strategy Archives - Blue Signal Search

The 5 Recruiting Metrics Every Business Should Measure

July 15, 2022 by Lacey Walters

Hiring is one of the most important business decisions any company can make. However, many companies are unsure where to start when it comes to talent acquisition and often overlook key recruiting metrics. Hiring blindly can lead to poor candidate support, turnover, and lost recruiting dollars. In 2021, a bad hire was estimated to cost a business anywhere between $17K to $240K.

While hiring based on instinct can sometimes yield some lucky results, it isn’t a great strategy for long-term growth. In order to make the most informed hiring decisions now and in the future, businesses should measure and monitor these 5 essential recruiting metrics.

#1 – Time to Fill/Hire

When you have a position open up, it’s important to know your timeline. Of all recruiting metrics, this should be evaluated first. Setting timeline expectations can help internal stakeholders like teams and managers allocate proper resources to cover in the interim. The average time to fill a position is 42 days. Use this as a benchmark to ensure your business is able to hold out on operation of that role for at least that long. If not, that indicates that you will either need to reprioritize hiring, or come up with a short-term solution until you get the right person on board.

After you’ve set an estimated timeline, get ahead of the urgency by identifying funnels and streamlining your hiring process. As you go through the motions, watch to see what steps in the process take up the most time. Look for ways to speed them along, or remove them altogether. Regardless, it’s important to address common mistakes that could slow down the hiring process. After all, this could be the make or break of the candidate’s experience.

A study by Cronofy found that 43% of candidates have dropped out of a hiring process due to scheduling delays. That means that you could lose nearly half of your qualified applicants simply because it takes too long to process them. Assess your hiring bottlenecks early and often so you don’t miss out on top candidates due to poor task allocation and time management.

#2 – Attrition/Turnover

Next, it’s pertinent to know your company’s recruiting metrics surrounding attrition. By looking at the turnover rate of a candidate’s first 12 months on the job, you can determine the effectiveness of your recruiting and onboarding processes.

For instance, if you find that you have a rather high turnover rate for new hires, you might want to assess whether or not the job postings are accurately setting the expectations of the role. Are you being transparent throughout the interview process about what it will look like? Is your onboarding training setting these candidates up for success? Or does it need to be reevaluated?

Regardless of the cause, high turnover signifies a lack of communication somewhere in the process leading to costly falloffs. Research by Brandon Hall found that great employee onboarding can improve retention by 82% and productivity by 70%. Essentially, it pays to be conscious of the candidate experience!

#3 – Cost Per Hire

Speaking of payoffs, it’s important to prioritize cost per hire among your core recruiting metrics. This should include job board fees, time spent by hiring managers in interviews and screening resumes, ATS system subscriptions, and any agency fees. Divide that grand total by the total number of hires you’ve made to determine your cost per hire!

This metric is critical. It would be impossible to know whether your optimized recruiting efforts from any of these other steps are having effective ROI/cost savings if you don’t measure cost per hire. Not to mention, it will be important to know how much money you spend on recruitment annually when you begin planning and budgeting. Whether you’re scaling your business, planning for retirements, or getting ready to reorganize, it’s good to know your cost per hire.

#4 – Quality of Hire

Similarly, it’s important to track the quality of the candidates you hire. Although less data-driven, this step falls high among recruiting metrics because it can help you determine whether or not your recruiting process is yielding the results you want. To accomplish this, you’ll want to monitor the performance of each new hire’s first year on the job. Track things like time to onboard, assimilation into company culture, and their impacts on the business.

For example, how much revenue did a salesperson help produce in their first year compared to what you’d expect from someone in their position? Or, think about a marketing hire – did they contribute innovative ideas to the team resulting in audience growth?

If you discover that the quality of your hires does not match what you need from them for the roles you are recruiting for, this is a good indication to adjust your tactics and target a new talent pool. By measuring this success rate, you will also be able to forecast the impacts on the business you need to get to the next level - i.e. if you want to hit $10M in sales next year, you’ll need to know how many new salespeople you will need to hire to get there. Nailing down this recruiting metric can help you plan ahead.

#5 – Diversity of Candidates

Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) benchmarks are becoming more prominent in sourcing goals for companies across the nation – especially as studies continue to show that the more diverse the team, the better they perform and innovate. Therefore, DEI is here to stay among the top recruiting metrics to measure.

To reach your own DEI goals, you’ll need to ensure your candidate pipeline is bringing in a diverse pool of applicants. Leverage Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) dashboards, candidate surveys, and hiring feedback to gauge where you stand today. Then, adjust your approach to meet the diverse candidates where they are online and in person. Most importantly, leverage resources – whether remote or in person – to foster the best environment for DEI within your existing team. As your candidate pool becomes more diverse, so will your company – and that will result in increased revenue, employee engagement, and more.

Let’s Review – Your Recruiting Metrics

Hiring should be a top priority for all companies, because when you have the right team, you will garner the best results. Whether your goal is to increase revenue, scale to handle new projects, or expand your service offerings – it all starts with the right hire. By tracking the right recruiting metrics, you will be able to address areas of improvement in your process and ultimately make better hiring decisions.

All companies need help when it comes to hiring – and the best resource can be found within their industry. Leveraging a recruiter in your industry saves money, time, and results in better hires and a greater impact on the business. For hiring help within telecom, wireless, manufacturing, healthcare, emerging technology, IoT, accounting and finance, human resources, lighting, cloud and managed services, cybersecurity, information technology, logistics and supply chain, plastics and packaging, food and agriculture, and medical industries – contact a Blue Signal recruiter to get you on the right path.

5 Reasons to Continue Your Job Search During the Holidays

December 17, 2021 by Aylish DeVore

Each year, as we roll into the holiday season, many job seekers wonder: Should I continue my job search during the holidays? The truth is that the month of December might be the best time to look for a job! You’ll likely have way less competition and be able to capitalize on the opportunities that are available to you this time of year. Here are just five of the top reasons to keep that job search rolling:

1. Employers Are Hiring

If you are inclined to think that employers stop searching for new employees during the holidays, think again. This is especially true if their budgets are tied to the calendar year because they know how much money they have available to spend on recruitment and salaries. They might also be more apt to hire before the end of the year so they can maximize their budgets, instead of potentially losing that money after the calendar flips. And in some industries, January is a busy month, so they want to staff up now to be able to hit the ground running come the new year.

2. Less Competition During the Holidays

Since many job seekers put a hold on their job search during the holidays, there are plentiful opportunities for you if you keep your momentum high. While the average corporate job opening receives 250 resumes, with fewer people looking toward the end of the year, that number drops significantly. That means that your resume is more likely to be seen by the employers and recruiters who are looking for you.

3. Exceptional Networking Opportunities

December is full of parties, events, and other gatherings—so much so, that most people have very full calendars. That’s a big plus for you and provides you with multiple opportunities to meet key decision makers and others who can help in your job search. Whether you go to events thrown by professional associations, alumni networks, corporations, or friends and family, you’re bound to interact with some great people. Remember to let them know that you’re looking and be specific about the kinds of roles and industries you’re targeting.

4. Seasonal and Part-time Roles Could Become Permanent

The holiday season is a prime hiring time for several industries, including retail and hospitality. If you are unemployed and looking to do something to get your foot in the door or earn a little extra cash, you have a great opportunity to prove yourself and transition what started as a seasonal or part-time role into something more permanent. This is also true of contract positions. If a company is bringing on additional help during the holidays, that work may continue well into the new year. And if you’re already a member of the team, the likelihood that your contract will be extended is high.

5. Gain an Edge on New Year Job Seekers

New Year’s resolutions being what they are, there is often a surge in hiring come January 2. That results in more competition for the roles that interest you. By continuing your job search during the holidays, you’re positioning yourself for success, whether it’s in the month of December or further on down the line. Even if companies are waiting until they receive their 2022 budgets to start hiring, by starting (or continuing) your efforts now, you’re getting on their radar. That’s because hiring managers and recruiters probably have a good idea what’s coming down the pike, even if it’s not currently advertised. And if you meet them and start chatting at a holiday get-together, guess who they’ll have top of mind when they’re ready to hire? Yep: You.

DO Continue Your Job Search During the Holidays

There’s no doubt that by maintaining momentum on your job search during the holidays, you will put yourself in a great position to find success—if not in 2021 then certainly in 2022. Continue to reach out to employers and recruiters, apply to positions, and mix and mingle throughout the season. Your commitment can pay off dividends on your quest to find the perfect next job.

Looking for more support in your job search? Blue Signal Search is proud to announce the upcoming launch of Resume and Career Services, Powered by Blue Signal, in early 2022. Get on the mailing list now to learn more about this exciting new offering that will put you in the driver’s seat of your career and get you educated, empowered, and employed!

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8 Questions Successful Managers Ask Before the End of the Year

December 8, 2021 by Aylish DeVore

The end of the year is filled with annual performance reviews, P&L reports, end-of-year budget meetings, a never-ending to-do list, and a thousand other holiday errands. As busy as the end of the year wrap up may be, the opportunity of a fresh start and a new strategic perspective on the coming year is something all leaders should take advantage of. That being said, good business strategy cannot be reduced to a quick planning meeting. It is important to prioritize the time to self-reflect and ask yourself the right questions, because the strategy you plan now has a direct and lasting impact on what your next year will look like. Palena Neale emphasizes that it is vital that leaders make time to reflect on the past year in relation to business goals, actions, values, successes and, of course, their "best" failures.

As you sit down to review the last 12 months and begin planning future strategies, it’s common to feel overwhelmed and left asking, “where do I start?” We’ve gathered a list of the top eight questions successful managers ask before the end of the year to ensure you get started on the right track in the year ahead. These questions are designed to zero in on the important things that tend to get overlooked in the holiday haste. As a best practice moving forward, you can also implement opportunities to review and follow up on these questions quarterly. Checking in on these main ideas will lead to a more realistic view of the overall year and in turn be a more productive use of your time.

8 Questions Successful Managers Ask Before the End of the Year

Question #1: How would I Summarize the Year?

Looking back on the entire year can seem daunting but it’s a great first step in your reflection process. Take a step back and review the past year as a whole. How would you summarize the outcome? Check in with the business goals you had set for the year and see what was met and what fell short. Take this time to dive into the overall performance of your team, individual employees, and most importantly, yourself as a manager.

When looking at the overall performance as a team and individual employees, it’s important to remind yourself to humanize the workplace. It’s okay to report on highs and lows of the year and have open conversations around both. Collaborate with your team about next steps and break down the work that comes from it. When evaluating yourself, don’t be afraid to be brutally honest and truly look for areas of improvement. Once you gather your findings in each area, ask yourself what you can learn from each. List out clear takeaways that you can turn into actions items to accomplish in the future.

Question #2: Where was the Majority of My Time and Energy Spent in 2021?

Pull research and look back to find where your time was allocated the most and where it was lacking in the past year. Are these findings sustainable going forward? Do they make sense in relation to your business goals? When looking at how time was spent, try to pinpoint what caused stress and be aware of signs of burnout.

Stress in leadership can lead to more negative effects than just personal wellbeing – businesses in the US suffer a $300 billion loss every year because of workplace stress. Additionally, almost 60% of leaders reported feeling tired at the end of each day, which can be an indication of burnout. One recent survey found that 44% of leaders who felt worn and used up planned to move to a new company in order to advance their careers. When deciding how to disperse your time, remember that when you’re at your personal best, the company can succeed. Inga Bielińska, a coaching and consulting mentor, recommends looking at the coming year’s agenda and planning for family events to participate in, friends’ reunions or routine outings to go to, winter holidays, summer holidays, and regular “me time” to help combat stress.

Question #3: What Areas Can I Take a Step Back From?

According to a recent survey, developing the next generation of leaders is the top challenge for 55% of CEOs. In most cases, taking a step back will create the opportunity to delegate tasks and responsibilities to those who are ready to step up in the company. This allows you to encourage individual growth on your team and it frees up your time for overall business development opportunities. It’s a win-win. Remember it’s your team who has led the company to its success so far. Trust them to take on more responsibility and show you what they can do!

Once you identify areas you are able and willing to delegate, set aside the time and resources you’ll need to properly train the individuals taking them on. Avoid throwing anyone in the deep end and make sure they are confident in their new role and expectations. Additionally, schedule future meetings to follow up on how things are going after team members have had time to settle into those new responsibilities. This will allow them the opportunity to ask questions and will ensure you are both on the same page moving forward.

Question #4: Where am I in My Personal Five-Year Career Plan?

This is the time to be a little selfish. Just as you would evaluate business performance, it’s equally important to conduct personal evaluations. Check-in with yourself and your business goals – more specifically, where you are in your 5-year plan. You can do this by conducting a personal SWOT analysis and looking at it from a technical standpoint. Loren Margolis, from Training & Leadership Success LLC, suggests asking yourself questions such as, "What are my top leadership strengths and weaknesses?", "What are my growth opportunities?", and "What are the internal (mindset) and external (marketplace) threats to my success?"

In the same sense, take this time to revisit your long term goals. When answering these questions, you’ll determine if you’re on track with your goals and certain areas that need more attention. Remember that all goals are works in progress and you can add and adjust them based on where you are today. Once you’ve reflected and updated, you’ll need to develop an actionable plan to continue on the path to meeting those milestones.

Question #5: How is Overall Employee Engagement?

Once you take a look at your personal progression, the next step is to do the same for your team. This starts with evaluating employee engagement. Studies show that 78% of business leaders are focused on improving their engagements with employees. In turn, engaged employees outperform their peers that are not engaged – and overall, companies with high employee engagement are 21% more profitable. A good place to start asking the right questions is during employee performance reviews. G. Riley Mills, from Pinnacle Performance Company, shares that “despite common conceptions about workers receiving performance-based feedback, research shows that they not only want it, but they also want to give it to you. A whopping 65% of workers want more feedback – and that number swells to 80% for younger workers (76% of which also want to give their bosses feedback).”

Before the new year, carve out the necessary amount of time to meet with employees one-on-one to touch base. Take this opportunity to notice anyone starting to show symptoms of burnout, or those who need more of a challenge. Be sure to set the necessary follow ups to discuss next steps and note who will need more attention in the coming year.

Question #6: What Gaps Does the Team Have?

No team is perfectly balanced all the time, especially when the company needs to make changes to stay competitive – and that’s okay. When looking for gaps, it’s easiest to tackle this separately from performance reviews. Individual annual performance reviews are critical, but they don’t give a holistic, big-picture view of a team. Meet as a team and create an open discussion regarding where employees are noticing gaps – be open to feedback.

Once identified, categorize them by priority. Which gaps are the most important to close and which are less urgent? Analyze what it would take to close them, such as incentives for the team to work harder, redistributed duties, improved technology, new hires, or more training. Prioritize which gaps to close based on projects and available resources. Oftentimes this can lead to the realization of necessary budget increases for departments. Going into that discussion with this tangible analysis can help increase chances of approval.

Question #7: What Technology Changes are Around the Corner?

Automation, smart devices, IoT, cloud computing, and other advances are changing the landscape very quickly, even in businesses outside the technology industry. No matter the industry, ask yourself how you will remain innovative in the near future. As remote work has taken off in the past two years due to Covid-19, technology and processes have advanced quickly to meet the communication standards among teams working across the country. Many businesses have identified software, programs, and devices to implement or better utilize for reliable internal communication, streamlining processes, remote work, etc. The innovation of 5G has brought a particular shift in advancing technology we use daily.

More specifically – cybersecurity has proven to be more important every year. It’s crucial to keep teams up to date about what skills they need to stay competitive. Additionally, pay attention to market trends throughout the year – last-minute technology upgrades are never convenient or cheap. After you reflect on these points, you may find it’s time to hire new IT professionals or teams to manage internal technology advancements. Remember that Blue Signal can help!

Question #8: What Would a Successful 2022 Look Like to Me?

After all the self-reflection and input from the team, the last step is to set business goals and intentions for the year. The hardest part of goal-setting is being realistic. Keep in mind – not all dreams should be goals. A great place to start when mapping out your business goals is to ask yourself what will stay the same, what will change, and how. All of these answers should lead to insightful follow up questions and provide you with the necessary steps needed to plan for success.

When setting these intentions, it’s important to focus on hard numbers and actionable projects. In turn, this helps outline expectations and clearly communicates what considers a goal complete. The best goals have benchmarks and key performance indicators to measure success along the way. A great tip is to dig up your previous business goals - not just from this last year, but 3-5 years back - and look for trends. Look for similar, overly ambitious goals you tend to make year after year and decide how to make them more achievable or choose to scrap them altogether. If you find yourself getting stuck and unsure of what’s important, ask your team for input! This will ensure all department’s individual business goals are represented in some way when it comes to the company’s future plans.

Once you’ve settled on your goals – memorize them. Throughout the year you should be able to clearly visualize what you’re going to accomplish – almost manifesting the outcome. Share company business goals with your team as well and remind them to refer back to them often.

In the busy month of December, it is easy to get buried in small tasks and miss critical opportunities to get ahead in the coming year. Optimizing these questions can help you stay organized and zero in on important business goals and action items to take. When reflecting, remember to celebrate the wins as a team and try not to tread on the goals you didn’t hit. A new year is the perfect opportunity to clean the slate and start fresh with an ambitious mindset. Alexsys Thompson, from Alexsys Thompson Intl., states that “as a leader reviews the wins and losses of the previous year, it is powerful to revisit the wins that were experienced, and acknowledging the misses through story will help ensure lessons are taken forward as valuable learning experiences.”

As you build out your 2022 strategy, remember Blue Signal can be a vital resource! Our seasoned recruiters can partner with you to help answer these questions and deliver action items related to hiring to hit your business goals in the year to come. Contact our qualified team of recruiters to learn more about the wide range of services we offer.

Digital Recruitment: The New Normal of the Staffing Industry

November 4, 2020 by Lacey Walters

The Coronavirus outbreak caught many of us off guard. Social distancing, fear of an unknown disease, and, most of all, closure of many businesses around the world has left a huge impact on people's psyche and financial wellbeing. As what we knew of the structure of a business changed to meet the “new normal,” hunting for employment online has significantly increased since last year.

As we have seen, many companies took their business online. Following suit, the recruiting process also needed to be updated to ensure safety and minimize physical exposure by using digital recruitments strategies. For both employers and job seekers, being online is a must! In order to properly leverage this advantage the online job marketplace holds during these otherwise uncertain times, read on for some best practices regarding digital recruitment and its changing landscape.

As a Job Seeker, Identify Businesses Thriving in 2020

Events of this year have had a huge impact on everyone’s lives. Even with the tragedies and trials 2020 has instilled, there is always a silver lining. Since March of 2020, social gatherings and travelling seem to be a thing of the past. The economy has taken a dive, particularly in the areas of business that thrive on these social norms including tourism, entertainment, F&B, and retail.

On the other hand, online purchases, virtual education, and digital content creation are in high demand in 2020. When thinking about applying for a job, keep in mind those verticals that have best adapted to the times, and are more likely to be hiring. People with skills in digital media will probably have better luck than those in in-person fields. If possible, try and build out skills in these remote-work areas of operation.

As a Business, Build Out your Online Presence to Attract Quality Candidates

With people online more than ever, virtual marketing strategies are crucial in keeping audiences engaged with a brand. In several cases, online touch points such as social media pages, websites, and digital advertisements may be the only way people interact with a business. In order to attract candidates to a business, a company needs to have a strong online presence. Whether that’s through third-party recruiting firms or posting on job sites, potential employees need to see a brand that’s thriving in order to want to jump on board.

The power of Google search is essential for those seeking employment. To tap into that market, the perfect candidate needs to be able to find opportunities easily. To get to the top of the organic search results, companies must have an organized and SEO optimized website. Additionally, having a site containing quality content related to the business can offer a potential glance into its strategies and aims as a company. If the candidate shares the same beliefs and visions, they are much more likely to want to work there. But first, they need to be able to find what exactly those beliefs and visions are.

Let's not forget about social media! There are almost 3 billion users on Facebook, and nearly 27 million users on Instagram in 2020 - making both perfect platforms to market and promote a business. Linking websites to socials, and socials to sites, ensures that candidates can easily track and learn more about a potential employer, gaining invaluable insight into company culture and other key factors.

2020’s Best Digital Recruiting Strategies for Candidates and Hiring Authorities

1. Hire a Recruiting Firm

The US staffing industry consists of numerous agencies that can make a search a whole lot easier. The majority of them have digitized their recruiting strategy long before the pandemic struck and are using softwares and other tools to uncover perfect matches. In times of crisis, company leaders don’t have time to scroll through numerous application letters to select the ideal hire. Recruiting companies can help cut down the time a role is left open, and actually save businesses money.

2. Create and Maintain a LinkedIn Page

The staffing process is made easier through the use of networking platforms such as LinkedIn. This growing community of job seekers use this online platform to discuss job opportunities, best practices, industry insights, and so much more. Participating in a space like this helps keep businesses at the forefront of innovation, and at the top of mind for applicants. And, once they have a job opening, companies can post on LinkedIn to find easily accessible, qualified candidates in the peripheral network of the industry.

3. Streamline your Video Interviewing Process

While online presence and using the right digital recruiting strategies are essential in gathering potential hires, video interviewing is a decisive factor that allows insight into each of the candidates personally. The video interview also allows employers to build a relationship as a steppingstone in a successful collaboration. To get the most out of this process, employers and hiring authorities should really nail down what it is they want to see from the interviewing process. Before stepping in front of a camera, they should understand what the end goal is, and create a pathway to achieve it.

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Coronavirus and its unprecedented impact on the economy has left a global wreckage in its wake. Luckily, digital recruitment can help to keep businesses going and people employed when used correctly. With safety as the number one priority today, new strategies in the staffing industry can ensure growth without risk. Being online has proven beneficial for job seekers and employers to stay in the game. As the staffing industry continues to change to meet the needs of employers and employees alike, digital recruitment will continue to play a larger part in the success of many industry verticals. Do you feel prepared? Contact one of our expert recruiters today to discuss your digital strategy and strengthen your position within the new normal.

Blue Signal Summit, 2019

January 22, 2019 by Lacey Walters

Blue Signal Search is unlike any other recruiting firm of its kind – so naturally, we had to have a holiday party just as unique as we are. In January of 2019, we held the first annual Blue Signal Summit, a three-day team gathering to celebrate a year of industry success. Each day was jammed packed with learning, team building activities, industry speakers, games, awards, great food and festivities. We were able to wrap up 2018, set goals for 2019 and beyond, as well as celebrate all we have achieved thus far.

For the event, our entire staff joined under one roof in our new HQ in Phoenix, Arizona. This was the first time some of us met in person! In the spirit of team building, we had meetings where we reviewed our best practices, discussed our company values, and underwent advanced trainings.

Blue Signal brought in Pinnacle Society elite and top performing recruiter Joe Rice to discuss what is and is not working in recruiting today. We covered objectives about leadership, company culture, change management, and organizational growth. The team learned more about the industry and best practices to better serve our clients and candidates in the future.

Throughout our conferences, the team talked about our growth and about fine tuning our processes. We strategized as a company and talked about upcoming initiatives and long-term goals. Most importantly, we recognized the achievements from the last year and awarded those people who helped us get there.

In 2018, Blue Signal made 119 placements and worked on over 400 jobs. Our biggest year yet also saw 8 new hires and 4 major promotions. Looking ahead to 2019, we are training and onboarding a new class of 9 recruiters before the end of January.

The Summit helped us focus on what is most important – who we are and where we want to be. Saturday, we got together showcase our accomplishments. In the morning the sales team had a golf tournament at the Orange Tree Golf Resort. That evening, we met with our significant others at the beautiful Biltmore Hotel to finish the Summit with a formal dinner. This Blue Signal family is proud of 2018’s accomplishments and is ready to do what it takes to become the best recruiting firm on the planet!

Don’t Panic, but the Talent Pool is Shrinking

September 25, 2018 by Lacey Walters

The US broke many long-standing employment and labor records in 2018, with the effects rippling through all business verticals nationwide. With the 2008 recession now 10 years behind us, the 2018 economy showed strong jobs growth and shrinking unemployment. This is good news for job candidates who are looking to upgrade their jobs. For businesses, however, last decade’s hiring strategies won’t work anymore. The talent pool is shrinking, and updated strategies are a must.

In a talent shortage, candidates (not employers) have the power to dictate wages, benefits, and job content. Competition for qualified candidates is stiff, and potential employees have demand on their side. Just this year:

Youth unemployment hit its lowest level since 1966.
The number of open jobs exceeds unemployed persons by 659,000.
The economy has created 2.5 million jobs, representing 66.7 million hires.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that April closed with 6.7 million job openings.
Unemployment dropped to 3.8%, its lowest level since 1969.

Despite high demand, only 50% of employees feel like their wages are competitive with market rates.

Death by Automation

Despite the longest bull market run in history, candidates don’t always have it easy, either. A recent McKinsey report estimated that 50% of today’s jobs are susceptible to automation by artificial intelligence. This used to be a distant vision of the future, but today, many of these technologies are already available on the market. Half of the tasks employees do today can be automated, reducing the demand for some skills that most people use as leverage in qualifying for a position. Once While less than 5% of all occupations can be automated entirely using technology, about 60% of all occupations have at least 30% of activities that could be automated.

Skills Shortages

Not to mention the staggering skills shortages throughout the nation. If candidates want to remain marketable, they must learn some new skills. According to a LinkedIn survey, the hard skills companies need most are cloud and distributed computing, statistical analysis and data mining, middleware and integration software, web architecture and development framework, user interface design, software revision control systems, network and information security, and SEO/SEM marketing.

The trend is obvious here – companies are desperate for digital skills to keep up with the increasing amount of technology required in modern business. Software development skills, such as performance tuning and SQL are required for over 850,000 open roles right now. To put this in perspective, the talent pool only contains 472,000 professionals with those skills.

The need for highly specialized workers is at an all-time high, while the pool of educated and qualified candidates is strikingly low. Trends in education levels and projected employment needs indicate that employers will require about 18 million more college-educated workers than will be available in 2020, a gap representing 11% of demand. Complicating the situation is the student debt crisis, called a bubble by many leading economists. The burden of debt is unsustainable based on the earning potential of most college degrees, especially arts, languages, and other non-STEM areas of study.

Economists don’t expend a reversal of this trend any time soon. Underqualified talent cannot leverage skills that are universal or able to be automated, lowering performance. Low performance reduces revenue, and therefore capital. Without the capital to modernize, companies cannot compete – in their markets or for gaining candidates. This cycle feeds itself, reducing candidates and marketability, sometimes to the point of bankruptcy.

Talent Pool Predictions

What’s next? Employee development and training is a proven way to reduce turnover. Companies nationwide are investing more in educational programs and expanding the skill set of their internal teams. This can help in modernization and retention, fending off some of the competition poaching. The promise of personal and professional development can be a key factor in a potential candidate’s decision making.

If companies want to boost growth, they need the right employees. However, to get the right employees, hiring managers need updated recruiting strategies. They must focus less on what the employee can do for the company, and more on what the company can do for the employee. Today’s professionals are looking for not only financial rewards, but recognition and a future. Despite employer belief, the top reason individuals left their jobs was due to career progression – not salary. Out of the employers surveyed, 48% have a strategy in place to promote company culture to make their company more attractive, and 43% leverage competitive salary packages.

What makes your company a place that a qualified, highly-desired candidate wants to work (or in many cases, leave their current company for)? At Blue Signal Search, we call this a company’s “sizzle”. If you are experiencing some of the growing pains of this shrinking talent pool and the digital age, contact us today. We can help you find your true value proposition – your sizzle – and market it to find the right candidate for your open role.

Need help with your recruiting strategy? Contact us at (480) 939-3200 or reach out to info@bluesignal.com.

How to Speed Up a Hiring Cycle by 50% or More

June 28, 2017 by Lacey Walters

The average hiring cycle has risen sharply in the past few years (from 13 days to over 23 days). Some positions take even longer—2 months or more to make a hire. All of this lost time slows down team momentum and actually leads to a sloppier hiring process, not a more careful one. Not only that, many of the top job candidates are off the market in 10 days or less. Companies that take a long time to hire are depriving themselves of the best talent in the industry.

This year, aim to slash the hiring time by 50%. Here are the best ways to cut down lag time on a new hire:

Diagnose the problem areas

Start by taking a quick look at the numbers. How long did it take to hire the last 3 employees? Break down the hiring process into role creation, role approval, applicant tracking/sourcing, screening, interviewing, and extending the offer. Which takes the most time? Where can the process be sped up? Most companies lose steam in screening and interviewing candidates.

Plan out the hiring cycle

Set a deadline for onboarding the new hire. While most hiring cycles do not go exactly according to plan, having a deadline creates an incentive for good time management and fast responses. It is a common pitfall to subconsciously underestimate the time it takes to make the hire.

Start by coordinating the schedules of everyone involved in making the hire. Most companies try to get too many people involved in the hiring process, which can create confusion and delays. Best practice is to include the person who will be directly managing the employee, someone who can drill them on the technical skills, and preferably one team member who would be working alongside them.

If one of the hiring managers will be traveling, overloaded, or working on a complex project, consider reassessing the hiring timeline or cutting them out of the hiring process altogether. Good candidates may stick it out for a long hiring process, but most won’t.

Urgency bonus

Sometimes, a long hiring cycle happens when a manager is afraid of hiring the wrong person. This is a valid concern, because bad hires are expensive—but so is a long hiring cycle. A delayed hire can mean expensive overtime, overworked team members, missed deadlines, or even falling behind in market competitiveness.

For companies that work with recruiters (internal or external), an urgency bonus is a great incentive to keep things moving. The bonus should be enough to overcome the temptation to procrastinate, but not so big that the hiring manager is tempted to rush the hire.

Resist “Mini Me” and “Queen Bee” Syndrome

Most hiring managers want to hire someone with a similar industry background and skill mix, essentially, someone whose resume looks just like their own…minus 5 years of experience and 25% in salary, give or take. The reality is that it’s more comfortable to hire “mini me” people with a similar background, but the strongest and highest-performing teams are diverse—in strengths as well as in personality.

Avoid “mini me” syndrome in a hiring cycle. The best teams have diverse work histories.

The other pitfall to avoid is “queen bee” syndrome. It can be tempting to always go after the perfect candidate with the strongest career path, best leadership qualities, impeccable background, and every skill under the sun. Not only are these “queen bee” candidates rare and expensive, but they also often are not what is needed. Most teams are made up of worker bees. Resist the urge to insist on every skill, and assess what is truly needed in the role.

Training Skills and “Bend” Points

In today’s market, there is a resistance to on-the-job training at nearly every seniority level. Many hiring managers overestimate the amount of experience they need in a candidate, but they underestimate what someone can learn on the job. Keep in mind that a newly hired person is more likely to put in extra hours and extra work to close their skills gap. In many cases, hiring managers wait around for an extra 3 months for the perfect candidate, when they could have hired someone slightly less senior and trained them on the job in less time than it took to find them.

Backfills vs. New Roles

In the staffing industry, recruiters know that backfills nearly always get filled faster than newly created positions. In fact, many new roles change several times during the hiring process. Many never get filled at all. This is because backfill roles are under pressure to fill. Keep this in mind when creating a new role. It is a huge time drain to get everyone involved in a hiring project that may change three times and still take six months to fill.

Most hiring managers prefer to focus on their projects, not on drawn-out hiring cycles. Cutting down the hiring cycle time benefits everyone. It takes dedication, so set multiple milestones if necessary. By slashing wasted time in the hiring process, companies will boost morale, get on top of projects faster, and hit their goals at a better rate than the competition.

Why Customer Experience Should Matter to Recruiters

June 15, 2017 by Lacey Walters

Recently I was asked, “When you are working on a search for one of your best clients, and the resumes come to you, how quickly can you determine if it is someone your client will be interested in?”

I was honest and admitted it only took about five seconds. He gasped on the other end of the phone and asked what I do with the people who don’t cut the mustard. I told him our process was telling candidates that they are not a fit for our current role, but that I will keep their information for other opportunities and imply that we will likely have something for them in the future.

He calmed down, but pointed out that what really frustrates him is that quite a few hiring managers only look at resumes for a few seconds after many of them prolong the application process, which can take candidates multiple hours to submit. It is no longer just sending in a resume. He said it disgusts him that they are only spending five seconds looking at an application that likely took two hours to apply to.

He made a great point; it’s not a fair tradeoff. This got me thinking; are we really being fair to people who want to work for us? Candidates have spent two hours of time filling out an application for the chance to join your company, yet we are only giving them five seconds of review before we make a decision.

Today, everyone is talking about customer experience management; creating a consistent, desirable and differentiated experience across all touch-points with your organization. According to a Walker study, by the year 2020, customer experience will overtake price and products as the key brand differentiator.

The reality is that every time you or someone in your company engages a customer, it creates an experience that they remember. A positive emotional experience anchors them to you, whereas a negative experience will encourage them to head straight to your competitor. Where are the hidden opportunities to add enough value for our customers that it begins to offset the effort they’ve expended for us, thus forging a more equitable exchange?

Big box industries say that the key is Voice of the Customer (VOC) tools like reviews and surveys. Hotel chains and software companies ask their biggest customers, “What can we do differently?” and “How did we do?”

But how do you encourage your customers to take the time to volunteer this type of feedback? You try to dangle a carrot. Entice them with a discount, money, gift card or future services. Valuable comments are only going to be offered if something is in it for them, right? Never is a customer going to say they will drop everything to give a company advice on their service. Everyone is money-driven, and everyone is time-driven.

In recruiting; we are trying to best service our clients and candidates. But rarely do recruiting firms solicit clients to ask how they can service them better. From a recruiting perspective, a question that is always asked from our clients is, “How do you differentiate yourself?” We go into recruiter autopilot, explaining very quickly what sets us apart: “We offer a full year guarantee, access to great candidates, we are fast, and we have a winning success rate. We are available 24-7 and offer a human touch, etc.….”

Yes, these are all positive ways to set your firm apart. But are they really differentiating? Probably not.

When it comes to customer experience management how do we as recruiters better ourselves and put the client first? The answer can be applied to every business interaction, and that is:

Ask better questions.

Questions such as:

“What can we be doing differently?”
“What are you looking for from a recruiter?”
“Can you fill the role on your own?”
“What type of talent are you searching for?”
“Does a full-year guarantee mean anything to you?”
“Do you want your industry’s #1 sales player in this industry? Or do you need someone in the chair who’s capable of doing the job?”

I have learned over the years that if we ask the right questions and understand the client’s needs, we create better relationships and earn long term results.

The truth is that dangling a carrot in exchange for reviews doesn’t work. Once you have formed a relationship with them, they will offer genuine feedback and ways to help. The best way to manage your customer experience comes back to better questioning. Dig deeper. Ask questions like:

“What is important to you in your career?”
“Where do you want to be in ten years?”
“How will you get there and why?”

Over 90% of professionals won’t know the answers to these questions. But that is okay, because we as recruiters are here as sounding boards to help them better understand companies, industry trends, and even their own needs.

At the end of the day, the most valuable reviews come from asking the right questions. No one truly tells you how to do things differently until they are upset or realize that things went wrong.

When you think of customer experience management, are you really listening to your customer? Here at Blue Signal, we pride ourselves on asking the right questions and are always open to hearing how we can improve.

Feel free to hear our full line of questions on the client side by reaching out at info@bluesignal.com .

Job Ads Should Look More Like Dating Profiles – Here’s Why.

May 26, 2017 by Lacey Walters

Picture seeing an online dating profile like this:

Requirements:

Must do all chores (laundry, all cleaning, bills), plus more as needed.

Must be willing to make sandwiches on demand and cook all meals 5+ times per week.

Minimum 700+ credit score and excellent budgeting skills required.

Must be able to handle difficult in-laws.

Who would swipe right on a profile like that? Any sane suitor would swipe left on that person as if their life depended on it because no one in their right mind would list requirements like that on a dating profile. It just isn’t a feasible way to find a successful match. So why are job ads being written like this?

Take a look at the description below, taken from real job postings:

Requirements:

Minimum 10 years of experience.

MBA required.

MUST be willing to work long hours on nights and weekends.

Must handle all regular duties plus others as needed.

Self-starter who can work with minimal direction.

Proven success in consistently landing top-level enterprise clients.

Natural ability to thrive under high pressure.

Please do not apply if you do not have qualifications listed above.

More like a prison sentence than a job ad. Not a single top performer would be tempted to apply to a job like this, and yet this continues to be the standard in the job ad world. Instead of showcasing a company’s passion, mission, and opportunity, they aim to scare off all but the most dedicated candidates. Demanding job ads became the norm during the 2008 financial crisis. Job ads were full of intimidating lists of hefty requirements, because the labor market was so bad that even top people were willing to take any jobs they could get.

The trouble is, this approach has stopped working.

The economy has shifted to a candidate-driven market, and companies are finding that the talent market is more competitive than ever, especially in fast-growing market segments like emerging technology, wireless/telecom, and programming. And due to tightening work visa restrictions, employers cannot always rely on the pool of H-1B workers. As a result, companies are having a harder time attracting talent.

Better to have too many choices than not enough.

Of course, there are some non-negotiables in both dating and employment. Everyone has standards. But highlighting the negative aspects of the job to “scare away” unmotivated applicants will make a top candidate question why they would bother applying to an apparently horrible job.

Experts estimate that up to 80% of candidates are passive. This means they keep options open but usually stay put unless something great comes along. Companies who write hardline job ads cut out 80% of their possible applicants. The best employees almost never have to make a career move, so companies with bad job descriptions automatically eliminate the best candidates right off the bat.

Image: Ernest Shackleton’s 1901 newspaper ad for the first successful trip to the South Pole.

Writing more attractive job ads will naturally cause an uptick in the number of applicants. Sometimes this is the reason companies write harsh job ads – they want to reduce the flood of applications. However, this strategy is flawed. In the world of easy online applications, companies who demand too much will still get flooded with applicants, but the majority will be desperate or underqualified applicants. It is better to have too many choices than not enough.

By the way, getting overwhelmed by applications is one of the best reasons to consider using a recruiter to weed through hundreds of applicants. Recruiter fees are expensive, but so is a hiring manager’s time.

Bad attitudes are expensive.

Focusing on the minimum qualifications is insulting to top candidates who have worked hard to build their skillset and bring extra to the job. Telling someone that they have met the minimum standard is hardly motivating in the dating world, and even less in the professional world. It is far better to tell them what the reward will be if they exceed expectations. Instead of focusing on the minimum bar, focus on the things that will set the job apart and how the company rewards its best people.

If employees have to jump through hoops during the hiring process, expect to pay a lot more than market rate to attract high-performing employees. Even then, many people will eventually leave a high-paying job for a job that treats them well. High turnover might work for minimum-wage employees, but it gets very expensive for salaried employees. Consider the direct costs of replacing an employee (advertising the job, interviewing, travel costs, background checks, and onboarding), plus the indirect costs of low morale, poor branding, decreased service quality, and the negative effects of stressed and dissatisfied employees.

Just like in real life, there is a spectrum of what works. Antagonistic, authoritarian work relationships can sometimes produce results (take Amazon’s notorious work culture, for example), but candidates in today’s market have lots of options. Companies who take a hardline attitude should not count on attracting top performers.

Show personality, not gimmicks.

Once upon a time, “Coding Ninja” job titles and ping-pong tables were the hottest way to attract up-and-coming talent. It worked for a while, but in the end, employees mostly want to make sure that a job will meet their real needs. That means money, time off, career advancement, and a good workplace environment.

What should companies focus on instead? Start with opportunities, rewards for top performers, career paths, benefits, work culture, and brand ideals. The top attractors in the United States have strong branding around how they’re changing the world. They don’t always pay the most or have the best benefits, but they maintain strong ideals about their mission.

Most companies only put effort into considering what they want out of an employee, and no time thinking about why anyone would want the job. This is unfortunate, because every company has something unique to offer. Start with the hard numbers, like salary package, benefits, PTO, and bonus structure. Go on Glassdoor to see what people are already saying, and pick out some of the top positive comments describing the culture. Plan out the realistic career path for the person who will fill this position, and note in the job description what opportunities they will have.

Focus on the relationship.

Even the most formal professional relationships are still relationships. They are based on people understanding each other and cooperating. When someone takes a job, they sign up to spend hundreds or thousands of hours of their life to pursue the company’s goals, and the company agrees to be that employee’s livelihood.

Investing in employees is expensive, but it also produces great results. Many studies have shown that unhappy employees do a bad job at work, and happy employees give better service. It takes time, effort, and hard work to attract top people, but the payoff is enormous.

Want more tips on how to write a great job ad? Check out Blue Signal’s top 5 tips for building a better job description.

Sales Reps: Ask These Questions in Your Next Sales Interview

May 11, 2017 by Lacey Walters

Many sales reps are great interviewers, since they excel at building relationships and having targeted conversations. One of the best ways a sales rep can stand out from the competition in an interview is by asking great questions. Research the company’s products and brands well ahead of time (try out the products firsthand, if possible), and then spend the interview time asking questions that will help both parties to determine whether the job is a fit.

These questions are designed to jumpstart conversation about company culture specifics. Listen carefully to what is said, and what is not said. Be ready for a range of possible answers, and have responses to guide the conversation.

“What is the usual progression for top performers in this job?”

Sales roles often have high turnover, especially at the lower levels. But asking simply about tenure can give a bad impression in an interview. Instead of asking a question that focuses on the worst performers, ask about the best performers. This question does double-duty: it demonstrates a commitment to succeed, and it also uncovers how the company treats its highest-performing salespeople.

Another variant on this question is, “What do the most successful salespeople do in their first month on the job?” Both variations of the question emphasize that the candidate has every intention of doing a good job.

“If you had an extra 20% added to your budget, how would you spend it?

An engaged hiring manager will know what they would love to spend more money on – product training, marketing materials, extra reps, prospecting software, or extra incentives, for example.

There is no right or wrong answer to this question, but it will indicate the top priorities (and possible pain points) of the team’s management. Someone from a technical background may prioritize product knowledge and technical support. A manager who is actively engaged with their team may focus on skills development. A data-driven manager may invest in analytical software and tracking tools for the team to find out where the problem is. Listen carefully to the “why” in the interviewer’s answer, and think about what was not said as well as what was said.

“What is the top skill you wish you could improve in your sales team?”

Every team has weaknesses, and most sales teams struggle with a similar set of challenges across the board. This question gives insight into which weaknesses the manager focuses on. Common answers to this question include: product knowledge, prospecting, actual salesmanship, and better documentation/follow-up. An engaged hiring manager will answer this question in detail because they know where the team’s weaknesses are.

A sales rep who is interviewing can use this information to guide future questions, especially if they are strong in an area where the rest of the team is weak. It pays to follow up with a question about how the sales department compensates for this weakness—additional training, regular coaching, bigger incentives? It says a lot about the overall approach of the team.

“Which departments does the sales team work with on a regular basis?”

Some sales teams operate in a bubble and focus purely on selling, selling, selling. Other companies have a more collaborative culture, and their sales teams meet with R&D to brainstorm solutions to common customer complaints, or with marketing to come up with better materials and marketing strategies to help reps sell better. Neither approach is right or wrong, but it says a lot about how the company integrates sales into the rest of its culture.

“What kind of support personnel does your sales team have?”

Sales is not an easy line of work, and it gets even harder when reps are bogged down with non-sales work. Support personnel help a sales team to run like clockwork. This includes sales engineers, technical support, customer service, admin, data entry, product managers, and pre-sales/post-sales support coordinators. Even a small number of support personnel can mean a huge difference in a rep’s workload, and that translates to more sales and more commissions.

“What percentage of reps hit their quota each year? How does the top 10% perform?”

Not all sales departments set realistic quotas for their team. If the annual quota is $5 million, but the average rep only closes $3 million, the target is unrealistic. A very high OTE is great, but only if it is achievable. This question also helps to feel out how in touch a hiring manager is with their team’s numbers.

It pays to know how the top 10% performs compared to the average rep, to get a realistic idea of how much to expect in sales and commissions.

“What is the sales workflow?”

This question gives the hiring manager a good opportunity to talk about what tools and procedures the company uses in its sales process. A good sales funnel is straightforward and simple. Beware of a complicated process with unnecessary twists and turns. Another red flag is a high amount of follow-up, which takes a rep’s time away from selling.

Get an idea of the company’s sales stack. Even the best salesperson can have a hard time selling if the company’s software platform is outdated or difficult to use. On the other hand, a modern fully-loaded CRM shows that the company is serious about investing in its sales team.

“Why are you hiring for this role right now?”

The easy answer to this question is, “We’re growing,” which is what most hiring managers will answer. But instead of stopping there, dig a little deeper. Ask how much they have grown, and how it compares to past growth. Why now? This is also a good opportunity to find out the size of the sales team.

The other possible answer is that someone left. This is not automatically a bad thing – the hiring process usually moves much faster for replacement roles than for newly created roles. If the role is open because someone resigned, see how the hiring manager responds. If they speak negatively about the employee or air grievances (which tends to be uncommon), take it as a red flag. The best professional response is to briefly explain that the person moved on to other opportunities.

“What is the biggest challenge your team has faced in the last year, and how did your team overcome it?”

The sales profession is not easy, especially in the roller-coaster market of the past 10 years. Every team has faced challenges. Find out how they responded, and more importantly, how the hiring manager speaks about the difficulties on the job. Some managers ignore or minimize problems, some face them head-on, some like to get their hands dirty on the front lines, and others like to analyze the problem carefully and take a targeted approach. Again, this question is all about getting down to the personality and work culture of the team.

“Tell me about some of your key metrics.”

Selling is a numbers game, and a great hiring manager is on top of their team’s metrics. Good metrics to talk about include the cost of acquiring a new customer, conversion rates, and average deal size. For long-cycle sales, be sure to get an estimate of how long deals usually take to close.

The interviewee should have their own numbers ready to discuss, so that once the hiring manager begins talking about their metrics, the interviewee can respond with how they can improve those metrics. This is a good opportunity to trade stories about big milestones and key successes in the past few years.

“What keeps you motivated and excited to come to work every day?”

This is an easy one to pull out to break tension or to follow a complex question. People who work in sales are all about motivation and excitement (if not, they are probably in the wrong profession). What they say is less important than how they say it. If their answer is motivating and exciting, they are probably a good match.

Interviewing soon? Read more about how to excel in a sales interview. Find even more interview tips here.