Tag Archive: Learning and Development

  1. How to Use Video for Hiring, Training, and More: 5 Best Practices

    During social distancing, you likely discovered a new appreciation for video. If they weren’t already, virtual happy hours, video chats, and meetings on webcam quickly became the norm. Now that we’ve seen how easy it is stay connected on a human level – no matter the distance – video technology will continue to power our work and personal lives.

    Companies like Twitter shifting to permanent remote work will rely on video to connect, collaborate, and keep productivity high. Even if your workforce isn’t remote, there are so many benefits to using video that with a bit of creative thinking, you can transform anything from a candidate phone screen to an employee engagement survey into something interactive, efficient, and fun.

    To help get your creative juices flowing, here are just a few of the ways companies are using video in talent selection, learning and development, and more.

    Candidate marketing

    Company culture and “day in the life” videos are a great way to show (vs. tell) candidates why your company is a great place to work. Whether funny or heartfelt, polished or shot on an iPhone, videos give candidates a feel for the vibe of your company so they can imagine themselves working there.

    Check out this funny video “Another Day in the Office” from our friends at Specialized Bicycles.

    Video interviewing

    While video calls and video conferencing have existed for years, the recent shift to remote work has made these tools more popular than ever. Video is the glue that keeps teams connected across distance. It’s also become the interview method of choice for companies that have high candidate volume and/or need to hire virtually – especially when career fairs and on-site interviews aren’t an option. Live video interviews make it possible to meet with candidates anywhere in the world, and pre-recorded interviews allow hiring teams to see skills and personalities in a process that’s much faster than phone screening.

    Learn more about pre-recorded and live video interviewing.

    Leadership programs

    Because video interviewing can be just as effective for internal selection, companies are beginning to think outside the recruitment box to make greater use of tools that might already be in place. Leadership programs are a great example. Use video interviewing to ask and capture answers to a consistent set of questions in your leadership program selection process. Videos can be easily shared with decision makers without having to set up multiple interviews, and employees appreciate the opportunity to pitch themselves for a spot in the program.

    Best practices:

    • Record a welcome video from your CEO.
    • Include situational leadership questions geared toward the role.

    Training and knowledge sharing

    Other creative uses of video interviewing don’t have to do with interviewing or selection at all. On the L&D side of the house, if you want to test knowledge retained from training, video interviewing is a fun and effective way for employees demonstrate what they’ve learned. You can also use video interviewing to gather and share knowledge across your organization, ensuring that information is easily accessible and not stored only in someone’s head.

    Examples:

    • Record your company’s elevator pitch, mission, and core values.
    • Use video to capture competitive intelligence or a 5-minute sales pitch.

    Employee engagement

    Looking for a scalable way to collect feedback and ideas from employees that’s not OMG, another survey we have to take? Make employee engagement more engaging using video interviewing to record video introductions of your executive team, get employee’s reactions to initiatives, pitch and vote on ideas to drive company culture, and gather feedback on roles and responsibilities. Those are just a few ways we’re seeing companies use video interviewing software, but there’s no limit to how creative you can be!

    To learn more about different types of video interviews, when to use them, and how to create great video interview experiences, download the The Ultimate Guide to Video Interviewing.

  2. 3 Reasons Why Employers Should Care about Accessibility

    When your online experiences aren’t accessible, you shrink your recruiting reach – and the diversity inside your company – by 15%.

    Over 1 billion people around the world have some form of disability, according to The World Bank. That’s 15% of the global population. If you don’t happen to be part of that 15%, you probably haven’t thought much about accessibility. Until now.

    As we enter a new decade, we’re seeing accessibility move closer and closer to a tipping point. Digital natives are gaining influence, and voices on social media are louder than ever. On top of that, diversity has evolved from a conversation to a full blown revolution.

    These things have converged and are all directing out attention to the issue of accessibility. Frankly, it doesn’t make business sense to ignore it any longer.

    According to a recent poll, 30% of HR leaders said they’re making accessibility improvements. Forty-one percent said “I know it’s important and want to learn more,” and 28% said  “Eager to make improvements, just need budget and a plan.”

    Poll results - we asked HR leaders "Where are you in your accessibility journey?"

     

     

     

     

     

    If you haven’t started on your accessibility journey, you’re not alone. But, that’s no excuse to throw it on the back burner. Here are 3 reasons why you should make accessibility a priority in 2020:

    1. Legislation is coming.

    Remember GDPR? When GDPR became law in the EU, companies all over the world went frantic. One day the switch was flipped, and if you hadn’t been proactive about it, you were suddenly out of compliance with data privacy laws effecting a major chunk of the globe. It can happen that fast, or at least it seems fast when you don’t see it coming.

    So here it is. We’re telling you now. Accessibility is following the same trajectory as GDPR, and it won’t be long until we see suggestions and guidelines turn into laws.

    2. Accessibility shows you care.

    At this point, you have to ask yourself, What kind of business do I want to be? What kind of culture do I want to create? Choosing not to be accessible sends a message that diversity isn’t important enough to take action on.

    Picture your logo, stamped with a big red disclaimer that says:

    • People with disabilities may not make it through our application process.
    • People with disabilities don’t have equal access to tools and resources in our company.
    • People with disabilities will encounter barriers that keep them from thriving here.

    The last thing you want is to be ‘found out’ for allowing this to happen. Luckily, no one expects you to achieve a 100% accessibility overnight. As long as you’re taking steps, even baby steps, you’re moving in the right direction.

    A good mantra to follow is:

    “Be better today than we were yesterday.”

    3. Accessibility has a cost. Not being accessible has an even greater cost.

    Beyond the hit to your brand reputation, think about what your losing when you don’t provide accessible experiences. While the war for talent rages on, can you really afford to exclude 15% of the population from applying to your jobs? Can you risk losing 15% of your talent to companies that are more inclusive?

    In a world where innovation is king and curiosity is an employer’s #1 competency, even a small improvement can make a world of difference. Imagine increasing diversity of thought in your company by 15%. Based on research, you can bet you’d see more than a 15% return.

    I’m sold. Now what?

    Since accessibility matters for web apps, mobile apps, digital media, and basically everything your candidates and employees touch, it can feel like an impossible project. Here are some tips to help you get started:

    • Find help. You don’t have to do it alone. There are companies out there that specialize in accessibility. They can provides audits, training, whatever you need. You’ll also want to find an internal champion (or group of champions!) to keep the wheels moving.

     

    • Look for like-minded partners. Because technology operates in an ecosystem, you’ll need to make sure your vendor partners are on the accessibility journey, too. They don’t be completely mature, or even in the same place as you. But they need to be on the journey.

     

    • Follow the guidelines. The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) is considered the gold standard in accessibility and is used all over the world. This framework provides specific and clear-cut guidance for designers, developers, and anyone interested in creating accessible experiences.

     

    • Start a focus group. Accessibility often involves making changes that are invisible to people without disabilities. How will you know it’s working? There are tools and widgets you can use, but also, get feedback from people with disabilities and people who use assisstive technologies.

     

    • Take a step. Don’t stall the project because you don’t know where to start. Like any big undertaking, you’ll need to prioritize and take a phased approach. Find a place in the business where you think you’ll see the biggest impact from accessibility improvements. Or, find a low-risk place to experiment. What matters most is that you start.

    To learn more about accessibility and how to get started, watch our webinar: How to Get a Win for Diversity & Accessibility in 2020.

    Title slide to webinar - How to Get a Win for Diversity & Accessibility in 2020

  3. How Can Talent Assessments Connect People to their Passions (And Help Your Company in the Process)

    With so much technology on the market and so many exciting avenues to pursue, HR is in a position to impact the business like never before. The challenge is not, what can we do, but rather, how much can we do to drive the business forward? This will depend on alignment with business strategy and smart HR tech investments.

    Organizations are taking a new approach to measuring things like quality of hire and employee engagement. New technology makes it possible for companies to track where employees are spending time, how they’re performing job tasks, and what their potential for success is – today and in the future.

    Some of the most exciting trends in HR tech are in the vein of discovering hidden talent, connecting people with their passions, and hiring not just to fill a role, but to set someone on a trajectory for lifelong success.

    Thanks to rapid innovation in the market, we’re seeing an explosion of new releases and platforms that are helping to turn these trends into tangibles. Even assessment software, which hasn’t traditionally been the flashiest piece of technology on the market, is becoming a game-changer for HR and employees everywhere.

    Here are 3 ways talent assessments will make your initiatives – and your employees – more successful:

    Find every person’s best fit

    Often, talent assessments are used in hiring as a way to measure fit to the job or fit to the company (or both!). By assessing hard skills, soft skills, or cognitive abilities, hiring teams are armed with insight on a candidate’s potential for success.

    Recruiters and managers can also start to see how a potential hire might fit on the team, as well as skills gaps they might be able to fill by adding this candidate versus another.

    If you’re hiring for a sales position, for example, an assessment will tell you how a candidate ranks on must-have soft skills like work intensity and follow through. An assessment might also tell you how strong he or she is in sales knowledge, such as prospecting and overcoming objections.

    Ideally, the assessment would then roll up the results into one overall score, with the ability to drill down into each different skill set.

    But say a candidate isn’t a great fit for the job they applied to. In a tight talent market, employers can’t afford to throw out applications. Rather than simply tagging someone as a poor fit, new assessment software allows recruiters to match candidates to other open positions in their company.

    This way, recruiters can make use of every candidate in their applicant pool, fill more jobs, and help more people improve their livelihood. It’s a win-win all around.

    Discover pathways to future roles

    Once you’ve got the right people in the right roles, you can sit back and relax. Just kidding! As good practitioners know, hiring is just the beginning of an employee’s *hopefully long and productive* journey with your company.

    This is where the pre-hire assessment comes back into play. One assessment can help guide the next several years of an employee’s journey. That’s why many employers see it as “the data that keeps on giving” – it continues providing value long after the hiring decision has been made.

    First, assessment results can be used as onboarding guides, helping new hires get up to speed quickly based on their strengths and opportunities in the role. Then, after ramp up, assessments can help employees and their managers see what’s next.

    Say your sales hire is killing it – hitting quota every quarter and helping the entire team succeed. She’s raised her hand for a sales manager position, and looking at performance, she’s the most deserving of the promotion.

    But, leading a sales team requires a very different skill set than what’s she’s using today. Your top salesperson is about to move into untested waters, and if she fails, you could lose her for good. Using an assessment, you can see her potential for success in a management role, along with development suggestions to make the transition easier.

    Together, the salesperson, her manager, and others from L&D can identify an employee’s ideal career path and steps to get there. The assessment creates the perfect scenario where promotions are based on skills, not just performance, and every employee has the opportunity to grow.

    Illuminate hidden skills and strengths

    Similar to promotions, decisions about who is considered a ‘high potential’ are often subjective. In many cases, putting someone’s name in the hat for a hi-po program depends on how important development is to a given manager.

    In a system like this, great people get overlooked. And isn’t HR’s goal to engage and retain as many employees as possible, not just a select few?

    Assessments can improve how you select people for hi-po programs, and thanks to tailored development plans that now come with assessment results, you can drastically scale participation in hi-po programs.

    Equally important, assessments can help re-define what you mean by ‘high potential.’ Does high potential mean potential for leadership in your company? If so, what are the mission-critical skills and competencies your leadership teams have today, and what will they need in the future?

    Assessments give you instant insight into the skills and competencies that matter most in your business, ensuring that no one is overlooked. You may find more than one diamond in the rough. Perhaps a quiet contributor today becomes a pivotal future leader.

    So, rather than let an employee’s potential wither away – or worse! – lose them to a competitor, you can use assessments to discover hidden talent and tips the odds in your favor.

    START YOUR JOURNEY WITH ASSESSMENTS TODAY