One of the most exciting developments on the healthcare horizon is Artificial Intelligence (AI). It can be called a game-changer, a disruptor or cutting edge…but, whatever you call it, AI is here to stay and already making a significant impact in healthcare.

So what is AI? It’s the science of creating intelligent technology that works and reacts like humans, especially in areas of speech recognition, learning, planning and problem solving.  Think of IBM’s Watson or, on a personal, day-to-day scale, Siri on your Apple phone. Both were developed using the principles of AI.

AI is very quickly being embraced within healthcare where, according to estimates by Accenture, it will generate $150 billion in annual savings within the U.S. by 2026.  Knowing that disruptive technologies of this magnitude require workers with new skills, knowledge and characteristics, I reached out to Ted Schwab, a business entrepreneur and healthcare strategist who is intent on delivering affordable and accessible healthcare to the general population. Ted, working closely with his client Babylon Health, is launching an AI-driven medical consultation and health service in the U.S. based on personal medical history and common medical knowledge. This new AI-based technology is already used outside the U.S. with great success by gathering data points from doctors, researchers, health records and clinicians. From Ted’s perspective, this algorithmic application has the ability to change our approach to healthcare by creating access to care that is more convenient, simpler and almost free.

Given his work in this arena and unique background, Ted was more than willing to share his thoughts on the skills a healthcare executive needs to possess in this brave new world of AI.  As we speed towards the future, what does a successful AI executive look like? What skills, knowledge, characteristics and background might this executive possess? Here’s what industry leaders like Ted are looking for:

At the top of the list is a sense of wonder and imagination: Since AI is uncharted territory, the ideal executive needs to be broad-minded, forward-thinking and possess a strong sense of adventure as, inevitably, part of the job will be to push aside many preconceived notions and old ways of doing things. Coming to the AI table with an unbridled imagination will be critical for these future leaders. They need to think of themselves as technological pioneers as they venture into new and unexplored territory. From a hiring perspective, this might entail looking for executives who may have non-traditional backgrounds, experiences and degrees. Thinking “outside the box” has never been truer.

A knowledge of, and interest in, human interface design: As AI technology evolves, this type of interface will become even more critical to AI’s future. Although the field is still in its early stages, a successful executive will need to understand how this burgeoning technology will affect AI’s future, its impact on regulations and ramifications for the end user. Being a tech-curious, astute and an early adopter will only help to fuel the executive’s success.

A willingness to embrace the scientific approach: Appreciating the value, importance and criticality of those in the scientific community needs to be uppermost on the priority list for this executive. Heightened awareness around problem-solving, understanding the scientific culture and mindset plus advocating for scientists in the business setting is paramount. Perhaps the most successful executives will, in fact, bring a scientific background of their own to the table?

A deep knowledge of regulations: In the ever-changing world of AI, regulations will continue to morph at an increasingly faster pace than in the past. Top executives need to be regulatory “gurus” who aren’t content to just stay current on the latest guidelines but will also take on roles as change agents who can potentially act as drivers on the latest and greatest regs.

Just as AI technology is reshaping the way we access our healthcare, there is a need to transform how healthcare providers (and, by extension, recruitment firms like TalentRISE) hire AI specialists. Added to the challenge of finding talent that meets all the criteria of the success profile above, the supply of talent with AI skills has leveled off according to a recent survey by Indeed while, at the same time, demand for AI-related roles has more than doubled over the past three years. That’s why it’s key to partner with a search firm with an understanding of this role as well as a proven approach to find the right executive, with the right profile for your organization.

Interested in learning how we can help? Please feel free to reach out for further discussions at KathleenMurphy@talentrise.com or 847-308-3363.

By next year, IDC predicts that $2.1 trillion will be spent on digital transformation initiatives. Some industries embark on this journey as a competitive strategy while, for others, it’s critical for their very survival. Regardless of the motivation, almost all businesses participating in today’s digital economy will either lead, follow, or be left behind.

Digital transformation is a huge undertaking for any company of any size. While some might think of it in terms of automating manual processes and others might view it as an innovation incubator, it’s really far more complex than that. Digital transformation goes way beyond optimizing or implementing technology. It’s a different way of doing things that impacts every facet of one’s organization and is, in fact, an organizational capability. It describes how Amazon revolutionized retail; how Uber changed the taxi business and Airbnb shook up the hospitality sector. Tools and technologies are certainly very relevant and critical components to a successful digital transformation…but they aren’t central.

The A Team

Ultimately, the most important component of a digital transformation is the people involved in leading, driving, and executing the transformation. As companies across various industries establish digital organizations within the four walls of their enterprise to be the source of innovation, new revenue streams, or simply to establish a competitive advantage, they are challenged with finding the right people.

These are not the typical technologists, versed in the latest buzz words from the cyber world, who build back office or even sophisticated frontend software systems. Nor are they your experienced marketer, skilled in media and print buys, or creatives who specialize in user experience and online consumer engagements. This A Team consists of “hybrids” with all of the above skills, encapsulated in an entrepreneurial or startup mindset and a passion for building something counterintuitive to how things are done today. The Spring 2017 issue of the MITSloan Management Review showcases Volvo Cars’ digital journey and how that 90-plus year old enterprise balanced building new capabilities while preserving core competencies. It all boiled down to the people.

Isolate, Integrate, or Outsource

Companies approach building their A Team in different ways – there’s not a single one-sized solution that fits all. The strategy will depend on each individual employee’s ability to reinvent oneself, the company’s ability to invest in new talents, and the support granted by the executive suite and at the board level. There are two, maybe three, viable options that may perhaps ultimately produce similar outcomes:

• Option 1 involves isolating a group of folks and establishing a separate digital organization within the enterprise. In this scenario, companies tend to hire from the outside due to concerns that existing employees are unable to shed old habits from legacy organizations.
• Option 2 means integrating new capabilities within existing silos through rigorous training and development programs. This can take time, resulting in a longer runway from current state to future state.
• Option 3 is to outsource by partnering with incubators and startups, but may just be a way to delay the inevitable, since ultimately the company has to transfer those capabilities inhouse, either by duplicating or acquiring the startup.

Each of these three options comes with its own advantages and disadvantages.  

For Option 1, Isolate, the approach allows for fresh thinking and fresh ideas since most, if not all, members of the A Team would be external hires. The new talents may even bring recent experiences from building or working in a digital organization and lessons learned that can be leveraged for this new journey. Most likely, these folks will be unencumbered with legacy thinking since they are not from this company and will have a fresh perspective. They may even be dubbed “the cool kids” who are afforded more resources than their legacy counterparts and are given more freedom in every way, thereby allowing creativity to flourish. In a May 2014 article by McKinsey & Company, Wal-Mart did just that by establishing an incubator in Silicon Valley which resulted in a 30% increase in online revenues, outpacing Amazon’s rate of growth at that time. The danger, however, is this may result in the emergence of yet another silo within the enterprise. However, this can easily be mitigated by establishing programs to initiate legacy employees into the new digital world through extensive onboarding coaching, shadowing or deliberate training initiatives.

With Option 2, Integrate, the approach assumes that the existing workforce can be transformed and that team members are willing to learn new skills and ready to innovate. For this to work, compensation packages and reporting structures need to be re-evaluated. Establishing a new incentive program will also help, especially if one subscribes to the belief that folks generally perform based on how they are paid. Unfortunately, the entire process might take longer than Option 1 since this involves an enterprise culture change. With Option 1, there’s no legacy culture to be converted since everyone is new to the company, allowing the team to focus on the “digital transformation”. Option 2, on the other hand, involves dispatching a fully integrated team from day 1. This type of transformation is a complete cultural shift and requires folks to think, collaborate, and perform differently. Additionally, it is conceivable that the existing team does not have, or is unable to learn, the required skills set.

Then there’s Option 3, Outsource. Some organizations have opted to partner with incubators or startup companies. They can be found in places such as TechNexus in Chicago, 1776 in DC, or TechStars in New York, just to name a few. These businesses are very attractive to Fortune 500 companies looking to take advantage of innovative solutions that fill a gap within their organization or will propel them on a digital journey. As in Option 1, the capabilities that are associated with these incubators and startups must eventually be integrated with the rest of the organization. Coupled with the fact that these new-found capabilities come with very different cultures, assimilation can be a challenge. For the startup to succeed within the new organization, the team must be allowed similar levels of freedom and flexibility that otherwise could become absorbed by legacy thinking.

Organizational Structure

How should the digital organization be structured? The quick answer is “whatever fits the unique nature of the business”. However, there are critical components of the digital organization that must be considered: the digital business team, the digital technology, and the digital extended team. CMS Wire published an article suggesting such a structure and critical roles as a great jumping off point and by no means the end of all digital structures. Roles will vary depending on the nature of the business, the types of customers being served, and partners in the ecosystem. The critical success factor is ensuring that the entire digital team is completely aligned with the vision and mission of the organization. BCG believes that success in this digital age begins by putting people first. There’s a lot of truth to that, given that people, not technology, are what make transformation happen. Putting the A Team — the right people in the right place — with full support from the executive suite and the boardroom will pave the way to a successful digital journey.

If you’re interested in meeting executives who’ve made the journey, there will be a panel discussion titled “The Digital Journey: A Discussion On Transformation” hosted by the Metropolitan on May 24, 2018 from 6:00PM to 8:00PM. The panel consists of executives from ConAgra, Citi Retail Services, and Impact Engine and moderated by TalentRISE. The Metropolitan is located at 233 South Wacker Drive, Chicago, Illinois 60606. Please contact info@talentrise.com to reserve your seat.

This is the first in a series of TalentRISE tips to help businesses secure an edge over competitors by evolving their HR and recruitment practices in the digital era.

Key Takeaways

• Referrals really work!
• There are new, great tools to make the process of soliciting referrals much easier than in the past
• The ultimate key to success is to follow-up – don’t let resumes fall into the proverbial “black hole”

Put the pedal to the metal

Referral programs can (1) speed up hiring (2) produce better candidates and (3) boost retention. No wonder they are popular: on average, 24 percent of employee hires originate from a referral.   

Fire on all cylinders

Whether your business is just launching an employee referral program or needs to reinvigorate a referral program stuck in the slow lane, there are several tools that can help you do just that.

• To proactively tap into your hiring manager social networks, connect to them via LinkedIn and share hot jobs. LinkedIn has also developed a new Employee Referral feature to automate and track your social employee referral programs.
• Crowdsource qualified referrals using tools like Wisestep and Indeed Crowd to source referrals from employees and job candidates. The latter can be used to source referrals from candidates searching Indeed for themselves.
• Turn your employees into “brand ambassadors” to engage passive talent using tools that distribute your branded content about jobs, careers and your workplace to targeted candidate populations through your employees’, and job candidates’, social networks. One such tool, SymphonyTalent (formerly QueSocial) provides a simplified way to easily distribute your branded content to engage targeted talent populations.

How these referral strategies work:

Many employers simply don’t do enough to promote their referral programs – they may casually touch upon about their referral bonus program as part of a new hire onboarding discussion, via the company intranet or periodic all-staff communications. This low-key approach leaves the candidate referral activity completely up to the highly passive / reactive decision of employees and hiring managers who choose to participate.  Those that do participate are A) motivated by the financial incentive to participate, B) have the time to proactively tap their networks and recommend candidates or C) are regularly made aware of the open “hot” jobs that they could potentially refer candidates.

Utilizing the tools noted above, employers are able to control the messaging AND proactively push jobs and branded content to engage targeted, or broad talent pools of employees, hiring managers and job candidates – as well as distribute those messages to their networks. Since these tools require “opting in” by those you ask to participate in the referral campaign, their engagement in the process and the quality of the referrals increases significantly when compared to the more typical, very reactive/passive employee referral programs most companies rely upon.

Stay in the fast lane

CAUTION!  There are a few keys to success in any referral program. Incentives, of course, are important if you want to motivate people to act quickly.  Effective tracking of referrals, using features included in these tools, also ensures ongoing program success. Most importantly, be sure to have a consistent, timely and high touch recruiter follow up and disposition process on ALL candidates referred by your program. Technology can improve your referral volume, quality and incentive tracking but the program will fail if you let the resumes you reap through referral programs plunge into the infamous resume “black hole”.

Look for another tip next month on how to engage – or even re-engage – the great candidates whose resumes may be gathering dust in the back reaches of your ATS system.  

Need more info? Contact Carl Kutsmode, Partner, TalentRISE.

This is the second in a series of TalentRISE tips to help businesses secure an edge over competitors by evolving their HR and recruitment practices in the digital era.

Key Takeaways

• Mining Gold AND Silver medalists – the value with re-engaging in candidates already in your ATS database
• Tools and tips to mitigate job candidates’ “resume” bad black hole experiences
• ATS Candidate data mining tools & strategies that yield referrals and hires

Mine the GOLD and SILVER  in your ATS!

Every employer collects hundreds, even hundreds of thousands, of NEW (and duplicate) resumes in their applicant tracking system (ATS). In fact, a SHRM 2016 study estimated that while approximately only one percent of applicants are typically qualified and hired, and a much larger pool (typically 2-5%) make it to the interview process.  Many of these finalists can be considered SILVER MEDALISTS: people the hiring manager would have hired if there was a second opening. These runner-ups “hiding” within your ATS can be a great pool of talent from which to make your next hires, if you do it right!

Stop being a creature of HABIT!

Unfortunately, most recruiters rarely start their search for a new req by revisiting these pre-vetted Silver Medalist candidates from the past. Most recruiters’ natural inclination is to start the search from scratch; data mining externally for FRESH candidates and resumes they source on Linkedin, job boards or solicit from employee referrals. The common rationale is that the people in the ATS were “REJECTED” and are therefore most likely not worth consideration.

The REALITY, however, is that many candidates in your ATS would welcome an opportunity to re-engage with you since they have already expressed interest in your company in the past.  Key benefits of targeting candidates in your database include:

• Quicker response to your outreach efforts, as they are already familiar with your brand and have expressed interest in similar opportunities in the past
• An accelerated hiring process, as detailed interview notes may already be in your system to short-cut in-depth screens for a current opportunity
• A great opportunity to get your brand re-connected to the candidate, who may also be a customer of your product or service and possibly even a great source of referrals

Make your  HIGH TECH approach more “High Touch”

There is a catch, however –  if these individuals had a bad experience during their previous application-through-interview process, you aren’t likely to have much success in reconnecting. According to research done by CareerBuilder, 42 percent of candidates who were dissatisfied with how their application was handled by an employer would never seek employment at that company again.  Studies also show that a poor candidate experience can also have a costly negative impact on the corporate brand and profits.  For these reasons, focus on enhancing the job candidate experience throughout your recruiting process by providing, for instance, regular updates on application status, by closing the loop quickly by communicating decisions ASAP when positions are filled by someone else.

Here are three tools and tips to enable you to fill today’s positions faster by leveraging yesterday’s candidate pool.

• Don’t assume that candidates who didn’t make the cut for a past open position interview are not a fit for your current needs.  Recognize that needs change and people’s experiences evolve over time.
  • Even if you have proactively sourced candidate prospects for past open jobs, many of those candidates did not respond to your initial outreach efforts (whether six months, a year or more ago) because timing was not right for them then. As passive candidates, they are not as predisposed to your opportunities as someone who actively applied to a past job, but they are still a viable pool of prospects.  Reach out to them for your current needs but tailor your messaging accordingly.
  • Also recognize that your hiring manager’s expectations may have changed over time. Given talent shortages in many sectors, they may be more likely today to adjust their thinking about candidates whose past experience and skills didn’t measure up. (Read more here about re-thinking your ideal candidate profile.)

• Re-engage candidates in your ATS using strategies beyond email. Your ATS is a wonderful repository of candidate data that can be used to launch effective online social media using both (a) re-targeting advertising and (b) job re-marketing strategies. (Check out examples implemented by companies like Recoup and Talemetry.)
  • Applicant drop-off is a real problem, seldom thoroughly addressed by recruiters, especially when faced with aggressive hiring goals while expending a lot of time and money to drive talent into your ATS. Your robust pipeline quickly becomes a limited pool, leaving you to do more sourcing and spend more on candidate acquisition.  A focus on reducing drop-off can maximize your sourcing investment, and improve sourcing ROI. Assuming that your ATS can provide data on individuals who started, but never completed, the application process for a past similar job, consider re-marketing strategies that use AI-based SMS chatbots like HireAbby or traditional email and job alerts to re-engage candidates. These approaches usually result in a significantly high conversion rate whether the goal is to solicit referrals and/or engage interest in a current job opportunity.
  • Similarly, using existing candidate data, conduct a re-targeting online ad campaign that enables you to aim your brand and employment opportunity at job candidates where they hang out online — in chat rooms, on social media, etc.  Using cookies, the ads follow them, serving up your job ad wherever their browser takes them. The goal is to eventually peak their interest through subtle “stalker” tactics that compel candidates to click on an ad to learn more about your opportunity. This approach may work better than re-marketing campaigns when your aim is to target sourced “passive” candidates in your database who did not necessarily apply to a job posted in the past.

• Turn candidates in your database into referral brand ambassadors for ongoing needs using tools that automatically and efficiently distribute your branded content about jobs, careers and your workplace to targeted candidate populations through job candidates’ peer groups and social networks. One such tool, SymphonyTalent (formerly QueSocial) provides an easy way to distribute your branded content to engage targeted talent populations while providing tracking data and metrics on social shares and engagement.  The goal of this approach is to continue to brand opportunities among the candidates in your ATS, and to ultimately get them to help you recruit by promoting your jobs to their peers and social networks.

Do these strategies really work?:

TalentRISE recently partnered with the recruiting team at our client, an e-commerce retailer, on a high volume hiring initiative to re-engage a large number of applicants who exited the application process early.  Using an AI-powered SMS chatbot powered by HireAbby, the bot (“Abby”) used contextually-relevant conversations (gleaned by extracting information from candidates’ social profiles or online activity) to re-establish conversations, gauge continued interest, set next steps, and eventually notify the recruiters who merited follow up.  

A whopping 72% of applicants completed re-engagement conversations with Abby within 4 hours of delivery! Even more surprising, only 23% of the respondents stated they were no longer interested.  This meant that the majority of the drop-off (77% of respondents) was a result of interruptions, busy schedules, systems glitches or forgetting to come back and complete the application when they had more time!

In closing, while there are no technology solution  is a silver bullet, ensuring perfect execution of a high touch recruiting process, remember that sometimes all you need is a little common sense and old school tactics, assisted by a little AI tool or two!

________________

Look for another tip next month on how to revamp your online messaging to enhance your employment brand and to attract and hire high demand talent.

Need more info? Contact Carl Kutsmode, Partner, TalentRISE.

This is the third in a series of TalentRISE tips to help businesses secure an edge over competitors by evolving their HR and recruitment practices in the digital era.  

Key Takeaways

• Online reviews can hurt, but also HELP, your recruitment efforts
• Tools can help you monitor what prospects and candidates are saying about your interview process and your company
• Three ways to be sure you’re getting reviews that are fair and accurate and serve to engage top talent candidates

Managing Your Company’s Online Recruitment Reputation

Warren Buffett said, “It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it.”

In reality, the timeframe required to ruin a company’s reputation as a future employer may actually take far less than five minutes. Here’s what often happens: an applicant for a job takes the afternoon off from her current employer to come in for a face-to-face interview, is kept waiting for 45 minutes by the hiring manager without explanation and then, when they finally meet, the hiring manager is rude and asks inappropriate questions. The first thing the applicant does upon exiting the building? Post a negative review about their interview experience on Glassdoor.

With Glassdoor, Indeed and other similar employer rating sites becoming more prevalent, your company needs to know the good, the bad and even – yes – the ugly about what’s being said about your organization and your hiring practices. In today’s world, where many of us won’t make a restaurant reservation without initially checking Yelp, it’s unrealistic to expect that anyone would commit to a job without reading reviews first. That’s why you need to be aware of what is said about you, strive to correct untruths or inaccuracies, work to proactively fix any real issues and solicit positive reviews.

Step #1: Know What’s Being Said About You

You can’t react – or influence – what is being written about your company online unless you monitor the sites that are posting reviews of your company. So here are a few tools, some quite recently developed, that will scan what is said about you in the marketplace:

• Google Alerts: Free and designed for overarching monitoring of any topic. You can set Google Alerts to use its algorithmic wizardry to search for certain phrases, such as “Acme job search experience”. It may take you a few tries, using different search terms, to get to the information you need. For more, go here.
• Mozaic Track: Much more targeted, this tool relies on AI (artificial intelligence) to uncover candidates that are a better match for your organization in the first place.
• Review Trackers: A fee-based plan starting at less than $60/month includes email alerts when a negative review is posted and a suite of analytical tool.
• Sprout Social, Hootsuite and Buffer also offer great tools, similar to Review Trackers, with varying tech bells-and-whistles. For an overview of these, go here.

Step #2: Reacting to Negative Reviews

The first rule of responding to negative reviews is actually to respond to them. According to Glassdoor (which offers useful tips on how to do this) 62% of job seekers say their perception of a company improves after seeing an employer respond to a review. Don’t make this task the sole responsibility of your HR team. In many ways, having someone outside of HR respond to a negative comment is much more authentic and will therefore help build your brand. Think of it this way: if salespeople are griping about changing quotas online, shouldn’t your sales leader be the one to explain the reasons why and also counter any misperceptions? Likewise, if any reviews have the potential to seriously damage your reputation, consider having your CEO weigh in.  

Step #3: Strengthening Your Reputation

While negative online reviews tend to overshadow positive reviews, the flip side is that you can indeed build a great reputation online as an employer of choice. Here are 3 tips to help you do just that:

• Always be truthful and authentic
• Encourage all current and former employees and candidates to share their experiences, whether about company culture, benefits and/or the interview process itself. Just be sure, however, that the subscription you sign-up for will not re-sell reviewers’ info to competitors or to advertisers who target your employees with competitor job ads to lure them away. Always check the fine print!
• Ask employees within specialized functions – such as programmers – to post info about your company within industry-specific communities, including social media groups

Do these strategies really work?

The answer, according to Kristy Nittskoff, senior consultant at TalentRISE, is “yes”. To illustrate, she describes a situation where a foodservice company’s online brand as an employer was inaccurately and unfairly rated low because the online reviews were predominantly posted by hourly workers and contractors in operations who were complaining about work conditions. Frequent comments about cold temperatures in the plant and having to stand for too long were driving down overall ratings because few employees outside of the plant were posting about the growth of the company, opportunities, benefits, etc. To fix this, Kristy advised the organization to ask all employees to post about their experiences. Within 5 months, a clearer picture of life at the company emerged and ratings zoomed, from 1.9 to 4.1 stars on Glassdoor.

In closing

Think about this issue like this: would you rather eat at a restaurant with a 2 star rating or a 5 star rating on Yelp? Likewise, are you more inclined to book an Airbnb stay with a “superhost” or an ordinarily-rated host? Undoubtedly, like the rest of us, you will be influenced by the review…which closes the case on why your organization needs to devote resources to making sure you get the most positive reviews possible. Your ability to hire the best really depends on it.

________________

Need more info? Contact Carl Kutsmode, Partner, TalentRISE.

The number of employees in the workforce deciding to take the proverbial hike to greener pastures has just, as reported by the AP, reached a startling 17-year high.

While workers leave jobs for a number of reasons (such as dissatisfaction with their supervisor), pay is a top consideration. In fact, a 10% higher base pay is linked to a 1.5% increase in the likelihood that workers will stay at their current company (more here). That’s why there’s no time like the present to check your bearings on employee compensation, its impact on employee retention and the bottom line as planning starts for 2019. Additionally, testing the underlying assumptions of your approach against the following data points related to replacing departed workers may either validate staying the course on compensation…or cause you to take an entirely new direction:

• Unemployment has tracked steadily at 4.5% or lower over the past 15 months, resulting in ever more shallow labor pools in many industries
• In this environment, replacing departed employees is expensive.  Several sources estimate replacement costs at 20% of annual salary for a mid-range, $30-50K per year employee; upwards to 213% of annual salary for highly educated executive positions.  And those calculations are not inclusive of intangible costs, such as lost revenue while the position remains open. (For more, go here)
• Yet, salary increases have remained relatively stagnant with businesses reporting increases in the 3-4% range over the last several years

Given this scenario, I believe that many organizations are at a crossroads and need to make critical decisions – very soon – about compensation as they budget for next year. Help us test our hypothesis by participating in this quick, anonymous poll.  While Yogi Berra, in typically enigmatic fashion said, “When you come to a fork in the road, take it”, we want to take a market pulse on which direction businesses are headed in their quest to hire and retain the best people. We promise we’ll share the results. Thanks in advance!

Supercharge Job Ads to Sell, Tell and Compel

This is the fourth in a series of TalentRISE tips to help businesses secure an edge over competitors by evolving their HR and recruitment practices in the digital era.  

Key Takeaways

• Job ads are like any other type of ad: they must sell, tell and compel the reader to action
• You don’t need to be a journalism major to write great ad copy
• Some research, a compelling value proposition, attention to detail and maybe even a bit of humor can go a long way to write an outstanding ad

Most of us skim the headlines before deciding whether to commit to read an entire news article. Likewise, you need to craft job ads that grab the attention of job seekers. This doesn’t require a journalism degree; just a bit of creativity.  Or, as I like to put it, you need to sell, tell and compel people to action…often using a limited number of characters.

Here are a few tips to inspire you…

First, check the competition. Start by looking at job ads for jobs similar to the one you seek to fill. Fifteen minutes spent doing research, while pretending that you are the job seeker, on public job boards such as indeed.com can help you crystallize your thinking about what makes your job stand out. This could be a number of things – the location, the opportunity to work remotely or your cool reputation.  Remember too that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery so if you see something you think will catch the attention of applicants, go ahead and borrow it.

Be different, in a specific way.  Once you’ve determined your unique value proposition, use it both as a differentiator AND also as a screening tool. What do I mean by that? Here’s an example: Instead of titling an ad: “Level I UX Programmer”, aim for something like “UX Programmer, Automotive Applications, Chicago”.  Search word optimization will generate more specific hits and you will find yourself fielding resumes from candidates with the desired background and a desire to work in Chicago, thereby narrowing down your applicant pool. Fewer, but more qualified, resumes is the goal.  

You’ll also note that, in the example above, the level of the position was eliminated from the title. My advice is to include that info in the ad – but below the headline. And, again, be very specific about the level so unqualified people will opt out of applying and thereby limit the number of applications. Bottom line #1: someone with 15 years of experience is not going to apply for a job advertised as “entry level”.  Bottom line #2: if someone is unsure of whether their experience matches what you are looking for because your ad is unclear about the basic requirements, they won’t take the time to apply.

Related to the point above, do write about your culture.  This is especially true for companies that may not have a well-known brand. Focus on what it is about your culture that will appeal to a certain type of individual.  Better yet, embed a video link in the ad. Short, to-the-point videos using products such as Sparcstart will engage younger audiences and make it easier for prospects to share the video via their social networks.  Videos that are authentic and creative may even go viral to share news about your openings. I’ve seen short videos, less than 2 minutes long do an incredible job of “selling” a corporate culture and the opportunity.   

Kitschy and catchy can work. Not every organization will feel comfortable doing something really radical – like using made-up funny titles – in an ad. But if your culture is open to it, give it a try; even if you just go for something light-hearted rather than far-out rad (go here for more). Even if you aren’t willing to go to that extreme, it’s worth adding some pizzazz to your ads. As I’ve always said, “snooze ‘em and lose ‘em”.  Lou Adler, one of the original experts at writing compelling job postings, always reminds us to highlight the PERFORMANCE expectations of your role.  Using Lou’s approach, you’ll learn how to paint a picture of the top performance indicators according to which the hired person will measured and then, how you can best interview candidates for performance.  For a sample of one of Lou’s “performance job profiles”, click here.   

Encourage, don’t discourage. Never focus on something negative in your ad. I often see copy, for example, that states, “don’t apply if you have less than 3 years of experience”. Likewise, if your job requires travel five days a week, rather than write “Requires extensive travel”, convert that phrase to “Want to see the world?” or “Travel bugs wanted!”.  In other words, appeal to the type of person who will relish that aspect of the job. Don’t, however, over-embellish or fall into the trap of over-selling the job. Always remain truthful and authentic.

Proof and double check. It’s fine to use abbreviations for words that everyone in your industry knows and understands. But avoid acronyms that are too specific and always avoid typos or other errors that occur easily enough in cutting/pasting info from one site to another — especially when you are trying to fit copy into the allotted number of characters.  As a final step to ensure your content engages, as opposed to repels, your target job candidate, use free tools like Mosaic Track that harness the power of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to scan your job posting and flag words and phrases that could be worded better.  You simply cut/paste your ad into a form and the site generates an overall job ad engagement score. It also identifies words that are positive and engaging; those that are perceived as negative and repelling, as well as words or phrases that may be perceived as corporate jargon.    

Call to action.  The whole point of the job ad is to compel someone to apply. That’s why you need to end the ad with clear info on how to get more information and/or apply immediately. The most HR compliant manner is to direct job applicants to apply via a single method which typically is either (1) to email a resume to a recruiter directly OR (2) to click a link to complete an online application form.  Offering multiple ways to apply for a job can cause redundant work for you and the job candidate so stick to offering a maximum of two options. Some people won’t be ready to fill out a lengthy application so you may want to state: “To apply now, click here (with a link to your online application) OR if you have questions or want to be considered for future opportunities, click here to chat with our virtual recruiter Abby!”.  Many employers are offering the job candidate the ability to engage with an AI enabled chatbot like HireAbby or Olivia with Paradox.ai that are programmed to ask a few basic questions to determine whether the person is qualified and interested today OR to engage and pre-screen for a future need and recruiter follow-up.

Finally, be sure that your ad is compliant with the law and doesn’t promote bias. Know the new regulations in many states (and the list is growing!) that make it illegal to ask about salary history. Also avoid using language that may – directly or inadvertently – signal a form of bias to a job seeker. Free tools like Gender Decoder can review your job ad content and identify if the job ad has a gender bias. This can be as simple as choosing pronouns more carefully.  More on bias – and how to avoid it in the pre-interview recruitment process – in a future tip.

Need more info? Contact Carl Kutsmode, Partner, TalentRISE.

You, the executive sponsor, are ready to move into the fast lane and start implementing an RPO. You’ve selected a partner. Your team is prepped and ready. Now, it’s race day and you’re about to start implementation.The pressure is on to ensure the program exceeds expectations and is embraced at all levels. Certainty of execution is top of mind for all.

As you move forward, there are seven things you must do to help you deliver on your promise of a better way to recruit retail talent. So, shift gears and move into the fast lane but – first – download our free “Recruitment Process Outsourcing Playbook for Retailers & E-Commerce Businesses  – The Definitive Guide to a Successful RPO Implementation”. It’s geared to retailers and e-commerce leaders who are looking to RPO to increase speed, quality and scale of hires.

Remove Bias From Recruiting Activities AND Systems

This is the fifth in a series of TalentRISE tips to help businesses secure an edge over competitors by evolving their HR and recruitment practices in the digital era.  

Key Takeaways

• In today’s hyper-competitive market for talent, bias (intended or not, perceived or actual) can and will limit your ability to engage and hire great talent

• While the human factor is real, bias often occurs pre-interview, before a candidate ever interacts with any single person at your organization
• The tips below will help you minimize bias when sourcing and screening
  

In recruitment, both machines and humans play a large role. Much of the pre-interview process these days, in fact, is automated. This trend is bound to accelerate as even smaller organizations increasingly access inexpensive and sophisticated recruitment tools, such as chatbots, video screening, artificial intelligence-based data mining sourcing tools and the like. All of this means that candidates may not ever speak to, or ever meet face-to-face, with a human at your organization until they are a finalist for a particular job.

Most of us recognize that there is always the possibility of bias when humans engage with one another. HR – and the law – have been focused on that for years. Less attention, however, is paid to potential biases within the digital systems that run our hiring processes.  Below are a few essential tips to mitigate that issue:

First of all, be sure that you adhere to the law. Conduct a periodic review (we recommend every 1-2 years) of any/all questions that are posed in the sourcing/application process. Be sure you are compliant with the latest regulations, including those related to asking questions about candidates’ salary histories (click here for a running list of the states and local municipalities banning the salary question).  

Beyond the legal aspects, be sure to audit your electronic applications for biases that aren’t illegal but may nonetheless knock-out great candidates. This may mean, for example, eliminating drop down menus that allow the applicant to ONLY select educational institutions in the U.S. This is particularly important for global organizations or those who are seeking talent with global experience.  Same goes for asking about GPAs – not every educational system uses the standard U.S. 5-point scale. At minimum, if a system change or update is not possible, at least be sure to NOT require those fields in order for the candidate to move forward in the process. So add a text box for “OTHER” to allow candidates can provide an appropriate response. Preventing a candidate from bypassing a “required field” demanding information in a format that he/she can’t provide forces that candidate into either fudging the question or self-selecting out of the process.

On a larger scale, take a close look at how your organization uses data from the past to hire people today. Some of the newest, coolest technologies such as chatbot and data mining sourcing tool vendors use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to automate candidate sourcing, engagement and pre-screening. These tools are programmed using existing data sets in your ATS, or information found online that may be out of date, so, even if you build a hiring decision-tree with state-of-the-art AI, stale data or outdated candidate pre-screening criteria ( i.e current or past compensation) programmed into the bot logic may produce results that are less than optimal. Using old data sets may carry forward unintentional biases related to gender or age.  (To read more on how this can backfire, go here).  

When it comes to removing gender bias from your recruiting process, be sure to focus initially on the words used to describe a particular job in your job advertisement job descriptions.  This will ensure you attract people who possess the ideal experiences, competencies and personality traits of your ideal candidate. A terrific example is cited by Amelia Weitrak, author of this blog post, where she writes that “words used to typically describe a CEO often paint a picture that many people typically associate with a man versus a woman — even though 32% of the top performing 500 U.S. companies are run by female CEOs!”  Here is a free tool to get you started in assessing your current job descriptions for gender bias.

Weitrak goes on to point out that the key to ensuring fair gender hiring success lies in the systems and tools you use to assess the job candidate’s relevant COMPETENCIES and QUALIFICATIONS and how you make your hiring decisions. Team-based decisions, for instance, are less likely to be biased.  Therefore, it is important to evaluate existing, or implement new, unbiased, validated competency assessment tools, interview guides and/or hiring decision practices periodically. In some cases, you may even need to consider training hiring teams to ensure both male and female candidates are assessed fairly and hiring decisions made by the interview teams are based upon a best match in qualifications.

The same holds true for employee referral systems. These can be highly effective, particularly when your people are engaged, happy in your workplace and you reward them financially for referring their friends to come work for you. The downside is that people tend to hang with people like themselves so, in some cases, you may further limit the diversity of your referral candidate pool.  Continually tapping into the same pools of talent through your employees’ networks may result in your hiring the same type (race and gender) of people dominated by their networks over and over again. Don’t get me wrong – beyond a doubt, there is tremendous value in these networks, but our point is to be aware of the potential for bias, especially if your employee base is not very diverse to begin with.

Taking that a step further, also recognize that there is inherent bias in hiring from the same colleges. That’s not to say that hiring, for instance, from the boss’s alma mater is necessarily a bad thing, particularly if it’s among the best business schools in the country. But placing too much emphasis on hiring from a handful of schools does tend to result in groupthink when teams are required to innovate or make critical decisions.  Innovation stemming from diverse opinions and experiences is the impetus for success in today’s highly competitive, global business world so hiring people with a broad array of educational backgrounds just makes more sense.

Another often overlooked bias in the pre-interview process is against people with disabilities, such as visual impairment. So be sure your candidate website, online and mobile application processes are ADA compliant and available to be read with browser-based text readers.  Start with a FREE scan of your website’s accessibility using this online tool.  

Lastly, while it’s become much more commonplace, video interviewing presents a whole host of challenges related to bias because it offers the viewer visual clues about race, sex, and potentially even disabilities. That’s why legal experts recommend establishing protocols around video interviews that use a fact-based approach to measure candidates against pre-defined competencies. Click Here for more tips on how to avoid bias in using these tools that present such obvious ways to bias an interview and selection decision — visually!

In sum, hiring bias is prevalent at many junctions in the recruitment process, from sourcing to interviewing. What’s often overlooked however are built-in biases in the tools we commonly use, whether AI-powered high tech sourcing and video interview tools or our job descriptions, website, interview questions and ATS systems.  One simple question, such as asking an applicant for their GPA score prior to progressing in the process can screen out a great candidate. That’s why it’s critical to examine every step of your process and systems to eliminate as many of these biases as possible.

Is there really a shortage?

Digital Journal reported that a study conducted by LinkedIn and CapGemini at the beginning of 2018 found that the digital skills gap is impacting 54% of the businesses surveyed. Consequently, companies are unable to continue the pace of digital transformation which –  for most – has a direct effect on their competitive advantage. This digital skills gap is very real, especially in the United States. With the increase in demand driven by corporations – big and small – undertaking digital transformation, coupled with the advancement in Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of Things and Big Data, the skills gap is vast. It seems counterintuitive given that publications such as Forbes and Futurism imply that robots are taking over the world. Even Elon Musk, Tesla and SpaceX CEO, has made claims about how “artificial intelligence could doom civilization.” That begs the question as to whether there is enough of the needed human talent to develop the AI Musk alludes to!

To understand the reasons behind this gap, one needs only to consider the recent exponential advancements in technology. The speed by which advanced technology is spreading and driving the marketplace far outpaces the speed of training and upgrading skill sets. Additionally, a recent study by Korn Ferry indicates that by 2030, there will be a global human shortage of roughly 85 million people, equal to the population of Germany. The shortage is attributed to baby boomers moving out of the workforce and the low birth rates in Japan and the European nations over the past decades.  The same study projects that such a shortage could result in $8.5 trillion of unrealized revenues.

Those companies whose names are not synonymous with high-tech firms such as Google, Amazon, and Facebook or cool start-up companies, are at an additional disadvantage since their brands may not be perceived by prospective candidates as being exciting enough or unable to offer career-building within the high-tech industry. Candidates fear that they may not be working on “cool projects” or may be stuck maintaining antiquated systems. With the competition for talent as heated as it is, companies need to be very creative in creating a compelling value proposition and ensuring a stellar candidate experience.

Where are the digital talents?

In putting together a search strategy, companies must look beyond traditional sources such as campus hires for more junior candidates and LinkedIn, Indeed, and other job boards for experienced talent. Although these sources continue to be reliable, the problem is that everyone is looking for talent in the same places. Embarking on a more creative approach can yield far greater success in the search for digital talent.

Starting with junior or entry level hires, spice up your campus recruiting effort through gamification. It does not have to be very sophisticated. It can be as simple as a coding contest or a hackathon. Hiring Success Journal recommends four types of hackathon recruitment that includes virtual, interactive, industry and internal recruiting. Each is designed to assess various qualifications such as cultural fit, specific industry knowledge, ability to collaborate with teammates, and, of course, technical skills. Virtual hackathons work well for international recruiting without the business having to spend resources on travel for candidates or hiring managers. Industry hackathons can provide visibility into the candidates’ ability to interact with other team members, while also helping recruiters discern the candidates’ affinity to said industry. Lastly, internal hackathons are more suited for your internal digital talents who can help improve your own hackathons and promote internal referrals, one of the perennial best vehicles for sourcing.

For more experienced hires, gamification and hackathons can also work. Where to look for prospective candidates remains the question. Most recruiters will search in areas or geographies where talents are typically in abundance. It could be at high-tech companies or inside of major cities. Instead, consider hunting in peripheral areas where commuting is an option. As an example, commuter trains from the borders of Indiana and Wisconsin can get to downtown Chicago in a little over an hour – for some a long commute, yet for others, very normal. And there is always telecommuting. Software engineering is probably one of a few professions where physical presence in the home office can be optional. Moreover, instead of poaching at high-tech companies, look at other companies across various industries where recent digital transformations have transpired. Companies are very vocal about digital transformation initiatives either on analyst calls for publicly traded companies or via traditional and digital news outlets. As an added bonus, employees recruited from these companies will have the digital transformation experience and offer lessons learned.

What about outsourcing talent sourcing?

Typically, companies will have limited resources within their talent acquisition organizations and most may not be equipped for finding and screening digital talents. There are many recruiting firms that now offer selective outsourcing of the various segments of the recruiting process. Consider engaging a recruiting firm for sourcing and research to build a pipeline of candidates. For very specialized skills such as Cloud, AI, or Cybersecurity, consider outsourcing the entire process. Firms that specialize in digital and technology recruiting process outsourcing such as TalentRISE offer both experienced technology recruiters and creative search strategies that can yield qualified and interested candidates. If retaining control of the process is a concern, another option is to engage recruiters on a staff augmentation basis from companies that offer recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) services and specialize in digital and technology recruiting. In this scenario, the client company outsources the role of the internal recruiter to an outside consultant which is particularly very effective during hiring spikes. Similarly, it is also beneficial to set up a retainer arrangement with RPO firms to maintain a pipeline of candidates and thereby have the ability to increase recruiting capabilities with very little lead time. There are various financial arrangements that can be established to benefit both the hiring company and the recruiting firm.

What is the role of technology?

Digital transformation is at its height and has expanded into talent acquisition organizations across industries and companies of all sizes. Within talent acquisition, recruiting efforts are being supplemented by technology solutions such as job aggregators, testing tools, artificial intelligence, automation tools, applicant tracking, CRM, video interviewing, chatbot, and texting tools, to name just a few. Depending on needs, implementing a combination of these tools to supplement recruiting efforts is often the best strategy. Unless business needs are met, shy away from all-in-one solutions as they tend to offer limited functionality in all areas. There is no need to sacrifice full functionality for the purpose of full integration. Plus, technology solutions – especially those that fall in the “software as a service” (SaaS) category – offer built-in interfaces or at least make it very simple to integrate them with other systems.

Use cases for some of these tools are vast. Texting, as an example, is very powerful in attracting millennials who rely on it for communications. With the proliferation of smartphones, attracting, recruiting, engaging and collaborating can be accomplished through texting solutions offered by such companies as TextRecruit.  Artificial Intelligence for recruiting is another example. Companies like Ideal save time in sourcing, screening, and evaluating the overall qualifications of candidates. Additionally, it is also an effective tool for eliminating unconscious bias in one’s recruiting process. For video interviewing, recruiters can pre-record screening questions for prospective candidates and the same tool can capture the video responses seamlessly, thereby eliminating time-consuming screening processes and schedule coordination that extends recruiting process timelines. Solutions like Spark Hire offer flexible pricing without the need to lock into long term contracts. Lastly, there are various application tracking, CRM, and HR systems that can also help improve recruiting efforts.

What’s next?

The first step to recovery is admitting there is a problem. Hopefully, the preceding sections helped convince readers that there is a shortage in digital and technology talent. And made it clear that, more often than not, that the inhouse recruiter isn’t the problem.

To get ahead of your competition, consider the recommendations above. Then, establish an employer branding strategy. Remember, companies have to compete with sexy brands such as Google, Amazon and Facebook. To better promote your brand to attract digital talent, partner with the marketing organization. With the use of digital marketing techniques, social media presence, and email campaigns, companies can start to educate prospective candidates on “how cool” their business can be to employees. From cool projects and awesome cultures to other employee perks, even a traditional, established company can compete for talent with its younger, hipper counterparts.