Every year tens of thousands of HR professionals gear up for annual recruiting conferences and expos. While extremely valuable for professionals looking to stay on top of the newest recruiting trends or latest HR technology, attending these events can be pricey – especially in today’s economy.  While some organizations have turned to online events (webinars) for specialized HR information, others still struggle to find the most valuable in-person events to attend (plus, who can say no to the swag at the expo halls?!).     

In my search for the best HR tradeshows to attend, I found myself wondering – what do I want from an HR tradeshow?  Is the biggest always best? Does location play a factor? How about speakers and agenda? 

As I continued to create my list of tradeshow “must-haves”, I thought about how I make many of my purchase decisions: Ask for advice. So, my HR blogosphere friends – I turn to you! What tradeshows are you attending in 2012?  Are there conferences you can’t live without?  Take our quick survey and in a month’s time I’ll reveal the results.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/HRTradeshows

At the ASHHRA Conference!

Barely 2 weeks old and the buzz of Google+ has already taken over technology blogs, business sites, and my personal Facebook feed (invites anyone?).  According to a recent article in PC World, estimates for the social network’s user base run as high as 5 million (not quite the 200 million of Twitter or 750 million of Facebook, but it’s only been 14 days).  I recently received my own invitation and can’t stop reading anything and everything about the new social site.  Like its social networking cousins, Google+ has the potential to further revolutionize business – from new marketing and advertising techniques to personalized and quick customer service responses.  But what effect will Google+ have on the recruiting world?

We already know the benefits of integrated social recruiting, and smart recruiters have already added automated tools into their campaigns (check out my last post on “Recruiting for the Millennial Generation”).  From the basic, firsthand knowledge I have of using Google+, here are my predictions for Google+’s potential game-changing role in the recruiting world:

1. Circles:

According to the Google+ Wikipedia page, “Circles” enable users to organize contacts into groups for sharing, across various Google products and services. This system replaces the typical friend’s list function used by sites such as Facebook. There’s no limit to the number of circles you can have – so recruiters can start separating their business contacts by topic and share highly targeted messages or updates based on the circle.

Potential +1 for Circles: Recruiters (and eventually companies) can share jobs to specific Circles (or subsets) of people (without spamming others).  The true value will come when recruiters figure out how to best leverage the search capabilities of Google Profiles and grow out their circles. On the flip side, candidates will need to make sure their profiles are Search Engine Optimized in order to be found by those searching.

2. Sparks:

Much like candidates becoming fans of a Facebook company page or following a corporate twitter account, users can add companies of interest to their Sparks Page for real time updates on the given organization.  This automated feature acts as a saved search within the Sparks tab of their platform page. 

Potential +1 for Sparks: Instead of organizations asking you to fan or follow, they’ll be soliciting for a spot in your sparks. Depending on how this functionality evolves, users could have saved job searches appear in their Sparks interest page.

3. Huddle:

Not only does Google+ already tout a mobile app, but a BBM-like group chat feature called “Huddle”, for communicating quickly and efficiently with circles via instant messaging. 

Potential +1 for Huddle: Already texting applicants?  Huddling with them might be the future…

4. Hangouts:
Simply stated, “Hangouts” are a place for multi-person video chatting.

Potential +1 for Hangouts: Forget phone interviews and Skype, Hangouts has the potential to be the new video interviewing platform of choice.  With the multi-person functionality you can have a candidate, recruiter and hiring manager in 3 different locations all on the same interview.

While these features might seem like “nice-to-have’s” on your list of recruiting essentials, it’s the convenience of one that sets this site apart.   If you’re like me, you’re already using Gmail, Google Reader, Google Searches, and Google Profiles – imagine these features integrating seamlessly with social networking.

Oh, and did I mention that a Google+ Business Edition is slated for later this year.  My prediction is that it will pick up where Facebook and LinkedIn company pages left off/fell short.  While Google+ is late to the game, they’re able to learn from the mistakes of both their failed projects (Buzz, Wave) and the current contenders.

76 million members strong, the Millennial Generation is a powerful entity ready to take the job market by storm! But recruiters be warned, these job seekers are savvy and connected; engaging top talent means skipping the job boards and going straight to social media sites and smart phones. According to the Pew Research Group, over 75% of Millennials are leveraging social networking sites and 62% are connecting to these and other internet sites through hand-held smart phones and wireless devices. So how do you effectively connect with the connected?

According to a recent survey posted on ERE, 63% of respondents said they were already using mobile technology in their recruiting efforts. I’m a big supporter of mobile recruiting and am excited to see that over half of recruiters are already using some facet of mobile usage in their hiring processes. Promoting job openings through multiple touch points delivers the greatest impact. Mobile may be the missing link in your online and offline recruiting efforts. Still not convinced? Check out “Top 10 reasons why mobile recruiting is here to stay and some say, if you don’t hop on board, you’ll be left behind” - maybe not the catchiest title, but there’s some good stuff! Here are my favorites:

• Mobile phones are portable, well-connected, relatively inexpensive computers providing the primary or sole internet connection to a majority of the people across the world.
• Text messaging (sending & receiving) is up 450%, in the past two years. In the USA, 262 million subscribers send over 75 billion text messages a month.
• The average response rate to a mobile call-to-action is 12% versus 2% for traditional media.

Ideally, pairing mobile recruiting with social recruitment (social media postings) would be the most effective way to reach the Millennials. Research shows 80% to 90% of companies are leveraging social networks for recruitment. If you’re still using these tools manually, you might not know that integration with your applicant tracking system can be a seamless solution. When integrated, you can easily promote your positions on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and other sites. More over, fully-automated smart scheduling optimizes the frequency and times the posts appear. Want to learn more? iCIMS offers social recruiting tools that completely integrates with iCIMS' applicant tracking system. You can view a demo by clicking here.

During January's State of the Union, Obama called on the retail industry to create jobs and aid in the continuation of the nation's economic recovery. As an industry that supports one out of every five U.S. workers, much of the retail industry met Obama with open arms. So, how does the retail industry plan on tackling this challenge? Aside from benefiting from the tax breaks the Obama administration is offering, retail recruiters will need to keep recruiting costs low and retention rates high in order to afford this major growth.

Where to begin: Tips for Recruiting in Retail

• Invest in screening qualified candidates now; better hiring practices will save money (by increasing retention) later. This means a standard assessment, an application, a brief interview and perhaps drug screening or criminal background checks.
• Advertise the value. Employees that want to stay on board site career growth, learning, being a part of team, management recognition and others as contributing factors. Advertising these points to candidates will help them see the value in a retail career path.
• Utilize HR technology to organize the high-volume of applicants. The retail industry comes with unique challenges when it comes to supporting both hourly and salaried employees, attracting candidates, and taking in applications. Tailor career portals around specific needs, segmenting corporate hiring from store hiring from internship hiring and beyond. Some HR technology providers can even set up in-store kiosks for walk-in traffic and applications.

Next Steps: Learn from other Retail Professionals
Want to learn more about recruiting in Retail? In the NYC area? Register for iCIMS' HR Recruiter Event, March 9th in NYC! This event will provide HR professionals with the opportunity to discuss their unique ways of overcoming the many challenges that are linked with today's talent management programs. Recruiters will have the chance to share their experiences and gain feedback from other retail industry professionals, as well as discuss best practices, network, and offer suggestions for the future. This evening event will feature a presentation from iCIMS’ client Tory Burch and is complimentary to attend. For more information, or to register – click here.

Yesterday, business sites were buzzing with the latest news about multinational technology giant Apple, and its fearless, er – cautious leader, Steve Jobs. Why the state of trepidation? The Central Laborers’ Pension Fund, which owns 11,484 shares of Apple, wants a formal (& public) succession plan in place for choosing a new chief executive.

So why is Jobs worried?

If you’re a regular reader of HR thought blogs and industry news – you’ve probably associated succession planning as a positive, strategic force in talent management. At the very least, you might agree with some of the questions in “The Strategy of Succession Planning” by M. Dana Baldwin:

• If there is no succession planning process, how would a company develop and nurture its human capital?
• How will you assure a continuing sequence of qualified people to move up and take over when the current generation of managers and key people retire or move on?
• How will you be able to plan for the future of the company without some assurance that the key posts will be filled with people able to carry on and excel?

Admittedly, succession planning for a CEO might be slightly more complicated than for the general workforce. In “A Practical Guide to CEO Succession Planning” author Clarke Murphy writes – The transition from one CEO to another is a critical moment in a company’s history. A smooth transition is essential to maintain the confidence of investors, business partners, customers and employees and provides the incoming CEO with a solid platform from which to move the company forward. A properly designed and executed succession plan is vital for any successful transition.

Okay, so if we know all the benefits for succession planning – then why is Apple discouraging its shareholders against the measure?

1. The succession plan would jeopardize their competitive advantage. According to Apple, a succession plan “would give the company’s competitors an unfair advantage [because] it would publicize the Company’s confidential objectives and plans”.
2. The succession plan would undermine the Company’s efforts to recruit and retain executives. “The Board believes that the Company’s success depends on attracting and retaining a superior executive team, including the CEO. A succession plan would require a report identifying the candidates being considered for CEO, as well as the criteria used to evaluate each candidate. By publicly naming these potential successors, the plan invites competitors to recruit high-value execs away from Apple. Furthermore, executives who are not identified as potential successors may choose to voluntarily leave the Company.”         

Hopefully, Apple is opposed only to the “public” part of the proposed plan, and not the idea of a succession strategy itself. Or perhaps they’ve blocked out their mid-nineties re-invention phase – in which haphazard CEO changes resulted in three-year record-low stock price and crippling financial losses. Either way – we hope that Apple understands the consequences of completely ignoring a succession plan (in addition to their self-proposed downsides of a public one).

Looking to add some part-time employees for the holiday season/new year?

Before your organization can count the money saved with adding part-time workers vs. full-time, it’s important to educate yourself on the logistics and legality behind it.

Whether your retail business is looking to add seasonal hires or your mid-sized organization is growing, part-timers may be the key to keeping costs down and productivity high. Before you start recruiting, take a moment to review the basics:

Recruiting for Part-Timers:

Despite the down economy, students may still be your best bet for part-time help, especially for summer, evening, or weekend hours.  Allbusiness.com suggests:

To tap into this applicant pool, try advertising in local and student newspapers/websites, as well as on bulletin boards at nearby high schools and colleges. You can also call nearby schools to see if they have employment offices that match students with potential employers. Other resources include temporary agencies and websites targeted at seasonal or part-time employment. In addition, retirees are good candidates for part-time help; consider advertising at local supermarkets or calling nearby retirement associations. 

Leveraging an applicant tracking system can be a big part in keeping your part-time and full-time talent pools separate during the recruitment process. Use an ATS that constructs a dynamic workflow within the Applicant Flow to mimic the client’s hourly/part-time recruitment strategy. This includes additional Bins and Status Levels designed to match the hiring process for part-time candidates. Additional process includes screening questions focused on availability and experience to limit and manage large applicant volumes.

Hiring Part-Time Workers:

A recent article in the LA Times offered some “Did you Know” tips for organizations looking to add part-timers to their workforce:

Did you know…

• Part-timers qualify for overtime, and meal and rest break rules might apply to them too. In California, which has a daily overtime rule, even an employee who comes in one day a week could be due overtime if he or she works more than eight hours in one day.
• Some benefits, including certain retirement plans or leave laws such as the Federal Family Medical Leave Act, can be triggered if a worker exceeds a certain number of hours in a year, regardless of the employee's part-time status.
• Even a single part-time employee must be covered by workers' compensation insurance, and minimum-wage laws must be followed.
• Bringing a part-time worker aboard might bump up a business' status with regard to employment laws. For example, if adding a part-time worker boosts the workforce from four to five, the business might have to comply with a state's workplace disability rules.
• If a small business expects to add part-time workers, it's important for the owner to learn the rules that apply ahead of time and put the proper procedures in place.

Again, the benefits of utilizing a Talent Management system greatly facilitate the headaches of paper-work (automate it!) and compliance laws (track it!). So before you amp up your work force with part-timers for the holiday season, make sure you have a plan in place! Familiarize yourself with state laws for part timers, and make your life easier by having an applicant tracking/talent management system in place.

Additional Resources:

Part Time and Temporary Employees – Employee Rights Center (findlaw.com)

Part Time Employment Overview (United States Department of Labor)

Understanding the Federal HIRE Act (White Paper)

If you’re somewhat familiar with our “everything HR” iblog, you know that we LOVE stories/articles/studies about customer service and the customer experience.  While it’s not always a direct HR focus on the candidate experience or employee satisfaction – we know that everyone, regardless of job function, has a “customer” to satisfy.  So whether it’s candidates, employees, or clients, I thought I’d take the time to explore some customer satisfaction best practices.  And with our Annual Customer Advisory Council just around the corner, I couldn’t help but brag on how iCIMS treats its customers… 

Focus on Communication

HR Focus:
Having a CRM tool in place is key: Whether its automated responses to candidates or sending out employee news, make communication frequent and clear. Consider having an open door policy in your office or instant messaging services installed on computers.

iCIMS Focus:
Here at iCIMS, our help desk is available 24/5. Call us, email us, or visit our brand-spanking-new Customer Care Site. This dedication to customer support and satisfaction has helped iCIMS maintain a near-perfect 97% client retention rate since 2003.

Train Train Train!

HR Focus:
User adoption starts with training. Whether it’s training a new employee or training a new client – the quicker they become familiar with what’s at hand, the quicker they become loyal to your company or product. Having a streamlined onboarding strategy helps ensure a new employee is amped up and ready to go the first few days on the job.

iCIMS Focus
Our staff of experienced training and education specialists ensures that every iCIMS' training session is tailored to the unique process flows and compliance needs of the client. We even offer a full training library of videos, guides and upcoming webinars to help maximize our clients’ knowledge of the system. iCIMS' commitment to client training and education has helped iCIMS achieve the highest user adoption ratings in the industry!

Offer Forums/Idea Exchanges

HR Focus:
Gathering candidate and employee feedback can be a great way to find out which HR functions are working and which just aren’t getting the message across. Consider holding forums with your employees to find out what they want.  Employee satisfaction = corporate success.

iCIMS Focus:
At iCIMS, we know our customers are our best engineers. That's why we take the time to listen to them, and provide forums for customers to exchange ideas. One of these forums is the iCIMS Customer Advisory Council (CAC). This user conference is comprised of a subset of iCIMS' customers that meet regularly to discuss HR issues, iCIMS' solutions, and ideas for product improvements.

From finding qualified candidates to handling organizational changes, HR departments have their hands full on a day to day basis.  But what keeps the average HR professional up at night?  A recent study showed that in the next six months 31% of HR managers cite “maintaining employee productivity and morale” as the leader and “dealing with healthcare costs and new legislation” at a close second with 26%. More surprising than the majority is what the polled aren’t worried about: Retaining top performers (with a measly 13% of the vote). Maybe none of them read this article: Retaining a Workforce That Wants to Quit.

Nonetheless, in an effort to ease the minds of the combined 44% concerned about engaging and retaining talent, we’ve put together these 6 essentials for success:

1. Develop an Employment Brand
   Strategically develop a cohesive employment brand reflecting your organization’s vision for the future and long term talent management needs.


2. Maintain a Robust Pipeline
   Effective pipelines are composed of qualified candidates ready to work at a moment’s notice. Ideally, pipelined candidates have already been screened or interviewed and your recruiters are waiting to match them with the ideal job opening.


3. Strive for an Ongoing Dialogue with Candidates
   Develop a cohesive CRM program to engage your pipelined candidates and strengthen your employment brand.


4. Training
   To increase employee engagement levels, strive to create a working environment where training, skill transferal and knowledge sharing are encouraged.


5. Compensation
   A compensation system is not one size fits all; rather rewards systems are best crafted around employees’ intrinsic motivators.


6. Open line of Communication
   Utilize Employee Engagement Surveys to gain a deeper understanding of your workforce’s career expectations and overarching goals.

Looking for more information about Engaging and Retaining Top Talent? Check out our complimentary White Paper!

A garden?

A solid company culture can have a myriad of benefits ranging from improved employee motivation to better retention rates.  But what elements of a company culture do candidates and employees say set their business apart?

Some organizations are suggesting it might be the greener things in life. Most recently, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care made the news for its company garden, and they aren’t the only ones doing it. Kohls, Google, Yahoo, and Aveda are some of the big named corporations with company gardens – and the benefits go further than you might think.  Harvard Pilgrim cites promoting healthy eating as the motivation behind the garden but has seen benefits ranging from an improved corporate responsibility program (the food raised is donated to local charities) to boosted moral, increased teamwork and sustainability.  Some even think that having a company garden could be a new recruiting tool – an inexpensive addition to their business' bright company culture.

Don’t have the space for a company garden in your business park? Here are some other easy ways to add to your company culture (courtesy of about.com) and ultimately, your recruiting tool box:

Performance-based compensation and reward programs:
Don’t let good performance go unnoticed! Our traffic coordinator, Corey Milloy recently blogged about some employee retention tips, and this is what he had to say: "Reward repeated positive behaviors—when an employee has consistently done well for your team and is committed to helping your organization succeed, make sure that you show them how much you appreciate those efforts. Give them an appropriate (financial) reward for their efforts but be sure to clearly explain why they are being rewarded.  This is an especially valuable tool now, as top contributors are starting to have other options for employment."

Effective 360-degree communications:
Be transparent! Let your employees know exactly what is happening within their departments and the company.  One on one meetings, weekly departmental meetings, and quarterly company-wide conferences are all imperative – but having an open door policy is crucial.  Also, think about investing in an instant messaging service for improved company communication via a casual outlet.

Commitment to learning and skill development = better employee performance:
Maximizing the performance potential of your existing talent pool can provide your organization with significant benefits, from a reduction in turnover to improved employee morale and more. By creating an open forum for learning employees' expectations, goals, and perceived performance levels, your organization can empower individuals to take control of their own career paths.

Training management software comes equipped with easy-to-use training data management tools so users can post training courses online and track employees who have registered for courses through web-based portals. Department heads can then track employees against training requirements; from training course request through attendance through post-class assessments.

In addition to these employee management strategies, some good old fashioned perks and benefits don't hurt either! Here at iCIMS, we benefit from generous financial security, health benefits, career development plans and extensive time away options.  But sometimes it's the extras that really set us apart from other companies:

iCIMS Extras:
Casual Dress Code
Complimentary Soda, Coffee and Tea
Complimentary “Bagel Fridays”
Complimentary Monthly Luncheons
Group Discount Auto and Homeowner’s Insurance
Corporate Gym Discount
National Discount Program
After Hours Social events.

And to wrap it all, did I mention that iCIMS is hiring?

To catch up, read Part I here!

Part II: The Quest for the Intern (A lesson in legality)

As most of you have probably read by now, there are some tricky rules involved when recruiting interns… especially when they are unpaid.  A Workforce article from a few years back offered 10 Rules for Hiring Unpaid Interns. Some highlights included:

• Training must be general, not for the immediate advantage of the business, and it may even slow normal operations.
• Interns can’t be used to replace paid employees.
• High schools, technical schools and colleges can partner with businesses to set up compliant unpaid internships in which the student receives course credit. This lends credibility to the internship’s benefit for the student.
• Decide beforehand if the business has the time and personnel to closely supervise and mentor an unpaid intern.

And if you want to be a little more sure of your compliant internship practices, check out the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division’s six factors to “evaluate whether a worker is a trainee or an employee for purposes of FLSA:

1. The training, even though it includes actual operation of the facilities of the employer, is similar to what would be given in a vocational school or academic educational instruction;
2. The training is for the benefit of the trainees;
3. The trainees do not displace regular employees, but work under their close observation;
4. The employer that provides the training derives no immediate advantage from the activities of the trainees, and on occasion the employer’s operations may actually be impeded; 
5. The trainees are not necessarily entitled to a job at the conclusion of the training period; and
6. The employer and the trainees understand that the trainees are not entitled to wages for the time spent in training.

Bottom line: make sure you have the time for interns!  It’s not about you…it’s about them, so make sure you’re recruiting the right fit for your department/company and that they want to learn.

Does your company recruit a lot of interns and/or recent grads? Give them their own space to search and apply for jobs! University Career Centers are a popular option amongst organizations that are looking to tailor their recruiting. A UCC links directly within a corporation's website and allows college students to browse job openings specifically targeted to their audience with specific marketing information and more. Applicants can then complete an online application tailored to your college recruiting campaign. Career Centers dedicated to new graduates are an extremely effective method of giving your organization that competitive edge in reaching quality talent. One last quick iCIMS plug…our very own marketing interns Brittney & Allison have already written a couple of great posts on the internship process.  Check them out here: It’s a Jungle Out There - Are you Ready? & Finding an Intern – Is the Cake Worth the Candle?