It is hard to tell if it is collective wishful thinking that the recession is truly easing (or even past history), but the headlines in the business news continue to look more and more positive.  The Dow Jones Industrial Average seems to be holding ground at over 10,000, major retailers are reporting higher sales than same time last year, and shippers UPS and FedEx are predicting higher holiday shipping volume over last year.  But despite all the numbers and predictions in the news, on the home front I can report my own corner of the recession is easing- my husband found a new job! 

While technically not a victim of the recession, but rather someone who found himself at the expected end of an entrepreneurial endeavor just as the employment market went south, he still had the pleasure of re-entering the job market at its worst.  Spending hours each day searching through job boards, visiting career sites, filling in online applications- he had a tough few months.  And he was happy to report to me (not that our household would be at all biased) that his candidate experience with Talent Portals hosted by iCIMS was the best he encountered!  In the end, however, (while he will miss being able to go surfing whenever the waves are good, and it was nice that he had some extra time to work on the “This Old House” candidate home we bought,) he is more than happy to be getting back to work. 

And many others are out there looking to join him!  So, with the economy showing more and more signs of life every day and lots of talent out there, what can your organization do to land the best candidates?  To help you prepare, iCIMS is happy to announce a complimentary webinar this week on “Post Recession & Seasonal HR Practices”. This one-hour webinar will consist of a panel discussion featuring HR leaders from the retail industry and will focus on the parallels between retail seasonal hiring and post recession HR practices.  The goal of the webinar is to prepare companies in all industries for the new post-recession hiring landscape by considering the example of the retail industry’s experience with seasonal hiring.   The webinar takes place tomorrow, Wednesday, November 18^th, 2009 at 1:00 pm EST.  To register for the webinar, you can click here. 

3 Lessons Learned from My Own Software Implementation

If you are a technology user at your organization (i.e. you actively use a talent management system), I’m sure you’ve heard claims regarding how important the implementation process for that technology is. Here at iCIMS, we understand that and embrace it. But, I have to admit, never has that point been made as clear and poignant as when I myself became a technology user - for a marketing automation system.

Obviously, I’m not an HR professional - I’m in marketing. However, implementing software meant to aid you in your daily responsibilities is a universal experience, regardless of the job function. So, I’d like to share some of my thoughts and takeaways from my recent experience implementing software.

1. You really, really need a true implementation process mapped out: And when I say this, I don’t mean a single document outlining the next 4 weeks and what you are responsible for learning in the system by that time. This is what I received, and I’ll tell you right now it’s not helpful in the slightest. Instead, a project plan should be crafted around a targeted go-live date, with meetings and milestones set to ensure the date is met. Furthermore, your technology vendor should work with you throughout this time to understand your needs and translate your organizational processes into system configurations. 
2. You need a go-to guy: From my experience, having one, dedicated implementation specialist to go to is crucial. This ensures total commitment to your account, and that you are receiving the time and attention you deserve. It also means you are working with one person who is knowledgeable of your organizational processes, and thus able to implement the new system as quickly and painlessly as possible (you know, avoiding multiple e-mails back and forth with the vendor as they try to determine where you are in the implementation process).
3. You’re going to want to know how the other folks are doing it: Plain and simple, you are not only going to want, but frankly need, some best practice advice (especially when you’re a newbie to the technology like I was).  And shouldn’t your vendor, who’s worked with hundreds of similar organizations and helped them map out their processes, be able to provide that consultation? When vendors are able to provide you with best practice recommendations, you’re more likely to have your organizational goals and objectives met at all levels.

So there you have it, my big takeaways. What do you think? What do you find to be the most important elements during the implementation of software?

With reports of optimism and a Q3 profit gain, the U.S. Commerce Department is letting policy makers know that it’s time to start planning for the recovery.  While the government is busy planning its post-recession procedures, companies across the nation are gearing up for new types of necessary HR practices.  And if there’s one sector that’s all too familiar with hiring surges and alternative hiring pools, it’s the retail industry.  With the holiday season quickly approaching, the retail industry is preparing for yet another year of seasonal hiring.  From an increase in hourly hiring to utilizing alternate forms of recruiting, the retail industry serves as a microcosm for what the rest of the nation can expect for hiring practices in 2010 and beyond.

But with unemployment still on the rise (but increasing at it’s lowest pace yet!) someone forgot to tell the job (and housing) market that the recession is over.  However, it’s never too early to begin planning for the recovery. Every year, the retail industry slows down for nine months, a full two-thirds of the year.  In a way, retail experiences a mini-recession every year (with a Presidents Day Sale here and a Back-to-School, One-Day Sale there).  Yet as the last days of summer come to a close, managers and recruiters are readying themselves and their staffs.  They know that in order to have an efficient and prepared staff for the holiday months, they have to begin planning before the rush. Creating a talent pipeline and hiring the most qualified candidates well in advance, while the applicant pool is still full of top talent, is essential. The extra staff must be trained and familiarized with the ways that stores are run so they can be effective sales people when Black Friday rolls around and the holiday buying-season officially begins. 

Now you’re probably wondering, “How can I possibly ready myself for a hiring rush, when I have all this shopping to do?”  Fortunately, iCIMS is presenting a webinar on just such a topic (blatant self promotion, I know).  The webinar, Post Recession & Seasonal HR Practices will consist of a panel discussion offering best practices from retail industry leaders.  The webinar takes places next Wednesday, November 18^th, 2009 at 1:00 pm EST.  To register for the webinar, you can click here. 

Is your organization doing anything to prepare for the economic recovery? What does your 2010 outlook look like?

CBS News recently reported that the unemployment rate amongst recent college graduates has more than quadrupled in the past two years. In 2007 the unemployment rate for 20 to 24 year olds with bachelor's degrees was just 2.2 percent while current rates hover above 9.3 percent and are still increasing. What is even more disturbing is that the average college student graduates with $3,000 in credit card debt and $23,000 in student loan debt. How are these students expected to repay college loans when one in ten of them are unemployed and an even starker number are underemployed?

Okay, so now for the good news: organizations across the globe are still actively recruiting at the university level! While 31% of organizations stated that they were cutting back on university recruiting, very few organizations have discontinued their university recruiting programs altogether. To prepare for a potential hiring spike, many organizations are even re-investing in Talent Acquisition Solutions to re-vamp their university recruitment initiatives and help support a robust pipeline of qualified graduates for future employment opportunities. Although we are in for a slow recovery, these organizations value the vitality and fresh spirit that only recent graduates can bring to a workforce. For college graduates, there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

A few words of wisdom for unemployed recent college graduates: make yourself marketable. Recent graduates are seeking advanced certifications or even higher degrees to make themselves more valuable candidates and gain a leg up in the competition. It is important to remember that the ’08 and ’09 graduates will soon be competing with the ’10 graduates for entry level positions- it is important to stand out. Expand your network.  Networking is one of the keys to finding your dream job. Building a robust professional network and then leveraging it to your advantage is one of the best steps you can take while still in college or as a recent graduate. Embracing social networking outlets is often a great way to expand this network. And lastly, Stay Positive! As a college graduate, you have the advantage of an advanced education and that degree will pay off. Just think, the unemployment rate amongst high school graduates is three times higher than that of college graduates. On a more personal note, my younger sister is preparing to graduate in December with a degree in Criminal Justice and she just received her first job offer, there is hope.

How has your organization altered your university recruitment initiatives in response to the soaring unemployment rates?

Today's blog post comes to you from Jonathan Hyland, Client Relationship Director at iCIMS and an emerging thought-leader in his own right within the human capital management industry. You can follow him on Twitter at @JHyland_iCIMS.

In 2009, the term ‘price conscious’ took on a new meaning: ‘price paranoid’. Beyond looking for a great deal, consumers and businesses alike wanted what they needed, when they needed it, and at the lowest cost to them.  In another phrase: they needed something of value at a low price. Here’s how these buyers are thinking: price = value.

The ‘price = value’ equation will get you far when it comes to food and clothing, but when it comes to purchasing a tool that will drive critical business processes, it doesn’t. Certain business tools are cheaper than others for a good reason: less value. Whether it’s awesome requisition functionality at the expense of easy-to-use portals for your candidates, or great searching and poor usability, the ultimate ‘cost’ of the cheaper tool amounts to far more if you’d invested just a smidge more with the better tool.

Sometimes, though, it’s not even the actual tool; it’s the support that comes with it.

For example, all iCIMS clients have a dedicated Client Relationship Director, in addition to 24x5 access to our Subject Matter Experts. But iCIMS goes a step farther. We have Implementation Managers who closely work with our clients to get their iCIMS system live; and there’s also our Project Engineering team, professionals who work with clients on specific, long-term projects after implementation.

That’s right. iCIMS has four distinct departments dedicated to client service, and our clients have access to these departments at no extra cost. That’s a far cry from other companies, with tiered service agreements, no account managers, or worse, having to purchase consulting time.

Before you make a decision based solely on how much the upfront monetary cost is to you, take a step back and ask your provider the hard questions: how do you support your tool? In addition to your tool, what am I getting with it? The answers might surprise you.

I guess it’s the kind of thing you take for granted.  A few annoying emails throughout the year entitled “Open Enrollment”, or a new plastic insurance card to change over in your wallet.  Here a co-pay, there a co-pay, and how much is your deductable again??  Most employees don’t even look at how much is being taken out of their weekly or bi-weekly paychecks to contribute to these plans.  Quick!  Tell me how much per month you pay for your family or individual benefits package?  Without looking at your last pay stub, I bet the majority of you can’t.

I recently had a mishap on the soccer field.  (See my Blogger Bio, I’m quite sporty.)  A head ball landed me in the Emergency Room with stitches, a concussion and a broken nose.  I’ll spare you the photos.  The ER trip was followed by plastic surgeon consultations and then surgery.  Now that it’s all said and done, I am back on my feet and looking fabulous again (see my Blogger Profile Pic).  But the experience truly made me appreciate my corporate benefits package and insurance privileges.  Remember, these aren’t free for you or your employer. 

Medical, and Dental, and Vision, oh my!  401k, Life Insurance,  these are all overseen by your HR Department.  Use this blog post as a friendly reminder- don’t take it for granted, it’s important!  When a company offers a comprehensive benefits package, sit up and take notice.  You pay for it, and your company pays for it.  When you apply for a job, ask questions.  Don’t wait until you head butt somebody on the soccer field (or something like that!).

So, I headed over to our friendly HR Department to show off my newly-repaired nose to and to give John, iCIMS’ Benefits Coordinator, a hug.  I thanked him for negotiating a top notch insurance plan for all of us, and for working hard to keep iCIMS employees’ health and best interests at heart.  I also high-fived Colin, our President and CEO, and thanked him too.  After all, we’re in this together.

Are you new to Twitter and/or the blogosphere? Trying to find the most influential thought-leaders in the space?  Before the advent of web 2.0 and social media, it was easy: follow the leaders like Bersin (Josh Bersin’s blog & Twitter and Madeline Laurano’s blog & Twitter), Aberdeen (Mollie Lombardi on Twitter), Forrester and Gartner (Jim Holincheck and Thomas Otter on Twitter).

2.  iCIMS: Okay, blatant self-promotion here. But you should become an iCIMS Facebook fan, follow us on Twitter and read our iBlog.

3.  ERE: ERE’s online community contains thousands of pages of content relating to recruiting, and continues to drive traffic from over 58,000 loyal members. Having established a strong brand associated with the cutting edge of the recruiting industry, the website continues to add new content and functionality regularly. I scour my ERE Daily newsletter, so I recommend signing up for it. Follow some of the ERE guys on Twitter, too: ERE on Twitter, Todd Raphael , Scott Baxt and David Manaster.

4.  Laurie Ruettimann: Listed as one of the Top 5 career advice websites by CareerBuilder and CNN, Laurie is a full-time Human Resources speaker and writer who advocates for a common sense approach to traditional employment practices. She's the gal behind Punk Rock HR, @lruettimann and @punkrockhr. As talented and busy as she is, she still finds the time to be personable and kind.

5.  Recruiting Blogs:  Mmm, so between the time I started writing this blog and now, Recruiting Blogs actually acquired Punk Rock HR. So 4 and 5 might be a combo. But check them out on Twitter. You should especially follow John Sumser’s Top 100 influencers project, and also connect with Jason Davis. This is another newsletter that I look forward to every day.

6.  William Tincup: This guy is pretty outrageous, but is a brilliant and effective marketer. If you are selling software or service solutions anywhere in the employee life cycle from hire to retire – you should know his company. Starr Tincup has helped more than 150 clients in the human capital space innovate marketing.  Check out their Blog or follow them on Twitter @starrtincup (bio: human capital marketing rockstar.) You can also get his most recent book for free (and free=awesome).

7.  Fistful of Talent: A well-known and even more well-respected blog that covers an extremely wide berth of HR topics in a fun yet informative style. Some of their superstars include Jessica Lee, Kris Dunn and Jason Seiden. Also, put faces to the names by watching their installments of FOTV, where the FOT team tackles pertinent issues in a really engaging video format.

8.  Glen Cathey. This man is passionate (read: obsessed) with how to more effectively mine human capital data. He's the man behind the Boolean Black Belt blog and you can also follow him on Twitter. He recently reached out to iCIMS regarding a search feature within our system. It got a lot of great dialogue going and we took him up on some of his suggestions to better serve our clients.

9.  Recruiter Earth.  Check out the Recruiter Earth online community. (You can also connect with Chris LaVoie on twitter.) They come up with approximately 6000 new, creative and effective ideas a day. Also, I don't know how they do it, but they may have THE most active and engaged online community. Chris, are you bribing all these people? ;)

10.  Penelope Trunk's blog gives readers advice at the intersection of life and work. You can also follow her on twitter. She's an outstanding writer and doesn't hold anything back. Some of her content may be controversial, but she backs it so strongly with irrefutable evidence that sometimes you just can't help but be amazed, and then agree.  

11.  iCIMS…? Become a Facebook friend, follow us on Twitter and read our iBlog.

And then to rattle off a few more:

1.   Naomi Bloom

2.   Sarah White

3.   Recruiting Animal

4.   Steve Boese

5.   Cheezhead, of course

6.   Sharlyn Lauby

7.   Lance Haun

8.   Renegade HR

9.   HRM Today

10.   Did I mention iCIMS? Become a Facebook friend, follow us on Twitter and read our iBlog. Ok, ok, enough.

Well, the hyper-linking of all these resources is killing me, so I'm going to call it quits here. Who did I miss? Whose advice do you follow religiously? Which person or group do you consider an authority in the HR space?

Uh oh. One minute, someone’s kid is petting a pig at the state fair, and within days, your whole office is down for the count: HR, IT, Accounts Receivable and Payable, the FedEx guy – everyone has the flu (relax- I know it doesn't really come from pigs). Unfortunately, there’s not much you can do at this point, besides send everyone home for helpings of CDC-mandated Chicken Soup and Orange Juice.

But is that really the best option? During your typical flu season, work tends to pile up, but in the next few months, HR professionals are expecting an unprecedented number of absences across the board as H1N1 lodges itself in the bodies --- and fears – of the working population.  In fact, in a study done last month by the Harvard School for Public Health, only one-third of businesses are confident they could maintain operations if half of their workforce reported absent due to H1N1. That said, what’s a business to do?

Enter Software-as-a-Service, and the beauty of the Cloud Revolution. Because of the internet, a growing number of employees can work from home with an unparalleled access to the tools and technologies they would otherwise only have at their desk. Already, tools like Google, VPN and WebEx let workers communicate and collaborate over the web, but a number of companies are starting to harness the advantages of SaaS to do more robust work, regardless of where they work from. Companies like iCIMS.

With tools like the iCIMS Talent Platform, Human Resources staff and managers can manage the entire recruiting lifecycle from home or anywhere else. Accessible through a common browser, users can easily handle Applicant Tracking, Onboarding, Candidate and Employee Management, Requisition creation and much more. 

Plus, these technologies are some of the best ways of fighting Presenteeism, a trend where employees come to work despite being sick. While this might sound like a good thing (“office hero!”), it’s really only good for spreading the flu, and obviously, it’s better to have one employee out than ten the week after.

Of course, the jury is out on whether H1N1 is going to be the threat it's being made out to be, but any time companies want to take some of the sickness risks out of the office (or just help save some money on transportation costs) the advantages of Software-as-a-Service are pretty clear.

Now, instead of refreshing the Google Flu Trends website at the first coworker’s sniffles, Human Resources can just go home and work on their recruiting initiatives from their home office. And, if they really do get sick, the bed and cartons of OJ are just steps away. 

We all need to eat. In relatively recent history, mankind essentially had two options for procuring nourishment: hunt or farm. They both require careful preparation, patience and deliberate execution; however the strategy is different for each. I’m sure there were some savvy families who applied both methods. I’m not the first one to make this analogy to talent acquisition, but I like it.

For a long time, corporate staffing has been very transactional. A need arises, a req is created and the quicker a warm body can be in the seat, the better. It’s a process quite similar to the hungry hunter. He needs to eat and has no food, so he has no choice but to go out and hunt the first prey he finds.

The farmer, however, has taken a different approach. He began by plowing the field and determining exactly what he wanted to plant. Then he continued to sew the seeds and apply the right fertilizer. While the crop grows, he tends the plants and keeps them pointing in the right direction. Ultimately, at the end of the year, he’s able to harvest and has a stockpile.

Hunting is very popular in talent acquisition. In my opinion, the optimal organization would apply strategies from both methods. There are going to be times when it’s best to hunt. However, with a good farm, there is a tremendous advantage of being able to pick the perfect pepper to accompany the meal being prepared.

Between the dynamics of the economy and sites like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, right now the soil is as fertile as its ever been. With proper planning and preparation, any talent acquisition department can be both an expert hunter and a green thumb at the same time.

Brian Fish is a Client Relationship Director at iCIMS.

 Today's guest blog post comes to you from Nick Fishman, Chief Marketing Officer and EVP of EmployeeScreenIQ. EmployeeScreenIQ is an industry leading global employment screening resource, as well as a valued iCIMS partner.

As recruiters and HR professionals, you know better than most the flood of resumes you’ve received since the economy took a turn for the worst.  You are evaluating more candidates for fewer jobs and your margin for error is nil.  Therefore, hiring the right candidate the first time is paramount to your success.  Many organizations have tightened their hiring standards in general and become much more vigilant with the background screening process.  They are looking for anything that will affirm their belief in a candidate or adverse information that will warn them of possible trouble.  We’ve seen significant spikes in crime rates over the last year and in turn, that has impacted the number of job candidates with criminal convictions. 

So now, here’s another unforeseen issue that has risen in light of our economy.  States throughout the country are considering the early release of thousands of prison inmates because it cost too much money to keep them incarcerated.  The state of California, for instance, plans to early release as many as 40,000 inmates to make up for budget shortfalls. 

 
It is our sincere hope that these individuals will have been rehabilitated and will begin to seek gainful employment, however recidivism rates would suggest otherwise.  If this trend persists, it becomes even more important for employers to rely upon employment background checks to help them make informed hiring decisions. 

However, this issue becomes a double-edged sword for employers.  There is certainly liability to organizations for making bright-line hiring decisions based on the presence of a criminal record.  Employers are encouraged to evaluate each piece of adverse information on its own merit.  They should consider how long ago the conviction occurred, job relatedness, the seriousness of the crime, whether the person is a repeat offender, etc.  Standards should definitely vary based on the type of job available and the industry.  Organizations should ensure that they continue to make consistent decisions.

This will be an even more impactful issue as the economy improves in the coming year.  You’ll be hiring more people for more jobs and won’t have the same luxury of time to dedicate to each candidate as you do now.  Start developing and, or refining your process now.  The effort will pay off in the near future!