iCIMS Hire Expectations™

Look inside any onboarding group on LinkedIn, and you’ll find a range of discussions. From how to compile the best checklist, to out of the box ideas for engaging employees, to executive onboarding discussions, it’s clear that there’s a ton that goes into the process and that those processes differ for each organization.

While the detailed processes vary, there’s one thing that remains consistent – onboarding programs provide new hires with the stability and tools they need to succeed. The process is aimed at ensuring new hires feel like part of the organization and understand your culture. After all, this is the start of a new beginning, and the mark for which your inviting a new person into a community that’s working together towards a common goal. Whether you’re a small non-profit or a massive corporation, the goal is to engage, retain, and kick-start a mutually productive relationship between your new hire and the organization as a whole. 

Once hired, there’s often a sea of paperwork that comes along with the process. Between I-9 forms, to non-compete agreements and internet usage forms – there’s a lot of information that’s required to be completed by the new hire. Form completion is a given when it comes to onboarding, and there are plenty of tools to help automate and streamline those processes. 

Paperwork aside, there can be a slew of tasks that go into ensuring you are prepared for the new hire before they even start. Whether it’s a parking pass, a badge, a welcome lunch, IT equipment, or paycheck requirements, the onboarding process often involves gaining the support of groups outside of the HR organization. So – how do you manage those tasks? While the time can be spent organizing a plan, challenges also lie within the effective execution of a plan. Checklists can help support these processes, but to ensure your process is consistent, leveraging onboarding technology can help standardize and create a consistent experience for new hires and HR alike. Often it’s in the consistency of execution, for which we see the best results. 

In addition to the tasks needed to ensure a consistent program is being executed, new hires need to feel like they are a part of your organization and are engaged in their career. They’ve made a commitment to accept the position, and it’s up to you to ensure the relationship kicks off on the right foot. According to the Gallup Management Journal’s semi-annual Employee Engagement Index, 60% of employees are not engaged with their employer. Simultaneously, the Center for Work-Life Policy cited that 1.7 million people consider their jobs and their work hours excessive. Taking a combined look at these stats, it’s apparent that there are challenges to overcome. Retaining top performers is key and a stat that directly impacts organizational productivity. 

By leveraging technology to drive these efforts, you can help engage employees ahead of day one with solutions geared towards highlighting what your organization is all about, from an insider’s perspective. By exposing new hires to employee handbooks, photos of company events, and introducing them to mentors and the broader team, you’re helping to build those relationships and ensure deeper engagement and commitment to the company. While many people are passionate about their work, it’s the relationships that are built which help deepen those commitments to the broader organization. Help kick start those relationships by sharing a bit about your culture and connecting them with the right folks who will help guide them through their first few months. 

With so many ways to approach onboarding, it’s important to always think outside of the box. Beyond the paperwork – what are you doing to drive engagement and ensure you retain your new hires for years beyond Day 1?

The other day, I set aside some time to listen to HRHappyHour Episode 128, titled The Consumerization of HR. Having a background that has little to do with technology, I have found myself taking roles in companies that are very much technology driven. What I’ve consistently found in each of these roles is that you do not have to be an expert in technology to work in technology. In some cases, being a consumer with a passion for detail is just enough. While it takes the work of experts from various areas to build a successful product, I like to believe that consumers also play a big role on how technology evolves.  So, as soon as I saw this title, I thought it might be right up my alley.

As a consumer, we all know that there are certain things that just catch on and spread like wildfire. Over the course of the last 10 years, social media is one of them, and I know we’ve only hit the surface. According to Constellation Research, 75% of the workforce is mobile – with 45% of that workforce retiring in 10 years. Those retirees are making room for a new wave of workers; most, who I’m sure, choose to make social media a part of their daily lives. With more than 800 million active users, the average Facebook user is connected to 80 community pages, groups and events.

A few years ago I was tasked with working on a project that defined employee policies associated with social media usage. Those guidelines seemed more like restrictions. Shortly after, the company reversed its position, largely due to the fact that the Marketing Team jumped on board and began to create a social media team, with the goal of increasing the brand’s social presence. The guidelines that once stood as restrictions were refreshed and we were on a new task to actually build the organizations’ social media presence from within the company – starting with the employee base - our brand ambassadors. Designated brand ambassadors were identified and asked to lead the way and set an example for the rest of the organization to follow suit. While some thought this might open an area of risk for the organization based on what employees may post while on the job, the majority of employees took this as an opportunity to spread a good word about the organization.

With everything that is new, there is always an associated or perceived risk. However, as time marches on some of these items that were once risky, become the norm. I’m sure there were few people in 1903 who expected the Wright Brother’s invention of the first successful airplane to evolve into full fledged fleets of 747s with Direct TV access. While it’s hard to compare the airline industry to the infiltration of social media, it’s safe to say that social media is here to stay and will continue to expand our options for driving actionable plans in various sectors.    

As organizations continue to find useful ways to put these personal and professional networks to work, I look forward to seeing how the landscape continues to evolve within HR. How does your organization utilize social media to build your employee brand and employee engagement levels? What successes have you seen by incorporating social media into your recruitment plans?

When I graduated from FIT, my aim was to find a job ASAP, and one with benefits. I quickly circulated my resume and strategically planned a cross-country getaway before I’d have to work for the rest of my life.

Since my cross-country adventure, a memory of eight years past this August, I’ve taken on a few roles, but most recently as a Product Manager at iCIMS. Focused on our Onboarding Solution, it’s impossible not to reflect on my personal experiences with onboarding programs. Of course some were good, some bad.  

From not receiving a computer until week two to sitting in three days of full orientation sessions, I’ve witnessed a broad scope of programs, some of which I fell victim of. I’m being sarcastic, but they were pretty bad. I’m a believer that you’ve got to pay attention to your new hires. You have to make sure they feel welcome and that they have the tools they need to be productive, so they are able to focus on getting integrated within their respective teams, without distraction. Sometimes it’s the simple things like knowing where the break rooms are, what the pay schedule is, what days are considered holidays, and that you understand what benefits are available and how you can take advantage of them. And at the top on my list, from personal experience, that the IT Team has set up your computer and the new recruit isn’t staring at a blank wall. Without access to all of these basics, it’s likely your new employee is wondering why they accepted the position in the first place.  

Why should your company, small or large, have an onboarding program for new hires? Because these are the people charged with delivering results for your business. You’ll want to treat them well and ensure they are ready to get going. With tons of paper work and coordinating between teams to ensure all the proper equipment and supplies are ready for day one, some organizations forget that there’s more to it then paper and equipment. There are people!  

For the amount of time spent finding a candidate that has both the right skill set and the right cultural fit, once they’ve accepted it’s only logical to ensure they have full access to learn more about the culture and community they are about to become a part of. From employee handbooks and philanthropic associations to leadership vision and scheduled employee events, it’s important to immerse new hires into the culture as quickly as possible.  

By leveraging technology, organizations can transition new recruits from candidates to employees fast, while simultaneously ensuring that new recruits are engaged. Teaming up your onboarding process with a technology solution can result in faster new hire productivity, enhanced HR productivity, increased retention rates, and improved employee engagement. Allow technology to centralize what your company has to offer and showcase your culture and community electronically with new hire onboarding portals. A signed offer letter is just the beginning – take that opportunity to shed a positive light on what your company is all about and serve as a brand ambassador. Remind them why your company is so great – it’s totally up to you! The more invested an employee is within the company culture, the more likely they will stay and be an effective contributor.

What does your organization do to engage employees during the onboarding process or first 90 days?  

About five years back, an old boss of mine accepted a new job opportunity and as a parting gift, presented my co-worker and I with books. So, what did we get? I was presented with The Big Sister’s Guide to the World of Work, by Marcelle DiFalco and Jocelyn Greenky Herz; my co-worker was given Who Moved My Cheese, by Spencer Johnson.

So, over the summer of 2006 this was my beach reading. The cover looks like something that belongs in the young adult section in Barnes and Noble, but it’s what’s inside that counts. This tell-it-like-it-is book had some great advice for those trying to make their way in the corporate world. Based on the authors’ experience they dish tips on everything from interviewing to avoiding entanglement in office politics.

With one specific chapter focusing on interviewing tips – readers learn what to do and what not to do. Eat before an interview; you never know how long it might last. No sexy clothes. Study company culture. Don’t cross your arms in front of you or describe your ailments. When your interviewer caps her pen, time to stop. When he drums his fingers -- you're definitely talking too much. And assume the interviewer will be unprepared, so bring extra copies of your resume. While all of these pieces seem to be no-brainers, I’m a firm believer that these are the little things that can make a big difference in how you’re perceived in an interview. 


With all the focus on those being interviewed, Hiring Managers also deserve some attention. Back in 2005 ERE published tips for Hiring Managers about how to work with recruiters to find great candidates, with less effort, and less cost. While this goes back in date, the tips are still relevant today and correlate directly with important stats like Time-to-Fill and Cost-per-Hire. Of the five tips, it was 2, 4, and 5 that popped out for me:

• Get to know your recruiter. If your recruiter is new or has not worked with you before, it will be impossible for her to know what you are really looking for. Even an experienced recruiter who knows your specialty thoroughly will have to get to understand those subtle traits that you find compelling. Let the recruiter spend a day shadowing you, and discuss with them how you manage. Let them attend a staff meeting or a briefing. The better the recruiter and you know each other, the more likely you are to see great candidates.
• Working with your recruiters, develop an assessment process. One of the best ways to make sure that you and your recruiters are in sync on what kinds of people to look for is to put together a process for assessing candidates. You can work together with the recruiter to develop a series of questions or other assessment processes that will help you both decide on the traits, skills, and qualities you need. These can become interview questions and can also be used to measure how well the recruiting process is working.
• Work with your recruiter to develop some metrics that will show how well you both are doing in getting good people. There are many possible metrics, but the ones that are the most important are those that relate to the quality of the candidates you see and ultimately hire, and the speed in which you got to see them. Establish some measures with your recruiter around quality — maybe measuring how quickly a new employee hit the productivity level you want, or how well they became a part of your team. By doing this you prove to yourself that you are getting the best people and you help guide your recruiter to those people. By taking just a few minutes from your busy day, and by working with your recruiter as a partner, you can improve the quality of candidates and the speed you fill your open positions.

Takeaway? Hiring Managers must establish and develop a relationship with HR and develop processes for measuring success rates. Leverage technology options that will streamline your processes, help establish benchmarks, and track your success with robust reporting tools. While the spotlight will remain on tactics for candidates to improve interview skills, there’s always room on the flip side to establish best practices for Hiring Managers.

When offered a job, most people want to know what benefits come along with the gig. Initially, you think of the basics – healthcare, dental, vision. But what about the rest? What about bagels on Fridays, cash rewards for employee referrals, onsite dry cleaning, and end of the month company lunches? Organizations across the globe are known to provide employees with healthcare benefits, but now-a-days, candidates are looking for more, and organizations are noticing. 

So why all of these extra incentives? Does it positively influence retention rates? Are employees more likely to work longer days? According to Blessing White’s 2011 Employee Engagement Report, engaged employees plan to stay for what they give, the disengaged stay for what they get. The study also showed that employees around the globe view opportunities to apply their talents, career development, and training as top drivers of job satisfaction.

While unusual perks help mold a company’s culture and build community, organizations that want to attract and engage top talent have to strike the right balance between the perks and career development. By providing employees with opportunities to develop talents and outlets to become part of a community through formalized programs, organizations are able to fulfill a holistic need to attract new talent and retain current employees.

At iCIMS, employees have access to programs that both build a sense of community and provide an opportunity for professional development. On the professional development front, iCIMS invites all employees to participate in a program called iCAN. Arming individuals with the tools and training needed for career development, iCAN provides iCIMS employees with the building blocks needed to determine career paths, assess competencies, establish a plan for future career development, and gain the experience needed to advance within the company.

Between regular company lunches, a bagel spread served every Friday for breakfast, a company library, and events that provide employees with an opportunity to make a positive environmental impact, community based programs are abundant at iCIMS. Employees are also given an outlet to recognize peers through competency based programs that reward employees based on their ability to demonstrate the organizations’ core values.

These perks, combined with an outlet for professional development continue to mold the organizations’ culture and provide employees with an outlet to get engaged in what they do, every day. As organizations continue to seek methods to retain top talent and attract new recruits, it’s important to strike the right balance. Take into consideration what’s most important to your workforce – because an engaged workforce, is a productive workforce.

I'm a firm believer that one-on-one, in-person communication is important, especially in a world where emails, instant messaging, Twitter, and Facebook dominate. I'm sure everyone has experienced an issue where their written words were construed to take on a tone that was never intended. While those issues are usually resolved by hashing things out with a conversation, taking the time to do that initially, could just as easily prevent the issue in the first place.

Earlier this month, I had the opportunity to attend the Annual HRPA Conference and Tradeshow in Toronto. At the event, there were plenty of HR professionals talking about the latest trends, but there was one that stuck out. I had a discussion with a conference attendee, which centered on increasing interpersonal communication, and decreasing dependency on technology to boost success rates in candidate and employee management. As a representative of iCIMS, a SaaS provider, I was opposed, but the more I sat on the subject, the more I understood exactly what he was getting at - it's about striking the balance.

Candidates and employees alike need a gateway to information that will impact them - whether they need to understand what the process is for the performance review period or at what stage of the interview process they're at as a job candidate or hiring manager, people need access to information in a central location and need to know who they can call, for further explanation of certain topics.

Solely using technology to communicate can create gaps - it has to be used as a supplement to a conversation. On a supplemental level, technology can create a rounded process that not only supports the initial communications, but drives messages home with corporate branding and a defined organizational tone that can be referenced in the future. Not only does this improve communication, but it helps define an organizations' culture and values while simultaneously streamlining processes and procedures.

So, my question to HR Professionals is how have you utilized technology to support communication within your HR programs and how has it impacted your results?

When it comes to employee communications, there are so many ways to get your message across creatively. Depending on your budget and the company's culture, the possibilities are endless! From over the top communication campaigns like wall murals that detail a high level strat plan, to email and video campaigns that create buzz for new employee programs, and of course, morale boosting events like Office Olympics, there are so many ways to keep employees engaged and informed. While new campaigns and creative outlets keep things interesting, a steady, one-source hub for day-to-day communication is vital to keep communication on point and on source.  

In the office, we recently launched the iCIMS Employee Portal. Over the course of the past three months, it took the collaboration of employees from across the organization to pull together what we needed to jam-pack the site with relevant content. Our goal was to create a single source where employees could go to find everything they needed to do their job, communicate with one another, and build a sense of community. 

A big part of this project centered on communication – we essentially turned the way we communicated with each other inside out and pushed aside our mass distribution lists. This now requires employees who would normally send a company-wide announcement via their Outlook email to post their news to the portal instead. This helps reduce the amount of mass email. In a way, the employee portal takes all of the communication that already existed and funnels it into one key location – where everything is documented and searchable. In fact, employees can now pick which communications they want to view by choosing to subscribe to specific pages and then, they will receive notifications once there’s been an update. Thus, reducing inbox inundation. 

So, with a whole new way to communicate, share, and find information, comes the topic of adoption – and it takes time. By monitoring the back end and understanding what people are interested in, we can tailor our messaging and build campaigns to help shift attention to important areas. The continuous promotion of the new site will be essential in moving the needle towards full adoption and help to do away with mass communication that blankets multiple organizations, if it’s not necessarily needed.   

By changing the way we communicate, we can better ensure that strategic messages are consolidated, which in turn paves the way for team initiatives and ensures proper alignment. By consolidating the information, we’re providing employees with one place to go to find key metrics, to pinpoint progress and to define accountability. By combining the portal as our single source for communication and knowledge as a baseline, we can build on that by integrating company-wide meetings, events, contests, and collateral, while knowing the site is our solid source, or baseline for need to know items. 

So, as we continue to work on the iCIMS Employee Portal, and increase adoption rates through fresh, relevant content, contests and consistent strategic messages, we hope to give employees an outlet to build and share their knowledge and provide a soapbox to state their case on current projects, programs, milestones – or simply plan the next company happy hour. 

While I graduated from the Fashion Institute of Technology and thoroughly appreciate everything from Calvin to Alexander McQueen, by no means do I consider myself a fashion expert. However, there are some things that I believe should never be worn, especially when we’re talking about the workplace. For instance, a woman should never attend a work related event wearing a scantily clad velvet santa suit. Unfortunately, it’s been done. I saw it in a previous life, prior to joining iCIMS.

Maybe Human Resources forgot to include her on the new hire training schedule or she never got the memo on the corporate dress code. I’d like to give her the benefit of the doubt, but something tells me she would have donned the santa suit either way.

In any case, employee training is essential in workforce and succession planning. While it’s important to train new hires on company policies and procedures (to help avoid the onslaught of inappropriate santa suits), it’s just as important to prepare employees to fill future roles by equipping them with the right tools to successfully grow within the company. With long term planning, organizations can view their workforce holistically and plan for future opportunities.

An article recently featured in People Management, covered a study that was produced by Randstad, a recruitment solutions provider based in the UK. According to the study, employees credited the level of salary, training and development, a good career path and flexible work conditions as the most significant factors when choosing an employer. So, what did employers think would attract talent to stay with a company? Brand, culture and benefits. Looks like there’s quite a disconnect there.

Brian Wilkinson, head of Randstad UK cited, “There is a gap between what organisations think will motivate their key talent to stay with them and what their employees actually say will retain them. The research also showed that a quarter of workers, who are not actively looking, would consider changing employer if something attractive came up.”

With that said, I think it’s safe to say that Training Management and Succession Planning are vital to developing an overall strategy to retain top talent and plan for the future. By creating an organized process, employees can document and build new skill sets to prepare for challenging roles, in turn allowing the organization to proactively prepare for the long term. By building out this process, organizations can help close the gap between what an employee seeks and what they may think is helping to retain and attract top talent.