Tag Archive: Talent Management

  1. HR’s Digital Transformation is Happening: How to Lean In

    Transformation is a funny thing.

    Leading up to crisis, business leaders across the world were talking about transformation. Planning for transformation. Ready to invest trillions in transformation. Until transformation was thrust upon us.

    It’s unfortunate that we lost control of the timeline, but the upside is, transformation – namely, digital transformation – is happening. Right in front of our eyes. And we’re realizing, as leaders from the NBA, Nextdoor, United Health, and more pointed out in a Bersin webinar, we didn’t need multi-year initiatives to get it done.

    Tripti Jha, Global Head of People Solutions at Novartis summed it up well, saying, “We had a two year roll out for Microsoft Teams that was accelerated to two weeks.”

    So here we are. Being transformed in ways we did and didn’t plan for, and accomplishing impressive feats in record time.

    In HR, things were already digital.

    Applicant tracking, learning management, payroll, benefits (the list goes on). The focus at the onset of 2020 was digitizing “the experience.” In other words, designing processes and tools that not only make HR more efficient, but create connective tissue between HR, employees, and potential employees.

    While most things that were important at the beginning of the year pale in comparison to a global pandemic, this hasn’t changed. In fact, being forced apart has brought more attention to the experiences and interactions between us.

    Learning and development experiences still matter. Hiring experiences still matter. What’s changed is our collective comfort level and reliance on technology to deliver these experiences.

    Pre-crisis, digital experiences were on the rise for many reasons. They’re fast, cost-efficient, and give employees direct access to the information they need, eliminating much of HR’s administrative hangover. All good things, and HR teams were eager to move in that direction. But crisis forced everyone into “early adoption.”

    Digital experiences are no longer nice to have.

    They’re must-haves, as companies fundamentally shift their work environments and people practices in a post-coronavirus world.

    Meanwhile, talent acquisition teams are facing the challenge of a lifetime, having to hire in an unemployment market that rivals the Great Depression. As companies build back their workforces, they’ll be flooded with applications, making it impossible to follow a process that was designed for hiring in a low unemployment market.

    That’s why companies are modeling a new process – and new strategy – around digital hiring.

    Digital hiring is here to stay.

    Recruiting teams have been sourcing, reviewing resumes, and assessing candidates online for years. But most aren’t equipped for digital interviewing or digital onboarding.

    To effectively hire in a future where remote work is the norm, recruiting efforts are lean, and teams are assembled by skill set and compatibility, not physical location, companies need a complete digital hiring process, not a partial one. Just as important is the ability to connect everyone, including candidates, interviewers, and hiring managers in one seamless experience from start to finish.

    This is what’s required to get hiring “up to speed” with HR transformation and the strategy that business leaders are building for the future.

    Ready to make your move?

    Outmatch’s digital hiring solutions remove barriers and make it possible for companies to:

    If this sounds like the direction your business is headed in, we invite to try our digital hiring platform, which includes full access to our online assessment + video interviewing software.

  2. How to Make Remote Work a Strategy, Not a Crisis Response

    Remember life before COVID-19? Sometimes it feels like a decade ago. If the amount of change over the past few months seems, for lack of a better term, unprecedented, that’s because it is, particularly with regard to the impact on the workplace.

    Seemingly overnight, office closures forced employers to piece together impromptu work from home policies, while employees scrambled to set up home offices (or a laptop at the kitchen table) without much notice.

    Ironically, many of the remote work tools that kept organizations going during the crisis had been around for years. Some, for decades. Despite having the ability to support a remote workforce from a technology standpoint, most employers remained fully committed to physical office locations. In fact, research from March 2020 showed that only 7% of U.S. workers had the option to work from home regularly.

    That number is likely to increase, especially as companies follow Twitter’s lead in allowing employees to work from home forever. The World Economic Forum writes, “COVID-19 may yet do what years of advocacy failed to: Make telework a benefit available to more than a relative handful of U.S. workers.” 

    Whether that possibility is exciting or disruptive to your business, the wheels are already in motion. Here are some additional stats to consider:

    • 56% of U.S. workers hold a job that is compatible (at least partially) with remote work.
    • 25-30% of the workforce will be working at home on a multiple days a week by the end of 2021.
    • 80% of employees want to work from home at least some of the time and 1/3 would take a pay cut to do so.

    For these reasons, employers need to need to start thinking about making their move sooner rather than later, building the business case, allocating resources, and rethinking their approach to hiring. Here are some factors that will help shape your remote work strategy.

    Return on investment 

    Let’s start with the practical piece of the puzzle: the business case. As Fast Company explained, before COVID-19, many companies maintained their physical offices for security reasons. Those that handle sensitive data couldn’t send their employees to work from home without setting up the infrastructure needed to protect the business.

    Now, having implemented at least temporary solutions to shore up the organization, there’s less of a reason to go back to the way things were. On top of that, early reports show that remote employees are spending three hours more per day online than they were before the pandemic. The idea of lower costs combined with the potential for higher productivity makes it unlikely that employers as a whole will return to the office.

    Instead, a good portion will opt to maintain the new status quo. This means turning temporary solutions into permanent ones that will support employees and the organization long term.

    Expanded global reach

    As the remote work model becomes permanent, talent teams need to start thinking about next steps. What makes a good remote employee? Are the right people in the right roles today, or will teams be re-organized? What are hiring needs going forward?

    In answering these questions, new opportunities become apparent. No longer are teams or new talent confined a 25-mile radius. Now the organization can think – and hire – globally. That opens up a world of possibilities from a recruiting perspective, but one that will also need to be satisfied remotely.

    Everything from sourcing and screening to interviewing and onboarding will become part of a digital hiring process, one that connects candidates and hiring teams anywhere in the world. This streamlined virtual experience will replace the need to travel in, shakes hands, and awkwardly parade around the office.

    Competitive employer brand

    Working from home has long been seen as a perk for interested employees, especially those seeking more work-life balance. Much like employers have “seen the light” in how well a remote set up can work for the organization, employees who experienced the benefits of working from home during the pandemic are less inclined to restart their commute.

    Having weathered the storm and worked out the kinks, remote employers will become increasingly attractive to candidates in the months and years to come. Embracing remote work communicates nimbleness and resilience on the part of the organization, showing its ability to move past self-imposed limitations to create a more flexible and sustainable model – one that instills trust in its workforce. Pretty good value proposition, no?

    For some, going remote might not have been the plan. And staying remote might not be either. But as this year has proven, and as the famous Mike Tyson quote goes, “Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.”

    It’s how organizations react and adapt that matters in the long run.

  3. How to Support Your New Remote Workforce

    In a recent webinar on How to Manage Disruption, several HR leaders told us they had no work from home policy in place before Coronavirus.

    At Outmatch, we’re now fully remote, but before the global heath crisis, we had about 50% of employees working from home on a regular basis. For those of you who are new to working remote and managing a remote workforce, we’re happy to share some things that have worked for us.

    Cameras

    Turn them on! This can be uncomfortable at first, but as more people do it, it becomes the new normal. Our IT team, which is widely dispersed, has been doing this for years, and we rolled it out company-wide about a year ago. It’s a small change that makes a BIG difference in keeping people connected. We communicate better when we can see reactions and body language, and we don’t talk over each other like we do on ‘blind’ calls. Get your leaders in the habit of turning on cameras, and with some gentle nudges, you can have everyone doing it in no time.

    No multitasking

    This one’s pretty straightforward: if you attend a meeting, be present. It’s hard not to multitask, especially when you don’t have anyone’s physical presence to keep you accountable (friendly reminders help here; so do cameras). We have a no-pressure policy where employees are free to decline meetings that aren’t essential for them to be in. If you find yourself in a meeting and your attention is being pulled away, simply let people know you’re going to drop off.

    Flexible schedules

    We moved away from set schedules a few years ago, which made sense for us culturally. We have people across all US time zones and a few in other countries, so time is relative. In our current situation, flexibility is key. Kids are home. Routines are off. Everyone is feeling stir crazy. Flexibility gives people the freedom to unplug a few times a day and work during odd hours, if needed. We encourage Outmatchers to find a schedule (or in this case, a new normal) that works for them and their team – and not to stress when they need to care for their families or themselves.

    Virtual happy hour

    So we don’t become totally socially deprived, we added a non-work meeting to the mix. We started “Find Out Friday” as a way to connect on things that aren’t work-related. Our first edition was “meet your pets.” Other ideas are “what’s your workout?” and “guess who’s childhood photo this is.” Get creative and try to have fun with it. Virtual meetings with no agenda can feel strange at first, but since we can’t chat around the water cooler like usual, it’s a great stand-in.

    Weekly company updates

    This is another change we made about a year ago. Instead of gathering everyone in our biggest common area (which isn’t an option now anyhow) for a formal quarterly update, we started “Keg of Greg,” which you can probably guess is less formal. Each week, Greg, our CEO, gets on camera for a quick company check-in. People are free to ask questions, voice concerns, and even suggest special topics. By making this a recurring meeting, people are able to stay connected and get regular face time with the CEO.

    Recognition

    We’re all out of our comfort zone right now, so making sure to recognize people who are working hard and helping others is a great way to boost morale. This was part of our CulturalDNA already, but it’s important to keep alive in times like these. We call this “Expedition Recognition” because we like the explorer archetype and use this theme to guide our values, which are: Build Bridges, Pack Light Travel Fast, and Sherpa Attitude. When Outmatchers do something that represents one of these values, they’re recognized for it (we use a Teams channel), and then they’re sent a charm as a token of appreciation.

    Culture Club

    This cross-functional team is dedicated to caring for our culture. Having a big remote population already, Culture Club members talked often about, “How do we keep remote workers connected and engaged? How do we create a sense of community across distance?” Now being 100% remote, these conversations are even more critical. With a team already assembled, we’re able to bring together creative minds from across the company, advocate for each other, and keep our culture strong, even in a time of crisis.

    Final thoughts…

    We know in the HR community, your #1 priority is caring for your employees. But don’t forget to care for yourself. What we’re dealing with right now is heavy. It’s emotionally exhausting, and you’re probably missing meals and sleep to try and meet the needs of others. Deborah Schwarz, HR Vice President at Cousins Properties said this about self-care:

    “Don’t dismiss the weight we’re carrying. We’re taking care of people who are taking care of their families, and that is a lot. If you’re feeling heavy or down, you have a good reason. But address it and find a way to take care of yourself so that you’re able to take care of everyone else.”

    For more advice from HR leaders, watch How to Manage Disruption (And Not Lose Your Mind).

  4. 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

  5. How to Get the Most Bang from Your Pre-Hire Assessment

    Pre-hire assessments come in different shapes and sizes, and there’s more than one way to use them – which makes versatility one of this technology’s most intriguing benefits. Post implementation, organizations often discover exciting use cases and additional value from a tool that’s historically been a one-trick pony.

    For some organizations, using a pre-hire assessment means testing for job-critical soft skills and cognitive abilities before investing in a new hire. For others, the assessment is used to provide a bias-free understanding of a potential hire’s culture fit, which job in the company they’ll be best at, or how their personality and work style will contribute to the team. 

    How and when you use your pre-hire assessment is up to your organization’s talent acquisition strategy, but to ensure you get every drop of value from your chosen solution, here are a few things to keep in mind:

    Choose an assessment that’s easy

    The last thing you want is a promising solution that could have been great – if only people had used it. 

    To help grease the wheels for adoption and change management, choose an assessment with a simple and intuitive UI. This is important for reporting and analytics, too. Modern assessments have come a long way, so look for one that empowers your teams to make quick and intelligent decisions, without needing to be specially trained or have an I-O psychologist nearby to interpret the findings.

    The assessment experience should be equally friendly for candidates. Many newer assessments can be completed in 10 minutes or less, using images, optimized test design, and even games to keep candidates engaged while collecting valuable information about their potential for success and ideal career path.

    Connect with a video interviewing tool

    Most companies are already using some type of assessment, and adoption of video interviewing software is on the rise.

    Together, these tools make a perfect team, with assessments providing much-needed data and objectivity, and video interviewing adding a human layer that allows candidates to express their uniqueness and be seen as a person, not just a score. According to Deloitte Insights, “Video interviewing can reduce pre-hire assessment questions from 200 to just five and raises the possibility of one-interview hires.” That’s a heck of an endorsement!

    The best thing you can do is integrate these tools into a seamless workflow for candidates. Just as important, you want results to be seamless for hiring teams. Rather than seeing assessments and video interviews as separate data points, find an integrated solution that can aggregate information into a comprehensive candidate profile.

    Stay agile with AI

    How can assessments predict success when jobs and skills and companies are constantly changing?

    If you’re going to use an assessment to match the right person to the right role at the right time, then you need the right profile – one that’s been proven to work in organizations like yours, or a custom profile. Or, you might be using an assessment to measure culture fit, something that’s less job-specific. Either way, precision is key, and you need a solution that can use data from successful hires to create the perfect profile for your needs.

    This is how machine learning works in the world of assessments, taking in continuous streams of information, analyzing the data, and improving on its performance. This approach ensures the assessment is an accurate predictor of success, even in super-agile environments. No matter how your business pivots, an AI-powered assessment will keep pace. 

    Integrate post-hire

    Assessments are deeply rooted in the talent acquisition space. Hence the name “pre-hire assessment.”

    But, the best way to get more bang for your buck is to use this talent acquisition tool outside of TA. Take hi-po identification, for example. Gartner tells us that “high-potential employees exert 21% more effort than others, and have a 75% chance of succeeding at roles that are critical to business performance and the future leadership pipeline.” The problem is, without a way to identify hi-po’s in your company, you won’t be able to tap into or develop their potential. 

    From talent discovery and internal mobility to career pathing, development, and succession planning, assessments help in every instance – if you leverage them. So, break out of your comfort zone and forget what assessments are ‘supposed to do.” Instead, imagine what they can do. 

    Explore what’s new in assessments

    With more companies using assessments than not, it’s fair to say they’ve become a talent acquisition staple, adding important structure and rigor to the hiring process.

    That doesn’t mean you can’t get creative and have a little fun with assessments, too. There’s a wave of next-gen assessments on the market offering flexibility, engaging experiences, and analytics that didn’t exist before – without sacrificing the predictability organizations have come to know and respect about these solutions.

    Finding the right use for your needs requires careful thought and consideration, paired with a healthy dose of experimentation. When it comes to getting your biggest bang, it’s up to you to push the limits!

  6. 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

  7. How to Assess a Candidate’s Skills before an Interview

    According to new LinkedIn research, 69% of professionals believe that skills are more important than a college degree when looking for a job, and 76% wish there was a way for hiring managers to verify their skills so they could stand out amongst other candidates.

    Recruiting teams share the same wish – to see a more complete picture of a candidate, beyond the resume. But how?

    Pre-hire assessments add an additional layer of intelligence to help solve the visibility problem in hiring. Using assessments, candidates can show off their skills, and recruiters can be sure match the right people to the right roles, every time.

    Aberdeen research from a few years ago found that 2/3 of companies use pre-hire assessments. And that number has surely grown. At most companies, “pre-hire assessments are a fundamental part of the hiring strategy.” Without them, assessing the skills and strengths of your candidate pool would be slow and subjective, at best.

    What to assess?

    Pre-hire assessments come in many forms. There are hard skills assessments, like LinkedIn launched earlier this year, that measure software or coding skills, for example.

    Then there are soft skills assessments, which are becoming increasingly important as 80% of professionals say soft skills are critical to company success. According to LinkedIn’s Global Talent Trends report, soft skills like creativity, persuasion, and collaboration are in high demand – but, less than half of companies have a formal process in place to measure them.

    There are also cognitive assessments that measure skills like logical reasoning or reading comprehension, similar to a college entrance exam. Abstract reasoning is a popular cognitive assessment because it measures an individual’s ability to learn, which can help you gauge their trajectory or long-term contribution to your company.

    Finally, there are culture fit assessments that measure values and motivations in comparison with the company’s CulturalDNA. Does a potential hire value collaboration above precision? Are they more motivated to drive results or delight customers? There’s no wrong answer, but knowing these aspects will help ensure happy, successful hires.

    With different assessments to illuminate different skills sets, you’ll begin to see candidates as real, multi-dimensional people – much more than bullet points on a page. It’s a quick and objective way to assess candidates for job fit, culture fit, and career potential so you immediately know who should move on the interview stage.

    Ah, the clarity!

    Most assessments can be completed in under 20 minutes, depending on the skill or type of job you’re assessing for. Once completed, your team will have data you can use to rank or shortlist candidates, as well as insight on hidden strengths and career potential that you wouldn’t have gotten from a resume, a phone call, or even an in-person interview.

    Using assessments, you’ll see your entire hiring process become more streamlined, with improved decision making every step of the way. Recruiters can focus on pursing the most promising candidates, and because results can be shared, hiring teams are aligned and able to collaborate on decisions like never before.

    Some assessments (like ours!) even generate an interview guide based on the candidate’s potential weaknesses and areas for improvement. That way, interviewers know exactly what to ask and can learn the most about a candidate in a limited amount of time.

    Best of all, candidates’ skills can finally shine through. Today, 52% of professionals say they feel their skills have been overlooked in the hiring process in the past. We’re on a mission to change that – so job seekers can get the jobs they deserve, and employers like you never miss a great candidate again!

    START YOUR JOURNEY WITH ASSESSMENTS TODAY

  8. Nontraditional Talent Pools & How to Tap Into Them

    No matter which way you look at it, recruiting is hard work – especially in 2019. The jobs are plenty, the job seekers are few, and diversity is top of mind at many organizations. So it’s no surprise that gaining traction with potential candidates requires careful thought combined with a whole lot of action. 

    As a result, recruiters need to revisit their strategies, expand their reach, and tap into new or otherwise nontraditional talent pools. Of course, adding this to your current workload might feel like a second job, but thankfully, there are programs and tools that help facilitate the process. Here are three to consider adding to your existing toolkit:

    Returnship programs

    ‘Nontraditional’ applies to a wide variety of job seekers, including those out of the workforce for an extended period. Maybe they served in the military, spent a few years taking care of a loved one, or decided to pursue an advanced degree full-time. No matter the reason, a returnship offers these people the opportunity to slide back into the world of work.

    Felicia Fleitman, who manages strategic pipelines at Verisk, a data analytics company, explains the returnship experience as “an intern program for mid-level professionals returning to work.” Recognizing that returnees need help in specific areas, Verisk provides access to training, development, coaching, and mentorship resources designed to restart their career and get them up to speed. Sometimes this leads to a job offer. Sometimes their return isn’t the right fit – and that’s OK too.  

    In terms of recruiting, adding a returnship program provides direct access to countless candidates, who might go overlooked in an ATS. At the same time, you’re giving returnees the chance to get their confidence back while contributing to your organization. A win-win, all around. 

    Video interviewing

    Maybe you’re not in a position to implement a new program, such as returnship. Luckily, there are other ways to tap into nontraditional talent without building something from scratch. For a quick win, take a look at some of your most time-intensive recruitment processes. The administrative workload associated with scheduling and screening candidates is probably not the best use of your recruiters’ time. That workload, coupled with pressure to move fast, forces recruiters to stick with what they know and avoid looking outside the traditional mold. 

    With a tool like video interviewing to automate and streamline, recruiters are able to review more candidates in less time, while continuing to collaborate with hiring managers and other stakeholders. 

    As far as nontraditional talent goes, this technology enables all types of candidates to interview when and where they’re able to – rather than simply at the behest of the organization. Be it pre-recorded or live, video interviewing emphasizes convenience – an important factor in a tight job market, especially with so many job seekers either actively employed or else unavailable during office hours. Video interviewing is also mobile friendly, allowing you to reach candidates in different cities, looking to relocate, or those with mobility issues who can’t necessarily travel with ease. With this type of solution in place, you’re able to cast a wider net with fewer strings attached. 

    Soft skills assessment

    When it comes to finding and engaging new talent, you might still need to think outside the box – or in this case, your industry. Sure, it’s great when candidates fall into your lap having the exact resume and experience you’re looking for. But how often does that happen in 2019? Instead of limiting your search to candidates who’ve done the job before, you can use assessments to find people with transferrable skills that will work well in your industry. 

    Take sales, for example. The ability to sell isn’t contingent on years of experience in a sales position. It’s about having the soft skills and behavioral traits necessary to be productive. Using a pre-hire assessment, you can identify candidates with the highest potential for success, even if their background doesn’t correspond exactly. In fact, nontraditional talent may even outperform other hires because they’re a stronger match – and you won’t know until you assess. 

    It’s tough to say if and when the job market will change, but for now, it’s a candidate’s game and recruiters need to play through. To get candidates from those nontraditional talent pools you haven’t recruited from before, you need to shore up your resources and dive in head first. 

    Written by Greg Moran,
    CEO of Outmatch

  9. Machine Learning vs. Predictive Analytics: What HR Should Know

    If you thought machine learning and predictive analytics were one and the same, you’re not alone.

    Though the terms ‘machine learning‘ and ‘predictive analytics‘ aren’t interchangeable, they are complementary – less like apples to apples and more like apples and caramel. Excellent apart and unstoppable together.

    Food metaphors aside, in today’s hyper-competitive landscape, the only way to get ahead is to be future-ready. To predict things before they happen so you can put your business in a favorable position. Luckily, with all the data that’s available to HR, you don’t have to be a soothsayer to answer questions like:

    • Which candidates in our applicant pool will become top performers?
    • Who on our staff has the greatest growth potential – and who is at risk of turning over?
    • When will I experience my next staffing shortage?
    • What will my expected time to fill be in next year’s economic climate?
    • How will projected business growth effect employee engagement?

    Machine learning and predictive analytics can work together to answer HR’s most burning questions.

    How does it work? Think of predictive analytics as the what and machine learning as the how.

    Predictive analytics is a practice that attempts to quantify possible future events. Predictions are made by finding patterns in current and historical data, often through sophisticated mathematical and statistical models.

    Fun fact: Predictive analytics dates back to World War II when it was used to decode encrypted German messages.

    Machine learning is a way to apply AI to predictive analytics so that predictions can be made without human guidance. Machine learning gives us a superhuman edge because its algorithms can analyze massive amounts of data and identify every possible pattern (and remember – patterns are key to predictions!)

    While predictive analytics can be done without AI, machine learning unlocks new predictive power. Free from the constraints of human analysis, machine learning can use continuous data streams to make real-time predictions, then analyze the outcomes and improve its own performance.

    How can your HR team bring machine learning and predictive analytics into practice?

    As other arms of the business (looking at you, Marketing, Finance…) sharpen their predictive intelligence, the expectation is that HR do same. But where to begin?

    If our peers can predict buying patterns and market trends, then the same capability should be available to HR. And it is! In fact, it’s built into many of the tools that your team is using today, or will be using in the near future.

    Modern pre-employment assessments, for example, are really predictive analytics tools using machine algorithms to identify the highest potential candidates in your applicant pool. You’ll also find predictive analytics and machine learning in resume screening software, recruiting chatbots, and video interviewing platforms, which are beginning to use speech and facial analysis to predict job performance.

    Whatever tools you chose, make sure they’re tied to the questions you’re trying to answer (Who are our high potentials? Where are our risk areas? What resources will we need…?). Implementing predictive analytics or machine learning without a defined purpose won’t do you any good. It can even get you into trouble.

    So go! Explore the brave new world of HR and become the strategic player you’ve always wanted to be. But also, be smart and don’t succumb to everything that’s shiny and new – especially when it comes to AI.

    For help cutting through the hype and investing wisely in new tools…

    Download the HR Buyer’s Guide: How to Evaluate HR Tech in the Machine Learning Era.