3 Steps to Better Recruiting

When it comes to modern recruiting there are so many tools available so it can be challenging trying to choose the right ones. However, at the heart of recruiting is connecting with candidates. Whether you work at a staffing company, large organization, are hiring for a small business, or are just looking for advice, there are a few key things you need in order to have better recruiting results.

As you go about setting up or evaluating your recruiting process, here are three steps that will lead to better recruiting:

A Mobile-Friendly Site

Of all the tools a recruiter can have in the digital space, this is one of the most beneficial. Whether applicants are looking for general information about your company or want to actually apply for a job, you need to make sure they can do it from their phone or other mobile devices. With so many people turning to their mobile devices to stay connected rather than using their computer, you can’t afford to not have a mobile-friendly site. By updating your website, you are far more likely to reach new applicants and gain those top-talented individuals you need.

Social Media Engagement

If people are turning to their smart phones and tablets to access information, then social media is where they are most likely finding it. Making sure you are using social media is another crucial step in recruiting in the digital age. From sharing relevant content to sharing the jobs you are trying to fill, you can target a new audience through social media. If you aren’t currently using this form of communication, consider making a change and embracing this great tool. It will increase your engagement with a community of potential applicants.

Easier Screening Processes

Through following the first two steps, you’ll naturally end up at the third: new and improved screening processes. By making it easier to screen your applicants, you’ll be able to find the best talent and fill positions much more easily. Consider adapting communication channels like video interviews and placing a strong emphasis on company’s culture. Allow applicants an inside view of your company so they can help make the hiring and screening process easier on you.

What makes recruiting easier and more efficient for you? What else should be on our list? Leave your stories and suggestions in the comments below!

4 Ways to Keep Employees Productive in the Winter

For many organizations and companies, the winter months are the busiest. With holiday shopping and budgets resetting, this is a great time to add new employees and hire seasonal help, but there is one common problem many face: winter slow down. It can be incredibly difficult for anyone to stay productive in the winter, but keeping your employees productive can be just as difficult.

Continue reading “4 Ways to Keep Employees Productive in the Winter”

Making a Great Candidate First Impression

We’ve talked extensively about employee engagement, but what about candidates? How should you be interacting with candidates? While you may not think it’s important, you need to make a great first impression on candidates. When you don’t make a solid first impression, you aren’t going to capture the right candidates.

Without a great first impression, candidates are more likely to turn away from you and choose a different company. By providing a great candidate experience and making that first impression fantastic, you could end up turning candidates into long-term associates or employees.

Get Your Message On Point

From your website to print collateral, candidates are going to read about your company in one form or another. In today’s world, candidates will most likely learn about you from your website, a job posting, an employer review, or a social media site. It can be difficult to manage all of these messages, but it’s crucial to not only have a defined message for candidates, but also a consistent message. Make sure that all of the content you have in various places match your company, your message, and what you offer candidates.

Test Your Processes

If you’re hiring someone, then you have at least one process in place. During the hiring, interviewing, and screening processes, you could be sending candidates away without even knowing it. You need to review and test these processes every few months to see if there is anywhere you can improve on things. When you have a great application process, a solid interview process, and an engaged onboarding process, you can better attract top talent.

Office Setting

We aren’t necessarily talking about the physical location of your office, though having a great location definitely helps. You need to think about the way your office is laid out—what is visible to candidates when they walk in, and how you will greet those candidates. Having an organized office that is inviting to candidates can help you create a great first impression.

Ultimately, first impressions can be the difference between onboarding a new candidate and not. Make sure you’re creating great experiences.

How do you create a great first impression for candidates? Do you have any tips for others? Leave your stories and suggestions in the comments section below!

Why You Need to Know Your Employees

Depending on what industry you’re in, you may find it difficult to find the right candidates or even to retain your best employees. From salaries, to commute times, all the way to employee engagement, there are several factors for employee retention rates. One way to help keep top talent in your workplace is to know your employees.

While there might be a traditional separation of executives and managers from their employees, there doesn’t need to be. By learning what employees like about their jobs, what they don’t like, what they spend their free time doing, and what their career goals are, you can better connect with them.

Here are three reasons why you need to know your employees and make better connections:

1. Improve Retention Rates

It’s no secret that retention rates can affect the activities of your business. From a loss of productivity to the costs of hiring a new employee, high turnover rates have a huge impact on your business functions. By taking the time to get to know employees, you increase engagement and can better satisfy employee needs. Don’t just say hi to employees. Instead, encourage them to communicate with you on ways to improve the work environment and other innovative ideas they may have. Open and honest communication between managers and employees can go a long way.

2. Accelerate Growth

You could have a star employee and not know it. You could lose that star employee and lose innovation, productivity, and opportunity to grow your company. If an employee isn’t comfortable or feels like they don’t matter at work, then they’ll keep their ideas to themselves. When this happens, it could mean losing out on opportunities to grow, expand, improve processes, and ultimately grow revenue. Instead, talk with your employees, establish communication channels, and put effort into making them understand you are interested in their ideas.

3. Increase Productivity

While it was mentioned earlier, opening up communication channels with your employees and getting to know their needs can increase and improve productivity. By knowing your employees, they are more likely to care about the work they are doing, which will increase their productivity. When productivity increases, oftentimes, profits increase. By taking a few minutes every day or every week to talk to employees, you have the potential to see dramatic rises in productivity.

How do you get to know your employees? What are some of the employee engagement success stories at your companies? Leave your stories and suggestions in the comments section below!

How to Ask Interview Questions

As you begin searching for great employees to join your team or company, you need to think about the interviews you have to conduct. While knowing the right and wrong questions to ask is important, it’s also important to know how to ask those questions. Interview questions can be misleading, misinterpreted, and you give candidates false hope if you aren’t careful.

While in an interview, you as an employer need to pay special attention to your body language, word choice, and even your tone when asking questions. To help you out, here are five tips on asking interview questions:

1. Pay Attention to Tone

You’re probably a really busy person. You need to fill the position quickly. Maybe you get straight to the point with your questions. Maybe you ask broad questions. No matter what questions you’re asking, you need to pay attention to the tone you’re using when asking them. If you ask them quickly or passively, a candidate could get the impression that you don’t care about them or filling the job. Remember, you’re making a first impression with each candidate, so it’s important that you have a professional tone during the interview.

2. Prepare Your Questions

One of the worst things you can do for the candidate’s experience is to not be prepared. Avoiding this requires not only having questions ready for candidates, but reviewing their resumes and cover letters so that you can ask more specific and targeted questions. Remember, you’re trying to figure out if this person can do the job and also fit in with your company culture.

3. Have a Conversation

Since you’re trying to get to know candidates, it helps to have a conversation during the interview. While there is specific information you need to learn from the interview, it allows them to talk about their experiences, passions, and their ideal job and work setting. Having a more natural conversation with candidates will help them be more relaxed and willing to answer all of your questions.

4. Listen and Respond

While a conversation is a key element to every successful interview, you also need to make sure you are listening to what candidates are saying and respond to that. You have prepared questions, but you also need to ask follow-up questions to bounce off what the candidates are saying. Your interview may end up going a different way than you expected, but that can be a really great thing because you could end up finding the perfect candidate. Listening to candidates will help you learn about them and their experiences as employees.

5. Be Honest

During your interview, it may be tempting to talking about only the exciting or fascinating aspects of the position, but you need to be upfront and honest about everything the position entails. It can turn off recent hires if you tell them one thing during an interview and expect something completely different from them as an employee. Be honest with your expectations and be honest with the job requirements. Remember, you could be talking to someone you are going to hire and work with.

Do you have any tips on asking interview questions? How do you handle interviews? Leave your stories and suggestions in the comments section below!

Hiring Mistakes to Avoid

Finding the right hires for your company or business is crucial to productivity, profit, and success. In order to grow and succeed the way you want to, you need the best available talent. One way to not get that talent is to fall victim to hiring mistakes. When you don’t know what mistakes to avoid when hiring, you could end up hiring someone who isn’t a great fit for your company or the position you’re hiring for.

Hiring mistakes happen every day. Unfortunately, they can be rather costly. Instead of wasting money on poor hiring decisions, know those mistakes so you can avoid them in the future:

1. Going with your “gut” feeling.

No matter how great your “gut” or instincts usually are, it isn’t enough when it comes to hiring a new employee. You need to have evidence and data to back up your decision. Just because a job candidate looks great on a resume or nails that pre-screen interview, it doesn’t mean they are right for the job. Take your time, get to know candidates, and interview several people before you make your decision.

2. Not knowing what questions to ask.

It’s important to know the right questions to ask before interviewing someone. Asking about educational background and work experiences are great places to start, but ultimately won’t give you enough information. Instead, you need to ask for specific examples that can point you in the right direction of what this candidate will be like as an employee.

3. Checking for cultural fit.

Whether you know it or not, your business has a culture. Before hiring someone, it’s important to know they’ll fit in the culture you’ve created. The best way to do this is to get to know a candidate on a more personal level. You need to make sure their values as an employee line up with your values as a company.

4. Not having a defined process.

Before you ever begin the hiring or interviewing process, you need to have established processes. These processes range from sourcing job candidates all the way to onboarding new hires. Before you get started, think out timelines, questions, and how you will handle all of the paper work.

Do you have any advice for those getting ready to hire? What mistakes have you made in the past? Leave your stories and suggestions in the comments below!

Pull Factors for Your Company

Have you ever stopped to wonder why people choose to work at your company? For many, it’s all about the pull factors—the things ‘pulling’ candidates and employees into a company. Last week, we talked about the things pushing employees out of your company, but what about the things pulling them in or keeping them there? Whether you cultivate these pull factors or not, they are there.

Continue reading “Pull Factors for Your Company”