The Secret to Identifying the Best Talent in Your Pool
Generate More Applications with Skills-Based Recruitment
The labor market is tight, and there are more jobs available than good candidates. Can your organization afford to try the same recruitment tactics again and again, hoping for a different result? You must think outside the box and try new, proactive hiring tactics if you hope to entice great talent to your teams. One way you can do this is by pivoting to skills-based recruitment and widening the scope of your talent pool. Let’s unpack what you’re currently doing, and how you can make small improvements to attract many, many more candidates to your roles. Why aren’t my current job ads attracting candidates? It depends heavily on your internal recruitment process, and the resources you have available, but there may be a few factors in play: Unicorn candidates: You might be advertising for a unicorn candidate. That’s someone who offers a long list of your “must haves” and an even longer list of “desirable traits”. The unicorn candidate that everyone is looking for. Cookie-cutter candidates: You might be advertising for a very traditional cookie-cutter candidate suited to your role. Your job ad might be going through the motions, telling a story that’s indistinguishable from your competitors, and excluding non-traditional candidates from the get-go. Degree inflation: You might be immediately disqualifying candidates without, for example, a bachelor’s degree, who may otherwise have the required skills for the role. You might even be requiring a bachelor’s degree for a role that does not necessarily require one or didn’t previously. This is called degree inflation. Candidates can acquire skills through work experience, online learning, formal training, mentorship, and more. Similarly, soft skills like critical thinking and effective communication aren’t strictly gained from university degrees. Underselling your openness to diverse candidates from a range of backgrounds and work experiences can seriously harm your recruitment efforts. Your vacancy is likely to stand unfilled for longer, resulting in more and more lost productivity, and more time and money poured into advertising the same old requirements with no real results. What should my candidate requirements be? We won’t claim to know what makes the perfect candidate for your organization (at least not without consultation with our talent acquisition team). But tradition tells us that you’re probably looking for the following, in order of priority: Experience first. This includes how long someone has worked in a similar role, and in a similar industry. It includes whether or not they have worked with specific software or systems, where they were educated, and how long they stayed in their previous role(s). Skills next. This includes the person’s specific abilities and technical skills, outside of their experience level. For example, whether or not someone knows how to program in Javascript, has undergone leadership training, or is really good at building relationships with people. Potential, sometimes. This is the slightly more subjective side of hiring, where a person is evaluated not on who they are now, but on who they can be. Some of this may be based on their data, but hiring managers also look for intangibles like intelligence, likeability, cultural fit, and energy when hiring for potential. Typically, applicants are evaluated in that specific order: experience, then skills, then potential. While all three have a place in the hiring process, it may be time to reconsider your approach: Skills first. Experience optional. Potential, always. How can skills-based recruitment help me hire? The specific role and industry you are recruiting for will affect the effectiveness of this recruitment tactic, but for most organizations, there is no downside to skills-based recruitment. (We are not suggesting that medical doctors should be evaluated on skills first, Doctor of Medicine qualification second. You’d do well to prioritize both in this case). But, many organizations will see an improvement in their recruitment results when adopting a skills-first approach. Here are some of the ways: Focuses on job-relevant skills: A skills-based recruitment process aims to identify the skills needed for a particular role and assess candidates based on their abilities to perform those skills. Credentials do not necessarily impact a candidate’s ability to perform a skill. Widens the talent pool: Only around 23.5% of Americans hold a Bachelor’s degree or higher. That’s nearly the workforce being overlooked based on something that might not impact their ability to fulfill your role! Skills-based recruitment widens the talent pool by enabling your team to consider candidates from diverse backgrounds and experiences. Reduces bias: Traditional recruitment methods can be biased towards candidates from certain backgrounds or with certain experiences. For example, candidates with high socioeconomic backgrounds typically gain an educational advantage, and therefore certain learning and working experiences that privilege them for employment, which sets back candidates from low socioeconomic backgrounds who might not have had the same learning opportunities. By focusing on skills, you can reduce the impact of unconscious biases that may influence your hiring decisions. Improves retention rates: Hiring candidates based on their skills ensures that they are a good fit for the role, which can lead to higher retention rates. This is because candidates who possess the necessary skills are more likely to be engaged and successful in their roles. How to write job descriptions for skills-based recruitment Start by reviewing each of your job ads and job descriptions to identify the skills required for each role. Carefully review which roles actually require Bachelor’s degrees, for example, and which can be completed with a combination of hard and soft skills. It also helps to state in your job ad that your organization is willing to consider candidates without formal qualifications or experience in the precise role, as long as the candidate can offer transferable skills, nontraditional learning experiences, or comparable work experiences that demonstrate their ability to fill the role. Creating tailored job ads backed by an all-new approach to recruitment can be quite the undertaking, so be sure to leverage these job ad copywriting tips to get started, and lean on our talent acquisition team for support if you need it.
Solve the top three talent acquisition challenges with employer branding
A report from KPMG has found that 77 per cent of business leaders have cited talent as their biggest challenge in 2023. The specific talent challenges being faced will range from attracting the right candidates, candidate drop off, and quick quitting. Creating a strategy to address these challenges is key to retaining your people, and
Solve the top three talent acquisition challenges with employer branding
A report from KPMG has found that 77 per cent of business leaders have cited talent as their biggest challenge in 2023. The specific talent challenges being faced will range from attracting the right candidates, candidate drop off, and quick quitting. Creating a strategy to address these challenges is key to retaining your people, and growing your business. One facet of this strategy should be Employer Branding. In this article, we’ll explore how organisations that prioritise Employer Branding can address the common talent acquisition problems mentioned above: Quick quitting Candidate drop off Building a talent pipeline Scout Talent’s Employer Branding service and talent pool management software module, :Engage, are designed to help create a long-term Employer Branding strategy, and articulate your EVP. We work with you to help you understand your “why” – why should someone work for you and not someone else? What makes you different? What makes you better? When you have articulated answers to these questions, it will help candidates understand your “why”, too. Employer Branding: a TA technique that solves problems How does Employer Branding solve quick quitting? Quick quitting is a phenomenon where a candidate takes a job, only to quit within the first year. Recruiting to replace the new hire can be a time-consuming and expensive process – plus, the gap they leave behind in your team can affect productivity and morale. So how do organisations tackle this phenomenon? Many employers believe that quick quitting is the result of something negative about the candidate (for example, they do not want to do hard work or they found a higher paying job elsewhere). However, it is often related to a poor candidate experience during the talent acquisition process, which can lead to a lack of connection between a person and their organisation. Employer Branding addresses quick quitting by building a great candidate experience from before the person applies, to long after they have accepted the job. Once an organisation is able to articulate its Employer Brand (with the help of Scout Talent’s Employer Branding specialists perhaps), they are able to incorporate key elements of it throughout the entire application process. From the job ad, through the interview process, and right up to when an offer is made, organisations should be communicating their unique values and benefits to applicants. This ensures candidates are aware of the “why”, and are actively connected with the organisation’s purpose and values. An organisation can continue to build the connection that new hires have with them as part of their onboarding process. By showcasing the organisation’s Employer Brand that was spoken about as part of the attraction stage, new hires will start to feel like they are part of the team. Now is the time for them to see the organisation’s purpose, values, and benefits come to life! New hires who have received a positive candidate experience, and who have been onboarded with care, are not going to be immediately looking for a new role. Quitting within a year comes from a lack of connection between an employee and their organisation. Strong employer branding addresses this throughout the entire talent acquisition process. Want to learn more about articulating your EVP? Get in touch with our Employer Branding specialists here. How does Employer Branding reduce candidate dropoff and ghosting? Some employers find that candidates start to disappear during the application and interview process. They may have expressed initial interest but at some point became disinterested or preferred their prospects elsewhere and moved on. In many cases, these applicants “ghost” the organisation altogether, disappearing without giving feedback. Why does this happen? Often, it’s because the candidate applied for the role with no excitement or passion. They weren’t interested in working for that specific organisation – they just wanted a job. Then, something else came along and they moved on. Employer Branding can help to prevent this issue. When organisations clearly showcase their benefits and values that set them apart, the applicants they attract are more likely to be connected to the organisation and stay invested in the application and interview process. In the event that a promising candidate does take another job, having a strong Employer Brand is still a benefit as it will make the candidate more likely to communicate rather than disappear – ghosting an organisation would mean possibly burning the bridge for future opportunities. The great news is that Scout Talent has tools to reduce dropoff and support various candidate journeys. Alongside our Employer Branding services, our software module :Engage allows you to build and nurture talent pools, so that you can stay in touch with previous candidates for future vacancies. How can Employer Branding support your talent pipeline? Another issue that many organisations face is losing out on highly skilled candidates who did not get hired simply because there was only one vacancy. This issue worsens when these candidates do not receive feedback on their application; if they feel they had a bad experience, unsuccessful candidates may not speak positively about an organisation, which could affect its ability to draw in future candidates. In this current competitive talent climate, organisations can stay proactive by responding to every candidate and adding them to their talent pool through software modules such as :Engage. By building a talent pipeline and engaging with promising candidates about new opportunities, organisations will be more prepared to address future talent acquisition needs. Scout Talent’s platform is a Circle Back Initiative certified provider. This means that our technology empowers organisations to provide quick and branded feedback to every candidate, regardless of whether or not they were successful in their application. From an Employer Branding perspective, this helps an organisation to build a reputation as an employer that is communicative and treats people as more than just a number. From the applicant’s perspective, they are receiving a better candidate experience and are more likely to want to stay engaged with an organisation. This sets your organisation up for success as it provides a future pipeline for your
11 Secrets For A Successful Onboarding Process
11 tips to help you set the right tone with your onboarding process and make team members feel like they are equipped for success.
Support high-volume retail recruitment with a best-of-breed platform
Managing recruitment in the retail industry is an ongoing challenge. HR teams in retail organisations are tasked with hiring a constant, high-volume flow of new retail workers while managing a turnover rate and seasonality that is simply not present in any other industry. There is substantial volatility with Australian retail jobs, with a turnover rate
How a Best-of-Breed Platform Can Support High-Volume Retail Recruitment
Managing recruitment in the retail industry is an ongoing challenge. HR teams in retail organizations are tasked with hiring a constant, high-volume flow of new retail workers while managing a turnover rate and seasonality that is simply not present in any other industry. In Canada, the retail industry has one of the youngest workforces, with more workers under 24 years old than most other industries. A young workforce can lead to challenges when it comes to retention. According to EY, the younger the employee, the less likely they are to stay with an employer in the long term. Retail HR teams must also manage their mass recruitment in a way that identifies the best candidates cost-effectively because modern-day retail also has to compete in profit with its online retail competitors. But managing an ongoing and constant flow of new hires can put a strain on HR teams and result in rushed or unsystematic onboarding processes; in turn, affecting revenue and productivity while increasing turnover. In order to achieve their talent acquisition goals, retail recruitment teams should utilize the best tools available on the market. This is Where a Best-of-Breed Talent Acquisition Platform Helps. A best-of-breed (BoB) platform allows retail talent acquisition teams to build a suite of the best software modules for their needs, available in a one-stop source. The Scout Talent platform, for example, allows retail teams to have the best software for tracking and managing candidates, onboarding new hires and keeping passive candidates engaged. These software modules can be easily integrated to keep your talent acquisition data and processes in one place. Comprehensive ATS and Recruitment CRM Applicant tracking systems (ATS) and recruitment customer relationship management (CRM) tools are useful for all industries. They allow HR teams to better track, manage, evaluate, and engage with candidates. When dealing with so many candidates, utilizing an ATS and recruitment CRM such as Scout Talent :Recruit will drastically reduce errors, streamline the hiring process, and provide a better candidate experience. These benefits are highly impactful when working in the retail industry, as it makes recruiting en masse much easier and mitigates common challenges in retail processes, such as ghosting (where a candidate disappears because they found a job elsewhere while they were applying and interviewing with you), as your smooth recruitment process and candidate care can be enough to convince a candidate to go with your organization. :Recruit, Scout Talent’s premier ATS and recruitment CRM module, has a range of features that support retail recruitment, including: Quick job posting (with branded talent landing pages) to multiple job boards; Easy communication with candidates, through branded email templates, batch communications and event scheduling; Automations to screen applications and identify top candidates in your talent pool; and, The ability to build hiring workflows that keep your entire team informed and allow for collaboration. These features empower retail organizations to hire at high volume efficiently, and showcase why :Recruit is a best-of-breed ATS and recruitment CRM. But recruitment is about more than just hiring new people – it also encompasses maintaining a talent pipeline for future hiring needs, and managing retention. That’s why :Recruit is supplemented by :Engage and :Onboard. Reducing the biggest problem in retail: high turnover Often in retail, recruitment can swing between extremes. In some hiring drives, there may not be enough quality candidates whilst in others, you may not have enough budget to hire all the stellar candidates. If your recruitment model is reactive, both of these scenarios will pose a problem because you won’t have a time-efficient way to source candidates, store their data for future hires, or recruit them successfully. Combat these challenges and cater to future hiring needs before they pop up with :Engage. Through Scout Talent’s :Engage software module, you can build and nurture talent pools, strengthen your employer brand, and recruit passive candidates. Learn more about :Engage and how you can secure your talent pipeline here. Equally as important to attracting and hiring talent is retaining your organization’s new retail hires. One of the most critical steps to reducing turnover in the retail industry is ensuring new team members are onboarded properly. This is a common difficulty in retail, as the environment is fast-paced and keeps every team member busy, but studies have shown that organizations who have a strong onboarding process are more likely to retain talent. The Scout Talent platform offers an onboarding solution through the :Onboard module, helping you to maintain your new hires for longer and maximise their productivity. Discover how :Onboard can help you with your employee retention. The best part of a BoB platform is that you can work with our partners to integrate other modules that may suit your organization’s needs better. For example, our partner, intelliHR, can help with your onboarding; alternatively, if you are already working with intelliHR, you can easily integrate the Scout Talent platform to complement it. Designed to reduce employee turnover rates (particularly in high-turnover industries such as retail), intelliHR has tools and capabilities that help to dramatically improve engagement – all in ways that are easy to use and perfect for mass onboarding new retail hires. These tools help to reduce admin tasks and optimize the employee experience even before their first day. Some key features of intelliHR’s onboarding software include: Welcome systems for new hires; Automated workflows; Wellness check reminders; Monthly check-in reminders; and, Performance management tools. Click here to learn more about intelliHR and how it can empower your onboarding process. You can also read more about intelliHR and how it integrates with Scout Talent in our Q&A with the intelliHR team: {{Link}} Add this link once the Q&A article is live. End-to-end talent acquisition in the retail industry can be easier Retail organizations all throughout Australia can benefit from powerful software that is available through a single, collaborative source. Drive successful outcomes and productivity in HR teams through a BoB platform that enhances and streamlines the hiring and onboarding process. If you’d like to discuss implementing a BoB platform
A letter from the CEO – 2022
As we start to wrap up 2022, I’m taking some time to pause and reflect. I’ve been considering how we, the team at Scout Talent, have lived our purpose over the last twelve months: to Connect People to Grow Companies, Careers and Communities. I’m proud to share that in 2022 over 1,503,882 candidates applied for jobs using our talent acquisition technology – an all-time record! Through both our software and talent acquisition services, we have successfully connected these candidates with our wonderful clients, resulting in thousands of hires and leading to the growth of both candidates’ careers and our clients’ companies. At a community-level, through our own registered charity, Healthy Workplaces, which coordinates events such as Tour de Office and Step Forward, I was delighted to see Scouties raise more than $15,000 for charitable organisations this year, including the Australian Alzheimer’s Association, Vancouver Aboriginal Friendship Centre, Jeans for Genes, and Beyond Blue. In addition to growing companies, careers and communities, it’s been a big year of growth for us at Scout Talent. We now have 130 employees across six locations – Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the Philippines, Brazil, and Vietnam. I continue to be inspired by the efforts of all our team members as they work to fulfil our purpose on a daily basis. We understand that for many of our clients, talent acquisition doesn’t stop during the holiday period, so if you need support from Scout over the break, please reach out and we will be sure to assist you. Finally, on behalf of the entire team, I extend a big thank you for your continued support. I suspect you are looking forward to some time to rest and reflect on what has been another extraordinary year. I very much hope that you’re able to relax with your family and friends and recharge for the year ahead. Stay safe, stay well, and I look forward to working together in 2023. Happy holidays,
Could Hiring for Potential Help Overcome the Talent Shortage?
We are experiencing a tight labor market. Very few people are unemployed, and businesses throughout the world are trying to find any talent they can from the increasingly limited number of job seekers currently available. In order to fill their existing roles, many organizations are being forced to look outside the box – to rethink how they find talent in order to fulfill their needs and drive growth. One of the ways that organizations can do this – particularly during periods of higher unemployment – is to re-evaluate what they’re looking for in a potential recruit. Experience, skills, and potential: evaluating applicants Typically, when filling an open position, hiring managers will look for three things: Experience – This typically includes how long someone has worked in the field, whether or not they have worked with specific software or systems, where they were educated and how long they spent in their role(s). Skills – This includes the person’s specific abilities and technical skills, outside of their experience level. For example, whether or not someone knows how to program in javascript, has undergone leadership training, or is really good at socializing with people. Potential – This is the slightly more subjective side of hiring, where a person is evaluated not on who they are now, but on who they can be. Some of this may be based on their data, but hiring managers also look for intangibles like intelligence, likeability, cultural fit, and energy when hiring for potential. In the past, applicants tended to be evaluated in that specific order: experience, then skills, then potential. While all three have a place in the hiring process, it may be time to reconsider this method of evaluation. Weaknesses of experience “Experience” has long been the metric of choice for talent acquisition. It remains valuable for evaluation even today. After all, if you’re hiring for an open position – for example, an IT job – and someone has 5 years of experience working in that exact same job, then at least some of that experience will be transferable to your new position and speed up the time it takes to be productive in the role. But experience also has its drawbacks. These include: Not all of a person’s experience is going to be transferable, as each employer and job has different needs, different tasks, and different systems. The number of years of experience desired is often arbitrary and might turn away prospective applicants. Is 5 years measurably better than 4? What about 3? What about only 1? Sometimes, seeking experience in a field can be limiting. Some people with experience are also more rigid in their beliefs and habits. Experience can sometimes harden people in ways that make them less trainable. Experience can also create unrealistic expectations that the person may not be able to meet. Because each workplace is different and because not all skills are transferable, a person with a lot of experience may still need a lot of training. Not having clear and measurable expectations for your new starter can negatively impact their confidence and sap up valuable time from your current team. Experience can be a function of luck and privilege, not necessarily ability. We’ll have more on that in a moment. None of this is to say that experience is “bad,” but it also doesn’t tell the whole story, and may not necessarily indicate that someone is the right fit for a role. Skills – useful to have, but also can be taught The skills an applicant has provides even more insight into their ability. After all, if you need someone that knows Salesforce, and the person says they know Salesforce, that should give them an advantage over someone that does not. Skills are also a useful recruitment metric. But skills, like experience, can also be misleading: Many skills can be taught. Most applications, programs, and structures are meant to be user-friendly and do not require a level of advanced technical knowledge only attainable with extensive education. Even if a person does not have a skill, the learning curve may not be high. Knowing a person has skills doesn’t tell you what they can achieve with those skills. The candidate can “know” how to use Microsoft Access but that does not give you any indication of whether they can complete the right level of tasks you require. Similarly, skills are not always transferable. Programs, like the Salesforce example above, can be used in many different contexts. The candidate’s experience with it at one employer may not transfer to your organization. In some cases, it can even be detrimental. Once again, this is not to deny that a candidate’s skills are without value. Rather, it’s important to be aware that seeking some skills may cause you to overlook others. Hiring for potential unlocks the candidate market Skills and experience both remain useful for finding great talent. But what many employers stand to realize is that hiring for potential can be as important, if not more so, than their past work. Almost any time you hire someone, you’re going to need to train them. It doesn’t matter how much experience or what skills they have, a strong onboarding process, consistent training, and a growth mindset are key to all successful hires. All of this requires the person to have potential. They need to show that they have the ability to not only learn their job but to be a cultural fit that grows with the organization. Need help onboarding your new team members effectively? Check out these 11 secrets for a successful onboarding process. Prioritizing potential without compromising inclusivity As we mentioned earlier, experience and skills can also be a product of a person’s luck and privilege. One of the things that organizations must learn is that it is difficult to disentangle privilege from merit, but doing so can help you find talent in places you haven’t previously looked. For example, imagine two people: Person 1 comes from a wealthy family with a lot of connections,
How to use employer branding and L&D to win the salary wars
The war for talent has been influenced by candidates more than ever before, meaning employers are under more pressure to stay on the pulse with what candidates are looking for in this economic and social climate. While most would believe the main attracting factor is an above-market salary, offering this is not always achievable, nor is it what many candidates are actually looking for. A survey by PwC showed that 37 percent of candidates would be willing to take a pay cut if the role offered upskilling opportunities. In the same survey, 62 percent of candidates said they would be more likely to apply for a job where the organization’s employer brand showed a strong commitment to diversity and inclusion. Inflating salaries isn’t the most sustainable option. In the short-term, raising the bar for salaries might get more candidates in the door, but doesn’t guarantee retention. With 90 percent of executives and managers saying they already face skills gaps or expect gaps to develop within the next five years, it’s clear that prioritizing upskilling and understanding what employees value are essential to staying agile in the recruitment market. Developing a long-term solution to improve candidate attraction and staff retention rates requires some investment. An effective solution should consider a combination of these two key elements: Establishing a strong employer brand; and Implement a learning management system (LMS) tailored to your organization’s needs. Your employer brand is a nuanced representation of what your organization values, what it offers, how it is represented and why employees should be proud to work there. As we have mentioned in a previous article, every organization has an employer brand – but you need to invest time and resources in order to develop a strong employer brand. An accessible way to strengthen your employer brand, enhance candidate attraction, and improve retention is to support your team with learning and development. Providing your teams access to a robust LMS and range of learning materials will go a long way towards retaining your top talent and celebrating this offering will attract more high-quality candidates to your vacancies. By elevating your brand and highlighting L&D as a key benefit, you can firmly position your organization as a strong contender in the recruitment market and remove yourself from salary wars. If you are halfway there with an LMS already implemented but are lacking a well-articulated employer brand or vice versa, click one of the titles below to learn more about how you can strengthen your areas for improvement. Already have an LMS? Here’s how to tell people about it. Upgrade your employer brand with a strong LMS. Elevate your LMS with a strong employer brand It’s a good start if your organization has already got an LMS in place – it means you have the building blocks for successful staff retention, as you’ve created pathways for them to upskill themselves and nurture their learning. But in order to attract top candidates who may be searching for their next role at an organization that prioritizes learning and development, you need to make sure you’re communicating your L&D offering as part of your employer brand. One way to get your employer brand up to scratch is by engaging in an Employer Branding Project. An Employer Branding Project (EBP) will help you articulate your Employee Value Proposition (EVP), which encompasses what your organization offers candidates and team members. An EVP is nuanced, with both objective elements, such as a diversity and inclusion policy, and subjective elements, like the experience of working with the team and the culture of the workplace. Because of the many facets involved in an EVP, it can be hard to effectively convey your organization’s strengths – including your L&D pathways. An effective EBP will take you through several stages to thoroughly understand and strategize how you can present your employer brand for better recruitment outcomes. A Scout Talent Employer Branding Project also includes working with a specialist to measure the results of your project to ensure you’re on the right track. You should also make sure your existing team members are aware of your learning focus and the possible pathways for upskilling. Ensuring that your brand has widespread internal awareness means that employees will have more buy-in to your organization – being part of an organization that prioritizes their professional development fosters a stronger feeling of belonging, which reflects positively in your staff retention rates. You can read more about how a Scout Talent Employer Branding Project can help you strengthen your organization’s position in the recruitment market and retain key talent here. Missing learning and development from your EVP? It can be daunting to consider what an L&D strategy entails. From compliance courses to industry-specific training to upskilling, there is a range of pathways that you could offer your team to empower their development and increase your organization’s retention rates. In this technology-driven world, eLearning is your best friend. But again, the array of learning management systems available can be overwhelming to navigate. The best way to tackle the LMS market is to consider what development needs you’re looking to fulfill. Do you anticipate skills gaps in the next few years within your organization? Are there regular compliance courses required for your industry that you want to be located in one place? Perhaps you’re looking to create content tailored to your organization, such as an onboarding course or organization-specific training that encourages lateral career movements for team members. To get you started, check out our webinar on how to utilize off-the-shelf content to maximize your L&D effectiveness without investing a lot of time and money. If you’re looking for a comprehensive L&D platform, Scout Learning is a customizable learning management system with specialist support. The platform allows you to create tailored learning content, ensure your team compliance is up to date, and access over 85,000 courses from 235 providers – so no matter what industry you’re in, there will be courses available to progress your team’s learning. Currently, we are offering a free 3-month trial of specialist support for
