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There’s a dichotomy in business. On the one hand, you have monolithic corporations that seem highly resistant to change. They stand firm, resist the influence of changing market pressures and trends, and take a very long view; they know the demand for their product will swing back around, and while they may suffer through lean times, they never entirely collapse and will always be there when the winds change. On the other hand, you have smaller, leaner, more agile businesses. Like minnows feeding around sharks, these businesses must adapt to swiftly-changing circumstances, or die. They don’t have the resources to resist change; they need to capitalize on those changes if they want to succeed. Change is inevitable in the economy, business, and society. Some changes are cyclical, while others are linear, but there will always be change. How your business handles change – and whether or not you change with it – is an important decision to make as a business owner. Often, it can be difficult to see change from inside an organization. When you don’t personally have experience with the coming changes (and few people do), you don’t know how to adapt to them or how your business will react to the changes as they are implemented. That’s where change management consulting comes in. What is change management, what do change management consultants do, and do you need one? Read on to learn more. What is Change Management? Significant changes to a business that affect processes, both external and internal, have a chance to fail. It may be something as simple as investing in a new technology that doesn’t catch on or as complex as changing management style, leadership goals, or social mores within the organization. Any business that wants to implement change should also want to minimize the chances of that change failing. Change management is the system wherein businesses do their due diligence to reduce the chances of that happening. “Change management is defined as the methods and manners in which a company describes and implements change within both its internal and external processes. This includes preparing and supporting employees, establishing the necessary steps for change, and monitoring pre- and post-change activities to ensure successful implementation.” – ASQ . Change management is a detailed, structured process for implementing and reviewing significant changes to a business. It involves: Analyzing the current state of the business. Defining the change that needs to be made. Determining who the change will impact. Picking the people who need to buy-in and sponsor the change. Engaging with stakeholders and the people affected by the change. Developing a plan to implement the change. Building, promoting, and deploying a vision to encourage the change. Implementing the change itself. Monitoring the human factor throughout the transition. Adapting processes to the pressures of the human element. Modifying, looping, and iterating on the change to reach the desired new state. Cementing the new state as a new normal. Depending on the size and scale of your business, you may want to handle this internally. However, many businesses do not have the perspective or resources necessary to envision these changes properly. That’s where change management consulting comes into play. What is Change Management Consulting? As you might expect, change management consulting is the process of outsourcing your change management to a third party. “When companies want to implement significant changes to the operation of their business, they must take steps to ensure the process is productive. Change management consultants can assist companies through this process to ensure that they transition in an effective and efficient manner. The practice of change management consulting relies on several key components that all serve to accomplish this goal. Some of the most important components include outlining a vision, involving senior leadership, developing a change management plan, engaging stakeholders, creating supportive infrastructures, and properly measuring progress.” – Norwich University . By bringing in an external resource, your company can better ensure a proper scope of vision, with experience in the potential repercussions of meaningful change. The end goal is always positive, whether it’s improving the company culture and your diversity and inclusivity , adopting new technology or business processes to improve efficiency or increase profits, or a restructuring brought on by a change in leadership. Change management consultants have the usual benefits inherent in consulting and outsourcing for any business process. That is, they can bring experience in making the exact kinds of changes you’re proposing. They know the common pitfalls, areas of resistance, and details that need to be addressed. They also know how to navigate the challenges that arise as part of a transition and can preemptively solve problems they know are coming. Every business is different, of course, and the way one business adapts to change will be different from how others adapt to the same change. However, human nature is human nature; much of the resistance and pushback will be similar across different situations. For any significant business change to be successful, it needs buy-in from the top to push a vision of a new, better workplace. It also requires buy-in from ground-level workers who will be tangibly affected by the change and who must be convinced that the change will benefit them. The changes must be beneficial from the start, as well, and not be a change for the sake of change. What, Specifically, Does a Change Management Consultant Do? Change management consultants come in from an external service, either individually or as a team, and work to properly and smoothly implement changes to a business. To an extent, their duties vary depending on the change’s scale, scope, and focus. For example, changing an internal customer service process, changing a core business process, changing management structure, and changing something customer-facing will have different considerations and repercussions. A big part of the duties of a change management consultant is understanding the scope and impact of changes. Some change management consultants use an established framework to analyze whatever change your business wants to implement. Others have specific changes they specialize in and implement them in a customized way for each business. The duties of a change management consultant include: Analyzing an organization to determine its readiness to implement a change, identify roadblocks in the way of that change, and options for overcoming those roadblocks. Developing communications strategies and messaging to reach the people affected by the change (be it management, specific departments, lower-level workers, customers, or other groups) and convince them of the value of the change. Buy-in is critical for any change to be successful in the longer term. Use change adoption tools to speed up and facilitate the implementation of the changes the business wishes to implement. Monitor and receive feedback, adjust priorities and messaging, alter the change, and repeat in a feedback loop until the change is implemented and settled. Any change of sufficient scope to need a change management consultant will need buy-in from senior leadership and the ground-level workers most affected by the change. One side or the other is often not enough; a change from workers without leadership buy-in is doomed to fail, and a change pushed by leadership that workers don’t adopt will fail to propagate. Thus, change management is about earning buy-in on both sides of the coin. What Are the Stages of Change Management? While there are several different models for change management, one of the most popular is a three-stage approach developed by Kurt Lewin in the early 1900s. The three stages of this model are:  Unfreezing the organization. This is the preparatory stage. In it, much of the time and energy spent by change management consultants goes into messaging, convincing stakeholders and leadership of the necessity of the change, the negative repercussions of not changing and the benefits of the change, and earning buy-in. Many organizations are calcified in the upper echelons of leadership. Leaders often like the way things work, as demonstrable success, and are hesitant to take risks that could damage the business. Thus, part of change management involves convincing these stakeholders that the risk isn’t as significant as they fear, the rewards are tangible, and the process of implementing the change is well-trodden ground.  Implementing the change. Change means uncertainty. Change management consultants work to implement any major change in phases, introducing elements of the change in a sensible and beneficial way. Each part of the change needs time, support, and avenues for feedback and optimization. If a change is detrimental, particularly due to unforeseen influences, an agile response from change management helps mitigate the issues before they become problems that lead to turnover, pushback, or business failure. The implementation phase is often the longest phase of the change management process. However, it can be accelerated if the change has an established framework, is demanded by people throughout the organization, and has demonstrable benefits to everyone involved. The less well-trodden the change, the longer it will take, and the more rounds of feedback will be necessary.  Freezing the organization. The third and final phase of change implementation is cementing the change in the organization. This phase involves monitoring and reinforcement while also resisting further unnecessary changes. The goal is to reintroduce stability to the organization, so there’s less chance of an unfocused dissolution or a regression to pre-change processes. Once the business has returned to stability in its new form, it can push for growth and other traditional business objectives using its new framework. Does Your Business Need a Change Management Consultant? Change is inevitable. Nearly every business can benefit from implementing changes to its culture, business processes, or messaging. A change management consultant is an external, third-party way to verify and implement changes in a positive way. Many companies, particularly SMBs, will find it challenging to identify the changes they need to make. Limited experience, limited scope of vision, and novelty in industry can all make it difficult to identify necessary changes. Additionally, many SMBs take an agile approach to business and may not know when to dial back and solidify particular changes as part of the core business model. Excessive change leads to a lack of stability and increased rates of burnout. When there’s no consistency, employees spend more time adjusting to change than they do working. Change management consultants can help guide a business to a stable state. That said, your business likely does not need to keep a change management consultant on staff and should not make changes simply for the sake of change. Changes must be deliberate, with specific goals and adaptations in mind. If you have identified specific changes that need to be made, or if your business is in a desperate situation and losing money, hiring a change management consultant to bring it back on track and implement those changes can be an excellent idea. On the other hand, hiring a change management consultant when you have no specific changes in mind and your business is working fine may not be beneficial. It’s still possible that changes can be valuable, but diving headlong into them without due diligence can cause more problems than they solve. Bear in mind, as well, that not all change management is created equal. Individual consultants and small firms may not have the same experience, processes, or resources that a larger firm like McKinsey, Booz Allen, Deloitte, or Accenture can offer. Luckily, the first step to any change management consulting is an analysis by the consulting firm to determine if a change is necessary and if it can bring value to the business. A consultation with such a firm helps you determine whether or not you can benefit significantly from a specific, tangible change. You can then do further research to determine the stakes. From there, the choice is yours. Do you have any questions about change management consultants, or are you wondering if your business could potentially benefit from one? If so, please feel free to leave a comment down below, and we’ll get a conversation started! We’d be more than happy to answer any of your questions and assist you however possible!

Every company needs to hire eventually, and not all of them have the organization, the manpower, or the training to handle recruitment themselves. This is true in just about every industry but can be especially true in the pharmaceutical industry in particular. Big pharmaceutical companies – the giants like Pfizer, Novartis, and Merck – typically have their in-house hiring departments. These hiring teams are forced to work as generalists, however, because they’re supporting the entire organization. They need to hire everyone who works for the company, whether it’s the biochemists, the IT staff, or the administrative assistants. This is fine for a large company that can afford to take its time in making hiring decisions and can leverage its reputation to attract the top candidates in the industry. It’s a luxury that smaller pharmaceutical firms cannot afford. It’s no wonder that many companies tend to turn to recruiting agencies to handle the recruitment process for them. Recruiting agencies can specialize in certain industries, including pharmaceuticals. The more knowledge and intimacy a recruiting firm has for their specialized industry, the better qualified they are to judge the skills and experiences of the candidates they build in their pool. When hiring a recruiting agency, you’re also hiring their experience and their detailed interview processes and hiring processes. They add subject matter experts to their teams, so they have people uniquely qualified to judge and analyze the candidates with equally specialized resumes. With that judgment, a specialized recruiting firm can offer highly targeted and effective prospective employees for their clients to choose from. If you’re looking for pharmaceutical recruitment agencies, you’re in luck. Here’s how to find them. Determine Your Needs Before you decide to seek out a specialized recruiting agency to work with, decide if it’s something you need. For an industry like pharmaceuticals, you have a few options for posting jobs yourself, though this method isn’t without its downsides. Job boards are very competitive and may not be ideal for hard-to-find positions. Here are a few examples: Traditional job boards like Indeed , Glassdoor , or ZipRecruiter can host highly specialized jobs just as easily as they can entry-level positions. Skilled individuals still use these boards when searching for jobs, if for no other reason than that they have a large pool to choose from. Specialized job boards such as PharmaOpportunities exist for specialized industries, including pharmaceuticals. The cost to post a job listing on these sites is often less than what you would pay for a recruiting agency on a retainer. Networking still works. Whether you’re reaching out to connections through LinkedIn, asking your existing employees for referrals, or setting up a hiring booth at a trade show, standard avenues for reaching certain types of skilled individuals still work just fine. On the other hand, you may not have the time to personally manage your hiring process . Recruiting firms may cost more per hire than doing the legwork yourself, but the costs balance out when you factor in the value of your time. A specialized recruiting firm can often present you with a pool of qualified candidates on short notice, simply because they have the resources and the candidate pool already built through their work with other clients. HRDailyAdvisor adds another point . “A [recruiting company] may also have the connections to be able to find passive candidates who are a perfect match for the position but would not have otherwise known about it. This means it’s possible to get an even better candidate for the role than the organization would have found on their own.” On the other hand, they point out another pitfall. “Depending on the situation, a [recruiting company] may place a candidate for interviews with several companies concurrently. This can increase the likelihood that your chosen candidate will have competing offers.” Deciding if you truly need a recruiting company and can benefit from their access, experience, connections, and pool, or if you would rather do the legwork yourself, is the first step. Pick a Model The next thing you’ll want to do is pick a recruitment model. Recruiting agencies generally work in one of two models. The contingent model is a model where the recruiting agency is paid contingent on their candidate being chosen. A company that works with a contingent agency typically works with many such agencies at once. Each agency is incentivized to throw as many candidates into the overall pool as possible, to maximize the chances that their candidate is chosen for a role. This model is fine for filling low-level vacancies and entry-level positions but doesn’t always work as well for senior-level executive positions. If you need bodies to fill seats and can train them in the specifics of their jobs later, working with contingent agencies is just fine. If you’re investing heavily in a single candidate and want to choose the best possible person for the role, you’ll likely want to go with the other model. The retained search model is a more exclusive relationship between the pharmaceutical recruitment agencies and the pharmaceutical companies. It’s a more traditional style of outsourcing; one company handles focused and dedicated recruiting for their client. The recruiting firm is paid on retainer and works to familiarize themselves with their client company. They end up as a hybrid of recruiting agency and brand ambassador. Close familiarity with the client company ensures that a retained recruiting agency can pick candidates with a high chance of matching not just the skills needed, but the overall ethos and cultural fit as well. The downside to this model is, of course, the speed of the process. Recruiting with an emphasis on finding the right fit can take significantly longer than the wide but shallow approach of the contingent model. Both models are perfectly acceptable and viable for a pharmaceutical company to use. It just depends on the urgency of the vacancy, how much the cultural fit matters, and how specialized the vacancy is. A third option is hiring an Emerge Talent Cloud Recruiter. A cloud recruiter is essentially the same as any other full-time recruiter who you may hire, but in this case, you pay them an hourly rate rather than a base salary.  As such, they are a contractor, and thus temporary employees. Hiring an Emerge Talent Cloud Recruiter to tackle a hiring spike can be a cost-effective and smart option, especially when they have experience recruiting in a specific domain such as the pharmaceutical industry. Some recruiting companies such as Emerge Talent Cloud also offer even more flexible, hybrid solutions that combine the best elements of a cloud recruiter and an RPO (recruitment process outsourcing). Look for Specialists For a highly skilled and specialized industry like pharmaceuticals, you can’t hire just anyone. You need to find highly skilled, trained, and knowledgeable individuals to fill your vacancies. Much like you wouldn’t hire a fresh college grad to be your lead biochemist, you shouldn’t hire a generalist recruiting agency to fill specialized roles. Scott Kabo , a client partner for Klein Hersch, agrees. “It’s really important that hiring managers look for firms that have specialization in specific disciplines, true subject matter expertise, and a track record of success. The pharmaceutical recruiting agencies or headhunters will be the brand ambassador for the company. Therefore, they need to know what they’re talking about when it comes to candidates being a good fit for a position.” There are dozens of recruiting agencies out there that specialize in pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, biochemistry, medical devices, and other related niches. Finding them is a lot easier than you might think. Find Lists There are three ways you can find and build a list of potential recruiting firms to interview for your recruiting needs. First, you can find online lists. If you can dream up something, there’s probably someone online already doing it. Such is the case with aggregators for companies. These lists provide large directories of recruiting firms with details about the companies. You can see excerpts of who they are and who they serve, their contact information, links to their websites, and other relevant information. It makes finding and comparing firms a lot easier. Second, you can ask around. While the pharmaceutical industry is cutthroat, networking is still possible, and there’s no reason not to simply ask other business owners or HR managers how they handle their recruiting. You can do so privately via email or another contact method, or you can turn to public Q&A sites like Quora to see what their readership has to say. Another source of networking is an industry event. Wenny, from Women in Pharma Careers, says this : “Relevant trade shows and conferences in your field are a great place to meet with recruiters.” Third, you can find them manually. Google is useful for more than just finding aggregators; you can find recruiting agencies directly as well. One thing to keep in mind is that the most visible recruiting companies are not necessarily the best. The names that keep coming up everywhere you look might be popular because they’re good, sure, but they might also simply have the best grasp of SEO and reputation management. Often, the largest companies don’t always need to promote themselves so widely and may take some digging to find. Analyze Potential Pharmaceutical Recruitment Agencies Much like hiring an employee, contracting with a recruiting company is a multi-step process. The first step is to build a list of potential candidates . The second step is to analyze them. What’s important to this analysis? Their business model. Some companies work on retainer, some work on contingency, and some offer both options. Filter companies that suit your needs. Their scale. Some pharmaceutical recruiters only work with companies that have million-dollar annual budgets for hiring and have dozens or hundreds of positions to fill each year. Others work on a per-position basis. Their location. Some recruiting agencies only work in specific regions, states, or countries. Others have offices around the world. A larger agency can offer a wider range of candidates but they may be more costly to retain. Their specialties. Some recruiting agencies have narrow specialties within the overall pharmaceutical industry, such as medical device design, biotechnology, or novel pharmaceutical research. Others cover all the bases on anything related to the niche. Their reputation. Much like how you would perform a background check for a candidate employee, you should research the background of a recruiting agency you’re interested in contracting. Pay particular attention to reviews and complaints left on industry-relevant social communities and discussion boards. Their attitude. We’ve all had times when a recruiter looks good on paper, but actually talking to them reveals an arrogance, hesitance, or another flaw that turns you off. It might be nothing more than a bad day for the representative you talk to, or it could be a systemic problem with the company. Conversely, if the recruiter exudes confidence without arrogance, personality without ego, and competence without hesitance, they’re much more likely to be a valuable ally. It also helps to talk to representatives of the agency as part of an interview . If an agency looks promising, talking to a representative can give you a closer view of what they’re good at and where their weaknesses are. Make a Choice and Make a Hire Analysis paralysis is a problem facing many companies. Building a list and checking it twice is fine, but if you get stuck deciding between close-match companies, and you’re getting deep into the weeds of minor points, just pull the trigger on one of them. If they don’t work out, you can always change your mind. At the end of the day, what’s really important is that the recruiting company you work with manages to help you hire the skilled, talented employees you need. Whether it’s a pharmaceutical chemist, a bioengineer, or simply a knowledgeable administrative assistant, filling your vacancies with high-quality employees is the most important part. Everything else is just details getting from A to B. Conclusion In the dynamic and intricate world of pharmaceuticals, the challenge of recruitment is as complex as it is critical. Hiring the right people isn’t just about filling vacancies; it’s about advancing your company’s mission and solidifying its place in the industry. Whether you’re a burgeoning startup or an established name, understanding the nuances of pharmaceutical recruitment is essential. The journey to finding the ideal recruitment agency is paved with decisions — from determining your hiring needs to selecting a recruitment model that aligns with your company’s ethos and objectives. It’s a path that requires careful consideration, a keen understanding of your industry’s landscape, and a clear vision of the talent you seek. As we’ve navigated through the intricacies of pharmaceutical recruitment, from the merits of various job boards to the strategic approach of specialized recruiting agencies, one thing remains clear: your decision can shape the future of your organization. It’s not just about hiring an individual; it’s about embracing a partnership that fosters growth, innovation, and success. As you stand at this crossroads, pondering your next move in the recruitment chess game, remember that your choice will set the stage for your company’s future. The right recruitment partner can be the catalyst that propels your organization forward, bringing in not just employees, but visionaries who will drive your mission with passion and expertise. Are you ready to take the next step in refining your recruitment strategy? Contact our team today and learn how we can help you grow your team.

You’ve probably heard of major companies like Amazon, IBM, and Disney hosting virtual job fairs, but did you know most companies aren’t using some exclusive software that only works for major multinational corporations? Most business owners that are willing to hire people outside of their immediate area can take advantage of a virtual job fair. The current global conditions have pushed companies to consider remote and virtual alternatives to traditional in-person activities. You’re here to research virtual job fairs, potential solutions, and ideas to promote them, so let’s get into it! What Is a Virtual Job Fair? If you’ve never experienced a virtual job fair before, it’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking they’re just a fancy name for a careers portal or maybe an event that is centered around recruiting. This impression is close to the mark, but not quite accurate. When you think of a job fair, what comes to mind? Is it: An event hall or exhibition space filled with people? Rows of booths and tables, each hosted by a company looking to find qualified candidates? Panels and presentations meant to wow, encourage, and entice candidates? A job fair is similar in many ways to a trade show or convention. In some situations, more than one company may attend to set up their own spaces, with everything from flyers to multimedia presentations, vying for the attention of candidates who attend the fair. They can be regional, have a focus on a specific industry, or even be comprised of sponsors of the event. They have more in common with a festival than with a careers page. So what if you were to take this virtual? Imagine an event space with digital booths, 3D renderings of HR team members, and embedded multimedia right on the page. Imagine a virtual event hall with booths that don’t have to worry about size, weight, or space constraints, that aren’t concerned with technology to power embedded multimedia, and that can host information both interactively and attractively. Moreover, a virtual job fair can combine the best of both worlds. You get your digital event space, but that’s not all; you can mix in live webinars, one on one communication with recruiters, and immediate conversations with candidates. The information they add to their virtual presence can be linked directly to your applicant tracking system, with no need to refer them to another career page or handle paper transcription. Since it’s all virtual, the event doesn’t have time constraints. You don’t have to worry about an event venue’s schedule, the cost of lodging for your recruiters, or transportation of your booth setup. The benefits have been touched on, but let’s make it explicit: You don’t have to worry about the costs of transportation or lodging. In fact, the overall cost of a virtual career fair is much lower than a physical fair . You don’t have to worry about setting up technology at the fair. You can reach passive and distant candidates who wouldn’t attend an in-person fair. You don’t risk the privacy of candidates who wouldn’t want to be seen at a fair. You don’t have to worry about the constraints of physical space or physics. There’s no attendance cap or capacity maximum for a virtual fair. You can still take advantage of direct and in-person conversations with candidates via technology. Not to mention that, as long as the pandemic is a threat, physical job fairs will be shut down. A virtual job fair can be an excellent option for just about any business willing to hire outside of their local area, whether it’s for remote work or to pick up a candidate willing to relocate. They’re a great tool for pre-screening and qualifying applicants at the top of the recruitment funnel and for engaging more interested candidates in deeper networking and even one on one contact. If you’re interested in hosting a virtual job fair, you’re in luck. There are over a dozen different platforms available to choose from to host a booth, and the process is quite easy. Step 1: Identify Must-Have Features The first step to any good virtual system is identifying your needs. Virtual job fairs are no different; there are dozens of companies that provide the service, with a wide range of features on offer between them. You can take a look between these different companies – listed in the next step – to get an idea of what features are on offer. What should you consider? Do you want a simple web page with interactive chats and webinars, or a fully virtual environment with elaborate design? How much branding control do you get over your booth? Where is it displayed? Secure chat. Being able to chat directly with candidates is a huge benefit, and you want to make sure any chat provided to you is secure. Virtual swag bags. One of the more attractive reasons to attend a job fair, as a candidate, is the wealth of freebies companies give out. Keep this trend alive with a virtual briefcase of assets and goodies. Unstaffed compatibility. Your HR team won’t be staffing your virtual booth 24/7, so you want to see what it will look like when no one is there. A good platform should comply with WCAG standards for accessibility. Links or exports. How can you capture and import data you get from candidates and add it to your ATS? You should consider these and other must-have features for your desired virtual job fair. Then, when you’re investigating different platforms, check to see if they offer the features you want. Step 2: Choose a Platform There are a lot of different platforms out there. We don’t have specific recommendations for any given platform, because every company has different desires, so different platforms will work better for different companies. Here are ten options you can explore, but be aware that others are out there as well. Brazen , a virtual event space with a focus on career fairs. CareerEco , a virtual fair platform for businesses and grad school programs. vFairs , a platform for virtual events ranging from job fairs to product launches and more. 6Connex , a virtual fair provider with multiple styles and levels of presentation. Premier Virtual , a virtual fair platform with additional features for military and university customers. EventXtra , an event management platform with virtual event support. Paradox , an AI-driven virtual hiring event platform and software suite. XOR, a simple virtual job platform. BrandLive , a virtual event platform with a video focus. Easy Virtual Fair , a robust virtual fair platform with exposure in 35+ countries. While the basic offering of a virtual job fair presentation is the same, each of these platforms offers a different set of features and emphasizes different aspects of the job fair. With so many to choose from, there’s bound to be one right for your brand. Step 3: Choose a Style of Career Fair There are three main styles of job fairs you can choose from. The first is the full virtual job fair. These have virtual environments with virtual booths, interactive exhibits, connections to team members, and other digital benefits. They’re robust, full-featured, and are the most common at the moment. The second is the hybrid career fair. These are temporarily closed due to the pandemic, but when they return, they’ll likely be quite popular. They’re essentially a virtual accompaniment to a physical fair, linking the two with extra online content and even augmented reality features. The third is the evergreen job fair. Evergreen fairs are like career portal websites in job fair form. They exist in a passive form for weeks or months, or as long as you want to host them, with special scheduling for fully-staffed and more robust events. Again, there’s no right or wrong answer here; you can pick whichever form of fair suits your needs and your business. Step 4: Develop Custom Creative Every good virtual job fair platform will give you a template, or a choice of templates, you can customize to create your company’s booth. It’s up to you to do that customization. (Example digital creative to promote job fair on social media)Here’s a checklist of the kinds of information and assets you’ll need: Company logos and graphics. List of current open positions. Locations map for the company offices or franchises. Recent company PR and news information. Corporate-level and department-level videos. Downloadable packages of information on the company. Any specialized assets required by the platform. While the list may seem small, each of those can involve many documents put together by different teams. Essentially, anything that a candidate might want to know about your company should either be on display or available upon request. Step 5: Prepare Synchronized Information for Recruiters 6Connex has this to say : “Your virtual job fair will be considered a success if job candidates find a knowledgeable recruiter or hiring manager available to get their questions answered immediately during fair hours.” At any decently-sized fair, you’ll need more than one or two people staffing your virtual booth, to answer questions and talk to candidates about their concerns. People in your organization have different experiences, knowledge, and training in this kind of candidate interaction. In order to best capture candidates, it can be worthwhile to create a fact sheet, answers sheet, or an FAQ reference for your staff. This document should compile the frequently asked questions your candidates want to be answered, and provide the company answer to each. Sure, some of your staff might not need it, but most will, so having a consistent message becomes extremely valuable. Step 6: Identify Key Metrics to Monitor While you’re setting up your event, you need to determine what the overarching goals are for your job fair, and what metrics you need to monitor to determine if the event was a success. Do you want to promote your employer brand? You might want to monitor webinar attendance, successful chat sessions, or swag bag downloads. Do you have specific vacancies you want to fill? You might monitor applications for that position, leads generated, or interviews scheduled. Do you want to establish a broad candidate pool? You may want to monitor resumes collected, applications received, or chat sessions. The data you’re able to collect will depend in part on the platform you use and what analytics they offer. Step 7: Establish Communications Channels for Attendees How will you connect with your candidates during and after the event? You have a lot of different options. To begin, you have all of the same communications channels you have for candidates who apply through normal means, such as phone, email, and web chats. During the event, you also have one on one web chats and open chats in webinar formats. You can set up drip channels, record and replay webinar videos, release keynote workshops on demand, and even keep your event booth open in reduced or passive capacity to collect people who are late to the scene. Step 8: Promote Your Fair A virtual job fair, despite being digital, is still an event. It should be treated as such, with all of the promotion you would give any other event. In a way, you’re at a disadvantage here; unlike large physical events, you don’t have physical signage or a venue’s promotion to help you. You have to handle the promotion yourself. (Example poster promoting a digital job fair)Aggressively promote your upcoming event on your website, on your blog, through paid ads, on social media, through email newsletters, and through any other channels that you have available. You might even consider developing and releasing a press release. Step 9: Launch and Run Your Career Fair Check and double-check that all of your assets are available, your communications channels are active, and your representatives can access the job fair site. When the day of the fair arrives, launch early and test for any last-minute problems. Make sure to utilize any platform tools available to you to screen and reach out to attendees who haven’t specifically come to visit your brand. Be prompt and timely with communications. At this point, much of the experience is similar to a physical job fair, simply provided via webcam rather than in-person interaction. Step 10: Follow Up with Promising Candidates Don’t forget; that the end of the event is not the end of the interaction. Follow up with your candidates to keep them active and engaged, draw them further into the hiring process, and capture new leads. Identify people who registered but did not attend, and reach out to see if they’re still interested. Find attendees who didn’t apply, and reach out to ask if they have concerns you can address. Filter applications to identify the best candidates and invite them to progress to the next stage of the interview process. You have a wealth of information and communication available to you, so make use of it to ensure that your virtual event is a success .

It takes a lot of effort and dedication to become one of the best places to work, and there’s no magic bullet to make it happen. There are various avenues to take to get there, and the best companies make candidate experience a priority in their recruiting and retention practices. How you treat candidates matters because what they experience when they apply, interview, and onboard with your company makes an impression. If you don’t recruit with candidate experience as a priority, you can resign yourself to miss out on the best candidates. That’s because they’ll be lured away by the competition that is paying attention to communicating with candidates, making it easy for them to apply for their jobs, and offering opportunities to interact with people in their company. Take a look at what the competition is doing right now to draw off the best and brightest from the candidate pool that you all recruit from. Zappos! Zappos!  goes after the candidates long before the interview with their interactive Inside Zappos career page and candidate newsletter Zappos Insider . Their career page doesn’t list boring open position descriptions. It offers vignettes of real employees talking about their work in various departments. They highlight and demonstrate their company culture and employer brand. They expand on that with their candidate newsletter Zappos Insider where candidates can stay tuned in to what’s going on at the company and stay in touch with recruiters and employees. What does your career page look like? Do you have a candidate newsletter? Automatic Data Processing ADP has been a Candidate Experience Awards winner for several years running, in large part for its highly engaging careers page. Candidates can browse employee stories, watch videos about any aspect of ADP’s business, find out about recruiting events and how to apply if they have disabilities and need assistance, explore career areas with the company, and easily plug into ADP’s social networks which include the ADP Talent Network, Google Plus, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram, and Pinterest. Their application process is easy, fun, and interactive, and provides ways for candidates to easily find out about opportunities that interest them. Are you this plugged into the candidates that you need? W.L. Gore & Associates When job seekers land on W.L. Gore & Associate’s career page, they are invited to give feedback about their experience exploring opportunities with the company. They are then provided with tips about applying to Gore, explaining that the company likes to see tailored resumes, they phone interviews at the beginning of their recruiting process, and they interview candidates with interview teams. Candidates on the career page can browse stories about employees and how they work at the company, easily find answers to questions about the application process on the FAQs page, and find out about company culture and benefits as well as the latest news about the company. Do you help candidates understand your application and interview process on your career page? The Bozzuto Group The Bozzuto Group’s career page gives candidates a complete overview of their hiring process with interview tips, what kind of development opportunities they provide, benefits and internships, highlights of veterans and military employees, and employee testimony videos. Bozzuto is recognized as a military family employer and for being one of the best places to work in Greater Washington, and Kristen Reese, Bozzuto’s VP of Talent Management, says the company’s candidate experience is a metric for recruitment success and an area in which they seek continuous improvement to attract top talent. Is your company recognized as supportive of military families and veterans? Are you focused on continuously improving the candidate experience? Candidate experience is not just the latest buzz in recruiting. It’s a competitive advantage that companies develop to attract and retain the top talent they need to build their businesses and lead their industries. You need to pay attention to developing an outstanding candidate experience if you need the top - level candidate engagement that the competition goes after.

In today’s rapidly evolving corporate landscape, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) have become more than just buzzwords; they are integral to the fabric of sustainable business practices.  However, as much as we wish to believe in the forward momentum of DEI initiatives, the reality might not be as progressive.  This brings us to a critical question stirring considerable debate: Are companies genuinely advancing in their DEI efforts, or is there a regression taking place beneath the surface of well-crafted press releases and annual reports? In this exploration, we will delve deep into the current state of DEI in businesses, scrutinize both the advancements and setbacks, and uncover the truth behind the numbers and narratives presented by organizations worldwide. Understanding DEI Metrics Before we can assess whether companies are progressing or regressing, we must first understand what DEI stands for . Diversity refers to the presence of differences within a given setting; this could mean differences in race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, and more. Equity involves ensuring fair treatment, equality of opportunity, and fairness in access to information and resources for all. Lastly, Inclusion means bringing traditionally excluded individuals and/or groups into processes, activities, and decision/policy-making in a way that shares power. Several metrics are employed to measure how well a company is doing in these areas. These range from the basic—like the percentage of diverse employees at different levels within the company—to more complex indicators such as the equity in pay among employees and the inclusivity of the company culture as experienced by employees from various backgrounds. The importance of these metrics cannot be overstated. They provide a quantifiable measure of a company’s commitment to DEI, going beyond mere diversity numbers to gauge the depth and effectiveness of inclusion strategies. For instance, a company might have a diverse workforce in terms of numbers, but if those employees feel marginalized or face barriers to equal opportunities, the company’s DEI efforts cannot be deemed successful. Across various industries, some companies are setting benchmarks in DEI. These organizations are not only increasing the diversity of their workforce but are also implementing practices that enhance equity and foster an inclusive work environment. Innovative DEI programs—such as mentorship programs that pair senior leaders with employees from underrepresented groups, comprehensive bias training, and policies aimed at eliminating systemic barriers to equity—are examples of how serious commitments can lead to substantial progress. For instance, consider a tech giant that has revamped its hiring process to eliminate bias, thereby increasing the representation of women in its engineering roles by over 40% in the past five years. Additionally, policies that focus on equitable pay and promotions are becoming more prevalent, with many companies conducting regular pay audits to ensure fairness. Evidence of Regression in Corporate DEI Efforts Despite these positive examples, there is a troubling counter-narrative emerging. Some data and studies suggest that progress might be stagnating, and in some cases, regressing. This regression can be observed in the diminishing growth rates of diversity in certain sectors, stagnant or declining equity in pay, and the dilution of inclusivity in corporate cultures. For example, in some traditional manufacturing companies, efforts to diversify the workforce have slowed down, with little to no improvement in gender representation in leadership roles over the past few years. Moreover, economic pressures and market dynamics often lead companies to deprioritize DEI initiatives in favor of short-term financial goals, which can erode the foundation of inclusion previously built. Why do some companies fail to sustain or advance their DEI efforts? Often, economic challenges are to blame. In tough times, DEI initiatives can be seen as non-essential investments and are among the first areas to experience cuts. Cultural resistance from within the organization is another significant barrier. Without a comprehensive change in corporate culture that embraces DEI at all levels, initiatives can only achieve superficial success. Moreover, leadership plays a pivotal role in the success or failure of DEI initiatives. Leaders who are not fully committed to the principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion might fail to enforce policies that support these ideals. Lack of accountability and transparency in how DEI outcomes are reported is another issue. When companies do not set clear, measurable goals or fail to report their progress honestly, it leads to ambiguity about the effectiveness of their DEI strategies. The influence of an organization’s leaders on its DEI outcomes cannot be understated. When leaders exemplify a genuine commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, it sets a tone that resonates throughout the organization. Leaders must do more than just approve DEI programs; they need to be active participants and champions of these initiatives. An example of leadership impacting DEI success can be seen in companies where executives actively participate in diversity training and inclusion workshops. In such companies, executives are not only advocates but also role models who highlight the importance of DEI through their actions and policies. This active involvement can help mitigate any perceived regression in DEI efforts and inspire a more deeply ingrained cultural shift within the company. As we look to the future, there are emerging trends that could influence the trajectory of DEI initiatives. The growing use of technology and data analytics offers new ways to enhance DEI efforts. For instance, artificial intelligence can be used to develop more effective bias training programs or to help in creating more equitable hiring practices . However, the challenge remains to use these technologies in a way that does not perpetuate existing biases. Expert opinions suggest that the sustainability of DEI efforts will largely depend on how deeply these initiatives are embedded into the core strategic objectives of companies. For DEI to be truly effective, it must be integrated into every aspect of organizational functioning, from hiring and training to day-to-day operational practices. Factors Contributing to DEI Regression The path to robust Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) in the workplace is fraught with challenges and setbacks, even for the most well-intentioned companies. Several factors contribute to the regression of DEI efforts, which can undermine the progress and impact of these initiatives. One of the most significant factors is economic pressure. During times of financial strain, organizations may view DEI initiatives as luxurious or non-essential.  Budget cuts in this area are often among the first made when a company needs to tighten its belt, which can halt progress towards more inclusive and equitable workplaces. For example, during the economic downturn caused by the global pandemic, many companies scaled back on their DEI initiatives, citing cost-saving measures. This not only paused progress but in some cases, it led to the erosion of gains made in previous years as the focus shifted entirely towards short-term financial survival. Cultural resistance is another major hurdle. In many organizations, there are deeply ingrained biases and stereotypes that can impede DEI efforts. Even if a company sets policies aimed at increasing diversity and fostering inclusivity, these cannot be effective unless the underlying corporate culture supports these changes. Resistance often comes from a lack of understanding or fear that changes may disadvantage those who traditionally held power or privilege. Overcoming this resistance requires persistent effort and engagement from all levels of the organization, particularly from leadership. A lack of accountability and transparency can also significantly contribute to DEI regression. Without clear, measurable goals and regular, transparent reporting, it is difficult to gauge the success of DEI policies or understand where improvements are needed. Some companies may not disclose their DEI progress or lack comprehensive data collection strategies, which makes it impossible to hold them accountable for their commitments. This opacity can lead to skepticism and cynicism about the sincerity of DEI efforts, both internally and externally. The Role of Leadership in Shaping DEI Outcomes Leadership plays a crucial role in the success or failure of DEI initiatives. The commitment and engagement of senior leaders and executives can drive substantial changes in how DEI is integrated and practiced within an organization. The influence of executive leaders in setting the tone and priorities for an organization cannot be overstated. When leaders actively support and participate in DEI initiatives, these programs are more likely to receive the necessary resources and attention to thrive.  Leaders who embody and advocate for DEI principles inspire their employees and set a standard for behavior and expectations throughout the company. Conversely, a lack of commitment from the top can lead to half-hearted DEI efforts that fail to achieve meaningful change. For leaders looking to genuinely improve their company’s DEI outcomes, several strategies can be effective: Modeling Inclusive Behavior: Leaders should demonstrate inclusive behavior in their everyday actions and decisions, setting a powerful example for all employees. Resource Allocation: Committing necessary financial and human resources to DEI initiatives to show that the company takes these efforts seriously. Regular Training: Implementing ongoing education and training programs for all employees, including leadership, to address biases and build DEI competencies. Transparent Communication: Regularly communicating about DEI activities and progress towards goals both internally and externally to build trust and accountability. Feedback Mechanisms: Establishing channels for feedback on DEI initiatives, including anonymous options, to understand employee experiences and concerns. By addressing the factors that contribute to DEI regression and employing strategic leadership practices, companies can better navigate the complexities of implementing effective DEI initiatives. This not only enhances their reputation but also contributes to a more equitable and inclusive corporate culture. Future of DEI in the Corporate World As we look toward the future, the landscape of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) in the corporate world continues to evolve. New trends and technologies are emerging that have the potential to significantly enhance the effectiveness of DEI initiatives. Understanding these changes can help organizations stay ahead and ensure their DEI efforts are both impactful and sustainable. One of the most significant emerging trends is the global expansion of DEI concepts, moving beyond the borders of the United States to take a more international approach. Companies are beginning to realize that DEI is a global necessity and are adapting their strategies to be culturally sensitive across diverse geographies. Additionally, there is a growing recognition of the intersectionality of employees, acknowledging that people’s identities are multifaceted and can impact their workplace experiences in complex ways. Another trend is the increasing importance of mental health within DEI strategies. Organizations are recognizing that mental well-being is crucial for creating truly inclusive workplaces where all employees can thrive. Technology and innovation play critical roles in advancing DEI. Artificial Intelligence (AI), for example, is being used to remove biases from recruiting processes. Algorithms are designed to scan resumes and applications with an impartial eye, focusing on skills and experiences rather than demographic characteristics. Virtual reality (VR) is another area where companies are experimenting with bias reduction, using VR scenarios to help employees experience the perspectives of others to foster greater empathy and understanding. Moreover, data analytics is empowering organizations to measure their DEI impact more accurately and tailor their strategies based on real insights. This data-driven approach helps identify gaps and areas of improvement in real-time, allowing for more dynamic and effective DEI interventions. Experts predict that DEI efforts will need to become more integrated into core business strategies rather than existing as standalone initiatives. The sustainability of DEI efforts depends heavily on their alignment with the organization’s overall mission and objectives.  Companies that weave DEI into the fabric of their corporate identity are more likely to sustain and nurture these efforts over time, regardless of external economic pressures. How Companies Can Reverse DEI Regression To reverse DEI regression and rejuvenate their programs, companies need to adopt a multifaceted approach. Firstly, resetting the DEI vision to align with current global and societal contexts is crucial. This might involve revisiting and possibly redesigning DEI goals to meet new challenges and opportunities. Implementing structured DEI audits can help organizations assess the effectiveness of existing initiatives and identify new areas for action. Continuous education and awareness are fundamental. This involves regular training sessions, workshops, and seminars that not only address surface-level issues but also delve into deeper systemic biases that affect organizational culture. Educating employees at all levels creates a more knowledgeable workforce that can contribute positively to DEI efforts. For long-term integration, DEI must be considered a key component of every business decision, from hiring and marketing to product development and beyond. Leadership commitment is critical; leaders must champion DEI not just in words but with consistent actions.  Additionally, fostering an inclusive culture where feedback is encouraged and valued can promote a sense of belonging among employees, driving further engagement and innovation in DEI practices. Conclusion Throughout this discussion, we have explored the setbacks in corporate DEI efforts, examined the factors contributing to regression, and considered the future of DEI in the business world. While challenges remain, the potential for positive change is vast and attainable with committed, informed, and strategic action. We specialize in helping organizations attract and retain a diverse workforce while building more inclusive workplace cultures. Contact our team today to learn how we can assist you in not only meeting your DEI goals but exceeding them, ensuring that your company remains competitive and compassionate in a diverse world.

Recruiting today means keeping up with technology, tapping into a sea of passive candidates, building a talent network, developing a great candidate experience, promoting your company culture, and marketing your open positions. No employer or recruiter can afford to sit on the sidelines of social media and mobile technology. Old school just doesn’t cut it when you need a competitive advantage in recruiting. Everyone recruiting today needs top skills and resources to build the type of qualified, talented workforce required for business success. Emerge Talent Cloud discusses this in “ Top Recruiting Resources to Sharpen Your Skills ” and “ Best Resources for Recruiter Training in 2014 ”. Aside from continuous improvement to keep up with the latest recruiting technology and techniques, there are many sources of good information about the current state of recruiting to apply to your recruiting process. Here’s a sampling of a few of the most interesting facts about recruiting in 2014. 56% of all companies surveyed said they had a candidate reject their job. Career Builder’s Applicant Experience Study revealed that even in an unpredictable economy, candidates who have a bad experience when applying for a job will drop that employer or reject their job offer. Career Builder’s survey participants said they’d tell friends and family about their bad experience with a company’s recruiting process, discuss it in social media, and not buy the company’s products or services. How you treat candidates when they consider pursuing their career with your company can affect your reputation and your bottom line. Only 35% of applicants are actually qualified for the jobs they apply to. Th ese interesting facts come from research by CEB. With reports by the Wall Street Journal that companies like Starbucks get millions of applicants for their 65,000 openings, employers and recruiters have a huge job screening applicants before they ever get to the interviewing and hiring phase. That means that finding ways to clarify the openings and requirements so more of the right candidates are applying is very important to recruiting success and return on investment. Thousands of resumes are posted each month on Monster in each job market. Employers and recruiters have access to hundreds, even thousands of resumes for their openings. What was the response to your last job posting? How did you handle it? Screening resumes can quickly overwhelm even the most efficient recruiting staff, so the more concise your postings and more compelling your company’s career web page and social media messages, the easier it will be to fine-tune your recruiting campaigns. 18,400,000 applicants found their jobs on Facebook. One of the surprising results of Jobvite’s 7th Annual Social Recruiting Survey was how many people are finding a job through social media. More than 18 million applicants found their job on Facebook. LinkedIn is not the only place candidates are putting their professional profiles anymore. People are watching companies they’re interested in working for on social media including Facebook to find out when openings are posted, see the company culture, and interact with hiring managers and recruiters. There are five generations in the workforce today. Employers and managers are working with five generations in their employee populations today. Traditionalists, Baby Boomers, Gen Xers, Millenials, and Gen 2020 are all in the workforce today, working together, building your company, and dealing with your customers. The workforce is more diverse than ever and requires a different approach to recruiting. Young managers have older workers reporting to them. Boomers and Millenials and Traditionalists all think differently about work and what they want out of it, and employers have to pay attention to generational differences when attracting and retaining employees, offering benefits, and communicating with candidates and employees. You need to consider these facts about recruiting when you’re planning your recruiting strategy for the coming year. You can’t afford to if you want to build the qualified workforce you need for a competitive advantage. #recruitingfacts #recruitingtrends

In 2020, many of the biggest companies in the U.S. announced initiatives to promote diversity and inclusion. There are many different strategies that organizations can use to increase diversity in the workplace, one of which is implementing blind recruitment in the hiring process. The idea behind blind recruitment is that hiring teams, even if they are unaware of it, might hold unconscious biases that could impact which candidates they choose to move forward to the next round of the hiring process. By anonymizing candidates’ resumes and applications, recruiters can focus solely on the skills and experience of those who have applied for a position. So how exactly does anonymous hiring work? What are the benefits and the drawbacks of this method? Let’s take a look at everything you need to know about blind recruitment. What Is Blind Recruitment? Blind recruitment is a recruitment method you can use to remove any identification details from the applications and resumes of candidates. This process allows your hiring team to evaluate potential candidates solely based on their experience and skills. The point of blind recruitment is to avoid an outcome where other factors are taken into account that can lead to biased decisions. With blind recruitment, many common identification details are often left out to avoid unfair hiring practices. These include: Gender: By leaving out the gender of a candidate, blind recruitment ensures that hiring teams aren’t choosing a candidate based on factors such as a preference for working with people of their own gender or other matters of personal bias. Ethnic background: Ethnicity isn’t usually shared on an application or resume, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t clues that can be used to determine a candidate’s identity. Things like a LinkedIn profile picture, for example, could potentially lead hiring teams to make a biased decision. Names: Some studies have found it’s easier to get hired if you have an easy-to-pronounce, common name. For this reason, blind recruitment can remove the names of candidates. In some instances, a name might also point toward the candidate’s ethnic background or gender as well. Age: You can’t entirely avoid getting a sense of how old a candidate is because their years of experience will point towards how long their career has been. However, removing information like the year someone graduated from college or the precise years they worked for a specific corporation can avoid biased decisions based on age. Education: In some blind recruitment processes, the particular colleges and universities that an individual attended are also blacked out on their resume and application. The idea here is that avoiding knowing the specific educational details of a candidate can ensure that biased decisions aren’t being made based on the way a school’s academic reputation can lead to speculation regarding their work ethic, intelligence, or abilities. Personal interests: Sometimes, candidates will include information about their interests or hobbies on their resume to give hiring teams a better sense of who they are. However, this can interfere with the ability to make a decision purely based on skills and experience. Hiring teams might identify with candidates with similar interests or equate certain hobbies with intelligence. What Is Unconscious Bias? Unconscious bias, also known as implicit stereotyping or implicit bias, is a concept in social identity theory that has been increasingly incorporated into workplaces worldwide. The idea is that individuals can hold stereotypes in their minds that impact the way they see other people, even if they don’t consciously realize that this is the case. An individual’s learned associations and experience can influence their expectation or opinion of particular qualities and social categories. This concept was first defined in 1995 by psychologists Anthony Greenwald and Mahzarin Banaji. The desire to eliminate unconscious bias in the hiring process is one of the primary reasons organizations choose to implement blind recruitment. The notion is that, by removing any of the qualities or identifying factors that could unconsciously impact how a member of a hiring team sees an individual, they are free to make decisions exclusively based on merit. When your organization is hiring to fill an essential role, it’s easy to focus mainly on your company’s needs. However, an equally crucial part of the process is the candidate experience. You can learn more about some of the best strategies to create a positive candidate experience in this article . What Does a Blind Resume Look Like? Also referred to as anonymous resumes or redacted resumes, blind resumes can look quite different based on the standard practices of your blind recruitment process. In addition, the method through which recruiters transform resumes into blind resumes can also vary. In the most simple form of blind recruitment, recruiters might use image-editing software or pen and paper to manually redact identifying information from a resume. However, this can be time-consuming and creates the potential for a recruiter to view this information before blacking it out. For this reason, hiring teams are increasingly using software to process resumes and turn them into blind resumes. This type of software goes through each resume and presents all of the candidates’ information in the same standardized format while redacting identifying information. What Are the Pros and Cons of Blind Recruitment? One potential solution to the problem of not meeting your diversity quota in the workplace is to implement blind recruitment. However, it’s worth understanding the drawbacks and the advantages before you decide to start removing all personally identifying information from your hiring process. The Pros of Blind Recruitment One of the significant advantages of blind recruiting is that it can ensure that your hiring process is based solely upon merit and not any other factors.  While you might not expect your hiring team to incorporate unconscious bias into their candidate selection, several studies have found that blind hiring changes which candidates are hired during the application process. For example, several symphony orchestras implemented blind recruiting back in the 1970s in an effort to diversify their orchestra. When they held auditions behind a curtain so that the hiring team couldn’t see the musicians, they found that they hired between 25-45% more women than they had in the past.  While blind recruiting can lengthen the screening process in some respects, it can also help to make the hiring process more efficient in others. For example, there is usually a skill assessment or some other kind of pre-employment testing with blind recruitment. Quite a bit of time can be saved by running these assessments as many organizations rely on algorithms to analyze the results. As you might imagine, this frees up a lot of time for your hiring team to focus their attention elsewhere. However, one question that often comes up regarding this type of assessment is whether it’s legal to give aptitude tests as part of the hiring process. To learn more about the legality of different types of pre-employment testing, check out this article . The Cons of Blind Recruitment There are some disadvantages to blind recruitment that are worth understanding before implementing this hiring process at your organization.  One of the most apparent issues is that you can only hide a candidate’s personal information during the initial stages of the process. The hiring team will eventually meet the candidate either in person or through a video call, introducing personal information into the equation.  While you can end up with a more diverse pool of candidates through blind hiring, you might find that biases still play a role in the outcome once individuals have made it through to the final stages of selection.  It is also impossible to hide all identifying details about candidates completely. For example, a person with decades of experience in your field will, obviously, not be fresh out of college. Similarly, men typically tend to use more technical phrases in resumes and highlight individual skills, while women more commonly discuss working cooperatively with a team and their broader achievements in their careers. Of course, these generalizations will not apply in every instance. However, recruiters can still be impacted by their inkling regarding the personal details of a candidate based on the information that does get through the blind recruitment process.  Another concern about blind recruitment is that it can disrupt your organization in its attempt to reach its diversity goals. Since you won’t know any of the identifying details of the candidates, it’s possible you won’t get the results you were aiming for through blind recruitment.  Anonymous hiring can also extend the application screening process, which can be problematic when you are working to have the most efficient hiring process possible. Finally, another criticism of this recruiting style is that it doesn’t allow for a candidate’s personality to be communicated during the initial stages of the hiring process. In some instances, the style of a candidate’s resume and application offers essential information about whether or not they’d be a good fit for the role. Similarly, blind recruiting won’t allow you to incorporate finding a good fit for your company culture into your hiring process. For some organizations, this might be a problem, while others might think it helps to diversify their team by avoiding the temptation to hire employees that fit within the existing culture. Blind recruitment alone likely won’t be enough to meet your organization’s goals for creating an inclusive and diverse company and culture. Having a more inclusive workplace can lead to happier employees, a better reputation, and an increase in the diversity of thought in your organization. Check out these eight easy ways to create a more inclusive work culture in your organization. How Does Anonymous Hiring Work? So, how exactly does an organization transform its hiring process into one that incorporates blind recruitment? One of the simplest ways to start utilizing this strategy is to select a team member who isn’t initially involved in the hiring to go through all candidates’ applications and anonymize them. You’ll want to create a standard list of information that they will redact from every candidate to ensure that the same type of personally-identifying information is hidden regardless of the candidate. On the other hand, you can create a template that the uninvolved team member can use to transfer information about each candidate onto an identical sheet. This template can have a spot where the candidate’s skills, work experience, degree, and other essential information is included without any of their personal information. If you want to make the process of anonymous hiring as automated as possible, you can utilize many different software tools to have applications anonymized and demographic information removed from resumes. If you choose to implement blind recruitment, you will likely want to educate your staff about why you’re integrating this system and how you think it will benefit the organization. What Steps Should You Take to Implement Blind Recruitment? While you could choose to redact personal information as a part of the hiring process, blind recruitment can be a whole system that you utilize to promote diversity in your company. Some other steps you might want to take include: Writing inclusive job descriptions. Avoiding pre-screening through social media. Setting standards of which demographic and personal information you will redact. Tracking your hiring stats before and after implementing blind recruitment. Considering anonymizing the initial interviews. Every organization is different, and you might find that your company would benefit from a strict blind recruitment process or one that only leaves out the most basic aspects of personally-identifying information. Do you have any questions about blind recruitment or whether or not it would be an effective strategy in your organization? Was there anything mentioned in today’s article that you would like additional clarification on? Or perhaps do you have any questions regarding recruitment, in general? If you answered yes to any of those, please feel free to share a comment below the article, and we’ll get a conversation started! I always respond to every comment and love to have conversations about every aspect of the recruitment process. I’d be more than happy to assist you however I possibly can!

The process of hiring a new employee is harsh and resource-intensive. Many competing interests are vying for the attention of every good candidate. At the same time, your organization must identify high-quality candidates from a sea of less qualified applicants. Thus, your company must establish a process whereby you can filter applicants, identify the most promising candidates, and assess them accurately. Only then can you be assured that you’re hiring the best available candidates for any given role? Your employee selection techniques need to have several qualities:  It needs to be comprehensive. Blind spots in evaluation can lead to sub-par employees, off-target choices, undue expenses, and poor outcomes. It needs to be nuanced. Making a critical business decision based on partial or generalized information leads to poor choices. It needs to be tailored to the positions you’re looking to fill. The selection process for entry-level data entry clerks is very different from a senior-level developer or HR manager. There are many tools and resources available for use in the candidate selection process . You might, for example, hire a cloud recruiter to handle your recruitment. You might use a heavily automated applicant tracking system to do resume filtering. You might invest in varying channels for marketing your job posting. And, of course, your employees can be a resource through referrals and recommendations. Because the employee selection process is so critical to business success, we’ve compiled a list of 13 of the most valuable techniques, with an analysis of their pros and cons—choosing which of these to implement and when is vital. 1: Cognitive Ability Assessment Cognitive assessments test the candidate’s mental acuity and ability to learn. They can include anything from logic tests to pattern recognition and more. They are common after studies have shown that cognitive ability is one of the top influencing factors in job performance. “Knowing a candidate’s cognitive ability is important for jobs at every level in all kinds of industries. It can predict how well a candidate will pick up on the training materials, how they will understand instructions, how efficiently they’ll be able to solve problems throughout the workday, and how easily communication will come to them.” – Harver. The pros of this method include the correlation between assessment and performance and the ease of automatically administering and judging a well-designed test. On the other hand, cognitive assessments can have a suppressive effect on candidates who don’t feel the test is worth the role. They can also be biased and introduce adverse impacts on your hiring process. 2: Job/Role Knowledge Assessment Like cognitive assessments, a job knowledge assessment is a test designed to evaluate the candidate’s knowledge of the role. These tests need to be tailored to the position. For example, when hiring a developer, you might ask questions about the programming language, system architecture, or software your company uses. These are excellent tests to evaluate the skills and knowledge of a given candidate. However, they must be tailored to the role, which means large companies may need dozens (if not hundreds) of different tests for different positions at different levels within the organization. 3: Personality Assessments Personality assessments are tests administered to evaluate a candidate’s character and traits. These tend to be most common for entry-level roles, where skills are trainable, and experience is not required, but personality and character are more critical. Personality assessments are often too generic and don’t correctly assess traits relevant to the role. Also, similar to cognitive assessments, they can introduce adverse impacts in your hiring process . However, when used properly, they can successfully filter for high-quality candidates. 4: Learning Agility Assessments Learning agility is the ability of an individual to learn, unlearn, and relearn tasks and skills in an ever-changing digital world. It is becoming more and more critical as the development of software, technology, and tools accelerates. These tests assess how capable a candidate is of adapting to changing situations and learning the skills necessary to succeed without hand-holding. While these assessments can be very potent, they are most relevant in fast-paced industries and roles and less so in low-level positions or slow-moving organizations. They can also be highly challenging to develop and administer in a way that gets tangible results. 5: Past Performance Analysis Some say that the best predictor of future performance is past performance. Thus, analyzing a candidate through the lens of their previous experience in related or identical roles helps you determine how well they will perform in your organization’s similar role. Experience alone is not enough. Performance must be considered. Additionally, this kind of analysis works best on mid and high-level roles. Entry-level roles typically don’t require previous experience, so filtering for it can eliminate good candidates. 6: Sample Assignments In many roles, the best way to determine how well a candidate can perform in your position is by asking them to perform. A developer might be given a task to create an app or fix a bug, or a writer might be asked to write a sample piece. Perhaps a sales agent is tasked with selling to an interviewer. These allow you to see first-hand how the employee performs in the tasks you’ll be asking them to perform. Many companies use uncompensated sample work as a way to get free labor. Sample work can, however, suppress certain applicants, particularly if they distrust your company. Also, when administered too early or takes too long, candidates may choose to look elsewhere rather than jump the hurdle. 7: Structured Interviews In many organizations, the interview process is informal, a free-form assessment from a skilled interviewer, manager, or HR representative meant to get an impression of the candidate in person. Unfortunately, these are unscientific and rarely effective. Meanwhile, a structured interview uses the same set of questions, the same structure, the same format for each candidate who reaches the interview stage. This process is graded objectively using a scorecard for a more scientific and rigorous evaluation of each candidate. 8: Physical Fitness Assessments A physical fitness assessment tests how well a candidate can perform physical tasks, such as lifting weights or endurance running. They are virtually required for some roles but are largely irrelevant for most current positions within a company. As such, they are not recommended unless the fitness requirements are genuinely required to perform the job’s duties. The primary drawback to a physical assessment is that the test can be deemed discriminatory if the fitness requirements are not truly necessary. 9: Peer Interviews Peer interviews are a style of interview conducted, not by a department head or HR manager, but by the team the prospective employee would be working with. Peer interviews can give deeper insights into how well a candidate fits with company culture , how well they know their role rather than studying for an interview and assessment, and how well they mesh with the others in the office. “Potential pitfalls are that it’s necessary to train the interviewers to be sure they ask the right questions. It can also be distracting, sometimes getting in the way of daily responsibilities.” – Harver. Of critical importance is ensuring that your interviewers do not ask the wrong questions. There are many protected categories of information, both on a federal level and at various state and local levels. Asking inappropriate questions and using the answers to make a hiring decision can open your company up to legal action. 10: Reference Checks Some view the requirements for candidates to list personal and professional references as part of their application as outdated. In a vast majority of cases, the references are never contacted. However, it may be worthwhile to use references as part of your candidate screening process . The trick to talking to references is asking open-ended questions that encourage the contact to speak at length. You can use the answers to better judge the skills, character, and potential pitfalls of the candidate. The primary downside is that references are often less professional and less put-together than candidates attending interviews. They may also be biased, as with friends and family references, and may not accurately represent the candidate. And, of course, interviewing references is time-consuming, meaning it should be limited to only your most likely candidates. 11: Temp-To-Hire Contracts One way to assess whether or not a potential employee can do the job is to hire them to do the job. While this may sound counter-intuitive, temporary contracts allow you to put the candidate in the deep end immediately, with the understanding that their contract will be renewed or converted into a full hire if they perform adequately. Since the risk is somewhat lower than a full hire and subsequent termination of a poor-choice employee, temporary contracts allow more flexibility to assess a candidate over a more extended period. The primary downside is that you will still need to process some level of assessment before hiring for a temporary contract. Additionally, the contract period necessitates a lengthy evaluation period before deciding. Some smaller and more agile companies will not want to invest in these things. 12: Sample/Portfolio Evaluation Many roles, such as designers, artists, developers, writers, and other object-oriented and creative careers, find employees developing portfolios of their past work. These portfolios include samples designed or tailored to be relevant to the company, niche, or role the applicant is interviewing for. Thus, it can be representative of the quality of work done by the candidate. Reviewing their portfolio, analyzing the quality of their work with the help of someone technically proficient in the same work, and making a judgment based on past work is a great way to assess a candidate. However, this type of assessment only works for roles where the employee is likely to produce samples, though some positions can be flexible with case studies and reports on past work. Some roles, however, have no way to distill past work into a portfolio or sample. 13: Automated Filtering Modern software offers companies the option to use machine learning to scan through resumes, applications, and other relevant documentation to evaluate and filter a candidate pool automatically. This option is in its relative infancy as a technology. As such, it has many drawbacks. It can be tricked if the applicant knows what keywords to use in their documentation. It can be biased – whether inherently by the training data or implicitly by past hiring practices. It also offers little rationale or nuance in its decisions, as explaining the inner workings of an algorithm is complex. For those reasons, automated filtering is best left for “unskilled” labor positions, entry-level positions, and bulk positions where nuance isn’t as important. Properly Evaluating Candidates The complete process of evaluating candidates varies depending on the situation, role, company, niche, organization, budget, technology, and more. Every company must develop its process using the tools available to them, internally and externally, within their budget. “Properly identifying and implementing formal assessment methods to select employees is one of the more complex areas for HR professionals to learn about and understand. This is because understanding selection testing requires knowledge of statistics, measurement issues, and legal issues relevant to testing.” – SHRM Effective Practice Guidelines. There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to employee evaluation. Every screening process, from resume filtering to interviews, must be tailored to the role you’re trying to fill. The process that works for entry-level employees won’t work for directors or executives. However, at every level of an organization, the company must hire the best available candidates. Identifying those candidates is critical. There is no perfect strategy, so the typical hiring process involves multiple layers of assessment, screening, and interviews. When the cost of a poor hiring decision is high, off-target assessment is hugely detrimental. The key, then, is not just to implement a multi-layered hiring approach. It is to implement that approach, with appropriate monitoring of key performance indicators along the way, to determine which elements of a process work on a short-term and a long-term basis. Only then can a company rest assured that it has a process in place to choose the best candidates from a pool. Conclusion The journey to perfecting employee selection is ongoing and multifaceted. Organizations must navigate the intricate balance between comprehensive, nuanced, and role-specific selection techniques. The 13 methods outlined—ranging from cognitive assessments to automated filtering—each has their own advantages and drawbacks, making it clear that there is no universal solution to candidate evaluation. Ultimately, the goal is to identify and hire the best possible candidates, a task that demands precision, insight, and a willingness to evolve. As the landscape of work continues to shift, so too must the strategies for finding and securing top talent.  Ready to revolutionize your hiring process? Don’t let the best candidates slip through your fingers. Contact our team today to learn more about our tailored solutions and take the first step toward building your dream team.

Some companies treat hiring as a fickle, variable process. A position opens up, they put out a job ad for it, they hire the best candidate that comes along, and repeat the whole process when it happens again. Other companies treat hiring more like a science. Sociology dictates that there are going to be ebbs and flows in candidate interest. Seasonal trends in both hiring and job seeking can leave you wondering when the best time to hire new employees is.  So, which is better? Hiring at the start of the year, middle of the year, or at the end of the year? A Simple Answer The simplest answer is “whichever works best for your company.” If you have roles to fill at the beginning of the year, you shouldn’t wait until the end of the year to hire people; that leaves you with 10+ months of lower productivity, higher stress, and an understaffed workforce. As 37 Signal’s book Rework says, “Hire when it hurts”. Conversely, if you need to fill open roles at the end of the year, it’s easy to delay to the start of the next year, if various factors line up to make such a delay worthwhile. End of year bonuses, vacations, training, availability of candidates for interviews, and other factors are important in making these end-of-year hiring decisions. There are also considerations beyond just the start and end of the year. You can also think about the start and end of the fiscal year , or you can think about seasonal trends. There are pros and cons to hiring any time throughout the year, and different companies will view different timing in different ways. For example, a company like Spirit Halloween does not need to hire employees at the beginning of the year, as they’re only really active for a month each year. The majority of their hiring takes place in September in the lead-up to their roll-out in October, and by the end of November, their business has been put back into cold storage. There’s no clear best time to hire new employees , only the best time for your business. Instead, let’s go over the considerations each time of year brings. New Year, New Jobs (January, February) The beginning of the year is a great time to hire new candidates for long-term positions within a company. It’s also a great time to pick up candidates who are using the excuse of a New Year’s Resolution to seek out a new, better role for themselves. January tends to be slow for hiring. Companies put out job advertising, and employees decide to look for new jobs, but the two don’t meet and match until February. January also suffers from many workers still returning from holiday vacations, so the job search doesn’t begin in earnest right away. January is a good time to start figuring out what you’re looking for in a new employee. You’ll generally have the new year budgets and directives coming down the pipe, so you know what you’re working with. You’ll have a fresh allocation for salaries and benefits, you’ll have permission from above to fill roles or expand departments, and you know where you stand with your teams. The downside here is that January and February also tend to be leisurely for hiring. Companies have a lot of leeway and little time pressure to fill their roles. Candidates have applications out to dozens or hundreds of companies and can take their time receiving and comparing offers. There’s no crunch, for most companies, so hiring is not done quickly. It’s still faster than the holiday season, though. Paul Feeney, a partner with the international auto retailer AutoKineto, explains the surge in January: “The first quarter of the new year is always a busy time for recruiting because of new budgets starting. Staffers are generally taking less time off this time of year since they’re just coming out of the holiday season, which helps speed up the hiring process in quarter one, as well.” Some companies prefer to have their new employees starting in January, so they focus on hiring earlier; the previous November and December. Other companies don’t worry about the annual cycle as much, and pro-rate benefits or vacation days. Springtime’s New Growth (March, April, May) The end of a dreary winter and the start of the new growth of spring, edging through into summer, is also a time of new growth in hiring. According to a decade of data, both March and May are above average in terms of hiring rates , or at least in terms of job advertisement volume. March is the month of urgent hiring. The open roles from the start of the year that have not yet been filled now need to be filled, and there’s no more time left to spend hoping for that perfect candidate to come along. Where January sees passive candidates becoming active due to resolutions, March tends to see a surge in candidates dissatisfied with a lack of changes in their current roles. The dissatisfaction pushes them to seek out new opportunities. A high volume of candidates seeking new jobs makes this difficult for candidates, but a great time for hiring managers . The start of the spring is also when many summer-based businesses start their hiring surge as well. Tourism over summer break, summer destinations, beach, and watersport equipment; these sorts of industries see a summer surge, so they hire in preparation for it. Summer’s approach also brings a sense of urgency to late spring. Hiring managers and executives are planning their summer vacations, and they have less time and attention to spend on hiring. They want to get it over with and get people training as soon as possible. In fact, according to CareerBuilder data, 31% of summer seasonal employers finish their hiring before May, 34% during May, and 20% during June. Anyone looking for a summer job needs to be looking long before summer because hiring for those roles needs to be done early enough to train the employee in time for the summer position. The Summer Slump (June, July, August) Summer is one of the worst times to hire unless you’re specifically operating a business with an autumn surge. Many companies require additional employees over winter and the holidays, but that hiring surge doesn’t happen until fall. By the time summer rolls around, many companies have spent the majority of their HR and hiring budgets, so the flexibility and leeway to hire more have been slashed. Additionally, companies are looking at expenditures and trends and may start to look for cost-cutting measures to balance out their mid-year budgets. Hiring takes a back seat. (ZipJobs 2017 Hiring Trends Study) Many firms, this time of year, are starting to look at employee performance data and are preparing for seasonal trends. It’s a time of studying analytics, monitoring data, and waiting. Some hiring might be relevant for suddenly vacated roles and for new hires that didn’t make it through their probationary period, but in general, the volume is low. On the other hand, this can present an opportunity. Companies that have the flexibility and budget to hire during the summer can pick up candidates with relatively little competition, compared to the higher volume months. The top candidates may not be available, having already found their new roles from earlier hiring surges, but plenty of quality candidates are still on the market. There’s also a lot of overlap in August. It can just as easily be considered part of the Autumn trends and go in the next section as well. August hiring, particularly the end of August, leads up to winter jobs and end-of-the-year starts. Harvesting New Jobs (September, October) Autumn is traditionally another surge in hiring. It’s the time when nearly every company is ramping up for the holidays, including the much-vaunted Black Friday and Christmas sales times. While September is still coming out of the doldrums of summer, October is a surge with above-average job listings according to the same job data from above. Depending on who you talk to, it can take anywhere from four months to two years for a new employee to adjust to their new role and become “fully productive”. If you’re aiming for the shorter end of that scale, hiring in September or October gives you a functioning and adjusted employee at the start of the following year. Some studies also suggest that October may be the best month to hire new employees. At the very least, it’s among the busiest months for new jobs posted to LinkedIn. Nearly 90% of those jobs are filled within a month, as well. End of Year Hiring (November, December) The end of the year is by far the most contentious time to hire new employees. Some people consider it to be the worst time of year. The holiday season means the HR teams, executives, and managers who need to collaborate to hire a new employee are never going to be in the office at the same time. Likewise, holiday demands make it difficult for candidates to make time for interviews, and often the best candidates put their job search on the back burner for the holiday months. On the other hand, the accepted flexibility of vacation days during the holiday season gives candidates more flexibility. Some people argue that candidates who would suffer in their current jobs if they were caught interviewing for other jobs can use the holidays as an excuse to slip out without suspicion. Budget concerns draw a dividing line between types of companies as well. In companies where budgets roll over to the new year, the leftover budget can be saved for a hiring spree in the new year. In “use it or lose it” companies, an end-of-year hiring surge can make use of what remains of a budget to ensure it’s not cut the following year. The end of the year is also a time when many companies choose to promote internal employees rather than look for new employees to bring in. Internal employees benefit from the new position prior to holiday spending, and it’s easier to recruit for a lower-tier position when the new year surge comes. As Career Sidekick says: “Many companies also pay annual bonuses in December, so a lot of people wait until January to change jobs. Companies expect this, so they look to make new hires in January.” Current Events and Other Factors The global pandemic has created a new landscape for hiring. At first, the pandemic made the hiring market a lot slower. Many companies were cutting back on all spending, making it difficult for candidates to find a job. Nowadays, the hiring market is back to normal.  Some traditional surges, like the back-to-school end-of-summer surge, are in flux, as the state of education is unknown. Unemployment remains high, giving companies their choice of candidates, but remote work is virtually required for many candidates to even apply. It’s always worth mentioning, as well, that just because a month isn’t “the best” time to hire doesn’t mean you shouldn’t hire. There are no months where hiring is cursed. If you have a role open up and you need to hire someone for it, hire someone. In fact, it might even be rewarding to work against the grain and hire during slow months. The cost of hiring is determined, in part, by the competition on sites used to list job advertisements. Anywhere an ad auction is involved, the amount of competition is going to be a strong factor in how expensive it is. Another factor to consider is cultural norms. Much of what is written above is relevant primarily from a United States perspective. Companies with an international or global presence, including offices in other countries, will have different schedules, different routines, and different norms to consider. Christmas isn’t as big a deal elsewhere, for example, and the end-of-year hiring surge is less disrupted by expected vacations and travel. Conclusion  The optimal time to hire new employees depends on your company’s specific needs. Seasonal trends and market dynamics can guide timing, but ultimately, hiring should align with your organization’s growth and productivity goals. Flexibility and adaptiveness are crucial, especially in response to changing global conditions like the pandemic.  The right hiring decision balances external opportunities with internal requirements, ensuring the best fit for your company’s future.  In the end, it all comes down to what works best for your company. Hire when you need to hire and when you find a compelling candidate to fill a role. Ready to optimize your hiring strategy? Stay ahead of the curve by understanding the best times to recruit new talent. Contact our team today to start transforming your hiring process today!

In a previous article, I wrote about the differences between turnover and attrition as metrics relating to your overall employee numbers. You can read the full post here . Today, I thought I would go a bit deeper into attrition. What is it, how do you calculate it, how can you analyze it, and how can you improve it? Defining Attrition Employee attrition is defined as the number of employees who willingly leave your company and who you do not replace. They have to leave of their own will; terminating them, restructuring to eliminate their positions, or letting them go does not count. You also must not fill the role voluntarily. It can’t be a role you keep open and haven’t found the right person to fill it yet. Attrition is shrinkage in your organization. Sometimes it happens when you realize you’ve overextended with your growth and, when an employee leaves, realize you can dial back your spending and operate fine without them. Other times, it’s a sign of impending doom; you may find that it indicates a decline in the public perception of your company or interest in your product. A lot of information can come from measuring attrition over time. Attrition is “better” than other forms of employee churn because it’s entirely voluntary. You aren’t shrinking because your company has no one interested in working for it, and you aren’t forced to fire or terminate an employee. On the other hand, the ideal for any business is ongoing growth or standing still with profits at the bare minimum. Losing employees and shrinking payroll can indicate problems. On the other hand, attrition can also be an opportunity. It’s a way to reduce overall payroll costs without downsizing or firing employees and can help stave off lean times a little longer while you figure out other changes to make to get your business back on track. Additionally, attrition doesn’t have to be permanent. Choosing not to fill a role when an employee departs can be a temporary decision, and you can always open up that role later when interest and the economy begin to climb again. Note : Some HR professionals view attrition as any employee turnover and consider “voluntary attrition” a sub-type of attrition. That is largely incorrect but pervasive. If you subscribe to this definition, assume that I’m talking about voluntary attrition throughout this blog post. The information is the same either way. Calculating Attrition Calculating attrition for your company is a matter of defining three numbers. The first number is the time period you’re measuring . Annual, quarterly, and monthly attrition rates are common, though you may not have any attrition on a monthly basis depending on the usual turnover rates for your company and industry. Define a length of time to measure, so you can compare apples to apples when you analyze your metrics later. The second number is the number of employees who voluntarily leave during your defined period . This is a number of people, not a number of roles; for example, if you have a middle manager who leaves via retirement, you hire a replacement, and the replacement chooses to leave within a month for unrelated personal reasons, that’s two instances of attrition, even though both were the same role. The third number is the total number of employees your company had throughout the measurement period . This number is an average, so if you had 110 employees at the start of the period and 100 at the end, the average number is 105. To calculate this, take the number of employees you had at the start of the period and the number at the end, add them together, and divide the result by two. The formula for attrition is simple: Attrition Rate % = (Number of Departed Employees / Average Employee Number) * 100 So, say you have 2500 employees on average throughout the year. You have 328 employees voluntarily leave throughout the year through retirement, leaving for new jobs, leaving for personal or medical reasons, etc. Your equation would look like this: Attrition Rate % = (328 / 2500) * 100 = 13.12% Attrition for the year. Remember, as well, that you can chart this number out in different ways. Monthly attrition numbers compared to the annual numbers can show you spikes of attrition at different times of the year, for example. You can also calculate different kinds of attrition. For example, you can divide attrition into the people who retired versus those who resigned versus those who transferred to another branch or another department. Attrition can be measured on a department level, a location level, a national level, or a global level, depending on the scale of your business. Analyzing Attrition Once you have your attrition numbers, what information can you get out of them? What should you look for? Here are several ideas, though bear in mind that the information most relevant to your company can vary.  Analyze the reasons why employees leave. Employees leave voluntarily for a lot of different reasons. You will need extra data for this analysis – exit interviews should provide it – and correlate that data with your attrition metrics. Different causes of attrition have different repercussions. For example: If a large number of your employees are leaving around the start of the school year, they could be leaving to free up time for classes. If a large number of employees are leaving and citing the relationship they have with their manager, you may investigate that manager for possible reasons. If a large number of employees are leaving for better salaries at other companies, you may need to examine your payroll and improve compensation to increase retention. Seeing a spike in attrition can show you when an issue that was simmering starts to boil over, when a new hire starts causing problems, or when something dramatic changes in the industry or within your company.  Analyze spikes in attrition and narrow down causes. In some companies, attrition tends to be stable from month to month, and year to year. Other companies have dramatic seasonal swings in part of their workforce or across the board. Sometimes, spikes in attrition are easily explained, but other times they aren’t. It’s those unexpected spikes that herald issues you need to identify. This can be anything from a general labor movement to a competitor poaching your employees to a lousy manager making bad decisions. Identify trends in attrition that might warrant preparation for the future. Looking at attrition across a long enough period can show you trends that can help predict the future. You can’t be completely accurate with predictions – the unexpected can always happen – but if your attrition is inching a few percentage points higher every year, year over year, it can be cause for concern. Why is it increasing, and what can you do to stem the tide? Do you need to readjust the direction your business is operating and further realign with consumer interests?  Compare different kinds of attrition. Attrition comes in many forms, and comparing those different forms can be valuable. If we go back to the initial definition of attrition, we can see that many HR experts define attrition as any time an employee leaves for any reason. They also define what I’ve labeled attrition above as “voluntary attrition.” Thus, you can identify different kinds of attrition as: Involuntary attrition : the people who leave because you’ve restructured to eliminate their position, fired them laid them off, or otherwise removed them from your workforce. Voluntary attrition : the people who leave of their own will. Described heavily above. Retirement attrition : the people who reach retirement age and choose to leave the workforce entirely. Internal attrition : the people who “leave” your role but take another one within the company in another department or at another level. Demographic attrition : the people who leave for one reason or another but who share certain traits as a group. Different kinds of attrition can reveal patterns that may need addressing. For example, a large amount of retirement attrition can indicate that your workforce is aging out and needs to be replaced with younger talent; it also means you may need to guarantee a company knowledge base and knowledge transfer so you don’t lose critical institutional knowledge as more of your older workers retire. Demographic attrition is another one to watch for. If any of your employees in a particular demographic group are leaving, it can indicate some kind of inclusivity problem. For example, if most of your attrition is women, your company culture may be leaning towards sexism somehow, and they’re clearing out before it becomes a problem. The same goes for minority groups and other forms of bigotry. Seek causes and investigate issues before they become legal problems.  Compare attrition and turnover. Employee churn comes in many forms. Attrition’s key is that you aren’t replacing the employees when they leave, while turnover is when you do. Comparing these two can show you whether or not your company is on a decline, if it has retention problems, or if it’s undergoing a restructuring. These all have unique repercussions. Improving Attrition Once you measure attrition and analyze the data you receive, you can start working to improve attrition rates. First of all, it can be beneficial to recognize that there’s no singular “good” attrition rate. Different roles, levels, and industries have their own average attrition rates. “Attrition rates vary across industries, subsectors, and job titles. According to LinkedIn’s 2018 talent turnover report , attrition rates were the highest in the technology (13.2%), retail/consumer products (13%), and media/entertainment (11.4%) industries. However, certain positions within industries are subject to higher attrition than others; the same report indicated that within the media/entertainment industry, marketing specialists had an attrition rate of 19.8%.” – Business.com . Improving attrition is always going to be a goal, but getting attrition down to zero may be impossible. High attrition rates often come from one of a few sources. Poor company or workplace culture . Whether this is a pervasive culture throughout the entire company, a department or team culture, or even just a few toxic individuals, workplace culture is a huge driving factor for turnover and attrition. Stress and a poor work/life balance . Modern employees recognize the value of personal and family time and want to maintain a healthy balance between their work and personal lives. A poor balance or a stressful workplace can contribute to attrition. Lack of advancement . Suppose attrition is exceptionally high amongst skilled professionals, and they often leave for increased pay and benefits, or an increase in job title. In that case, you may find that a lack of advancement opportunities is hindering your workplace. This situation can be challenging, especially if you have little flexibility or room for growth in advanced positions. Poor compensation . Closely related to a lack of advancement, poor pay and benefits are frequently one of the most significant drivers of attrition. Increasing compensation over time helps retain employees and keep them satisfied and can paper over many issues that would otherwise drive them away. Luckily, all of these issues are well-documented and solvable, though depending on the level and scale of the issue, it may require dramatic changes throughout your organization. Sometimes, it’s easy. Sometimes, it’s putting you between a rock and a hard place. Unfortunately, seeing the effects of improving attrition can take months or years before you have the metrics to show the impact of your changes. Attrition is a long-term metric and the changes you make need to be equally long-term. Thankfully, they’re typically universally good for any business and improve more than just attrition rates. Improving attrition rates can be hugely beneficial if your business can benefit from improved morale, productivity, engagement, and reputation. Plus, it can help you identify problems before they become crises. Do you have any questions about calculating or analyzing your employee attrition? Was there anything we mentioned today that you would like more clarification on? If so, please feel free to leave a comment down below, and we’ll get a conversation started! We’d be more than happy to assist you in answering your questions however we possibly can!

No company has a perfect workforce. Sometimes employees leave, sometimes conflicts arise, and sometimes behaviors get out of hand to the extent that action must be taken. No business owner enjoys deciding to terminate someone’s employment, but now and then, it must be done. Removing (and replacing) an employee should generally be done discreetly. Making a big event out of it can have repercussions, including other employees choosing to leave because of it. Not to mention the disruption of a public termination distracting the rest of your workers. Before you consider terminating an employee, you should ensure you’re within your rights to do so. Sure, at-will employment laws in many states make it possible to terminate any employee, with or without cause, at any time, but that doesn’t mean you won’t open yourself up to a wrongful termination suit if you fire the wrong person at the wrong time for the wrong reason. For example: Terminating a female employee a short time after she mentions planning a child or maternity leave Terminating an employee who takes time off for life-saving medical treatment Terminating an employee for taking a day off for a religious holiday Terminating an employee for discussing unionization or salary information These are all examples of wrongful termination. Even if those aren’t the stated reasons for their termination, you’re put in a bad position if they can make the case before the courts. So, a “tip #0” for this list is to ensure that you’re terminating an employee without opening yourself up to liability. Here’s a checklist for wrongful termination from the employee’s point of view; you can use it to verify they won’t have a case against you. If you’ve verified that you need to terminate an employee for valid reasons and you want to do so discreetly, here are some tips to help you make the process smoother. 1: Determine Timing The first thing you want to do is determine when you will be terminating the employee. There are three primary factors to consider. The first factor is any special occasions that would make the termination especially rude. Terminating an employee on their birthday, right when a new child is born, right before the holidays, or another unfortunate timing can be considered borderline offensive. We realize that it’s not always possible to avoid such timing, but if you can, you should. Otherwise, you’ll gain a reputation as the company that “fired someone right before Christmas,” which doesn’t look good when hiring other people. Remember, the narrative can be significant, and you’re trying to be discreet. Terminating someone will foster ill will, but they aren’t as likely to start spreading stories or leaving bad reviews everywhere they can as they would if they were terminated on a worse occasion. The second factor is how the employee is likely to react and, more importantly, what access they have to critical information or systems. Terminating a front-line worker with few responsibilities and no significant access isn’t a sensitive or urgent matter. On the other hand, terminating a high-ranking manager, a critical IT worker, or another individual in a sensitive role can be dangerous. Most people aren’t going to sabotage your business on their way out, nor will they attempt to steal your data, both of which are violations of contract and illegal. However, it’s best not to leave things up to chance, especially in cases where the damage might not be discovered for months or years. The image of someone being escorted from the building by security can fuel rumors, as can a sudden termination and a temper tantrum. It can be a good idea to time their termination to avoid crowded times. The third factor to consider is how essential their role is and, thus, how quickly they need to be replaced. A critical employee may need to be replaced immediately, such that you should have a replacement lined up when you terminate them. Other times, you may not have that luxury. 2: Create a Plan for Hiring a Replacement The next thing you want to do is plan the employee’s replacement. Terminating an employee is disruptive enough, but leaving the rest of your team without guidance or enough workers to do the work will make it even more prominent. Of course, you don’t want to tip your hand too early. If your employees catch wind that you’ve posted a public job listing for an already filled role, they can guess that whoever is in that role will soon be replaced. That can set off drama and cause other problems, which is precisely what you hope to avoid. You have a few options here. You can seek word-of-mouth recommendations from trusted sources outside of your organization . Word can still spread, but you can use an informal hiring process to interview candidates for a role without posting the job publicly. You can check your existing candidate pool . If the employee you’re terminating was recently hired, or you hired for a similar role recently, you may have warm leads for others interested in the role. You can approach them about the alternative job and see if they’re interested and progress with the rest of the hiring process as usual. You can post a job advertisement on less prominent job boards . While your employees might regularly check Indeed or Glassdoor, they might not check a niche job board . On the other hand, they might see it immediately if they’re in that niche. It’s a risk you take if you still need to publish the job listing openly. You can seek internal promotion . For example, suppose you’re terminating a manager. In that case, you can promote one of their reports to their position, promote a lower-level employee to the team, and hire someone for the lower-level role, which will be much less suspicious, especially if it’s a position with a lot of churn. Work with a staffing agency or a recruiter to handle the actual recruitment process up to the point of signing an offer, out of view of the public eye . This option can be especially relevant if it’s a member of your HR department you’re replacing. The key here isn’t specifically which option you pick; it’s that you choose one and implement it before terminating the employee. Otherwise, you’re left with a significant gap in productivity and people wondering what happened. 3: Inform Only Those Who Need to Know Terminating an employee is rarely a unilateral move. You will need to have someone in finance, HR, and possibly their manager on board and aware of the situation, and potentially even “sworn to secrecy,” though you can’t necessarily enforce such a promise. The fewer people who know about the situation, the easier it will be to control rumors and prevent the workplace game of telephone from misrepresenting the situation. In most cases, most of your employees won’t really care, but gossip travels fast and is part of workplace socialization, so it’s not always possible to prevent it. The people who need to know are those whose duties are required when an employment change happens. You may need to talk to: HR , to process the paperwork and manage duties, replacements, and legal forms. Legal , if there’s any suspicion of wrongful termination, breach of contract, or other legal matters. Financial , to ensure that final paychecks are paid out, retirement accounts are handled properly, and other aspects of benefits work appropriately. Managers , so they know why an employee has disappeared and can prepare their team to handle the situation. This all varies depending on who you’re terminating and for what reason. You may, for example, need a closer discussion with legal and with a victim of workplace harassment if you’re terminating someone for violation of physical boundaries or sexual harassment. 4: Have Documented Reasoning Even employees who don’t harbor ill will against you may consider a wrongful termination suit if someone convinces them the situation could work in their favor. It’s always better to protect yourself and be safe than to be sorry you didn’t. As such, you will need to document behaviors and build a case for termination if there are any question about it. Some reasons may not need this level of documentation. A workplace harassment issue, adequately investigated, is an immediate breach of contract and behavior and results in termination. All you need is proof that it happened. In other cases, you may need a “backup” reason, such as underperformance. However, you cannot simply terminate someone for underperformance with no prior documentation. The employee may be able to pull past performance reviews where they’ve been recorded as excellent or may be able to prove that you’ve never disciplined them or given them feedback. While it’s not technically a breach of law or contract, if your employee policies state that unilateral termination isn’t possible, it can be used against you. Documentation protects the company and is the duty of HR, the employee’s manager, and you to produce. Just make sure you’re not trying to build a case on a fraudulent basis; employees will defend themselves if necessary, and you don’t want to find out what they can do the hard way. 5: Reconsider Termination Blind termination may be required in some cases. An employee who displays bigotry on the job or off the clock causes a liability on social media, harasses other employees, or otherwise crosses uncrossable lines should be terminated. On the other hand, if an employee underperforms, there may be ways you can handle the situation more gracefully. You may consider implementing a performance improvement plan . Sometimes, employees who underperform have reasons for it; poor training, personal issues, or unclear goals, and a disconnect in communication can lead to tricky situations. You can sculpt a mediocre or poor employee into a good one by providing clear training and a clear path to improvement with tangible goals. Consider an incentive to quit . Sometimes, an employee you want to go might be a thorn in your side if you fire them, but they may be willing to quit. Amazon famously offers up to $5,000 for employees to quit ( with caveats ). Though it may look like you’re paying them off, it can effectively remove a problem employee. Restructure a department . If your problem employee is a manager, consider merging two similar departments and unifying them, making the problem manager redundant and cutting their position. Just make sure the teams can work together, and the manager remaining can handle it; otherwise, you will have a worse situation. It’s always possible that there are alternatives to termination. All too often, the people in charge of HR or a business have a limited view of the available options. Moreover, personal biases against a problem employee can exacerbate a negative viewpoint and even lead to viewing an employee in a worse light than they actually are. Sometimes termination is unavoidable. When it is, the best thing you can do is work to replace them as discreetly as possible. Sometimes, though, being discreet isn’t the best solution. Keeping a termination on the “down-low” can fuel rumors worse than a public termination. You may need to issue a statement to the individual’s team about their termination, providing non-personal details about why it happened. Just make sure that, if you do this, you don’t phrase it in a way that could be considered a threat to the rest of the team. How you handle terminations says a lot about your management style and how your company can handle growth, and the hurdles that come with it. Just do the best you can, learn from mistakes you make along the way, and strive to improve your processes each time they need to be executed. Do you or your company have any questions about discreetly replacing an employee or how your company can do so appropriately? If so, please feel free to leave a comment down below, and we’ll get a conversation started! As we mentioned, it is critical to be able to do this properly to ensure the least possible adverse effects, so we would be more than happy to assist you however we can!

In business and, specifically, in HR, specific terms often have very similar meanings in everyday language but very specific, different definitions within the HR sphere. Two such terms are Employee Attrition and Employee Turnover. Both turnover and attrition have to do with employees leaving the organization. However, both metrics have specific definitions that measure different aspects of the overall health of a business. Why the Confusion? The truth is, that turnover and attrition are tricky to define because so many different organizations fail to stick to conventional definitions. LinkedIn has people posting industry standard definitions , but their Insights reports describe attrition using the definition of turnover. Companies like SpriggHR define attrition with a slightly more expansive definition that includes involuntary departures. What’s important is that you know what the metrics mean within your company and what they mean with any company you’re comparing yourself to. Any benchmarking requires you to compare apples to apples, after all. What, then, are the industry standard definitions? What is Employee Turnover? To start, let’s talk about employee turnover. Many people believe that turnover is simply a measurement of the number of employees who leave an organization in a given year. However, this isn’t strictly true. Employee turnover can be defined as “the rate at which employees leave and are replaced.” It’s also defined as a percentage of your total workforce. Turnover can include employees leaving voluntarily or involuntarily. Turnover is a percentage of your company’s average headcount during the time you’re measuring. Turnover isn’t necessarily bad but can be a measure of overall company performance when benchmarked against other industry players. To calculate your turnover rate, you need to know the number of employees who leave whose roles you intend to fill. Whether or not you’ve filled them doesn’t strictly matter, but if you “intend” to fill a role but leave it unfilled for over a year, well, you don’t intend to fill it, do you? The equation for the turnover rate is this: Turnover Rate = (# of Departures / Average Headcount) * 100 Let’s say your company is a mid-sized business with an average of 170 employees over the last year. During that time, 22 employees left. Some were fired, others left of their own accord, but they all filled essential roles that you want to be filled, so they’re all valid for replacement. Turnover Rate = (22 / 170) * 100 Turnover Rate = (0.1294…) * 100 Turnover Rate = 12.9% It’s important to note that turnover rates vary extremely widely. Retail employees have an extremely high turnover rate, at around 60%. Conversely, industries like the Energy or Chemicals sectors have approximately 12%. You can see a comparison and a more detailed breakdown from SHRM here . What is Employee Attrition? Employee attrition is the number of employees who voluntarily leave the organization and who you choose not to replace. For example, say your organization has four middle managers. One of them decides to leave to take an upper management role at a different company. Upon evaluation, you determine that you don’t need that fourth manager role, and a simple restructuring will divide their reports amongst your remaining three managers. This loss of a role is attrition. Attrition requires that the employee leave voluntarily; terminating or otherwise letting an employee go does not constitute attrition. Attrition requires that you do not fill the role. It is, essentially, a shrinkage in your workforce. Attrition brings with it particular challenges, such as declining interest in your products or an impending knowledge-transfer crisis. There’s an interesting line to draw here. Since attrition requires you to have no intention of filling the role, it can be very similar to a case where you’re eliminating a role. However, eliminating a role and terminating the employee in that role wouldn’t fall under attrition because the employee departing is not leaving of their own volition. That quirk catches many people, even HR professionals, off-guard. Is Turnover Good or Bad? Many people have an inherent view that turnover is bad. The truth is, that employee turnover isn’t always bad, and to understand it, you need to understand the context surrounding it. Take, for example, a customer service position. Such a position is likely to have an extremely high turnover rate. Very few people want to work as a cashier for Burger King or as a Walmart greeter for an entire career. These positions are expected to be a) always filled, and b) have strong demand, as entry-level employment (or as employment of last resort for those who need income, no matter how they find it). An industry, or a department within a company, can have very high turnover rates and not be at risk in any way. Consider a company like Trader Joe’s. Trader Joe’s has a company culture of promoting internally, boasting that 78% of their managers started as entry-level workers and 100% of store managers were promoted from department managers. Their entry-level roles may have high turnover, but they aren’t losing institutional knowledge; many of those employees are still employed by the company and are building loyalty through career progression. Turnover can also be planned. Significant seasonal shifts in hiring in retail, for example, are planned turnover. The roles will be filled (even if it takes until the beginning of the next season to fill them), so it’s not a bad thing to have a high level of turnover; it’s expected as a way to handle seasonal shifts in demand. “A host of factors influence turnover. Voluntary turnover happens when employees unexpectedly find a better opportunity elsewhere. That may mean fewer hours, greater pay, better work-life balance, or even closer proximity to their house. It’s up to you to start sorting through the data to see how to reduce it.” – David Cusick, via Lattice . Turnover is only bad if and when it is unplanned and when the job market is poor. If large numbers of employees leave for reasons like unequal industry pay or poor working conditions, that form of turnover is bad. If large numbers of employees leave and you can’t find people willing to work for you despite wanting to fill their roles, that isn’t good either. The key to adequately learning about turnover, and using it to your benefit, is understanding the context. You can ask yourself questions about it, such as: Which departments have high turnover rates? What pressures result in higher turnover, such as compensation? Are there individuals potentially responsible for excessive turnover, like a problematic manager? How does the turnover rate for this department and industry compare to similar rates for other companies? Some amount of turnover is inevitable. After all, no company in the world has a 100% retention rate. The key is to make sure your turnover rate isn’t inordinately high, and if it is, figure out what the problem is and how to solve it. “Turnover metrics are valuable from a legal perspective because they can uncover unconscious bias , discriminatory practices, or reveal a workplace climate that deters women or persons of color from remaining at the company,” said Robert C. Bird, a professor at the Academy of Legal Studies in Business , via Lattice Is Attrition Good or Bad? Attrition is defined as employees who voluntarily leave and whose positions you choose not to fill. It’s already better than other employee churn metrics because it’s voluntary on both sides: the employee isn’t being terminated, and you’re choosing not to fill the role. However, the pressures that inform those choices can determine whether attrition is good or bad. Attrition typically can provide an opportunity. For example, when interest in your product or your company is on the decline, attrition can be an amicable way to reduce overall labor costs and workforce size without resorting to downsizing. You benefit from lower operating costs without making it feel like your business is collapsing under external pressures. The decision of an employee to depart is typically more amicable, though it doesn’t have to be. An employee choosing to quit, because your pay rates are sub-standard, is still, technically, an amicable departure; however, the realization that better things are possible can drive many other employees to leave for similar reasons. Attrition is also a sign that you need to ensure that your company has a central knowledge base and that knowledge and skills can transfer to new employees without losing institutional knowledge. One of the worst risks of attrition is departing employees bringing essential business information or skills with them, leaving the company worse off without them. Attrition isn’t indefinite, either. Understanding when you want to fill a role and when to eliminate it in the future is an important decision to make. Choosing not to fill an open role in the short term can be beneficial, but you may still want to have someone in that role a year or two from now. “The question isn’t whether employee attrition happens when employees leave—it’s really how long the period of attrition should last. An immediate rehiring effort turns a departure into a turnover event, with costs and anticipated benefits of its own. An indefinite period of attrition saves money in the short run but has long-term impacts due to the reduction in staff.” – Bamboo HR . Using Turnover and Attrition to Scale Business Businesses need to be balanced. If you don’t have enough employees to meet demand, your business will suffer. Customers may go unfulfilled, orders can take ages to ship, and customer service falters; critical understaffing can be a death knell for a company with an otherwise significant amount of demand and potential. Conversely, if your business has more employees than are necessary, you run into the opposite problem. Expenses for maintaining your workforce skyrocket compared to income and profits. Employees may find themselves sitting on their hands with nothing to do. You end up with a “too many cooks in the kitchen” situation and can even inhibit the productivity of your teams by trying to influence too many voices on too few decisions. Additionally, departments within a business must be in balance. If you have too few customer service employees and too many sales employees, customers may find promises being broken and service sub-par. Too much marketing can build too much demand that the rest of your workforce isn’t prepared to handle. The key is to recognize that turnover and attrition are not inherently bad. Attrition can be a helpful tool to adjust the scope of a business downward without inhibiting business growth. Indeed, limited availability can even increase demand, and a waitlist can be a potent marketing tool. Monitoring these metrics is also crucial for predicting future performance and watching for potential problems. For example, if your business is expecting a 15% or lower turnover rate for Q4, but afterward, you find that your turnover rate hit 22%, you can start to look into what happened and why. You had an expectation, which was off-base. Was it poor predictions, or was there another factor that influenced turnover and increased it? Moreover, is that something you can fix for the benefit of your business? One key is communication. You can’t tell whether turnover or attrition is good or bad without understanding why an employee is leaving. If you’re terminating them, you know the immediate reason why. However, you may want to dig deeper to determine if external or internal pressures led to the problems you terminated them for. Ideally, of course, you will know this before you reach the point of termination, but that isn’t always possible. The crux of the issue is that both turnover and attrition are similar metrics and serve similar purposes but are distinct and valuable in unique ways. Using them appropriately begins with measuring them correctly, and to do that, you need to know precisely what they are. Do you or your business have any questions about the differences between employee turnover and attrition, or about either one separately? If so, please feel free to leave a comment down below, and we’ll get a conversation started! As we mentioned earlier, it is pretty easy to mix up the two, so we would be more than happy to clear up any confusion you may be having.