Are Your Hiring Processes and Brand on the Same Page?

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When running a business, it’s important to try to be as transparent and authentic as possible. Doing one thing - but meaning or saying another - can have significant, negative implications for your organization, especially when it comes to recruiting and retaining top talent. Unknowingly presenting conflicting messages throughout the interview process can hurt your company brand, and detract from its ability to attract and hire the best candidates.

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The main goal of the interview process is to provide both the hiring company and the candidate an opportunity to determine if there is a mutual fit. On the candidate’s end, more emphasis is often placed on the tangible insight they can gain from the meeting. This can include how interviewers respond to certain questions, inconsistencies with how various team members discuss the potential role and the company, and the aspects of the job that are emphasized vs. those that are minimized. On the company’s end, the assumption is the candidate has most of the required skills to take on the open role. The focus from their perspective is more about intangible insight such as cultural fit, personality, and the overall impression left by the candidate.

Given the candidate-driven market continues to be the reality for the executive, managerial and professional labor market, employers should be giving more consideration to the lasting impression they are leaving with prospective hires. “Companies really should be thinking about the interview process as a critical part of their strategy in communicating their brand and organizational culture,” says Nysha King, media relations specialist for MRINetwork. “Applicants will communicate their interview experiences in the marketplace through sites like Glassdoor, and employers need to ensure that what they say matches the way they conduct business.”

To make sure your company's hiring practices are in line with its mission, values and business goals, King recommends avoiding these four contradictions:

1. Having an inefficient interview process when your company claims to be cutting-edge 
You can have the most forward-thinking reputation, but a clunky interview process will quickly disprove any claims that your company is always looking ahead. Make sure your interview process suits the needs of modern applicants. Perhaps a one-on-one interview is not getting to the crux of a candidate's value: You could additionally hold team interviews where candidates are asked to participate in routine business exercises like brainstorming or planning sessions. These types of interviews can yield greater insights into the applicant's personality and potential fit within the team, making for a more efficient process.

2. Hiring for newly created roles that involve clashing responsibilities
With newly created roles on the rise, according to Recruiterbox, a common mistake that many companies make is creating a new role that demands the employee be responsible for duties that conflict with each other. For example, having a graphic designer also be responsible for generating new sales leads could cause productivity issues. While it’s normal for employees to have multiple responsibilities, it’s important to ensure the required duties remain focused when designing a new role.

3. Taking too long to hire a new person when your company values speed
No one wants to work for a company that hesitates to make decisions that could improve culture and revenue. However, when a company drags their feet during the hiring process, that's the impression that top talent receive. Although it’s wise to carefully think over hiring decisions, taking an extended amount of time just makes it not only seem as though your company's management lacks confidence, but that working for your company would be a nightmare of administrative and bureaucratic red tape as well. It is important to streamline the hiring process, and even gather qualified applicants before there is a position to fill.

4. Valuing your company brand but falling short on the recruitment process
Letting what you may believe are small or relatively unimportant aspects of the hiring process slip through the cracks can sabotage your company brand. For example, making candidates wait for several months for an answer when they were specifically told they would be contacted soon, or failing to keep a top applicant in the loop about where he/she stands, are bad marks against you. Instead, making the extra effort to ensure candidates feel valued goes a long way, especially in today's candidate-driven market. If your company is struggling to gain access to A-players in your industry, you can partner with a trusted recruitment firm to help you find the best talent for your needs, while protecting your brand.

Regardless of how your organization approaches the interviewing process, the main goal should be to leave candidates with a positive, transparent experience. “By implementing efficient practices and ensuring that everyone on the hiring team is on the same page, you reduce the likelihood of communicating inconsistent messaging that will be disseminated by candidates, and can be harmful to the company brand,” adds King. The ‘interview’ then becomes more than just a way to qualify potential new hires, but also a marketing opportunity to communicate why the organization is a great place to work.”

The Trevi Group
www.TheTreviGroup.com 

IBM, Google and other tech giants unite to boost data transfers in computers

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Nine tech companies, including IBM Corp and Google, have teamed up to take on Intel Corp.

The newly formed group is set to unveil an open technical standard that can boost datacenter server performance by up to 10 times, reported Reuters. The open forum, known as Open Coherent Accelerator Processor Interface (OpenCAPI), will offer a high bandwidth and low latency open interface design specification.

Designed to speed up big data for cloud and corporate data centers, the new interface will also improve machine learning and analytic times.

"As artificial intelligence, machine learning and advanced analytics become the price of doing business in today's digital era, huge volumes of data are now the norm," said Doug Balog, general manager for IBM Power, in an interview with Reuters. "It's clear that today's datacenters can no longer rely on one company alone to drive innovation."

OpenCAPI will provide data speeds of up to 150 gigabytes per second and link storage, memory, GPUs and CPUs, according to PC World. Even as storage and memory advance and continue to gain speed, OpenCAPI will keep computers ready for those technologies, an IBM fellow told the source.

The Power9 servers of IBM will be among the first to hold the OpenCAPI ports and are expected to come out next year. It will also be added to the Zaius Power9 server of Google and Rackspace.

The Trevi Group
www.TheTreviGroup.com

Job growth, talent demand predicted in engineering

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Employment in engineering is expected to grow over the next decade, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. 

The agency forecast that employment in the industry will rise 3 percent over the next 10 years, with the addition of 67,200 jobs, Design News reported. 

While the projected growth rate is slower than that predicted for other industries, engineers have a higher median annual wage. It is currently at $76,870 - more than double the median annual wage for all occupations in the U.S. economy, which stands at $36,200, the source noted. 

Analysts are also predicting a higher demand for engineering skills and graduates in the field, according to GoodCall. Engineering workers were named as one of the five hardest positions to fill by the source, with the other positions including information technology workers, manufacturing and logistics staff, executive leadership and sales and marketing professionals. 

Said Jim Link, chief human resources officer at Randstad North America: 

"Due to an aging engineering workforce, and a smaller pipeline of engineering students in some sectors, the need for talent will only rise as the sector continues to rebound."

Civil engineers were predicted to be in especially high demand, according to Juli Smith, president of Smith Consulting Group, citing a "large vacuum for talent in the market for civil engineers with five to 10 years of experience."

The Trevi Group
www.TheTreviGroup.com

(Video) Workforce Planning: Does your company have the bench strength to sustain top performance?

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In sports, a team’s success is linked to its bench strength - the players on the bench who can seamlessly jump in and replace a player who is pulled due to injury or some other reason. Professional football teams don’t go into games with only one quarterback and baseball teams have players on the bench in case someone goes on the disabled list. It should be the same in business, where bench strength refers to the capabilities and readiness of potential successors to move into key professional and leadership positions. It is critically important because organizations continuously go through turnover, restructuring and changes in business strategy.

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Whenever a key person leaves - whether in leadership, management, or line operations - the organization should have a ready successor or a plan for replacement that will avoid business interruption. “Knowing where to build a bench lineup in your organization requires a systematic effort to ensure continuity, retain and develop intellectual and knowledge capital for the future, and encourage individual advancement,” says Anne Hayden, vice president of human resources for MRINetwork. “That means identifying positions that are critical to the company’s competitive advantage or are specific to your industry niche, and those with lengthy learning curves or reliance on experiential learning.”

Hayden offers these suggestions to ensure that your team is ready when it’s time to call on your bench:

Set your strategic direction. Start with your current mission. Is your company able to achieve its stated goals and objectives with your current team? Consider carefully your one-, three- and five-year plan and assess the talent you have on board in light of those plans. Your organization needs a game plan outlining processes, deadlines and directions for completing tasks. Ideally, departments should identify critical functions and have a game plan for each. Fostering strategic thinking in your people can help them increase their effectiveness in their current roles, while also preparing them to take on more responsibility in the future.

Make knowledge sharing routine. Encourage participation in projects, teams, task forces and committees. Develop a methodology for cross-functional training, which really pays off when a key player is absent, making it easier for other team members to step in. These tactics have the added benefit of providing your team with fresh perspectives and encouraging process improvement. Additionally, when routine knowledge sharing becomes part of the company’s culture, it breaks down silos and employees learn from others across the company, resulting in a stronger, more cohesive workforce. This will be especially important as we approach a labor market that is increasingly comprised of Millennials who seek mentorship and knowledge transfer from senior colleagues. Millennials will be most attracted to employers that can demonstrate a culture of collaboration and the opportunity to interact with different people at various levels in the organization.

Develop succession plans. Succession planning is especially important not only because of senior leadership that will eventually retire, but also because your most valued employees make up the group most at risk of leaving for another opportunity, particularly in today’s candidate-driven market. This process may involve both hiring fresh talent, and identifying and nurturing high-potential employees. Analyze the strengths and weaknesses of your current organization, including the available talent pool. Put in place a formal evaluation process that allows all levels to communicate their interests, strengths and areas that need improvement. This will help you to understand your bench strength - or lack of it - and determine whether critical positions have one or more persons ready to successfully assume the role and responsibility of each position.

Don’t go it alone. If you have to look beyond your organization to find qualified talent, consider engaging a search firm that specializes in your niche. This will give you access to their roster of potential candidates and to passive candidates you cannot easily reach on your own. Be prepared for more competition for the best people. Scrutinize your current hiring practices and procedures and overhaul them if they are cumbersome and prolong the hiring process. It’s also important to be interviewing top talent even when you don’t have a specific need. This will ensure that you aren’t starting from scratch when the need arises. You may even find that you want to create a position for a potential leader before the need is critical.

Clearly, building sustainable bench strength must be part of an organization-wide talent management program with career planning woven into the process. It sets the growth course, makes employee transitions less stressful, mends gaps and develops future leaders for success. It is an ongoing, dynamic process that helps an organization keep pace with changes in the business, industry, and overall marketplace.

“To stay ahead of the game, current leadership must continually have its finger on the pulse of business needs and make talent pipeline management part of the company culture,” says Hayden. “They must concentrate on developing a strategy for an ongoing, flexible talent management process. By doing this, organizations can ensure they have the right talent in the right place at the right time with a committed bench of players that will keep them on top of their game for seasons to come.”

The Trevi Group
www.TheTreviGroup.com

IT employment bounces back in August

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IT employment figures bounced backed in August after a lower-than-expected July showing.

According to CompTIA, which conducted an analysis of recently released data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, found that U.S. employers added 205,000 IT workers last month, The Wall Street Journal reported. 

The gains help offset July jobs activity in the industry, which saw 88,000 jobs lost, as well as losses in April and May, when IT hiring dropped to its lowest rate in five years, the news source noted. 

The August figures help bring total employment in IT for the year to more than 4.6 million. 

CompTIA found that the strongest gains within the IT industry were in computer systems design and IT software and services, together adding 6,100 jobs in August. Jobs related to search portals and data processing, hosting and related services also experienced small employment boosts. 

"Despite the limitations and volatility of monthly BLS data, the figures are useful in gauging net job growth for the year," said Tim Herbert, CompTIA senior vice president, research and market intelligence, in a press release. "Last year we had 3.1 percent job growth in IT occupations. Conditions suggest a growth rate on par with that in 2016."

The Trevi Group
www.TheTreviGroup.com

(Video) Not Receiving Enough Quality Applicants? It's Likely Your Employer Brand.

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Your company is hiring, which means you’ve likely done the groundwork and communicated the job opening externally. So why aren’t there more A-player candidates knocking on your door?

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A recent LinkedIn survey of 26,000 professionals found that the main reason people don’t apply to a job is because they don’t have enough background about the company or even the position itself. If your company isn’t able to attract suitable candidates, it’s likely that your employer brand is lacking. Effective employment branding is able to attract even those who are not actively looking. Establishing a unique and compelling employer brand is one of the most effective ways to attract and keep top talent in your company.

According to Entrepreneur, out of more than 100 HR professionals and executives surveyed by Brandemix, 80 percent said they believe employer branding is effective. So, before you start your hiring efforts, consider the following steps for strengthening your employer brand:

Make a great first impression with a mobile, quick-apply process
In today’s world, there isn’t much that hasn’t become mobile-friendly for consumers, and applying for a job is no different. Fueled by increasing candidate demand for simple, quick-apply processes that can be completed on the go, mobile-friendly applicant tracking systems are increasingly being used by recruiting firms and talent acquisition teams at companies to transform the job search experience. In fact, according to LinkedIn’s 2015 Global Recruiting Trends Report, 34 percent of respondents said their career sites were mobile-optimized, a 14 percentage-point increase from 2014.

Recognizing the need to attract the best talent with a quick, mobile-apply process, The Trevi Group recently launched a new mobile-friendly, candidate job board on TheTreviGroup.info .

Leverage existing employee advocacy and leadership 
The focus of the employer brand has changed with the times, and the evolution of social media especially has made companies more transparent. As a result, potential candidates are more likely to listen to what a company’s employees have to say than its advertising tactics. Today, attracting talent relies much more on the advocacy and engagement of your employees.

“It’s important to keep in mind that your employees can either be your company’s strongest brand ambassadors or your biggest critics,” says Scott Bass, director of marketing & communications forMRINetwork. “These are the individuals who truly represent your company culture and brand. It’s their voice that potential candidates will trust most.”

Make it a team effort
The face of an organization should be well-rounded and include everyone from the top down. Potential applicants are just as interested in learning more about their future peers and co-workers as they are their managers, directors and even C-level executives. Make it a team effort by providing candidates the opportunity to hear from people at various levels in the organization. Whether it’s in the interview process, through employee testimonials on your website, or social media engagement, job seekers should receive the same message about what it’s like to work at your company.

Similarly, just as the messaging should be uniform across all company departments, the entire team should be living out the brand in the same way. This is accomplished through engaging with the community, demonstrating company values and exhibiting company work ethics.

Showcase company culture
Most potential candidates are looking for more than just a job; they’re looking for a career at a forward-thinking company with exciting opportunities and ideas. This is where you can really get creative with video and social media posts that bring to life your company’s culture (i.e. employee recognition, social events and charitable activities). In addition, try to showcase the day-to-day life of your organization, providing a realistic inside glimpse into the organization.

Consider outside perspectives
Sometimes being too close to your employer brand will prevent you from promoting it clearly to prospective candidates. If you’re looking to attract top, passive candidates, collaborating with an external recruiter could highly benefit your employer brand. With expert insight into the industry, a good recruiter will strategically leverage your brand to attract the best talent that is not necessarily on the market. In addition, skilled recruiters have visibility into what competitors are doing to attract the same caliber of talent.

By following these tips, you can build a captivating and sincere employer brand that actively attracts new talent while retaining your current workforce. “Above all, stay true to your brand in both your words and your actions,” says Bass. “Consistent, positive messaging about the employee experience at your company is key in positioning the organization as an employer of choice.”

The Trevi Group
www.TheTreviGroup.com

Wearable devices market expected to reach $612 billion by 2024

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The global market for connected health and wellness devices is predicted to reach $612 billion in less than 10 years.

A recently released report by Grand View Research, Inc. states that as the demand for integrated health technology continues, the market will reach new heights by 2024, according to MarketWatch.

The expectation that consumers will continue to move toward healthier livelihoods and adopt wearable healthcare devices is not the only factor driving the growth. A rise in the rate of lifestyle-associated diseases that call for around-the-clock monitoring through connected healthcare devices will also attribute to the expansion over the next eight years, noted the source.

As part of the growing effort to improve quality of care, access to platforms enabling patients to view their own health records and related medical data and communicate with doctors is being increased. In terms of market growth, these advanced products, including adapters and remote sensors, are contributing factors. 

The healthcare industry as a whole is anticipated to become the largest sector in the U.S. in less than three years, reported Becker's Spine Review. In July alone, 43,000 jobs were added, outpacing all other industries.

The Trevi Group
www.TheTreviGroup.com

'Silicon Alley' giving Wall Street a run for its money in job creation

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While the finance sector has long been depended upon to support job creation and economic growth in New York, so-called "Silicon Alley" is giving Wall Street a run for its money. 

According to recent findings from the New York Federal Reserve, Silicon Alley - the name given to the booming tech industry in New York City - added more jobs in the state than the finance sector, New York Business Journal reported. 

Specifically, jobs in internet publishing, online shopping and scientific research and development are showing significant growth, according to a statement by William Dudley, president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

"Growth in these high-paying jobs is picking up much of the slack created by the softness of the securities industry," Dudley said. 

Silicon Alley is also increasingly being seen as a vibrant hub for startups. For three out of four quarters of 2015, New York City had more startup funding requests than any other area in the U.S., noted Forbes. In the final quarter of the year, the city registered 20 percent of all startup funding applications in the country. 

And even the tech industry in the Big Apple is taking finance jobs from Wall Street, thanks to fintech. New York state saw the most fintech funding in the country in the first quarter of 2016, and had deals equal to $201.4 billion, according to New York Business Journal. 

As Silicon Alley grows, state leadership will need to reassess Wall Street. The economy of New York City has traditionally been fueled mostly by the finance sector, Liberty Street Economics explained, and in 2007 was responsible for 12 percent of total employment in the city and 25 percent of wage and salary earnings. 

Dudley stated that there were multiple theories as to why the finance sector in the city is seeing minimal job gains, including unsustainable practices prior to the financial crisis, CNBC reported. 

The Trevi Group
www.TheTreviGroup.com

IT spending forecast to near $3 trillion by 2020

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A new report from IDC, an IT research firm, forecast that businesses will spend $2.7 trillion on information technology by 2020, according to Fortune. 

In 2016, IT spending is expected to reach $2.4 trillion, the source noted. 

While sectors like consumer products have typically been most responsible for IT spending, the report showed that the manufacturing, financial services and healthcare sectors will have a larger role in the predicted growth. 

Healthcare in particular will show strong IT investment, with IDC finding that it would continue to the fastest growing industry in terms of tech spending, and will have a compound annual growth rate of 5.7 percent, according to Information Week. 

"In the US, the greatest near-term growth is expected among healthcare providers, professional services firms, banks and securities and investment services organizations," said Jessica Goepfert, program director of customer insights and analysis at IDC, in a statement.

Fueling the increased spending is greater investment in mobile, big data and cloud-based technologies, across industries. 

IDC also noted that large companies - those with more than 1,000 employees - will be responsible for nearly half of global IT spend in 2020, the source reported. 

The Trevi Group
www.TheTreviGroup.com