate to care is distinct from, yet often conflated with, the business world’s current obsession: purpose. Yet in today’s climate, a company with a strong purpose but poor demonstration of care for human suffering (whether at the company, community, or global level) risks not only losing consumer support but employee support as well.

Recent research, and our own work with frontline employees, underscore the benefits of an employee experience that emphasizes a culture of care across all levels of an organization. As Alan Saks, Professor of Management at the University of Toronto writes, “while there are many definitions of what it means to care for employees, at its core it involves an awareness of and concern for employee’s needs and well-being.”  This feeling of care —a caring organizational climate—is positively related to job satisfaction, organizational commitment, organizational citizenship, job performance and well-being.

READ — 5 Tips for Building a Strong Company Culture in a Hybrid Work Environment

CEOs, HR leaders and managers all have a role to play and can start with the following three questions and practice changes:

1. Do you really know your workforce?

Every year we survey the predominantly frontline workers who utilize the services of our social enterprise. In 2021, as in past years, the challenges they faced were significant. Homelessness, illness, loss of family members, debt and mental health struggles topped the list of struggles workers brought to our team and carried with them to work. When we report back to employers with our data, we are often surprised by the reactions: 

  • Many HR leaders are unaware of the nature and extent of their employees’ needs and resource challenges.
  • Employee benefits are not regularly evaluated for their impact on employees and the extent to which the benefits contribute a culture of care. Utilization data is often the only metric used.
  • The role mid-level managers play as “first responders” when frontline employees struggle is often unrecognized and overlooked as an important source of insight despite the fact that when care is exhibited at the managerial level, it creates positive feedback loops, amplifying care within and even beyond an organization’s walls.

Build your understanding of your workforce with overlooked tools

  • Data from your employee benefits investments are a great place to start.  Ensure your benefit providers are offering meaningful insights on your workforce whenever possible and consider conducting an Employee Benefits Impact Study if you haven’t already conducted one. 
  • If you suspect your organization does not currently offer benefits meeting the diverse challenges faced by diverse employees, ensure you include exploratory questions in your annual employee survey. 
  • Survey your mid-level managers. Mid-level managers have some of the best insight into the health and struggle of their direct reports – just keep it anonymous. 

2. Are you too focused on perks at the expense of feelings?

Last year, Gartner released its findings from a survey of 5,000 employees worldwide underscoring the importance of  ‘feelings’ within any employee experience strategy. The report argues that perks and benefits do little to strengthen the employee experience if they’re not contributing to positive feelings like connection, respect and care.

CEOs and HR teams should ask:

  • Do the benefits we offer stem from an awareness and care for the unique experiences, struggles and aspirations of our employees (i.e., do they feel one-size-fits-all or personal)?
  • How do our employee experience investments supercharge a culture of care?  Do our investments generate the organizational ripple effects we’re seeking?

3. Are your external and internal efforts aligned?

CEO activism is increasingly important to employees. But imagine working for a company with an active, community-focused CEO willing to support social causes, but doing little to address an unsupportive work culture. A culture of care should be felt both externally and internally within an organization. External and internal alignment and expression of culture require a tight CEO and CHRO partnership. 

Despite long-standing calls for a new era of HR, in our work we continue to see HR leaders bogged down in transactional work and wed to short-term metrics. Culture matters to employees and can be a priority for HR, but this must be supported by CEOs through aligned mid and long-range goals. 

Start with the metrics:

  • Ensure HR works side-by-side with the CEO and CFO to develop key performance indicators that gauge company culture. 
  • Incentivize the behaviors and practices that build a culture of care by allowing HR to propose alternatives to the standard metrics for performance assessment.
  • Take a closer look at your annual budget.  What does your allocation to worker support indicate about company culture priorities?  Is an adjustment needed?

In an era of continuing uncertainty for both workers and employers, it may be tempting to push these ‘culture of care’ efforts to the back burner.  Yet talent attraction and retention is always good business, and companies that build a culture of care today are best positioned to win the talent and retention wars of tomorrow.  

Start with the questions we pose above, involve key stakeholders and commit to short, mid-range and long-term goals.  The payoff: An enviable company culture that serves as a talent magnet and your most powerful retention tool.

 

Liddy
Liddy Romero

Liddy Romero, Founder and CEO of WorkLife Partnership, believes that meaningful work contributes to one’s purpose and provides dignity and direction and she knows that if workers have the resources and support they need at home, they are more likely to succeed at work. WorkLife Partnership helps businesses recruit, retain, and value their employees by providing access to resource navigation and offering insight into issues and challenges impacting their employees’ ability to fully engage at work. Liddy completed the ROI Certification from the ROI Institute in 2017, was awarded ColoradoBiz’s Top 25 Most Influential Young Professionals in 2020 and is also a two-time Aspen Institute Fellow.

Val Headshot Final
Valerie Wendell

Valerie Wendell is a long-time workforce development professional and advisor to innovative start-ups promoting the dignity of work. She is the former Chief Innovation Officer at WorkLife Partnership.

 

PNC CO Regional President Guest Commentary — The War on Talent

With so many companies now hiring, it can be a race to get a competitive, first offer out to candidates. These days, if companies don’t make an offer within two weeks of the first interview, the prospective employee is very likely to receive another offer from a competitor sooner. Retaining top talent is also more challenging than ever. Often based on a simple LinkedIn profile search, many recruiters are luring existing workers away by offering significantly more money to join a new organization.  

As employers strive to navigate this new normal in the workplace, these are some of the attributes many candidates are seeking when evaluating whether to join a company.   

  • Company culture 
  • Wellness initiatives (physical health, mental health, financial health) 
  • Continuing education 
  • Flexible work environment 
  • Defined career path 

Here is one way PNC is assisting our clients in this challenging environment: Earlier this year we participated in the American Heart Association’s (AHA) annual workplace symposium. The 45-minute breakout session focused on the importance of annually reviewing employee benefits, and what to consider when selecting or contemplating a change to a new or existing benefits plan.  

Our Organizational Financial Wellness (OFW) group offers a suite of financial wellness education tools and resources for our clients’ employees. We also provide 401k advisement services and HSA’s (Health Savings account) guidance. At the close of the symposium, our OFW group offered product-specific solutions and assured all attendees they will always have a trusted partner in us.   

It is imperative to annually review benefits, expenses, and budgets. PNC constantly evaluates its vendors to enhance our benefits program. We also engage or re-engage with employees to improve retention and productivity. At the executive level, our Private Bank offers a suite of solutions through the Institute for Family Success, Trust & Estate Services. 

Our mission is to encourage our current and prospective clients to take care of their greatest assets – their employees. When workers grow concerned about their finances, that can negatively impact a company’s bottom line. Studies show that financially stressed employees cost American businesses an average of $500 billion a year in productivity alone.  

Through PNC’s program, we encourage and support the empowerment of employees by developing a suite of solutions for all levels of an organization at every stage of life — from broad-based employees to middle and upper management and even C-Suite Executives. Our dedicated bankers support clients in person and virtually to help with planning, education, and personalized products to meet employee needs. OFW helps employees build strong financial habits, creating a more confident and productive workforce for our clients, and that can help companies win the talent war. 

 

Ryan Beiser HeadshotRyan Beiser is regional president for PNC Bank, Colorado. In this role, Beiser is responsible for leading overall growth across Colorado, with a specific focus on the Denver Metro area, as well as overseeing all aspects of Corporate Banking in the region. His office implements all local sponsorship and philanthropic efforts to execute PNC’s community-based goals and initiatives.

Active in the community, Beiser is a member of YPO Colorado and serves on the board of directors for Mile High United Way, the Craig Hospital Foundation, the American Heart Association of Colorado and the Children’s Museum of Denver. He also represents PNC on the board of advisors for the University of Colorado Denver Business School, the Early Childhood Leadership Commission for the State of Colorado, and the Major Gifts Council for Early Childhood Education of the Mile High United Way.

How to make hourly hiring human again

For decades, we’ve tended to treat hourly workers, those at the lower-skill, lower-pay end of our businesses, as expendable and “less than” as candidates and employees.

These people, as important to our business as any other, represent about 58 percent of the U.S. labor force according to the BLS. Because of their often customer-facing roles, they are instrumental in driving customer satisfaction, loyalty, and profits across industries, from manufacturing and healthcare to retail and hospitality.

As we rebound from 2020’s enormous challenges this summer and fall, we’re expecting intense competition for these essential workers.

Like all employees, they deserve to be treated with dignity and respect throughout the recruiting process.

Employers who show they value their hourly people by enhancing both their recruiting practices and working conditions will be the ones that win and retain these essential workers.

Hourly workers deserve a better candidate experience.

Many companies have established a comfort level in treating hourly job seekers with less consideration than salary-level candidates. Some of the indignities hourly candidates face in the application process are:

  • Lengthy applications more suitable to complex higher-level, higher-paying roles asking for details irrelevant to the position or needed skills.
  • Never hearing from employers after spending time and effort applying.
  • Promises of “We’ll get back to you,” with no follow-up.
  • Technologies like chatbots that don’t provide answers and create endless circles of frustration.

The experience you provide all candidates, both hourly and salaried, indicates to them how you’ll treat them as employees. When your process is respectful and personal, and communication frequent and thoughtful, candidates become excited about working for you over a competitor who hasn’t made a similar investment in recruiting hourly workers.

Keep the application process fast, flexible, and intuitive

Candidates for hourly jobs say that speed is one of their most important considerations in getting hired, even more important than pay for many of them. That means they won’t wait for you; they’ll move on to the next opportunity.

The challenge for employers is to dramatically speed up their recruiting process while maintaining a personal touch that attracts the best, right candidates. Here are ways you can do that:

  • Cut the docs. Collect only the information you need to make a good hiring decision. Eliminate duplications, unnecessary multiple interviews, and time-consuming skills- and games-based assessments at the beginning of the process. Is a detailed resume necessary for the position? Can you combine interviews and assessments in a single session for greater efficiency?
  • Use sources that refer only a few, but qualified candidates. What matters is candidates who show up, accept your offer, and start work. Are you measuring recruiting success by volume of candidates or quality of hires?
  • Offer a mobile application process. Make sure it offers opportunities for conversation and texting and eliminates cumbersome data-entry requirements. How does your mobile candidate experience compare with your app for customer purchases?
  • Offer interviews outside regular hours. A large percentage of talented hourly workers are already working or have obligations during the day. They are looking for better opportunities and need flexibility in how to apply to you. Do you offer after-hour and weekend interview options? How about anytime, anywhere online video interviews?
  • Assess for fit. Culture fit is important for any candidate you are thinking to hire and can serve as a critical factor in selecting high quality hourly candidates whose skills and experience are typically less relevant to the job. Use technology to tweak and deliver preemployment tests or assessments economically through mobile apps. Are you filling the role with right fit candidates, or just filling openings?
  • Equip hiring managers for success. Provide them with a process that makes sense, tools, and training. Strip away inefficiencies like requiring resumes for hourly jobs, duplications, and unnecessary multiple interviews. Have you asked managers for their input on what works for them?
  • Expand compensation and benefits. Consider offering hourly workers benefits like bonuses, paid sick leave, flexible work options, and career development and/or higher- than-minimum or average pay. Does your total compensation package for hourly workers match their value to your company? Would hourly workers feel that their compensation is fair compared with what’s offered to your other employees and by your competition?
  • Automate but don’t replace the human touch. Use technology to help narrow down and sort but remember that you are hiring humans and make sure your recruiters incorporate personal interest and empathy into the process. What’s the ratio of technology to human touch in your process?

An hourly-worker talent war is here. At any level in the worker hierarchy, there are only so many great people available. When every company is competing for them, you have to do something different to win and keep the best talent.

HR professionals in manufacturing and similar sectors tend to focus on the needs of salaried employees at the expense of hourly workers, using outdated recruiting tactics and management policies that no longer work.

If the candidates you want most aren’t choosing you, or if your turnover rates are higher than you want, you could be unwittingly setting up barriers that turn people off.

Look deep into your culture and recruiting practices and change anything that’s separating you from the talent you need to grow.